I was under the impression that language has appeared in the Watchtower that states Jehovah's Witnesses should treat those who intentionally stop associating (i.e. go to meetings, etc.) as those who disassociate themselves.
truth_b_known
JoinedPosts by truth_b_known
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35
Did something changed regarding faders recently?
by Gorb infriendly and good gorby smiled and waved towards 2 local jw's yesterday, and they turned with an angry face their back to me.
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has something changed regarding faders recently?.
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Why do Anti-Jws refuse to answer questions- and ignore our answers?
by DoubtingThomas indenial..
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truth_b_known
Many of us on here have read...
Beth Sarim could have stopped with that statement. It is well documented that the Watchtower's publication site non-Watchtower sources to prove their teachings, but do so unethically by giving quotes out of context. Look no further than Life! How Did it Get Here? By Creation or Evolution?
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Why do Anti-Jws refuse to answer questions- and ignore our answers?
by DoubtingThomas indenial..
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truth_b_known
TBK- I don't cause divisions. That is a personal choice. I've made my views known to all the elders at every congregation I've been too.
Your POINT?
https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovah-witness-beliefs/
As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we strive to adhere to the form of Christianity that Jesus taught and that his apostles practiced. This article summarizes our basic beliefs.
Our organization. We are organized into congregations, each of which is overseen by a body of elders. However, the elders do not form a clergy class, and they are unsalaried. (Matthew 10:8; 23:8) We do not practice tithing, and no collections are ever taken at our meetings. (2 Corinthians 9:7) All our activities are supported by anonymous donations.
12. The Governing Body, a small group of mature Christians who serve at our world headquarters, provides direction for Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide.—Matthew 24:45.
45 “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?" Matthew 24:45 NWTDoubtingThomas - You asked a question. I gave you a test to find out the answer on your own. Why would the test be divisive if the answer to your question were "Yes"?
I provided direct quotes, in context, from JW.com on the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. It clearly states in belief #12 that Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Governing body "provides direction" and then uses Matthew 24:45 as scriptural proof of this claim. Matthew 24:25 in the NWT reads that the master (Jesus) has "appointed over domestics" this faithful and discreet slave. That means Jehovah's Witnesses statement of belief declares they believe Jesus appointed the Governing Body over the rest of the congregation
You state you "don't cause divisions" and that your belief, which is clearly in contrast to those of Jehovah's Witnesses, is a "personal choice." Fair enough. However, this is a clear example of wanting to eat your cake and have it too. Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves in that all members and all congregations are in agreement on doctrine, worldwide. Any deviation of belief held by Jehovah's Witnesses by a Jehovah's Witness is apostasy according to the definition of Jehovah's Witnesses.
https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Reasoning-From-the-Scriptures/Apostasy/
They may claim to serve God but reject his representatives, his visible organization
According to JW.org, a mark of an apostate is one of Jehovah's Witnesses who "claim to serve God but reject representatives."
There is no degree of rejection required. There is no defense such as "one who claims to serve God but openly reject representatives." So, if you keep it to yourself or only mention it to the elders you're good, but if you proclaim to the entire congregation that you reject the Governing Body then you are a divisive apostate.
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Why do Anti-Jws refuse to answer questions- and ignore our answers?
by DoubtingThomas indenial..
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truth_b_known
Doubting Thomas:
You ask the question of users of this forum -
"Why do Anti-Jws refuse to answer questions- and ignore our answers?"
You asked a specific question - "Can a person be one of Jehovah's Witnesses without acknowledging the Governing Body as his leader?"
Users of this forum consist mostly of former Jehovah's Witnesses. A few users have never been one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Some are as we say PIMO (Physically In Mentally Out). They attend meetings and go through the motions, but they no longer believe it is the one, true religion. Some who have left have gone on to join other Christian religions. Many are no professed atheists or antitheists.
What all of us who were Jehovah's Witnesses and left or who are still holding oneself out to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, but secretly no longer are a believer all agree on is this - If one of Jehovah's Witnesses openly denies the position of the Governing Body as the only leaders of the organization such a person would face some consequences up to and including being disfellowshipped.
DoubtingThomas - I won't tell you that you are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses because you do not believe the Governing Body is the leader of the organization. I won't tell you whether Jehovah accepts your worship or not because of your beliefs. What I will tell you is real knowledge can only come from personal experience.
If you want true and real knowledge you must validate the answers through personal experience. It is the only way. I realize COVID-19 has done a lot to interfere with Jehovah's Witnesses' meetings and the like. However, the next time there is an in person meeting or even a Zoom meeting I encourage you to test your answer to your own question. Test our answer to your question. Raise your hand to answer a question. At some point when you answer make the statement: "I do not believe the Governing Body is anything more than brothers like me and they are not my leaders." Then see what response you receive.
After you complete your experiment come back here with the results. I encourage conducting the experiment at least twice. Possibly 3 times to validate your data. If the data shows you are correct I will humbly accept your data and apologize for any harm my contradictory claim has caused. If the data shows we were correct, look on the bright side - you have a place to come to share in experienced truth.
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Can you be a JW who does not have the GB as their leader?
by DoubtingThomas ini am.. they are just fellow brothers, old and getting senile.... but enlightened, despite all the whining.....
