how can members of the governing body sleep at night, when they claim to be the voice of god and so many people put faith in their twisted words?
my brother is 21 years old.
all his life he's been a jw.
doodle-v
I'm sorry to read about your brother. May God comfort you and bless you during this time of distress.
Men have committed terrible atrocities in the name of religion. People who are convinced they have "the truth" can justify whatever they do. The Governing Body only has to make the rules and regulations. They never have to deal with the personal tragedies that result from them.
We pray that your brother will reconsider his position.
the following is an interesting new arcticle on the freeminds site:.
http://www.geocities.com/thewatchtowerstudy/bible.htm.
it gives interesting information on jw bible interpretation gymnastics regarding verses on jesus, showing that the wt in effect rejects the plain teachings of the bible regarding jesus.
James Thomas:
I'm afraid it requires "faith" in any case. If one doesn't have faith in the Bible, one has faith in its critics and their conclusions. Critcs have come and gone with their theories as have the archeologists and scientists. What is "truth" one day is not the next.
Wish you success in your search. But a lifetime may not long enough, I fear. I choose to have faith in the simple teachings of Christ that encouraged love, compassion and mercy. How can one go wrong?
this jerk still solicits money from time to time on bet, however the former church he pastored has fallen to the wrecking ball.. tilton's old church falls to wrecking ball .
farmers branch leaders focus on ice rink plans, not site's evangelist past.
12:55 am cst on tuesday, november 11, 2003 .
"....he wasn't feeding his sheep, he was eating his sheep." I love it. Certainly this phrase could well apply to the Watchtower Society today....
the following is an interesting new arcticle on the freeminds site:.
http://www.geocities.com/thewatchtowerstudy/bible.htm.
it gives interesting information on jw bible interpretation gymnastics regarding verses on jesus, showing that the wt in effect rejects the plain teachings of the bible regarding jesus.
hooberus:
I think we may need to make a distinction here between believing the Bible and accepting different interpretations of it. It is obvious that among those Bible believing religions there are vast differences in the interpretations of Scripture. Thus, we have numerous denominations existing. None would deny that they accept the Bible as "God's Word." But their doctrinal beliefs widely vary.
Perhaps, we would do better to imitate some of the Jewish scholars of the past. If any belief could be supported by scripture, the scholars would accept the other scholar regardless of how "far out" the doctrine appeared to the majority. JWs focus on those scriptures that indicate a spiritual resurrection of Christ: ... "being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit"....."flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God." One may totally disagree with their interpretations. But the scriptures stand without commentary and thus are open to interpretation.
My hope would be that JWs would make room for other interpretations except those of the Watchtower Society. But I also think it wrong for others to impose their own interpretations of scripture.
recently i have remembered a man named armstrong and a mag.
he used to publish "the plain truth".
i remember in the 60-70 many people used to get him mixed up with jws.
I remember my mother getting "The Plain Truth" magazine through the mail. Unlike the Watchtower Society, WW Church of God never charged for the literature and never had anyone call at the house. When father and son (Hebert & Ted) had a falling out, we heard that Ted started his own church. He evidently had a following within the movement. Occasionally, we would meet members of the WWCG in service. There was no "give or take"on either side even though there were similarities in doctrine.
The most surprising of all was when the WWCG's new leadership dropped all the doctrine's of Armstrong and went over to the fundamentalist Protestant teachings. It would be like the Watchtower Society announcing that it was becoming part of Billy Graham's crusade!
.
it seems that many people believe that jehovah's witnesses are an offshoot of the seventh-day adventist church.
i've read many claims of this and wonder what the actual relationship is, if any.
I guess that it would be more correct to say they were "second cousins" once removed...LOL
i have to share an experience, and i'm sure it won't be mentioned at the kh on thursday night!!.
this morning while eating breakfast with my parents and my six year old nephew at a local fast food restaurant, some jws came in for their morning break.
my folks and i are all inactive, so i leaned over and said, "i hope they didn't see us.
I'm I the only one that thinks the child should have accepted the gift and said "thank you?" Or we living in an era when all good manners are forgotten? Wouldn't politeness and graciousness be the more important lesson for the child?
The parents would have had ample opportunity to explain to the child about the man and the book later. But at the moment, the kind and polite thing would have been to show good manners.
my neighbor called yesterday and asked if she could come over and visit me today.
i replied, "well, it looks like interpretation is a big issue.
the jws list their bible verses, and claim the same.
bebu:
Thanks for keeping us posted on this interesting experience. The fact that she is still talking to you and coming over for a visit shows that she interested. This can only mean that she is entertaining some doubts on her own.
I think your approach about letting her do some research on these subjects and showing some interest in what she finds is the right way to go. She won't feel that you are trying to argue with her but are merely interested in her search.
Keep up the good work.
....the november 1st issue of the watchtower so that you can follow along with the elder who is there to repeat the article out loud and you will be encouraged to "cultivate a giving spirit".. it'll last 15 minutes.
just thought you'd like to know so that you could pre-study this "spiritual food".
for a start you could read this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/61045/1.ashx.
It's been over twenty years since my wife and I have attended a meeting. But I get the strong feeling that if we did go we would find nearly everything very familiar. I suspect the service meeting and ministry school remain the same. And the Watchtower Studies and Public talks would contain the same material as 20 or 30 years ago.
Is there anyone out there to confirm my suspicions? Or have there been some significant changes?
i keep dreaming about being at the kh.
last night i dreamt i was there and two "worldly" people came in to do some shady business transaction with each other.
they were looking for a third person whom they were supposed to meet there, and wouldn't leave until this person showed up.
starfish:
It's not unusual to have such dreams. I've been out of the organization for over 20 years and I still dream that I'm attending meetings or going to assemblies. However, the change now is that I'm trying to convince those in attendance that it is not "the truth."
I'm sure that the memories of these things are so embedded in our minds that this is one way we cope. From all I've read, dreams are very healthy and are a sort of "release" from any tensions we may be harboring. So....dream on....haha
