Reports are emerging of an announcement at the 128th Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania that the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses now considers itself to be the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class of Matthew 24:45 in its entirety.
Previously it was understood that the Governing Body were merely humble “representatives” of the “Slave Class”, which comprised the 12,000 or more anointed remnant of Christians with a heavenly calling still on earth. Despite claiming to be “representatives” of this group of people, suspicions were raised in the minds of many thinking Witnesses after reading articles such as the Questions From Readers of the August 15th 2011 Watchtower, where it was admitted that the Governing Body has no actual communication with memorial partakers (the “anointed”) and even feels that some of these ones may be mentally imbalanced. (see w11 8/15 p. 22)
Many have predicted that, at some point in the future, the Governing Body would end this confusion by claiming that they themselves are the Faithful and Discreet Slave, with the anointed remnant playing no special role. According to numerous reports this has finally happened. However, this remarkable claim opens a labyrinth of fresh doctrinal puzzles that future publications must now attempt to explain.
The Annual Meeting at which this “new light” was revealed was held at Jersey Assembly Hall (The Stanley Theater), New Jersey on October 6th – the same day that a sensitive Watchtower letter was leaked on the internet.
Although I previously reported in this article that the meeting was NOT broadcast to other locations, this appears to be untrue. The meeting had a total audience of 15,514 including those watching via video link from Brooklyn, Patterson, Walkill and Canada. Some in attendance took notes of what was said during the meeting, and have leaked this extaordinary new information online, so the news is gradually spreading around the world even though this “new light” has not yet been presented officially in the publications as it normally would be. (Update: to read about the printed explanation of the “new light” in the July 15 2013 Watchtower, please click here)
Anointed demoted – Governing Body promoted
The new understanding was explained over a series of six talks delivered by various Governing Body members over a two-hour period. The purpose of the talks was to impart the following adjustments:
- The Faithful and Discreet Slave was NOT appointed at Pentecost 33CE, meaning that there has not been a continuous line of members of the Slave Class on the earth down through the ages. The Slave Class was only appointed for the first time by Christ in 1919.
- The Faithful and Discreet Slave is a small group of anointed brothers during Jesus’ presence serving at Watchtower Headquarters who are directly involved in the preparing and dispensing of spiritual food. The individual members of the Governing Body are not the Faithful and Discreet Slave. They only act as the Faithful and Discreet Slave when they are working as a collective body in making decisions regarding the dispensing of spiritual food.
- The “domestics” of Matthew 24:45 are all those who are fed spiritually by the Governing Body, whether of the anointed or “other sheep”. This includes individual members of the Governing Body when they partake of spiritual food.
- The events described in Matthew 24:46,47 now refer to Jesus coming during the Great Tribulation and giving the Governing Body their reward in heaven along with the rest of the anointed.
- The “belongings” of Matthew 24:47 refer to all of Christ’s heavenly and earthly interests.
- Despite founding the Watch Tower Society, Charles Taze Russell was not part of the Slave Class because he was not alive and serving at Headquarters when Christ made his selection in 1919. The work of Russell and his associates was like that of the “messenger” in Malachi 3:1.
- The cleansing of God’s people is ongoing because, apparently, the bible gives two accounts of Christ doing a “cleansing” work, once at the start and once at the end of his ministry
In addition to the doctrinal changes, it was also explained that:
- The Governing Body members now make decisions based on a total majority, meaning that if a doctrinal understanding does not have full agreement by all Governing Body members, it is “shelved” until a future date.
- The lecture for Gilead and Branch Schools about the Faithful and Discreet Slave being 1,900 years old has now been deleted.
It is understood that the above doctrinal changes will be explained in further detail in future Watchtower articles. However, it could potentially be months before these articles are published and then studied at congregation meetings. Reports on Annual Meetings are not normally published until the August 15th Watchtower is released in April of each year. In the meantime, many brothers will likely be confused and bewildered that the Governing Body has made such a radical departure from their previous understanding of Matthew 24:45. Still more will wonder why these dramatic adjustments were not first published in a Watchtower article so that they could be simultaneously disseminated throughout the entire organization rather than announced to a select few at a New York corporate meeting.
Anointed Christians who entertain a heavenly hope will feel particularly aggrieved at this latest humiliation. As memorial partakers they had already suffered the indignity of being labelled as potentially “mentally or emotionally imbalanced” in the aforementioned Questions From Readers article of the August 15th, 2011 Watchtower. In the same article, the Governing Body bluntly dismissed the suggestion that there was any requirement on their part to contact such ones when deciding over doctrinal matters.
Now the 12,000+ crowd of anointed spread throughout the earth has suffered the final insult of being demoted as members of the Faithful and Discreet Slave in favor of eight men in New York who have deemed themselves the only ones worthy of this title. When it comes to teaching Christ’s followers, the anointed must now share equal standing with the millions of the Great Crowd as Christ’s “domestics”, even though they are supposed to rule over such ones as kings and priests with Christ at some future date.
A subtle use of words
It is noteworthy that this “new light” stops short of expressly naming “the Governing Body” as the Faithful Slave – rather a “group” of anointed brothers serving at Watchtower headquarters, which can only be applied to the Governing Body in our present day. This distinction is significant, because it acknowledges that there was no Governing Body as we know it prior to 1971 – only the Watch Tower Society Board of Directors who, as I have explained in a previous article, were informally described as a “governing body” (lower case) only from 1944 onwards.
