I have been raised all my life in the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. I am not baptised. After recently reading Reasoning from the Scriptures I began to question the organization. In the chapter False Prophets pg 137 section If Someone Says- 'My minister said that Jehovah's Witnesses are the false prophets', paragraph 2 reads,
Or you could say: I'm sure you'll agree that specific evidence should back up such a serious charge.Did your minister mention any specific examples? (If householder refers to some claimed "predictions" that did not come to pass, use material on page 134 (What true prophets foretell comes to pass, but they may not understand just when or how it will be), and from the bottom page 135 to the top of 137 (Have not Jehovahs' Witnesses made errors in their teachings?)
The book does verify that the Jehovah's Wtnesses have made mistakes. The book does not go into detail concerning the predictions that did not come to pass. I decided to research these "predictions" on the internet and found that there were several accounts of false predictions. To this day I still do not understand why the Watchtower did not acknowledge Mather 24:36 (NWT), ("Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.") before making any kind of predictions.
In the chapter Jehovah's Witnesses pg 202, section How old is the religion of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The section failed to provide a numerical date of the origen of the Jehovah's Witnesses for the exception of 1870's which is considered by the book a modern day restoration of the first century Christianity. The book also provide the following scriptures, Hebrews 11:4 - 12:1, Rev. 3:14, John 17:6 as support. In the scriptures the words, witness, witnesses, witnesses of Jehovah/ God are present. Out my nineteen years of life I have never ecountered any historic evidence that support the claim that a religion by the name of Jehovah Witnessess existed before 1870's. The claim overlooks the existance of Judaism (NWT, Ga 1:13). It is clear to me that the Watchtower has magnified the significance of the word witness.
Finally what really disappointed me is the association of the Watchtower and the United Nations. I am warned almost at every meeting that the Jehovah's Witnesses should be careful of who we associate with. It was determined long before the involvement of the Watchtower in the UN, that United Nations was a demonic device. I still do not know why the Watchtower was involved with the UN,but regardless why the Watchtower was invovled it is the association that should be acknowledged. I plan to ask an elder, Why was the Watchtower involved with the United Nations" and have a copy of the UN and Watchtower document from the UN website. I hope I do not get shunned because half of my family are baptised in the organization and I do not want to jeoperdise my relationship with them, especially my mother. Due to this possibilty I am thinking about having a recorder in my blazer during the discussion so I can defend myself if the elders inform the congregation and family that I am making lies in order to destroy Jehovah's organization. The Jehovah' Witnesses have pros and cons. Unfortunately the cons surpass the pros. I am not sure how long I will remain in the organiztion. My beliefs are still influenced by Christianity. I always ask myself what Christian Denomination does Jehovah approve. They are all founded by men who are not biblical figures. I am in a state of confusion, disappointment, and desperation.