Do Witness think they are fooling Jehovah when women teach at the meetings?

by I quit! 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  I quit!

  The Witnesses claim to follow the Bible and believe women are not to teach in the congregation. When they give women parts on the meeting they try to get around this by having them pretend that they are just talking to each other and the audience is just overhearing a conversation between them when in fact they are teaching. Do they thing they are pulling one over on Jehovah? And shouldn't old sister "Pioneer Jones" have to put that Kleenex she has stuff up her sleeve on her head when giving an answer at a meeting? Or should they be speaking at all in view of the scripture listed below? If you're going to take the Bible literally why not go all the way?

  "As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?" (1 Cor. 14:33b-36 NIV).
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  civicsi00

  Good point. They're pulling a fast one there.
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  Olin Moyles Ghost

  Thank you for pointing this out! It's just another example of how the Watchtower picks and chooses which verses to take literally. In the NWT, 1 Cor. 14:34-35 states:

  let the women keep silent in the congregations, for it is not permitted for them to speak, but let them be in subjection, even as the Law says.If, then, they want to learn something, let them question their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in a congregation.

  Isn't it interesting that when Paul clearly says to "keep silent," the Witnesses don't teach that this means keep COMPLETELY silent. Rather, they rationalize their modern practice of allowing women to comment and have parts on meetings.

  But the Witnesses are inconsistent in this practice. Compare Acts 15:28-29 where Paul says to 'abstain from blood.' The Witnesses infer that he means to abstain COMPLETELY from blood--including transfusions. How can they take Acts 15 literally, but apply modern sensibilities to their interpretation of 1 Cor. 14?

  Isn't it interesting how they pick and choose? The sad thing is that people have died because of the picking and choosing of Watchtower leaders.
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  sir82

  The Witnesses infer that he means to abstain COMPLETELY from blood--including transfusions.

  Actually, they go a step further and say that he means to abstain completely from blood and its "major fractions" - but any and all "minor fractions" are perfectly fine.

  And they rely on "worldly" blood banks' definitions (hardly written in stone) to determine the difference between a "major" and "minor" fraction.

  But regarding the original post, good point - never thought of it that way.
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  Gordy

  I wonder what they would think about the women Pastors in the church I attend then?
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  OnTheWayOut

  WTS recognized somewhere in the past that it was important to include the women in order for the organization to grow. Women were the ones home during field service hours to answer the doors and women were able to get out in field service. The Bible did have those things to say about women keeping silent in the congregation, so WTS decided to use that (along with other sexist scriptures) to make WTS a man's man's organization. Still, they had to let the "sisters" speak or there wasn't much point in coming to the Hall.

  Their straddling such a middle line is laughable on platform "talks." Don't forget demonstrations and interviews- speak to each other or to the speaker, not the audience.

  I think Kyria Abrahams' (in I'M PERFECT, YOU'RE DOOMED) said of the women giving talks: face another women and talk, then you are pleasing God. Turn 90 degrees and talk, you are evil. (Something like that.)
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I'm sure Paul would be irate! Although Jesus chose men as his 12 apostles, he never told the women to "keep silent".

  Paul was reintroducing such traditions from the Pharisees into the congregations. Although he spoke highly of some women, he generalized them as less-spiritual, gossipy, and only good for giving birth to sons. Frankly, most of the women were probably smarter than Paul and he didn't like that.

  B the X
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  neverendingjourney

  I saw this inconsistency before I got baptized. I asked a really smart elder about this, and he couldn't come up with a coherent response. He finally ended up telling me that we'd talk about it some other time, although we never did.

  Unfortunately for me, I was heavily taken in by many of their other teachings, and I let that inconsistency slide. Here I am fifteen years later wishing the alarm bells would have gone off louder in my head.
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  villabolo

  I remember one meeting where a sister called of for a presentation and a young, twenty something elder filled in the spot at the last meeting. His partner was a woman old enough to be his mother wearing a small but noticeable veil on her head (1 Corinthians 11:3-16).

  I also had a friend of mine who was a sister who used to conduct a Bible Study during recess in the High School we attended. One day when I stepped into the room where she was conducting the study she mentioned that she needed a head covering. She pulled a sweater over her head!

  Those were the good old days.
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  outofthebox

  That's what I told a JW friend not long ago.