[From ws5/16 p. 8 for July 4-10]
“Go,…and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them…, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—Mt 28:19, 20.
There was a time, many years ago, when we did not boast about ourselves, when we tried to appeal to the intellect. (This was after the days of Judge Rutherford.) We’d explain what the Bible taught about true religion and then ask the reader to identify who, among all the religions out there, were fulfilling these requirements. That changed some years ago. I can’t recall when it was exactly that we stopped trusting the reader to figure it out and started supplying the answer ourselves. It came across as boastful, but at the time it seemed fairly minor.
True, there can be valid reasons for some boasting. Paul told the Corinthians, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1Co 1:31 ESV) However, the Christian must be very careful, for boasting often identifies a proud and deceitful heart.
“Here I am against the prophets of false dreams,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “who relate them and cause my people to wander about because of their falsehoods and because of their boasting.” (Je 23:32)
One thing seems to be clear about boasting: We should never boast about the work we have been assigned to do, especially the preaching of the good news.
“If, now, I am declaring the good news, it is no reason for me to boast, for necessity is laid upon me. Really, woe is me if I did not declare the good news!” (1Co 9:16)
Having said that, this article seems to have pushed the upper limits of our recent tendency toward self-aggrandisement.
For example, in the first paragraph, the reader is asked if it is presumptuous for Jehovah’s Witnesses to claim that they are the only ones doing the work of preaching the good news to all the inhabited earth before the end comes. Then, in the next two paragraphs, the command at Matthew 28:19, 20 is broken down into four component parts to see how JWs fare in fulfilling it.
- Go
- Make disciples
- Teach them
- Baptize them
From this point forward, the writer denigrates all other religions for failing to meet these four requirements, then openly boasts about how well Jehovah’s Witnesses are doing on each point.
For instance, much is made of the belief held by Jehovah’s Witnesses that other Christian religions do not “go” out to preach, but passively wait for disciples to come to them. This is simply not the case and it is laughingly easy to disprove.
For instance, few Witnesses ever stop to ask themselves how 2.5 billion people on earth today got to be Christian. Did these all approach ministers who were passively waiting?
To show how fallacious this reasoning is, we need go no further than the origins of the JW faith. Few witnesses today know that their faith is rooted in Adventism. It was Adventist Minister Nelson Barbour with whom C.T. Russell first collaborated in publishing the good news. (At that time the current "other sheep" doctrine did not exist.) The 7th Day Adventists—one offshoot of Adventism—began 150 years ago in 1863, or about 15 years before C.T. Russell began to publish. Today, that church claims 18 million members and has missionaries in 200 lands. How is it that they have surpassed Jehovah’s Witnesses in numbers if their evangelizing is restricted, as the Watchtower article claims, to “personal testimonies, church services, or programs broadcast through the media—whether by means of television or on the Internet”? – Par 2.
Paragraph 4 subtly introduces an idea foreign to the Bible account.
“Was Jesus referring only to the individual efforts of his followers, or was he alluding to an organized campaign to preach the good news? Since one individual would not be able to go to “all the nations,” this work would require the organized efforts of many.” – Par. 4
“Organized campaign” and “organized efforts” are phrases meant to lead us to the conclusion that this work can only be done by an organization. Yet, the words “organize”, “organizes”, “organized”, and “organization” never appear in the Christian Scriptures! Not once!! If organization is so critical, would not the Lord have told us about it? Would he not have made clear this part of his instructions to his disciples? Would not accounts of the first century congregation include many, or at least some, references to it?
It is true that one person cannot preach to all the inhabited earth, but many can, and they can do so without the need for some overriding organization run with human oversight and direction. How do we know? Because Bible history tells us so. There was no organization in the first century. For example, when Paul and Barnabas went on their famous missionary trips, who sent them? The Apostles and older men in Jerusalem? A centralized first century governing body? No. God’s spirit moved the wealthy gentile congregation in Antioch to sponsor their tours.
Since there is no evidence in Scripture of large scale (or even small scale) organized preaching activity centrally governed from Jerusalem, the article attempts to conjure up proof from an illustration.[i]
“(Read Matthew 4:18-22.) The type of fishing he referred to here was not that of a lone fisherman using a line and a lure, sitting idly while waiting for the fish to bite. Rather, it involved the use of fishing nets—a labor-intensive activity that at times required the coordinated efforts of many.—Luke 5:1-11.” – Par. 4
Apparently, a small crew on a fishing vessel is evidence that a worldwide preaching work cannot be done without centralized organization. However, the Bible evidence from the first century is that all the evangelizing was done by individuals or small “crews” of a few zealous Christians. What did this accomplish? According to Paul, the good news got to be “preached in all creation that is under heaven.” – Col 1:23.
