by coffee_black 63 Replies latest jw friends
I would say that it became a different religion over the course of a few district assemblies.
One of them was about the newly discovered remnant and Jonadab classes.
The other one was about the name change to JWs from Bible Students.
There were probably more over the years that made one change at a time so that the new one that is now is nothing like the old one was.
Russell was promoting Zionism and believed the Jews were the ones in the New Covenant, this was the point of contention in 1906 when many Bible Student groups split from Russell. If you read Rutherford's books in the 1920s you see the changes he wanted, by 1928 he had led the Bible Students, as they were still known, in a different direction from Russell's ideas. Other than having the Name - Bible Students and having the printing presses in the same building, Rutherford's group was really morphing into a completely different religion. By the early 1930s the majority of Bible Students who preferred Russell's teachings had left Rutherford's group.
So the 'connection' that the current Watchtower group is always harping on is really just the Brooklyn address. Imagine a Pentecostal converting to being a Presbyterian and taking over the same building as he formally printed literature in and you get the picture.
So are you saying that the current Watchtower organization is not the FDS chosen by Jesus in 1918-1919?
If not, who is, or was the FDS Russell personally and not an organization?
Ding- I don't prescribe to the whole concept of a FDS anymore. Any claims by Bible Students about Russell being the FDS or the JWs and the Watchtower Leaders claiming to be the FDS is just their own opinion, nothing more in my view.
But certainly the JWs and the Watchtower Leaders trying to reach back in time and claim an appointment in 1919 is pure fiction.
So would you also agree that the Watchtower Society's claim to have been designated by Jesus as "God's organization" is also a fiction?
Food dispensed......
I believe the current WTS argument is that they were the only ones teaching/preaching that 'something' was going to happen in 1914.
So they were the only denomination in 'expectation' or 'alert and waiting' for the master.....
Ding- yes, that definitely puts me on the outs doesn't it
Sure does, Designs.
The FDS parable is simply that, a parable, Jesus was not talking about a group of people who would look after his church, he was talking about the kind of individual who would be a good follower of his teachings, at any time in history.
So do not go looking for a Faithful and Discreet Slave, apart from, if you are a Christian, looking in the mirror.
Even if Jesus was going to look for such a group, (Why would he need to ? ) 1919 would not be the year, as 1914 has no significance in Bible prophecy, and 1919 is derived from that false bit of exegesis, by just as tortuous a method as 1914 was erroneously arrived at in the first place, by the Adventists Russell plagiarised the idea from.
This is by no means a small matter, although you will never get the closed-minded JW's to consider this, it means that their beloved Governing Body are self-appointed, not appointed by Jesus or anybody else, and they have no authority, no right to speak for God,and are in fact liars.
Their claim to having been chosen by Christ is a colossal claim, without a shred of evidence, let alone the huge amount of evidence that would substantiate such a claim were it true.
The claim is not credible at all.
Debator , we await your defence of the the whole foundation of the WT/JW religion with interest,........ we just won't hold our breath.
Wobble, the Bible Students and the Witnesses have gotten 100 years of mileage out of WWI breaking out in 1914, it gave them just enough credibility to daisy chain their respective religion's claims together. Peel back the cover a little and you see it was smoke and mirrors but that's how credulous religious people are ( us- formerly included )
