by XBEHERE 9 Replies latest watchtower bible
rNWT "But I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn, the head of the Christ is God."
Sexism aside, how does the WT/GB explain their absolute power over the sheeples based on this scripture? Where are they located in the model listed in that scrtipture? Am I missing something?
They've taken over for Jesus since the guy seems to be somewhat impotent at fulfilling whatever prophecy mankind dreams up for him.
Well, they're the bride of Christ, remember? So that means they're the neck that turns the head
Corpus Christi- if you think you are the 'Anointed' you substitute for him on earth....ain't that a head trip.
Am I missing something?
Yup! the rest of the Bible.
I did not have time, this morning, to continue some thoughts on the development of authority in the first Christian community. Jesus had left no clear instructions as to how his disciples were to be organised, likely, it is thought, because he expected that his death would be the catalyst that would cause Yahweh to restore the Davidic kingdom, a thought that seems expressed in the words of Jesus during the passover meal. (Matthew 26:29).
So when the disciples started meeting together within the Jerusalem Temple the direction of the group was in the hands of the twelve, but for unclear reasons, most of the twelve disappear from view, and we never really see the apostles acting together as a group in later periods.
Within ten years, power seems to be concentrated in the hands of Jesus brother, James, and he dominates the community of believers in Jesus until his death in 62CE. James is spoken of by the author of Acts as having gathered a body of elders around him (Acts 11:30, 15:2,4,6,220, so we can imagine a more rigid community structure, and therefore less room for the charismatic authority of the earlier section of Acts that depended on the Spirit and on visions. Where did the idea of a body of elders, acting under the guidance of a senior person, come from? Many scholars feel James adopted the pattern of synagogue government that the Jews were also developing, which makes some sense in view of the close links that must have existed while the early 'Christian' believers met in the Temple for worship.
It is reasonably clear that James died in 62 CE, and the synagogue pattern continued developing within the Christian communities. Within 50 years we find an influential Christian like Ignatius of Antioch writing letters of encouragement to some Christian communities in Asia (around 110 CE). There were problems in the churches of heresy and division, and the solution that Ignatius suggested was absolute obedience to the authority of the local overseer (bishop), and a body of elders and a group of assisting deacons. Nothing is to be done in the church without the bishop's permission. To what extent that was already occurring in 110 CE is a matter of argument among scholars, but certainly this became the standard pattern of governance within the church during the second and third centuries.
The letters that Ignatius wrote stress obedience to the Bishop a number of times, in has various letters. One example is his letter to the Magnesians, chap. 6, verse 1:
"Let the bishop preside in God's place, and the presbyters (elders) take the place of the apostolic council, and let the deacons (my special favourites) be entrusted with the ministry of Jesus,"
All that the witnesses have done is to remove the role of the bishop from within the local congregation and centralise it with a GB.
Here's how my elder dad would probably explain this: "Well, son, Paul wrote that to anointed Christians. So, the head of each anointed Christian is the Christ. But, we're not anointed, so we have the Faithful Slave to take care of us."
This is why I have never had a TTATT conversation with my dad. There's always some justification and the GB is never wrong.
Witnesses are like an abused partner in an abusive relationship.
They get the shit beat out of them by the abuser, but they always go back to well they are trying to do the right thing, thats what is important. I think more witnesses than we think now feel these guys are clowns but affectionately look at them like "but they are trying so hard for us".
So there had to be some kind of organisation in the early church , but this thread made me think of Eph 4: 11-13" it was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets , and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service , so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature , attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ "
So leaving aside the reference to attaining to the fullness of Christ (which the WT does leave out ) what about the rest of this . I suppose Cappytan that your dad would ay that this also only applies to anointed Christians . So why aren't the anointed ones prophets, pastors, apostles and teachers instead of doing door to door work like the great crowd ?
Jan
