by lifeisgood 28 Replies latest jw friends
I think the figure is accurate - if the WTBTS were fudging the figure , then it would be diminishing.
A few years ago , a somewhat unstable brother in a congregation ( where one of my (ex) friends was the PO ) partook. The elders weren't sure whether or not to include them in the return so they phoned the branch who told them that "we aren't here to judge - unless it is a non-JW , they are to be included."
In answer to lifeisgood's post , 1935 was ditched a few years ago.
One other thing that has always seemed odd to me is that the "anointed" have no influence within the WTBTS. I'm not exactly sure what it would really mean if you were "anointed". I remember reading statements like "Jehovah's spirit is active inside an anointed person". Things like that. But, if that were true, wouldn't the anointed be leading the 'work'? Not just the governing body, but all the anointed?
I haven't met very many, and I have talked to pretty much every Witness I ever met and asked them about the anointed that they know. And no one ever said anything about the person's spiritual qualities as being exemplary. As far as I can tell they are just there, they don't actually do anything.
Isn't this very strange?
Wouldn't having Jehovah's spirit active inside you make you exemplary? An excellent preacher? An excellent speaker? Kind, possessing tremendous spiritual insights into every day problems and very eager to help others in the KH deal with these problems?
I have never even heard of anyone like this, anywhere, in any congregation.
The only criteria that the JW elders use as to a person's spiritual qualities is the number of hours per month that someone spends peddling their literature. Let your hours average below 10 and you will be "weak". Doesn't matter if you are a saint, you will be weak. But, if your hours average over 20 you will be "strong". I guess between 10 and 20 you are just "middle of the road".
I found all of this to be very bizarre.
lifeisgood wrote:
I remember reading statements like "Jehovah's spirit is active inside an anointed person". Things like that. But, if that were true, wouldn't the anointed be leading the 'work'? Not just the governing body, but all the anointed?
I wondered the same thing in the past. But now I know that the WT is corrupt, it explains why the anointed are left disempowered and discredited.
satinka
Pesonally, I do not trust ANY of the numbers coming from the WT society. Even if THEY are not fudging the numbers, we all learned on this board and from friends that many publishers are fudging thier numbers to make them look better. I think we can take at least 1/3 off the top of all the numbers, especially the publisher count. I doubt the WT has 7 mil, active publishers?? Peace, Lilly
With counting partakers as actual "Anointed" I know that a lot of local editing of figures goes on, we had several people attend over the years who partook, yet the local Elders took it upon themselves to judge if the persons knew enough JW doctrine to be considered as one of the 144,000 ! (Arrogant bastards)
All the ones who partook in my Congo. since about 1978/9 were not reported to the WT. We sent back Nil partakers as the report.
So, who knows how many partook over the years, or do now ?
My grandparents were Bible Students pre-1935. The whole congregation then were anointed and remained close to our family. Through them we have know anointed over the years even many who "progressed" to being on the GB. The largest group of these remain in the NY area, the pre-1935 era. The newer "anointed" are a mixed bag, some seem to have the more balanced view of the pre-1935 era, a few take "advantage" of the fact that most never have known anointed and take on abilities that are not theirs on earth per the bible.
Realistically, anointed or non-anointed, the qualifications should be the same for any Christian. The anointed are not any holier than the non-anointed.
Remember, they don't report the number of "Anointed". They report the number of "Partakers", or those who claim to be anointed, because they can't possibly know for sure if someone who claims to be anointed is legitimate or not.
Anyway, I found many references throughout the JW literature that said that the annointed were sealed in 1935, and the only new annointed since 1935 would be to replace any who "fell away".
This is not the case anymore. In 2007 (I think) "new light" came, and the door is wide open once again, there was no sealing in 1935. They were forced by the simple fact that you also realised: their interpretation made a bunch of drunken orgying murderers out of the annointed (they're constantly sinning, and need to be replaced). Since the limit was lifted, the number of partakers is constantly rising, because it was a psychological limit.
About the main topic: it would help if you tell where are you from. I live in eastern Europe, and in my 10 years of cult membership I have not seen one single annointed, nor have I talked with anyone who knew one - except two JWs a few hundred kilometers away, who were dead for about 20+ years, and only the eldest JWs remember them. Coming to this forum I've seen in US it's not that unusual to have one or even more in one congregation.
I think you will find the bulk of their anointed come from 3rd World Countries notably from the African subcontinent I wouldnt mind betting in some parts of Africa you will find congs where there are more anointed then there are of GC, our cong's only partaker was an arrogant,proud, argumentative,fraudster who came from Sierra Leone, and like wise throughout congregations in inner London there are countless examples of partakers from West Africa, mainly the brethren from Ghana and Nigeria in which there are large communities in London. TBH I think the WTS purposely keeps the figure dishonestly lower, IMHO the real figure of partakers is probably over the 100k mark.
