Witness Rules and Teachings that go "beyond what is written" in the Bible............(feel free to add more here or on other thread)
1. hatred of men's facial hair and sideburns ...................................(privileges withheld if you have too much or wrong style) also length of men's hair
2. clothing requirements................. ties/jackets/suits mandatory for ministry/talks/privileges....and sisters can freeze there ass of rather than wear a hilliary clinton pantsuit or they can not be on the school
3. birthday celebration forbidden....the anniversary of our child's birth is the same importance as wedding anniversary
4. claiming Divine Name it was in the new testament when no manuscript contains it (that's kinda a big one)
5. allowing blood fractions when blood was required to be poured on the ground...never mind that the instructions were only about eating blood and that the only way they could "abstain" from blood was to not eat it or use it in pagan worship (odd that the priests used it so much in the worship of jehovah...barf)...medical use should be perfectly fine...i wonder if the fractions have dirt in it?
6. higher education is a bad thing, even if you live at home...yet high school is ok if you live at home...(and believe me...there is not any difference between the fun stuff you can do at both..but college is more likely to open your mind...not just your zipper)
7. masturbation is an evil sin
8. not celebrating/clapping when someone is repentant and reinstated.......................................true stupid non biblical rule but nobody in bible was reinstated i don't think
9. restricting privileges when someone is reinstated................................the prodigal son was celebrated and welcomed back in full (from bonnzo)
10. Christianity (through one) organization instead of a way of life...............that passes for me
11. Salvation is dependent upon belonging to the JW denomination.....................ditto
12. The Watchtower organization speaks for and is controlled by Jehovah, (thereby equating the organization with God himself)........first half only
13.The "faithful and discreet slave" is an "anointed class" (rather than each individual Christian who shows himself or herself to be responsible and obedient to Christ.).........ditto and a big one on the first half only......see the second part can not be proven by bible either...only mentioned once
14. The early Christians were led by a governing body..................................VERY good one.....
15. (oops...i had blood issue in here twice so i need one for this space!)
16. Jesus appointed the "anointed remnant" as his true church in 1919..................................................ditto, not provable by bible alone
(17.) The so-called "anointed" class (actually, the governing body) is God's channel and prophet.........I think this passes but not sure...scriptures?
18. The Bible cannot be correctly understood without the aid of WT literature and programs.................true, beyond scriptural proof
19. Jesus returned in 1914....................(i split this one in two) big one too....since no dates are in bible....this can not be proven using only bible
20. and is "invisibly present" since then................ditto, but god is hard to prove too since invisible...some could argue his return is visible from bible
(21.) Individual JWs must not read Bible-related publications produced by non-WT sources.....................................i think so, any scripture even close?...i suppose there were warnings about foreign gods/practices though
22. Arrogantly promoting the pretense that the JWs maintain higher standards than any other religion and proclaiming publicly that all other churches are members of Babylon the Great..................................passes but barely cause.....well their standard are proven to be pretty darn high...but even IDENTYFYING Babylon TG as false religion can not be proven from the bible, much less that all other religions are part of it
23.The "congregation" of Matthew 18:17 is "the body of elders." (Matthew 18:17) 17 If he does not listen to them, speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector. footnote Or, "to the ecclesia (assembly)." Gr., teiek·kle·si´ai;........................................................big ditto....how can you go from congregation/assembly to "body of elders"?..................way beyond.....
