by Witness 007 24 Replies latest watchtower bible
Rapunzel is right. It's about control. The preaching work (while it can shake out some more converts) is mostly about keeping the faithful in fear of not measuring up. As long as they feel they have not accomplished thier goals in the ministry they will stay too busy to think about how silly thier ministry really is.
changeling :)
I always thought that too. It's like setting them up then isn't it? You now know "the truth" so you better be good or your gonna die! CRAP
Witness 007 - You ask why the Watchtower sends out missionaries to foreign lands, They do this in order to make the claim that they are fulfilling Matthew 24:14 which says that the gospel must be preached in the entire inhabited Earth. The motivating factor behind the Gilead missionary school is to ultimately fulfill Matthew 24:14.
It should be pointed out that technically speaking Matthew 24:14 has not been fulfilled because there are still three countries into which even the most intrepid and fanatical Witness does not dare to tread. Two of those countries are North Korea and Somalia. I don't remember the third. I know one is definitely North Korea, but I may be confusing Somalia with the Sudan. And perhaps the third is Afghanistan. I think there are between a dozen and twenty countries in which the Witnesses are banned, and yet manage to operate sub rosa with a very small contingent of "publishers." Most [but not all] of these countries are Moslem nations.
To get back on track, Witnesses are definitely not required to do formal missionary work. So the scripture at Matthew 24:14 should not be confused with the psychologically manipulative notion of blood guilt. Admittedly though, Matthew 24:14 is somewhat manipulative in that most Witnesses truly believe that this scripture must be fulfilled in order for the kingdom to arrive. But in this case, the pressure is generalized an distributed among the Witness organization as a collective. The notion of blood guilt is intensely personal. Many witnesses feel it at the personal level.
After reading what other denominations have taught I'm of the opinion that Jehovah's Witness theology is naive and severly limited logically through (perhaps) avoidance of conformity.
For example, Calvinists believe god calls people with his Holy Spirit and the call is irresistible. Those who are called are also chosen.
Logically, only by calling those whom God will save in an irresistible way is it consistent to save them. Why? Sinful minds of lost wretches would certainly find nothing appealing in a calling that appeals to spirituality.
It is a rigged game either way.
God foreordains destruction by not calling certain people and salvation to those called irresistibly.
In Witnessdom, the mind of a wretch is perfectly capable of making a spiritual choice.
How odd.
Many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14
Because the rocks will do it instead, and we can't be shown up by a bunch of stones, now can we?
I would not have been blood guilty if my mom did not bring me into this wretched mess
Shows the thing to be bupkiss.
Isaac
You have to preach as a Dub it is a requirement for your stupid baptism, but your right about the billions who have never heard the kingdom message and never will
JWs say that not everyone on the planet will get preached to, and the ones that don't are figured to be judged by Jehovah as unworthy, so don't worry about them.
Obviously not everyone will hear the Good News of God’s Kingdom before Armageddon and everyone destroyed at Armageddon will be destroyed eternally since it is Jehovah’s destruction.
Now here is an interesting question, how many will there be left at Armageddon? Most of mankind will probably die during the Great Tribulation and will still qualify for a resurrection. The world stage is being set for Global famine (peak oil, etc.) which Jehovah could use during the Great Tribulation to warehouse most of humankind. Those left (other than faithful Christians) will be those responsible for ruining the earth in a spiritual, moral and physical way and deserve destruction. This certainly fits the world leaders and those who put their hope in them (remember the mark of the beast?).
