The 20 fundamental teachings

Fatfreek

A close friend studies with one of the JW's. During one of their recent studies, my friend raised the topic of WT contradictions (flip-flops) using the classic resurrection (or not) of the ancient ones from Sodom and Gomorrah. One can show where there are 7 flip-flops on this doctrine. Yes, No, Yes, No, etc.

My friend (who also has the WT CD Library) then wisely showed him one of their own quotations which teaches against such contradictions:

The Watchtower, 1976, 5/15, p. 298:“It is a serious matter to represent God and Christ in one way, then find that our understanding of the major teachings and fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures was in error, and then after that, to go back to the very doctrines that, by years of study, we had thoroughly determined to be in error. Christians cannot be vacillating—‘wishy-washy’—about such fundamental teachings . What confidence can one put in the sincerity or judgment of such persons?”

The person conducting the study immediately countered with, "well, we have 20 fundamental teachings and that is not one of them."

My friend wisely came back with, "Wait -- you mean that since this is not a fundamental teaching then it's okay to be wishy-washy about it?"

Amazingly, the conductor conceded, "I see your point".

My question -- is there any basis for this conductor's use of the expression, "20 fundamental teachings"?

Fats

WingCommander

"20 Fundemental Teachings" - Wow.....never heard of this before. In all honesty, this sounds like a Seventh Day Adventist term. I mean, they have the 28 Fundementals that they go by.

Never heard of a "standard 20" that JW's go by.

Hope your friend sees through "The Lie".

Regards,

Wing Commander

Fatfreek

Hmmm ... Thanks, Wing.

I wonder if he didn't get confused with the questions asked those preparing for baptism? Are there some 40 or 80?

Len

RR

WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BELIEVE

Belief	Scriptural Reason
Bible is God's Word and is truth	2 Tim. 3:16, 17 ; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21 ; John 17:17
Bible is more reliable than tradition	Matt. 15:3 ; Col. 2:8
God's name is Jehovah	Ps. 83:18 ; Isa. 26:4 ; 42:8 , AS; Ex. 6:3
Christ is God's Son and is inferior to Him	Matt. 3:17 ; John 8:42 ; 14:28 ; 20:17 ; 1 Cor. 11:3 ; 15:28
Christ was first of God's creations	Col. 1:15 ; Rev. 3:14
Christ died on a stake, not a cross	Gal. 3:13 ; Acts 5:30
Christ's human life was paid as a ransom for obedient humans	Matt. 20:28 ; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6 ; 1 Pet. 2:24
Christ's one sacrifice was sufficient	Rom. 6:10 ; Heb. 9:25-28
Christ was raised from the dead as an immortal spirit person	1 Pet. 3:18 ; Rom. 6:9 ; Rev. 1:17, 18
Christ's presence is in spirit	John 14:19 ; Matt. 24:3 ; 2 Cor. 5:16 ; Ps. 110:1, 2
We are now in the 'time of the end'	Matt. 24:3-14 ; 2 Tim. 3:1-5 ; Luke 17:26-30
Kingdom under Christ will rule earth in righteousness and peace	Isa. 9:6, 7 ; 11:1-5 ; Dan. 7:13, 14 ; Matt. 6:10
Kingdom will bring ideal living conditions to earth	Ps. 72:1-4 ; Rev. 7:9, 10 , 13-17 ; 21:3, 4
Earth will never be destroyed or depopulated	Eccl. 1:4 ; Isa. 45:18 ; Ps. 78:69
God will eliminate present system of things in the battle at Har-Magedon	Rev. 16:14 , 16 ; Zeph. 3:8 ; Dan. 2:44 ; Isa. 34:2 ; 55:10, 11
Wicked will be eternally destroyed	Matt. 25:41-46 ; 2 Thess. 1:6-9
People God approves will receive everlasting life	John 3:16 ; 10:27, 28 ; 17:3 ; Mark 10:29, 30
There is only one road to life	Matt. 7:13, 14 ; Eph. 4:4, 5
Human death is due to Adam's sin	Rom. 5:12 ; 6:23
The human soul ceases to exist at death	Ezek. 18:4 ; Eccl. 9:10 ; Ps. 6:5 ; 146:4 ; John 11:11-14
Hell is mankind's common grave	Job 14:13 , Dy; Rev. 20:13, 14 , AV (margin)
Hope for dead is resurrection	1 Cor. 15:20-22 ; John 5:28, 29 ; 11:25, 26
Adamic death will cease	1 Cor. 15:26 , 54 ; Rev. 21:4 ; Isa. 25:8
Only a little flock of 144,000 go to heaven and rule with Christ	Luke 12:32 ; Rev. 14:1 , 3 ; 1 Cor. 15:40-53 ; Rev. 5:9, 10
The 144,000 are born again as spiritual sons of God	1 Pet. 1:23 ; John 3:3 ; Rev. 7:3, 4
New covenant is made with spiritual Israel	Jer. 31:31 ; Heb. 8:10-13
Christ's congregation is built upon himself	Eph. 2:20 ; Isa. 28:16 ; Matt. 21:42
Prayers are to be directed only to Jehovah through Christ	John 14:6 , 13, 14 ; 1 Tim. 2:5
Images should not be used in worship	Ex. 20:4, 5 ; Lev. 26:1 ; 1 Cor. 10:14 ; Ps. 115:4-8
Spiritism must be shunned	Deut. 18:10-12 ; Gal. 5:19-21 ; Lev. 19:31
Satan is invisible ruler of world	1 John 5:19 ; 2 Cor. 4:4 ; John 12:31
A Christian ought to have no part in interfaith movements	2 Cor. 6:14-17 ; 11:13-15 ; Gal. 5:9 ; Deut. 7:1-5
A Christian should keep separate from world	Jas. 4:4 ; 1 John 2:15 ; John 15:19 ; 17:16
Obey human laws that do not conflict with God's laws	Matt. 22:20, 21 ; 1 Pet. 2:12 ; 4:15
Taking blood into body through mouth or veins violates God's laws	Gen. 9:3, 4 ; Lev. 17:14 ; Acts 15:28, 29
Bible's laws on morals must be obeyed	1 Cor. 6:9, 10 ; Heb. 13:4 ; 1 Tim. 3:2 ; Prov. 5:1-23
Sabbath observance was given only to Israel and ended with Mosaic Law	Deut. 5:15 ; Ex. 31:13 ; Rom. 10:4 ; Gal. 4:9, 10 ; Col. 2:16, 17
A clergy class and special titles are improper	Matt. 23:8-12 ; 20:25-27 ; Job 32:21, 22
Man did not evolve but was created	Isa. 45:12 ; Gen. 1:27 ; Matt. 19:4
Christ set example that must be followed in serving God	1 Pet. 2:21 ; Heb. 10:7 ; John 4:34 ; 6:38
Baptism by complete immersion symbolizes dedication	Mark 1:9, 10 ; John 3:23 ; Acts 19:4, 5
Christians gladly give public testimony to Scriptural truth	Rom. 10:10 ; Heb. 13:15 ; Isa. 43:10-12

