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.
“In the latest Watchtower (01/01/2013) there is an article called
“Have Jehovah’s Witnesses Given Incorrect Dates for The End?””
Am I the only person who sees this particular propaganda method?
Notice here AGAIN, the WTS uses the phrase ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’! It is not Jehovah’s Witnesses who made these false predictions – IT WAS THE WATCHTOWER GOVERNING BODY!!!
They try this trying to make ALL JWs take the responsibility over their useless child abuse policy on their site.
Frank 2
Alan: “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….”
I wonder whether the true implications have been thought through on this issue. Has it occurred that if there are ‘guesses that come to nothing” what this implies?
(1) That Jehovah is not ‘building the house.’ That is, that God is not behind the efforts made to ‘guess’ at dates. (study of endtime prophecies or eschatology) or:
(2) The authors of such teachings (required by all adherents to believe and preach whether proving true or not) have gone beyond the Scriptures.
The point is that, as Carl Sagan says: “All extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” Claims of ‘spirit-direction,’ I believe, is the same as ‘spirit-inspired’ as both phrases indicate an intimate relationship with heaven-directed truth.
Anonymous: “…they did give a rather disingenuous apology in the WT March 15, 1980, pp17-18.”
If I have my Watchtower right, this told us that the Governing Body were ‘just as disappointed’ as were the ‘rank-and-file’ that End had not come. What? Did the foregoing spring from ‘private interpretation’ or from those who ‘give food at the proper time’?
Frank 2
Hi Matthew. Are you Scottish, by any chance? And a victim of star chamber methodology that we could all learn from?
If they claim to be the Faithful and Discreet Slave from 1919, then they need to explain why the pyramids were taught after 1919, why 1925 was taught as an absolute date…. and on and on it go’s. It is true the Governing Body are responsible for everything written by the Watchtower Society.
Thank you, guys, interesting comments, appreciate the time and research.
Thought for today:
Consider the evidence – a HUGE amount of misleading material printed in their own publications (133 year’s worth)
The Question: Does the Watchtower Society (aka the Governing Body, or whatever they want to call themselves) truly love Jehovah God, and their neighbours?
1) In way does the leadership of the WTS show love for Jehovah – by printing and distributing 133 years worth of human reasonings, assumptions, deductions and outright guesses, all dressed up as “spiritual food from God’?
In fact, through their efforts, the Name of Jehovah has become detested, is mocked and vilified through-out the earth.
2) Similarly, is it love for neighbour to serve up “spiritual food” contaminated with human reasonings, assumptions, deductions and outright guesses? And pass this poison off as coming “from Jehovah’s table”? (As many will remember, under cross-examination Freddie Franz claimed that ‘the real editor of the Watchtower is Jehovah’)
In fact, through their efforts, the faith of millions of people has been damaged, and millions have been stumbled.
To wrap up for today, I believe that by and large it is the so-called ‘apostates’ who are actually standing for Truth, and the sanctification of God’s Name.
I cannot believe that the real “witnesses” – the men of faith (Hebrews 11) would condone this shameful situation in the WTS. The more one looks at it, the more one sees the ‘Organization’ is just like the unfaithful nation of Israel – ruled by people with the same ‘bad spirit’ as King Saul.
I decided a long time ago that the governing body of JWs were no better than fairground fortune tellers. They have a 100% record of getting things wrong when it comes to speaking about the future.
Then once I had read Ray Franz’ two books, any lingering doubts I might have had went straight out the window.
The JW religion only works for a person if they are not the type to do research or checks themselves. In a time of unparalleled imformation available on all subjects, the religion does not have a hope of growing significantly in internet available countries.
I look forward to reading the worldwide report in the new yearbook.
Very good point willows. In fact there were many things that the supposed approved governing body kept in place for years, that were totally unscriptual. I may do some research on it and list all the unscriptual ideas that they kept.
