by smiddy 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
JW's are all backwards on "grace" thanks to the Watchtower training.
To a JW, "grace" is a worldly term that has to do with Christendom. They assume it heavily means something to do with "being saved."
The Watchtower equivalent to free blessings from God is "Jehovah's undeserved kindness." And that has been sullied in definition so much that JW's are pretty sure that they have to earn, therefore be "deserving" of "undeserved kindness." Yes, that makes no sense but that is what it is.
Onthewayout, I will have to remember that perfect definition of the jw's view! It still makes no sense but it is difficult to explain to a Christian about the jw belief.
I agree the jw's have no concept of Grace whatsoever. I believe they must at some point do some real soul or bible searching to fully comprehend it and even then they have been so browbeaten they probably will always harbor the feeling that they do not deserve God's Grace. (guess they can't really do soul searching seeing as they don't have one of those either)
Again, this is the "Marie Antoinette Syndrome" at work.
Especially when people are born into the JW religion, and especially if they leave rejecting all religion afterwards, it can be very difficult to understand what are elementary and very basic religious concepts to others.
While it isn't a bad thing to never get involved with religion again after leaving the Watchtower, it can leave the exJW dumbfounded when they attempt to read poetry, try to understand art, or even cause problems in their attempt to keep their critical thinking at its best. For instance, the Christian concept of "grace" has inspired music, plays, paintings, caused wars, and in 1999 became a bridge between Catholicism and Lutherans in general when they came to agree on the concept (thus ending what started the Reformation in the first place). One cannot even fully appreciate the song "Amazing Grace" and its historical significance without this basic knowledge. Though as a Jew I don't have this same concept in my religion, I at least know what the Christian view means.
The significance of these things and other subjects based on nominal theology (which is never taught correctly or at all to Jehovah's Witnesses) can leave a person who has left the Watchtower lacking a significant amount of education in things necessary to understand the world around them. Some atheists often refer to other atheists among ex-JWs and ex-Mormons as a "narrow atheist" since their stand is limited to only what they've been exposed to. (The term refers to how sometimes their narrow exposure to only cult teachings cannot be used to argue against other religious systems these have no knowledge of, thus limiting their atheist stand.)
It can be difficult however to leave the "narrow" state. Dealing with what humorist Reba Riley has termed "Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome," the distaste for religion (and distrust) can be so great that ex-church members might not be able to endure corrective education even for the sake of merely understanding concepts generally shared in the world community.
This is one of the most horrible effects of cults. It can rob a person of learning simple terms as comprehended by most, thus making it challenging to at least know the basic meaning behind why people do things, create art, or what they mean when they speak of their particular convictions. Again, most people (even non-Christians like myself) understand concepts like "grace" as taught by Christians (even though we don't ourselves subscribe to it). But for some others, even the ability to heal enough to stomach learning these things has been stolen by their cult experience.
Does the Average R&F JW understand what grace is in Christianity ?
Yes!..
It`s a mistake in the Bible and WatchTower fixed it..
Grace......."Undeserved Kindness"
Grace makes one feel like a safe child in a loving parents arms, undeserved kindness makes you feel like you need to be thankful for the privilege of being in a group home for unwanted kids lucky enough to have a meal and a bed. Shut up, do your chores to justify your spot in the 'loving home' if you break our rules or even ask why they shove you out the door with a kick in the ass .
Thats why the Bible was wrong and WT fixed it lol. Perfect reply Outlaw!
No, the average JW doesn't understand Grace. Watch the squirm when the song Amazing Grace is played.
Amazing Grace!
One of the most-loved Christian hymns, recognized throughout the inhabited Earth.
Who can sing it, hum it, play it, and not be moved?
Only those whose hearts have hardened by the teachings of a misguided organization such as the WT.
Sylvia
Singing the song Amazing Grace makes me cry every.single.time. Especially more now that my father wanted this sung at his funeral.
