[A Review of the November 15, 2014 Watchtower article on page 18]
“Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah.”— Ps 144:15
Our review this week will not take us beyond the first paragraph of the study. It opens with:
“Many thinking people today readily admit that mainstream religions, inside and outside Christendom, do little to benefit mankind.” (Par. 1)
By “thinking people”, the article refers to those who use the power of critical thinking to evaluate what they perceive is going on around them. Such critical thinking is beneficial as it protects us from being easily deceived. Jehovah’s Witnesses are encouraged to think critically about the conduct of mainstream religions so as to warn others about their misdeeds. However, there is a big blind spot in our landscape. We are actually discouraged from using critical thinking when viewing the mainstream religion to which we ourselves belong.
(Let there be no doubt about this. A religion boasting eight million adherents, larger than many nations on earth, can hardly be called marginal.)
So let us be “thinking people” and evaluate. Let us not jump to preconceived conclusions that have been all nicely packaged up for us by others.
“Some agree that such religious systems misrepresent God by their teachings and by their conduct and therefore cannot have God’s approval.” (Par. 1)
Jesus spoke of such religious systems when he said:
“Be on the watch for the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruits you will recognize them. “ (Mt 7:15 NWT)
A prophet is more than one who foretells the future. In the Bible, the term refers to one who speaks inspired utterances; ergo, one who speaks for God or in God’s name.[i] Therefore, a false prophet is one who misrepresents God by his false teachings. As Jehovah’s Witnesses, we will read this sentence and nod our heads in silent agreement thinking of the religions of Christendom that continue to teach the Trinity, Hellfire, the immortality of the human soul, and idolatry; religions who hide God’s name from the masses, and support the wars of man. Such ones simply cannot have God’s approval.
However, we will not turn this same critical eye upon ourselves.
I have personally experienced this. I have seen highly intelligent brothers recognize that a core teaching of ours is untrue, yet continue to accept it with the words, “We have to be patient and wait on Jehovah”, or “We mustn’t run ahead”, or “If it is wrong, Jehovah will correct it in his good time.” They do this automatically because they are working on the premise that we are the true religion, therefore, these are all minor issues. For us, the core issue is the vindication of God’s sovereignty and the restoration of the divine name to its proper place. To our minds, this is what sets us apart; this is what makes us the one true faith.
No one is suggesting that the restoration of God's name to its proper place in Scripture is unimportant, nor is anyone suggesting that we should not submit to our Sovereign Lord Jehovah. However, to make these the distinguishing features of true Christianity is to miss the mark. Jesus points elsewhere when giving us the identifying characteristics of his true disciples. He spoke of love and spirit and truth. (John 13:35; 4:23, 24)
Since truth is a distinguishing feature, how will we apply the words of James when confronted with the reality that one of our teachings is false?
“. . .Therefore, if someone knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.” (Jas 4:17 NWT)
Speaking truth is right. Speaking a lie is not. If we know the truth and do not speak it, if we hide it and lend support to a replacement lie, then “it is a sin”.
To turn a blind eye to this, many will point to our growth—such as it is these days—and claim this shows God’s blessing. They will ignore the fact that other religions are growing as well. More important, they will ignore that Jesus said,
“. . .Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 Likewise, every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. 19 Every tree not producing fine fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.” (Mt 7:16-20 NWT)
Notice that both true and false religion produces fruit. What distinguishes the true from the false is the quality of the fruit. As Witnesses we will look at the many good people we meet—kind people who do good works to benefit others in need—and sadly shake our heads when we’re back with the car group and say, “Such nice people. They should be Jehovah’s Witnesses. If only they had the truth”. In our eyes, their false beliefs and their association with organizations that teach falsehood nullifies all the good they do. In our eyes, their fruits are rotten. So if false teachings are the determining factor, what of us with our failed 1914-1919 series of prophecies; our "other sheep" doctrine that denies the heavenly calling to millions, forcing them to disobey Jesus’ command at Luke 22:19; our medieval application of disfellowshipping; and worst of all, our demand for unconditional submission to the teachings of men?
Truly, if we are to paint “mainstream religion” with a brush, should we not follow the principle of 1 Peter 4:17 and paint ourselves with it first? And if the paint sticks, shouldn't we cleanse ourselves first, before pointing out the flaws of others? (Luke 6:41, 42)
Still tenaciously holding to the precept that we are exempt from such critical thought, sincere witnesses will point to our worldwide brotherhood and its willingness to contribute time and resources to our many building projects, our disaster relief work, jw.org, and the like. Wonderful stuff, but is it God’s will?
