Because the Catholic Church developed much like Jehovah's Witnesses did - they had a grain of truth in the beginning but then made a bureaucracy around it that perverted it?
Hi :-)
by GiveMeAnAspirin 20 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
godrulz
Many JWs are former Catholics. Too many Catholics do not know their Bibles. The extra/contrabiblical Catholic doctrines/trappings fall when the Bible is used against an ill equipped Catholic. JWs dance circles with proof texts, so unless a person knows the Bible in context, they are potential converts. Heresy is a mix of truth and error. JWs are very anti-trinitarian, anti-hell, anti-Deity of Christ, etc., so Catholics would be a large group to lump in as pagan Christendom. Some Catholics are Christians, while others are nominal, religious, ritualistic. It is far less likely for an evangelical to convert to JW (more likely born again, more likely know the Bible and are aware of JW/Mormon cult).
-
smiddy
GMAA
Welcome ....,JW`s look upon the Roman Catholic Church as the main ingredient of "Babylon the Great"the head of the" World Wide Empire of False Religion"it has always attacked the Catholic church at every oppurtunity,far more so than any other religion.They claim the RC church is run by the pope in rome,that he is infallible,and all catholics follow him(and they smirk)
The difference from Jehovah`s Witnesses ???
They follow the direction from a Governing body in Brooklyn,via the Watchtower,and hang on every word as gospel,until new light ,again from the governing body tells them it`s new light that they should be following.????
smiddy
-
GiveMeAnAspirin
Thank you, all of you, for your replies. I can see from some of them that a few of you still harbour JW anti-catholicism to an extent. Maybe it would benefit you to read a Catholic Catechism – I recommend the one I read, called THE TEACHING OF CHRIST - at least you'd know what Catholics teach and how it is taught after you finished the book.
I browsed through a number of JW publications paying special attention to the art work. From what I saw JWs have always held anti-catholic views right from the beginning and continuing to 2010. I saw picture after picture of Cathedrals tumbling under lightning and fiery hail – presumably part of the battle of Armageddon and the concomitant destruction of Babylon the Great (AKA Christendom). I can hardly imagine what it would be like to be brought up from childhood with such confronting (and horrible) images in religious publications intended for the family.
Cheers
-
Broken Promises
I can hardly imagine what it would be like to be brought up from childhood with such confronting (and horrible) images in religious publications intended for the family.
If you hang around here for a while, you'll see those of us brought up in the JW society are pretty screwed up. We're a friendly bunch though!
-
jean-luc picard
Welcome asprin.
In the early days, Russell and others ATTACKED the Catholic church in particular, though all "organised" religion was also the target of his wrathful public discources. The feelings held for the Catholic Church ( one could say the hate), continued through the decades, and maybe down until today. I haven't read any WT publications for 15 years, but a guess that their remarks towards the church are the same.
I think it would be fair to say that most JWs are ex-catholics. (large numbers in strong Catholic countries)
-
DesirousOfChange
I've been wondering why active JWs are so anti-catholic;
They also feel/teach that the Catholic Church grew from what was the original apostacy that infiltrated the 1st Century Christian Congregation. Of course, the Catholic religion did do a lot of nasty things throughout history (Crusades, Inquisition), but even more so, the Catholic Church leaders often took the lead in local attacks against JWs during WW2. (Litchfield, IL; Kennebunk, ME are examples. See 1940 Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,764089,00.html). Thus old-timer JWs have great resentment for the Catholic Church. In recent years, both have moderated their attitude toward the other (at least publicly).
-
jgnat
godrulz: It is far less likely for an evangelical to convert to JW (more likely born again, more likely know the Bible and are aware of JW/Mormon cult).
I would challenge that statement. More correct is to say that it is far less likely for a person who has not been raised in a Christian context with at least a nominal understanding of the bible to be converted. Note the lack of headway by the Jehovah's Witnesses in Muslim nations and in China.
The study book used with new converts first attempts to establish that the bible is God's instruction book to mankind, and that we are all required to follow it. The study leader then takes specific texts to make the case for their particular interpretation. There are early warnings about Satan and false religion, and yes, the Catholics are lumped in there.
I have met former evangelicals at the hall who were converted. If they run in to someone who is more convincing, well then....
-
nugget
Catholics are vilified by the organisation as one of the oldest branches of christianity JWs are taught that they brought in a lot of false teachings into the church, e'g soul, hell fire, saints and idolatory. They are held up as the main inspiration for much of the persecution of witnesses and their history of child abuse is a useful smoke and mirrors tool to distract from their own shameful record.
Witnesses do not know what Catholics currently teach since they only see the religion through the watchtower lens. They are told not to bother to find out about other religions since they are led to believe that theirs is the one true religion. This makes them arrogant and disrespectful of all other faiths.
-
GLTirebiter
The study book used with new converts first attempts to establish that the bible is God's instruction book to mankind
...which makes Christian churches that existed for about a century before there was such a thing as the New Testament (Catholic and Orthodox) a bit problematic for their theology.