Monday, May 26, 2014

Baptism.

Baptism is an important step for an individual wanting to join the Jehovah's Witnesses. The person is dedicating their life to Jehovah God, and they are also being identified as a Jehovah's Witness in association with God's spirit directed organization. Since this is such an important event for anyone that may desire to do this, it is only right to examine what is involved. What was required for those in the bible to get baptized?  How does that differentiate from the modern day requirements for one to become a Jehovah's Witness? Should there be an age requirement? I will take a look at these things and break down what is involved here.

Let's look at a few scriptures.

Mark 1:4, 5--"And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River."

Acts 19:4--"Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus."

Acts 2:38-- Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Acts 8:35-38---"Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him."

Acts 16:31-33---They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.…

The repentance of sins, and to believe in Jesus. But then....why did Jesus get baptized? He hadn't sinned. And, well, he WAS Jesus.

Matt. 3:15--"Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.


Jesus was baptized because he was obedient to God’s commands, including the prescribed rites for entrance into the priesthood.  (Ex. 29:4, Lev. 8:6) To be a great high priest after the order of Melchizedek, he needed the ritual washing. If he hadn’t submitted to baptism he would have had a sin to repent of in baptism! Instead, Jesus is baptized as part of his total life of obedience to the Father’s will. One needs a perfect righteousness to be saved, and Jesus gives his, which includes his baptism.


So the outline back then was pretty simple. Now let's look at what is required to be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness. 

You have to study the bible with a jw on a regular basis. This is usually accomplished by using one of their publications that they say is bible based. Once you learn their doctrines, you will be asked to apply what you have learned in your life. This involves regularly attending their meetings held at a local Kingdom Hall. Praying regularly is also required. You will be told to recognize the authority of the faithful and discreet slave. At Matthew 24:45 Jesus asked: "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?" The leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses are a group of eight men known as the Governing Body. To become one of Jehovah's Witnesses means accepting the authority of these men, who it is believed are providing spiritual food at the proper time. For example, The Watchtower of July 15, 2013 said "It is vital that we recognize the faithful slave. Our spiritual health and our relationship with God depend on this channel." (page 20)  Then you will be asked to become an unbaptized publisher. Speak to your Bible study conductor and the congregation elders to find out how you can qualify to preach about Jehovah house to house along with Jehovah's Witnesses. Meet with your local elders to determine if and when you are ready for baptism. If you qualify, then arrangements will be made for your public declaration of dedication to Jehovah through water-immersed baptism at a public meeting (usually assembles and conventions). Of course, the elders are going to run you through a 104 questionnaire about jw doctrines in front of 3 elders to make sure that you understand those doctrines clearly. And then, finally, the person gets to answer two questions in front of a public audience before full water immersion. The two questions?


The first question is:
On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?

The second is:
Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization? Having answered yes to these questions, candidates are in a right heart condition to undergo Christian baptism." Watchtower 1985 Jun 1 p.30

Do you see what is happening here? Instead of simply believing in Jesus and repenting of sin, you are walking into a trap. How? Well, once you say that you recognize the authority of the faithful and discreet slave, you MUST FOLLOW what they instruct you to do WITHOUT QUESTION. Jesus is somehow set aside. Once you submit to this, they gain control of every facet of your life. Everyone other than jws will be phased out of your life. And should a time come when you begin to question anything, you run the risk of getting disfellowshipped. 

Considering that the jws claim to follow the 1st century Christians as close as possible, there are some very blatant differences when it comes to water baptism.

Jesus was against swearing a vow/oath.

Matt. 5:33-37---"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.' But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one."

Yet you are required to publicly swear an oath that will make you submit to the "spirit directed organization."

And those wanting to be baptized in the 1st century were not run through a gauntlet of questions. Granted, they did not have a complete bible from which to learn from. But why stray away from the qualifications that were set at that point in time? The argument could be made that they want to be sure that one understands bible teachings thoroughly before a lifetime commitment. But they don't use the bible as a strict guide. They use one, or several of their publications that are "bible-based" that one must eventually accept as truth.

The final point is about age requirement. 


March 15 1998 WT p. 14   "In full recognition of this requirement, Jehovah’s Witnesses advocate the dedicating of oneself to God, but they never coerce anyone into making such a dedication, not even their own children. In contrast with many churches, the Witnesses do not baptize their offspring as infants, as if it were possible to force them into dedication without the benefit of personal choice."

