Hi Reniaa
I think perhaps you don't know how far along my studies are now from reading what you've put.
I understand the concept of Jesus fulfilling the Mosaic OT law. However I also understand that WTs do use certain of the Mosaic laws such as the use of blood. I'm assuming from your answer that JWs do not trace any line of authority.
You mentioned about only having the influence of the spirit, and this is something that really is troubling me because my visiting witnesses have yet to come up with an answer as to why the gifts of the spirit were removed from the earth. For example
James 5:14
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Isn't this about the gift of healing? How can this have been removed from the earth after Jesus left if James was writing after the death of Jesus?
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You said you felt that CT Russell was guided by the Spirit into asserting the doctrines as they were meant by God. But am I not also correct in stating that WT teaches that only JWs are entitled to receive promptings from the spirit. If that's the case then how does each individual witness come to know that the WT is true?
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One thing that troubles me with WT teaching, and this is probably because not enough has been written or taught about how CT Russell etc came to their conclusions, is the teaching about infalliblity of the Bible? Bible Scholars have a somewhat different approach to this understanding. For example, most scholars would indicate that John wrote his gospel AFTER Revelation. If that's the case then where the WT dismisses the apocrypha and other translations of the Bible and interpretations of the Bible by relying on Revelation 22:18. For ease I will use the New World Translation.
18 “I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll;
Now if the scholars are correct then John himself added to the Bible. Also this discounts Deuteronomy 4:2 and Proverbs 30:6 which are also warnings about adding to the written word.
Again, does the WT address this in relation to using the protestant canon rather than other canons or including other apocrypha currently available.
My visiting witnesses gave me a video about continuing prophecy including the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were using the apocrypha to prove that the NWT matched the earliest available versions, particularly of Isaiah. But at the same time they stated that the apocrypha were not something that should be read as there were many erroneous teachings. This again troubles me in regards to the timeline. If the apocrypha can't be trusted to be correct then how can they be used to confirm the NWT?
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In relation to your comment about CT Russell being a prophet but not a Prophet then I think I understand what you're saying. How did CT Russell know that the inspiration he was receiving was from God rather than from Satan? It is a genuine question and I hope that you do not take offence by that.
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For what it's worth I don't accept the teachings about the trinity either. The whole Christian world troubles me in that God can allow such confusion in the first place. Why doesn't He sort it out? I guess you would say He has!
I am intrigued Reniaa by you saying that you are a JW convert. All of my visiting JWs have been lifelong members. Forgive me for prying but when you started your studies had you had any affiliation with another Christian church or doctrine?
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About the video that I think Blacksheep posted. (I'm adding this here because I've only got a few posts left today!)
I've watched it and I can certainly see that there are parts that are mentioned that could be applicable to many religions, and as a whole I can see this applying to things like Waco. I'm not sure though that the WT is any more like a cult than any other church or faith. Many other churches ask similar things as the WT do, it's just that they're considered mainstream where WT is not. Things like money, discipline etc. I am certain that most churches have 'bitter apostates' who will label their previous experience as being cultish.
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My position is that I believe there needs to be clarification, and I believe is behooves all Christians to find out the truth about what God wants from them. I believe that we should study all materials and tracts out there and balance them against what we think we know and against what we think God wants of us. In one respect therefore I disagree wholeheartedly with the WT tradition of supporting only their literature and not reading so called apostate texts. A tree cannot grow as strong if it is kept in a glasshouse away from rain and wind with constant heat, food and attention, it will never be as strong as the tree that survives the inclement weather on a mountainside. I'll get off my soapbox for a bit now. :-)
J