The significance of this is that, if Christ had come to inspect the organization and appoint the Governing Body as his Faithful Slave in 1919 he would have been disappointed, because this entity would not exist as a collective decision-making body for another 52 years! However, if Christ was less specific and instead chose “a group of anointed men at Headquarters” at that time, then Rutherford as Watch Tower President and his board of subordinate directors were available to be chosen collectively as the Faithful Slave. Even if you are prepared to accept this rather bewildering explanation of Matthew 24:45 (a scripture that most people regard as a mere parable), there is one particularly problematic doctrinal flaw that the Society will need to address.
No scriptural precedent for apostolic succession
If Rutherford and his anointed associates were selected in 1919, then on what scriptural basis can it be automatically assumed that their roles as the Faithful and Discreet Slave were transferable, or could be “inherited”, by successive generations of the Board of Directors of the Watch Tower Society – which, after all, is merely a legal entity?
Part of the basis of this new understanding appears to be that Jehovah has always used a small group of people to teach and dispense spiritual food to the many, and that in the First Century it was the apostles and older men who were given this role by Christ. However, the bible provides no example of how those appointed by God to be his representatives may pass their duties on to someone else in the event of their death without God’s clear and unambiguous approval. (Numbers 27:18-20) The idea of someone inheriting someone else’s position because they have died is clearly a fleshly concept rather than a spiritual one.
True, the Kings of Israel and Judea were succeeded by their male offspring, but they played no distinct role in instructing the people. Most importantly, the arrangement of kings in Israel was not favored by God, but rather instituted to placate the Israelites who demanded a king to serve under in the same way as the nations around them. (1 Samuel 8:5-8, 19) It’s therefore inconceivable that a monarchic arrangement in which those appointed by God may choose their own successors would be a feature of “Spiritual Israel” – an institution that is not subject to the whims of humans but is of purely divine origin.
In the case of the twelve apostles appointed by Christ, once these died off they were not replaced by successors. Matthias was the only apostle “of the twelve” who wasn’t appointed directly by Jesus, but he was only appointed as a replacement of unfaithful Judas by the casting of lots. (Acts 1:23-26) The Society themselves admit that the reason for the appointment of Matthias in this manner was due to the unfaithfulness of Judas, rather than as a response to Judas’ death. As further evidence, when faithful apostle James died (as with the rest of the apostles) there is no record of any concern over whether a replacement should be appointed. Consider the following quote from the Insight book…
“Sometime during the ten days between Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost it was viewed as necessary that another be selected to fill the vacancy left by Judas, not simply on the basis of his death but, rather, on the basis of his wicked defection, as the Scriptures quoted by Peter indicate. (Ac 1:15-22; Ps 69:25; 109:8; compare Re 3:11.) Thus, by contrast, when the faithful apostle James was put to death, there is no record of any concern to appoint anyone to succeed him in his position of apostle.—Ac 12:2.” – Insight On The Scriptures, Volume 1, Page 129
The Governing Body has long pointed to Christ’s apostles as a divinely approved model for their collective authority, but they have never once explained how Christ has any involvement in their individual appointment. They are now asking us to believe that Christ directly chose Joseph Rutherford and his anointed associates as his modern-day “apostles”, or Faithful and Discreet Slave, in 1919 – but they will never be able to satisfactorily explain how, once Rutherford and his associates died, the divinely appointed authority of these ones was conferred to successive generations of Watchtower leaders.
In the past, the Society was able to evade this issue with comparative ease, because they could point to the Faithful and Discreet Slave CLASS as being ever-present throughout history from Pentecost 33CE onwards (i.e. individual anointed ones were not “succeeded” by anyone on their death), with the Governing Body assuming an albeit self-appointed and symbolic role as representatives of these ones in recent times.
Now, the Society has effectively scrapped the idea of the Faithful and Discreet Slave as a “class”, and now insists that the office of the Faithful Slave was bestowed by Christ on the shoulders of Rutherford and his associates in 1919, and this office was somehow passed down to successive members of the Watch Tower Society Board of Directors until the Governing Body arrangement was introduced in 1971. Thereafter, they insist that this “succession” continued as Governing Body members died and were replaced until we arrive today at a situation where eight individuals, none of whom had even been born in 1919, are now Christ’s “Faithful and Discreet Slave”. Not only does this sound incredibly implausible – most significantly there is absolutely no scriptural precedent for things to be done by God in this manner whatsoever.
In the bible, God’s favored way of doing things has always been to appoint either an individual or group of individuals to lead his people, and once these ones died their office (or position) died with them – unless God made clear that he was handing it to somebody else. In other words, God appoints people according to their individual merits, not based on who has gone before them. There is no reason to believe that God or Christ would do a complete U-turn and now do things entirely differently, especially during times such as these when the Earth is supposed to be on the brink of falling under Christ’s millennial rule, and divinely appointed direction is said to be needed more than ever by God’s people deep in these “last days”.
It is also interesting to note that, according to reports, the Governing Body is now insisting that the organization has been in an ongoing period of “cleansing” since 1919. Whether this will be somehow used to explain the idea of succession remains to be seen. The Governing Body may try to claim that part of this ongoing “cleansing” involves Christ appointing new members of the Faithful Slave. Regardless of how they try to explain it, thinking Witnesses will wonder why Jesus Christ needs 93 years and counting, not to mention successive generations of Watchtower leaders, to cleanse his organization and impart divine truth.
A talk by Samuel Herd apparently attempted to reinforce the link between the Apostles and the Governing Body, but admitted that once these Apostles died the “restraint” was removed allowing apostasy to set in. As I have already asked in this article, how can the Governing Body justify likening themselves to every feature of the First Century apostles apart from the key characteristic whereby no apostles were replaced once they had died?
