Posts by Vanderhoven7

51

Theocratic Warfare and Taqiyya

by aqwsed12345 in

the concept of strategic deception exists in several religious and ideological contexts.

in this article, we will explore and compare the theocratic warfare doctrine of the watchtower society and taqiyya in islam.

both concepts have parallels in their mechanisms of permitting deception for religious purposes but differ significantly in their application and historical roots.. 1. theocratic warfare: the "rahab method".

Vanderhoven7

Mark Jones writes:

They dont actually have any scriptures to directly quote in order to justify lying to non-members (or “using theocratic warfare” in JW-speak). Instead they infer from certain scriptures that even Jesus didn't always tell the truth:

Jesus did not always disclose the full truth - Awake! 2000 Feb 8 p.21
Jesus Christ himself refrained from divulging total information when doing so would have caused needless harm. (John 7:1-10) He said: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw your pearls before swine." Why not? So that "they may never . . . turn around and rip you open."—Matthew 7:6." Watchtower 2004 Nov 15 p.28

Furthermore, in order to further the interests of their cult, the members are ordered to hide the truth from “god’s enemies”.

From time to time letters are received asking whether a certain circumstance would justify making an exception to the Christian’s obligation to tell the truth. In reply to these the following is given: God’s Word commands: “Speak truth each of you with his neighbor.” There is one exception, however, that the Christian must ever bear in mind. As a soldier of Christ he is in theocratic warfare and he must exercise added caution when dealing with God’s foes. Thus the Scriptures show that for the purpose of protecting the interests of God’s cause, it is proper to hide the truth from God’s enemies." - Watchtower 1960 Jun 1 pp.351,352 Questions From Readers

In case you’re wondering, an “enemy of god” includes non-members, former Jehovah’s Witnesses and… I cant believe I’m saying this… Jehovah’s Witness children.

[1]

[2]

You may get Jehovah’s Witnesses on here claiming they’ve never heard of “theocratic warfare”. But that is just another example of them using “theocratic warfare” on you.

You know, like a cult?

Footnotes

[1]Online Video Library | JW.ORG Videos English

[2]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UQTVkDg-jg

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

Now the GB has confirmed that there is no room for repentance after the GT starts? What is going on?

See thevfurst minute of this video.

https://youtu.be/b8y-7mgOaNY?si=s241vs9tC3uAWrks

18

Beliefs clarified - A big fat WTF for 2025

by ukpimo in

jehovah’s witnesses have an official page for clarified beliefs they encourage elders, ministerial servants, regular pioneers, as well as all the rest of the elite, to keep up to date with:.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200277174.

2025 has a curious clarification:.

Vanderhoven7

It is no longer clear to me if the GB holds hope for repentance during the GT after seeing the first minute of this video.

https://youtu.be/b8y-7mgOaNY?si=e5Y68bSsBannLQcN

57

2024 Annual Meeting Doctrinal Change

by Listener in

a change to their doctrine came from jackson.

this isn't a transcript of his whole speech but i thought i would try and get some of his main speech in writing.. at around 1hr26 minutes he starts talking about some dangerous thinking in feeling there is some wiggle room in regards to the schedule for the gt.

but you see, we need to be careful about what we are thinking about the number of anointed ones left on earth.

Vanderhoven7

😂😂

25

The Dangers of Independent Thinking

by daystar in

"the dangers of independent thinking".

reading mary's thread regarding the july 15th wt, i began to really consider what the wbts' problem is with "independent thinking".. what exactly is "independent thinking" and what about its opposite, "dependent thinking"?

i think the following excerpt from an article here does a good job of defining them.

Vanderhoven7

Dawana writes:

Because independent thinking means that you're not following blindly to what the governing body tells you to think. They don't want you questioning what they tell you, and they don't want you talking to others and putting questions in other people's heads.

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

L. P writes according to Jehovah’s Witnesses...

" If you've been exceptionally naughty like spoken against the Holy Spirit than, there's no Paradise Earth for you. Rapists, serial killers, murderous dictators, child molesters, terrorists, kidnappers, Nazis that took part in Holocaust etc may all possibly get a resurrection" along with the relatively righteous other sheep.

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

My take, despite the GB "we don't know"PR , JWs believe that only faithful Jehovah's Witnesses will survive Armageddon.

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

Mark writes:

Throughout their history, Jehovah's Witnesses have consistently taught that “wicked” people will not get a resurrection.

Adam and Eve and Judas are definitely excluded, because they are said to have committed the unforgivable sin.....

David Splane explained in 2023 that in the past, they stated that there's no hope of a resurrection for those who died in the flood or those destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah.

They spent decades flip-flopping, but now it seems they just don't know. Presumably that means just about everyone may have a chance.

But obey the Governing Body, and you won't have any doubts, Paradise earth is almost guaranteed!!

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

Actually not everyone gets a resurrection according to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Those who have sinned against holy spirit are not in their memorial tombs. This includes Adam and Eve.

In addition, those unrepentant who are destroyed at Armageddon are toast as well. Among these would be those disfellowshipped (removed) for apostasy.

40

How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?

by LauraLynn in

from my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.

salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.

to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.

Vanderhoven7

Just about everyone, excluding the very wicked, is coming back for a millennial tryout for eternal life. This might even include many who died in the flood and in Sodom.

The idea is that those who died have paid for their sins and because of Jesus ransom sacrifice, they have a right to be resurrected without punishment.

Those who will not be resurrected for a crack at life will include those who rejected the life-saving message of Jehovah’s Witnesses advertised since 1919.

Translation...better to have died without ever hearing from the Watchtower organization. Once the tribulation starts, you might still be able to repent and believe the message. So if they had not preached their message, more would be resurrected. Interestingly, those who died before the GT did not have to repent. Those who are alive after the GT starts will have to repent or be eternally destroyed.

All very logical