by Gopher 14 Replies latest watchtower bible
Has anyone noticed those countries where they have had a percentage increase, but zero baptized? (Moved members in, perhaps?)
I'd guess that the publisher increase in those places are children and people who are studying the literature with a JW. "What prevents them from being baptized?" Maybe they're getting good information from the Internet, and thinking twice about taking the plunge.
dont believe in statistics you have not falsified yourself........ Winston Churchill
Since WTS changed the base for the monthly reporting - since end of 2002 there are also those in the record who report just 15 minutes per month - they can underline their "increase".
But that is only hot air. When you take the KM from Germany and have a look how many publishers they had a couple of years ago - nearly 170,000 - and compare it with today : increased 162,000 than you knwo where the real increase stems from: from about those 2,000 congregations with in average 5 old publishers who now report again - 15 aminutes a month - and Watchtower world demontrates again keen growth.
in reality they have lost about 10 % of the former higher figure.
Another thing: 2 years ago in Germany they got the target to get a new number of helping pioneers, more than once in '69 where there were 12,000.
Yes they overtook this number by 15,000. But they have forgotten to mention that those in '69 did each some 75 hours a month while in 2002 they each only did 50 hours a month, So that 15,000 together made about 750,000 hours, while 12,000 made some 900,000 hours.
The real increase is the decline of performance, backed by JWs who are Janusheaded: in the congregation they are those with a pioneer-spirit and at home they plan their holidays, their weekends and so on.
That means they are on their way to become church - like they demand it in case of Germany and Austria - in opposition to their meannings of the 60ies that JWs never would become church as they dont want to make compromises and contracts with the state like they did 30 years before wiht von Papen and Hitler (catholic church in the third reich)
they really are a chameleon in their public approach - but I doubt that this is the desire of JHWH
History of the WTBTS is not one of my strong suits, but I am pretty sure this article takes license with their own past. I despise candy-coated history. Dips and discouragements are not mentioned in the article (such as the recent decline in Japan). One of our own threads - Japan?s statistics - surprising results. Here is an alternative view, of WTBTS history with all sources well-referenced (Scholars take note).
History of Bible Translation Yeah, Blondie, why does the WTS concentrate on Literature translation? They couldn't mean that their magazines and pamphlets are superior spiritual food to God's Word, do they? A great graph from Wycliffe:
3 ...true Christian wheat would be overshadowed for many centuries until harvest-time... 4 In 1919, it was time for the pure Christian wheat to be separated from the weeds
This is news to me. I never got the impression from Jesus? story that the weeds would ever overwhelm the wheat. How can darkness ?overshadow? light? An outsider would never guess that the ?pure Christian?, ?True Christians? talked about in these articles refer to Jehovah?s Witnesses only.
Story of the Wheat and Weeds Here is another story Jesus told: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as everyone slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer's servants came and told him, `Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds!'
`An enemy has done it!' the farmer exclaimed.
`Shall we pull out the weeds?' they asked.
He replied, `No, you'll hurt the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds and burn them and to put the wheat in the barn.' "
Matthew 13:24-29 NLT
An interesting article about weed farming .Perhaps, ?weeds? are of no danger to Christians, at all!
Just because I couldn?t believe it when I saw it, online and illegal, crop-trashing tips
Gopher, thanks for posting this.
Alternately, you could reason that Jehovah or Jesus brought about WW2, because the number of JW's grew rapidly during that period.
JWs thought that WW2 was going to culminate in Armageddon.
Wt, 9/15/1941, pg 288
...in the remaining months before Armageddon.
http://watchtower.observer.org/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030801/DOCTRINE3/10818004
kg,
This is a circuit assembly weekend around here--will the faithful get this talk at the assembly? What's the C.A. message this time?
There is always a ½ hour summary of the article, outline provided by the WTS. It is just a regurgitation of the article in the same exact order. Booring!
Panda,
The WTS is "forced" to use other Bible translations which they "amend" with their own publications.
w97
10/15 p. 12 How the Bible Came to Us?Part ThreeFearless Bible translators and publishers of the past risked everything to give us God?s Word?the only source of spiritual light in a morally darkened world.
And none were JWs!
Barbar,
think by PEAK, they mean the maximum that year, not the highest peak ever, si I don't think it was a lie.
Barbar, it may not be an outright lie, but it is deceptive. For many years, Japan was held up as an example of consistent monthly increases. The WTS says it is a "peak" but neglects that there has been a steady decrease since 1998.
Ann,
Good point!
Didn?t the WTS talk about increase in Christendom as being non-existent, consisting of children baptized and people changing churches?
Has anyone noticed those countries where they have had a percentage increase, but zero baptized? (Moved members in, perhaps?)
Maverick,
Just to warn you, the WT study will be on Saturday, before Sunday April 4, because no other meeting can be on the same day as the Memorial.
Oh man! They moved up the study! I was not ready! The pressure!
Steve,
Does that mean you read the review?
And wonderful of Blondie to keep this going through you.
I love it.
Remember, Klaus, they had 1975 "driving" them.
Another thing: 2 years ago in Germany they got the target to get a new number of helping pioneers, more than once in '69 where there were 12,000.
Jgnat,
Yeah, Blondie, why does the WTS concentrate on Literature translation? They couldn't mean that their magazines and pamphlets are superior spiritual food to God's Word, do they?
Let?s hang the WTS by their own words.
w87
3/1 p. 14 ?Upon the Watchtower I Am Standing?The "faithful and discreet slave" class, the "watchman," today uses the Watchtower magazine under the direction of the Governing Body of Jehovah?s Witnesses as its main channel for dispensing spiritual "food at the proper time."
Blondie
I think by PEAK, they mean the maximum that year, not the highest peak ever, si I don't think it was a lie.
I think that it is a great statement to confuse the ranks, and al that you need is one person to believe it to corrupt the rest of the group. Which is exactly what happened during Sundays meeting. One of the Dubs said that with the peak numbers of witnesses in Japan that they will be well over 218,000 next year.
Klaus: those are some very good figures that you have mentioned. It sounds like you have a very good passion for seeing the end of their system of things. Let?s all cheer Blondie for continuing this study.
