Excellent reasoning.
The WT Study during the Annual Mtg related the account of Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They pointed out that there were very few Jews in the city. Paragraph 2 stated:
As Paul sits in the darkness, he contemplates the events of the day. He thinks about the people of Philippi. They do not even have a Jewish synagogue in their city, unlike so many other cities that Paul has visited. In fact, the Jewish worshippers need to gather outside the city gates beside a river. (Acts 16:13, 14) Is this because there are not even ten Jewish males in the city, the number required to form a synagogue? The people of Philippi are obviously very proud of their Roman citizenship, even if it is only a partial or secondary form of citizenship. (Acts 16:21) Could this be why they do not even think it possible that these Jews, Paul and Silas, could be Roman citizens? Whatever the case, here they are, unjustly thrown into prison.
The account in Acts then shows that when God miraculously set them free that the jailer was about to kill himself the WT says:
As Paul and Silas sing songs of praise, a series of totally unexpected events occurs. Suddenly, there is a violent earthquake. The doors of the prison are thrown wide open. All the prisoners’ bonds are loosened. Paul stops the jailer from committing suicide. The jailer and his entire family get baptized.
So they had NO Biblical or Jewish background yet on one night they all get baptized.
JW teaching, study 2 books, go through questions with elders and then get approved for baptism. Here is some interesting instructions:
*** w06 4/1 pp. 21-22 pars. 3-4 ‘Go and Make Disciples, Baptizing Them’ ***
3 To be among those who enjoy that precious relationship with God, one must make a dedication to Jehovah and symbolize it publicly by water baptism. This is in obedience to Jesus’ direct command to his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) The Israelites listened to a reading of “the book of the covenant.” (Exodus 24:3, 7, 8) Thus, they understood their obligations toward Jehovah. Likewise today, an accurate knowledge of God’s will as found in his Word, the Bible, is essential before one takes the step of baptism.
4 Clearly, Jesus intended for his disciples to have a solid foundation for their faith before they would get baptized. He instructed his followers not only to go and make disciples but also to teach them ‘to observe all the things he had commanded.’ (Matthew 7:24, 25; Ephesians 3:17-19) Therefore, those who qualify for baptism have usually studied the Bible for months or even a year or two, so that their decision is neither hasty nor ill-informed. At the baptism itself, the candidates answer yes to two key questions. Since Jesus emphasized that ‘our Yes should mean Yes, our No, No,’ it will be helpful for all of us to review carefully the significance of these two baptismal questions.—Matthew 5:37.
So there is another comparison of the Bible and the teachings of JW.
