Am I Expected to Become One of Jehovah’s Witnesses if I Study the Bible With Them?

by Ron.W. 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Ron.W.

  Am I Expected to Become One of Jehovah’s Witnesses if I Study the Bible With Them?

  No, you are not obligated in any way. Millions enjoy our Bible study program without becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses. * The purpose of the program is to show you what the Bible teaches. What you decide to do with that knowledge is up to you. We recognize that faith is a personal matter.​—Joshua 24:15.

  Footnote

  * Showing the scope of our study program, during 2021 we conducted 5,908,167 Bible studies each month, many of these with several people at once. Yet only 171,393 people were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses that year.

  https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/no-obligation-study/
  

  Contrast the above with today’s Day’s Text below:

  *** Text for 20 March 2022 ***

  Sunday, March 20

  I have resolved to obey your regulations at all times, down to the last.—Ps. 119:112.

  We need to be patient when helping a student progress to dedication and baptism. But at some point, we need to find out if he has the desire to serve Jehovah God. Do you see signs that the student is trying to obey Jesus’ commandments? Or does he only want to learn facts from the Bible? Regularly analyze the progress that the student is making. For example, does he express his feelings for Jehovah? Does he pray to Jehovah? (Ps. 116:1, 2) Does he enjoy reading the Bible? (Ps. 119:97) Is he attending the meetings regularly? (Ps. 22:22) Has he made any needed changes in his lifestyle? Has he started sharing what he is learning with his family and friends? (Ps. 9:1) Most important, does he want to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses? (Ps. 40:8) If the student is not making progress in any of these areas, tactfully try to find out why and then discuss the matter with him kindly but frankly. w20.10 18 ¶14-15
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Yes.

  They 'study' with unsuspecting members of the public to make new JW members.

  No, you are not obligated in any way - this is 'theocratic warfare', aka lying or bullshitting.

  I wouldn't recommend studying with JWs, and I certainly wouldn't recommend actually becoming a JW.

  But, it's your life, your choice. If you choose to study with the JWs, then it's on you.

  Just don't say you weren't warned.

  
  
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  hoser

  Jehovahs witnesses are poorly compensated commissioned salespeople. Nothing more nothing less.
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  Disillusioned JW

  Studying with the Witnesses does not obligate you to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses, but one of the main aims of the WT and of active Witnesses is to lure people into becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. The WT literature is designed is achieve that goal. The Witnesses have a step by step process to guide people into becoming more and more involved in the religion.

  The WT literature, some more than others, says that in order to live forever without ever dying, and/or in order to survive the great tribulation and the battle of Armageddon, people are obligated to become Jehovah's Witnesses (not just in the generic sense, but in the sense of joining the religion named "Jehovah's Witnesses").
  

  The WT literature (in some publications more than others) uses subtle mind manipulation techniques. Infrequently in some issues of the Watchtower magazine (probably nowadays confined to the Study Edition) the WT discourages people from reading literature which is critical of the WT, or even which merely disagrees with some of the teachings of the WT (oftentimes referred to by the WT as the teachings of the Bible).
  

  The WT tends to equate worshiping Jehovah with worshiping Jehovah the way those of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion do. They try to make it seem that the only modern-day worshipers and witnesses of Jehovah God are those in the religion officially named "Jehovah's Witnesses".

  If you do decide to study the Bible with the aid of WT literature and various content (such as videos) on the JW.org website, I recommend that you do so privately and with a critical and cautious mindset, without one of Jehovah's Witnesses personally directing your study. If you study the WT literature I recommend that you not only try to determine what the literature has correct (if anything) but also try to determine what the literature has entirely incorrect, partly incorrect, or misleading.

  I also recommend that before you accept the apparent meaning (often times one stated by the WT literature, but not always stated by the literature) of what a quote of a non-WT publication says (such of a scientific publication or a scholarly publication) or of what the Bible says, that you first look up the quote in the publication it is quoted from (such as a science journal article or book about biblical history) and carefully read the surrounding context of the quote direct from that publication that is quoted. If you do that, then in a number of cases you will likely discover that the quote does not have the meaning and/or the implications that the WT said (or implied) it does. [Your local librarian can help you to find the quoted publications, and can even request that libraries send them to your local library so that you may borrow them free of charge.]
  
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  Ding

  Are you studying with JWs?

  If so, why?
  
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  Longlivetherenegades

  19 You might begin by asking him, ‘What do you think will be your biggest challenge in becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses?’ The student might answer, ‘I do not mind studying the Bible, but I will never become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses!’ If that is his attitude after he has studied for some time, is there any point in continuing the study?...... Watchtower January 2020 first study article paragraph 19

  Easy peasy, you are expected to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses when you study with them.
  
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  MeanMrMustard

  Fixed for the tour I type of emotional manipulation that's really there:

  No, you are not obligated in any way. The purpose of the program is to show you what the Bible teaches. It just so happens that we'll show you the Bible teaches that you should be a JW. What you decide to do with that knowledge is up to you. You are under no obligation to be a good person. If you want to die a horrible death because you are morally empty, well, faith is a personal matter.
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  truth_b_known

  This is what is called a "Bait & Switch" scam.

  I suppose it could be possible that there is someone who would study with Witnesses for let's say academic reasons only. If such a person made that known up front they would simply be directed to the Watchtower website. No study would be conducted.
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  Ron.W.

  Great reference Longlivetherenagades, thank you.

  I noticed paragraph 17 in the same wt Jan study article states:

  *** w20 January p. 7 par. 20 “Go, Therefore, and Make Disciples” ***

  Rather than spend more time conducting an unproductive study, we need to find someone who gives evidence that he is “rightly disposed for everlasting life.

  
  
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  Earnest

  truth_b_known : I suppose it could be possible that there is someone who would study with Witnesses for let's say academic reasons only. If such a person made that known up front they would simply be directed to the Watchtower website. No study would be conducted.

  That is not always true. For example, George Chryssides who is a researcher on new religious movements, had a study over an extended period of time even though he made it clear he just wanted to learn about JWs.

  He subsequently wrote Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses, The A to Z of Jehovah's Witnesses, and Jehovah's Witnesses Continuity and Change.