Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
The Watchtower seems to have anticipated my criticism of its “rebellious student” analogy, because paragraph 15 of Chapter 11 of “Bible Teach” (p. 112) asks, “Why, though, has Jehovah allowed suffering to go on for so long? And why does he not prevent bad things from happening?” Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Paragraph 12 of “Bible Teach,” Chapter 11 (p. 110) introduces a strange analogy of a classroom teacher who is “telling his students how to solve a difficult problem.” Unfortunately, a rebellious student claims that the teacher isn’t capable and that the student knows a much better way to solve the problem. Other students agree and join in the rebellion.
The paragraph goes on to say (p. 111) that if the teacher throws the rebels out of the class, the remaining students might believe that the rebels are right. They “might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.”
Paragraph 14 continues the analogy, stating:
The teacher in our illustration knows that the rebel and the students on his side are wrong. But he also knows that allowing them the opportunity to try to prove their point will benefit the whole class. When the rebels fail, all honest students will see that the teacher is the only one qualified to lead the class. They will understand why the teacher thereafter removes any rebels from the class. Similarly, Jehovah knows that all honest-hearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing that Satan and his fellow rebels have failed and that humans cannot govern themselves.
My response
My response at this point would be to question the entire analogy. Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Chapter 11 of “Bible Teach” has the weighty title, “Why Does God Allow Suffering?”
Paragraph 2 (p. 106) sets out the chapter’s primary topic in question form by asking, “Why does God allow suffering? If Jehovah God is all-powerful, loving, wise, and just, why is the world so full of hatred and injustice?”
The rest of the chapter is devoted to giving the Watchtower’s answer to those questions—that God is trying to prove to all intelligent creatures that his ways are better than Satan’s.
The Bible doesn’t give that answer, and so we need to need to call it into question. Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Today, we’ll discuss the final two topics of Chapter 10 of “Bible Teach”:
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
“Bible Teach,” Chapter 10, “Spirit Creatures—How They Affect Us,” is devoted to a discussion of angels—both obedient angels and demons.
While this may not seem like a fruitful area for discussion, in fact you can use this chapter as a springboard for making new points or reinforcing points you’ve previously made regarding a number of important topics: Continue reading
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