In The
Watchtower Christmas Dilemma
Paul writes in his
letter to the Romans (Romans
14) that no one
must judge another based on what days are
celebrated or what days are considered more
sacred than others. He means that as long as
we do it to the Lord we may eat what we want
and consider what ever days we wish as more
special than others. We celebrate Christmas
to the Lord and when we honor the Son, we
honor the Father (John
5:23).
Read more in The Watchtower Christmas
Dilemma
In
What is a Cult
These groups deny or distort fundamental
Christian doctrines such as the Trinity, the
deity of Christ, and salvation by grace
through faith alone. Some cults that would
fall into this category are the Mormons,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, The
Way International, and the Unity School of
Christianity.
Read more in What is a Cult
In
Tacking into the Wind with no Destination
When nothing supernatural happened in 1914,
the Watchtower Society started transferring
all of the doctrines about 1874 to 1914.
They explained that Christ's kingdom had
been set up invisibly in 1914, and that
although secular governments were still in
place, their rule was no longer valid. Based
on the Society's writings, Jehovah's
Witnesses looked forward to momentous events
in the year 1918.
Read more in
Tacking into the Wind with no Destination
In The
Watchtower Society: "Jehovah's Organization"
or False Prophet
"And IF thou say in thine heart, HOW SHALL
WE KNOW the word which the LORD hath not
spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name
of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that is the thing which the
LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath
spoken it presumptuously: thou shall not be
afraid of him" (Deut. 18: 21, 22).
Notice: There are only two points to
consider to "know" a false prophet: (1) Does
he speak in the name of the LORD? (2) Did
the thing predicted fail to come to pass?
Read more in The Watchtower Society:
"Jehovah's Organization" or False Prophet
In "THE
FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE " Fact or
Fiction?
Jehovah's Witnesses look to the faithful and
discrete slave class as an entity that God
employs to give both spiritual and practical
guidance to all true Christians. It is
believed that this composite group of
individuals comprises a divinely appointed
channel of communication between God and
mankind. It is also alleged that failure to
recognize and submit to the teachings of
this channel leads to God's disapproval. We
read the following:
"No question about it. We all need help to
understand the Bible, and we cannot find the
Scriptural guidance we need outside the
faithful and discreet slave' organization."
Watchtower 2/15/81
Read More in "THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET
SLAVE " Fact or Fiction?
In 607:
The Shaky Foundation of the 1914-doctrine
JWs claim that they alone fulfill Matt 24:14
by proclaiming the 'good news' all over the
world in our time. This "good news" is that
Christ started to reign in 1914, and the end
will come "soon." If this is false, JWs have
been preaching a false gospel (Gal 1:6-9).
Read more in 607: The Shaky Foundation of
the 1914-doctrine
In
A
Ministry of Misery
Depression. What are some of the problems
the Witnesses have? All kinds of mental
diseases could be listed. Essentially, the
main problems are depression, feeling of
helplessness, worry, doubt, and conflicts in
the congregation. The elders try to enforce
extremely rigid rules. For a few years
wire-rimmed glasses were condemned. If a
person came into a Kingdom Hall with wire
rims, that individual would have to sit down
for a conference. He would be told, "We
notice you are wearing wire rims. You are
falling out of the truth. We are concerned
about this. We think you need help." It
becomes absurd after a while. And as you can
imagine, trying to enforce this much
rigidity and this much conformity, creates
problems. When one really believes the
Watchtower is God's organization, the elder
becomes God's representative. In a sense,
what he says is almost like God saying it.
Therefore, if an elder says a person is
immature because of wearing wire-rimmed
glasses, that is like God saying you are
immature because you wear wire-rimmed
glasses! This causes people to feel
depressed and to say, "I'm a bad person! I'm
terrible!" And naturally they feel guilt,
worry and doubt.
Read more in A Ministry of Misery
In Are
You Really . . . A Jehovah's Witness?
Question 1: Would the public identify you as
a "Jehovah's Witness" or as "Jesus'
Witness"?
Jesus warned His disciples about misleading
times when false witnesses would mislead
people. He said,
"Look out that nobody misleads YOU. Then
people will deliver YOU up to tribulation
and will kill YOU, and YOU will be objects
of hatred by all the nations on account of
my name" (Matthew 24:4, 9 New World
Translation).
Let's take time to review what Jesus is
saying. His disciples would be hated on
account of whose name? Whose name should
they make known? Who will Jesus' followers
witness about? He declared,
"And you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).
Read more in Are You Really . . . A
Jehovah's Witness? |