It seems the holy spirit and the leadership of the Christ are all that is needed to accomplish the will of God.
Understanding the Kingdom and the Message
Under the subheading, “What Should Be the Message”, some very strong assertions are made.
“Jesus preached “the good news of the Kingdom,” and he expects his disciples to do the same. What group of people are preaching that message in “all the nations”? The answer is obvious—only Jehovah’s Witnesses.” – Par. 6
“The clergy of Christendom are not preaching God’s Kingdom. If they do speak about the Kingdom, many refer to it as a feeling or a condition in the heart of a Christian…. What is the good news of the kingdom?...They seem to have no idea of what Jesus will accomplish as earth’s new Ruler.” – Par. 7
So it is obvious that only Jehovah’s Witnesses understand and preach the real good news of the kingdom. The churches in the rest of Christendom have no idea what the kingdom is all about.
What proud assertions! What boastful assertions! What false assertions!
It is ridiculously easy to prove that this is false. Why, you wouldn’t even have to leave your seat in the Kingdom hall to prove it. Just Google “What is the kingdom of God?” and on the very first page of results, you will find ample evidence that other Christian religions understand the kingdom much as Jehovah’s Witnesses do, as a real government over the earth ruled by Jesus Christ as king.
It would seem that the writer is depending on his readers not to check up on him. Sadly, he is probably right for the most part.
What about the other assertion, that only Jehovah’s Witnesses are preaching the good news to all the inhabited earth?
If you read through the four gospels, you will find the message of the good news of the kingdom which Jesus preached. What Witnesses declare as good news is a hope for all Christians to live forever on a paradise earth as non-spirit-anointed friends of God. What Jesus preached is a hope for all Christians to become spirit anointed adopted children of God and reign with him in the kingdom of the heavens.
These are two very different messages! You will not find Jesus telling people that if they put faith in him, they won’t be anointed with spirit, won’t be adopted as God’s children, won’t enter the new covenant, won’t be his brothers, won’t have him as mediator, won’t see God, and won’t inherit the kingdom of the heavens. Quite the opposite. He assures his disciples of all these things being theirs. – John 1:12; Re 1:6; Mt 25:40; Mt 5:5; Mt 5:8; Mt 5:10
It is true that the family of mankind will be restored to perfect life on earth eventually, but that is not the message of the good news. The good news concerns the children of God by whom this reconciliation with God will be accomplished. We have to wait for the good news of the kingdom to be fulfilled, before we can move on to the second event, the reconciliation of Mankind. That is why Paul said:
“. . .For the eager expectation of the creation is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now. 23 Not only that, but we ourselves also who have the firstfruits, namely, the spirit, yes, we ourselves groan within ourselves, while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons, the release from our bodies by ransom. 24 For we were saved in [this] hope; . . .” (Ro 8:19-24)
This short passage encapsulates the essential message of the good news. Creation is waiting for the revealing of God’s adopted children! That has to happen first so that the groaning (suffering) of creation can end. The sons of God are Christians like Paul, and these ones are in turn waiting for their adoption to occur, the release from their bodies. This is our hope and we are saved in it. This happens when our number is complete. (Re 6:11) We get the spirit as a first fruit, but that spirit will be given to the creation, to Mankind, only after the the sons of God are revealed.
Jesus did not call Christians to two hopes, but to the one—the one to which Paul here refers. (Eph 4:4) This is the good news, not what Jehovah’s Witnesses preach to the public as they go door to door. Essentially, as they have gone from house to house for the past 80 years telling people that it's too late to be part of the kingdom of the heavens. That door is closed. Now what's on the table is the hope of living in a paradise earth.
