Key to proving that the FDS doctrine is wrong is the Watchtower makes he claim that in Christian times Jesus established a Faithful and Discreet Slave to look after his Organization and that the Slave has continued uninterrupted for the last 1900 years and will do so until Armageddon.
“In this regard, the book God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached stated: "As to just how the ‘faithful and discreet slave’ class existed and served down through the centuries after the death of the apostles of the Master Jesus Christ, we do not have a distinct historical picture. Apparently one generation of the ‘slave’ class fed the next succeeding generation thereof. (2 Timothy 2:2)” Watchtower 1995 May 15 p.16
“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…. the one approved channel representing God’s kingdom on earth in the “time of the end.”” Watchtower 1981 March 1 p.24 Do You Appreciate the “Faithful and Discreet Slave?
If that is the case, who was the slave prior to Russell? No one has ever believed all the key things that Russell preached!
For a group to be classified as part of the Slave it is unnecessary for them to have understood and taught every current Witness doctrine, such as the Great Crowd and end time prophecies. However there are several key teachings that they must hold to. When researching this topic for the writing department in the 1990’s, Carl Adams gave Barbara Anderson[1] four criteria to identify the slave by:
o rejection of the Trinity
o rejection of hellfire
o rejection of immortality of the human soul
o acceptance of the ransom sacrifice of Christ as defined by Jehovah’s Witnesses
She was unable to find any group to satisfy this short list. The result is that the Proclaimers book was reduced to making the following broad statement:
“Throughout the centuries there have always been truth lovers. To mention just a few: John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384) and William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) furthered the work of Bible translation even at the risk of their life or freedom. Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (1478-1541), Martin Cellarius (1499-1564), Johannes Campanus (c. 1500-1575), and Thomas Emlyn (1663-c. 1741) accepted the Bible as God’s Word and rejected the Trinity. Henry Grew (1781-1862) and George Storrs (1796-1879) not only accepted the Bible and rejected the Trinity but also expressed appreciation for the ransom sacrifice of Christ.Although we cannot positively identify any of such persons as “the wheat” of Jesus’ illustration, certainly “Jehovah knows those who belong to him.”” Proclaimers p.44
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[1] The Discoveries of Barbara Anderson as displayed at jwfacts.com/index_files/Anderson.doc
The common Christian understanding is that congregational ministers constitute the Slave.
“Some state that the “slave” refers to Christian ministers, or their office of oversight, with responsibility to care for the spiritual needs of the congregation. The ‘master’s’ arrival is said to be either the second coming of Christ or the death of the individual minister. Thus it is held that the parable should motivate Christian ministers to care well for what is entrusted to them.” Watchtower 1981 Mar. 1 p.24
In line with this 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says; “Let a man so appraise us as being subordinates of Christ and stewards of sacred secrets of God. Besides, in this case, what is looked for in stewards is for a man to be found faithful.”
This is not the Watchtower understanding. Vagueness of a parable allows an interpreter, with little effort, to present a range of preconceived notions, highlighted by four changes to this Watchtower Doctrine. Originally, Russell said the Slave was an illustration of the “little flock”. Then application was to a single person, Pastor Russell, immediately prior to the Second Coming.
“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.” Zion’s Watch Tower 1904 Apr. 15 p.125
“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.” Watch Tower 1916 Dec. 1 p.356
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.
“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.” Watchtower 1927 Feb. 15 p.53
Refinements to this interpretation have resulted convolution of the current understanding. The current Watchtower understanding describes this single Slave as a class of people that feed the same class of people! Confusingly, 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 144,000 feed the 144,000. The rest of Jehovah’s Witnesses and worldly people supposedly are not directly part of this parable, as explained in the following article.
“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.” Watchtower 1995 May 15 p.16
Not only is this bizarre concept unnecessarily confusing, 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 the sheep fed upon, and they alone provide spiritual food and doctrine. In fact, the Other Sheep write most articles, which are then authorised by the Governing Body.
“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.” Branch Organization Manual p.24-1 Paragraph 4
The Governing Body consists 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 these members have final say in directing the Organization today.
For a list of historical religions most similar to JWs see http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/slave.htm None of them come close to being acceptable to being considered the Slave.
