Input from Christians requested on JWs not partaking

by Brigid 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  barry
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  barry

  The memorial I attended was a while ago now but i thought it was OK except for the constant reminder n ot to partake. in the SDAs communion in celebrated every 3 months and all there can partake including christians of other denominations even JW could partake but I dought if it has ever happened with any JW attender because of there insistance they dont partake.
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  poppers

  Ex-catholic here, too. Wine is offered to the laity in most congregations today; partaking of the wine is optional, however.
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  yaddayadda

  I believe very strongly in the subconscious training and manifesting power of ritual. This feels like a very strange thing to do in a religion (Christianity) whose whole doctrine and very existence centers around this one rite that commences and relives a covenant with their god to place people in an observer/denial stance. Very, very strange indeed that the witnesses would have people pass it up.

  I doubt Jesus intended it to ever be regarded as a mere ritual or subconscious training, which can work just as much for the bad as good.
  
  JW's do not view Jesus as 'God' the same as the Father is God (they consider the Father alone is almighty as 'the only true God' John 17:3 and 'the only God' John 5:44 NIV), so the 'ritual' is not a 'covenant with their God' . It is a covenant with God's son.
  
  The reasons, as you said you are aware, why the majority of them bypass the emblems is because they don't feel any 'desire' to go to heaven, or at least that is what they imagine they feel. The teaching that conditions that feeling (imagined or real) is that only Christians who are going to be co-rulers in the kingdom of heaven are to be in the covenant that Jesus concluded. As the kingdom is in heaven they feel, or have been conditioned to believe, that there should be some accompanying magical calling, pull, or realisation that they are going to heaven. The converse could be said of all the 100's of millions of Christians who perfunctorily partake of the emblems. They all say they have a desire to go to heaven, but do they really? Or is it based on dogma and religious sentimentality? If the Society came out tomorrow with 'new light' that in fact all of the 'great crowd' are going to heaven after all and Charles Russell was right all along about the great crowd being a secondary 'heavenly class', you can bet your bottom dollar that the number who partake of the emblems next year will hugely increase, thus proving that whatever 'calling' one feels is probably largely attributeable to whatever dogma you have swallowed coming down from the religious leadership.
  
  What strikes me as an especially bizarre twist of weirdness is that JW's answer the question 'how do you know if you have a heavenly calling or an earthly calling' by pointing to Romans 8:15,16, "...by which spirit we cry out: "Abba,' Father!" Yet both the 'great crowd' and the 'anointed class' both cry out 'Father' to Jehovah, do they not? In fact, arguably JW's have a greater awareness of the Father and worship/cry out to Him much more than any other religious group. Nearly all other Christian religions believe that evidence of adoption by the holy spirit revolves almost entirely by having a supernatural experience in relation to Jesus, 'accepting Jesus into your life' or asking him to come into your life to be the Lord of your life, similar. In effect, other Christians cry out "Abba, Jesus!" not "Abba, Father" (the Father is quite clearly not Jesus.)
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  PoppyR

  When I first attended a memorial, I asked what they do with the bread and wine after, since nobody partakes and they said "we put it in the bin" I was quite shocked! I questioned as to whether that was the correct way to treat emblems which have just symbolised Jesus' body and blood, do they stop symbolising it as soon as the service ends? I thought they would treat it with a little more respect - say bury it or burn it. They were equally surprised because they hadn't really thought about it like that before.

  The PO of our cong says he takes the wine home and drinks it, because it is not jesus blood, only a symbol etc etc.

  Haven't seen anyone offer to take those awful crackers home and put cheese on them though..

  Haven't thought before, but I do see this now, that it is very much 'us' and them mentality, I grew up in a congregation where we had several 'partakers' and we watched them with awe...

  Poppy