This from Channel C.....
"A nice older lady dropped off a couple of magazines the other day. I hadn’t read WT material recently, so decided to have a quick read of the March 1/11 WT, “The Good News of the Kingdom – What is It?”
The first article, “A Prophecy of Enormous Importance”, begins with a quotation from Matthew 24:14, “The good news of the kingdom must be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” The article says that “…scholars agree, [that this prophecy] is highly important.” But it doesn’t mention which scholars or in what sense it is “highly important.” (p.3) I would venture that scholars in fact don’t agree at all about the importance, exact meaning, application or timing of this prophecy.
On p. 4, the article claims that “Christendom’s leaders offer conflicting, confusing, and complicated explanations…One writes that God’s Kingdom is “…an experience with God in which men and women find salvation.” However, there is no reference. They then reference a similar quotation from the Catechism of the Catholic church: “The kingdom of God [is] righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”, as if this was completely off base, when in fact it is almost a verbatim quotation from Paul (Ro 14:17). The first quotation could also be supported by Ro 14:17. Did the writer not know this or not bother to look it up? The WTS is now in the unenvious position of opposing the apostle Paul.
And this brings up another problem. In the previous paragraph, “…scholars agree…” is used to prove their point. But in this paragraph, “Christendom’s leaders”, which I assume are scholars, are in a state of confusion. So are they dependable or not? You can’t have it both ways.
On p.5, the writer tells us that, “…Jesus assured his faithful apostles that they, along with others, would be resurrected to heaven and would sit on thrones. (Luke 22:28:30)”. The writer assures us that these thrones are symbolic since there aren't realy thrones in heaven. Yet the scripture cited says nothing about heaven, only about sitting on thrones. Citations must support your assertion and this one doesn't.
The writer then accuses churches which do social work, or build hospitals or schools of having ulterior motives: only to gain disciples. It never occurs to the writer that these may be doing these good works out of sincere concern for other people. Maybe the WTS should try doing this. (p.6)
Again, we have a non-reference to “One theologian [that] writes…” Which theologian? Where and when was this written? (p.6)
The writer then makes a major gaff by ridiculing Catholics for thinking that the best way to preach the good news is “…by living their life in such as way that it would be an example to others” and then praising JWs for doing exactly the same thing (p.8). Sorry, WTS, as before, you can’t have it both ways.
The article, if handed in as a paper to any self-respecting school would be a fail. If submitted to any decent magazine would be rejected. There isn’t even an attempt to adhere to basic journalistic standards. The article contradicts itself in a number of places. Citations are missing or misused. It is very poorly done. If the WTS wants to be credible (and I assume that it does), it could start by introducing generally accepted journalistic practices into their writing department. The situation is even more desperate considering these magazines are for public, not internal, consumption (at least that’s my understanding).
What is going on here? Has the writing always been this bad but I just now noticed it? Or is it deteriorating as we get "closer to the end?"
