How to respond to "Whoelse is preaching the good news worldwide?" (page 8)

isaacaustin

Ok, let's look further...Paul preaching to the jailer, Cornelius...hours....show me an example in the Bible of an unannouced visit to ones home, the start of a weekly Bible study and baptism to follow the months of training...

isaacaustin

In all of the cases of baptism, and Acts is full of them...baptism came upon knowing who Jesus was...not acquainting oneself with org rules.

jgnat

The Watchtower fuller brush method of door-to-door work is modern (1906), and would not have been possible in the first century. This is because in first century society strangers did not show up at households uninvited, the word was spread verbally, public meeting places were in the open like at the village well, and gatherings were informal, on invitation, in people's private homes. Understanding the commission of spreading the gospel from house to house has a completely different meaning from the Witness version in this context.

You will note often that entire households converted in Jesus' time. This is because the structure of a household and a family was quite different than what we know today. The head of the household ruled exclusively and where he went the household followed. "The Roman household was quite large and could include the paterfamilias, his wife, his sons with their wives and children, unmarried daughters and slaves. The household, then, could be considered to be a small state within a state" The house was more like a fortress with a plain entrance, a narrow corridor called a vestibulum that led to the atrium for receiving strangers. In the atrium, under the open sky, the visitor is not yet invited under the master's roof. The thought of receiving uninvited pairs of strangers in to a home would have been inconceivable.

Most urban dwellers, however, lived in cramped apartments. A good part of the day was spent gathering water to and from the well. We see evidence of this, too, in Jesus' preaching work.

Public gathering places included the temple, the well, and the city gate. Here is where people would gather to hear the latest news. Here is where preachers preached. If the head of a household wanted to hear more, he might invite the preacher in to his home. We see plenty of evidence of this in the bible, too (i.e. Zacchaeus, a Pharisee's house).

Without their own churches or Kingdom Halls, Christians met in each other's homes. Here is where they would hear visiting preachers, pray, eat, and encourage each other. We see evidence of this as well when Peter was released from prison. This description of early Christian life is confirmed by a contemporary, Pliny the Younger.

The invention of the printing press is still 1,400 years away, and the copying of books by monks would not be established for another 600 years. The Torah is in the temple, the hebrew scriptures memorized by scholars, and Paul's letters copied and read aloud to the surrounding towns. The good news would have been preached aloud, without the support of the printed word. So it is a false Watchtower depiction of pairs of first-century field-workers, scrolls in hand, strolling down the lane, looking for a doorbell.

bennyk

debator writes (post 115): "Witnesses are the first Christian group in 1700 years to go back to Preaching about Jehovah our Almighty God THROUGH his son Jesus and not putting his son Jesus in his father's place."

So... you're telling us that Almighty God had the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class (which the Watch Tower Society says has had a continual existence since 33 C.E.) preach for 1700 years what you believe to be a false doctrine? That's what you're telling us?

isaacaustin

Debator erroneously said:

debator writes (post 115): "Witnesses are the first Christian group in 1700 years to go back to Preaching about Jehovah our Almighty God THROUGH his son Jesus and not putting his son Jesus in his father's place."

My reply: Untrue. Christadelphians, House of Yahweh teach the same...as do other groups.

tec

Thanks Isaac. I mentioned Unitarianism earlier, but could not recall other specific groups.

Tammy

isaacaustin

Thanks Tammy! I forgot Unitarianism. LOL

isaacaustin

Also non-trinitarian are Assemblies of Yahweh, based in Bethel, PA of all places. LOL

isaacaustin

more non-trinitarians groups, who also do not do holidays, believe in hellfire or immortality of the soul- Assemblies of the Called out Ones of Ya, Assembly of YHWH Yeshua, and Assemblies of Yahweh. That makes 6 different groups thus far names who belive similarly to the JWs on these points.

eyeslice

The JWs certainly haven't 'filled the earth with the knowledge of Jehovah'.

There are lots of Christian groups, such as the Pentecostals and Assemblies of God, who have had a far bigger impact in Africa and other 3rd world countries than Jehovahs Witnesses.

How to respond to "Whoelse is preaching the good news worldwide?"

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