NEW LIGHT in the BRITISH
MUSEUM
Bob Potter
(Investigator 57, 1997
November)
A visitor to London,
entering the world-famous British Museum on any Saturday, morning or
afternoon, could be easily misled into believing that the Jehovah's
Witnesses now have a mass following in this country. Whether visiting
the Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek or Roman galleries, or the rooms
displaying ancient texts extant from those periods — the first Bibles
or the Magna Carta — the visitor would be likely to encounter largish
groups, numbering up to thirty individuals, clutching copies of and
frequently referring to the New World Translation of the Holy
Scriptures to better understand the significance of the exhibit being
viewed.
Usually there are several
of these tours in progress; all easy to identify as participants wear
large, distinctive badges labeled Bible Tours. The tours last, on
average, about 1½ hours, the morning sessions beginning at
10.45am, the afternoons at 2.00pm. Given fine weather, the brothers and
sisters 'take over' the large seating area in front of the museum's
main entrance or the nearby Russell Square to enjoy picnic lunches and
intra-group 'fellowship'.
The tours are organized by
a company set up by the Society and called Meander Tours.
They do a range of things including tours of Bible lands like Egypt and
Israel. The museum tours are arranged, in advance, by congregations.
Those attending pay a nominal charge of about £3 a head to cover
the administration, travel, subsistence and training.
The 'tour leaders' are
volunteer 'elders' who (based on the several I have listened to), in
spite of the 'internal' training they have been given, have no
specialist knowledge of the topics/subject matter to be
explored/discussed beyond the printed text, on which they rely heavily,
issued to them by the Society.
Obviously, Meander Tours is
well known, world-wide, in Jehovah's Witness congregations. One of the
tours I attached myself to, on 1st August 1997 (and described in the
following pages), contained at least a dozen from Australia (Victoria
and Tasmania) and the United States (New York and Montana). Fortunately
for me, outsiders are not turned away — indeed there is no way that
they could be. The two tours I accompanied were The Bible's Struggle to
Exist and The Bible: History Written in Advance. It was the first real
contact I'd had with the Witnesses for about fifteen years and proved
to be an interesting reminder of the pedestrian/immature view of
'scholarship' held by the Watchtower Society.
That the tour is no more
than a covert Watchtower 'Bible Study' becomes evident in the first few
minutes. The 30-strong group was taken to the King's Gallery which is
'walled' by large filled bookcases, old and large volumes dating from
the fifteenth century or before. The guide established who everybody
was — what's your name? Where do you come from? It was this initial
interchange that identified the Aussies and the Yanks. The theme of the
tour was to be 'bread' ... the 'bread of life' ... and all were asked
to consider themselves bakers. The Devil has three strategies for
keeping 'fresh bread' away from humankind:
1) only serve
'stale' bread
2) assassinate those who
attempt to sell 'fresh' bread
3) if the bread is
'fresh', pollute it.
The group was asked to look
around the gallery and guess how many books were on the walls. The
answer — 140,000. But these were all examples of 'stale' bread because,
hundreds of years old, they were written in Latin (Who reads Latin?
Nobody! Who present would look forward to an evening in front of the
fire looking at any of these books? Nobody present!) These are
'stale' books, and that's how Satan kept the Bible away from the people
for centuries. And of course, that also suited the Church!
But there were those who
wanted the Bible to be written in the vernacular. Who produced the
first Bible in English? There was great commotion and uncertainty
in the group. Someone said Wycliffe, someone said Tyndale. Who had it
right? The guide offered an easy way to remember these two
chronologically. What always comes first? Answer — Jehovah! that is,
Jehovah's Witnesses. J.W. also stands for John Wycliffe. What comes
next? Answer — The Watchtower. W.T. also stands for William Tyndale.
Note
how easy learning becomes for those who are 'in the Truth'!
The group paused and looked
briefly at the Wyclif (that's the original spelling!) version (1380-82)
which was a word-for-word rendering of the Latin Vulgate. Tour members
were told to be sure and look at the book because it would add to their
credibility on the doorstep to be able to tell the listener that they
had themselves seen the original of the Wycliffe text. Several were
asked by the guide to confirm that they had actually looked at the
pages — and were then reminded that such an act was an 'offence'
punishable by death a few centuries ago (which wasn't quite the case as
indicated in the text on the museum plate affixed to the display box —
nobody did read that inscription!). In just a few minutes, the group
was led to believe that:
a) John
Wycliffe had
himself prepared the text of his Bible for publication
b) John Wycliffe escaped
death (for this translation) because being, in effect, an 'Oxford don'
he had lots of 'friends in high places'
c) John Wycliffe was the
founder of the Lollards.
