Hi Terry. Always thoughtful and intelligent posts!
But you failed to emphasize that the GB claims that their "inspiration" is from holy spirit. That complicates things!
We of the "anointed" are told to test every inspired expression to see if it comes from God. So some of the things the WTS says is indeed inspired, but some of them are not. The reason they don't have 100% accuracy is because they were corrupted early on. The parable of the wheat and weeds is about the WTS! Before the organization really got going, that is, before the new blades of wheat begin to show, the weeds were already there that were sown by Satan. Russell was right there early on with his pyramidology, which is linked to Freemasonry! The "weeds" mean more than just weeds though. In "The Mysteries" a fungus grew on tares that was used as part of their ritual, so a "weed" is a reference to the infiltration of paganism, later linked to Freemasonry.
But in this prophetic parable, we find that a decision was made not to separate the weeds from the wheat at this early stage. So even though Russell had infected this new sect with Freemasonry and pyramidology, etc. the decision was made to still use this organization to preach the "good news" and to produce the Christian Christ, even though infected. "Let the wheat and weeds grow up togehter until the HARVEST!"
Thus you have an organization of wheat and weeds. That means some of their teachings are inspired and correct, and some are not! Even so, until the harvest, which is when the Christ would arrive near the end of that generation (1914-1994), this organization would be used to spread the "good news" and some vital truths, though infected with weedy teachings that were not true. But when the messiah arrives a separation would take place and the false teachings and teachers would be separated from the true.
Now you have a choice here. Christ could go in and throw out the false teachers and purify this organization. OR... He could separateout his own sheep, the "little flock" and abandon the organization to the goats. The latter has taken place.
So you're here talking about their OPINION. But are some of their claims and beliefs backed up by the Bible? Sure!
The Bible speaks of a paradise earth where righteous people will be on the earth. Chistendom doesn't teach that! But it's right there in the Bible!
The WTS understands a limited number will be king-priests. Now common sense tells you everybody can't be a king-priest, because who are they going to serve? Now the WTS is wrong about the number of 144,000 being the complete number. But even so, they do recognize the "bride of Christ" is a limited number. The 144K are natural Jews, making up 1/10th of the whole, meaning the total number is 1,440,000,which is something they did not have insight for (Isa 6:13). Even so, no one in Christendom that I know of recognizes a paradize earth with righteous people on it, or a limited number that will chosen to be Christ's bride and go to heaven!
See? That's the mixture of the wheat and weeds! They have got some of the basics correct, but not the specifics!
Same with the teaching that Christ is Michael the archangel. Now you say that's their opinion. But some of us out there have the option to check this against what the Bible says! When you do that investigation, indeed, Christ turns out to be Michael the archangel! Now they got that right. That's certainly inspired/. But that is not what Christendom is teaching who are bamboozled behind the trinity doctrine!
Point being, you have witnesses who know that even if you can show some false teachings by the WTS, they know no public organization in Christendom has anything near the truth that the WTS has! They are certainly not going to adopt the trinity doctrine!
So it is COMPLEX, Terry. There are those of us who still believe the Bible and when we check things out, the WTS has more truth than anyone out there in Christendom. We can see the WTS is the "true temple" though we know it is also corrupt. So it's not black and white. It is not all truth and no lies.
So by all means, consider everything you read in the Watchtower as "opinion" until you test it against what the Bible says! If it tests well, then you consider it "inspired"; if not, then it is indeed just an "opinion" and a false teaching!
NOW HERE ARE SOME BAD AND WRONG "OPINIONS" OF THE WTS:
1. The Bible says if you're at the home of an unbeliever, don't ask questions! That means that eating blood is only a restriction when you're with believers with weak consciences! So it is their "opinion" that "abstain from blood" applies to all Christians now, while they ignore the clear instruction not to worry about it when you're with unbelievers! So the idea that abstaining from blood still is a dietary restriction for Christians is false and an OPINION!
2. No where does the Bible say that POLYGAMY is non-Christian! The Bible restricts positions in the congregation to those with "one wife" and obviously to those who are single. But that's a qualification for a position in the congregation! That doesn't mean someone with more than one wife is to be disfellowshipped or that he has to now divorce his secondary wife or wives!!! It is their OPINION that this is God's will or the new Christian requirement, but it is NOT!
3. Where in the Bible does it say you can't chew tobacco? THERE ARE NO DIETARY RESTRICTIONS FOR CHRISTIANS!!! Not tobacco, not blood...nothing! So they came up with an "opinion" that tobacco use is a disfellowshipping offense! But that is not inspired. NOTHING taken into the body can defile you. That's what the scriptures say. The WTS says, tobacco and blood products can defile you, so they came up with this false teaching on their own!
4. Now, it turns out to be "inspired" that the "7 times" prophecy really is 2520 years from the fall of Jerusalem to the 2nd coming! That's inspired to understand that. BUT, it is applied to the wrong dating. The Persians tried to cover their claim that Xerxes had died and that another king, "Artaxerxes", his son was now ruling. In reality, Xerxes used the second name of Artaxerxes and then decided to fake his death and claim "Artaxerxes" was a different king than himself! This was politics. It fooled the Greeks, it worked. Fine. But later on, to cover their tracks, they manipulated the historical records and expanded the timeline. When all was said and done, the NB Period was some 26 years too short and the Persian Period was some 82 years too long! So while the 2520 years was"inspired", they made a wrong choice to have an "opinion" that 539 BCE was a good "pivotal date" for dating this period. WRONG. This has now been corrected. The 2520 years must not be applied to the original date for the fall of Jerusalem, which is 529 BCE and not 607 BCE. So you see? A mixture of wheat and weeds!
SO TERRY, the main problem facing witnesses who are looking at these things and who totally agree with you that some of what the WTS claims is pure "opinion" leaves them with no choice of where to go! They can see the false teachings, but they also see the inspiration! Ultimately, they "settle" and decide that even if this organization is "imperfect", it is still better than Christendom, so they stay.
So from those on the high-end of spiritual things, the "anointed", etc. it's not simply "opinion" involved. It's more complex than that with this particular organization, because for many witnesses, it is clear they are the chosen, true "temple" which they are! Or I should, they were until 1996! 1996 ends all covenants with both Jews and gentile Christians! The covenant is now fulfilled by the sealed anointed ones, the actual ones chosen to be the bride of Christ. The true religion and the true temple is now made up of the spiritual chosen ones, not the visible earthly organization which served its purpose from 1886-1996.
Now TRUE CHRISTIANS will rely on the Bible and they will see their way clear to leave the "broad road" now leading off into destruction! They follow the narrow path of their own individual relationship with God and Christ. But those who can't see doing that, those who love and worship the WTS and the GB and the FDS god, can't see their way clear of leaving, because they value the Watchtower more than the Bible, so they stay with the organization, which is the "broad road leading off into destruction."
So ultimately, just finding fault with the WTS is not good enough. If you don't take an aggressie, individual search for truth and God, then you won't be able to find your way to where Christ is gathering his "other sheep".
But THANKS, again, for makiong us THINK! This is going in the right direction!
