I agree that truth is progressive—we need more time to understand. This is the excuse given by the members of the Governing Body for the changes in their understanding. Should not this latitude be granted the other religions? Should anyone relegate the other religions to falsehood/nothing to learn from them? Though the truth is – every religion has some truth. This is what makes searching for truth more intriguing and makes life more interesting. Widening my interest to include learning what many other students of the Bible teach makes my life more joyful and I have been spiritually enriched by these talents. The current position that the Jehovah’s Witness organization takes is critical of other religions and it only causes division.
I don’t know all the religions in the world, nor do I know of a religion that is entirely good or entirely evil. Nonetheless, to spend time and energy and money in defending a religion can be wasteful. In perspective, it is not practical to forgo all ones previous beliefs that have a sound foundation in the word of God, only to embrace other beliefs that contain errors.
Are you in favor of God’s Holy Spirit or do you prefer religion? If I recall correctly the governing body never acknowledged that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is available to the individual members of the congregation apart from their direction. They publicize that they have it and everyone else is subordinate to them. I am a person of activism. I don’t like to see the essence of the individual trampled on. This is why I point out that 1Corinthians 3:16 and 1John 2:26,27 apply to you.
The Bible is a book that if you can find it’s secrets you can claim them. The Holy Spirit is enabling. Ironically, the advantage that I had was a very troubled health which led me to change my diet completely. We find a comparable example in the Bible character Daniel who refused to eat the scrumptious meals while in Babylon, thereby he discovered the secrets within the scriptures. He would otherwise not have had anything to share with the world of mankind. Beware! It is not granted to anyone on earth to change the name of God to suit various languages. God’s name is Holy, therefore it should not be tampered with. Islam has this concept right! "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" ( Ephesians 4:5). This scripture can hardly be mentioned in the same breath with a God who has a different name in each tongue, tribe and nation. Moreover, generations before us did not witness the realization of this scripture, who knows how much time Jehovah/Yah will allow to lapse before we witness it’s revelation. Many religions have prematurely garnered it, the corollary of it is – they have been keeping a crowd of loyal members.
God’s very best for his servants looms larger than life at the present because of the limitations that we place on ourselves. "And they will by no means teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying: Know Jehovah! For they will all know me, from the least one to the greatest one of them."( Hebrew 8: 11). Some people will relish these winsome words and not postpone this scripture to an uncertain distant future. Better still, others will not play down this scripture as the quotation of an adage of no consequence to themselves.
Godspeed brothers and sisters,
Marie B. Paraison