耶和華見證人的錯謬

離開耶和華見證人，轉向基督——Gordon Cook的見證

轉載自﹕「Leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses and coming to Christ--Gordon Cook's Story」https://carm.org/christianity/testimonies/leaving-jehovahs-witnesses-and-coming-christ-gordon-cooks-story

My upbringing was not particularly religious. 我的背景不是太虔誠。My father was Church of England, though I never knew him go to church, but he did believe in God.我的父親屬于英國教會，但我從未見過他上教堂，雖然他說自己相信有神。 My mother was in the Salvation Army and attended fairly regularly, I went occasionally. But no attempt was made to give me any religious teaching.  My father had to give up work through ill health, so family life was a bit of a struggle back then in the early 1960’s. My mother died when I was 16.  I had an older brother and sister but they lived away from home.

Because of the family situation, it just being my father and myself, as soon as I left school I had to get a job.我出來工作。 so any plans for further education went out the window.  I suppose I embarked on the usual things for a young man going out drinking etc, with friends.  Strangely in our sessions in local pubs we often discussed God, why are we here, where are we going, the usual questions. 我們常在酒吧討論神的問題， I started to be drawn to the Bible 我開始被聖經吸引，wanting to know what it said about God, life and me. By the time I was 19 I was thinking of going into the ministry, I even contacted the Salvation Army about becoming an officer with them and the Church of England on becoming a minister. In fact the C of E wrote back to arrange a meeting to discuss it.

At this time a friend of mine was working with a Jehovah’s Witness and he used to tell what the Jehovah's Witness was telling him. 我有一個耶和華見證人朋友，常告訴我們，耶和華見證人怎麼講。I thought it sounded interesting, not really knowing anything about the Jehovah's Witnesses at  the time. So a meeting was arranged with one of their Elders. The way that that Elder answered questions and used the Bible in what seemed a logical and concise way I was drawn in.  This seemed to be what I wanted , to learn about the Bible and what it said. So I started a “Bible study” with them,我向他們學習聖經， in that they use a book with their doctrines in and use Bible verses to back them up.  This was March 1971; I would be 20 in April. I studied two books over the next 9 months or so, and was baptised as a Jehovah's Witness on January 6th. 1972. 我受洗成為耶和華見證人， I had already been going out on the door-to-door ministry 逐家逐戶傳教，that Jehovah's Witnesses are known for, very difficult to do when you are a shy person.  I won’t go into what they do deeply just that you have to attended 5 meetings a week,每星期參加五次聚會，2 of which are 2 hours long, 其中兩個是兩小時長的，go on field ministry regularly and put a report in at the end of each month saying how many hours you had done and how many magazines (Watchtower and Awake) books etc 每個月底寫傳教時間、銷售書籍等的報告，you had placed with people. Records are kept on all the people you have spoken to so you can call back on them.

In July 1974 I got married to a Jehovah's Witness girl, by October 1975 we had a son, eventually we had 7 children.我和一個耶和華見證人女孩結了婚，有七個孩子。 It was a very routine way of life. 生活一切平淡。I was working, attending meetings etc everything ce ntred around the Jehovah's Witness way of life.生活是圍繞著耶和華見證人。  The Jehovah's Witness is centred on the organisation, by that I mean the “Watchtower Bible and Tract Society” which is the organisation that runs the Jehovah's Witnesses, also known as the Watchtower, of the Society.  The view is that the Watchtower is “God’s only means of communication to man”  the only true religion on earth, “God’s only means of salvation on earth”  if you are not in the Watchtower then you will die at Armageddon!  To question the organisation is to question Jehovah himself and no one did that or you where out.

