by jaredg 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
the guidelines for being reinstated? the reason i ask is because as it is now the cong. wants a DFd person to go to meeting for at least 6 months, write letters requesting reinstatment and meeting w/ the elders to show that you are repentant. does this proceedure have any scriptual backing?
jared
Yes indeed!
In the parable of the prodigal son, that son returned home after seeing that he was wrong to leave his father's household.
Then the father, instead of immediately welcoming him back, told his son "be as one of my slaves", allowed him to speak to nobody, and made him sit at the far end of the table. After 6 months, the father met with two city elders and together they decided it was time for the son to be "reinstated" into the household. Only then could the son speak to the other members of the household and sit in his normal place at the dinner table.
It's right there in the Bible. You can look it up!
the guidelines for being reinstated? the reason i ask is because as it is now the cong. wants a DFd person to go to meeting for at least 6 months, write letters requesting reinstatment and meeting w/ the elders to show that you are repentant. does this proceedure have any scriptual backing? jared
*** w88 4/15 31 Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit ***
26 So our God who requires that an unrepentant wrongdoer be expelled from the congregation also lovingly shows that a sinner can be reinstated in the congregation if he repents and turns around. (A disassociated person can similarly request to become part of the congregation again.) Thereafter he can be comforted by Christians who will confirm their love for him. (2 Corinthians 2:5-11; 7:8-13) Truly, it is just as Paul wrote: “No discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness.”—Hebrews 12:11. There you have it. Just remember, 'Thereafter he can be comforted by Christians who will confirm their love for him.' you will still be shunned by the 'righteous ones' in the congregation for a very, very long time.
Hey Jared, this is the only set of scriptures that I know of that supports reinstatement whatsoever.
2 Corinthians 2:5-11
Now if anyone has caused sadness, he has saddened, not me, but all of YOU to an extent—not to be too harsh in what I say. 6 This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary now, YOU should kindly forgive and comfort [him], that somehow such a man may not be swallowed up by his being overly sad. 8 Therefore I exhort YOU to confirm YOUR love for him. 9 For to this end also I write to ascertain the proof of YOU , whether YOU are obedient in all things. 10 Anything YOU kindly forgive anyone, I do too. In fact, as for me, whatever I have kindly forgiven, if I have kindly forgiven anything, it has been for YOUR sakes in Christ’s sight; 11 that we may not be overreached by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.
This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a manI never noticed the word "majority" in there before. Wouldn't the existence of a "majority" also suggest the existence of a "minority" that did not shun this individual? It could easily have said "rebuke given by all", but it didn't. Sounds like Paul knew some weren't shunning anybody and didn't particularly have a problem with it. The rebuke from the rest was "sufficient".
Dave
This rebuke given by the majority is sufficient for such a man
I never noticed the word "majority" in there before. Wouldn't the existence of a "majority" also suggest the existence of a "minority" that did not shun this individual?
This verse you refer is one that proves that the JW policy of disfellowshipping is their own and not from any sacred text that they claim to adhere to.
If JW's gained a wonderful 'new personality' and had their 'Christian conscience' trained so well by their organization's teachings, you would think they would know who would be good to associate with and who to avoid. Apparently they cannot discern that for themselves, and so they need their leaders to tell them whom they can and cannot associate with.
Apparently in the first century, believers could determine who was and who wasn't good to hang around with.
they decided it was time for the son to be "reinstated" into the household. Only then could the son speak to the other members of the household and sit in his normal place at the dinner table.
But you forgot other key parts of the parable...
The son could sit at the dinner table, but was on restrictions from using any silverware. Gradually, after many months, he was granted a spoon. A few months later, a fork, and so on.
He was, of course, immediately granted the privilege of cleaning out the stables.
The son could sit at the dinner table, but was on restrictions from using any silverware. Gradually, after many months, he was granted a spoon. A few months later, a fork, and so on.He was, of course, immediately granted the privilege of cleaning out the stables.
but unfortunately the exertion of cleaning out the stables..and the replenishing of strength that he was unable to accomplish because of his inablility to eat nourishing food without cutlery and the rule of no-one being allowed to eat with their fingers meant that the son began to fade away..and lo..he became very sick with a great sickness..and was on the verge of death..and no-one in the family was able to understand why...until...look..the family next door noticed his plight and they began to feed him on the sly and as he gained strength so his wits did returneth and he moved next door with a real loving family and in fact ended up marrying the daughter of said family and living happily ever after...
and look again...still the other family didnt get it
