September 1st 2007 QFR re FDS

by AlphaOmega 54 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  Gill

  Oh Dear!

  With regard to the description of the FDS as showing 'discernment, foresight and good judgement..' this was cringeworthy stuff!!

  How embarrassing for the FDS who supposedly oversaw this particular article to claim such a thing about themselves! Otherwise someone in writing dept has a very brown nose!

  On what occassion have the FDS shown foresight?

  On what occassion good judgment?

  On what occassion discernment?

  Jehovah's witnesse rank amongst the most stressed and miserable people on the planet! They are led and guided by a bunch of Watchtower worshipping geriatrics with little life experience.

  Jehovah's Witnesses have expected Armageddon for 130 odd years! Where's the foresight in that?

  Now if the article had claimed that the FDS were blessed with 'cunning, the ability to deceive and a doctrine of self destruction and misery for their followers' I would have had to agree.
• 

  Room 215

  Considering the number of times they've put their shoes in their mouths, ``discreet" is the last adjective in the lexicon that would apply to them!
• 

  jgnat

  These days, when a television series takes on a life of it's own (Star Trek, X-Files), writers create a "bible" to keep track of all the plot lines, character development, and so on.

  This keeps the writers consistent, and prevents the plot from veering off track. I think the X-Files got so caught up in all it's loose ends and conspiracies, that there was no way to adequately resolve them all. No matter WHAT resolution was offered, there was going to be a fan to cry foul. When a televison series gets that tangled up, it ends up dying with a whimper instead of a bang.

  Similarly, the WTBTS has written themselves in to a blind alley, there is no reasonable escape. Their only hope is that the majority of the original 'anointed' will have died off before they announce the change to the definition of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave."
• 

  Terry

  Okay, time to shake the Tree of Facts and watch what falls to the ground!

  1.Maria Russell (wife of C.T.Russell) invented this interpretation of scripture. She convinced hubby, Pastor Russell, it was doctrinal.

  2.Maria applied the term "faithful and wise servant" to HERSELF and Charles; not just Charles alone.

  3. C.T.Russell was not public about it. Mainly because it is an embarassing thing to say about yourself! Privately, apparently, he relished the idea!

  4.Russell ended up fighting with and separating himself from his wife (the Twain) over co-creative duties, ideas and interpretations. They divorced.

  5.J.F.Rutherford applied the FDS to C.T.Russell alone for a little while. Then, he began applying it to a larger body of persons. In actual fact, he engineered the running of the organization so that nobody by Rutherford himself had the power to interpret scripture.

  6.The Maria Russell invention of the FDS is actually a retelling of the Catholic Church doctrine of Majesterium. Only the high officials of the church can interpret the word of god on faith and morals. The bible is NOT for the layman.

  7.What separated Protestantism from Catholicism was this very doctrine of WHO interprets God's will!! Protestants believe God speaks directly to each man and woman through scripture by means of the Holy Spirit. Catholics do not. They have only to listen to the clergy-priesthood and obey.

  In view of the above, we see the evolution of the Watchtower Organization is a parallel with Catholicism in many ways. It all hinges on the ridiculous doctrine of FDS invented by Pastor Russell's ambitious wife!
• 

  AK - Jeff

  I would be more interested in how they claim to have been 'Faithful'. Doesn't faithfullness carry the sense of honesty, truth, admission of wrong?

  If they have not been 'faithful' - then assigning them 'discreetness' is just folly. Fact is; without the first sentence - the one that boldly declares the WTS [and it's GB] to be that 'class' - all the rest is pure Bullshit.

  Just assertions laying over assumptions. Now there's some 'proof' of what they are saying. More of the same.

  Jeff
• 

  drew sagan

  Yes the definition of the FDS is slowly changing to reflect a more active theology, one that is not set upon dates and the length of a persons lifetime.
  
  A key phrase found in this article is this:
  
  

  The "slave" providing spiritual "food" is the congregation of spirit-anointed Christians.

  Yes, we all know that the average JW never actually thinks about the dynamics of this statement. They automatically connect the information coming from Brooklyn NY with the 'spirit-anointed congregation' even though it is not the collective 'anointed' that participate in the creation of this information. Instead a vast number of 'other sheep' help produce these materials and some anointed do help, but not all of them. The majority are other sheep. The WT simply connects up this 'spirit anointed congregation' with the Governing Body that represents them, thus getting around any problems that may arise when it comes to the fact that this anointed remnant has little to do with the actual production and distribution of the information over the other sheep. They also never actually describe exactly how the Governing Body is chosen as representatives of the 'spirit-anointed' around the earth since essentially none of them give or take a dozen people actually are involved in the decision for new members. If the GB represents the anointed should the anointed around the earth have at least some clue who their representatives are?
  
  This in itself is nothing new. But what I think is happening is that they are prepping to create an even more abstract idea of the FDS. They have already done away with the idea that there are no more anointed past the 1930's other than replacements and that people are still being chosen today. I think they are trying their best to turn all of their doctrines into ideas that can be managed in the long term.
  
  Funny how they are looking more and more to their future as a religion while at the same time beating their members into submission in regards to the "urgency" of the times.
• 

  AnnOMaly

  "The virgins remind us of anointed Christians before 1914 who were eagerly waiting for the arrival of the Great Bridegroom, Jesus Christ."

  Tried to add to my other reply but it kept coming up error. They definitely need one of those 'consistency bibles' jgnat was talking about.

  ***

  God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached (1973),chap.11p.187par.7"HereIstheBridegroom!"***

  From that understanding of matters, the "chaste virgin" class began going forth to meet the heavenly Bridegroom in the year 1874, as they believed him to have arrived in that year and to be from then on invisibly present. They felt that they were already living in the invisible presence of the Bridegroom.
• 

  drew sagan

  A perfect quote to destroy their nonfactual comments AnnOMaly!
• 

  garybuss

  If I'm faithful in printing bad news and error, well . . . yes I'm faithful . . . but it's still bad news and it's still error.
  
  Unless I'm missing something, that's about the best the Watch Tower Printing Corporation can claim. They've been faithful in producing and delivering something nobody can use.
  
  I mean, I can call bad news "good news" all day . . . but it's still bad news. And I can call error "old light" till the cows come home, but it's still error.
  
  I think the foolish virgins were faithful foolish virgins.
  
  
• 

  AnnOMaly

  A perfect quote to destroy their nonfactual comments AnnOMaly!

  What's baking my noodle is, which statement should be considered 'spirit-directed' - the 1973 one or the 2007 one?