In time I started to feel something feel something was wrong. 我開始感覺有一點不對勁。At meetings when scripture was used I began to realise that many of them just did not fit what was being said from the platform. 在聚會中，他們使用的經文並不適合他們在講的。 Scriptures taken out of context made to fit the Jehovah's Witness teaching. 他們不管經文的上下文，I would read the surrounding verses and realise that sometimes they were saying the opposite of what was being taught. 我讀上下文時，了解到他們有時講的，剛剛是相反的。Also the Jehovah's Witness teaching sidelines Jesus Christ,  Jehovah's Witness teaching is that Jesus is the archangel Michael not part of a Trinity which they see as a pagan teaching. 他們說耶穌是天使長米迦勒，反對三位一體，並以耶穌為配角。But in my reading of scripture all I saw was Jesus Christ by who we were saved and not being part of an organisation and doing the works it said we had to do to be saved.   但是，當我讀聖經，到處都講到耶穌怎麼樣救了我。I discussed my feeling with a couple of the Elders, but was told to keep quiet about it, or I could be in trouble. 我和長老討論，但他們叫我閉嘴，否則有麻煩。So I put it to the back of my mind though I went through a period where I would literally shake with the thought of having to go to a meeting. I often wonder now if it was the Lord trying to tell me something.  But fear kept me in the Jehovah's Witnesses.因為懼怕，我留在組織裏。

By now 1990 I was also a ministerial servant (deacon) in the congregation. 直到1990年，我成為教會的執事，Giving talks from the platform, even 45-minute public talks on a Sunday. 在講台教訓人， As well as items, ranging from 5- 20 minutes during other meetings. I was also in charge of literature, that is all the books, brochures, tracts, that are used on the field ministry. 管理 書籍等等，Through all this I was still having certain doubts, but never tempted to look elsewhere for information.我心裏仍然存著懷疑。

Now by 1995 I was struggling at home to make ends meet, having 7 children, a home and the expense of all that started to prove to much. 我現在有經濟困難，My job was not paying all that much and looked like it may finish also. so I started using credit cards and a loan to pay for everything and got deeper and deeper into debt.  越來越陷入債務。By April 1996 I didn’t know where to turn and suffered a breakdown I just went off one day took some money from work.  我精神崩潰了，I went to the Lake District via Blackpool, spent about a week there just walking over the hills. Then decided to kill myself, 企圖自殺。so I took about 30 tablets, paracetemol, aspirin and drank a bottle of brandy. This was in the evening sitting on a hill overlooking the valley at Windermere, thinking how beautiful it was.  I gradually lost consciousness, and then woke up next morning feeling awful. Then for some reason I staggered back to where I was staying, and stayed in bed all day. I decided to head for a hospital, but decided to head for one near home.

I arrived at the hospital in the evening. 我到醫院去，They put me on a drip to try to clear the drugs out of my system. They contacted an Elder who came the next morning, who later brought my wife. Because I had tried to commit suicide I was “sectioned” and sent to a psychiatric hospital. 他們送我到精神病院。There I was diagnosed as having “acute clinical depression” and according to the doctors probably had it for a number of years but suppressed it and it came to a head in the breakdown I had. Also they said depression seems to be common amongst Jehovah’s Witnesses, 他們告訴我，在耶和華見證人中，抑鬱是常見的。I was the third or fourth one they had had that year.我是那年第三或第四個， For a small group of people the ratio was quite high for depression.對於一個這麼小的群組，百分率算非常高。

