by Drifting Away 19 Replies latest jw friends
In the book, IN SEARCH OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM, Ray Franz discusses a GB meeting where this matter came up. His uncle, Fred Franz, created a stir by saying that Paul could've meant coming in through the front door and leaving by the back: from door to door in the same house . . .
CC
As I recall, the Scriptural basis for the Door to Door Ministry was Acts 20.20 . Comparing the N.I.V it says much the same as the NWT but note the context.
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Paul is addressing the elders of the congregation & may well refer to internal "shepherding " of the cong. The WTS used to use this a lot to trumpet their Ministry , less so today with the emphasis on trolley carts.
My study on Door-to-Door Fieldservice
DOOR TO DOOR FIELDSERVICE
In the July 1, 1995 issue of the Watchtower, in an article on “Baptism”, under the subheading of "Requirements", it says:
"It is expected of the dedicated one …will fully bear his responsibilities as a minister, a preacher in the field service from house to house, and otherwise participate fully in the activities of the New World Society, to advance the proclamation of the Kingdom and uphold the true worship of Jehovah. The dedicated one must be a house-to-house witness as was Christ Jesus and the apostles to the extent of his ability..." However, there are significant problems with this article.
First: The Bible does not teach that door to door visitation was a biblical requirement for Christians in the early church, and it is not even hinted at as being a biblical criteria for baptism. Therefore these teachings are entirely extra-biblical.
Second: There is no scriptural support that Jesus ever went door to door up and down the streets of Jerusalem or Capernium as this article maintains. This is simply Watchtower Society (WTS) speculation…and again, entirely extra-biblical.
Third: In scripture, neither Jesus nor the apostles ever instructed or even suggested Christians go door to door. There is no biblical command to go door to door anywhere in scripture. In other words it is the WTS that specifically commands Christians to go door to door; not the Bible; not the apostles, and certainly not Jesus Christ.
In fact the only specific command given by Jesus relating to missions, was “Go not from house to house” That commandment is found in Luke 10:7. where Jesus is sending out the 70 to preach.
The Greek here in Jesus’ command is oikia ice oikia - literally, house to house. And the command is: “Go not from house to house.” Of course one might argue that Jesus is talking about finding a worthy home to act as a missionary base while in any given city. And that’s true. But you see then “house to house” clearly does not mean door to door. You come to a city, you find lodging and you don’t move from there to another home.
Jesus wasn’t instructing the 70 not to go door to door consecutively down the street looking to another place to stay. He was merely saying don’t change your place of residence once you have found a proper home base from which to minister. Remain in that home till your work in that city is complete. The point is “house to house” on Jesus lips had nothing to do with going consecutively door to door, down the street. In fact, the phrase “house to house” never means door-to–door down the street in scripture.
Fourth: The apostles not only never commanded Christians to go door to door, but there is nothing in scripture to indicate that they, themselves, ever went door to door.
The question is: What scriptures does the Watchtower Society's Faithful and Discreet Slave (F&DS) rely on to support the idea that the apostles and early Christians went door to door… and that this should become an example that every Christian must follow today?
Well, essentially two texts are cited to establish that the apostles and early Christians went door to door to spread their message. They are Acts 20:20 and Acts 5:42
In Acts 20:20 Paul is talking to a group of elders from Ephesus about his former ministry there and says: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house. KJV
The Greek words translated as “house to house” here in Acts 20:20 are kata oikous. In this Greek phrase, kata (a preposition meaning in or according to) is combined with the plural of the noun oikon (meaning homes)…so literally we get “in homes” or “according to homes”. Now does Acts 20:20 imply Paul went “door-to-door” down the streets of Ephesus? The answer is no.
In Benjamin Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott published by the WTS, Acts 20:20 reads "how I kept back nothing that was profitable; neglecting not to declare unto you, and to teach you publicly and at your houses" That’s the WTS's own publication. In other words Paul was simply reminding these elders how he had ministered to them both publicly and privately in their homes. And the fact is that most modern translations do use the phrase "in your homes" instead of "house to house" and there is good reason for that.
We can see why when we compare Acts 8:3 with Acts 20:20. In Acts 8:3 we find almost the exact Greek phraseology “kata oikous” except for the inclusion of the definite article “tous” (meaning all) … that’s kata tous oikous …So Acts 8:3 reads
“But Saul continued to harass the church, and by going house to house and dragging off men and women he continued to put them into prison.”
Of course the fact that Paul went house to house kata tous oikous, does not mean he went to every house down every block throughout Jerusalem…. Obviously, (and this is acknowledged by the WTS), he invaded one Christian’s home after another distributively…., just as doctors long ago would go house to house, making house calls but only at the homes where they knew there were sick people who needed a doctor.
