Researching is not the same as leaving your faith

As you read here, something else may be happening. You feel tension. Maybe even guilt. Am I actually allowed to read this? Am I doing something wrong? Is this apostate information? Am I being disloyal to Jehovah? What if Satan is trying to influence me through this? You may even recognize the feeling that you really ought to close this website. If so, we do not want to tell you that your feeling is ridiculous. If you have been taught for years that certain information can be spiritually dangerous, it is understandable that it feels unsettling to look beyond the familiar sources. But perhaps we may ask you one question: Is examining information the same as believing it? You do not have to believe anything here. We want to make that clear right away. You do not have to believe ExJW.World . You do not have to let go of Jehovah. You do not have to decide that Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong. You do not have to withdraw from the congregation. You do not even have to reach any conclusion today. You are looking at information. That is all. Maybe you read something and think: I completely disagree with this. That is fine. Maybe you read something and think: I want to check this. By all means do so. Maybe you ultimately conclude that you want to remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses. That too is your choice. ExJW.World is not here to take over your conscience. Jehovah's Witnesses themselves have encouraged people to examine their religion That is precisely why something from Jehovah's Witness history is interesting. In The Watchtower of July 15, 1964, an article appeared titled 'Have You Thoroughly Tested Your Religion?' In it, readers were encouraged to examine their own religion and test it against the Bible. More than that: the article advised people not only to listen to their own religious belief, but also to Jehovah's Witnesses. After hearing both sides , the reader was then to determine for himself where the truth lay. That is an interesting principle: Listen to different sides and then investigate for yourself what is true. 'Examine Your Religion Thoroughly' Almost fifty years later, a similar principle was used again. In a 2012 publication, examining a religion was compared to choosing a surgeon. When you have to undergo a life-threatening operation, you want to know whether you can trust the surgeon to whom you are entrusting your life. The publication then made the comparison with religion. If you are, as it were, entrusting your spiritual life and your prospect of salvation to a religious organization, the article says it is wise to examine that religion thoroughly . That sounds reasonable. After all, a religious belief can have an enormous impact on your life: on who your friends are, whom you marry, how you raise your children, how you think about education, how you make medical decisions, how you view sexuality, how you spend your time, how you think about the future, and sometimes even with whom you do or do not have contact. If a religion can have so much influence on a person's life, is careful examination strange? Or rather wise? But does that principle also apply to Jehovah's Witnesses? That is the question we want to put to you. Not answer. Put to you. If a Catholic may examine his church... If a Protestant may examine his church... If someone who is Muslim may examine his religion... And if Jehovah's Witnesses may ask someone at the door whether the religion in which that person was raised is really the truth... can a Jehovah's Witness also examine whether his own religion is true? And if the answer is yes, a second question arises: What information may you use for that? Only information published by the organization itself? Or also old publications from that same organization? Different Bible translations? Historical documents? Scientific research? Court rulings? Experiences of current and former Jehovah's Witnesses? Experts in psychology and group dynamics? And of course: the Bible itself? What is the difference from what Jehovah's Witnesses themselves do? Jehovah’s Witnesses have spent years distributing literature that examines other religious beliefs. A well-known example is the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life , which was published in 1968. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own historical account, this book was intended to help interested people determine what the true religion is. Among other things, it contained chapters on why it is wise to examine your religion and how the true religion can be identified. There is nothing strange about that in itself. Every religious movement is allowed to explain why it believes its interpretation is correct. But that does create an interesting mirror. Suppose a Catholic read Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Truth book. In it, he might encounter information critical of beliefs he had grown up with. Jehovah’s Witnesses would probably not say: You should never have opened this book because it was not written by the Catholic Church. On the contrary. The point was precisely that someone would re-examine his existing beliefs. Why? Because something does not become true because your parents believed it. Not because you were raised with it. Not because millions of people believe it. And not because a religious leader says it is true. The question was: Is it actually true? The same standard for everyone Perhaps that is the fairest way to examine things. Not one rule for other religions and a different rule for your own religion. But the same standard for everyone. When Jehovah’s Witnesses write that you should look at the fruits of a religion, we can do that with every religion. Including Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1968, The Watchtower wrote that someone could examine whether the teachings of his religion were supported by God’s Word and what fruits that religion produced. So you could, for example, ask: Does what is taught agree with the Bible? Have major teachings changed over the years? How were certain topics discussed in the past? How are they discussed now? What happens when predictions or expectations do not come true? How are people treated who come to believe differently? What effect do rules have on families? What fruits do I see myself? Those are questions. Not answers yet. And what about Satan? Maybe this is the hardest thought for you. What if Satan actually wants me to read this? Maybe you were taught that Satan can use doubt to draw someone away from Jehovah. We cannot judge your belief in Satan for you. But we can look together at the logic of investigation. Suppose you read something that is not correct. Then you can verify it. You can look up the original source. You can open the Bible. You can compare. You can determine: This is not right. And reject it. Examining