"We also know that since the general call of the heavenly class ended, millions have become true Christians." (w95 4/15 p. 31)
Thus the Governing Body have acted like the Pharisees of old to whom Jesus said:
“13 “Woe to YOU, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because YOU shut up the kingdom of the heavens before men; for YOU yourselves do not go in, neither do YOU permit those on their way in to go in.” (Mt 23:13)
While there will be a time when millions will be resurrected and have the opportunity to accept Christ and become reconciled with God as part of his earthly human family, that time is not yet. We could call that phase two of the process which Jehovah has set up. In phase one, Jesus came to gather the children of God. Phase two takes place when the kingdom of the heavens is set up and the chosen are taken to meet Jesus in the air. (1Th 4:17)
However, perhaps because Witnesses believe the kingdom has already been set up back in 1914, they have pushed ahead and are already working for phase two. They have not remained in the teaching of Christ. (2 John 9)
Since Jehovah’s Witnesses do not preach the good news according to the message of Christ, it follows that the “obvious” statement of paragraph 6 is patently false.
This is not a new situation for the Christian congregation. It has happened before. We’ve been warned about it:
“For as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted, you easily put up with him.” (2Co 11:4)
“I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from the One who called you with Christ’s undeserved kindness to another sort of good news. 7 Not that there is another good news; but there are certain ones who are causing you trouble and wanting to distort the good news about the Christ. 8 However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond the good news we declared to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, I now say again, Whoever is declaring to you as good news something beyond what you accepted, let him be accursed.” (Ga 1:6-9)
Our Motive in Preaching the Good News
The next subheading is: “What Should Be Our Motive for Doing the Work?”
“What should be the motive for doing the preaching work? It should not be to collect money and construct elaborate buildings (A)….Despite this clear direction, most churches are sidetracked by collecting money or by making efforts to survive financially (B)…. They have to support a paid clergy, as well as a multitude of other employees. (C) In many cases, the leaders of Christendom have amassed great wealth.” (D) – Par. 8
The reader is led to believe that all these are things which other churches do, but from which Witnesses are free and clean.
A. A few years ago, the organization required all congregations to make a monthly “voluntary” pledge of financial support to the organization by resolution. It also required all congregations with savings to send them into the local branch. The rent charged for the use of assembly halls doubled seemingly overnight. A special, historic plea for additional funds was made through the monthly broadcast of tv.jw.org last year.
B. In 2015, the organization cut its worldwide workforce by 25% and cancelled most construction projects in an effort to survive financially.
C. The organization has a workforce of thousands of bethel workers and staff as well as special pioneers and travelling overseers who are all completely supported financially.
D. In the past few years, the organization has acquired ownership of all congregation properties that were formerly owned by the local congregation. It now sells those it wishes and pockets the money. There is evidence of vast assets: cash, hedge fund investments, and extensive real estate holdings.
This isn't faultfinding, but rather using the organization's own brush to paint with when looking at them.
“What is the record of Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding collections? Their work is supported by voluntary donations. (2 Cor. 9:7) No collections are taken at their Kingdom Halls or conventions.” – Par. 9
While it is technically true that a collection plate is not passed, the manner in which money is now collected makes this a distinction without a difference. As noted in point A above, all congregations are “asked” to make a resolution asking the local members to promise to contribute a fixed amount every month. This amounts to a monthly pledge, something we also condemned in the past, but now practice by changing the name from "pledge" to "voluntary resolution".
To pressure members of a congregation in a gentle way to contribute by resorting to devices without Scriptural precedent or support, such as passing a collection plate in front of them or operating bingo games, holding church suppers, bazaars and rummage sales or soliciting pledges, is to admit a weakness. There is something wrong. There is a lack. A lack of what? A lack of appreciation. No such coaxing or pressuring devices are needed where there is genuine appreciation. Could this lack of appreciation be related to the kind of spiritual food offered to the people in these churches? (w65 5/1 p. 278) [Boldface added]
If a congregation does not have such a resolution on the books, the Circuit Overseer will want to know why during his visit. Likewise, if they do not forward any excess funds they have in the bank to the branch, they will have some explaining to do. (We must remember that the Circuit Overseer has now been given the power to delete elders.) Additionally, in the past couple of years, circuit assembly attendees have been shocked by rental bills that seem to have doubled or tripled. Some report bills of more than $20,000 for a single day assembly. When they fail to meet this amount—imposed arbitrarily by the circuit assembly committee under direction from the local branch—a letter goes out to all congregations in the circuit informing them of their “privilege” to make up the difference. This is also what they define as “voluntary donations.”
