New Light on HOLIDAYS and BIRTHDAYS? (September 2015 Watchtower)

by FusionTheism 21 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  FusionTheism

  Watchtower-- Simplified Study Edition, September 2015, "Is Your Conscience a Reliable Guide?":

  In ancient Rome, some Christians had different opinions about certain foods and celebrations. What advice did Paul give them? He said: “One man judges one day as above another; another judges one day the same as all others; let each one be fully convinced in his own mind.” Let us be careful to avoid stumbling others.—Read Romans 14:5, 13, 15, 19, 20.

  At times, we may not understand why someone in the congregation makes a certain decision on a personal matter. What should we do? We should not be quick to judge him or force him to change his mind. Perhaps he needs to train his conscience more, or maybe it is too sensitive. (1 Corinthians 8:11, 12) Or perhaps our own conscience is not fully trained. When it comes to health care and other matters, each of us needs to make a personal decision and accept responsibility for it.
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  _Morpheus

  Lol puhleaze fusion.....your seeing what you want to see, not whats there. This absolutly does not reflect in any way an adjustment on birthdays or holidays.
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  FusionTheism

  So it only applies to celebrations in Rome and not celebrations today?
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  Lemonp

  Yes, that sums it up.

  Every so often we get articles about respecting others' conscience.

  The point of the article is the healthcare choices. The ancient celebrations were an example relating to this subject, not the subject of celebrations.

  In my area it is common for people to recommend certain alternative healthcare (as uneducated people like to do) so I think the article points to this. It has come up in recent assemblies before as well.
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  FusionTheism

  Well then, that would be a great question to ask JW's then.

  Show them that paragraph and ask WHY Paul's words only apply to Roman celebrations and not American celebrations.
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  nicolaou

  American celebrations?!
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  FusionTheism

  Or any modern celebrations. It's an example. I don't want to list off every country.
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  Lemonp

  haha WHY? They will say "we are told that Bdays and Xmas are bad"... Dont try to make them think about what they believe!!
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  truthseeker100

  Not celebrating birthdays and holidays will always be part of the cult. Can you imagine what the outcome would be for example if they let a child celebrate a birthday and had a party with non believing extended family members.Social interactions like this would cause the cult to lose control. Not to mention holidays like Thanks Giving and Xmas. It would be a cult control catastrophe.
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  FusionTheism

  Most Witness families I knew growing up always had holiday dinners with unbelieving family, however, they simply chose to do it a week before the holiday or a week after.