something does not mean switching off your ability to think critically. Quite the opposite. Don’t just believe us either That is important to us at ExJW.World . Do not automatically assume something is true because an ex-Jehovah’s Witness says it. A former Jehovah’s Witness can be mistaken. A YouTuber can exaggerate. A journalist can make a mistake. A website can misinterpret information. And we can make mistakes too. That is why we try to include sources in factual articles. When we discuss an old Watchtower , you can look it up yourself. When we write that a teaching has changed, you can compare old and new publications. When someone shares a personal experience, it should be clear that it is that person’s experience. And when something cannot be proven, we want to say that too. Critical thinking does not mean believing everything that is against Jehovah’s Witnesses. That would again let someone else determine your thinking. What if you discover something you did not want to know? That can happen. Maybe you find an answer that reassures you. But maybe you discover something that raises new questions instead. That can be very uncomfortable. Especially when your faith is not only a belief, but also tied to your parents, your spouse, your children, your friends, your congregation, your future, your hope of paradise, and your relationship with Jehovah. Then a question of faith suddenly is no longer only about: What is true? There may also be another question underneath, without you realizing it: What do I lose if my answer changes? That is an important question. Because fear of the consequences of an answer can affect how freely we dare to examine a question. Free will Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that God has given humans free will. According to that belief, Jehovah wants people to choose him willingly. Not because they are forced to. But because they love him and want to serve him. There is something beautiful in that. But free will also raises a difficult question: How free is a choice when you’re only allowed to fully investigate one option? Suppose there are three paths before you. You’re allowed to examine one path in depth. You’re given books about that path. You mostly speak with people who chose that path. You regularly hear why the other paths are dangerous. But you’d rather not be allowed to look at those other paths yourself. Can you then honestly say, with full information: I chose this path myself? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s a question worth thinking about. What if research actually makes your faith stronger? That can happen too. Suppose you investigate everything. You read criticism. You check sources. You compare old and new publications. You study the Bible. You look into the organization’s history. And in the end you conclude: I still believe this is the truth. Then at least you know better why you believe that. Your conviction is no longer just: I’ve always been taught this. But: I dared to ask questions, checked the information, and this is my conclusion. If a belief is true, careful investigation shouldn’t ultimately have to destroy that truth. And maybe your belief changes That can happen too, of course. Maybe you discover things that make you think differently. Then you don’t have to do anything immediately. Doubt is not a resignation letter. A question is not a withdrawal. A changing belief doesn’t mean you have to make a decision about your entire life tomorrow. Take your time. Read. Think. If necessary, talk to an independent professional. Especially when your family, partner, children, home, work, or social network are strongly connected to the community, big decisions can have consequences. You are allowed to first understand what is happening inside you. You don’t have to find a new truth right away After years of having strong certainty, doubt can feel very unsafe. Maybe you want to know as quickly as possible: But what is the truth then? No one has to answer that immediately either. Not an elder. Not an ex-JW. Not a psychologist. Not a new religion. And ExJW.World doesn’t either. You are allowed to say for now: I don’t know. That is not failure. Sometimes not knowing is the space in which you can first begin to investigate for yourself what you truly think and believe. Maybe you’re not here because you doubt at all Maybe you still believe completely. But your child has left. Your partner is questioning. Your brother has been disfellowshipped. Your mother has withdrawn. And you don’t understand why. Then maybe you’re not here to examine your own faith. You’re here to understand them . You’re welcome even then. You don’t have to agree with their choices in order to want to understand what is happening in them. Maybe reading about their experiences will even help you have a conversation that wasn’t possible before. This is not a test of your loyalty Opening a website does not determine who you are. Reading another opinion does not determine what you believe. Having a question does not mean you have left Jehovah. And investigating information is not yet a conclusion. What you ultimately believe is up to you. That is why we don’t want to ask you on this website: Believe us. We ask something else: Check us out. Review our sources. Compare what we write with original publications. Look for information that contradicts our conclusions. Read different perspectives. Think it through. And then form your own opinion. Because maybe the most important question is not: Am I allowed to read this? But: If God has given me reason, conscience, and free will, am I allowed to use them to carefully investigate what I believe? You don’t have to answer that today. You can just keep reading first. Sources - from Jehovah’s Witness publications For this article, we deliberately relied mainly on Jehovah’s Witness publications themselves. In The Watchtower of July 15, 1964, readers were encouraged to put their religion to the test and, after hearing different viewpoints, to find out for themselves where the truth lies. Watchtower Online Library - Have You Ever Tested Your Religion? - 1964 In The Watchtower of December 1, 1968, readers were again advised to examine whether religious teachings are supported by God’s Word and to look at the fruits that a religion produces. Watchtower Online Library - Do You Have the True Religion? - 1968 Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own historical account also describes how the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life was used to help interested ones think about the question of which religion was true. Watchtower Online Library - Proclaiming the Good News Without Letup (1942-1975) And in 2012 it was stated again that it is wise to thoroughly examine a religion when, as it were, you are entrusting your spiritual life and hope of salvation to it. Watchtower Online Library - Religion: Why Worth Examining?