Mommy,
In another thread you stated to me,
: My mother, when we spoke said that she beleives the org should have new information come out(new light brighter and brighter). Because of the fact that birthdays, and christmas, were celebrated in the beginning. She said as we get closer to the big "A" more info will come out, and we should trust that it is coming from Jehovah.
The whole notion of “new light” lays its entire foundation on this verse in Proverbs 4:18:
“But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.”
Or, as the New International Version puts it,
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”
And the KJV,
“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
In reading the entire context from verse 14 through verse 19 it is clear to see that the text is comparing good persons with evil persons. It has nothing to do with doctrine and everything to do with conduct as individuals. When people start down a path of bad, they will continue on that path, and when people start down a path of good, they tend to continue with that good.
These verses are dealing with people’s character and development of that character. They are NOT dealing with religious doctrine proferred by religious leaders, especially predictions and prophecy.
In its customary way, the Watchtower Publishing and Nonsense Corporation has snatched a verse out of context and used it to justify their many and recurring screw-ups. Did Jesus ever mention this “new light” doctrine? No! Did the apostles ever mention this “new light” doctrine? No!
The easiest way to demolish the claim that ever-revealed “new light” is to use the same claim for just about any religion, or any institution. When the Catholics no longer viewed eating meat on Friday’s as a sin, it was “new light!” When the German’s were forced to recognize that the Nazi system was corrupt and evil and then became democratic, Jehovah was revealing “new light” to them. When Clinton saw the error of his ways and vowed never again to get oral sex for “little Willie” in the White House, it was “new light!” From Jehovah!
Did any of the prophets in the Bible utter a prediction that wasn’t quite right, and then have Jehovah later reveal to them a “clarification” via “new light” so that they could finally get it right? No! Even when the apostles were wrangling over circumcision and sacrifices offered to idols, did those proponents disfellowship and shun those who disagreed with them? No!
The JWs are no different from the Mormons in their belief of progressive revelation. That is exactly what the theory of “new light” is, by the way: progressive revelation.
Charles Russell stated that new light could never extinguish old light, but merely added to it. The Watchtower continues that theme in THEORY ONLY by using the word “clarification” to explain new light. The JW masses have been lead to believe that things that were hazy are becoming “clearer” with each new release of Watchtower Trash™. But is such the case?
Karl Klein’s infamous article on “Tacking” in the WT magazine is a good example of the society trying to explain away their mistakes and changes. The article uses a picture of a sailboat zig-zagging across the sea, but ALWAYS going forward.
*** w81 12/1 26-7 The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter ***
“When one ruling over mankind is righteous, . . . then it is as the light of morning, when the sun shines forth.”—2 Sam. 23:3, 4.
THE light on the pathway of Jehovah’s servants from earliest times to the present has kept on increasing. This has been even more so since that notable year 1914 when, as developments here on earth showed, “the kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord [Jehovah] and of his Christ.” (Rev. 11:15) Light from God’s Word has flashed forth, like the sunshine on “a morning without clouds” to illuminate ever more clearly the pathway that Jehovah’s servants must tread.—2 Sam. 23:3, 4.
2 However, it may have seemed to some as though that path has not always gone straight forward. At times explanations given by Jehovah’s visible organization have shown adjustments, seemingly to previous points of view. But this has not actually been the case. This might be compared to what is known in navigational circles as “tacking.” By maneuvering the sails the sailors can cause a ship to go from right to left, back and forth, but all the time making progress toward their destination in spite of contrary winds. And that goal in view for Jehovah’s servants is the “new heavens and a new earth” of God’s promise.—2 Pet. 3:13.
There are two clear lies (or at least grave deceptions) in this article. Not only has their path not “always gone straight forward” it is flip-flipped and in a few cases flipped and flopped back and forth several times. Also, the statement, “have shown adjustments, seemingly to previous points of view” implies that they have NOT adjusted to previous points of view. This is a lie. They have. The comment “all the time making progress” is also a lie.
When Rutherford changed Russell’s view of the “higher powers” or “superior authorities” from being the governments of the world to being Jehovah and Jesus Christ, that was not a “clairification” at all, but a remarkable change in doctrine. Nothing could be further from the worldly government than Jehovah and Christ, right? After Rutherford’s time, the society changed their view of the superior authorities BACK to exactly what Russell had taught decades earlier. Is that “progress?” Is that a “clarification?” Or is that a flip-flop? Is that “tacking” or is it just “tacky?” Even if that verse in Proverbs 4:18 DID apply to religious doctrine as taught by the WTS, it cannot apply in the example I just gave. With regards to the societies view on the superior authorities: first the light was ON and blazing brightly. Then it was OFF and totally dark. Then it was ON again and blazing brightly. Ask your mother to explain how that verse applies in that situation.
Another example is alternative military service. Bible Students had no objection to it (light was ON). Later the society made it an offense whose punishment was equal to murder, adultery, rape and other horrible crimes, e.g. one was forcibly ejected from the congregation by Disassociation. (Light was Off.) More recently the society made it a conscience matter AGAIN. (Light was ON.) Do you see truth becoming more clarified, more enhanced, more discernible here? NO! You see a total bunch of crap trying to be justified by a Bible verse that doesn’t even apply!
Then there is the issue of whether the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah would be resurrected or not. Let’s see, were there FIVE flip-flops, or only four? I forget, but I’m sure it set a world’s record for doctrinal flip-flops.
Then there were the ridiculous statements made by the society about the heart being the organ of our deep-seated emotions. They stated this (as God’s direct representatives being used by Him) in the face of overwhelming facts of the time (early 1970’s) that the heart was merely a pump for blood. They quoted all kinds of scriptures and tried to show that, not figuratively, but LITERALLY the heart was the seat of our emotions. Was there any grain of “truth” in that “light” of the day? No! When they quietly admitted without apologies later that the heart was merely a pump, was that “light” becoming “brighter” then? No! The just dumped a goofy belief! Period!
For the notion of “the light getting brighter” to have any merit at all, there first must be at least some truth in the original belief, and each clarification must ADD to that truth without changing the gist of it.
Here is a REAL example of what “new light” is:
It was discovered that there is truth in the fact the WTS has covered up child rape for decades, and as the light has gotten “brighter” over the past year or so, it has been discovered that this cover-up extends to the highest levels of the WTS. As the light becomes even “brighter,” more and more victims are coming forward to attest to the original “light,” faint as it was in the beginning. Now this light is blazing and the entire truth of the matter is going to be revealed. Surely Jehovah is blessing his apostate humans in providing such rich and revealing information, so his good name will not be sullied by wicked liars any more in this regard. Surely!
I can go on and on, but I’ve tried this same line of arguments with my own beloved, yet braindead JW mother, and got nowhere. She even claimed that the verses in Romans on the superior authorities applied to BOTH the worldly governments AND Jesus and Jehovah! Talk about doublethink!
I’m sure many others can add to this, but it is a start. Remember, in my humble opinion, if the WTS can use the notion of progressive revelation or ever-increasing “light” from God, then other religions, institutions and governments can do the same to excuse their screw-ups. If the WTS wants to have its cake and eat it, too, so can every one else. If they deny this, they are rank hypocrites. But then, we already know that.
Farkel