20 Things I Don't Understand about Jehovah's Witnesses

by Vanderhoven7 72 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Vanderhoven7
    Vanderhoven7

    I don’t understand how Jehovah’s Witnesses can rightly claim:

    1. that less than 150,000 faithful Christians existed prior to the 20th century....when allegedly millions were martyred during the first 3 centuries of the common era alone.

    2. unique ability to interpret scripture...when interpretation of prophecy has been 100% wrong for over 130 years.

    3. unique direction from Jehovah...when JW lives have been endangered and lost due to medical prohibitions (vaccinations, organ transplants) which are no longer applied.

    4. that the innumerable Great Crowd are only Jehovah's Witnesses....when there are only 8.5 million JWs worldwide; a number we can all count.

    5. that non-JWs who die just before the tribulation begins will be granted a resurrection and given a chance to gain eternal life .... whereas if those same people are still around months later, will be eternally destroyed at Armageddon. Everything depends on when you die.

    6. that the 1914 generation will not pass away when babies born in 1914 are 108 years old today? (How long is a generation in the gospels?)

    7. that the Daniel 4 prophecy of 2,520 prophetic 360 day years magically become 2,520 solar 365.25 day years to reach the magic year of 1914.

    8. that the "7 trumpets of Revelation chapters 8 - 11" were 7 talks given at Bible Student conventions in the 1920s.

    9. that the religion of JWs is biblical...when its foundations are completely based on invisible speculative events involving names dates and places not found in scripture.

    10. that they know the date of the second advent of Christ when Jesus said no man knows the timing; JWs have been trying to prove him a liar for over 100 years.

    11. that one need not be born again to be a Christian when Jesus said, you must be born again to see or be part of the kingdom of God.

    12. that there are Christians living today to whom Jesus' command to partake of the emblems of His death does not apply.

    13. that it is wrong to make oaths of allegiance in support of one's country and its political values yet they unhesitatingly sign oaths of allegiance to get their US passports.

    14. that the wild beast of Revelation is the United Nations...yet at the same time join and supports the UN for close to 10 years (until 2001) as an NGO.

    15. that they care about children who are sexually abused by members, yet do nothing to protect them from these pedophiles unless there are two or more witnesses to the abuse.

    16. that they care about justice for pedophiles while encouraging parents of abused children not to report matters to police unless required by law...showing they are more interested in protecting the image of the organization.

    17. that they have been chosen and directed by God and must be believed even though they are fallible and have a long history of mistakes and flip-flops on doctrines.

    18. that in 1919 certain men were chosen and appointed by Christ in Brooklyn New York to be the Faithful and Discreet Slave spoken about in Matthew 24.

    19. that ones salvation is tied to submission to 8 men in Warwick New York.

    20. that the Bible bans the medical use of blood plasma and white blood cells.


      Please feel free to add to this list

      Please feel free to help me understand any of the 20 claims listed above,

  • under the radar
    under the radar

    That's the thing. They can't rightly claim anything of the sort.

    The points you listed only scratch the surface, but they do show that the Watchtower organization is little different than any other religious cult. They haven't required all their adherents to sign over all their possessions and wealth yet, but they did essentially take over all the assets of all the congregations. They haven't required all their followers to move to a single compound, but all the leadership and administrators are either cloistered together in upstate NY or under the thumb of HQ wherever they are.

    Nowadays, they are little more than money-grubbing televangelists, using mind-control tactics and peer pressure to squash embarrassing questions about their dubious teachings and practices. They encourage social coercion and emotional blackmail to keep family members in line.

    Even with all that, I too have only scratched the surface.

  • Vanderhoven7
    Vanderhoven7

    Well said UTR,

  • road to nowhere
    road to nowhere

    Only 20?

  • joao
    joao

    Oh boy, so many questions!!! You cannot pose questions!!! Don't you know that already?!

  • TonusOH
    TonusOH
      Vanderhoven7: unique ability to interpret scripture...when interpretation of prophecy has been 100% wrong for over 130 years.

      You have to admit... that's quite unique.

    • JW GoneBad
      JW GoneBad
      I don’t understand how Jehovah’s Witnesses can rightly claim:

      21) That first and foremost what determines whether a brother qualifies to serve in the capacity of Ministerial Servant or Elder is the amount of time/hours he reports on his monthly time sheet.

      When a C.O. visits the congregation and meets with the Elder Body to see if a certain male member of the congregation qualifies for appointment...the very first thing he asks for is the brother's publisher card to see how many WT field ministry hours he reports on monthly. Of lesser importance to the C.O. is how he measures up to the Christian character qualifications set out in the Bible at Titus 1:5-9 and 1Timothy 3:1-7 where no hourly requirement is even mentioned!

    • Fisherman
      Fisherman
      1. unique ability to interpret scripture...when interpretation of prophecy has been 100% wrong for over 130 years.

        False. JW have erred in interpreting the year of the great tribulation but not in interpreting prophecy or scriptures relating to the time of the end and the overall meaning of the Bible and the meaning of each scripture in the Bible such as hell, mortality of the soul, Jesus is not God, etc. —Too many to mention. The Bible educational work of JW is the greatest in human history. As Jesus predicted that his followers would do work greater than his proving JW have the backing of Jesus.

    • Konagirl
      Konagirl

      False. JW have erred in interpreting the year of the great tribulation but not in interpreting prophecy or scriptures relating to the time of the end and the overall meaning of the Bible and the meaning of each scripture in the Bible such as hell, mortality of the soul, Jesus is not God, etc. —Too many to mention. The Bible educational work of JW is the greatest in human history. As Jesus predicted that his followers would do work greater than his proving JW have the backing of Jesus.


      Surely you are joking? Why would Jesus back a lie, or a predicted date for Armageddon that failed...more than once? Why would Jesus support disfellowshipping, a wickedness which fosters love among the greater number to grow cold? (Matt 24:12) Why would he support an earthly organization riddled with child abuse, lawyers and court cases?

      Yes, surely you must joking. Please forgive me if I fell for the joke.

      "On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’" Matt 7:22-23


    • Wonderment
      Wonderment

      Vanderhoven7,

      My friend, I will like to make a proposal to you. You obviously put in quite a bit of effort and time to bring up old quotes from WT publications, many which clearly show how some humans in the name of religion can end up making 'an ass of themselves' (an expression heard from the mouths of WT leaders).

      My proposal is as follows:

      Since you are good at doing this, what about doing for us a '2 Column List' of WT statements from the past compared to the "present truth," a sort of "Before" & "Now." Such a display can be helpful for future reference, and may help others see for themselves what they are facing from this high-control group. There is no need to do it right away, but at your own time and convenience.

      What do you say?

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