Crackdown on Marriages (page 2)

carla

As long as the jw goes to all the meetings, door to door spreading the false gospel, villifying all non believers, all will be well.

done4good

Included in this tidbit, was the understanding that they will start to go so far as to remove the ones who are already and remain married to UBM's by dfing them.

That won't happen. Even THEY know that is unscriptural. It would also cause pandemonium as many elders and ms's are already of that category.

j

uwishufish

So do those that are good R&F but married to an apostate get DF. Or is it if you from this point on marry outside. I hope it is the worst case scenario. More deletions of R&F.

darth frosty

Man that GB fist is so tight, you can see fingernails comin' thru the wrist.

raylo

Paul did say to go ahead and marry BUT ONLY IN THE LORD, so you really never know if the GB could make some rules about that

You know? Everytime I've read the passage, I've always wondered..... well whatever religion the other person is [actually if that person does have a religion period], they in all of their heart do believe that they do have the Lord.... so if a JW married someone who wholeheartedly serves their religion/their Lord....aren't they techincally still marrying IN THE LORD? The bible makes no distictinction as to any specific religion...

If that non-JW believes Jesus is Lord and Saviour.....does the Bible make distinction as to how it's "evenly yoked" if both persons equally believe in Christ as Lord?

Hell, if a Catholic or a Baptist has a bumpersticker proclaiming "I Love The Lord" and they do love their religion......aren't they in the Lord?

I know the intent of JWs and GB when they read and try to apply those scriptures, (blah blah) but I'm a bit of a semantic and I like directness as I'm a technical person...and well technically speaking.......

Okay, Okay..so sometimes I wonder the most peculiar things.

Raylo

Gill

I doubt that they would disfellowship anyone who had already married out of JW land, but they may well chose to punish any who do in the future!

bubble

I hope they do df all those married to unbelievers. That means my sister will be df'd and then I get her back. It's a fantastic dream but I don't think it'll happen, they'd lose too many members!

blondie

First, would the WTS ever have its members divorce their non-JW mates or face being DF'd? No, because it is so clearly in opposition to what Paul said in the Bible.

(1 Corinthians 7:10-16) 10

To the married people I give instructions, yet not I but the Lord, that a wife should not depart from her husband; 11 but if she should actually depart, let her remain unmarried or else make up again with her husband; and a husband should not leave his wife. 12 But to the others I say, yes, I, not the Lord: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and yet she is agreeable to dwelling with him, let him not leave her; 13 and a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and yet he is agreeable to dwelling with her, let her not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in relation to [his] wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in relation to the brother; otherwise, YOUR children would really be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving one proceeds to depart, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not in servitude under such circumstances, but God has called YOU to peace. 16 For, wife, how do you know but that you will save [your] husband? Or, husband, how do you know but that you will save [your] wife?

***

w05 3/1 p. 18 par. 11 Wise Guidance for Married Couples ***

What, though, if marriage mates have different religious views because one of them accepted Christian truth some time after they got married and the other did not? Can such a marriage succeed? The experience of many says yes. A husband and wife with different religious views can still have a successful marriage in the sense that it can be enduring and bring happiness to both. Besides, the marriage is still valid in Jehovah’s eyes; they are still "one flesh." Therefore, Christian spouses are counseled to stay with the unbelieving partner if that partner is agreeable. If there are children, they benefit from the faithfulness of the Christian parent.—1 Corinthians 7:12-14

.

As to disfellowshipping a JW who marries a non-JW, that has been addressed in the past by the WTS. The following are some quotes back to the 1950's. Some elders have tried to tell JWs facing DFing for fornication that if they married there non-JW partner in this, they could be DF'd for not showing "works that befit repentance." In almost every case the person agreed that they would not marry the person, were reproved and then turned around and married the person. The elders could no longer DF the person because they had been reproved. I'm sure that burned up a few elders. The basis of not DFing a person for marrying an unbeliever is based on the reasoning the WTS uses for determining what is a DFing offense, that is, were the Israelites put to death for it.

