by OnTheWayOut 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
5. Political neutrality is a must because all governments belong to Satan. This means no voting and no military service, no pledges of allegiance or flag salutes.
But collecting your social security / disability checks, welfare checks, SNAPs, military retirement checks, unemployment checks, medicaid, and medicare benefits from Satan is ok.
I wonder why I was thinking JW's had abandoned the Michael was Jesus teaching?
The Witnesses, like most Fundamentalists, worship the Bible. But, they mean different things when they do so.
OK, I missed that part in my 20 years of "pay attention". Sorry.
I'm talking phylisophacally sic, I mean, they are getting ready to rejoice
at the destruction of WORLD because it is God's will, but it isn't.
I think it was suppose go into the evolution machine, but they wouldn't
allow it, I don't know why. Now we are so close to EARTH being devastated
that it is too late for evolution. Sorry guys, you lose. Who wins? I guess that is my point.
Nobody. Did nobody ever wonder where the theory of the rapture comes from?
The only way out is crazy*. And I do know the Sun can stand forever and the Earth too.
I also know Jehovah is true and Jesus never left helping us.
*exit stage left, not the Way is crazy, destroying the Way was crazy,
but i was born in 1956, so it isn't my fault. Unless of course....
So long! It is my last allowed post for the day. I will miss you like crazy.
Subsets will be added here and there:
10. Smoking (primarily tobacco but smoking anything) is about the worst sin one can commit, and should have been listed in the 11th commandment. Also, women wearing pants during any JW function or men having beards (anytime after Rutherford took over) are pretty close to being as bad as adultery.
9. A group of men known as the Governing Body are guided by Holy Spirit and everythng they say must be obeyed/believed. They have spent huge amounts of time deciding how married people should have sex, what to avoid in the bedroom, and what things are pagan or not.
One that I would find comical if not so painful to so many:
Shunning family members and friends for leaving the religion, committing any sin deemed worthy, or just being inactive, is an act of LOVE, and does not constitute judgmentalism, or punishment.
Jeff
How could I leave out "shunning" ? I will wait and see if there are any others I left out then revise the whole thing to include shunning. Maybe I can merge number 2 (holidays) with my new number 9 (Obey the GB) to make room for it.
Also, Political neutrality can be merged with isolationism and maybe "shunning" could fit in there with a statement that they are "no part of the world."
It starts to get messy when you try to sum up their unique qualities. There may be more than 10 can hold.
You didn't list the importance of the name "Jehovah," how all of human history is a test to vindicate that name and Jehovah's sovereignty and justice, and how all prayers not using that name go to Satan. This seems to be a critical and distinctive WT teaching.
When mentioning the GB, remember to throw in the "faithful and discreet slave" lingo, since it's all they talk about in the WT and in meetings nowadays.
Granted, soul sleep of the dead and annihilation rather than eternal punishment are taught by other religious groups besides the WTS, but they are two key WT doctrines. I think that if the GB came out with "new light" () on those doctrines, changing to the teachings of Christendom they would lose a LOT of their followers. To me, this factor places these teachings in the top 10 JW beliefs.
Also, a lot of other legalistic religions groups consider smoking to be a terrible sin.
New number of posts keep popping up. I guess it means I'm a liar, because I said I had no more posts and here I am again. Jehovah's Witnesses don't worship the Bible. I read Franz's book. (I have publicly admitted it, but Hazel hasn't said I'm disfellowshipped yet.) All their biggest problems come from NOT considering the Bible. Terry, did you read Crisis of Conscience ? Franze made it very clear that they did not consider the Bible. That is why his conscience allowed him to leave the organization. (God bless his wife, by the way, one of my favorite people because she acted as a Christian wife should, I believe. Stayed with him, then left with him, an excellent woman.) What Fundamentalists worship is "WE HAVE" the Bible, they don't know what it says. To know what it says is something to admire, not look down upon. There is not one person who will understand ALL of it, therefore it is not an object of worship. What I think it was was directions on "how to save the planet" for human life. Intelligent human life that evolves, if you will, into that which trusts love. It didn't happen. So now what?