A poor choice of slave
Not only is the “successor” element of the Governing Body’s new teaching highly suspect, but prior to this new teaching questions were already being raised as to how Christ could possibly have chosen Joseph Rutherford and his associates as his approved earthly organization in 1919. There are two main reasons for this…
Spiritual Food – I have already published an article detailing how the publications of the Bible Students in circulation between 1918 and 1919 were not just partially inaccurate – they were shockingly misleading and downright fanciful in their application of scripture. There are few more obvious examples of this than the Finished Mystery, which spoke of the distance between the place where it was written and the place where it was printed as having prophetic significance, and described Charles Taze Russell as speaking from beyond the grave through its pages and supervising the “harvest work” even after his death!
In another of my articles, on InsideTheWatchtower.com, I have presented evidence of racist bigotry in the pages of early Watchtower publications both before, during and after Christ’s supposed inspection. Rutherford in particular described black men and women as a cursed “race of servants” in a Golden Age article ten years after Christ’s inspection was supposed to have taken place (see The Golden Age, July 24th 1929, page 702). Bear in mind that the Golden Age, the forerunner of today’s Awake! magazine, is still considered a vehicle of spiritual food just like any other Watchtower publication.
In summarizing the publications of the Bible Students that were in circulation during the period of Christ’s inspection in 1919, nobody put it better than former Governing Body member Raymond Franz when he said…
“A direct investigation of the publications of the Watch Tower organization in the years from 1914 to 1919 reveals none of the prudent discretion that causes a man to ‘keep his lips in check’. It would be an insult to Christ Jesus to say that he selected this organization on the basis of what it was teaching, uniquely and distinctively, as of 1919.” (Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, page 145)
The personal character of Rutherford – I am still relatively recent in my “awakening” from the indoctrination of my upbringing as a Witness. Throughout my young life “Judge” Joseph Rutherford was frequently held aloft as a shining example of a humble servant of God, and to this day he is lauded by the Watch Tower Society as a man of great wisdom and courage. Such a depiction of him features prominently in the recent Faith In Action DVD series. Even so, the more I read about “Judge” Joseph Rutherford, the more I realize what a monstrous and vile man he truly was.
The Society’s problem with Rutherford is that, try as they may, they cannot prevent documented evidence of his questionable character from surfacing – especially since the internet has made it easier than ever before to share such information that would otherwise be hard to obtain. For example, I will shortly be publishing an article that will attempt to pull together some of the documented evidence of Rutherford’s temperament – in particular that which came to light during the libel lawsuit with Watchtower lawyer Olin Moyle between 1939 and 1940.
I will go into these matters in greater detail in my future article. However, suffice to say there is documented evidence connected with the lawsuit to suggest that:
- Rutherford allowed an atmosphere of alcoholism to prevail at Brooklyn Bethel, to the point where Bethel family members who decided to abstain from alcohol were ostracized and ridiculed.
- Rutherford was a bully, and used rude, abusive and patronizing words to humiliate Bethel workers that he disapproved of.
- Rutherford afforded himself a life of luxury with multiple residences across the United States while ordinary Bethel workers lived in cramped and squalid conditions.
- Rutherford was discriminatory in allowing one sister to get married and live in Bethel with her husband even though he had forced another brother to leave Bethel in disgrace because he chose to marry.
Added to what I have already mentioned about the racist material that was printed in Watchtower publications under Rutherford’s presidency, it seems inconceivable that Christ, who favored no race above another and encouraged his followers to be meek and humble, would choose a man of Rutherford’s bigoted and contemptible character to form part of his “original” Faithful and Discreet Slave. (Mark 9:35; 19:14) Even so, with this latest change of understanding, we are now being asked to believe that Christ not only approved Rutherford’s character, but found him and his associates the only worthy candidates out of all the humans on Earth at that time to form part of his “faithful and discreet slave”.
Fast forward to the 21st Century, and similarly we have a group of men who, despite having nowhere near as bad a reputation as Rutherford, still leave much to be desired in both humility and intelligence. As I have explained in another article, I recently started uploading videos to YouTube that focus on the words spoken from the platform by various Governing Body members.
One such Governing Body member, Anthony Morris III, boasts of disobeying orders from a superior during the Vietnam War, and even routinely calls himself “the Shoemaker” – insinuating that the guidance in his talks originates from his own wisdom rather than God’s. Anthony also uses a “monarchical ordinal” (a roman numeral) after his name to distinguish himself and honor his ancestors. Is this really one of the eight most humble men available on the Earth today for Jesus to appoint as part of his Faithful Slave?
Outstanding intelligence has never been a prerequisite for those who are used by Jehovah. Moses was not a fluent speaker, being “slow of mouth and slow of tongue”. (Exodus 4:10) Jesus’ followers were said to be unlettered and ordinary. (Acts 4:13) Even so, in an era where the ability to communicate effectively is so important, it is surprising to observe the lack of basic knowledge in certain Governing Body members.
In one talk, Anthony Morris III coined the term “thinkingest” to describe Jehovah’s people, and in another talk Stephen Lett felt compelled to explain to his audience that God’s “express will” has nothing to do with express trains, or “expresso” coffee, but simply means God’s clearly stated will. The fact that Stephen saw the need to explain this simple term, or research it for his talk, raises serious questions as to his intellectual credentials as one who is called upon to teach millions of God’s people around the world. Again, would Jesus select men who fall so desperately short with even their basic knowledge of words to communicate globally with his people (or “domestics”) out of the billions of potential candidates at his disposal?
A Predictable Change
I’ve already mentioned that some have long predicted this new change in understanding. I myself considered the possibility a few times, but I felt it would be some time before I would see the teaching actually introduced.