In fact, probably none of
these statements is true. He played no direct part in the
translation of the Bible, although his lectures undoubtedly inspired
the project. He was forced to retire following his condemnation by
Gregory XI in 1377, but he continued writing pamphlets, without
hindrance. The Lollards, grounded in the poorer elements of society,
emulated his beliefs (after his death), basing their doctrines on
personal faith, Divine election and the Bible — they attacked clerical
celibacy, transubstantiation, indulgences and pilgrimages, believing
the validity of priestly acts was determined by the priests' moral
character. Endowments, the Pope and the church hierarchy
were all perceived as unscriptural i.e. the Lollards had much to do
with building the climate that was to lead to the Reformation. It
was these ideas, allied to those of Wycliffe, that inspired the
peasants revolt of 1381. He was declared an heretic in 1382 — dying, in
bed, two years later.
At the other end of the
display cabinet, we looked at the much smaller(!) book printed by
William Tyndale at Cologne and Worms in 1525-6. Why was it
'smaller'? asked our guide. Nobody had any suggestions (i.e. nobody
read the museum inscription below it, fortunately for the tour guide!)
Because it had been printed in Germany and would need to be smuggled
into England. Look at the Wycliffe book — fancy coming through
customs with that and saying that you 'had nothing to
declare'. Has any brother present a copy of the 'smaller'
edition of the New World Translation? Somebody
had, the guide borrowed it and demonstrated how much easier
it is to sneak a smaller volume into one's pocket. At this point, the
audience was reminded that in these current 'final days' we may soon
find it advantageous to have 'smaller' copies that are not so
conspicuous. It seemed that the guide was unaware that the main reason
the Tyndale book was smaller was because it consisted only of the New
Testament, while the Wycliffe volume was the whole Bible. No matter;
the point had been made. The 'bread' was difficult
to come by in those days because of Satan's second strategy — kill
those who would bring 'fresh' bread. William Tyndale had been strangled
and burnt at the stake in October 1536.
Leaving Tyndale, the group
was led to the nearby Gutenberg Bible, produced in Mainz, in 1453-5,
using the first moveable metal type. The majority of group members did
not read the text provided by the museum and probably, like the guide,
now believe that Gutenberg refers to a place rather than the name of
the inventor of printing. Two identically worded 'indulgences', the
earliest known, printed by Gutenberg in October 1454 and displayed in
the same cabinet, inspired our guide to give us a mini-lecture about
the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead
(elsewhere in the museum) to demonstrate the
'pagan origins' of the selling of indulgences. (Our teacher was
well-read in Watchtower publications, which are notably inaccurate when
they report the beliefs of other religions. The British Museum
regularly presents excellent public lectures on Egyptian history,
presented by individuals actively involved in research, excavation and
textual analysis. As I listened to the uneducated nonsense being
expounded, I don't know what I found most distressing — that these
people
were happy to absorb all that was being said or that any suggestion
that they look at the actual research findings so readily available to
all, free of charge, would only lead to a hostile allegation that
'proper study' is inspired by Satan.)
We passed by the several
'versions' of the Magna Carta, 1215, and the Bull issued by Innocent
III which 'diminished the royal prerogative' over Englishmen and
maintained the power of the Pope by 'condemning and annulling' the
decree, thus engendering a civil war in England until the death of King
John in October 1216. The tutor made no mention of this civil unrest,
feeling it much more important to report that one of these manuscripts
had been purchased by the Museum for one thousand Marks, which in
English currency of the time was £666!!
Finally we came to the
final exhibits to be viewed on the tour — the two Greek codices (i. e.
'books' as opposed to 'scrolls'): Codex Sinaiticus and Codex
Alexandrinus, generally believed to have originated in Egypt, in the
4th and 5th Centuries respectively. Listeners were urged to
look closely at the few pages of codices visible to them, so that when
a 'client' told them “the Bible has changed over the years”, they could
answer “no!”, authoratively, “that is not the case!”, they had seen
some of the earliest texts!
