If they did as their convention said, next year there would be a lot of empty seats at the next convention.
abr
"Follow the Christ " conventions...is it me?
by Gordy 57 Replies latest jw friends
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Jeffro
Actually, if you want to get technical, the Watchtower does teach that they are THE "Christ". They call themselves "THE annointed" and the word "annointed" literally means the same as the Greek word "christ."
bluesapphire, thanks. While I know what you said, have always known it, I never saw it in print in the WT so your typing it here made it click. They are "the Christ" to their people. The whole assembly will be about switching the terms interchangeably- Governing Body, The Christ, God's appointed King, God's appointed representative.By any practical measure, this is untrue. Ask any JW who they regard the Christ to be, and they will not say that it is the FDS or the anointed. They will say that it is Jesus. If the Watchtower Society does (supposedly) teach that the Christ is someone other than Jesus, they certainly haven't done a very good job of it, because all of their members think the Christ is Jesus.
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Jeffro
Sunspot, your reply is subjective religious fervor, not impartial objective reasoning.
Gee....WHO has a better RIGHT to be angray and upset when they have given their LIVES over to a publishing company that purposely deceive and dupes nice people into following THEM??? Easy for YOU to sit back and criticize.
You make an attack on me, contrasting your own background with mine and imputing what is more or less "easy" for me to do, though you obviously have no idea of my background whatsover. I understand that you are angry at the Watchtower Society for the time that it took away from your life, and I understand that you are angry at yourself for letting yourself be fooled by them for so long. Don't blame that on me.
You said " Yes, JWs don't teach exactly the same things about Jesus as most other Christian religions do." WHAT??? -----"MOST OTHERS"? You have got to be kidding! NOBODY preaches the crap or the opinions of the editorial staff that the WTS does! They have made up their OWN Gospel and preach another message entirely! "MOST OTHERS" see the WTS as lunatics or a cult. Doesn't THAT register in your brain? Why are you trying to candy-coat what this hideous form of religion teaches---as "indisputable bible truth"?
You become antagonistic because I refuse to make broad sweeping definitions of all other Christian religions, and then you make another personal attack.
My observation that the WTS has just showed the "sudden interest in Jesus", stands as written. Are the JWs instructed at the WTS TMS to go to people's homes and deliver the message tat Jesus died for THEM and that HE is inviting them to "come to HIM".....OR are they delivering another message entirely.........which, of course....leads people to the WATCHTOWER SOCIETY?
Your statement that their interest in Christ is "sudden" simply doesn't stand up to impartial analysis. I have never argued that JWs teach the truth about Christ, and in fact, I stated the exact opposite. I simply indicated their beliefs fit within the gamut of the plain definition of 'Christian'.
And stop telling ME how to sound or how to FEEL. If you don't like reading what I say.....feel free to skip over my comments.
I never once told you how you should "sound" or "feel", though you've said a few judgemental things about me. Feel the love.
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bluesapphire
I see what you're saying. But I have to disagree. I was brought up Catholic and went back to it after my stint with the dubs for a while. The Pope is similar to a "father figure" to Catholics. By no means does he take the place of Christ to any Catholic. He is honored as a father and listened to as a father AND as a representative of Christ but NEVER as a replacement or equal to Christ.
As you can see, they make their own decisions in a lot of things (i.e., birth control, not everyone goes to Mass every Sunday). And there are no consequences to them. The Catholic Church has in its favor that it has moved forward with society and hasn't stayed in the dark ages socially and they don't sit around wishing we could go back to stoning apostates LOL!
Anyway, my point is that it is not fair to compare them to the Watchtower Society in this because it's apples and oranges.
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Jeffro
I see what you're saying. But I have to disagree. I was brought up Catholic and went back to it after my stint with the dubs for a while. The Pope is similar to a "father figure" to Catholics. By no means does he take the place of Christ to any Catholic. He is honored as a father and listened to as a father AND as a representative of Christ but NEVER as a replacement or equal to Christ.
The JWs would argue that the FDS doesn't take the place of Jesus either.
As you can see, they make their own decisions in a lot of things (i.e., birth control, not everyone goes to Mass every Sunday). And there are no consequences to them. The Catholic Church has in its favor that it has moved forward with society and hasn't stayed in the dark ages socially and they don't sit around wishing we could go back to stoning apostates LOL!
On the plus side, the Catholic Church has learned a lot from its long history that having too tight a stranglehold on its members doesn't really benefit them. On the negative side, the Catholic Church has been directly responsible for a lot more deaths than the JWs have.
Anyway, my point is that it is not fair to compare them to the Watchtower Society in this because it's apples and oranges.
It's fine comparing apples and oranges when the topic is fruit. Both religions have human authority figures that determine rules and interpretations for their members. Whether one is more lenient about the repercussions of not following those rules doesn't invalidate the comparison.
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heathen
bluesapphire-- you seem to know some of the catholic history . When they wielded power in europe they were a holy terror with the inquisitions and crusades , extremely merciless to any dissent about the church even killing other christians that started the protestant sects . In Ireland they still wreak havock by sharing in the blood shed between them and the protestants for political power. Technically I am catholic but can't stand the facts about the religion and have no desire to return to the faith.
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YoursChelbie
The WT GB use of "the Christ" is an attempt to appear mainstream to be sure. Just anothe bait and switch for unsuspecting souls.
Marketing research may have played a role in using that phrase. After all the movie with the "the Christ" as part of the title grossed
over 300 Million at the box office.
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bluesapphire
I see what you're saying. But I have to disagree. I was brought up Catholic and went back to it after my stint with the dubs for a while. The Pope is similar to a "father figure" to Catholics. By no means does he take the place of Christ to any Catholic. He is honored as a father and listened to as a father AND as a representative of Christ but NEVER as a replacement or equal to Christ.
The JWs would argue that the FDS doesn't take the place of Jesus either. Yes, the JW's would argue the same argument but in their case, we all know, they will be lying. In the case of Catholics, it's the truth. The Catholic Church is all about Jesus! Catholics love and honor the Pope but when it comes down to it, most do what's convenient for them.
As you can see, they make their own decisions in a lot of things (i.e., birth control, not everyone goes to Mass every Sunday). And there are no consequences to them. The Catholic Church has in its favor that it has moved forward with society and hasn't stayed in the dark ages socially and they don't sit around wishing we could go back to stoning apostates LOL!
On the plus side, the Catholic Church has learned a lot from its long history that having too tight a stranglehold on its members doesn't really benefit them. On the negative side, the Catholic Church has been directly responsible for a lot more deaths than the JWs have. Well, give the JWs a 2000+ year history!
Anyway, my point is that it is not fair to compare them to the Watchtower Society in this because it's apples and oranges.
It's fine comparing apples and oranges when the topic is fruit. Both religions have human authority figures that determine rules and interpretations for their members. Whether one is more lenient about the repercussions of not following those rules doesn't invalidate the comparison. Why is it wrong to have interpretations of your own writings? The Catholic Church owns the Bible! It's a product of the Church and so why shouldn't they have the authority to interpret what they created? The Watchtower Society is piggy-backing off of the Church. If the leaders truly believed what they say about the Church being apostate at the end of the 1st Century, then they would write their own Bible and thus have the right to interpret what they themselves wrote. And we're not here debating whether a religious organization has the right to have its teachings, dogmas or beliefs. We're debating whether or not the Jehovah's Witness religion is/is not Christian.