August 1st, 2001 WT

[Stan Covell]

"...a mature Christian must be in unity and full
: harmony with fellow believers as far as faith and
: knowledge are concerned. He does not advocate
: or insist on personal opinions or harbour private
: ideas when it comes to Bible understanding.
: Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as
: it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son,
: Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet
: slave." (Watchtower, August 1st, 2001, p. 14)|.

Quotes like this proves that the WT believes that the rank and file are not capable of thinking for themselves. To belong to a religion that does not allow one to have personal opinions or private thoughts on spiritual matters shows that the Witnesses allow themselves to be slaves mentally and spiritually to mens ideas as to what truth is.
Stan

[dizzle]

:eek:

Isn't this similar to something that i had read a while back about how the bible student must have Aide to the Scriptures with them or they will be darkened?

[Stan Covell]

"If the six volumes of 'Scripture Studies' are practically the Bible topically arranged, with Bible proof-texts given, we might not improperly name the volumes - the Bible in an arranged form. That is to say, they are not merely comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself since there is no desire to build any doctrine or thought on any individual preference or on any individual wisdom, but to present the entire matter on the lines of the Word of God. We therefore think it safe to follow this kind of reading, this kind of instruction, this kind of Bible study. Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the 'Scripture Studies' aside, even after he has used them, after he has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years - if he then lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the 'Scripture Studies' with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the light at the end of the two years, because he would have the light of the Scriptures." {ZWT Sep 15 1910 298}

[dizzle]

Egad!!!!!!

[barryrob]

"...a mature Christian must be in unity and full
: harmony with fellow believers as far as faith and
: knowledge are concerned. He does not advocate
: or insist on personal opinions or harbour private
: ideas when it comes to Bible understanding.
: Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as
: it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son,
: Jesus Christ, and "the faithful and discreet
: slave." (Watchtower, August 1st, 2001, p. 14)|.

Quotes like this proves that the WT believes that the rank and file are not capable of thinking for themselves. To belong to a religion that does not allow one to have personal opinions or private thoughts on spiritual matters shows that the Witnesses allow themselves to be slaves mentally and spiritually to mens ideas as to what truth is.
Stan

But that does not prove us to be wrong. Did not Jesus say somthing about sheep following? His -Jesus- sheep follow thoses who follow him. So where is the church that only follow the scriptual teaching that:-

Psalm 83:18 “until they learn that you alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme chargs of all the earth.”-THE WAY, Cathloic Living Bible

and then live it?
Barryrob
Barryrob

[MR SQUIGGLE]

But that does not prove us to be wrong. Did not Jesus say somthing about sheep following? His -Jesus- sheep follow thoses who follow him. So where is the church that only follow the scriptual teaching that:-

Psalm 83:18 “until they learn that you alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme chargs of all the earth.”-THE WAY, Cathloic Living Bible

and then live it?
Barryrob
Barryrob


Something I am noticing as a trend right across the whole gamut of religon is the practice of folk to blindly follow what they are told to think....rather than search the scriptures for themselves...and there is a blockage to letting the god of their own understanding speak the truth to their hearts.
I personally feel that this is not only dangerous...but sad!
In my own current search for the truth I have been advised by a wise old bird I know TO READ ALL OF THE DIFFERENT TEXTS; from the Quoran, to the Bible,to the Torahs..even the bhagavad Gita and the KarmaSutra as there are truths written in all of them.
Sure, there is some complete bollox out there as well, but when you read what is the truth it really does speak to your soul!...I have come to the conclusion that no particular religon holds a monopoly on truth....
All of the texts tell us to guard our hearts from falsehoods and false prophets!......
It is almost comical to read the debates on who is right and who is wrong, as depending on the individual's situation and complete demographic profile,and education level; this will differ infinitely.
OTHERWISE WE ARE JUST GOING TO BE STUPID SHEEP!

[DesertBerean]

But that does not prove us to be wrong. Did not Jesus say somthing about sheep following? His -Jesus- sheep follow thoses who follow him. So where is the church that only follow the scriptual teaching that:-

Psalm 83:18 “until they learn that you alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme chargs of all the earth.”-THE WAY, Cathloic Living Bible

and then live it?
Barryrob
Barryrob That Psalm was a prayer of David for God to come against enemies that were trying to destroy Israel; so I'm not sure that's right for this discussion.