Hello everyone, I am new to this website and newly ‘enlightened at to what is really going on in the organization. I’ve been reading all this going back & forth and I know my opinion doesn’t matter. I never thought that this would happen to me. But all those still in the organization would never consider themselves ‘apostates’ or dissidents… let me tell you what has happened to us in the last month…My husband & I were baptized in 1979. We have been ‘happy’ good witnesses our entire lives until I had the audacity to read an article in Archeology magazine about Nebuchadnezzar destroying Jerusalem in 587 b.c.e instead of 607bce. So I went to encyclopedias, the British museum website [which has 10’s of thousands of clay tablets with this info] So I asked an elder friend of ours what evidence does the organization use to come up with the 607bce date? First words out of his mouth were you’ve been visiting apostate websites! I told him “no I read an article in Archeology mag” . I just wanted to know the evidence. He accused me of being an apostate and now we’re sitting here waiting for the spiritual execution that we will be getting. After 49 yrs of being loyal to Jehovah I never thought that I would have to make a choice like this. It’s tearing us up to our very core but now when we’re researching everything the organization has been involved in….just the U.N thing alone should make us question the organization. Their own literature is damning them. May 1st 1997 WT pg 8
The 1914 date is linked to the supposed destruction of Jerusalem in 607 BC. Carl Olof Jonsson in his book The Gentile Times Reconsidered exposes the Wachtowers false claims regarding the 2520 years of the gentile times ending in 1914. He passed his research on to the NY headquarters and was subsequently disfellowshipped for continuing to believe his research was correct and discussing it. A very useful site with regard to discussing the 586/7 or 607 dates is Doug Mason’s (see http://www.jwstudies.com/babylonian_captivity.html) Doug critiques the Watchtower’s latest articles entited ‘When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed’? published in the October 1st and November 1st 2011 issues of the Watchtower magazine.
Hi upset at watchtower. Welcome first of all. Good to see you on here. It is indeed very hard to realize that after such a long time in the organisation, you begin to question what you have been told. The bible actually tells us to question and check things, like the Bereans did and now like you are doing. I think you can see something seriously wrong by the response you got from the elder. If there had been definate proof that Jeruselem was overthrown in 607 BCE, there would not have been that response. Most JWs elders no they are on very shaky ground with that date, because all the worlds experts point to the date of 537 BCE.
You will find the more you check things, the more you will find the org are in error. Sometimes it can take almost a lifetime to find out the truth about the ‘truth’ or as I call it the untruth.
If you have not read them yet then get Ray Franz book ‘Crisis of Conscience’ It is written by an ex governing body member, who made the mistake of having a meal with his boss who had disassociated himself. That was not the real reason of course. He just asked too many questions. You will find everything in the book is checkable, and I am willing to bet, will leave no doubt in your mind that God is not using this oprganisation.
Keep us posted, and remember thanks to the internet, most of your questions can be answered very easily onliine.
All the best to you.
If the Faithful and Discreet Slave was appointed in 1919. Why did they promote 1925? And Rutherford to say after 1925 he made an ass of himself. Many left the organization, stumbled by what had been printed about this date. To promote 1925 ……. your own interpretation of scripture is presumptuousness.
When the master arrives will he be happy with this slave class, who have scattered his sheep? 1914…. 1925…. 1975….. 1994
(01/01/2013)
“Have Jehovah’s Witnesses Given Incorrect Dates for The End?”
I’ve read this five paragraph piece of propaganda..
Again the governing body of the Watchtower Society holds intelligent Jehovah’s Witnesses in contempt. This is only the second time in 130 years (to my knowledge) that there is a tragically-belated admission (they have no choice up against the evidence) in the publications, but again – THERE IS NO APOLOGY!
The attitude is like being on a different timeline and watching Adolf Hitler getting up in a Nuremberg court and declaring that even though he invaded Poland, murdered 6,000,000 Jews, and caused the death of over 50 million people, he thought it was the right thing to do at the time, and all the court has to do is recognise that this is just the way he is.
