I?m currently in the WTS organization though I don?t practice. I still would have to say there are many advantages to knowing what the Bible says. Weither u agree with what is written in this book or how God is portrayed in it will not change what is written. The bible is history and permanent. We also come to understand that there is a God and nature won?t deny this. If everyone was to practice what Jesus Christ believed and imitate the lifestyle he lead there really wouldn?t be any problems and I would admit that many in the organization can?t measure up. In behalf of myself I quit being a witness because it?s hard work and it?s exhausting. Another thing many people forget is that God is God because no one can check his hand. Whatever God says is law he holds all the cards. You can?t argue with some one like that either do as he says or don?t. I didn?t really give a reply to the topic so I'm going to list them. Advantages: Knowledge about God Constant Bible Studies Christ like conscience (What would Jesus do in certain situations) Simple pleasing life style (simple for you pleasing to God if you fallow it) Protection (In the sense that if you live our lives like Jesus then you won?t have to worry about certain things)
Advantages to being a JW
by MGonzales 63 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Doubtfully Yours
The other day there's was a quiz for people that claim to have Biblical knowledge, since many people here in my office profess to be of one faith or another.
Guess who got the most points in the quiz? Yours truly!
I wouldn't have known any of it if not for attending all those meetings and assemblies all my life!
The dept.'s secretary said outloud: "Only a Jehovah's Witness got them all correct!"
DY, of the "proud if only for a moment" class.
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sweet tee
If everyone was to practice what Jesus Christ believed and imitate the lifestyle he lead there really wouldn?t be any problems and I would admit that many in the organization can?t measure up.
Hello JW4 - Following Christ should not be 'exhausting' and measuring up should not be impossible according to scripture.
John 3:16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[ a ] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Matt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
The fact that I too was exhausted, burned out and just sick and tired of not ever measuring up to the requirements put out by the GB totally contradicts Jesus words above. I realized then that it was not God that I was serving and trying to please but the organization - the GB and their enforcers, the congregation elders.
I was not trying to live up to Jesus' commands but the commands of men. Where did Jesus say we had to attend five meetings a week, read books and mags. from cover to cover, have a family study, spend a minimum of 10hrs going door to door, witness to everyone on every occasion or incur bloodguilt - Where does the Bible even say that JESUS himself went from house to house??? Also - whom did Jesus SHUN? In fact, where is the SHUNNING doctrine and judicial committee process in the Gospels? Not to mention the innumerable bits of advice on everything from medical care (NO BLOOD), employment, education, entertainment, grooming, dress ... OMG - the list seems endless.
Let me refer to the Bible to sum up the way I feel about the GB in a nutshell:
Matt. 23
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
25 ?Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 ?Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
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itsallgoodnow
Please bear in mind I'm not trying to offend anyone but am rather just posting my thoughts just as I've read the strong thoughts of many others on this forum daily regarding this type of issue.
I think a lot of people on this board view things through a type of lens still, though different from the WT lens -- a lens that tries to equate modern thinking with passages based on a more ancient world that didn't work the same as the comparatively cushioned one we live in today and also where people were under a different covenant -- one that was not as good. Basically what I'm saying is that I feel one's sense of justice may have been mightily different if that person were actually alive in the time period these events transpired vs. looking at the event from our current 21st century perspective.
This isn't to say I believe all pre-21st century thinking was "right" just because people may have felt things were "right" during those periods, such as when dealing with racism, for example. At the same time, I feel people might possibly not be keeping in mind even basic realities such as how survival worked in more ancient times and tend to view things through seemingly overly-modern psychoanalytical thinking, striving to judge things correctly by taking them highly out of context -- at least IMO.
