Guided By Holy Spirit?
The Watchtower February 2017 study edition on page 26 paragraph 12 states the following in an article entitled: “Who Is Leading God’s People Today?”:
“The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction. In fact, the Watch Tower Publications Index includes the heading “Beliefs Clarified,” which lists adjustments in our Scriptural understanding since 1870. Of course, Jesus did not tell us that his faithful slave would produce perfect spiritual food. So how can we answer Jesus’ question: “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave?” -Matthew. 24:45. What evidence is there that the Governing Body is filling that role? -The Watchtower February 2017 study edition page 26 paragraph 12.
“Of course, Jesus did not tell us that his faithful slave would produce perfect spiritual food.”
Then, in answer to the question, we find this reasoning in the very next paragraph:
Evidence of holy spirit.
The holy spirit has helped the Governing Body to grasp Scriptural truths not previously understood. For example, reflect on the list of beliefs clarified that was referred to in the preceding paragraph. Surely, no human deserves credit for discovering and explaining these “deep things of God”! -Read 1 Corinthians 2:10. The Governing Body echoes the apostle Paul, who wrote: “These things we also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the spirit.” -1 Corinthians 2:13. After centuries of apostasy and spiritual darkness, can anything other than holy spirit explain the rapid increase in spiritual understanding since 1919?” -The Watchtower February 2017 study edition page 26 paragraph 13.
This appears to be a case of attempting to turn a tragedy into a triumph. On the one hand, the provided list of beliefs clarified is supplied as proof that the governing body is not inspired. Whereas in the very next paragraph the same list is offered as proof of evidence of holy spirit.
How is it possible for the beliefs clarified to be evidence of holy spirit when they err as well as when they make adjustments? Did the holy spirit guide them to the wrong understanding only to later issue a correction?
How is this not just a case of men getting it wrong? If the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible but can err in doctrinal matters or organizational direction, could it be possible that they have erred in their interpretation of Matthew 24:45-47?
Witnesses would unhesitatingly respond no! Yet note this comment made in the July 15, 2014 issue of the Watchtower:
“The Roman Catholic teaching of apostolic succession claims that there is an unbroken succession of popes in a line extending all the way back to the apostle Peter (The church misinterprets Jesus’ words that are quoted at Matthew 16:18, 19) Catholicism also claims that the pope is infallible in matters of doctrine when he speaks ex cathedra, or in an official capacity. I believed this and thought that if the pope, whom Catholics call Holy Father, is infallible in doctrinal matters and has proclaimed the Trinity to be true, then it must be true. But if he is not infallible, then the doctrine may be false. No wonder that for many Catholics the teaching of apostolic succession is the most important teaching, since the correctness or incorrectness of other Catholic teachings hinges on it!” -The Watchtower July 15, 2014 pages 18-19.
No wonder that for many Witnesses the teaching of the faithful and discreet slave is the most important teaching, since the correctness or incorrectness of other Watchtower teachings hinges on it! The Watchtower society claims the Catholic Church has misinterpreted Matthew 16:18,19 when using it as a basis for their teaching of apostolic succession even though the pope claims infallibility. However, they would refuse to acknowledge the possibility of the governing body misinterpreting Matthew 24:45-47 when using it as a basis for their teaching of the Faithful and Discreet Slave even though they do not claim infallibility.
So, if not from the holy spirit, from where do they get their information? Note this comment from a 2007 Watchtower:
“the apostle John describes his vision of “a great crowd, which no man was able to number.” The identity of that great crowd is revealed to John by one of the 24 elders, and these elders represent the 144,000 joint heirs with Christ in their heavenly glory. -Luke 22:28-30; Revelation 4:4. John himself had a heavenly hope; but since he was still a man on earth when the elder spoke to him, in the vision John must represent anointed ones on earth who have not yet received their heavenly reward. What, then, can we deduce from the fact that one of the 24 elders identifies the great crowd to John? It seems that resurrected ones of the 24-elders group may be involved in the communicating of divine truths today.” -The Watchtower January 1, 2007 page 28 paragraphs 10-11.
