Jehovah's Witnesses and others--Is this true?

Any of the Jehovah's Witness that tell you that they are allowed to investigate "outside" of the "inside " history of this organization is not telling the truth. For if they really knew the "real" history and the real "truth" they would not be in this organization.

You have a choice to make.

You can believe what Jehovah's Witnesses have answered.

or

You can believe what Non Jehovah's Witnesses teach about us.

If you by 'independently' mean researching what apostates write? the answer is No.

This would be like:

Going to the Jews to find out who Jesus is.

or asking a Muslim to teach you about Christians.

Do you honestly think you are going to get a truthful answer?

The few times my bible studies have shown me such material, I have found that they are 25% true, 25% total lies, and 50% 1/2 truths or opinions.

When the Pharisees couldn't disprove what Jesus said, they slandered him.

When the army officers failed to arrest Jesus, the Pharisees ridiculed them.

Opposers of truth haven't changed. They continue to slander and ridicule.

Remember it was Satan who said: "Is it really so?"

Opposers of truth haven't changed.

.

You meant acting like Korah in Numbers 16:1-27? No thanks. We don't follow something without first checking and examining before joining it. We all checked out there is to know about organization before making decision that Watch Tower is the only one Jehovah chose to represent him in modern days like the Israelites represented him in the ancient days. Micah 4:1-4 has foretold such an organization is firmly established and will be lifted up above any other organizations [hills]. Jehovah God does not allowed anyone taking up his name unless he approved them to represent him. Do you see any Christian using Jehovah God's name? No. Because Jehovah God does not approved of such group to be his people except his people Jehovah's Witnesses. -Isaiah 43:10-13.

Anything written that challenges the Jw org and their teachings, history, etc..., is deems to be apostate writings. Therefore if you are a Jw you are advised to not read such material. There is no, "you weigh up the evidence for yourself", you are just given direction to not read it for fear that you will become apostate yourself. So they are confined to all their own literature and nothing else. These are mind rules of the Jw org and it seems to work quite effectively to give them a fear that most would never challenge. It does not matter if the opposing material had credibility or not; they just would not risk it.

Watchtower 1986 March 15 pp.10-15 'Do Not Be Quickly Shaken From Your Reason'

"7 Now, what will you do if you are confronted with apostate teaching—subtle reasonings—claiming that what you believe as one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not the truth? For example, what will you do if you receive a letter or some literature, open it, and see right away that it is from an apostate? Will curiosity cause you to read it, just to see what he has to say? You may even reason: 'It won't affect me; I'm too strong in the truth. And, besides, if we have the truth, we have nothing to fear. The truth will stand the test.' In thinking this way, some have fed their minds upon apostate reasoning and have fallen prey to serious questioning and doubt. (Compare James 1:5-8.) So remember the warning at 1 Corinthians 10:12: "Let him that thinks he is standing beware that he does not fall."

All the jw's who say they can read and investigate any claims made as regards the truth or error of jw teachings, apparently did not read the above.

Ps.. there is plenty more than just the above quote.

@Rick...whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

If you truly believe what your saying, then you must then realize that you are in fact requiring all those who currently have a Christian (it is really hard to respond because I know I have lost you already, with the assumption anyone but jw can be Christian) but I will grind on with my thought. Gee it is really hard to penetrate the minds of those so indoctrinated.

By your going from door to door trying to turn or apostatize householders away from their beliefs, is in fact, what you rail at in the reverse.

How can you be so cavalier about doing the exact same thing you claim jw apostates do to you? Silly reasoning in so many ways.

The simple truth is you and the faithful slave are fearful of the fact that you may in fact have it wrong. The palpable fear of written information in the above cited Watchtower should be enough to convince you that maybe they are afraid of what is written.

Instead of turning reading and research into some demonic, Satan worshiping ritual, why not simply disprove the logic and reasoning of apostates with simple truths, the answer is simple. the fds knows that 50% of the teaching of the Watchtower are not solidly bible based, they are interpretations of myriad of scriptures, that men have collaborated to bring together to support this or that dogma.

The fds is no different than any other denomination, accept that JW's are taught to fear research and even the slightest hint of showing the falsehoods of the Watchtower is grounds for immediate closing of the book or website.

Shame on you for being so gullible in this age of information.

If your going to ask about the Jehovah's Witnesses then it is to them that you should direct the question and not to others.

It is not true.

First let's break down the action in your question. "Independent Investigation"

Independent can be defined as ----

1. free from control in action, judgment, etc.; autonomous

2. not dependent on anything else for function, validity, etc.;

3. not reliant on the support, esp financial support, of others

4. capable of acting for oneself or on one's own

Certainly Jehovah's Witnesses can be considered independent in this sense. We each individually took the time to study God's Word, and compared the truth contained in it to various faiths and beliefs. Some of us were more vigorous in that study than others, but ALL dedicated servants of Jehovah made a personal choice, based on faith AND knowledge to serve God and associate with the one religion that obeys His Word in its entirety, Jehovah's Witnesses.

We took that action on our own based on a thorough study of the Scriptures.

WE are free moral agents. The "Watchtower organization" is simply a legal designation for SOME of the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. We do not belong to the Watchtower Organization. It does not look into our activities, nor does it hold any power over our lives.

"Investigation"

1. The act or process of investigating.

2. A detailed inquiry or systematic examination.

As mentioned, Jehovah's Witnesses are very well educated in God's Word the Bible. We are encouraged to read it and meditate on it every day. We are encouraged to learn about its writers, its message, its theme, its counsel and so forth. That is the most important investigation. Learning about the bible and building faith in its authenticity is a worthwhile pursuit, and one Jehovah's Witnesses relish. In a sense we are Bible "investigators" and we eagerly encourage others to do the same. Our investigation has led us to put faith in Jehovah God, reject non - Biblical traditions, and help others to do the same.

