by BlindersOff1 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I've thought for yrs why do the JehovaH'S wITNESSes continue to call the faith "a organization", "a society" , "a corporation" and not one of the more socially acceptable terms.?????
Church
Faith
Religion
Is it for some LEGAL reason. When we continue to see the secular terms organization, society, corporation, legal entity. It raISES. The above question.
Just thinking
They love beining different. Being different to them proves that they are God's people. They would never tolerate being lopped in with other religions by using the same language.
The Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are the fulfilling Daniel 2's prophecy about the Kingdom of God coming forth as a stone made without hands (meaning it would be of God and not man). The ones who have visited me have said that other religions are "manmade" -- indicating that they believe their religion is not manmade. But theirs, I reckon, is made by God. After all, what other religion has perfect doctrine (in their opinion)?
All throughout the past, God has worked through apostles and prophets who saw angels. But now He leads us through the scriptures. And their General Body knows just how to interpret them!
But how do we know their exegesis is correct? Just because they said? Everyone says theirs is correct. The Church of Christ says theirs is the only correct one. So do the Seventh Day Adventists. And the Mormons. And all of these are, according to the JWs, manmade.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are an interesting people and are, for the most parts, sincere. But they are also easily deceived and their critical thinking skills are several notches below what they should be. Their claims are on "invisible" happenings (like transubstantiation) and bogus dates. We also have numerous early apocraphal writings that show that doctrines like human beings having spirits are not Greek philosophic beliefs only but were believed by the earliest Christians (including but not limited to the Gnostics). In fact, there's no evidence to indicate that any faction believed in the soul sleeping doctrine. This is no surprise given the number of New Testament scriptures where the body is referred to as a tabernacle for the spirit. In fact, the soul sleeping doctrine for the most part falls apart when the Ecclesiastes scripture is deleted. Not only do we know the exact author of the entire text, whoever it was was a philosopher with a poor attitude. If indeed it was Solomon as it purports, we have to remember that not only was Solomon not a prophet, he married numerous wives that the Lord had not given him and we heathen. They even convinced him to build heathen altars in the place of holy places of Jehovah. So I'm not really interested in his views on anything. His basic philosophy seems to be that there's no purpose to living at all. Life on Earth is essentially without purpose, which is not compatible with the New Testament. In fact, his writings sound more like those of Albert Camus than a prophet of the Lord.
So JWs are not known for this biblical scholarship, and their scriptures are essentially translated in an effort to support their own eschatology. I've always been critical of their translation of "servants" as "slaves." I would be a servant of God, a son of God and even a friend of God, but never His slave, discreet or otherwise. Sadly, JWs are less exacting. Perhaps their most lacking scriptural exegesis surrounds the gathering of Judah in the latter days. They reject a literal interpretatation because their religion was fabricated before the creation of Israel as a nation. It caught them unawares in 1947 when Israel began to fulfill the prophecies, but because they had already interpreted their way around the prophecies, they found they were unable to back pedal their way to be in line with the prophets.
As a people, I find I don't like them. All my family members dropped us and refused to return calls once they became JWs. And the JWs I've talked to here in private messages and later in e-mails all complained that their questioning of any church doctrines resulted in almost instant rejection by even family members, and I'm not talking about cousins...I'm talking about sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Some even complained that they didn't associate with those they worked with who weren't members. The FLDS people in southern Utah withdraw from the world and aren't permitted to read newspapers or associate with non-members, but JWs have not withdrawn themselves; they just socially seem to withdraw.
To be fair, I've never known any socially or at work, but it seems extreme to pull away from as they seem to have done. No one tells me who to associate with or what websites I can visit or what books I can read. But am I being too hard on them or are they really sheep herded?
I'd say it's all about setting themselves apart from Christendom.
It's not a pulpit, it's a platform.
It's not Easter, it's the Memorial....and they set their own date.
It's not a bulletin board it's a....notice board?
There's no passing of a collection plate, there's a box with a slot.
There is no clergy, just the Ministerial Servants, Elders, and COBUS.
There is no infant baptism with sprinkling, there is preteen baptism with dunking.
There is no confessional, one confesses to an elder.
There is no ritual expurgation of sin, the sinner is expunged.
OH! I thought of another one.
There is no proselytizing, interested ones are sought out door-to-door.
Served during the Christmas Season in JW homes everywhere..
A JW..
"Not a Christmas Turkey Dinner"..
............................. 
...OUTLAW
At one time, they used to vehemently deny they were a 'religion' as they associated this with 'Christendom'. My Mom specifically corrected me when I was little and told me they were a 'sect'. The word 'church' is the same re: association with 'Christendom'.
Cults have their own loaded language. It's used to make them unique. It serves to isolate and puff themselves up as more important than the rest of the religions out there.
It makes perfect sense, no religious rituals other than rejecting Jesus‘ body once a year, the rest is quite secular and so is their god.
Thanks for your comments
