From: "herb sutter" <herb.sutter@canrem.com>
Subject: jws: bible alone?
Reply-To: "herb sutter" <herb.sutter@canrem.com>
Organization: Canada Remote Systems
Distribution: talk
Date: 26 Sep 92 11:56:10 EST


Todd, I enjoyed your Parts 3 and 4 on Jehovah's Witnesses (I didn't see 1 and
2).  You made some good points and some misunderstood ones; as a Witness, I'd
like to address them.  Your articles were long, so I'll stick to highlights:

In <TODD.92Sep2112309#palomar.tivoli.com>, todd@palomar.tivoli.com writes:
>From The Watchtower, 12/1/1981, p. 27:
>
>  ... Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his
>  "faithful and discreet slave," made up of spirt-annointed ones ...
>  Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God
>  is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how
>  much Bible reading we do ...

Yes, I believe that's true.  The quote ended with:  "Compare Acts 8:30-40."

This is why, in Acts 8:26, the angel instructed Philip to go to this Ethiopian,
who was reading and reading the Bible.  Yet that reading alone would never be
enough; when Philip asked, "Do you actually know what you are reading?", the
man testified, "Really, how could I ever do so, unless someone guided me?"

The Ethiopian recognised that he would never progress along the road to life,
no matter how much Bible reading he did, unless he was guided by the channel of
communication Jehovah was using at that time -- in this case, the Christian
congregation, represented by Philip.

Recall that the greatest crimes in all of history (Inquisitions, Crusades,
Bible burnings, etc.) have been committed in the name of God by people who read
and studied the Bible for years.  No, just reading the Bible is not enough.

>The WTS claims to be the one right religion

Yes; if we didn't believe it was the right religion, we'd change to the one we
thought was right.

There cannot be more than one true religion.  All religions disagree in at
least a few beliefs (else they wouldn't be different), yet for each belief only
one view can be correct.  For instance, either a fiery hell exists or it does
not; either God is triune or He is not; either fornication is acceptable to God
or it is not.

There is at most one religion which has no incorrect beliefs (if there were
another, it would differ from the original in at least one belief and by
definition would then contain an incorrect belief).  Therefore it is not
conceited to say there must be only one true religion.  Finding out which one
it is, of course, is another matter; we can find out which it is by comparison
with the Bible (e.g., John 13:35 is a good starting point).

>[1] Does the WTS claim to be God's organization?

The Watchtower Society is just a legal corporation, required by law so that
Jehovah's Witnesses can perform all the activities associated with our global
educational work and Kingdom-preaching ministry.  (Matthew 24:14; 28:19,20) It
is created under secular law and can be dissolved by the same.

The global brotherhood of Jehovah's Witnesses on the other hand, which uses the
WTB&TS as a legal instrument, is (we believe) created under divine law and
cannot be dissolved by government or legal action.  It is, we believe, God's
_earthly_ organisation (a small part of a much greater universal organisation).

I just wanted to make the distinction that "the WTS" is a legal entity _used_
by "God's organization".

>[2] How must we obtain information from God?  Is reading the Bible
>    alone enough?  Who acts as God's channel on earth?

We must obtain information from Jehovah primarily through his Word, the Bible.
More is needed beyond just reading the Bible (see above).  Jesus prophesied
that Jehovah's chosen channel would be a "faithful and discreet slave" class;
we can identify who that is in these last days by comparing all religions
claiming to be Christian with the Bible's standards and seeing who alone meets
them; they must be Jehovah's organisation, cared for by that "slave".

For instance, in these last days, what global organisation is fulfilling the
prophecies in Isaiah 2:2-4, Matthew 24:14, John 13:35, etc.?  We feel that only
Jehovah's Witnesses do.  This is something that I'd be happy to pursue at much
greater length, as I'm confident that the evidence is plain and compelling.

>[4] If the Witnesses are right could any other religion be a true religion
>    too? If the WTS is the one true religion should it always be in the truth?
>    If the WTS is not always in the truth is it the one true religion?

No; it should always be progressing to more accurate truth (Proverbs 4:18); and
yes as long as it holds fast to the truth to the degree God has so far revealed
it (Daniel 12:4,9,10), respectively.  (Boy, am I glossing over a lot in saying
it this briefly -- you realise that each of those questions deserves a full
article's worth as a reply!)  :-) More in the next followup...

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