Comments You Will Not Hear at the 02-06-05 WT Study (Abbreviated)

by blondie 25 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  jgnat

  More notes:

  Para 4:

  People are prideful because of their.....secular achievements ...(Is there such a thing as secular achievements? I thought that Paul taught that all work is honourable, when dedicated to God)

  Proverbs 22:29 (BBE) Have you seen a man who is expert in his business? he will take his place before kings; his place will not be among low persons.

  Yet, none of those things are important to Jehovah. (1 Corinthians 4:7)

  The proof scripture: that Jehovah does not care about human achievement, is out of context:

  1Co 4:7 (Darby) For who makes thee to differ? and what hast thou which thou hast not received? but if also thou hast received, why boastest thou as not receiving?

  Why did Paul not want us to distinguish one man over another?

  1Co 4:5 (Darby) So that do not judge anything before the time,

  ...the weightier our responsibilities, the more humble we need to be.. Where is the scriptural proof? Here?s a scripture I rarely see quoted in watchtower materials:

  1Co 12:21-25 The eye cannot say to the hand, I have not need of thee; or again, the head to the feet, I have not need of you. But much rather, the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those parts of the body which we esteem to be the more void of honour, these we clothe with more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; but our comely parts have not need. But God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to the part that lacked; that there might be no division in the body, but that the members might have the same concern one for another.

  Para 6: Here the WTS prepares the congregation for unpleasant times ahead. I wonder who started the fight this time?

  ...we need humility as wall as courageous faith when enduring bad publicity, legal attacks, or violent persecution .

  So even the Little Toe, if lost to the congregation, leaves a gap that cannot easily be filled.

  Enough. I?ve had enough. There?s plenty more to comment on, but I will leave that to others. Apparently those who sin hate light and hate Jesus. And the congregation is to hate that badness. Hate, hate, hate. I wonder if the WTS can even see that this comment applies just as well to them:

  Para 10: But he that does what is true comes to the light. Now tell me, does the WTS have open books? Does it allow for the free exchange of information? Why are they afraid to let their own sin be exposed to the light? Oh. I forgot. They are only imperfect human beings.

  That must be obeyed unquestioningly:

  Para 11: ..

  we need to meditate deeply on what we learn and closely heed the counsel of the ?faithful and discreet slave. Why? ... Satan is deceptive. He can disguise wring and make it appear acceptable to an unwary Christian.
• 

  heathen

  Jeus also said that the greatest should be the least and the least the greatest . Since when did the WTBTS take that position ? They always come off as saying, do as we tell ya because we are your master appointed by God . Mark 10:42-45. Even when they attempt to sound humble they even sound more arrogant . Instead of saying , we have made mistakes and people have suffered for it , they turn around and blame it on R&F like you were not humble enough so now we are suffering blah blah blah ........... They really do have this subtle way when shifting blame that the people reading this stuff will conclude it was them, when in fact it is the WTBTS . This is typical in any corporation , it's always the low paid help and never the high paid executives .
• 

  BluesBrother

  My take on this week's article , which is hardly a classic.

  Starts with some basic discussion about the need to pattern ourselves on the life of Jesus, which is what one would expect of a "Christian Congregation" , but a couple of points took my attention.

  P17 "Why would the world hate Christians? Because like Jesus they are no part of the world"

  OK so why do the dubs have a persecution complex? Is it a clever ploy on the part of the leadership to bind them together in a state of being defensive to the outside world? I am sure there are psychological precedents for that.

  The Amish are no part of the world, are they hated?

  Do not the WTBTS build uo this persecution thing for their own ends? After all did not the Supreme Court uphold their right to call door to door in a certain U S town a couple of years ago? Are they not granted favourable tax stax status on the basis of their "Christian work"? Do not American witness kids generally get exemption from patriotic ceremonies , on account of their conscience?

  At worst J W's are seen as an irritation, in the western world, not persecuted - in fact their right to be different is upheld by the courts

  P21 "We ask, what would Jesus do in this situation? what would he want me to do?"

  Is not this the most manipulative of questions? the answer will be whatever you want it to be. My view of Jesus' opinion on non black/white issues will be different to yours. As a dub it used to annoy me too. It was usually voiced by the stricter fuddyduddy people who wanted to stop anything they personally disapproved of . My view of Jesus echoed an instructer at the "Kingdom Ministry School for Elders" some years back. "Jesus would have been one of the boys" he said. I always saw Jesus as a friendly guy who would not insist on pushing his preferences on anybody
• 

  Shakita

  In the next paragraph we are admonished that "Jehovah will help us to develop a sensible, balanced view of ourselves, and he will bless us for our humble attitude." Aw. That's nice of Jehovah to help us understand that we are good-for-nothing. I believe it is an absolute outrage that this self-aggrandizing Channel? (Patent Pending, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.) presumes to tell me how my Heavenly Father views me, and an even greater travesty that they state that He views me as good-for-nothing, or that He will help me come to that conclusion. Here is a comment you will not hear, but that everyone will leave thinking: "Jehovah views each and every one of us as good-for-nothing, and if we have trouble believing that He will help us come to that understanding."

  Hey Old Soul, I appreciated your astute observations. I have heard the expression: You are good-for-nothing slaves so many times that I have lost count how many times I have heard that expression. When the GB wants us to imitate Christ's example what they really mean is: Follow our example you good-for-nothing drones. Don't you dare even entertain the possibility that you have your own brain which you can use to figure things out. Oh, and by the way, if you use your own brain to figure things out, you aren't imitating the humble example of Christ. Translation: You aren't cowtowing to us hoity toity Governing Body peeps like a good little suck-up sycophant should.

  How can any person be drawn to God if they believe that God views them as good-for-nothing. I'm sure that would go over well with our children. What if we told our children you are a good-for-nothing son or a good-for-nothing daughter? I'm sure that their love for us would just overflow. However, it is in the GB's best interest so as to hold power over their adherents to prevent them from using their own reasoning abilities by claiming that such a thing is not in imitation of Christ's example. Is it any wonder that so many Witnesses are filled with needless guilt, remorse and shame? They are beat up so often and for such a long period of time, they are like the poor battered wife that keeps coming back to their abusive husbands because he knows whats best for her. Why, you good-for-nothing wife, you actually deserve this abusive treatment. Keep coming back to me and I'll help you to be humble and submissive. That is the same kind of relationship that the GB has with their bleating JW sheep.

  Mr. Shakita
• 

  cyber-sista

  Christians (only JWs) wear Jesus, as it were, like a garment.

  strange and untrue sentence. I have actually talked to people of other religions (non-Christian) that seem to have more of a spiritual Christ-like air about them than most of the JWs I have ever met...but maybe that was just the demonzzz making it appear that way....

  thanks blondie, great review!

  cybs
• 

  heathen

  You can see the mentality just by the way they treat their children during the meetings . They beat the hell out of them and it doesn't matter how young they are or whether they understand anything at all , the one thing they better do is sit there during a 2 hour meeting and not make a peep . It's disgusting and I refuse to sit through another meeting watching child abuse .