WANTED ! JW Apologist

by wobble 389 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Awakened at Gilead
    Awakened at Gilead

    Reniaa, you missed my point. I am obviously not advocating for the trinity or any other Bible teaching. But there are more than one valid way to understand scripture. JWs don't have a monopoly on the truth. Nor do they have a monopoly on lies.

    About your point that I did not cite that the WT is a helper:

    *** km 1/80 p. 1 par. 1 We Have What They Need! ***

    1 For 100 years now, The Watchtower has been keeping watch in a spiritual way. It has been bringing its readers “comfort from the Scriptures” and reliable guidance that only God’s Word, the Bible, can provide. (Rom. 15:4; Ps. 119:105) Most of us owe much of our own spiritual development and growth to The Watchtower. How grateful we are for the “food at the proper time” provided by the “faithful and discreet slave.” And to the holy spirit?

    *** w79 7/1 p. 31 ‘We Really Appreciate It’ ***

    Among those treasures that large numbers of our readers have perceived is the guidance that God’s Word offers regarding family life. They write: ‘“The Watchtower” has helped me to have a happy marriage. My wife and I are continually reminded to show consideration for each other, to be modest, to face problems mildly and with trust in Jehovah.’ (Germany) ‘It helped me to understand from the Bible that polygamy is not acceptable among Christians and it strengthened me to send away my extra wives and settle down with my first wife. As a result, I am now living happily with my family and have the joy of rendering acceptable service to Jehovah.’ (Nigeria) ‘For twenty years “The Watchtower” has enabled me to teach my children what is good and what is bad, and to be confident that what I was saying was right, that it was God’s viewpoint. Because we used the Bible, along with “The Watchtower,” to handle problems, we have never experienced a rupture in the parent-child relationship.’ (Japan) Again the focus is on the WT.

    *** km 6/71 p. 3 par. 2 Shepherd the Flock ***

    Jehovah in his wisdom has provided for that needed encouragement through shepherds appointed to care for his flock. The apostle Paul commanded the shepherd Timothy to ‘apply himself to exhortation.’ (1 Tim. 4:13) The Greek word that Paul used for “exhortation” is pa·ra′kle·sis, related to the word “paraclete” or “helper.” It can also be translated “encouragement.” Accordingly, servants have in mind giving whatever spiritual assistance may be needed, instead of a “pep” talk or “buildup” just to raise a brother’s field service averages. Attention is focused on building up spirituality by means of encouraging and assisting persons to read the Bible regularly along with the Watchtower and Awake! magazines and others of the Society’s publications. With appropriate spiritual assistance being given to fit the needs of an individual, there will not be any problem in getting support at the meetings or in the field ministry in view of what is stated at 2 Peter 1:8, will there? This would have been a good time to tell the friends that they have a helper, the holy spirit.

    I don't think that it is relevant as to who has strong or weak positions. There are various ways of understanding the Bible. The WT only shows one way (at a time, since their narrow interpretation is subject to change at any time). If there are strong or weak arguments over exegesis, the point is that there are more than one argument. You dismiss any arguments that contradict the WT. Therefore, you show your bias.

  • Earnest
    Earnest

    hi besty, I would love to say yes too but I cannot tell a lie, I lean more towards slimboyfat's theology of an Agnostic for Jehovah. I really only joined this thread as I think it's very one-sided and the sarcasm used is unworthy of people interested in truth.

  • Homerovah the Almighty
    Homerovah the Almighty
    A Tree is Known by Its Fruit
    (Luke 6:43-44)

    15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are savage wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren't gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they? 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire. 20 So by their fruit you will know them.”

    I Never Knew You
    (Luke 6:46; 13:25-27)

    21 “Not everyone who keeps saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn't we?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you evildoers!’”

    1 John 4
    Test the Spirits

    1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world

    Dates were utilized as a marketing foundation for their literature that spurred support and wealth for the organization, without dates

    the organization with its foundation would have crumbled down decades ago.

    The only problem is, there are indeed accumulative amount of bad after effects in doing so.

    Power obtained can become very arrogant and hot with pride.

  • besty
    besty

    Reniaa - ahhhh... the controlling power of a WT quote to get the renegades back in line. 3 days of obfuscation and nonsense and if/then/maybe/maybe not and *suddenly* you are a loyal true believer again. The requirement for JW's to accept even false doctrine as truth was established in 1954 at the Walsh trial, so this is not new.

    Incidentally I didn't qualify my question, so don't say that I did. I reminded you where your loyalty lies with a helpful WT quote about getting in line. The question was unchanged.

    Now we have established you are obliged to accept WT teachings my next question is: <same yes or no format to save time, I know you are busy>

    Do you accept that forced acceptance of doctrine combined with information control is unhealthy and open to abuse? Yes or no.

  • besty
    besty

    @Earnest

    I really only joined this thread as I think it's very one-sided and the sarcasm used is unworthy of people interested in truth.

    Given that the WTS bans its members from getting involved in online debate its not surprising there will be more ex-JW's here. <IMHO the reason for that ban is because their theology doesn't stand up to criticism very well - their bubble only looks good from the inside - from the outside it resembles a prison made from sieves and colanders - now that's magic!>

    Reniaa frustrates the hell out of people with her vascillation and lack of mental clarity <ignoring the spelling and grammar which also makes it difficult - you and I can have a perfectly civil exchange of thoughts which Reniaa's style makes difficult - hence my yes/no approach with her is very structured to ensure a logical conclusion.

  • OUTLAW
    OUTLAW

    Posting so I can read this page.............OUTLAW

  • BizzyBee
    BizzyBee
    the sarcasm used is unworthy of people interested in truth.

    I must agree. Though I do believe that the sarcasm is provoked by sheer frustration. It's like trying to pin Jell-o to the wall. Or herd cats.

    As I recall from growing up JW, most of the books we used for studies with potential converts (Let God Be True, The Truth Book, etc.) always had one chapter devoted to disproving the trinity. I remember we also had a little tri-fold pamphet with 3 green intersecting circles on the front that discussed the trinity. There seemed to be an obsession with disproving the trinity, though most people really couldn't care less about it, and proving it one way or the other wouldn't make the JW 'religion' the "Truth" anyway. But I suppose it is possible to become 'stuck' at that level of knowledge. The Trinity (and the Cross) is a strange jumping off point in one's search for "Truth."

    As has been pointed out, to accept JW as the "True" religion, one must embrace the whole body of their doctrines. No cherry-picking allowed.

  • passwordprotected
    passwordprotected

    @ besty - spelling - vacillation. Tut tut.

    @ Reniaa - I respect you more when you don't try to dodge the issues. So you can't see yourself being involved with the churches of 'Christendom' because of the trinity and 'worship of the cross'*. That's fine. At least now you're saying clearly that you'll accept the unscriptural teaching of 1919. And that's a good thing if you're a JW wishing to remain in good standing as you and I both know that to reject 1919 - even on scriptural grounds - will result in you being disfellowshipped from the Jehovah's Witness religion.

    Now that you've done that, can you understand why people would choose to reject such a stand point, risk eternal damnation at Jehovah's hand when he unleashed Armageddon, and believe the trinity instead?

    *as far as I know only the Catholic church gets involved with cross worship. The church I attend - Riverside Gospel Church - has no cross in sight anywhere.

  • OUTLAW
    OUTLAW

    Posting so I can read this page.............OUTLAW

  • possible-san
    possible-san

    The following is an article in my website.
    My comment (my own opinion) is not written.

    http://godpresencewithin.web.fc2.com/pages/jw/prophets.html

    The defender of JW should see the "fact" soon.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit