AWAKEN ISSUE #7 FACTS YOU WON'T BE TOLD WHEN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CALL AT YOUR DOOR They believe & teach THAT all religions except theirs are of Satan, and your Pastor or Priest is under the Devil's control. THAT the Watch Tower Society is the only source of truth on earth today, and all churches teach error and will be destroyed at Armageddon. THAT the cross is a pagan symbol of sex worship, and that all buildings or persons displaying the cross are likewise pagan. Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus died on the cross. However, recent "new light" in the WatchTower Magazine now admits they are not certain about the cross, but will continue to deny it anyway. THAT no one goes to heaven but 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, and your soul will be destroyed if you refuse their organization. THAT the Christ child was only an "IT", not a "HE". See the New World Translation, Luke 2:16,17. THAT Jesus was not the Christ (or Messiah) until age 30, even though their own bible says in Luke 2:11, "because there was born to you today a savior, who is Christ the Lord." THAT after Jesus was buried in the tomb, Jerhovah dissolved his body into gases and it disappeared forever. THAT Jesus rose invisibly in three days, so Jehovah had to "materialize" a fake body for him complete with fake nailprints so His disciples would believe it was really Jesus risen. THAT Armageddon and Christ's second coming were foretold to happen in 1874, 1914, 1925 and 1975 by this "non-prophet" organization. THAT when Christ failed to show up in 1914 The Society claimed in later years that He had come invisibly--of course, and all Jehovah's Witnesses believe this today. THAT Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob etc. were to be back on earth as perfect humans in 1925. The Society built a palacial home for them BUT when the patriarchs failed to show up, the President of the Society moved in. THAT their light gets "brighter and brighter", allowing for many changes and "about faces" on their doctrines. Yesterday's error is today's "truth". Often the "light" bounces back and forth from old to new views and back again! Does real light return to darkness? THAT the Watch Tower Society and its followers are all prophets of God today and the Governing Body is directed by angels from God. THAT salvation for Society members consists of doing good works of selling Watch Tower books and magazines and winning converts. THAT soon Jehovah God will become a GRANDFATHER and Jesus will be promoted to "EVERLASTING FATHER"! THAT Jehovah God is not omnipresent, but still Almighty. Think! How can this be? They have NOT been told -- By the leadership of the Society .... THAT when they translated their New World Translation of the Bible they deliberately altered almost every scripture on the deity of Christ, to make him only a creature. THAT the Society used a translation by a SPIRIT MEDIUM, Johannes Greber, to support their rendering of John 1:1 with full knowledge that his sources were DEMONIC. Greber was exposed in the Feb. 15/56 Watch Tower. However in 1961 they released a translation based on his occult one, then denied they knew what they were doing on page 31 of the Apr. 1, 1983 Watchtower! THAT none of their "translating committee" knew Biblical Greek or Hebrew. No scholars at all. That Fred Franz, who for many years headed the Society, perjured himself under oath in Scotland in a court trial, by saying he could read Hebrew, and then failing a simple Hebrew test. THAT the following encyclopedias consider the name "JEHOVAH" to be FALSE: Merits Student Enc.; Encyclopedia Americana; The Jewish Enc.; Encyclopedia International, The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible; The New Catholic Enc.; The Universal Jewish enc., [Encyclopaedia Britannica] etc. J.W.'s own "Aid" book admits on pages 884 & 885 that "Jehovah" originated with a Catholic monk about 700 years ago! THAT the date 1874 was taught for Christ's invisible presence by the Society right up till 1929. (See their book, "Prophecy", page 65). THAT top executives of the Society have admitted under oath that they forced their members to accept false prophecies or face disfellowshipping and be found worthy of death. In Summary We find the Watch Tower Society practising their belief that it is proper to deceive people. But they say this really isn't lying. Why? Because the Society has a different Definition of lying than most of us. In their book "AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING" under the word "LIE" we read: "Lying generally involves saying something false to a person who is ENTITLED to know the truth....". "While malicious lying is definitely condemned in the Bible, this does not mean that a person is under obligation to divulge truthful information to people who are not entitled to it". OF course it is the Watch Tower leaders who decide WHO deserves to know the truth. DO YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH ? --------------------- end of feature article ----------------------------- SOME J.W.'S TROUBLED BY NEW 'CONTRIBUTION' RULES How well I remember from my years as a Jehovah's Witness how we were taught to shake our heads in disbelief at the churches always asking for money. We were so proud that we distributed our magazines as such a low price, only asking for a "contribution to cover the cost of printing". Little did we know that this "cost of printing" was making a fortune for the Watch Tower Society! Now the Jehovah's Witnesses are asked to do what they critized the churches for doing! They are asking for money at every door. The greedy Watch Tower Society not only expects the publisher [name for regular J.W.] to give a "contribution" to cover the costs of the literature "up front" before removing the magazines from the Kingdom Hall, but now