Jehovahs witnesses, in the divine purpose?

by sleepy 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sleepy

  Notice my watchtower style title?

  Anyway,
  I've just been rereading the book " Jehovahs witnesses in the divine purpose " from 1959.
  Its an ealier book recounting the history of the organisation.
  I don't belive many JW's will have seen or read it, besides they have a new "History" book to read .
  Being more familiar with the history of the witnesses has made me realise how biased and misleading this book truely is.
  Here are some quotes from chapter 14 "Reorganizing for Active service service".
  Those who know about JW history will notice the slants and misleading statments straight away , but I'll try to explian some of them for anyone new.
  In preparing the reader for explaining the changes Rutherford made to the religion after Russell's death it tells us;
  "When the society began to be freed for further preaching work following WW1 they realized they had been held in spiritual bondage too in many ways."
  In which ways?
  "With considerable misunderstanding they had accepted earthly political governments as the "superior authorities " that God had ordained according to Romans 13:1."
  So according to witnesses in 1959 believing that the supierior authorites were political gvernments was a Babylonish teaching.
  Of course this is now the current belief of witnesses.So were they really in "Babylonish captivity" back then?

  Of course the book uses this to show how Rutherfords teachings were pure whilst Russells were tainted with false religion therefore justifing the changes Rutherford made.Funny how they went back to this belief after Rutherford died.
  Were they then, by the same reasoning in Babylonish captivity in Rutherfords reign?
  It carries on;
  "such pagan holidays such as Christmas were being celebrated...the symbol of the cross was used...the name Jehovah...was held in the background..Organisationally the witnesses were still practising the democratic style of local congregation government.In other words, it was a time of everyone's doing what was right in his own eyes, and the entire arrangment was a loose association without theocratic direction."
  The book makes it sound as though people were celebrating Christmas or using the cross because they were " doing what was right in his own eyes," This is plainly not true.
  It even goes on to say "..the pagan traditions adopted by Christendom, had slipped by unnoticed by the brothers."
  This is definiatly false.
  It gives the impression that these pagan beliefs and ways of organisation had not been examined before and were just carried over from Christendom.The truth is that all these beliefs were discussed and aurgued for by Russell when he was alive.
  They had not slipped by unnoticed.
  Russell knew Christmas was a pagan belief but reasoned that it was better to celerbrate on some day than never.The organisational structure was what was seen by Russell to be scriptual he even aurged and warned against a rigidly structured system and allowed people to be baptised in any Christian faith.The name Jehovah was not found in their Bible in the new testement, how was it then their error not to use it when God didn't see fit to have it there (By it not being there in the first place or it being allowed to be left out for 1900 years) in the first place?
  "Now from 1919 a glorious new outlook presented itself. These dedicated servants began to regonise their mistakes and make a public confession of their wrongdoing in their effort to seek Jehovahs favour, which they realized had benn temporarillay lost"
  "They repented of their former course, expressed the desire to change their ways and prayed for Jehovahs forgivness"
  This statment paints a very misleading picture.
  For a start when did the Bible students make a public confession of their error.
  Never as far as I know.
  It also gives the impression that it was the dedicated servants who were in error when in fact it was Russellls teaching they were following.Notice the blame cannot be put on Russell but the Bible students are blamed personnally.
  Also it gives the impression also that changes were made imediately in order to gain Gods favour , but I am unaware of any of these doctrines being altered untill years latter .
  If these doctrines caused them to lose Jehovahs favour then why did they have his favour in the first place.How long would it be before they regained it since they did not "correct" any of these beliefs immediatly?

  I've run out of time now .
  More from this book latter if you want to read some more.
• 

  Farkel

  A major reason the Proclaimer's book is somewhat more honest than the DP book is that "apostates" revealed many facts the society had tried to hide from its membership. The idiotic setting with John and Maria and Tom and Lois (I forget their exact names) discussing WTS history is a definite put-off. The only idiotic setting that trumps the DP book is "John and Eunice" in Rutherford's famous "Children" novel.

  : "Now from 1919 a glorious new outlook presented itself. These dedicated servants began to regonise their mistakes and make a public confession of their wrongdoing in their effort to seek Jehovahs favour, which they realized had benn temporarillay lost"

  Rubbish. They still taught that Jesus began reigning in 1874, the resurrection had occurred in 1878, and the "Last Days" began in 1799! And in 1919 they were teaching that Armageddon would happen in 1925 and that such a prediction was even "more" certain than the prediction of Noah's flood!