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truth_b_known
Vanderhoven7 is correct. It is a truth I did not come to know until after I stopped being one of Jehovah's Witness. I believed that Jesus' ransom sacrifice was for all humans as it is written at John 3:16.
After I stopped being one of Jehovah's Witnesses I learned directly from Watchtower publications that Jehovah's Witness are taught that Jesus' ransom sacrifice is only for 144,000. The Watchtower teaches that if you are not part of the 144,000 your only hope for salvation from eternal death is to align yourself with those of the 144,000 who are left on Earth. Later, that doctrine was updated to state that our only hope as non-Annointed ones was to be loyal to the Governing Body.
In an indirect way, the Watchtower teaches salvation for the Great Crowd comes through the Governing Body and not Jesus. Again, the Watchtower does not directly make this statement, but it is a logical conclusion based on the Watchtower's publications and statements made by the Governing Body on JW Broadcasting.
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Can you be a JW who does not have the GB as their leader?
by DoubtingThomas ini am.. they are just fellow brothers, old and getting senile.... but enlightened, despite all the whining.....
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truth_b_known
Question: Can you be a JW ("Jehovah's Witness") who does not have the GB as their leader?
Answer: What do you mean by "Be a Jehovah's Witness" and who is being asked?
The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses will make it know THEY do not accept people who claim to be Jehovah's Witnesses, but also refuse to accept the Governing Body as their leader. Such a person would be labeled an "Apostate" by Jehovah's Witnesses and any outsider asking about the status of such a person by a third party would deny said person is one of Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact Jehovah's Witnesses would be emphatic that such a person is not one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
You have to ask "who has the authority to decide who is and who is not one of Jehovah's Witnesses?" It is not like asking if a person is a medical doctor or not. Some board of medicine has been given authority to decide that and records or licenses can determine that.
I could say "I am Catholic, but I do not accept the Pope as my leader." The Catholic Church may have issue with you making the claim that you are Catholic.
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Can you be a JW who does not have the GB as their leader?
by DoubtingThomas ini am.. they are just fellow brothers, old and getting senile.... but enlightened, despite all the whining.....
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truth_b_known
Cut DoubtingThomas some slack. Any problem that took years to make cannot be solved overnight. The fact that DoubtingThomas has joined our ranks on Simon's website should be cause for rejoice.
I was born to JW parents who raised me to be an uberDub. I was 36 years old before there was a crack in the wall that helped me see light. Any journey is taken one step at a time. When I first came to this website I did so after overcoming great fear and anxiety.
Give DoubtingThomas some credit. Listen to him. Understand him. Help him.
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truth_b_known
Behind the times in your research: The original Hebrew name of God re-discovered in 1,000 Bible manuscripts (religionnews.com)
The article just confirms what is already known -
The name Jehovah is actually based on a mistaken reading of the biblical text by medieval Christian scholars who were educated in the Hebrew language but were not aware of certain Jewish scribal customs. In short, they did not realize that it was a Jewish tradition to write the vowels for the word adonai, “Lord,” with the consonants for the name Yahweh, known as the Tetragrammaton, and they wrongly read this hybrid word as Yehowah, or Jehovah in English. That is to say, the name Jehovah (or Yehowah) did not exist in Israel—despite the popularity of this name in English-speaking Christian circles, and despite religious organizations like Jehovah’s Witnesses.- Dr. Michael Brown, “Do Jews refer to God by the name of Jehovah?” 60 Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices.
It was a Jewish custom to take the vowels for the word "Adonai" (Lord) and add them to the consonants of the tetragrammaton to invent the name "Yehowah". In turn, that name was Latinized and later translated into the German version - Jehovah.
So, not behind the times. The article simply echoes what was already established. The name of the Hebrew god is still unknown. The pronunciation was lost ages ago. Jehovah is a Germanic translation of a Latinized version of a made up name for god by Jewish scribes.
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Terminal Lucidity & the Nature of Consciousness
by Sea Breeze inno, this isn't about suddenly becoming aware of how much you hate airports.
it is about people with profound brain impairments like mental retardation, alzheimer's, stroke and dementia (often in a coma) suddenly becoming normal and lucid shortly before passing away.
this is important because the wt teaches that consciousness is a function of the physical brain.
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truth_b_known
The First Law of Thermodynamics
The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of any isolated system (for which energy and matter transfer through the system boundary are not possible) is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed.
All matter is energy slowed down.
E=mc2
Inside a closed system (e.g. the Universe) that which is must have always been. Something cannot come from nothing. Something cannot become nothing. All things are energy. That energy changes form as conditions change.
From a psychological standpoint, there is no "I". The "I", or "Ego" in Latin, is a fictional construct created by the brain as a defense mechanism for the body. "I" really don't exist. Consciousness interprets the Universe through the illusion created by the brain in my body (5 senses).
Therefor, in a sense, I have always been. Bodies come and go as all systems deteriorate in the cycle of life. I think of our brain as a radio that is tuned to pick up consciousness. If my radio breaks or the power goes out the radio signal is still there.
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Do you pray for other people?
by Iamallcool ini don’t want doubting thomas post on my thread til he is more mentally stable!
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truth_b_known
i talk to myself sometimes..like i am now as i type this.
does that count ?