Now this is where my faith was shaken. 於是，我的信仰開始動搖。I now thought that being in “Jehovah’s loving organisation” I would get help to overcome the depression.  我以為了在「耶和華的愛的團體」裏，我可以得到幫助。Boy!  Was I wrong?  我錯了嗎？Though spending 6 weeks in hospital no Elder would spend time with me. 我花了六個星期在醫院，長老們少有花時間和我談話，只有把我太太帶來。They may bring my wife but did not want to stay and talk., but I saw the ministers of other patients visiting them. 但是我看見其他病人的牧師來訪問他們。Eventually I was put on anti-depressants and sent home. 後來，我服食抗抑鬱劑，被遣回家。This is now May 1996.  I was very rarely visited by anyone 其他人也少有來看我，except Elders, the rest of the congregation would be “advised” to stay away, I was a danger.  聚集中其他人被「勸告」遠離我，因為我是危險人物。I had to appear before a judicial committee of three elders, where I was “privately reproved.”  我要在教會的法庭式委員會前，我被「私下責備」。 Their answer to my problem consisted of I should going out on the door-to-door work more and attending the meetings. 解決的辦法就是逐戶傳教和參加聚會。People I had known for years stopped speaking to me. 認識多年的人不再和我談話。My wife was more concerned about her standing in the congregation. 我的妻子也只關心她在教會裏的地位。She stopped sleeping with me; she would sleep on the sofa downstairs.她不再和我同床。 I do not know how this was affecting my children at the time because it all seemed so surreal to me what was happening in “Jehovah’s loving organisation”.  I managed to get a job anyway, but it was shift work so it meant I would miss some meetings. Which seemed to upset people more.

Then in December 1996 my wife asked me to leave home, 我的妻子請我離開。just what someone who has depression needs!  Later I found out this was under the influence of the Elders I was considered “a spiritual danger to the family” so had to go. 以後，我發現，原來這是長老們的影響，因為他們認為我是「靈性上傷害家庭」，所以應該趕走。 My wife even found me a bedsit to live in, in the next town so that we would not attend the same congregation.  I started attending the congregation but had that feeling that they were weary of me. The Elders here, where no better, not one of them asked if they could visit me and have a chat.我太太為了我找到一個住處，是屬於另一個聚會點的。這裏的長老也好不到那裏。

Not long after moving out, my eldest son, a Jehovah's Witness, came to live with me. He having not agreed with what was going on with me. So we moved to a bigger place.  We both continued attending the Jehovah's Witness meetings. Then my second son came to live with me. He was not a Jehovah's Witness but because he would not accept and become one his mother was making it awkward for him at home. This meant I had to get a bigger place. Then sometime later my second daughter came as well, she was a Jehovah's Witness. This was because of something that occurred at home. 因為各種原因，我的兩個兒子和女孩搬到和我住。 During this time I had started looking into the teachings and history of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 在這期間，我開始研究耶和華見證人的教導和曆史。What I found shook me I learnt about the false way in which they portrayed Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and had twisted scripture to suit their views. 我的發現使我震驚。他們教導有關耶穌是錯的，歪曲聖經以適合他們的話，Plus the history of false prophecies, 錯誤的預言，changes in teachings and doctrine over the years, 教義一直在修改，showed it was nothing more than a man-made organisation. I stopped going to meetings in August 1999, my son and daughter who lived me had already done so. 我和孩子們都停止參加聚會。 In fact in September 1999 they both “disassociated” themselves from the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This means that no Jehovah's Witness could speak to them of have anything to do with them, even their own mother.耶和華見證人不再和他們來往，即使他們的母親亦然。

I still wanted to worship God but didn’t know where to go or what to do. 我還是想要敬拜神，但不知道怎麼做。As a Jehovah's Witness you are taught that all other religions are apostate, satanic, demonic etc.  當我在耶和華見證人，我被告知，所有其他宗教都是撒但的，變節的等等。One of the books about the Jehovah's Witnesses I had read was published by the Reachout Trust, which help people in my situation. 我讀到一本書，是幫助像我這樣的耶和華見證人的，So I wrote to them asking 我給他們寫信求助，for help and they put me in touch with their  representative who happen to live not far away. He came to see me and help me see the “Christian” view of things.  他們幫助我明白「基督徒」的觀點。He took me to a couple of meetings he was attending but they didn’t feel right to me. Then he took in March 2000 to a meeting at a place called the Narrowgate centre. It was here that I gave myself to Christ. 我將自己奉給基督。 But it was a bit far for me to get to so I thought of going to the main church which was the Wirral Christian Centre, Birkenhead an Elim Pentecostal church.  I tried to go one Sunday evening but couldn’t pluck the courage to go in. 我沒有勇氣進到教堂裏。Then the next day the assistant Pastor rang up and said he had been given my name, could he come to see me?  He came and we had a chat and I told him about nearly going in to the church. 次日，牧師來見我，談話。So he said he would come next Sunday and pick me up, 下一個星期日，他來接我。which he did. I was a bit apprehensive it was like the other end of the scale compared to a Jehovah's Witness meeting.  But the place was so alive and everyone so friendly.那教堂是非常活潑和親切。 The singing was marvellous such joy in the songs and the congregation singing them. Though the shouts of “Hallelujah and Amen” and speaking in tongues was a bit unnerving at first. I couldn’t believe the amount of prayer also, but it was so heartfelt with feeling.  The sermon by Pastor Paul Epton bowled me over. I thought “Yes that’s how the word of God should be spoken” its alive!

