With hell subject, is the Watchtower trying to dismiss the account of the rich man and Lazarus...?

Question

as a a fanciful illustration that says nothing at all about afterlife?Luke 16

So how does the weeping and gnashing of the teeth work in the grave?

Answer 1

Actually that account is a parable. It is directed at the House of Judah for their unbelief. If you have a KJV Bible, look at the top of the page relaying that account. It says the "Parable of..."

Answer 2

If you are really interested in the answer, and not just throwing questions to the wind, why not look up what The Watchtower has written in the past about the rich man and Lazarus? There has definitely been no attempt to dismiss the account as saying nothing about the afterlife.

What The Watchtower has done is to view this account in the context of Jesus' surrounding words and teachings, which is the correct way to interpret anything.

"All Scripture is inspired of God." God would not inspire an account that contradicts everything else that He put into the Bible. If people understand the account of Lazarus in a way that differs from the rest of the Scriptures, that interpretation must be incorrect.

We can't take verses or accounts out of their contexts and expect to understand them correctly.

God's Word states clearly that the dead are really dead, unconscious in the grave, until resurrection.

Answer 3

First I must say that all of us should give direct Biblical answers to sincere seekers of truth. If we choose to answer a question from someone is not, it should be for the benefit of sincere persons who may read this. Please do not resort to name calling, personality assessments, or judgments. "Every way of a man is upright in his own eyes, but Jehovah is making an estimate of hearts." Proverbs 21:2 Jehovah knows what a person's heart is. A right-hearted person will recognize when he is mistaken and be humble enough to accept God's help to correct his ways or his thinking.

Now to the subject at hand. ALL of Jesus' parables or illustrations were meant to teach vital lessons. This one is no different. His remarks were directed at the Pharisees, who were haughty and proud and looked down disdainfully on lowly, humble people. However, since the Mosaic Law is now being fulfilled, the obligation to keep it is to be removed. What is to happen to their "place" and their "nation" (John 11:48) Jesus relates this illustration that features two men whose status, or situation, is eventually changed dramatically.
Jesus here uses the rich man to represent the Jewish religious leaders, including not only the Pharisees and the scribes but the Sadducees and the chief priests as well. They are rich in spiritual privileges and opportunities, and they conduct themselves as the rich man did. Their clothing of royal purple represents their favored position, and the white linen pictures their self-righteousness.
The beggar Lazarus thus represents these people to whom the religious leaders deny proper spiritual nourishment and privileges. Hence, like Lazarus covered with ulcers, the common people are looked down upon as spiritually diseased and fit only to associate with dogs. Yet, those of the Lazarus class hunger and thirst for spiritual nourishment and so are at the gate seeking to receive whatever meager morsels of spiritual food may drop from the rich man’s table.
Those of the humble, repentant Lazarus class die to their former spiritually deprived condition and come into a position of divine favor. Whereas they had earlier looked to the religious leaders for what little dropped from the spiritual table, now the Scriptural truths imparted by Jesus are filling their needs. They are thus brought into the bosom, or favored position, of the Greater Abraham, Jehovah God.
On the other hand, those who make up the rich-man class come under divine disfavor because of persistently refusing to accept the Kingdom message taught by Jesus. They thereby die to their former position of seeming favor. In fact, they are spoken of as being in figurative torment.
The change in conditions is accomplished a few months later at Pentecost 33 C.E., when the old Law covenant is replaced by the new covenant. It then becomes unmistakably clear that the disciples are favored by God, not the Pharisees and other religious leaders. The “great chasm” that separates the symbolic rich man from Jesus’ disciples therefore represents God’s unchangeable, righteous judgment.

Answer 4

It was a parable...

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 couldn't be more clear on the state of the dead.

I tried to discuss the bible with Christian Soldier, but he had no clue what the Bible was actually talking about. That is why he is no longer responding to my messages or emails..he knows he can't defend his beliefs against the truth. He just says what he has to say and runs off..

Heh...

--==Bill==--

Yes that seems so. Its hard to believe she was one of Jehovah's Witnesses because based on her comments, she really didn't know a lot while she was one. She may have been one of those members that went every now and then, but didn't really make any spiritual progress.

If she knew what the Bible really teaches, then she would know that Sheol (or Hades) is different from Gehenna, and that Sheol isn't a place just for the wicked.

Job prayed to goto Sheol (Job 14:13-15)
Jesus was sent to Sheol (Acts 2:25-30)

--==Christian Soldier==--

I don't have to admit to anything, because I never said I didn't believe in Hell.. Just not the burning of hell is what I don't believe. For you to understand what Hell really is, then you have to know the difference between Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. They are not all the same, and not only wicked people go to these places (proof shown above) The ones that are that sent to the Lake of Fire are the ones that are unrepentant and wicked..