Actually, this is not new. In the book “The Finished Mystery” it was claimed that Pastor Russell, though dead was still responsible for passing along information to Christians on earth from beyond the veil. Furthermore, in his 1933 book entitled “Preparation” J.F. Rutherford published this statement:
“Certain duties and kingdom interests have been committed by the Lord to his angels, which include the transmission of information to God’s anointed people on the earth for their aid and comfort. Even though we cannot understand how the angels transmit this information, we know that they do it; and the Scriptures and the facts show that it is done. -Matthew 25:31; Jude 14,15; Zechariah 14:5) (Preparation pages 36-37.
From this it is clear that even though they claim neither inspiration nor infallibility they want you to believe that the information they pass on to the rest of the flock is from a divine source. However:
• If the previous beliefs were guided by God, why did they need to be clarified? Has it ever been necessary to update the Bible?
• Witnesses are fond of saying the light gets brighter. But can wrong information ever be considered light?
• If the Faithful and Discreet Slave claims that they have new light and the old light was not the truth, then was what they had before light at all?
• Was it God who gave the Governing Body the understanding that’s no longer true?
• What is the role of the Spirit if they aren’t inspired by the Spirit? They say the Spirit guides them, but what does that mean? Does it mean the Spirit shows them where they should look for information? Inspired means to be influenced by someone or something. Inspired means someone led, guided, directed or caused you to do something.[1]
• If the Governing Body is led by the Spirit, how can they err? If the guidance they give is false, why? Did they not follow the instructions of the Spirit? Did they misunderstand the Spirit’s guidance? Did God’s Spirit fail in some way to lead His people safely and perfectly? What’s going on?
• So when the Governing Body says and prints “We’re not inspired, we can err, but we are still led by the Spirit of God” what does this mean? How does one reconcile a perfect God guiding imperfect men and the imperfections of those men cancelling out the perfect guidance of God?
• With such a track record, how confident can one be in what is considered “present truth”?
• How confident could one be in future direction from the organization that may not appear practical or make sense?[2]
“Of course, Jesus did not tell us that his faithful slave would produce perfect spiritual food.” This is true. It is my contention that a careful analysis of the scriptures reveal that Jesus did not tell us that he would appoint a faithful slave to provide food at all! Thus the question posed at the beginning of the Watchtower article is one for serious consideration by all associated with the Watchtower Society, not only now but especially as we approach the coming end of this system of things: “Who Is Leading God’s People Today?” Why not consider the words of Jesus himself:
“Work not for the food that perishes, but for the food that remains for everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you; for on this one the Father, God himself, has put his seal of approval.” -John 6:27)
Thus Jesus is fully capable of leading his people today just as he has been doing for the past two thousand years without the aid of a Faithful Slave. -Matthew 28:20.
In an attempt to explain away false predictions in their history, this illustration appeared in the God’s Kingdom Rules book:
“IMAGINE that an experienced guide is leading you on a tour of a wondrous and beautiful city. The city is new to you and to those with you, so you hang on to the guide’s every word. At times, you and your fellow tourists wonder excitedly about some of the city’s features that you have not yet seen. When you ask your guide about such things, however, he withholds his comments until key moments, often just when a certain sight is coming into view. In time, you grow ever more impressed with his wisdom, for he tells you what you need to know right when you need to know it. True Christians are in a situation similar to that of the tourists. We are eagerly learning about the most wondrous of cities, “the city having real foundations,” the Kingdom of God. -Hebrews 11:10. When Jesus was on earth, he personally guided his followers, leading them to a deeper knowledge of that Kingdom. Did he answer all their questions and tell them everything about that Kingdom at once? No. He said: “I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them now.” -John 16:12. As the wisest of guides, Jesus never burdened his disciples with knowledge that they were not prepared to handle.
