Doug Mason
I started my working life as a trainee telephone technician in 1956, aged 15. I worked in the telecommunications industry, including teaching, training, and as a technical writer.
I spent 18 years as an SDA, leaving them in 1982.
I am a student at the University of Life, in the faculty of Hard Knocks.
I treat the Bibles as histories, telling us how those people lived, thought and behaved. I am no longer influenced by mysticisms, mythologies, and religious-based opinions from the past. The Bibles tell us about those people. They did not write to us, for us, or about us. I live in Melbourne.
In common with every possessor of life in the multiverse, whatever form it takes, I too am completely selfish.
I write, and I will continue to do so, driven by very selfish reasons.
I want to know. I want answers. Writing forces me to question myself and in the process remove fat from my thinking. I write in order to educate myself, to experience the excitement of discovery, of locating that elusive piece of a jigsaw puzzle -- while not knowing the picture that the information is unfolding for me.
My other completely selfish reason for writing is that the activities involved in preparing the material, wrestling with the digital technology, distributing it and then meeting people with contrary views, provide exercise in the mental gymnasium. The muscle between my ears is exercised and is being kept mobile. The alternative is to descend to a vegetative state.
At the age of 82 in 2023, I observe the principle: "Live long; Die young".
Supervisors: Life
I spent 18 years as an SDA, leaving them in 1982.
I am a student at the University of Life, in the faculty of Hard Knocks.
I treat the Bibles as histories, telling us how those people lived, thought and behaved. I am no longer influenced by mysticisms, mythologies, and religious-based opinions from the past. The Bibles tell us about those people. They did not write to us, for us, or about us. I live in Melbourne.
In common with every possessor of life in the multiverse, whatever form it takes, I too am completely selfish.
I write, and I will continue to do so, driven by very selfish reasons.
I want to know. I want answers. Writing forces me to question myself and in the process remove fat from my thinking. I write in order to educate myself, to experience the excitement of discovery, of locating that elusive piece of a jigsaw puzzle -- while not knowing the picture that the information is unfolding for me.
My other completely selfish reason for writing is that the activities involved in preparing the material, wrestling with the digital technology, distributing it and then meeting people with contrary views, provide exercise in the mental gymnasium. The muscle between my ears is exercised and is being kept mobile. The alternative is to descend to a vegetative state.
At the age of 82 in 2023, I observe the principle: "Live long; Die young".
Supervisors: Life
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This conviction was held by authors of the New Testament and has been held repeatedly since then by Christians of every era. Every time, eager excitement and anticipation resulted in unbelievable disappointment. From the heights of excitement, each generation of Christians experienced depths of utter despair. God did not fulfil their expectations, and each time, Christians failed to witness the Coming of their Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, Christians – and Muslims – are today following the same fraught path trod by their predecessors.
This Paper summarizes experiences of believers across the swathe of history, with the wish that some today, hopefully many, will heed the lesson that History teaches.
I am concerned that in my endeavor to keep the message simple and straightforward, that I left room for an incomplete understanding of the objectives.
This “Fuller Explanation” of the Presentation is designed to rectify this and hence to make the messages clear.
Our exegesis must govern our theology, not the other way around. If our exegesis is at odds with our theology-and if we are confident in our exegesisthen maybe we should begin making changes to our theology rather than searching for solace in the likes of Paul, John, or Acts. … Surely it is our duty to allow the results of our exegesis to reshape and even change, if necessary, our theology.-Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works?, 317, 13, Alan P. Stanley. Biblical scholarship proper is not about the reader's beliefs or non-beliefs, not about finding our beliefs or scientific truths in these ancient documents, but about understanding and faithfully reproducing their beliefs.
This conviction was held by authors of the New Testament and has been held repeatedly since then by Christians of every era. Every time, eager excitement and anticipation resulted in unbelievable disappointment. From the heights of excitement, each generation of Christians experienced depths of utter despair. God did not fulfil their expectations, and each time, Christians failed to witness the Coming of their Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, Christians – and Muslims – are today following the same fraught path trod by their predecessors.
