what prevents me from getting baptized?

by road to nowhere 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  road to nowhere

  todays WT what a bunch of hooey. Try: nobody can explain the beliefs from the Bible; there are lots of "rules" beyond tdhe ones on morals enforced(beards, movies),. the "gifts in men" are in the least incompetent overworked well meaning; but others are overbearing power hungry bullies. Having a job that pays well enough to actually live is discouraged as is getting any education or planning for a future retirement.

  There was no mention of really studying the bible, coming to a realization of what was needed; it was all bullying.
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  sparky1

  In other words...just the same old bullshit recycled again for another Watchtower Study.
  
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  Maria Nieves

  What prevented me from getting baptized was my belief that the truth was not the truth.

  I was a study and when I got to the, "Baptism and Your Relationship with God" in the What Does the Bible Really Teach book, I tried to avoid reviewing the chapter with my bible study conductor for as long as I could. That only lasted one week and when I finally had to review the chapter with her, that was when I ended my studies.

  Basically, having a relationship with Jehovah involved consistently being prepared for the studies, attending the Watchtower meeting every week and being prepared for the meetings, commenting at the meetings, attending the weekday meetings, being prepared for the weekday meetings and commenting at the weekday meetings. Also, accepting what was presented to me as truth and not questioning what was presented to me. I did not believe that this was the way to build a relationship with God and this was not how I wanted to build a relationship with God.
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  Cold Steel

  Getting baptized is like joining a health club. You read the rules and decide if you want to pay the dues. Don't ever equate it to the baptism done in New Testament times. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society claims it is not a "church," but it has all the characteristics of a church, including the radical forbidding not to attend other churches.

  Jesus told Peter that "upon this rock" (the rock of revelation) "I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."

  --
  
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  blondie

  I postponed my baptism because so many of my contemporaries were doing it, some I knew were not good Christians. I eventually was baptized around 17. It was pre-1975 and if you were considered capable of making a personal decision, you had to be baptized to survive Armageddon. My father was not a jw so I was considered spiritual kryptonite and was avoided by other jw teenagers. I hoped I would be treated better. I was sincere in belief at that time. But nothing really changed, I was still an outcast, a reject.
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  waton

  Since getting baptized as a JW now includes the clause that makes you part of the not any more spirit directed organization, it is really a scripturally invalid wt initiation rite.

  As such, this Sunday's wt discussion article was a study in manipulation, indoctrination.

  benefit of baptism? wt has never, and can not, make good of any of its promises. The Org takes claim to all of the creator's works, and claims all the rewards from you, the baptized ones. paragraph to paragraph later.
• 

  WTWizard

  How old are you? First, right in their own bible, jesus was 30 at baptism and was in it all his life, and was supposed to be the exemplar. Follow that example in the age--if you are not yet 30, you are not ready. If they hound, tell them that it says so right in their own bible, and that if you get baptized at under 30, you are not following this.

  Another is, is the whole bible full of lies intended to enslave the whole planet? If you do not understand the bible without bias (and that means, if it turns out to be a negative book designed to enslave the whole world, you will accept it and not automatically get defensive for it), you are not qualified to get baptized. Do you understand why so much of the bible is centered around Israel instead of more global based? Are you ready to face facts that are politically offensive without automatically brushing them off? If not, you are not ready for baptism.

  And how well do they actually follow their own bible? If you do not understand that, if they claim so proudly to follow the bible, they are bound to it for as long as they keep that claim, you are not ready for baptism. And, if they don't actually follow it, you need to look elsewhere or reject the whole bible yourself (in which case, you should never be baptized at all).
• 

  Vidiot

  "What prevents me from getting baptized?"

  Looking way too hot in a swimsuit.
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  blondie

  Or just the opposite, not looking hot in a swimsuit.
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  btlc

  With last update on baptism questions, WT made it really simple and not so demanding, to suit under aged and aliens who doesn't or can't understand what they are doing - there is no more "on the basis" to belive in ransome (or understand it), no expressing of willing to do "Jehovah's will", and no more Holy Spirit threat over your baptism. We will see what fruits will bring that lowering of the criteria for future candidats.