The funny thing is that for years the decrease was touted as a sure sign the big A was close. Ever since the number has been growing then it's significance is nil.
Official Increase in the Number of Jehovah's Witnesses You Shouldn't Trust
by David_Jay 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
punkofnice
Anointed are nuts - August 15, 2011 Watchtower (the study edition) pg 22 QfR: Memorial partakers. This is the number
of baptized individuals who partake of the emblems at the Memorial worldwide. Does this total represent the number of anointed
ones on earth? Not necessarily. A number of factors—including past religious beliefs or even mental or emotional imbalance—might cause some to assume mistakenly that they have the heavenly calling. We thus have no way of knowing the exact number of anointed ones on earth; nor do we need to know. The Governing Body does not keep a list of all partakers, for it does not maintain a global network of anointed ones. -
prologos
pun: Ever since the number has been growing then it's significance is nil.
The significance was always null, and void. because this is based based on the idea that only a few should partake, have forgiveness of sin, everlasting life, be "anointed. The text in Rev 7 speaks of being "sealed" out of all those that should be partakers. and
Yes, nuts, --- the bible, according to wt, is only written for the anointed, so if they seriously believe in talking snakes, walking on water, graves opening and dead walking into jerusalem, and keeping millions in that frame of mind, how can they not be nuts at some level, having a void?
-
jookbeard
its is a strange scenario but its one stat they cant really fudge do to the fact that most people in attendance usually see the partakers or gossip about who has partook, the rest they can massage, be creative with as much as they want, the report slips from the R&F are not worth the paper they are written on!
-
schnell
How do the anointed know they're anointed? They just know. They know they're going to go to Heaven to marry Jesus and help kill people in Armageddon, and then watch the paradise earth beneath them as all the blasphemous thought-criminals get picked off. They just know.
-
Bobcat
The WT's reference to partakers as 'proud, mistaken or mentally unstable' is a method of 'framing the argument.' See my post here (on another site) for a link to that type of strategy.
The idea is to establish the parameters (or sides) in the debate: There is WT's view (which is presumed to be correct), OR, you are proud, mental or have some other bad/undesirable characteristic. It is one side or the other. There is no other option (according to the WT's framing).
What they NEVER mention is the fact that a growing number of JWs are partaking because they believe that this is what Jesus wanted them to do. And a growing number of them are doing it in private meetings apart from the WT. The WT does not want the R&F to consider this possibility, so it is never mentioned.
I would think that they have woven the idea of 'partaking' into their power/authority structure. So they see the idea of others partaking (and its implications for the partakers) as a threat to their authority. In the gospel accounts, Jesus is presented as a similar threat to the then existing Jewish religious authority.
-
David_Jay
Schnell,
Ever see the musical, "The Book of Mormon"? There's the song the protagonist sings where he mentions all kinds of crazy LDS beliefs ("Ancient Jews build boats and sailed to America...[God] giving me my own planet...the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri") he adds to these and more that "a Mormon just believes."
It's the same thing about being anointed as a Witness. A Witness "just believes."
And thanks punkofnice for adding that Watchtower quote. This is exactly what my OP is about: they are saying that this increase is made of their own membership by referring to their "past religious beliefs" and then go to suggest that those making up the increase are even mentally unstable!
Here they are claiming "our fastest growing group among us doesn't abandon falsehood and are mentally/emotionally unbalanced...So be sure to listen to them when they preach our message to you to see how our religion can make the same out of you!"
-
notsurewheretogo
They will, at some point, say that the anointed are only the ones on the GB, everyone else is not anointed.
-
slimboyfat
In a funny sort of way the manner in which they have handled the partakers fiasco kind of reassures me that the GB really believe in their religion. They give every impression of actually believing that the anointed would decline until Armageddon and seem totally surprised and wrong footed by the increase in partakers. If they were cynical managers rather than true believers they surely they would have sorted out this problem one way or another already.
-
Thisismein1972
dubstepped8 hours ago
How long before they cherry pick a new scripture and use it to portray this influx of new anointed members in this time of the end, whether as legitimate or not?
How about this one. By looking at this scripture we can evidently conclude that the great crowd are the increasing number of "anointed" ones.