on the jw.org site, look at the 2/1/2012 public wt, page 27 of the pdf...section 4"how are jehovah's witnesses organized today".
if anybody noticed, i mentioned i thought that no mention of 'faithful and discreet slave' possibly since 2010 in the public placed wt's.
i've read all of them backtracking to 2/1/2012 so far, and so far, my suspicion has proven true, no mention.
BluesBrother --
According to Stephen Lett: "F&DS – Small group of anointed Christians, living at Head Quarters, during Christ’s presence, who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. Note--- Individual members are not F&DS. Only when they work as a body are they such!"
(But, of course, this teaching is subject to change.)
i've seen several posts on various threads about a particular "loyalty question" or two that elders ask during judicial hearings.
granted it's been several years since i was an elder, but i never heard of this practice.
is there anything officially in print on this from the wt?
How on earth could "Those Who Have Not Associated for Many Years" also "have a measure of contact or association with the congregation"??? They're mutually exclusive.
I believe it is intended thus: People who are no longer affiliated may work with or have a social relationship with members of the congregation.
Shortly after I ceased attendance, one of the elders addressing my reservations regarding the Watch Tower Society stated that if I doubted that the Society is who they claim to be, he was certain I would "write a letter" [disassociating myself]. I didn't respond and the matter was dropped. At another interrogation, a different elder asked: "But you still believe that the Society is God's Organisation, right?" I told them that my research into the Society's history raised grave doubts and that it devolved on them to address my concerns. They did not do so, of course. But they also did not disfellowship me.
usually, jws will speak and act with rigid uniformity and as seen via the kingdomhallofjw videos, the uniformity is scarily similar from region to region.. .
however...what differences are there in the jw loaded language?
for instance, ive always heard or said the expression going in service, however, ive noticed in a few instances where some have said going on service.
American "English" vs. British English.
e.g. 'at the doors', 'on the doors'
needless to say it's the same old rubbish.
the wt has the usual 'doom & gloom front cover, end of the world, fireball, people running in panic.... george.
.
[A]ny mistaken expectations about the end do not alter the unmistakable features identifying these as “the last days.”—2 Timothy 3:1. (The Watchtower, 15.01.2013, p.7)
Alrighty, then. Russell's 37 year prophecy regarding the End coming in 1914 did not alter the unmistakable (and indisputable) features identifying those as part of "the last days" (which [according to the Watch Tower Society] ran from A.D. 1799 - 1914).
THE ''Time of the End," a period of one hundred and fifteen (115) years,
from A. D. I 7 9 9 to A. D. 1914, is particularly marked in the Scriptures.
(Thy Kingdom Come, p. 23)
THE careful student will have observed that the period
designated "The Time of the End " is very appropriately
named, since not only does the Gospel age close in it,
but in it, also, all prophecies relating to the close of this age
terminate, reaching their fulfilments. The same class of
readers will have noticed, too, the special importance of
the last 40 of those 115 years (1874-1914), called "The
End" or "Harvest." (Thy Kingdom Come, p. 121)
Could someone please ask the Writing Department to do some thinking before printing?!?!
i recently bought geza vermes new book, christian beginnings-from nazareth to nicaea, ad 30-325, i thought it may useful for a study unit i want to take next year, on the topic of early christian writings.
these documents, such as the shepherd of hermas, help us to appreciate what early christians really believed and also provide details of their behaviour(s).. vermes*, as well as being extremely knowledgeable on the subject of the dead sea scrolls, is regarded scholastically, as one of the world's leading jesus scholars.. so to the point of this thread: on page 106 of my hardcover, allen lane/penguin, 2012 edition of this book, vermes commences analysing the status of christ in the pauline religion, and under that sub-heading he concludes that in (authentic) pauline theology, the son always occupies an inferior position, and draws on paul's writings to support his position.
on pages 111,112 he lists texts to demonstrate that paul directed his prayers to god alone, and "never to jesus!
2 Cor. 12:7b-9
I would suggest that verse 9 indicates that the "Lord" to whom Paul addressed his prayer was "Christ".
in the 10/15 watchtower study edition on pg.
12 is the article " what kind of spirit do you show ?
" right away this article starts drawing the line of demarcation in the sand between who has the right to make decisions within jehovah's witnesses and who does not have the right to do so.
" Because of what THEY perceive as defects in elders, some individuals who engage in serious wrongdoing in the congregation have refused to appear before a committee of elders assigned to help them. This could be likened to a patient who loses out on the benefits of a treatment because he does not like something about the doctors. "
"Because of what THEY perceive as hypocrisy and mind-control in local Elders, some who now reject the false teachings of the Watch Tower Society have refused to dignify a star-chamber kangaroo court with their presence. This could be likened to a victim who loses out on the benefits of a gunshot to the head because he does not like something about the murderers." [character assassins]
i wonder how they would answer me.. their history of being accurate is an embarrassment to jehovah!.
I would ask how it is that the "Faithful and Discreet Slave" has received no adverse Judgement despite the "Slave" having "reviled" (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:9,10) the Associated Bible Students as the "Evil Slave" all the 93 years of its (F&DS) appointment. Also, why people who have only been appointed to provide spiritual food and have not been appointed over the Lord's belongings feel free to judge others before the "due time". (1 Cor. 4:5)
from a reliable source...provides further confirmation on the gb's new status.
these are from the symposium part on the new light.. .
jeoff jackson - how is spiritual food prepared?.
From the notes:
Blessed arrangement, till death of apostles who acted as a 'restraint'. Then apostasy flourished. During that time, no consistent channel existed. Only changed after 1914 when the 'growing season' ended.
So, evidently, when Jesus stated: "I am with YOU all the days until the conclusion of the system of things" (Matt. 28,20), he really meant --
'YOU're on your own until I return to appoint someone to feed YOU in my absence during my presence.' (?)
in the the early 1970's, i used to enjoy going to assemblies, conventions and hear special talks given by bethel heavies.. in those days, we were believers and we applied ourselves as "ministers" with pride.. once the "end" was obviously not within our "generation", many of us started losing interest.. we started to think more critically.
it took a long time but once you start recognizing the bullsh*t, it's hard to stay in and truly believe at the same time.. .
There were a number of Watchtower doctrines I had rejected over the years. But that wasn't enough.
One day I realized I really didn't want my children or my non-Witness friends to be(come) Witnesses.
And then I wondered why that was...
i have no idea what is going to happen but they had been shunning me and i called to tell her what i see in the scriptures about the faithful slave.
all of it up to the very end she said okay what's the point, the scripture at the very end is what triggered it.
but read it all in order.
(Recycled old post [23. Oct. 2006]:)
W 01. April 1986 QfR:Do we have Scriptural precedent for taking such a strict position? Indeed we do! Paul wrote about some in his day: "Their word will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of that number. These very men have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already occurred; and they are subverting the faith of some." (2 Timothy 2:17, 18; see also Matthew 18:6.) There is nothing to indicate that these men did not believe in God, in the Bible, in Jesus’ sacrifice. Yet, on this one basic point, what they were teaching as to the time of the resurrection, Paul rightly branded them as apostates, with whom faithful Christians would not fellowship.
This is most fascinating. When the F&DS was supposedly appointed in 1919, the Watch Tower Society was still teaching that the Resurrection had begun in 1878 -- a teaching not altered until 1927 -- and which teaching the WTS now rejects as false. Does it not bugger the imagination to believe the Lord appointed over all his belongings an organisation that (by its own published standard) would be 'rightly branded apostate, with whom faithful Christians would not fellowship'?
