Hi everybody:
Keeping the 144,000 in mind, I read the following Watchtower information.
Go to: www.watchtower.org Go down to the bottom of the page to the word future. Click on that. Then on the next thread click on(Will men ever be equal?) You will see a heading entitled (The problems of class distinction) scroll down to the bottom and click on the arrow for the next page. There you will see the heading(Is a classless society really possible?) Scroll down to(Before God All Men Are Equal).
Please note these statements the Watchtower makes, and while your doing so, try to keep the 144,000 in mind.
Watchtower statements:
Are some groups of humans inherently SUPERIOR to other groups? Not in God's eyes. The Bible says: "(God) made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.
All humans are related, and before God all are EQUAL.
Remember, too, that when a person dies, all pretensions that he is SUPERIOR to others vanish.
Wise men must die; stupid men, brutish men, ALL perish.
Whether we are KINGS or slaves, these inspired words hold true for ALL of us.
The Creator has NOT given more consideration to the noble one than to the lowly one, for ALL of them are the work of his hands.
The next page states:
We are ALL born equal in God's eyes, and we ALL end up equal in death. How futile, then, to promote one group of people over another during our short lifetime.
To show that NONE of his followers should elevate themselves above fellow believers, Jesus said You, do not call me Rabbi, for one is your teacher, whereas all are your brothers.
Did early christians view themselves as equal? Those who got the sense of Jesus' teaching did.
Nobody was encouraged to view himself as being better than others.
Some may say that the ideal of equality is contradicted by the fact that in pre-Christian times God made Israel his special nation. They may claim that this is an example of racial superiority, but that is not so. It is true that the Israelites, as descendants of Abraham, enjoyed a special relationship with God and WERE used as the CHANNEL for divine revelations. But the purpose of this was not to put them on a pedestal. Rather, it was in order that all nations would be.
The next, page 4 states: (please notice words used in the past tense)
This organization of Christians who WERE anointed by holy spirit WAS called "the Israel of God," and it proved to be the channel through which those blessings would come.
Some members of that congregation needed educating in the matter of equality.
You are ALL, in fact sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. For ALL of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither male nor female; for you are ALL one person in union with Christ Jesus.
Now here is the real kicker: Under (A Classless People Today) The Watchtower states:
Jehovah's Witnesses today try to live according to Scriptural principles. They recognize that social classes have no meaning in the eyes of God. Thus, they have no clergy/laity division, and they are not segregated according to skin color or wealth.
The word clergy in the dictionary is defined as: A body of persons ordained for religious service.
A friend who E-mailed me about this article, has an aunt who really feels that she is of the anointed. But when she keeps reading articles that confuse her understanding, then some who would claim to be anointed, are too afraid to, because they feel that the numbers are supposed to be dropping, and if they were to stand and claim that they are anointed, they feel they will be shunned.
Most folks would read this article and feel that it is only speaking about racial issues, but to others who feel that they are suppose to get a deeper meaning from the Watchtower articles, well then it could mean a whole lot more to them.
Do you think the Watchtower is discouraging people from claiming to be of the anointed? Do you think that some people who think they are anointed, are to afraid to make the claim, for fear of being shunned?