It's the entire focus of the book of Romans.
Not under law, but grace...
That and justification - if the Master sets you free from condemnation, who's to question Him?
Love it.
Sylvia
Haha - I love discussions about charis, because it is unlikely that any christian, from any denomination understands how the word was used in early Greece.
But first let's get the biblical studies rubbish out of the way.
The Biblehub website has an extract from Strong's concordance on its web-site:
Original Word: χάρις, ιτος, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: charis
Phonetic Spelling: (khar'-ece)
Short Definition: grace, favor, kindness
Definition: (a) grace, as a gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ, (b) favor, (c) gratitude, thanks, (d) a favor, kindness.
(Reference: http://biblehub.com/greek/5485.htm )
Translating from one language is always difficult, because there are seldom precise matches for words in different languages.
So you notice above that Strong's gives 3 words, "grace, favor, kindness" as suitable English words when translating charis. So the arguments about 'grace' versus Freddy's 'undeserved kindness,' are rather stupid, merely arguments about words. A lot of the statements about 'grace' by people advocating an American Protestant approach to the Bible are merely stating a development of the original text. Hence we can infer, that neither grace nor undeserved kindness has any particular claim to correctness of truthiness. Anyone who claims otherwise has not understood the word itself
So let's look at how charis may have been used in ancient Greece, for this we will see that 'favour' will come into play.
James Davidson is a Greek Scholar,and an academic at the UK's Warwick University. (His biography is at: )https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/staff/jamesdavidson/ ).
Davidson is also the author of a book he called, " The Greeks and Greek Love: A Radical Appraisal of Homosexuality in Ancient Greece."
And, in a momenr, you will see why I like discussing charis. Its mainly because the ancient Greek usage of these words was often in the context of their penchant for romantic affairs with other males, particularly handsome young ones (and, usually not children in spite of ignorant and stupid allegations that the ancient Greeks were pedophiles).
Homosexuality was cultural in ancient Greece. There were no moral objections for two men enjoying some sexual activity together. And all words the Bible uses like agape (which makes a mockery of the JW claim that agape is the highest form of love) and charis, were regularly used in conversations about love, sex and winning the heart of an attractive young man.
So now think of all the things a man may say to a sweet young girl, whose heart he wants to win. And then think of two men in a similar situation (for that's what you're faced with in cultures such as ancient Greece and Rome and Persia, and in Japan, and China, from ancient times to modern times). So In Davidson's book Ch 2, entitled "Grace, Sex and Favours' he talks first about the mysteries of charis - grace. The promoters of 'grace' may note with dislike, Davidson's comments on the church, when he says,
"But Greek charis is alien to a hierachical, institutionalised, rules-and regulations religion like Christianity, ..."
Of course, charis does have a religious connection, in Greek religious myth, three goddesses presided over the realm of charis - they were called the Charites. But discussing them moves away from the shocking usage of charis as a favour that I wanted to present.
I cannot appreciate all that Davidson says about the word, for I am not a Greek scholar, but I do appreciate the insights he gives to this ancient (pre-christian) culture.
So some six centuries before Jesus taught anything, a writer says (in archaic Greece, of course),
"Young man, since the goddess gave you such charis himeroessa (charm), and all, the young men are obsessed with the loveliness of your form ... don't forget my charis himeroessa (charm), knowing as you do that Eros is a hard thing for a man to bear,"
This missive is not only about outward charis that each bore, but a request for an exchange of charis.
Later Davidson states,
"Strange though it may be to us, the amorous and sexual exchanges between members of the same sex might be seen as the very epitome of the noblest form of charis ... Sexual charis stands for a particular construction of sex as part of a gracious exchange ..."
So here is a different aspect of the word charis, when the young man, the love target of another man, the one doing the chasing, if you like. When the young man finally agrees to sex, he is exercising charis,
I hope that by now all of us have a better understanding of how people may have viewed the word charis in biblical times,
