Magnum, very well put. Everything you said was right on the mark. I too, wonder daily 'What da hell happened?' The only consolation that I have is that I am out. It's all a crying shame. We used to stand surefooted and boldly. Now, we find we have been duped. Best to you and yours, 4thgen.
I Would Like To Know Exactly What JWs Believe Or Not Believe In
by minimus 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Magnum
I hear you, 4thgen. Best to you, too. It's comforting to know that there are others who can relate.
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neverendingjourney
What is the major difference?
I haven't been involved with them in nearly ten years, but from what I can tell, it's more a shift in religious culture than actual doctrine. The doctrinal architecture is still there even if their eschatology is in shambles. But it seems the day of vehemently defending the faith and being doctrinal experts has come and gone. It's been replaced by a culture of docile obedience.
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Ucantnome
i haven't attended a kingdom hall in a while, i keep saying i'll go but never seem to find the time. having said that the hall was never really me. when i think back to my first experiences of going to the hall as a young child it was always 'oh my God not that again' sort of feeling for me. i found it very boring. didn't improve much in my teens. the only time i remember enjoying the meeting was once when i brought a workmate to the hall another time was when a brother (ex co or do) gave the sunday talk and i found it actually interesting and last time was when i had returned to the hall after a ten year break and wanted to hear something the circuit overseer was going to say about the spiritual paradise. (had to leave in the meeting but returned to hear his talk, unfortunately i can't remember what it was now but i remember agreeing with it.)
anyway in that period when i returned i sat there in the service meeting one evening and felt really bored and looked around and thought this could be forty years ago nothings changed.
i didn't really see any difference.
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4thgen
Magnum, you have a PM
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minimus
Great comments
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OUTLAW
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jgnat
Way back a question was asked, "What is a Christian?" Believers had been trundling along getting themselves killed and writing up bits and pieces of letters for several generations. Beliefs and prejudices ranged all over the place. Constantine struck up a committee to make sense of it all, and Orthodoxy was born. Several generations more of extermination and suppression of dissidents, and we had a semblance of conformity. The essence of what is "Christian" was condensed to a few statements of faith. Believe them and you are in. Don't and you are something else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles'_Creed
When I was trying to work out "What is a Jehovah's Witness?" I did not find a similar declaration of fundamental beliefs. Every Witness I come across can give a slightly varying list. The Condition of the Dead, Jehovah's name, the Earthly Hope, Blood, and a few others are the usual themes. The closest I came to a creed is the baptismal questions.
Section 1 Elementary Bible Teachings (35 questions)
Section 2 Jehovah's Righteous Requirements (37 questions)
Section 3 Jehovah's Arrangement of Things (32 questions)
http://www.witness-outreach.com/BaptismalQuestions.html
Have those changed?
Section 1, Question 19 might have changed. "How do we know that we have entered into the time of the end and that God's Kingdom is ruling?" That pretty well depends on 1914 doesn't it? So there's been some reshuffling of bible interpretations, enthronement and stuff like that.
Section 3, Question 12 has definitely changed. The FDS is now the Governing Body, not the wider community of Anointed.
The changes in the past year I would say is in form and administration. Paper to electronic. Rebranding. Leadership reshuffling. Caleb videos for children, and JW.ORG TV for adults, a new bible. The leaders are throwing candies to the throngs and calling it "meat".
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cultBgone
Magnum, your comment that Dignity has given way to buffoonery says it all.
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label licker
Right now they believe it's ok to celebrate the birth of Jesus "invisibly" because they know the exact date he came(a date,1914, they made up) but it's not ok or allowed to celebrate his birth when he came physically and where everyone saw him. Yet, "the good news" was declared for both occasions. Guess which one of those occasions were biblical. Not the invisible one.(1914 birth of a kingdom rule)
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