Posts by blondie

12

No Divine protection for Jehovah's Witnesses' gatherings. JW Death toll rises around the world.

by Balaamsass2 in

growing up as a jw in the 1960s and 1970s, a common refrain from the yearbook, local elders and circuit overseers was how jws were protected at meetings, conventions, and in the field service by "the angels".

experiences of "divine intervention" during service, ww2, in communist lands, and conventions were common.

the internet and google are regularly debunking this myth in the 21st century.

blondie

In the Draw Close to Jehovah book (2022 version) these are some interesting WT explanations about Personal Protection: (reporting not supporting)

What Divine Protection Does Not Mean

13 The promise of divine protection does not mean that Jehovah is obligated to work miracles in our behalf. No, our God does not guarantee us a problem-free life in this old system. Many faithful servants of Jehovah face severe adversities, including poverty, war, sickness, and death. Jesus plainly told his disciples that as individuals they might be put to death because of their faith. That is why Jesus stressed the need for endurance to the end. (Matthew 24:9, 13) If Jehovah were to use his power to effect miraculous deliverance in all cases, Satan would no doubt taunt Jehovah and call into question the genuineness of our devotion to our God.—Job 1:9, 10.

14 Even in Bible times, Jehovah did not use his protective power to shield each of his servants from untimely death. For example, the apostle James was executed by Herod in about 44 C.E.; yet, shortly afterward, Peter was rescued “from Herod’s hand.” (Acts 12:1-11) And John, the brother of James, outlived both Peter and James. Clearly, we cannot expect our God to protect all his servants in identical ways. Besides, “time and unexpected events” overtake us all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11) How, then, does Jehovah protect us today?

Jehovah Provides Physical Protection

15 Consider, first, the matter of physical protection. As Jehovah’s worshippers, we can expect such protection as a group. Otherwise, we would be easy prey for Satan. Think about this: Satan, “the ruler of this world,” would like nothing more than to eliminate true worship. (John 12:31; Revelation 12:17) Some of the most powerful governments on earth have banned our preaching work and have tried to wipe us out completely. Yet, Jehovah’s people have remained firm and have continued to preach without letup! Why have mighty nations been unable to put a stop to the activity of this relatively small and seemingly defenseless group of Christians? Because Jehovah has shielded us with his powerful wings!—Psalm 17:7, 8.

16 What about physical protection during the coming “great tribulation”? We need not fear the execution of God’s judgments. After all, “Jehovah knows how to rescue people of godly devotion out of trial, but to reserve unrighteous people to be destroyed on the day of judgment.” (Revelation 7:14; 2 Peter 2:9) In the meantime, we can always be certain of two things. First, Jehovah will never allow his loyal servants to be effaced from the earth. Second, he will reward integrity keepers with everlasting life in his righteous new world—if necessary, by means of a resurrection. For those who die, there is no safer place to be than in God’s memory.—John 5:28, 29.

49

The ''dreaded'' birthday cake

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | september 2023. study article 39. let mildness be your strength.

11 if a workmate asks, for example, why we do not celebrate birthdays, consider: could he be wondering whether we are allowed to have a good time?

or might he feel that our position will dampen the company’s team spirit?

blondie

I always wondered why the WTS celebrates the "memorial" even though it was only established with Jesus apostles, privately, and then only the anointed (all Christians then were anointed). When members of the WTS started being mostly non-anointed jws, for 3 years, the non-anointed were not invited, since they were not to partake and were not part of the group. Then they started inviting. Jws I knew personally then, some did not feel "called" to go to heaven and there was not an "earthly" hope offered, so they partook anyway. They said they were relieved when another choice, to live forever in a paradise earth" was explained, they could stop feeling they were eating improperly.***

jv chap. 16 p. 243 Meetings for Worship, Instruction, and Encouragement ***

Particularly beginning in the 1930’s, prospective members of the “great multitude,” or “great crowd” of other sheep, began to manifest themselves. (Rev. 7:9, 10, KJ; John 10:16) These were at that time referred to as Jonadabs. For the first time, in its issue of February 15, 1938, The Watchtower specifically invited them to be present at the Memorial, saying: “After six p.m. on April 15 let each company of the anointed assemble and celebrate the Memorial, their companions the Jonadabs also being present.” They did attend, not as partakers, but as observers.

46

Nobody else understands

by ElderBerry in

if you once were fully pimi and truly believed jw doctrine to the core like i once did, when you come to the reality that it is not the truth at all it can be extremely devastating.. i think only other ex jws could ever understand.

i wasted my entire life i thought the real life was yet to come to wasted the best years knocking on doors.

now i’m so angry.. i can understand why so many top themselves when they realise it was all lies..

blondie

I think this applies to too many jws who can't explain their own doctrines, Ignorance is bliss.

30

FDS 1919 Declaration Date

by NotFormer in

did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

such as some calculation attached to 1914?

that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

blondie

This is so complicated, the original "scriptural" reason has been adjusted at least once. It is no longer used by the WTS to make application of these scriptures. The WTS also has not mentioned a 7,000 year "creative day" that it used to establish 1975 as the end of 6,000 years of the 7th Creation Day, which then left 1,000 years within the creative day of the Reign of Christ over the paradise on earth (after Armageddon). The WTS lets old doctrine just disappear in its publications (no longer published). In newer versions of publications still accessible on the Watchtower Online Library (WOL) has been edited to put in "thousands of years" instead of 7,000 years (stopped being used in 1987.