Interestingly, some time ago we ran a mini-survey on this website asking “Who is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?”, and 15% of the 530 who voted said they thought the term referred to the Governing Body. This well-illustrates that a good number of Witnesses are already oblivious to the matter. It also gives evidence of the cunning way in which the Society has incrementally slipped suggestions of this teaching into its publications over some time in readiness for the change.
As an example, at the 2012 Safeguard Your Heart District Convention a new brochure was released entitled Who Are Doing Jehovah’s Will Today? Page 22 of this brochure carried the heading “Who Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class?”, and answered the question (in part) as follows…
“They are genuine, spirit-anointed followers of Jesus. The ‘slave’ dispenses timely spiritual food to fellow worshippers of Jehovah. We are dependant upon this faithful slave class to keep giving us our ‘measure of food supplies at the proper time.'” – Luke 12:42 (Who Are Doing Jehovah’s Will Today?, p. 22)
Most people reading this paragraph before being told of the new “understanding” would fail to spot that the word “all” is crucially missing after “they are” and before “spirit-anointed followers of Jesus” in the first sentence in bold. Whether the omission of this word was deliberate is, I suppose, a matter of conjecture – but it seems more than a coincidence that, just a few months after printing this brochure, it was announced that NOT “all” spirit-anointed followers of Jesus are to be considered part of the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Supposedly, only eight individuals in Brooklyn now have this special role in God’s purpose.
What this change means
All of this is first-and-foremost about increasing power and control. By claiming that they are now the Faithful and Discreet Slave in its entirety, the Governing Body reinforces their authority over the organization and their influence over millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world. Rather than, in the minds of many Witnesses, being theoretically answerable to a larger group of thousands of anointed fellow worshippers who they claim to serve as “representatives”, they are now answerable to nobody but Christ. Nobody can question their position because, just as with the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, they can now claim their authority has been granted to them directly by God through Jesus.
Even though I understand their reasons for making this change, I believe it will cause more problems for the Governing Body than it will solve. Not only have they opened up an entirely new Pandora’s Box of doctrinal issues in their need to explain plausibly how the 1919 Faithful and Discreet Slave has magically become the Governing Body of today – there is something even more troubling that they should concern themselves with.
Many Witnesses were already baffled by the total authority assumed by the Governing Body, and how they have wielded this authority as representatives of the Slave Class without any communication with their anointed fellow christians. This was indeed a major source of doubt for me, and one of the many things that led to my eventually “awakening” from my indoctrination. The obvious disparity gave me the courage I needed to research my beliefs more objectively.
Now that the Governing Body has so brazenly swept aside their anointed colleagues and stripped them of any significance whatsoever in the dissemination of truth to God’s people, I feel there may be a backlash from thinking Jehovah’s Witnesses who were already harboring serious doubts but who will now feel “enough is enough”.
There are only so many lies and deceptions that you can load up on an intelligent human being and ask them to take seriously and base their entire life upon before something snaps. Eventually these falsehoods become too numerous and too hard to believe, and (as happened in my case) an individual will finally decide they have had enough. I believe this may happen on a considerable scale with Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world once this new teaching becomes widely known.
Added to the already considerable downsizing in the organization caused by a slowdown in global growth, it may be that before long we will start to see the number of publishers enter negative growth as those who are already mentally on the fringes start to leave the organization in droves. Only time will tell whether the new teaching will play a significant role in this likely exodus, but the downsizing of the organization has already begun, and I certainly don’t believe this new teaching will improve matters for the Society.
Over the years the Governing Body has grown increasingly arrogant and out-of-touch. You can only hide those sorts of attributes for so long before they become plain for all to see. For a while I entertained thoughts of new brothers being gradually added to the Governing Body who would see through the lies and do the honest and humble thing by admitting that they do not enjoy God’s blessing and eventually dissolving the organization – thereby setting millions of misguided worshippers mentally free. However, the more I observe the frequency with which the Governing Body is making mistakes both doctrinally and procedurally (particularly in relation to handling child abuse), the more I feel that the future of the organization will be irretrievably jeopardized far more quickly and effectively if the existing members are allowed to continue undisturbed in their obvious self-importance and ineptitude.
Summaries of this article are available in the following languages: Hungarian | German.
A PDF of notes taken at the Annual Meeting is now available, and can be downloaded by clicking here.
Please read my follow-up article by clicking here.
So JimmyG, you think you have not left Jehovah ‘because you are still active in the congregation’ But you are telling, you are ‘well on the way to fading’. Don’t you think this means you are on the way to leave Jehovah? But do not forget, Jesus himself said: “But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved” Not the losers, as Frank and Alen who stopped serving Jehovah and trying to drag along others on their disastrous road, playing the same old disks, some 90-years old.
So Jimmy, think it over and go directly to Jehovah in prayer and ask Him to help you.
Good point Earnest. This is an age old tactic of the WT. They’re still doing it. A recent study article ‘warned’ the r&f not to let disappointment affect them due to the ‘end’ not coming by now. Where have the r&f expectations come from? From the WT’s publications, which everyone must believe or risk being DF’d. No admission on their part for causing the problem in the first place!
Sky- you do not need to worship Jehovah through a human organisation. Why are you still here? You still haven’t responded to the quote I gave you from the WT. You are breaking the rules and not being obedient to the ‘Slave’. You, like many other defenders of the Org are the ones who resort to childish name calling, your latest being the word ‘losers’. Please start contributing something worthwhile to the discussion or leave. Also ask Jehovah in prayer to help you to stop being abusive to the people on this forum. Jesus exhorted us ‘to love our enemies’.
