by Hermano 29 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Am I wrong in believing it was Rutherford who took the religion from strange to cult? Under Russell they had some strange beliefs but strange beliefs don't make a cult. Wasn't it Rutherford who established and reinforced the hierarchichal structure and demanded absolute loyalty?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses#1917.E2.80.931942
From the start with Russell - his followers were called "russellites"...and they saw him as the faithful and discreet slave from the bible. The presidents that followed him attempted to hide this fact by replacing the visible leader by a figurative slave class and more recently a governing body appointed by Christ. So, no JWs do not follow a man...they follow 9 men...who have power over their lives.
In the 1950s when they started disfellowshipping.
Taken from:
Christians call all other groups cults.
Basically Christians have said that if a group claims to be Christian and yet teaches something fundamentally different from what the Bible teaches then they are a cult. ie. a Buddhist group that claims to be Buddhist is not a cult, but a Buddhist group that pretends to be Christian is. This definition is not used in this article.
So given the above statement, I would say the cult started with Russell and some of the major things he deviated from Christianity on such as pyramids, incorporation of Free Masonary, etc.
It became a cult when someone told this as Truth ....
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
If Hylander was here, he would tell you that ALL religion is a cult. Religion = cult. And we are ALL GODDESS and GOD.
But, in the modern way we use the word "cult" ,,, I do believe it started in the 60s - no explanation from me, as I am not prepared to defend that position, but that is my opinion.
xo
tal
The Watchtower will always be a cult no matter how much they protest.
The Watchtower will always be a cult no matter how much they protest.
VM44, your opinion is valued, at least by this poster .... when? any thoughts. We all know the above is true.
thanks,
tal
The most accurate term to describe JWs is an institutionalised sect; Russell's group was more accurately a sect (of Adventism).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements
Slimboy
In the 1950s when they started disfellowshipping.
That's a revelation to me. I had no idea they didn't disfellowship from the start.
My already-mentioned-many-times pioneer elderette study conductor insistently crammed into me how very good, kind and loving disfellowshipping is and how cruel it is, "in reality" not to do so.
Why? "It keeps the congregation clean, protects the vulnerable and is truly the kindest thing to bring the sinners back to Jehovah."
I never once believed it, and yet I stayed within that system for so long. How? Why? I must have been hypnotised.
Anyway, disfellowshipping is very wicked.
I was thinking the other day what retort I'd give her now. Maybe, "Jesus told us to forgive others. When Peter asked him how often, he said not seven times but seventy times seven."
Would that do it? What would you say to such a hardliner?
