Just bringing this back to the top so that more can read the challenge, especially scholar !!
Why Aren't Jehovah's Witnesses Allowed To Freely Express Themselves?
by minimus 113 Replies latest jw friends
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Benny Sikter
Dear "Scholar",
You say: "These men (Raymond Franz and Carl Olof Jonsson) have deceived many who are ignorant and childlike in their understanding of chronology and theology. These men have set themselves as teachers and they bear a heavy responsibility when they pass their chronology as infallible doctrine."
But is really these men's behaviour different to Jehovah's Witnesses' behaviour that also is setting themselves as teachers? Have not Jehovah's Witnesses ever deceived many to believe false doctrines? What about the year 1975 and “the generation” mentioned in Matthew 24:34? Were not many brothers and sisters deceived at that time? (See Matthew 23:2; 2 Timothy 4:3, 4)
“Add nothing to His Words, that He may reprove you, and that you may not have to be proved a liar.” (Proverbs 30:6)
How many times have not Jehovah’s Witnesses taught other people to follow mere words from human beings? (See Psalm 146:3-10)
“Trust in JEHOVAH [not in His Witnesses] with all your heart and do not lean upon your [or Witnesses’] own understanding. In all your ways take notice of Him, and He Himself will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5, 6)
Love
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meliphar
Hello
I am new to this site, but have been reading through the postings in this topic. Forgive me if I'm a bit longwinded here, but I may not get a chance to post again for a while. I have never been a JW, myself, but my fiancee was for about 12 years and another friend still is a JW after 15 years.
After reading through many postings, the first thing I noticed was that most, if not all, of the posters here are XJWs or JWs (scholar and mcsemike50). For many of the XJWs, I sense that you have felt very hurt by your JW background or experience. My fiancee felt that way as well when she was df'd. I don't know what I can say to help to heal the hurt you've been through, but I can tell you that no matter if you are, were, or never have been a JW, God loves you just the same.
As for scholar, I will admit that my degrees are not in any way related to theological studies. But I do tend to be a rather critical thinking person. I know that as a JW, you are not allowed to consider apostate literature as a means to find answers to difficult questions. However, my fiancee still has her NWT Bible and her Reasoning from the Scriptures. Both of these publications troubled me a great deal when reading through them.
For example, in the preface of the WatchTower Bible, it states that the NWT committe used the oldest Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic texts to translate the Bible into English. I would expect this of any reliable translation, as I'm sure anyone here would. However, the preface went on to say that it was transated from English (one of the most limited and least robust languages known) into several other languages. This raised a big red flag with me. Why were the "several other languages" not translated from the original texts as the English translation supposedly was? This does not make much sense to me.
Also, all of the members of the NWT committee were JW's. This was another red flag. If a committee of all Roman Catholics (which was how I was raised) were organized to translate the bible, many (probably all) other Christian denominations would refute this as being a true translation as it would, of course, contain translations that would be interpreted with some of the nuances of the Catholic faith. The same would naturally be true of any one denomination. Plus, from what I've been told by my fiancee and several other XJWs, JWs do not spend as much time as they claim studying "the Bible" but rather spend up to 85% of their time studying what the WTS says about the Bible. Others on this site can confirm or deny this.
My preference, therefore is the NIV which was translated from the oldest texts by a committee of over 13 different Christian denominations. To me, this would increase credibility as no one denomination's views would dominate the translation.
Also, when it comes to the practice of DFing a member of the congregation, I understand that Matthew 18:15-17 is used to explain this practice. In this passage, we are told to treat people who will not repent as "pagans and tax collectors." The JWs have apparantly interpreted this to mean that we should ignore these people (as seems to be happening to mcsemike50 probably many other XJWs) and pretty much act as if they do not exist. JWs seem to think that this is how "pagans and tax collectors" should be treated according to the scriptures. However, I'd like to point out that Matthew himself, one of the twelve apostles, hand-picked by Jesus himself was a tax collector. Is there some evidence in the scriptures that indicates that Matthew was treated in the same manner as JWs treat those who have been DFd? From what I have read, Jesus loved these people and spent MOST of his time with them. It was the pharisees who practiced the "letter of the law" (something that seems like happens in Kingdom Halls) that the Bible taught against in Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8 and Mark 7:6.
Be very careful of any "religious" belief system that teaches about works. There is no way to "earn" your way into God's kingdom. It's a free gift. You either accept it, or you don't. The thief who was crucified next to Christ and accepted him in the last moments was assured entrance to the kingdom. He didn't DO anything, he simply accepted that Jesus was the Christ and that he was Lord and Savior.
Finally, in reading Reasoning from the Scriptures, I found some of the arguments so illogical as to actually be rather humorous. According to this book, one of the arguments for the JW belief that Christ was not "physically" raised from the dead was that he appeared to the Apostles wearing robes, but when they went to the tomb, the linen wrappings were still there, so where had he gotten the robes? In other words, according to this Reasoing from the Scriptures text, a God who; created the universe, brought plagues to Egypt, parted the Red Sea, stopped the sun in the sky, raised people from the dead, cured the blind and lame, healed the sick and performed many other miracles.....this God who had done all of this couldn't figure out how to come up with a robe??? But, according to this same explanation, he went around in "spirit form" and was able to "manifest" a physical form when needed (i.e. with Thomas). So, he could make a physical human body at will, but the MUCH less complicated clothing was not possible?
Sorry that I went on so long here, but I wanted to put in my $.75. I do hope this helps someone out there.
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Meliphar (Absolutely no credentials whatsoever in this field)
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minimus
Meliphar, I enjoyed your 1st post. WELCOME to the board! As you've pointed out, JW's are very restricted. Their NWT is a JW bible. They have a very obvious misunderstanding of disfellowshipping and if anyone called into question the authority of their translation or their interpetation of a scripture, they will get possibly, disfellowshipped.