Atheist Christopher Hitchens catches the moment well in God is Not Great – Why Religion Poisons Everything, by explaining that when the Catholic Church made multiple apologiesfor multiple historical sinful admissions, they were doing so with the proviso that the ‘faithful’ understand that the church was ready to be infallible all over again!
Notice too the title of of the insertion has the words ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’ (hiding behind 7,000,000 aprons when it all goes wrong is classic propaganda) – not ‘Governing Body of the Watchtower,’ and ‘incorrect’ instead of ‘false.’ What comes after is a statement of pride that they have faithfully just carried out the core work of the Lord.
Tough if you were one of the unfortunates who got caught under the wheels of the tank!
Hi, upset at Watchtower. Your courage is commended. And we feel for you, knowing what you are going through. It is quite frightening when the smiling mask of the WTS is dropped, and one gets to see the real face. I’ve seen grown, strong men cry as they recount how they were treated. One was a Bethelite – he and his wife had given their entire lives to the WTS.
Consider this a deliverance from Jehovah. It is happening to thousands, and we hope and believe that everyone who really loves truth will be rescued from this abusive, paranoid organization.
It will hurt at first, losing friends and all the connection you build up over that time is painful, but you will discover how the WTS has been blocking you from really getting to know and follow Jesus Christ.
The document 100 Years of Watchtower Prophecy is a 20 page indictment of the WTS . Simply quotes from their literature (in full, with reference so you can check it) – and illustrates how they have fabricated information, and then fed these deceptions to their flock. If you can’t find it, let me know and I’ll post a link.
Best wishes, and courage. Stick to your guns. Would Jesus Christ jump to conclusions and hurl false accusations at a person innocently looking for answers? Never!
By their fruits you will know them
By starting from 1919, they obviously get rid of Charles Russell’s mad ramblings, but thy are still left with no end of other mistakes, wrong guesses and general cock ups. So really all they are doing is getting rid of a small part of the damming evidence against them
There are still mountains of lies, false stories and cover ups, that can easily be learnt about on the internet by anyone who is interested.
hi Upset with WT, if one has doubts that is not a reason to DF, if one is spreading that doubt then they accuse you of causing divisions in the congregation.
The fact that you went to the elder with this information shows that you were humble and only inquiring about what you had found, when he straight away accused you of going on apostate sites show that the elders are well aware of what so called apostates say. Either its because they can’t defend it and have to make sure you don’t speak to anyone else in the KH about what you have found would be the only reason why they would want to get you out, fear is what they have.
What is interesting is that there is nothing in the elders manual on DF anyone with doubts or someone inquiring about a teaching they need help with, it is much more sinister, they simply cannot except any b/s that does personal study outside of what is written in their own publications.
Sorry for what you are going through but remember you are there for Jehovah not for any man, and as time passes and the more the WT is exposed for its failure and pride to correct their mistakes many like you will just walk out the door.
I want to thank everyone who has been honest in their efforts show “us” the real truth. I have been struggling for the last couple of months, now realizing my family has shunned me. It feels horrible. I went to Freeminds a few times a few years ago. Then recently started to actually read some books and read the bible. My goal is to get to a place where I can understand and communicate the things I am trying to learn to someone who might be in the WTS. I feel like I’m going to burst, I’m so angry at these jacka$$e$ but on the other hand I want to tell them what I am learning. Tried that on my father, needless to say, it didn’t work. It’s hard to be shunned. Never thought I would be. But I guess I have to face the reality that when my dad dies I won’t even be told. I am both shocked and sickened by the things I read on here, but the truth is the truth. And I do feel better knowing I’m not alone in this struggle. So thank you everyone.
You are not alone. My name is William E Enoch Sr and I am in a very similar circumstance. The same arrogance of the GB trickles downs to its members. Mind control keeps WTS members in a fog and will not acknowlege outside reasoning or inside deceit. After all, WTS members sincerely believe the have “The Truth”.
