i have three questions.
i would be most grateful if someone could respond for me, please.
thank you.. 1. can jehovah's witnesses practice faith with the bible as a guide, or is it crucial to include the teachings of the watchtower society?
Many great answers found above. I will only comment on question #2.
The divinity of Jesus is a creation of man and not a Gospel teaching. Any scriptures that attempt to assert Jesus' divinity are either mistranslations, scriber's mistakes, or man-made teachings. The Apostles Paul & John are notorious for this.
i thought about this when i read the expression in another thread, "someone was stumbled", they would never tell you who the person was, and simply used it to control you, or it got worse, some times it was "you might stumble someone" .. who were these stumbling loons of which they spoke ?
not only was it a control mechanism, it encouraged you to not be your real self, ever.. i liked the response of one of my jw relatives to this, where they expected him to change the person he was, he said "these people accusing me are not perfect are they ?
no, well then, they cannot expect perfection from me".
Look at what "stumbling someone" means in the world of the Watchtower -
Stumbling implies that, by your words or actions, another person stops being a Witness. These potential "Stumbled ones" are also labeled as "new" to the religion or "spiritually weak."
So, by doing something that may or may not be wrong in the eyes of the Almighty you are condemned for another's lack or faith or weak faith.
No personal responsibility!
Yet, when the Watchtower does wrong we are reminded that the Governing Body is made up of imperfect men.
Double standard!
it was every jw taking part in the preaching work.
lol.. (matthew 24:45) “who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?.
w50 7/1 p. 199 par.
Defeat being snatched from the jaws of victory. The Watchtower had it right 72 years ago. It was a very different religion back then. More Christ-like I suppose.
this quote is from a kingdom ministry, advertising to its members (i was one until 1977) in the year 1970.. "a new circuit assembly program is scheduled to begin in september.
we believe you will find it most informative and upbuilding.
the public talk will be “who will conquer the world in the 1970’s?” kingdom ministry announcements, july 1970, p. 3".
It would be great to print some of those lapel badges and wear them to the Kingdom Hall or a Regional Convention.
we've been privileged to attend a number of outstanding lectures on a wide range of scientific topics, some by now quite famous researchers.
for example, we attended a caltech discussion/lecture by svante paabo not long after his initial work on neanderthal dna was released and met him after the lecture.
he wasn't a dynamic speaker but a humble man who obviously felt more comfortable in the lab than on the podium.
I have not. My wife and I like to listen to recorded lectures of Joseph Campbell. I wish I had better access to times, dates, locations of such events. I would much rather attend an academic or philosophic lecture than watch tv.
https://direkte.vg.no/nyhetsdognet/news/jehovas-vitner-nektes-statsstoette.5z-pnao3e?utm_source=share-btn.
08:20 27.1.kristoffer solberg.
jehovah's witnesses denied state aid.
Does anyone else find it interesting that it is only Abrahamic faith religions, such as Christianity and Islam, that cry "persecution of religious freedom" when what these religious extremists really mean is "How dare you deny me the ability to oppress and persecute others in the name of my religious beliefs"?
The gall to complain and petition a government in an attempt to demand taxpayer funding while simultaneously insisting on emotionally abusing children is down right criminal.
what i mean by the title of this thread is what has happened to a relative of mine, one who is really upset about this factor:.
this relative is a distant cousin on my mother's side of the family.
she studied as a child and got baptized at 14 1/2 years old.
There are so many stories like this. Here is another point that goes along with it - Not one JW will open there home for their dear sister and take her in like a true Christian. Let's be honest; that's how Christianity is supposed to work.
If the end has not come before a person is too old to financially support themselves the congregation is supposed to care for that person's needs. What we all know as former JWs is not one Witness family will do this. Not one!
On no less than 3 separate occasions in my life I found myself homeless and unable to financially provide shelter for myself. All 3 times non-Witness co-workers took me into their homes. They provided me a rent free room and treated me like a guest.
i spent most of my life in the org.
we were taught that our purpose in life was to serve jehovah.
that never really made sense to me, but it was still a purpose to keep going.
PunkofNice - One day my wife and I are going to visit the UK. We need to get together. Pints on me!
I play in a fairly successful local rock band.
I research my family tree.....some surprises there, too.
I have joined a Viking re-enactment group.
i have seen arguments surrounding jesus' resurrection being proof of "the trinity" - now while in some cases it's a good argument the evidence for it remains very weak.
(bible quotes are from the nwt but other bibles are referenced, use whichever you please) this following version of it is a good example.. "the bible indicates that all [persons] of the trinity was involved in jesus’ resurrection.
galatians[1:1] says that the father raised jesus from the dead.
Is it really a sacrifice if you come right back? How many animal sacrifices came back 3 days later?
When a mortal freely gives his life in exchange for another it is a sacrifice because the dead don't come back.
jehovah's witnesses refuse to believe that jesus is the almighty god.
they would state that jesus is 'mighty', but not almighty.. below is a 30 minute video proving from the word of god that the lord jesus christ is both mighty and almighty, separate from the father but equal too.. the verses used from scripture show without a doubt that christ is mighty (isaiah 9:6) and almighty (rev 1:7-8)..
I believe the historic Jesus was a faith healer who had a psychedelic experience brought on by starvation and dehydration that lead to his Enlightenment. Jesus then used Jewish Mythology as a means to convey his Enlightened experience. Later, Paul and John deified Jesus and created stories of miracles to bolster the new religion they started.
