Do JWs have any deep doctrine..

by Qcmbr 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Narkissos

  As a non-English I have a lexical question:

  Is it common English usage to equate "deep" with "complex" or "farfetched"? Or is it just cultic speech?

  As far as I can remember I always found it strange what JWs used to call "deep" ("profond," in French): chronological issues, typologies, etc. The deepest to me is superficially very simple (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of John): those kinds of words you understand immediately, yet you hear them differently each time you come back to them. Is it just me?
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  LittleToe

  Didier:I think he means "private doctrine".

  Some would view the WTS eschatology to be deep (albeit flawed), but since it's discussed (?) in public meetings, I don't think it falls into the category of what he's asking about.

  Q:IP_SECs original response would be what you're looking for. The WTS doesn't really encourage speculation, though - it speaks out of both sides of it's mouth, on the subject, prefering to be the final authority on all thoughts.

  Are you telling us that there are doctrines that you don't openly discuss with potential converts?
  The JWs bide their time on certain things, but they are unlikely to withold anything.
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  Narkissos

  I think he means "private doctrine".

  I understand, but I was (and still am) wondering whether this use of the adjective "deep" sounds normal or cultic to English speakers.
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  Crumpet

  narkissos - I didn't understand the question at first and read it to mean complex, but the explaination of what latterdaysaints interpret as deep doctrine helped me to understand.

  My answer to the question I thought was being asked - would be no IMO very little JW doctrine turns out to be anything other than shallow and that would not stand up to any depth of scrutiny.
• 

  Honesty

  Very deep... as in:

  The individual JW may be in some deep doo doo one day if they don't repent and start serving Christ instead of a bunch of old apostates who live in ivory towers.
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  LittleToe

  Didier:
  I might perhaps use the word "deep" synonymously with "profound".
  Unless the LDS use it as part of their own jargon, I suspect it's use has been misplaced, in this thread.
  With so many words to choose from, it's no wonder we occasionally screw up
• 

  Narkissos

  Thx Crumpet & Ross,

  "Profound" is better known as a faux ami by English-French translators. It is not necessarily profond = "deep" as opposed to "shallow".

  Complex, farfetched and shallow is a good assessment of JW doctrine to me.

  I know very little about LSD LDS, but from my limited contacts with some of their missionaries I have noticed (1) a similar "technical" bend in their doctrine but (2) a little more emphasis on "spiritual experience".

  I remember once a good joke played to me by a man I had called on door-to-door preaching. He gave me an appointment one night, and at the appointed time I came with another Bethel fellow. He was not at home, but had given the same appointment to three LDS female missionaries... so we spent two hours or so discussing (half-French half-English) with the girls on his doorstep, to the amazement of the neighbours. What struck me is that they insisted of the necessity of praying for a "sign" or "testimony" to know which was the "true religion," which was quite different from the JW way ("study"). One of them told the experience of her grandfather who had a sort of personal illumination before embracing the Mormon faith.