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Contradictions in Watchtower Literature.
article from: carm.org
The watchtower says it is God's only true organization: "Only this organization functions for Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book," (The Watchtower; July 1, 1973, page 402.). It claims to speak for God, yet it has produced numerous contradictory statements. Therefore, it is not God's organization.
The contradictions were acquired from a variety of sources from my own study, books, and the internet.
7 So Jesus Christ well knew that true Christianity, “the kingdom of the heavens,” was not to become a figurative “tree,” on the branches of which the birds could lodge or under which they could find ample shadow. In the earlier parable on the four types of soil upon which the fine seed, picturing the “word of the kingdom,” is sown, Jesus brought birds into the picture. Whom did he explain those “birds” to be like? “The wicked one,” “the Devil.” That is to say, the earthly agents of the wicked Devil. (Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15) Mark 4:15 calls him Satan. Reasonably, then, birds mentioned in the same context, in the same series of parables, would picture similar things. So the birds that find lodging in the mustard tree would picture the agents of the “wicked one,” “Satan the Devil.” They would correspond with the “weeds,” the imitation wheat, in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. They are the “sons of the wicked one.”
8 It is the fake “kingdom of the heavens,” the counterfeit, namely, Christendom, that is filled with these symbolic birds, “the sons of the wicked one.” Today it is big enough to hold them all. In the parable, the “man” that sowed the mustard grain pictures the “wicked one,” Satan the Devil. Outstandingly in the fourth century C.E. Satan the Devil planted or specially cultivated this symbolic “mustard grain” of contaminated, adulterated, imitation Christianity. He did so by then using a man who became the leading politician of the Roman Empire, namely, Constantine the Great. In 312 C.E. this bloodstained army man professed to be converted to Christianity, really, though, to the apostate Christianity of his day as professed by soldiers in the army. This ambitious man conquered his political rivals and gained the position of emperor of the Roman Empire. In this capacity he acted as the Pontifex Maximus or chief priest of the pagan Roman religion. He held onto this pagan religious title and position and authority despite claiming to be a Christian.
9 As Pontifex Maximus, Emperor Constantine acted as if he were the visible head of the Christian Church and called a council of so-called “bishops,” the presiding overseers of congregations of professed Christians, at Nicea, Asia Minor, in 325 C.E. At that Council the Pontifex Maximus Constantine settled the episcopal wrangling over who and what God is by taking the trinitarian side and decreeing that God is a triune God, a God in three indivisible persons, namely, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. To this day the unscriptural doctrine of the “Trinity” is the fundamental doctrine of the sectarian churches of Christendom. To this trinitarian mustard “tree” all the trinitarian “birds” flock to roost thereon. They all expect to go to heaven, like “sons of the kingdom,” and to see this mysterious, unexplainable triune God. Truly in Christendom, the mock “kingdom of God,” is fulfilled the parable of the “mustard grain.”
article from: carm.org
The watchtower says it is God's only true organization: "Only this organization functions for Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book," (The Watchtower; July 1, 1973, page 402.). It claims to speak for God, yet it has produced numerous contradictory statements. Therefore, it is not God's organization.
- Who is the Faithful and Discreet Slave, the Watchtower Organization or Charles Taze Russell?
- Watchtower Organization is Faithful and Discreet Slave:
- "Jesus foretold that among his people there would be a "faithful and discreet slave" class who would be providing the spiritual food to God's family of devoted servants on earth, acting as his channel of communication and overseeing the carrying out of the Kingdom interests world wide. (Matt. 24:45-47) These anointed overseers serve as though being guided in their activities by the right hand of Christ." (Watchtower 1/15/1969, pages 51).
- Russell is Faithful and Discreet Slave:
- "Thousands of the readers of Pastor Russell's writings believe that he filled the office of 'that faithful and wise servant,' and that his great work was giving to the household of faith meat in due season. His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation," Watchtower 12/1/1916, page. 357.
- Watchtower Denies Russell ever claimed to be Faithful and Discreet Slave:
- "From this it is clearly seen that the editor and publisher of Zion's Watch Tower disavowed any claim to being individually, in his person, that "faithful and wise servant." He never did claim to be such. (God's Kingdom of a thousand years has approached, 1973, p.346).
- Watchtower Organization is Faithful and Discreet Slave:
- Watchtower claims to be only organization to find scriptural guidance, yet condemns the Vatican for doing the same thing.
- Watchtower is only organization able to interpret the Bible:
- "We all need help to understand the Bible, and we cannot find the Scriptural guidance we need outside the ‘faithful and discreet slave' organization." (The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1981.)