You have knowledge that is valuable. It may not be good to throw your pearls to swine, as the Bible suggests. The WTS will come full circle and realize the tangle web of deceit can’t continue. At that point, look for the GB to either repent or collapse.
Thanks for your world wide work. (haha) The Governing Body is actually staying in form by only strongly alluding to themselves as being the Faithful and Discreet Slave. You are of the few who really noticed the careful wording in the announcement. This is how the Watch Tower Society over the years spread its teaching. The WTS firsts alludes to a matter and lay out assumptions. WTS members take the assumptions, along with the many “stands to reason”, “could be”, “must mean”, believing the conjecture as “The Truth”, then run with these falsehoods from door to door.
The GB has now opened up a very different life and death can of worms for itself and WTS members. What mind control technique will the GB use now in explaining to inquiring members how this “New Light” kills the 1914 and 1919 doctrine? But wait, WTS members don’t inquire for fear of being disfellowshipped. Yeah, the GB is appears more and more like the Evil Slave spoken of in the same book of Matthew.
I’m a former member of the WTS. My six siblings and three children are currently WTS members. These nine family members will have nothing to do with me since I’ve been sharing my testimony of freedom of WTS mind control. I’m looking for a way to help them out of the WTS.
Stormy I am sorry to hear what has happened to you. My husband and I are out together. I am so thankful he read COC when I told him about it. I would like to make a recommendation to you and that would be to read Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan and the Freedom of Mind by Steve Hassan. There is a way to approach others successfully because when you tell them something the WTS is lying about they will go to their cult personality and shut you out. We having been fading for at least 6-8 months but I think we will have to DA in order to have total peace of mind. None of my family are in which I am thankful for and they are all so happy. My husband has 5 & 6 generations in his family but most are gone and his Mom would never shun him. We will lose friends but I have been doing more with my family and getting out and doing fun things. It has not been easy at all and it has been very hard on my husband because he was an Elder and saw things he didn’t agree with and stepped down. I do hate to lose some people but we are using this time to get some family and friends out, we have been successful with two so far. We have been very careful and have talked to ones that are not going so they won’t go back and they were both so grateful because it weighed heavily on there minds. I understand being angry and shocked. I view the GB as a bunch of criminals. What they have done to children with their policies is just a drop in the bucket. Like my husband said the other day, nothing surprises him anymore. It is pretty bad! Hang in there!!
Upset, I feel for you too, maybe the books I recommended would help too! COC by Ray Franz has helped so many people. I have read so much that sometimes my head spins but I am not going to turn back now!! As a matter of fact I am with my family today celebrating Thanksgiving! I am thankful today that I have found the real truth and trying to get over the anger of spending 29 years living a lie and for my husband it has been almost 59 years since he is a born in with 5 & 6 generations of his family living this way. Everyone have a wonderful day!
Aunt Fancy, my sincere best wishes to you both. And my respects to your husband. Elders have it particularly tough – the most controlled in an organization run by control-freaks. It takes courage to step down over matters of principle. Have you noticed something – everyone describes their exit from the organization is terms of an “escape”. Which it is. They hold people by taking your family as hostages. Keep going, and all the best. Shalom.
@William Enoch and Aunt Fancy, Thank you both for your loving and encouraging words. You don’t know how much it means to me. I’m not all together sure I’m headed for Jesus, but I do know I’m going to learn everything I can so that I may pass this along to any would be victims of this harmful cult. Just telling my story and showing all the lies, not too mention the “hidden masonic images” in all their art, might be enough to dissuade someone from letting JW’s even talk with them. When I began to examine all their hidden images of goat heads and demons and hexagons, etc., I had that same eerie feeling sweep through my stomach as a kid when looking through their literature. And they always talked about AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne being demonic. Oh please! It was the rock and roll, make up, big hair, say scary stuff to sell records era. Not too mention it was a time, not unlike the 60’s where the youth of today made a statement about being different and used their music to prove it…no different than the disco era, or the Elvis Presley and Beatles era. They are always looking for the demon in the closet and around the corner…maybe they should start with their own homes and KH’s and literature. And now the GB coming out with, “oh by the way we are the slave class, new light” I’ve just had all I can stomach of them. I intend to put a dent in their racket around here by warning others of the deceit and pure evil that is behind those “nice and polite” people who knock on your door.
