Watchtower’s much-anticipated 129th Annual Meeting was held today at the Stanley Theater, New Jersey. In an unprecedented move, the event was streamed live to 1,830 locations – a global audience of nearly 1.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Sadly I was among those without an invitation. The Governing Body does not tend to welcome with open arms those like me who are critical of some of their teachings and policies.
But thankfully I have not been left entirely in the dark, and neither has anyone else for that matter! One brave blogger going by the name of “DrJohnChrist” who attended one of the streaming locations has provided a running commentary via a thread on the Reddit social network.
Much of the hype leading up to the Annual Meeting surrounded the fact that there has been a far-reaching shortage of New World Translations over the last few months, with congregation stocks running dry. This led to rumors that a new version of the English New World Translation was in preparation – and it seems these whispers were not wide of the mark.
It fell to Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson to announce the new release. Revised into 21st Century English with a grey cover and silver edges, a revision of the New World Translation bible has been released today with the PDF version available on Monday 7th (presumably on JW.org). This is what it looks like…
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Nicknamed the “witnessing bible” (according to Stephen Lett), a large-print version will be available in 2014 followed by a pocket version. A large bible with wide margins for note-taking is also planned. The new bibles feature a “mini reasoning book,” an “extensive appendix,” a glossary, outlined summaries at the start of each book, maps and other references.
You can check the play-by-play thread yourself by clicking here.
A sexist faux pas?
In explaining the development of the new bible, Geoffrey Jackson is said to have commented extensively on the work that was done – which included designing a new font set for copyright reasons.
When commenting on the new bible’s appearance and durability, Jackson is reported to have joked that it is both “witness-proof” and “sister proof.” Quite what this means isn’t immediately obvious, but it could be that he was alluding to a stereotype of women as being overly fastidious as to how an item looks rather than its content and purpose.
While many Witnesses would likely shrug off such a remark, it was undoubtedly sexist assuming, of course, that these were Jackson’s words. You could imagine the uproar if a politician on camera described the appearance of any item as “woman proof.” It would also not be the first time a Governing Body member has made a chauvinistic remark from the platform, as certain videos featuring Stephen Lett and Samuel Herd will show.
A revised translation
It seems that, rather than being an entirely new translation (which would require a new name) this new bible is a revised translation – meaning that it is predominantly an updated and improved version of the original English New World Translation.
About two years ago I was informed by a translator in a non-English bethel that it was only a matter of time before the NWT English version would be revised, because it was originally written in 1950s English whereas subsequent translators in other languages have had the luxury of rendering bible verses in a more contemporary lexicon. This prediction was clearly accurate.
A number of terms have thus been changed as follows (according to the Reddit thread)…
- “Long-suffering” is now “patience”
- “Loose conduct” is now “brazen conduct”
- “Fornication” is now “sexual immorality”
- “Impaled” is now “nailed to a stake”
- “Sheol and hades” is now “the grave”
- “Revelries” is now “wild parties”
- “Soul” is now a variety of words depending on context
- “Kidney” now means “deepest emotions”
- “In want of heart” is now “lacking good sense”
- “Sons of Israel” is now “Israelites”
- “Fatherless boy” is now “fatherless child”
- “Alien” is now “foreigner”
- “Ass” is now “donkey”
- “Impale him” is now “to the stake with him” (a regression if you ask me!)
- “Dumb demon” is now “speechless”
- “Loving kindness” is now “loyal love”
- “Jacob’s ladder” is now “Jacob’s stairway”
- and Joseph’s “coat of many colors” is now his “special robe.”
Parts of the gospels that are disputed have been removed, namely the long and short conclusions to Mark, and John 7:53-8:11. You will be familiar with these passages as the parts that appear in small font in the original version. This adjustment will doubtless not meet with widespread approval.
It will be interesting to see how certain key texts often used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to support Watchtower teachings have now been rendered, but without having seen the bible I am personally willing to trust that no attempt has been made to alter the meaning of verses or distort scripture. I will know more once I have seen the bible for myself.
