I don't have any CD in English. How could I get the old ones, mainly those that have the 50's and 60's magazines? Thanks!
WATCHTOWER CD ROM to be TERMINATED
by The Searcher 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Oubliette
Newly Enlightened, thanks for sharing the "From Our Archives - Preserving Gems From Our Past" feature.
Those are so ironic. Here are a few links to more threads on that subject that you might appreciate:
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AndDontCallMeShirley
Ironically, when a JW actually does study WT history and finds glaring problems- like doctrinal flip-flops, absurd beliefs, idiotic policies, failed prophecies, etc.- his JW "brothers" will look at him with suspicion.
I've personally experienced this. When I bring up points from older WT literature that makes an active JW uncomfortable, the first thing they do is accuse me of having "bad motives" for reading older publications, despite the fact that I'm quoting directly from the literature. WT's philosophy: it's okay to learn about WT's past. But, when you discover the inexcusable stuff, just pretend it's not there and don't talk about it.
I've gotten the same reaction by quoting from the "Proclaimers" book, which is not old at all.
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Bella15
LOL @ "The religious systems of Christendom have constructed magnificent buildings throughout the earth. They have also amassed great wealth in other forms. In many lands, these vast holdings are, by reason of their claimed sacred status, exempt from the assessments and taxes imposed upon businesses in general.
You mean just like all the thousands of KHs, Assembly Halls, Branches, NYC buildings the Watchtower CORPORATION has ????
LOL
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frankiespeakin
Bella,
They have repressed any consciousness of their own evil into their shadow and can only see it projected onto a religion they are in competition with(the enemy).
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LongHairGal
This makes perfect sense in a religion where they change things left and right as they go along and don't want any embarrassing reminders!
I also got the sense back when I attended that it wasn't a good idea to look at older publications and I would be viewed suspiciously. One elder told me that people would be disfellowshipped if they ever taught what was in those books.
Those old books in the hall library were apparently just for show and not to be touched. Over the years, some of them mysteriously disappeared and I wouldn't be surprised if they are all gone. I imagine in kingdom halls nowadays, there is no tempting old literature around and I am sure it has all been systematically removed.
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Quendi
The parallel which Oubliette has drawn between the censorship practices of the WTS and the former USSR is frightfully accurate. But it isn’t just old publications that are being altered or deleted from WTS archives, people have also disappeared.
Here is a cogent example. Many of us can remember when the WTS started producing tapes of the New World Translation. The first tape was the reading of the gospel of John. Ray Franz was the reader. However, after Franz was purged from the Governing Body and subsequently disfellowshipped, the WTS saw fit to issue a new recording of the gospel with a completely different reader.
This kind of censorship is quite old. It was practiced in ancient Egypt when names of those who had lost favor were chiseled out of monuments and removed from papyrus documents, and other regimes have followed suit in the millennia since then. The WTS is doing the same with those who once associated with it but have gone their own ways. The organization is sanitizing its history. The refusal to make all material produced in the twentieth century on its website is part and parcel of this action. Ceasing production of the Watchtower Library CD-ROM would be a logical future step.
The great shame is that all of this censorship is lost on rank-and-file Witnesses. We’re talking about people who are willfully, deliberately and obtusely ignorant. They not only don’t know suspect the bad motives behind the limiting access to old materials but they don’t want to know it either. They have surrendered their free will and power of reason to the cult’s leaders. Denying the past history of Jehovah’s Witnesses and making it unavailable to any questioners is another part of the cloak of tyranny the leadership is wearing.
Quendi
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JW GoneBad
You might be onto something The Searcher. This is why I also suspect something is about to happen to future CD ROMs as we know them:
The Friday District Convention for this year's Keynote Address is entitled 'God's Congregation-A Pillar And Support Of The Truth.'
In the course of that talk the speaker sited numerous recent JW changes in teachings and then stated that Headquaters was encountering resistance to WT's many adjustments 'because people generally do not do good with change' (his exact words). Then he went on to say that to help everyone get on-board and on-track with all this new understanding-a future release will be available only online through JW.Org. He called this future new release: 'Research Guide For Jehovah's Witnesses'.
I'm wondering if this new 'Research Guide' is being designed to replace future CD ROMs. And if having this new release available only online will enable 'Mother' to keep better control of its use! I might add that he did not specify when this new release would be made available. We'll see.
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FatFreek 2005
Perry: However, the WT unashamedly claims that their writings are equal to the word of God:
Watchtower December 15, 2008, pg 28 –
“Our coming to know, the truth - the entire body of
Christian teachings that has become part of the
Bible - and adhering to it are essential for our
salvation”.That's a powerful accusation, Perry. You may be right -- but I'm not certain that quotation supports your claim.
A JW may simply respond by saying "the entire body of Christian teachings were, in fact, scripture compiled into the organized entity now known as the Bible.
Len
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KaiTwApviw
Len (FatFreak 2005),
You wrote:
"That's a powerful accusation, Perry. You may be right -- but I'm not certain that quotation supports your claim.
A JW may simply respond by saying "the entire body of Christian teachings were, in fact, scripture compiled into the organized entity now known as the Bible."
You are right.
The "official German version" confirms your assumption by clarifying the statement using two sentences:
„Die Wahrheit“ bezieht sich auf die Gesamtheit der christlichen Lehren in der Bibel. Sie kennenzulernen und daran festzuhalten ist für unsere Rettung unerlässlich (3. Joh. 3, 4). (w08 15. 12. S. 28)
A literal translation of these two sentences is:
"„The truth“ refers to the entirety of the Christian teachings in the Bible. Getting to know it and adhering to it are essential for our salvation".