I converted to Jehovah's Witnesses

[Alter2Ego]

2) NO ONE ACTUALLY TAKES THEIR THEOLOGY DIRECTLY FROM THE BIBLE, BUT INSTEAD THEY TAKE THEIR THEOLOGY FROM SUBJECTIVE INTERPRETATION OF SACRED TEXTS

As all reading this thread can see, this is not merely a "Jehovah's Witness theology." It is taken directly from scripture in God's inspired word, the Judeo-Christian Bible.

Though I understand why individuals claim that they take their theology and theories “directly” from scripture, this is not what actually happens. What happens is individuals typically read the bible and, using their personal context and bias, create personal meaning of the text that may (or may not) be shared by others.

Thus, your (and my) theologies typical come from our various subjective interpretations of text.
Because our individual contexts and biases differ, our resulting interpretations will differ.
And because our interpretations differ, our theology will differ.

I backed up my statement regarding the condition of the dead by quoting scripture from Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 that says the dead know nothing. Those verses can only have one meaning, but since you're now claiming that it's subjective, supposed you tell the rest of us what YOU subjectively believe those verses mean. They are quoted below, this time, from the King James Bible and World English Bible.

"{5} For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. {6} Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." (Ecclesiastes (9:5-6 -- King James Bible)

Ecclesiastes 9 KJV

"{5} For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten. {6} Also their love, their hatred, and their envy has perished long ago; neither do they any longer have a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." (Ecclesiastes (9:5-6 -- World English Bible)

Ecclesiastes 9 WEB

BTW Clear, be sure and tell us which version of the English language you are basing your understanding upon, in light of the fact scripture says the dead "don't know anything" and "their love, their hate, and their envy perished" when physical death occurred.




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"That people may know that you, whose name is JEHOVAH, you alone are the Most High over all the earth." ~ Psalms 83:18