The True Meaning of "Read the Bible"

by metatron 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  "Read your Bible".

  This phrase has been used by the Watchtower Society for years.
  However, it is being widely used in recent years for particular
  reasons. Circuit Overseers and Governing Body members have been
  repeating it, almost mantra-like, in response to growing trouble
  in the organization. It has, therefore, taken on a special meaning
  that should be exposed for the protection of any innocent lurkers
  who read this board.

  First, "Read the Bible" means:

  "We don't know what to say or do about these problems. We have
  no particular sense of inspiration or divine guidance. We are adrift
  in time amidst bankrupt chronology, failed prophecy, and moral
  decay in local congregations. We are clueless"

  Think I'm kidding? A few years back, a member of the GB was visiting
  South Africa and parts of Europe. He encountered emotionally upset
  Witness parents who cried "What do we do? Our children are leaving
  the 'truth'!" His response was "Read the Bible!". Circuit Overseers
  and others have quoted and re-quoted this foolish and dismissive
  response as if some profound truth was suddenly revealed. Apparently,
  they are utterly blind to the uncaring and blind message it sends.
  DOES IT NEVER OCCUR TO THEM that these sincere parents were looking
  for SPECIFIC counsel? That they were hurting deeply and looking
  for an exact response such as Jesus would give?

  Thus, secondly, "Read the Bible" means "Please go away and leave us alone".

  Finally, "Read the Bible" means "Since we don't have a clue what
  to do, but still WANT TO CONTROL YOU, please use all your valuable
  spare time reading the Bible, to prevent you from thinking too
  deeply about our spiritual impotence. Meeting and magazine sales
  aren't enough to keep your mind from drifting away from our control".

  Yes, I listened to the recent Circuit Overseers' talks and heard
  him repeat his 'special' message: READ THE BIBLE!

  And every time he repeated it, I understood perfectly what he meant

  "We're running blind and lost but we're not going to let you go".

  Enlightenment is a wonderful thing.

  metatron
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  Amazing

  Hi Metatron: I recall a phrase from the mid-1970s, 'having a Bible-Trained Conscience.' Then, when JWs took them serously and started reading and studying the Bible, many left the organization. The outside of one of the Society buildings once said, 'Read God's Word Daily or Read the Bible Daily' or something like that. But, if JWs ever start to take the Society seriously again, they will drop this phrase.

  One long time Elder told me that he has noticed the Society go through these phases of pushing something, then it dies off and they try something else. I find that JWs who came of age in about the 1950s are very much this way, that is, they take the Society with a grain of salt.

  Its kind of funny, but in most churches they do not tell people to read the Bible, because they do it naturally anyway. At the same time, the Society message to read the Bible is odd in light of the fact that they want people to only read it under the guidance of the Watch Tower publications. - Amazing
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  Moxy

  i find that this is also a matter of shifting the blame. i kind of a well-how-do-you-know-it-wont-work-until-you-try-it tactic. after all, very few r&f actually read the bible daily as recomended. during elder meetings, the CO is fond of reminding us that only about half of the servant body generally appear to be doing so. so, if things are not going well in ones life, and youve got this panacea of '15 minutes a day' held out to you and you dont take it, then who have you got to blame?

  mox
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  ozziepost

  G'day Amazing,

  Its kind of funny, but in most churches they do not tell people to read the Bible, because they do it naturally anyway. At the same time, the Society message to read the Bible is odd in light of the fact that they want people to only read it under the guidance of the Watch Tower publications

  How right you are!

  They read their Bibles seriously and read whole passages, something we don't do in our KH meetings. There we simply race from one text to another, never settling for long on a passage to truly let God speak to us through His Word.

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading."
  TERTULLIAN, Adversus Valentinianos
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  metatron

  Exactly! It's used as a dismissive, pass the buck technique.
  It lets them off the hook for the endless parade of failure
  now running thru local congregations especially with regard
  to family breakdown. As an elder. I know FIRST-HAND that this
  is the way Circuit Overseers operate. I was involved with a
  family with a teenager out of control in the congregation. The
  parents were worried sick about the spiritual and legal
  ramifications. How did the C.O. reply after begging for specific
  advice? "Have you considered reading the Bible every day?"

  I should have replied "If the Bible contains all the magic answers
  to this legal/spiritual problem, why are we wasting time with you
  or the Society, dumbass!"

  Oh, the memories!

  metatron
• 

  AlanF

  Nice post, Metatron!

  AlanF
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  outnfree

  I must pipe in to express how STUPIDLY the elders chant this "Read the Bible" mantra.

  When I finally agreed to meet with my elders to discuss my "issues" I explained to them that I had actually taken the Society's constant admonishment to 'Read God's Word the Bible Daily' seriously. I had been reading it faithfully 15 minutes or longer daily for several months, and THAT was how many of my doubts were raised.

  After 2-1/2 hours meeting, what was the upshot? That I should "Read the Bible" to try to prove to myself why I had believed what the Society taught when first I became a Witness!!!

  How obtuse could they be?

  Of course, it was also recommended that I attend meetings, and pray. (Prayer was already covered, thank you very much!) They didn't suggest field service, since I had expressed that I couldn't preach what I no longer believed. Also, there was a particular study article that I should read before we met again. Its advice? If you are having doubts, pray to God and READ THE BIBLE!!!!!

  [8>]
  outnfree