Hey Gary,
Maybe the old term "people of good will" as a description for the former "other sheep" group will be returning soon.
Actually, the WTS had "new light" that the phrase "people of good will" was not scripturally correct. I remember when my aunts spent a evening ripping that change apart. But they are still "good" JWs.
*** w95 5/15 p. 25 Flashes of Light?Great and Small (Part 2) ***
Then there was the matter of getting a clearer understanding of Luke 2:14. According to the King James Version, it reads: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." It was seen that this did not express the correct thought, for God?s goodwill is not expressed toward the wicked. The Witnesses therefore viewed this as a matter of peace to men who were of goodwill toward God. So they kept referring to those interested in the Bible as persons of goodwill. But then it was understood that what was involved was goodwill, not on the part of men, but on the part of God. Thus, the New World Translation footnote on Luke 2:14 speaks of "men whom he [God] approves." All Christians who are living up to their vow of dedication have God?s goodwill.
This was understood but not put into print until 1995.
You?d be surprised how many JWs sit in the audience and know they are being referred to as second-class.
Hello Czar,
Ain?t this the reality:
Completely ignoring the fact that the "leaven" that Jesus warned his followers to avoid was the "leaven of the Pharisees" or regulations, laws, and making the Word invalid with their traditions.
Every week the WTS has some new rule to cover something that has come up that they can?t control. Jesus said he taught a new law, the law of love. When people do things out of love, they don?t need thousands of rules.
Hi Kwin,
Interesting point. You would think that the anointed would have an adjustment period as well, y'know stripping off the old personallity and such. Maybe they're just quicker at it since they are after all anointed.always wondered how the ?anointed? instantly became perfect when the died and resurrected and it took 1,000 years to make the same personality adjustments in the rest on earth.
Actually, I tried this out on every elder I ever met. No one even had a good answer, even the 2 GB members I asked. It?s like they expect us to believe that God suddenly tweaks them, gives them a spirit body, and immortality while the rest of humans need 1,000 years.
Welcome wizedup.
Telling you what to think, how to act, what to wear, how to give YOUR own answers using their words, what to believe, and even how to FEEL. I know there's much more in that list. It's appalling and just tooo sad for those inside who still believe in them.
Don?t I know, 50 years to stupidity for me before I left. But I did leave and so will some of those. Some already feel dissonance, perhaps thinking of it as "brainwashing." It?s like straddling a picket fence that gets higher and higher; pretty soon you have to pick one side or the other because of the pain.
Thanks Willy, I think,
It scares me to think that I understand the convoluted thinking of the WTS, but then I understand or see through that kind of thinking wherever I go.
But who really forgives sins in the WT organization? Can you go just to God for forgiveness?
The Society lambastes Catholics for requiring members to go to a priest to seek forgiveness, while making the same requirement for JWs.
And this point:
Q: Who decides whether a person is really repentant in the WT organization? God?
A: The elders? responsibility in determining true repentance is a weighty one --'81 WTThe lesson is clear: Jehovah God has been replaced by the organization and its appointees.
As to confessing to the elders, the WTS has this version of convoluted thinking:
They like to point to David and the fact that he confessed to Nathan. But then God revealed David?s sin to Nathan the prophet. Such supernatural revelations are not given to elders today despite some elders opinion.
Hi Will,
We visit Canada a lot and love adding an "eh" to our sentences.
The company that can get the consumer to persuade themselves is the ultimate manipulator - ready to rake in the dough OR more directly YOUR LOYALTY, YOUR VOTE.
Good point, many JWs believe things but cannot explain them from the Bible. Yet they persuade themselves it must be there or they wouldn?t believe it?.the WTS can?t be lying can they? The WTS is very selective in the outside material they bring in, slanting it to their pre-set conclusion.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/etc/script.htmlGood point, heathen,
That whole unbaptized publisher crap is all based on opinion and has nothing to do with the bible in fact the bible says you are not approved to preach the message until baptized
I have heard the WTS argue that Cornelius received the holy spirit and spoke in tongues before he was baptized, but then that works against their theory that only baptized, dedicated JWs will survive the big A.
Hi bebu,
But... if only the annointed have Jesus as a mediator, then how is it that the "sheep" can also get forgiveness on the basis of that sacrifice
That is the twisted theology of the WTS. The WTS puts a legalistic slantt on it and says it only applies directly to the anointed but indirectly to the non-anointed as long as they stay in close association with the anointed?.get the picture?get the manipulation?
Hey Flash,
1. By the way...Did we mention your all second class???
That about sums it up, doesn?t it?
Thanks all for your wonderful comments; I always learn even more reading them.
Blondie