Answer 5

Do you understand parables and that Jesus used many analogies and examples? They were called parables.

You must read all of what the Bible illustrates about hell. Did you read Job?

It's like when some folks live in an abusive family environment. They would term it a "hell hole". They know there is no actual fire burning going on in their household but they do know that it is not a God-fearing or wholesome atmospher there.

The Bible is full of illustrations and parables. It is meant for the intelligent, meek one; the one that takes all scripture into consideration and can intelligently absorb its true meaning. I would say to start with the help of a personal Bible study.

You can do this by calling up an Elder in your hometown from a kingdom hall. If not, like so many billions in the earth, stay blinded, but stop fussin' and whining about your lack of accurate knowledge, you know?

Answer 6

AW, "nini" is back. and so is the 'lamb? with her confusing negative answers.

Don't let "unsilencedlamb" get to you, she is disfellowshipped or for some reason after years of being a "JW" she left the organization & all that comes out of her mouth now is negative disgusting sayings about the Witnesses. She has me blocked, so that I cannot answer her questions,she does not like truthful answers.

She told "JR" that she had been a Witness, for as long as he had been born. "JR" must be in his teens or possibly in his 20's. We have children that can explain this Parable, and yet after all those years as a Witness, she says: She was never able to understand it. Am beginning to believe when she did go to Kingdom Hall for a meeting, she must have fell asleep, they more that likely had to wake her up.

I'll bet she & nini, understand the "word "Apostates"

The “purple and linen” in which the rich man was decked out were comparable to garb worn only by princes, nobles, and priests. They were very costly. Hades, where this rich man is said to have gone, is the common grave of dead mankind. That it cannot be concluded from this parable that Hades itself is a place of blazing fire is made clear at Revelation 20:14, where death and Hades are described as being hurled into “the lake of fire.” The death of the rich man and his being in Hades must therefore be figurative, figurative death being mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures. So the fiery torment was experienced while he was figuratively dead but actually alive as a human. Fire is used in God’s Word to describe his fiery judgment messages, and the work done by God’s prophets in declaring his judgments is said to ‘torment’ those who oppose God and his servants

Answer 7

Is the account, at Luke 16:19-31, literal or merely an illustration of something else?
The Jerusalem Bible, in a footnote,
acknowledges that it is a
"parable in a story without reference to any historical personage."
If taken literally,
It would mean:
~That those enjoying divine favor
could all fit in the bosom of 1 man, Abraham;
~That the water on 1's fingertip would not be
evaporated by the fire of Hades;
~That a mere drop of water would bring relief
to 1 suffering there.

Does that sound reasonable to you?

If it were literal,
it would conflict with other parts of the Bible.

~If the Bible were contradictory,
would a lover of truth use it as a basis for his faith?

But the Bible does not contradict itself.


edit: unsilenced lamb contradicts her own self!
Literal or a parable?

Says she never understood the "parable"~~~
1---So, it is a parable!
Not literal.

2--Then she goes on to say:
"Jesus told parables with no point to them, didn't he"
No, he did not; tell parables w/ no point to them.
And there YOU are!!
Not understanding Jesus' own words.
So, How & Why would any Christian
take YOU seriously...unsilenced lamb?
YOU don't understand Jesus ?
YOUR own words.
How could any Christian,
from anywhere, TRUST your words?
We can't.

back peddling!!
back peddling!!

edit: THK you sister, u know what & who I mean.
Agape.

Answer 8

The poor man was rich in faith and the rich man had no faith , look where it got them . There will be a lot of " nice " people in heaven weeping and gnashing their teeth " What have I done to deserve this ? They either rejected the gospel or never heard it . Watchtower is misleading , be careful of them . Read 2 John :7 -11

Answer 9

Does anyone besides me think Bill has an obsession With the lamb? I think he likes sheep. What a shining example of a Christian Brother, we all know that the Lamb was abused, yet Bill continues to be an @ss.
Man up Bill and move on to someone else. Or Take your meds.

Answer 10

So according to that Abraham was in heaven before Jesus goes to heaven then Jesus was a liar cause he said that he will be the first going heaven (John 3:13).

that was a parabole never happened, if you read the whole chapter you realize that Jesus wasn´t talking about hell or heaven.

if Hell is a place of torture then Jesus is the biggest sadic cause he created the hell before created humans and if he knows everything then he did it knowing tha humans will give a bad use to their free will and he did nothing to stop it only for torture us later in hell, then please don´t talk me about a "lovely" Jesus better tell me the truth , that he is a sadic and I have to accept him or he will torture me.