Agree or disagree? For the Christians the Bible is the final authority, but for the JWs their 'governing body'

Question

is the final authority because their organization claims to be the only channel of communication between God and people. It does not really matter what the Bible clearly says because they they only believe what the organization tells them the verse means.

( ATTN!Their several failed prophecies )

JC: You are wrong, I have not used any web site.
However, I study books by Rhrodes, Geisler, Lingle etc. And that web site you mention might use them too. I trust real Bible scholars.

I get my Bible study from my church's small groups. But I study JW doctrines to understand where you go wrong.

Answer 1

I can't believe these Jehovah's Witnesses are lying (okay, yes I can).

They are really "whitewashing" the truth like they always do.

First off, I am a Jehovah's Witness as well, but a more honest one among the bunch on YA.

The governing body IS the final authority. If a Jehovah's Witness finds something in the bible that contradicts "Society" teaching, they are told to "just wait until the light gets brighter"

If the bible was TRULY the final authority. Then light would not change so often. Especially if that LIGHT was written in the scriptures long before "society" figured it out.

The bible has ALWAYS said (Matthew 24:36)

“Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father."

and again Paul warned us at

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-2) . . .However, brothers, respecting the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we request of YOU not to be quickly shaken from YOUR reason nor to be excited either through an inspired expression or through a verbal message or through a letter as though from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here."

and YET it took the organization YEARS to stop predicting when the end would be.

So I AGREE with your statement because it is a SAD but TRUE reality.

Answer 2

Hi Tower, I think you make a valid point but they can't grasp the logic of your question. The fact that they voted on things goes to show the world that they didn't have nor have an inkling of truth. Truth is truth, and can't be voted one way or the other. It's either true or false and no number of votes can change this fact. This is why he had a crises of conscience. Mr. Franz was a good man that saw through the thin veil of hypocrisy of the Governing Body, and when he voiced that concern, the wolves in sheep's clothing ostracized him and then disfellowshipped him. But the truth is Ray Franz couldn't be part of a lying organization and keep a pure heart if his conscience felt guilty. This shows his heart was indeed in the right place, and it speaks volumes of the heart condition of the other GB members. YHWH will have a good reward for Ray Franz. Their voting on matters is no different then the way the Catholics Cardinals burn votes on paper to pick a new Pope. They are playing with the "chance hypothesis". This is just a gamble nothing more, and I'm sure YHWH is not pleased with their playing games with peoples lives. Many will never read Ray's book, so they'll never know the truth of what really goes on behind closed doors. The ones that have the nerve to read it will have a crisis of conscience of their own. This is why they are discouraged to read anything coming from an apostate as they call us. But even here they are hypocrites, because they answer and ask questions to apostates all day long on Yahoo Answers. Again, pray for these people to find the truth. No offense meant to the Catholics or the JW'S here. I'm just drawing a comparison to make a point. Hi Jese, Have you read Ray's book? How do you know who's telling the truth here...you don't do you. You may be defending the wrong people, but you won't know unless you seek the real truth of the matter. Satan is an angel of light and can fool you too if you aren't careful. This is why people need to search out the truth. And what makes the truth so hard to find here is the fact that the GB doesn't want you reading that book...why do you think that is? For your protection, or theirs? Don't be so afraid of the truth. This is why Jesus said the truth will set you free. Hi Truthbearer, I fell for it too, but I was only twenty and very naive. It looked legit until the internet exposed them for who they really are. I never realized how much manipulation was involved until it was exposed to me, but the fact is I left before I fully understood their deception. I left a bit nervous and wondering if I did the right thing. I now know this was due to their programming techniques, and these too went away when the truth about them was shown to me. It was a very good thing that I left. I now see the truth behind their false claims. The truth really does set people free. I am free from their deceptions.

Answer 3

the following quotation may address your question. It is not from a Watchtower site, but does give a citation.
"A mature Christian...does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor 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 1, 2001 p. 14 paragraph 8
The 'faithful and discreet slave' is the living remnant of the 144,000 - it is actually the Governing Body of the slave that does the work.
in other words a JW will say that he or she reads the Bible and it is obvious what is true in the Bible, but only with the help of the publications of the Watchtower Society, since It has the obligation of helping men know the truth.
ps I disagree that "for Christians the Bible is the final authority" - the Protestant reformation was fought on the primacy of individual interpretation and conscience, not 'the Bible'. "People of the Book" is from the Koran, not Christianity. JW, LDS, Catholics, and Orthodox all agree on the primacy of the Bible and the Church as pillar and foundation of the truth.

Answer 4

There are a minority of the Wt JWs that dare put the Bible's word above the GB's.

However, they have to be cautious as serpents and as voiceless about it -- that is, if they do not want to be disfellowshiped for 2 John 9,10 erroneous application.