From my understanding, for example, one's firstborn child was the most major blessing possible to the father. Likely the death of his firstborn with Uriah's wife was one of the most damaging punishments David could have suffered for the terrible sin he committed against Uriah, Israel, and God. And according to the law, a "life for a life" scenario seems to be involved even though it wasn't David's own life directly. I believe the covenant we are under now is a far better one and that we have forgiveness of sins much more easily than how forgiveness came about under the law. People had to sacrifice quite a bit for forgiveness under the law vs. accepting the better sacrifice of Jesus in their own place under the new covenant, whereas unlike the new covenant, the letter of the law is death, just as is spoken of in the NT. I do feel there are universal "rights" and "wrongs", and I also feel people's perceptions of what is right and wrong is highly based on how they are taught to view right and wrong (even if via recent peers) and therefore may not be totally accurate indicators of what actually is right and wrong if there is such a thing as universal "right" and "wrong."
I'm not trying to start a debate (and don't even have the time to). I just wanted to state a difference of opinon but agree with the majority of posters' views regarding using the Bible and other means to undermine the WT as being the sole channel of God to people.
I don't know. That's like saying it's perfectly acceptable for a parent to be abusive to his kids from a first marriage and be a saint to his kids from a second marriage, because culture began to frown on parental abuse and laws changed to make it illegal. No. It doesn't jive. But if you put it into the context of it being dreamed up and written down by humans instead of being "inspired" by "God", then, yes that makes sense in the way you are looking at it.
This is an interesting thread.
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itsallgoodnow
The fact that I too was exhausted, burned out and just sick and tired of not ever measuring up to the requirements put out by the GB totally contradicts Jesus words above. I realized then that it was not God that I was serving and trying to please but the organization - the GB and their enforcers, the congregation elders.
Yeah!
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LongHairGal
The advantages to being a JW are that I quit smoking (I might be dead by now) and I missed out on a whole generation of STD's for which I am very grateful. (There is a terrible price to be paid for screwing around now!!!)
While it is true that any fundamentalist religion also teaches these things, the JWs made it mandatory that you not be engaging in these things.
LHG( -
xjw_b12
upsidedown said:
There are however advantages to having been a JW.
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NeonMadman
Well, the point of my thread wasn't to defend JWs but how many people do you know believe what they believe because they read the Bible and formulate their own beliefs? Come on, people! We believe what our religion teaches us to believe and to many (if not most) it's usually just basic stuff anyway! People are usually born into a religion and stick with those beliefs, if they even KNOW what all their church teaches. Of course some do and some even disagree with their Church (not being JWs they have that freedom).
Your last sentence makes the point.
You are absolutely right that the majority of people simply accept what their particular religion teaches without exploring it much. That's why JWs seem to be so well educated in the Bible. They learn a bagful of proof texts and some other rudimentary information, which is a whole ton of knowledge compared to what non-JWs know, on the average. But the JWs are doing exactly what all the others are - accepting what their religion teaches without exploring it much. Oh, they will tell you they have explored it thoroughly, but the way in which they have "explored" it is nearly always by reading Watchtower publications. Many JWs will claim to have made a study of many religions and chosen JWs as the best. Translation: they read Mankind's Search for God and reinforced what they already believed - that the WTS is God's organization.
The most tragic difference between the JWs and other religions in this area, however, is that JWs are required by their religion to merely accept what they are taught by the organization, whereas Bible study and exploration is actually encouraged by most other Bible-believing groups. A JW who studies the Bible without the help of WT publications is almost always headed for trouble.
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M.J.
There are advantages to being in a cult/12-step program/boot camp/whatever of any sort. You can learn and be trained in any intense group experience. But at what cost? To live in a manipulated fantasy world? No thanks!
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Deputy Dog
Neon
But the JWs are doing exactly what all the others are - accepting what their religion teaches without exploring it much.
The Mormons do much the same thing. These groups also encourage the feeling of superiority, because they seem to have explanations that others don't, when in context they create more problems than they solve. I think this is one of the problems with Christian education in the Church. Most people are not ready to share their faith and just want to leave it for the Pros (Church leaders).
D Dog