by pistolpete 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
As long as the power and money is there, there will be men who will strive to keep it alive.
The Watchtower's failed doctrines are not going to completely ruin this organization, new doctrines will be created to show that the JWS are preaching the truth .
In essence new lies to create "The Truth "
I am aware that a number of books written by evangelical Christians, with a figurative axe to grind, have written anti-cult books which classify the JW religion as a cult. They (at least the ones I am aware of) are published by Christian publishing houses instead of by publishers of science books. I have some of them, namely the following.
- The Kingdom Of The Cults - Limited Edition, by Walter Martin
- The Four Major Cults, by Anthony A. Hoekema.
- I have a book written by someone who claims he "was converted to Christianity from the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1950". That person claims to have obtained theological degrees after his conversion and to have served as "Professor of History and Apologetics at The Master's College". His name is Edmond Charles Gruss and his book which I own is The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation: An Examination and Refutation of the Witnesses' Position on the Second Coming of Christ, Armageddon and the "End of the World" - Second edition. That edition is dated 'December, 1975" and my copy of the book is the "Seventh printing, May, 1983. Gruss apparently considers the JW to be a cult for in "The Author" page the book says: "Interest in the cult field stems from his conversion from the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1950." "The Author" page also says he is "... a member of ... Creation Research Society ..." and thus I think he is a young Earth creationist; and on pages 118-127 he reprints (with permission) pages 474-483 of the young Earth creationist book by Whitecomb and Morris called The Genesis Flood.
- I have the book called Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses, by Ron Rhodes. Chapter one of that book is called "The Watchtower Society: God's Organization or Cultic Tyrant?"
- I also have the book called Understanding Jehovah's Witnesses: Why They Read the Bible the Way They Do, by Robert M. Bowman, Jr. Like the ones above, it is published by a Christian publisher, but I don't notice that book as referring to the JW religion as a cult. In a number of respects it is sympathetic of the JWs. On page 79 (in the chapter called "The Foundation of Jehovah's Witness Beliefs") it says the following.
"A good case can therefore be made that it was this rationalistic approach to religion that was foundational for Russell's own beliefs. His rationalistic desire to comprehend God and his truth led Russell first to abandon faith in the Bible, and then to accept it again on the condition that the Bible be interpreted in keeping with his reasoning.
Evangelicals have frequently pointed out Russell's rationalistic bias against the doctrines of eternal punishment and the Trinity. What is likely to disturb evangelicals, however, is to find that Russell's bias was so much a part of his culture that not even the evangelicals of his day were immune to it. As has been pointed out, some strains of the Calvinistic or Reformed faith in America in Russell's day (and long before him) tended to be rationalistic. The same tendency affected other evangelicals and the general culture at large."
Regarding Charles Taze Russell, Bowman, Jr. on page 80 says: "For him human rationality functioned as an authority over the Bible, dictating what was not possible for God to be and do."
I remember that when I was an active believing JW (and when I was considering becoming baptized as one) one of the things which greatly impressed me about the JW religion was that, to me at least (at the time), it used a rational approach to interpreting the Bible and employed the use of reason. To me it was a religion which primarily appealed to reason, instead of to blind faith and to emotion. However later as a JW I also noticed that the WT literature many times employed faulty logic. But, as a publisher in field service and as a ministerial servant, I tried to make all of my reasoning in support of WT/JW doctrines use sound logical reasoning. In my preaching (from door to door and in talks at the Kingdom Hall) I avoided using the particular lines of reasoning of the WT literature that I thought violated rules of logic. In college (while also a ministerial servant) I also took two introductory philosophy courses in logic and I excelled in those courses.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again...
...the WTS is, first and foremost, a corporation.
Ergo, its survival is dependent on its monetary solvency.
Now, in what weird-ass mirror universe are significant reduction in product output, regular asset liquidation, and constant legal troubles signs of robust financial health?
regular asset liquidation
They are getting their assets kicked pretty hard by Zalkin and Friends.
They won`t go out with a bang ,but a whimper ,a slow death that will take many years as they become a more insignificant religion with fewer and fewer members as the years roll on.
It looks like they don't have a writing dept anymore to write new material. And no money for research.
As long as the power and money is there, there will be men who will strive to keep it alive.
That is a valid point. I worked for a failing company once. It should have gone broke 5 years before it did. The writing was on the wall. The only reason it drug out so long was because management was still getting a paycheck and surprisingly performance bonuses.
It looks like they don't have a writing dept anymore to write new material. And no money for research.
When you can’t afford volunteer labour that’s bad. They don’t even have to house or feed the writers. They can work from home.
They ve changed the meaning of 1914 for over hundred years and still grew regardless....changing it again in the. next 100 wont make a big difference.
the difference is the accesibility of YouTube and google. that will make a difference. when i was 6 and had questions i would ask my indoctrinated mother and she would give me the answer... when my 3 year old has questions he says 'hey google...."
and its a cult.... sure its also a sect a religions... but nevethess a mind control cult
