May 2014 Watchtower Study Article Are You Moving Ahead With Jehovah’s Organization?

by objectivetruth 5 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • objectivetruth
    objectivetruth

    1 Peter 3:15, We are told in the Bible.

    But sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone who demands of you a reason for the hope you have, but doing so with a mild temper and deep respect.

    My Hope is Based on this Scripture: 1 John 4:8 - Whoever does not love has not come to know God, because God is love.

    A scripture that fortifies my Hope is Matthew 10:15 - Truly I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sod′om and Go·mor′rah on Judgment Day than for that city. If Jehovah Resurrects the Inhabitants of Sodom & Gomorrah, to give them a Fair Chance to life.. He Truly is Love!

    Please see the WT and related articles in the Resurrection of Sodom & Gomorrah : 1879 Resurrection Confirmed : = Yes "Let me give you an illustration that will be forcible: The Sodomites. Surely if we find their restitution mentioned you will be satisfied. But why should they not have an opportunity to obtain eternal life as well as you or the Jew? They were not wicked in the proper sense, for they did not have law or much knowledge. True, they were not righteous, but neither were you when God gave you your opportunity. Christ's own words shall tell us that they are not as guilty in His sight as the Jews, who had more knowledge: "Woe unto thee Capernium, for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained unto this day." Thus Christ's own words teach us that they had not had their full opportunity. "Remember," Christ says of the Sodomites, that "God rained down fire and destroyed them all." So, if their restoration is spoken of, it implies their resurrection." Watchtower 1879 Jul 1 p.8 (http://wtarchive.svhelden.info/archive/en/Watchtower/w1879_E.pdf)

    The Watchtower 15. November 1955, p. 676: Annihilated with no Resurrection = NO
    That some will not gain salvation is made clear in the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. In sentencing Adam God said: “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” That means annihilation, not salvation. Regarding Sodom and Gomorrah we are told that they “are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing” judicial everlasting punishment. At Revelation 21:8 (NW) we read that all the wicked will have their portion “in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death.” Nothing is said about a redemption or a resurrection from this second death.—Gen. 3:19; Jude 7, NW.

    The Watchtower 1. March 1965, p. 138: Not Condemned to the Lake of Fire = Yes
    17 So the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were made a “warning example,” because they were not allowed to continue existing till the day of Jesus Christ and of Peter and Jude and fellow disciples. Not that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were condemned to Gehenna and were hurled into the “lake that burns with fire and sulphur”; but that they were made a warning example to unfaithful Christians (”ungodly persons”) who will be judicially punished with “everlasting fire” or everlasting destruction.

    The Watchtower 1. July 1967, p. 409: Condemned with no Resurrection = NO
    How will these, having been caught, be disposed of? Will they be preserved alive? Will they be killed and buried in Hades or Sheol, which is the common grave of dead mankind, from which resurrection is possible? No, these political organizations are slated to be “hurled into the fiery lake that burns with sulphur.” This the Bible describes as the “second death.” (Rev. 20:14) It means the death from which there is no resurrection. They will be burned up root and branch, as completely gone forever as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which Jehovah God burned up by a rain of fire and sulphur from heaven, never to be rebuilt. It is destruction in Gehenna in which God destroys both body and soul (any right or possibility of living).—Matt. 10:28; Gen. 19:23-29; 2 Pet. 2:6-9; Jude 7.

    The Watchtower 8. October 1974, p. 20: "God will bring back the people of Sodom & Gomorrah" = Yes
    God’s dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah shows that he takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but wants all to live, if they will just live respectfully toward their fellowman and in obedience to righteous principles. (Ezek. 33:11; Mic. 6:8) Moreover, God’s undeserved kindness and care are so great that he will bring back the people of Sodom by a resurrection, with opportunity to learn and turn around to the way of life, even as his Son stated.—Luke 10:11, 12; Matt. 11:24.

    The Watchtower 15. August 1982, p. 26: - individuals once residing there will be resurrected. = Yes
    10 Sodom, Gomorrah and surrounding cities furnished a warning example “by undergoing [Jehovah God’s] judicial punishment of everlasting fire,” eternal destruction. The charred ruins of at least Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim are thought to lie under the waters of the southern portion of the Salt (Dead) Sea or in that region. So neither they nor their inhabitants are still burning. Apparently the cities themselves, rather than all their inhabitants, were everlastingly destroyed, for it seems that at least some individuals once residing there will be resurrected. (Matthew 10:15; 11:24; Revelation 20:12, 13)

    The Watchtower 1. June 1988, p. 30: everlasting cutting-off = NO
    There is an interesting similarity in phraseology between this description and what Jude said occurred in the case of Sodom. Furthermore, Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 19:11-21 indicate that “the goats” cut off in the coming war of God will experience “everlasting cutting-off” in “the lake of fire,” which symbolizes permanent annihilation.—Revelation 20:10, 14. Consequently, in addition to what Jude 7 says, the Bible uses Sodom/Gomorrah and the Flood as patterns for the destructive end of the present wicked system. It is apparent, then, that those whom God executed in those past judgments experienced irreversible destruction.

