The "keystone" of the Watchtower.

by thinker 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  thinker

  Recently someone here wrote a thread which basically said that if a certain GB member had only spoken up and proclaimed that 1914 was a proven incorrect date, then the whole Watchtower organization would have crumbled. 1914 was claimed to be THE essential doctrine of the WT. I humbly disagree. The numerous changes (and the final abandonment) of "the Generation" show that JW's really don't rely on 1914 as an essential doctrine of the WTBTS. What then, are the essential teachings that the WT rely on for keep the sheep in the fold?

  These are the four teachings which have remained constant over the entire sordid history of the WTBTS:

  1) No trinity

  2) No hellfire

  3) Everybody gets resurrected for a second chance

  4) Paradise on earth

  Of these, I believe "No trinity" is the least essential. The WT depicts the Jesus=God idea as nonsense, but has no problem accepting the equally bizzare Jesus=Michael the archangel. I believe the WTBTS could change this teaching without shaking the faith of most JWs. (SDA's are basically JWs with a trinity doctrine.)

  The "No hellfire" is just another way of saying "Paradise on earth".

  Number 3, "Everybody gets resurrected" is just a second chance for the "Paradise on earth".

  So, it seems that the ONE keystone doctrine of the WT is "Paradise" (the 144,000 is just super-sized paradise).

  My wife (DA'd since june 2000) has a good friend (an active JW) who refuses to shun her. After a full year of avoiding any spiritual discussions, this JW brought up the topic this way: "So, do you still believe in the paradise on earth?" This is what really matters to JWs. Everything else that's wrong with the WT only serves to chip away at this one core belief. Thats why the UN scandal, pedophile scandal, blood policy changes, or any other single issue does not instantly shake a JWs belief in the GB. All of these flip-flops and all the scandals must slowly erode a JWs confidence in the GB before they are willing to give up on the promised paradise. Paradise is the one topic you can find in every WT and Awake. I believe it is the one thing that is most useful for gaining new converts and keeping JWs in the organization.

  JWs might be interested to know that the Paradise was discovered long ago. After three trips across the Atlantic, Columbus began to doubt that he was visiting Asia. He said, "God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke in the Apocalypse by St. John,...I am convinced that this is the spot of the earthly paradise whither no man can go but by God's permission..."

  (Christopher Columbus 1498)

  Edited by - thinker on 2 November 2002 8:47:2

  Edited by - thinker on 2 November 2002 8:48:16
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  minimus

  Dates obviously mean nothing to the average Witness. The smart ones figure out right away that things don't add up. The reason most people become JW's is because of the lure of living forever in paradise earth. But if you adjust the 144000 doctrine and give others the possibility to go to heaven, this will not shake the paradise earth belief. That way the Society can have their cake and eat it too. I believe this is what will happen in the future.
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  gumby

  The CENTRAL doctrine is....

  That the Faithfull and Discrete Slave...is Jehovah's appointed channel to dispense the "Good New's, and Make his Name known. That they ALONE have the truth.

  If this is not true......NOTHING they say has a bearing on ANYONE.
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  yucca

  THE 144,000 ARE JEWS WHO WILL BE PREACHING DURING THE TRIBULATION. THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN IS THRU JESUS. HE IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THRU HIM. THERE WILL BE 1,000 YR. REIGN OF CHRIST AFTER THAT A NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH. IN ZECHARIAH 14 TALKS ABOUT JESUS COMING BACK WHERE MT. OF OLIVES IS WITH HIS SAINTS. JESUS COMING BACK TO SAVE JEWS. THE JW APPLY SCRIPTURES THAT APPLY TO THE JEWS TO THEM SELVES .
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  garybuss

  
  
  Thinker wrote: These are the four teachings which have remained constant over the entire sordid history of the WTBTS:
  1) No trinity
  2) No hellfire
  3) Everybody gets resurrected for a second chance
  4) Paradise on earth
  
  The teachings of disbelief in the trinity, disbelief in a literal hell, and disbelief in immortality of the soul, are certainly teachings but they are not beliefs, they are dis-beliefs and they require a counter believing group even for their existence. They are seen as constants because they have not been changed, but that is really a non-issue. Any group can claim authority because their dis-beliefs, or non-beliefs, have never changed. If Jim Jones never believed in UFO's, unicorns, or the tooth fairy, those consistent dis-beliefs did not make him credible.
  