This Paper summarizes experiences of believers across the swathe of history, with the wish that some today, hopefully many, will heed the lesson that History teaches.
I am concerned that in my endeavor to keep the message simple and straightforward, that I left room for an incomplete understanding of the objectives.
This “Fuller Explanation” of the Presentation is designed to rectify this and hence to make the messages clear.
Our exegesis must govern our theology, not the other way around. If our exegesis is at odds with our theology-and if we are confident in our exegesisthen maybe we should begin making changes to our theology rather than searching for solace in the likes of Paul, John, or Acts. … Surely it is our duty to allow the results of our exegesis to reshape and even change, if necessary, our theology.-Did Jesus Teach Salvation by Works?, 317, 13, Alan P. Stanley. Biblical scholarship proper is not about the reader's beliefs or non-beliefs, not about finding our beliefs or scientific truths in these ancient documents, but about understanding and faithfully reproducing their beliefs.
This Paper introduces key people who were responsible, who lived and fought for their beliefs.
This is not impalement, in which the instrument of death is forced up through the victim’s body.
Most important is the fact that the WTS totally misrepresents what Justus Lipsius wrote. He actually provided a number of illustrations, showing several such methods of execution. Lipsius concluded his research by saying that the conventional cross, in which a crosspiece is attached to a pole, was the implement used in Christ’s death.
It does not matter if Lipsius was right or wrong. What matters is that the WTS deliberately misreported Lipsius and that it hides factual evidence from its followers. If it does this with an non-essential matter, how does it behave with critically important matters?
It is not the purpose of this Paper to identify, formulate or describe any sequence of Last-day events. It does not propose, suggest, recommend, or critique any of the wide range of proposed models. The wide and diverse range of models bears witness to the fact that none is literally mapped out in any Scripture.
By considering the sources and the journeys of each key element – such as: Messiah, Temple, and Resurrection, this Paper considers their origins and the influences on them.
For many fundamentalist Christians and Muslims, belief in the imminent Coming of the Messiah impacts their daily lives and their interpretation of the world. Each believes their actions and their influences determine how soon Messiah’s cataclysmic cosmic earth-shattering Coming is able to be manifest to the world.
The influences of these commitments spread into the political arenas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The religious views of the Coming of Messiah underscore conflicts throughout history, resulting in human impacts ranging from individual suicide attacks to multi-national wars.
A soon-coming Messiah is not an academic, intellectual exercise. It has real-life consequences.
The situation was fluid at the time when the New Testament writers plied their craft. Literature was available to them that in later centuries would no longer be included in some Bibles. But the New Testament writers did not know this would happen, and they alluded to literature that many today do not accept as Scripture.
This Paper tabulates lists of books proposed during the selection process. This Paper also tabulates the books alluded to by New Testament authors that were later not included in most Bibles.
The current leadership endeavours to link itself to its origins while at the same time distancing itself, using euphemisms such as “increased light”. Previous statements shine a light on the present. Whether the current leadership uses a new name for an old teaching or whether it openly contradicts a previous belief, it all helps to reveal the thinking of the current leadership.
It is my wish that Mr Nestor considers consolidating his nose-breathing message by revisiting his sources, eliminating those which diminish his credibility.
It was difficult to scan. Published in 1902, the dry, brittle pages of this little book (11.5 cm by17 cm, 125 pages) fractures, shredding numerous small flakes. One corner appears to have been singed, while the two rusty staples made it difficult to open the book on the scanner. But I was determined to preserve it for its historical value and for the perspective that a 120 year book provides. The authors mentioned in the advertisements at the rear were still living.
As a history, this book tells a lamentable story of muddle and stupidity. As a critique it attempts to show that the "refugee problem" now facing us in war-time is really a British problem, a problem of justice and personal freedom in which the reputation of Britain is involved. (Front cover – 1940)
Part II discusses the three main models for the Israelite phenomenon—conquest, settlement and peasants' revolt.
Part III works towards an examination of the components of pre-monarchic Israel and how Israel grew from a peoplehood to a centralized government that included a monarchy.
Part IV discusses how pre-monarchic Israel was organized and whether there was any central authority during that period.