Skyrainbow: “Don’t you think this means you are on the way to leave Jehovah? But do not forget, Jesus himself said: “But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved” ”
Wow! Rain, you surpass yourself with your ever-increasing ignorance! Do you honestly think Jesus meant ‘enduring’ his Congregation? The most obvious sign to observed in the congregation is love! Remember? It’s Satan’s World that should be endured. If it is ‘God’s’ organisation, what does this tell you?
Sky why do you equate leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses as leaving Jehovah. Many, many ex witnesses still have a strong faith in God and Jesus, it’s just that they know the truth is not found among Jehovah’s Witnesses. Far from being losers they do something about the situation, not just exist in an organistion and believing every thing they are told to believe.
SkyRainbow
why are you associating and commenting with apostates, do you think you are standing?
why is it you sprout of Wt and then disobey what they say, hypocritical don’t you think.
You have hang ups yourself and take it out on others, you obviously have doubts or you would not be here.
You disobey those you hold in so much respect, but disrespect what they say or you yourself would not be here.
Are you yourself active, or is this your only means of witnessing to others that are no longer active JW, wouldn’t your time be best used in obeying your GB and preaching door to door.
As your GB say do not associate with apostates do not have anthing to do with DF ones.
How do you expect anyone reading your post to take you seriously, you are making a mockery of your own faith.
Sadly i think its really all about YOU and your hang ups.
Hope some on here can help you.
Jimmy, do you think you are in a good position to tell me what to do? Who is breaking the rules and is not obedient to the Slave? Who is telling us, he is ‘still active in the organisation’ but is renouncing that same organisation? Do you find such attidude honest and sincere? Who has not the courage to speak about his doubts and problems with the elders? So, Jimmy, be humble and quiet and don’t tell others what to do.
I cannot believe your hypocrisy, Skyrainbow! In the comment directly above this trash you’ve just written you are being exposed as having a double-life!!!
Don’t go on at Jimmy when he is thinking of others even though his own INTEGRITY wants him elsewhere. That’s truly love. What you have is a double-tongue and twisted thoughts. After your last comment I can’t help wonder whether you need to see a psychiatrist.
Certainly you need to confess your sins to the GB’s praetorian guard…the elders, I mean.
Just remember, you’re meeting with those who must confine themselves to a smoky club in the basement in Moscow under Communism!
Frank 2
Thank you Frank 2. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’m afraid all of us on this forum are going around in circles with skyrainbow. Her/his pseudonym name conjurs up positive, beautiful images in the mind. Unfortunately in contrast to what the name implies, all her/his comments are venom filled. skyrainbow is typical of many (not all) JWs who allow an organisation to do all their thinking and reasoning for them- an organisation saturated in legalism and intolerance. skyrainbow is merely a reflection of this. WT has taught her well.
Kat, you really believe I am associating with apostates? Exposing them is something else as associating.
Apparently the exposing is very effective. Frank is already losing his self-control and is sending me to a psychiatrist and is talking gibberish about praetorian gards in smoky clubs in the basements in Moscow.
And thanks for the encouragement to preach door to door. But I can assure you I am doing this almost every day. Sorry you have not the courage anymore to obey Jesus commandment “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all nations” Matthew 28:19
Frank, calm down.
The following are five quick and easy ways to regain your calm.
1. Take a walk
2. Take a breath
3. Try progressive muscle relaxation.
4. Take a mental break
5. Refraim your situation (the most important)
The only person losing their self control is skyrainbow, In fact all his/her comments since joining this discussion on Nov 2, have shown anything but self control on his/her part. Here are some examples of skyrainbow’s so called self control from her ‘contributions’ to this subject: Cedars accused of being part of the ‘evil slave’, ‘desperate losers’, ‘rancorous and frustrated apostates’, ‘the dog that bites the master’, ‘real losers’, ‘apostates are very intelligent’ (sarcasm), alan accused of presenting a ‘stupid’ challenge. skyrainbow seems to love the word ‘rancorous’ as it has been used several times. It means ‘deep, bitter hate’. I detect this attitude only in skyrainbow’s comments.
Frank 2- most of us understand your comparison of the Praetorian Guard to the elders etc, but if you must continue dialogue with skyrainbow, write to him/her in plain, easily understood language. From his/her last post, it appears skyrainbow has trouble understanding abstract expressions and ideas.
sky- I’m not ‘trying to tell you what to’, as you put it. I merely point out, that as you are so faithful to the ‘Slave’, the course of action needed is set out in the WT literature, which I have directly quoted from. Whether you obey the ‘Slave’ or not is up to you and your conscience. As far as my still being ‘active’ is concerned, this is only for show. If I only had myself to think about, I would not be ‘active’ by now, but I have to protect those closest to me from the effects of the WT’s shunning doctrine. As far as being honest is concerned, look up ‘Theocratic War Strategy’ on the WT CD-ROM. 2 can play at that game, although I’d rather not.
Hi Jimmy: This is really getting strange. Usually JW’s just stop exchanging replies. Yet, it seems, perhaps, that the Lord is working here. But the main issue is salvation. How are we ‘saved’? And what are we saved from? JW’s usually do not talk or converse with apostates as sky believes us to be. Why skyrainbow does is an exception. I don’t understand it, but I do trust that as long as discussion is going on, it’s a good thing. I don’t believe that JW elders would support this. In fact, they do discourage JW’s from using Facebook and the Internet because of so many exJW groups accessable. Let’s keep praying for skyrainbow’s salvation. After all is said in done, none of us can change anything. Only God can. This is not an intellectual prize fight. Salvation is all God’s work. So, after all is said and done, we continue praying for God to do what only He can do: open the eyes and ears of this person. We once were blind, but now we see, lost but have been found.
