I remember the WTS wrote an admonition to JWs - there was no need to research what Bethel had provided becuase it was all good.
I can't find the quote(s). HELP!
Skeeter
quote needed: JWs not researching Bethel
by skeeter1 4 Replies latest jw friends
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AnnOMaly
w67 6/1 p. 338 par. 12 Move Ahead with Jehovah’s Organization
We may think of study as hard work, as involving heavy research. But in Jehovah’s organization it is not necessary to spend a lot of time and energy in research, for there are brothers in the organization who are assigned to do that very thing, to help you who do not have so much time for this, these preparing the good material in The Watchtower and other publications of the Society.
km 9/07 p. 3 Question Box
Does “the faithful and discreet slave” endorse independent groups of Witnesses who meet together to engage in Scriptural research or debate?—Matt. 24:45, 47.
No, it does not. And yet, in various parts of the world, a few associates of our organization have formed groups to do independent research on Bible-related subjects. Some have pursued an independent group study of Biblical Hebrew and Greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the New World Translation. Others explore scientific subjects related to the Bible. They have created Web sites and chat rooms for the purpose of exchanging and debating their views. They have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our Christian meetings and through our literature.
Throughout the earth, Jehovah’s people are receiving ample spiritual instruction and encouragement at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions, as well as through the publications of Jehovah’s organization. Under the guidance of his holy spirit and on the basis of his Word of truth, Jehovah provides what is needed so that all of God’s people may be “fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought” and remain “stabilized in the faith.” (1 Cor. 1:10; Col. 2:6, 7) Surely we are grateful for Jehovah’s spiritual provisions in these last days. Thus, “the faithful and discreet slave” does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight.—Matt. 24:45-47.
It is commendable for individuals to want to use their thinking ability in support of the good news. However, no personal pursuit should detract from what Jesus Christ is accomplishing through his congregation on earth today. In the first century, the apostle Paul warned about getting involved in exhausting, time-consuming subjects, such as “genealogies, which end up in nothing, but which furnish questions for research rather than a dispensing of anything by God in connection with faith.” (1 Tim. 1:3-7) All Christians should strive to “shun foolish questionings and genealogies and strife and fights over the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile.”—Titus 3:9.
For those who wish to do extra Bible study and research, we recommend that they explore Insight on the Scriptures, “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,” and our other publications, such as those that discuss the prophecies found in the Bible books of Daniel, Isaiah, and Revelation. These provide abundant material for Bible study and meditation, whereby we can be “filled with the accurate knowledge of [God’s] will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him as [we] go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God.”—Col. 1:9, 10.
w87 3/1 p. 15 pars. 18-19 ‘Upon the Watchtower I Am Standing’
Each article in both The Watchtower and Awake! and every page, including the artwork, is scrutinized by selected members of the Governing Body before it is printed. Furthermore, those who assist in writing articles for The Watchtower are Christian elders who appreciate the seriousness of their assignment. (Compare 2 Chronicles 19:7.) They spend many hours in researching the Bible and other reference material to make sure that what is written is the truth and that it faithfully follows the Scriptures. (Ecclesiastes 12:9, 10; 2 Timothy 1:13) It is not unusual for one magazine article—that you may read in 15 minutes—to take from two weeks to over a month to prepare.
Therefore, you can read The Watchtower and Awake! with confidence.
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whathappened
They do not want you to have an independent thought...that is where Satan went wrong is what they teach.
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hamsterbait
The quote from 1987 "Upon th eWatchtower I am Standing" is very telling:
Every page is scrutinised by a selected member of the Governing Body". We can now PROVE that the GB is not in complete harmony on doctrines:
Take the Alpha and Omega. I dont have the CD or litterature any more - however in the 70's (??) about 76 I think several articles came out discussing the Alpha and Omega.
One brother ( who obviously thought it is Jehovah) okayed an article saying this in the summer, around August.
The next article, only a few weeks later in Sep or Oct, said it is Jesus. This must have been okayed by a brother (also annointed) who thought it is Jesus. The idea that the SAME person checked both and okayed them is ridiculous - unless he was a complete dim bulb.