Having said that (and
nobody seemed to spot the contradicting argument that followed
immediately!) attention was drawn to the colossal amount of work that
has been carried out by scholars of recent years to 'remove the
impurities from the bread'; the numbers of 'mistranslations' that have
been identified by comparing different texts, including the important
codices. The listener was under no misapprehension as to who had
carried out the most important work in this field — the Bible Students
associated with the Watchtower Society! That such an
inaccurate and absurd claim could be made, so soberly, without
eliciting any response, behavioural or verbal, was the best
illustration (for me, the best 'reminder') of the naivety/ignorance of
the audience.
The summing up followed. We
were reminded of the Devil's three strategies — of the 'boring' Latin
texts, of the persecution of those who worked for Bibles in common
languages and of the 'impurities' in the texts, which the Society was
working so hard to remove.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *
The afternoon tour,
introduced to us as The Bible: History Written in Advance, lasted for
nearly two hours and involved much walking; yet, incredibly we looked
only at a few statues of historical persons and two rough maps. Nothing
we viewed added to what was essentially a Watchtower 'Bible Study'
session that could have been better (i.e. more comfortably) carried out
in a Kingdom Hall. If this had been the only 'tour' attended on the
day, the fare to London could not be justified.
We began at a small statue
of Alexander the Great. A large slab of scripture was read to us by the
guide, culled from Daniel 7:1 — 8:27. Of course the point to be asserted,
without questioning or consideration, was that the text of Daniel was
completed in 536BC — while the events being described (prophesied
about),
the conquests of Alexander leading up to the break-up of his empire,
were not actualized for another two hundred years. Alexander died
in 323BC, at the early age of 32 years, before he could fulfill his
dream of re-building Babylon as his capital. (Of course, that's
the way it had to happen, we were told, because Jehovah had told us
that Babylon would never be rebuilt!) We moved to the two
small sketch-maps on the wall of the gallery, which indicated the
re-structuring of the empire that followed the death of Alexander. More
verses from Daniel were read and 'discussed' in the question and answer
format that is basic to any Watchtower gathering.
I must insert a few words
regarding the authenticity of this 'piece of scripture' as it is
regarded by the overwhelming majority of Biblical scholars, today. Of
course these questions were not discussed on the Museum tour!
For those who share my
interest and fascination in the Apocalyptic, Daniel is the obvious
starting point (and undoubtedly the best introduction to this topic is
still The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic by D S Russell: SCM
Press (1964). The majority of today's researchers are agreed that the
book was written in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163BC) and
more particularly after the desecration of the Temple by that ruler in
168BC, but before its reconstruction by the Maccabees in 165BC. There
are at least five reasons for this consensus of opinion:
I) Ch 11 shows clear
acquaintance with trivial events in the reign of Ant. Epithanes, of no
'prophetic' value and lacking any moral or spiritual importance. The
earlier periods of history are dismissed in single sentences, but the
description of Antiochus is full and vivid, extending to more than
twenty-four verses. Earlier, in Ch 8, is indeed a clear description of
the conquests of Alexander and the division of his empire; and of
Antiochus Epiphanes with the 'fourth beast' representing Alexander's
kingdom and its succession in the Seleucid dynasty, on which the writer
is focussed; but his main interest remains the great persecution
initiated by Antiochus. When, however, the author touches upon a
subsequent period, he writes nothing in need of interpretation, but
only symbolizes the general Messianic hope of Israel. He foretells the
death of Antiochus, but is quite wrong regarding the place and
circumstances. Supernatural foresight enabled the prophet to foresee
the future clearly as far as 167BC, but not as far as 164BC!!
2) The writer's specific
knowledge of the times when Daniel is alleged to have lived
(?606-535BC) is clearly based on oral tradition. Within this period he
mentions as kings of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius the
Mede and Cyrus. He views them all as reigning sovereigns, not as
subordinate rulers. Belshazzar is the son of Nebuchadnezzar and king at
the time of its capture by the Medes and Persians. But history knows
nothing of Darius the Mede preceding Cyrus. No Darius reigned until a
score of years later. The key to an understanding of the book of Daniel
is an appreciation that the four kingdoms, which dominate the book, are
Babylonia, the Medes, the Persians and the Greeks. Daniel
was mistaken.There was no Median Empire parallel to the other
three!