  The doctrine of the resurrection is possibly the most changed of all the doctrines of the Watch Tower Publishing Corporation's history. For an objective abstract of the doctrine and the prolific changes see Apocalypse Delayed by M. James Penton, pages 201-202.
  
  The paradise on earth and reward on earth is a recent issue and is not a constant either. All Witnesses went to heaven until 1931 when the doors closed and selection ceased (Let God Be True, p. 298). The Great Crowed was identified and the earthly hope established by announcement in 1935 (1975 Yearbook Of Jehovah's Witnesses p.156; Proclaimers p. 166).
  
  So Thinker, it seems the only things that are constant are disbeliefs. If you have documentation for your claims, I am anxious to see it. Do You?
  
  I also see the key teaching of the Watch Tower Publishing Corporation and it's religious front, Jehovah's Witnesses, is the claim that the Governing Body is God's channel. Ask anyone who has ever sat in front of a Watch Tower Publishing Corporation directed ecclesiastical court facing a religious belief charge.
  
  gb
  
  
  

  The Way I See it http://www.freeminds.org/buss/buss.htm
  
  
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  NeonMadman

  The CENTRAL doctrine is....
  That the Faithfull and Discrete Slave...is Jehovah's appointed channel to dispense the "Good New's, and Make his Name known. That they ALONE have the truth.
  If this is not true......NOTHING they say has a bearing on ANYONE.

  Exactly. And because of that, all those other doctrines mean nothing. If the FDS came out next week and announced that there is a Trinity after all, or that all saved persons will actually go to Heaven, the vast majority of JW's would accept it as a marvelous provision of "new light" from Jehovah. I think it would be similar if the FDS decided the moon was made of green cheese. Once you accept the authority of the organization, everything else follows. Unfortunately, I think that would still be true if they started passing out poison Kool-Aid at the district conventions. That's why the JW's are a cult, not just another religion - its members have subverted their will to that of the leadership.
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  jimbob

  NeonMadman stated:

  Exactly. And because of that, all those other doctrines mean nothing. If the FDS came out next week and announced that there is a Trinity after all, or that all saved persons will actually go to Heaven, the vast majority of JW's would accept it as a marvelous provision of "new light" from Jehovah. I think it would be similar if the FDS decided the moon was made of green cheese. Once you accept the authority of the organization, everything else follows. Unfortunately, I think that would still be true if they started passing out poison Kool-Aid at the district conventions. That's why the JW's are a cult, not just another religion - its members have subverted their will to that of the leadership.

  WELL SAID! Now that's what I call "the truth"!!!!!!!
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  Farkel

  Thinker,

  Gumby nailed the answer:

  :The CENTRAL doctrine is....

  : That the Faithfull and Discrete Slave...is Jehovah's appointed channel to dispense the "Good New's, and Make his Name known. That they ALONE have the truth.

  : If this is not true......NOTHING they say has a bearing on ANYONE.

  That is absolutely correct and their self-proclaimed "appointment" of being "cleansed" and appointed in 1919 depends upon its anchor date of 1914. If 1914 is not true, then their claim to spiritual authority is not true and their whole power structure over their followers collapses.

  Since the fundamental doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses is that "the Governing Body (FDS) speaks for God" and since 1914 is the key date for their claims to authority, the 1914 doctrine is by far their most important doctrine.

  All other things you mentioned derives from their fundamental belief "The GB speaks for God." As Gumby said "if this is not true, NOTHING they say has a bearing on ANYONE."

  Also, gb's comments that a disbelief is not a belief is correct. A disbelief is not a belief. The disbelief in the trinity, immortal soulf and hell-fire don't adversely affect the day-by-day lives of Jehovah's Witnesses. None of that could be learnable with certainty in one's life. Almost everything else the GB says does adversely affect the lives of all JWs.

  Farkel

  Edited by - Farkel on 2 November 2002 12:56:39
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  gumby

  Jimbob

  WELL SAID! Now that's what I call "the truth"!!!!!!!

  How would you like to be the first Elder in the New religion I am starting?
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  NameWithheld

  The question is Fark, are the JWs that are left smart enough to put 2 + 2 together and realize that without 1914 the 'faithful & descreet slave' loses all authority? I doubt it. I bet they could ditch 1914 and not lose too many JWs. They would just go right on believing FDS=God.