Truth according to the Watchtower

[TobyLue]

What is truth?
The Watchtower Organization claims that it has the truth. They claim that it is an organization that is God’s and not man’s. From the Watchtower:

WT 6/15/1938 PG 182
The organization is God’s and not man’s. It is the Lord’s Representative on earth, and he uses it for his purposes.

And also :

NWT 1/1/1942 PG 5
God uses The Watch Tower to communicate to his people; it does not consist of men’s opinions.

Here is the definition of Truth according to dictionary.com :

1. 
   *]Conformity to fact or actuality.
   *]A statement proven to be or accepted as true.
   *]Sincerity; integrity.
   *]Fidelity to an original or standard.
   *]a Reality; actuality.
   

     b. often **Truth** That which is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence.

   We know that TRUTH never changes. What was true yesterday remains true today and will remain true tomorrow. Since the JW’s claim that Jehovah God speaks through the Watchtower Organization and Jehovah does not change his mind, I just have one question. It is this.
   Which of these “truths” is correct?
   

   Do not worship Jesus…(is this the latest or has it changed since 1974?)

    **WT 11/1/1964, PG 1974    **“....it is unscriptural for worshipers of the living and true God to render worship to the Son of God, Jesus Christ.”

   OK to worship Jesus……

    **NWT 1962 EDITION PG 1293

   **“But when he again brings his First-born into the inhabited earth, He says: ‘And let all God’s angels worship him.’” (Heb. 1:6)

   Do not worship Jesus….

   WT 7/15/1959 PG 241
   Do not erroneously conclude that Christians are to worship Christ. That is not what the Bible taught.

    **WT 1/1/1954

   **No distinct worship is to be rendered to Jesus Christ, now glorified in heaven.

   OK to worship Jesus……
   
   NWT 10/15/1945 PG 313
   You must worship and bow down to Jehovah’s chief one, namely Jesus Christ.
   WT 8/15/1941 PG 232
   All creatures in heaven and earth shall worship Jesus as he worships the Father.

    **WT 7/15/1898 PG 2337**

   “Yes, we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshipped, and properly so. While he was not theGod, Jehovah, he was a God.”

   NWT** 3/1880 PG 83
   **“To worship Christ in any form cannot be wrong.”

   I’m not attacking anybody, but I would just like an explanation if you don’t mind. Have these been taken out of context? If so an explanation of, say for example 1941 when it says that all creatures shall worship Jesus but in 1954 is says that no distinct worship is to be rendered to Jesus.
   
   Thanks.

 

[TobyLue]

Since no JW wants to answer this, are there any former JW’s who might like to take a stab at this question? Did this ever come into your mind while you were a JW? Do JW’s ever study the history of their organization? Again, since truth never changes, how can something be yes some years and then a few years later it be no. then yes, then no again?

 

[carol_marie]

TobyLue:

Since no JW wants to answer this, are there any former JW’s who might like to take a stab at this question? Did this ever come into your mind while you were a JW? Do JW’s ever study the history of their organization? Again, since truth never changes, how can something be yes some years and then a few years later it be no. then yes, then no again?

When I was a witness I wasn’t aware of anything that had gone from A to B and then back to A again. Of course, I now know that to be true.

This is my opinion… just maintaining the schedule for a “good witness” keeps you so BUSY you have no time to ponder “old truths.” This is the schedule:

Tuesday meeting: Prep time: 1 hour, Meeting time: 1 hour.

Thursday meeting: Prep time: 1-2 hrs. if you are scheduled to “give a talk” and the meeting is about 2 hours long.

Saturday Service - (knocking on doors - leading Bible studies etc.) I went every Saturday for 1-3 hours.

Sunday Meeting - (prep time: 1/2 to 1 hour) Actual meeting 2 hrs.
Sometimes after the meeting I’d go with someone to help with her Bible study 1 - 2 hours.

Typical week: Time spent preparing & meetings: 9 - 14 hours.

And that doesn’t include the social activities - often times after the meetings many of us would go out to eat afterwards to talk about the meetings - going out in service etc.

Soooooooo… who has time to ponder whether any of it is actually true? You’re just so busy… BEING a witness - and everyone you’re close to is also a witness - and you aren’t allowed to talk about any doubts you may have - and you aren’t allowed to read any non-Witness religious literature - so “truths” that are changed… well you just accept it like all “good witnesses” and keep going.