As we saw in Chapter 2 of this book, the Bible Students spent decades pointing out that the year 1914 would be significant in fulfilling Bible prophecy. However, at that time they believed that Christ’s presence had begun in 1874, that he had begun to rule in heaven in 1878, and that the Kingdom would not be fully set up until October 1914. The harvest would extend from 1874 to 1914 and would culminate in the gathering of the anointed to heaven. Do mistaken ideas such as these cast doubt on whether Jesus was guiding those faithful ones by means of holy spirit? Not at all! Think again of our opening illustration. Would the premature ideas and eager questions of the tourists cast doubt on the reliability of their guide? Hardly! Similarly, although God’s people sometimes try to work out details of Jehovah’s purpose before it is time for the holy spirit to guide them to such truths, it is clear that Jesus is leading them. Thus, faithful ones prove willing to be corrected and humbly adjust their views.—James. 4:6 (God’s Kingdom Rules! chapter 5 page 49)
In the illustration, if the guide represents Jesus, who would the tourists with their premature ideas represent? Would that not be the Bible students? Think carefully about the question raised in this illustration: “Do mistaken ideas such as these cast doubt on whether Jesus was guiding those faithful ones by means of holy spirit?” While their mistaken ideas would not necessarily cast doubt on the reliability of Jesus as a guide, it most definitely would cast doubt on their claim of being guided by him at the time they were proclaiming their mistaken ideas! In other words, they didn’t know what they were talking about! The fact that they were so eager to presumptuously run ahead of Jesus would certainly cast doubt on their claim of being his spokesmen. And it most certainly would not incline others to trust any future pronouncements they would make. In reality, the illustration does an excellent job at showing that anyone claiming to be guided by Jesus while at the same time running ahead of him would actually be a blind guide. -Matthew 15:14. Who could fault the person that would prefer to listen to Jesus rather than to such ones? It would only be the course of foolishness to put ones trust in the governing body if they continued in the same way as those early Bible students, uttering mistaken ideas while claiming to be guided by holy spirit. Yet this is all passed off because no Christian mistrusts Jesus as a guide. According to this reasoning any religion can be wrong and still claim to be guided by Jesus by means of holy spirit simply by saying “we were just trying to work out the details before it was time for the holy spirit to guide us to such truths”. But this raises a number of questions:
• How then can one determine what is false religion?
• If while being wrong a religion can still claim to be led by Christ, then it would appear that truth does not matter. How then can such a religion claim to be God’s channel for dispensing truth and its members to be “in the truth”?
• If in the past such a religion expressed certainty that its teachings were true and guided by God but later found to be wrong, how can one be certain if what is taught presently is true and guided by God?
• If the leaders of such a religion have demonstrated a tendency to publish “premature ideas” like an eager tourist, would it be wrong for a person to disregard what they say in favor of sticking with the words of the reliable guide?
• Could such a person be classed as presumptuously running ahead of God?
• Instead, if a religious teacher couldn’t wait for the holy spirit to guide him but took it upon himself to publish such “premature ideas” and then attempted to discipline others for not accepting his views, thus elevating himself over his fellow tourists would this not be evidence of a prideful presumptuous spirit?
• If Jesus never burdened his disciples with knowledge that they were not prepared to handle would not the announcing of “premature ideas” by anyone else be a burden on others? -John 16:12; Acts 1:7.
• How would the guide feel about such a tourist if he, because of his bold claims, misdirected others, causing them to miss out on important details of “the most wondrous of cities”? -Matthew 18:6; 24:48-51; Luke 17:1,2.
On the one hand the society tries to present itself as humble by admitting past errors. In the 1930 book “Light”, J.F. Rutherford made this admission:
“The Watch Tower, and its companion publications of the Society, for forty years emphasized the fact that 1914 would witness the establishment of God’s kingdom and the complete glorification of the church. During that period of forty years God’s people on earth were carrying on a witness work, which work was foreshadowed by Elijah and John the Baptist. All of the Lord’s people looked forward to 1914 with joyful expectation. When that time came and passed there was much disappointment, chagrin and mourning, and the Lord’s people were greatly in reproach. They were ridiculed by the clergy and their allies in particular, and pointed to with scorn, because they had said so much about 1914, and what would come to pass, and their ‘prophecies’ had not been fulfilled. -Light volume 1 page 194.