Stormy, hang in there.
It’s a painful process, but you’re on the road to healing.
Living with the Watchtower Organization is like living with someone who has BIPOLAR – some of the things they say are very sweet, loving and nice. Then they swing to the other extreme, and abuse you, maybe even attack you physically. You never know that coming next. Very confusing And they tell the most outrageous lies and fabrications – the problem being, they believe it themselves, so there’s no reasoning with them.
It may help you to have a look at reputable sites that discuss this mental disorder.
You will immediately see the similarities, and suggestions for ways to heal.
Here’s one reference:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/bipolar-disorder
You are welcome, and I understand!! We all go through a lot of the same emotions just different stories. It isn’t easy but it does get better. Keep doing your research and if at all possible try to get some of your loved ones out. I have found out just knowing the real truth has taken a huge load off of my back and I feel like I can live again!
I keep hearing that the “new light” will “kill” the 1914 and 1919 doctrines. This is quite a claim that needs evidence. As I understand it, the corporeally self-acclaimed future kings and priests are simply stating that there is a second anointing, aren’t they? That this is where they’ll be officially appointed over “all the belongings.” I’m not sure how 1914 is involved. Could someone enlighten my ignorance, please.
One thought I have is that if the “F&DS” have not, to date, been appointed over all the belongings, then doesn’t that mean that so far no corporeal judicial decision is legitimate. I’m probably wrong.
Kat: “The fact that you went to the elder with this information shows that you were humble and only inquiring about what you had found, when he straight away accused you of going on apostate sites show that the elders are well aware of what so called apostates say.”
You raise a great point here, Kat. Matthew Barrie’s judicial case gives evidence that unethical unscrupulous elders will use even testimony given in what is reasonably presumed to be a private conversation between a congregation member and two elders (“Bible principle” taken from the twisting of certain scriptures) can be and has been used as “evidence” of “apostasy” in the formal setting of a judicial committee.
The recorded fact is, that even his fleshly brother, Paul was prepared to testify to private conversations had between him and his brother. The other “witness’ elder testified his account based on his deliberately-raised question to trap Matthew into discussing a belief the latter had that presently differed from the Organisation’s (the present beliefs of the ‘Faithful and Discreet Slave’).
He was convicted primarily on this evidence and the fact that he had had lunch with a workmate who had been disfellowshipped (no proof that they had discussed anything controversial). Apart from this no corroborating congregational witnesses were called to testify that he had been ‘spreading teachings contrary to the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses’! Mere ‘judicial’ technicalities’!
Never take for granted that because a person is appointed an elder that they can be trusted with ANY discussion.
Hello Frank. You may know that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Inc. has taught until October of this year the Faithful and Discreet Slave was identified with the Apostles. The WBTS also taught the Master, Jesus, returned invisibly, in the form of “His presence, in 1914 then in 1919 the Master appointed the FDS, as made up of the anointed remnant on Earth, over His belongings.
As of October 2012, the WBTS, now switched the date of the appointment of the FDS from the first century CE to 1919 CE. The WBTS also now switched the time of the Master placing the FDS over all His belongings to a future time when He comes as a thief in the night.
