by Zoos 3 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Mid to late 70's, Watchtower made a comment regarding the constantly changing doctrines of "false religion" and how discouraging it was to their flocks. I can't remember enough EXACT key words to pull it from the archives but I know I have seen it quoted and discussed on this site.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Never mind. JWFACTS to the rescue again.
"Why is there this decline in religion?
One of the reasons is that people are disturbed by what is happening in their churches. Yes, millions of persons have been shocked to learn that things they were taught as being vital for salvation are now considered by their church to be wrong. Have you, too, felt discouragement, or even despair, because of what is happening in your church? A businessman in Medellín, Colombia, expressed the effect the changes have had on many.
“Tell me,” he asked,“how can I have confidence in anything? How can I believe in the Bible, in God, or have faith? Just ten years ago we Catholics had the absolute truth, we put all our faith in this. Now the pope and our priests are telling us this is not the way to believe any more, but we are to believe ‘new things.’ How do I know the ‘new things’ will be the truth in five years?” Awake1970 Apr 22 p.8
"The reasons that people give for abandoning the churches are many and varied. Some in West Germany do it in order to be relieved of paying the church tax. More often, however, the reason involves changes in Roman Catholic teaching in recent years. These have confused many persons who thought that they had the true apostolic religion. As one Catholic priest in the United States put it: “If the things the Church has said in the last ten years are true, then everything it said for the last 2,000 years is false.”" Watchtower 1975 Jun 1 p.324
Wow, Zoos. I don't remember these quotes but these are gold. How appropriate these are, as nothing changes as quickly as beliefs in JW land.
JW organization's silent response: "Wish the earlier brothers hadn't said this. Awkward."
