The Watchtower society is big money, being one of the top 40 New York City Corporations making nearly one billion dollars a year. That's just from one of their many corporations.

Unlike in the case of Christians who are persecuted in other lands for talking about Jesus Christ, Jehovah's Witnesses are largely persecuted for following the teachings begun during the second presidency of the Watchtower, when Joseph Rutherford took over in a corporate flap and began changing doctrines quickly in the Watchtower belief system.

He claimed that angels directly conveyed truth to some of those in leadership. He coined the name Jehovah's Witnesses to make them stand out from being witnesses of Jesus, a typical evangelical expression (and a Biblical one).

Rutherford dumped holidays, birthdays and the 1874 date for the invisible return on Christ, and invented an earthly class of Witnesses, since only 144,000 can go to heaven in their teaching. The rest, meaning all 99.9% of Witnesses still alive, will live forever on a cleansed earth, under the rule of the Watchtower leaders in heaven, who will keep them in line by local elders known as 'Princes'.

If you have been witnessed to by Jehovah's Witnesses and you reject their message, you will likely die shortly at Armageddon with all the other non-Witnesses, since theirs is the only true religion, and (if they can live up to all the rules) they are the only ones to inhabit this new earth. If you believe Witnesses seem rigid now, any non-conformist during the future cleansed earth will be directly destroyed by Jehovah. Even now a Witness will be disfellowshipped for any one of many gaffs, such as smoking, taking a blood transfusion, or even voting.

To even vocally question the teachings of the Watchtower will result in complete cutting off, with family and friends usually being forbidden to talk to them. The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world, in a time when Orwellian societies are nearly obsolete.

The Watchtower strives hard to control the flow of information to the individual Witness, and prefers that all instruction come through the magazines they carry door-to-door. Without this form of control, even as they themselves admit, they would believe just the same as other Bible believers.

My hope is that there will be a day in each of their lives when the Watchtower magazine is no longer needed, and they can go to college, vote for office, and contribute money and time to other, more vital causes in their community. More than likely they will then cease to be persecuted, except in a few societies more authoritarian than their own.

Sincerely,

Danny Haszard http://www.dannyhaszard.com

Posted by: Danny_Haszard

December 25, 2009 at 2:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Mr 'Atticus' you just did a cut n paste personal attack rant.

Excuse you,where is the suspected bias on doctrine?

Tell us about 1914 date please,can you contradict any of my posted facts?

Google:Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower

Posted by: Danny_Haszard

December 25, 2009 at 10:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

How can anyone accuse poor Atticus of "cut and paste" when I just read three posts by two different(?) ex JW writers who say EXACTLY the same thing? Wow! I still haven't read anything by Darlene or Hapszard that tells me what they believe, would they want their beliefs to receive the same treatment? From the nasty response Atticus got I'm guessing...no!

Posted by: DonHasband

December 25, 2009 at 1:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Truth is a journey. One thing all our leaders had in common was their quest for truth.

This has been blessed.

Everything aside, compare the
'global' events of 1914 and after with the four horsemen and the statements by Jesus on the Mount of Olives, and WALA.

Google doomsday clock set after WW2.
This true prophecy will finish before mans WW3. (or any other way this earth succumbs to man on this clock set 5 minutes to doomsday.)

Also, concerning false prophecy (or mercifully delayed or seemingly delayed prophecy) [Habakkuk 2:3] ... and read the very small book of the true prophet Jonah. (His commission from God to fortell the destruction of Ninevah in 30 days, and how 'upset' he was when it was delayed ... which is why he told God he ran away from the commission in the first place.) M

Posted by: Margarett

December 25, 2009 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Religions other than Christianity can find and know God, but why call something Christianity that rejects the diety of Christ?

Jehovah's Witness New World Translation (NWT) is altered. Six examples excerpted from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, at carm.org/religious-movements/jehovahs-witnesses/bad-translations-jehovahs-witness-bible-new-world-translation:

"1. Gen. 1:1-2 - "In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth proved to be formless and waste and there was darkness upon the surface of [the] watery deep; and God's active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters," (New World Translation). The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society denies that the Holy Spirit is alive, the third person of the Trinity. Therefore, they have changed the correct translation "...the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters," to "...and God's active force was moving . . . "

"2. Zech. 12:10 - In this verse God is speaking and says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced . . ." (Zech. 12:10, NASB). The Jehovah's Witnesses change the word "me" to "the one" so that it says in their Bible, "...they will look upon the one whom they have pierced..." . . . Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus is God in flesh . . . so they changed it.

"3. John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Jehovah's Witness version is this: " . . .the Word was a god."

"4. Col. 1:15-17 - The word "other" is inserted 4 times. It is not in the original Greek, nor is it implied. This is a section where Jesus is described as being the creator of all things. Since the Jehovah's Witness organization believes that Jesus is created, they have inserted the word "other" to show that Jesus was before all "other" things, implying that He is created.

"5. Heb. 1:6 - In this verse they translate the Greek word for worship, proskuneo, as "obeisance." Obeisance is a word that means to honor, show respect, even bow down before someone. Since Jesus, to them, is created, then he cannot be worshiped. They have also done this in other verses concerning Jesus, i.e., Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9.

