My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped

by cofty 85 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Disillusioned JW

  cofty a moment ago I read the first part of your very long post, the one which is the first post on this topic thread. It is excellent and scholarly and most of that which I read of it is exactly what I concluded in 1995 after I read the same WT articles you mentioned and then carefully read Matthew chapters 24 and 25 with each verse of them in the context of the others in the same chapters! I combined it with what the WT said in various books of theirs regarding the technical meaning of parousia. It was the conclusion I reached in 1995 which resulted in me thinking I need to start thinking independently of the WT in interpreting the Bible. That is because I discovered I would have to come the correct understanding regarding the parousia of Christ before the WT partly corrected their ideas about the parousia and Christ coming in glory. About 6 years later I stopped attending meetings (other than the Memorial for several years) in the Kingdom Hall.

  blondie returned to posting on this site, thankfully. You can too. cofty please return. I await your coming to, return to, and presence on this site. We need minds like yours posting onto site.
  
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  BluesBrother

  I enjoyed reading Cofty’s letter which was reasonable,well thought out and supported by Scripture. I agree with the points he makes.

  Actually, I see nothing in the letter to justify disfellowshipping . He is asking questions in a polite,reasonable tone .....Jude 22 says

  “Continue showing mercy to some that have doubts, save them by snatching them out of the fire”

  Perhaps the later conversations got a little more direct?
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  ozziepost

  Actually, I see nothing in the letter to justify disfellowshipping . He is asking questions in a polite,reasonable tone

  I suspect they, that is the apparatchiks in Crooklyn, just didn’t have the intellectual capacity to absorb any of the reasoning, let alone refute it.

  Reading the dumbing down of the writing style in their literature in the recent past leads me to that conclusion.
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  TonusOH

  As far as the WTS is concerned, "asking questions" is the problem. It means you're not satisfied with their explanation, and they don't like it when people don't accept their explanations. Next thing you know, people are thinking for themselves and the whole thing comes apart.
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  FedUpJW

  As far as the WTS is concerned, "asking questions" is the problem.

  Exactly. In WT land there is no such thing as questions that cannot be answered, only answers that cannot be questioned.
  
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  ThomasMore

  I recall a young man who questioned the religious leaders that had some authority over him. In fact, his reasonings had so much logic, and authority, that they framed him and as you know - they had him put to death.

  Cofty, you discovered that if you disagree with them, you must be killed by them, like the High Priest had Jesus killed. If the GB could have had you executed, they would have. Thank God for the secular authorities who place limits on what they can do.

  As for sorting out the spaghetti of how WTS interprets (yes, they do interpret, not just explain), it is a fools' errand to throw your pearls before them because:

  1) They are incapable of recognizing the truth.

  2) They lack the humility to benefit from the truth if it means that they must readjust their viewpoint and admit that someone else understands Gods Word more than they do.

  When a sincere person reads the Bible with the genuine intention of understanding it, he/she quickly arrives at different conclusions than WTS. What should they do? Continue to read and let God guide their thinking and their hearts. Separating from JWs is not easy but necessary to please God if that is the intention.