Does anyone here know when the WTS first declared itself the Faithfull and Discreet Slave? I know that they have said for sometime now they became such in 1919, but I need to know when they came to the 'realization' or hallucination that they were. Would greatly appreciate a watchtower article, etc. Thankyou.
faithfull and discreet slave
by logic 7 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Gopher
Here's the earliest I was able to find. I hope someone can find an even earlier one.
From the April 15, 1952 Watchtower page 253, article "Aids for Understanding Prophecy"
19 When may prophecies be understood? The Lord said to Daniel, "O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end." (Dan. 12:4, AS) This indicates that the further fulfillments of the prophecies are sealed until the physical facts appear that begin to fulfill them. So the rule seems to be reasonable and certain that prophecies cannot be understood until they are in the course of fulfillment or until they have been fulfilled. Jehovah as the great Interpreter makes known the meaning of his revelations in his due time, and speculation by men cannot bring to light the true meaning of prophecy before time. Jehovah has provided a channel,the "faithful and discreet slave" class, who are given spiritual "food at the proper time", and this spiritual food includes among other things the understandings of the prophecies in the course of their fulfillments. (Matt. 24:45, NW) Jehovah’s witnesses themselves are not nor can they be interpreters of prophecies. But as fast as the "superior authorities" Jehovah and Christ Jesus reveal the interpretations through their provided channel that fast do God’s people publish them the world over to strengthen the faith of all lovers of righteousness.
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Gopher
More Watchtower quotes on the slave - from the Watchtower Information Service site. They've gone back and forth on this issue over the years. I mean, Jehovah has granted them increasing light of truth !!
Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings. Matthew 24:45-47 (New World Translation of the Holy Scripture 1984 (NWT))
The above verses in Jesus’ parable are used more frequently then any other verses by The Watchtower Society (WTS) to keep a stranglehold on Jehovah’s Witnesses.
It is our intention to show, in this treatise that the WTS has used these parabolic verses to take on an incorrect and completely unjustified prophetic sense. (The Watchtower (WT) 1981 March 1, p. 24; WT 1960 July 15 p. 462; God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached. 1973. p. 350)
The “Slave” was the whole body of Christ
The WTS up to 1895 taught that the Slave was the whole body of Christ.
(WT 1881 November p. 291; 1890 January p. 1171; 1895 April 1 p.
1797).Russell was the “Slave”!
But soon in 1896 the thinking was changed and an individual, Charles
T.Russell, was chosen as the Slave. Russell also happened to be
the head of the WTS.Bible commentators, outside the WTS understand the
passage as a parable, which Jesus gave to encourage each of his
individual followers to be a faithful and wise servant rather then
an evil slave. Jesus was not giving here a prophecy as WTS contends.
In support Jesus continued by saying in the next verses:But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, ‘My master
is delaying,’ and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should
eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, the master of that
slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour
that he does not know, and will punish him with the greatest severity
and will assign him his part with the hypocrites. There is where
[his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be. Matthew
24:48-51 (NWT)Russell however converted this admonition into a
personal appointment for himself as the “Faithful and Wise Servant”
- God’s mouthpiece to mankind! The WTS maintained from 1896 to 1927
that Russell was that Servant (Slave). (WT 1896 March 1, p. 1946;
Studies in Scriptures Vol I 1924-1927 editions p. 7; Vol.4 p. 613;
Vol. 7 pp. 3, 5, 422, 418; WT 1917 March 1, p. 6049; Harp of God
1921 p. 229).Russell was not the Slave”!
Rutherford, the second president of the WTS changed this belief
in 1927 and asserted that the Slave designation applied not to an
individual - Russell - but to the WTS organization. It was also
falsely publicized that Russell had never claimed to be that Slave.
