Being a Witness involves accepting what you might call a "pyramid of belief." Witness doctrines are based on their interpretation of the Bible, which is in turn based on the belief that the Bible represents the word of God, which is in turn based on the belief that there is a God that communicates with humans, which is in turn based on the belief that the universe was intentionally constructed by an intelligent being. The JW belief system is thus the very top block on the pyramid of beliefs.
Witnesses are not in the habit of considering their beliefs in this way, so it can be eye-opening to take a look at what you honestly believe at each level of the pyramid. I've created a short worksheet to help in this. I strongly recommend printing it out or writing it down, rather than doing it on the computer. This is one of those cases where having it on paper in front of you really helps.
HOW TO USE
It's very simple. For each belief, there is a continuum that stretches from absolute certainty to absolute disbelief. There are no marks in between - this is entirely up to you. For each proposition, make a mark on the continuum that describes your personal level of certainty about that particular idea. For example:
There is a tooth fairy:
Absolute disbelief Absolute certainty
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It is very important to be honest. Don't answer the way you think you ought to answer, as if someone were looking over your shoulder. Just mark down what you truly feel. That's the only way you will get anything out of the exercise. If you don't like the results, you can think about that later, but at least you will have an accurate picture of your belief system.
Ready? Here we go:
1. The universe was deliberately created.
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2. The universe was created by a single intelligent entity, God.
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3. God has intervened in human affairs.
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4. God caused the Bible to be written.
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5. The history in the Bible is literally true. That is, humans were created from scratch 6000 years ago, a worldwide flood occurred wiping out all but eight humans about 4300 years ago, etc.
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6. The Christian scriptures are literally true. That is, God caused a spirit person to be born in the flesh as Jesus, who performed actual miracles, was killed by the Sanhedrin, etc.
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7. The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses constitutes the only channel of enlightenment to humankind.
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8. God is about to destroy everyone on earth who he deems unrighteous.
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9. There is no reliable path to salvation other than by being a Jehovah's Witness.
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So, how'd you do?
SNG