Slave class mentioned Prophet in the closing speech at convention

by Gorbatchov 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Gorbatchov

  I did not believe my ears yesterday during the sunday closing speech at the convention, held by the Branch coordinator.

  The Slave class was called "Jehovah's prophet". This is new to me. I know they claim not to be inspired directly.

  But the term "prophet" is much more then "not inspired". Dictionary's discribe "prophet":

  In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφ?της profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people.

  I know the Branch coordinator in our country does not add words in a speech. He is an old man, very loyal to the Brooklyn boys.

  Conclusion could be that the Governing Body is taking more power and wants to end the "not inspired" label.

  Did somebody hear this at other conventions too?
• 

  jwfacts

  They have their own definition of prophet.

  "All True Christians ARE Prophets. The New American Bible correctly states: "Prophet means 'one who speaks for another,' especially for God. It does not necessarily mean that he predicts the future!" ? You will be interested to learn that God has on earth a people, all of whom are prophets, or witnesses for God. In fact, they are known throughout the world as Jehovah's Witnesses." Awake! 1986 June 8 p. 9

  It is double speak, as when pulled up for the term they will us the above definition. But they know many in the audience will lap up use of the term as an indication that their predictions are inspired by God.
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  Earnest

  At the DA I attended at Twickenham, London, during the talk "God's Kingdom will Crush All Other Kingdoms - When" the speaker said :

  "The Governing Body today do not consider themselves to be prophets, they are just Bible students."

  This was not contradicted in the closing talk.
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  cedars

  Gorbatchov, Earnest - if you're interested, I've started a discussion based on words taken directly from the final talk at the convention. I would be interested in your input...

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/214257/1/A-warped-view-of-the-Anglo-American-World-Power

  As regards the Faithful Slave being a "prophet" - they think the prophecy of the two witnesses applies to them. Revelation 11:10 refers to the two witnesses as the "two prophets".

  You can argue as follows:

  Either the Faithful Slave are prophets, or they are not.

  • If they are not prophets, then the times we are living in are NOT urgent - because otherwise prophets would have been raised up (as mentioned Revelation even describes "two prophets" being raised, a scripture the FDS applies to themselves).
  • If they ARE prophets, then according to the criteria found at Deuteronomy 18:20-22 they are false prophets, because by their own admission they have predicted things that have turned out to be false.
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  Gorbatchov

  Hi Cedars, thanks for your postings. The final take mentioned their role as a prophet, just like you stated it. It is all about nothing )):
• 

  Ding

  Do a JWN search on the phrase "They shall know" and you'll find an interesting thread on the WT claims that the organization is God's prophet.
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  Earnest

  cedars, thank you for your comments but I am not arguing whether or not the "Faithful Slave" is a prophet and I have lost interest in interpretation. I am just saying with absolute certainty that in the public talk at the assembly the speaker said the Governing Body today consider themselves to be Bible students, not prophets.

  As you have a recording of the public talk you can verify this for yourself. My notes show it was at the beginning of the talk just prior to identifying the mountain as Jehovah's universal sovereignty.
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  the-illuminator81

  It's very simple. Whenever they state something that's right, they are prophets. Whenever they state something that's wrong, they're fallible, sincere men who were overeager with their expectations.