Hello,
It is not a new revelation to see the striking and overwhelming parallels between the WTS, its modus operandi and the legalistic leanings of the Rabbis of ancient Israel. These ‘interpreters’ of the Law, developed Rabbinical prisons enclosed by walls of complex rules and regulations by which they held power over their adherents. Note how the WTS explains their actions :
The decisions of the rabbis quoted in the Mishnah would affect the day-to-day lives of Jews everywhere. Indeed, Jacob Neusner comments: "The Mishnah provided Israel’s constitution. . . . It demanded assent and conformity to its rules." w98 5/15 29
Now, look at this next ‘expose’ of the horrors of Talmudic thinking and ask yourself what it reminds you of:
This new work—the Talmud—served the rabbis’ purpose. They set the rules of analysis, and it therefore taught people to think like rabbis. The rabbis believed that their method of study and analysis reflected the mind of God. Talmudic study itself became the object, a form of worship—the use of the mind supposedly in imitation of God
They then describe in cameo, the very weaknesses of the WTS own methods of ‘interpreting’ the scriptures; their necessity to produce reams of attached clauses to the scriptures that fall within the areas of personal interpretation and then their insistence on others adhering to their views because they speak for God. Please note however, that those who questioned the revelations of Tannaim were not removed from the Synagogues.
But what if some questioned whether the authority of the sages quoted in the Mishnah was really equal to revealed Scripture? The rabbis would have to show that teachings of the Tannaim (teachers of the oral law) found in the Mishnah were in perfect harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures. Further commentary became a necessity. They felt the need to explain and justify the Mishnah and prove that it originated with the Law given to Moses at Sinai…….Rather than being the final word on Judaism, then, the Mishnah became a new foundation for religious discussion and debate.
An example of the development of this thinking is the teaching of an invisible presence of Christ, defended by the interpretation of the Greek word ‘parousia’ as ‘presence’ and not ‘coming’. The WTS is, to be fair, not the only NT interpreter to apply this scripture in such a manner, though arguably its is the most vociferous. Upon this interpretation is hung the concept of the ‘last days’, the 1914 chronology, the reason for WWI, the choosing of the WTS as an exclusive tool of God, etc etc.
Try taking all the clothes in your wardrobe and hanging them on one frail hanger, then you have an idea of the veracity of the WTS as biblical interpreters.
The prime source, imho, of the cognitive-dissonance suffered by most JW’s and indeed the WTS as an organization lies in the precarious balance they try to maintain sitting on the very fragile and shaky fence of a Judaic/Christian ideology. They are slowly being forced by their environment to choose where they stand.
After all, he who sits on the fence, gets shot at from both sides.
HS