Priest Admits Witnesses’ Virtues
By Awake! correspondent in Australia
IN 1991 the Condobolin Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New South Wales, Australia, was destroyed by fire. A few weeks later, a local Anglican priest expressed sympathy in his parish letter “for the loss of the place of worship.” His letter continued:
“While there are obvious differences between our practices and theirs, I have for many years been full of praise for those aspects of the practice of their faith which I believe are good in themselves.” What were some of these positive aspects?
First: “They are very concerned about the teaching of the faith. They will meet together for two or three occasions each week for this purpose.” This is true—Jehovah’s Witnesses are a reading, teaching, and preaching religion. They have three meetings weekly.
The priest’s second point was: “They . . . regularly make evangelistic visits to the homes of people. . . . They like us to know that the third largest denomination in Australia is the body of people who state No Religion (3,841,000 people). The JW people are not content to keep the faith to themselves but want to share it with other people.” Jehovah’s Witnesses know that they must respond to Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10 by preaching the good news.
The third point: “They do not appear to raise funds through the community with Street Stalls and other fund-raising efforts. Their finance comes from within [their] community.” The Bible says, ‘freely have you received, freely give’ and, ‘there is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’ Thus, they take no collections. Contribution boxes are discreetly available at their halls.—Matthew 10:8; Acts 20:35.
What was the final praiseworthy aspect he mentioned? “They construct their places of worship with a minimum amount of time and finance. . . . You may care to wander down to Gum Bend Lake Road . . . and see the local JW people . . . working on the construction of a new Kingdom Hall. They estimate the work will take them three days.” Then what advice did he give his parishioners?
“I suggest that you read over the four points I have suggested above and ask how they can help you think about the visible practice of your faith. . . . I would suggest that in relation to the four points mentioned the JW people would leave the average Anglican and other Christian parishes for dead.”
If you would like to visit a Kingdom Hall and see for yourself how Jehovah’s Witnesses worship and what they believe, feel free to go to the Kingdom Hall nearest you, or write to us for the address of the hall closest to you.
[Picture on page 31]
Kingdom Hall in Condobolin, New South Wales