if you want to skip to the new light or understanding, its underlined for you pleasure.
i think some will find this interesting.
we had the co tonight.
He says no the FDS DOES NOT HAVE A PHYSICAL FORM and we cannot see them. Instead we have 7 governing body members that represent the faithful and discrete slave.
Too bad they've admitted they don't even know who the members of the "Slave Class" they allegedly represent are.
"The Governing Body does not keep a list of all partakers, for it does not maintain a global network of anointed ones." (Watchtower, 15. August 2011, p.22)
regarding what some have said here about the wt being a false prophet.. i would like to make my point regarding the wt not being a false prophet... so please, if you can be patient enough to read this, at least try to understand what i am getting at.. a false prophet is one who, according to deuteronomy, makes a false prediction of the future and claims that the prediction came from god, or in other words claiming that 'god has said he will do a certain thing at a certain time' etc.. for example, hypothetically speaking, if someone had claimed: "god will bring about the end of the world in 2010", they would have been proven to be a false prophet, obviously.
but, as an example, imagine a man who claimed the position of a prophet of god, (as moses did, because although he was not the type of prophet that predicted the future.. he was still a prophet or spokesman for god) and that he had publicised worldwide, according to his interpretation of a (for example) prophecy found in the book of isaiah, that the world would end in 2010.. and he had also stated that he was not saying that god will end the world in that year.. but only that there was biblical evidence that god might do so.
that would clearly have been a mistake.
Okay, The Quiet One.
If I understand you correctly, you are claiming that although the Watch Tower Society has stated in millions of copies:
1) that "those of the Jeremiah class have been sent by Jehovah to speak in his name" (w79 9/1 pp.29-30),
2) that he has "put his words in their mouths" (w59 1/15 pp. 40-41 pars. 13-14),
3) that they are the ones whom God has "actually used as his prophet" (w59 1/15 pp. 40-41),
4) that "[a]ll the preaching and all the Bible educational work that they have done till now in 175 countries" has been done "by God's spirit" (w59 1/15 pp. 40-41), and
5) that "Jehovah is the one behind all of it" (w64 6/15 p. 365 par. 22)--
nevertheless, they are not to be viewed as false prophets despite the fact that nothing they have ever prophesied in His name has come true.
Perhaps it's even all right with you if they blame him for their false prophecies and erroneous doctrines: "Stirring up increasing interest in them, Jehovah caused to be preached from 1918 onward the startling public message 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die,' and in 1923 he provided the interpretation of 'the parable of the sheep and the goats' " (Watchtower, Nov. 15, 1955, p. 698 ยง 36)
The Society is not content with merely claiming that Almighty God has "put his words in their mouths"-- They're even willing to put words in His mouth:
"Jehovah's prophetic word through Jesus Christ is: 'This generation [of 1914] will by no means pass away until all things occur.' (Luke 21:32) And Jehovah, who is the source of inspired an unfailing prophecy, will bring about the fulfillment."
--The Watchtower, May 15, 1984, pgs. 6-7 (Brackets in original).
Recycled old post (23.07.10)
i am curious about this issue.
personally, i never felt i would be good enough for a split second.
one would think that knowing you can not be good enough to survive would it make it easier to leave the witnesses and live for the present.
I assumed that I wouldn't live long enough to survive Armageddon,
because it had been inculcated in me from my youth
that I would die (horribly) during the Great Tribulation.
(Uplifting thought, that. "Good night, children. Sleep well..." )
to onthewayout, 00dad, cedars and other reknowned faders.
reports have reached patterson that faders are much more dangerous than those disfellowshipped.
their reasons for fading are no longer new to the gb.
THIS IS NOT A THREAT, IT IS A WAKE UP CALL. Start devising a new strategy.
My old strategy was simply "I'll never again be found in a Kingdom Hall."
Heretofore, it has worked flawlessly.
I think I'll just continue using it.
saw some fairly interesting ideas on youtube which can be poorly summed as follows:.
there is no dimension of time ( or duration ) as we like to think of the 4th dimension.
there is merely the perception of it formed by the passage of the higher dimension through the lower.
This concept was suggested (implicitly) in the nineteenth century book:
Flatland: a romance of many dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott.
i know there's plenty.. one that comes to mind is the blood doctrine.
whole blood is bad, blood fractions may be ok but not all.....wtf?
?.
Having a vast world-wide publishing empire promulgate numerous false prophecies for over 130 years is God's chosen method of indicating whom he has appointed to speak exclusively for Him.
i'm wondering what to reply to someone who said the main message of the "truth" is the same.
that jehovah is god and he sent his only-begotten son to die for us,so that,we could have everlasting life on earth.. the rest of the changes don't really matter to them.
that witnesses are the only religion to teach this and the only ones preaching it.
[T]he main message of the "truth" is the same. That Jehovah is God and He sent His only-begotten son to die for us,so that,we could have everlasting life on earth.
The original "main message" taught by Russell was that all true Christians (both the 144 000 and the "great company" [crowd] ) would receive a heavenly reward; non-christians and athiests would be eligible for everlasting life on earth. Thus, the "main message" is not the same.
The rest of the changes don't really matter to them.
The other changes should matter. If one fails to accept the Watch Tower Society's current teachings (no matter what they may be), one is already no longer an "approved associate." And if one speaks against "the rest of the changes", one will be disfellowshiped per the "Questions from Readers" in the 01. April 1986 Watchtower.
think about this from a logical perspective.
you are the ceo of a large corporation.
during a general assembly to your stock holders and employees, a lone worker comes up to the podium, and in front of thousands of his co-workers and managers proudly tells the ceo that he bets all his company stock and dignity that he, the lowly worker can run the company better.
Or,
the lowly company XYZ worker, despite extensive and intensive "ass-busting", is proving he really isn't up to the task...
The bigger question would be: Would the CEO even take such a bet?
i've never read any, so i'd like to know everyone's opinion..
Not the "best", but still highly recommended:
Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculation. What Does the Record Show? by Edmond Gruss.
i love being a christian and i deeply respect the teachings of jesus and i firmly believe that it is through faith in him that we recieve eternal life and salvation.. but what about everyone else?
islam, hindu, buddhist, etc?.
even as a jw i never believed that salvation was exlusively for jw's, but where do all other sincere worshippers of other religions fit in?
Consider also 1 Timothy 2:5,6.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all...
