by isaacaustin 84 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
most JW dont know or care much about the 1919 thing, I never took it too serious, and when I treid to dig deeper, it didnt make any sense either.
for most its a couple of points that identify the true religion :
no trinity, soul, hellfire
preaching work
Jehovahs name
love among themselves
abstaining from war
etc..
since the GB is guiding an Org, who does fulfill these points, therefore they must be chosen by Jesus...
I agree InBetween, most JWs are not focused on (or even know about) 1919. But that is the org's official teaching. However, you are correct- they jump to those bullet points you mentioned. However, there are other groups that have the same stand on trinity/hellfire/soul/etc...such as Christadelphians. Most groups preach in one way or another, JWs are the only ones who count their hours. The use of Jehovahs name- yet there are group, such as House of YahwehYeshua who are even more particular about the use of the Divine name then JWs, going so far as to having their own translation 'restoring' the Divine name. Love amongst themselves- too subjective and simply an assertion any one can claim. Abstaining from war- Quakers, Christadelphians, House of Yahweh, How of YahwehYeshua, etc.
At this point we have returned to what basis the GB is God's channel...and what are we left with? Of course, reaching the JW who does not want to hear you is another story!
tooktheredpill, that about sums it up....
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
And here we have the apostles, the elders and THE WHOLE CHURCH, confirming what Peter said and deciding who should go and what is to be said.
As for ACTS 16, its amazing how, after the WHOLE Church, apostles and elders decided that NO circumcision is needed, we have this:
16 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
That wacky Paul, always a rebel !! LOL !
Indeed it does follow:
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Notice it says the decisions and not RULES or LAWS or anythign like that at all.
Its seems some of my post got cut...
Here is the rest of Chapter 15:
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
Peter is obiviously making a judgment call, a PERSONAL one.
This actually, makes more of a case of a sole "ruler" than a "governing body", since they all went with what he said.
Acts 15 is obviously a congregational affair, not a 'governing body session'...the whole assembly met...the apostles, the older men and the entire cong...not some closed meeting of a few men in power.
Interesting view isaac, but I don't understand how you reach the conclusion that "the whole assembly" decided what should be done.
Acts 15:6 says "And the apostles and the older men gathered together to see about this affair".
So it wasn't the whole congregation gathering to decide the outcome, but only the apostles and the older men.
Once the decision is made, Acts 15:22 now says "Then the apostles and the older men together with the whole congregation favored sending chosen men from among them to...".
So the congregation helped with the choosing of the men by some sort of voting system I imagine, but it was after the apostles and the older men had discussed matters and reached a decision to communicate to the rest of the congregations.
Then verse 23 says that the letter is from the apostles and the older men, not from the whole congregation in Jerusalem, the scripture describes the beginning of the letter, "they wrote: “The apostles and the older men, brothers, to those brothers in... ""
Verse 28 says "For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to YOU, except these necessary things, ...", in this scripturee it is obvious that "we ourselves" refers to those that wrote the letter and made the decisions which verse 23 described as "the apostles and the older men".
It is crazy to think that whole congregation would be debating to reach a decision, that is chaos and not consitent with how Jehovah structured his earthly organization throughout time.
