Help? Scriptures taken out of context

by misspeaches 10 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  misspeaches

  Hi Guys

  I've been having on online discussion with someone who is being called on by the witnesses. He has approached me to find out why I left them.

  I'm sort of new at this anti witnessing caper so hoping some of you guys might help me...

  He has asked me if the witnesses ever take scriptures out of context and do I have examples. I have searched JWD and found this:

  Baptized servants of Jehovah who deliberately follow a wicked course and refuse to change must be viewed as unrepentant and thus unfit for Christian fellowship. (Compare 1 John 2:19.) Such individuals cannot be allowed to remain in the clean Christian congregation and thereby contaminate it. They must be expelled. The use of 1 John 2:19 is taken out of context in it's use in this paragraph. The apostle John was referring to antichrists in this verse which is a far cry from some of the reasoning used by the "loving" elders as requirements for disfellowshiping.

  Could anyone else give me some more examples?
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  heathen

  Let me see if I have you right here ---- you left the witnesses because they take scripture out of context but cannot think of any examples ? ROTLMAO In my opinion every time they claim the FDS applies to them is going beyond what is written .
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  misspeaches

  Let me see if I have you right here ---- you left the witnesses because they take scripture out of context but cannot think of any examples? ROTLMAO In my opinion every time they claim the FDS applies to them is going beyond what is written .

  Um actually no that is not why I left the witnesses. I left them for other reasons which I have outlined in previous posts.

  I would like specific scriptures to show to this person who the witnesses have twisted them or ignored the context. All I am doing is trying to stop another person being sucked in by them.
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  A Paduan

  The blood doctrine

  The apostles saw fit to impose the burden of not eating blood upon some, as the population that they dwelt among understood it as Law and it would have caused offence. Due to the pharisaical teachings, the people had a culture of literal understandings of Moses books - instead of spiritual teachings {eg. don't eat hawks and kites - earn a living, don't act like those who prey on the vulnerable from their vantage point} - the pharisees/teachers of the Law had considerably burdened people with many rules acquired by literal applications of scripture (burdens).
  For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things - necessary not to offend the population
  

  The wtbts is a fundamental pharisee group of the current time, again burdening people with their literal understandings of spiritual writing - ask your friend; How is it that the Law ended with Christ, yet he stated that not an iota would pass away ? Because the scriptures were opened - the veil undone.
  

  The people of the western world don't require the wtbts to enforce bans on blood transfusions so as not to offend the community, but no doubt the community would prefer them to stop abusing and burdening their own propendent captives in such a manner.
  I'll leave you with this words from Paul:

  • I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law?
  • We know that the law is spiritual
  • "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned?

  
  
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  Frog

  Hi misspeaches:)

  Help? Scriptures taken out of context

  ...it's called 'the new world translation of the holy scriptures', printed by the WTBTS of Brooklyn! I suggest trying a different, more legitimate form of the written word.

  Frog x
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  heathen

  Yep I think peduan hit the #1 doctrine taken out of cotext .They take way more than that tho . Their concept of only through selling magazines can people be considered christian is another one . They also claim that the governing body is a mediator for the great crowd when the bible says there is only one mediator between God and man , Jesus Christ .
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  Legolas

  Tell them to buy 'Crisis Of Conscience' and 'In Search Of Christian Freedom' by Raymond Franz.
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  peacefulpete

  
  
  
  because " Moses has in city after city those who preach him and because he is read aloud in the synagogues" he desired the Gentiles to abstain from some of the most offensive aspects of Mosaic custom, association with idols, fronication, things strangled (method of sacrifice to Roman gods) and blood. Apparently local controversy motivated the author of Acts to single out these 4 things as essentially important to the Jews. The purpose of this story and the book as a whole was to attempt to unite the two major sects of Christianity by encouraging the Gentiles to respect the sensitivities of those raised as Jews. Interestingly in Acts 15:29 the advice was to avoid "things sacrificed to idols" expanding upon verse 21. This raises an interesting question. Was this avoidance of "things sacrificed to idols" in fact universally felt by Christians to be a edict from god? Paul earlier had written otherwise. 1 Cor 10 is all about this question and there he felt that while Christians would certainly not want to participate in the rites to idols, eating "foods sacrificed to idols" was not an issue to his god, "for to God belong the earth and all that which fills it". He even discouraged the asking of where the meat at the market came from. Yet he did caution not to eat if someone disclosed to you that the pot roast came from the temple rites "on account of the one that disclosed it to you". IOW the person who felt the need to investigate the source of the food was likely easily offended. Paul wanted Christians to always be aware that Jewish sensitivites lingered in some minds and that eating it could result in "stumbling..Jews". The WT insists that the wording of 15:29 was intended to be a divine medical and dietary rule imposed with penalty of eternal judgement. The context loudly disagrees.
  

  Therefore the WT intepretation that Acts 15:29 results from lifting the passage out of context.
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  misspeaches

  Thank you all very much for your responses... I will most certainly pass that info along. I will also recommend that he reads the two books by Ray Franz. You guys are a great help!
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  hubert

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Check out www.jwfiles.com too.
  
  http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/popup_source.shtml?
  
  I found this second link, which is about the cross/stake quote, and the quote comes from "The Imperial Bible Dictionary". If you compare the full quote with the W.T. one, you'll see that theyy left out a crucial part of the quote. I hope the site comes up okay.
  

  
  
  Hubert