has anyone heard quiet rumblings of new light on the meaning of the 144,000?
to look for 144,000 congregations of jehovah's people as there are now almost 112,000 congregations?
has anyone heard this?.
Then why don't they just split the congregations in the world that are over 100 dubs and form two congregations of 50 till you have 144,000 then the end will come!!!!
Sorry, I can't see any of this be true, even the GB/FDS are not that stupid...are they?
i am technically inactive.
i was just curious if there are many people on the inside.
are there any within bethel itself?
Resigned as elder March 2012
Stopped meeting & ministry October 2012
Unsure what to do next as DF/DA means family woes...guess I'll carry on fading.
i'm just doing some research for my book, and i uncovered a real gem from the watch tower of july 1st 1914 - published three months before the "gentile times" were due to end climaxing (as they thought back then) in armageddon.. a rather brave "colporteur" (pioneer) wrote in to the magazine asking whether the studies in the scriptures series of books advocating 1914 to be the end of the world should cease to be circulated after october.
not only does the question itself prove that the expectations of publishers back then were entirely contrary to what the society repeatedly implies them to be, but the answer given by russell shows the same arrogance and evasiveness that we see in modern literature from the society, showing how little has changed since those days.. here is the clipping.... .
notice how russell falls back on the same line of argumentation used by the society, namely "we have not attempted to say these views are infallible.".
Very interesting Cedars...your book will be interesting to read...is it going to be a long work-in-progress or will you rattle it out promptly?
i was a faithful witness for years, even graduating from the ministerial training school.
so much of what i learned at the school has already changed.
if that was food at the proper time and, according to the latest teachings of the governing body, is now all wrong -- basically lies -- was it really spritual food from god?
A point I keep making to the rank and file dubs...
Yes the GB are just men and yes they are imperfect and will make mistakes on an individual level just like everyone else BUT they claim God's Sprit is directing them and that spirit in NOT imperfect thus IF they are being directed then they would NEVER get anything wrong.
I was an elder until March 2012 when I resigned and in October 2012 I stopped going to meetings. I went to the MTS in the UK in 2001.
It was the stupid generation teaching that overlaps that "woke me up" and made me do more research...this lead me to jwfacts.com and I read Raf Franz' Crisis of Conscience and Don Cameron's Captives of a Concept.
Once I concluded that the GB are not being directed by God (which Don Cameron excellently proves in his book with pure logic) the whole belief system in it came crashing down and I was very surprised at how much trust I had put into the GB/FDS without ever checking things.
Checking quotations from worldy books that hey reference to in the Reasoning Book and the Trinity brochure are misapplied or just plain wrong and deceptive.
Whilst I am not DF or DA (yet) as I refuse to meet with the elders the time will come soon that I act but I have to be careful because of family ties.
I fully believe with forums like this, the wide availability of the internet and excellent books and websites that expose the GB that more and more JW's will leave...
i have updated a site of mine, jwfacts.mobi, which has a few articles from jwfacts.com, but better designed for smart phones.
on it i am going to include a few polls, and need people to answer them so that there are some intial numbers for the graphs.. please go to jwfacts.mobi/pollsarchive and answer any that are relevant.
it should only take a minute.
Are You A?
Why did you Leave?
What were you disfellowshipped for?
Do you think Watchtower doctrine is closest to the truth?
At what age did you leave?
this is the title of my latest article, which is available on the link below.... http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/are-jehovahs-witnesses-a-hierarchical-religion-and-does-it-matter.
inspired by the illustration in the april 15th watchtower (above), i thought it would be worthwhile to further explore this facet of the society for two reasons.... because the society has spent decades criticizing the catholic church for being hierarchical, andbecause the society has recently become more open about its hierarchical nature than ever before.below is a diagram i have prepared which shows the organizational similarities that watch tower society now shares with the catholic church.... .
until recently, the governing body could place the "faithful slave" above it at the top of the pyramid, but as of october 5th this fuzzy doctrine was scrapped - thus removing the final distinguishing factor between the governing body and popedom.. as always, i would be interested in your thoughts.... .
Jesus is the head of the Christian Congregation...which is on Earth...thus he would merit a mention in the picture for sure...he is not there.
i mean no disrespect to sd-7 or his fine thread on which this picture has already featured, but i think it is just so ridiculous that it deserves a thread all of its own.. lurkers and apologists, this is how your precious organization views itself.... behold the madness.... .
.
cedars.
Erm isn't Jesus supposed to be Head of the Christian Congregation? The Christian Congregation ON EARTH?
Surely that makes JC very important in a picture of Jehovah's Earthly Organisation...and he ain't in it...
how long do you think the watchtower can speak about 1914 and have followers think it relevant?
i think for people born in the 1900's, it feels like an acceptable year.
but what about those born since 2000, will 1914 seem like a year of relevance?
The fact that the new light recently does away with Charlie boy as part of the FDS means they are "heading" that way...they are heading to eliminate 1914 and it seems 1919 has become more important...
We have all read replies on how 1935 could be important to them so they can do it...they can still move the goalposts and still retain that Jesus selected them...
we have debated this over many years and in many threads, as all of us have family and/or former friends still in.
it seems that there is no "best" way to wake up a jw, it is as elusive as the "true" religion it seems.. but a comment made by poster "emery" on another thread stood out to me, he/she said :.
"what i have gathered is that most witnesses seem to be in it for emotional reasons.
Dubs have to "choose" to wake up...blue pill red pill type thing...I was a frequent reader on this site and many but was still very much in until I was ready...despite all my irrefutable logical evidence presented to my wife she is not ready and is still in...
Nothing you can say can change a dub until they themselves are ready...Steve Hassan's books cover topics like this...well worth a read to help someone out of the borg...
not predictions for 2013 per se, but a couple i could see happening in the not-too-distant future:.
the society takes the hundred year anniversary of 1914 head-on with more spin and disinformation.
already laid the groundwork with the "100 years ago" feature in the new yearbook.
The date of 1919 will be changed...
