Hi all...
A@G (Lance) brought up an interesting scripture in another thread that peaked my curiosity. Col 2:16, this scripture...
“Let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath; for those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ"
I found this interesting and came across this article from the 78 WT. YOU MUST READ THE WT MIND CONTROL - THE ABILITY TO TELL R&F TO NOT ALLOW OTHERSTO CONTROL THEIR DECISION PROCESS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME USING THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTROL THE R&F DECISION PROCESS!!!
*** w78 4/1 pp. 18-20 pars. 13-21 Recognize Christ’s Vital Place ***
Discussing still other wrong views that were prevalent, Paul says further: “Let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath; for those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ. Let no man deprive you of the prize who takes delight in a mock humility and a form of worship of the angels, ‘taking his stand on’ the things he has seen, puffed up without proper cause by his fleshly frame of mind, whereas he is not holding fast to the head, to the one from whom all the body, being supplied and harmoniously joined together by means of its joints and ligaments, goes on growing with the growth that God gives.”—Col. 2:16-19.
14 Christians at Colossae were thus being urged not to allow others to sit in judgment of their faith and righteousness, claiming that they could not gain salvation unless they became circumcised and began following the law of Moses. Individuals judging in this way were going back to the “elementary things,” the ABC’s of true worship, ignoring God’s further development of matters and denying that “all fullness” now dwells in Christ. Hence, such persons were not holding fast to the Head, Christ, and were sidetracking individuals from sound doctrine that was essential for them to grow spiritually.
15 ......
16 As the apostle Paul pointed out, a man who would deprive a Christian of the valuable prize of life might seem quite innocent of wrongdoing. The apostle described him as one “who takes delight in a mock humility.” (Col. 2:18) So, to all appearances, he was a man of great condescension. Yet this condescension, or humility, was only a false front. THE FDS/GB ???
17 What he was in actuality is evident from Paul’s referring to such a one as “‘taking his stand on’ the things he has seen, puffed up without proper cause by his fleshly frame of mind.” (Col. 2:18) What did the apostle mean by saying this about a teacher of falsehood? The expression “taking his stand on” was a phrase anciently used in connection with the initiation rites of pagan mysteries. Not satisfied with the complete and simple truth revealed through Jesus Christ, he took pride in the belief that he had attained wisdom and holiness superior to what his Christian brothers shared generally. By trying to supplement Christian truth with false, speculative reasoning, he actually deviated from the faith. In his estimation, the Son of God was not the sole depository of knowledge and wisdom. Such a person did not believe the inspired words: “Carefully concealed in him [Christ] are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.” (Col. 2:3) He insisted that there were depositories of knowledge and wisdom other than God’s Son that could be looked to by the congregation for direction.
A Christian’s position today
18 Today God’s servants do not face precisely the same situations that prevailed in the first century. Nevertheless, there are vital lessons for us to draw from what Paul wrote to the Colossians. For example, all Christians, especially elders, must exercise care not to inject themselves into the private affairs of others and not to put any unscriptural personal viewpoints and philosophies on an equal footing with the truth revealed in the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.—Compare 1 Timothy 1:3, 4; 2 Timothy 4:1, 2.
19 Whatever spiritual counsel or advice that a Christian may give to others should be based, not on personal preference, prejudice or on worldly principles, but on the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. Since everything that the Son of God taught harmonized fully with the inspired Scriptures, the complete Bible can and should rightly be used for giving spiritual help. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) A person’s failure to stick to the Scriptures would constitute a disregard for the Head of the congregation. (Compare Matthew 7:24-27; 15:3-9; John 17:17.) It would also imply that all “fullness” does not dwell in the Christ but that Christ’s “lack” must be supplemented by personal opinion and human philosophy.20 What of Christians who accept the personal philosophies and opinions of others as a guide for determining the rightness of a particular course? They may well injure their conscience and hinder their spiritual growth. Why? For one thing, the Bible shows that ‘perceptive powers must be trained by use.’ So, when others are unduly influencing or even controlling an individual’s decisions, this person is not going to grow spiritually but will remain a babe, unable to distinguish right from wrong.—Heb. 5:14.
21 Moreover, because of trying to conform to what are merely the unscriptural personal opinions of another Christian, some persons may get needless feelings of guilt about caring for personal affairs, wholesome entertainment, recreation, and so forth. YA THINK????? HELLO?????
For instance, a respected member of the congregation may openly express the view that the “last days” are absolutely no time for God’s servants to be thinking about making major home improvements. While many may recognize this as a private opinion and remain unaffected by it, some could begin to feel guilty about their plans. Those who allow themselves to be unduly influenced by the personal opinion of someone else may later experience problems and inconveniences that could have been avoided by going ahead with their reasonable plans . Similarly, in other areas of life, whenever God’s Word is displaced by the views of imperfect men as a source of guidance, serious problems can result. But we are always safe when we make decisions based on the example and teachings of the perfect Son of God
Can you believe that the WTS pretends to actually believe this?? to actually preach it?? How can they suggest that they are not the very ones they incriminate here??????????????
Col 2:16 WT 78 4/15 - the WTS actually telling R&F to think for themselves!
by still_in74 8 Replies latest watchtower bible
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still_in74
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daniel-p
Remember, this was written before the Big Bethel Apostate Outing of 1980, and thus before the WTS policies over-corrected to the hardline.
