by Vanderhoven7 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Terry: Say out loud: "It is the guilty party who gets angry when facts are investigated."
Interesting observation about human nature. Not always true, but a definite indicator nonetheless.
Pathological liars are capable of maintaining their compsure while spouting the most outrageous of lies. On the other hand, innocent people can and will be appropriately indignant when having their integrity or honesty maligned or even questioned.
*** w86 3/15 pp. 12-14 ‘Do Not Be Quickly Shaken From Your Reason' ***
Have No Dealings With Apostates
7 Now, what will you do if you are confronted with apostate teaching-subtle reasonings-claiming that what you believe as one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not the truth? For example, what will you do if you receive a letter or some literature, open it, and see right away that it is from an apostate? Will curiosity cause you to read it, just to see what he has to say? You may even reason: ‘It won't affect me; I'm too strong in the truth. And, besides, if we have the truth, we have nothing to fear. The truth will stand the test.' In thinking this way, some have fed their minds upon apostate reasoning and have fallen prey to serious questioning and doubt. (Compare James 1:5-8.) So remember the warning at 1 Corinthians 10:12: "Let him that thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall."
8 With loving help from caring brothers, some having doubts sown by apostates have recovered after a period of spiritual turmoil and trauma. But this pain could have been avoided. At Proverbs 11:9 we are told: "By his mouth the one who is an apostate brings his fellowman to ruin, but by knowledge are the righteous rescued." Jude told fellow Christians to "continue showing mercy to some that have doubts; save them by snatching them out of the fire." (Jude 22, 23) Paul advised the overseer Timothy to instruct "with mildness those not favorably disposed; as perhaps God may give them repentance leading to an accurate knowledge of truth, and they may come back to their proper senses out from the snare of the Devil, seeing that they have been caught alive by him for the will of that one."-2 Timothy 2:25, 26.
9 Tragically, others have gone into complete darkness, even going back to Christendom's erroneous teachings. The apostle Peter wrote about the tragic outcome for some who first walked in the truth but then turned aside. He said: "Certainly if, after having escaped from the defilements of the world by an accurate knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they get involved again with these very things and are overcome, the final conditions have become worse for them than the first." Peter said they are like the dog that returns to its vomit and the bathed sow that turns back to wallowing in the mire.-2 Peter 2:20-22.
10 When a fellow human tells us, ‘Do not read this' or, ‘Do not listen to that,' we may be tempted to ignore his advice. But remember, in this case Jehovah is the One who tells us in his Word what to do. And what does he say about apostates? "Avoid them" (Romans 16:17, 18); "quit mixing in company with" them (1 Corinthians 5:11); and "never receive [them] into your homes or say a greeting to [them]" (2 John 9, 10). These are emphatic words, clear directions. If, out of curiosity, we were to read the literature of a known apostate, would that not be the same as inviting this enemy of true worship right into our home to sit down with us and relate his apostate ideas?
11 Let us illustrate matters in this way: Suppose your teenage son received some pornographic material in the mail. What would you do? If he was inclined to read it out of curiosity, would you say: ‘Yes, son, go ahead and read it. It won't hurt you. From infancy we've taught you that immorality is bad. Besides, you need to know what's going on in the world in order to see that it's truly bad'? Would you reason that way? Absolutely not! Rather, you would surely point out the dangers of reading pornographic literature and would require that it be destroyed. Why? Because no matter how strong a person may be in the truth, if he feeds his mind on the perverted ideas found in such literature, his mind and heart will be affected. A lingering wrong desire planted in the recesses of the heart can eventually create a perverted sexual appetite. The result? James says that when wrong desire becomes fertile, it gives birth to sin, and sin leads to death. (James 1:15) So why start the chain reaction?
12 Well, if we would act so decisively to protect our children from exposure to pornography, should we not expect that our loving heavenly Father would similarly warn us and protect us from spiritual fornication, including apostasy? He says, Keep away from it!
13 But suppose we are preaching the good news and people raise questions or objections similar to those raised by opposers? Of course, if a person is not sincere and merely wishes to argue, usually it is best to excuse ourselves and go to the next door. But if someone sincerely asks about certain claims of apostates, what can be done? First, we can ask what, exactly, has caused the concern. It may be only one or two points. Then we can stick to these and answer from the Scriptures, from the Society's publications, and from what we truthfully know about the subject. We need not conclude that we have to read a book or a pamphlet that is filled with slander and half-truths in order to refute the false claims and teachings of opposers.
Bangalore
*** w84 5/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***
Questions From Readers
· Why do Jehovah's Witnesses decline to exchange their Bible study aids for the religious literature of people they meet?
Jehovah's Witnesses carry on their public ministry in obedience to divine instructions. Jesus said that during this "conclusion of the system of things," 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." (Matthew 24:3, 14) So Witnesses do not go to people's doors searching for truth or enlightenment. Rather, they already have devoted countless hours learning the truth from God's Word and, having taken in the "good news," they are obediently going forth to share it.
