Monday, May 28, 2012

Guided By Holy Spirt, Yet Uninspired?

It is a strange concept that the JWs are leaning on. But you can find it plastered throughout their literature. They do, in fact, claim to be guided by the holy spirit. Naturally this claim would be made. Really, who would follow a religion that claimed that the holy spirit was not guiding them? We can check out a few quotes pulled from various articles.

"We will also increase our joy if we prayerfully and diligently study God's spirit - inspired Word and Christian publications prepared under the spirit's guidance." Watchtower1992 Mar 15 pp.21-22

"When the time comes to clarify a spiritual matter in our day, holy spirit helps responsible representatives of the faithful and discreet slave at world headquarters to discern deep truths that were not previously understood. (Matt. 24:45; 1 Cor. 2:13) The Governing Body as a whole considers adjusted explanations. (Acts 15:6) What they learn, they publish for the benefit of all." Watchtower 2010 Jul 15 pp.22-23

"Under the guidance of his holy spirit and on the basis of his Word of truth, Jehovah provides what is needed so that all of God's people may be "fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought" and remain "stabilized in the faith." (1 Cor. 1:10; Col. 2:6, 7) Surely we are grateful for Jehovah's spiritual provisions in these last days. Thus, "the faithful and discreet slave" does not endorse any literature, meetings, or Web sites that are not produced or organized under its oversight."
Kingdom Ministry Sep 2007 US Edition

"Third, holy spirit is at work in bringing Bible truths to light." Watchtower 2010 Apr 15 p.10 Holy Spirits Role in the Outworking of Jehovahs Purpose


"Consider, too, the fact that Jehovah's organization alone, in all the earth, is directed by God's holy spirit or active force. Watchtower 1973 Jul 1 p.402


"The Watchtower is not the instrument of any man or set of men, nor is it published according to the whims of men. No man's opinion is expressed in The Watchtower. God feeds his own people, and surely God uses those who love and serve him according to his own will. Those who oppose The Watchtower are not capable of discerning the truth that God is giving to the children of his organization, and this is the very strongest proof that such opposers are not of God's organization." Watchtower 1931 Nov 1 p.327

"It is vital that we appreciate this fact and respond to the directions of the "slave" as we would to the voice of God, because it is His provision." Watchtower 1957 Jun 15 p.370

It is very clear that the JWs believe that God's holy spirit is guiding them in all of their decisions, literature, interpretations, and that any member of the JW community must follow the direction of the slave class representatives since the spirit is guiding them.

But then they claim that they are not infallible, that they are not inspired by God.

"The Governing Body consists of a group of anointed Christian men These preside over the worldwide activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. They are not inspired by God and hence are not infallible, but they rely on God's infallible Word as the highest authority on earth." Jehovah's Witnesses - Unitedly Doing God's Will Worldwide p.26

"The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Their writings are not inspired as are those of Paul and the other Bible writers." Awake! 1993 Mar 22 p.4


If you look up the definition of each word, you will see that it is impossible to claim that you can be guided by the holy spirit but remain uninspired by God. Note the following.

Definition of Infallible.

1. not erring: incapable of making a mistake

2. incapable of failing: certain not to fail

3. unerring in doctrine: incapable of being mistaken in matters of doctrine and dogma


Synonyms-- perfect, right, flawless, correct, exact, faultless, accurate, unerring, unfailing.


Definition of Inspire.
1. stimulate somebody to do something: to encourage somebody to greater effort, enthusiasm, or creativity
2. provoke particular feeling: to arouse a particular feeling in somebody
3. cause creative activity: to stimulate somebody to do something, especially creative or artistic work
4. to affect, guide, or arouse by divine influence


So to claim that God is using His holy spirit to guide them, by definition it is pretty easy to see that this would also mean that God is inspiring them. Why would God use the holy spirit to guide them into false understandings of His written word, the bible, and then allow them to preach these false understandings to the public for several years? Yet it is this reasoning that allowed them to make the following claims.


