Jehovah went from love to fear--when?

gma-tired2

when I was a child and teen JW in 50s and 60s Jehovah was always referred to as our loving God now we are warned not to fall in the hands of a God to be feared. When did JWs change God from loving to a cruel God?

never a jw

I quit the Catholic religion as soon as I was a teenager precisely because there was an emphasis on the five mortal sins. I forgot most of them except for "not attending mass". Since I didn't like this God, I said to Him "screw you" and have never looked back since.

When the hell are religious leaders going to realize that they are losing the battle because their God does not fit our enlightened times.

sparky1

I too was a child in the '50's and a teen in the '60's. In my opinion one of the reasons for what you ask in you OP, is in the Jehovah's Witnesses use of 'loaded language'. The New World Translation came into vogue during this time period and I believe that it was used to slant the average witnesses view of Jehovah and his personality. Since Armageddon was coming any minute, Jehovah needed to appear even more powerful and warlike. Something like, 'my God is bigger than your god or my God can beat up your god.' Hence the New World Translation Committee changed the time honored phrase Jehovah Sabaoth or Lord of Hosts into Jehovah of Armies. By the late 1960's and early 1970's Jehovah was not viewed as all warm and fuzzy and loving but rather a god of vengeance that was going to bring Armageddon by the middle of the 1970's and destroy anyone who was not on his side. I think this mindset is still prevalent today. When I was a Bethelite in the mid 1970's I had a friendly acquaintance with Sam Van Sipma who had been the assistant editor of either the Golden Age or Consolation magazine. I don't know if the translation committee consulted him or not but he was of the opinion that 'Jehovah of Armies' was a crude and vulgar translation of the phrase and that' Jehovah of Hosts' was more elegant and closer to the meaning of what the Bible writer intended to convey. Just my opinion and my 2 cents.

sir82

I think if you searched hard enough, you'd find plenty of references to the "hands of an angry God" in the 50's & 60's literature.

JWs have pretty much always eagerly looked forward to the death, suffering, chaos, and mayhem promised to them at Armageddon.

sparky1

Yes I agree with you sir82. But the new 'Green Bible' could have helped to add more fuel to the fire!

gma-tired2

Sparky I see what you mean. This time frame fits with my memories. Jehovah was referred to as a loving God and suddenly you heard about him being loving less and less. The new World Translation probably behind this thinking an of course the Paradise book released in 1958. I wanted a loving, kind God so I left JWs.

LisaRose

It's the carrot and the stick approach, they reel you in with the carrot, that Jehovah is a loving heavenly father who will make a paradise for you, then once they have you, out comes the stick, if you don't do everything right he is the vengeful God who will strike you down at Armageddon.

Lieu

Humans on a power trip make everything about fear. Machiavellian concepts. Its better to be feared than loved. Machiavelli was a creep.

Ignore it.

Jehovah went from love to fear--when?

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