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BluesBrother
There have been odd articles that encouraged the use of our intellect and reasoned decisions based on conscience , but these have been swamped by a tide of authoritarian dictats.
When we had an issue with the cong elders over a certain matter that had no basis in Scriptural law, we showed this article to the P.O of our then congregation
WT 1972, Oct 1st "Facing Up To Questions of Conscience"
10 Jehovah God expects us to use our faculties of intelligence, our knowledge, understanding and judgment, and to do conscientiously what our faith points us to do. God does not place us under the conscience of some other human in such matters. We must each make our own decision in harmony with conscience—conscience molded by God’s Word. We must also take the consequences of our own decisions, not expect someone else to make the decision and bear that responsibility for us.
11 It would therefore be wrong in such matters to try to extract from someone else, from a body of elders or from the governing body of the Christian congregation, some rule or regulation that ‘draws the line’ on matters. Where God’s Word does not itself ‘draw the line,’ no human has the right to add to that Word by doing so. God in his wisdom allows us to show what we are in the "secret person of the heart," and the decisions we make in such personal cases may reveal this. True, we may err at times without wrong motive, and God, who reads our hearts, can discern this.
His reply, "I was not in the Truth in 1972, so I would not know that" ...He was not moved to be less dictatorial
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still_in74
WT 1972, Oct 1st "Facing Up To Questions of Conscience"
10 Jehovah God expects us to use our faculties of intelligence, our knowledge, understanding and judgment, and to do conscientiously what our faith points us to do. God does not place us under the conscience of some other human in such matters. We must each make our own decision in harmony with conscience—conscience molded by God’s Word. We must also take the consequences of our own decisions, not expect someone else to make the decision and bear that responsibility for us.
11 It would therefore be wrong in such matters to try to extract from someone else, from a body of elders or from the governing body of the Christian congregation, some rule or regulation that ‘draws the line’ on matters. Where God’s Word does not itself ‘draw the line,’ no human has the right to add to that Word by doing so. God in his wisdom allows us to show what we are in the "secret person of the heart," and the decisions we make in such personal cases may reveal this. True, we may err at times without wrong motive, and God, who reads our hearts, can discern this.
Awesome article! thanks!
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Jeremy C
These types of articles are anomalies which do not generally reflect the prevailing thinking of the GB, but reflect the views of individuals in the writing department.
It is also important to consider the fact that Watchtower leadership has a much different view of a Scripture such as Col. 2:16. In their minds, they believe that they are allowing their brothers to think for themselves if they let them choose which way they will part their hair, what color of tie they may wear, or whether their 4-door car ("good field service car") is a station wagon or sedan.
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WTWizard
As was mentioned, that advice led to the great apostate shakeout in Beth Hell. And they have ever since cracked down on independent thinking.
My advice (coincidentally, both Jesus and Satan also had the same advice) is to think for yourself. Never let anyone do your thinking for you, since it is possible for anyone to be wrong or to lead you down a path that is best for them and not you. Even I can be wrong--and recommend looking up independent sources to add to (or correct) my viewpoints. And if you still wish to believe that God is good, so be it--just look at the Bible without religious bias and integrate your own personal experiences and those of others around. Independent sources will also give you the most balanced viewpoints--with 25,000 posters and countless web sites, that should not be too hard.
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Pahpa
According to my understanding, there was a "fresh breeze" of independent study and discussion going on at Bethel in the late 70s. Some of this may be reflected in articles such as this one. It evidently took time for it to filter up to the GB. When these members heard of it, they reacted immediately with a paranoid panic that resulted in the infamous "star chamber proceedings" that eliminated some of their best members at Bethel such as Ray Franz and Ed Dunlap. This attitude soon spread to the congregations when the Watchtowers relentlessly warned about the apostates inside the organization. And it is apparent that this paranoia still prevails today.
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Gordy
Those articles in 72 and 78 Watchtowers may have led to the "independant thinking" of some brothers.
Then by 1980's the GB must have realised what was happening and that brothers were actually doing it.
They then began back-pedalling. Trying to make out that what they really meant was that brothers didn't have the "ability" to make "spiritual decisions" for themselves. That was the perogative of the Faithful and Discreet Slave.
This can be seen in this years conventions and the emphasis on obeying the Watchtower. And the release of the book "Keeping in Gods Love" which is basically just a manual onhow JWs should behave and obey the WT.
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hamsterbait
This is the kind of advice that not only led to beth hell ites reading the bible on its own and getting the real sense of it, but the also the thinking that produced the "Commentary on the Letter of James."
As others have testified on this board, that book with its compassion, the emphasis on indidvidual conscience, salvation by faith in Jesus, its generally sensible and balanced approach to being a Christian, almost gave Freddie F a stroke - he apparently took issue with over 70 different statements.
Why am I not surprised that the book was by Ray Franz, and why am I not surprised it was suppressed later, just like the Greatest Man book - which also encouraged just reading the Gospels as is, and made many see how important Jesus is in the scheme of things.
The more I read about FreddieF, how he loved being the controller in the background like a latter day Mazarin, like the Wizard of Oz out of sight - the more convinced I am that there really is a Devil and he was his agent.
HB