at the meeting this week, there was a part about placing our trust in jehovah and not worrying about food and shelter (mat 6:33).
the part was based on the 2013 yearbook p138 and 139 where there were two examples:.
a family went to their convention leaving their chickens unattended for a number of days, worried about if they would survive.
Fernando, Witnesses are just following Jesus' command to build religious edifices and dedicate them to their diety.
Also, he commanded his followers to wear their finest garments at those buildings in imitation of Jesus' example of humility.
And last, when Jesus sent them out in pairs, he instructed them to also wear fine garments and carry scrolls and read them
so as not to draw attention to themseves. Witnesses always strive to follow the first century examples set before us.
according to this description, unless the elders determine that you really want to be a member of the watchtower corporation, then you are not worthy of dedicating your life to god.. .
w98 3/13 dedication and freedom of choice p.17 par.18.
before a person can qualify to become one of jehovahs witnesses, he must meet scriptural qualifications.
There are no scriptures in the NT that state 'dedication' is a pre-requisite for Christian baptism.
Nor 'living up' to that 'dedication' is God's plan of salvation;
Sounds good, feels good but deflects from what Christ did for humankind.
are the governing body, 8 pope-ettes, just jealous?.
what group of people doesn't want their finest minds to be educated?
(facepalm) .
Lois you have a pm.
are the governing body, 8 pope-ettes, just jealous?.
what group of people doesn't want their finest minds to be educated?
(facepalm) .
Open up any Watchtower, the literary obfuscation... the absence of the writers' name, source materials, bibliography, appendix,
quotes taken out of context, one dictionary states...referring to yourself in the 3rd person etc... would get you a big fat F in English I.
The critical thinking skills learned in the social sciences, psychology courses alone would clash with the
black and white thinking cultivated at the kingdom halls. The fallacious reasoning, that's a whole nother story.
So yes, the Watchtower leadership feels very threatened by tertuary education. It empowers the mind.
cult members are property.. living property consisting of non-persons and non-individuals with disabled self-expression.. the tool used by this religion to control a member's desire to self-improve is attaching guilt as a stop-sign and crying: "disloyal.".
like any owned property, you are under the total control of others.
any wrong move, word or deed can label you a "danger" to the group-think.. there exists in such an authority structure only three possible stats you can achieve.. 1.compliant usefulness in carrying out assigned missions.
Doctrinally perhaps, but the push for uniformity in appearance remains strong
in my locale. I chose to grow my beard out 6 months ago. After being seen in public, 2 elders to came
to my employment. The look on their faces was priceless. (Hadn't been to a public
meeting in sometime) Anyway, I told them I had a skin condition and it was exacerbated by my razor ;)
One of them actual said it looked good on me. Haven't seen them since.
so i've been thinking about my jw family members a lot lately, especially since i just saw them a couple of weeks ago at my youngest sisters wedding.
with all the current animosity towards apostates that seems to be more aggressive than usual it hit me when i saw this posted on fb today.
would it be possible for the gb to demand that jw's kill apostates?
I don't think it's too far a stretch. These men feel they are administering God's visible representation
of the kingdom here on earth via th WBTS. Second, they believe they are not only heaven bound but will come down
at Armageddon and SLAY every man, woman and child that did not put faith in their words and
disseminate religious periodicals unwaveringly.
Pterist, logically the great crowd/other sheep only fit in the picture if they are wheat.
it's my understanding that the old light regarding the faithful and discreet slave was that in 1918-1919 jesus appointed the faithful and discreet slave over all his house.. but under the new light, it's a two-stage process.. now the "truth" is that in 1919 jesus appointed the governing body to provide spiritual food in due season and the gb will only be placed in authority over his domestics during the great tribulation.. all of this is wt nonsense, but in order to get jws who believe this stuff to think about the implications, my questions are:.
1. what will the future appointment authorize the governing body to do that is not yet authorized?.
2. since under the old light the governing body has wrongly believed they have had this authority since 1919, doesn't this mean they have been wrongly exercising authority that jesus hasn't yet given them?.
I've been mulling over the nu lite on the current watchtower leaders revised historical and theological premises. Much has already been said but have to throw in my 2 cents.
I noticed sometime ago the Society quit referring to the founder and 1st president CT Russell as founder and said the Jesus founded the 'Truth". Then a couple months ago referred to Russell as the 1st 'editor', theologically demoting him.
NOW he has been theologically castrated by inferring that CT Russell was NOT a faithful slave nor anointed and the Watchtower Society wasn't even God's organization for 40 years till 1919!
It seems logical that the next step for the governing body will be to attach profound theological significance to Rutherfords' release from the Atlanta state Pen in 1919 more than ever, especially since nothing else happened that year. Perhaps nu lite on the Cedar Point Ohio conventions as well.
My 2 cents worth
after today's watchtower study which was basically a mind controlling article about shunning your loved disfellowshipped ones, i've come to see just how sick, twisted, vile, rotten, repulsive, disgusting, and just plain evil you all are.
so i stormed out.
i don't know if i'll ever come back to your meetings again.
of course i am talking about tertullian.
i presented this topic to jehovah's witnesses one time and they were not able to clearly explain why.
tertullian held certain beliefs contrary to the jws but there are some things the jws do agree with and often quote them in their articles.
This hypocritical practice is one of the main points I brought out to the elders many years ago when I stepped aside.
Quoting from theologians and secular sources to support and give weight to watchtower arguements was wrong
if the sources are concurrently taught as being wordly or under satanic inspiration. This fact is undeniable. (and remains so).
I told them I could not in good conscience teach anymore as long as this was practiced.
I felt this was the safest explanation since it did not call into question doctrinal teachings
specifically. My request to step aside was granted. A special needs talk followed shortly after about questioning Jehovahs
'appointed channel' and 'independant thinking'. Imagine that.