"6. Heb. 1:8 - This is a verse where God the Father is calling Jesus God: "But about the Son he says, 'Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.'" Since the Jehovah's Witnesses don't agree with that they have changed the Bible, yet again, to agree with their theology. They have translated the verse as "...God is your throne..." . . . this verse is a quote from Psalm 45:6 which, from the Hebrew, can only be translated as "...Your throne, O God . . . " To justify their New Testament translation they actually changed the OT verse to agree with their theology, too!"

-- Ralph Ellis

Posted by: ralphiel

December 26, 2009 at 10:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The first century Bible writers warned about an apostasy that was to set in.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15554206/Th...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15551003/Je...
That apostasy came to full light with the Counsel Of Nicea when a whole host of pagan teachings were brought in such as The Trinity, Immorality of the soul, Hellfire, Christmas and many others. Also, Christendom has altered God’s Word by deleting his name in direct violation of Rev. 22:18, 19. Jehovah’s Witnesses represent the restoration of True Worship. Please get a copy of What Does The Bible Really Teach from your local Kingdom Hall and investigate for yourself.

Posted by: Daniel7

December 26, 2009 at 4:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

http://stopbaptistpredators.org/index...

Posted by: Atticus

December 27, 2009 at 7:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many who take issue with Jehovah's Witnesses' "New World Translation" of 'theos' in John 1:1c (as, "a god") often miss the point that the structure of this whole clause is that it is 'a singular anarthrous predicate noun (meaning, without the Greek definite article), but one which is also *preceding the verb and subject noun (implied or stated)*' - that is, not just that use of the noun 'theos' in the third clause is lacking the Greek definite article. (In the Greek language of this period, there was no such thing as an indefinite article; therefore, depending upon the grammar, syntax, immediate and global context of the phrase, when translating to English, the decision on whether to add an indefinite article or not would be made by the translator.)

Quite interestingly, at other places within the "New Testament" where the syntax (Greek word order) is also the same as that found within John 1:1c, it is not uncommon to read where Bible translators will typically add the English indefinite article, either as an "a" or "an". You may wish to examine the following within your own preferred translation(s) of the Bible, that is, to see whether, within those works, such had actually been done. Here are a few scriptures to look into:

Mark 6:49
Mark 11:32
John 4:19
John 6:70
John 8:44a
John 8:44b
John 9:17
John 10:1
John 10:13
John 10:33
John 12:6

Now, when we encounter that very same Greek grammatical construction in John 1:1c, we find that there are many translators who do not follow the same guideline, that is, as when they did when translating the above verses. Apparently, this inconsistency is due to their own theologically induced predisposition, their bias, that of the centuries old, "Catholic" inspired tradition, the unbiblical belief that God is a Trinity. In other words, unknown to their readers, they are just being dishonest.

Furthermore, with respect to the suggestion that such a rendering though would fly in the strict Jewish monotheistic system of belief, in connection with Jesus' own words, recorded for us at John 10:34, 35 (when quoting from Psalm 82:6), there is this:

"The Hebrew for ‘gods’ (‘elohîm) could refer to various exalted beings besides Yahweh [or, Jehovah], without implying any challenge to monotheism,…"

Taken from: Blomberg, Craig L. (b.?-d.?). "The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel: Issues & Commentary." (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, c2002), "The feast of Dedication" ([John] 10:22-42), p. 163. BS2615.6.H55 B56 2002 / 2001051563.

Obviously, there need be more evidence to substantiate such a rendering, as well as to address many of the other issues often raised by such wording. See these addressed within our forthcoming work, "What About John 1:1?"

To discover something of its design and progress, you are invited to visit:

http://www.goodcompanionbooks.com

Agape, JohnOneOne.
john1one@earthlink.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Posted by: JohnOneOne

December 28, 2009 at 1:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Examining the false claims of abuse by apostates and oposers of Jehovah's Witnesses.

http://thirdwitness.com/childabuse/de...

Posted by: Atticus

December 28, 2009 at 10:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

On the Trinity: while the word "Trinity" is definitely not found in the Bible, neither is the word "bible" or "theocracy". The word Trinity is simply a placeholder for a longer and more complex idea. It was not invented at the Council of Nicea (the articles of that council can easily be found online). The term "trinitas" was first coined by the early Church writer Tertullian almost 100 years prior to the council's meeting. However, he was not the first to use the term, a man Theophilus Bishop of Antioch in 160 was the first to use the term (that we have in writing), many years before in his epistle to Autolycus The 2nd. I invite you to actually read the Early Church writings (available online or for very cheap through many publishers such as Penguin) and believe in whatever the evidence points to.

A question to all Jehovah's Witnesses: if you found a piece of information that was not reconcilable with official Watchtower doctrine, what would you do? Raymond Franz, once a member of the Governing Body, found himself in this very difficult situation. If you are willing, you can read his story about his time at Bethel and being a part of the Governing Body in his book Crisis of Conscience. Take a look here: http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Conscien...

Posted by: Farsyte

December 29, 2009 at 11:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Atticus, I did actually read some of the arguments put forward on Thirdwitness today, and have read through the site in the past. However, we find time and again accounts of Elders not following instructions sent out by Bethel regarding abuse cases, and action is only taken in removing these people when legal authorities are involved. (such as this case http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarph... ). Of course we could go back and forth on whether all the facts are accounted for in these cases, but the frequency of cases all involving seemingly similar behavior is cause for concern in itself.
Regardless of the validity of the "child abuse scandal", we should always be willing to question our own beliefs and also the beliefs of others, and put the pursuit of honesty and truth above all other ideals or prejudices.

Posted by: Farsyte

December 29, 2009 at 6:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )