Do Jehovah's Witnesses know what happened to them in 1954? (page 4)

jwfacts

This wasn't my first ah-ha moment, but it was my last. When I found this out everything clicked. Watchtower doctrine is bullshit and the leadership is deceitful. Up till then, I still reasoned that maybe the religion is not perfect, but at least better than other religions.

I remember calling my mother the day I found out at about midnight to tell her, since for her the Trinity was the big proof that JWs are the truth. She refused to discuss it. To this day, all she will say is she has reconciled this topic but feels no obligation to justify it to me.

I have asked old JWs and on forums how they felt in 1954 when the Watchtower suddenly told them they could no longer worship or pray to Jesus. No one seems to even remember. I expected it must have upset a lot of people, but cannot find any mention of it anywhere.

What amazes me is that the charter remained until 1999 before the line about worshipping Jesus was removed.

1945 Charter

1999 Charter

designs

In the 1970s the Wt. Society was trying to push back against the Jesus Movement and Calvary Chapel types. I liked the addition of christian in our name but it couldn't last with a Leadership that needed to keep control and feel superior. It was the classic battle, compare to John Calvin v John Wesley.

Of note- Calvary Chapel if having one of their HARVEST CRUSADES in LA- only the name Greg Laurie appears on the Bumper Stickers. Charlatan #1.

THE GLADIATOR

Some good information Terry. Here is some additional information relating to this subject, that may interest those reading this thread.

Jesus Appointed Field Marshal

The Watchtower Society had originally referred to Jesus as their Lord, and as with all Christian religions looked to him as their leader. Now they had adopted a new name, less and less reference was made to Jesus as Lord, but attention was slowly directed to Jehovah. This is one translation of the Hebrew name that the Israelites used, though not the most accurate rendering.

Over the years the divine name was to be used more and more, leading to the publishing of the Watchtower Societies own translation of the New Testament in 1950, which placed great emphasis on the name Jehovah. As time passed Jesus was given less and less credit. The Christian churches were criticised for their attention to Jesus instead of the Father Jehovah. This bias has continued until the present day. The Bible calls Jesus ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ and states that he will personally come with his angels to claim his right to rule the earth. In 1986 the Society referred to Jesus as a field marshal:

Thus, Jehovah of Armies by means of his field marshal Jesus Christ, will gain undying glory for himself surpassing anything that was described in ‘The book of the Wars of Jehovah’ and in the Hebrew scriptures of the Holy Bible. How beautiful a name will Jehovah make for himself by his awe-inspiring victory in ‘the war of the great day of God Almighty! Jubilantly all lovers of that name will then laud it forever, singing forth his praises!Forward, then, into battle action O Jehovah of armies, with your royal son at your side!

Worldwide Peace and Security under the Prince of Peace 1986.

Heading - Jehovah’s name beautified

This colourful and inspiring prose is designed to detract attention away from Jesus. The Society has presumed to take the place that Jesus holds in the minds of most Christians. Instead of looking to Jesus as the mediator for Christians and the only way to salvation, they claim that only by joining and following them can one have a relationship with Jehovah. This means that all members are personally answerable to the Watchtower Society. Members have been trained to believe a relationship with Jehovah through Jesus is impossible without belonging to the Watchtower Society. At the start of 2010 Jehovah’s Witnesses began using a new song book entitled, Sing to Jehovah. It contains 135 songs, 42 of which are new. Not one of the song titles contains the name Jesus or Christ. The Society’s own Bible states, ‘ He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.’ John 5:23 - US spelling.

The following quotes compare the Society’s new arrangement with the Bible record on how the original apostles viewed Jesus:

For there is one God, and also one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, himself a man, who sacrificed himself to win freedom for all mankind…

1 Timothy 2:5 - The New English Bible

The Watchtower Society says:

"Likewise, the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ, is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the mediator … to only 144,000 members "

Worldwide Security under the Prince of Peace - page 10

***

So Jesus asked the Twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave me?

Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom we shall go?

Your words are words of eternal life.’

John 6:67 - The New English Bible

The Watchtower Society says:

Come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation…

Watchtower 15 November 1981 - page 21

Taken from the book, Can Jehovah's Witneses SURVIVE? by Trevor Willis

Finkelstein

Perhaps a doctrinal move to further distinguish the JWS from the rest of Christendom, since to whom does Christendom mostly worship.

When a religious group tries to poignantly distinguish itself from the other religious organizations, they do so freely.

It also for this reason the JWS have identified and demonised all other Christian based faiths as false religions.

The WTS.. has always presented itself with a devised marketing strategy.

Band on the Run

My parents never mentioned Jesus' demotion to me. I would have been two at the time but my mom told me all the historical dirt she knew. So they truly are not Christians. Jesus is only a minor character. People leave for so many reasons yet this should be the paramount one. I don't think my parents neglected to mention it. They may not have realized it happened. Perhaps one of my ongoing KH problems was that I was raised with a pre-1954 outlook. The rest of society is so Christ centered.

Armagedon, blood, oral sex, overeaching and control - all these seem insignificant compare to the identity of Jesus. Of course, they always seemed to linger in the Old Testament. Unless the contrast is clearly drawn, do most people realize? How does anyone raised in a western culture substittue a group of men for Jesus?

May I ask what Quakers, Mennonites, believe about Jesus and Christology. More and more they seem like a weird cult and not a variant of Christianity. Paul repeatedly emphasized the centrality of Christ. Looking back, though, those scriptures were rarely read. Every minor order or control from Paul, which he probbaly intended as rough guideliens, was read.

Terry

How does anyone raised in a western culture substitute a group of men for Jesus

It is like opening a donut shop and abolishing donuts.

Hermano

Marked.

Terry

I find it interesting to look back on my life as a JW.

I thought I was a christian, but, I was in a religion that removed worship from Jesus.

I was in a religion that said there was only one religious observance that should be celebrated: the Lord's Supper. Yet, I was instructed

NOT TO PARTAKE of the emblems! I was a butt in a seat while tha celebration went on around me like a puppet show.

I went door to door taking precious "food at the proper time" to sheeplike ones only to discover years afterward that this "food" was

spoiled and poisonous because it had to be replaced.

My evangelical warnings were for life or death events that NEVER HAPPENED.

It was a treadmill of wasted effort.

The question never came up in the Kingdom Hall as to why things weren't ever they way we were told it would be.

It was unthinkable because we were too busy on our ratwheel.

designs

'It's Later Than You Think!' not really as we found out

donny

Great Post Terry. Your posts nearly always point out some new flaw in the Society's operating manual that I have never considered previously.

Do Jehovah's Witnesses know what happened to them in 1954?

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