Why do the JW's demonize the Wise Men?

jgnat

From the chance comments from my husband and what I've read, the Wise Men were bad because they went off and told Herod about the birh of the new King, Jesus. That description really doesn't jive with the tone of the bible accounts. I mean, when the angel warned them off, they prudently went home without returning to Herod. That, and the gifts they gave Joseph and Mary, seem to indicate that their intentions were honorable.

So why do the JW's hate the Wise Men so bad?

Is it because they were sorcerers, necromancers, and "everybody knows" that Jehovah hates witchcraft?

The JW's can't tolerate inconsistency in their running doctrine.

Is it because God used "outsiders," strangers?

JW's demonize outsiders. How in the heck could Jehovah have used them? In the JW worldview, Jehovah's spirit works only within the organization. JW's conveniently forget the long line of "strangers" in the lineage of Christ. Moses' wife, the prostitute, Ruth. God is inclusive, rather than exclusive. Strangers to the WT doctrine can still gaze in to the night sky and see evidence of God.

Is it because they accurately predicted the birth of Christ?

Hmmm, who would be the equivalent to the Wise men in our day during the supposed return of Christ in 1918? Scientists? Conspiracy theorists? New Agers?

Besides, this prejudice against these Wise Men means I can't share one of my favorite stories with my husband, the story of the fourth wise man.

http://www.classicreader.com/read.php/sid.6/bookid.593/

IP_SEC

Because no one can be wise except them. So they needed to give em another name.

gumby

Mornin jgnathead....ya big little fruitcake

So why do the JW's hate the Wise Men so bad?
Is it because they were sorcerers, necromancers, and "everybody knows" that Jehovah hates witchcraft?

To demonize Christmas basically.

Their reasoning is... the entire wisemen scene is Satan inspired. Satan SENT these men for the sole purpose of killing Jesus to destroy the seed who would bless mankind. The STAR that followed these men was actually GUIDED by Satan himself. ( satan can actually move planets just in case ya didn't know)

Anyone with half a brain will read the story of the wise men as a GOOD reason they went to see Jesus. As you said.....they wanted to honor him with gifts because of who he was. The arguments the dubs use to discredit this account is as lame as saying a birthday is wrong because we shouldn't honor a human in this manner on any given day.

Gumby......who's gladder than hell he ain't gotta explain this bullshit to other people anymore and feel like a dipshit when he did.

jgnat

LOL. I think I'll be a fruitcake forever now. Wanna be on my annual fruitcake list? Keep it up, gumby.

Narkissos

One of my last Bible studies as a JW was on the Gospel of Matthew (I had dropped using WT literature for some time). Just reading the text and letting the "student" freely comment. When we came to chapter 2 I had a fellow special pioneer with me and very naturally the woman I was studying with came up with nothing but positive comments about the "wise men". To which I added by pointing out the obvious openness of the text to people were usually rejected by orthodox Judaism: strangers and astrologers at that, who could see better than the Torah scribes. My pioneer partner did not comment a lot, but she was both surprised and agreeing. None of us brought up the WT interpretation -- it was so far from the text.

TheListener

Explaining the wise men was difficult at best. I just told people that they practiced magic and therefore were evil.

Lame? Yes. Did anyone ever actually call me on it? No.

gumby

Wanna be on my annual fruitcake list? Keep it up, gumby.

LMAO ! Hell....I'll stop.....I promise!!!!!!!

Narkmeister......very interesting experience my friend. That story tells alot. A WHOLE lot!

If you would have done the same throughout the whole bible ( NT ) your study would have been closer to arriving at christendoms MAIN MESSAGE than the message the dubs deliver to people. People who read the bible with no pre-concieved notions doctrinally will NOT arrive at a dubs main message. Doctrinally in some areas the dubs may win, but 'doctrine' wasn't the message of Jesus.

Gumby

AK - Jeff

I think it is simple Janet.

The more parts and portions of the Christmas idea they can poison, the more likely they are to keep the flock following what they say.

Most of the arguments they make are pretty flimsy to begin with. But a bunch of flimsy arguments might take on an aire of depth that is just not there in the position they take.

Jeff

tetrapod.sapien

hey jgnat,

The JW's can't tolerate inconsistency in their running doctrine.
yes, they are quite immature that way. like children, guessing as they go along. they go down one road that makes sense to them, and then one of them back-tracks along a side path and says: "oh, but this means the wisemen were okaydokee. and if they were okaydokee, then you know what that means... (wink wink, nudge nudge)." and then the oldest man in the group just goes: "naahh... they were tools of satan. case closed."
Besides, this prejudice against these Wise Men means I can't share one of my favorite stories with my husband, the story of the fourth wise man.
how cool is that!? (reading) ...
gumbo,
Doctrinally in some areas the dubs may win, but 'doctrine' wasn't the message of Jesus.
amen bruva! - *this" -. *this* jesus is the jesus that i dig. for some reason i think of you and jgnat and littletoe when i think of this jesus.
narkissos,
i wish i had a pioneer partner like you. what ever happened to your pioneer partner? .... sorry. perhaps a question for a different thread.
TS

gumby

*this* jesus is the jesus that i dig. for some reason i think of you and jgnat and littletoe when i think of this jesus.

Love your fellowman is the Jesus I like. Besides....he said this was good enough. No need to sweat the lighter stuff.

Bruvva Gumby

Why do the JW's demonize the Wise Men?

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