  The 1918-1919 "spiritual bondage in Babylonian captivity" was nothing more than Rutherford's insane rant to explain why he let the "Finished Mystery" be published, even though it was clearly seditious.

  Farkel

  "When in doubt, duck!"
• 

  serenaj92

  Thank you both for posting this information. I had no idea that they were so way off base. Sounds to me like they have this compulsion to unravel the mysteries and signs to justify their need to control the members. Or am I off base here?
  If they just stuck to the basics, I might have stayed. I have an elderly aunt that left the org after Russel died. She claimed it was still a loving org when they celebrated with family, but that when they started the extreme separating she felt they were being to controling which = unloving. I always wondered what she ment by that. Now I know. Thank you again and please post more or email me on more of what it was like when they first started out. Maybe another religion will come up calling themselves Russelites or something. I like having the freedom of love and fellowship with our loved ones. I'll never go back to being one of Jehovah's witness.
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  ashitaka

  You guys said it best. All I have to sayis "Ugh, what a load of tripe."
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  Moxy

  it hadnt really struck me before just how much of the new chronology was written BY rutherford and ABOUT rutherford. the russell years were relegated to a hazy glimmer of truth with lots of babylonish error. how many pre-1914 events are ever refered to or held to be fulfillment of prophecy now? but after rutherford came the choosing of the organization by god, pointed to in revelation, the 7 trumpet blasts from '22-'28, also in revelation, the fulfillments of the 1260, 1290, and 1335 days, in daniel. the chronology was re-written BY rutherford to revolve AROUND rutherford.

  mox
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  Liquidizer

  Serenaj92, the Bible Students are still here among us even today. In other words those who left or were kicked out by Rutherford mostly during the years 1918-1930, reorganized themselves. One group of them established The Pastoral Bible Institute and they are still publishing The Herald magazine. If someone wants to know more about the modern Bible Students go to the next web page: http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/links.htm. The Herald mag can be seen at: http://www.heraldmag.org.

  L.
• 

  sleepy

  Another point about this statment,
  "Now from 1919 a glorious new outlook presented itself. These dedicated servants began to regonise their mistakes and make a public confession of their wrongdoing in their effort to seek Jehovahs favour, which they realized had benn temporarillay lost" "They repented of their former course, expressed the desire to change their ways and prayed for Jehovahs forgivness"

  Notice that their errors of belief here are called "wrongdoing".Yes the Divine purpose books says that erroneuos beliefs are wrongdoing.
  How do witnesses feal today about previous wrong beliefs, well new beliefs are "new light" implying that ealier ideas were still "light from Jehovah" just not very bright.

  Why do the governing body feel that teaching that the generation of 1914 will not die before arrmagadon , getting people not to marry to give up jobs, not have children and to preach this to others is not wrongdoing.
  If to believe Christmas is OK is so bad why is to build up peoples hopes change their lives and all based on a wrong understanding of scripture not considered wrong doing today?
  Is It because these people are still alive , those who taught the lie?
  I think so.They are to cowardly to admit the truth to others and to themselves.
  Yes they could push Russell back,criticize him assign him a lesser place in their history, he was long dead .They though had followed Rutherford and caused others to follow his religion.If Rutherford was wrong they are proved wrong.
  They teach that Jehovahs witnesses are only acceptable as the chosen religion since Rutherfords time and make the Bible fit in with him.All this because it gives authority to them.
  Will they ever have the courage and humbleness to admit that their own false beliefs are wrongdoing?

  More on an incriminating statement as to the identity of the"Faithful and discrete slave" tomorrow.
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  serenaj92

  Thank you liquidizer for that wonderful site!!!!
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  sleepy

  Here are some more quotes from the Divine purpose book .
  I'd like to see what you make of them.
  Still in the chapter"Reorganising for active service";
  "Little did gods people in 1919 know the significant part the instrument The Golden Age , was to play in exposing the unholy combine of Nazi-Fascist-Catholic building. In the years that were to follow, numerous and powerful were the death dealing blows that were to be dealt to this combine by articles and cartoons appearing in this courageous journal."

  Have I missed something from my history books?
  According to the watchtower their articles were "Death dealing"
  So they caused death to the Nazi-Fascist-Catholic combine.
  Funny I thought it was the American-British-Russian alliance who brought it down.
  I must be mistaken.