(WT February 15, 1927 p. 56; God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has
Approached 1973 p. 346). However, since critics exposed this lie
of the WTS they made a half-baked and false admission in their latest
biography Jehovah’s Witnesses Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom
(1993) that “…the idea that Russell himself was the faithful and
wise servant…came to be generally held by the Bible Students for
some thirty years.” (p. 143) The Proclaimers book on the same page
also places the blame on Russell’s wife Maria for the teaching that
Russell was that Servant. The writers of the Proclaimers book pretend
to be unaware that that the WT of 1917 March 1, p. 6049 states very
clearly that, “Watch Tower unhesitatingly proclaims brother Russell
as ‘that faithful and wise servant’” (p. 143)The “Slave” is over 1800 years old!
The WTS also teaches, without any support, that the “Slave” represents
the Christian congregation from its beginning in A.D. 33 up to now:Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that this parable pertains to the
one true congregation of Jesus Christ’s anointed followers. Beginning
with Pentecost, 33 C.E., and continuing through the 19 centuries
since then, this slavelike congregation has been feeding its members
spiritually, doing so faithfully and discreetly. (WT 1981 March
1, p. 24)And further:
From Pentecost, A.D. 33, up to this very present hour this (”feeding”)
has been lovingly and carefully performed. Yes, and these “domestics”
have been fed on progressive spiritual food that keeps them abreast
of the “bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until
the day is firmly established.” WT 1960 July 15 p. 435.So the well-nourished Christian congregation (Slave)
as WTS claims was more than 1800 years old by the time Russell appeared
on the scene in mid 1870s. This claim is downright nonsense without
any proof or justification. Because, if it was the case that there
was a Slave operating for over 1800 years, there was no need for
Russell to have “revived the great truths taught by Jesus and the
Apostles” (Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose 1959 p. 17).
WTS cannot answer where this 1800-year-old congregation was located!
Russell certainly did not seek out this non-existent congregation
and neither did this mythical congregation seek Russell out! In
fact Russell never turned to any earthly organization. He acted
independently on his own. Russell and his associates were actually
anti-earthly organization. Russell affirmed that:We belong to NO earthly organization…All the saints
now living, or that have lived during this age, belonged to OUR
CHURCH ORGANIZATION: such are all ONE Church, and there is NO
OTHER recognized by the Lord. Hence any earthly organizationwhich in the least interferes with this union of saints is
contrary to the teachings of Scripture and opposed to the Lord’s
will. (WT February 1884)“Slave” was spiritually unclean!
The next consideration is to be given to the WTS’s claim that Christ
returned invisibly in 1914 and in 1919 he made a temple judgment
which resulted in WTS being selected over all other churches! Jesus
accomplished this despite the fact that he knew that WTS was spiritually
unclean at that very time!The Scriptures describe them as having unclean garments because
of their long association with Christian apostasy…They had many
practices, characteristics and beliefs similar to the weedlike
sects of Christendom. (WT 1960 July 15 pp.435-6)“Slave” served contaminated food!
An another criterion for selection of the WTS was “the serving of
the food, the right sort of food was the issue at the proper time.
It was according to this that a decision must be rendered by the
returned master.” (God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached
1973 p. 350).We observe that the “right sort of food” served by
the WTS at that time consisting among other things was that:The teaching of the time of the end began in 1799
Christ returned invisibly in 1874.
The world would be destroyed in 1914
The Pyramids were God’s Witness - a Bible in Stone
Rutherford had started to preach in his talks that the world
was to end in 1925. He later, in 1925, published a book on the
same topic.The Finished Mystery was published in 1917. The book
contained the most extensively nonsensical material, which WTS
has ever put together in one book.
We are asked to believe that despite all these aberrations
of the WTS at that time, Jesus chose to select the WTS above all
other Christian sects! And of course the appointment was confirmed
by Jesus and conveyed to the WTS - all invisibly too! As regard
the proof required that the WTS was consistently serving food that
was clearly superior to any being offered by other Christian sects,
we have to simply refer to the WTS’s own admissions as quoted above
in WT 1960 July 15 pp. 435-436; and in God’s Kingdom…
book p. 350!Over 99% of “Slaves” do not provide any input!
