In looking through the Watchtowers most recent study publication 'What does the Bible Really Teach' I noticed something that makes the book quite different from all other JW publications that have come before it.
All of the previous publications used to get 'interested ones' to become Jehovah's Witnesses made it perfectly clear who the Faithful Slave was. This is a core teaching of the JWs as all of us know. If you ever question JW authority you will almost always be asked 'well who do you think is the Faithful Slave?' It is the cornerstone of their religion.
But this main teaching is totally absent from the Bible Teach book. Nowhere do we see one reference to the 'Faithful Slave' at all! Isn't the most important thing we can do is help others recognize the faithful slave? Isn't this the main goal of JWs?
The new book is filled with a new vocabulary, one that is different from other JW publications. Instead of saying 'we must follow Gods Organization' it instead says stuff like 'we want to associate ourselves with those that practice true worship'. Organization talk is a thing of the past. Their 'new speak' still points to the org, but in a less of a direct manner. It doesn't focus so heavily on the org, at least not in the beginning.
Now compare this book with the 'Organized to do Jehovah's Will' book. What a difference. That book is loaded with references to the Faithful Slave, who it is, what Gods organization is, and why we must obey them like they are Jesus. But when does somebody get this book? Only AFTER they have decided to become an unbaptized publisher!
I remember when my Bible Study™ conductor tried to explain to me with the Knowledge book who the Faithful Slave was. I had no idea what he was talking about, and even after he explained it I still really wasn't clear on what he meant. Likewise, all those meetings I went to for years as a 'newly associated one' I never once really caught on to all of the talk about the 'faithful slave', all of it just went over my head. It didn't even register with me. I was so involved in thinking about the doctrines they told me where important (hellfire, trinity, soul sleep) that not once did I take notice of their organizational push. So when that conductor taught me who the faithful slave was I was somewhat turned off by the idea, but was so involved in their other teachings that I saw them as much more important. I never thought much of the 'Faithful Slave' untill years later when it had slowly worked on my mind.
It seems to me that they have taken out all of this in order to make people think they are simply joining up because of true doctrines, not because it is Gods organization. It can be hard for people to buy into that idea right away, but given time they can get you in their trap. So now they don't even teach their fundamental doctrine and prophecy at all to the public! It instead remains somewhat 'hidden' only to be truly understood by somebody after they have made a deep emotional commitment to the religion.
What the Bible Teach book doesn't say...
by drew sagan 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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drew sagan
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M.J.
Hassan's BITE model:
Information Control:
1. Use of deception: People don't join cults–cults recruit people. Information control begins during recruitment, when cults withhold or distort information to draw people in.
a. Deliberately holding back information
b. Distorting information to make it more "acceptable"
c. Outright lying
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M.J.
Also, you don't find any reference to the Faithful Slave on the Watchtower official website.
Honestly, I think what we see here is an adaptation by the Watchtower in response to all the publicity out there regarding its authoritarian nature.
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moshe
It's about saving money,too. When the Faithful Slave idea is quietly dropped, and it will be soon, there will be no need to print a new study book! Looks to me like the G-Body couldn't agree on a teaching to put into this book.
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NanaR
It seems to me that they have taken out all of this in order to make people think they are simply joining up because of true doctrines, not because it is Gods organization. It can be hard for people to buy into that idea right away, but given time they can get you in their trap. So now they don't even teach their fundamental doctrine and prophecy at all to the public! It instead remains somewhat 'hidden' only to be truly understood by somebody after they have made a deep emotional commitment to the religion.
It is certainly deceptive if not blatently dishonest. Also, the recatagorization of a number of things (voting, blood fractions, etc.) into "personal conscience" issues gives people on the "outside" the idea that JWs actually get to make choices based on personal conscience. IN REALITY, most of us have had the experience that it is the conscience of the local elder body that reigns -- NOT the conscience of the individual JW. For example, what if my conscience tells me I should vote, but then someone else in the congregation claims to be "stumbled" by it? The JC might not disfellowship me for VOTING specifically, but I believe they could DF me for "disregarding the counsel of older men" and "stumbling others". What the Watchtower giveth the Society taketh away...
I posted a lengthy topic a while ago regarding some of these points, but I haven't seen it appear yet. Oh well, never know with cyberspace, maybe my browser "ate" it LOL.
Very good point about the differences between the "Teach" book and the "Organization" book.
And then of course there are the two baptismal questions. Those have not been revised to remove the organization, have they?
NanaR
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Sunspot
Hi Drew!
I really enjoyed this post in that as a "dreaded apostate beast" I don't have access to or see the publications that have been offered since I left the WTS. I find the even MORE insideous hidden wording you mentioned, would seem to be just as you pointed out and that the WTS "fly in the spider-web" mentality is more alive than ever! I so appreciate posts that show these things and how sneaky the WTS still is, despite their lame attempts to appear to be more "liberal" or mainstream in their teachings.
