A blog by Tom Sheepandgoats (aka Tom Harley)
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It is Always the Priests and the Prophets
“Now the priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD. When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests, the prophets, and all the people laid hold of him, crying, “You must die!” …The priests and prophets said to the princes and to all the…
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“Eat my Flesh and Drink my Blood”—What About it?
That Watchtower Study last week, How to Remain Loyal When We Face Tests of Faith, begins with a consideration of Jesus’ words: “So Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life,…
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Proverbs 22:6 Revisited
(See Part 1) There is another way to translate Proverbs 22:6, the proverb that traditionally goes: “Train a boy in the way he should go; Even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” (NWT) The above is the typical rendering. Almost all Bible translations do it similarly, if not identically: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when…
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A Good Fig but a Bad Egg
Read up on the father-son combos of Bible history and it’s enough to make you doubt Proverbs 22:6. You will at least footnote it: “ Train a boy in the way he should go; Even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” *”Not necessarily so in the case of kings,” the footnote will read. (“Past returns do not guarantee future performance,” says…
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Science Takes a Hit in Pandemic’s Aftermath
Nobody’s trying to diss vaccines here—honest, I’m not. I’m just trying to write a commentary on evolution—to what extent (if any) can it be reconciled with Genesis? Why should vaccines thrust themselves into the middle of the discussion? No reason at all, that I can see. Except that Sean Carroll, author of ‘The Making of the Fittest,’ does just that. Many times I’ve mentioned this…
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Sarah Walks with God: Genesis 20
Sarah Walks Courageously with God Sarah was the noted figure last night in Courageously Walking With God. Leaving her home and all in Ur, a comfortable life, to follow her husband and traipse all over on camels. The contrast was drawn with Lot’s wife, who wasn’t about to give up the good life, who looked behind as her family was fleeing Sodom, and who subsequently…
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What is the Burden of Jehovah? (Jeremiah 23:33)
What is ‘the Burden of Jehovah?’ (Jeremiah 23:33) Burden of Jehovah? “And when this people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of Jehovah?’” (Jeremiah 23:33) Huh? What is being spoken of? There is a play on words here towards a people who are anything but respectful toward the prophet. The Hebrew word massa has a double meaning. It can…
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Anecdotal Evidence and Science
What to do with Eyewitnesses In May of 2020, no hope was held out for victims of Covid-19. The “warp speed” development of a vaccine had not yet landed. Sufferers were advised bedrest and fluids at home. They were only to enter the hospital if they were almost dead (which in many cases would finish off the job for them), President Trump then described a…
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Exposing an Inordinate Trust in Science
In the days of ‘Me Too’ a common endorsement of anyone leveling an accusation was ‘Why would she lie?’ I’m almost at that point now with conspiracy theories, so many of them have turned out true. I’m almost at the point (but not quite) of saying that the burden of proof should be upon those denying them, not those asserting them, so awry has gone…
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Qualifications and the New World Translation
What were the qualifications of the men who translated the NWT into English? It’s a common query from those who don’t care for Jehovah’s Witnesses, hoping to embarrass. Just who are these translators, anyway? Do they have letters trailing their name? Do they really know any language besides Pig Latin? Perhaps the Witnesses will admit that they didn’t really use translators at all, but hired…