Jehovah's Witnesses reference works: Difference between revisions

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	{{Jehovah's Witnesses}}Jehovah's Witnesses have published various reference works outlining their interpretations of the ]. Their most current doctrinal encyclopedia is the two-volume set, ''Insight on the Scriptures''.

	==Aid to Bible Understanding==
	''Aid to Bible Understanding'', now out of print, was the first doctrinal and biblical ] of ], published in part in 1969, and in full in 1971 by the ]. It is also referred to informally as the ''Aid Book''.

	===Content===
	The first 544-page volume contains articles on biblical topics listed alphabetically from '']'' through to '']''. The completed 1,696-page volume contains ]d articles on over 4000 subjects.<ref>{{cite journal\|journal=The Watchtower\|title=1,001 Questions Answered\|page=31\|date=15 July 1980}}</ref> It has color maps on its end sheets and some black and white illustrations within the main text.

	===Background===
	The writing of and research for ''Aid Book'' lead to different interpretations of ] verses and seems to have been a catalyst for Jehovah's Witnesses to adjust ]s after its publishing. For example, in the mid 1970's the ] delegated oversight of congregations and branch offices to committees of elders. The commentary on the subjects "Older Man" and "Overseer" in the 1971 publishing of this book had called into question the use of individual elders as overseers, or single points of authority, within the religion's ].<ref>{{cite book\|title=Crisis of Conscience\|author=Franz, Raymond\|publisher=Commentary Press\|date=1983\|pages=23–25}}</ref>

	Controversy also arose regarding the ''Aid Book'' as high-profile members of the religion who contributed to its articles eventually left the organization. Officially, the encyclopedia has an anonymous author, the ], though the organization states that over "250 researchers ... contributed to the work".<ref>{{cite book\|title=Aid to Bible Understanding\|page=5\|publisher=Watchtower Society}}</ref> ], a former member of the Governing Body<ref>''1973 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses'', page 257</ref> who claimed to be one of the researchers, stated that the many of the contributions submitted could not be used because of ] or superficiality.<ref>{{cite book\|title=Crisis of Conscience\|author=Franz, Raymond\|publisher=Commentary Press\|date=1983\|page=20}}</ref> Franz adds that ] appointed ] (who later became a member of the ]), Edward Dunlap of the ] staff, along with Franz in the Writing Department, as the primary writers. ], the organization's vice president, advised these writers when scholarly questions arose, or referred them to secular ] held at the world headquarters' library.<ref>{{cite book\|title=Crisis of Conscience\|author=Franz, Raymond\|publisher=Commentary Press\|date=1983\|pages=21–23}}</ref>
	{{see also\|Nathan Knorr#Organizational_adjustments}}
	{{see also\|Raymond Franz#Joining Jehovah's Witnesses' World Headquarters}}

	==Insight on the Scriptures==
	]
	''Insight on the Scriptures'' is a two-volume hardcover biblical reference work, published in 1988; each volume has 1280 pages, which superseded '']''.

	The works contain full-color illustrations, graphs, charts, maps and other visual aids, as well as detailed analyses of all subjects found in the Bible as interpreted by ]. Biblical views on subjects such as ], ] and others are also discussed. The ''Insight'' books contain articles on every book of the Bible (except for the ] which are discussed in the article, '']'') with an outline of the principal ideas of each.

	==Reasoning from the Scriptures==
	]
	''Reasoning From the Scriptures'' is a 456-page doctrinal handbook, published in 1985. It is designed as a quick reference work for use in evangelizing activity and source for Bible speeches, and common responses to questions a Witness might encounter. It is mainly for use by the Witnesses, and is not generally offered to the public, though can be made available to anyone who requests a copy.<ref>Watchtower 3/186 p. 31 “New Field-Ministry Handbook” © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania</ref>

	Seventy-six doctrinal topics such as the Trinity, apostolic succession, abortion, dating, and sin are discussed, including scriptural and secular references to support conclusions and statements made. Sections include: "Introductions for Use in the Field Ministry" contain commonly used scriptural conversation starters; "How You Might Respond to Potential Conversation Stoppers" contains techniques to use in overcoming objections and negative responses when preaching to others in the ministry; “Scriptures Often Misapplied,” on page 445, which comments on 85 scriptures the Witnesses consider to be commonly misapplied.

	==References==
	{{reflist}}

	]
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Latest revision as of 19:23, 31 July 2010

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