Again investigating the "Watchtower Organization" would really not be all that exciting, even though most of us are familiar with the development of the legal bodies used by Jehovah's Witnesses or Bible Students(as they were known pre 1931). The actions of Jehovah's Witnesses from the late 1880's on are also a fascinating study, as they give great insight to a slow development of understanding, and how we as students of the Bible continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Most High God, Jehovah, and his purposes.

Again such study is certainly not monitored, or analyzed, and indeed it is encouraged.

So it is not true that Jehovah's Witnesses are prohibited from independent investigation of the Bible, Jehovah's Witnesses or the legal bodies used by Jehovah's Witnesses.

EDIT: Of course the majority of opposers who frequent this site will completely disagree with the above words. One issue that opposers get confused with is intent.

There are many Scriptural warnings against talking and inquiring of an "apostate" -

disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.

The Bible book of Jude in particular warns against such type individuals. Apostates are not reliable sources of information. They have not stayed true to their beliefs and are not interested in imparting unbiased information or helping out those who are curious. They provide only biased information, only negative information, or at the very least are interested in sowing doubts or dissensions or getting others to conform to their views. Relying on apostate information for making decisions would be like going to an opposing parties website for information about your favorite candidate. Oh that website will have plenty of info, but dollars to donuts it will be biased at the very least.

Apostate views are quite safely described as poison.

Nonetheless, Jehovah's Witnesses are free to read the material provided by apostate's -- but the Bible's warning should be clear, and some have ignored this warning and now join in the attack on Jehovah's people.

So while Jehovah's Witnesses are independent investigators they - thanks to divine wisdom from the Bible - are wise enough to detect an extremely biased source and disregard it.

In this sense they are like numerous historians and researchers who ignore biased material.

So while opposers may howl that Jehovah's Witnesses never go to THEIR websites for info, they ignore the fact that even in this case Jehovah's Witnesses are adhering to Bible standards.

EDIT: For Big Guy. Thank you for calling me a liar, and for implying that I am being deceived. Pray tell, where exactly is this "real" history located. I have examined several websites that purport to tell this "real" history and the only difference I have noticed is that these websites focus on the conflicts between imperfect men. Most of Jehovah's Witnesses are familiar with the various issues that have been raised by opposers. To imply that we are deceived when we have the Holy Word of God in front of us every day is very insulting.

We are encouraged to check things out and ask questions. Often the account of the Beroeans is given as examples of being students of the Bible.

(Acts 17:10-11) 10 Immediately by night the brothers sent both Paul and Silas out to Be·roe′a, and these, upon arriving, went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni′ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.

There is a difference from being a critic or a student. You will find many sites on the internet of those critics but what they measure our faith by is their opinion and not the scriptures.

@danman

There is a difference too, between people are critics of our beliefs, and those that are deliberating trying to tear down some one's faith. The apostates know that they are not giving any thing except hate and poison. They use lies (often quoted here on Y!A) and deceptive questioning. Like the Devil who's opening words "Is it true that God said you can't eat from the trees of the garden?", they seek to establish contact based on twisted questions.

When I was young in the truth, I picked up a copy of some of the books out then, and the pure outrageous lies and self justification of their apostate decisions made my blood pressure shoot through the roof. I understand that they are "marketing" their product to those seeking to find an excuse to walk away or to Christendom's ministers.

So, a few times I have been "baited" to one of their sites, but as soon as I see their focus or intent, I close my browser. I agree 100% with that section that you quoted.

Edited for additional thought.

The first principle I learned about Jehovah's Witnesses is their openness. Our meetings are open, our literture we have placed around the world, and even people who hate us, have copies of it as seen by Mr. Danman.

Any of Jehovah's Witnesses can ask another about a question. If they don't know the answer, then they can ask one of the elders. If the elder can't find an answer, they can ask back at the branch. So, in less than 4 steps we can seek help from the highest sources. Sometimes there are no answers, because the Bible doesn't say.

For example, will we eat meat in the New World?

No basis either way can be determined from the scriptures. So some of us who can't look into the big brown eyes of cow and kill it, may become fruit pickers again, like Adam and Eve. Others may look at that same cow, and see T-bone steaks. We just don't know until we get there.

As for the organizational matters, we trust in something most people can not understand. That is Jesus Christ has authority over his brothers and will direct them when he sees that something needs to be improved. Like bringing an end to "elections" for the congregation positions of responibility and directing the appointment based off the standards of the scriptures for elders and servants.

Some of those who no longer in a position back in the 30s became apostates, since they served not for the glory of God, but for their own glory and a sense of power.

HMM, I am Jehovah's witness. What you have heard is untrue. Once we become Jehovah's witness, It is because we already investigated it! I can go or do whatever I please. And what I please is to be pleasing To My king Jesus, and My God Jehovah. simple really. It is impossible to not look around first, wouldn't you? Btw I am a follower of The Christ, I read daily the bible, and live by it's standards, not those set by men. It is not a religion! It is a way of life.An Apostate is en -x JW who goes around trying to injure us and our reputation by lying. We know they lie, but how could you know it, if you do not know us? So, investigation Is a Good thing and we encourage it! That is the truth.

No, it's not true. And it's silly, just another of the many false things opposers say and write about Jehovah's Witnesses.

Investigating is not the same thing as telling lies to draw people away from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Most of us investigated the organization before becoming Witnesses, and continue to compare what we learn and teach with what the Bible says.

The Bible must be the touchstone of any investigation.

It is more likely true that opposers are upset because Jehovah's Witnesses DO investigate the organization, and the overwhelming majority find it to be doing God's will, and loyally work along with it.

This greatly disturbs our envious opposers, but that's their problem.