The first great commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, and soul. That can only be done by knowing who and what you believe and why...and that is why Scripture must be studied. Yes, sheep must follow; in order to do so, sheep must know the voice of their master. They don't learn it from other sheep, but by hearing it for themselves. So, we as the sheep of Jesus's flock must know his voice so we can tell where the false teachers are no matter how convincing they may sound.

[Sparko]

Something I am noticing as a trend right across the whole gamut of religon is the practice of folk to blindly follow what they are told to think....rather than search the scriptures for themselves...and there is a blockage to letting the god of their own understanding speak the truth to their hearts.
I personally feel that this is not only dangerous...but sad!
In my own current search for the truth I have been advised by a wise old bird I know TO READ ALL OF THE DIFFERENT TEXTS; from the Quoran, to the Bible,to the Torahs..even the bhagavad Gita and the KarmaSutra as there are truths written in all of them.
Sure, there is some complete bollox out there as well, but when you read what is the truth it really does speak to your soul!...I have come to the conclusion that no particular religon holds a monopoly on truth....
All of the texts tell us to guard our hearts from falsehoods and false prophets!......
It is almost comical to read the debates on who is right and who is wrong, as depending on the individual's situation and complete demographic profile,and education level; this will differ infinitely.
OTHERWISE WE ARE JUST GOING TO BE STUPID SHEEP!

I find it funny that the very people who go around complaining that people should not claim to have the REAL truth because all religions are equally true, are themselves very oppinionated and think THEY have the "REAL(tm)" truth and we should be listening to them.

That really IS comical. Thanks for the chuckle.

[MR SQUIGGLE]

reality is your own circumstance...i believe what i choose to...and others must do so for themselves...
This is all i have said...nothing more nor less!......If you wish to believe in ink, then do so!
God gave man his own free will.......
so, who's complaining, or claiming perfect knowledge? not me buddy!
I do however choose to defend what I believe! that is all...
so...your ignorance makes me chuckle also!!

If truth speaks to your heart from whatever scripture...then it is truth to you...undeniable!

I have read words of wisdom from native americans...Australian aborigines...jw's....the christian bible...etc...sure there is some rhetorical tripe...but some undeniable truths as well!

What is important here is the ability for a man or woman to freely think for themselves.
Whatever you believe that is a fundemaental law of God and man.

[Shadow Phoenix]

What is important here is the ability for a man or woman to freely think for themselves.
Whatever you believe that is a fundemaental law of God and man.

Cool. I believe that you are crazy and everything I say is right by virtue of my saying it and everything you say is wrong by virtue of your believing it and any counter-objections you raise to my point are absolutely false.

Don't fight it! It's a fundamental law of God and man!

[MR SQUIGGLE]

you may be right...I may be crazy...but it just might be a lunatic you're lookin for!

Do you deny people the free will God gave them?

Do you deny that there is good will in most religous creeds?

Not everything is perfect in any doctrines....
otherwise we would all be similarly polarised to the same things.....but the underlying truth of ''do unto others'' and the ''commandments'' are very similar.........
unless one chooses to embrace evil,
regardless of the ''god of your understanding'' the basic rules of decent life are very similar.

[Shadow Phoenix]

you may be right...I may be crazy...but it just might be a lunatic you're lookin for!

Looking for a lunatic on TWeb? Nah. We already have plenty of them.

Do you deny people the free will God gave them?

If God gives someone free-will, which I believe he does, there's not much I can do about it.

Do you deny that there is good will in most religous creeds?

Hate to burst your bubble, but I don't go looking for "Good will" in a religion. I go looking for truth.

Not everything is perfect in any doctrines....

Two things:

First off, is your doctrine perfect that not everything is perfect in any doctrines?

Secondly, You have to have the idea of the perfect in order to know that there is not any doctrine that has the proper idea of the perfect.

otherwise we would all be similarly polarised to the same things.....

Non sequitur

but the underlying truth of ''do unto others'' and the ''commandments'' are very similar.........
unless one chooses to embrace evil,

Silly me. I'd been living with this misconception that my choice of religion was about my beliefs about God instead of being all about how I treat my neighbor.



regardless of the ''god of your understanding'' the basic rules of decent life are very similar.

psssh. I'm not out to live a decent life. I'm out to live an awesome life. I'm focused on living eternally than just living temporally.

Secondly, who is it that determines what a decent life is?