Attention all Bethelite Lurkers!

The Searcher

You have your Bethel Watchtower Study on a Monday evening, as I understand it.

Therefore, prepare your hearts and your Bible trained consciences to "test the inspired expressions" being presented as Bible truth in the next study article - especially this one;

w14 11/15 p. 26 par. 12 “Now You Are God’s People”
"Just like the early Christians, the anointed “sons of the Kingdom” were to be witnesses of Jehovah." (Read Isaiah 43:1, 10, 11.)

The early Christians were never once instructed to witness for Jehovah!

Hebrew Sciptures are being misapplied to perpetuate an unscriptural "name", and every single Christian scripture which denounces this "name" is being discarded!
Thankfully, I can and will avoid sitting through this one. (Psalm 26:4)

Matthew 10:18 - ".....for my [Jesus] sake, for a witness to them and the nations.

Mark 13:9 - "......before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them."

Acts 1:8 - "You will be witnesses of me...." [Jesus]

John 1:15 - "John bore witness about him..." [JESUS]

John 5:37 - "the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me."

John 8:18 - "the Father who sent me bears witness about me."

John 15:26,27 - "..will bear witness about me; and YOU in turn, are to bear witness."

Acts 4:17,18 - ...upon the basis of this (Jesus') .... upon the basis of the name of Jesus.

Acts 10:39 - "And we are witnesses of all the things he [Jesus] did..."

Acts 10:43 - "To him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness....."

Acts 13:31 - "who are now his (Jesus') witnesses to the people.

Acts 22:15 - "because you are to be a witness for him [Jesus] to all men......"

Acts 22:20 - "......the blood of Stephen your [Jesus'] witness was being spilled..."

Acts 23:11 - "..... a thorough witness on the things about me in Jerusalem..."

Acts 26:16 -"I [Jesus]..choose you as an attendant and a witness..respecting me"

1 Corinthians 1:6 - "even as the witness about the Christ..........."

1 Tim. 2:6 - "......what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times."

2 Timothy 1:8 - "............of the witness about our Lord.. [Christ]"

1 John 5:9 - "the witness God gives...the fact that he has borne witness concerning his Son."

Revelation 1:9 - "....for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 3:8 - ...."and you kept my word and did not prove false to my name."

Revelation 12:17 - ".......and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 17:6 - "........and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus."

Revelation 19:10 -".....the work of witnessing to Jesus.... bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 20:4 - "............ for the witness they bore to Jesus."

menrov

Absolutely correct.

nowwhat?

Just read it and came to the exact conclusion likening the older ones to the governing body is a major stretch too.

cappytan

I've tried this line of reasoning before.

Heres the stock answer: "But Jesus perfectly reflects his father's qualities, so being Jesus Witnesses is the same as being Jehovah's Witnesses."

John_Mann

Because the father is greater than Jesus. You can't win this logic if a person equates jehoobah with god, the father. The bible itself it's too misty about jokehovah being the trinity father. I think in a strict biblical view That Jesus is an avatar of the god, the son but it's not totally god, the sun. And YHVH was an avatar of god, the father. A demiurge who had a kind of magical physical body.

The Searcher

Cappytan - using such Witnesses' reasoning justifies tossing these two scriptures in the garbage as well -

Isaiah 62:2 - "... be called by a new name, [Christians] which the very mouth of Jehovah (not Rutherford!) will designate.

Acts 11:26 - "the disciples were by divine providence called Christians."

So much for Witnesses basing their teachings "on the Bible" and accepting JFR's spurious designation for their religion!

DATA-DOG

JWs don't know, and they don't want to know. To be "holy" they must obey the WTBTS inc., and it's nebulous FDS/GB. That's all they care about, they love the lie of "paradise Earth" and of never dying.

If only they would read Hebrews 9:6,7...

DD

Crazyguy

I think the rebuttal to all the JW's excuses concerning Jesus being a witness about Jehovah is in Galatians 1:6-8 where the writer says if one proclaims something else other then the Messiah he is cursed.

Half banana

The reason that there is always ambiguity about the nature of Christ in relation to his Father is that the source idea stems from a pagan myth of solar deities. The Jewish concept of God had already grown out of worship of the polytheistic Yahweh as one of the seventy sons of El in the Canaanite pantheon. However with the christ myth of the Greek texts, the early church leaders needed to secure their own role in society by bringing together all the differing pagan beliefs for the sake of acceptability to all comers. (The attempts and reasons and success in doing this are another whole story.)

The root belief, retold from time immemorial as part of the meaning of life that had been passed down through the generations, was all described in the starry night sky. The Bible which in many parts of the world replaced the astrological ordinances was not yet thought of.

How would late Stone Age peoples have viewed the reason for the marked changing of light intensity between midwinter and high summer? What would account for it? It was because the Sun God was born every year on the first day that the rising sun started to move north again from its most southerly position on the horizon three days after the shortest day of the year. How else could it have been explained? There was no Wikipedia back then!

The Sun god was born at midwinter, (Christmas) he died at the spring equinox (Easter) as a sacrificial saviour deity and went his way to his heavenly solar father who was also a Sun God. That is why the sun shines so brightly after the spring equinox.

It was on the basis of this belief that the course of the life of the solar hero was elaborated. It was re-told from time immemorial under different names which formed the saviour plays and beliefs of antiquity. They centred around a “superman” half god half human, born of a virgin in a cave with animals present (reference to the zodiacal virgin, taurus etc) who had twelve disciples (reference the twelve divisions of the zodiac) who healed the sick, performed miracles, walked on water (like the morning sun does) he resurrected the dead (Lazarus=aserus=Osiris) he died and overcame death. This pagan tale was retold in the Greek scriptures, embroidered and re-labelled using a name “Jesus” (for the sake of Jewish punters) and asserted them as if they are holy truths.

And the poor people believed... and the Church grew rich...and we fell for it too...

DesirousOfChange

Rule #1: Never argue doctrine.

Doc

Attention all Bethelite Lurkers!

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