Earnest, previously I asked sky why he/she was still here and commenting. Only sky can answer that question. I agree with you, JW elders would not support this and they would not be interested in the semantics of whether sky is ‘associating’ with or ‘exposing’ so called apostates- any contact for JWs with people the WT regards as ‘apostate’ is unacceptable.
Frank November 17, 2012 at 11:29 pm
“The Praetorian Guard (Latin: Praetoriani) was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors.” – Wikipedia.
Do you get it now, Skyrainbow? All you have to do is treat yourself to ACTUAL recordings of judicial committees found here on the Internet. The best example is Glasgow’s Matthew Barrie Case. Start here: http://thegoverningbody.org/matthew-barrie-full-transcript-of-podcast-8showdown-at-the-kingdom-hall/.
All recordings have transcripts that you can follow as you listen. As you become more acquainted with this case and others, you’ll find that by far the emphasis is on loyalty to a human body of people rather than Biblical truth. Obvious, too, is the Theocratic War Strategy (justified lying and other forms of deceit). This is made plain in ethical study of the case on the same site (The Martyring of Matthew Barrie: A Study in Ethics)
It soon becomes obvious that this arrangement is not Biblical – care to challenge that? (This would be a first for you)
This man was clearly set up by an elder who had little more on his mind than to protect his own reputation.
Smoky underground clubs in Moscow should not be too challenging for you. Have you ever read 1984 by George Orwell? I think the GB have.
People like Jimmy are becoming all-to-common as can be shown by comments on other sites. I would trust Jimmy with my life knowing how he expresses his personal integrity and the endurance it takes to be intellectually and spiritually honest. Unlike you he has a conscience that’s still working. He is an example of someone who truly ‘waits on Jehovah’ as we all do, but we will not be silent when it comes to very real harm being done to the innocent by bad theology!
Families are split, hatred is shown to people because of a difference of opinion, and children’s lives are being emotionally and spiritually destroyed because of fundamentalist eisegetics (constructing religious policies for protectionist purposes and then cherry-picking the Scriptures for ‘support’).
Check your Bible, Skyrainbow. Is this the first time this has happened?
Don’t be shy – treat yourself to an actual argument and amaze us all!
Frank 2
Kat, you really believe I am associating with apostates? Exposing them is something else as associating.
Apparently the exposing is very effective. Frank is already losing his self-control and is sending me to a psychiatrist and is talking gibberish about praetorian gards in smoky clubs in the basements in Moscow.
And thanks for the encouragement to preach door to door. But I can assure you I am doing this almost every day. Sorry you have not the courage anymore to obey Jesus commandment “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all nations” Matthew 28:19
________________________________
SkyR, according to your leaders the GB of JW by being here and talking with DF and apostate ones you are indeed associating with them. I personally do not think you are an active JW but a rebel yourself, you disobey your leaders and vitually call them wrong, they are the ones that say this not me, take it up with them if you don’t agree.
The only one you have exposed is yourself.
And what makes you think I don’t go door to door.
Meanwhile dragging the red herrings off the trail, and getting back on subject.
The Anointed, individuals who partake of the emblems at Christ’s memorial each year, have always been identified as a group, to be The Faithful and Discreet Slave. For decades and decades people have been told the Anointed ones are the Faithful and Discreet Slave. Christ’s brothers.
It was a former member of the Governing Body Ray Franz, in his Book Crisis of Conscience that revealed this group are not consulted in determining what spiritual food is to be prepared.
This then made the teaching of the Faithful and Discreet Slave obscure to human comprehension. Yet the teaching went on for decades………. at some point in history it was brought into the religious teaching as “new light”.
Now the Governing Body say they are the Faithful and Discreet Slave, current “new light”.
It appears the majority of the Anointed individuals have been removed from the Faithful and Discreet Slave.
It will have the effect on many as though the rug has been pulled from under their feet. Sadly there are less than ten standing on the rug now.
This issue was looked at in the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJbgTtpfBb8&feature=youtu.be
It just leaves the old Mythical FDS class as members of “Spititual Israel”.
You know the best bit about all this?
The Watchtower just simply come out with a new understanding, with not a word of apology for teaching the wrong thing for decades. It matters not to them that any change they make to doctrine will completely change peoples lives.
They even to it with life and death situations. JW families have had loved ones die because they believed what they were told by the gov body. Then one day, they simply change something, with not a word about how it affects people’s lives.
I am so, so glad I am no longer a part of this destructive sect.
You’re right…and brother Knorr wasn’t absolutely certain about even the year 1914.
JimmyG, I see apostates are very touchy.
I also can make a list of names and descriptions I got here on this site. But for me this is not a problem. A true Witness of Jehovah is very forgiving.
Just a question, Jimmy. As you are sitting in the Kingdom Hall or talking with brothers and sisters don’t you feel a little bit a hypocrite? Frank calls your attitude ‘truly love’. Romans 12:9 says “Let you love be without hypocrisy”
skyrainbow, your misguided loyalty to the Governing Body and ignorance of Watchtower fallacy were charming to begin with, but I object to you resorting to patronizing comments and name-calling against other visitors. Not all who dare to disagree with the 8 men in Brooklyn consider themselves an “apostate”. Some take serious exception to it. Please quit the immature name-calling or I won’t hesitate to block you from this site for trolling.
I will be coming back to this sight. I don’t view it as an apostate site. What exactly is apostate about this war that is being waged against the anointed brothers of Christ by the GB? I should hope that the fact the number of Memorial partakers is increasing signals a big change ahead in the leadership. Frankly, I’m appalled at all the contradictions, misquotations, misapplications of texts, and insane statements found in the publications.
