Understanding Jehovah's Witnesses: Why They Read the Bible the Way They Do

by Robert M. Bowman

This new translation of Horace's most widely read collection of poetry is rendered in modern, metrical English verse rather than the more common free verse found in many other translations. Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz adapts the Roman poet's rich and metrically varied poetry to English formal verse, reproducing the works in a way that maintains fidelity to the tone, timbre, and style of the originals while conforming to the rules of English prosody. Each poem is true to the sense and aesthetic pleasure of the Latin and carries with it the dignity, concision, and movement characteristic of Horace's writing. Kaimowitz presents each translation with annotations, providing the context necessary for understanding and enjoying Horace's work. He also comments on textual instability and explains how he constructed his verse renditions to mirror Horatian Latin. Horace and The Odes are introduced in lively fashion by noted classicist Ronnie Ancona

Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A USEFUL EXAMINATION OF THE WATCHTOWER'S USE OF THE BIBLE

Robert M. Bowman Jr. (born 1957), is Director of Research at the Institute for Religious Research, and specializes in the study of apologetics. He is also the author of books such as The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1991 book, "The focus of this book is on understanding Jehovah's Witnesses, not attacking them. In fact, the first two chapters do not criticize the Jehovah's Witnesses at all, and even the rest of the book is more concerned with understanding the Witnesses than with criticizing them. In a sense, I have written the book more for orthodox Christians than for Jehovah's Witnesses... Of course, I do hope that Jehovah's Witnesses will read the book, too."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"Some Jehovah's Witnesses, in private conversations and discussions with evangelicals, have found it useful to deny that God's organization is to be identified with the Watchtower Society. The Watchtower Society, they argue, is actually only a corporation that God's people use to get their work done. This technicality does not, however, alter the facts. The leaders of the Watchtower Society on Brooklyn are not merely administering a corporation, they are controlling the doctrines believed by the millions of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide." (Pg. 49-50)
"The kinds of doctrines I have in mind here are especially the Jehovah's Witness 'don't's': blood transfusions, war, participation in political affairs, various celebrations (Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays), the use of the cross as a religious symbol, and the like... Yet many people are attracted to the Witnesses because of one or more of these 'don't's.'" (Pg. 93-94)
"Although this is much less true today than it was a century ago, it cannot be denied that the form 'Jehovah' is still widely used outside Jehovah's Witness circles." (Pg. 110)
"Although the most basic meaning of 'stauros' was of a straight stick or stake, it was commonly used in Jesus' time to refer to a variety of wooden instruments of execution used by the Romans, probably most often of the cross." (Pg. 143)

[Victor Chininin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful book. It doesn't portray an anti-Witnesses controversy rather it seeks to point us to consider a number of things at play inside of the Witnesses understanding of the Bible and the Watchtower. A great analysis of the JW's hermeneutical principles.