COMMENTS YOU WILL NOT HEAR AT THE WT STUDY 09-07-08 (HOUSE TO HOUSE MINISTR

by Mary 74 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Dagney
    Dagney

    Awesome job Mary!

    Some still in point to the preaching work as being one of the things they feel JW's have right. You have given me the right ammo to shoot that theory down.

    Brava!

  • gumby
    gumby

    What a beautiful woman you are job you did Mary!

    Your thread had me also looking a bit deeper into this subject. Sometimes many of us still think like a witness and do not know it. Even as an ex-witness I never doubted that preaching the gospel was a duty of ALL christians.

    It's easy to let yourself reason that Christ must have given the assignment to preach to ALL his followers because of the fact that had he meant it was a job for only the 12 Apostles, we'd have to wonder how only 12 of them could cover the planet, yet at the same time we believe/believed Noah covered the globe all by himself, or the fact that only a handful of New Testement writers could influence billions of people 2,000 years after their death and STILL have an established religion in existance, that being Christianity.

    Here's an interesting thought about the belief that the commision to preach was given only to the 12 Apostles.

    Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia

    The Twelve Apostles

    The word "Apostle" signifies "one sent", while the word "disciple" means only "a learner." The twelve Apostles were sent into the world for a definite purpose, with explicit instructions from the Lord.

    1. Nationality and Early Life. They were all of the stock of Abraham, and their early lives were spent in their native land (Matthew 4"18-25; Matthew 20:1-11).

    2. Their Opportunities. Jesus spake to the multitude in parables, but in secret places He explained everything to His apostles (Matthew 13:33-43; John 14:1-9).

    3. Their Ordination. Jesus called them, ordained them and sent them into the world even as His Father had sent Him (John 15:16; John 17:6-18).

    4. The First Commission. The first time Jesus sent the apostles to preach, He restricted their labors to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6), and their preaching to the simple announcement that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 10:1-7).

    5. The Second Commission. After Jesus had broken down the middle wall between Jew and Gentile by his death on the cross, He gave His apostles a new commission (Ephesians 2:11-16).

      According to Matthew, this commission embraced,

      1. the announcement that all authority in heaven and in earth had been given unto Him;
      2. the command to go and teach;
      3. the command to baptize those who were taught;
      4. the command to continue to teach the baptized disciples;
      5. the assurance that He would be with them to the end (Matthew 28:18-20).

        6. According to Mark, it embraced,

        1. the command to preach the gospel to the whole world;
        2. the promise of salvation to those who believe and obey it (Mark 16:15,16).

        According to Luke, it embraced,

        1. the command to preach repentance in His name;
        2. to begin at Jerusalem;
        3. the assurance that the apostles were witnesses of these things (Luke 24:45-48).

        According to John, it embraced, under the condition laid down by Jesus, the power to remit and retain sins (John 20:22,23).

      6. Authority and Power.
        1. The apostles, preeminently Peter, were given the Keys of the Kingdom, with the assurance that whatsoever they should bind on earth should be bound in heaven, and whatsoever they should loose on earth should be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:13-19; Matthew 18:18; John 20:22,23);
        2. the apostles went forth under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:16-20; John 14:16,17,26; John 15:26; John 16:7-11; Acts 2:6-8); and they spoke as He gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4). Were they not qualified to preach an infallible gospel for all generations?

          3. So there you have it all ye publishers of the Good News! You can all relax now and spend your weekends getting drunk much earlier in the day than you usually do because the 12 Apostles did your chores over 2000 years ago and what they said is Still drawing in converts...........with or without all the wasted time you folks spend trying to "spread a message" that has long ago been spread and is still spreading. Doncha bastards ever wonder why churches go up each and everyday........Kingdom Halls excluded?

          Your excellence, Father, Reverand, Gumby

      7. searcher
        searcher

        Great Comments Mary.

        I couldnt help but notice yet another glaring use of a true/false statement by the WT.

        I find their statement that "all these methods yield good results" as highly dubious given the fact that there has been virtually no increase in developed nations over the past several years despite the billions of hours that are spent preaching each year.

        "all these methods yield good results"..... TRUE if you finish the sentence "yeiding donations to the WTBTS"

        False if you finish the sentence "yeilding converts"..........as IMPLIED in the text.

      8. LUKEWARM
        LUKEWARM

        Brilliant analysis Mary and thanks for posting this!!!

        It reminded me of what Ray Franz wrote in his book, In search of Christian Freedom, on page 460:

        "In actuality, the lack of any formal program and the apparent spontaneity and individual motivation of the first-century Christians are what are most remarkable in the accounts we do find in the Bible. We find only the barest of suggestions of what their meetings were like and no indication of any methodology or systematization in their proclaiming of the good news.

        I recall that during the years I served in circuit and district overseer activity, I used to puzzle over this when preparing the "service talks" that were a regular feature of the weekly program when visiting congregations. I wanted to prepare talks that were scriptural, but it seemed so difficult to find scriptures that even faintly reflected the kind of "organised service" urged by the headquarters in its publications. I found it hard to understand how the apostles Peter, Paul and John and the disciples James and Jude, could write entire letters to congregations and never say anything stressing the need for the readers of those letters to get out and go from door to door, nothing about organised witnessing arrangements at scheduled times, about putting in more hours in the "field service" or similar approaches or topics, all things regularly stressed in the Watch Tower Society's publications. The letters of the apostles and disciples seemed deficient according to the viewpoint that had been developed in me.

        It eventually became clear, after some decades, that the real problem lay with the viewpoint inculcated in me, a viewpoint that actually perverted the first century record, manipulating it to make it say something it did not actually say. From the broad principle that all Christians should share the good news, deductions are made to support and cover virtually every aspect of the organizations systematised approach to worship and preaching. But those deductions are unjustified, as indicated by the absence of corroborative evidence in the scriptures themselves. The systematised, highly programmed approach to Christianity that has developed bears greater resemblance to that of a large sales organization that to the first-century Christian congregation and its simple, uncomplicated worship and service to God."

      9. Vanderhoven7
        Vanderhoven7

        Interesting video...but with statistical problems as Witnesses did no house to house ministry in 2020

        https://youtu.be/CiLMTT_bxHM

        Worth reviving this thread as well.

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