The real “New Light” are the dates and times. Now that 1919 is the “new” date of the FDS appointment, then the 1914 date of Christ’s “invisible presence” is brought into question. Also, the GB slowly began working its way into authority after the Watch Tower Presidency was brought to a close. To sound as though the GB had all along been the FDS, the GB cleaverly worked into the announcement this dialog taken from the jwdotorg site:
“From 1919 on, there has always been a small group of anointed Christians at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have supervised our worldwide preaching work and have been directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. In recent years, that group has been closely identified with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The evidence points to the following conclusion: “The faithful and discreet slave” was appointed over Jesus’ domestics in 1919. That slave is the small, composite group of anointed brothers serving at world headquarters during Christ’s presence who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. When this group work together as the Governing Body, they act as “the faithful and discreet slave.”
In an effort to grab more authority by strongly alluding to themselves as now being the FDS, the GB had to manipulate dates. To appease the WBTS members, aka Jehovah’s Witnesses, the GB skillfully made all JWs domestics.
Good morning everyone.
Thought for today:
Thank God for the freedom He has given you through Jesus Christ
WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF FREEDOM?
“The ruling ecclesiastical class … violently silenced a voice [Cyril Lucaris – in 1638] that pointed to some of the errors of their non-Biblical beliefs. They proved to be among the worst enemies of religious freedom and truth. Sadly, this is a stance that in various ways survives even to our day. It is a sobering reminder of what happens when clergy-instigated intrigues stand in the way of freedom of thought and expression.”
February 15, 2000 Watchtower
To ‘Upset’. Carl Olof Jonsson has also written critiques of the WT articles of Oct and Nov 1, 2011. Miken refers to Doug Mason’s critiques- it features an email from a scholar that the WT quoted in the 2nd article, who says that the WT’s use of his research was a misrepresentation of his work. Not once in these articles does it mention the WT’s real reason for defending the 607 date- it needs it to protect 1914 (2520 years prophecy).
My advice to you ‘Upset’, is if you are waiting to be ‘spiritually stoned’- don’t give them the satisfaction. Resign and then at least you have taken action against the WT and not the other way round. By the time a judicial hearing is set, you are considered guilty and the outcome is inevitable unless you ‘recant’.
I am currently playing ‘cat and mouse’ with my cong elders and am trying to ‘fade’, but if it comes to the crunch, I will resign.
So true Ross. Along with the pre-conditioning, the GB started setting themselves up for more authority a while back when they reinforced the idea for WBTS members to “be obedient to those taking the lead” and “listen to Jehovah’s spokesman”. Now that the GB strongly allude to themselves as actually being the FDS, the authority is already there for them to claim because the members will give it to them. To complete the deceit, the GB had to manipulate dates and continue with the best bait for their hook, conjecture.
In 1919 the Writings of Charles Russell were being taught. The 7 volume, Studies in the Scriptures. Rutherford continued with Russell’s teaching till 1927. The various dates that Russell promoted 1874, continued in 1919. If the Faithful and Discreet Slave was appointed in 1919, why were they still teaching 1874?
At what date did they stop teaching 1874?
Thanks Frank, you are right, I feel like we have escaped!! I never knew everything about why he stepped down until recently and he was asked many times to become a servant but he wouldn’t do it. I now understand that his conscience wouldn’t allow him to harm others and I am proud of him for that. He said he looked back over the years he was one and he feels good knowing he never hurt another person or did any of the back handed things that we read about all the time. It sure has been a process and I still fight with the anger from all of it.
Charles Russell’s date, the arrival of Jesus presence, or second coming in 1874, was taught in 1919. This date was taught throughout Rutherford’s time as President of the Watchtower Society. It appears the date for Jesus second coming was changed from 1874 to 1914 some time in the 1940,s.
This means many were baptized for decades with misleading expectations and information. Now today, if you advocate 1874 and not 1914 within the Watchtower Society you will be disfellowshipped and shunned. Called a mentally diseased apostate. It was alright in 1919 and beyond, to preach to others about 1874. Not so today. People’s sense of justice is outraged by double standards.
Double standards are an abuse of the Truth. It is like teaching black is black, then changing to teaching, black is white.
