Richard E Kelly

This is the third and last post related to what is known by most Christians about the Bible that ain’t so. While much of this information is reported in Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, the following facts have been well known to well-informed, objective Bible scholars for almost two hundred years:

• We do not have the original writings of the New Testament. What we have are copies of these writings, made years later—in most cases, many years later. And none of these copies is completely accurate since the scribes who produced them inadvertently and/or intentionally changed them in places. All scribes did this.
• There are more differences among preserved manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.
• The twenty-seven books we call the New Testament were not gathered into one canon and considered scripture, finally and ultimately, until hundreds of years after the books themselves were first produced.
• We do not know precisely how old the New Testament is. It could be 1,200 years; we just don’t know. But we do know that it’s not 2,000 years old as I was taught growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness.
• The third-century church father Origen, made the following complaint about the copies of the Gospel at his disposal: “The differences among the manuscripts have become great, either through the negligence of some copyists or through the perverse audacity of others; they either neglect to check over what they have transcribed, or, in the process of checking, they make additions or deletions as they please.”
• The story of Jesus and the woman taken in adultery in John 7:53 – 8:12 is arguably the best known story about Jesus in the Bible. It is a brilliant story, filled with pathos and a clever twist where Jesus uses his wits to get himself—not to mention the poor woman—off the hook. However, to the careful reader, the story raises many questions. To name just two:
  • If Jesus did teach a message of love, did he really think that the Law of God given by Moses was no longer in force and should be obeyed?
  • Did he think sins should not be punished at all?
• Good questions, but as it turns out, the aforementioned verses were not originally in the Gospel of John. In fact, they were not originally part of any of the Gospels. Scribes added these twelve verses later. This story and these verses are not found in the oldest and best manuscripts of the Gospel of John and the writing style is very different from what is found in the rest of John.
• The last twelve verses in the Gospel of Mark were invented by a scribe many years after it was in circulation, and absent from the two oldest and best manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel. It’s a mysterious, moving, and powerful passage and used by Pentecostal Christians to show Jesus’ followers could speak in unknown tongues. Ironically, it’s also the principal passage used by “Appalachian snake-handlers” who take poisonous snakes in their hands to prove their faith in the words of Jesus.
• Paul did not write verses 34 and 35 in 1 Corinthians 14. They were added by a scribe, possibly influenced by 1 Timothy 2, which we know was written by a follower of Paul, not by Paul. (1 Timothy was forged in Paul’s name by someone living later.)
• The anti-Jewishness of some second- and third-century Christian scribes played a role in how the texts of scripture were transmitted. One of the clearest examples is found in Luke’s account of the crucifixion, where Jesus is said to have uttered a prayer for those responsible: “And when they came to the place that is called ‘The Skull,’ they crucified him there, along with criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’” (Luke 23:33-34) As it turns out, this prayer of Jesus cannot be found in the oldest manuscripts which date back to about 200 C.E. It’s first found in manuscripts produced during the Middle Ages.
• The Christian scribes—whether of the early centuries or of the Middle Ages—not only copied scripture, they changed scripture. Sometimes they didn’t mean to – they were simply tired, or inattentive, or on occasion, inept. At other times, though, they meant to make changes, as when they wanted the text to emphasize precisely what they personally believed about the nature of Christ, or about the role of women in the church, or about the wicked character of their Jewish opponents. (In the 1950s, Jehovah’s Witnesses rewrote the Bible, calling it The New World Translation, to make it fit their unique beliefs. So it should not come as a surprise that this type of thing happened many, many times in the long history of the Bible.)

How the Bible was finalized -- a basic history…

Rick Fearon of Six Screens of the Watchtower called me last week and asked if I would like to be interviewed on his Saturday, September 26 Conference Call Show. He told me that fascinating people from all over the world call in, including both former and active Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other people who are “touched by the tentacles of the Watchtower.” While it sounded interesting, I knew little about his group. So I told him that I needed a few days to think about it before deciding to participate.