We now possess a long
series of contract tables which are dated virtually day-by-day from the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar to that of Xerxes ... Daniel's list shows his
general confusion of the order of events. Cyrus, we know from
cuneiform inscriptions, took Babylon peaceably. It was during the
reign of Darius that Babylon rebelled and Darius was forced to besiege
the city. Daniel follows tradition (Herodotus) and transfers the
siege to Cyrus. In Daniel, both king and siege have been
transferred to an earlier period. There are many other
'confusions' of this kind, supporting the view that the author lived
several centuries later.
3) The languages used in
the text likewise are not consistent with the fundamentalist view. The
book is written in both Hebrew and Aramaic. The Hebrew is distinguished
from that of the exilic Ezekiel and resembles that of the Chronicles,
written about 300BC. The Aramaic (chs 2:5 - 7:28) is also of a later
date. Persian words appear in both sections, suggesting that a long
enough period had elapsed for Persian words to have become part of the
Jewish language. Musical instruments, contemporary with Antiochus, are
mentioned; instruments that would not have been known in the earlier
period.
4) The doctrines of Daniel,
angels and demons, fit with the Jewish writings of the first century BC
— ideas that had originated in the contemporary Persian religion.
Likewise, Daniel teaches a personal resurrection — none of these views
conform to the Old Testament scriptures. The stories of Daniel and 'the
three young men' are intended to convey a message of hope to people
placed in a similar situation. If the Book is seen in the Maccabean
period, it 'makes sense'. Date it in the days of Babylon, its meaning
is unintelligible. If we follow the traditionalists, we must explain
why Daniel was so uninterested in events of his own time, and so
obsessed with things to happen several centuries after his time!
5) There is no evidence in
any Old Testament or Apocryphal writing of its earlier existence.
The silence of Ecclesiasticus (190BC) which lists Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets, but says nothing of Daniel, is
very significant. The testimony of Josephus, written near the close of
the first century AD, claiming that the text of Daniel was shown to
Alexander the Great represents only a Jewish legend. Had the text been
indeed written during the Exile, it would have been included among the
'Prophets' (instead of among the 'Writings').
I trust the reader will
bear with me and my diversion into a discussion of the first major
Apocalyptic text. It was my fascination with this ancient literature
that led to my research project into the psychology of the Jehovah's
Witnesses in the early 1980s; for anyone with an active mind, this
topic area remains intriguing, even exciting. Tragically, all
this is lost for those closed-minded individuals, who approach the
evidence with filtered spectacles, who reject the suggestion of genuine
inquiry and instead await inspired 'enlightenment' (i.e. 'new
light') from the wise old men in Brooklyn.
After half an-hour of
Scripture reading and relating the texts to the maps mentioned earlier,
the tour group moved to the floor above to view the busts of three
ancient Romans — Augustus Caesar (where we paused to read Luke 2:1 to
demonstrate that the Scripture was referring to real people who
actually lived!), then to busts of Claudius (this was a 'mistake' by
our guide; he had thought it was Tiberius — but we never-the-less
briefly discussed Claudius and his violent end) and finally, Tiberius. Again, here was a character
from the pages of Holy Scripture (Luke 3:1), whose action had been
necessary for the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy regarding the
birthplace of "the greatest man who ever lived" — which, at the
same time, was yet another example of 'history written in advance'.
There
was still thirty
minutes of 'tour time' ahead of us, but now, the surroundings were
forgotten and instead, with Bible in hand, the tutor/elder reminded us
that history was still going on, as predicted. New light had shown that
the sheep and the goats were being separated and very soon the final
events, Armageddon, would envelop us all. As I suggested earlier, this
tour could have taken place anywhere; that we were in the Briitish
Museum, surrounded by thousands of objects that nobody bothered to look at(!) was irrelevant to the 'teaching session'.
Because they believe they
are 'in the Truth', Witnesses tend to be arrogant in their
presentations to those 'outside the Truth'. Ignorant of the nature of
true scholarship (and the built-in humility that must, by definition,
always accompany it), they are dogmatic in the doctrinal assertions and
proud to be so. It is easy to see what a strengthening experience their
trip to the British Museum must have been for them. It gave them
evidence that they are indeed Bible students — they have examined some
early/original texts; they have looked at a few exhibits related to odd
paragraphs in the Bible.
Further, the trip helped
them convince themselves that they are more than Bible students — they
are Bible scholars. Their conviction is pure myth, but egos are
boosted, confidence is enhanced — they become more effective as
'publishers'.