Steve, you ask an interesting question – why bother? Let’s turn that around – why do YOU bother to post here if it’s such a waste of time?
That aside, the main point is, many folk who have broken free from the Watchtower Religion invariably comment: “we would NEVER have got involved THEN if we KNEW what we know NOW”.
Which illustrates the conviction of most people on this site – the WATCHTOWER SOCIETY PERSISTENTLY CONCEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT ITS PAST. Thereby practicing something it condemns other religions of doing.
So – we have a duty to speak out and testify to the things we have seen, heard, experienced and above all, what we know. If we keep silent, then, as Enoch Powell Snr. comments, we would be guilty of criminal and moral neglect.
If the Watchtower Society openly confessed its sins – apologized for all the harm and confusion it has caused, sought forgiveness for stumbling people and wrecking their faith in God and Jesus, and put things right – we could all get on with our lives happily.
Believe me, we all have other things we would far rather be doing.
Hi Frank, I can’t find any comments by ‘Steve’. Have they been removed for some reason?
So many JWs ask us why we don’t just get on with our new lives. You are right about all the deception etc. I feel I have a duty to others to warn them of this damaging sect.
Not only that, but of course many of us have family still in the org, and we need to know the latest stupidity they are having to agree to.Trouble is the Watchtower has such a hold over them, that they are scared to death to talk to anyone who is an ex witness.
That won’t stop me trying though to get through to them. Certainly on blogs like this, we can show anyone who is interested the lies and double standards of the organisation.
They try to CONCEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT ITS PAST.
Here is an example:
_________________________________________________________
1990 Awake 4/22 entitled: How Long Can We Live?
“MANY PEOPLE alive today will have the opportunity for a greatly prolonged life span. Even immortality now seems possible.”
“Millions Now Living May Never Die.”
What is the difference between these two statements? The first is a statement by Dr. Lawrence E. Lamb, medical columnist and professor, in his book Get Ready for Immortality, published in 1975. The second is the title of a public address and subsequent book by J. F. Rutherford, the second president of the Watch Tower Society. The public address was first delivered in Los Angeles, California, in 1918.
_________________________________________________________
We all know that is wrong!! The title of Rutherford’s talk was:
“Millions Now Living Will Never Die”.
So the question is: Is this just a mistake? Or did they do this on purpose and are guilty of Historical Revisionism in an attempt to try to CONCEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT ITS PAST???
What do you think?
Hi been misled. If you google it you will find that Rutherford originally gave the talk and said MAY. But then about 5 weeks later they changed it to WILL and that is how most people will remember it. The book said WILL, so really just more deception by the governing body, although they can always say they were referring to the original talk. lol
Thanks Alan … I stand corrected …
A public talk titled “The World Has Ended; Millions Now Living May Never Die” was first delivered on February 24, 1918 in Los Angeles, California. Five weeks later, on March 31, 1918 the title was changed to indicate absolute certainty: “The World Has Ended; Millions Now Living Will Never Die.”
While a member of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Inc. for nearly 40 years, I never thought of the actual components of the “organization” and the “Society”: 1. The Watch Tower Society as the corporation and 2. Jehovah’s Witnesses as the members. It was only from my now outside vantage point that I realize the corporation is blatently using the Jehovah’s Witnesses to recruit more members for them. This organization is distinctly two in one.
Has anyone else noticed lately how the Watch Tower Society is starting to control its members from behind the scenes more and more? Now, with the claimed new power and member given authority, the Governing Body appears to be heading under a cloaking device. Almost giving its members a sense the members are in control. What salesmanship. For example, the Watch Tower Society has “updated” or changed its web site from watchtowerdotorg to JWdotorg. I believe this is a move to distance itself legally from court cases coming upon it and change the name of the organization to what most of the world has been calling it already: Jehovah’s Witnesses. This way, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the members, will now be responsible legally and the Witnesses will better accept the fact that their donations will be used for legal judgements. The Watch Tower will still be in charge of money, as managers of the members.
