As a Jehovah's Witness, how did you feel about the prospect of god killing millions of babies & children?

by jambon1 14 Replies latest jw friends

  • Badfish
  • blondie
    blondie

    Thanks, Badfish....a keeper.

  • Apognophos
    Apognophos

    I don't actually recall being taught that. Since the Witnesses talk about the resurrection of both the righteous and unrighteous, there was no reason to assume that today's "unrighteous" (those who don't know the truth) would be destroyed at Armageddon.

  • blondie
    blondie

    http://jwfacts.com/watchtower/salvation-only-for-jehovahs-witnesses.php

    (part of the information, read all to get the full picture)

    Association with Jehovah's organization - the Watchtower Society - is presented as essential for salvation.

    "If we stop actively supporting Jehovah's work, then we start following Satan. There is no middle ground." Watchtower 2011 Jul 15 p.18

    "But Jehovah's servants already belong to the only organization that will survive the end of this wicked system of things." Watchtower 2007 Dec 15 p.14

    "But if we were to draw away from Jehovah's organization, there would be no place else to go for salvation and true joy." Watchtower 1993 Sep 15 p.22

    "Only Christian witnesses of Jehovah who successfully pass this test will survive and come forth like fire-refined gold for God's use in his precious new order." Watchtower 1985 Mar 1 p.14

    "And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovahs organization for salvation, the time no doubt will come when the message takes on a harder tone, like a "great war cry."" Watchtower 1981 Nov 15 p.21

    "But Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and discreet slave", made up of spirit-anointed ones, to help Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible in their lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do." Watchtower 1981 Nov 15 p.27

    "This great crowd is part of the only truly united multinational organization on earth today. They do not cry out that they owe salvation to the holy spirit, for they are not servants of a trinitarian god. In some 200 geographical territories around the earth, they are at one in calling upon the name of Jehovah as they speak the one pure language of truth. (Zephaniah 3:9) Properly, they publicly acknowledge that their salvation comes from Jehovah, the God of salvation, through Jesus Christ, His Chief Agent of salvation.-Psalm 3:8; Hebrews 2:10. Modern technology has helped to make the loud voice of the united great crowd sound even louder. No other religious group on earth has need of publishing Bible study aids in more than 200 languages, since no other group is interested in reaching all peoples of earth with one united message." Revelation pp.122-123

    "They must appreciate that identifying themselves with Jehovahs organization is essential to their salvation." Kingdom Ministry 1990 Nov p.1

    "Direct Interest Progressively on Bible Studies: The primary purpose of a Bible study is to teach the truth of God's Word. It should also build in the student an appreciation for Jehovahs organization and make him aware of the vital need to become part of it. ... The weekly Bible study should include instruction that will help students appreciate the organization and take advantage of provisions for their salvation. Take a few minutes each week to relate or describe something about the organization and how it functions. You can find helpful talking points in the November 1, 1984, Watchtower. The brochures Jehovahs Witnesses in the Twentieth Century and Jehovahs Witnesses Unitedly Doing God's Will Worldwide discuss major facets of the organization and how they may benefit us. Arranging for Bible students to view the video Jehovah's WitnessesThe Organization Behind the Name will let them see for themselves what it is accomplishing." Kingdom Ministry 1993 Apr p.3

    To be considered part of that Organization requires reporting as an active publisher for the Watchtower Society.

    "As this spiritual warfare advanced, those serving with Jehovah's organization were refreshed by continuing flashes of Bible understanding, and their numbers grew until, in 1938, as many as 50,769 reported Kingdom service during an international testimony period." Watchtower 1984 Jan 1 p.11

    "Those who will form the nucleus of the "new earth", a new earthly society of rightly disposed people, are being gathered during these last days. They are already nearly seven million strong, in at least 235 lands and in some 100,000 congregations. These millions have been learning the righteous and just ways of Jehovah, and as a result, worldwide they enjoy a unity that is cemented by Christian love. Their unity is the most pronounced and enduring in the history of the world, a unity exceeding anything experienced by Satan's subjects." Watchtower 2007 Aug 15 p.26

    "Moreover, the attendance at the Memorial of Jesus Christs death last year indicates that some ten million people who are not Witnesses of Jehovah were sufficiently interested in the good news to attend this important commemoration." Kingdom Ministry 2008 Feb p.6

    Children

    Children are considered to share in the sins of their parents, so babies will die at Armageddon if their parents are considered unworthy of salvation.

    "What will happen to young children at Armageddon? The Bible does not directly answer that question, and we are not the judges. However, the Bible does show that God views the young children of true Christians as "holy." (1 Cor. 7:14) It also reveals that in times past when God destroyed the wicked he likewise destroyed their little ones." Reasoning from the Scriptures pp.47-48

    "Children are affected by the course of their parents, and parents are warned that their iniquity is visited on their offspring unto the third and fourth generation. (Ex. 20:5, 6) Parents are commanded to instruct their children in God's way, and if in these last days parents refuse to heed the divine instruction and warning they bring destruction upon themselves and their small children at Armageddon. (Deut. 6:6, 7; Eph. 6:4) According to justice God can leave such children dead, for, as Ezekiel showed, all die in their iniquity." Watchtower 1950 Nov 15 p.463 Questions From Readers

    "By all the evidences this system of things is hastening to its final confrontation with the God of justice at Armageddon. Parents and children who fail to gain the "mark on their foreheads," that is, an adequate appreciation of God's moral standard, are sure to suffer. Parents will be held accountable for their children, and children will suffer for the failure of their parents." Watchtower 1968 Feb 1 pp.83-84

  • Apognophos
    Apognophos

    Ugh. Thanks, I hadn't seen that material. It seems that the Witnesses I grew up around were not in the habit of talking about the subject (probably because it made them uncomfortable, why wouldn't it?). I would feel nauseous if I actually still believed this stuff might happen.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit