Why were you "sure" the JW's had the truth when you joined?

by JH 17 Replies latest jw friends

  • JH
    JH

    This thread is for those who joined on their own....not those who grew up as JW's and dragged into it...

    In my case, they seemed to be alone preaching the Good news of the kingdom to be on earth and heaven. They called God Jehovah or YHWH. They preached door to door like Mathew 24:14 said. They stood out by their zeal and seemed honest. They didn't believe in the trinity, nor in hell fire. They seemed to stay far away from the world and it's bad practises.

    And I wanted to live eternally on earth, and didn't want to die, and they alone offered that.

  • Blueblades
    Blueblades

    The "Carrot" really got to me, never having to die! Then the booklet, " The Word According to John" at the time was what convinced me that God was not a Trinity. Then " Things in which it is Impossible For God to Lie" book, covered so much material on the Bible hooked me in deeper, along with the book "Freedom in the Son's of God" and the blue bomb, "The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life". The special issue of the Watchtower at that time was " The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years", the year was 1969.

    It took 33years out of our lives!

    Blueblades

  • prophecor
    prophecor

    As craxy is it sounds, JH, the reason that I knew it was the truth was because people were actually disciplined, and harshly because of wrongdoing, scripturally it was outlined and I was surprised that once I'd found this.

    1st Corinthians 5:1-13

    1 Actually fornication is reported among YOU , and such fornication as is not even among the nations, that a wife a certain [man] has of [his] father. 2 And are YOU puffed up, and did YOU not rather mourn, in order that the man that committed this deed should be taken away from YOUR midst? 3 I for one, although absent in body but present in spirit, have certainly judged already, as if I were present, the man who has worked in such a way as this, 4 that in the name of our Lord Jesus, when YOU are gathered together, also my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 YOU hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

    6 Y OUR [cause for] boasting is not fine. Do YOU not know that a little leaven ferments the whole lump? 7 Clear away the old leaven, that YOU may be a new lump, according as YOU are free from ferment. For, indeed, Christ our passover has been sacrificed. 8 Consequently let us keep the festival, not with old leaven, neither with leaven of badness and wickedness, but with unfermented cakes of sincerity and truth.

    9 In my letter I wrote YOU to quit mixing in company with fornicators, 10 not [meaning] entirely with the fornicators of this world or the greedy persons and extortioners or idolaters. Otherwise, YOU would actually have to get out of the world. 11 But now I am writing YOU to quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. 12 For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Do YOU not judge those inside, 13 while God judges those outside? “Remove the wicked [man] from among yourselves.”

    The scriptures which refer to the preaching work and how the end would never come until all would have an opportunity to hear it. Matthew 24:14 "...and this good news of the kingdom shall preached into every part of the inhabited Earth,and then the end will come. They were the only ones doing this.

  • Balsam
    Balsam

    Thought it would turn my mean and harsh husband into a nice guy. It did for a few years till he started cheating with other sisters. But besides my basic motivation lets see: Their preaching activity. Promised New System under a righteous government in 1975. People who tried to do what was right most of the time. Was impressed with their biblical knowledge of bible stories. Sense of welcome and love bombing they did to us as new bible studies.

  • FairMind
    FairMind

    To start with, I knew that the churches didn't teach the truth. Many of the JW teachings made perfect sense to me, things like you are a soul rather than you have a soul. I also appreciated the fact that they didn;t wink at wrong doing (didn't know though that they had doulble standards).

  • The Lone Ranger
    The Lone Ranger

    They were (and still are) good at exposing the lies of other religions, so thats why I think its easy to believe them, and they use the bible to do it too, problem is that they replaced someone else's lies with their own lies, and that can take years to find out, if ever!

  • drew sagan
    drew sagan

    Because it just made "sense".
    Like many others, I joined as a result of an excited emotional response to the message that is put forth in their publications. I was very impressed at the Bible knowledge that many of the Witnesses had, especially those I studied with. I questioned them a few times on various points, but never really went any further. They gave me all the answers I needed to know.
    It's funny how things work out. The same excitement for the Bible study and the desire to find truth is what brought me into their organization. It was those same things years later that caused me to rethink all I had been taught and accepted and finally come to the conclusion that the Witnesses do not have the truth.
    The frame of mind you take on when you become a Witnesses becomes one of acceptance, not of choice. At the start you choose to believe what you are told, but eventually you simply start accept doctrine and teachings without question. The Society wants you to stop thinking on your own at a certain point and let you hand over the power of choice to them. I finally came to the conclusion that my life is going to be more than just acceptance of what another man tells me is the truth.

  • stillAwitness
    stillAwitness

    It was the classic : "They use God's name " that pulled me in.

    And the what I thought were free publications.

  • mariposa
    mariposa

    Like Drew said...it just "made sense".

    My family had never been religous growing up and when a boyfriend started to study, I joined in. It didn't stick....but after a REALLY bad year, doing a few too many drugs, and losing everything I had, I went back. Everyone at the hall just seemed to UNDERSTAND what I was going through. All of a sudden I was welcome and a part of a gigantic family. (Took 7 years to see how much of a family they truly were)

    I just wanted to live forever with my worldly family (always hoping they would die of some freak accident so they could get to the new system) in a paradise earth. It sounded GOOD!!! It looked like they had all the bases covered whenever I asked questions. Sometimes things didn't seem to fit, but I let my doubts go cause I didn't want to give up the bigger picture for something so trivial.

  • Think
    Think

    SO true : The classic line : they "USE" ( overdose 25X) God name !

    Hello to you , StillAwitness.

    I like your line. You are up to something ..

    Your sentencing also improved ... ..a ... LOT !

    Keep up the excent job !

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit