Doctrines and Bible Interpretations

by IWant2Know 74 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • IWant2Know
    IWant2Know

    I would like to know if ex's and formers who are not church Christians, believe that many of JWs' doctrines and Bible interpretations are correct, or do you feel that they aren't?

  • Sea Breeze
    Sea Breeze

    Watchtower is run by madmen who believe they are in charge of every man, woman and child on earth and that only by reading and studying their literature can you be made perfect. Jesus simply said that you must be born again.

  • ElderBerry
    ElderBerry

    Who is to say if any interpretation is correct. Maybe Watchtower is run by max men or maybe the Bible was written by mad men in the fist place.

    I remember learning that JWs are the only ones who interpret Michael the archangel to be Jesus. They purely say who else could throw Satan out of heaven.

    Everything comes down to interpretation. Maybe we are interpreting the entire Bible wrong. I actually wonder if it’s even possible to be interpreted correctly? Now there is a question?

  • road to nowhere
    road to nowhere

    Morality comes down to logic. (Thanks spock)

    Religion comes from a need for hope.

    Like many pimo's I am becoming an agnostic

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    Interpretation of Scripture, in a scholarly or even adult way, is an expertise entirely lacking in the J.W org.

    Hence all of their unique Doctrines are false, using just the Bible to prove them so.

  • NotFormer
    NotFormer

    Elderberry, JWs aren't the only ones who entertain the possibility that Michael could be Jesus. Here is a SDA article: https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/is-michael-another-name-for-jesus/

    I'm pretty sure that I've heard Christadelphians refer to Jesus as Michael, which means that that is probably where Russell got the idea from. I also know of individual writers from mainstream Christianity who entertain the possibility. But it doesn't seem to be a tightly held doctrine in most denominations.

  • KalebOutWest
    KalebOutWest

    I don't even know what a church Christian is, so I guess that pretty counts me out.

    But I stopped believing in much of what the Watchtower taught while in the JW religion back in the 1990s before I left. I was only in for about 10 years. It started to unravel their teachings very quickly and easily.

    Reading the Church Fathers made things fall apart for me. Also studying the way the Bible canon came about and learning the history of Marcion of Sinope, the inventor of the first Bible canon.

    And I had already learned Hebrew from Hebrew school due to having Jewish parents before entering my first KH back in 1984 (10 years and I slept though paid attention to the whole thing, I swear), so that kind of destined me to a crash course ending with the JWs. (I remember the subject of my knowing Hebrew came to the attention to a young couple that I didn't know me too well, but one night they came to me out of the blue after a meeting and the husband said: "My wife and I had a family meeting and we decided we don't believe you know Hebrew. I thought you should know." And he turned around and walked away. Really weird. I'm like: שתוק, יא מטומטם!)

    I don't think non-church or non-Bible Christians who left the Watchtower are going to give you the most interesting answers. I think the ones who are going to give you those are ones who are still stuck on believing that the Bible is where all belief must still come from.

    People who are in the mainstream, even in mainstream religions, don't hold to a strong Bible-based view of the world or theology. So if someone leaves the Watchtower religion and is able to enter mainstream society, they of course aren't going to be holding any of the Watchtower's views whatsoever because no one in mainstream society does.

    It is those who leave the JWs who still hold on to their NWT Bible or to the Bible as the source of focus, doctrine or truth that would be holding on to some of the doctrines of the Watchtower.

  • Riley
    Riley

    I think my turning point was learning the new testament is basically the story of god and jews and god and the church. The whole god of Israel to the god of everyone.

    The whole " Other sheep " and " Little Flock " being the heavenly hopers and the earth hopers , 1914 and 1919, just became too bloody stupid for any real student of the bible. The WTS at its core is just voiding the new testament for anyone but the governing body.

  • IWant2Know
    IWant2Know

    ElderBerry said

    I remember learning that JWs are the only ones who interpret Michael the archangel to be Jesus. They purely say who else could throw Satan out of heaven.

    But JWs aren't the only ones who interpret Michael to be Jesus.

  • IWant2Know
    IWant2Know

    Phizzy said:

    Hence all of their unique Doctrines are false, using just the Bible to prove them so.

    What do you mean?


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