by lovelylil 22 Replies latest jw friends
I read it back in the day when I escaped the tower. It was maybe the 10th book I read to reprogram and liberate myself.
My critique of it would be, there is only one section on the Wactower. That was my interest. I wasnt concerned with the mormans and Christian scientist.
A baptist friend let me read his back in the 80's. He was hoping I would jump out of the frying pan and into the fire of being a baptist and giving 10%.
Martin did write another less well-known book purely on the Witnesses called Jehovah of the Watchtower.
Lovelylil
I read the book some years ago. But I felt that the author had certain prejudices (orthodox standards) he used to define what he thought was Christian. For example, the trinity doctrine becomes a litmus test for judging what is or is not Christian. But this doctrine was not developed until the 4th century and remained a controversy within the church for centuries thereafter. Likewise other doctrines such as immortality of the soul and hell are assumed to be scriptural because orthodoxy tells us so. But it should be noted that the orthodox views were only accepted after years of violence and persecution directed against the opposition. In the end many accept orthodoxy because "might makes right." But there are legitimate arguments that should be considered regarding the teachings of early Christianity and the Bible.
Personally, I'm not sure it will be doctrine that will decide God's favor. Humans are judged by their deeds according to the Biblical standard.
papha,
I have duly noted and agree with everything you said. And personally I believe that it will be LOVE that will be the deciding factor as to who is/is not a true follower of Christ. Not correct doctrine. Its funny how centuries ago, the Apostle Paul said he saw things thru a hazy mirror, meaning he did not understand everything about God, Christ and God's word. And he was present during the early days of the church. Yet, many today profess having a more accurate understanding than even the Apostle's of Jesus' time had? I doubt it. I believe the "mirror" will be hazy until Christ's 2nd coming and then HE alone will sort things out. And that is why until then Paul said that our Love for one another will cover any doctrinal disagreements. Peace, Lilly
I often listened to Dr. Martin's radio program, The Bible Answer Man, and I got to see him several times at Melodyland Christian Center and other places. I enjoyed listening to him immensely. He did have kind of a "rough edge" to him—sometimes he seemed harsh in the way he treated objections—probably acquired from all those years of debating about every belief under the sun. He could tell you exactly why you were wrong. I haven't paid attention to CRI since his passing as they have gone in directions he wouldn't have approved of, and they have pretty much dropped him from their heritage.
Dr. Martin also wrote Jehovah of the Watchtower, probably not available anymore.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
If anyone is interested in either "The Kingdom of The Cults" or in the book "Jehovah of the Watchtower" by Walter Martin, BOTH are available used on Amazon.com
Peace, Lilly
The Mormons do not like "Dr" Walter Martin!
The Mormons do not like "Dr" Walter Martin!
A lot of groups didn't like Dr. Martin. Let's see...LDS, JW, Worldwide Church of God (under Herbert W. Armstrong), Eastern religions and their
Western transplant New Age groups, on and on. He didn't cut them any slack. He especially targeted LDS and JW because they were the large and influential, and because they misrepresented the Bible's teachings with their mishandling of the texts, and with the teachings in their supplementary books.
What I remember about his JW stuff is that it was filled with errors of fact -- most of them pretty minor, but the cumulative effect made me dislike the book.
You can listen to Walter Martin speaking on a variety of subjects online at waltermartin.org.
http://www.waltermartin.com/realaudio.html
Each month a new selection of audio files is put up in the "listening library".