21 “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. 22 Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Mt 7:21-23 NWT)
Perish the thought that we should be included in these warning words of our Lord. We love to point the finger at every other Christian denomination on earth and show how this applies to them, but to us? Never!
Notice that Jesus doesn’t deny the powerful works, prophesying and expelling of demons. The determining factor is whether these ones did God’s will. If not then they are workers of lawlessness.
So what is God’s Will? Jesus goes on to explain in the very next verses:
“24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a discreet man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it caved in, and its collapse was great.”” (Mt 7:24-27 NWT)
Jesus as God’s one and only appointed and anointed channel of communication expresses God’s will to us. If we do not follow his sayings, we may still build a beautiful house, yes, but its foundation will be on sand. It will not withstand the flood coming upon mankind. It is crucial for us to keep this thought in mind for next week when we study the conclusion of this two-article theme.
The Real Theme
The rest of this article discusses the formation of the nation of Israel as a people for Jehovah’s name. It is only when we get to next week’s study that we understand the purpose of these two articles. However, the foundation for the theme is laid in the next sentences of paragraph 1:
“They believe, however, that there are sincere people in all religions and that God sees them and accepts them as his worshippers on earth. They see no need for such ones to quit engaging in false religion in order to worship as a separate people. But does this thinking represent God’s?” (Par. 1)
The idea that salvation can only be attained within the bounds of our Organization goes back to the days of Rutherford. The real purpose of these two articles, as it was the previous two, is to make us more loyal to the Organization.
The article asks whether the thinking that one can remain in a false religion and still have God’s approval represents God’s point of view. If after considering the second article in this study, the conclusion is that it is not possible to gain God’s approval this way, then may we be judged by the very standard we impose upon others. For if we conclude that God sees "a need for such ones to quit engaging in false religion in order to worship as a separate people", then given our false teachings, the organization is calling for its "thinking" members to leave.
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[i] The Samaritan woman perceived Jesus was a prophet though he had spoken only of past and present events. (John 4:16-19)
Archived Comments
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Comment by miken on 2015-01-18 09:58:36
"For us, the core issue is the vindication of God’s sovereignty and the restoration of the divine name to its proper place".
The section below from the JW The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever brochure, pages 7-8 may be of interest confirming that no one knows how originally the divine name was pronounced and that Jehovah is a man made name.
“How Is God’s Name Pronounced?
The truth is, nobody knows for sure how the name of God was originally pronounced. Why not? Well, the first language used in writing the Bible was Hebrew, and when the Hebrew language was written down, the writers wrote only consonants—not vowels. Hence, when the inspired writers wrote God’s name, they naturally did the same thing and wrote only the consonants.
While ancient Hebrew was an everyday spoken language, this presented no problem. The pronunciation of the Name was familiar to the Israelites and when they saw it in writing they supplied the vowels without thinking (just as, for an English reader, the abbreviation “Ltd.” represents “Limited” and “bldg.” represents “building”).
Two things happened to change this situation. First, a superstitious idea arose among the Jews that it was wrong to say the divine name out loud; so when they came to it in their Bible reading they uttered the Hebrew word ’Adho·nai′ (“Sovereign Lord”). Further, as time went by, the ancient Hebrew language itself ceased to be spoken in everyday conversation, and in this way the original Hebrew pronunciation of God’s name was eventually forgotten.
In order to ensure that the pronunciation of the Hebrew language as a whole would not be lost, Jewish scholars of the second half of the first millennium C.E. invented a system of points to represent the missing vowels, and they placed these around the consonants in the Hebrew Bible. Thus, both vowels and consonants were written down, and the pronunciation as it was at that time was preserved.
When it came to God’s name, instead of putting the proper vowel signs around it, in most cases they put other vowel signs to remind the reader that he should say ’Adho·nai′. From this came the spelling Iehouah, and, eventually, Jehovah became the accepted pronunciation of the divine name in English. This retains the essential elements of God’s name from the Hebrew original.
Why not address God as "our Father" (Matt 6:9) as Jesus did, there is evidence in the Christian Greek scriptures that he ever used a correct pronunciation of the tetragrammaton. Jesus is after all the exemplar for Christians.
Comment by BeenMislead on 2015-01-18 13:10:25
Thanks for the review Meleti !!
In regards to: Matt. 7:16-20, what kind of fruit does it display when they misquote a Scientist in the:
JANUARY 2015 Awake - How Did Life Begin?