***

w82 7/15 p. 20 par. 19 How Do You Guide Your Life? ***

We also find Bible rules on matters that are not disfellowshipping offenses. For example, Paul wrote that single Christians should marry "only in the Lord," and he ordered that "if anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat." (1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Thessalonians 3:10) Someone might reason, ‘Since I would not be expelled for disobeying that advice, these must not be serious rules.’ What unwise thinking! God views these rules as serious. Did not Paul tell the Thessalonians to ‘mark’ and "stop associating with" lazy persons willfully disobeying the rule about working?—2 Thessalonians 3:14, 15.

***

Footnote ***w82 7/15 p. 20 par. 19 How Do You Guide Your Life? See The Watchtower of September 1, 1981, pages 20, 21; March 15, 1982, page 31.

*** g79 3/22 p. 28 Marry "Only in the Lord"—How Important? ***

The Christian Scriptures mention a number of gross sins for which an unrepentant wrongdoer might be cut off from the congregation. No, not by being stoned as in ancient Israel, but by being disfellowshiped. Among these sins are fornication, idolatry, adultery, stealing, drunkenness and extortion. A Christian’s marrying an unbeliever is not given as a basis for being disfellowshiped, any more than an ancient Israelite was cut off for that. But, as we have clearly seen, that course was definitely wrong in Israel. It was unfaithfulness, disloyalty to Israel’s God. Hence, Paul’s words to marry "only in the Lord" cannot be dismissed as mere human opinion. They are actually a continuation of the overall counsel of God’s Word on the matter. And they are now part of the inspired Scriptures that are beneficial "for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness."—2 Tim. 3:16.

***

w56 9/15 p. 564 par. 13 Theocratic Marriage in an Alien World ***

The accepting of bride money from a worldling in any amount in order to marry a dedicated Christian daughter to him is untheocratic. It does not imitate Jehovah’s strict law to Israel. It endangers the daughter’s eternal welfare, thus to put her in subjection to an undedicated worldling. It disqualifies a brother at least for certain special service privileges in the Christian congregation. He may not be excommunicated for this action, just as a parent elsewhere who allows a son or a daughter to marry outside the New World society may not be disfellowshiped nor even the son or daughter that thus marries ‘outside the Lord,’ outside the truth. But such persons are not good material for congregational overseer or ministerial servants. They are poor examples of the believers. Where sons or daughters have refused to be married off to pagan worldlings they have not failed to obey the commandment to honor their father and their mother, inasmuch as these have not shown themselves to be "in union with the Lord" in making a marriage alliance with the world. The resisting sons and daughters are trying to remain "in union with the Lord," which is right.—Eph. 6:1-4, NW.

*** w52 7/1 p. 414 Questions From Readers ***

If one in the truth wishes to marry someone who is not, it is his responsibility and his decision to make. This act in itself does not render the one in the truth unclean and subject to disfellowshiping. It does not make the organization unclean nor require the purging out of such an individual. It is unwise, and it is contrary to the advice given to Christians, and such a person who goes contrary to this advice may bring considerable troubles and difficulties upon himself; but if he chooses to disregard the divine counsel it is his personal choice and others need not interfere. The one asked to perform the marriage may have considered 1 Corinthians 7:39 (NW) which says, "She is free to be married to whom she wants, only in the Lord"; so he can refuse. The other person’s marriage performer could officiate at the ceremony.

Blondie

LDH

First and foremost the WT is about MONEY.

Going off of experience in my old congregations, the sisters who had MONEY were married to non-believers, and in certain cases, active opposers.

There were 4 JW families out of 75 or so that I would classify as financially independent with a nice lifestyle.

Contrast *THAT* with the JW sis with UBMs---one raced cigarette boats as a hobby, one owned a business. They had the nice cars and houses.

So NO the JW will not bite the hand that feeds them.

Lisa

moshe

I remember when smoking was banned- all because the new order was so close and God's people needed to be clean before going into it. Could something similar be getting ready to take place?- more restrictions/rules/df'd to clean up the KH just before Armageddon. Now if you were on the GB and you were bombarded all the time by problems caused by apostates and the Internet you would see that as a major problem. They have to, in their mind clean out the leaven from the KH before Armageddon.

Crackdown on Marriages

Share this