How did I conclude it was not the 'truth'?

by jgnat 56 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jgnat

  A new board member asked me this. I asked if it would be all right to publish my reply. The question, in full, is,

  You mention that you «investigated the Jehovah's Witnesses, and decided that their claims of being the "truth" were vastly overrated.» How did you go about investigating them? Where did that fit into the struggles of life? I'm always interested in hearing others' journeys of faith.

  My first exposure to the Witnesses was through study of Watchtower articles. I found that typically opening comments would be fairly innocuous and agreeable. Then, about two thirds through the study article, they would land a "whopper". That is, they would present an outrageous statement as fact. Since I had studied the bible before the Witnesses, I knew they were presenting information out of context and poorly supported. Some of the outrageous beliefs I found unsupported include:

  • Interpreting the symbolic 144,000 in Revelations as being literal, and then declaring that only these exclusive few are priveledged to enjoy a full relationship with Jesus Christ.
  • Following from that, the outrageous idea that only the 144,000 partake of the bread and wine. Who are the rest of believers? Chopped liver? In effect, the society has CUT OFF most of their believers from Christ. Inexcusable.
  • Their harsh condemnation and demonisation of various characters in the bible including the wise men who brought gifts to Jesus, and the Jews of the day. Every generation throughout the old testament betrayed their covenant with God in some way, and that pattern continued through the new testament. People are fickle. They enthusiatically join, age, fail, receive their just punishment and God eventually forgives and renews. How in the heck can the Jews of the day be blamed for Jesus' death? They represented (quite fairly) humanity as a whole. As a regular Christian, I accepted that I could have just as easily been one of the hecklers in the crowd, and just as gratefully accepted Christ's forgiveness for that failing.
  • Their interpretation of the 'faithful and discreet slave' as being exclusive to the governing structure of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. My reading of that scripture leads me to believe that we ALL have the choice of being either discreet or abusive. That PARABLE was intended for instruction and warning to ANYONE in a position of leadership.

  Where did that fit into the struggles of life?

  I don't come from the context that life is a struggle. That is a Witness concept. Rather, I see life as a mutual journey of discovery, with God at my side every day.
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  compound complex

  Dear jgnat,

  Your posts are always so heart-warming as well as educational. Yes, the daily struggle - Sturm und Drang - is primarily a JW concept, a necessary article of faith. For those of us who are, at heart, positive in outlook, it is a blessed relief to see Christianity through "regular" eyes. I was a "regular" Christian as a child, and quite loved it, till a 40 year layover with the WTB&TS intervened.
  My personal feeling is that there is "wheat" growing worldwide and still awaiting the harvest. I recall abhorrent admonition that we "timid ones" better get past our reluctance to condemn Christendom and the specious reasoning to back that JFR-type rhetoric. Now it fills me with shame, though I was never a true iconoclast vis-a-vis the Churches. Many thanks, once again!

  Coco
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  Core88

  My parents still give me watchtowers and awakes from time to time...wanting me to look at them. And after awhile, I look at the covers and think to myself, "you know that sounds kind of interesting and my parents do want what's best for me, and believe these mags. will help.". And so I will pick one up, like a newer one on the anti-christ, and start to read it, then I'll get so sick of it after about page two, because all of a sudden the well phrased and acturate material is then replaced with bunk. (aparently the only non-antichrist group is the JW's) ANd no big suprise either. I mean I grew up in this I know the teachings and it's just that I guess because even when I was a MS and regular pioneer for 2 yrs, I never read the mags. And it just strikes me how they come across to my more free and open mind. =-) Nice post. Corey
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  jgnat

  Thanks Cognizent and Corey. I wrote this for a loyal Witness who is trying to get reinstated, and daily studies and reads their material. It is true, once a broader perspective is gained, how constrained the Watchtower doctrines become.
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  iamfreenow

  Hello jgnat,

  A most interesting post. I completely agree with you on this point

  It is true, once a broader perspective is gained, how constrained the Watchtower doctrines become.

  Having been taught from birth to believe everything that the Watchtower Society ever said, and to question nothing, it took me a very long time, almost my whole life, to realise just how constrained my beliefs where.

  Following from that, the outrageous idea that only the 144,000 partake of the bread and wine. Who are the rest of believers? Chopped liver? In effect, the society has CUT OFF most of their believers from Christ. Inexcusable.

  Quite so. The Watchtower has claimed to hold the keys to Heaven, and locked most of their followers out. I have thought for most of my life that I must work for my salvation, yet the real message of the Bible, or the New Testament part of it, is that we are saved by grace, not works, and we cannot earn it, all we need to do is accept it.

  It took me a long time to realise that, but now I do I know how much joy a real relationship with God and Jesus can bring. I only wish more of those I left behind in the Watchtower could come to the same realisation, but I fear that most won't.

  Their interpretation of the 'faithful and discreet slave' as being exclusive to the governing structure of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. My reading of that scripture leads me to believe that we ALL have the choice of being either discreet or abusive. That PARABLE was intended for instruction and warning to ANYONE in a position of leadership

  They have long claimed this title for themselves, and again, I never questioned their authority, but reading the passage in context, which as I am sure you are well aware the Watchtower more often than not fail to do, it is quite obvious that it is a parable through which Jesus was instructing those who would spread his word to be consistent in their teaching.

