AWAKEN                                           ISSUE #2
 
A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PRESENTS THE WATCHTOWER BIBLE TRACT SOCIETY'S 
VIEWS OF ALL OTHER RELIGIONS.


Mark Cotherman is a Jehovah's Witness. The following are his remarks
about Christianity. They are consistent with the views of all
followers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania,
better known as Jehovah's Witnesses. Many people have asked me why
I go to the trouble that I do to present facts about the Jehovah's
Witnesses. I do this because they visit people door to door. They come
uninvited. They all come trained to counter your objections. They
come well versed in the perceived faults of any faith, but their own.
They profess love of neighbor but on the other hand they privately 
despise all who are not followers of the Watchtower. It is unlikely
that those who received their unwanted visits know their true feelings
about other faiths. What Mr. Cotherman calls Christendom applies to
all other faiths (Muslim, Hindi, Buddist etc). 

The following are Mr. Cotherman's words :

Do you not agree that Christians should be awake in the time of the end.  
There are less JWs on welfare than RC also less in prison, on drugs, 
smoke, kill other "christians" in war, like in Ireland, WWI, WWII, Korea, 
Vietnam, Iraq, Central America (RC killing RC).  Like Jesus said you will 
recognize his people by the fruit they produce- LOVE.  Why don't you 
question your own beliefs about that? Your churches support of Hitler 
during WWII, while he was killing 10s of thousands.  Including JW's for 
their LOVING their neighbors as themselves by not supporting him or any 
other WORLDLY nation.

      Or how about unity.  Paul told the Corinthians to speak in UNITY.
Where is your churches unity?  Killing in wars is about the only thing
their united in doing.  A rotten tree can't produce fine fruit,  show me
your religions fine fruit compared to it's bloodguilt?

Look at the fruits JW's ARE PRODUCING and compare them to the 
inquisition, Bible burnings, Wars, the history of Christendom.  
The JW's are a fine tree, christendom is going to be chopped down 
and thrown in the fire for it's worthless fruit.

     JW's also show their LOVE for people by warning them of the
destruction of this system.  We don't get paid for our door to door
preaching.  Show me where any other group preaches God's Kingdom as the
only hope for mankind and then shows it by their actions.  Christendom
says that the U.N. is mankinds hope for peace.  J.W.'s ACTIVELY preach
that Jehovah's kingdom under his son Jesus Christ will soon destroy all
false religion, governments and set up His own over the earth to mans
eternal benefit.  Jesus said you would recognize his followers by the
fruit they produced.  Show me YOUR religions fruit.

     A Christian is a person who wouldn't do to someone else what the
would do to Jesus himself and they do what Jesus did and commanded.  At
Matthew 28:19,20 Jesus told ALL of his follower to go and make disciples
if all of his disciples made disciples then all would be disciple
makers.  Kinda like taking a penny and doubling it each day.  ALL WOULD
BE PREACHERS.

     Jehovah's Witnesses produce the fruitage of God's holy spirit.
Whether you or the Griese's want to recognise that is something that
you'll have to answer for.  But, JW's will continue to follow Jehovah
God and his Son teaching other spiritual minded people to benefit
themselves by being TRUE christians.

Witnesses know the facts.  We offer the solution to your faith and the
fruitages of it...War, crime, immorality, abortions, drugs, broken
families, child abuse, fear of Armageddon, enslavement to false
doctrines, the burning anger of Jehovah.

     One of my best friend is 86.  He's been a Witness longer than
you've been alive.  Who doesn't know JW history?  The book your reading
or someone who was there.  He have EVERY Watchtower ever printed and
almost all the books IN HIS HOME.  The FACT is the Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) produce the FINE FRUIT of TRUE
CHRISTIANITY as specified by Jesus Christ himself.  LOVE AMOUNG
THEMSELVES.  CHRISTENDOM can't take a step toward saying that.  Her
HISTORY prevents it.  Inquisition, burning people as heretics, crusades,
corruption of the papacy, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Central America and
the list goes on.

     Why don't you attack for our lack of love for each other and our
neighbors since we refuse to murder in war for any cause.  We spend
MILLIONS of hours each year trying to teach people the Bible so they
will love their neighbors.  Or, attack our lack of morals.  The Bible
teaches the highest moral cleanness if we didn't follow this that would
be a sign of not following the Bible.  We would have priests molesting
children in schools (insurance companies will not longer insure the
Catholic schools against molestation cases), premarital sexual
relations, homosexuality would be acceptable, drug dealers, drug users,
crime bosses, corrupt politians, extramarital affairs would be ok,
ABORTIONS, wars, just stating facts about what to look for when the
Bible isn't followed.  Spread this to your family and friends to help
them see the truth about "THE TRUTH."

I'm not a pioneer, yet.  September 1, 1992.

Selling?  Jehovah's Witnesses don't sell.  Selling implies making a
profit we distribute our literature to people WHO WILL READ IT and if
they CHOOSE they can donate for it.

Publishers have no (as you put it) quota of hours.  Pioneers also put in
increased time because THEY WANT TO.  Pioneering is a voluntary action
by individual Witnesses which they can stop anytime they feel they must.
They don't get paid either.

