The Watchtower society has admitted that the faithful and discreet slave or governing body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction. (The Watchtower February 2017 study edition pg 26 par 12 “Who Is Leading God’s People Today?”)
This is not just a recent admission but it is something that has been stated for decades. In an attempt to explain away their many false predictions made in the past the March 22, 1993 Awake states:
“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 Tim. 3:16) And so, at times, it has been necessary, as understanding became clearer, to correct views. (Prov. 4:18)”—February 15, 1981, page 19. (Awake March 22, 1993 pg. 4 “Why So Many False Alarms?”)
Although the Watchtower claims that it is not dogmatic, apparently Geoffrey Jackson has no problem comparing the faithful and discreet slave to a dog. A dog that has for years barked at nothing!
Obviously this raises serious doubts about their ability to accurately interpret scripture and should move a person to be cautious about putting trust in any future proclamations they might make. Since admittedly, they can err not only in doctrinal matters but also organizational direction, any scriptural interpretation offered by them should be carefully scrutinized in light of the Bible. Yet they expect members of the organization to obey their directives as though they were coming from God himself! Does that not amount to putting trust in imperfect men, something that God warns us not to do? (Psalm 146:3) Why do millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to put complete trust in men with a track record of errors since the beginning of their organization in 1870?
I would encourage you to ask one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to answer that question for you. But I would like to predict for you what I think the response would be. You might hear something like this: “well they are not inspired by God, but they are guided by him.”
This is a typical response Witnesses make to ease the uncomfortable cognitive dissonance they feel inside when faced with the reality that they put their implicit trust in completely untrustworthy men. Believe me, I know. I was one of them. But, please ask them to explain for you what the difference is between being inspired and being guided by God. It sounds like there is a difference. The aim is to give the impression that guidance is a sort of less obvious, non-miraculous influence by God than inspiration. But wouldn’t that still mean that God influences them, even if only in a milder way? And if God is guiding them, how can they go wrong? Is there really a difference between guidance and inspiration?
In the book Insight on the Scriptures, a definition of inspiration is given. Note what it has to say:
INSPIRATION
The quality or state of being moved by or produced under the direction of a spirit from a superhuman source…
That holy spirit operated toward or upon men to move them and guide them in setting down God’s message…
Controlled by “the hand of Jehovah.” The Bible writers, therefore, came under Jehovah’s “hand,” or guiding and controlling power. (2Ki 3:15, 16; Eze 3:14, 22) Even as Jehovah’s “hand” could cause his servants to speak or to keep silent at appointed times (Eze 3:4, 26, 27; 33:22), so it could stimulate writing or act as a restraining force; it could prompt the writer to deal with certain matters or restrict him from including other material. The end product would, in every case, be that which Jehovah desired…
It can be seen that the holy spirit would, indeed, have “varieties of operations” toward or upon these Bible writers. (1Co 12:6) A considerable portion of the information was humanly accessible to them, sometimes already existing in written form, as in the case of genealogies and certain historical accounts. (Lu 1:3; 3:23-38; Nu 21:14, 15; 1Ki 14:19, 29; 2Ki 15:31; 24:5; see BOOK.) Here God’s spirit would operate to prevent inaccuracy or error from intruding into the Divine Record and also to guide in the selection of material to be included. (Insight on the Scriptures vol. 1 pg. 1202-1204)
There are some key words and phrases in this definition that I have bolded for emphasis that are important to discuss:
- Being moved by
- Under the direction of
- Being guided by
- Being controlled by
- To prevent inaccuracy or error
- Guide in the selection of material
It should be obvious, from their own reference material, that if the governing body admits they are not inspired, then neither are they guided, since being guided by God falls under the definition of inspiration. And yet this claim of being guided or directed is repeated time and again by members of the governing body to the extent that millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses are simply mesmerized into believing they have some special, non-miraculous dispensation from God, giving them special insight and interpretive ability of the Bible that no one else on earth has.
For example, please watch the following video:
Furthermore, besides moving, directing and guiding, the Insight book states that one of the “varieties of operations” of the holy spirit is to prevent inaccuracy or error. Wouldn’t that absolutely falsify the claim of anyone teaching errors as having been guided by God? In addition we could rightly question whether God would even use individuals that work against the interests of his spirit by including errors in their teachings and attributing them to God. Is this not the very accusation the Watchtower society makes against other religions in Christendom?
“But where does the Holy Bible speak of Christendom’s Trinity? And where does the Bible teach, as the clergy do, that humans have a soul that survives the death of the physical body? Have you ever asked a clergyman to show you those teachings in your Bible? The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament.” (1992, Micropædia, Volume 11, page 928) And the New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “Among the Apostolic Fathers, there had been nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective.” (1967, Volume XIV, page 299) As for Christendom’s concept of a soul that separates from the body at death, church scholars admit that they borrowed the idea from Greek philosophy. However, true religion does not set aside Bible truth for human philosophy.—Genesis 2:7; Deuteronomy 6:4; Ezekiel 18:4; John 14:28. (The Watchtower June 1, 1994 pg. 11 par. 14)
It is understandable that humans are imperfect and do not always clearly understand God’s will and purpose. Knowledge is progressive and we are all in the process of learning. However, a truly sincere person would admit their mistakes, apologize for those errors and resolve never to repeat them. But anyone making the claim of being guided or directed by God is attributing his information to a source beyond human ability, a divine source. He cannot then later excuse himself by saying I’m only imperfect without implying that his first claim was a lie.
Perhaps I am wrong in my assessment. Perhaps I am just an angry, bitter, negative, critical person that has distorted the picture by presenting lies and half-truths. If so, I beg any one of Jehovah’s Witnesses to please respond and present clearly where I am wrong and I will make a retraction.
4 replies on “Is the Governing Body Really Guided by God?”
The GB are con men. It hurts my brain to hear their reasoning.
Raymond Franz, a member of the governing body for nine years wrote in Crisis of Conscience:
“I felt, and still feel, that there were many good men on the Governing Body. In a long-distance phone call, a former Witness said to me, “We have been followers of followers.” Another said, “We have been victims of victims.” I think both statements are true. Charles Taze Russell followed the views of certain men of his time, was victimized by some of the myths they propagated as “revealed truth.” Each successive part of the organizational leadership has followed along, at times contributing additional myth in support of, or in elaboration of, the original myth. In place of rancor, I feel only compassion for those men I know, for I too was such a “victim of victims,” a “follower of followers.”
Thank you Jerome.
I’ve been reading here and in other places you have commented. This article is balanced, realistic and not judgmental.
Chezdale,
Thank you. I try my best to be fair, objective and accurate in what I say. When I was in the organization, although I didn’t immediately dismiss criticism when I encountered it, nevertheless, the slightest inaccuracies would cause me to immediately discredit the person offering it.