Getting understanding about the New Generation Light from a JW Elder
by garyneal 96 Replies latest members private
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garyneal
Sorry, been a while since I visited this. I decided to finally reply.
Hi Scholar,
Congratulations on your 39th anniversary and sorry for not congratulation you earlier.
Back to the topic. Got to admit, it has been a while and I guess this whole thing has kind of cooled a bit but I remember reading your e-mail the first time there was some things I thought struck me as odd.
First off, you said that the generation teaching is not your core doctrine. I suppose not in a direct sense it really is but considering that the generation doctrine was detached from 1914 with the 2008 revision and then reattached to 1914 in 2010 it makes me wonder if the Society is still trying to hold on to 1914. We've discussed 1914 and its chronology before so I won't go into that doctrine but it does seem that reattaching the generation doctrine to 1914 would make it somewhat significant for if 1914 loses its significance, a lot attached to it goes away with it. How many Jehovah's Witnesses who are fairly new to the faith even know about 1914 and its significance?
You went on to state that your primary doctrine concerned love of God, Jesus, and neighbor and understanding God's purpose for human (paraphrasing). This sounds very much like so many other churches that proclaim the Bible and it begs the question why the witnesses are such separatists believing that they have the only true religion and that all other churches (and I do mean ALL) are part of the great whore of Babylon. I guess I just don't see the witnesses that way though at one point in time I did begin think that perhaps this religion was all that it claimed to be.
The other stuff you mention about Jesus reminding the disciples that no one knows the day or the hour is generally agreed upon within the Christian community. Some sects try to set dates but all of those dates end up passing without incident. Personally, I am not sure what Jesus meant by this generation but I think the view that I tend to accept is that Jesus may be referring to a generation that is not here yet. Then again, I don't think much of it for I believe that it will be revealed in due time.
One question that was pose in the topic you posted "This Generation" was "You may think, how can an organization that claims to be backed by God make mistakes?" I don't believe that organizations have to be perfect and not make mistakes in order to have a backing by God. In regards to the second question, "Or change understanding concerning prophecies whether great or small?" Again, human understanding is fallible and subject to change, we should all be humble to admit when we are wrong. I'm curious though, has the Watchtower Society ever admitted to being wrong about something. Just flat out came out and said, "We were wrong about X," and perhaps as a bonus also added, "...and we humbly apologize if anyone was hurt or led astray by our error."
I guess the main difference I see in the Watchtower Society and most churches I went to is that those churches weren't dogmatic in trying to proclaim that they have the answer to everything while accusing others who disagree with them to be false or of Satan. I say 'most churches' in this case because I have personally experienced a small church of the Independent Fundamental Baptist denomination that was the type to dogmatically proclaim that it had all the answers while proclaiming other churches to be false. In other words, there is history there in regards to my experiences with legalistic dogmatic churches and I did not experience it again until I started attending meetings at the Kingdom Hall with my wife.
I guess the bottom line is, it is one thing to be fallible and make mistakes, it is another thing entirely to proclaim all your teachings as truth without ever admitting that your old teachings were wrong. Has a teaching ever changed to the point to where the new teaching is the exact opposite of the old teaching? If so, then has there ever been a case where the new teaching was later dropped and later reverted back to the old teaching? If so, which teaching was wrong?
Thank you very much for your patience on this as it did take me quite a while to reply.
Gary
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ThomasCovenant
Anything further on your reply above?
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DesirousOfChange
Anything further on your reply above?
Guess not.
This is one of the best threads I've yet to read here. Thanks.
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garyneal
No, nothing yet. Although he did express intention on responding. Still waiting...
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WontLeave
Yeah, don't hold your breath. I confronted a JW at my door about the Harold Camping debacle and all the news articles tying him with JWs on failed prophecies. The only one he is even slightly aware of is 1975 and only knows the Watchtower's version of the subject. I play dumb, so he doesn't run away, screaming "Apostate!", so I just said "They had a whole list of dates; not just one." He responds that they must be false accusations from lying detractors and he wanted to see direct quotes from WT literature. So, I've been waiting with 30-some pages of direct quotes and haven't seen him since.
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garyneal
I, and one other facebook member (who may or may not post on this board), was kicked off a Jehovah's Witness facebook group for linking and discussing an article that pointed out a number of failed dates forwarded by the Watchtower.
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JonathanH
I wish there was something new. Garyneal kicked some ass, I would love to see what the response was to that last one.
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Vanderhoven7
booked
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gma-tired2
Since I was taught by JW's the generation of 1914 will not pass away but it is now a overlapping generation this makes no sense to me. My JW sibling called and tried to explain to me a while back but found he/she couldn't explain to make it sound reasonable. I am glad to now know TTATT so I no longer need to really worry. It takes a load off my shoulders.