 

[DonCameron]

Hi TobyLue,

You asked…

Do JW’s ever study the history of their organization?

Answer: No.

This is the one mistake all 6.5 Jehovah’s Witnesses have made. And the six million people who are studying with the Witnesses today are in the process of making the same mistake.

You have probably heard of the former Governing Body Member Raymond Franz who wrote, “Crisis of Conscience.”

He himself made this same mistake for almost 60 years until he finally decided to check the Society’s history for himself in 1979. Once he make such an examination he concluded…

“It would be an insult to Christ Jesus to say that he selected the Watchtower on the basis of what it had been teaching as of 1919”

This is what most of the the above millions of Witnesses and their millions of “Bible Studies” would also conclude if they ever decide to check that history for themselves.

But Jehovah’s Witnesses need a reason to check it. If they do not become self-motivated to check it because of some personal concerns about the organization that are bothering them (as was the case with Franz), “Captives of a Concept” suggests a way to get them to look into the Society’s history even if they personally don’t feel any need to do so for themselves.

Don at www.CaptivesOfaConcept.com

 

[Andy_K]

The problem I’ve seen with the witnesses is that they think they DO know their history. The one I keep talking to is saying all sorts of things, like how a bible translation in the 16th century was rejected by the Greek Orthodox church because it was similar to the New World Translation the JWs use now.

I also keep hearing quotes from St. Justin Martyr time and time again, despite the fact that he clearly taught that the trinity was a fact (something that the Jw’s don’t believe, as we all know).

How come the watchtower is so easily able to get away with distorting history to fit their agenda?

 

[DonCameron]

Hi TobyLue,

You asked…

How come the watchtower is so easily able to get away with distorting history to fit their agenda?

This is because Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that “the Watchtower Society is God’s organization” - His sole “channel of communication” to all mankind. As a result they view everything that comes from “God’s organization” as coming from God Himself.

They cannot conceive of the possibility that “his organization” would ever distort history or mislead them in any way.

The religious leaders of the Watchtower Society must distort both secular and their own history in order to be able to keep Jehovah’s Witnesses (and themselves apparently) convinced that the Society is God’s organization.

It is this organization concept that is holding them captive by controlling how they think and act without realizing it.

They need to come to realize that the Society is not God’s organization. Only then will stop letting the Watchtower “get away with distorting history.”

Don at www.CaptivesOfaConcept.com

 

[st_julie]

It is my hope that the men of the governing body believe without question everything that they proclaim to their people. If they know that there are blatent errors then May God have Mercy on them for the millstone will be heavy.
st julie

 

[DonCameron]

Hi St. Julie,

You said…

It is my hope that the men of the governing body believe without question everything that they proclaim to their people.

According to former Governing Body member Raymond Franz, the men of the Governing Body do “believe without question everything they proclaim to their people.”

He fells that they are just as captive of the illusionary concept that the Watchtower Society is God’s organization as the rest of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Franz explained that when they come to realize that they had been teaching something was not true, they tend to reason…

“It was God’s organization that did it, not us.”

And yet they, and they alone are the ones responsible for whatever misleading information that comes from the Society.

Strange, ain’t it…

Don at www.CaptivesOfaConcept.com

 

[Marilena]

DonCameron:

Hi TobyLue,

You asked…

Do JW’s ever study the history of their organization?

Answer: No.

Thos is a true statement Don! Very true! I never studied
the history of the organization until my sister presented
me with a copy of “Answering Jehovah’s Witnesses”
By Jason Evert. Iam a former witness, left in 1997 made it official in 1999. I received this book only a few short weeks ago, and was very surprised to learn the facts about them! I never knew even half of what the orgnization had done with their doctrines over the years until I read this book! I only knew about 1975, and the
1914 thing. I never bothered to research it because it
didn’t matter to me as a witness, and when I left. But
I recently went online looking for fellow ex witnesses
and started talking to them about the organization, as well, my sister told me about this site too. Iam a very devoted Catholic, and have been for well over a year now. I only wanted to know about the history of the jw’s
recently due to speaking with the ex witnesses. It opened my eyes to say the least! Good post here!