The following information has been posted especially for Bible-believers & "newbies" only...thanks!
I found this golden "nugget" surfing the net.
Someone made this astute observation shown at the link below, and I just wanted to share it with all concerned here, especially after JWs around the world just studied paragraph #17 of the Nov. 15th, 2013 issue of the Watchtower last Sunday.
Link: http://meletivivlon.com/2014/01/20/obey-jehovahs-shepherds-w13-1015-p-21/#comment-7711
"Jude" posted:
“Through his organization, Jehovah provides an abundance of spiritual food…”
Compare the above statement with this inspired statement:
“As regards anything besides these, my son, take a warning: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion [to them] is wearisome to the flesh.” – Ecclesiastes 12:12
The idea that Jehovah would inspire the writing of 66 books that are perfectly sound in doctrine without any errors only to turn around and require us to depend on a fallible organization with fallible explanations of the said perfect bible, seems to be ridiculous and an utter defeat of the purpose of inspiring the writing of a perfect book to begin with. Why? Because the value of the bible’s doctrinal soundness is negated by the fallibility of the organization on whom we must rely to explain it to us. This is why the teaching that we cannot understand the bible apart from the organization has to be false propaganda.
Another thing: If we cannot understand the bible without the organization then how do we, like the Beroeans, use the bible prove to ourselves that what we are being taught by the organization is scriptural? We are necessarily in a situation where the organization tells us what the bible means and for us to use the bible to verify it would mean that we would have to rely on the very self-same organization’s interpretation of the bible texts that they use to prove their teaching. How’s that for objective verification?
To illustrate my point, Imagine going to a store to buy a product sold by weight and the store keeper tells you that the scale at the store can only be correctly understood by him so all must look to him for direction when reading the scale. He weighs out the product to you and you ask him how can you verify that he’s not robbing you. He tells you to check the scale yourself – the same scale he says that only he can understand. So when you check the scale and you see you’re getting less than you paid for he says to you you’re wrong because you’re interpreting the scale the wrong way and he then proceeds to interpret the scale the “correct” way as saying that you’re getting the right amount. Conflict of interest much?
So when an organization says in one breath that no one can truly understand the bible without their direction and then in another breath invites people to be like the Beroeans by comparing their teachings with the bible – really THEIR interpretations of the bible which are guaranteed to paint THEIR teachings as true – then you know some serious conflict of interest and lack of objectivity is involved.
End of quote.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
bjc