    Insight, Vol. 1 p. 985 (Gomorrah): - Resurrected = Yes
    The apostle Peter said that by reducing Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, God condemned them, “setting a pattern for ungodly persons of things to come.” (2Pe 2:6) This mention by Peter and references by Jesus Christ and Jude prove that Jesus and his disciples acknowledged that these cities of the District had actually existed and that they accepted the Biblical account of them as true. Though the cities underwent “the judicial punishment of everlasting fire” (Jude 7), Jesus indicated that people of Sodom and Gomorrah would experience a resurrection to stand for judgment. He contrasted them with a city that rejected his disciples in their preaching of the Kingdom good news, saying: “It will be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for that city.”—Mt 10:7, 14, 15;

    Live forever... (1989) Chap. 21, p. 179: - No Resurrection = NO
    Will such terribly wicked persons be resurrected during Judgment Day? The Scriptures indicate that apparently they will not. For example, one of Jesus’ inspired disciples, Jude, wrote first about the angels that forsook their place in heaven to have relations with the daughters of men. Then he added: “So too Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them, after they in the same manner as the foregoing ones had committed fornication excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.” (Jude 6, 7; Genesis 6:1, 2) Yes, for their excessive immorality the people of Sodom and of the surrounding cities suffered a destruction from which they will apparently never be resurrected.—2 Peter 2:4-6, 9, 10a.

    Watchtower 1990 Apr 15 p.20 = NO

    "A definite indication is found at Jude 7, where we read that "Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them … are placed before us as a warning example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire." Yes, the destruction of the gross sinners in those cities was eternal, as will be the destruction of the wicked at the end of the present system of things."

    Watchtower 2005 Jul 15 p.31 = NO "Those who are judged unworthy of a resurrection are pitched into “Gehenna,” or “the lake of fire.” (Matthew 5:22; Mark 9:47, 48; Revelation 20:14) Among these would be the first human pair, Adam and Eve, the betrayer Judas Iscariot, and certain ones who died when God executed judgment upon them, such as the people in Noah’s day and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah."

    I do not make any Judgement on the Writers of the Watchtower over the years, for these different Interpretations..

    However I'm left in a difficult position, when I am told in the May 2014 Watchtower - " 15 - “If we are to have Jehovah’s favor and blessing as individuals, we must support his organization and accept adjustments in our understanding of the Scriptures”

    Going back to 1 Peter 3:15 "ready to make a defense before everyone who demands of you a reason for the hope you have,"

    Should the Reason for my hope be based on what I read in the Scriptures, or should it be based on Current Understanding in the Watchtower?

    Does this "Command" in the Watchtower Void out 1 John 4:1-4 " Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

  • AndDontCallMeShirley
    AndDontCallMeShirley

    It's less effort to simply stand in the same place and allow "god's organization" to run its big circle. Eventually, it'll end up exactly where it started from...and call the whole thing "progress".

    .

    Here's an example: If you has stood in the same spot in 1929 regarding Watchtower's teaching as to the identity of the "superior authorities", you would've expended no effort at all while WT ran its big circle for 33 years...only to arrive back at the original starting point:

    .

    up to 1929:

    "Evil as these Gentile governmentshave been, they were permitted or "ordained of God" for a wise purpose. (Rom. 13:1)" Studies In the Scriptures Series I - The Divine Plan of the Ages p.250

    1929-1962:

    "The Superior Authorities are the Most High God Jehovah and his exalted Son Jesus Christ." This Means Everlasting Life (1950) p.197

    1962 to present:

    "The Expression "superior authorities" means the political governments or authorities." Life everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (1966) p.189

  • Lied2NoMore
    Lied2NoMore

    "1 Peter 3:15, We are told in the Bible.

    But sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone who demands of you a reason for the hope you have, but doing so with a mild temper and deep respect."

    The problem is no JW adheres to this...if questioned or pressed to explain why the ORG has had prior false doctrines or done things that reek of hypocrisy the JW will get angry, defensive, and resort to name calling and a staunch refusal to even hear anything critical of the sacred WT or the ORG.

    If questions or accusations are made in front of elders it results in disfellowshipping....

    So the GB stance is Don't you dare question us or demand an explanation from US!

  • Oubliette
    Oubliette

    Are You Moving Ahead With Jehovah’s Organization?

    • It's not actually Jehovah's Organization. Although they claim this, their history proves that to be a false claim.
    • This Organization has not gone anywhere in over a century. All movement is an illusion. This is one of the reasons they make doctrinal changes and call them "NuLite," it is to creat the illusion of movement.

    I've moved ahead with my life and left the WT lies behind. Every once in a while I look back and see that they are still making a big fuss about this or that. It's all just a bunch of hand-waving. Nothing real is happening.

  • notsurewheretogo
    notsurewheretogo

    Cracking thread...thank to the OP for the list of YES and NO points...

  • NewYork44M
    NewYork44M

    So what is the current status of those fun loving folks from Sod′om and Go·mor′rah?

    Can every individual be judged based upon where they lieved? I'll bet there were some pretty good people in Sod′om and Go·mor′rah.

    But there were also some fun loving folks that I would like to ask a few questions. At this point I hope we pass somewhere in the afterlife so I can conduct a phenomenological study of their fun loving ways.

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