Help me set up my JW wife: What should I look for in a church?

by Check_Your_Premises 44 Replies latest jw experiences

  • outnfree
    outnfree

    jgnat has a point, CYP, that the disbelief in the Trinity will be a huge factor in making your wife feel uncomfortable in most Christian churches.

    I found a local church which was fairly comfortable for me while making my exit (yes, I attended while I was still also attending the KH) because I spoke to the pastor about my background. I had a personal problem with the Trinity doctrine, which dated to my Lutheran confirmation class, pre-dub days. He pretty much astounded me by making the following observations: That at least HALF of his congregation didn't believe all of what he preached on any given Sunday. That one ELDER in the church was also a Trinity-doctrine disbeliever. And that I was WELCOME as long as I didn't try to proselytize. Would your wife feel comfortable in such a place?

    I attended Adult Sunday School classes for a while and they conformed pretty much to the Bible as taught by the JWs. Just not all the extra, made-up "new light" garbage. I also attended an evening Women's Bible Study conducted by -- gasp! -- a WOMAN!!!!! (A mature woman. ) I very much enjoyed being taught with a feminine perspective in a less formal setting.

    The church was listed under "Non-Denominational" in the Yellow Pages. I wound up leaving, because for me, Christianity's God was still too narrowly interpreted. I believe that's true in any Church. But I did have an epiphany in that church one Sunday -- I understood, deep within, that it was OK to pray to Jesus and that it didn't matter one way or other what one's concept of God was.

    There's a quote I found which I very much like:

    What sort of God would that be who has only one way in which He can be served!- Yaakov Yitzhak, quoted by Buber, "Way of Man"

    Sums up my current viewpoint pretty well.

    I wish you success with your wife's eventual deprogramming.

    outnfree

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere

    Its fine...I have shown my cans on here before!

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises

    Why,

    Tell you what, here is how you can get back at me. When all the guys start asking why you changed it be sure to tell them I was whining about it. I should get a bunch of cranky pm's.

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere

    I don't care I liked the pic.

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises
    I wish you success with your wife's eventual deprogramming.

    I like your attitude. Thanks.

    Well I know she won't be happy with all the teachings. She does talk about the trinity in particular. "It is just so obvious!" Hell, immortal spirit, all that other stuff is big medicine I know.

    I am not going to try to win any arguments there. My only hope is to show it isn't quite as simple as the jws say, there are strong arguments to be made for those teachings. Also I want things that will show a strong contrast to the truly immoral, indecent, and unscriptural teachings of the jw.

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises
    What about the Quakers?

    What about them?

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises
    I don't care I liked the pic.

    Have any guys complained yet? Did you blame it on me?

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere

    I just took it off all together.

  • JamesThomas
    JamesThomas
    So help me out with some ideas. Help me think of "what I should be looking for in a church". What sort of criteria should I tell her I have?

    I am not Christian, however, how about telling your wife that you feel that the true God must be always more and never less than our interpretations and understandings of Him. Ask her if she feels God, is more? Or is God, less? Then, on the criteria of God's greatness, seek out the beliefs which have a more all-encompassing and unbound understanding of God (which as agreed would have to be closer to a true understanding) as apposed to those beliefs which present a very tiny, man-like god.

    You will find as compared to the Christian churches of Unity, Christian Science and Unitarian (and perhaps others), that the Witnesses have a very diminutive image of God which they in fact continually refer to as a "person". Though your wife will likely say that of course God is always more, she will continue even after discovery of far larger interpretations to embrace the Lilliputian given to her by the Jehovah's Witness teaching. She may begin to wonder though: is she honoring God, or belittling Him?

    Good luck.

    j

  • Check_Your_Premises
    Check_Your_Premises

    James,

    I always love your stuff. What you wrote has some real depth to it, and definitely gave me some food for thought.

    I appreciate it, and the way you can turn a phrase.

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