I meant, what is apostate about information exposing this war against the anointed? The GB is exalting itself too much without a shred of scriptural evidence.
Quite right Mandelay. I try to make sure all of my articles are supported by scripture. If anyone wants to start calling this site “apostate” from a biblical perspective, it’s only fair that they should produce some sound scriptural evidence.
Hi Mandelay, this site is for people like yourself who are wandering what on earth is going on in the Watchtower org. As Cedars has said,not one word of what he has said has been proved wrong, and that goes for a lot of other posters on here to, myself included. I believe all of us would apologise if we said something that proved to me untrue. The fact is however, what is stated in this blog is imformation for people. Nobody is suggesting you just believe what is written. All are encouraged to check it for themselves, just like the ancient Bereons did.
The anointed could ask, why did the Governing Body confirm our standing as the Faithful and Discreet Slave for decades and then delete us.
They could have been more inclusive and drawn on the wisdom of years.
something to smile about – if you’re into irony. A snippet from Time Magazine:
1930 Judge Joseph Frederick Rutherford 60, lives in a ten room Spanish mansion, No 4440 Braeburn Rd, San Diego, Calif. Last week he deeded No 4440 Braeburn Road, and adjacent two car garage and a pair of automobiles to King David, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, Samuel and sundry other mighties of ancient Palestine. Positive is he that they are shortly to reappear on earth, Said he: ‘I have purposely landscaped the place with palm and olive trees so that these princes of the universe will feel at home. (Time Magazine, March 31, 1930)
I was taught that there would be very few “anointed” left when the end came and that the number will decrease as the end drew near. The number of “anointed” is actually increasing. What’s wrong with this picture? And now the GB say that “new light” says that they are the Faithful and Discreet Slave. But of course we know that is NOT new light because that is the way it has been for years. But now they are officially saying it and officially elevating themselves above the rest of the anointed. Kind of makes you think of the Clergy of Christendom does it not.
Hi BeenMislead: I know this all seems obvious to many of us now, but, deception begins when we stop thinking and putting that kind of trust in anyone, leaders or not. I’ve come a long way from where I was when I left, and am a member of a Presbyterian Church. I am an Elder. Why would I ever want to be a part of any group, let alone a church?? Because I have seen what the Bible’s view of authority and leadership is. We are first loyal to Christ and the Scriptures, above a group or a church. But I would add, that the Society’s view of the ‘clergy’ is also phony. The Society’s take on the churches and ‘Christendom’ is the same as Hollywood’s take. You will never see a minister, or Christianity, shown in any positive light in most of the movies today. How many of us even learned, on our own, without the WT publications view, about Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin, John Knox, etc? The older WT’s would quote from these people and before the NWT the Bible of record was the King James Version and you should read the glowing tribuite paid to this translation in “Equipped For Every Good Work” (1945), which I have. So, as with many schoolchildren and adults in our country, we really do not know history, and have never been taught it aside from the prism of the WT. The church will always be made up of true and false Christians. There will always be good and faithful leaders and bad ones. Our experience in JW’s should eventually lead to that place where we can be at peace in a faithful church where, as with myself, my first loyalty is not to my church, but to the Scriptures. My church holds to this standard. And I have walked alone without the support of my dear wife of 50 years who remains a JW! We just celebrated our 50th anniversary on Nov. 17! See what the Lord can do despite all the efforts of JW’s to destroy my marriage?!
Ernest,
Over the years the Watchtower has refered to the “elevated clergy class” (Example w96 2/15 Joyful Now and Forever). So now I see them (the GB) as “the elevated anointed class”. That is all I was saying.
I always wonder how many times my jaw is going to open before it hits the floor…well, I think it hit the floor! This is priceless! What a bunch of narcissistic, self important, self righteous, hypocrite liars! And here’s the even more unbelievable statement…most of JW’s will believe this load of BS! I tried to be more eloquent, I did, I thought about it…but BS and Horse crap is the best I can do! lol! What a complete joke, but what isn’t a joke is the millions of JW’s who will read it and just keep right on truckin without ever questioning, out loud anyway, and they’ll just keep believing the light is getting brighter. I think they’ve been “Blinded by the Light”! Thanks Cedars Rock on!!
You’re right, it’s only if you have been in the cult that you can understand, why the witnesses don’t go spare when something crazy is announced. It is simply mind control, but they do not realize they are being controlled. It took me 20 years to realize, others it took a lifetime. Hopefully more and more will realize and dump the org forever.
Frank 1: “…Last week (JF Rutherford) deeded No 4440 Braeburn Road, and adjacent two car garage and a pair of automobiles to King David, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, Samuel and sundry other mighties of ancient Palestine…”
Thank you, Frank 1. It’s no wonder that such subjects are no longer discussed in the Watchtower and Awake! periodicals except in severely edited versions. We forget that one of the latest DVDs from the WT has completely left out the occult hankerings of the organisation’s founder!
What we have to remember is that the wishful thinking in your quote here could be deemed more of an ego trip than any sort of historical or prophetic study in the Scriptures. And we have to remember that such fundamentalist thinking is present when certain out-moded and controversial policies are made; by those who would keep its adherents on adrenaline high-alert!
