Are JWs The Only Ones Who Will Be Saved?

by artful 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  artful

  When you ask most JWs: 'Are Jehovah's Witnesses the only ones who will be saved?' you will usually get the following safe response:
  "It's not for us to judge who will be saved. Jehovah reads hearts and he will decide who is worthy of salvation."For any who have been given a similar answer by JWs, here is a list of articles which deal with the Watchtower's official position on the salvation question.
  
  The last quote is great!
  Enjoy
  Artful
  ________
  
  First, let's take a look at their official position regarding salvation on their Web site._______
  Taken from http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/beliefsfaq.htmQ: Do you believe that you are the only ones who will be saved? A: No . Many millions who have lived in centuries past and who were not Jehovah's Witnesses will come back in a resurrection and have an opportunity for life. Many now living may yet take a stand for truth and righteousness before God's time of judgment, and they will gain salvation. Moreover, Jesus said that we should not be judging one another. Humans look at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. He sees accurately and judges mercifully. God has committed judgment into Jesus' hands, not ours.—Matthew 7:1-5; John 5:22, 27.
  ________
  
  Now let's have a look at what they tell their followers:________
  And while now the witness yet includes the invitation to come to Jehovah's organization for salvation. ..
  -Watchtower 1981 November 15 p.21 'Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses'
  Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and discreet slave," made up of spirit-anointed ones ... Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do. -Watchtower 1981 December 1 p.27 The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter
  A third requirement is that we be associated with God's channel, his organization. ... Jehovah is using only one organization today to accomplish his will. To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it. -Watchtower 1983 February 15 p.12 You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth-But How?
  " Only Jehovah's Witnesses , those of the annointed remnant and the "great crowd," as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil."
  -The Watchtower, September 1, 1989, p.19 paragraph 7.
  Do not conclude that there are different roads, or ways, that you can follow to gain life in God's new system. There is only one. There was just one ark that survived the Flood, not a number of boats. And there will be only one organization--God's visible organization -- that will survive the fast-approaching "great tribulation." It is simply not true that all religions lead to the same goal... You must be part of Jehovah's organization, doing God's will, in order to receive his blessing of everlasting life ...
  -You Can live Forever (1982, 1990) p.255
  " identifying themselves with Jehovah’s organization is essential to their salvation. "
  -Our Kingdom Ministry, 11/1990, p. 1
  "No other organization on earth enjoys an intimate relationship with the Creator. ...Clearly, those who desire to serve God can only turn to the one organization that enjoys Jehovah’s spirit and blessing. ... No other organization on earth enjoys God’s special care and protection."
  -The Watchtower, 11/1/1991, pp. 30-31
  "But if we were to draw away from Jehovah’s organization, there would be no place else to go for salvation and true joy."
  -The Watchtower, September 15, 1993, p. 22
  "The speaker concluded: ‘Let all zealously continue to support the faithful and discreet slave . It is only by doing this that someday very soon all sheeplike ones will be able to hear the happy words: "Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom..."’"
  -The Watchtower, January 15, 1993, p. 18
  "Rather than expect miracles in the form of divine intervention of some sort, Jehovah’s Witnesses realize that protection is to be found in their worldwide Christian brotherhood."
  -The Watchtower, December 1, 1993, p. 13
  ______________

  In spite of all the above WTS quotes attributing salvation to their organization, they still have the nerve to council their members about guarding against idolatry!! ____________
  "We cannot take part in any modern version of idolatry-be it worshipful gestures toward an image or symbol or the imputing of salvation to a person or an organization. "
  -The Watchtower, 11/1/1990, p. 26
• 

  blondie

  artful, actually I have been told that only JWs who attend ALL five meetings and have a "full share" in the preaching work will survive Armageddon.