- Vatican is only organization able to interpret the Bible:
- "The Vatican belittles Bible study by claiming it is the only organization authorized and qualified to interpret the Bible." (The Watchtower, 7/1/1943, p. 201.)
- Watchtower is only organization able to interpret the Bible:
- Is Jesus supposed to be worshipped or not?
- Yes, Jesus is supposed to be worshipped:
- "Question: The fact that our Lord received worship is claimed by some to be an evidence that while on earth he was God the Father disguised in a body of flesh and not really a man. Was he really worshiped, or is the translation faulty? Answer: Yes, we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshiped, and properly so...It was proper for our Lord to receive worship in view of his having been the only begotten of the Father, and his agent in the creation of all things, including man." (The Watchtower, 7/15/1898, page 216.)
- New Heavens and a New Earth, on pages 27-28, published in 1953, "For example, to which one of the angels did he ever say: 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father'? And again: 'I shall be a Father to him, and he will be a Son to me'? But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: 'And let all God's angels worship him.'"
- No, Jesus is not supposed to be worshipped:
- "He taught men, not to worship him, but to worship Jehovah his Father ... "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." (Make Sure of All Things p. 283)
- "What I learned was so different from what I had heard at the "Christian" school I had attended. Jehovah's Witnesses do not worship Jesus. Rather, they worship Almighty God, the One that Jesus himself worshipped." (Awake, 12/22/87, page 22.).
- Yes, Jesus is supposed to be worshipped:
- The sower in the Matt. 13 parable is Satan or Jesus?
- The sower of the mustard seed is Satan
- "It is the fake “kingdom of the heavens,” the counterfeit, namely, Christendom, that is filled with these symbolic birds, “the sons of the wicked one.” Today it is big enough to hold them all. In the parable, the “man” that sowed the mustard grain pictures the “wicked one,” Satan the Devil. Outstandingly in the fourth century C.E. Satan the Devil planted or specially cultivated this symbolic “mustard grain” of contaminated, adulterated, imitation Christianity." (Man's Salvation Out Of World Distress, 1975, p. 208).
- The sower of the mustard seed is Jesus
- "In the days of Jesus Christ and his apostles the nation of Israel was just as apostate as in the days of Jeremiah and Hosea. In fact, it was the generation of Israel that brought about the death of Jesus the Messiah and that persecuted his apostles and first-century disciples. Such Israelites especially were the ones to whom Jesus, as well as Isaiah, referred as having their eyes plastered shut, their ears unresponsive and their hearts unreceptive so that there was no spiritual healing for them. (Isa. 6:9, 10; Matt. 13:13-15; Acts 28:24-28) Hence that apostate generation suffered national calamity in 70 C.E. So, now, does anyone ask the question, How could Jesus as the Sower of the parable plant the symbolic mustard grain and yet have it become a tree of a foreign kind, the corrupt counterfeit called Christendom? The experience of Jehovah God with the ancient nation of Israel gives the divine answer to such a questioner!" (Watchtower, 10/1/1975, p. 600).
- A Jehovah's Witness has sought to point out that the first quote where the sower of the mustard seed is Satan is referring to the fake kingdom of God and the second sower is referring to Jesus in the true kingdom of God and that this removes the contradiction. In response, I have expanded the length of each quote above and italicized the contextual information so we can examine them.
- Quote A: "the “man” that sowed the mustard grain pictures the “wicked one,” Satan the Devil."
- Quote B: "Jesus as the Sower of the parable plant the symbolic mustard grain"
- Each statement declares specifically who the sower OF THE PARABLE'S MUSTARD SEED IS! The first quote says it is the devil in the fake kingdom and the second says that it is Jesus. Of course the "true kingdom" is not referenced in the second quote. What IS REFERENCED is that the mustard grain that JESUS PLANTED planted became corrupt. In other words, the true became the fake (see underlined section in "B" above). It would seem that there is only one action of planting the mustard seed in the parable, not two (not one of the fake and another of the true). To say that the parable can be taken to mean two different sowings (one by the devil and another by Jesus) when it references the SAME MUSTARD seed has its obvious problems: Here is the parable
- “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches,” (Matt. 13:31).
- Therefore, we can make the case that they are speaking of the same seed.
- On the other hand, can we say that one is speaking only of the fake kingdom and the other only of the true kingdom? Is the Jehovah's witness making a distinction that isn't there especially since B says it is the work of Christ that became corrupt implying it is the same seed?
- If someone wants to conclude that the Watchtower organization is alluding to the symbolism of the sowers in the implied kingdom of light AND darkness as two separate events, then it would alleviate the weight of the contradiction.
- I will leave it up to you to decide if this is a contradiction or not.