"Jehovah God has made known to his anointed ones in advance what these scriptures mean." Watchtower 1931 Jun 1 p.160




"Jehovah's people confess no powers of inspiration today" Watchtower 1952 Apr 15 p.253



HUH??? That makes no sense to anyone that looks into this matter without realizing WHY they use this line of reasoning. The reason is very simple. They do this to cover over past errors. They do not want to explain why they made errors in interpretations after claiming that God's holy spirit guides them into proper understanding of the bible. They even try to reinforce the idea that they make no mistakes with comments such as,


"To this day the Governing Body follows similar guidelines. Each article in both The Watchtower and Awake! and every page, including the artwork, is scrutinized by selected members of the Governing Body before it is printed. Therefore, you can read The Watchtower and Awake! with confidence." Watchtower 1987 Mar 1 p.15


"Christ used his authority by actively leading his congregation on earth. He did this by means of the holy spirit, the angels, and the governing body made up of the 12 apostles and the elders of the Jerusalem congregation. Jesus stated that he would be with his disciples right up to the conclusion of the system of things, where we now are. In the following article, we will see how he is still the active Head of the Christian congregation and how he is leading his "sheep" today." Watchtower 1987 Aug 1 p.15


So apparently even though Jesus is actively leading his congregation, and he would be with them right up to the end of this system of things, they remain uninspired. And these uninspired ones can examine their own literature and filter out any mistake found. So you should be confident that what you are reading is correct.....except it might not be because they are not inspired by God.


If you are a current member of the JW religion, how confident are you to follow them when they claim that God is guiding them, giving them a proper understanding, yet in the same breath can claim to be not inspired (or guided) by God? Not only is that a lie, it is a very deceptive manuever to cover over past mistakes that expose them as a false religion.

Consider this quote from the May 1, 1997 watchtower p. 8

JEHOVAH GOD is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers. He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true. Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers. How does he expose them? He frustrates their signs and predictions. In this way he shows that they are self-appointed prognosticators, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning—yes, their foolish, fleshly thinking!


By their own words, the jws state that Jehovah frustrates the signs and predictions made by false messengers. Yet there is no mention of human imperfection or being uninspired when they apply this to others. If you can't see the blatant hypocrisy of the jws, you need to take off the blinders that you are wearing and look again. Their own literature has exposed them once again.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Paradise Earth?

The phrase is quite common in the jw realm. It is, after all, the grand prize for those that are considered to be part of the Great Crowd. If you make it past Armageddon, you will be one of the first ones to enter that new world, but even if you should die, you can be resurrected and join the survivors later on. That is their selling pitch for you to convert to their religion. The prospect of living forever in a paradise earth is a very appealing concept to the average person that struggles along in our modern day world.

It is important then, if this is a realistic possibilty, to examine this from some different perspectives. These are the points I will be covering on this topic.

1. The actual scriptures with the word "paradise" in it.

2. The Genesis account.

3. The time beyond the 1,000 years according to Revelation.


There are only 4 verses in the  New World Translation bible mentioning paradise.

Song of Solomon 4:13--Your skin is a paradise of pomegranates, with the choicest fruits, henna plants along with spikenard plants;

This one cannot be used to support the claim since it is describing a woman's beauty.

Luke 23: 42, 43--And he went on to say: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.”

How can he "be with Jesus" if he is on earth while Jesus is in heaven? One could argue that Jesus would be with him in spirit, but there are too many verses in opposition to that line of reasoning. (see Matt. 5:11-12, 6:20-21, 7:21,  8:11, 19:21, 1 Cor. 15:42-50, Hebrews 11:13-16,  etc.)

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 "I know a man in union with Christ who, fourteen years ago-whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows-was caught away as such to the third heaven. 3 Yes, I know such a man-whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows- 4 that he was caught away into paradise and heard unutterable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak."

Caught away to heaven? Caught away to paradise? You be the judge.

Revelation 2:7 "Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregations: To him that conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."    

But the watchtower has already identified this as heaven.

"Eating in "the Paradise of God." Revelation 2:7 mentions a "tree of life" in "the paradise of God" and that eating from it would be the privilege of the one "that conquers." Since other promises given in this section of Revelation to such conquering ones clearly relate to their gaining a heavenly inheritance (Re 2:26-28; 3:12, 21), it seems evident that "the paradise of God" in this case is a heavenly one." Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2 p.576 Paradise     
From those 4 verses, can it really be argued that paradise is referring to life on earth?  It seems that paradise points more towards heaven than it does the earth.

In the Genesis account, the instructions were as follows.

Gen 1: 28--Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”

Filling the earth and subduing it does not mean turning it into a paradise. It would be speculative reasoning to assume to know what God had intended for Adam and Eve had they not sinned. Although they began in a place called Eden, which is synonymous with paradise, there is nothing stated that the entire world was intended to be the same.

The final point to consider is found in Revelation. Chapter 20 indicates that after the 1,000 years are over, Satan is let loose once more. And again, he proceeds to turn the majority of humankind against God's people. God then sends fire from heaven down to consume the bad guys.

First, how can this happen if the world was to be made a paradise forever? Second, how could they be surrounding the beloved city if that city was in heaven? And last, does this sound like everlasting life in a paradise world?