Playing with the Numbers
In the "Fun with Numbers" category, we have this statement:
“Yet, last year alone, Jehovah’s Witnesses spent 1.93 billion hours in preaching the good news and conducting free of charge over nine million Bible studies each month.” – Par. 9
If you look in the past when the annual growth rate was something to boast about, the number of bible studies never surpassed the number of publishers. For example, in 1961, the percentage increase was an impressive 6% compared to the paltry 1.5% of last year. However, even with that increase, the number of Bible studies was lower than the number of publishers as was traditionally the case: 646,000 for 851,000 publishers, or 0.76 studies per publisher. However, this year with an increase only 1/4 that of 1961, we report 9,708,000 Bible studies for 8,220,000 publishers, or 1.18 studies per publisher. Something doesn’t quite add up.
The reason for this baffling discrepancy is that some years ago the Governing Body redefined what a Bible study consists of. Once, it referred to an actual hour-long study ideally covering a chapter in one of our publications, like the Truth that Leads to Everlasting Life book. Now, any regular return visit in which a single verse of the Bible is mentioned qualifies as a Bible study. These are called door-step studies, but are counted the same as regular Bible Studies. Most householders have no idea they are participating in a Bible study. So while the publisher continues to count such visits as return visits, they do double duty by also being counted as Bible studies. This artificially inflates the numbers and gives a false impression that we are progressing.
All this is intended to shore up belief that God is blessing this work with continued growth.
As paragraph 9 states, most witnesses do this work willingly out of a sense of love of neighbor and of God. That is a laudable motivation. It is just too bad that such good intentions are wasted in making disciples not of Christ, but of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
After continuing to run down other churches for not evangelizing as Witnesses do, the article makes this self-laudatory statement:
“What has been the record of Jehovah’s Witnesses? They are the only ones who preach that Jesus has been ruling as King since 1914.” – Par. 12
So their claim to fame is that they have consistently preached a doctrine which we know to be false.. (For details on 1914, see: “1914—What’s the Problem?”)
The self-aggrandisement continues in paragraph 14 where we are given the impression that the only preachers in other Christian religions are their ministers and priests, while every Witness, by contrast, is an active preacher. One has to wonder then why other religions are growing faster than Witnesses are? How is the good news being preached by them? For example, consider this excerpt from an article in the NY Times:
“With 140 million inhabitants, Brazil is the world's most populous Catholic nation. Yet the number of evangelical communicants here has almost doubled to about 12 million since 1980, while another 12 or 13 million people regularly attend evangelical services.”
This could only be achieved if church members are active evangelizers. They may not go door-to-door, but perhaps there’s a message for Witnesses in that. Considering that 1.93 billion hours were spent last year, mostly in the door-to-door work with only 260,000 baptized (many of whom were the children of Witnesses) it would seem that we have to spend 7,400 hours to produce a single convert. That's over 3½ work-years! Maybe the organization should learn from the competition and switch methods. After all, there is no real evidence that first century Christians went knocking from door to door.
Translation
Paragraph 15 talks about all the translating we do. It is remarkable what people motivated by real zeal and a genuine love for God can accomplish. Consider, for instance, the work of Bible translators whose zeal dwarfs the translation efforts of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The JWs speak of translating into 700 languages, but often these are tracts and small magazines. Whereas, the Bible has been translated and printed in whole or part into over 2,300 languages.
Nevertheless, there is another element to consider in all this self-congratulatory back-slapping. Paragraph 15 says, “we stand out as unique with regard to the work we do in translating and publishing Bible literature….What other group of ministers is doing a similar work?” While it may be true (though unconfirmed) that no other group translates its own literature into so many languages, of what value is that in God’s eyes if what is being translated leads people away from the real good news by teaching false doctrine?
Beating the Same Drum
Wanting to make sure we are getting the message, once again we are asked:
“What other religious group has continued to preach the good news during these momentous last days?” – Par. 16
It would appear that Witnesses truly believe they alone are preaching the good news of the kingdom. A simple Google search on the topic will prove this to be utterly false. The rest of the paragraph shows that when Jehovah’s Witnesses talk about preaching the good news, what they really mean is going from door to door. To JWs if you don’t go from door to door, you are not preaching the good news. It doesn’t matter what other methods you use or even if such methods are more effective; to JWs, unless you go from door to door, you’ve dropped the ball. This is a major badge of honor in their figurative lapel. “We go from door to door, from house to house.”