Though this bible revision first-and-foremost represents a straightforward improvement to the original English, the extent of changes (i.e. removal of disputed gospel passages and addition of extra reference material) should necessitate new versions of bibles in other languages. Otherwise you would have an English bible that differs significantly in content from its non-English counterparts. The question of how and when other language versions will be introduced apparently wasn’t addressed at the annual meeting, so we will have to wait and see what transpires. [Edit: this question WAS in fact raised during the meeting, and Guy Pierce indicated that other language editions WOULD be released, but not in the immediate future.]
Replacement for Watchtower Library?
A new application is also said to have been announced at the annual meeting by Guy Pierce, with the insinuation that it will replace Watchtower Library.
“JW Library” is reported to include five other bible translations, and will be available for download from Monday 7th onwards from Google Play, the Apple Store, the Windows Store, and Amazon.
It remains to be seen whether a price will be attached to this new software. If there is, this could prove to be a very clever and unprecedented way of guaranteeing extra cash flow. However, I would rather give the organization the benefit of the doubt and assume it is a free download until I am able to check on Monday!
[Edit: I am pleased to confirm that this app is free to download. Furthermore, having listened to the announcement, I personally doubt JW Library is an immediate replacement for Watchtower Library, since it is only really designed for touch-screen devices. That said, it would not surprise me if there are long term plans for JW Library to be the successor to Watchtower Library.]
Anti-climax
In the build-up to this meeting, rumors were rife on the internet that there would be another major new scriptural understanding, or “new light,” unveiled. These rumors were understandable given the magnitude of the doctrinal changes at last year’s event, in which the Governing Body announced itself to be the faithful slave.
In opening this year’s annual meeting, Guy Pierce could be said to have somewhat goaded his audience and raised expectations unnecessarily.
This is what he reportedly said, according to DrJohnChrist…
“Will important bible questions be answered? Yes. Proverbs 4:18. There will be new light. The righteous ones (Jehovah’s people) will get the light. Will bible truths be refined at this meeting? Absolutely.”
You can arguably excuse the “bible questions” remark as a joking acknowledgment of the number of enquiries doubtless received at headquarters as to the lack of availability of bibles.
Even so, if Guy Pierce truly said the above, then he was leading his audience up a blind alley. “Bible truths” were not “refined” at this meeting, certainly not in the sense that people would understand that statement. There was no “new light.”
Again, it remains to be seen what Pierce’s exact words were, but if this is a fair representation of what he said to introduce the meeting, then in my view his words were misleading.
Question marks can also be raised over the words of another Governing Body member. In his Watchtower summary, Gerrit Lösch is reported to have said the following…
“It’s good for us not to have association with relatives who love worldly pursuits. Are our children acting worldly? Using worldly slang? Actively STEER children toward baptism. What are your children’s conversations like? Can they sing worldly songs by heart but not kingdom songs? Do I permit my children to play with worldly children? Do they talk only about kingdom interests?”
Firstly, surely children should not be “steered” or coerced into making a lifelong commitment that they cannot fully appreciate until they have matured? Is this not a main reason why so many youths get disfellowshipped and end up being shunned by their parents?
As to the remarks about “worldly” relatives, inactive “faded” Witnesses including me will once more let out a collective sigh of disappointment at the “us versus them” mentality encouraged by the Governing Body – if this is truly what Lösch said. Deprivation of normal family contact and association is yet again used as a tool for control and punishment, as with the recent convention reminders on shunning (which all but admitted that shunning is a form of emotional blackmail).
The future is bright
But despite the disappointments, I take great encouragement from this meeting. If the above information turns out to be verified, as I hope it will be over the next few days, it will represent the THIRD major leak over the past 12 months. First we had the leak of the October 2012 elder’s letter regarding child abuse. Then in March the so-called “new light” July 15th Watchtower was leaked on this website weeks in advance of its normal release.
Now we have a thinking Witness providing a live blog feed from inside a tightly controlled and confidential meeting where use of social media was expressly banned. The bravery that DrJohnChrist has shown in getting the word out is highly commendable, and I am excited to think of what other significant leaks of information we can look forward to in the near future as yet more thinking Witnesses inside the organization decide to push the boundaries and make a difference.
UPDATE: To read my follow-up article, click here. I am now in receipt of audio files for the annual meeting which correspond with the above notes, and I can confirm the accuracy of what was written in this article based on those notes. I would, however, like to clarify two aspects of DrJohnChrist’s notes that seem to be causing some confusion: (1) when Gerrit Lösch said that God’s will is to be completed by the end of the millennium, this has given some the impression that Lösch was referring to the end of this century, when in fact he was referring to the end of Christ’s millennial rule, and (2) the phrase “bum witnesses” was never used in Lösch’s talk. The word “bum” was used once in Anthony Morris’ talk, but only in an illustration.
Further reading…
Related videos…
Are the elders in Jerusalem the “Governing Body”?
The whole ‘BITE’ model of mind control on which the cult depends for its survival, is, thanks to the internet, breaking down. Information is leaking both ways, from inside the org., as on this NWT announcement, and, perhaps even more important, from the world beyond the Watchtower into the minds of those still trapped within.
“Sister proof.” Great. Here I thought the women were doing the bulk of the preaching work, but rather than acknowledge that they’re responsible for all this growth they keep crowing about, they act like women are too stupid and illiterate to handle a “real” bible.
“Do they talk only about kingdom interests?” If your kids only talk about kingdom interests, that’s called being unbalanced and a little psycho. Are children not allowed to even TALK about baseball, school, history, stories they invented in their heads, a new toy?
How do they define “worldly pursuits”? I have JW relatives that love going to the beach. Is that worldly since they’re not preaching and are surrounded by worldly people? Watching football, is that worldly? Eating out? Working out? Jogging? What isn’t worldly to them?
What a harsh, judgmental, condescending, haughty, holier than thou, self-righteous attitude this man is encouraging.
as the brochure :Who are doing gods will Today?
in lesson 1″ We are ordinary People, as you. We hurt as you do. we have financial problems,as you do. We feel as you do. We are human and vunerable same as that you are.We dont live in a fantasy word, as many want to do, to satisfy themselves.
Our life is based on the thought that the world will be a better place soon.(ps. 37:9-11,29).
happiness at the thought ,that life without the devastating problems will be done. We also hurt, when we are judged by others, we know you mean well, or possibly not. Here is praying God will Draw you to Jesus Christ, with love and respect Tom
Thanks, Cedars. And thanks to DrJohn Christ. Releases used to be done at Conventions and everyone got a copy. Are they getting more elitist?
this guys notes were spot on, i just got home from the meeting about twenty minutes ago. and the new bible is an eyesore.
The new Bible is bigger than any New light they have had in recent years. By changing a bunch of phrases, adding punctuations, and eliminating scriptures, the WTBTS has become the same as the churches, who they used to claim changed the Bible to suit their (the churches) needs. The GB have also taken the position of Jehovah. Many blind JW’s are now saying that they will defend Jehovah to the end of their lives. There are others who are saying that people should respect the GB’s wishes in keeping the Annual Meeting private as if it were coming from Jehovah himself. There’s something that they said…. Which further drove the JW’s weak and controlled brains deeper into the sands on insanity. It would be harder to get a JW out of this Borg.
The online rumors were confirmed.
Word for word this is accurate. Everything accept the speckled pages … It is silver
When they did the portion on the app they had a table setup with tablet devices and smart phones on it and a brother speaking with a microphone wrapped around his ear. It looked like an apple product reveal with Steve Jobs. Very materialistic!!
They announced the “Research Tool for Jehovah’s Witnesses” at the DC. It replaces the Watchtower Library. It is expressly designed to suppress critical thinking skills, only allowing the most current “light” to be accessed (no historical material). Hearing the way they announced its release and seeing the way the audience was reacting (certainly not with the shock or alarm that I felt) was one of the final straws that prompted me to stop attending meetings altogether and finally make my break with the org. I believe that this “JW Library” is a reference to the same software, as the timing is about when the DC said it would be made available.
Disclosure: I, also, was not invited to nor did I attend the Annual Meeting. So I can’t say for certain, but I am fairly sure that the Library mentioned at the Meeting would be the same one from the DC; the only new thing announced at the Meeting would be the official release date.
Nice work all!
I would discourage anyone who still considers himself to be a “thinking” person, from installing this new app. As tempting as it may be, it probably contains some kind of spyware, with undisclosed capabilities.
