What didn't you know?

by confusedjw 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  confusedjw

  I didn't have a clue to these issues below. I was surprised after 20 years in the wtbts to find out that.....

  587bce and not 607bce <--- Not a clue about this.

  1874 was taught until 1929 as the date Jesus took rule in Heaven <------ actually I did read this once and surpressed it due to my great faith in the org.

  That Jesus is the mediator of all men (and women) <---- Do you know that it really does say that?

  That the Great Crowd of Rev is in the Temple (naos) <--- They are in heaven, scripturally speaking

  That in 1925 predictions were made that resulted in disappointment <--- Never a word about this reached my ears

  That vaccinations were once not allowed <---- Who knew?

  That organ transplants were once allowed, not allowed, allowed <---- New light, new organs.

  I had never heard of these things until I started to look elsewhere
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  Mulan

  I guess I had been there a long, long time. I was aware of all of those things, and lived through some of the changes you mentioned.

  The one about when Babylon was destroyed was new to me, in the early 90's, pointed out to me by my hubby. I was off to the library (no computer, so no internet back then) to prove him wrong. I couldn't find one resource that even touched on 607. That was the beginning of the long process for me.
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  DanTheMan

  There was a ton of stuff that I didn't know about until long after I was dunked and officially in the club.

  One important part of the WT's embarrassing history that I didn't know about was 1975. And of course once I heard from some source outside of JW's that the WT had predicted the worlds' end in 1975, I started asking around, and my questions were met with the kind of responses that you'd expect from dubs.

  "They never said for certain that it was going to happen in 1975. People just took a little something the Society said and ran with it".

  Patently misleading responses, as I later came to find out.
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  CeriseRose

  I asked my study conductor about the 586 BC date that I kept coming across in 'worldly' publications. She said that they were wrong.
  
  I was vulnerable and lonely and the rest made so much sense (*pukes*) that I glossed over it. She said something like how wouldn't Jehovah know better than worldly writers who had a hidden agenda in their writings? (!!!) And didn't I believe it was Jehovah's organization and if that was the case, wouldn't he make sure that we had all the right info? (Boy, I guess that's true...if it were right, it would be right...unfortunately they're not right.)
  
  *sigh*
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  dh

  being born in i didn't know anything to begin with.

  after 18 years in, i knew they were lying hypocrites and that i did not want to be part of it, i saw policy shifts from when i was a kid to when i was a teenager, but i didn't know the full extent of the lies until 8 years later when i joined here, and frankly for those last 8 years i didn't care, but now i do, funny how knowing 'the truth' changes your perspective on things.

  i still don't know the details on a lot of stuff, i don't let myself go too deep because if i did i would become obsessed, as that is my nature.
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  Paradise Found

  I didnt know what the Word "ORGANISATION "represented !!

  Now I DO!! ( The opposite of Me)

  Now I live without things bening "Black White , Right or Wrong or Something in Between"

  Now I belive every person can choose there destiny and live for love and truth and peace of mind.

  Even If the world Is uncertain.. The tables are always turning and the grass can always be greener.

  So what Is love? ...Love Is a wonderful Colour !!

  But the trick is the blood flows alone an independent spirit (with a cold glass of beer to strenghten the soul)

  The truth Is my T:V broke so I was listning to the football on the radio . At the sametime reading the previouse posts of people on this board....Iam not articulate with words..And my world Is my wife and baby on the way!!...But to the the people on this board (Blondie Simon ect..THANKYOU) so much knowledge and help.
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  TallTexan

  Interesting question. I was a JW for 35 years (from birth), so I really didn't know any different. I believed all the stuff in the publications and thought "well, I could look it up, but why would they lie? Isn't this stuff verifiable?" It wasn't until I started looking online that I realized how the WTS commits academic fraud over and over again by citing sources that are taken out of context or by saying stuff like "leading Biblical scholars" and not telling who they are. What really opened my eyes to how the WT spins everything was Ray Franz' book "Crisis of Conscience". It's amazing how the current publications take things from the past so far out of context that they are hardly recognizable. Here were some things I didn't know up until the last few months (after 35 years, with 25 begin VERY active in the 'truth').

  That the WTS claims that Christ is only the mediator for the 144,000, not ALL men as the Bible clearly states.

  The whole "Malawi vs. Mexico" incident that Franz discusses

  That the 'society' taught for years that Christ had returned in 1874, that the end was coming FOR SURE in 1914 and then again in 1925. The recent (and I mean since the early 80's) publications have all made it seem like Russell knew that the significance of 1914 in advance and was the ONLY one to know that. Truth is, according to Franz, he took the idea from 2nd Day Adventists that had formulated the idea centuries earlier (thinking that 1799 had some significance).

  How disfellowshipping matters were decided. What a CROCK! It's either Biblical or it's not, yet the WTS lets DF'ing matters be decided by the whim of whomever is on the GB at the time.

  That the GB didn't always exist in some form or another. The current WTS would have you believe that the GB has always been functioning as the 'faithful and discreet slave class, when in reality, it was an individual - first Russell, then Rutherford, then Knorr.

  That the concept of the Trinity WAS IN FACT a part of the early apostles' teachings and NOT invented in 325 at the council of Nicea as the JW's always lead one to believe.

  I guess I could go on, but it's humbling and staggering how much I didn't know about my own religion, the one that I had defended so vigorously over the years. Boy do I feel stupid....lol.
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  laurelin

  I was born into the "truth" as well and although a lot of things I didn't know, there were a few things I did know.

  My father was never one to hide or lie and he told me all about 1975. (It didn't affect his faith in the truth at all) But I can remember the "discussions" around the tea table about 1975. My mum was a firm believer that it was a "testing time" and my dad a firm believer in it being a mistake by the society.

  I remember once my mum trying to deny that the society ever stated 1975 and my dad blew her arguement right out of the water using several of the books at the time (their names escape me). But she couldn't deny it after that and instead shifted to the "Testing time" theory.

  One of the major things I didn't know and I'm still unclear on is that it would appear that Rutherford orginally got his 1914 date from measuring the angles and whatnot of the Great Pyramid of Gezza. (sp?)

  I don't see any mention of this and many other things in the Proclaimers book which can make me feel a little resentful.