Could you maybe explain why? and what about the verses they use to prove their points, are they all taken out of context or something? Wht about all the verses that say the meek wil inherit the earth etc..?
Wow! To say you're only 19 and have never been a JW, you certainly seem to know and use alot of the same jargon and reasoning skills as active JWs.
Anyway, giving you the benefit of the doubt here, yes, many of their doctrines are indeed "taken out of context". Good example is their weak explanation as to why not one of their prophecies has ever materialized. Whenever changes in doctrine are put to print (usually through either a study article in the Watchtower or an official letter from Brooklyn Bethel), they inevitably use ‘new light from Jehovah' as their reason for not getting it right the first time (and henceforth the change in their interpretation). To defend themselves against questions as to why the change is needed at all, they point to two scriptures:
- Proverbs 4:17-18: "But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."
- Psalm 97:11: "Light itself has flashed up for the righteous one, And rejoicing even for the ones upright in heart."
Now try reading the entire scripture at Proverbs 4:14-19. It says:
"...Into the path of the wicked ones do not enter, and do not walk straight on into the way of the bad ones. Shun it, do not pass along by it; turn aside from it, and pass along. For they do not sleep unless they do badness, and their sleep has been snatched away unless they cause someone to stumble. For they have fed themselves with the bread of wickedness, and the wine of acts of violence is what they drink. But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established. The way of the wicked ones is like the gloom; they have not known at what they keep stumbling..."
So there you have it. Far from referring to explaining away their false predictions, it is simply referring to the two paths in life that a person can take: either the path of a righteous man, or that of a wicked man. If someone persists in "doing badness" with the "bread of wickedness" and "acts of violence", then the path they follow in life will indeed be "like the gloom", full of darkness and with no joy. But the person who is "righteous" and leads a good life, who's generous with their dealing with others, who is honest, trustworthy and has a good relationship with God, will (obviously) fair much better. Their path in life will be completely different from the wicked person and it will indeed be "like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."
There is absolutely nothing in these verses that even hints that it is referring to Jehovah ‘shedding light' on their (erroneous) interpretations of the scriptures.
Here's a couple more core doctrines that we've discussed at great length on here:
Check out these links above if you want to really see the flip side of what the WTS teaches.
