What would it take for you to conclude that the WBTS is not God's channel?

by Mickey mouse 87 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mickey mouse

  ............is the strange thing that a whole range of people here tell me what I believe, what I have to believe, and also have the liberty of stating that if a person does not 100 % believe what THEY tell one has to believe - then such a person is not a "real" JW!

  Now, the whole range of critisism centres around the fact that WBTS in detail decides what a person has to believe, think, do etc., and it follows that a JW is but a puppet of the random choices or decisions of the GB and WBTS.

  Then some people emerge, who state that they do not feel that is how their reality is; they tell they try to follow God and Jesus, not men, and that they are capable of doing dome thinking for themselves.

  Oh no! state the critics - it just ain't so! You are not a REAL JW! WE know what you believe, how you must act, think etc. - and how you state that your feelings about this is - simply is not true! WE know better than you how you feel about these matters! You lie, you CANNOT feel like that, because you are a JW! And if you feel like that, you are NOT a JW!

  In short, we know that either you are a liar, or you are misinformed, or you are plain stupid, or you do not know the REAL truth about the JW / WBTS, or you don't know yourself - because WE know you and your daily life better than you do.

  Strange. Very strange. Surprising. Annoying. And it shows that a meaningful discussion 99 % certain is not possible, because these other people KEEP TELLING ME WHAT I REALLY MEAN, although I mean otherwise. It is SO annoying to be told what I believe, when I in fact know that I do NOT believe what I am told that I believe.

  Annoying. And surprising that stereotypes like this exist on a board that per se should be non-stereotypic.

  Are you saying that Jehovah's Witnesses are free to draw their own conclusions?

  Are you saying that if you insisted on expressing an opinion in opposition to the expressed opinion of the Governing Body, you wouldn't be reproved and eventually ejected from the congregation?

  I don't doubt that there are many JWs who secretly believe a range of things which are opposite to the teachings of the WBTS. The important word here is secretly because you know as well as I do that people are not allowed to express dissenting opinions in the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Frankly, trying to prove otherwise to a bunch of ex JWs is about as pointless as trying to convince an eskimo that snow is made of sand.
• 

  isaacaustin

  theoldhippie

  basically a JW is told what they will and will not do. They are told what they can and can not beleive. If you disagree fine, they have not yet found a way to police your thoughts but yuo will keep it to yourself and not talk about it to anyone. You will still preach the WT doctrine on that and all other topics. If you do not you will lose your family and friends and be considered dead. Bottom line.
• 

  sammielee24

  LOL..yep, we sure can tell you what you think because IF you are in fact saying that you are a JW then you are in fact saying you are a member of the WTS.

  The WTS tells you what to think and we all know that if you question what they tell you it's one counselling session to set you straight and then you're out. Disfellowshipped for apostasy is the quickest route to cut off the growth before it contaminates the rest of the body.

  You either believe it all and follow it or you don't believe it at all, and sit in the hall pretending you do. If you follow the first, you are a loyal JW - we understand why you think like you do but if you follow the second, you are a poser JW, not believing the WTS but not willing to voice the objections you have or ask questions you feel need to be asked. JW's usually call it a 'test of faith'...a lot of us might call it 'a question of your honesty and integrity'. Just saying...sammieswife.
• 

  quietlyleaving

  my husband and son always say that they do not follow the WBTS. I don't see this as dishonest or lacking in integrity because it seems to me that thier experience of Jehovah and of being a JW comes before the thinking they have about it. The way I see it oldhippie and reniaa are speaking from their experiences (or I guess JWs would say from their heart) whereas we are focusing on the ideas that go with being a witness. Furthermore they are testifying to the continuation of leading Jehovah centred lives even if the WTS falls or goes bananas.
• 

  Yizuman

  Realize this is off topic, but just can't resist...

  Why 50 million? Aren't there around 1 billion Christians on earth? Why so few getting raptured off?

  Well, ya gotta take account of cults for one, then you have people that go to church just out of pure habit, some don't even know why they're there. Just part of their growing up. Sadly tho, alot of those who've spent years of their lives in church but never really knew the Lord as their Savior. Some people like to play church and interact with people, especially during brunch after service. (My all time favorite! Oh yum!)

  Then of course, you have a load of people that lives their daily lives of not going to church, not having anything spiritual in their lives. So naturally, since they don't know anything but by a small amount of information of who Jesus is. They will get left behind.

  Children under the mosiac law which is below the age of 13 will all automatically be raptured along with older teenagers and adults. Irregardless of the status of their parents. (and that includes babies still inside the mother's wombs)

  I don't have an exact figure, but I do recall somewhere in scripture that a third of the population will be raptured up. (still alot if you look at the numbers) and then by the end of the trib, a third of the population will be left alive by the time Jesus returns to earth and take upon the work to rule the earth for a thousand years. So in between, alot of people will have died from all sorts of things that can (and will) happen. I won't get into the details, so you just read Revelations for yourself. But no pressure there.

  I'm by no means a wiz in the Bible, but I do understand the very basics of things in scripture. I try to keep up with scriptures and look up commentaries every now and then.

  Yiz
• 

  Yizuman

  lag kill
• 

  Yizuman

  lag sucks
• 

  Yizuman

  lag kills ya know.
• 

  Mad Dawg

  Ren is right! True religion:

  • Does not start wars.
  • Does not participate in wars.
  • The members don't seek political office.
  • The members love each other.
  • The members take care of the sick and elderly and widows and orphans.
  • Has centuries of solid history.
  • Never changes its teachings.
  • Does not write a Bible to suite their own needs.
  • Has never made a false prophecy.

  Tomorrow, I am going to join the Amish!
• 

  Will Power

  oooops - the amish shun