This (again) is part of the letter I've written for my mom...
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In whose name were you baptized, mom? Well I know you were baptized in the 1950’s, so no doubt at your baptism you were asked the following questions as published in the Watchtower of August 1, 1966 on page 465…
“(1) Have you recognized yourself before Jehovah God as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him, the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ?
(2) On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation, have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Jesus Christ and through the Bible under the enlightening power of the holy spirit?”
These are the same questions asked of me when I was baptized in 1983. So we publicly acknowledged our dedication to God, and that our salvation comes through Jesus. You and I took no oath to the Watchtower Society or any group of humans. But guess what happened? The Watchtower of June 1, 1985 on page 30 shows that the Society created its very own type of baptism with a revision of the former questions.
“On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?
The second is:
Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization?”
It takes no small amount of chutzpah to insert a human organization into these vows that are supposed to have nothing to do with human leaders and everything to do with Christ.
In the new book the Watchtower Society released, “What Does the Bible Really Teach?” in chapter 18, they list six things they regard as requirements for Christian baptism. They include having a formal study with a Witness, officially becoming an “Unbaptized Publisher,” and demonstrating ones Bible knowledge to Witness elders. But how can we reconcile this with Acts 10:34-48 in which Peter speaks less than two hundred words to Cornelius whereupon he and his entire family are immediately baptized? Or with Acts 16:11-15 in which Lydia and her household were baptized after listening to one session of Jesus’ disciples speaking? Or with Acts 16:25-34 in which a jailer and his family were baptized “without delay” after one late-night discussion with Paul and Silas?
Whatever reason they supply for needing these “baptism requirements,” one thing is clear: they have gone “beyond the things that are written.” There is no other possible conclusion than that, in so doing, they are able to seize more control over those in the congregations. We are not supposed to be baptized in the name of Paul or Cephas or anyone other than Jesus Christ. But the Society now requires people to acknowledge the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in their baptism vows. Way, way, wayyy beyond “the things written.”