I did my research and talked to several friends. As it turns out, Rick and his wife, Inez, are fully committed to a very unique ministry that exposes the false teachings and hypocrisy of the Watchtower Society. It didn’t take me long to decide to appear on his show.

Fearon’s site, along with FreeMinds.org, Ex-JW.com, and BRCI.org , to name just a few, are all doing a great job sharing the truth about this dangerous cult.

I dialed into the show at 6:35 PM and listened in on an active conversation between several ex-JWs and people studying cult behavior. One of the alarming observations came from a disfellowshipped woman whose son was a known pedophile. She knew that he and society would be better off if he was in jail, but his local congregation’s elders were protecting him. They had no intention of reporting him to the local police because they believed his confession and resolve to stop his sordid behavior was enough evidence for them to forgive him of his sins.

At 7:00 PM, Rick closed the outside lines so that only the two of us could talk while assuring his phoned-in audience that there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of listeners already listening to the call.

Rick spoke for twenty-five minutes, sharing the goals for the Six Screens Ministry and reporting new developments in the activity and loss of members for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Promptly at 7:25 PM, Rick began the interview. For well over an hour he asked me questions about why I wrote my book, Growing Up in Mama’s Club, what my childhood was like, what I liked and disliked about Bethel, etc.

During the interview, he expressed his belief in the inevitable demise of the Watchtower Society in the very near future – which I took exception to. While I would certainly love to see such a thing happen, cult-like religions exist because they appeal to a certain type of people who cannot find what they are looking for in mainstream religion. All in all, I found Rick an enthusiastic and gracious host.

Finally Rick reopened the telephone lines to allow listeners to ask questions, which I found interesting and challenging. One caller from Kansas asked me to share some of the humorous events that occurred during my childhood. One woman, who had never been a Club member, called to tell me how entertaining my book was. She really enjoyed learning what being a Jehovah’s Witness was like. A caller from Washington expressed concern about the high incidence of child molestation among members of the Club. Another caller from Georgia asked when my sequel, Ghosts from Mama’s Club, would be published. I told him that it would be available in six months.

I enjoyed the nearly three-hour experience on the phone and look forward to hearing good results from Rick and Inez Fearon’s ministry on “Six Screens of the Watchtower” in the months ahead.

Shortly after the conference call, I checked my emails and was pleased to receive the following message from one of my good friends who encouraged me to be on Rick’s show: “I’m two hours into your call and you are doing great. You really hit the ball out of the park. You are calm, logical, and very friendly.”

If you have a couple of spare hours next Saturday, you might want to check this out…

I’ve been invited to be a guest on an open telephone conference call moderated by Rick Fearon at “Six Screens of the Watchtower” on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EST).

You can get specific information about how to join in and listen to the call at Six Screens of the Watchtower – Conference Calls. Access to the call is free (except for your own long distance call charges, if any), and you will have the ability to participate during the question and answer segment.

Here is the site’s official announcement:
“Richard Kelly author of the book “Growing up in Mama’s Club” will be our guest this Sat. Sept. 26, 2009 7PM EST. What can happen when a child is forced to adhere to strict religious ideology that he or she is unable to comprehend or believe? “Growing Up In Mama’s Club – A Childhood Perspective of Jehovah’s Witnesses” answers that question by disclosing the rare insights of a boy and his day-to-day life experiences grappling with religious confusion for over sixteen years.”

Six Screens of the Watchtower is a good source of information about Jehovah’s Witnesses and the history of the Watchtower Society. It has a wide readership and its bi-weekly conference calls are attended by hundreds of former and current Jehovah’s Witnesses. The website has an audio collection of many of their past calls, many of them that you might find interesting and want to listen to at your leisure. I recommend that you take a few moments and check out Six Screens of the Watchtower.

If you have time, be sure to listen in on Saturday. I’d love to read your comments and impressions of the show.

Instructions on how to join the call:
Call (712) 432-8710. When asked for pin number use #9925. It’s easy to participate. When you come into the conference, you may have to hit *1 to unmute yourself. The conference call takes place every two weeks on Saturday night at 7pm EST.