by Bambie 53 Replies latest watchtower bible
Lawrence - I take it you don't like the FDS/ Governing Body, then!
Midwichcuckoo - Ahaa! So they are schizophrenic then! They really do believe that God is telling them what to do!
So why does he keep changing his mind, since he is Editor of the Watchtower?
OLD SOUL :- JW Ben is correct. They do not claim spirit-inspiration. They do claim spirit-direction........ Spirit inspiration is much milder.
I should say so - if both Knorr and Franz, UNDER OATH, can claim God Himself is the author of the WT!! (One Helluva claim)
Oh, and YES, welcome Bambie
P.S. - do I detect a little hostility there Lawrence? Lol
There is a watchtower - May 1957 can't remember which issues where the society states very very clearly that you must listen to the voice of the faithful and discreet slave as if you were listening to the voice of God" They claim to be the voice of God. Therefore no matter what they dish out should be as if God was dishing it out. Since I've recently left this lying organisation behind I've been amazed at how many things they have got wrong, how many prophesies they predicted and never came about. If this is listening to the voice of God - then God lies.....oh but wait they are only men and are imperfect and can make mistakes.....(get out of jail free card?) But then I say.... When God spoke through imperfect men in past times, they seemed to have got it right, beause prophecies were fulfilled ..... so what has changed......if you are the voice of God then best you listen very carefully otherwise you'll make God out to seem as if He is confused and or is a liar. And that will make Him quite angry I'm sure.
Hello LouBelle
Is it from Ist May 1957 WT, ''Trust Your Proved, Faithful Brothers'' :-
7
Respect for Jehovah?s organization means to trust our proved, faithful brothers. These are the ones who through much hardship and experience have demonstrated that the spirit of God is with them. The rich blessing that has been poured out upon the visible organization is evidence that the governing body and those who represent it are deserving of our full support and trust. This we can demonstrate only by accepting every provision as coming from the Lord through the "faithful and discreet slave." It means that those who are selected as servants in the congregation should gladly accept their appointments as representatives of the Lord through the governing body and that they should faithfully discharge the obligations of their appointments as though it were the governing body itself acting. It means that all in the congregation should perform all their works with a recognition of theocratic counsel emanating from the true channel.
JWBen said: The GB do not claim and have not claimed to have speaking rights directly with God nor do they claim inspiration. The decitions that are made as to doctrine is based on Bible study. This includes more that just reading the Bible but on doing reasearch as to what words meant in the first centry or when the Bible book was writen.
Well then why the f*ck would we need them to interpret it for us??! If they're not inspired and their decisions on interpreting the scriptures is based soley on Bible study, then that's no different than any other human being on earth who can read and write.....JWBen, I'm still waiting for your findings that you promised me months ago about how you don't get disfellowshipped for not agreeing the with Governing Body's interpretation of the bible........
Having read the posts on this thread I am not sure whether the GB claim to be insired or not, apparently at times they claim one then the other "I am and I am not inspired"
I think once more they are trying to split hair and redefine the basic meanings of words. What does inspired mean? God sends info straight to their heads. Is it different from receiving direction? In what different ways do (1)Spirit insiration and (2)Spirit direction lead them to know and decide things?
But then having to vote for decisions means that there is no Divine involvement in that decision making.
Also I didn't know that the GB existed in the 50's I thought they came up in the 70's with much opposing resistance from Franz and Knorr.
They consistently imply that they are spirit-inspired. They consistently deny spirit-inspiration in print. They consistently claim spirit-direction and insist that any baptized accept that criterion.
od p. 215: "Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization?"
Did they themselves ever fully define and clarify what is spirit direction and how it differs from spirit inspiration?
As Mary says if they are not inspired but just directed what's their special status?
lmao JW Ben.. get the shit out of your ears man. Just re-read what you are saying objectively and try to understand how stupid it really is. How thick can someone possibly be?
What would this cult have to do for you to understand that they don't have the truth?
GBL
They speak out of both sides of their mouth by directly inferring that they are directed or at least influenced by Holy Spirit, but then denying it when cornered. The best of both worlds. They can ask for (and get) allegiance based on their being the FDS, but have an "out" when obvious mistakes are made.
I watch my father do this on a smaller scale here with the business. He hates to be held to anything, so he doesn't make policies as such. This often leads to confusion and the employees running to him to get "rulings" on various things....or they send all customers with questions about certain services, that we may or may not provide, to him because they know that if they (the employees) make a decision, he'll possibly get quite aggravated (depends on his mood on any given day).
This confusion discourages independant thinking and sets people up to be ready to accept blame or even complete 180 degree shifts. Its worked quite well for the WTS ...so far at least.