Many people who believe that ‘there is good in all religions' might consider it narrow-minded to think otherwise. (Contrast Jesus' view expressed at Matthew 7:13, 14, 21-23.) The Greek philosophers in ancient Athens encouraged such an "open-minded" attitude and enjoyed "telling something or listening to something new." (Acts 17:18-21) But when the apostle Paul appeared before them, it was not to swap philosophies or ideas. He used the occasion to present what he knew to be the truth, whether he was considered narrow-minded or not. While some of those Athenians mocked him, a number responded and became believers.-Acts 17:32-34; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
Paul obviously was aware of some Greek teachings, and he used such knowledge to give a most effective witness. (Acts 17:28) Similarly, Jehovah's Witnesses are not ignorant of others' beliefs. They have gained considerable basic knowledge of the doctrinal beliefs of religions common in their area. Consideration to such teachings has been given in the book What Has Religion Done for Mankind? as well as numerous articles in The Watchtower and Awake! Such information on various religions is presented in the context of its contrast with accurate Biblical teachings.
God's Word warns Christians that "Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light. It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness. But their end shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15) Satan so successfully appeared as "an angel of light" that he was able to deceive even a perfect human, Eve. (1 Timothy 2:14) So it would be foolhardy, as well as a waste of valuable time, for Jehovah's Witnesses to accept and expose themselves to false religious literature that is designed to deceive. They have no intention of falling into the sad course of the Jews, whom Paul said "exchanged the truth of God for the lie."-Romans 1:25, NW; Revised Standard Version.
Furthermore, some of the religious literature that people may urge Jehovah's Witnesses to read is written by, or contains the thoughts of, individuals who have apostatized. True Christians are commanded to shun such apostates. (2 John 9-11; Titus 3:10, 11) Appropriately, then, The Watchtower of June 15, 1983, counseled:
"In the first century, Hymenaeus and Philetus turned apostate and tried to subvert the faith of others. God's standard was: ‘Shun such empty speeches that violate what is holy.' (2 Timothy 2:16-19) Christians holding to that standard would not have been interested in listening to apostates, nor in obtaining any poisonous writings that these might distribute ‘for the sake of dishonest gain.' Why finance their wickedness by buying their literature? (Titus 1:11) As loyal Christians let us hold to God's standards, feeding our minds on what is true and righteous, and holding appreciatively and loyally to the channel from which we first learned Bible truth.-Compare 1 Timothy 4:16."-Page 15.
Hence, it is out of wisdom and respect for God's counsel that Jehovah's Witnesses do not make a practice of exchanging valuable Bible study aids containing Scriptural truth for religious literature that disseminates error or apostate views.
Bangalore
I know that my twin brother (an elder) tried to get me to admit to reading apostate material so he could disfellowship me. I told him last time I looked I did not live in North Korea and can read what I damn well please. Like I could give the smallest shit whether they would disfellowship me or not given that he and my other brother don't speak to me anyway. I think he just wanted me to be disfellowshipped so he could justify to his congregation why he did not speak to me.
Terry, that's a really interesting observation as that's exactly how I first reacted and still do if I hear stuff like that from the platform or read it in the magazines. Fortunately I have been able to hide it from members of the congregation and my husband believes I have the right to read what I choose and believe what I want and as long as I don't go spreading it around who's going to know? Now I do try and 'keep my cool' and be balanced. I don't tell anyone else what they should believe or do but then neither can anyone tell me that either.
I think it would be more of a matter of the context involved, the BOE involved and if you are a problem child for BOE. Perhaps something similar to watching a TV Evangelist every week.
If questioned about it and you simply stated that you are trying to understand the JW's better or in the case of a TV Evangelist, you are trying to understand their point of view, then I can't see anything that they could do to you other than warn you of the dangers of it.
But, if you expressed those points of views to others, then watch out. You could be found guilty of causing divisions in the congregation in a minute.
Rub a Dub
If questioned about it and you simply stated that you are trying to understand the JW's better or in the case of a TV Evangelist, you are trying to understand their point of view, then I can't see anything that they could do to you other than warn you of the dangers of it.
But, if you expressed those points of views to others, then watch out. You could be found guilty of causing divisions in the congregation in a minute.
As you know every individual BOE is given an extremely wide berth on anything so subjective.
Typically, I think most would advise you to STOP. That's the direction we have from the F&DS. DO NOT read apostate material. Failure to do so would be easily construed as BRAZEN conduct. (In the old days, it would have brought on a local needs talk, and charges of "loose conduct" if one continued. Loose Conduct did NOT have to involve sexual misconduct -- it was a total disregard for God's (or even the World's) standards.)
If by chance you admitted you AGREED with what you read, then that is sufficient enough to be DFd. It is NOT necessary to go as far as expressing these ideas to others.
Doc
"You can in reality be disfellowshipped for anything 3 elders agree on in a JC."
Does the wtbt$$$ ever come out and define apostate and apostate literature instead of suggesting that this or that might be apostate and grounds for the ax? I notice in bangalore's above post that they say:
7 Now, what will you do if you are confronted with apostate teaching-subtle reasonings-claiming that what you believe as one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not the truth?
I was always under the impression that an apostate was one who was an ex-dub, but it seems that according to this, anyone opposed and producing literature is an apostate.
I guess that makes sense since jw's are the only true religion, besides Catholics and Muslims, because all others deflected from da troof, and are therefore opposed, and thus apostate.
Actually you can be disfellowshipped for associating with a DFd person... (like in Ray Franz case)
Reading Apostate literature is considered associating with that person....
now put those 2 together....
a clever JC team could DF you for just reading constantly the Website or newsletter of a DFD person.
