Eric
Understanding certain key Bible texts are crucial to our understanding of so many spiritual matters- Our role in God’s arrangement, what kind of Christian we should strive to be, etc. And even the principle of headship comes into play- Who is our head? How submissive do we need to be as Christian Witnesses of Jehovah? To whom do we submit? Notice Paul’s words to the Corinthians:
(1 Corinthians 11:3) . . .But I want YOU to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.
Continue reading about Headship as it relates to Matthew 24:45-47
How do the modern concepts and teachings of the WTS differ from the old ones of 100 years ago? The vast majority of sincere Witnesses have never even considered or examined older publications such as the ones quoted below. Once I mentioned to a fellow Witness that I was up late the night before studying. They asked what the topic was. “Studies in the Scriptures, volume 2” was my reply. Their face incredulous, they asked me “Why would you be reading that?”
Continue reading about The Watchtower Society View of the Bible
An outstanding Watchtower article that is in direct conflict with the WTS policy of today is partially quoted below.
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The written Word of God, therefore, does not need the addition of traditions which are the private interpretations of men and of religious organizations.
…Had the oral traditions of religious men been necessary to complement the canon of the Bible, Paul would not have said that the inspired Holy Scriptures were profitable to the point of making the men of God perfect in faith and devotion to God. It would have been inadequate and would have left the man of God unperfected…
Continue reading about We Can Understand the Bible – WT46 11/1 p330
how many have discovered that the WTS and the Governing Body do not have all the answers that we are led to believe, and in all likelihood do not have Jehovah God’s Spirit at all? These Christian Witnesses have been called the “Conscious Class” by some. This site talks about those of us that are “enlightened” to the truth about the truth and may be of this group.
I’ve been trying to figure this verse out in light of my own recent efforts to get a close JW friend to study and question WTS reasoning as I believe Jehovah wants all of us to do. Here’s the verse:
(1 Corinthians 1:10) Now I exhort YOU, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that YOU should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among YOU, but that YOU may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.
This is one of the scriptures that he cites as his reason for not wanting to read any so-called “apostate” books- that it won’t do anyone any good to read it and get discouraged because there’s only one Organization to turn to anyway.
Continue reading about 1 Corinthians 1:10- What Did Paul Really Mean?
So many today want their voice to be heard. They crave to be heard- DEMAND to be heard! Literally millions of books and articles have been written, not to mention the thousands and thousands of blogs and forums on the internet. Angry JWs, Ex-JWs, Children-of-JWs, Spouses-of-JWs, etc. want their voices heard.
The following is a list of scriptures taken from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. As you read and meditate on them, decide for yourself whether disfellowshipping as taught and exercised today is scriptural or not:
Continue reading about Bible Scriptures Pertaining to Disfellowshipping
Dear Brother JJ.
So, what do we do now, in view of all this new understanding that Jehovah will judge His house first, do we flee? Is it wrong to NOT go? [My family member] refused to go to meetings after learning all this, however he was also very depressed and very angry inside.
I have gone here in this town, but the congregation is the coldest I have ever been in,, its hard to go to meetings, let alone stay. I really enjoyed the book study before they cut that up..Back home the congregation was warm and happy.. and sang with big voices
I dont even try to go to meetings now
Continue reading about Help For Those That are Discouraged #2
I received an email from a young brother that is trying his best to figure it all out. It is below, along with my response:
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Thanks JJ
I’m just a kid. I need a lot of advice. I just don’t understand anymore how to please God. I do understand that Jesus is the way to Jehovah. There is no org. that will save us. A bit of background. I came to my own conclusion that the Jesus is not God, but the Son of God. Most Bible I use, have Jehovah in it. So I know his name, I know his Christ.
Where to go now? JW are the one that makes sense. But I can see certain thing that are not clicking with me. Like today’s study. Sept. 15, first article, par. 7. To me it felt like they are pushing out the Holy Spirit out. I can not pleased Jah, if first I don’t pleased men? How is it that Jehovah can not grant me understanding to His Word. Only through them?
Recently my youngest had a birthday. We of course had no party, and that’s not something I have ever experienced anyway, nor has she. But this is the first time I ever really had a longing to celebrate it.
Even several years ago, long before I had read “the books that cause the struggle” and become enlightened to the facts we discuss here, it bothered me.
WHY don’t we do birthdays? WHY don’t we do Mother’s Day and Father’s day?
For those of you that attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall, how much do you get out of it? The repetition and the incessant pounding on the FDS “drum” can be discouraging sometimes, yet I have found that when I focus on the Bible and sometimes even pray for resolve and endurance I end up finding sustenance and endurance.
It reminds me of a seminar I attended through work once- The leader was a corporate-team-building kind of speaker and he said something very interesting:
“We supply the content. YOU supply the context.”
