The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses

الغلاف الأمامي
University of Toronto Press, 01‏/01‏/1984 - 213 من الصفحات

In 1984 George Orwell described a future theocracy that demanded unity at all costs, and in which all independent thought would be eradicated. According to the authors of this book, such a theocracy now exists.

They describe how, in an increasingly restrained 'New World Society', Jehovah's Witnesses busily go about the business of warning the world that their God, Jehovah, will act soon to destroy all who oppose him and his organization. For them 1984 appears to be the current unofficial deadline for Armageddon, for they believe that God promised that the generation that saw the beginning of world distress (starting with World War I in 1914) would not pass away before the end came. A biblical generation is seventy years. 1914 + 70 = 1984. Convinced that the world Is due to end, they have given up their independence to the central theocracy.

The Bottings, both Witnesses, can and do answer the questions everyone asks about this sect. They examine its history, the ways in which history itself has been interpreted in the light of bible prophecy, the basic beliefs or 'symbols' in which Witnesses are required to put their faith, and the dynamics of conversion and indoctrination. They also reveal why Jehovah's Witnesses turn away from their calling by the thousands and how the sect effects a 'mental-regulating' of youth as choice is taken away from children at a very young age. The sect is not only subject to forces of dissidence and disaffection from its membership, it has also been subject to a major rift within its headquarters. This event and what was done about it are also described.

The authors conclude this serious, concerned, probing but readable study with an exploration of parallels between the contemporary Jehovah's Witness sect and the world described by George Orwell in 1984.

من داخل الكتاب

المحتوى

The World View of Jehovahs Witnesses
3
The Historical Development of Jehovahs Witnesses
34
The Cyclical Movement of History and Prophecy
60
The Conversion and Indoctrination Process
76
Watch Tower Literature
94
Discipline and MentalRegulating of Youth
111
The Seeds of Dissension
132
Crisis at The Top
151
Nineteen EightyFour
166
Glossary of Terms Used by Jehovahs Witnesses
187
Index
207
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عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة

مقاطع مشهورة

الصفحة iv - And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come.

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