by Confucious 48 Replies latest watchtower bible
I still think this is a slam dunk question.
We can bend pennies with them all day long, but the bottom line is do they get any special revelation (divine guidance, special information, stone tablets, anything) from Jehovah.
They almost have to say yes, otherwise their religion is worthless.
Then the comback is where in the Bible, did Jehovah ever lead his people by misinformation?
Yes, there were imperfect people leading, but we're talking about the actual information.
Greetings!
I am unable to find a scripture that says the scriptures are "complete." Perhaps you are referring to the spirit embodied in Revelations 22:18 or even Deuteronomy 4:2??
In any case you misunderstand both what JWs believe and the meaning of God's Word.
Both of the scriptures above have reference to the addition or deletion from the specific set of laws in the case of Deuteronomy and the prophetic vision and "scrolls" of the book of Revelation. It is a common misunderstanding among many to extend these prohibitions to the teaching of the entire Bible itself. Indeed no bible writer even under inspiration is likely to have set forth such a prohibition since none could have known definitively (unless they indeed were under Divine inspiration) that THEIR words would be the last to be inspired and thus properly included in the accepted canon.
(Here would fit nicely a larger discussion about the Bible canon itself and its arbitrariness but that is a digression I leave to others better qualified than myself.)
JWs do believe the Bible is "complete" but not in the sense that you are setting forth as your premise for your "question." The Bible is complete in the sense that through application and proper understanding of God's word, it holds all that mankind needs to both live today and tomorrow (All Scripture is inspired of God and benefiicial....etc.) and more importantly gain eternal salvation through exercising faith in Christ Jesus.
JWs do not pretend to ADD to God's Word, they merely pretend to understand it more clearly than anyone else. To that end, they claim a special relationship via their divine channel, the so-called Faithful and Discreet Slave Class. JWs do not receive new "revelations" of the TRUTH in the sense that perhaps prophets and apostles did in the Bible. Plainly if they did then they would not be wrong upon occasion or need to make "adjustments" to their understanding.
Like the apostles and, in fact, others thoughout the bible record who had to adjust their thinking upon receiving new teaching from God, JWs claim only to have an inside track today on receiving that continued teaching and so from time to time do make adjustments to their theology (belief system).
For those who choose to follow them or rather the leadership of the Organization faith is placed in God that He is leading them generally in the right direction but no one that I am familiar with believes the leadership to be infallible. Faith thus is not to be placed in men but rather in God.
-Eduardo
Nice post Orbo.
Anyone have an comment on his post???
Yes, the witness's have the out look that they are Gods people, how do they know they are Gods people did God tell them they were. Did he tell them will he ever tell them,or anyone else for that matter, Its this high mindedness that sickens me so much about religion, they speak for God at every opportunity they want so bad to be worshipped by men and women its shameful.
*** jv chap. 31 p. 708 How Chosen and Led by God ***
How
Jehovah Leads His PeopleThose who make up the one true Christian organization today do not have angelic revelations or divine inspiration. But they do have the inspired Holy Scriptures, which contain revelations of God?s thinking and will. As an organization and individually, they must accept the Bible as divine truth, study it carefully, and let it work in them. (1 Thess. 2:13) But how do they arrive at the correct understanding of God?s Word?
The Bible itself says: "Do not interpretations belong to God?" (Gen. 40:8) If in their study of the Scriptures a certain passage is difficult to understand, they must search to find other inspired passages that shed light on the subject. Thus they let the Bible interpret itself, and from this they endeavor to understand "the pattern" of truth set forth in God?s Word. (2 Tim. 1:13) Jehovah leads or guides them to such understanding by means of his holy spirit. But to get the guidance of that spirit, they must cultivate its fruitage, not grieve or work against it, and keep responsive to its proddings. (Gal. 5:22, 23, 25; Eph. 4:30) Moreover, by zealously applying what they learn, they keep building up their faith, as a basis for gaining clearer and clearer understanding of how they must do God?s will in the world of which they are no part.?Luke 17:5; Phil. 1:9, 10.
Jehovah has always led his people to clearer understanding of his will. (Ps. 43:3) Just how he has guided them may be illustrated this way: If a person has been in a dark room for a long period of time, is it not best if he is exposed to light gradually? Jehovah has exposed his people to the light of truth in a similar manner; he has enlightened them progressively. (Compare John 16:12, 13.) It has been as the proverb says: "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."?Prov. 4:18.
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Just to clarify for everybody , that is a straight quote from the "Proclaimers" book 1993
"Jehovah has always led his people to clearer understanding of his will. (Ps. 43:3) Just how he has guided them may be illustrated this way: If a person has been in a dark room for a long period of time, is it not best if he is exposed to light gradually? Jehovah has exposed his people to the light of truth in a similar manner; he has enlightened them progressively. (Compare John 16:12, 13.) It has been as the proverb says: "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."?Prov. 4:18."
Wow.
Great one Shiloh...
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I don't think that there was an instance in the Bible where Jehovah "Progressively" taught anyone with error - has there been???
And I think the WT is mincing words.
Who else is preaching the good news of the kingdom?
All religions make the claim of being the right religion and that their adherents are being led by God, which means they are taught that they are God's people or that they are the "church" which word is so often mentioned in the New Testament. Who teaches them that they are God's people? The leaders, whether it be a group of 12 men, or a pastor, minister, Pope, etc. of a church, who claim they have received a "calling" to minister, etc.
Some are taught just to say a simple prayer to Jesus that they are sinners and ask to be forgiven of all their sins, and they become a "child of God" and claim "indwelling of the holy spirit." Others are taught to confess their sins in a confessional to a priest, who tells them their sins are forgiven.
Still others are taught that they must become part of an organization which is headed by Jesus Christ, and he reveals all of God's purposes thru a body of men who then dispenses it in literature form for the rest of those in the organization.
All groups use the Bible as proof of their claims. And perhaps all these religions have done more harm to the human race than good.
That's my 2 cents.
God has allowed his people to remain in errorneous thinking, even if they felt he was behind it. Jehovah allowed for divorce amongst his people but still didn't approve of it. Yet it appears that the Jews believed that God was supporting their own error. Jehovah allowed King Uzziah to put up false religious idols and promote worship that was against all his rules but he still worked thru him until He decided the time came to make a correction. Job was a faithful servant of Jehovah and falsely believed that he was being punished by God himself. Jehovah did not correct this error until quite a bit of pain and suffering occured to Job. To Job and others, the belief was that God was subjecting him to this pain.....So, the bottom line is-----People may THINK God is erroneously teaching something but God ALLOWS the "error" that they are promoting to continue until His due time.