Many elders do not dare speak out on personal opinion about what a particular scripture may mean. This trend has worsened in the last 30 years.

Actually, from about the moment of when the GB was installed in ca 75 (I think). It began with a witch hunt in the Ray Franz incident in which numerous others were disfellowshiped because of differing in opinion in regards to 1914, and to 607BCE (Ray found no background for that date, but found 586BC to be the historic one - I think)

Ray was disfellowshiped for having been seen eating with a person that had withdrawn from the organization willingly.

At my profile my web address is available. At the bottom there are two pages. An attempt at strict by the Bible adherence has been seriously made. The subjects are the Faithful and Discreet Slave and The Pillars of Faith or a Governing Body.

I have not targeted anyone on those pages, but the truth of the Bible has been the target, the goal and the purpose.

Answer 5

What I dont understand is the new light thing. This is one of many things that have been in constant change within the organization. Why would God not give a proper prophesy right off the bat? The Organization cannot possibly be wrong, right?
Because if that were the case, there would be no way tio know what to and not to believe.


Will the men of Sodom be resurrected?
Yes Watchtower 7/18/79 p. 8
No Watchtower 6/1/52 p. 338
Yes Watchtower78/1/65 p. 47g
No Watchtower7 6/1/88 p. 31
Yes Live Forever (old ed. ) p. 179
No Live Foreverr (new ed. ) p. 179
Yes Insight, vol. 2, p. 985
No Revelation. book, p. 273

Answer 6

        Well, can't really say that Christians take the Bible as their final authority, either. The Bible says a lot of things which Christians, in general, refuse to accept. To name a few:

• Seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath still binding.
• Sunday is just another work day.
• God's Feast Days are still binding.
• Unclean meats are not for food.
• Alcohol is not for drink.
• There is no hell.
• Humans have no immortal soul.
• Humans have no immortal spirit.
• The dead go nowhere except to the grave.
• etc.

God bless.

Answer 7

Certainly not. For JWs, the Bible is the authority.

It would be more accurate to say this of the RCC as it doesn't matter what the Bible says, the Pope can change it. Witness the recent ruling by the Pope that dead babies no longer are in a form of purgatory as they taught for centuries. Now they go straight on to heaven by the Popes decree.

Now the fact that the Bible does not say either of these things to be true is of no importance. Only that the Pope is the final authority of the RCC.

Sorry Nina, WRONG again.

Answer 8

No.

Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians.

Ironically, Jehovah's Witnesses are quite unique among self-described Christians in that Jehovah's Witnesses elevate the bible above the unbiblical human traditions which are cherished by Christendom.

Such practices as infant baptism, veneration of the cross, pagan interfaith (such as Saturnalia), disregard for lay-preaching by every active adherent, and disrespect for the personal name of God are among those which prove the practicer to be incompatible with biblical true worship. Sadly, it would seem that those ostensible "Christians" who relish such god-dishonoring practices most egregiously ignore the bible as their authority.

By contrast, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses is quite well-known for their rejection of paganisms, use of the divine name, and lay-preaching by every active adherent.

Its modern "Governing Body" does not and cannot supercede the bible. They merely perform a work similar to that of the first century Christian governing body, who met in Jerusalem. The bible calls that ancient group "the apostles and the older men" and also "governors of you [Christians]" (see Hebrews 13:7 or its footnote).

(Acts 15:6,23) And the apostles and the older men gathered together to see about this affair. By their hand they wrote: “The apostles and the older men, brothers, to those brothers..."

(Acts 16:4,5) Now as they traveled on through the cities they would deliver to those there for observance the decrees that had been decided upon by the apostles and older men who were in Jerusalem. Therefore, indeed, the congregations continued to be made firm in the faith and to increase in number from day to day.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/jt/index.htm?article=article_07.htm
http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/membership.htm

Answer 9

You are yet again showing your ignorance. The final authority is Gods word.

I asked you to answer a question a week ago, and you gave a response that was taken from the carm.org website. So who is actually teaching you the Bible - the site or yourself? Are you guilty of what you just said?

UPDATE:
If you actually did that, then we wouldn't have to correct you every time you ask questions here on Y!A.

When you answer our questions, you reply with a tactic to dodge whats being asked.

UPDATE:

Relentless

Are you the same guy that was scared to discuss the Bible with me?

Answer 10

Disagree, there are 42,000 Protestant denominations all claiming the bible is the final authority and unable to agree on anything. It would imply that Protestantism is anything anyone can imagine it to be, within the very broad boundaries that could be created using the bible. The very fact you are asking this question implies that you believe you and your version must be right and their interpretation of the same verses are wrong.

Are you holier than their governing body perchance?