"They know we have the truth!"

by Atreyu 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Atreyu

  I remember a popular idea that often surfaced in informal discussions among the JWs in my congregation, especially back in the 70ies:

  (This was in Norway, and please remind that the Evangelical-Lutheran church is a national church and that ca 95% of population are members.)

  "The priests know that we have the truth!"

  Let me explain: Long time JWs really and sincerely believed that the clergy, the priests of the national church, really knew for sure that JW posessed "the truth", but would never admit it. So, this was kind of a conspiracy theory. These JWs believed that the priests had studied the Bible thoroughly, and definitely must have had come to the same conclusions as themselves.

  Personally, I could never second that idea, but I dared not to argue with mature brothers and sisters, far older than myself.

  I can not recall that The Watchtower magazine ever said something like this, so I believe it was more an unofficial belief.

  Can any of you shed light on this?
• 

  gumby

  Atrayu. Nice post.

  This has been true in much of what is in a dubs mind.

  It is said of the clergy...'They have hidden Jehovahs name because they HATE him,
  and they purposely teach doctrines they KNOW are false to MISLEAD PEOPLE "......as if to say they are just "wicked men, working overtime for satan"
• 

  Atreyu

  gumby,

  Funny quote! This is very much like what was said in Watchtower April 1st this year, just the other way around (my translation from Norwegian):

  "If Jehovah's organization purposely promotes false doctrines, it would never had advised Jehovah's Witnesses, and those they preach for, to read the Bible."

  Seems like they have indoctrinated their believers to think that religous leaders "purposely promotes false doctrines", and consequently they have to deny that this applies for themselves.
• 

  jst2laws

  Atreyu

  Good name. I love the Never Ending Story.

  Here in the US I have never heard of your specific story but have heard many similar about the Catholic church in general. It sounds typical of any movement which tries to portray itself as the only group with the truth that will change the world.

  Some are reluctant to apply the cult label to the Watchtower society but Eric Hoffer's book True Believer explains it all without using the four letter word "cult".

  Good to have you here Atreyu

  Jst2laws
• 

  TR

  Hi atreyu,

  I don't know about the Lutheran Church, but I DO remember an Awake! or WT article that mentioned the story of a young child asking a priest of the RCC a question. The priest said something like, "go ask the JW's, they know."

  I wish I could find the article.

  TR

  UADNA-WA
  Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America- Washington Division
• 

  Imbue

  Hi Atreyu,

  I love your posts here and in other places.

  This is a very common misconception of many JWs. It is interesting that I have known some clergy to utilize WT literature and this may reinforce this concept for some JWs. My husband once studied with a Catholic Monk and this Monk used The Greatest Man book for classes he taught at the Monastery. I also know a Baptist minister that openly admitted he "gleaned" ideas from the WT. So, these little incidence of individuals using WT literature develop into urban legends. The Jws then say, "They ALL know we have the TRUTH."

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "The only good elite are dead elite!!"-Naeblis
  (Ok! He borrowed it)
• 

  TheOldHippie

  I remember the same stories.
  Of course, individual priests have said and done so, and "know" that the Witnesses "have the Truth" and use our literature. One of the teachers of one of our children used the "Bible Stories" book in the Religion classes, and at first read "God" as a substitute for "Jehovah", but ended up using God's name. There are of course hundreds, if not thousands of true stories like that.
  The Atreyu story deals with this being true for all priests. I remember an old sister who had listened to the radio's religious morning program, and thereafter stated to all of us that that particular priest must have read all our literature and used it in the preparation for the program, as what he said was so close to the Truth.
  There are, though, some rings of truth to some of it. For example, in the Lutheran theological seminar, they are taught that the eternal future for mankind according to the Bible is on Earth and not in heaven. But they are instructed not to dwell too much on that in their sermons, because it would confuse the average church goers. A priest in my area wrote articles in the local church magazine that the future is here on Earth, and there were loud discussions when he pointed out that even the seminar textbooks pointed out this.
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  Atreyu

  OldHippie said:
  

  For example, in the Lutheran theological seminar, they are taught that the eternal future for mankind according to the Bible is on Earth and not in heaven.

  I doubt that. At least it is not mainstream, but may apply for some fundie-light seminars. Most of the NT speaks about a heavenly hope for all the believers, except for a few words of Jesus ("happy are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth") and the concluding chapters of Revelation. In GT we find many references to an earthly hope, but what most of us are not aware if is this fact:

  When GT (and NT) was written, they didn't have the concept of the Earth as we have, a finite globe among other planets. The Hebrew word for "earth" should rather be translated as "land", not meaning a coutry or nation as a political entity, but referring to the physical ground, soil, earth or land below our feet. They had no precise concept of the boundaries of the whole world, the planet that we today call "the Earth".

  This means that the GT promises about inheriting the "earth" referred to the Land of the Fathers, Israel, the domain of God's People - not the whole planet. Also, the promise was about the nation and tribes inheriting this land for ever, not the individual beings.
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  TheOldHippie

  Not very "fundy-light", but Menighetsfakultetet. No reason to doubt that.
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  Atreyu

  "Menighetsfakultetet" is the conservative one of the two theological seminars of Oslo, Norway. I'd call them fundie-light, indeed. But they are scolarly serious and honest. So I still doubt OldHippie's observations.