My advice is to pretend you had nothing to do with the "END". Or, go find Jesus, and apologize, while your at it, might I suggest apologizing to your neighbor? He who wrote AA had the right idea. Make amends. Oh, they say death does not hurt? Not yet. Did you read my essay God in a Box ? I thought it was pretty good. Please You who are totering on mental illness, been there, done that, when I speak I am talking to everyone who might read me. I post because I believe "preach the word" . That's all I'm doing. Why, if I seem to believe it is too late, do I recommend doing something good? Who knows? Maybe the boat won't go down.
All JW beliefs are subservient to the idea that the GB speaks for God. Everything you could list today could be overturned by a Watchtower article tomorrow.
Let me try again. I give up after this. Feel free to list others and go beyond the 10.
10. A group of men known as the Governing Body are guided by Holy Spirit and everything they say must be obeyed/believed. Among the things that must be accepted as "coming from God" are the thought that SMOKING is evil, women cannot wear pants (only skirts and dresses) during any religious functions, men should not wear beards ever, various types of sex between marriage mates is wrong (examples: anal and oral) and all sex outside of marriage is wrong, various things are pagan (or evil in some other way) such as holidays and birthdays.
9. God's name is "Jehovah." It doesn't matter what legitimate arguments can come up from closely examining that. It doesn't matter how that name was arrived at. It is more important than anything else in the whole world. Anyone who doesn't agree might be struck by lightning along with people who call the Kingdom Hall a "church."
8. Jesus already had his "second coming." He returned to earth invisibly in 1914 and has been here ever since.
7. The New World Translation is the world's most accurate Bible, having restored God's name where it had been removed in the New Testament. Holy Spirit guided men to be waaaaaaay more accurate in translation than any expertise in ancient Hebrew or Greek could provide people. But of course, since No. 10 above is true, anything the Governing Body or it's workers writes as doctrine in their literature is even more important and true than anything found in the Bible, even the New World Translation of the Bible.
6. There are two classes of true Christians, the 144,000 "anointed" who will rule in heaven with Michael and the "other sheep" who will form "the great crowd" that will live forever on a paradise earth. (After 1914, only the annointed go to heaven when they die. Anointed before 1914 waited in the ground, totally dead. Everyone else who died/dies waits in the ground for a resurrection and/or judgement.) ALL TRUE CHRISTIANS MUST BE INVOLVED IN DECLARING THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM BY "PLACING" WATCHTOWER LITERATURE WITH PEOPLE IN A DOOR-TO-DOOR WORK.
5. Eating or transfusing "whole" blood is a terrible sin against God, one of the worst. (Modified down over the years to allow "fractions.") Better to let your child die in a hospital than to have lifesaving whole blood transfused into them. It's all crystal clear from the Bible, yet unique to Jehovah's Witnesses.
4. True Christians are "no part of the world." (see No. 1 to understand what a true Christian is.) Political neutrality is a must because all governments of the worldbelong to Satan. This means no voting and no military service, no pledges of allegiance or flag salutes. True Christians limit their time with anyone who is not a true Christian.
3. Jesus was nailed to an upright stake and not a cross. The cross is an object of idolatry and is worshipped.
2. True Christians shun(not even saying "hello" to) anyone who has left true Christianity. Even grandparents or grandchildren, parents or children will shun family members who were former members of the one true religion, but have left it. (This is way more serious than "being no part of the world. True Christians do not read material by former members and if they work with them, they change jobs or sell their company if necessary to get rid of them.)
1. There is only one true religion, Jehovah's Witnesses are that one. Salvation can only be obtained by being in the one true religion, "The Truth" as they call it. All non-Jehovah's Witnesses will be judged and executed at Armageddon which will occur any minute now, because Jehovah (God) is ready to take delight in destroying all the people of the earth who are not Jehovah's Witnesses.