Another important point is that the “faithful and discreet slave”
is supposed to comprise of the entire remnant of the 144,000, which
presently number 8755 by WTS’s last count. These “anointed” remnants
are scattered throughout the world. This composite slave of 8,755
anointed persons are supposed to share the parabolic dispensing
of food and as a collective body they are ALL placed over the master’s
belongings. (United in Worship of the Only True God 1983 p.
120; God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached 1973 p. 343;
WT 1981 March 1 p. 24). It is a complete charade to say that these
8755 anointed remnants, who are distributed around the world, do
any type of developing and sharing of the spiritual food presented
to JWs by the WTS. Ray Franz ex-Governing Body member of the WTS
in his book In Search of Christian Freedom (1991) referring
to this topic says:It is perhaps the most obvious fiction found in the whole range
of published explanations of Scripture produced by the organization.
The fact is that not even 1 percent of the number of “anointed”
ones have the slightest part in determining what Jehovah’s Witnesses
receive in the way of Biblical material or in the forming of policy
or the directing of the activities of that people.…By far the
majority of the articles published in The Watchtower magazine
were written by persons not of the “anointed class” (p. 154)Chronologically the “slave” does not exist!
Another point is the fact that the 1914 date for the arrival of
Jesus is based on a WTS chronology which is indisputably false.
Their incorrect linchpin 607 BC date for the fall of Jerusalem has
a very heavy burden of evidence against it and has simply no support
outside the WTS. The fact that the concept of identifying the Slave
rests on false chronological calculations obviously demonstrates
that the Slave has no justifiable “existence”. Carl Olof Jonsson
in his book The Gentile Times Reconsidered (1998), with the
aid of irrefutable and scholarly arguments, demonstrates the WTS’s
false stance on the 1914 date and the subsequent myth of the Slave.In conclusion we would like to state that the story
of the “faithful and discreet Slave” is a man-made counterfeit fable.
This “Slave” deserves full contempt and rejection by all thinking
persons.Summary
We have considered not one but six reasons why “the faithful and
discreet slave” is a figment of the imagination of the WTS. A summation
of these reasons is given below:The WTS has not even been sure about what they wish to put
across about the entity of the Slave. Up to 1896 the WTS speculated
that the Slave was an organization (the whole body of Christ).
After 1896 up to 1927 (11 years after Russell’s death) the WTS
held that the Slave was an individual - Russell. After 1927
the WTS again conjectured that the Slave was an organization.The Slave was considered to have had an existence for some
1800 years from Pentecost. No justification or proof was provided
- just asserted. This was again rank speculation.Despite the fact that the Slave was spiritually unclean and
was serving tainted “food”, we are expected to believe that,
Jesus selected the WTS to be the Slave from amongst all the
other Christian sects. Christ did this despite the fact that
the WTS was still spiritually unclean and serving tainted “food”
at the very same time the appointment of WTS was being made
by Jesus! All this was admitted by the WTS in their own publications
as shown above.The Slave which is supposed to comprise of the entire remnant
of the 144,000, presently totalling some 8755 “anointed” persons,
are all supposed to provide input in dispensing of “food” to
JWs around the world. However, in reality, these persons are
just figureheads and are never consulted in any decisions or
announcements the WTS makes. The whole concept of the functionality
of the remnant is a ridiculous pretence and patently false.A defunct and entirely false chronology established 1914 as
the date of “return” of Jesus. Since this chronology is proven
false it can be asserted that Jesus did not return in 1914 and
consequently could not have selected the WTS as the Slave in
1919!
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jwfacts
Vagueness of a parable allows an interpreter, with little effort, to present a range of preconceived notions. This is highlighted by four changes to this Watchtower Doctrine. Originally Russell said the Slave was an illustration of the “little flock”. (Zion’s Watch Tower 1881 Oct/Nov p.4). It was then thought to refer to a single person, Pastor Russell. (This interpretation was originally suggested by Russell’s wife in a letter dated 1895. See Zion’s Watch Tower 1906 July 15 pp.215, 216 for a reprint of the letter.) It was specifically Russell had been appointed as the Slave to direct the domestics (Jesus true followers) immediately prior to the Second Coming.