Having apparently not driven home their point sufficiently, the study concludes with this:
“So who really are preaching the good news of the Kingdom today? With full confidence, we can say: “Jehovah’s Witnesses!” Why can we be so confident? Because we are preaching the right message, the good news of the Kingdom [misleading people from the real hope of being with Christ in his kingdom]. By going to the people, we are also using the correct methods [this being the door to door work, the only approved method]. Our preaching work is being done with the right motive—love, not financial gain [the enormous wealth of the organization is just a happy side effect.]. Our work has the greatest scope, reaching out to people of all nations and language [because all other Christian faiths are sitting at home with folded hands].” – Par. 17
I'm sure for many, this study will be excruciating to sit through as they bridle their mouths for the whole hour.
_______________________________
[i] It is a common tactic to use an illustration as proof by those lacking the real thing, but the critical thinker is not fooled. We know that the purpose of an illustration is to help explain a truth once the truth has been established by hard evidence. Only then can the illustration serve a purpose.
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Comment by Nick_O on 2016-07-05 17:00:28
Thank you for covering this article Meleti. I'm sure this is going to be a tough one for me to sit through.
Just to mention another way the bible study number is inflated - minor unbaptized children in a witness household are counted as studies as well. Watch a Caleb & Sophia video with your kid and count that as a 'study'.
Also as you well brought out:
“Was Jesus referring only to the individual efforts of his followers, or was he alluding to an organized campaign to preach the good news? Since one individual would not be able to go to “all the nations,” this work would require the organized efforts of many.” – Par. 4
This is something that has increasingly been done lately. I don't know if someone can label this fallacious thinking being used, but note the switcharoo in logic. Was it "individual efforts" of followers (plural) - no it can't be since one individual (notice the switch) can't go to every nation.
Wait what were we talking about? The question was not whether a single Christian could go to every nation was it?
Comment by lazarus on 2016-07-06 07:21:46
Thanks again Meleti, great review. Great point on boasting, it's becoming a norm for sure. Like your points also Nick_O
Parag 13,14 Are we (JW.org) the chosen Organization to reach each householder in the globe with the message of the good news?
Well the Figures are showing from 2014-2015 about increase 120,000 in 240 lands. There's Minus in Japan, zero growth in UK, not much different in USA.
What's interesting is there are 30 lands which are under ban. According to yearbook there are 35 792 publishers in these lands.
By way of deduction, these would be most likely asian and middle eastern lands , communism and Islam ruled countries. The populations of these countries are estimated at 2 billion people. So that's almost a quarter of the worlds population who don't know JW. Org is. It would be fair to say the JW.org is having a tiny impact in these countries. Maybe like a drop in the ocean.
China alone has a population of 1:385 billion According to Wikipedia.
So if you consider 1/4 of earths population not receiving a knock on the door by a JW, no JW Broadcasting because of tight control by Govt's of these lands regarding what access the common folk have to the Internet or Tv programs. At least you have to agree we aren’t reaching the whole world , as were led to believe. So how can we alone ( JW.org) fulfill the great commission of Matt 28:18-20 and Matt 24:14 considering 2 billion people don't know who we are. Based on those odds their survival at Armegeddon seems slim.Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-07-07 17:45:29
Iazarus, great comment. I had a conversation with a well-respected elder on this very subject about a month ago. He had mentioned how close we were to the end because things "were getting so much worse." I mentioned that over the grand timescape, things were actually much better (an easy thing to show). Disease, wars, crime - all of these things are much less than in the say, 1400s (or pick almost any time period). Likewise, our life expectancy has improved over the ages greatly (even over the last 100 years in the US, it's improved by some 30-35 years). I then brought out that if we were to preach to "all the nations" and "then the end will come" we sure had a long way to go, owing to the fact that probably 3 billion or so people have never even heard of Jehovah. I asked "do you think our loving God would destroy all these people without them ever even had the opportunity to hear about Him?" He responded that we don't know how God will treat these individuals, but since He can read hearts, He will do the right thing by them. I mentioned that this doesn't correspond to what the Watchtower states pretty clearly. I then quoted the September 1, 1989 Watchtower which states the following:
"Only Jehovah's Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the "great crowd," as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil."
I asked him how this reconciles with his opinion that at the end times, Jehovah will judge the hearts of the remaining people that have never heard of Him. Response: crickets (this was being done via email mostly). Not too mention that if Jehovah is simply going to judge the remainder's hearts, what is the point of our preaching in the first place?
Interestingly, had the same conversation with my spouse on this subject, with the exact same results.Reply by lazarus on 2016-07-08 09:05:23
Deo_ac_veritati
Keep up the good work, be patient and cautious also.i like that Wt 89 reference.