Continue reading about True “Spiritual Food” at Meetings- Is 90% enough? Is 70%?
It’s certainly a matter of opinion and conscience, but what do Jehovah’s Witnesses teach and do that is RIGHT? What positive things have you learned and been taught by the Watchtower Magazine or at the Kingdom Hall?
I made a page a few months ago when I started this site called “What I’ve Learned”. It appears below: ——————————————————————————————————————————— Well to begin, I don’t know as much as I once thought I did. Being considered “strong in the truth” for so many years had made me somewhat overconfident. Trinity? Hellfire? Soul? “Let’s turn […]
“The majority judged that [Jesus] was bad because he did not conform to their ideas of how the Sabbath should be kept. But the real reason was that Jesus ignored these ecclesiastics [the Scribes and Pharisees]; and this was a cause of deep anger. They excommunicated both Jesus and the man who was the recipient of his goodness.” (Watchtower 1926, February 15, page 60 paragraphs 11-12)
The logic of this article is sound, and it is well-written despite it being a very old quote. So have you ever thought of this notion before? And what does the fact that he was cast out say to us today as modern-day followers of Christ? That Jesus was “excommunicated” or “disfellowshipped” by the religious leaders of his day is not that shocking- we know that is one of the things the Pharisees did to maintain power and control over their fellow brothers and sisters. For anyone that opposed them, it was their ultimate weapon. But why was he disfellowshipped by these ones?
Somebody emailed me this the other day- I thought you might get a chuckle out of it! Rating 4.00 out of 5 [?]
You probably know that the Watchtower has warned us strongly about “Internet Dating”. I am certainly not encouraging you to go out and do it, because it’s a personal decision for a Christian to pray about and decide what their conscience tells them. But I do feel the current climate merits a discussion of this, for reasons you will see as we progress further in the discussion.
Pornography in whatever form (internet, print, DVD, etc.) it is to be found is dangerous and wrong. Christians know this instinctively. But how wrong is it? How is it defined? And how often should we talk about it?
I ask these questions because it seems like 98 out of 100 study articles mention it lately. The article could be about the “Ransom” and it comes up. An article about family life? Yep. Encouraging our young people? That one too. Maybe I’m the only one that has thought that it was kind of weird, IDK. How often do we need to mention it is my question?
A brother brought this point out in a talk recently. While we are listening to a talk or reading from the magazine or Bible, first comes Thoughts.We think about what we are hearing, and we analyze it. Then that stirs feelings within us. The feelings could be strong or they could be fairly passive. And then finally those feelings impel us to action. (or inaction)
I have been reading and getting some great feedback about the Bible Students lately. They follow Russell’s simpler, no-need-for-an-organization beliefs, and seem to have very good sensibilities about Scripture. But…
There’s always a “but”- is that enough?
I had the idea that we could chat in real-time and be able to “talk” and encourage one another and maybe share ideas. What do you think? I setup a chat room here. Maybe we can agree on a time or just peek in once in awhile… Rating 4.00 out of 5 [?]
My 11 year old whispered to me during the WT study today (Aug 15, 2010 page 10) asking, “Didn’t Jesus get the nail through his hands?”
The judging of our fellow brothers and sisters needs to stop! In our family worship night we just read Jesus sermon on the mount and it definitely took on new meaning for me when I read “stop judging”. People in the hall are making comments about vampires and how watching the Twilight movies is bad. How banal, how unimportant!
I have been receiving some feedback on my little “struggle site” as I call it to myself. Like many of you, I cannot speak freely to my closest friends and family members about all of this, and it has hit me with a range of emotions over the last several months. When I really started […]
We have all heard a bad report or negative comment about the Watchtower society and discounted it. “It’s only one person’s opinion — He’s an angry apostate — He’s returned to his own vomit — etc. etc. etc.”
Even Solomon under inspiration said: Also, do not give your heart to all the words that people may speak, that you may not hear your servant calling down evil upon you. 22 For your own heart well knows even many times that you, even you, have called down evil upon others. (Ecclesiastes 7:21-22)
Continue reading about We can discount the one- but should we listen to the many?
A friend of mine pointed out to me the importance of this word, “enlightened”. Here are some of the meanings I found for the word:
en·light·en [en-lahyt-n]
Having knowledge and spiritual insight; education that results in understanding and the spread of knowledge; tending to increase knowledge or dissipate ignorance.
Is it arrogance to take this word upon oneself? To say “I am enlightened”? Well if you asked me a year or two ago I would have responded differently than I do today.
Hey I just want to mention something that has bothered me a little, and it might not be a newsflash to all of you out there but here it is:
Some of the sites on the internet about Jehovah’s Witnesses are shall we say…ANGRY!
