They are more Jewish than Gentile in every sense. They are more Christianized Jew than any other Christian religion, imo. If Jesus were to look for a religious home close to the first century religious home he lived in I believe the Witnesses would both negatively and positively fit the bill.
The Society's Jewish Matrix
by Greenpalmtreestillmine 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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aniron
In what way?
Maybe by the Pharisical way they behave.......which Jesus condemned by the way.
Or by the fact they seem to more inclined to look to Hebrew scripture for support....rather than the love preached and worship of Christ in the NT.
I don't think Jesus would touch them with a ten-foot pole.
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Greenpalmtreestillmine
Aniron,
I don't think Jesus would touch them with a ten-foot pole.
Why not? Are they really that much worse than other Christian religions? Have they really killed more? Are they more hypocritical? Do they idolize their religious organization more any other Christian religion does?
More importantly, was the first century Jewish arrangement more righteous?
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Honesty
If he wasn't too confused andf drunk by their 'tacking into the wind' and 'new light' policies.
I can't find anywhere in my Bible where it says that God lies.
The WT literature is full of doctrinal changes they call new light but is really a flashing light ON and OFF
When I asked the elders what would happen to me if I joined a political organisation what would be the result. They said nothing because I had DA'd myself from God and Jesus. When I asked them if the same applied about the WT and its 10 year involvement as a NGO and that even a good BO friend of mine in Australia had appeared before the Au. parliament as an NGO official representing the WT did that mean the WT had DA'd itself they said wait on Jehovah and we'll get some new light on the subject.
I believe that Jesus is going to touch them in an upfront and personal way.
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Justin
Well now they've been upstaged by the Messianic movement, haven't they? I think Jesus would prefer something that was actually Torah observant, not the JWs. With their emphasis on the older scriptures, yet avoidance of Torah, the JWs in some respects are probably more like the early Gentile believers who did not keep the Law, but yet were more influenced by their Judaic heritage than the later Church. Some historians consider the early church to have been a "Christian synagogue."
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gaiagirl
Having visited a Reformed Jewish temple on various occassions, I think Jesus would approve of what he would find there. Although they don't view Jesus as anyone special, they appear to have taken to heart many of his teachings, such as: Love of neighbor being more important that strict observance of Mosaic law. Many of the members of the congregation I visited don't bother to keep the kosher dietary laws. My major point of difference with them is that they feel that they have a special covenant or relationship with God which the rest of the world does not have.
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Euphemism
With all due respect, the only form of Judaism that Watchtowerism resembles is the stereotypical, grossly biased presentation of Judaism in the New Testament.
Judaism is a religious tradition that has highly valued intellectual inquiry and open debate. While Orthodox Judaism is indeed very rule-based, its rules were established through public, open debate recorded in writing. Additionally, for the past 2,000 years, there has been no central authority of Judaism. While there are differences between the various branches of Judaism as to what constitutes valid practice, no one will consider another Jew an apostate merely because their congregation responds to a different rabbinate, or is independent.
In the first century, the Pharisees (founders of the rabbinincal school) were one sect of Judaism, whose focus was on the Oral Torah, later codified in the Talmud. The priestly Sadducees focused on ritual; various other factions focused on eschatology and politics. And the vast majority of the people did not belong to any of the factions, and yet they were still Jewish.
You could well call the Society's reasoning Talmudic--similar to the legalism of the Talmud. You could also call it Scholastic--similar to the legalism of the medieval Christian authors. In either case the comparison would be somewhat apt, but would vastly overstate the intellectual rigor and openness of the WTS.