they are expected to beg for money from the householders and turn that into the Society as well! This is troubling some Jehovah's Witnesses. We have had reports of some never asking for money at the doors at all, just handing over the magazines. They cannot bring themselves to solicit funds for the Society when they have already paid themselves for the magazines. They feel cheapened doing so. It is against everything they have been taught. In the "Our Kingdom Ministry" Vol. 34, no.9 (a J.W. publication) under date of September 1991, this question appears in the "Question Box" section: "If a householder gives a comparatively generous donation, should we be moved to him additional literature?" Note this reply from the Watch Tower Society. "Not necessarily. You can use your judgment in this regard, taking into consideration the interest manifested in reading the literature. On subsequent visits, literature that meets a particular need of the householder might be left. If the householder takes the initiative to offer a further donation, such can be graciously accepted. Keep in mind that donations support various facets of our worldwide work, which includes our building program, missionaries, and the special pioneer work, in addition to our publishing of literature." In other words, quit asking questions and get the money! It is obvious that J.W.'s are troubled by this latest "light" designed to fill the Watch Tower's coffers to overflowing so they can build their empire. We can only hope J.W.'s will realize that they have been promoted from unpaid salesmen to unpaid fundraisers and exit this "non-prophet" organization! ------------------- end of second article --------------------------- UPS AND DOWNS OF THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Doug Harris of Reachout Trust (Alpha Place, Garth Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 4LX, ENGLAND) reports that in the Watchtower of January 01, 1991 the figures for Britain showed the following: The percentage of increase of Jehovah's Witnesses was down by 2% over the previous year's increase, as were the number of baptisms down also. Bible studies conducted were down also. The UP figues also spelled bad news for the J.W.'s. It is taking the J.W.'s more and more time to get one convert to baptism. The 1990 figures showed it took 3,875 hours of work to get ONE person baptized! WORLDWIDE DATA The following is an analysis of the 1990 membership data of the Watchtower: More than 1 in 4 J.W.'s left the Society due to voluntary disassociation, disfellowshipping, or dying. Worldwide it took 2,969 hours to get ONE recruit. This translates to 316 months of going door-to-door and average of 9.4 hours per month for one recruit. (This is 26.3 years for ONE recruit folks!) In this time the average J.W. places 1896 magazines. 99.7% of a J.W.'s time is spent selling magazines for the Society! NOTE FROM VINCE BANIAL: The Watch Tower claims that it's literature is free here in Canada and in the US, although a request is made for a donation. In other countries around the world that is not the case and their literature is still sold. Look for a future issue of AWAKEN to detail some of the reasons behind the change to so called free literature for a donation basis here in North America (excluding Mexico where literature is also still sold). ---------------------- end of final article --------------------------- The articles this month are being presented for EDUCATIONAL purposes. They were written by Lori MacGregor, a former British Jehovah's Witness. Lori publishes a wonderful quarterly newletter, called NEWS & VIEWS. Like many who have stopped following the Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society Of Pennsylvania, she now tries to inform the public about the Watch Tower Society. Lori has much more information about the Watch Tower. If you or someone you know is involved with or getting involved with the Jehovah's Witnesses then please take a moment to write to Lori for help. In Canada please write to : Lori MacGregor BOX 73, Balfour, B.C. V0G 1C0 In the US please write to : Lori MacGregor BOX 591, Point Roberts, Wa. 98281 All correspondance will be kept STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. P.S. If you should call, please mention that you heard about her from Vince Banial. I get nothing from you mentioning my name. I would just like her to know that I believe in her effort and continue in my support of her helpful activity. ------------------ end of this issue of awaken ------------------- Please share the info found in these issues of AWAKEN with other members of the faith to which you belong. Consider using this info within publications issued to members of your faith. One example is to use this info within Church bulletins. People need to become informed about the Watchtower and it's teachings. Why ? Jehovah's Witnesses go door to door preaching whatever the Watchtower has told them to preach. They are trained weekly to respond to any and all objections to their preaching. They are told by the Watchtower that the Watchtower is the only TRUTH and that the Watchtower is the only TRUE religion. They are told by the Watchtower that all other faiths, teach false teachings because all other faiths are agents of SATAN. They have no qualms attacking any and all aspects your belief system, when they come on their un-asked for visits. They are trained to SELL you on the Watchtower's teachings, just as they themselves had been SOLD. By becoming informed about the Jehovah's Witnesses, one will be better prepared to decide whether one should get invloved with this group. Copyright (c) 1991 by Vince Banial, Toronto Ontario Canada. This material cannot be incorporated into any book without the empress and written permission of Vince Banial. This file may be freely uploaded to any BBS, as long as it remains unchanged.