Anointed in JW's midst?

by Noumenon 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  dustyb

  i've never known an annointed person (let alone talk to them). i guess i've seen a few "annointed" people speak at conventions, but they were just loopy people that talked about the end and the FDS......
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  Noumenon

  Thanks for your thoughts so far...much appreciated.
  

  I don't doubt for a second that many of those who partake of the emblems amongst JW's are more in the had a 'spiritual experience' bracket.

  But then again I do feel that there truly are genuine ones of the heavenly calling on earth today. The Christian Greek scriptures are clear that true christians back then had a heavenly calling. This theme is woven inextricably throughtout the new testament. So it follows that there would be a goodly number of christians in modern times with a heavenly calling.

  Now personally I am utterly convinced that the main doctrines taught in christendom are phoney, ie, the trinity, immortality of the soul, and eternal damnation in hellfire. They are all without a doubt false pagan derived dogmas to my mind, with no real spiritual foundation whatsoever (and I've looked at all arguments inside out). I also am convinced that only a relatively modest number of persons will in fact receive the heavenly calling, to be co-rulers with Christ over the planet one day (those things are immutable truths for me, so I don't want to engage in a specific discussion on the validity or otherwise of these teachings, if you don't mind).

  Now I have no trouble with accepting that the Watchtower leadership are in serious error on many matters and have led the whole organisation astray on lots of things, all eloquently highlighted on sites such as this. However, what troubles me is this: why would God anoint christians that believe in such profoundly false doctrines as the main dogmas of Christendom?

  Someone might then immediately point out: 'but why would God anoint persons froms amongst JW's when they also are in error on a number of important things, eg, the 1914 creed'. So it is a bit of a conundrum. The question is: Just how much doctrinal error does God permit one of his anointed 'holy ones' to remain in before he adopts them as one of his spiritual 'sons'?

  Could it be that God and Christ do in fact allow most of the anointed ones to remain 'blinded' to many things for now (kind of how e-watchman suggests)?

  The options appear to be:
  

  1. All true christians are 'anointed' and thus have a heavenly calling. This seems the most popular view. But I have trouble reconciling this with the scriptural notion that God's Kingdom is described as a government type rulership over the earth (a separate subject in itself I realise)? It seems hard to believe that such a government to be made up of millions of christians who have gone to heaven (I'm not saying the number is literally144,000 either).
  2. Only the 1st century Christians were of the heavenly calling. The number was filled back then, and there are none on the earth today. This notion would seem to be in conflict with scripture however, notably many prophesies in Revelation.
  3. That God has his anointed ones scattered throughout lots of different 'Christian' religions, or even on their own. But that raises the dilemma I described above re doctrinal truth, eg, would God anoint someone who does not even have a clear concept of who his heavenly Father is in relation to the son, ie, who believed in the Trinity? I can't speak for the mind of God, but I very much doubt this.
  4. That all of the anointed are actually amongst JW's and other JW type religions that have discarded the main babylonish pagan dogmas (eg, Unitarians, the Worldwide Church of God, some Russellite groups, Jehovah's Christian Witnesses, the Lord's Witnesses). This seems quite a reasonable proposition to me.

  I tend to believe that the majority of the anointed are in fact amongst JW's, notwithstanding ones who just sincerely believe they are, having had some kind of spiritual 'experience' at a deeply emotional level, but that there may be some who are also scattered amongst other religions that hold similar beliefs to JW's. The bottom line is I feel there must be some knowable minimum foundation of doctrinal truth (ie, the truth about the human soul, the condition of the dead, and the true nature of the Father in relation to the Son) that God would reveal through his Holy Word the bible in modern times and that he would make known to his anointed servants, and that those who do not hold to this basic foundation of doctrinal truth could not reasonably be of the anointed. HOWEVER, I do not believe that Jehovah's Witnesses as an organised religion are being used by Jehovah or are his 'visible organisation'. The 'organisation' I see as a totally separate entity from Jesus 'faithful and discreet' slave class (which term the Governing Body have basically kidnapped to apply to themselves only). I tend to believe there really are members of the 'faithful and discreet slave' scattered amongst JW's, yes, but I believe they have been misled on many different subjects by the Watchtower leadership, which fits the description of the 'evil slave' in many ways.

  Am I being reasonably logical with my deductions here? Am trying to avoid 'black and white' thinking or wishful thinking as much as possible. Am open to other options and possibilities tho (but not in the context of atheism or bible bashing please.)
• 

  Dawn

  Hey Nou...

  To answer your first question - yes - I have met a few anointed.

  To answer your second question - You first need to realize that God does not exist in any man made religion. His Church exists in people who have accepted his son as their savior. It is a different plane of thought than what most people think of when they say "church". Those people ask Jesus into their heart and become the "body of Christ" - thus...annointed. These people don't all attend one church or are members of one religion - you will find them scattered all over in different areas. Religion is a man made attempt to explain God and set up rules for us to judge who is, and who is not acceptable. For some reason man always thinks he/she has to judge and decide who is accepted no matter how many times Jesus warned against this. But I'm getting off on a rabbit trail here...........so back to your question:

  What if there ARE genuinely anointed Christians in JW's midst?

  If they are GENUINELY anointed, I believe that the holy spirit would eventually lead them out of deception and into the "body of Christ" - that is, into a relationship with God and Jesus and an understanding that they need to do what they can to make this world a better place for everyone.

  So what about religions? Well - most Christians who have accepted Jesus as their savior will want to find others who have the same relationship with Jesus - and will want to worship together. So most Christians will eventually find a church they feel comfortable at and will make friends there - but they will realize too that there is not one right "church" - rather, the "body of Christ" exists on a much larger scale than any one denomination.
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  Dawn

  I also am convinced that only a relatively small number of persons will in fact receive the heavenly calling, to be corulers with Christ over the planet one day (those things are immutable truths for me, so for the sake of this discussion I don't want to engage in a specific discussion on the validity of these teachings or not, if you don't mind).

  I respect your request on this - would you mind conversing with me via personal messages? I'm interested in hearing your support for why you believe this. If you would rather not, I understand. Thanks.
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  LittleToe

  IMHO becoming a Christian is about entering a personal relationship (or "connection") with "God", hence becoming "adopted" into the family.
  It has little, if anything, to do with the finer points of doctrine.

  Given that there are many (of diverse experience) from all manner of denominations that would claim this "connection", I would subscripbe to the notion that there is no single true religion. Most are figments of human preference.

  I would ask you to challenge some of your preconceptions about Revelatory interpretation and whether or not the "kingdom" is in fact a government, as we were taught (that's just for starters).

  Meanwhile, I wish you every blessing on the journey...