....i heard that most of the annointed are in north america...what are the odds....ha
....just like most of the GB are north americans....what are the odds....ha
JW told us: Actually only 800 Annointed left!!
by Lady Liberty 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
MinisterAmos
good point blondie
-
Do you Mr. Jones?
Why don't they just poison the wine -- and then, next year, they could start off at zero!
DYMJ
-
Fangorn
800 is not a typo. They've believed for some years that the number of genuine anointed is quite low and mostly associated with the various Bethels.
-
avidbiblereader
I just do not remember Christ or the apostles or any of the first century christians being interested in numbers like the witnesses, hmmmmmmmmmm
abr
-
stillajwexelder
the changed 1935 doctrine is going to change all that
-
AK - Jeff
This issue comprised my first 'investigation' into the 'truth of the truth', before Coc or anything else. Using mortality charts for the 'annointed' partakers in 1941, breaking them into age-groups that were likely, and diminishing them according to the actuarials, brought the likely number to around 1500 or 2000 by the year 2004. This was my first major awareness of 'proof' that the WTS was completely off base with any of it's prophecies. [Of course now I could write a volume on that.]
So their whispered number of around 800 could be close to the actual survivors from the 1935 group. OF course the 1935 group is a farce too, so it is all inmaterial isn't it?
An interesting question is raised here - just what do they have in mind, in light of the article in the Watchtower that seems to say 'We don't really think it matters how many there still are left', and the whispered 'actual number'? Could there be some real infighting going on at Crooklyn in this regard. Could a split be underway some day? [This single best way to destroy the organisation is of course from within.]
Jeff
-
cultswatter
Well Bethel should update its thinking. The recent doctrine changes in the QFR said that the replacements were done away with almost entirely, so no one can question anyone who says they are annointed. Not even Elders. The problem was that there could not be that many unfaithful remant to be replaced year after year (600 remnant die each year you know) so the WTS now says there might be some unfaithful ones but most importantly the 8500 or so remnant are now being viewed as all legit because they consist primarily of additions, not replacements.
-
jeshurun
The concept that Jehovah replaces unfaithful anointed ones by new members of the Body, is another fabrication of WTS imagination.
Take note of Phil 1:6 (NW):
For I am confident of this very thing, that he who started a good work in YOU will carry it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ
God brings the good work which he has started in every individual Christian to a flawless end.
Those whom God calls, he keeps, as stated by Paul in Romans 8:29-30 (NIV):
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Within theological circles this teaching is called The Persevarance of the Saints.
In their own NWT the members of the GB can read this:
He will also make YOU firm to the end, that YOU may be open to no accusation in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ(1 Cor 1:8).
Therefore, to the wastebasket with the replacement concept! -
jeshurun
What about those who seemed to be Christian and have gone away from the faith, never to return? The apostle John writes about them:
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.John is not teaching that they were really Christians. Rather, they proved, by their failure to persevere, that they were not truly predestined, called, justified, etc (Ro 8:29-30).
As Hebrews 3:14 puts it:
For we have shared in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.That is, our perseverance to the end is the ongoing evidence that we have become a partaker of Christ. If we don’t persevere, then we never had become a partaker of Christ.
An often used scripture to argue the doctrine of Perseverance is Ro 11:20-23
20 But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.
21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
What does Paul mean then, speaking as he does to the local Christian congregation in Rome?
Obviously he means that, concerning the branches on the cultivated Olive, there are real, spiritual, inward attachments to the tree, but there are also unreal, unspiritual, outward attachments [to the tree rooted in the Abrahamitic covenant of promise].If persons give way to arrogance, on-going pride and an anti-Jewish attitude, they show that their attachment is merely external and unspiritual.
The Bible shows that Gods spirit creates in the new Christian a new heart and a desire to seek holiness. Compare Ez 36:25-26 where we find the principles of the New Creation (2 Cor 5:17 and Ga 6:15-16).
Perseverance affirms that a newly converted person truly desires nothing more than obedience to Christ. Holiness and hatred of sin will be a natural desire. A false convert will, soon or later, be uncovered.
Have a look also at Eph 1:13-14 and 4:30
13 But YOU also hoped in him after YOU heard the word of truth, the good news about YOUR salvation. By means of him also, after YOU believed, YOU were sealed with the promised holy spirit, 14 which is a token in advance of our inheritance..30 Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which YOU have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom
The words sealed and token [or: pledge] indicate that if a believer is indwelt by the spirit, then his election, calling, justification and glorification are irrevocable (Ro 8:35-39).
Our word pledge (2 Cor 1:22) is the rendering of the Greek word arrabôn, literally meaning “an earnest” which denotes an amount of money which in a purchase is given as a pledge or down payment that the full amount will subsequently be paid. So the spirit’s indwelling is a guarantee that those who are partakers will unquestionably receive the inheritance (Ro 8:17).