What was the deal w. the 144,000? What feeling is it that they had?? I mean, seriously-it baffles me. Because they obviously believed they were the chosen ones for Heaven. How do you think they arrived at this conclusion? I know they that genuinely must have felt something, but I don't know what that something was or is.
How did the 144,000 know they had "the feeling?"
by themonster123 25 Replies latest jw friends
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IsaacJS2
This is one of my gripes about WT theology. Don't know if this helps, but I was told that the anointed are more drawn to scriptures about the "heavenly hope" instead of the "earthly hope." I think this is extremely weak. So weak as to be laughable. I was also told that the anointed should be people who made some extraordinary sacrifices in their lives for the WT. I have no idea if this really holds true or not.
Maybe someone else knows of some anointed who didn't really seem to have done anything all that special? For those of us out to criticize this point, it could prove useful to information.
Far as I'm concerned, the bottom line is this: you're an anointed because 1) you say you are, and 2) the Society decides to let you in the club.
IsaacJ
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MidwichCuckoo
The Original Ones (and I always found it strange why God would chose 4 people from same family), I imagine were caught up in the Drama of it all. Nowadays, anyone claiming to be of this group (and I'm thinking specifically of the one I met) has mental health issues.
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Reefton Jack
I agree with the observation that those suddenly claiming to have "that feeling" these days are likely to be having mental health issues:
- I was married to one who had both!
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jaguarbass
I heard the feeling is something like if you ate a bunch of peanuts then had a lot of differnt kind of cheese and didnt drink any water then had about a dozen eggs and some pork and beans then salami. If you ate all of that and didnt go to the restroom for about 3 days that would be equivelent to the feeling the members of the 144,000 feel. Nowadays, anyone claiming to be of this group (and I'm thinking specifically of the one I met) has mental health issues That was true 40 years ago also. -
bluesbreaker59
They're just feeling "hard gas"
This was my biggest point of contention the whole time I was growing up. I met 3 people who claimed that they were annointed.
One was a big, fat slob that hardly ever attended meetings, and complained incessantly when she did
One was a "sister holier than thou" that was the most judgemental person I ever met, who IMHO, was crooked in her business dealings
The last one, I actually may have believed, but I was a little boy, maybe 4 or so, but he and his wife were filled with joy, always talking about theocratic things, spoke about 10 languages (including Hebrew) and was a genuine warm and caring guy.
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drew sagan
It's a warm, fuzzy sensation that just makes you want to snuggle a panda bear.
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Terry
My theory:
People raised to believe they were going to heaven and who convert to JW religion simply transfer their strong conviction over and adopt the view they had all along.
Inertia and nothing much more than that.
Things such as identifying how/why a person is anointed point out the absurdity of mystical aspects of religious belief.
By pretending something amorphous and illusory has a "reason"; one is force to produce a reason. The fact that it won't stand up to scrutiny should not surprise us at all.
How do I anoint thee? Let me count the ways.......
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jgnat
As a regular Christian, I don't see any exclusivity to "the feeling". The Holy Spirit resides in me and guides me every day. You could say I live with "the feeling". Little Toe had "the feeling", and being the wrong generation, he was summarily dismissed.
This is one of my big peeves with the society, that they have literally cut-off God's blessings from their own people by creating this false exclusivity. Matthew 23:13-39
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Tatiana
My uncle, who lives in Atlanta, told us in 1975 that he just went to sleep, had a vision/dream and woke up knowing he was anointed.
From the time he was 13, he was a loner. He read all the time, and was very quiet and mild-mannered. Painted pictures of space constantly. (Introduced me to Sci-Fi.) He taught himself to read and speak Hebrew, Greek, and German. He went to Bethel.
He was the most loving person I've ever known. Non-judgemental to a fault. He never had children, saying he would not bring a child into this world, although he would have been a wonderful father.
He never shunned me, and lately we have had conversations about why he stopped going to meetings for a while. He said he didn't agree with a lot of teachings anymore. So, I asked him if he was still "anointed," and he told me he was. ??????