I have been on this site a few times and it’s a really great place to go to to get information you won’t find at your local Kingdom Hall. I had been studying on and off for ten yrs and I am so glad that I did not get sucked into it. Thank goodness my family are not JW’s. Of course I had made some close friendships, which I will miss but I realize in the long run they are a destructive sect and it will only do me better to cut ties now than to continue studying and being friends with those whom I have gotten close to. It is quite sad. I sympathize with those who still have family, friends still in the Organization. It must be so difficult not being able to communicate and have normal family/friend contact. Right now I am going through a difficult time since I have ceased studying about a month ago but I know with time I will get stronger! The more I learn about this destructive sect, the more I realize how wrong I was to have gone back to studying. My husband warned me, thankfully he stopped studying back in 2009 vowing he didn’t want anything to do with the cult. I should have listened then.
Along the same line of thought as Anonymous, is the article in the Jan ’13 mag, asking the question have JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES set wrong dates for the ‘end’. Actually it is the authors of past WT literature who have made these predictions, NOT JWs as individuals or as a collective. They conveniently lump everyone in when their (the authors of WT literature) predictions fail.
Wow. You may have just revealed “New Light”. I like it.
Wow. JimmyG. You may have just revealed “New Light”. I like it. The cheeky Watch Tower DOES USE the Jehovah’s Witnesses to spread its false doctrine to begin with. The stage is set for a mutiny. But Jehovah’s Witnesses would have to give up fear of being disfellowshipped to pull this off.
From the Jehovah’s Witness forum on Topix UNchained wrote:
“‘When this trash is ‘studied’ during a Watchtower Study all the JW’s who have ‘made the truth their own’ will bob their heads up and down in agreement as they swallow the kool-aid with big smiles on their faces.”
I responded to UNchained:
‘Some members are already bobbing in agreement with their so typical responses. Some current 2012 and past head bobbing listed below:
“I love new understandings. It shows how Jehovah’s people, namely the Faithful and Discreet Slave Class, are humble and willing to adjust their thinking. Rather than stubbornly sticking to false doctrine”
“The slave thus deserves our complete trust.”
“True #Religion will be fed by Faithful Discreet Slave given food at proper time they will be AWAKE to Prophecy while world SLEEPS!”
“Since Jehovah God and Jesus Christ completely trust the faithful and discreet slave, should we not do the same?”
“The slave thus deserves our complete trust.If you do not know whom they are! You have not found the truth YET!”
“we cannot find the Scriptural guidance we need outside the faithful and discreet slave’ organization.”
“Your attitude toward the anointed is the determining factor whether you go into everlasting cutting off or everlasting life.”
“Recognition of the GB and its place in God’s theocratic arrangement is necessary for the submission of headship to God’s Son” WT12.15.72
“Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life” WT 12/1/1981
Some members call Old Light, which is also from the WTS, “false doctrine”, however, the Governing Body is still to be COMPLETELY TRUSTED. Weird. WBTS pridefully never admit they were wrong in their teachings.'”
Moma started studying with members of the WTS around 1965. Had she, been alive now to see the resultant effect that first knock on our door has exponetially ruined our family, I believe Moma would have emphatically slammed the door on that gray-headed innocent looking old lady.
You have just saved yourself and your family untold unnecessary heartache. I commend you and am thankful for you.
This comment is in reply to MsD
William, the WT writers are ‘wordsmiths’ and they are very good at it. It appears now, in my opinion, that the word ‘organisation’ will be gradually replaced with ‘association’ and the expression ‘Governing Body’ will soon be gone, its replacement being ‘F&DS’. The 2nd baptism question now contains the words ‘Spirit anointed association’ (used to be ‘Spirit directed organisation’)
As far as mutiny is concerned, I can’t see it happening on a large scale, as the Org holds the DF/shunning fear over the majority of JWs.