@alan, were you raised as a JW? I was from the age of four with the “help” (indoctrination) of my father by my step mother. She is a tyrannt and fits the JW model that’s for sure. And even though I left and joined the military, I never shook it, ya know? It wasn’t until my younger sister gave me Joan and Bill Cetnar’s names that I started researching and reading and like I said, jaw dropping revelations…one after another. Anyway, it’s really tragic how these people will just let this blatant outright lying organization keep sucking them dry, physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. And too the people who are on here defending the JW’s—GO HOME! Meaning, us the “apostates” are done with you, do you not get it??? We found truth, and it’s defintely not with your organization!! No one here wants to argue with you. That’s what you people thrive on so much that you do it about everything. If you really wanted the truth many of these people would be glad to direct you towards finding it…but alas, you do not, you just want to keep on being a typical JW…so why don’t you go be just that and leave us “apostates” out of your psycho world.
Hi stormy, no I wasn’t brought up in the ‘untruth’. I got it at a vulnerable time in my life when I was 18. When I faded it was hard because I had dumped everyone who was not a witness.
The reason most people are on this site and comment is to show lurkers what it is like in the org.
I never forget that JWs are victims, just like I and countless others were.It’s true some JWs are there forever no matter what is said to them, others however are now checking what they have been told by the org, and are realizing there is something very wrong. These are the ones we can help. Not just by telling them all we know, but more importantly getting them to research the org. That way it is their decision to stay or leave.
Hi, Just started reading these blogs. They’re great!
I can understand why they have embarked on this new teaching. It distances themselves from the crazy world of Charles Russell and it consolidates authority to just a few like-minded men, seeing off any challenges from the other anointed JWs, as they no longer have any legitimate voice.
The governing body has admitted that the ‘faithful slave’ is not appointed over all the belongings until Jesus’ coming at the Great Tribulation. And yet, despite this being the time Jesus actually comes to judge them as faithful or not, they are prematurely calling themselves ‘the faithful slave’. No one can claim to be a faithful slave until Christ judges them so.
Another major concern is how the Watchtower will now interpret the time from Pentecost to 1919 AD. If there were no faithful Christians during this time, does that mean that the gates of Hades had prevailed over the Church? (Matthew 16:18) Jesus said he would be with his followers right until the end of the age, so why his absence for nearly 2,000 years? (Matthew 28:19,20) No doubt there will be some answers in a future Watchtower, but for now these questions are worth raising with Witnesses.
Matthew
Hi Mathew and welcome, everything you say is right, and you gotta hand it to the org, with one foul swoop they can now say that Russell was not part of the FADS so it’s not surprising he made so many mistakes. (We would say spouted such a load of rubbish)
The great thing is, whenever the gov body changes something, it opens up another load of questions. They are truly over a barrell, whatever they say now will simply expose them as old men making wrong guesses about the future.
My whole life I was taught that Armageddon is going to be here at any moment and is “imminent.” I was told that I would “never grow old”. (For example – Awake,5/22/69,Pg 15 – “If are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.”)
Well guess what? I’m old. The direction from the Holy Spirit said that the end was going to come in 1914, 1925, 1975. And even today I keep hearing from the platform and in the publications ”SOON” and in the “VERY NEAR FUTURE”. Those statements are misleading! They only use them to control the masses. They don’t know much time is left. These interpretations of Bible prophecy have proven to be false, so how can they claim to be “the Faithful and Discreet Slave?”???
(For example – Awake,5/22/69,Pg 15 – “If are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.”) I was 16 years old in 1969 and I made wrong decisions about education and other things based on their FALSE prophecy.
In the latest Watchtower (01/01/2013) there is an article called
“Have Jehovah’s Witnesses Given Incorrect Dates for The End?”
In it they give some lame excuses trying to justify their actions.
Which some may consider a step in the right direction, but I call it arrogant because there is no apology there for all the people like myself that made bad/wrong decisions because of their “Incorrect Dates”.
That is something unforgivable that the gov body have not done. That is never apologise for all their cock ups and guesses that have all come to nothing. Over the years witnesses gave up their careers, did not have vital operations and did not save for their future retirement, all because they were told the end was imminent and also that teens would not need to get a university education, as the end was so close.
They have a lot to answer for.
“That is something unforgivable that the gov body have not done. That is never apologise for all their cock ups and guesses that have all come to nothing.”
True they have not apologised for ALL their false predictions. However after the 1975 failure and subsequent blaming of the rank and file for having unrealistic expectations ( see WT July 15, 1976 pp
440-441) they did give a rather disingenuous apology in the WT March 15, 1980, pp17-18.
Disingenuous indeed. I don’t really see that as an apology. But more like excuses again trying to justify themselves.
(w80 3/15 Choosing the Best Way of Life Pg. 17)
“5 In modern times such eagerness, commendable in itself, has led to attempts at setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth. With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, and its comments as to how appropriate it would be for the millennial reign of Christ to parallel the seventh millennium of man’s existence, considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. There were statements made then, and thereafter, stressing that this was only a possibility. Unfortunately, however, along with such cautionary information, there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated.
6 In its issue of July 15, 1976, The Watchtower, commenting on the inadvisability of setting our sights on a certain date, stated: “If anyone has been disappointed through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that his own understanding was based on wrong premises.” In saying “anyone,” The Watchtower included all disappointed ones of Jehovah’s Witnesses, hence including persons having to do with the publication of the information that contributed to the buildup of hopes centered on that date.”
Considering the massive amount of harm they have caused because of their mess ups, none of those articles took the complete blame, which they should have done.
Witnesses hang on every word the gov body speaks and the old men in New York know that. They have massive guilt for ruining many, many lives.
Saying the Watchtower are moving away from Charles Russell is one thing, however in reality the teachings and writings including the pyramids and locomotives were still being taught in 1919 well into the 1920’s. Russell’s writing carried on past 1919 even though he died in 1916.