How to deal with struggling with the doctrines (page 2)

venus

Jesus said nothing matters except our humane behaviour. (Mathew 25:31-46) You can leave behind all your doctrines--acceptable or unacceptable--which are made for the religious establishment.

Life is analogous with freeway driving.
The Bible is like the Driver's handbook.
Being cautious, alert, courteous, and using common sense
will go a long way toward making your trip a safe one.
BUT...
arguing over the details with a passenger in the back seat can be
distracting, unpleasant, dangerous, and ultimately fatal.
The Watchtower is like a backseat driver continually prodding, demanding,
mind-changing, and irrepressibly insisting you simply follow their directions.

Your life is YOUR life.
There's no such thing as arriving safely at your destination because we all die eventually.
The moral of the story? Make your drive the most pleasant journey possible.
Choose your passengers with utmost care.
Don't be shy about pulling over and kicking annoying distractions out of your vehicle.
Let the Watchtower take the bus.

jwfacts

If doctrine is important and the bible is inspired, wouldn't it make sense that doctrine would be clearly discussed in the bible? Yet the bible does not go into doctrine in depth. There is no section such as you would find in an encyclopedia explaining the nature of god or the state of the dead. Instead there are a range of contradictory statements, the result being 35,000 different Christian sects with a whole range of different interpretations on every doctrinal subject.

lastmanstanding

Duval

Venus said a mouthful in a few words. Worship that is acceptable is “the taking care of widows and orphans “... James 1;27

Jesus himself said that he will judge based on who took care of “the least” ones. Matthew 25:40

Sir Isaac Newton wrote ardently of spiritual things, more so than things of science, although he is known only for his works on science.

He wrote that there is no trinity.

So, Watchtower did not discover that there is no trinity, they merely adopted Arianism.

As time passed, Watchtower went on to claim it, at least in the minds of JWs, thus they hijacked it.

Do you want to be on a plane flown by a hijacker? Maybe you want to get to your destination, but not that way....

TTWSYF

Welcome. Lots of emotion will come with your journey. You'll be mad about how you were lied to, but you'll be grateful for the chance to research without the WTS colored glasses.

It was helpful to me to acknowledge that the fruits of the WTS were not there.

Restoring Gods name and going door to door are not fruits, they're works. And it's works that bear no fruit. That fact helped me unplug

Vanderhoven7

IWelcome Duval!

Yes the Watchtower has some truth...which is mostly borrowed. However, every doctrine which is unique to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is in fact extra-biblical.

I believe the Bible is the word of God and I too don't believe in immortality of the soul or eternal torment. But these are not critical doctrines or what determines whether we are justified before God.

What is critical is relationship with Father and Son; righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. It's not about what you know, but about who you know and love.

The more you realize how much God loves you the more you will Love Him and others and the less dependant you will be on human leaders.

Again welcome... and I hope you will be encouraged in your faith as you continue to seek truth.

Finkelstein

men can't have beards, women have to wear skirts

That's frivolous stuff concerning the JW cult, yes this publishing cult/religion pointed some weak faults of other religions but it also made a bunch of false doctrines inherently on its own ie. 1874, 1925 1914, 1975 etc.

The no beards and dress protocols set for both woman and men come out the fact the WTS wants to present an honest righteous image for its public sales representatives as they distribute the WTS's literature.

This organization runs on fear, guilt and obligation and has been devised to mentally control people to serve itself in cultivating ongoing free labor and money.

The WTS created a tainted commercialized Gospel as a religious publishing house and sold it to the general public with the intent of proliferating the literature of which its publishes.

The corruption is there to see if your willing to look deep enough ........ The Truth .

Wasanelder Once

Doubt has been criticized by the WT so much that it smacks of Apostasy to them. Doubt is healthy. They teach their truth is absolute truth, until the next "New Light" suits them. If you were a Witness 20 years ago they wouldn't teach half the "truth" they teach now. Embrace your doubt and look into what this organization really stands for, molestation coverups, money seeking and control. They have taught you that a glass of water with just one drop of poison is deadly, take the hint. Coming or going? Get going.

TD

How do you reconcile this, or do you?

The problem is the JW's won't let you reconcile it. They see the world in terms of black & white, right & wrong, good & bad, all or nothing, and demand that you do too.

Pretty much all apocalyptic sects hold this viewpoint. How else can they justify the notion that they alone will be saved?

Take the Trinity for example. What the JW's argue against is actually a heresy known as Sabellianism. Orthodox flavors of the Trinity are much harder to argue against and consequently the issue is not nearly as black and white as the JW's have presented it.

But they're never going to admit that. To do so would weaken the idea that people who believe the Trinity deserve to die for it......

Giordano

Welcome Dval! Please share other aspects of your beliefs and/or your life.

I'm still a JW but am inactive. I'm struggling with the fact that I agree with some of the doctrines (I,e, the stance on the trinity, there is no hell) but I disagree with a lot of things (I,e, men can't have beards, women have to wear skirts). How do you reconcile this, or do you?

Re beards It helps to remember that Russell started the WT corporation. He looked like this:

Related image

Rutherford took over after Russell passed away. Rutherford looked like this:

Image result for Judge Rutherford portrait

Since Rutherford was disliked by many of Russell's followers...... Rutherford saw brothers with beards problematic. He was an Autocrat........ a my way or no way guy.

How was that received by the bible Students?

A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Bible Students

No Hell and No Trinity?
Russell got it straight from the Adventists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses
He later acknowledged the influence of Adventist ministers George Storrs (who had earlier predicted Christ's return in 1844)[12] and George Stetson in the formation of his doctrines;[13] author James Penton claims he also strongly reflected the teachings of Philadelphia Lutheran pastor Joseph Seiss.[12]

(Russell) met Barbour, accepted his detailed and complex arguments on prophetic chronology[21] and provided him with funds to write a book that combined their views.[13]

The book, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World,[22] was published in early 1877.[23] It articulated ideas that remained the teachings of Russell's associates for the next 40 years, many of which are still embraced by Jehovah's Witnesses:

How to deal with struggling with the doctrines