Posted by Jaypeeto on March 18, 1999 at 17:58:34 {MWfZlKV6ncg82}:
In Reply to: To Cygnus and ALL posted by RomGabe on March 17, 1999 at 16:56:26:
I can't speak for anyone else,
but I reject Watchtowerism for the very reason that once led me to ACCEPT it: it's claim to be the restoration of the FAITH-SYSTEM held to by the early Christian churches of the first two
centuries(basic doctrines NOT INCLUDING their Modern Prophetic Speculations about Dates).
I have dug and dug, and I find
a) nobody IN the mainstream of early Christian thought held to the basic set of doctrines essential to
Watchtowerism
AND
b) Nobody (sects, movements) OUTSIDE the mainstream of early Christian thought held to
the basic set of doctrines held-to by Jehovah's Witnesses as a fundamental set of beliefs.
Therefore, there were no doctrinal "Jehovah's Witnesses" INSIDE or OUTSIDE the early church, and thus, nobody "apostasized" from ancient Watchtowerism. Thus, Watchtowerism isn't the "restoration" of ANYTHING, but is rather, an entirely NEW religious system of doctrine, utterly unheard of prior to the Russellites.
Jaypeeto :)