I remember when my Bible Study™ conductor tried to explain to me with the Knowledge book who the Faithful Slave was. I had no idea what he was talking about, and even after he explained it I still really wasn't clear on what he meant. Likewise, all those meetings I went to for years as a 'newly associated one' I never once really caught on to all of the talk about the 'faithful slave', all of it just went over my head. It didn't even register with me. I was so involved in thinking about the doctrines they told me where important (hellfire, trinity, soul sleep) that not once did I take notice of their organizational push. So when that conductor taught me who the faithful slave was I was somewhat turned off by the idea, but was so involved in their other teachings that I saw them as much more important. I never thought much of the 'Faithful Slave' untill years later when it had slowly worked on my mind.
Yes....this rings a bell with me too. I was so busy with learning "all the new and wonderful things" that the WTS knew and no one ELSE did.....that stuff like the FD&S had no meaning in my as yet not totally JW mentality.
It DID make me very uncomfortable when that brochure came out about "The Organization" (I've forgotten the proper title at the moment---sorry) but that we were supposed to "cover some material" from it along with the study publication we were using with our possible WTS converts. This just seemed waaay to cold and clinical to me....and went against every fiber of my being when forced to DO this.
I realized much later that I was inwardly balking for YEARS before I took a good, hard and honest look at this "organization" and the way it operated. So many things made me uncomfortable and I always just plodded on ahead and ignored my common sense.
hugs,
Annie
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M.J.
When the Faithful Slave idea is quietly dropped, and it will be soon, there will be no need to print a new study book!
Hmmm...interesting thought. Not sure if I buy it but it would be a move in the right direction. The FDS idea is one of their most precarious, to be sure. If that one went, it would surely be replaced by an equivalent idea to secure the organization's "divinely appointed" authority.
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OnTheWayOut
This is a main
BibleLiterature student book. I don't have the library available at this location, but I am pretty sure that previous "interested ones" study books were similar and did not name the FDS to the students. I could be wrong, but that seems like a second book teaching for as long as I can remember. Of course, I only ever completed one study with a student. -
drew sagan
study books were similar and did not name the FDS to the students. I could be wrong, but that seems like a second book teaching for as long as I can remember. Of course, I only ever completed one study with a student.
This book is different. The three previous publications used to study with the public all had the faithful slave teaching as well as deep descriptions of faithfulness to the org. JWs seem to replace these books every decade.
All three of the following books used with the public all teach the FDS doctrine:
Knowledge Book - 1990's
You Can Live Forever - 1980's
Truth Book - 1970's
I remember that the Knowledge book as well as the Live Forever book actually get pretty detailed into the doctrine. The Live Forever book is quite forward stating that there has always been a faithful slave and that Jehovah's Witnesses are it. This is quite different from the new book that doesn't even say the phrase 'faithful slave' one time. All of the other books practically have chapters on the subject. -
drew sagan
When the Faithful Slave idea is quietly dropped, and it will be soon, there will be no need to print a new study book!
I don't think they will ever drop this doctrine, it is such a cornerstone that could never really be changed. It is the reason that they get the kind of loyality that they do.
I just think they want to shelter the new members from this doctrine as long as they can, that way when they finally figure out what it they would have more than likely already passed the line of no return. I know this because I myself was set back a little by the teaching, but not enough to stop my study or even question the doctrine for that matter. I was so impressed by the 'Bible Truths' that I was taught that I didn't really think it was my place to challenge them. Instead I figured I really just didn't 'get it' and that it was my fault.
The writers of this book know what is going on. Think about it this way. What if JWs used this presentation at the door:
'We would like to show you how Jesus Christ chose our faithful organization in 1918 while he was invisible and how we are the only people on earth that God uses to publish truth. If you do not follow this organization, known in the Bible as the 'Faithful Slave', you will perish at Armageddon'
The vast majority of people would think they are crazy and would never even consider their message. Because of this JWs have to mask what their real intentions are with all kinds of other junk (holidays, blood, hellfire, paradise, soul, trinity). By doing so they are able to make you think they are logical and Bible oriented.
The more they get you to focus on such teachings, the less likely you are to look at the skeletons in their closet. You are focused on the grand illusion they put in front of you, to sidetracked to really understand all about them.
I think that it is in this state that they hope to get you baptized. It's not that they will ever totally get rid of the FDS, it's just they keep prolonging the time when you will figure it out. If you have allready made up your mind that JWs have the truth, then learning the FDS after such a decision means little. If you hear the teaching before that you are more likely to think the people making such claims are full of themselves.