As far back as I can remember, the words "Don't look at apostate literature" didn't set well with me. I kinda always in the back of my head was thinking "If this is the truth, what difference does it make?" In fact wouldn't it strengthen a persons faith to read opposing literature to find out what things they were wrong about? I found out in 1995-1996 what the Society was afraid of when I secretly read Crisis of Conscience. It then all made sense why they were so desperate to keep witnesses away from apostate Literature. Although apostate literature varies widely in quality, almost all of it exposes things the society would rather keep hidden. So I have a challenge to you lurkers. If you have the truth, what are you afraid of? Isn't the truth stronger than lies? What contains the truth? The Society's literature, or apostate literature? Why was the work of Jehovah's witnesses restricted in Mexico for so many years? The real truth on this mater will reveal that they Voluntarily registered with the Government there as a "Cultural Organization" rather than a Christian religion. They did so because doing so allowed them to own property there. A religion with property had to put the property in trust with the government. Registering the way they did, they brought the restrictions on themselves. seek2find
*** Your thoughts on Apostate Literature ***
by FlyingHighNow 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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witnessgirl
FWIW, a few years back, before I DA'd, I bought some bound volumes on eBay that came with photocopies of information about chronology and 607 stuck inside the cover of one. But by that point I was already on my way out and just thought it was kind of neat. I possibly still have those copies somewhere.
Another time I bought a copy of Divine Purpose on eBay. It came with post-it notes in it with little notes written on them pointing out inconsistencies and referring to the later Proclaimers book (which was sort of a revision of Divine Purpose). I never decided whether the previous owner had just been doing study with them or if they had deliberately inserted them in case the buyer (me) was an active JW. -
M.J.
I remember my geometry teacher was the best teacher on the planet. Not only that but she taught the only truth about geometry. She warned me about those false geometry teachers and because I am so firm in geometrical truth, I haven't looked at what they have to say ever since.
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QuestioningEverything
I was terrified of any 'apostate' literature. I thought it would have demons in it. And up until very recently-like 2 months ago, never even considered looking at it even though I have been inactive for some time.
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White Dove
Doesn't picketing and handing out literature seem a little desparate? I never even saw apostate literature before, unless you count the books out there that are mentioned on this site. It's probably as effective and cost efficient as fs.
I found "20 Years as a Watchtower Slave" to be poorly written with a ton of pathos in it and not enough documentation. He'd say what was wrong and have quotes but not documented.
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FlyingHighNow
FHN - it is a bit like telling a young child - dont eat that piece of candy - you get intrigued. The more they told me about apostate literature the more I wanted to read it
I felt the same way. I had a little bit of fear, but my curiosity was stronger. So when I found links to sights on my very first internet search for the WTBTS site, I looked at them. The first one I came upon told the stories of Ray Franz and his wife and some other couples who were railroaded out of the org. I kept it in my mind and then a little over a year later, I decided to look some more and to order Crisis of Conscience. I recall seeing JWD in 2001, but it was a little racey for me. Even though I wasn't living the JW life at all, I was not prepared yet to see formers talking blatantly about sexual matters, etc. I didn't understand the avatar deal or the Sr., Jedi status, etc.
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Octarine Prince
For amama2six:
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VoidEater
When I was 9 I was baptized; shortly thereafter we moved 400 miles from SoCal to NorCal. That's a dividing point in my life. A lot was happening, and I domn't point to the baptism as having been the change-maker, but it's an interesting part of a confluence of events. (that's my $64 word for this post: confluence)
BB (Before Baptism) anything that someone told me was "apostate" would strike the fear of demons into me (glad I'm not alone!). But BE (Baptized Era), I had heard too much of "examine stuff for yourself" - that was big either for the time or for the congregation we moved into. "We're the only religion that is logical and doesn't demand just faith - we can prove everything we believe."
So BE meant I could read anything and refute it.
Funny story, really...
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Turkey Sandwich
Quote by Wobble:
"it took me a lot of study to find the errors in it scripturally, I think a lot of it is not very well presented, as with some of the sites on the Web.I think most on here, JWD,do a better job by the slow introduction of info. and ideas, keep up ,the good work!!!!!"
I agree with that, so many of the 'apostate' websites I've seen are poorly presented. You can't reason with an active witness by pointing out the major organizational problems, they are programmed to ignore that sort of thing.
I think a good beginning is a frank 607 vs 586 discussion, followed by a brief summary of failed JW prophecy. Many MANY JW's have doubts, or at least concerns, about the way things are run but belief in these amazing untrue prophecies is the binder that makes them faithful. -
JeffT
I was really curious about what was in it, but didn't have access to any (for the most part). I did see one cheap paperback at the library once, that I thought was nonsense, it was about faith healing.
When I did start researching I found some of the most helpful books to be written by theologians. Althought CofC was a real eye opener.