B y - kind permission of The Pente costal Evangel, we quote the following fine article, byline Charles Trombley: Some Facts About Jehovah’s Witnesses Last year approximately a million persons spent an average of 142 hours each trudging from door to door for the purpose of spreading the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They sold nearly 125 million pieces of printed matter published by the Watchtower Society. Zealous promotion of their book selling techniques is paying off. They sold over two million copies of the Watchtower Bible in sixteen months. One of their magazines has a circula tion of 4,200,000 copies semi-monthly. Another enjoys a printing of 3,600,- 000. Their goal is to open three new Kingdom Halls daily. What is their motive and drive, you ask? They have been taught that in 1918 Christ sud denly entered His temple and began judgment. Historic Christianity was found to be Babylon the Great, and the 144,000 are those with a “heaven ly hope.” Between the years of 1919 and the present (and until Armaged don shall come) Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are assisting in a separa tion process. The wheat is being di vided from the tares, the sheep from the goats. Those accepting Watch- towerism are, of course, the wheat and the sheep. MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR (continued from page 7) evil practices which sprang up in these years. But it is too much to hope that any of the denominational lead ers will issue a clarion call against this evil today. That would prove to be entirely too unpopular. Men of the cloth who are leaders in ecclesi astical circles are far too desirous of being popular with their constituents and others even to think of saying anything that would be unpalatable to their financially influential friends. But we can hope and pray that, some how, in the not too distant future there will come an awareness of the need for such an investigation on the part of governmental appointees who will come up with a mass of statistics to show what a dreadful hold the drink problem has upon the citizenry of the land. And furthermore that they will present the evidence re sulting from the only effective curb that has ever been produced to stop the flow of the liquor industry, name ly the noble and most effective experi ment, prohibition, as it was carried on from the time the Volstead Act was implemented until its repeal. Tobacco and liquor are both killers and should be dealt with as such.
nesses’ method of so-called Bible stu dy. Theocratic thinking is achieved, organizational c o n s c i o u s n e s s is stressed, and all other thought is de bunked. 5. The Sunday afternoon Watch- tower study — where mass thought again is achieved. The person of “ good will” is made to feel very welcome. He is treated as an honored guest until such time as he is fully indoc trinated; then his life becomes a slav ish round of “ buying and selling” Watchtower books under the guise of worship. 6. Service meetings is the next step, and theocratic ministry school. The purpose is to train Jehovah’s Witnes ses to effectively present their sales pitch (sermon), distribute their per sonally purchased books, make time reports, etc. It is a strictly commer cial operation with no spiritual life whatever. 7. The point of no return — bap tism and loss of individuality. No one is considered a Jehovah’s Witness by the Society until he has submitted to their baptism, usually performed at a circuit assembly. It is a sign that they have left historic Christianity and entered God’s (?) Organization as a city of refuge. They are now “ slaves” controlled in body, soul, and spirit by the Society. A student may arrive at this place within six months of the time he first gives a listening ear to the Kingdom Publisher. What the Church Should Do The zeal of the apostles of darkness should constrain us to take a new look at Apostolic Christianity as recorded in the New Testament. 1. W e need to contend for the mov ing of the Holy Spirit and a display of God’s supernatural power. 2. W e need to renew our consecra tion. Christ expects every believer to live for Him, to present his testimony without shame or compromise every where. 3. W e need to study the Bible until we know what it teaches and have a Scriptural answer for everyone who asks why we believe the full gospel. 4. W e need to engage in New Testa ment evangelism; namely, house-to- house witnessing, distribution of gos pel literature, lifting up Christ on the streets and in the marketplaces, not preaching a denomination but preach ing Him. 5. W e need to love those who are blinded by false cults, and pray for them. If we say we do not have time to converse with them, and dismiss them with a brief statement that “We don’t believe that,” what answer will we give to Christ when their blood is required at our hands in the judg ment?
m i ? à i C H I T I Q I TE by Betty Bruechert ■BL Jm*.W SHa. Driven on by new quotas, new ter ritory assignments, service meetings, book studies, back calls, time reports, theirs is a life of “ buying and sell ing” combined with absolute obedi ence to the governing body in Brook lyn. The churches are losing to the Watchtower movement by default. They are not teaching the Scriptures. Church members are not being grounded and settled in the Word of God. When false teachers approach them they cannot give a Scriptural reason for the hope that is in them, therefore they fall into the error. They are victims of ignorance. We who serve the Lord Jesus Christ can leam from the Jehovah’s Wit nesses. Their methods are effective. They show an outward enthusiasm toward their movement, particularly at their huge assemblies. They work diligently. They impress the public with their devotion to a cause, and with their extensive study program. Notice seven steps of their program: 1 .T h e initial call mj to feel you out, sell you a book, etc. No mention is made of salvation, aside from obedi ence to the Society to escape Arma geddon. 2. The back call — to encourage the purchaser to read their book and stimulate further interest. Records are filed and a monthly call can be ex pected. Sermons delivered are for the most part memorized from sheets ob tained from the Watchtower Society. Individuality is stamped out; mass religious thinking is the ultimate goal. 3. The home “ book” study — under guise of Bible study. A book (usually Let God Be True ) is studied, using the Bible as a commentary. It deals with variances and is the first step toward religious indoctrination. Most of it has to do with religious misfits, malcontents, and the ignorant. By it the seeds of doubt toward real Chris tianity are cleverly sown. 4. The area “ book” study —usually on Friday. The city is divided into areas. Here again mass thought con trol is the purpose. A new book each year is studied, always in the same fashion. The questions written on the bottom of each page are asked, the answers “ parrotted,” and then the paragraph is read. This is the Wit
MARCH, 1964
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