i noticed this in the october 15th, 2000 WT article entitled "Should you investigate other religions?".
"RECOGNIZING TRUE CHRISTIANITY - after the apostles died, true worship became contaminated by the progressive development of many forms of imitation christianity. forseeing this, jesus disclosed one way to distinguish these counterfeit forms of christianity from true chistianity. first, he warned: "be on the watch for the false prophets that come to you in sheeps covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves." then he added: "by their fruits you will recognize them." (Matt 7:15 - 23) jesus true followers practiced what he taught, and they are easily recognized by their fine fruits. just as jesus himself did, they visit people to explain gods kingdom from the scriptures. following jesus example, they stand apart from the worlds politics and social controversies. they accept the bible as gods word and respect it as the truth. they make gods name known. and since they strive to practice the love that god teaches, they do not share in wars. instead, they treat one another as brothers. - Luke 4:33; 10:39; John 13:34,35; 17:16,17,26.
according to the scriptures, it is possible to "see the distinction between a righteous one and a wicked one, between one serving god and one who has not served him." (Malachi 3:18) true worshipers today are united in thought and deed, just as the first century christians were. (Ephesians 4:4-6) once you identify such a body of genuine christians, why should you be inquisitive or curious about the beliefs of others?"
And the concluding paragraph in the article -
"sincere people who are searching for the truth do well to consider carefully what they hear from different religions. in time, god will bless honest hearted individuals who seek the truth. the bible says of godly wisdom: "if you keep seeking for it as for silver, and as for hid treasures you keep searching for it, in that case....you will find the very knowledge of god." (Proverbs 2:4,5) having found this knowlege of god through the bible and the christian congregation and having seen how jehovah blesses those who are guided by that knowledge, true christians do not continue listening to false religious teachings.- 2 Timothy 3:14"
"sincere people who are searching for truth do well to consider carefully what they hear from different religions."
"true christians do not continue listening to false religious teachings."
if so, then what is the first sentence all about? since they viewed "different" religions as "false", i guess this means JW's are allowed to look at other religions as long as they don't look at other religions. this reasoning is one of the many reasons that i am a happier man today then i was 5 years ago. i understand that they are saying that once you've found true religion you no longer need to question, but, as imperfect humans, a belief that important must be questioned and tested to see if we are missing anything. i don't think that shows lack of faith, i think it shows our need to prove our faith to ourselves. sorry if i soapboxed, i just read the article this morning and am still a little heated up. it's just my humble opinion.
also, i know none of you need convincing one way or the other, no matter what you believe. its just that i was never allowed to voice these opinions or questions while i was in the org., and its healing for me to be able to do so now. thanks for the opportunity.
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