PJ54
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Sunday, August 14 2022Make me know your ways, O Jehovah; teach me your paths.—Ps. 25:4.
What a student learns on a Bible study should appeal not just to his mind but also to his heart. Why? Our heart—which includes our desires, emotions, and feelings—motivates us to action. Jesus used logical reasoning that appealed to the mind. But people followed him because he also stirred their heart. (Luke 24:15, 27, 32) Your student needs to see Jehovah as a real Person, someone with whom he can develop a relationship, and to see Him as his Father, his God, and his Friend. (Ps. 25:5) During the Bible study, make our God’s personality come alive. (Ex. 34:5, 6; 1 Pet. 5:6, 7) Regardless of the topic you are discussing, focus attention on the kind of Person Jehovah is. Help the student to appreciate Jehovah’s beautiful qualities—his love, kindness, and compassion. Jesus said that “the greatest and first commandment” is to “love Jehovah your God.” (Matt. 22:37, 38) Try to instill deep love for God in your student’s heart. w20.10 10 ¶12
Examining the Scriptures Daily—2022
Are Jehovah's Witnesses part of a cult?
In recent years, especially since the advent of the Internet, the Watchtower Society has been increasingly cast as a secretive and dangerous cult. Various outreach groups have as their goal rescuing Jehovah's Witnesses from the clutches of the Watchtower. Some of those who accuse Jehovah's...
e-watchman.com
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses part of a cult? Part 1
March 7th, 2013
In recent years, especially since the advent of the Internet, the Watchtower Society has been increasingly cast as a secretive and dangerous cult. Various outreach groups have as their goal rescuing Jehovah’s Witnesses from the clutches of the Watchtower. Some of those who accuse Jehovah’s Witnesses of being members of a cult do so for the reason that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity. But that is simply ridiculous. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity because it’s not a biblical teaching. For example, the “Christian answers” website lists the Watchtower Society as the second most dangerous cult in America, supposedly because “they deny the essentials of Christian faith,” which is to say Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept the Babylonish claptrap that churches consider to be Christian essentials.
However, other more credible sources of the same accusation come from ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, who claim to have “escaped.” These do not necessarily believe the Trinity either. But what is a cult? And are Jehovah’s Witnesses similar to the destructive cults such as Scientology or the infamous David Koresh or the Jonestown cult? To establish what is a cult I have referenced the criteria established, not by Trinitarians or ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, but by psychologists. An organization known as the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) describes itself as “a global network of people concerned about psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic groups.” It has worked up a checklist that they describe as an analytic tool to help one discern the characteristics of an abusive cult. Over the course of the next two weeks I will consider one point each day. Here is the checklist
1)The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader (whether he is alive or dead) and regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
True Christians are “unquestioningly committed” to their leader, Jesus Christ. Although some suppose that Jesus died long ago and he no longer has any influence, Christians believe he is alive. The very fact that churches all over the world celebrate Easter as the resurrection of Jesus could be construed as having a commitment to a dead leader. But why would anyone commit themselves to following Jesus?
When Jesus Christ was upon the earth he claimed to be the sole pathway to God, the very truth and the source of life for all humanity. And Jesus clearly state that those who do not obey him will not see life. Those are pretty bold claims that could be considered by some to be the ravings of a cult leader. In fact, the Jewish clergy said as much, claiming that Jesus was under the power of Beelzebub and that he was possessed by a demon and that he was misleading the people. So, the accusations that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a satanic cult and that they are out to deceive people is nothing new. Jesus even forewarned his followers to expect to be persecuted and maligned.
When Jesus began his ministry he invited people to become his followers. There are several recorded instances when Jesus said “Come, be my follower”; and many of those invited immediately dropped what they were doing and literally followed Jesus as he went through the countryside and villages preaching about the kingdom of God. In a short while those followers were convinced that he was the promised Messiah and they became zealous preachers too – completely committed followers of Jesus Christ.
Without question the apostle Paul was the most zealous first century Christian. When some in the Corinthian congregation questioned his authority as an apostle Paul replied and gave a summary of how his zeal for Christ brought upon him all manner of persecution. He recounted how he had been stoned, beaten, lashed with the whip, suffered shipwreck, thirst and hunger. And Paul made it clear that he was willing to die for Jesus Christ. Was Paul “excessively zealous” for Christ? Absolutely! In his letter to Titus Paul wrote that Jesus “gave himself for us that he might deliver us from every sort of lawlessness and cleanse for himself a people peculiarly his own, zealous for fine works.”
Like those original disciples Jehovah’s Witnesses take their message to the public. Wherever people are, in their homes, on the streets, in the marketplace, the Internet, wherever; Jehovah’s Witnesses endeavor to engage people in order to share with them the Bible’s message. Hundreds of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses have devoted their whole life to a public ministry, becoming pioneer ministers and missionaries. And all of Jehovah’s Witnesses, even young children whose parents are ministers, share in some form of the public ministry according to their circumstances. Even people with disabilities. For example, it is not at all uncommon for hearing-impaired persons or those bound to a wheelchair to engage in some form of preaching. Those who may be housebound may use the telephone or write letters as an expression of their ministry. Although many people may feel that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a nuisance, no one can deny that they are zealous in their ministry. In that respect they are peculiar. After all, what other Christian religion is known for their public ministry? (Mormon youths only go on a two-year stint, as if doing military service, and then they are done.) So, according to the first criteria, both the first century Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses belong to a cult.