Then a while later it was jehovah again. I suspect the articles used either of them depending on what they wanted to prove.
The constant back and forth of doctrines has to reveal the schism that is at the heart of the GB - since individual members are "scrutinising" every page. ("scrotumising" I should say - from some of the explicit filth they have printed!)
It would be great for SO with the CD to post the references.
HB
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DATA-DOG
January 1, 1953 Watchtower
Questions From Readers?
Revelation 22:13 (NW) speaks of the "Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end". At Revelation 1:17 (NW) Christ Jesus is spoken of as "the First and the Last". So is not Revelation 22:13 also referring to Christ? The context sounds like it, yet the Watchtower publications say Jehovah is the "Alpha and the Omega". Why?-J. J., New Jersey
.Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last; one is the beginning and the other the end of the Greek alphabet. So the expressions "the Alpha and the Omega" and "the first and the last" and "the beginning and the end" are parallel expressions and mean the same thing. They are applied to Jehovah God. Isaiah 44:6 (AS) reads: "Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." Revelation 1:8 (NW) catches up this thought in Isaiah and adds to it the point that he is coming: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says Jehovah God, 'the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty."
So just because the verse preceding Revelation 22:13 speaks of that "Alpha and Omega" as coming does not necessarily mean it refers to Christ Jesus, whose second coming is frequently mentioned. Revelation 1:8 shows Jehovah as coming, and so Revelation 22:12 may do likewise. He comes representatively, through Christ Jesus. Revelation 4:8 speaks of Jehovah as coming, and Revelation 21 shows his presence with humankind. "Look! the tent of God is with humankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free. Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son." (Vss. 3, 6, 7) This reference is certainly to Jehovah God, for he is God to the anointed body members of Christ and they are his spiritual sons. They are Christ's brothers, not sons, so the text is speaking of Jehovah, and it calls him "the Alpha and the Omega". So when the Alpha and Omega is mentioned again in the very next chapter, why must the term suddenly shift to Christ Jesus instead of Jehovah God? It does not.
Some argue that it refers to Christ Jesus at Revelation 22:13 because verse 16 shows Jesus speaking. But that does not mean the speaker of the preceding verses must also be Jesus. The use of the single quotation marks in the New World Translation shows a change in speakers between verses 15 and 16. We must remember that the revelation God gave to Jesus Christ was passed on to the apostle John by one of Christ's angels, and that this angel sometimes spoke for Jehovah God and sometimes for Christ Jesus; so we must watch for these changes and note them on the basis of content and context. It is true that when the angel speaks for Christ, at Revelation 1:17 (NW), he states: "I am the First and the Last." But a check of the context shows this "First and Last" was with definite limitations, was relative to just the matter of Christ Jesus' death and resurrection, as verse 18 shows. Christ was the first one raised in the first resurrection, and the last one that will be raised directly by Jehovah God. Others who follow in that resurrection will be raised by God through Christ. (John 6:40; 1 Cor. 6:14) In fact, this limitation is also shown by the footnote on "First" in Revelation 1:17 in the New World Translation, where "First" is shown to mean "Firstborn" by one ancient manuscript. Christ was the firstfruits of those asleep in death. (1 Cor. 15:20) When "First and Last" is again applied to Christ Jesus, at Revelation 2:8, note that again it is with respect to death and resurrection. But when it speaks thus of Jehovah no limitation is set on the meaning.
So we must be reasonable. When we see an expression that is applied to Jehovah several times in its unlimited sense, and then come across it again but not specifically indicated as applying to Jehovah, we cannot become flighty and switch the expression to Christ Jesus; and especially when we note that it is applied elsewhere, not in its unlimited sense, but only with definite limitation of meaning. Trinitarians try to capitalize on this expression to show it was used indiscriminately for either God or Christ, and in this way show God and Christ are the same. But logic and reason do not allow this, no more than do many other texts in the Bible.