Interesting responses, I say that because it reminded me of conversation's we would have back in the 1990's. You may recall our previous interpretation of 'the generation'. Well we assumed because of that, the generation that saw 1914 were long in years and well Armegeddon was just around the corner, so logically we asked, How would a witness be given in a country like China? It seems were asking the same question that we asked 26 years ago, regarding Matt 28 Matt 24.
Similar expressions were made as you wrote above, with the scripture at Matt 10:23 as the basis of not every person will get a witness.
As were told by JW.org , this is God’s final preaching campaign, unfortunately there's billions of lives in the balance. That's a heavy burden to carry as a JW, so we pass it on as we do back to Jehovah God.
We are in a state of delusion as described in 2 thess 2:11,12.Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-07-08 09:43:05
Hi Lazarus, Good comment!
I've been thinking about Matthew 24:14 of late. It could have a first century application to the end of the age that was the Jewish system of things. If so, Paul's words at Col. 1:23 provide a fulfillment.
Or it could apply not to individuals, but to nations, in which case it is being fulfilled even now.
I also realize that it is not a commission as JWs assume, and which they presume falls to them. It is a prophecy. The commission is found at Mt. 28:18,19.
Only the idea that everyone who doesn't accept Christ before Armageddon will die eternally prompts JWs to think that it must be to every person, that all have to have the chance or God is unjust. However, I can find no proof that everyone who dies at Armageddon will be denied a resurrection. For that matter, I can't find proof that everyone who is not of God's chosen will die at Armageddon. I see no scripture that rules out the possibility of survivors.
So the JW premise is flawed and thus their conclusions, being based on flawed reasoning, are themselves flawed.
I think our brothers even sense that subconsciously, otherwise, why would so many reason as the elder that Deo_ac_veritati talked to?
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."
Reply by Deo_ac_veritati on 2016-07-08 22:54:49
Hey Lazarus, thanks for the reply. You wrote:
"It seems were asking the same question that we asked 26 years ago, regarding Matt 28 Matt 24."
I had never thought about it that way; that is, never connected my thought that there are so many out there that have never heard of Jehovah (even more 26 years ago, I suppose) with the idea that with the old iteration of "this generation" (guess that would be Revision 4.5?) it would have been even more obvious to those at the time. Brilliant thought, thanks for that!
You're mentioning Matthew sparked a memory of my conversation with my elder friend. So, the response wasn't completely "crickets" as I wrote - he did actually pull out Matthew 10:23, as part of a Watchtower article from August 15, 1997 as follows (from Para 11):
“There is also Jesus’ prediction that “this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses carry out their work in 233 lands, island groups, and territories. True, untouched territories still exist, and perhaps in Jehovah’s due time, a door of opportunity will open. (1 Corinthians 16:9) Still, Jesus’ words recorded at Matthew 10:23 are sobering: “You will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives.” While the good news will surely be announced throughout the earth, we will not in person reach all parts of the earth with the Kingdom message before Jesus “arrives” as Executioner."
(Note, by the way, that this Watchtower said nothing about Jesus or Jehovah judging any hearts before the "executing" starts.... just sayin'.)
I suppose he intended for me to apply this scripture in a dual way, once to when the apostles went out spreading the good news in Israel, and again, prophetically, in our times. I replied and reminded him that we are no longer to use type/antitype methods anymore unless the Scriptures teach us to do so explicitly. He replied that what he wrote "did not have a type-antitype meaning and that it just 'said what it said'" (leaving me scratching my head in wonder). Sometimes debating these things logically with a die-hard JW can be extraordinarily frustrating (as noted in Meleti's latest article). In any case, I then AGAIN asked him to reconcile his "judging hearts at the end" with what the 1989 Watchtower stated. THAT's when I got the "crickets."
You noted in your response " be patient and cautious."
Trust me, I've had to learn to be more patient than I ever would have imagined. My spouse has not yet "seen the light" so to speak, and as can be seen with my conversation with the elder, extraordinary patience is required. As for cautious, well, I am trying to be that as well - but I don't over-worry about it - I simply pray that Holy Spirit will give me strength and guide me along as God sees fit. But, regardless of that, I appreciate your words of advice! Christian love to you!
