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I mean, this was part of the problem for me, dear Sher'f (peace to you and thank you for sharing this, dear friend!). Not whether the Christ is everyone's mediator with the Father, no. That was just ONE issue.
What bothered me a LOT was that JWs en masse not only don't have a CLUE as to what the Bible actually states, they often didn't have a clue as to what the WTBTS actually taught/teaches. As a "trying to do just so" JW, this was quite difficult for me. Indeed, it often blew my mind when I would listen to fellow-JWs try and teach a bible study, answer WT questions, do a Ministry School part, etc... and make HORRIBLE errors and faux pas... MISread verses, etc., while everyone else looked on... AND NODDED. I would look around the KH or assemblies almost with my mouth gaping open ("Wait, what??" Did you hear what s/he just said??! THAT's not correct/accurate/what the verse stated!").
It SCARED me because, well, wasn't this the "TRUTH"? Didn't they have the "TRUTH"? Wasn't I "in" the "TRUTH"? Weren't we ALL? Yet, bring it up, say, outside of a meeting, in field service, etc.? OMG, you were not only bordering on apostasy but almost committing an act of treason "against Jehovah" (cheah, right) worthy of being stoned to death! I did exactly what they "said" (Matthew 23:3)... but what they (almost ALL of them) DID... just kept blowing my mind. And THEN they would either try to justify it, blow it off, or treat me like *I* was the "bad" christian (i.e., rebellious, headstrong, running ahead, not submissive, etc.).
For YEARS I shook my head, VERY confused, not understand what "they" were "doing" ("Jehovah, I just don't GET it! What's wrong with ME that I don't see/hear/believe what THEY seem to see/hear/believe?"). I would try to ask questions. I cried... BUCKETS. The ONLY thing keeping me in them... was not knowing where else to go. From childhood I had checked out almost every religion out there and they were the last stop, religion-wise, for me. And they got me... because they said they had/were the "truth." Which is what I was searching for.
And then I learned that there was no where... and the truth wasn't an it... but both were and are a whom. And the rest is history.
I am no longer surprised at ANYTHING they say, teach, believe, or do. Nothing. They are simply another harlotous "daughter", virtually no different from any of the others... except that she is even more culpable than those before her. Because she is the ONLY one that:
- HAS/DOES intimate that the Christ is not mediator for all of their members;
- Teaches that there are two "hopes" among my dear Lord's sheep (two groups, yes, even three: sheep that are Jews/Samaritans, and sheep that are not Jews or Samaritans - John 10:16, 27 but all with the SAME baptism (holy spirit/fire) and SAME hope - Revelation 7:4-15);
- Discourages most from partaking of the flesh and blood of my dear Lord; thereby
- Shutting UP the kingdom before men (into which they are not going nor will those who follow them - Matthew 23:13, 15)
For those reasons she, IMHO, is indeed worse than ALL of the others. True, the RCC and others have blood on their hands, literally, for all of the lives taken at their behest. She, too, has blood on HER hands... figuratively, yes, but it won't matter in the end... for all of the lives lost at HER behest. I don't think the difference in numbers will matter. Like sin, murder... is murder. One life or a million, doesn't matter.
What she does/does not do, teaches/does not teach, believes/does not believe... no longer matters to me, except to the extent someone wants to know if such is indeed true (no!) and/or they want to know the truth. In these instances, I am obligated to share what I've been given. It is payment of the debt... of love.
But see her as anything different than any other harlotous "daughter" of the Great Harlot, Babylon the Great, consisting of those who, falsely claiming to belong to/be a bride of my dear Lord, entice others to follow "her" into her adulterous relationships with those who make her/them wealthy? Nope. Same old whore, IMHO.
Thanks for sharing that, though, and as always, the greatest of love and peace to you, dear friend!
YSFS of Christ,
Shelb
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