Bible Studies...how hard, how rare, anybody know a JW with one???

by oompa 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  oompa

  i find it interesting how many dubs of even 50 years old have never had a bible study (yet they go out most sat morns. for two hours and turn in the slip) ...and how many dubs really WANT one?(and is nt that the goal of service? convert others through bible study, ha initials are BS!)....and in usa and other developed countries, where you can even get a college degree online, who would WANT a study from some non-pro kid or dunce??

  I do not know of anyone who even HAS a study......and have not for a long time. I remember when a study did come to the hall......they were almost always odd.....sometimes inbred looking......usually very poor and probable with mental/emotional issues (not that there is anything wrong with that)........

  i wonder how long it will be for WT to start official cyberstudies?....they have a site......so why not have a study course wing of it?.....hey they have done newspaper, radio, tv, now web.....and btw....they were doing tv and radio PSA's just a year or so ago.........oompa
• 

  Black Sheep

  I suspect my wife has one.

  She doesn't say much.

  Especially since one tried to burn her house down (with her in it) to get rid of demons.
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  MikeMusto

  a few pioneers in my cong have them..they are really stretching the term "bible study" with what is now considered

  "doorstep" bible study......its really lame............if i talk to someone for 15 minutes on the doorstep on a r.v..it is considered a

  bible study...even if you dont know it......lol

  but really...many have bible studies..but few of these studies turn into active members
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  Olin Moyles Ghost

  Oompa, it depends where you live and what sort of congregation you're in. My experience in the USA is that you're not going to have many Bible Studies in the English-speaking congregations. And even fewer in the wealthy parts of the country.

  But even in the USA, if you're in a spanish congregation or in a foreign language "group" then you will see lots of publishers with studies. That's my experience, anyway.

  And you are correct that lots of publishers don't want studies. They're happy to put in their 2 hours on Saturday morning (perhaps round up to 3) and go on with their lives.
• 

  undercover

  And you are correct that lots of publishers don't want studies. They're happy to put in their 2 hours on Saturday morning (perhaps round up to 3) and go on with their lives.

  I had very few studies in all my years...I can count them on one hand. And out of the few, two that stand out were people who were strong in their faith and beliefs and either just liked to discuss Bible stuff or were trying to educate me more than me educate them.

  And I always scheduled them for Saturday mornings. That way I got my time, I got my study and I didn't have to stay out in service in the afternoon. Pretty efficient, huh?
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  Quirky1

  I never had/wanted one. My wife doesn't either. Who in the hell would? Who's got the time for a BS? I know I don't, er didn't!! I've got more important things to do than attend endless meetings, assemblies, etc. Being a JW was such a time waster. I don't know how I ever did it the few years I was in. I always felt like I was meeting myslef coming and going. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Since I've left I have gotten more done in 1 year than what I did all the years I was in. And, dammit, it feels good!!
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  White Dove

  I was never good at pushing religion on others, or Avon or Mary Kay or...

  Never had a real study in my life, 38 years of JW life. I didn't really have a life. I had 2 kids and no job. The JW life was all I had, so I really worked it hard. Didn't accomplish a thing, not even friends were made. Such a waste of time! Then, I discovered COLLEGE!!!
• 

  WTWizard

  It was actually easier in the mid 1980s than it is now. The humanoid that dragged me in had 6 within the previous 3 years, and would not take No for an answer on any of them. He would hound you if you were not home, and would never accept any reason for discontinuing the study or not doing what you were supposed to. All that, and he only got six people in. Yes, he was a regular pio-sneer.

  After about 1990, it was actually rare to see anyone new in the congregation from the field. I think there were only something like 3 or 4 people from the territory that eventually got baptized between 1990 and the present. And that's despite all the field circus they are doing.

  Starting studies is not that difficult for the seasoned pio-sneers. I have seen pio-sneers with two or three studies at a time. However, they would usually fizzle. After a couple of studies, it would be difficult to get the people home. Or, they would be home and study, only to not attend the boasting sessions (despite repeated promises to attend). Usually, someone would pick them up, and they would have an excuse to not go, or not be ready (often, they would not be home when it's time). Or, they would go to a few boasting sessions, hit or miss (mostly miss), and never do anything that they are supposed to. The smoking stays. They put up the "sun worship" decorations after a study that began in April. They stay in their churches or in immoral trial relationships. Usually, they finish the book(s) and are no closer to baptism than they were before the study (still smoking, still belonging to another church, still rarely to never attending boasting sessions).
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  metaspy

  Back when I was a jw, I had 4 over the course of my 5 years as a pioneer.

  An elderly man with alzheimers - we studied the my book of bible stories because he didn't remember anything.

  A man who knew the Bible better than I did, but didn't live by it - he said it was a nice historical book.

  A teenage boy who didnt want to study, but his mom made him.

  A teenage girl whom I turned over to a pioneer sister.

  Of these studies, I didn't prepare for any of them. I didn't want them. I hope they never join.
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  C. T. Russell

  I always had more studies than I could handle. The bulk of them always came from evening Witnessing. I always thought the main problem with lack of studies was due to working territory for years only between the hours of 9-11am. No one is home during those times. Then the bulk of the work on Saturday mostly consisted of publishers not really wanting to go further than placing a magazine or two. It’s was easy to get studies but most people really didn’t want the burden. The remaining few didn’t have the time.
  
  When I was young I pointed out the folly of just working territories vs. trying to reach people. An Elder told me that if Jehovah really wanted them to find the truth they would get sick and miss work. Then they would be available during 9-11am…