Comment by william on 2016-07-06 14:50:02
Chapter 7 of In Search of Christian Freedom (Ray Franz's second book) is called From House to House. Ray changed his opinion of the meaning of Acts 5:20 by 1972. Years later (apparently in 1978 or 1979) Ray presented 2 charts to the governing body, one being comparisons of 27 Bible translations of Acrts 2:46, 5:42, and 20:20, and the other chart being a 12-page chart showing the methods used to preach in 150 incidents of preaching the Gospels and Acts. What is really interesting in the chapter is the indifference of most of the members of the Writing Committee and the governing body to the scriptural evidence he provided. The end result was the July 15, 1979 Watchtower, which ignored Ray's scriptural evidence.
Comment by Menrov on 2016-07-07 06:55:50
The current WBTS is even less modest (or honest ...) in its claims than the former WBTS.I find these type of articles rather dangerous, in the sense that it will give the average JW a sense of superiority. A feeling of being special, better than others, with an organisation that is unique and better than all others. This feeling will generate distance, a segregation with the world around them, apartness may be. A further sense of distrust of everything that does not originate from or associate with. the organisation. I can see that certain governments do not like this and might take measure to minimize the influence of these articles on people.
Comment by iiiiiii on 2016-07-08 10:33:37
It IS true that Jehovah's witnesses are the only religion preaching the Kingdom of God, or even know what the Kingdom of God really is, along with so many connected other bible truths.
The SDA's, they preach that the earth will be desolate for the 1000 year reign of Christ, and that it will be the abyss where satan is confined to.
Jehovah's witnesses have the most accurate knowledge out of all of them, about God and his son Jesus Christ. SDA's also teach the unexplainable trinity. WT know that as the bible plainly states, the soul that sins dies, and that Christ alone has immortality. They know what hell is, and what the lake of fire is. There is so much about God's personality that is preached by the WT that no other group has. His great loving kindness and love for the lowly and meek and those who are hated by this world and are hungry for truth and righteousness. Are there alot of stiffs among the witnesses and hypocrites, who are wicked in heart and just phonies who pretend actors, like lousy con artists. You bet. But they are gonna leave like so many already have, just to go on youtube and advocate perversion and so much other garbage. And then you have those who spew out their own filth and false doctrine, just to try and make some name for themselves. And they are not sure of anything, but are supposedly ever learning, yet never knowing the truth.
The truth is, many are called but very few are chosen, and the chosen ones suffer the ignorance and wickedness of those who do not know God , who think the bible is just another religion, and are in it for ulterior motives. And are the enemies of righteousness.
Nevertheless, the Kingdom of God is being preached worldwide and no other group is doing this work, that Jehovah's witnesses are doing. Consider....
Many so called Christians say the wages of sin is eternal torment in hell .
Now if this was true ( that the wages of sin is eternal torment in hell) then the death of Christ did not pay for your sin.
Again, if this was true, Christ would have to spend eternity in hell being tormented in order for your sin to be paid for. Get it? But they don't care. They believe all this garbage and will fight you for it.
. There are many who say they are Christian, but who do not obey the scriptures nor teach the bible, and persecute those who do. And if you teach these basic bible truths, they will automaticlly say you are one of Jehovah;s witnesses. They consider Jehovah's witnesses enemy number one.
And if all souls are immortal, Christ died for nothing. But he did not die for nothing. The meek shall inherit the earth, only through his sacrifice , but all the wicked liars and haters of God, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, but they all claim they are going to heaven. How nice.....Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-07-08 11:04:21
>>The SDA’s, they preach that the earth will be desolate for the 1000 year reign of Christ, and that it will be the abyss where satan is confined to.
This is not what JWs preach.
>>Jehovah’s witnesses have the most accurate knowledge out of all of them, about God and his son Jesus Christ.
Again, not true.
>>SDA’s also teach the unexplainable trinity.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not teach the trinity at their special day assemblies.
iiiiiii, you should read the Commenting Guidelines under the About -> Frequently Asked Questions menu.
If you are going to make statements, you need to provide proof for the benefit of all on the site. Also, it is important to always have a tone that is befitting a servant of the Lord. (Mt 18:4; Acts 20:19; Eph 4:1, 2)
Reply by Nick_O on 2016-07-08 14:29:58
SDA = Seventh Day Adventist I assume?
Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-07-08 16:09:36
Thanks Nick_O, I misread iiiiiii's comment. This is why I'm not a lover of acronyms and initials replacing full words, because it's too easy to make a mistake. My apologies, iiiiiii.