But, on the other hand, strongly condemning any person or group of persons making such errors, classifying them as false prophets:
“JEHOVAH GOD is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers. He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true. Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers. How does he expose them? He frustrates their signs and predictions. In this way he shows that they are self-appointed prognosticators, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning—yes, their foolish, fleshly thinking! -The Watchtower May 1, 1997 page 8 paragraph 1 Identifying the Right Kind of Messenger.
The Bible itself makes this condemnation:
“‘If any prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name that I did not command him to speak or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. However, you may say in your heart: “How will we know that Jehovah has not spoken the word?” When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word is not fulfilled or does not come true, then Jehovah did not speak that word. The prophet spoke it presumptuously. You should not fear him.’ -Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
Yet the society tries to make it appear that it does not fit into the category of a false prophet:
“Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets. Never in these instances, however, did they presume to originate predictions ‘in the name of Jehovah.’ Never did they say, ‘These are the words of Jehovah.’ The Watchtower, the official journal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has said: “We have not the gift of prophecy.” -January 1883, page 425.
“Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible.” -December 15, 1896, page 306.
The Watchtower has also said that the fact that some have Jehovah’s spirit “does not mean those now serving as Jehovah’s witnesses are inspired. It does not mean that the writings in this magazine The Watchtower are inspired and infallible and without mistakes.” -May 15, 1947, page 157.
“The Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in its utterances, nor is it dogmatic.” -August 15, 1950, page 263.
“The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Their writings are not inspired as are those of Paul and the other Bible writers. -2 Timothy 3:16) And so, at times, it has been necessary, as understanding became clearer, to correct views. -Proverbs 4:18—February 15, 1981, page 19 -Awake March 22, 1993 pg. 4.
However, is it true that they never presumed to originate predictions in the name of Jehovah? Note these very clear unambiguous statements:
“Now, in view of recent labor troubles and threatened anarchy, our readers are writing to know if there may not be a mistake in the 1914 date. They say that they do not see how present conditions can hold out so long under the strain. We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God’s dates, not ours. ” -Zion’s Watchtower July 15, 1894 page 226.
“A third way of coming to know Jehovah God is through his representatives. In ancient times he sent prophets as his special messengers. While these men foretold things to come, they also served the people by telling them of God’s will for them at that time, often also warning them of dangers and calamities. People today can view the creative works. They have at hand the Bible, but it is little read or understood. So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come?
IDENTIFYING THE “PROPHET”
These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? The clergy of the so-called “Christian” nations hold themselves before the people as being the ones commissioned to speak for God. But, as pointed out in the previous issue of this magazine, they have failed God and failed as proclaimers of his kingdom by approving a man-made political organization, the League of Nations (now the United Nations), as “the political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth.”
However, Jehovah did not let the people of Christendom, as led by the clergy, go without being warned that the League was a counterfeit substitute for the real kingdom of God. He had a “prophet” to warn them. This “prophet” was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses.” -The Watchtower April 1, 1972 page 197.
Proverbs 4:18 is often pressed into service to explain doctrinal changes and corrections. This will be further explored in part 8 of this series entitled: “A Misused Proverb”.
But for now, how do you think Jesus would feel about a slave
that used subtle tactics to keep persons dependent on him for food? Food that
proved to be imperfect.
(Psalm 146:3) Do not put your trust in princes Nor in a son of man, who cannot bring salvation.
[1] See Insight vol 1 pp. 1202-1203 Inspiration
[2] See The Watchtower November 15, 2013 page 20 paragraph. 17 Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes—What They Mean for Us Today• (1) The most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of “the Assyrian” is that of strengthening our faith in God and helping our brothers to do the same. (2) When “the Assyrian” attacks, the elders must be absolutely convinced that Jehovah will deliver us. (3) At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. In the simplified version number (3) is stated this way: “At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah’s organization may seem strange or unusual. But all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether we agree with them or not, because obeying these instructions will save our lives.”