This post is for any of you out there who have questions but have been afriad to search for answers outside of your organization/religion (this applies to any "christian" religion - not just JW's). As for the rest of you heathens - no response please (tee hee - just joshin' )
I have been DF'd for many years but really had no desire to go back to the bible until about 2 years ago. I had a number of questions, but the answers I got from my father (an elder) and the WT literature just didn't seem right. But I was really afraid to go searching anywhere else.
My father had warned me about the "man of lawlessness" in 2 Thess chapter 2 - he read to me
verse 10: They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.The JW's teach that the "man of lawlessness" from 2 Thessalonians is the CLERGY from any other religion. For this reason, I was too afraid to go to any other church, ask any other pastor, read any other books to look for an answer.
I decided to just read the bible and leave it at that. Then, in my reading I came across two scriptures that really freed me from fear:
Luke 11:9-13: So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.Jesus was saying here that if you asked he would give you the Holy Spirit. If you asked him and were seeking he would help you find answers. If you asked him to keep you from being mislead, to open your eyes and heart to the truth he would.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
The basis of any Christian religion is a belief in Jesus as the Messiah. If you REALLY believe in Jesus, then you MUST believe what he told you.
I then came across Deuteronomy 18:22
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.Granted - the WT society has said they are not a prophet. However, if you research a bit, you will find that in fact they have called themselves a prophet: http://www.serve.com/larryi/prophet3.htm
So I realized from reading the bible alone that:
(1) I should not fear what the WT society said about the "man of lawlessness" in 2 Thesselonians. Deuteronomy has already shown me that they have spoken messages that were not from God in the past, and
(2) Instead, I could ask Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to me and help me find the answers. He told me in Matthew that if I asked for his help in searching (ask, seek, knock) he would give it to me.
The final straw: My dad kept offering me more articles and books from the WT Society, but I told him that I had decided to just study the bible on it's own. Dad then said "well, you can try but you won't understand it without the help of the faithful and discrete slave because they have the Holy Spirit".
I realized that he was completely contradicting what Jesus himself said in Matthew. Jesus said that if we asked him to send us the Holy Spirit he would. So who's right - the WT Organization and my dad, or Jesus?
I chose Jesus. The day I decided to ask him for help and trust him completely is the day I was set free from the fear and guilt.