by Vanderhoven7 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
TonusOH: If God is within reach to me, why would I depend on someone else to act as a middle man? Too many religions treat God as if he was a CEO, needing intermediaries at every step of the way, keeping the little people from ever even catching a glimpse of him. No no no! I have a direct line. Step aside, please.
Funny and poignant!
"Jesus saves independent of men and organizations."
Very true Vanderhoven7
If
Christ himself appeared to a JW in all his glory and said: “I am the one and
only mediator between God and men. No one comes to the Father except through
me." — (Jn 14:6; 1Tim 2:5)
Most JW's would look up into his bright and shinning face and say: "But you are
not enough! We want a group of men to read the Bible for us and provide their
own writings and interpretations for us to obey."
I think he would remind them of 1 Samuel 8:4-22.
:^)
Zane - Most JW's would look up into his bright and shinning face and say: "But you are not enough! We want a group of men to read the Bible for us and provide their own writings and interpretations for us to obey."
There'd be those that would cry out to 'Jehovah(tm)' because they'd think it was a Demon. You know, auld clootie, lucy fear or old nick from Stilton.
Then, they'd go and burn all their second hand items.....but not the second hand car.
punkofnice : Watchtower, September 15, 1895: "Beware of 'organization'. It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others' consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours."
This has been quoted regularly but it's not quoted in context. It was in an article entitled Concerning Profitable Meetings which was written because several requests had been received as to how to conduct meetings. The advice is as follows :
(1) You would best first re-read some things already written which bear upon this subject - in our issues of
May 1, '93 page 131 [The Commission of the Apostles];
Sept. '93, page 259 [The Church of the Living God];
Oct. 15, '93, page 307 [Unequally Yoked];
Mar. 1, '94, page 73 [Applying Truth to Oneself];
April 1, '95, page 78 [Views from the Tower (Religious View)];
May 1, '95, page 109 [Priestcraft Opposed to Liberty].
(2) Beware of "organization." It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others' consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours. Believe and obey so far as you can understand God's Word today, and so continue growing in grace and knowledge and love day by day.
It then goes on to discuss what happens at the meetings which includes the study of the Bible "in the light of the DAWN [Millenial Dawn, also known as Studies in the Scriptures]" which is a divinely provided help for the cutting of the food into eatable portions.
Two months later (November 15, 1895) there was an article Decently and in Order (1 Corinthians 14:40) where it concludes:
... the true church, 'whose names are written in heaven,' is undoubtedly an organization, even in the present time, while it is subject to many vicissitudes - its membership constantly changing, etc., but it is a heavenly organization, not an earthly one.
So, an earthly organization is bad, God's heavenly organization is good. Your quotation to beware of 'organization' was referring to earthly organization, not heavenly. That remains true today.
That aspect of Christianity was probably inherited from it's Jewish rootstock. Judaism was incredibly diverse by the first century, with dozens or more sects that each hated each other. For example, the Qumran community famously rejected the apostate priesthood in Jerusalem. The Romans saw Jews and Christians as equally stubborn, sectarian and divisive.
As it happened it was this intolerance (combined with State power) that eventually established one branch of the cult as a world religion.
Watchtower makes the claim that "Jehovah has always guided his servants in an organized way." (You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth p.192) If that is the case, how were they guided and organised during the dark ages? What group represented God's organization immediately prior to the formation of the Watch Tower Society in the 1884 by Charles Russell, and why didn't Russell just follow them?" The word "organization" does not appear in the bible. An excellent discussion of the concept "organization." https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/organization.php
