Watchtower says saying "despicable fool" is same as saying "apostate"

by Greybeard 17 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Greybeard
    Greybeard

    The following Watchtower article comment blew my mind! Check it out:

    Watchtower 2006 2/15

    “Questions From Readers

    What three dangers was Jesus warning against at Matthew 5:22 ?

    In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ warned his followers: “I say to you that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice; but whoever addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court; whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ will be liable to the fiery Gehenna.”— Matthew 5:22 .

    Jesus used things familiar to the Jews—the court of justice, the Supreme Court, and the fiery Gehenna—to convey to them the increasing severity of the punishments for sins of increasing seriousness.

    First, Jesus said that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to “the court of justice,” the local court. According to tradition, these courts were set up in cities with an adult male population of 120 or more. ( Matthew 10:17 ; Mark 13:9 ) The judges at such a court had authority to render judgment, even on murder cases. ( Deuteronomy 16:18 ; 19:12 ; 21:1 , 2 ) Thus, Jesus was showing that a person who harbors smoldering wrath against his brother is committing a serious sin.

    Jesus next said that a person who “addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court.” The Greek word rha·ka′ (footnote) rendered “an unspeakable word of contempt” means “empty” or “empty-headed.” According to The New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, that word was “a term of reproach used by the Jews in the time of Christ.” Jesus was thus warning against the seriousness of expressing hatred toward a countryman with a derogatory term of contempt. Jesus was as much as saying that a person using such a word would be judged not just by a local court but by the Supreme Court, the full Sanhedrin—the judicial body in Jerusalem made up of the high priest and 70 older men and scribes.— Mark 15:1 .

    Finally, Jesus explained that if a person addresses another, “You despicable fool!” he would be liable to the fiery Gehenna. The word “Gehenna” comes from the Hebrew words geh hin·nom′, meaning “valley of Hinnom,” which lay to the west and south of ancient Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, the valley had become a place for burning refuse, including the bodies of vile criminals who were considered undeserving of a decent burial. So the word “Gehenna” was a fitting symbol of complete destruction.

    What, then, did the expression “despicable fool” signify? The word used here sounded similar to a Hebrew term that means “rebellious,” or “mutinous.” It designates a person as morally worthless, an apostate and a rebel against God. So the person addressing his fellow as a “despicable fool” is as much as saying that his brother should receive a punishment fit for a rebel against God, everlasting destruction. From God’s standpoint, the one uttering such a condemnation against another could merit that severe sentence—everlasting destruction—himself.— Deuteronomy 19:17-19 .

    Consequently, Jesus was setting a higher standard for his followers than that found in the principles behind the Mosaic Law. While people believed that a murderer would be “accountable to the court of justice,” Jesus went further. He taught that his followers should avoid even harboring animosity against their brothers.— Matthew 5:21 , 22 .”

    -------End Watchtower Quote----------------------------

    Calling someone an “apostate”, “empty well” or “mentally diseased” among other things as they did in the 2011 9/11 Watchtower Study is the same as calling them a “despicable fool”. They clearly established that in their above comments. Even if it were true Jesus made no allowance for such judgmental harsh words. They are bitter because God has not made the words of these “servants” come true. Isaiah 44:26 , “the One making the word of his servant come true, and the One that carries out completely the counsel of his own messengers.”

  • paulnotsaul
    paulnotsaul

    Graybeard, WELCOME aboard. Enjoy the ride. The light gets brighter the more you learn the truth about the truth. Hope to learn more about you and your story. Oh, and about your thread. OH, SNAP! Another watchtower epic fail! peacegray1 paulnotsaul

  • Greybeard
    Greybeard

    Hi Paul and thank you!

    In a nut shell... I learned TTATT about 2.5 years ago. I haven't been going to the meetings for about 2 years. I was raised a JW most of my life and am now close to 50. I learned TTATT not long after being DFed (wrongly I felt) THEN I started looking at "apostate" sites like jwfacts.com. I got back in so I could talk to my children then faded... I have written a lot for jwstruggle.com in the last year. My wife is still an active JW as well as most of my family. I do not want to give to many details as I am still fading...

    Take care,

    Greybeard

  • jamiebowers
    jamiebowers

    Welcome to JWN! There's a more recent Watchtower article that calls apostates "mentally diseased" or some such nonsense. People have been clamouring about it for days here on JWN. I couldn't care less what those vipers have to say in the past, present or future. Stick around, you'll get a real education here!

  • Greybeard
    Greybeard

    Thank you Jamie,

    Yes I mentioned that recent article that calls apostates "mentally diseased" from the 9/11 Watchtower. Thats why I posted this article right out of the horses mouth that condemns such speech.

    looking forward to more education

  • cantleave
    cantleave

    Welcomr to the forum Greybeard.

    I love being called a dispicable fool or even mentally disesed by the Watchtower, I rather be despised by them than loved by them for bindly following them.

  • Souder
  • wha happened?
    wha happened?

    I missed this a few months back, but it seems to follow the trend of other articles about apostates. Apparently, If u don't walk, talk, breath, defecate, the WT, then u are an apostate. It's amazing how much of a drum beating this has become. I don't now what's going on behind closed doors, but something must be on the horizon for these crazy guys in NY to start purging weak ones and excluding anyone that is on the fringe or out.

    That was a huge stretch in that article. They used a homonym for a definition? Let's look into that.

    In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. [ 1 ] Thus homonyms are simultaneously homographs (words that share the same spelling, irrespective of their pronunciation) andhomophones (words that share the same pronunciation, irrespective of their spelling). The state of being a homonym is called homonymy. Examples of homonyms are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right). A distinction is sometimes made between "true" homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal). [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

    In non-technical contexts, the term "homonym" may be used (somewhat confusingly) to refer to words that are either homographs or homophones. [ 1 ] In this looser sense, the words row (propel with oars) and row (argument) are considered homonyms, as are the words read (peruse) and reed (waterside plant).

    It was a terrible analogy and anyone who studies language would probably laugh.

  • nancy drew
    nancy drew

    membership in the dispicable fool club

  • sabastious
    sabastious

    Wow, I missed this. Awesome breakdown!

    -Sab

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