What a GREAT tool for the WTS to use, to gather info on your Internet use. They can read your emails and text messages… Don’t believe it’s possible? Recent news about the IRS and NSA should ring a bell. Jehovah sees all, and now the WTS and GB will, too! Imagine the possibilities…
You are right. But the JW remain in the captive state and only Jesus can free them. Shouldn’t be too much longer though. The last WTS on the Faithful and discreet slave was a total disgrace. Jehovah anger will soon blaze against these men, pretending to the Jesus faithful and discreet slave. All I can say is , these men have no idea what they are doing, but they are about to find out real soon.
Thanks Cedars and DrJohnChrist for keeping us informed…most JWs don’t get to be invited anyway
I think the change in John 17:3 is significant….
they are like a yellyfish in hand, slippery and not to be grasped.
Yet they will come to the final destination cut off from the table.
for people who like to read about exciting bible things this link:
[link removed – see posting guidelines]
the gap theory seems practical
It’ll be interesting to see if they’ve altered any more passages in their NWT Bible to suit their own agenda, or whether they might inadvertently have fixed some of the passages that they’ve mistranslated over so many years… though maybe the latter’s just wishful thinking!
Typical! They remove the passage in The Gospel of John that shows Jesus’ mercy. Let’s face it, it never fitted in with their authoritarian and judgmental attitude anyway.
I am so pleased that Dr John Christ managed to remove his picture. Watch yourself, sir. They will be livid that yet another leak has occurred.
It won’t be long until they start messing around with text in more damaging ways, in my opinion.
I don’t know any Greek or Aramaic or Hebrew scholars, and neither do most of the general public. It is difficult to call them out on any mistranslation without this knowledge.
The GB members’ comments remind me yet again what a horrible group they are! If I met a kid who knew all the kingdom songs by heart I would be very disturbed! They are awful songs.
This rush to baptise youngsters is upsetting too. Jesus was 30 when he was baptised. Encouraging children to get baptised so young is immoral because of the terrible vengeance the GB take through shunning disfellowshipped ones.
Keep up the good work, Cedars!!
einmal etwas in deutsch , kann nur googel -translate :) , danke an cedar und seinen mitstreitern ihr leistet gute arbeit.
good job , good work , thank you , greetings from germany your indinaer56
Thank you thank you a million times over for sharing this information with me.
I still have a long way to go , but your help is invaluable.
Sincerely Carol
Matthew 10:22 And YOU will be objects of hatred by all people on account of my name;
Keep up the hatred. This is why I attend their meetings. If there wasn’t such hatred of Jehovah’s Witnesses, then Jesus words in Matthew 10:22 would be false.
Gary, who said anything about hating Jehovah’s Witnesses? I love Jehovah’s Witnesses. That’s why I write articles on this website, to inform them about the true nature of the organization they follow.
Just one more point please. Did not our Lord Jesus take all the time and patience to ensure that mankind understood his message fully……and then die for us all?
There was no secrecy then, why should there be any now?
The Father says: seek and ye shall find, ask and you will be answered, knock and the door will be opened!
Nothing about secrecy there is there?
Precisely Carol. The more you look, the more you discover there is far too much secrecy surrounding Watchtower for a whole variety of reasons. In this case, thousands of congregations were left without bibles for months with no explanation simply because the Governing Body wanted all the fanfare of a surprise release of a new bible. If that is not vanity, I don’t know what is.
Gary Watson does not understand that the hatred of ex JWs is directed at the cruel self appointed and self righteous bosses, not their millions of victims. I hope, Gary Watson, that you come to realise that JW TRUTH is a pack of lies and that you cease to waste your life as an unpaid mag. distributor for a corrupt property and publishing corporation, the WTBTS, that cares nothing about you.
So they are finally going to split up the translation of “soul” (Hebrew nephesh, Greek psyche) according to the context? Any scholar could have told them that the original words typically mean “life” or “person, being, creature” and are better so rendered than stubbornly using the single word “soul” (often resulting in deeply unidiomatic English, like when ‘seeking someone’s soul’ really means trying to kill that one — se Matthew 2:20). Other translations have been using such renderings for a century or more, but I remember Watchtower articles lambasting them for not using the word “soul” and so supposedly obscuring the meaning. But finally the New World Translation follows suit. Which makes it all right, I guess!
