The responses to my original question support the position that the WTS does mean "government system" when it says "Kingdom of God/Heavens".
As I asked: Where do they get that idea from in Scripture?
I have looked at the Scripture references given in that article “Kingdom of God” in the WTS book "Insight on the Scriptures", where it seems that the rationale is intuitive. Or have I missed something?
Doug
Is the "Kingdom" a "government"?
by Doug Mason 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Doug Mason
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Narkissos
I suppose the closest match to the WT definition of Kingdom as government is in Revelation, e.g. 5:9f:
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth (cf. also 20:4,6; 22:5).More loosely, the references to the apostles on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, in the Synoptics (Matthew 19:28//); or the Pauline reference to the new life, or reward, of Christians as a reign (Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 4:8; 2 Timothy 2:12).
Of course this is only a fringe metaphor as compared to the many NT uses of kingdom, to which the notion of a collective "government" is completely foreign. But the WT artificially projects this notion on all occurences.
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AuldSoul
Theocracy does not mean "government by God through humans" it means "government by God".
The Kingdom of God by His Christ is a government, but it doesn't have humans in positions of secular authority over other humans. It has no secular authorities except Christ.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul -
Nathan Natas
You are correct.
By viewing it this way, the "glorious ones" of the WTB&TS justify their phony-baloney jobs and the
auth-or-i-tay they exercise over the lives of mere publishers.