Many are more than that- they are downright mean cruel and hateful too. Now I know that lots of us have a right to be mad, hurt, and even furious. We are all entitled to feel the way we feel!
Continue reading about If You Want to be Angry, Go Somewhere Else :-)
About six months ago I started a journal, writing down what was happening to me and what I was going through. I had never ever ever had a need or desire to start a journal until then. It always seemed like a 12 year old girl sort of thing where it starts with “Dear Diary…” and what a cliche that is lol.
Continue reading about My Journal, Your Journal, Our Journal
A few months ago my wife suggested we renew our vows for our upcoming anniversary.
“Great! Whatever you want babe I’d love to marry you again”, I responded. (No honest, that’s exactly what I said!)
Continue reading about Love your wife? Don’t try and marry her again!
Some snippets from various older publications are below. I want to do some more research and also makes some comments after each of his quotes. Stay tuned… —————————————– The endeavor to compel all men to think alike on all subjects, culminated in the great apostasy and the development of the papal system, and thereby the […]
Three principle brothers undertook the writing of the Watchtower Society publication “Aid to Bible Understanding” in 1967. This 1,696 page Bible encyclopedia and reference work was an enormous undertaking, representing many thousands of man-hours of intense study. It took three brothers working on it full time about five years to complete, and was released in 1971.
Continue reading about The Aid/Insight books – What they tell us
When is the right time to try and tell your spouse, friend, or other family member about you have learned? In what way should you tell them? How much? These questions have plagued me… I want to do some more research and write about this. Stay tuned… Rating 4.00 out of 5 [?]
Continue reading about When is the right time to tell someone your struggle
Crisis of Conscience, by Ray Franz In Search of Christian Freedom, by Ray Franz Captives of a Concept, by Don Cameron The Gentile Times Reconsidered, Carl Olaf Jonnson These are critical books in understanding what’s going on with the Organization and the Governing Body, and how it relates to us as Jehovah’s Witnesses. For me, […]
This is a fancy word that bears some discussion. Am I guilty of eisegesis? Is the Watchtower? What’s this $20 word even mean? eis·e·ge·sis [ahy-si-jee-sis] noun, plural -ses An interpretation, esp. of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter’s own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text. So that’s the definition. At […]
The w86 3/15 likens apostate literature to reading pornography. Paragraphs 3-5 state the following: “Their propaganda is designed to weaken our faith, to cool our love for God, to sow doubts in our minds—yes, to make the spiritual paradise appear to be no paradise at all…Then the only satisfaction, of a perverted kind, may come in beginning to beat one’s fellow slaves with slander and half-truths. (Matthew 24:45-51) …Yes, we could not only lose the blessings of the spiritual paradise now but, more seriously, also lose the hope of living eternally in the earthly Paradise.”
So here are some legitimate questions: What is the definition of “apostate literature”? What if an active JW wrote it? What if a former JW wrote it? What if it is written by a person that has never been one of JW? Who decides? What is the content? Is there a list of titles that are banned books for us to read? Should there be?
Continue reading about Apostasy and So-Called “Apostate Literature”- What it is and what it isn’t
Disfellowshipping Scriptures – Discussion I want to explore each of these and link them together as there is a natural progression. Give me some time (I always seem to be saying that) and I’ll get to it. I’d like to know what everybody else thinks on it too…. ———————————————– (1 Corinthians 5:9-13) In my letter […]
Continue reading about Scriptures relevant to “Disfellowshipping”
ge·stalt [guh-shtahlt] A perceptual pattern or structure possessing qualities as a whole that cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts I really want to talk about this word and what it means to me- I threw this post up so I wouldn’t forget about so when I get to it I’ll add […]
My mom really began to convince me of the truth when I was a young teen. She had always read the bible and publications like the Great Teacher book to me my whole life since I was a toddler of course. Many times this had to be done in secret and especially when my dad […]
This is where one of the biggest struggles (at least for me) comes in. I’m gonna flesh this out and post what I mean as soon as possible. Stay tuned…. Rating 4.50 out of 5 [?]
Continue reading about If the GB do not have Jehovah’s Holy Spirit What Would That Mean?
1 John 4:1 says: “Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.” Does this apply to other religions or does it apply to all religions? Does it alpply to ourselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses? […]
An Exceptional Site for Bible Students
I have recently exchanged emails with a very experienced and learned Christian brother who has strong writing skills and is familiar with Jehovah’s Witnesses and their plight. I would like to recommend his site to you:
WernerBibleCommentary.org
Brother Werner had some very beneficial counsel for me and I thank him publicly here for his thoughtful emailed comments. For those of us that may be coping with cognitive dissonance and/or feelings of guilt from learning things about the WTS that may have shocked us, the following introductory article entitled “Thriving Spiritually” may prove beneficial.
Continue reading about An Exceptional Site for Bible Students