Jan H,
I'd like to see that letter if it's still available and you don't mind.
Misquotes
by troubled 16 Replies latest jw friends
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You Know
TO TROUBLED:
I mean, how can I continue going out and inviting others to come into the organization when I see some very serious
stumbling blocks inside it?You can continue as a minister on the basis of faith only. Certainly Jesus is aware of the problems in his congregation and yet he continues to draw others to it. Faith allows you to see the end result and not just the immediate difficulties. Why, just consider the situation in the 1st century when Jesus sent out his 70 disciples with the message that the kingdom had drawn near. No doubt his disciples, and the Jews in general, imagined that the kingdom was going to be the earthly restoration of David's throne. That's the way they understood the prophecies. In other words they were clueless, as we would say today, about the real nature of the kingdom of God. And, yet, Jesus was confident in sending them out with his message. That is why they simply couldn't grasp the fact the Jesus was going to die, even though he repeatedly told them so. Peter even rebuked Jesus as if Christ didn't know what he was talking about. That's why, too, for the Jews the talk of the torture stake was a stumbling block, as Paul called it, becuase their limited understanding didn't allow for their Messiah to be ingloriously killed by the Jews. So, it pleased Jehovah to use these stumbling blocks as a means of testing the faith of Christians. Of course, after Jesus was resurrected he used to holy spirit to pry open the minds of his disciples to grasp the true meaning of the Scriptures, and the many relevant prophecies show that after the faithless ones and apostates are at last purged from our midsts, that a similiar outpouring will occur.
I mean, how can I continue going out and inviting others to come into the organization when I see some very serious stumbling blocks inside it?
Faith ain't a bad word is it? Why is it that we read the words: 'Happy are all those who stay in expectation of Jehovah's judgments' and yet we feel that WE have to take matters into our own hands and set things straight? Recall that when Jesus said that in order to get life a person had to drink his blood and eat his flesh, that many of his disciples were stumbled and left off following him. And remember what Jesus asked Peter? So, where are you going to go away to? The letter of Jude, which is all about dealing with apostasy, advises in the introduction, to "put up a hard fight for the faith." Are you one to so quickly set aside all the wonderful things that Jehovah's organization has taught you, and the faith that you have worked so hard to build, simply because of the few stumblings blocks you have had pointed out to you? That's really the question you are going to have to answer before God.
I mean, using the logic, "All human organizations are imperfect, there's bad things going on in every religion, but the Witnesses have less bad than the others" isn't going to fly, is it?
That is faulty reasoning. Here's why: When Jesus was on the earth Israel was God's organization. Yet, as we know, the nation for the most part was not really following God's law. Jesus in fact condemed the Jews for following the traditions of men and for invalidating God's word. Yet, he told his apostles to do as the Pharisees say, but not as they did. So, God sent his Son into a nation that was steeped in problems and that had a long history of apostasy, but Jesus was loyal to the people who loved God and he subjected himself to the Jewish system of things in order to lead his sheep out to something better. That's really where we are today. The Watchtower organization is merely an expedient instrument that will eventually, soon, be discarded. Jehovah is yet to finally rock the heavens and the earth. Those who have developed the genuine Christian faith will have what it takes to make the transition into the spiritual organization that God has prepared. Only the spiritual nation will survive the end of the world.
Also, I'm not sure how Jehovah wants us to handle these mistakes going on in the organization.
You don't? Well, what CAN you do? Is it really your place to correct Christ's faithful slave? Remember what happend to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? Why do you suppose those examples are in the Bible? It is not that Moses was innocent either, because in the end Jehovah rebuked the meekest man on earth and forbid him from entering the Promised Land. What do you suppose that prefigures? Did you know that Jesus foretold that he is going to whack his faithful slaves with a "few strokes" because of the ignorance and failure to completely do their Master's will? So, Jesus acknowledges that he is going to punish his "faithful slave," why should we join in with the evil slave in beating him too? Wouldn't the wise and faithful course for us be to let Jesus take care of those whom he placed over God's household and just "deal with faithfulness" in our own case, as the Psalms advise? Of course if there is wrongdoing in your congregation then, yes, there are plenty of Bible examples that show the course of loyalty, but that is another matter.
So it's not so black and white, trying to determine how to handle it.
Perhaps not. But certainly Jehovah will give us the wisdom to know the right course if we simply ask him. / You Know
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AlanF
To troubled:
Plenty of people have written to the Society about their misquotes. There have been no substantive replies that I'm aware of. I wrote four letters in 1992, each letter considering one major mistake in detail. I received no replies. Around 1994 I helped an online friend write to one of the European branch offices about a particularly stupid misquote. The guy was not a JW but was "studying". His JW teachers understood that there was a misquote but couldn't figure out how to excuse it and so they told him to write to the branch office. After several letters were exchanged, it became evident that the branch office tried without success to get someone in Brooklyn to answer for the misquote, but without success. The last letter to my friend was a typical face-saving excuse: 'We sort of see your point but we don't agree that there's a misquote, and besides, evolution isn't true so it doesn't matter if there are minor errors in the book'. We had a good laugh over that one.
Seeker mentioned my little meeting four years ago with Harry Peloyan, compiler of the Creation book and editor-in-chief of Awake! As soon as I mentioned that his book contained some errors that I wanted to discuss, he became hostile. During our 45-minute conversation, he alternated between hostility and curiosity, and revealed some surprising bits of information. Only once did he barely concede that there might be a tiny number of insignificant errors in his book. His overall demeanor was one of lordly arrogance, as if to say, "How dare you, a lowly paean, question me, a lord of the WTB&TS?"
As for You Know, his response is stereotypically laughable. It follows standard JW notions: "We're special cuz we say so." Can they show that they're special? No. Can they give any evidence that they speak for God? No. Can they show you that they ever actually spoke for God? No. Can they show you in WTS publications where the writer clearly shows that JW leaders speak for God and comprise a "faithful slave"? No. Can they show you where they actually prove that Matthew 24:45 must be interpreted as they claim? No.
In short, JWs cannot prove, or even offer much evidence for, their claims about JW leaders. Thus their 'defenses', like YK's here, consist of emotional appeals to the always claimed but never proved notion that JW leaders ought to be respected like Moses -- even though the Bible claims that Moses had miracles to back up his claims. The idea appears to be that if someone is credible enough to swallow that nonsense in the first place -- which is exactly what you and I and most other posters on this board once were -- they will remain blindly credible and will continue to be susceptible to the same old garbage.
JWs are great at coming up with excuses why people should shut up and ignore their massive errors and leave them alone. Of course, they're hypocritical because they don't do this with anyone else. A taste of their own medicine is good for them and exposes their double standards.
AlanF
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troubled
I'll have to give long, serious thought to all of this. Thanks, everyone.
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Dogpatch
What a pile of crap YK. You are so paranoid of people letting go of your Twit-God-Jehovah you have to discourage them from questioning!
I would love to dress you up and take you in a parade some day.
Cultinstein!
Keep them in darkness and feed them bullshit, that is the only game controlling men with corporate ego problems can play. They are all around you, in work, business ,etc. The Borg is no different, and you are its toy. -
julien
Congratulations YK, you have successfully proved that the Catholic church is God's chosen organization..
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eby
Jan,
Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward--author unknown.
(Smile)
eby