Category: Authority — Bible vs. Organization (page 2 of 4)

Requirements for Watchtower Baptism

Bible teach Ch 18

Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website

Paragraph 4 (p. 175) of Chapter 18 of “Bible Teach” states: “Water baptism is a requirement for all who want to have a relationship with Jehovah God… To qualify for baptism, however, you must take definite steps.”

 

The chapter goes on to spell out no fewer than 15 requirements the Watchtower says you must meet before you can be baptized.

 

These are not matters left between the individual and God.

Rather, they are matters which Watchtower elders examine and evaluate.

This establishes a religious culture in which converts learn to be completely dependent on what a small group of elders thinks of them.

Later, you’ll want to contrast all this with the baptisms of people in the Bible.
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What Does Baptism Signify?

Bible teach Ch 18

Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website

Paragraph 1 (pp. 174-175) begins “Bible Teach” Chapter 18—“Baptism and Your Relationship with God”—by commenting about how eager the Ethiopian official in Acts 8 was to be baptized. You are supposed to feel the same way.

I recommend that you point out to the Witnesses how quickly Philip fulfilled his request. There were no lengthy educational sessions and no evaluations by elders to determine his worthiness to be baptized.

As this chapter unfolds, you’ll see all the requirements the Watchtower puts on people before they can be baptized. After you’ve covered them all in your study of the chapter, I’ll be recommending that you remind the Witnesses that none of the people in the Bible had to go through such a process in order to “qualify for baptism.” Continue reading

Watchtower Control Over Jehovah’s Witnesses

Bible teach Ch 16

Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website

“Bible Teach,” Chapter 16, paragraphs 14-17 (pp. 160-161) shows the extent to which the Watchtower organization controls the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Continue reading

Six Supposed Features of the True Religion

Bible teach Ch 15

Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website

“Bible Teach,” Chapter 15, paragraph 5 (p. 146) says there are six features that identify those who practice “the true religion,” so let’s look at each of them in turn. Continue reading

Establishing the Superiority of the Bible

Bible teach Ch 2

Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website

Chapter 2 of “Bible Teach” states at the outset that the Bible is unique and reveals things we could never find out in any other way (paragraph 2, p. 18). It goes on to says that the Bible is “inspired of God” (paragraph 5, p. 19).

As Christians, we can build rapport with the Witnesses by agreeing with them on these points, but I recommend also using a technique that Evidence Ministries president Keith Walker calls “stuffing aces.” Continue reading

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