by AnnOMaly 288 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Except that not all the GB are anointed. So they won't be able to use the "these "other sheep" are just on the GB cos we're near the end and there aren't that many anointed left" line
So anyone on GB but not claiming to be anointed won't be able to justify their right or authority to be there.
Not without suddenly becoming "convieniently anointed"
It is simply incoherent to maintain that the anointed were selected first, at the same time as endorsing the view Jehovah was still selecting anointed ones when there were already millions of Jehovah's Witnesses available to choose from. I am sure Witnesses will spot that flaw pretty quick.
May Jehovah hear you, slim...
It is at least as incoherent (and, to me, even more obvious already) that (almost) all those who were prospective members of the "great crowd" when it started to be "gathered for survival" will not be part of it because they are already dead 72 years later. Who among current JWs ever thinks of that?
I don't see the WT dropping the "earthly hope" anytime soon because it has been successfully integrated by most JWs and it significantly contributes to their originality on the religious market. But that can easily be maintained even with a figurative interpretation of the 144,000.
Otoh, it takes only one straw to break the camel's back, and it is hard to predict which one will.
Except that not all the GB are anointed.
As of this point in time, they all are, even the younger ones.
"convieniently anointed"
And that's a good way to describe how there happens to be a pool of relatively young men who are eligible to replace the dying-off members of the GB.
The change to "Jehovah has still been calling new anointed ones even after 1935" now eliminates the need to bring non-anointed "other sheep" into the GB. If there is no end date to the "calling", there is a never-ending pool of anointeds to fill up spots on the GB as the need arises.
SB
I like the way you've explained your view of coherence vs. logic vis a vis the JW faith. --Reminiscent of how the author of a good work of fantasy can't violate the internal rules of the story once those rules have been established. (e.g. If an author depicts vampires that can't withstand sunlight, then obviously they can't be walking about during the day later on in the story.)
2) They could maintain the 144 000 is literal, but explain the long tail in the number of anointed by claiming that Jehovah especially prolonged his selection process so that his earthly servants would be provided with anointed guides here on earth up until Armageddon. This is more complicated, but in a perverse kind of way would probably be more appealing to the JW mindset.
I wonder if this would cause a problem with the concept of "first fruits" as it has been expounded in JW literature? (i.e. First in quality and time) Not that I doubt for a minute that they could spin their way out of virtually any doctrinal problem
Good point, TD. I was thinking the same. Plus, the fact would stand out that, as SBF put it, the anointed consists mostly of "weirdos", which would throw a kink in the quality idea.
But think about it. Perhaps the writers anticipated this QFR would cause hordes of overacheiving dubs to suddenly profess being anointed. Perhaps they tried to head this off by re-stating that the anointed are no more "special" than the GC.
Perhaps the writers anticipated this QFR would cause hordes of overacheiving dubs to suddenly profess being anointed. Perhaps they tried to head this off by re-stating that the anointed are no more "special" than the GC.
The same thought occurred to me.
But after numerous decades of drilling how "special' the anointed are (virtually every page of the 2 latest Isaiah books, as an example), that notion won't go away with just a single QFR article. Being of the "anointed", and not an obvious nutter, is still the quickest way to gain prestige in the JW world - and this article now legitimizes it for all those "overachieving dubs".
Perhaps they tried to head this off by re-stating that the anointed are no more "special" than the GC.
This is why I think that some of this might have to do with an 'us vs. them' feeling from the leaders in Brooklyn. Not only do the vast majority of other sheep JWs view most of the younger partakers as fake, but I'm sure those at Brooklyn see it that way too. They have to create a system in which those in New York are more important than those out in the scattered congregations while at the same time try and keep it flowing with decades long teachings.
But you can never underestimate what long held teaching they will simply just change one day and then tell everybody to move on.
An interesting tidbit from WTS history is that in its original concept being part of the "anointed" class was a significant step beyond consecration. To be anointed was to be sanctified to sainthood. It was the "cream of the crop". It meant that you voluntarily "offered your bodies as a living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1), which was counted as a ransom payment for unredeemed mankind during the millennium (mystery doctrine).
But within this original concept, "anointed" members came out from among the temporary ranks of the "great multitude" (who were consecrated, but had not progressed beyond a "seed" in sanctification). Thus the two classes had existed alongside each other from day one.
Will the WTS come full-circle here (in some sense)?
Recently, I've been reading their book 'Revelation - It's Grand Climax at Hand' due to it being studied in the groups. It's full of so much crap and inconsistency I find it hard to understand how people believe it. Revelation is full of scriptures which completely debunk major doctrines of the WTS, so to do a commentary on the book is very brave. Having looked up how they 'explain' many of these scriptures, I've discovered that they don't, they don't even try, they just pretend to by making confusing or misleading statements which prove nothing. Reading the book without the JW mind, makes this obvious to me. And yet, they are studying it for a 4th time! If they can survive this 4 times without a major loss, I see no reason why 1935 would cause a major loss. Even the 'Generation' change didn't cause a big loss!
Perhaps the timing of the article is no accident - it has been released just in time for the summer district conventions.
It could be interesting to see what new information they tack onto this.
