55 Reasons Why Jehovah's Witnesses Will Never Be Reformed
(Some Teachings and Practices Jehovah's Witnesses Need
to Abandon in Order to Experience a True Reformation)
By Frank J. Toth
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- 1. Teaching that true Christianity is an organization instead of a way of life
- 2. Claiming salvation is dependent upon belonging to the JW denomination
- 3. Claiming that the organization speaks for and is controlled by Jehovah, thereby equating the organization with God himself
- 4. Centralizing authority in an organization instead of letting Christ be the head of each Christian
- 5. Claiming that the "faithful and discreet slave" is the "anointed class" rather than each individual Christian who shows himself or herself to be responsible and obedient to Christ
- 6. Teaching that the early Christians were led by a governing body
- 7. Teaching that Jesus appointed the "anointed remnant" as his true church in 1919
- 8. Viewing the so-called "anointed" class (actually, the governing body) as God's channel and prophet
- 9. Placing WT literature above the Bible
- 10. Frequently taking Bible texts out of context in order to build support for the organization's man-made teachings and procedures
- 11. Teaching that Jesus returned in 1914 and is "invisibly present" since then
- 12. Teaching that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE when no historical records confirm this and the actual date is believed by nearly all historians to be 587 BCE
- 13. Falsifying the fact that Charles Russell predicted for 1914 the end of the world, not Christ's return
- 14. Lying about a so-called "increase" in earthquakes, warfare, famines, persecution, etc., since 1914
- 15. Contradictorily condemning military organizations and frowning upon JWs who choose alternative service in lieu of military service while the headquarters organization at the same time owns stock in a military product organization (REGI)
- 16. Taking a conflicting stand with regard to the United Nations, claiming that it is the "wild beast" of Revelation that leads all nations in a fight against God and Christ at Armageddon, but signing on as an NGO member and publishing articles that present the UN in a favorable light
- 17. Teaching that it's wrong to celebrate birthdays and all holidays
- 18. Teaching that Abraham and the faithful men and women of old are not among the holy ones who will rule with Christ in his Kingdom
- 19. Interpreting Jewish restoration prophecies as fulfilled in "the anointed remnant"
- 20. Teaching that the Scriptures are directly addressed only to "the remnant of anointed ones"
- 21. Teaching that only the "anointed" must be born again
- 22. Teaching that the "great crowd" are not begotten or anointed by the Holy Spirit
- 23. Teaching that the "great crowd" are God's grandchildren and not his sons and daughters
- 24. Teaching that the "great crowd" are not members of the bride of Christ
- 25. Teaching that Jesus is not the mediator between God and the "great crowd" of Revelation chapter 7
- 26. Teaching that the resurrection of the "anointed" precedes the resurrection of the "other sheep" and that it has already begun
- 27. Teaching that only "anointed" JWs will receive immortality in the resurrection
- 28. Inviting only the "anointed" to partake at the memorial
- 29. Claiming that spiritual food comes from the "anointed" class whereas nearly all the writers of WT publications are members of the "other sheep" class
- 30. Creating a climate of fear by authoritarianism
- 31. Controlling what individual JWs may read of Bible-related publications that are not produced by the WT Society
- 32. Arrogantly pretending that the JW organization maintains higher standards than any other religion and proclaiming publicly that all other churches are members of Babylon the Great
- 33. Forbidding attendance and participation at other churches
- 34. Class distinctions such as "governing body," "anointed remnant" and "great crowd of other sheep"
- 35. Class distinctions such as publishers, auxiliary pioneers, regular pioneers, special pioneers, circuit overseers, district overseers, Bethelites, Governing Body, etc.
- 36. Prohibiting women from serving in any meaningful role in the congregation while expecting them to do the bulk of the work in "field service"
- 37. Constantly prodding the membership by means of literature, meetings and conventions to do ever more and more in the service of the organization, promoting an atmosphere where many feel their best is never good enough
- 38. Setting dates for Armageddon and thereby urging the membership to abandon normal living, this often resulting in the ruination of health and family life, as well as creating employment and financial hardships
- 39. Teachings that lead the members to believe righteousness and salvation can be earned by devoted and loyal support of the organization's slavish programs
- 40. Keeping meeting attendance and field service records as a gauge of an individual's spirituality
- 41. Organizationally requiring no blood transfusions instead of letting it be a matter of conscience, thereby cruelly informing all members that they will be shunned by the organization if they accept a transfusion that might restore health following a life-threatening accident or illness
- 42. Allowing their own infants and children to die instead of allowing doctors to give them necessary blood transfusions
- 43. Teaching that the "congregation" of Matthew 18:17 is the body of elders
- 44. Holding heresy trials and disciplinary hearings in secrecy from the rest of the congregation
- 45. Withholding information that would be helpful to persons who have been accused of wrongdoing
- 46. Conducting heresy trials of members who have doubts or who think differently upon the Scriptures
- 47. Defining apostasy as against the organization instead of against God
- 48. Being quick to disfellowship instead of making efforts to restore persons who have done something wrong
- 49. Unnecessarily and abusively shunning members even for minor infractions such as smoking or not complying with the whimsical directives of elders, thereby causing personal and family turmoil that often results in immense guilt, shame, fear, depression, bitterness, hatred, murder and suicide
- 50. Prohibiting fellowship with disassociated persons who show no inclination toward causing dissension
- 51. Showing favoritism by advising innocent victims to "leave it to Jehovah" instead of the elders taking decisive action to deal with some members who have been accused of harmful wrongdoing.
- 52. Ignoring or minimizing clear evidence of child molestation and other abuses simply because only one witness is available to testify against the member accused of such serious wrongdoing
- 53. Covering over and hiding damaging facts about the JW organization
- 54. In many cases, neglecting the care of their own sick and elderly members who no longer have the strength and energy to attend all the meetings and to be regular in "field service" as they did for most of their lives
- 55. Blatantly lying to the public by declaring to news media that members may leave the organization at any time, of their own free will and without any repercussions from the organization
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