I've been invited to a memorial on Thursday. I'm currently unsure of my beliefs (somewhere between agnostic and Christian, with an interest in science). I have been baptised twice - Catholic by sprinkling, and Seventh Day Adventist by immersion - and have partaken of the bread & wine in both religions (although come to think of it, the catholic priest always kept the wine for himself). Should I go (real motive to show willing whilst really trying to dissuade my mate from JW baptism) and should I partake of the bread & wine??
memorial advice please?
by jaffacake 18 Replies latest jw friends
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confusedjw
I wouldn't do anything that would disrespect your mate.
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Narkissos
In the JW memorial you are not expected to partake. Doing so would be deemed at best misunderstanding on your part, at worst blasphemous...
Now if you go it might be a good opportunity to discuss the ceremony with your wife, by comparing it with your past experiences. A communion in which no one partakes is sort of weird, isn't it?
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jaffacake
Narkissos,
Thanks for advice, I could have really made an error of judgement. What do you mean, nobody partakes? Would I really have been the only one? Why do many religions have strict rules about who can partake of bread & wine and whether they are deemed worthy? We try to do many things Jesus asked us to do without it being given some restricted ritual meaning. As it happens I do feel unworthy due to my doubts about beliefs, but did Jesus say anything to suggest someone like me should not partake?
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Oroborus21
Hi Jaffacake,
You can ask your mate about who the partakers are. It is also a useful discussion to ask her how such ones "KNOW" that they are partakers and should partake.
In short, the partakers are those that comprise the "anointed" or heavenly class of Christians that Jehovah's Witnesses believe are part of the literal number of 144,000 human members "bought from the Earth" (see Revelations) to serve as "priests and kings" with Jesus over the earth. Last year, there were a little over 8000 or so "partakers" aka anointed WORLDWIDE.
You can do the math but among the 6 million plus publishers and probably like 15 million Memorial attendees overall this year, your chances of being at a meeting where there is a partaker are about the same as witnessing someone find one of Willy Wonka's gold tickets.
Actually, if there is one of the annointed associated with your mate's congregation, he/she should already know and can tell you. If so, it might be interesting to see if you can wrangle a seat close or even next to that person.
The matza is really great for digestion problems by the way.
-Eduardo
PS: seriously be respectful and don't partake yourself, though do smell the wine, that is the highlight of the evening unless you are into the fashion show.
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fairchild
did Jesus say anything to suggest someone like me should not partake?
As a matter of fact, no he did not say such thing, but the WBTS did.
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fairchild
jaffacake,
At first, I misunderstood your post. I thought you were joking, thought you wanted to partake just to be a pain in their necks. But after seeing your reply to Narkissos, I understand that you are sincere. Whow, good thing you posted this and asked. Yes, I remember when I was a (catholic) kid, sometimes there were people who did not partake for various reasons. Some felt unworthy, often because they had sinned one way or another, and it was taught that, when you have a bad conscience, you should not partake.But in the JW congregations, the 'communion' is not something that's being passed around every day, like in many churches. No, it is only done once a year during the memorial. Only the 'anointed' ones are supposed to partake. (Last year about 8,000 people took the bread and wine).
Unlike in most churches, where people get up and go to the front, at the kingdom hall, people remain seated while the bread and the wine are being passed around.
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jgnat
If you listen real carefully to the talk, jaffa, you will be told in excruiciating detail why there are two classes of JW's, and only that small exclusive class can take the bread and wine.
We're not kidding. They pass the bread and wine around and don't partake.
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Maverick
If you have ever traveled and obverved a local folk-reinactment at some village or old town-ship this will give you an idea of what the JW Memorial is like. They put on this little show as a pretense of being a Christian religion. They spend 5 minutes talking about Jesus and 15 minutes telling you why you should become a Jehovah Nit-Witness. Then they put Jesus back in the closet until next year. The memorial is kind of a show and tell and then a show-off and party afterward. They use it like a new retail store uses a big sale to get people in the door with the hope that once you go the first time you will be more likely to return.
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Honesty
A communion in which no one partakes is sort of weird, isn't it?
The Jehovah's Witnesses' yearly memorial is reminiscent of an ancient satanic ritual which takes place in exactly the same manner. The purpose of the gnostic satanic ritual was to publicly show disdain and denial of Christ's death on the pagan Roman cross and His resurrection on the third day.