Meleti
Comment by Yehorakam on 2016-07-13 12:12:55
Hi. I'm travelling and haven't been able to join in the discussions for a while. Maybe that's been a relief to all. :) I'm enjoying free Wifi at McDonalds right now so I can write something. The other day, I was in a used clothing store and picked up a used Bible. I must warn you....it was a paraphrased version (The Living Bible - Paraphrased version). Yes, I had difficulties picking it up knowing that many things can be obscured by paraphrasing. I'm aware of that. But, I thought that you might like to hear how it reads in Galatians 1:8. "Let God's curse fall on anyone, including myself who preaches ANY OTHER WAY TO BE SAVED than the one we told you about." (capitals mine). I guess the writer understood that the good news of the Kingdom and salvation has a lot to do with the WAY salvation is brought about. If the Witnesses have changed the message of how to be saved, they have changed the good news and are not in fact preaching the good news that Jesus and the early apostles preached. As a side point, although I'm not promoting anything, the book of Galatians is a little easier read in this paraphrased version so as to understand the frank counsel Paul directed at the Galatians.
I am slowly getting closer to the conclusion that the Witnesses have established doctrine and works that get CLOSE to what the first century Christians practiced, and for that reason it is a very good counterfeit. Because of their being closer than other groups, those that are attracted to it think it's true Christianity. Yet it is still tainted with false doctrines and deviations from the truth. I might use the Witnesses own illustration and compare all Christian religions to counterfeit bills. The Catholic church has so many obvious signs of being counterfeit, when the Witnesses point out the defects and present their own "bill" as having the marks of true Christianity, the observer is often fooled into thinking he's getting a genuine bill with all the marks of true Christianity and look no further. The imitation "bill' of the Witnesses is very close to an original, but when examined in the light of true Bible teachings, a lover of truth and serious Bible student finds evidence that the Witnesses "bill" does not have ALL the marks of true Christianity. It has deviated from the truth in the desire to sustain it's existence as an organization. Most are satisfied that it has so many good marks, and are not worried about the marks that are missing. For them, the religion is good enough for them.
The Witnesses false teachings regarding the good news of salvation, the first resurrection and the "presence" of Jesus go directly against clear Bible teachings. Just the idea that they have taught Jesus is reigning puts them in the category of those Paul warned about in 2 Thess 2:1-3. Some in Thessalonica had been shaken from their reason because others were teaching that the day of Jehovah had arrived. In what sense? These ones were teaching that "the presence of our Lord, our being gathered to him" had started. They jumped the gun and mislead others. We also discern by these words that the presence of Jesus is the same as his coming to gather the anointed, and is immediately followed by the day of Jehovah, Armageddon. So, the idea that Jesus presence and his coming are different and separated by more than a 100 years, that he already has started gathering the anointed to him from 1919 onwards are false doctrines. Paul specifically warned about and dealt with this problem in the first century in the congregation Thessalonica.
The other day, I spoke with my father about the first resurrection. He is a scientist and has been an elder for about 35 years. Despite his intellectual capacity, he could not refute that scriptures teach that the first resurrection is yet future. The only thing he could do is quickly turn the conversation another direction by saying that the Witnesses have the majority of the main doctrines in order, as if the subject of the resurrection is not important. For some reason, he fails to see that the resurrection is a doctrine, and a main doctrine! It was a reason for persecution (Acts 4:2). It was a reason for acceptance of the good news or not (Acts 17:32). Paul warned against those that didn't believe in the resurrection (1 Cor 15:33). He warned against those that said it had occurred when it hadn't (2 Tim 2:18). So, this is not a minor point! It is a major mark of true Christianity to understand the truth of the resurrection and the Witnesses, although being the only ones to actively go from house to house, they DO NOT have the identifying mark of true Christianity when it comes to the resurrection. This has actually been one the main reasons why I cannot return to the congregation.
I suppose, to top if off, their way of treating sinners in the congregation in NO way resembles the way Jesus treated sinners. Being that they in no way resemble Christ in this matter of handling sin, something so common in the congregation, can they claim to be his followers? In my opinion, it is a excellent counterfeit of Christianity that has many marks, but not ALL the marks. I am convinced they will only make minor refinements so long as it doesn't put into danger their prized doctrines attached to 1914, so long as it doesn't reduce the authority and control they wish to maintain over everyone, so long as the GB doesn't have to listen to their anointed brothers and sisters, and so long as it doesn't involve extending an apology to anyone.
Much love,