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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Jehovah's Witness Protection Program

No, I am not living under a new identity and I'm certainly not hiding from any Jehovah's Witnesses.  Though I may have not answered the door when they came knockin'.   I did find a book a few years back that I picked up for the title alone (and might upset the Witnesses).


I don't believe in ghosts. That phrase is almost an oxymoron, because by saying, "I don't believe in ghosts,"  I am actually acknowledging their existence;  I just choose not see them.   Kinda the same way I would turn down a second cup of coffee.   I see it on the tray I just don't want it.  I  have never seen a ghost and I don't expect to.  Would I like to?  Sure.  Nothing livens up a dull day more than a disembodied spirit from another dimension.

The author, Johannes Greber had the same feeling, well, almost.  In 1920's, as a catholic priest, he had his beliefs until he walked into a seance and communicated with a spirit sent by God, who then began to tell him, "Um, by the way, that whole bible everyone's been reading is missing stuff."  He becomes a spiritist and has many more communications with the spirit world, many with his wife as the medium.  He then goes on to translate a version of the New Testament which is used by the JW's for almost 50 years to support their beliefs before someone realizes, "Hey wait, this guy Greber was maybe communicating with demons. Whoops!" and they then remove all references to the use of his writings. While trying to research all this to understand it myself, I begin to get dizzy.  No, no spirits are appearing before me, I just can't make head or tail of the validity of what Greber wrote; what the JW's believe, and why so many websites are dedicated to exposing JW's use of his writings. For more on this take a look at one of those websites (go half way down the page for a pretty good explanation)  

The important part of this post is that while looking through the old farmhouse at the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market (they often hold tag sales there, maybe to sell of the stuff left behind in my previous post) I came across this book, and because of its age and because of one other important aspect, I grabbed it for 2 bucks.  Now, with all the history and controversy surrounding this individual, if what I have is real, then I think I have a rare find. After finding Greber's signature in another location on the web, though low resolution, I have verified that I have what is likely a first edition singed copy of his book. Take a look at the signature on the right and the inscription on the book above. Is it his signature? For an even better biography of Greber go here.Turns out he was a pretty amazing guy.

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