Ok, I'm finally starting some dialogue with my brother, I've let him know that I have questions that no one can answer, and he says to send them over so he can either answer them or get answers, and that no question is disallowed or "apostate". He sent me an article (from 08.15.04 WT, thanks Blondie!) via e-mail, on which I pointed out one simple question on reply to him, which he has replied to. I just received it a few minutes ago and thought it a good idea to share this with the forum so you guys can help me see things or point si may have missed on my own. So if you don't mind, I would appreciate the help!
Thanks,
WLG From him... Alrighty then. You asked, "What would my answer be." So here it is. 1. if any statement is made, it should be true . True is not the correct word here. All statements cannot possibly be true seeing how we are imperfect humans who can't see past our own noses.(jer 10:23) Honest would be a more accurate term. Example the greatest man book,chapter 111 is mostly wrong.(see wt 95 Oct.15) But it was honest. The best answer there was at the time if you will. And there are other examples. 2. (Matthew 24:45; 28:18-20) Jesus gave this assignment to his disciples, to go teach, (give spiritual food), to all the nations. Until the conclusion of the system of things. Thus they were/are his slaves, (working for him), until the CST. In order for them to do this they would have to be, "cautious as serpents" or discreet. (Mt 10:16) Thus "Faithful and discreet slave" is descriptive of the ones teaching the people of the plant earth bible truths, and living those truths themselves. 3. where does it say or does Jesus teach us to "Trust the faithful and discreet slave?" The trust issue is implied. Just as His disciples put trust in Jesus because he taught them the truth about Jehovah, who he was, why he does things the way he does. In fact for the first time helped them to develop a friendship with Jehovah. Same is true in our case, you or I would never had been able to even conceive a question such as this if it were no for those people who were sacrificing to teach use what the bible really says about Jehovah. It simply doesn't make sense for Jehovah to send a group of people to the whole world to teach them what is in the bible. Help them clean up there lives, strengthen there families, give them hope for the future, and then when one reaches a certain point of understanding say,"Woo stop, don't trust those people no more." (1Cor 14:33) Well how that answer compare to the one you already have. I just shot from the hip. Have fun Give me more :) Party on...
----- Original Message ----- From WLG...
Here is a small example of the kind of questions I'm asking, if any statement is made, it should be true. Just like the scripture about he who is faithful or trustworthy in the small things is trustworthy in the larger ones. So in this case, what would your answer be, how is the statement in bold true? (I already know the answer to this one)18 What does knowing Jehovah’s voice further involve? Besides hearing, it involves obeying. Note again Isaiah 30:21. God’s Word declares: "This is the way." Yes, through a study of the Bible, we hear Jehovah’s directions. Next, he commands: "Walk in it." Jehovah wants us to act on what we hear. Thus, by applying what we learn, we show that we have not simply heard Jehovah’s voice but also listened to it. (Deuteronomy 28:1) Obeying Jehovah’s voice also means obeying Jesus’ voice, for Jehovah himself told us to do so. (Matthew 17:5) What does Jesus, the Fine Shepherd, tell us to do? He teaches us to make disciples and to trust "the faithful and discreet slave." [Donnie Dean] Matt 24:45 is part of the slave parable we talked about last night, the second scripture talks about preaching work...but where does it say or does Jesus teach us to "Trust the faithful and discreet slave?" This is a simple example of the kind of things I'm asking about, the statement clearly says or leads us to think/know "Jesus said to trust the slave", and reinforce our faith in the Organization, it doesn't say who the slave is, but of course we are supposed to just know, which we do. But even more important, there is no statement about trusting the FDS in the bible, not even in the scriptures given as reference, so is the text in bold a true statement, did he teach it or not? (Matthew 24:45; 28:18-20) Obeying his voice means our eternal life.—Acts 3:23.