By December 2000 I had been attending the church about 9 months. My eldest son decided to come with me one Sunday evening just to see what I was getting into. 九個月之後，我的兒子隨著我來參加，He ended up giving himself to Christ!  也接受了基督！ When the subject of baptism came up and they announced the next baptism would be on January 7th 2001.  I jumped when I heard this, and said I wanted to be baptised. 我受了浸禮。This would be exactly 29 years from when I was baptised as a Jehovah's Witness.這是我在耶和華見證人裏受洗後的29年。

During this time I was still seeing my children who lived with my wife, three daughters and a son. 在此期間，我常常見到和我妻子同住的孩子們。In September 2001 while at work two Jehovah's Witness elders called at the house, to see me. My son answered the door; they said they would call back.  Considering that I had not been to a Jehovah's Witness meeting for two years this was the first time they had called in two years.  我離開之後兩年，耶和華見證人的長老來看我。Also one of the Elders only lived a 5-minute walk away and in that time had not bothered to call. I knew the only reason they where calling was because instructions had gone out from Watchtower HQ to try and get those Jehovah's Witnesses who had become inactive, left, disfellowshipped to return because they where dropping in numbers.他們來，原因是守望台總部下令要找回那些不活躍的和被趕走的。  Anyway I wrote to them saying that I was disassociating myself and that I was now a Christian.  我告訴他們，我是一個基督徒了。This meant that my wife, two daughters who were Jehovah's Witnesses could not have anything to do with me.我的太太和兩個女兒都不再和我來往了。 Though my wife had not spoken to me since August 1999 anyway.  The only children I now see are my two youngest a son (14) and daughter (13) they have to come to me as I am not allowed to their house. So a wife and mother, sisters and brothers, are forbidden to speak to us because a man-made organisation says so. Based on their interpretation of scripture.

So where are we now? Well my son and myself are still attending the Wirral Christian Centre. We have had our ups and downs. I get the occasional bout of depression but now I no longer feel alone, now that I have Christ.我仍然偶爾有抑鬱，但是我不再孤獨了，因為我有基督了。  I still have financial problems that need sorting but I no longer let them dominate my life. I find that the prayer and support are there from others also. 我仍有經濟問題，但我發現，祈禱和其他人也幫忙。The Lord through the Pastor has told me not to worry about the rest of the family He will deal with them in time. Also that I will have a two year period of ups and downs but will everything will eventually sort itself out, all I have to do is stay close to Him.事情慢慢變好了，我所需要的，就是緊靠耶穌。

One thing that has happened is that my daughter who lived with me for a while, she is now 20, last Sunday evening gave herself to Christ. 我的20歲的女兒也歸向基督了。The Lord will work everything out in His own time; I just have to wait on him. 主會慢慢幫忙我，我只需要等待他。 It is the difference between relying on a man-made organisation and relying on our Saviour Jesus Christ, who dwells in us.這就是依靠一個人的組織和依靠我們的救主耶穌基督的不同。

by Gordon Cook

dwill11@hotmail.com