Shunning Jesus

AEnEm

My first post will be hidden in the far more important news about AM3. Incredible! Who knows what the ramifications will be.

As a PIMO who still believes in the Bible and Christ, I wanted to share the following fun fact about the latest study publications. Whether you believe or not, surely this is odd to say the least:

As many know, the WT hides the Christ centric message of the Gospel. Rather than build on the foundation of the Christ, he is an after thought or footnote to the JW gospel. As proof of this, did you realise that the new study brochure used by JWs (Enjoy Life Forever - Introductory Bible Lessons) does not mention Jesus ONCE! It contains 3 lessons, and I am sure no one would cover them in 3 visits, so we are probably talking 6 visits with no mention of Jesus.

Even worse, the new study book (Enjoy Life Forever) first mentions Jesus, in passing, in chapter 9 (17th visit?) and doesn't really address Jesus until lesson 15 (Who is Jesus?). Perhaps 29 visits (and countless videos) until the foundation, the gospel, is addressed! Would first century Christians have waited that long? (Col 1:28; 1 Cor 15:1-5; 2 Cor 4:4; Acts 5:42;1 Tim. 2:5,6; Heb. 6:1;1 Cor. 3:11 etc.).

Before that chapter comes "How can the meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses benefit you?" (Chapter 10), promotion of the JW Library app (in chapter 11), and criticism of other religions (Chapter 13 - How false religion misrepresents God).

To me, this says it all.

Anyway, back to speculating on what AM3 will do. Have fun!

cofty

Welcome to the forum AEnEm.

You make a good point about the WTs lack of focus on Jesus.

You might be interested to have a look at this old thread.

Jehovah's Witnesses View of Jesus Compared to the Early Church

AEnEm

Thanks cofty for the welcome and link to a great post. I look forward to reading it (again).

I say again as I have read the forum since the very start, and have joined a few times. I post, get freaked out and stop posting! I never stop visiting though.

OnTheWayOut

People who hear too much "Jesus" may tune out, so the lessons could be for those that believe in "something" but are tired of or not ready for evangelical preaching.

OR

Watchtower really wants to stand out from Christendom. In the past, doing away with birthdays and Christmas and other holidays, no military service, NOW VERY LITTLE JESUS.

I think the name "JEHOVAH's Witnesses" says it all. It's all about JEHOVAH.

AEnEm

Good point. I think a lot of WT decisions on doctrine/terminology/practice are based purely on trying to be different.

The religious equivalent of a teenager dyeing their hair (as I did).

TonusOH

It is interesting to view their study guide from a perspective of someone long since gone. It reads like the older books and pamphlets, with an emphasis on how the Bible helps us to find what we seek and what we need, along with encouragement to read the Bible for themselves while also preparing them for the pick-and-choose manner in which the WTS uses Bible verses to make their sales pitch and reinforce their teachings.

What the prospective study doesn't know is that, once they're attending meetings regularly, the message changes in a subtle but important way-- the organization becomes the focus. You no longer are encouraged to read the Bible for yourself- you are encouraged to read the packaged portions and recognize that the organization's explanation is the correct one. You aren't reading the Bible to test what you are told. You are cofirming what you are told, if you know what's good for you.

Also, while they minimize Jesus, they constantly insist that this is not the case. Your average JW will consider it utterly ridiculous to think that they do not give Jesus the importance he deserves.

AEnEm

Very clever. Bait and switch!

DATA-DOG

Well, just do some research on how many people are watching “The Chosen” and you’ll realize that JW growth is a statistical impossibility at this point.

Even non-religious folks are more interested in Jesus than in the Watchtower, which leaves all the potential growth to born-in members and new converts, aka not the best and brightest…

JWism peaked long ago…

DD

jhine

As an outsider looking in and from reading posts on this site it seems to me that the WT does preach eternal life is gained through them rather than through Jesus .

The whole emphasis is to make people solely dependent on them for spiritual food . If salvation comes through Christ then believers could go to any faith group that preaches Jesus as Saviour.

Jan

AEnEm

I agree, thanks jhine. They would never quote the verses that say the complete opposite, like 1John 2:27 - which says "you do not need anyone to be teaching you, but the anointing from him is teaching you about all things".

That is never mentioned because they like to pretend that a only tiny minority of Christians are anointed. 99.9% supposedly do need teaching by the GB!

Shunning Jesus

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