This is written to oppose infant baptism. They make it clear that someone needs to be old enough to be able to make a personal choice....WITHOUT COERCION.   Really? Then what about these examples?

June 1 1998 WT p. 22   " Many children buck against the routine of a family study. Should this stop parents from conducting the study when planned? No, certainly not. “Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy [or, girl],” acknowledges Proverbs 22:15. 

 1975 WT p. 319    It is proper that a Christian parent require children to attend Christian meetings. God’s Word admonishes: “You children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.” “Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it." Proverbs 22:6

March 15 WT p. 17      It is not enough merely to attend the meetings. We must listen carefully, paying attention to what is said there. (Proverbs 7:24) This includes our children. When a child goes to school, he is expected to pay attention to the teacher, even when a particular subject does not appeal to him or seems beyond his grasp. The teacher knows that if the child tries to pay attention, he will derive at least some benefit from the lesson. Is it not reasonable, then, for school-age children to pay attention to the instruction provided at congregation meetings rather than be allowed to fall asleep as soon as the meeting begins? True, among the precious truths found in the Scriptures are “some things hard to understand.” (2 Peter 3:16) But we should not underestimate a child’s ability to learn. God does not. In Bible times, he commanded his young servants to ‘listen and learn and fear Jehovah and take care to carry out all the words of this law,’ some of which doubtless were hard for children to understand. (Deuteronomy 31:12; compare Leviticus 18:1-30.) Does Jehovah expect any less of children today? 

"Christian parents realize that their children’s spiritual needs are partly filled by what they learn at the meetings. Hence, some parents arrange for their children to take a nap before the meetings so that they will arrive at the Kingdom Hall refreshed and ready to learn. Certain parents may strictly limit or even wisely rule out television viewing for their children on meeting nights. (Ephesians 5:15, 16) And such parents keep distractions to a minimum, encouraging their children to listen and to learn, in accordance with their age and ability.—Proverbs 8:32.

NO COERCION???  Wait, it gets worse. 

WT 1964 p. 644   "“When it was stressed that it was the parents’ responsibility to see that children had daily Bible instruction, I decided to set aside time for daily Bible reading,” she said. “This raised a howl of protest from my boys, ages seven, five and three, as it always seemed to come at their most enjoyable time. After the account of creation they lost interest, and the howls grew louder as I turned off the television every night and announced it was time for Bible reading. Many times I sat with the Bible in one hand and the rod of correction in the other. However, day by day the antagonism eased, and now, three years later, they not only are willing listeners but ask to have the Bible read and take part in reading and even want me to quiz them on what we have read."

Yes, better to take a quiz than to take a beating. Or they can threaten them with the fear of death angle.

WT 1965 p. 175-176   " Contrariwise, the “goats” who are to be executed as “cursed” persons will include the religionists who stay inside Babylon the Great till she is destroyed forever; also, the religionists who are the modern-day part of the composite “man of lawlessness,” “the son of destruction”; also, the symbolic “tares,” that is, the “weeds,” “the sons of the wicked one” (Matt. 13:25-30, 38-42); also, those political “kings,” their military commanders, their cavalrymen, the freemen and the slaves, the great and the small, all of whom are lined up at Armageddon, but not on the side of the King of kings and Lord of lords.—Rev. 19:18-21.  The “goats” would also include those husbands and wives who have believing marriage partners but who, in spite of the good example of their believing marriage mates, are found to be still unbelievers in the day and at the hour of the execution of God’s judgment against this enemy world; also, the children of a believing parent or the children of believing parents (fathers and mothers), which children were once “holy” as minors, as unresponsible children, but who have grown up to responsible years and have refused to become dedicated, baptized believers by the time that divine execution upon the “goats” begins.—1 Cor. 7:12-16.

Responsible years. In your own opinion, how old does a person need to be to be able to make responsible decisions? In our modern day society, you need to be of a certain age in order to drive a car, get a job, or purchase alcohol. And since the Watchtower Society is strongly against the baptism of infants, the person should be old enough to understand jw doctrines, the importance of a lifelong dedication to God. And this choice is made again, "Without Coercion" from parents, or others. But more often than not, they allow children to get baptized at ages ranging from 7 to 14 years old. Not only do they not fully grasp what they are teaching, as time goes by, their views and opinions might change. And as we seen from previous articles, the threat of being beaten or executed if you remain unbaptized looms largely in the balance of one's decision. 

How can a child overcome that?