Jws essentially just believe the new testament was just written for the annoited which can only later be understood by the magical seven.
Blah blah blah
i am new on this forum.
i have been associating with the jw's for three years, and was about to be baptised soon (next month).
however, i discovered on time that it is not right to do.
Jws essentially just believe the new testament was just written for the annoited which can only later be understood by the magical seven.
Blah blah blah
after reading some experiences, i have found that this organization has had quite a big change in its operations within the last decade.
back when i was talking to the ocassional witnesses at a local hotspot i remember some of them having respectable intelligence.
what i want to know though is those who have been aquainted with who they felt were more educated and independent in thinking, how they handled the rapid changes.
I got into a debate one time with a Christian guy about jesus as god in the flesh. He didnt waste his time with the typical proof texts and such because most of that has been changed in new world translation. He showed me how the new testament referances the old testament and what the authors were talking about. Especially the direct references to word of the lord in the old testament. It was pretty straight foward. I even doubled checked it against secular sources like Bart Erham and it was pretty much the same.
Now you can question the legitimacy of the bible but you really question the authors intent.
Then i tried to pin down my beliefs as a witness (unbaptised). I then realized that i didn't have any. I could'nt pin down any tenets of my faith. All i did was go door to door with a briefcase full of books playing silly bugger full of ridiculous circular nonsense that i didnt understand.
Then i realized no on understood it. Doctors, engineers, lawyers. We are all the same.
It scares me.
i remember clearly the many times that in the past they have insisted on not showing their faces out in the street on this day.
i am exaggerating.
but i mean they've always insisted on being out and about very early on christmas day... preaching.. most elders in my congregation believed this was the best time to preach since most people were celebrating a religious holiday.
I always thought holiday witnesses was kind of a taboo thing to do. At least it is here.
i'll start with the first study article.. this study article deals with vows made to jehovah.
three main vows are discussed.. 1) your dedication to jehovah.
we are told that it is not possible to claim that our baptism was not valid .
I think us ubm have always known we don't have a snowballs chance in hell with the wts upholding the sanctity of our unions.
No real suprise here.
i'll start with the first study article.. this study article deals with vows made to jehovah.
three main vows are discussed.. 1) your dedication to jehovah.
we are told that it is not possible to claim that our baptism was not valid .
Good god
Can't people tell the difference between a bible study and a cult indoctrination session. Its literally like they have stopped trying to pretend they are a religion or Christianity.
I think or at least hope the constant threatening of the rank and file will do more to wake people. Maybe not in this generation but the next one. I currently live next door to an elder in which 3 out of his 4 children didnt become dubs.
during our wt life we met a good number of friends involved in the circuit and district work.
i am sure that we share the same experience and that we remember fondly some that we caring, loving and generally interested in the brothers.
at the same time we might remember others that were arrogant, selfish, abusive and oppressive.
Something that has always bugged me about Wts leadership is I have never met one that really had that road to Damascus background. The worldly person who left a life of wealth and pleasure to become of jehovah witnesses.
All the overseers i have ever met all had a high school or lower education, all were born ins and have been pioneers since leaving school. Literally some of the least impressive people on the planet.
Of course there was the odd war vet but that was more the product of PTSD mixed with a narastic personally.
during our wt life we met a good number of friends involved in the circuit and district work.
i am sure that we share the same experience and that we remember fondly some that we caring, loving and generally interested in the brothers.
at the same time we might remember others that were arrogant, selfish, abusive and oppressive.
All the ones I have known are so stupid I doubt if they could change a tire or write a check.
can anybody point me to actual written society instruction pre 1981, regarding not shunning da ones?.
i know they included shunning as of the wt sept 15 1981, but was before that time purely an unwritten practice or what?.
oz.
Bump
When I was studying with my Uber elder he would site the example of jehovah witnesses in the concentration camps in ww2 and all they would have to do was sign a letter and they were free to leave.
Seems odd that a religion of such devoted faith would basically have to blackmail it's members into not quitting today.
How many people walked after 1975 and seems odd just a few years later they would close the backdoor.
notice the 144000 can be counted and they all come from israel.. 9 after this i saw, and look!
a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues,*+ standing before the throne and before the lamb, dressed in white robes;+ and there were palm branches in their hands.+ .
this great crowd, no man was able to number, and they come from every nation!
I learned a long time ago that arguing over the book of revelations is like trying to punch the wind.
The part I don't understand why do jehovah witness even care anymore since all the annoited were shit canned in 2012 with the new understanding of the faithful slave.
i was invited to a congregation in ontario, canada today and as soon as the meeting opened the brother conducting the meeting said there was a very important statement coming from the borg.
this talk replaced the two last parts of "living as a christian" section.
he started reading a letter from the borg about how much they loved us.
It's a Google French to English translation. That's the reason it reads awkward.