Zion’s Watch Tower 1904 April 15 p.125
"However much we might endeavor to apply this figure to the Lord's people collectively, the fact would still remain that the various items stated would not fit to a company of individuals. For instance, in the 42nd verse, in the common version it is rendered, that faithful steward; the revised version, the faithful steward; as though a particular one were meant and the term not used indefinitely for a number. Turning to the Greek text we find that the emphasis is there also and in double form--the faithful, the wise steward. ...at the time of the parable's fulfillment the Lord would appoint a servant in the household to bring these matters to the attention of all the servants, and that certain responsibilities would rest upon such a one respecting the dispatch of his duties … "Watch Tower 1916 December 1 p.356
“Thousands of the readers of Pastor Russell's writings believe that he filled the office of "that faithful and wise servant," and that his great work was giving to the Household of Faith meat in due season. His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation.”With Russell’s death in 1916 a new interpretation became necessary. In the 1922 booklet The Parable of the Penny Rutherford was described as the Faithful Steward (Slave). Finally, in 1927 Rutherford explained that the Slave was not a person but a group of people; Jesus and the 144,000.
Watchtower 1927 February 15 p.53
“Seeing then that The Servant of Jehovah is The Christ, and that The Christ is composed of Jesus and the faithful members of his body, we find it proper to apply the term "Servant” to Jesus Christ alone or to Jesus Christ and the members of his body collectively as one; and sometimes it is applied only to the members of the body of Christ yet on earth.”Refinements to this interpretation have resulted in the current understanding being convoluted, with this single Slave described as a class of people that feed the same class of people! The current Watchtower understanding confusingly claims the slave and the domestics are both the same group of people. The 144,000 anointed ones are the slave as a whole, yet individually the same 144,000 are the domestics that as a group they rule over. The faithful and discreet slave is the 144,000. The domestics are the 144,000 individually. The 144,000 feed the 144,000. The rest of Jehovah’s Witnesses and worldly people are not directly mentioned in this parable. This is explained in the following articles.
Watchtower 1995 May 15 p.16
“If all the anointed as a group, no matter where on earth they live, are members of the slave class, who are the “domestics”? They are the same anointed ones but considered from a different viewpoint—as individuals. Yes, as individuals they would be of the “slave” or they would be “domestics,” depending on whether they were dispensing spiritual food or partaking of it. To illustrate: As recorded at 2 Peter 3:15, 16, the apostle Peter makes reference to Paul’s letters. When reading them, Peter would be as one of the domestics feeding on the spiritual food provided by Paul as a representative of the slave class.”Not only is this bizarre concept unnecessarily confusing (Russell’s original statements were far more logical), in reality the Watchtower Society does not operate this way. The majority of the 144,000 do not contribute to the doctrines, rules and procedures of the organization. The Governing Body has total say in what is fed to the sheep, and they as group provide spiritual food and doctrine. In fact, most articles are presently written by members of the Other Sheep and authorised by the Governing Body.
Branch Organization Manual p.24-1 Paragraph 4
“4. Those used as writers must be dedicated, baptized brothers or sisters in good standing with their local congregations and who have writing ability. They should be exemplary, modest, not inclined to talk loosely to others about their writing activity. ...
5. PREPARING MATERIAL: The subjects on which articles may be written are quite varied. Some articles will deal with spiritual matters, and these should be written by brothers.”The Governing Body is made up of between ten and twenty anointed men. When the Watchtower says to follow the “faithful and discreet slave” the majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses understand this to mean following the rules of the Governing Body, as it is only these members that have the final say in directing the Organization today.
