the watchtower—study edition | may 2022. study article 19. revelation—what it means for you today.
15 satan instigated an attack on the anointed brothers who were taking the lead in the kingdom-preaching work.
prominent ones among them were the figurative “two witnesses” spoken of as being killed.
eisegesis :
An interpretation, especially of Scripture, that reflects the personal ideas or viewpoint of the interpreter; reading something into a text that isn't there.
If eisegesis were a paintbrush the Watchtower would be DaVinci. It is not only the main tool of creating Watchtower doctrine, but it is a tool the Watchtower wields like a grandmaster.
so a quick little note about a few things that i recently learned.
if you ever had the yellow book of bible stories, there was the story of enoch, also repeated in other watchtower publications, about the angels fathering giants and being a menace on earth.
now if you look at the nicean bible, which is the wtbts selection of the bible, it mentions enoch twice and only has a very brief passage about nephilim and ben elohim.
From the beginning, Christians used the New Testament as their ONLY guide. Even the OT, while viewed as the word of God with valuable background information, was not in the same class as NT apostolic writings. Why? Simple. Christianity is a single event faith. Jesus rose from the dead. And that supersedes everything else.
The first book that would eventually become the New Testament would be one of the letters Paul wrote to one of the Christian congregations. That puts around 50 CE (1 Thessalonians was written around 51 CE). That's about 18 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Keep in mind that only the intended person/congregation who Paul was writing to had immediate access to Paul's letters. The Gospels were written around 68 - 110 CE. So that's a minimum of 35 years after the death and resurrection.
So we are not at 18 years after Jesus' resurrection that any scripture in the modern Bible was written. It was 35 years after Jesus' resurrection that the Gospels are written. That means for the first 18 years of Christianity only the Old Testament an Apocrypha were available. The "single event faith" that supersedes the Old Testament, written scripture, would simply be oral history - aka "story" or "gossip".
That is interesting as Paul writes Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter and tells him that "all scripture is inspired." The only scripture at that point was the Old Testament and Apocrypha. Paul continues that scripture is useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". No mention of the word-of-mouth story of Jesus by Paul.
It is starting to seem to me that the entire New Testament is nothing more than some letters from Paul which are nothing more than him trying to steer the religion the way he wants it. Then a minimum of 35 years after Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection someone decides it might be useful to write those events down. Paul even writes in 2 Timothy 2:8 "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel..."
So, I guess I agree - the resurrection of Jesus is the single faith event of Christianity. It is just that it not Jesus' Gospel. It is Paul's.
this question has been presented many times throughout the years.
somewhat recently, there has been much talk surrounding the "bite method" :.
"bite” stands for behavior, information, thought, and emotional control.. some examples were thrown at me, such as the decisions of who we associate with, discouraging any worldy media, encouraging our brothers and sisters to report any of our misbehaviours to the elders, our rejection of criticism on the truth, shunning etc.. what do we think about this?.
"...I recall they state that a cult has one leader, and that proves they aren't one, end of story..." - Yes, this is what my jw has consistently said. However a group of men can act as 'one' so their explanation doesn't really hold.
Jehovah's Witnesses have one leader. The leader has incorporated under the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. However, most JWs know of his by his taken name. First name "Governing". Last name "Body".
"Pleased to meet you. Won't you guess my name?!?"
this question has been presented many times throughout the years.
somewhat recently, there has been much talk surrounding the "bite method" :.
"bite” stands for behavior, information, thought, and emotional control.. some examples were thrown at me, such as the decisions of who we associate with, discouraging any worldy media, encouraging our brothers and sisters to report any of our misbehaviours to the elders, our rejection of criticism on the truth, shunning etc.. what do we think about this?.
I appreciated this YouTuber's take on Jehovah's Witnesses. Not just that it is a cult, but to what level they are.
i saw the post on reddit and the thread got many responses..can anybody believe the religion is still saying this??
it has to be as plain as day that so many jws are poor and struggling today because they never got a career or decent job years ago.. sadly, there are still witnesses who believe money will fall from heaven if they are in the full-time ministry.
they expect some miracle to occur..but, we all know the truth: people in the congregation will be hit up for yet more money for another bunch of irresponsible people pursuing poverty.
It was always my personal observation as a former JW from ages birth to 35 that the "poorer ones" in the organization were what could be described as "spiritual minded" and "loyal to Jehovah". Whereas those who were more well off financially tended to be more "organizationally minded" and "loyal to the organization".
I never met a poor elder in all my years as a JW.
i saw the post on reddit and the thread got many responses..can anybody believe the religion is still saying this??
it has to be as plain as day that so many jws are poor and struggling today because they never got a career or decent job years ago.. sadly, there are still witnesses who believe money will fall from heaven if they are in the full-time ministry.
they expect some miracle to occur..but, we all know the truth: people in the congregation will be hit up for yet more money for another bunch of irresponsible people pursuing poverty.
Bible: The Apostle Paul made tents and sold them (probably to Roman soldiers) to support himself as a fulltime minister.
Watchtower: Be a fulltime minister (Pioneer) and Jehovah will provide for.
Question: Did you get your current job because -
Also, I remember my father also reminding of what Jesus said in the Gospels. That Jehovah provides -
Jesus even admitted he had no place to lie his head at night. He also said to be satisfied with just food and clothing.
Why the confusion with the Watchtower? No Job = No Donations
so i was watching annual meeting.
towards the end of jackson’s talk, he says: .
“perfection doesn’t automatically means someone will get everlasting life.
According to Genesis, they didn’t have to prove obedience to obtain everlasting life. They HAD to be obedient to not die: The total opposite.
This has been the usual Watchtower doctrine for ever. Remember when the Watchtower recommended we ask householders "Where would Adam and Eve be today if they had not sinned?" The idea was to show that perfect humans don't age past 30, never get sick, and live forever.
https://avoidjw.org/files/en/docs/doc-s/s-147/2022/s-147-22.01-e_bi.pdf.
avoidjw.org has posted a letter titled, ''announcements and reminders january 2022.''.
the governing body are always changing bible procedures.
Sounds like a page out of the Mormon playbook. Nothing like seeing19/20 year old Mormon "elders" on their bikes passing 20 year old JW elders on the way to their respective houses of worship.
so i was watching annual meeting.
towards the end of jackson’s talk, he says: .
“perfection doesn’t automatically means someone will get everlasting life.
When I was 10 I asked my father about the Tree of Life in Genesis. He was an elder and the Presiding Overseer at that time. My father always seemed well read and up to speed on Watchtower doctrine.
My father's theory was that Satan's full plan was to get Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Life after eating from the Tree of Knowledge. That way Adam and Eve would obtain immortality (aka "Everlasting Life") after "sinning" and Jehovah would have to let them win.
Anything is nothing more than grasping at straws. Typical behavior from the Watchtower. Constantly overreaching.
the immoral clock.
my great-grandmother owned a grandfather clock.
i asked it carefully.. "your mother told me that if she doesn't wind her clock twice a day it slows down, it starts to lie, becomes immoral, and stops.
Wow!
Terry, please take this as a compliment - I have read many of your posts and even have read one of your books. I have to say, I think this is some of your best writing I have read. Well done!
