Partaking of emblems

by sloppyjoe2 18 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sloppyjoe2

  This year will be my first for by going to the memorial. I will get asked by my parents how I can deny Jesus even if I don't believe the end is close. My thoughts on this are as follows, bear in mind saying it's all make believe is not an option.

  I think that Jesus intended for everyone to eat the bread and drink the wine. Under no instructions by Jesus was there any requirement to be anointed. At the time of the last supper, none of the apostles were of the anointed since that did not take place until Pentecost 33, months later.

  Since I don't go to meetings and am inactive it would be disrespectful to their ceremony and beliefs for someone like me to partake. Someone they believe will be destroyed soon.

  Does any of this seem valid and have merit?
• 

  FayeDunaway

  I don't quite understand what you are asking. But I think if these are your beliefs, you should go to a real church where you can partake. I partook today, we do it once a month. I don't take it for granted. After my last witness memorial I felt so crappy about myself that I promised I would never reject Jesus by going to a memorial and bowing to peer pressure again. And I haven't. Really, try a real church, especially the week before Easter. A good Friday or Maundy Thursday service would be perfect.
• 

  stuckinarut2

  Very interesting observation!

  Yes, none of them were anointed for heavenly life until 33CE! So at the time of the last supper, they were no different to any other believer....

  I had never had that penny drop moment before!
• 

  Half banana

  Just to ease your conscience, the Last Supper was a pagan rite borrowed in striking detail from the cult of Mithras. Unlike the Catholic interpretation, the Mithraic ritual was celebrated just once a year at the spring equinox just like JWs do.
• 

  Harvard Illiterate 411

  I don't want to change your belief system but the more research I do, the more convinced I become that Jesus was a man like any other while alive and turned into God's son after his death for political reasons. In short, it doesn't matter if you drank the whole bottle of wine at the memorial, nobody is going to heaven.
  
• 

  Carol1111

  I agree with FayeDunaway, that if you have been baptised into Christ and don't take the bread and wine you are rejecting his sacrifice and are not eligible for everlasting life. John 6 v 53-54.

  If you don't believe in any of it then live your life and be happy.
• 

  sloppyjoe2

  I could have been more descriptive. These aren't my beliefs in the sense I believe they are necessary. But with my fade I have to maintain that I am a "believer" still as doing so has kept me from being shunned so far. My questions were really, is my saying that the apostles weren't anointed but still partook a valid argument for me to make as why I don't attend the memorial? Or are the holes in that argument that a JW could point out.
  
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  Any argument that includes "...so I am not going" leaves room for JW's to argue about it.

  All they know is that you have to go, you have to go, you have to go. Countering with anything whatsoever makes no sense to them. So throw out your excuse and be done.

  I thought I might get invited this year, as they are supposed to make some huge effort to invite former attendees back. (I am not DF'ed or DA'ed, just totally inactive.)

  Well, so far I have not been invited. GOOD. No need for an excuse.

  But if I do need an excuse, while it is not true I will say it anyway:
  "What day? Oh, you all should have let me know sooner. I can't go. I have tickets for an AC/DC concert that evening. If only you had invited me sooner."

  (Actually, JRK and I are going the Sunday before the Memorial, but they don't need to know that.)

  See, it just doesn't matter what excuse you give them. It won't be good enough anyway.
• 

  Crazyguy

  I don't think there is any Scriptures that say Jesus followers we're ever anointed. His followers were part of his body and become symbolicly anointed in him. They we're of the the body of Christ.
• 

  under the radar

  I seriously doubt I'll be asked, but if I am I will just say, "No, thanks. I appreciate your thinking of me, but I no longer share your beliefs and it would be hypocritical of me to show up and pretend that I do, or give you false hope that I will return. I don't want to rain on your parade." Final answer, end of discussion.