“Scientist calls out Jehovah’s Witnesses on ‘intellectual dishonesty’, accuses them of ‘deliberate damaging action’ through misquotation”.
http://jwalumni.org/2015/01/17/rama-singh-awake/
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You said:
“I have seen highly intelligent brothers recognize that a core teaching of ours is untrue, yet continue to accept it with the words, “We have to be patient and wait on Jehovah”, or “We mustn’t run ahead”, or “If it is wrong, Jehovah will correct it in his good time.” They do this automatically because they are working on the premise that we are the true religion, therefore, these are all minor issues.”
Whenever I try to reason with JW’s that is what I get too. They have the “Bart Thompson” mentality.
“At a Circuit Assembly meeting for elders of a section of Alabama. The District Overseer, Bart Thompson, held up a Society publication that had a green cover. He then said to the assembly of elders, “If the Society told me that this book is black instead of green, I would say, ‘Y’know I could have sworn that it was green, but if the Society says it’s black, then it’s black!’” – (Crisis of Conscience - Fourth Edition 2004, Pg. 344)
JW’s are like an ostrich that sticks their head in the sand.Reply by anderestimme on 2015-01-18 16:32:24
I know this is getting off-topic but it amazes me that of all the competent scientists who have legitimate doubts about evolution, they have to pick one who doesn't and then quote him out of context. One has only to read the abstract of the guy's original article to realize it's a misleading quote.
Comment by umbertoecho on 2015-01-18 13:40:17
Just a side note on the black versus green book. As an artist I know that to achieve the best sort of black in art, it is actually the darkest of dark green. What an unfortunate example that speaker used at the convention. (oh, I see it came from Ray Franz's book) Still, the fact is, that true black is not used in art as it is non dimensional, too flat for the eye to interpret. I looks unnatural in artistic renderings of any sort. Wonder if the art department had some input there...............no, perhaps not.
Comment by QC on 2015-01-18 14:44:30
Meleti,
Contrasting where we came from, as JWs, with where we are now, as Beroeans, is truly a spiritual gift.
You have the hallmark of a mainstay for the foreseeable days ahead.
Are prayers are with you,
Take care,
QCReply by Meleti Vivlon on 2015-01-18 16:58:15
Thank you for the support, QC.
Comment by on 2015-01-18 16:03:45
Meleti i find matthew 7 v15 and 16 quite interesting you know . As its about recognising false prophets . Of course . A comparison of parallel verses at matthew 12 v 33 to 37 and also luke 6 v 43 to 45 shows that the fruit is not only the things people do but the things that they say . After all we are speaking of false prophets here those who mislead people .what people say reveals what is in thier heart .As for the watchtower they have an absolute cheek to criticize other religions as being of no use . When many do good works . Are they not vindictive words ..Infact if we check the context very carefully of each of these accounts about fruits we notice that in each one the importance of not judging others is emphasised . Luke is the worst as the pharisees probably commited the unforgivable sin by slandering the holy spirit .in an effort to again criticize the good works performed by jesus
How ironic though because the sentiments carried in paragraph 1 is the very reason why i dont go anymore . Thanks again for your hard work . Kev c
Comment by on 2015-01-20 13:14:17
And when a brother says, "wait on Jehovah", he usually means to wait on the "FDS" to come up with some other explanation. I've come to mistrust the spiritual food we're getting from these brothers. I believe that many on this site, (thanks to Meleti and others), have been able to use their powers of reason to determine on their own, and with the help of God's spirit, plain and simple Biblical truth.
Comment by on 2015-01-21 18:49:44
Yes, I agree that the purpose of these articles is loyalty to the organization. Jesus has all but disappeared from being a person of any significance in our articles. Veneration of the GB is the new "in" thing. Idolizing these men as they continue their road show will eventually be the downfall of many. After all, corporations go broke, don't they? Blind obedience to false teachings and hopes will go unchallenged, just as they did in Nazi Germany when the Third Reich was nearing collapse.
Comment by silvertop on 2015-01-23 08:58:18
Totally agree wjth you Meleti, especilly the last sentence. "...thinking members ...leave."
Comment by agapeheartvisions on 2015-01-25 11:13:21
I like the way Q.C. described us as "Beroeans". It appears tome that is what we are, seekers for Jehovah's truth, not the WTBTS's version of truth. Also Anonymous, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that statement, "Wait on Jehovah", Yes, they really mean wait for the FS, or more accurately, the GB to tell us what to think. It is all rather frightening to really contemplate. I actually recall a brother say from the podium, "You see, friends, you don't even have to think about it, the slave does your thinking for you." He said it like a joke that wasn't a joke. No, I like refering to myself as a Beroean, as I think the name Jehovah Witness has left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. IJS...
Agape