My mom yelled at me for not opening my new bible
Wait dr John Christ or whatever ur a Jehovah’s Witness? And cedar are u? I think it’s sad when people “leak”stuff on the Internet . I mean com on that’s y there’s a jw.com website!!!! I’m just so sad and there’s even other people saying bad stuff about it. & person who’s said we’re dumb for simplyfying it and not able to handle the real deal … WE CLEARLY understand it dont u think there’s little kids that need a little help? And disabled people too? -.- smh.
And you expect JW.org to tell you EVERYTHING about what’s going on with the organization? How interesting.
You are a dumbass. You broke the arrangement by sharing this info. People like you make me sick. No worries, soon Jehovah will kick your ass out of the congregation you moronic hypocritical traitor.
One day, Jehovah will force you to recognize him, and his holy people as true. Each and every time you speak against us, you only help the truth progress by making us stronger.
Learn to write English!
Alex sounds so much like Jesus. “Judas you dumb***. All of you just make me sick. You know one day I’m just gonna kick your *** right out of this congregation. You better recognize! Aw snap!” Oh wait that’s not how Jesus sounded at all.
Thanks to all who leaked the information and verified it. Alex has every right to be upset about what he wants to be. He has the right by our constitution that protects his freedoms, to speak his mind. However our government is much more kind than the Self appointed Governing Body, they do not kick your *** out for expressing your feelings, no matter how misguided they may be.
Most importantly I would like to thank Cedars for his hard work and unbiased writings. You sir are very rare and special indeed.
Witness conundrum:
Rank and File “RIF”
Governing Body Member “GBM”
RIF “What proof do you have that you are the faithful and discreet slave?”
GBM “He said that I am.”
RIF “How do I know that “he” is right?”
GBM “I said he was right.”
RIF “Good enough for me.”
Impale means (in English) to have a wooden object put into you and so that is what the Romans did not do. They did put nails into Jesus… So a better translation was needed for English. As I am not a translator I am not in a hurry to question the change or force a conjecture to print out a blog.
I always thought this Parable was telling me to BE a faithful servant of Christ. Following and serving a slave, is not mentioned, nor does it make sense (from a human standpoint).
Please provide the scripture reference, where Jesus directs his sheep to seek the guidance of these men, who have appointed themselves as the faithful and discreet slave.
In the Portuguese forum is being romoured that something like ” the word tithe begins to acquire practical significance” was said
Can you confirm it?
Hi Nody – the word “tithe” was mentioned a few times in Gerrit Losch’s talk, but it was only mentioned in the figurative sense. I don’t think there was any special meaning behind it.
What arrangement alex?
Is there some secret info that people are not supposed to know?
IF I ever wanted to be a JW reading this would change my mind in heart beat.
the wtbs was not counting on that something like the internet would be around. now ALL of their dirt is coming out. mind controlling cult blind leading blind.
When I look up a scripture online, I get twenty or thirty translations of the text at a glance. In other words, this new Bible seems superfluous and was a project probably undertaken, in part, to justify the Watchtower’s continued existence as a publishing entity.
Whenever I research a scriptural text online, I can get twenty or thirty translations at a glance. What I mean is, this new Bible seems superfluous and as a project was probably undertaken, in part, to justify the Watchtower’s continued existence as a publishing entity.
All are losers who have no lives. I’m
May not be JW but I know this much if they did not exist you losers would really have no lives. You need them to drive you. How sad you pathetic losers
@minsha this replacement for Wt Library is nothing new–the Watchtower Online Library @ jw org website has same concept. Only current materials — and, they’ll want to shrink that window, seeing how they’ve flip-flopped doctrines w/”flickering light” in a decade or less. You can still find editions of some of Russell’s works thanks to the many schisms of Bible Students on the web, and some Rutherford Bible Student groups, plus some Romanian and Eastern European schisms from the Watchtower since 1989 when those in “other countries” category discovered that the Watchtower had “slipped into darkness” after 1962 (projections of the end in the 1968 Watchtower, less restriction on dating and dancing, etc, etc. VERY conservative hardliners).