MeneMene

RR, where did you get that list? Is it in one of their publications?

Fatfreek, maybe your friend can ask the JW for a list of the 20 he was talking about & where he got the list.

reniaa

Thankyou R R thats an interesting list one that makes me wonder again that if actions and beliefs are inspired by bible teachings does that make the bible wrong? for example blood scriptures, or keeping yourself apart, the early christians translated as not eating blood sausage and would rather face being thrown to lions than eat it, also they avoided pegan festivities etc hmmm the eternal conflict of while not being a JW but still believing in the bible and knowing those scriptures exist, I find I dwell on it a lot :(

About 60 or 61 C.E., when Paul was in Rome awaiting trial by Emperor Nero, leading Jews said concerning the early Christians: “Truly as regards this sect it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22)

Since they refused to worship the emperor and pagan divinities, they were accused of atheism. If a catastrophe occurred, they were blamed for having angered the gods. Because they did not attend immoral plays or bloody gladiatorial shows, they were considered antisocial, even ‘haters of the human race.' Their enemies claimed that homes were broken up by the Christian “sect” and that it was therefore a danger to social stability. Tertullian spoke of pagan husbands who preferred that their wives commit adultery than that they become Christians.

Christians were criticized because they were against abortion, widely practiced at the time. Yet, their enemies accused them of killing children. It was alleged that at their meetings they drank the blood of sacrificed children. At the same time, their enemies tried to force them to eat blood sausage, knowing that this was against their conscience. Thus these opposers gave the lie to their own accusation.—Tertullian, Apology, chapter 9.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Christianity-Church-History-2348/empire-ruled-Israel-during.htm

Fatfreek

If my count is correct the list is of some 42 items.

I searched for that list of RR's on my WT CD Library and could get no hits. I used Google and found that it is on the Watchtower's web site on a page titled, "What do they believe?". Link here .

I find it interesting that the very topics on which the conductor waffled are included in their list items:

16 Wicked will be eternally destroyed
22 Hope for dead is resurrection

.
MeneMene: maybe your friend can ask the JW for a list of the 20 he was talking about & where he got the list.

We've talked about this and I believe my friend will do just that.

Fats

Fatfreek

For convenience, I quote from an interesting thread here on JWD.

There are 3 sections of questions in the book, ORGANIZED TO DO JEHOVAH'S WILL. Literally more than one hundred questions (subquestions too) . They are generally covered in 3 sessions of at least one hour each.

Here’s the link to that thread.

For those interested, that book -- for obvious reasons -- is not included on your WT Library CD. Using Google, however, you'll find several download links.

Fats

Mrs. Witness

just marking...good stuff!!

Fatfreek

Here's another interesting Question From Readers item:

*** w86 4/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***

Approved association with Jehovah’s Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses. What do such beliefs include?

That the great issue before humankind is the rightfulness of Jehovah’s sovereignty, which is why he has allowed wickedness so long. (Ezekiel 25:17) That Jesus Christ had a prehuman existence and is subordinate to his heavenly Father. (John 14:28) That there is a “faithful and discreet slave” upon earth today ‘entrusted with all of Jesus’ earthly interests,’ which slave is associated with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. (Matthew 24:45-47) That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ’s foretold presence. (Luke 21:7-24; Revelation 11:15–12:10) That only 144,000 Christians will receive the heavenly reward. (Revelation 14:1, 3) That Armageddon, referring to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, is near. (Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:11-21) That it will be followed by Christ’s Millennial Reign, which will restore an earth-wide paradise. That the first to enjoy it will be the present “great crowd” of Jesus’ “other sheep.”—John 10:16; Revelation 7:9-17; 21:3, 4.

Note that the following two items from that list are not mentioned in the 42 items in the subject list above.

That there is a “faithful and discreet slave” upon earth today ‘entrusted with all of Jesus’ earthly interests,’ which slave is associated with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
That 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the heavens, as well as the time for Christ’s foretold presence.

Have their core teachings changed that much from 1986 till 2000. Are those two simply not disclosed to the public on today's web site? Did they overlook them? Why do they omit them?

Those 42 items are not only on their web site but also embodied in one of their year 2000 tracts *** jt p. 13 What Do They Believe? ***

Fats

The 20 fundamental teachings

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