  I don't come from the context that life is a struggle. That is a Witness concept

  Right again. Of course, as Witnesses we were taught that we had something better to look forward to, but we must work hard to obtain it. The Watchtower has made life a struggle for most of its members, with their policies on education and advice on choice of career, ie working part time to pioneer. The concept that God wants us to be happy in our worship of him, not ever fearful that we will be found wanting when he brings about the end of the world and thus miss out on his promises, is alien to them. They have published all this information, made all these rules, but have never grasped what God really wants from his creation.

  Particularly in my last few years as a Witness, it was impossible not to see how many were becoming more and more depressed in the congregation. I experienced those feelings myself, but for years dismissed them as an attack by Satan, another Watchtower teaching of course. I imagine that that trend will continue, and increase as the Watchtower promises fail to happen. I am so happy that i have escaped from all that.

  Marion
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  greendawn

  The idea of doing charity work even for the sake of loyal members was alien to them. The marginalisation of Christ the fact that the JWs refuse to call him Lord except very occasionally. They don't have a church and never talk about one instead it's the organisation of jehovah we always hear about. Hmm that sounds strange, JW Christians that are not organised about the concept of a church. Then it was the 100% failure rate when it came to their prophecies or predictions and the inability to form stable doctrine on many central issues.
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  jgnat

  My friend has followed up with some more questions, as my response was not to his satisfaction. His follow-up questions include:

  Such as, why does God permit wickedness?

  What happens when we die?

  What is God's will for us?

  How can we be truly happy?

  My response was why I concluded the Watchtower is not the 'TRUTH'. My answer responds to THAT. Those doctrines, listed above, convinced me they are NOT. Now, you follow up with some positive questions about the society's teachings. I agree that these questions, presented and answered by the society, make it appear that they are the exclusive holders of these answers. Nevertheless, until they repair the FATAL FLAWS in their doctrine, such as those posted above, I am instructed, by the bible, NOT TO FOLLOW THEM (Matthew 13:14, 23:13-31, Luke 17:22-24).

  Such as, why does God permit wickedness?

  Free will. Any other answer means we are no more than robots.

  What happens when we die?

  We, on earth, are not permitted to know. Are you suggesting that the Society is "without sin" and therefore has been offered the keys to the Lamb's Book of Life? (Revelation 5:2-4, Luke 16:20-31)

  What is God's will for us?

  We were created to have a relationship with Him. (Genesis 1:26-31)

  How can we be truly happy?

  Irrelevant. Show me one public talk where Jesus addressed this question. Happiness shows up when we are not looking for it, very much like riches. (Proverbs 23:5)
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  iamfreenow

  Hello again jgnat.

  Your friends response is typically JW. It's most likely how I would have responded a year or so ago.

  JW teaching on the question of what happens at death is simple and clear, and is stated as fact by the Society. A friend of mine who had just lost his mother when he was contacted by the JWs told me that their explanation of death and what happens afterwards was one of the things that attracted him to the Watchtower. All other religions seemed vague about it, whilst JW teachings were definite - his mum wasn't either in heaven or sufferring torment, she was merely in the grave, waiting to see if she found favour with Jehovah in the resurrection, and knew nothing of her condition. I can see how comforting such information would be to someone who has lost a loved one.

  As for God's permission of wickedness, free will is obviously the answer, though of course the JWs see it as a universal issue between Jehovah and Satan to prove that man will serve God out of love, and not for what he might gain from doing so. I used to believe that, but sometimes used to wonder why this issue was taking so long to settle.

  True happiness Watchtower style supposedly comes from knowing that one is doing Jehovah's will, by obeying all the edicts laid down by the WTBTS to the best of one's ability.In reality, that is more the source of guilt and misery than happiness, as no one can truly serve God in the way the Watchtower says he requires. As JWs we were repeatedly told that we were the happiest people in the world, and for a lot of the time I was semi-happy, but always plagued by the underlying feeling that I had not done enough for Jehovah. Like love, happiness is not something we can find by searching for it.

  The picture that the Watchtower paints of God is that of some kind of wrathful, demanding deity who requires everything we have to give, and still isn't satisfied, a God who wants to interfere with every aspect of our spiritual and personal lives. It would be difficult to have a close relationship with that sort of God, and none too desirable.

  The reality is that we all have a relationship with God, whether we believe in him or not. The nature of that relationship, whether we love, hate or ignore him, will dictate how we conduct ourselves in our everyday lives.
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  jgnat

  It is that pursuit of happiness...and a satisfactory destination, I believe, that keeps JW's on the hook. The Watchtower promises but never delivers on these promises. Every week they suggest the believer is that much closer, closer.

  The Witnesses may claim they obey out of love, but it's really in pursuit of the reward, isn't it?
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  iamfreenow

  The Witnesses may claim they obey out of love, but it's really in pursuit of the reward, isn't it?

  Indeed. And the reward, according to the Watchtower, has been very close now for so many years now, but never seems to get any closer somehow. After their "new light" on the 1914 generation in 1995 it seemed to get much further away for some, after all the years they'd said it must come within the 20th century.

  It's the potential loss of that reward that keeps Witnesses striving away for the Organisation, despite private doubts.That fear of missing out is one of the ways that the Society is able to use to persuade it's members to do things that they sometimes don't want to do, and blackmail those who would wish to leave into staying. I know when I was on the verge of leaving, one of the hooks they tried to use on me was that I would no longer have the hope of seeing my late husband when he came back in the resurrection, and I must admit I fleetingly wavered about my decision to disassociate, until I recognised such tactics for the emotional blackmail they clearly are.