Are there any new ideas coming from the Watchtower Society?

by RULES & REGULATIONS 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  RULES & REGULATIONS

  

  My brother ( who is an elder ) tries very hard to get me back to the meetings. He calls me every time he and his son ( he's also an elder) give a public talk. They send me the Zoom I.D. and code to get in.

  I get in yesterday and see that nothing has changed. The same boring songs, prayer and talk. My brother's talk is about the ''end times.''

  A photo slide shows the 2022' devasting hurricane in Florida. A photo slide of the war in Ukraine. A photo slide of famine in some parts of the world. ''These are all signs that we are living in the ''end times.''

  I listened to these same times in the 1970's. That was 50 years ago. How can anyone sit through these repetitive and mundane talks is beyond me?
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  XBEHERE

  Nope!
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  slimboyfat

  The new study book has a different slant on Jesus’ role in creation.

  Compare the comment in the Enjoy Life Forever! book (2022):

  Jesus is a powerful spirit who lives in heaven. He was created by Jehovah God before everything else. For that reason, he is called “the firstborn of all creation.” The Bible refers to Jesus as God’s “only-begotten Son” because Jesus alone was directly created by Jehovah. Jesus worked closely with his Father, Jehovah, helping Him to create all other things. Jesus continues to enjoy a close relationship with Jehovah. He loyally serves as God’s spokesman, “the Word,” delivering His messages and instructions.​

  With the Insight book (1988):

  Not a co-Creator. The Son’s share in the creative works, however, did not make him a co-Creator with his Father. The power for creation came from God through his holy spirit, or active force. And since Jehovah is the Source of all life, all animate creation, visible and invisible, owes its life to him. Rather than a co-Creator, then, the Son was the agent or instrumentality through whom Jehovah, the Creator, worked. Jesus himself credited God with the creation, as do all the Scriptures.​

  Is that a change or am I reading too much into it?
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  punkofnice

  I listened to these same times in the 1970's. That was 50 years ago. How can anyone sit through these repetitive and mundane talks is beyond me?

  Because it's bounteous Spiritual food(tm), they think.

  I don't know what is spewed forth in Jobot land these days. I'm only glad I don't have to sit through dimwits with ideas above their station in life.
  
  
  
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  RULES & REGULATIONS

  With the Insight book (1988):

  The Son’s share in the creative works
  the Son was the agent or instrumentality through whom Jehovah, the Creator, worked.

  Enjoy Life Forever! book (2022):

  Jesus worked closely with his Father, Jehovah, helping Him to create all other things.

  I think that in both books they have the same meaning. But, words like ''share,'' ''agent,'' or ''instrumentality through,'' and ''worked closely'' are vague words. They do not define what Jesus actually did in the beginning of creation.
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  Jeffro

  slimboyfat:

  Is that a change or am I reading too much into it?

  You’re reading too much into it. The ‘study’ book is very dumbed down, and the specifics of just how Jesus purportedly ‘helped’ with ‘creation’ are (necessarily) vague and arbitrary fiction, but there is no doctrinal change here. Insight was revised in 2021 and the paragraph in question has not been changed.
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  slimboyfat

  Perhaps the best comparison is what previous study books said:

  He is also God’s “only-begotten” Son, in that he is the only one directly created by Jehovah God; all other things came into existence through him as God’s Chief Agent. (Truth, 1968)

  This means that he was created before all the other spirit sons of God, and that he is the only one who was directly created by God. The Bible explains that this “firstborn” Son shared with Jehovah in creating all other things. Thus when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” he was talking to this Son. (Live Forever, 1982)

  Jesus was called God’s “only-begotten Son” because Jehovah created him directly. As “the firstborn of all creation,” Jesus was then used by God to create all other things. (Knowledge, 1995)
  

  He is the “only-begotten Son.” This means that Jesus is the only one directly created by God. Jesus is also the only one whom God used when He created all other things. (Bible Teach, 2005)

  Jesus is also precious to Jehovah because he is the only one Jehovah created directly. That is why he is called the “only-begotten Son.” Jesus is also the only one Jehovah used to create all other things. (Teach Us, 2015)

  The Bible refers to Jesus as God’s “only-begotten Son” because Jesus alone was directly created by Jehovah. Jesus worked closely with his Father, Jehovah, helping Him to create all other things. (Enjoy Life Forever, 2022)
  
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  My Name is of No Consequence

  Gotta love how Sammy Herd is sitting in his leather captain's chair.
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  cofty

  Is that a change or am I reading too much into it? - SBF

  I think it is rooted in the Watchtower idea of 'life' as reified 'thing' - a kind of force - that comes only from god.

  Jesus helped make all the stuff but it needed god to animate it.
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  Gorb

  No.

  G.