by Awakened at Gilead 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I think that WT writers probably know the real doctrine...it is, as Blondie points out, that everybody except baptized active JWs in good standing will die.
This is much to harsh for public consumption, so most of the rank and file get the dumbed down version of "wait and see, trust in Jehovah", and then they dumb that down again for presentation at the door.
Like Jack Nicholson said in "A Few Good Men" - The TRUTH??? - you CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!
I forget the exact figures I came up with, but it was obvious, and still is, that with China, N. Korea, India, Pakistan, and the rest of the Middle East, huge portions of Africa, Aisa and the Far East, the vast majority of the Earth's population has never talked with a JW, and likely has never heard of them.
AND, that situation is not improving. The number of Witnesses is decreasing compared to population growth
I know for a fact that in Korea there is 0% growth amongst actual Koreans. ALL the growth in Korea is from foreigners, English speaking territories and poor migrant workers. That is it.
A pioneer made this statement emphatically, no growth amongst Koreans. Plus the largest portion of MTS grads in Korea go to China.
Hi all,
I've been following this discussion with great interest, as this is one of my favorite topics (Matt. 24:14 & the preaching work). Thanks "Awakened At Gilead" for starting this timely topic.
Here's my thought. And I believe it is a "simple argument" too, in keeping with the title of this topic.
Doesn't the bible itself show us, God will have a direct hand in heralding the special message about His "Glory," and that this message must go world wide, to all people before the end? Also, doesn't this particular prophecy specifically say God Almighty will put special emphasis on people that have never, ever heard of Him or seen His works before? That way, everyone gets to hear the divine message? Here is the prophecy:
Isaiah 66:18, 19 says:
"...the time is coming to gather ALL NATIONS AND TONGUES. And they shall come and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the DISTANT COASTLANDS THAT HAVE NEITHER HEARD MY FAME NOR SEEN MY GLORY. And they will declare my glory among the nations." -- New American Standard
The New World Translation says of this verse, Almighty God is doing this "gathering" work. So, Jehovah is spearheading it or is responsible for it, which means it CANNOT FAIL. Further, this special mesage is supposed to go world wide, covering all languages and peoples.
Now, if you check WTBTS publications on these verses, you will see the Watchtower Society has alluded in print, that this prophecy has been fulfilled in the preaching work done by Jehovah's Witnesses. However, according to the statistics everyone has presented above, this cannot be true.
...any thoughts on this particular prophecy?
Observer
I happen to be the type that loves LOGIC !!!! go figure.
When someone takes the time to spell out something like this, it helps me to clearly see things for that they really are.
I have had simialr thoughts when I am in service, looking back on the decades of time that I spent in service the ratio has to be 95% to 5% not at homes to talking to people
I know that the WTBS will never abondon the door to door work, but I am so surprised that they never went back to radio,tv or internet to get a larger base of people that are actually home or paying attention to their message.
There is a logical flaw in all the preaching work.
It is boot-strapping.
You can stand in front of a heroin addict and preach all day long. Guess what? They are addicted wretches. Words mean nothing.
The bible view of humans is that they are weak, miserable, wretched, demon influenced sinners. Well, either they are or they aren't.
If they are wretched and lost--How the Hell can you expect them to properly evaluate some spiritual message?
Preaching is asking people who are deaf from birth to HEAR.
It is logically fallacious.
Besides, the so-called dividing line between life and death can't come from Watchtower publications, can it? That stuff keeps churning out flip-flopped opinions and interpretations which are riddled with bad chronology and faulty reasoning.
The JW's can march 7 million strong through streets and neighborhoods, but, their information stinks!
One of the most distressing insights a JW could ever have is slowly realising that the door-to-door work is a largely vain and inefficient way of advertising one's faith.
Vain & Inefficient it certainly is. It is done for two reasons only: literature sales (yes, literature sales still - regardless of the new spin on giving it away), and as a way to rank the JWs as to obedience.
Note that in all the push for publication placements, hours, and such - nobody is ever held back much if they fail to have a bible study that ever actually comes into the "truth". That is because they know that such an event is about like making a hole-in-one at Pebble Beach in a strong wind.
And nobody cares - not so long as the throngs are streaming out into the neighborhoods to put out those magazines.
Most Witlesses go in service, not because they want to, but rather because they have to.
Elders go to be seen by the flock. Young brothers go so that they can qualify to pass the
mics at the Kingdom Hall. Pioneers go to get their hours. It used to make my brain bleed
when I used to hear the JW's say "that I have to go out in service Saturday to get my time in or
to get my hours up." The only way that the congreations can judge a persons spritual health
is by their meeting attendence and hours spent riding around in a car on Saturday morning.
If the JW's did not require the turning in of time at the end of the month there would be a crash
in the hours that are wasted in the "ministry."
TooBad TooSad
I think the best short, sweet summary of all this is the fact that world population is growing by roughly 211,000 people per day (as per world population growth rate in 2007), while the number of JW publishers has recently peaked out at an average of 548 per day (as per 2007 figures). That's roughly 210,500 more people that die EACH DAY that Armageddon is delayed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth
http://www.jwfacts.com/images/publisher-table.jpg
repost. System wouldn't let me correct the previous post.
I think the best short, sweet summary of all this is the fact that world population is growing by roughly 211,000 people per day (as per world population growth rate in 2007), while the number of JW publishers goes up at an average of 548 per day (as per 2007 figures--a higher value than in previous years). That's roughly 210,500 more people that die for EACH DAY that Armageddon is delayed.
Ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth
http://www.jwfacts.com/images/publisher-table.jpg
