Provision.
What unbelievable twaddle and comparisons are made in this article.
Mark
WT July15 1995 p25 Disfellowshipping A Loving...
by Celtic 7 Replies latest jw friends
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ballistic
Did you know that when someone is put into solitary confinement, they start showing symptoms indicative of mental trauma within 30 minutes and some go on to develop a full mental neurosis?
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Celtic
This is fairly obvious Ballistic, have a good christmas and new year matey!!
Mark
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Reborn2002
Excellent point Ballistic, however you fail to realize that you are using medicinal fact and REASON. The WTS uses their uneducated threat tactics then has the nerve to call it a provision of love to convince the rank-and-file that in all cases the DF one is horribly doomed.
The true Kingdom of God is located in your heart, not an organization of hypocrites.
www.geocities.com/latinloverchicago/Jason1.html for my new webpage and info!! Im trying to live now!!
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Frenchy
::: Satan’s world will tempt you to be immoral, will challenge you to adopt its ways, and will offer you material wealth, fame, position, prominence, and power. But those who are determined to pursue true worship resist what Satan offers and remain “without spot from the world.” Why? Because they want to stay under the protective and loving care of Jehovah’s clean organization.—James 1:27; 1 John 2:15-17.:::
So to stay clean and poor… Come on now, guys, I know lots of people who are clean and poor without the org.
::: Any Christian who gets involved in wrongdoing should be patiently helped to repent and change his ways.—Galatians 6:1, 2; James 5:13-16.:::
Okay, that’s how it’s supposed to work. How many here would not be here if this were always (okay, let’s say 85% of) the case?
::: Baptized servants of Jehovah who deliberately follow a wicked course and refuse to change must be viewed as unrepentant and thus unfit for Christian fellowship. (Compare 1 John 2:19.) Such individuals cannot be allowed to remain in the clean Christian congregation and thereby contaminate it.:::
Okay, that makes sense. Now define ‘wicked’. How can disagreement with such un-scripturally supported doctrines on prohibition against organ transplants and birthday parties possibly be classed with wickedness?
::: The propriety of expelling those who practice wicked deeds can be illustrated by the following situation: Because of the increase of assaults and violent crimes against students, some schools have adopted a policy that “calls for lifetime suspensions for students who use or threaten to use weapons,” reports The Globe and Mail, a newspaper in Toronto, Canada.:::
Okay. No more guns and knives in the Kingdom Hall. –That should be a relief to some of the public speakers who should be shot! Just kidding.
::: Why is it loving to expel an unrepentant wrongdoer from the congregation? Doing so is an expression of love for Jehovah and his ways. (Psalm 97:10) This action shows love for those pursuing a righteous course because it removes from their midst one who could exercise a bad influence on them. It also protects the purity of the congregation.:::
So…removing bad influences is good for people? What about all those articles about why God permits wickedness? Are you going to make people good by removing temptation? Gee, why didn’t God think of that? And what about this purity of the congregation? Since when has it been pure?
Okay…. I’ll let someone else take the rest…
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anewperson
A nice dream would be if even just the first paragraph below were put into a letter or email and sent to a thousand JWs and for that matter ex-JWs:
DISFELLOWSHIPPING (SHUNNING), WHY UNBIBLICAL: A "majority" is not the same as "all" and so when at 2 Corinthians 2:6 Paul says "This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a man," he is indicating that although he had asked the Corinthian Christians to shun (disfellowship/excommunicate) a man who had done wrong and who was now deserving forgiveness, yet a MINORITY of those Christians had decided to not do as he said.
Yes, even though probably the most influential apostle or elder of his day, Paul was still not a spiritual dictator and what he said or even ordered could be and sometimes was freely viewed as suggestions or recommendations, sincerely given but not mandatory. The Bible does not record that the minority not going along with the "majority" were in any way condemned by Paul. Yet today some groups like Mennonites, Jehovah's Witnesses etc rigidly practice shunning and members who do not do so as told are also marked or fully shunned.
Consider too the example of David and Jonathan. Jonathan was the son of the man Saul whom God had told Samuel to annoint as the first king of Israel. Saul became jealous of David and ordered everyone including Jonathan to disfellowship David. However, even though Saul was an annointed elder, even King of Israel, Jonathan still disregarded the shunning order and the Bible approves of their continuing friendship which means that God also approved it. (1Sa 18:1)
As the Bible also says there is a time and a place for everything. The apostles, appointment directly from an original living apostle etc are now all gone but what is perfect does still remain -- the power of Godly, Christian love. The words disfellowship and shun are not even in the Bible while the words and concepts of love and mercy occur in numerous places. Anyone may offer friendly counsel or suggestions about who may or may not be good association for us, but we are all simply Christian friends, no dictators allowed, and Christ is the only one spiritual Leader over all of us. (Mt 23:10) This is the Real Truth about shunning and disfellowshipping.
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alliwannadoislive
frenchy - excellent point:
"So…removing bad influences is good for people? What about all those articles about why God permits wickedness? "anewperson - i also liked your reference to paul not being a "spiritual dictator"
how come things are so clearly in focus for us now, but were not at all apparent to us 'before' ?
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Frenchy
All:
Thank you. Yes, indeed, why were we not able to see that then? I feel great compassion for those still in if for no other reason than I was there once myself!I also liked newperson's comment about Paul. Paul gets a lot of bad press here! (smile)