Sheep, Goats, and Nonsense

by metatron 12 Replies latest jw friends

  • Farkel
    Farkel

    Metatron & Joseph,

    Good points.

    :The 'sheep' say "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
    thirsty and give you a drink, When did we see you a stranger
    and receive you with hospitality, or naked and cloth you?"

    I don't know if you remember it or not, but I did a piece on this very subject. The Watchtower Printing Corporation says this is referring to "spiritual" aid, i.e. selling their stupid books. But I focused on the fact that there is no possible way this verse could be referring to anything BUT physical assistance. Why? Well what human could ever be qualified to render spiritual aid to Jesus Christ? Anyone who thinks they qualify for that job would have to be the most arrogant person who ever lived.

    This verse screams the word CHARITY at you, yet the WT leaders are so blind, they can't even see that most obvious fact. They are as blind as it is possible to be.

    Farkel

  • Dawn
    Dawn

    Thanks Joseph - you gave me something to think about and research.

    Metatron - thank you - I'm thinking of ways I can "incorporate" this into a conversation with my JW mom......wish me luck.

  • onacruse
    onacruse

    I love this thread! Thoughts from the Twilight Zone:

    Whatever the Bible says about faith/works/salvation, a great number (majority?) of us on this board live in countries that reflect the Puritanical work ethic. Our interpretation of the Bible can be an intellectual exercise, but the pressures of our individual social groups will probably (as history demonstrates) have at least as much influence over our actions.

    I say I believe in God as my Creator, but how does my present circumstance in society show that God approves of/has blessed me (in "my society")? I say I believe Jesus loves me, but what works to benefit my fellow man (read "my society") did I perform today to show that I love him? I say I am a Nazi, but how many non-Aryans did I expose last month to prove my loyalty to the Nationalist Socialist Party?

    Max Weber's Die Protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism) is a well-known and still hotly debated presentation of this sociology of religion. His primary student R.H. Tawney (Religion and the Rise of Capitalism; Harcourt, Brace & Co, 1926) wrote (p. 200): "Overwhelmed by a sense of his "Ultimate End," the Puritan cannot rest, nevertheless, in reflection upon it. The contemplation of God...is a blessedness too great for sinners, who must not only contemplate God, but glorify him by their work in a world given over to the powers of darkness." (Italics added)

    "Our society" demands that we legitimize our convictions by works leading to success (however that may be measured).

    The great railroad magnates and land barons of the 19th-20th centuries were, in the opinion of many, clearly blessed by God (as measured by their fortunes), and all the more so because of their philanthropic foundations. The hundreds/thousands that they crushed while building their empires were socially discounted as conversely "unblessed" by God, and deserving of their fates.

    So also JWs: They say works do not make salvation, but increased publishing activity, more return visits, more Bible Studies, more baptisms, increasing membership, rising through the ranks (up to the glass ceiling of being "anointed") are all required to prove that God is blessing them. As Ray commented in COC (4th ed., p. 252-3): "This drop [in 1977-78] membership, more than any other factor, seemed to carry weight with the Governing Body members." The numbers MUST PROVE that God is with us!

    SO: Dubs are saved by faith (theoretically) but by works (actually).

    Christian love,

    Craig

    PS: Speaking of Mt 25:31-46, consider vs. 40: "...whatever you did for [to] one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Compare 24:49: "...he begins to beat his fellow slaves..." Why beat a slave? To kill him? Probably not (not financially advantageous). To get more work out of him? Very possibly. To get more work out of the other (now fearful) slaves? I think most likely.

    Edited by - onacruse on 7 July 2002 14:48:45

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