July 15 WT- When a Parable is a Prophecy Then a Parable All At Once

by Comatose 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Comatose

  Notice the explanation from the box on page 24. The parable they say is a prophecy is here confirmed to just be a parable regarding the evil slave. How can a prophetic parable to be taken literally revert to a parable on an inconvenient part? It's the SAME parable!!!!

  One ANONYMOUS "scholar" says its a hypothetical statement, but the rest isn't?

  “IF EVER THAT EVIL SLAVE . . .”

  Jesus has placed the weighti- est of responsibilities on the faithful and discreet slave—name- ly, overseeing the domestics and giving out spiritual food at the proper time. Jesus knew that those with greater responsibility have greater accountability. (Luke 12:48) Hence, he concluded his illustration about the faithful and discreet slave with a powerful warning.

  Jesus warned about an evil slave who concludes in his heart that the master is delaying and who starts to beat his fellow slaves. When the master arrives, said Jesus, he will punish that evil slave “with the greatest severity.” — Read Matthew 24:48-51.

  Was Jesus foretelling that there would be an evil slave class in the last days? No. Granted, some in- dividuals have manifested a spir- it similar to that of the evil slave described by Jesus. We would call them apostates, whether they were of the anointed or of the “great crowd.” (Rev. 7:9) But such ones do not make up an evil slave class. Jesus did not say that he would appoint an evil slave. His words here are actually a warn- ing directed to the faithful and dis- creet slave.

  Notice that Jesus introduces the warning with the words “if ever.” One scholar says that in the Greek text, this passage “for all practical purposes is a hypotheti-

  cal condition.” In effect, Jesus was saying: ‘If the faithful and discreet slave were ever to mistreat his fellow slaves in these ways, this is what the master will do when he arrives.’ (See also Luke 12:45.) However, the composite faithful and discreet slave has continued to keep on the watch and to pro- vide nourishing spiritual food.

  The anointed brothers who to- gether serve as the faithful slave recognize that they are account- able to the Master for the way they care for his domestics. The heart- felt desire of these anointed broth- ers is to fulfill their responsibility loyally so that they might hear a “well done” from the Master when he finally arrives.
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  punkofnice

  So it starts off as just an 'illustration' -

  he concluded his illustration about the faithful and discreet slave

  Then it has a warning with it which actually fits the GB and WBT4 to a tee.

  Then there is the question whether this 'illustration' is actually a prophecy -

  Was Jesus foretelling that there would be an evil slave class in the last days? No.

  So then the GB/WBT$ covers their own backs with -

  Jesus introduces the warning with the words “if ever.”

  One scholar says

  -So, who's that then? Paedo loving Splane? Paedo loving Brown? Who? (or whom?)

  not only but also they now say that the 'illustration/prophecy' is about WBT$'s own loaded language -

  We would call them apostates, whether they were of the anointed or of the “great crowd.”

  Waheyyyy! We gots 'apostates(TM)' in the mix. The GB are hammering this one home for all it's worth.

  In effect, Jesus was saying:

  Oh, here we go....it's the old 'evidently(TM)' card they're pulling.

  Even this tiny snippet is just so nauseating and filled with appeals to fear, appeals to authority, strawman and a host of logical fallacies that would make the writers of a toothpaste advert jealous!
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  frankiespeakin

  It's funny how the Governing Body can compartmentalize one section of the parable as prophetic and the section about the evil slave into just parable.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartmentalization_(psychology)

  Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves.

  Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states. [ 1 ]

  Vulnerability

  Compartmentalization may lead to hidden vulnerabilities in those who use it as a major defence mechanism. [ 6 ]

  Those suffering from borderline personality disorder will often divide people into all good versus all bad, to avoid the conflicts removing the compartments would inevitably bring, using denial or indifference to protect against any indications of contradictory evidence. [ 7 ]

  Using indifference towards a better viewpoint is a normal and common example of this. It can be caused by someone having used multiple compartment ideals and having been uncomfortable with modifying them, at risk of being found incorrect. This often causes double-standards, and bias. [citation needed]

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_vulnerability

  A cognitive vulnerability in cognitive psychology is an erroneous belief, cognitive bias, or pattern of thought that is believed to predispose the individual to psychological problems. [ 1 ] It is in place before the symptoms of psychological disorders start to appear; after the individual encounters a stressful experience, the cognitive vulnerability shapes a maladaptive response that may lead to a psychological disorder. [ 1 ] In psychopathology, there are several perspectives from which the origins of cognitive vulnerability may be examined, including schema models, hopelessness models, and attachment theory. [ 2 ] Attentional bias is one mechanism leading to faulty cognitive bias that leads to cognitive vulnerability. Allocating a danger level to a threat depends on the urgency or intensity of the threshold. Anxiety is not associated with selective orientation. [ 3 ]

  Cognitive theory

  Preliminary or "distal" causes contribute to the formation of a cognitive vulnerability that ultimately, via immediate or proximal causes, leads to the individual manifesting symptoms of the disorder. Immediate cognitive and emotional responses trigger imagery and assumptions formed in the past leading to offsetting, defensive behavior and in turn reinforcing mistaken beliefs or other cognitive vulnerabilities.
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  Comatose

  It's so annoying that most will eat this up hungrily and not see the irony of declaring one part of a "prophecy" a parable, when the whole thing was a parable.
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  frankiespeakin

  This type of compartmentalization is also going on in the rank and file to help them fight off cognitive dissonance, and the Governing Body is providing the way for them to do it in this WT study. For some this will not work too well and the cognitive dissonance will grow causing them to stop beleiving or grow in indifference.

  I see lots of psychological disorders emanating out of this new light to fight off cognitive dissonance.
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  Bobcat

  Here is the source of the 'scholarly' quote. Look down to the footnotes. It is footnote number seven.

  When the WT says, via the 'scholar' that "it is for all practical purposes a hypothetical statement," that much is true - as far as it goes.

  A "third class conditional statement" presents a possibility, without saying that that outcome is necessarily going to happen. It is not foretelling that outcome, simply saying that that is one possible outcome. But the fact remains that IS a possible outcome. Otherwise, there would be no reason to mention it.

  You could compare it to God's statement to Adam and Even that if they ate from the tree, such-and-such would then happen.

  But notice the WT's arrogant brushing of the warning aside. 'But not to worry, we aren't like that . . .'

  Even if their non-sensical "composite slave" idea were valid, who are they to decide how the Master will judge matters?
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  FingersCrossed

  Marking
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  Emery

  Basically anything that can negatively affect them in the FDS parable can be ignored.
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  sd-7

  Jesus did not say that he would appoint an evil slave.

  Why would Jesus appoint an evil slave? Why would you even need to state this? Shouldn't it be obvious that if there was an 'evil slave class', they were not appointed by Jesus? If anything, it would just be a result of either Satan corrupting them, or their own spiritual weakness corrupting them from within, thus making it a self-appointment, due to one's own false reasoning.

  That just seems like a statement that really doesn't help support their point. He didn't say a lot of the stuff the WT says he said, so it's kind of a moot point anyway.

  --sd-7
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  problemaddict

  I don't know if its parable vs prophecy here. They are saying that the faithful slave COULD BE the evil slave based on that statement"if ever". In other words, there are not two slaves, one evil and one faithful. There is one slave but you don't have to worry about them because they are nourishing you and giving you meat in due season and all that jazz.

  This if I am not mistaken is still a departure from the evil slave being a separate group of apostate organizers or whatever they taught before.