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Room 215
Nice work, Gopher,
Another one of their now-discredited ``spiritual insights" appears in Russell's ``New Creation" and is reiterated in several subsequent WT articles is their support for theistic evolution, at least as far as the plants and lesser animals are concerned. And as to that comment in the 1960 WT about having ``spoiled garments" because of their long association with Christendom. I know that one is technically still on the books, but one doesn't hear it invoked too often these days.
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Leolaia
When JF Rutherford was elected president of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, it was widely believed that Pastor Russell was the "faithful and wise servant", and Rutherford himself declared in the early 1920s that this was a conclusive fact (see Watchtower, 1 March 1922, pp. 72-73). But in 1927, he changed tack and proposed that the "faithful and wise servant" was really a class of consecrated Christians (Watchtower, 15 February 1927, pp. 53-55), and in 1930 he claimed that it could be "confidently stated" that the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society "forms a part of God's organization to carry on his work, and that it is the only visible part of his organization now on the earth" (Watchtower, 15 December 1930, pp. 373-374). This echoes Rutherford's earlier statement that "we believe that the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society is the visible organization of the Lord on earth" (Watchtower, 15 June 1928, p. 187).
In 1938 the "Society" took control of church organization at the congregational level (as the culmination of Rutherford's effort to remove the elected elders faithful to Russell's views), and from then on claimed theocratic authority in appointing servants and overseers at the congregational, circuit, district, and zone level (Watchtower, 15 June 1938, p. 182). Previously, the business corporation(s) known as the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society had limited control over how congregations were run. Thereafter, servants and overseers were installed via "appointments by the Watch Tower Society" (Watchtower, 15 June 1938, p. 181). Then in 1944, a governing body was established on the model of the first century apostles "to guide all those who desired to worship God in spirit and in truth and to serve him unitedly in spreading these revealed truths to other hungering and thirsting ones" (Watchtower, 1 November 1944, p. 328-333). No longer were the members of the board of directors elected by the shareholders; they were appointed as governing body members for life and the charter of the corporation was changed to accommodate this. All correspondence to servants (and later elders, when they were re-established in congregations in the early 1970s) on congregational governance were sent from the Society and were signed "WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY". Thus, one would read that God's "universal organization" provides and uses the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society "as her earthly instrument" (Watchtower, 1 October 1950, p. 347), and that theocratic organization "functions from Jehovah down, the earthly part of it from the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society through the branches to the districts, circuits, congregations and then the individuals" (Watchtower, 1 June 1955, p. 330). Then in 1971, the Society disentangled the governing body from the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (Watchtower, 15 December 1971, pp. 755-762), and also restored some form of local organization via bodies of elders. At the same time, the literature began to refrain from referring to the governing body as associated with the Society per se.
Although the literature was careful to refer to the "faithful and discreet slave" as the real leadership behind Jehovah's Witnesses, occasionally it did blunder into admitting the truth that the Society was really meant when the "faithful and discreet slave" is mentioned: "However, about a hundred years ago the 'faithful and discreet slave' class again began to come forward as a loyal advocate of God’s Word. With the years it has become ever more visible and noticed by the world. The facts show that today this 'slave' is identified with the Watch Tower Society" (Watchtower, 15 March 1982, p. 21). There still remained the fact that instructions for congregational pastoral care were sent by the WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. This changed in 2001 when the existing corporations were reorganized such that pastoral matters were now handled via the "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses" (Our Kingdom Ministry, January 2002, p. 7), a phrase that for many years was a synonym of the body of Jehovah's Witnesses as a whole (see Watchtower, 15 December 1959, p. 752, 1 October 1966, p. 587, 1 March 1974, p. 152, 15 September 1978, p. 31, 1 July 1994, p. 7, 15 November 1996, p. 27, 15 May 1999, p. 25). Although this entity was still a corporation that operates as a subsidiary of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the new name at least gives the appearance that it is a religious rather than legal body.
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django
What is the Branch Organization Manuel? Does it possible to dowload it?
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cultswatter
Leolaia I enjoy your posts
This shows that Rutherford was in fact a mad egomaniac that dubbed the jdubs dubbies