24. Not "partaking" at the "memorial".......DITTO!....if you mean that not all can partake...in bible all in attendance partook, and passed in order to partake.....however everyone desiring everlasting life is to eat jesus bod and drink his blud (ick).....so the whole thing is messed up 25.Secret kangaroo courts..........not mentioned in bible or WT!.........but, Ditto! if you mean that three man judicial committee's not biblical for judging and punishing the sheep....there may be precedent with elders in jerusalem meeting to make a rule....but no precedent for "judicial committee" 26. Jesus is only the mediator to the 144,000...everyone else is a companion and lives by association with the chosen people...........i believe this makes the cut, but am not certain on the scripture they use for that, nor the main wt's that state that....so somebody post that evidence here please........we should prove that one is not in bible in anyway, and that WT says it is so
27. Permitting (and encouraging) child baptism. Every baptism in the NT involved "men and women." Jesus was about 30 years old when he was baptized..........................ditto and one of my pet peeves for sure!....WT even acknowledges that in first century only adults were baptised...(yet they say they try so hard to imitate the 1st century christian congo)...often the carnage families are often put to is due to child baptism
28. Discouraging/forbidding school sports and extra-curricular activities. This is done under the auspices of 1 Cor. 15:33 (bad associations), but what scriptural precedent is there for classifying all non-JWs (or even all non-christians, for that matter) as bad association? Jesus associated with sinners and non-believers...................this make the list....even if it was an all jw school they would not even have sports because they claim it "promotes a competitive nature".....WTF is wrong with that either????
29.Requiring a confession of certain types of sins to a group of elders. The NT is clear that forgiveness only comes through Christ's sacrifice. There's a passage in James that says 'if there is anyone sick among you, let him call the older men...' The WT interprets this to mean that "spiritually sick" JWs have to confess really bad sins (fornication, drunkenness, stealing, etc.) to elders. But that's a bit of a stretch. In Ray Franz's second book, he discusses a disagreement that he had with Uncle Fred about this scripture. Ray pointed out that the Greek word translated "sick" literally meant physically sick. This makes sense to me, because at the time James wrote his letter, the "older men" still had gifts of the spirit--such as healing. Thus, if someone was sick he could go to one of these faith-healing elders! But even if James meant "spiritually sick," there's still nothing in that scripture that says "people who commit certain types of sins have to confess them to a group of men in order to be forgiven." It just isn't there.......................................absolutely on the list!.....masturbation gets a lot of confession...i wish every dub would go ever time they have an immoral thought since it just like real adultery anyway.....the elders would have no time for any public meetings.......
30. Disfellowshipping for smoking. While I agree that it's a rotten habit, there's no Biblical basis for casting someone out of the congregation for smoking...........................definitely beyond what is written... and i bet there are many other things they df for that are not biblical
31. Allowing women to comment and give parts on meetings. Paul is explicit and clear in 1 Cor. 14:34-35 that women are to be silent in church. Period. This is an example of how JWs pick and choose which parts of the Bible to take literally. When Paul says to "abstain from blood," the JWs say that means to completely abstain; but for some reason, when Paul says for women to be silent in church, they don't think that means to be completely silent. Inconsistent much?.............................................yes...hot damm i had not thought of that!...........how do they explain the "silent" part???...I Will look it up
33. Disfellowshipping for gambling. ...............for sure beyond what is written...God himself "got in on some action" because the apostles PRAYED before they cast lots to choose a replacement for judas
34.Requiring overseers to maintain "the national average" in field service.................................yep that qualifies, and i had never even thought about that....very good scriptural support there olin and good logic
35. Not allowing women to carry microphones or work behind the literature counter (or for women to be on the Governing Body)...............................i added the last part, because a woman could be on it and never "teach" and she would not have to be "silent" when they meet.........and how stupid they have nothing they can do but clean the hall when they can frikkin do every single thing the brothers do and side by side them at a quick-build!
36.Forbidding voting in political elections...........................i agree and if loss of privileges or being "marked" in some way if you do then it is definitely going beyond things written (great point about Joseph and Daniel btw)
37. Bible truths revealed as a light getting brighter and brighter..................................what a biggie! (was just reminded of this by Megaflower)..........this teaching is not found in the bible.......it clearly goes beyond what is written
what about this one?......... Forbidding attendance and participation at other churches.......based on OT scriptures, this one may not pass, but i am open...it may not be a bible issue