  Blondie (will nonmeeting attendance become a DFing offense?)
• 

  Pistoff

  Check that answer on the website though; it says two different things at once, as usual. It says NO, but then goes on to talk about dead ones who will be resurrected and learn (translation: be baptized as witnesses, or whatever they think it will be then) then it says that many now living will come to a knowledge of God and TAKE A STAND FOR TRUTH AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, which means they will be baptized as witnesses.

  I showed that webpage to the wife, as an example of the doublespeak that is THE trademark of WTS today. They like to be vague, lay out both sides and then later they can refer back to what they said in quotes, in support of whichever side they want to take at the moment.

  Case in point: working for churches. Reference the last QFR on the topic, in 99 I think. It is the most confusing piece I have ever read. Another: the QFR on voting, which starts out as saying that this is a matter of individual choice, but then goes on to say a christian must do NOTHING to violate their neutrality.

  What I really think is that they write them with code; the disclaimer, as you see in the webpage about JW's being the only ones to be saved, is for the public, so that they don't realize how radical and opressive the WT really is. The remainder is to the faithful, who will recognize in the loaded language the real viewpoint, that only resurrected ones who have paid the price for their inherited sin and then STUDY, become "worshippers" of God, will be saved, or ones in this time who TAKE A STAND for "truth" and righteousness, i.e., become baptized.

  It is so amazing I did not see this stuff my whole life. What happened to me now, that I can see it?
• 

  gumby

  Another misleading way to attract converts! They lie through their teeth as your comparison proves.

  It is just like the brochure called " The Bible- a book for mankind". No it isn't....according to them. Posssesing a bible, reading it, following it.....means NOTHING to them. It is NOT a book for mankind because mankind can in no way bebifit from it unless that individual is part of the Organisation as your articles you supplied clearly shows.

  They are like multi-level marketers who mislead and lie about their group to gain more members which will benifit THEM.

  Gumby
• 

  johnny cip

  yes ; i haVE POSED this question to many a jw. and most times to get that prerecorded answer. i set them up easy. then i give them what the wt really teaches. and they get MAD. BECAUSE IN LESS THAN a few minutes. i have made them lie to me. and they KNOW I CAUGHT THEM. IF they don't run away i will ask them to open the bible to duet 5 and go over the ten commamdants with them. now i ask them if they want to see how many more of the commandments they violate. as a rule the wt and jw violate at least 4or 5 the the ten commandments. if not more . this would be a good new thread to start.....john
• 

  rocketman

  Like Blondie mentioned, when you really get down to it, it's only the most active dubs that they believe will be saved.
• 

  joannadandy

  Actually last week I was working with a "christian", on a teach teaching project, who believed in "the rapture"...and that most people would be surprised when they didn't make it to heaven. So I asked if he thought ONLY christians will be taken in this rapture, and without hesitation he said "Yes" and then added "and there are some die-hard christians that won't make it either" So I had to ask "well, what about you? What if you get surprised and God sucks up all the Buddists and leaves you here?" He pretty much just laughed me off and thought I was talkin crazy.

  But I of course couldn't leave this alone. Too many memories came back to me about what Jehovahs Witnesses believe about being the ONLY ONES TO SURVIVE ARMEGGEDON.

  So I asked again, "Well?"

  And he sobbered up saying "Well I have read the Bible, and I know I have excepted Jesus into my heart and have salvation through him, Buddists and Muslims and others deny Jesus."

  "So you just have to believe in Jesus to get saved?" I asked

  "More or less" he said

  "But you just said some Christians won't survive the rapture, to be Christian you have to believe in Christ, by the definition of the word itself. What stumps me then is, the scripture that says only GOD can read hearts, and yet you seem sure you are going to Heaven, and Buddists won't, even tho you, a flawed man (he admited to being an imperfect human earlier in our religious debate) seem pretty sure of yourself."

  "Well I have read the Bible, and try to live by it's standards" he said rather smuggly.

  "Have you ever read any other religious Holy books?"

  "...well no, parts of them...but they just don't make sense, not as much sense as the Bible does"

  "Yes, but you were raised a Christian, so this is really the ONLY faith you know..."