Acts 20:20 provides no grounds for suggesting Paul went up and down the streets of Ephesus knocking at every door as an example Christians must follow or be refused baptism.
Well then, how about Acts 5:42, the second verse used by the WT organization to prove first century Christians went door-to-door. The NWT reads
And every day in the temple and from house to house (kata’oikos), they continued without letup teaching and declaring the good news about the Christ, Jesus.
Now the Greek phrase translated “house to house” here again is kata’oikos The WTS assumes that kata’oikos means “door-to-door”. But we can quickly see that this interpretation is unwarranted when we read the exact same Greek phrase, in similar context in Acts 2:46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house (kata'oikos), did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Acts 2:46
Certainly we can't believe that the apostles ate bread on every doorstep as they preached the gospel up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Since it doesn’t make sense that the disciples had snacks on every doorstep as they went from“house to house”…… kata’oikos does not mean door to door. Of course this verse simply conveys that the first Christians shared meals and fellowship at each others homes. Again, “house to house” had nothing to do with going “door-to-door”.
The organization of Jehovah's Witnesses specializes in teaching the traditions of men" as if they were the commandments of God. We do know that the apostles taught people both publicly and privately. It is pure speculation to conclude that they went up and down streets banging on doors on Saturday or any other morning before heading to Dunkin' Donuts for coffee.
Conclusion: The Watchtower Society has no biblical authority to make door to door fieldwork a criteria for baptism, or a requirement for Christians who are already baptized.
My mum also makes this claim about the preaching. But seeing how non active people on the carts are, and how brothers and sisters walk the streets like snails. Going as slowly as they can from house to house is very upsetting. But they are preaching. As the others have said, it counts for nothing if what they have been preaching is false. Millions now living will never die. 1975. The generation that will not pass away.
Many will say to me in that day, 'My Lord, my Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name have cast out demons, and have done many mighty works in your name?' I know the JWs certainly will be.
Here is the interesting thing about door-to-door in first century christianity:
- Nobody is home during the day in the first century. Back then everybody (including women and children) worked all days of the week. Work meant selling the stuff you made at home on the market if you were in the city or farm if you weren't.
- Even if they got to some women during the day, Christians would only talk to men (just like JW's are told to do now) and the men were the only ones in a household with the authority to discuss and especially teach or change religions.
- If anyone had the leisure time (rich enough) and wanted to discuss anything, they were going to be discussing it in public places like the Greco-Roman forums or in public marketplaces or other gathering places where it was less smelly, busy and dusty (like the 'city gates')
Van 7 said " There is no Biblical command to go door to door anywhere in Scripture."
This is so right, as is the rest of his Post, and it is the thing to major on.
Another point is that those early Christians, before 36 CE, would only call upon Jewish households anyway, there was no commission to the Gentiles before 36 C.E (Check the context, and time frame, of the scriptures the Org uses).
So the whole DtoD thing as a claim to "doing god's will" is a total load of cobblers.
A good Commentary I read explained that the House to House thing was rather like a Doctor making House calls on his patients, he would not knock on every door in a street, he would simply call on those he knew, and who needed his services.
Imagine judging a persons spirituality based on door to door performance.
Exactly Vanderhoven.
Jesus was once asked a similar question:
John 6 - What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst....
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life I am that bread of life. ... I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Unfortunately, Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe Jesus when he said to eat and drink the emblems of the New Covenant.
Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins - Mt. 26: 27-28Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the New Covenant (Testament) is for rulership positions in the Millennium reign and not for the "remission of sins" as Jesus clearly stated.
Whom we believe determines our destiny, just as it always has... since Eden. This is the eternal standard of governance for free moral agents. God honors our choices.
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. - Gal. 2: 16
When two elders met with me, this was the first thing one of them said. It's a de facto, go to line. "We're the only religion who preaches door to door." To which, I said: That is not the only way preaching was done in the first century. For example, the Ethiopian Eunuch wasn't going door-to-door when the angel directed him to run alongside the chariot. And, for that matter JWs aren't the only ones preaching, nor do they need to be. Jesus never once said that would be the mark of true Christians. I then mentioned that Paul didn't mind that others were preaching Christ, and directed them to Philippians 1:15-18:
True, some are preaching the Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter are proclaiming the Christ out of love, for they know that I have been appointed to defend the good news; 17 but the former do it out of contentiousness, not with a pure motive, for they are intending to create trouble for me in my prison bonds. 18 With what result? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and I rejoice over this.
