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Interesting
Quotes from Watchtower Literature
It is important to understand the psychological hold the Watchtower
organization has in the life of the average Jehovah's Witness. The
Watchtower organization is the guide, the teacher, and the expounder of
correct doctrine. The average Jehovah's Witness attends several meetings each week where he is
repeatedly indoctrinated to believe Watchtower doctrines. Every Jehovah's
Witness thinks very much alike and has the same standard answers because they read from the same sources
and are conditioned into the same way of thinking: the Watchtower way. So, if
you've witnessed to one Jehovah's Witness, you've heard the same arguments they all will
use.
In opposition to the Watchtower, according
to the Bible, Jesus is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). He
alone is the one who reveals truth (John 1:17), not the Watchtower
organization. As you will read in these quotes, the Watchtower
organization subtly takes the place of Jesus. Though it claims to bear
witness of Him and point to Him, in reality it takes His place. This is
typical for a cult.
- The
Watchtower Organization is God's organization on earth.
- "It should be expected that the
Lord would have a means of communication to his people on the earth,
and he has clearly shown that the magazine called The Watchtower is
used for that purpose." (1939 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses,
p. 85.)
- "Make haste to identify the
visible theocratic organization of God that represents his king, Jesus
Christ. It is essential for life. Doing so, be complete in accepting
its every aspect." The Watchtower, October 1, 1967, p. 591.
- "We cannot claim to love God, yet
deny his word and channel of communication." The Watchtower,
October 1, 1967, p. 591.
- No matter where we may live on earth,
God's Word continues to serve as a light to our path and a lamp to our
roadway as to our conduct and beliefs. (Ps. 119:105) But Jehovah God
has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and
discreet slave," made up of spirit anointed ones, to help
Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible
in their lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of
communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road
to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do. The Watchtower;
12/1/1981, p. 27.
- The Watchtower Organization is
the only way to understand the Bible.
- Only this organization functions for
Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word,
the Bible, is not a sealed book. The Watchtower; July 1, 1973, pp.
402.
- "We all need help to understand
the Bible, and we cannot find the Scriptural guidance we need outside
the ‘faithful and discreet slave' organization." (The
Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1981.)
- "...people cannot see the Divine
Plan in studying the Bible by itself...if he then lays them [Scripture
Studies] 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." The Watchtower, Sept. 15, 1910, p. 298.
- "Thus the Bible is an
organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an
organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may
believe that they can interpret the Bible." The Watchtower,
Oct. 1, 1967. p. 587.
- "The world is full of Bibles,
which Book contains the commandments of God. Why, then, do the people
not know which way to go? Because they do not also have the teaching
or law of the mother, which is light. Jehovah God has provided his
holy written Word for all mankind and it contains all the information
that is needed for men in taking a course leading to life. But God has
not arranged for that Word to speak independently or to shine forth
life-giving truths by itself. His Word says: "Light is sown for
the righteous." (Ps. 97:11) It is through his organization that
God provides this light that the proverb says is the teaching or law
of the mother. If we are to walk in the light of truth we must
recognize not only Jehovah God as our Father but his organization as
our mother." The Watchtower, May 1, 1957, p. 274.
- Channel to understanding the Bible...
All who want to understand the Bible should appreciate that the
"greatly diversified wisdom of God" can become known only
through Jehovah's channel of communication, the faithful and discreet
slave. The Watchtower; 10/1/1994; p. 8.
- Individual thinking discouraged
by Watchtower Organization
- "From time to time, there have
arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah's people those, who, like the
original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding
attitude...They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible
exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But, strangely,
through such ‘Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the
apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were
teaching 100 years ago..." The Watchtower, August 15, 1981.
- "We should eat and digest and
assimilate what is set before us, without shying away from parts of
the food because it may not suit the fancy of our mental taste...We
should meekly go along with the Lord's theocratic organization and
wait for further clarification, rather than balk at the first mention
of a thought unpalatable to us and proceed to quibble and mouth our
criticisms and opinions as though they were worth more than the
slave's provision of spiritual food. Theocratic ones will appreciate
the Lord's visible organization and not be so foolish as to put
against Jehovah's channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and
personal feelings." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pp.
79-80.
- "After being nourished to our
present spiritual strength and maturity, do we suddenly become smarter
than our former provider and forsake the enlightening guidance of the
organization that mothers us? ‘Forsake not the law of thy mother' (Prov.
6:20-23)." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, p. 80.
- Regarding
Salvation
- There are four requirements for
the Jehovah's Witnesses to be able to live forever on Paradise
earth according to the Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1983, p.
12. One of them deals with the Watchtower organization.
-
"Jesus Christ identified a
first
requirement when he said in prayer to his Father: "This means
everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of
you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus
Christ." (John 17:3) Knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ
includes knowledge of God’s purposes regarding the earth and of
Christ’s role as earth’s new King. Will you take in such
knowledge by studying the Bible?
- "Many have found the
second
requirement more difficult. It is to obey God’s laws,
yes, to conform one’s life to the moral requirements set out in
the Bible. This includes refraining from a debauched, immoral way of
life. — 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 1 Peter 4:3, 4.
- ["Accepting the message of salvation and devoting ourselves to God through Christ
and being baptized in water is only the beginning of our exercise of faith. It is
only the beginning of our obedience to God. It sets us on the way to everlasting life, but
it does not mean our final salvation" This Means Everlasting Life, p. 181."]
-
"A third requirement is that we be
associated with God’s channel, his
organization. God has always used an organization. For example, only
those in the ark in Noah’s day survived the Flood, and only those
associated with the Christian congregation in the first century had
God’s favor. (Acts 4:12) Similarly, Jehovah is using only one
organization today to accomplish his will. To receive everlasting
life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and
serve God as part of it.
-
"The fourth requirement is connected
with loyalty. God requires that prospective subjects of his Kingdom
support his government by loyally advocating his
Kingdom rule to others. Jesus Christ
explained: "This good news of the kingdom will be preached in
all the inhabited earth," (Matthew 24:14) Will you meet this
requirement by telling others about God’s Kingdom?
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