Posted by N.H. on March 14, 1999 at 04:26:24 {MW9IiWp1hZTKA}:
I have now edited this message to conform with Ricks "new" rules. Let us see how long this message will survive this time. I look forward to see Rick's fancy explanation of why it was removed this time.
Changes That Disturb People
Was the title of an article in 22 of April 1970, Awake! Magazine. As the title indicates people became disturbed by certain changes. What changes? Let the Awake! Tell us:
*** g70 4/22 8 Changes That Disturb People ***
Oh yes, how awful. Millions of Catholics have of course been shocked by all the doctrine shift�s of the church. How wonderful it must be a JW, because we all know that the Watchtower Society NEVER changes anything.
*** g70 4/22 8 Changes That Disturb People ***
The businessman from Colombia certainly raised some interesting questions which indeed demands some answers. Maybe they should ring some bells with the JW�s as well.
Anyway, the changes that was so shocking to the
poor Catholics was as follows:
*** g70 4/22 8-10 Should Meat Be Eaten on Friday? ***
Imagine that! Some Catholics even regarded this as �a law of Almighty God� and then (gasp) it was CHANGED!! No wonder they were upset. But Awake! continue to milk this subject for all its worth.
*** g70 4/22 8-10 Should Meat Be Eaten on Friday? ***
*** g70 4/22 8-10 Should Meat Be Eaten on Friday? ***
The Awake! article indeed raises interesting and good questions. It would indeed be disturbing for a sincere Christian when the church that he belong to for many years claim that something is a deadly sin and then suddenly it isn�t. This would be especially disturbing if that church claimed to be the only true Church. In defense of the Catholic Church it can be said that not eating meat on Friday�s didn�t put anybody�s life in jeapordy. A stupid and inconvenient rule, yes, but hardly lethal.
The superior and indignant tone of the Awake! article indicates that something like this could of course not take place in the Watchtower Society. Jehovah�s Organization are of course different from those �man made�. To display such shifts in doctrine is of course unknown for Jehovah�s �Channel of communication�. Or is it?
Lets investigate and see what we will find. In the 60thies when transplants was in its beginning the Watchtower wrote:
*** w61 8/1 480 Questions from Readers ***
As correctly pointed out there
wasn�t anything in the Scriptures about this so it would be up to the individual, and there should be no critizism of the decision. Then in 1967 another Question from the readers gave this answer:
*** w67 11/15 702 Questions from Readers ***
*** w80 3/15 31 Questions from Readers ***
The Catholic�s �meat of Friday� change, completely pale in significance compared with this insane mess of wishy washy rules who puts peoples life and health in danger. Look at how
the Awake! ridicule of the Catholic�s approach to the Bible:
*** g70 4/22 8-10 Should Meat Be Eaten on Friday? ***
Oh, dear. You can�t find anywhere in the Bible instructions about refraining �from eating meat on any Friday�. Yet the same complete lack in the Bible of instructions about refraining from transplants, didn�t stop the Governing Body from presenting them as �a law of Almighty God�. That this so obviously wasn�t �a requirement of God� didn�t seem to bother them a bit. But of course Catholic�s has every reason for being disturbed and upset. JW�s obviously hasn�t.
*** g70 4/22 8-10 Should Meat Be Eaten on Friday? ***
According to Awake! this shift in doctrine had the effect that �truth-seekers� now could se that: �the Catholic Church has not been holding strictly to God�s Word.� Apparently there is no reason for any �truth-seekers� to draw such conclusions about the Watchtower Society despite the fact that their changes are far more serious.
Imagine what would happen if a Witness �in Medell�n, Colombia,� had expressed these questions: �how can I have confidence in anything? How can I believe in the Bible, in God, or have faith? Just ten years ago we Jehovah�s Witnesses had the absolute truth, we put all our faith in this. Now the Governing Body and our elders are telling us this is not the way to believe any more, but we are to believe �new things.� How do I know the �new things� will be the truth in five years?�
Let us do another experiment, lets take another part of the Awake! article and substitute Catholic with JW, etc and see how well these things fit the Watchtower:
The Effect
The effect upon many devout Jehovah�s Witnesses has been devastating. �All these years I
thought it was a sin to take an organ transplant,� explained a housewife in the midwestern United States. �Now I suddenly find out it isn�t a sin. That�s hard to understand.� If you are a Jehovah�s Witness, can you understand how a practice that was
considered by the Society a �mortal sin� can suddenly be approved? if it was a sin 13 years ago, why is it not today? Many Jehovah�s Witnesses cannot understand. When a woman in Canada was asked how she felt about the changes in her religion,
she replied: �I don�t know. Maybe you can tell me. What are they going to do with all those people who was disfellowshipped for accepting an organ transplant?� Not just a few Jehovah�s Witnesses have asked such questions. The change in teaching
has shaken their confidence in the Society. Would you not feel the same way if what you had always been taught to be vital for salvation was suddenly considered unnecessary? Would you not be inclined to question other teachings of your
church also?
Why don�t we see such relevant questions posed by Jehovah�s Witnesses. Because the person asking them would immediately find himself outside the organization. It is only Catholic�s and others who can afford the luxury of being �disturbed� by doctrinal changes.
Jehovah�s Witnesses have of course no reason to do so. When the teachings of the Watchtower changes it is of course an entirely different matter.
*** rs 205 Jehovah's Witnesses ***
Why have there been
changes over the years in the teachings of Jehovah�s Witnesses?
The Catholic�s of course not being Jehovah�s servants cannot claim that they understand God�s purpose in a progressive manner. I mean when the Prophet�s of old didn�t understand what
they were writing how can one expect that the GB should understand it.
They have time and time again demonstrated their inability to understand anything in the Bible. So when Catholic�s realized how utterly unbiblical the �meat on Friday�
ban was and simply stopped the charade, that would lead to �truth-seekers� realizing that they was less than �strict� with the Bible. Jehovah�s Witnesses are unlike these detestable Catholic�s �willing humbly to make adjustments.�
The moral of this matter is that when other religions make doctrinal shift�s, that is a a matter of great concern for their members who the has every reason to be upset, disturbed etc. Sincere �truth-seekers� should then realize that: �the Catholic Church has not been holding strictly to God�s Word.�
When Jehovah�s Witnesses does much more serious full circle shifts from regarding transplant as a individual decision to regarding it as cannibalism back to being an individual choise. It is painted as understanding God�s purpose in a �progressive manner�, and perfectly in order. You can say whatever you want about the Watchtower Society, but honesty isn�t one of their most noticeable characters.
Norm.