  "Well yeah..."

  "And still you say that even people, who are good people, but never got a chance to read the Bible will not go to heaven? What if God really is a Buddist, and you never read any Buddist writings, and therefore, you won't go to heaven? Even if he can read your heart, he just decides, it's the reading that matters..."

  He was pretty stumped. And also blew me off as a retard because DUH...BUDDISTS CANNOT GO TO HEAVEN...my bad!

  I couldn't help myself...I started to cry. It just got me so frustrated. So I told him, "You know I was raised in a faith, that told me we were the only ones who would be saved, and I remember being five years old and bursting into tears because I knew all my little friends in school, and my grandparents were going to die and not be with me, because only my family and those who believed like us would be saved. Don't you realize how damaging that kind of thinking is?"

  Silence.

  And this dude is going to be teaching your children someday...even tho they aren't going to go to Heaven...lol...nice!

  Sorry I had to ramble and vent this story. This whole line of "WE are saved and THEY won't be" to me just flies in the face of everything that makes a christian a good christian...but that's just me.
• 

  berylblue

  (will nonmeeting attendance become a DFing offense?)

  I always wondered if suicide was a disfellowshipping offense.

  Beryl
• 

  berylblue

  I couldn't help myself...I started to cry. It just got me so frustrated. So I told him, "You know I was raised in a faith, that told me we were the only ones who would be saved, and I remember being five years old and bursting into tears because I knew all my little friends in school, and my grandparents were going to die and not be with me, because only my family and those who believed like us would be saved. Don't you realize how damaging that kind of thinking is?"

  It's worse than damaging.

  You know, one day the JW woman who was studying with me was looking at the Bible Stories book with my 6 year old daughter, and she was pointing to the picture of the people dying in the flood. My daughter took one look at it and said, "That is so sad. All those people are dying! That is terrible!"

  The woman told me later, "You know, none of my children ever saw it that way. They never expressed any concern for the ones dying in the flood".

  I think way too many Witnesses are just perversely thrilled with the belief that they will survive while billions of others will be slaughtered. I absolutely hated the district conventions when they would have those pathetically ridiculous drramas, and the audience would applaud thunderously when the "bad" people bit the dust. It was sick, sick, sick.

  Beryl
• 

  blondie

  Attempting suicide might have been a DF'ing offense. But to date, the WTS doesn't not DF dead people.

  Beryl, the WTS has changed its view officially about suicide as the following quotes show. What individual JWs say or practice may be something else again. I went to a funeral for a DF'd person who had committed suicide. A brother gave the talk at a funeral home and many JWs came. The family members were JWs in "good standing" which influenced this situation greatly.

  9/8/90 Awake

  p. 23 Suicides—A Resurrection?

  As far as the one who rashly took his own life is concerned, we humans cannot judge as to whether he will get a resurrection or not. How reprehensible was he? God alone searches ‘all hearts and every inclination of the thoughts.’

  9/15/70 WT p. 573 Beware of the Hardening Effects of Sin

  Judas went out and betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver. Further indicative of his hardness of heart was his brazenly asking, "It is not I, is it?" when Jesus said that one of the twelve would betray him. How that sin harmed him! It made him a suicide with no hope of a resurrection.

  7/15/59 WT

  p. 448 Questions from Readers

  Whereas he cannot preach the suicide into heaven or even hold forth Scriptural promises that the suicide will have an opportunity for life in the new world, and although he does not condone the suicide, yet he appreciates that the holding of a funeral service affords a marvelous opportunity to give a witness to God’s kingdom and the blessings that it will bring to mankind, including the resurrection of the dead.

  5/1/54 WT p. 285 Questions from Readers

  Inasmuch as suicide is self-murder, the same view may be taken of it as of murder. So if anyone who has dedicated his life to Jehovah God sanely takes his life in suicide, or deliberately murders another person, it is doubtful that Jehovah would remember such a person in the resurrection.