54

What If The Tower Fell?

by Big Dog in

what if the truly unthinkable happened and the tower went down?

perhaps the irs swooped in and claimed fraud and padlocked the headquarters and kingdom hall doors?

or the gb took the money and ran to a nice non-extradition country to live out their years?

blondie

Depends on what you mean as "fell." In the eyes of the outside? jws are taught that they will be attacked by the people outside and the government authorized part or the WTS may disappear, but jws will go "underground" even in small groups (like they did in Europe during Nazi times) who had not direct communication with the headquarters in their country or the US. I did not live then by the way, but there are governments today that have banned jws, like Russia, but they have continued teaching their doctrines.

20

I hate the way they talk.

by Riley in

what is with the jw cadence when they speak.

do they think they are teaching people ?

they sound like pro wrestlers doing promos or shakespearean actors.

blondie

jws are taught using supplied scripts by the WTS. Very few actually say any introduction at the door with their own words. So it sounds like it was memorized. I knew jws who said the same thing at the door they had 30 years ago, word for word. The WTS says they train their members to be effective speakers, not so, even public talks have a supplied outline, or even word for word manuscripts. Also, jws are taught not to present personal opinions at the door but follow WTS teachings closely, "we" then means the WTS, Governing Body, current position on issues.

25

Where is everyone? 😆

by MissDaSilva in

jw
friends

i had a day off today and needed to get some errands done in my local town.

2 carts have allocated here but i never ever see anyone out, even on very nice days.

70% of the congregation don’t work.

blondie

I "faded" over 20 years ago and though I live near the KH and am not DA'd or DF'd, a jw has stopped only once and I have asked my neighbors if they had been before the pandemic. Not a one, and we have only see a group once 10 years ago (we are retired, and we watch for strangers in the neighbor (strangers to the neighbors). Since D2D was suspended during the pandemic, I think many jws did not miss D2D and now that they don't have to turn in a "time slip" every month, who will know if they did or not.

25

Where is everyone? 😆

by MissDaSilva in

jw
friends

i had a day off today and needed to get some errands done in my local town.

2 carts have allocated here but i never ever see anyone out, even on very nice days.

70% of the congregation don’t work.

blondie

I "faded" over 20 years ago and though I live near the KH and am not DA'd or DF'd, a jw has stopped only once and I have asked my neighbors if they had been before the pandemic. Not a one, and we have only see a group once 10 years ago (we are retired, and we watch for strangers in the neighbor (strangers to the neighbors). Since D2D was suspended during the pandemic, I think many jws did not miss D2D and now that they don't have to turn in a "time slip" every month, who will know if they did or not.

7

Some Seasonal Nostalgia

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

can't find any references, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

i remember, probably at least two decades ago, a small news snippet about someone was going around brooklyn heights and setting fire to christmas wreaths on people's doors.

i've always personally suspected* that it was a bored/semi-insane bethelite.

blondie

I have never heard of that and I date back to 1952. But I do know that until 1926 the WTS celebrated Christmas and there is picture of it. https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/celebrations.php Now I can imagine Bible Students (before 1931) were told to destroy their christmas stuff, but my grandmother set up christmas scenes in the fireplace (not on fire) after that still, and it was the one of the reasons she left.

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/celebrations.php

20

What has the Spiritual Paradise of the WTS been over time

by blondie in

jw
friends

the first mention i find in the wts publications is 1958. although the wts says the index goes from 1930 to 1985, nothing appears before 1958 a search only found by using the phrase "spiritual paradise" not in the index.

in 2015 there was a clarification of the phrase "of course, we should not conclude that the terms “spiritual paradise” and “spiritual temple” are the same.

the spiritual temple is god’s arrangement for true worship.".

blondie

The first mention I find in the WTS publications is 1958. Although the WTS says the Index goes from 1930 to 1985, nothing appears before 1958 a search only found by using the phrase "spiritual paradise" not in the index. In 2015 there was a clarification of the phrase "Of course, we should not conclude that the terms “spiritual paradise” and “spiritual temple” are the same. The spiritual temple is God’s arrangement for true worship."

2022 EXPRESSION EXPLAINED: “Spiritual paradise” refers to the secure environment in which we worship Jehovah in unity. In this environment, we have an abundance of spiritual food that is free from religious lies and we have plenty of satisfying work to do in preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom. We enjoy a close relationship with Jehovah, and we live in peace with our loving brothers and sisters, who help us to endure life’s challenges with joy. We enter the spiritual paradise when we begin worshipping Jehovah in the right way and when we do our best to imitate him.

2015 The expression “spiritual paradise” has become a part of our theocratic vocabulary. It describes our unique, spiritually rich environment, or condition, which allows us to enjoy peace with God and with our brothers. Of course, we should not conclude that the terms “spiritual paradise” and “spiritual temple” are the same. The spiritual temple is God’s arrangement for true worship. The spiritual paradise serves to identify clearly those who have God’s approval and who are today serving him at his spiritual temple.

1983 “What do you mean by a spiritual paradise?” you ask. Put simply: An organization of Christians who have made over their personalities to conform to God’s requirements and who are united in his true worship may be said to be in a spiritual paradise.

(oldest in WOL) 1958 Thursday afternoon the conventioners waited with intense interest to hear Brother Knorr speak on “Maintaining Our Spiritual Paradise.” \... Knorr told the vast audience of 145,488 persons that when the holy spirit was poured out on Christ’s disciples at Pentecost, making them spiritual sons of God, “a spiritual paradise had then been established.” (Notice that Knorr refers to spiritual sons of God—at that time only the anointed had the designation)