- A Jehovah's Witness has sought to point out that the first quote where the sower of the mustard seed is Satan is referring to the fake kingdom of God and the second sower is referring to Jesus in the true kingdom of God and that this removes the contradiction. In response, I have expanded the length of each quote above and italicized the contextual information so we can examine them.
- "In the days of Jesus Christ and his apostles the nation of Israel was just as apostate as in the days of Jeremiah and Hosea. In fact, it was the generation of Israel that brought about the death of Jesus the Messiah and that persecuted his apostles and first-century disciples. Such Israelites especially were the ones to whom Jesus, as well as Isaiah, referred as having their eyes plastered shut, their ears unresponsive and their hearts unreceptive so that there was no spiritual healing for them. (Isa. 6:9, 10; Matt. 13:13-15; Acts 28:24-28) Hence that apostate generation suffered national calamity in 70 C.E. So, now, does anyone ask the question, How could Jesus as the Sower of the parable plant the symbolic mustard grain and yet have it become a tree of a foreign kind, the corrupt counterfeit called Christendom? The experience of Jehovah God with the ancient nation of Israel gives the divine answer to such a questioner!" (Watchtower, 10/1/1975, p. 600).
- The sower of the mustard seed is Satan
- Armageddon will be in 1914 or 1941
- Armageddon will be in 1914
- "...the Kingdom of God is already begun, that it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A.D. 18789, and that the "battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914, with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." (The Time is at Hand, 1889. - Emphasis added).
- Armageddon will be in 1941
- "Receiving the gift, the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord's provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon." (The Watchtower, 9/15/41, page 288.)
- Armageddon will be in 1914
- Armageddon will be in 1914 or 1915
- Armageddon is in 1915
- "...the Kingdom of God is already begun, that it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A.D. 18789, and that the "battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1915, with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." (The Time is at Hand, 1881. - Emphasis added - Date was changed to 1914 in a later edition).
- Armageddon is in 1914
- "...the Kingdom of God is already begun, that it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A.D. 18789, and that the "battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914, with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." (The Time is at Hand, 1889. - Emphasis added).
- Armageddon is in 1915
The contradictions were acquired from a variety of sources from my own study, books, and the internet.
7 So Jesus Christ well knew that true Christianity, “the kingdom of the heavens,” was not to become a figurative “tree,” on the branches of which the birds could lodge or under which they could find ample shadow. In the earlier parable on the four types of soil upon which the fine seed, picturing the “word of the kingdom,” is sown, Jesus brought birds into the picture. Whom did he explain those “birds” to be like? “The wicked one,” “the Devil.” That is to say, the earthly agents of the wicked Devil. (Matthew 13:1-8, 18-23; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15) Mark 4:15 calls him Satan. Reasonably, then, birds mentioned in the same context, in the same series of parables, would picture similar things. So the birds that find lodging in the mustard tree would picture the agents of the “wicked one,” “Satan the Devil.” They would correspond with the “weeds,” the imitation wheat, in the parable of the wheat and the weeds. They are the “sons of the wicked one.”
8 It is the fake “kingdom of the heavens,” the counterfeit, namely, Christendom, that is filled with these symbolic birds, “the sons of the wicked one.” Today it is big enough to hold them all. In the parable, the “man” that sowed the mustard grain pictures the “wicked one,” Satan the Devil. Outstandingly in the fourth century C.E. Satan the Devil planted or specially cultivated this symbolic “mustard grain” of contaminated, adulterated, imitation Christianity. He did so by then using a man who became the leading politician of the Roman Empire, namely, Constantine the Great. In 312 C.E. this bloodstained army man professed to be converted to Christianity, really, though, to the apostate Christianity of his day as professed by soldiers in the army. This ambitious man conquered his political rivals and gained the position of emperor of the Roman Empire. In this capacity he acted as the Pontifex Maximus or chief priest of the pagan Roman religion. He held onto this pagan religious title and position and authority despite claiming to be a Christian.
9 As Pontifex Maximus, Emperor Constantine acted as if he were the visible head of the Christian Church and called a council of so-called “bishops,” the presiding overseers of congregations of professed Christians, at Nicea, Asia Minor, in 325 C.E. At that Council the Pontifex Maximus Constantine settled the episcopal wrangling over who and what God is by taking the trinitarian side and decreeing that God is a triune God, a God in three indivisible persons, namely, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. To this day the unscriptural doctrine of the “Trinity” is the fundamental doctrine of the sectarian churches of Christendom. To this trinitarian mustard “tree” all the trinitarian “birds” flock to roost thereon. They all expect to go to heaven, like “sons of the kingdom,” and to see this mysterious, unexplainable triune God. Truly in Christendom, the mock “kingdom of God,” is fulfilled the parable of the “mustard grain.”