VB>Watchtower claims that governments and their agencies are agents of
VB>Satan,

The BIBLE says that the worldly governments are controled by Satan (1
John 5: 19)  

VB>but the Watchtower has no problems with many of it's
VB>Pioneers sitting on Welfare. I guess that for Watchtower Pioneers,
VB>it is no problem for an agency of Satan (welfare department which
VB>is a governmental agency so must also be Satan's agency) to be
VB>supporting the Watchtower.

Your BIBLICAL logic escapes you.<g>

           ----------------- END ---------------------
 
Please note that future issues of AWAKEN will touch on points
discussed by Mr. Cotherman. The following is one of my replies
to Mr. Cotherman's messages. I think that you will find the facts
to be most interesting.

The following are some replies to Mr. Cotherman:

MC> I didn't see 1975 in any of your comments.  Only six millinum 
MC> were ending in the MID-70's. 

First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to reply.
You have brought up a number of points in your 3 messages to me. I 
would like to reply to each of your points. Please bear with me,
while I prepare appropriate replies. Please also note that there 
are many beliefs that you and I share in common. I did not present
my present belief system to you or to anyone else as the belief
system to follow. I am sorry if I had not made myself clear on
that point. 

From your statement quoted above, it seems that you did not receive
the initial messages which I sent to you regarding 1975. The update
message was just an addition to those messages. In the update
message, you are very correct when you state that it does not speak
of 1975 specificaly. This update message was drawing on info from 
the prior 3 messages on that topic. I will resend those three
messages. I also believe that since you did not receive those
messages you must have missed the two which discuss Ecclesiastes
9:5, which you had quoted from. I'll send that up to you aswell.
 
From your quote you agree that the Watchtower did convey that
6th millennium was to end in the mid seventies. The Watchtower also
conveyed that the millennial reign of Christ would "have" to follow
the sixth millenium. Before Christ's millennial reign, the end of
this system of things must occur. 

I'll quote from the Watchtower book called THINGS IN WHICH IT IS 
IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE, pg 360:
"This trouble will result in destruction to that world empire of
false religion, "Babylon the Great", and to the imperfect political
governments of this earth".

The Watchtower magazine of May, 01, 1968 on pg 272 states :
"The immediate future is certain to be filled with climatic events,
for this old system is nearing its complete end. Within a few years
at most the final parts of Bible prophecy relative to these "last
days" will undergo fulfillment, resulting in the liberation of
surviving mankind into Christ's glorious 1,000 year reign. What 
difficult days, but, at the same time, what grand days are 
just ahead!"
 
So we see that only the survivors of this great war will go into
Christ's 1,000 year reign. Clearly, the Watchtower states that
the end of this system of things must occur after the end of the
sixth millenium and before the seventh millenium started. Since
the sixth millenium ended in the mid-70s, therefore we are well
into the seventh millenium.

MC> Teachings? What teachings?  Facts? What facts?
MC> He have EVERY Watchtower ever printed and almost all the 
MC> books IN HIS HOME.  

You see I also have about 15 years worth of Watchtower publications
on the shelf. I don't know if you lived thru 1975, but I did. I
think that the Watchtower should be commended for the things that
are Biblical, such their stand against the taking of life. I also
feel that the Watchtower should be held accountable when it has made
predictions, especially when said predictions have failed. Having
a failed prediction has biblical consequences. Surely, if the
Watchtower was GOD's prophet, as it had made claim to be, then the
Watchtower should either not have made any predictions or the said
predictions should have happened as predicted. The lesson of 1914
was not learned.
 
I'll now quote from the Watchtower book called MAN'S SALVATION
OUT OF WORLD DISTRESS AT HAND!, see page 136:
"Furthermore, the remnant of spiritual Israel had for decades,
yes, since the year 1876, been looking forward to the ending of the
Times of the Gentiles in the autumn of 1914. They were expressing
God's Messianic kingdom to be fully established in the heavens
by then and also for the remnant of spiritual Israel to be
glorified with Jesus Christ in the heavenly kingdom at that time.
All understanding of the Holy scriptures was slanted in that
direction or adjusted to that idea. And when the year 1941 ended
amid the flames of World War I and the remnant of spiritual Israel
found themselves still here on earth, then they were inclined to 
think that they would be glorified in the year 1918, three and a
half years after the end of the Gentile Times."
NOTE: the book from which this quote was taken was printed in 1975.
 
The fact is stated clearly by the Watchtower that these spiritual
Israelites "SLANTED" their understanding of the Holy Scriptures or
they "ADJUSTED" the Holy Scriptures to that idea. You and I both
know that the title Spiritual Israelites is just another name for
followers of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
Is that any way for GOD's only channel of communication and GOD's
prophet to behave ? What about the honesty about which you spoke.
This is clear evidence that the Watchtower SLANTED and ADJUSTED
the Holy Scriptures to their own ideas. If they did it in the past,
how are you to know that they have stopped doing such things?
 
Since you also did not get my message discussing the proven
archealogical fact that the temple in Jerusalem was "NOT" destroyed
by the Babylonians in 607 BCE. It is archealogical fact that it was
destroyed in 587 BCE. The Watchtower adds 2520 years to 607 BCE to 
get their 1914 CE date. Since the temple was destroyed in 587 BCE, 
then the 2520 years should have been added to 587 BCE resulting 
in 1934 CE. This is provable fact, not conjecture. The Watchtower
continues to claim that the temple was destroyed in 607 BCE. 


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.  
