This series of articles is written to help anyone studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses to "read between the lines" of what their Watchtower teachers tell them, as they study the book "What Does the Bible Really Teach?"
When I was raised by my Jehovah's Witness parent, I was indoctrinated from the age of five. There was virtually no opposing view to what I was learning, since I was separated from religious instruction at school and social contact with non-Witnesses was minimised. Everything I knew about religion and God, I learned from my "Bible studies" with my parent and at Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses.
One day, when I was about 12 years old, I found a book called "Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave", by Peter Snell, in the public library. I borrowed it, but found it quite dull. My mother discouraged me from reading it because it was written by "one of the Evil Slave Class". That book was one of the very few resources available as a criticism or examination of the Watchtower religion.
Thirty-five years later, when I finally left the religion, I typed two words and pressed a button and found dozens of websites and books and hundreds of articles about the history, policies, doctrines and failed prophecies of Jehovah's Witnesses.
The message Jehovah's Witnesses bring is very attractive. It offers answers to all life's questions and a sure, certain hope for the future as well as a guide for living a satisfying, happy, purposeful, moral life now. They teach by using questions and answers, leading you to certain conclusions which are confirmed by their use of proof texts from the Bible.
However, for any thinking person, it should be obvious that there are no certainties in life, "except death and taxes", as one wit said. Also, there are many people who have fulfilling, happy, moral lives in other, less restrictive religions or indeed, without religion.
Unfortunately, many people are mentally lazy. They want the answers to life's dilemmas to be spoon-fed to them. They want a package deal religion. They want a religion which guarantees them salvation and certainty, in return for paying their dues by following a set of rules made by someone else, who takes responsibility for their future. By following this path, they probably get the religion they deserve -- Jehovah's Witnesses.
The following articles are not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of the teaching book's chapters. Rather, my aim is to highlight glaring errors and to encourage the student to ask pertinent questions and do research, which is so easy with Google and Wikipedia available. There is really no excuse for you being misinformed today.
I have tried to avoid giving the reader my own belief system. Make up your own mind! But you can use the ideas in these articles and apply them to other religions or philosophies. You may find that you will change your mind often and that is O.K. When hypotheses are disproved, it is quite alright to change one's mind and make an adjustment. Knowledge is not cut and dried, but a continuing search.
If after reading these articles, you continue to accept the Watchtower teachings and choose their way of life, so be it. You have made a choice and you have been very lucky because, despite making a wrong choice, in my opinion, it will at least be an informed choice, which was not a favour granted to me and millions of my contemporaries.
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