Few Jehovah's Witnesses bother to GRASP THEIR OWN THEOLOGY!!! (page 3)

kerj2leev

The whole world made fun of them.

LOL. I don't think the world was paying attention.

Terry..You`ve got yourself another winner.. Champ 2 ..I don`t think we`ll see the JW`s disappear..I do think we will watch them shrink in numbers never seen before,in our lifetime................... Laughing Mutley ...OUTLAW

nondescriptex

A couple of replies here mentioned the cross. I once had a return visit who was offended at a picture in a Watchtower showing Jesus on a stake instead of a cross. He was not trying to pick a fight, he was really hurt and offended because he felt we drew him in with some nice conversations only to attack his faith (his comments made me stop and think). I did some research, and went back with the Reasoning book. I concluded my explanation with the sentence at the top of page 90: "Thus the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus died on an upright stake and not on the traditional cross." He sat there, and said. "You hand picked the evidence you wanted." At the same time, I realized that sentence is somewhat wishy washy. "Weight of the (hand picked) evidence".... "indicates".... which is really saying "we guess so, but we could change our minds". I was annoyed the Reasoning book had left me high and dry, and wondered how JWs got from "probably" to "ABSOLUTELY" in their position regarding the cross.

Terry

I concluded my explanation with the sentence at the top of page 90: "Thus the weight of the evidence indicates that Jesus died on an upright stake and not on the traditional cross." He sat there, and said. "You hand picked the evidence you wanted." At the same time, I realized that sentence is somewhat wishy washy. "Weight of the (hand picked) evidence".... "indicates".... which is really saying "we guess so, but we could change our minds". I was annoyed the Reasoning book had left me high and dry, and wondered how JWs got from "probably" to "ABSOLUTELY" in their position regarding the cross.

Time and time again it is the certainty of the words chosen which tip the rank and file faithful over the line.

Nothing is certain in interpretation.

It is a matter of will.

Jehovah's Witnesses are manipulated by the tone of their leaders and the confidence implicit within the wording of their "reasoning".

They themselves, however, are not allowed discretion or conscience in any matter whatsoever.

The irony is criminal.

AuntBee

Terry's #2 is such a great insight! I spoke at length with an older JW couple. I asked them how they happened to become JWs. The answer didn't involve any profound belief concerning the Bible or theology. THey said they were REALLY REALLY mad at their Lutheran church! wow, that one left me speechless.

VoidEater

To be fair, this really started with CTR's mysticism and was compounded by FF's "scholarship". Post-1975 reconstruction just muddied already opaque waters.

Many do not care that the intellectual aspects of their religion are beyond their grasp. It was just a tragic strategic error that Knorr's marketing claimed that JW theology "made sense". In PR, it's more important what you say about something, not what the something actually is. If I had a dollar for every JW that has said, "Oh, all that stuff is beyond me" - or the Catholic that could not explain the Trinity or transubstantiation...

"Woe be to those that check under the hood" - Used Cars 2:12

Jeremy C

Many do not care that the intellectual aspects of their religion are beyond their grasp. It was just a tragic strategic error that Knorr's marketing claimed that JW theology "made sense". In PR, it's more important what you say about something, not what the something actually is. If I had a dollar for every JW that has said, "Oh, all that stuff is beyond me" - or the Catholic that could not explain the Trinity or transubstantiation...

Yes, it is amazing that so many JWs do not see the similarities between their own hazy understanding of Watchtower doctrines with that of Catholics who do not comprehend various church teachings. Quite ironic, I must say.

JWs ridecule Catholics who cannot explain the Vatican's position on communion or the authority of the Papacy using only the Bible. Yet, ask a JW to explain the 1919 appointment of the Watchtower / Bible Students to the office of the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class, and they will almost certainly have to excuse themselves while they go dig out one of the Society's books to explain it. Would a Catholic who relied on a church booklet to explain Apostolic Succession be viewed favorably by a JW? Certainly not; infact the JW would probably snicker at such "foolishness". The double standards that are applied in a dialogue between a Witness and a member of Christendom are striking.

I can remember conducting book study lessons in the Revelation Climax book where only four of five out of fifteen members were able to comment. I could tell that everyone else was completely befuddled by the complexity of the material. Later on, in conversations with those present, I would hear people comment how amazed they were by the "Faithful Slave's understanding of such deep Scriptural truths". These were people who really did not understand what had just been studied. Many Witnesses feel that if information contains nebulous reasoning, and wordy complexities, then it must be profound and essoteric. If is it difficult for them to grasp, then it must contain prophetic profundities. Any contradictions or logical fallacies in the material can merely be written off as a lack of understanding on the part of the individual.

This is notable with the Watchtower's 1914 chronology and it's accompanying 1919 "divine appointment" doctrine. Many JWs cannot fully understand where it came from, how it was developed, or the enormous weaknesses it contains. They just know that to disagree with the doctrine is a "hallmark of apostates". They fail to realize that willfull, blind credulity is the hallmark of a fool.

james_woods

This is almost like that old Star Trek where this planet's society had chosen up sides - the "Yangs" and the "Coms" - and fought it out for centuries. But nobody knew where they came from.

Finally Kirk finds that the "Yangs" (Yanks) are worshipping a frayed out copy of the U.S. constitution, but could not read it anymore. They had become mindless savages that just worshipped the document as an artifact, not as a standard of law.

But it is worse for the JWs than even the "Yangs" on that planet - they actually have burned as many as possible of their old historic documents out of shame for what they said. And, of course, they probably deserved a burning because they were totally worthless. But, it is a shame they do not have access to the old stuff - it might form some basis for thought which might lead to enlightenment.

So on and on they go with the latest Society drivel out of role play - like the Chinese Whispering game, as someone posted the other day. They have no idea from whence they came, nor to where they go.

undercover

Fascinating...

Awakened at Gilead

JWs ridecule Catholics who cannot explain the Vatican's position on communion or the authority of the Papacy using only the Bible. Yet, ask a JW to explain the 1919 appointment of the Watchtower / Bible Students to the office of the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class, and they will almost certainly have to excuse themselves while they go dig out one of the Society's books to explain it. Would a Catholic who relied on a church booklet to explain Apostolic Succession be viewed favorably by a JW? Certainly not; infact the JW would probably snicker at such "foolishness". The double standards that are applied in a dialogue between a Witness and a member of Christendom are striking.

This is a point I have used too. When I have asked my wife about the authority of the FDS, she says there are some things we cannot understand... My response is that is what Catholics say about the mystery of the trinity...

But she and other JWs fail to see the connection...

Few Jehovah's Witnesses bother to GRASP THEIR OWN THEOLOGY!!!

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