by Fisherman 27 Replies latest jw friends
It would be a wonderful day indeed if an elder got up at the KH and said that a group of 50-60 of them had formed a group and decided that DF and shunning were barbaric and aksing any who choose to contact them. or at a convention , you know like the baptists (whatever), a group formerly announces their depature and they are not thrown out on the street.
that would be a wonderful day indeed.
JWs are a sect to begin with. But my favorite is The True Faith Jehovah’s Witnesses of romania. You can find the story how they started online. But their website is here http://the-true-jw.oltenia.ro/ you can see pictures of their convention.
There are also some othe reform movements with websites but they are a little more difficult to find.
First of all, thanks for that intersting link. Very informative
I was wondering regarding the Romanian jw movement, how do they stand on blood transfusions? I am curious because I believe that "Dracula" or Vlad Dracul was from Romania and perhaps this old national figure may have influenced the sectarian blotherhood there now. Off topic, does anyone know? Their websire does not say much about their doctrines. On Topic, Any info showing secterian movements contribute to this topic.
I have no way of authenticating this movement but if it is real but if it is real, it seems to be a start
I did a web search on Charles Taze Russel. I was surprised to see how many websites there are not jw that defend and say so many good things about him. Here is one of them:
http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/adrianbiblestudents/russell.html
I guess a group that started out with 120 members then added 3,000 would be more to your liking, Fisherman. I wasn't talking about groups of 2 or 3 that exist only to bring down or talk negatively about the WTS. I see you really have had no contact with people who have left to the WTS to go back to the Bble and start over again. The groups I pointed to on those websites hardly qualify as negative JW groups. So how many members would there have to be before it became a sect, 5,000?, 6,000?
Thanks for adding the Romanian group, Fisherman, when you read their site, you probably found that they basically are stuck in the 1950's and their views on blood should reflect the doctrine back then. They disagreed with the WTS when they flipflopped back to the "superior authorities" being the secular governments instead of God and Jesus. After all their years under a communist dictator, the WTS change would have seemed like an "apostate" teaching.
I think that there is enough evidence that groups substantially large enough have broken off from the WTS who have more than grousing about the WTS as their Christian work.
Blondie
I guess a group that started out with 120 members then added 3,000 would be more to your liking, Fisherman. I wasn't talking about groups of 2 or 3 that exist only to bring down or talk negatively about the WTS. I see you really have had no contact with people who have left to the WTS to go back to the Bble and start over again. The groups I pointed to on those websites hardly qualify as negative JW groups. So how many members would there have to be before it became a sect, 5,000?, 6,000?
Thanks for adding the Romanian group, Fisherman, when you read their site, you probably found that they basically are stuck in the 1950's and their views on blood should reflect the doctrine back then. They disagreed with the WTS when they flipflopped back to the "superior authorities" being the secular governments instead of God and Jesus. After all their years under a communist dictator, the WTS change would have seemed like an "apostate" teaching.
I think that there is enough evidence that groups substantially large enough have broken off from the WTS who have more than grousing about the WTS as their Christian work.
Blondie
Blondie, no matter how large or how small a "splinter" is, it is not a branch, whether you like it or not. There are no established JW sects whatsoever. True, there may be some insignificant groups out there that are a thorn to the wts. But are they a JW sect, really?
I am not arguing your technical definition of what is a sect.
Here are a couple of definitions:
| 1. nonmainstream religious group: a religious group with beliefs and practices at variance with those of the more established main groups Define"mainstream." Define "more established." According to this definition, Jws(movement) may be considered a sect. |
2. religious denomination: a denomination of a larger religious group. According to this definition, JW is not necessarily a s sect, but here in this case sect is synonymous with denomination and anotherJW denomination according to this definition, would be considered a sect. No such denominations exist today except for insignificant splinter groups There are other defintions that distinguish sects from "splinter groups" which in my opinion are the movements that you describe. Everything considered about the wts history and past and present defection from the mainsream WTS, the WTS(JW) is a unique movement with no denominations(as of now) except for the splinters described. But you have a freemind and you can belive what you like. Above and beyond this nonsense. I thank you Blondie, for posting the wt mag. I value very much your years of hard work and your contributions to this site. |
It may seem that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only one due to their owning the name Watchtower, but even this was obtained illegally by Rutherford. Bible Students are the real Watchtower Society, and Jehovahs Witnesses are a sect of that.
I don't have access to the list at the moment, but I found over 30 Watchtower sects. Many have come and gone, others still exist strongly, such as different Bible Student groups. There are even a few Russellites around.
Fisherman are you afraid to admit that you were in a sect/cult. Many countries see JWs as a sect and a cult it doesn't matter what dictionary definition you bring up. Even in popular opinion in a good few European countries they are little more than cults.
Seems the JW mentality is the only trustworthy worldly source for information is a dictionary.
Collins:
sect noun
1. Christian Churches a subdivision of a larger religious group (esp. the Christian Church as a whole) the members of which have to some extent diverged from the rest by developing deviating beliefs, practices, etc.
2. Non-Christian Religions (Often disparaging) (a) a schismatic religious body characterized by an attitude of exclusivity in contrast to the more inclusive religious groups called denominations or Churches (b) a religious group regarded as extreme or heretical
3. a group of people with a common interest, doctrine, etc.; faction
History: C14: from Latin secta faction, following, from the stem of sequi to follow
Seems a lot better than the crappy American Heritage dictionary.
