by Perry 78 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Matthew 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, ° (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Why did we beg for Jehovah's forgiveness at every prayer when clearly the Son has this authority?
I will admit that I personally pray to the father in Jesus's name. Kind of like the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Of course, in order to receive salvation I had to come to Jesus.
Some people pray directly to Christ Jesus for salvation, others pray to God and ask for salvation by His Son Jesus. Is one more correct than the other?
Define 'sin'.
J
I would think that Perry and I are speaking of sins as defined by the Bible. A Google search for 'Biblical Sin' would produce some information for reference.
Now, if you are talking about Watchtower 'sins' all I can say to that is view this extensive list of their rules. You can also check this list of what Jehovah's Witnesses can't do.
Why did we beg for Jehovah's forgiveness at every prayer when clearly the Son has this authority?
In Watchtower World..
Jesus is out of a Job.
And..
The WBT$= Jehovah
In Watchtower World..
You beg for forgiveness from the WBT$..
The WBT$=Jehovah..
........................
PERRY- They aren't. It's unforgiveable to be a Jehovah's Witness. Especially with all the information available on the internet. Peace out, Mr. Flipper
I will define sin--several different kinds. First, you have absolute sin. Doing this is bad for oneself and/or society. As I see it, laziness, dishonesty, and envy are at the root of all absolute sin. The acts are deliberately doing what is bad for self and/or society, and refraining from doing what is good for self and/or society. Strangely enough, many people actually attribute virtue in doing this.
Biblical sin, or scriptural sin (to accomodate Muslims), means doing what your book says is bad. For Jews and Christians, a "scriptural sin" is doing something the Bible (or the part you follow) tells you is bad. Jews obey the Mosaic Law, while Christians obey Jesus' teachings as interpreted by the Gospel writers and Paul. Islams obey the Law that is found in the Quran. When you break one of these rules by doing what is forbidden or failing to do what is required by your book, you have committed a "scriptural sin". Notice that a Scriptural sin" is not always an absolute sin.
Now, there is "religious sin". This is when you break one of the rules, as interpreted by your religion. If your religion interprets an act as violating the book (Bible or Quran) it is supposedly based on, you have committed a religious sin. Usually, this is taken out of context--the people interpreting their "Holy" Book may or may not have pure motives. Breaking the Washtowel rules (celebrating holidays and birthdays, smoking, joining the military, gambling (especially gambling within reason), and saluting the flag) constitute "religious sins" since you are sinning against the religion. Same if they insist that field circus and boasting session attendance are required and you skip doing so--this, too, is breaking the rules of the religion. Note that religious sin may or may not also be Scriptural and/or absolute sin.
Forgiveness is another matter. To be forgiven from absolute sin, one must try to correct the underlying reason for it (usually it's stagnation and a society that limits fully integrated thinking, or being brainwashed by religion) and fix the mistakes you have made. Only the most extreme instances of absolute sin are unforgivable (this includes people that insist on pushing a society where everything anyone does is what they are told to).
Scriptural sins have their modes of "forgiveness". Here, one starts creating problems where none should have existed--Original Sin is a theme of both Bible and Quran. There is a "savior" in both cases, and you need to take some kind of action. Usually, acknowledging this Savior is required, and you need prayer. You also need to work on the symptoms of the sin--that is, the act or thought that you are doing "wrong". You need also to attempt to correct the "sin" you are committing. Both Bible and Quran have the pathways--studying your "Holy" Book is thus part of the requirement to get "scriptural forgiveness" for "scriptural sin".
Religious sin also has its rules. The Catholic church has confessions, and the "Three Hail Marys" is a common penance. Some religions also have penances (which are often not even in the Bible or Quran)--extra work, contributing more to the religion, or other activity might be needed or aid in attaining religious "forgiveness" (which means your sins are forgiven in the eyes of your religion). There are also religions that impose other punishments--getting marked as "bad association", being disfellowshipped, going to all the services, prayer, and showing the leaders that you have quit your "sin" and turned around are all among the requirements that various religions have for being forgiven in the eyes of the religion.
As for the witlesses, their sins are supposedly forgiven if they study the Bible (the Not Well Translated version) along with the Washtowel littera-trash, go to all the boasting sessions, and take in the knowledge. They then have to quit doing these "sins", and turn against those courses. If they relapse, they have to go to the hounders. Prayer will happen now, and there will be hounding using scriptures out of context (along with a liberal dose of Washtowel littera-trash). It is possible that you will also have to go to boasting sessions, sit silently, and have another meeting several months or years after the original "sin".
Matthew 28:
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
I remember quoting the above scripture to my mother when I was a teen and asking her why we just didn't ask Jesus about certain things since he was the boss for the time being.
She pretty much told me not to ask such stupid questions.
Well from a Christian stand point Jesus is suppose to be the go to guy for forgiveness of inherited sin from Adam. It is through Jesus Christ the Messiah (as Christians see it) that all humans have to go through to be back on good terms with God. Now God can be called many things but for this thought I'll just refer to the so called creator of all life as God.
According to the biblical writings one must now approach God in prayer through the go to guy Jesus, and ask forgiveness of what ever transactions a person has done or born into according to Chrisian belief on sin. Jewish folks don't believe in inherited sin but believe in sin as something people commit by breaking the laws of Judahism .
From Answers.com: Jewish views of sin regard the violation of any of the divine commandments to be a sin. Judaism teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being. Humankind was not created with an inclination to do evil, but has that inclination "from his youth"( Genesis 8:21 ).
Personally I think that the Jewish view of sin is correct and was corrupted as Christianity developed over the centuries and earliest writing were changed and reworded.
The way I suspect that it was intended was that everyone outside of Judahism could turn to the teachings of the Jewish Rabbi (teacher) called Jesus and find the path to the Divine or God.
I think if you want to understand the biblical teachings from biblical scholars perspective then a good place to start is at the Westar Institute of the Jesus Seminar. I've been to several of their education seminars and it has really helped me get a broader and more sensible perspective of Christian teachings.
How Did Jesus Become God and Why, Lloyd Geering http://www.westarinstitute.org/Periodicals/4R_Articles/jesus_to_god.html
http://www.westarinstitute.org/index.html Westar Institute
With Jehovah's Witness Jesus seems to be of lesser importance and is not talked about as much so it seems the JW's have changed his position from traditional Christian perspective. Since JW's don't see Jesus as Almighty God come in the flesh he is seen as a divine son only and not as God himself. I think that perspective is probably closer to accurate from a truely Jewish view point.
Now I know everyone has their perspective and I'm not looking for an argument here just sharing what I've come to understand about Christian tradition. There are a multitude of view points and mine is just one of many. I figure to each his own since the scriptures are pretty open to various interpetations.
Ruth
How Are JW's Sins Forgiven?
They aren't.
Every JW knows this verse
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
But how many follow the direction of Jesus here?
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
Or this?
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
This sums it up
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
It is Jesus flesh and blood on the altar of the cross that makes atonement for souls. JWs are not in the covenant. As they pass the wine without drinking and the bread without eating each "memorial" they show this quite clearly.
So you want you sins forgiven? Just ask Jesus, thank Him for His sacrifice for your sins, tell Him to be Lord, King and God of your life. Before too long you will have need to leave the WT.
