My view on why they need so many books is that their ideas and thoughts are so wacko that they need to be able to point to them in black and white as if it was some kind of real proof, in order to convince people of the realities of their fantasy.
Look! It's here in this book! It must be right!
However! They don't seem to like it when you point out some crack pot shit they printed in their books so many years ago!
If the US and Canada is anything like the UK, there are a lot of thick heads around who haven't picked up a book since they left school and still believe that if it's written in a nicely presented book is must be correct.
Hence...why I think JWs need so many books. Afterall...all those books can't be wrong....can they?
JW's are a part of a religious publishing company, each and every baptised dub is even called a "publisher". Gotta have books and magazines to keep the business running.
seacher said: They need the latest book to stay current
Good point. Wasn't that the trouble with the Romanian Witnesses years back? They were operating off of old books and when the country opened up and the Watchtower reps were able to get in there, it was like these people were practicing a different religion.
You'd think that an unchanging God would have a religion with basic, unchanging beliefs. I guess that channel of communication has a lot of static on it and the old faithful and discreet slave has trouble hearing and understanding what God is telling them....or just maybe Jehovah isn't telling them anything and they are making it all up. *gasp*
Good advice from Jesus to Jehovah's Witnesses: "YOU are searching the Scriptures, because YOU think that by means of them YOU will have everlasting life; and these are the very ones that bear witness about me. And yet YOU do not want to come to me that YOU may have life." John 5:39-40
Following this advice will conserve sooooo many trees. After all, so much of what was written in the past is no longer recommended to be read. What a waste of paper!
My view on why they need so many books is that their ideas and thoughts are so wacko that they need to be able to point to them in black and white as if it was some kind of real proof, in order to convince people of the realities of their fantasy.
While I think it is primarily a money-making venture (how cool to have 6 million immediate, near-compulsory buyers for any and everything you publish!), its probably also significant that they emphasize their unity to such a great extent. They all believe the same thing, and they are proud of it. Why risk making a mis-statement, possibly even speaking under the influence of "old light", when there is a huge raft of books available to make the "current understanding" clear? Especially those poor folks that have been in "the truth" for 50 years. Imagine how many conflicting ideas they've been presented over the years. Will Solomon be resurrected? Sodomites? Lot's wife?
It also keeps them busy....and if they're not keepimg up with reading all the latest publications they are made to feel guilty... which keeps them in line.... which makes them try harder to get out in service more to sell....er place more publications....
They're a bit like Microsoft - always providing updated versions of their products to keep the $$ coming in. There is, however, little new functionality or information - just a continuous rehashing of the same old thing.
New publications make it easier to make minor changes to doctrine or history without people noticing.
JWs have no life. New publications get them excited. It keeps them interested.
It keeps them busy, so they have little time to research their beliefs using more reliable sources.
Because they're a "charitible organization" they are required by law to spend a certain percentage of the donations they receive. They cover themselves by distributing literature to the public. They can even argue that this is a charitible work.
They are a publishing company. Books are their primary business, though real estate and construction have become big for them too.
The reason other churches do not offer books when ministering, is because the answer to them lies in christ.....not a bunch of doctrine revealed in their books published by an organisation.
Woohoo!!!! I agree with Gumby!!! Can you believe that??
The constant release of books is a control method employed by the WTS. It keeps the faithful coming back. It creates the illusion of forward progress, and an ongoing communication between the GB and Jehovah God.
The publications are the smoke screen the WTS hides behind. The wool that is pulled over the eyes to distract you from the simple truth that JW's are just another garden variety sect, with absolutley no releavence whatever.
