When criticized for errors it has made or for changing its doctrines, occasionally the Watchtower admits that its writings aren’t infallible or inspired like the Bible.
However, these moments of humility are dwarfed by the sweeping authority over the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses which it claims God has given it. In effect, it places its own writings on a par with or even above the Bible, while denying that it does so. Continue reading
The “obvious fallacy” occurs when “words like absolutely, undoubtedly, certainly, it is only reasonable to conclude and so forth are substituted for logical reasons.”[1]
Using such words or phrases isn’t always wrong, but we need to be careful to examine whether they are being used as a substitute for evidence and logic.
Here are three examples from Watchtower literature. Continue reading
Speculative readings of predictive prophecy occur when “a predictive prophecy is too readily explained by the occurrence of specific events, despite the fact that equally committed biblical scholars consider the interpretation highly dubious.”[1]
The prophetic speculation errors of the Watchtower are enough to fill a book—maybe several books.
I am going to highlight just some of the things it has said over the years about the significance of the year 1914. Note how—instead of giving up making predictions and assertions—the Watchtower simply changes its teachings and keeps on making prophetic claims. Continue reading
A major source of biblical error is reading more into a passage than God actually put there. Sire calls this “overspecification”, which occurs when “a more detailed or specific conclusion than is legitimate is drawn from a Bible text.”[1] Using this method of interpretation allows one to create new doctrines with little or no actual biblical foundation. Continue reading
Imagine if the Watchtower simply asserted, “In order to please God, you must believe whatever we tell you whether you understand why or not.”
That statement would be outrageous!
Who would believe it?
So in order to convince people to believe what they say, the Watchtower frequently uses a “Biblical hook”. Continue reading
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