“A lie told often enough becomes the truth”…Vladimir Lenin

HOW 11 DISCIPLES SPOKEN TO BECOMES 500- MT 28:19,20

It was on a Sunday, 31st January, 2016 that we had the watchtower study, “One Hundred Years under Kingdom Rulership”. Then, on paragraph 2, on page 27, they writer of this watchtower study article said about Jesus


“Soon after his resurrection, Jesus met with a group of more than 500 potential disciples. (1 Corinthians 15:6) Perhaps this was when Jesus gave the command to preach to “people of all the nations.” This work would not be easy. (See footnote.) He told them that the preaching work would continue for a long time, right up until “the conclusion of the system of things.” When you preach the good news today, you are helping to fulfill that prophecy.—Matthew 28: 19, 20.”

THE FOOTNOTE SAYS: It is likely that most of that group became Christians. Why do we say that? Because the apostle Paul calls them “500 brothers.” He also says: “Most of [them] are still with us, though some have fallen asleep in death.” So it seems that Paul and other Christians knew many of those who had personally heard Jesus give the command to preach. (w15 11/15 p. 27 par. 2)


I remember that day that I argue that it should not be so. The scriptures at Matthew 28: 16 was very clear on the number of those that were actually present when Jesus gave the command. That you cannot be twisting God’s word to fit with your teachings, that the scriptures said 11 disciples where present. It reads:

“However, the 11 disciples went to Galʹi•lee to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them to meet.” Matthew 28: 16
Then I also said that the only reason why the writer of these articles of the publication wrote that is only for them to set a stage for some future conclusion but I didn’t know what that conclusion was going to be.

DELIBERATE LIES BECOMING TRUTH: SETTING A STAGE
The truth is that it could have been seen as the writer of the watchtower articles made a mistake, so that instead of writing 11, he wrote 500 and then quoted 1 Corinthians 15:6 where that apostle Paul wrote:
“After that he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still with us, though some have fallen asleep in death.”-1 Corinthians 15:6

But it was not a mistake, it was deliberate. The writer of the watchtower article used the footnote to solidify his point. In a writing technique typical of watchtower publication, the word “perhaps” is used in the paragraph; which gives the idea of not being certain of the information, however, the footnote was used mainly to solidify the position taken in the paragraph.

When it seems that all is forgotten, the stage was set for what was a “perhaps” to be a certainty. This Sunday, 10th of July, 2016, about 5 months after, the study article entitled “Go . . . and Make Disciples of People of All the Nations”, page 10, paragraph 3 said:
“Did Jesus want his disciples to wait for people to come to them? No! After his resurrection, Jesus told hundreds of his followers: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them . . . , teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28: 19, 20)- (w16 05 p. 10 par 3.)

Here, there, “perhaps” in the watchtower of w15 11/15 p.27par. 2 has become a fact in the watchtower article of w16 05 p.10 par3. Now, the scriptures at Matthew 28:16 have been nullified for watchtower new truth. 11 disciples present when Jesus gave the command in Mt 28:19, 20 have become 500 disciples, 1 Co 15:6 now used to support this claim and I sometimes wonder how Jesus would feel about this.

Also, I am incline to think that the writer of the watchtower w15 11/15 p.27 par.2 and w16 05 p.10 par.3 did not research on the topic (which is hardly) or could it have been a case of intellectual dishonesty?

In the 2013 version of the New World Translation, you will notice that in Mt 28:16, just before Jesus gave the command in Mt 28:19,20, the scriptures reads:

(Matthew 28:16) However, the 11 disciples went to Galʹi•leea to the mountain where Jesus had arranged for them to meet.b
There, you will notice the 2 superscripts, a and b. a points to Mt 26:32 and b points to 1 Co 15:6.
The two bible portions read:

(Matthew 26:16) So from then on, he kept looking for a good opportunity to betray him.
(1 Corinthians 15:6) After that he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still with us, though some have fallen asleep in death.

If the writer of the articles above had read the Mt 26, it would have been clear to him that it was the 11 that was present when Jesus gave the command of Mt 28:19, 20. Mt 26 makes that very clear, specifically, it reads in the verses
(Matthew 26:14) Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Is•carʹi•ot, went to the chief priests
(Matthew 26:20) When evening came, he was reclining at the table with the 12 disciples.

But as we already know, by the time Jesus started sharing the loaves and wine, between verses 26-30 of Mt 26, Judas, one of the twelve was no longer with them. So, by verse 32, when Jesus arraigned for them to meet in the mountain in galilee, Judas was no longer with them and he spoke with the remaining 11 disciples, in Mt 28:16, a fact the scriptures makes clear.


Again, if the writer of the two watchtower articles mentioned above had done a little more research(I seriously doubt they don’t), perhaps asked question in what he didn’t understand (I seriously doubt that he did not), he would have known in what sense apostle Paul may have meant when he said Jesus appeared to 500 brothers, because in in 1 Co 15: 8, Paul also said that Jesus appeared to him, but in what sense? As Bible students, we already know. I do not think that the watchtower writer didn’t know of this facts, neither was it a perhaps, it is a clear case of intellectual dishonesty which the watchtower is well known for.

The watchtower article of w15 11/15 p. 27 par. 2 was clearly setting a stage for this articles of w16 05 p. 10 par 3.
Considering the slow growth in making more convert (the watchtower organization will not agree openly this, but inwardly, they know), I believe the ultimate object of this method of scriptural manipulation is to find scriptural support for pushing all of their members to door to door evangelism for them. Most people are aware that in the Christian Greek scriptures, those mainly involve in preaching were the apostles, not all members of the Christian congregation as seen in the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization today. Therefore, bending the scriptures to support that Jesus spoke to 500 and not 11 faithful disciples will only serve to the ultimate objective that all the 500 carried out the door to door ministry and therefore, all members of the Christian congregation back then shared in the door to door ministry. I believe that is the direction this is going.

TAKE NOTE OF THIS

By means of that miraculous event on the day of Pentecost, God showed that he had transferred his backing from apostate Israel to “the Israel of God,” made up of both men and women. (Gal. 3:28; 6:15, 16) Among the Christian women who shared in the ministry in the first century were the four daughters of Philip the evangelizer.—Acts 21:8, 9. [i] (w14 8/15 p. 9 par. 17) [/b]


Here, the watchtower publication tries to make a case for Phillips daughters and other christian women in the first century that they engaged in the door to door work ministry. But the scriptures is very clear on the ‘ministry’ of Phillips’ daughter (because they minister or rendered service, but not in the context presented in the watchtower study), they were prophet, in the congregation (Compare Joe 2:28; Ac 21:8, 9; 1 Co 11:5; 14:1-5) while their father, Phillip was the evangelizer. That they minister to the apostles and others is clearly true, but was the ministry the door to door preaching? There is not scriptural proof, but the watchtower organization has pushed this idea in the minds on their members.

Whatever is the ultimate objective of the scriptural manipulation of Mt 28:16, it is left to be seen, but knowing watchtower for what they are, it surely would not end in the articles of w16 05 p. 10 par 3.

OAM4J, Mynd44, paulGrundy, JMAN05

I don't understand a bit of what you wrote. Can you summarize it for me.

paulGrundy:
I don't understand a bit of what you wrote. Can you summarize it for me.

Common, you have a blog with each page having thousands of words, you can do better than this.

In essence, it's about watchtower's continuous method of scriptural manipulation