If this doesn't scream cult, what does? (page 2)

LostGeneration

Cultish points I found:

We can enter into Jehovah’s rest —or join him in his rest—by obediently working in harmony with his advancing purpose as it is revealed to us through his organization.

1. Obedience

2. Revealed to us through his org (mysticism, basically setting up the flock to do whatever the WT says, whether it is biblical or not)

On the other hand, if we minimized the Bible-based counsel that we receive through the faithful and discreet slave class, choosing to follow an independent course, we would be placing ourselves at odds with God’s unfolding purpose. This could endanger our peaceful relationship with Jehovah.

1. FDS- Assertion of leadership over rank and file, follow us because we mediate for God

2. Independent course - no thinking!

3. would be placing ourselves at odds - You are fighting against God!

4. God's unfolding purpose - Allows wiggle room for FDS to teachings, prophecy etc at their discretion to cover up for past mistakes.

5. Endanger our peaceful relationship with Jehovah- God will kill you if you don't follow us.

That is a whole lotta "loaded language" in just a few sentences!

sleepingbeauty

@ lostGeneration.... I have incredibly good vision so can read you post, but I think most posters on here might not, so any chance your posts could be in larger Font :)

LostGeneration

There we go....should look better now!

Hoffnung

Did you also note the contradiction in this paragraph 16?

Paul said: "By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been
saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift. No, it is not owing to works".

The Faithful & Discrete Slave (same paragraph, italic theirs):

"We can enter into Jehovah’s rest —or join him in his rest—by obedientlyworking"

Do more, work more, slave for the slave. Make sure you deserve the "undeserved kindness", or else... Is it not great to be a Jehovah's Witness today? Can you feel the love?

SweetBabyCheezits

MrFreeze: If we were to take the first quote the OP gave and replaced organization with "prophet Joseph Smith" and told a JW it was a quote out of mormon literature and asked them if it sounded like a cult, I wonder what their response would be. Id like to try it some time.

Yeahhhh.... check this out, taken from a Latter Day Saints website, and tell me it doesn't sound familiar. I'd like to get my JW family to read it.

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58411/Use-proper-sources.html

"A woman sat at her dining room table, buried in dozens of books and magazines. She looked discouraged. Her daughter asked if she could help.

The woman said she was preparing a Relief Society lesson. She told her daughter she didn't know how she could possibly "boil down all the information" she had collected for the lesson. The process, the woman acknowledged, was both time consuming and frustrating.

The daughter looked surprised.

"Why," she asked, "are you trying to boil down information? An inspired Church-writing committee has already done that for you."

The committee's work, the daughter continued, has been approved by the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency. It has been translated into dozens of languages and sent around the world. It corresponds with the lessons and information taught at the same time to other auxiliaries and quorums in the Church.

Now the woman looked confused.

"Everything you need — and more — is in your manual," the daughter said.

As Church members, we are asked to prayerfully prepare Church lessons and activities. We are to seek personal revelation from the Lord and study Church materials and instructions. We can counsel with our presidencies or committees and seek advice from priesthood leaders as we strive to meet the needs of those we serve. The scriptures are an invaluable resource.

But we may be tempted to do more, to turn to unofficial lesson plans, resources and information found in books and on the Internet.

Sometimes, the material might seem like an easy solution to meet the time-consuming demands of Church service. Other times it might feel like a way to spice up a lesson or activity.

But leaders and teachers in the Church do themselves and the people they serve a disservice when they turn to unofficial — not correlated — materials in the planning of lessons and activities.

Correlation is an inspired effort overseen by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to simplify the programs of the Church and unify Latter-day Saints in faith and doctrine.

......

Following the advice of her daughter, the woman above turned off her computer, shut the dozens of books open on her dining room table and picked up her manual and scriptures. The frustration she had previously experienced disappeared. She knew the material was doctrinally accurate. She knew its source was valid. She knew it had been approved by the men called to lead the Lord's work on the earth today and that it was what they wanted her to teach."

LostGeneration

SBC- Thats crazy, reminds me of the Sept 2007 KM

* Does "the faithful and discreet slave" endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate?-Matt. 24:45, 47.No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. Others explore scientific subjects related to the Bible. They have created Web sites and chat rooms for the purpose of exchanging and debating their views. They have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature.

Throughout the earth, Jehovah's people are receiving ample spiritual instruction and encouragement at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions, as well as through the publications of Jehovah's organization. Under the guidance of his holy spirit and on the basis of his Word of truth, Jehovah provides what is needed so that all of God's people may be "fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought" and remain "stabilized in the faith." (1 Cor. 1:10; Col. 2:6, 7)

SweetBabyCheezits

Nice, LG. That's the perfect Question Box to pair up alongside the LDS article! I'm saving this to a txt file for future use.

LostGeneration

I actually cut off half of it- here is the rest:

Surely we are grateful for Jehovah's spiritual provisions in these last days. Thus, "the faithful and discreet slave" does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight.-Matt. 24:45-47.

It is commendable for individuals to want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news. However, no personal pursuit should detract from what Jesus Christ is accomplishing through his congregation on earth today. In the first century, the apostle Paul warned about getting involved in exhausting, time-consuming subjects, such as "genealogies, which end up in nothing, but which furnish questions for research rather than a dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith." (1 Tim. 1:3-7) All Christians should strive to "shun foolish questionings and genealogies and strife and fights over the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile."-Titus 3:9.

For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore Insight on the Scriptures, "All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial," and our other publications, such as those that discuss the prophecies found in the Bible books of Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation. These provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation, whereby we can be "filled with the accurate knowledge of [God's] will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him as [we] go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God."-Col. 1:9, 10.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Of course, we need to realize that the brothers are imperfect. While they have made many predictions and promises in the past, we realize that they often need to make corrections later. So we need to remember that what they say doesn't necessarily come from God because they don't claim to be prophets, but it's important that we pretend that they are prophets. And if their direction turns out to be bad for us, again, we need to realize that they are just imperfect men.

Since they are imperfect men, we need to realize that there counsel usually isn't "Bible-based". And since Jesus never mentioned a faithful slave CLASS, we need to realize that these are imperfect men that are twisting the scriptures and haven't the slightest direction from an invisible deity.

jeckle

Its like a bad magician with poor slight of hand skills. Like the cat dressed as a mouse on that cartoon movie where he says after his costume is being exposed, " who are you gonna believe me or your own eyes". I can't believe I fell for this stuff.

If this doesn't scream cult, what does?

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