Organised Religion

by aud8 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Gopher

  Aud8,

  I'll address the Acts 20:20 part of your post. This has been covered in the past on this board. So please carefully (and with an open mind) read the first post in the thread listed below. Please take careful note of where the Greek phrase used in Acts 20:20 is compared with Acts 2:46.

  Again this is not about whether there is a ministry. This is about the appropriateness of the 'house to house' aspect. Acts 20:20 should not be bent to fit an organization's tradition. (I used to quote Acts 20:20 like you did, by the way.)

  * http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=2384&site=3#31930

  GopherAlways do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
  Mark Twain (1835-1910)
• 

  Jimmer

  aud8,

  Organized religion. Hmmm.

  You seem to be assuming that not believing in the "JW organization" is equivalent to not believing in any organized religion. Is that a correct assessment of your standing? I hope it is not.

  Belief in any organization is dangerous. BUT, belief in CHRIST and expressing that belief IN an organization is wholly different.

  So, you think God is a God of organization? And in just what one form of earthly organization do you think He's the CEO? The Watchtower?
  I think not!

  No, God sets up residence in the hearts of believers, NOT in organizations. Look it up and check Him out.

  Remember aud8, just because the Watchtower claims to be God's organization doesn't make it so. Claims do not equal truth. (I could claim to be Christ but that statement wouldn't make me Christ.)

  Hmmm...
• 

  Steve Josef

  I am sorry, but you keep quoting from the bible. Did it ever occur to anyone that the bible is nothing more than a book of stories with some historical facts?
• 

  kes152

  Greetings Aud8,

  you said:

  Also various scriptures suggest the Jehovah was a God of organization, setting up priests to keep order among the people.

  Reading in Hebrews, the writer talks about that 'arrangement' AND what the 'arrangement' is TODAY. He said:

  "For you have NOT approached that which can be felt and which has been set aflame with fire and a dark cloud and thick darkness and a tempest, and the blare of a trumpet and the voice of words; on hearing which voice the people implored that no word should be added to them. And the command was not bearable to them: "And if a beast touches the mountain it must be stoned." Also the display was so fearsome that Moses said: "I am fearful and trembling."

  ok, so we didn't approach this type of 'arrangement' that Jehovah initiated...

  "But you HAVE approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and tens of thousands of angels to all-assembly and the congregation of the firstborn who have been written off in the heavens, and God the Judge of all, and the SPIRITS of righteous ones who have been made perfect, and Jesus the MEDIATOR of a NEW COVENANT, and the blood of sprinkling which speaks in a better way than Abel's."

  Hebrews 12:18-24

  THIS is the 'organization' we HAVE approached. If you look in your NWT Reference Edition ... you will see the footnote for "spiritual lives" to mean LITERALLY "spirits." So that means there is the church of the firstborn in heaven, and spirits of righteous ones made perfect. Thus all heavenly. And this is all the "organization" we need, a 'heavenly' one. The former "organization" has passed away. We approach and belong to the heavenly one. The first one was earthly, the BETTER one is heavenly. Moses was 'earthly,' Jesus is heavenly.

  Peace to you,
  Aaron
• 

  aud8

  Why then in Pauls time were there congregagtions to which he had to write letters (several of which make up books of the bible Ephesians, phillipians etc etc) and also elders in these congregations??
• 

  ozziepost

  G'day aud8,

  I can recommend two books that provide a good answer to your question.

  Going to Church in the First Century By Robert Banks. Published by Christian Books Publishing House, Beaumont, Texas
  ISBN 0-940232-37-5

  Paul's Idea of Community Also by Robert Banks.
  Published by Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan
  ISBN 0 85892 098 0

  Cheers,
  Ozzie

  "You can know the law by heart, without knowing the heart of it"
  Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?
• 

  kes152

  First.. you must understand that the 'congregation' is the body of Christ. Believers 'anointed by holy spirit' make up the "church." So when Paul(?) wrote letters to the church, it was letters to the anointed ones (not kingdom halls or buildings)... wherever they are. The word 'congregation' is equivalent to "anointed ones." Somewhere down the line.. the WTBTS "changed" the word 'church/congregation' to mean sections of Jehovah's witnesses. There was only one church. JWs have many churches. In the scriptures .... the church was made up of only anointed ones. In the WTBTS 'church' is made up of all JWs in a certain Hall.

  The "elders" among the body of Christ are called "older men" in the NWT. There were alot of young ones who made up the church and there were older men who also made up the church. The 'older men' were anointed who were "up in age" ... nothing more. They all carried the same responsibilty of teaching and encouraging the UNbelievers.

  Peace to you,
  Aaron