I know there has been a previous thread on this topic, but in spite of backing up through many MANY past topics I couldn't find it...Can anyone explain this to me, please? I mean, obviously the promise is that after being denied entry into heaven because they aren't one of the 144,000 the Great Crowd is stuck on earth, but it's somehow re-made into paradise?! Is there any scriptural support for this notion outside of the NWT? I've always been taught as a Christian that once we are saved we are promised eternal life with our Lord in Heaven. Thanks for helping out the newbie!!!
Paradise Earth????
by potentialJWconvertswife 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Nosferatu
The belief is that It's the job of the JWs to restore the planet back to a Paradise on Erf. Jehovah, with all his great power, is too goddam lazy to do it himself.
Sorry, I don't have a scripture. After 12 years, you tend to forget those things. -
Hermano
There are two "hopes" for Christians (i.e. JWs) : an earthly hope and a heavenly hope. Only the 144,000 desire to go to heaven. The majority of Christians (i.e. JWs) want to live here on a paradise earth. If you are a newly converted JW and want to go to heaven its because of spiritual inmaturity or because you still havent shaken off the false christian belief that heaven is the reward for christians. There are really only a few scriptures in the N.T. that can be twisted to support this view. The N.T. is brimming with scriptures that support the view that the reward for Christians is to go to heaven.
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Burger Time
Most of the biblical "proof" that is giving is that of Psalms 37:11 and Matthew 5:5. Both those passages say that the meek shall inherit the earth. Then they also use 2 Peter 3:13 where reference of a new heaven and new earth, they then use Revelation 21:1 to back that up.
Again this is one of those issues that has always bothered me. Why does it cause so much division on both sides? A lot of Christians believe there is only a heavenly hope, while the Witnesses believe in both...while I can see why people would disagree with the biblical interpretation to me it is of no consequence and neither side should worry about such a petty belief. Clearly there is a little bit of scripture to indicate there could be a earthly hope (perhaps this "new earth" was to represent heaven)...so who cares? Just don't force others to believe it.
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jwfacts
The WTS draws on Old Testament Scriptures that say the righteous will reside upon the earth forever. Most religions take these Scriptures to refer to the Jews being restored to the promised land. There are also Scriptures that talk about a "new heavens and new earth" which the Watchtower claim are this existing planet, just newly cleansed. On the other hand, there are also a number of Scriptures that say the earth will be destroyed, which the Watchtower claims are figurative. The New Testament almost exclusively says that humans will live in heaven, which is why the Watchtower claims the Bible was written specifically for the 144,000, not the rest of us.
United in Worship p.111 "Special attention was being given to making up the government that would rule mankind for 1,000 years, and nearly all the inspired letters in the Christian Greek Scriptures are primarily directed to this group of Kingdom heirs-"the holy ones," "partakers of the heavenly calling."
Watchtower 1974 June 15 p.376 "Also, it is to the spirit-anointed Christians who will rule in that kingdom that most of the Christian Greek Scriptures is directed, including the promises of everlasting life."
I have embedded an article that lists the Scriptures referring to the earth.
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potentialJWconvertswife
Hermano- Thanks for the JW argument...those guys can twist anything!
Burger- I guess the idea of going to heaven is important to Christians because it's HEAVEN. We will be with our Lord, serving him for all eternity in heaven. Who wants to stay on earth?? Been there, done that!
JWfacts- thanks for the imbed, and the info...I had no idea the dubs actually believe that the New Testament is only for the 144,000- WOW! That blows my mind!
Thank you all for the insightful replies.
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Honesty
Some of us would rather forget the lies we were taught as JW's by the Watchtower Society's spin doctors.
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Caljuher
What I remember from previous Bible training by an evangelist father and a nominally-Catholic mother, the JWs did not invent the paradise earth concept. Both my dad's church (some kind of Pentecostal thing where they spoke in tongues) and my mom's church taught that the earth would be renewed somehow and the experience of heaven would somehow envelope this new earth.
My dad used to have this long scroll that looked like a more colorful and exciting version of the Plan of the Ages chart that showed his church's concept of this. I was also made to go to Catholic school, but just for the 6th grade, and I remember learning about the physical resurrection of the body, its reunited with the soul at judgment day. Neither side had any of the details we had in the Watchtower, however. There are some good articles on Wikipedia on these very subjects, and I checked on some of this to make sure I was remembering right (for a while there I was convinced the Witnesses came up with the whole thing).
What the JWs invented, however, was saying only some people experience heaven and made the new earth concept appear to be a second-class existence.
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Caljuher
Just did a double-check on that church of my dad's I used to go to as a kid. It was an Assemblies of God church.
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potentialJWconvertswife
Caljuher- interesting that you'd mention Assembly of God...it was one of many churches my family attended as a child. I was pretty young at the time, but from what I remember they are pretty close to the dubs: there were always racks of religious tracts outside the sanctuary, and the emphasis seemed to be on end-times. Thanks for your reply.
Honesty- I completely understand how you'd want to forget. That is why I so appreciate all of the responses I'm getting. I have been lurking around, and read many posts by ex-dubs that express how deeply painful their experiences inside the organization and getting out have been. Thanks for your honesty.