10/01/196 Watchtower
22. O yes, the Greek expression ho On does occur in the apostle John's writings. It occurs in the Greek text of John 1:18; 3:13 (AV; Yg), 31; 6:40; 8:47; 12:17; 18:37, but not as a title or name. So in four of those verses it applies, not to Jesus, but to other persons. However, in the Revelation or Apocalypse the apostle John does use the expression ho On as a title or designation five times, namely, in Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5. But in all five cases the expression ho On is applied to Jehovah God the Almighty, and not to the Lamb of God, the Word of God.
23 For example, Revelation 1:4, 8 (AV) reads: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is [ho on], and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is [ho on], and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 4:8 applies ho on to the Lord God Almighty on his heavenly throne, and Revelation 5:6, 7 shows that the Lamb of God comes to him later on. Revelation 11:17 applies ho on to the Lord God Almighty when he takes power to rule as King. Revelation 16:5 applies ho on to the Lord God when he acts as Judge. Hence John 8:58 fails the clergy as proof of there being a "triune God," for in that verse, as well translated by Dr. James Moffatt, An American Translation, and others, Jesus was saying merely that he had had a prehuman existence in heaven with his Father and that this prehuman existence began before Abraham was born.
Revelation Climax
"The Alpha and the Omega"9 Now, wonder of wonders! The Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself speaks. How appropriate this is as a preface to the visions that are about to unfold, since he is our Grand Instructor and the ultimate Source of Revelation! (Isaiah 30:20) Our God declares: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, . . . the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8) This is the first of three times in Revelation that Jehovah himself speaks from heaven. (See also Revelation 21:5-8; 22:12-15.) First-century Christians would quickly have recognized alpha and omega as the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jehovah's calling himself by those two letters stresses that before him, there was no almighty God, and there will be none after him. He will bring to a successful conclusion, for all eternity, the issue of Godship. He will be forever vindicated as the one and only almighty God, Supreme Sovereign over all of his creation.-Compare Isaiah 46:10; 55:10, 11.
Reasoning Book
Texts in which a title that belongs to Jehovah is applied to Jesus Christ or is claimed to apply to Jesus
Alpha and Omega: To whom does this title properly belong? (1) At Revelation 1:8, its owner is said to be God, the Almighty. In verse 11 according to KJ, that title is applied to one whose description thereafter shows him to be Jesus Christ. But scholars recognize the reference to Alpha and Omega in verse 11 to be spurious, and so it does not appear in RS, NE, JB, NAB, Dy. (2) Many translations of Revelation into Hebrew recognize that the one described in verse 8 is Jehovah, and so they restore the personal name of God there. See NW, 1984 Reference edition. (3) Revelation 21:6, 7 indicates that Christians who are spiritual conquerors are to be 'sons' of the one known as the Alpha and the Omega. That is never said of the relationship of spirit-anointed Christians to Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke of them as his 'brothers.' (Heb. 2:11; Matt. 12:50; 25:40) But those 'brothers' of Jesus are referred to as "sons of God." (Gal. 3:26; 4:6) (4) At Revelation 22:12, TEV inserts the name Jesus, so the reference to Alpha and Omega in verse 13 is made to appear to apply to him. But the name Jesus does not appear there in Greek, and other translations do not include it. (5) At Revelation 22:13, the Alpha and Omega is also said to be "the first and the last," which expression is applied to Jesus at Revelation 1:17, 18. Similarly, the expression "apostle" is applied both to Jesus Christ and to certain ones of his followers. But that does not prove that they are the same person or are of equal rank, does it? (Heb. 3:1) So the evidence points to the conclusion that the title "Alpha and Omega" applies to Almighty God, the Father, not to the Son.
Life 1977
13 Jehovah declares: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 22:13) Since Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, God means that when he begins a thing, he sees it through to its conclusion. Moreover, Bible history gives account after account in which God took a hand in the affairs of men. These acts manifested his keen interest in accomplishing what he wanted at the time. They were all steps toward fulfilling his purpose that his will be done on earth in his appointed time, as will be discussed later.
Well, thats all I had time to check. Of course the CD Library only goes back so far. I would not be suprised if flip-flops occured.
peace,
DD