You Know wanted some proof from Watchtower publications that Watchtower leaders have published things that they suggested at the time were directly inspired. Here are a couple of examples, along with more general statements that JW leaders are inspired.
The Society has published anecdotes that attempt to show direct guidance by God of the actions of certain of its members. The 1975 Yearbook described how Jehovah’s Witnesses got their name, and related this story on pages 150-1:
When he was eighty-eight years old A. H. Macmillan attended the "Fruitage of the Spirit" Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the same city [Columbus, Ohio]. There, on August 1, 1964, Brother Macmillan made these interesting comments on how the adopting of that name came about:"It was my privilege to be here in Columbus in 1931 when we received . . . the new title or name . . . I was amongst the five that were to make a comment on what we thought about the idea of accepting that name, and I told them this briefly: I thought that it was a splendid idea because that title there told the world what we were doing and what our business was. Prior to this we were called Bible Students. Why? Because that’s what we were. And then when other nations began to study with us, we were called International Bible Students. But now we are witnesses for Jehovah God, and that title there tells the public just what we are and what we’re doing. . .
"In fact, it was God Almighty, I believe, that led to that, for Brother Rutherford told me himself that he woke up one night when he was preparing for that convention and he said, ‘What in the world did I suggest an international convention for when I have no special speech or message for them? Why bring them all here?’ And then he began to think about it, and Isaiah 43 came to his mind. He got up at two o’clock in the morning and wrote in shorthand, at his own desk, an outline of the discourse he was going to give about the Kingdom, the hope of the world, and about the new name. And all that was uttered by him at that time was prepared that night, or that morning at two o’clock. And [there is] no doubt in my mind -- not then nor now -- that the Lord guided him in that, and that is the name Jehovah wants us to bear and we’re very happy and very glad to have it."
If this is true about Rutherford's getting the idea for the name "Jehovah's witnesses", and "the Lord guided him in that", then it is obvious that "the Lord" put information into Rutherford's head that would not have gotten there otherwise. This is a direct claim by Macmillan that he believed that Rutherford was inspired to come up with the name. Note that this anecdote was published by the Society for a purpose. What purpose? Obviously to suggest that Jehovah God had a direct hand in naming "his organization". Therefore we find that the Society here is suggesting that the JW community believe that Rutherford was inspired to come up with that name.
The Watch Tower, April 1, 1923, said on page 106, in the "Question and Answer" section:
Question: Did the order go forth eight months ago to the Pilgrims to cease talking about 1925? Have we more reason, or as much, to believe the kingdom will be established in 1925 than Noah had to believe that there would be a flood?Answer: ... There was never at any time any intimation to the Pilgrim brethren that they should cease talking about 1925... Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures, marking the end of the typical jubilees. Just exactly what will happen at that time no one can tell to a certainty; but we expect such a climax in the affairs of the world that the people will begin to realize the presence of the Lord and his kingdom power. He is already present, as we know, and has taken unto himself his power and begun his reign. He has come to his temple. He is dashing to pieces the nations. Every Christian ought to be content, then, to do with his might what his hands find to do, without stopping to quibble about what is going to happen on a certain date.
As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had (so far as the Scriptures reveal) upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge.
Since Noah's knowledge of a coming deluge came not from reading a book, but by direct inspiration from God, if now the Christian "has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had" in the coming of Armageddon in 1925, then it follows that the predictions for 1925 must have been inspired, because you cannot get more sure about a coming event than by being informed about it by inspiration. Therefore
The Watch Tower here is indirectly claiming direct inspiration about the 1925 date.
Here is another unequivocal example of a claim of direct inspiration: In the Olin Moyle court case of 1943, Fred Franz said under oath that no man is the editor of The Watchtower. Who, then, is the editor?
Q. Who subsequently became the Editor of the magazine, the main editor of the "Watch Tower" magazine? A. In 1931, October 15th, as I recall, the "Watch Tower" discontinued publishing the names of any editorial committee on the second page.
The Court. He asked you who became the editor.
The Witness. And it said --
The Court. Who became the editor?
Q. Who became the editor when this was discontinued?
A. Jehovah God.
In case the reader should object that this was only Franz’s opinion and therefore of little weight, it should be noted that in 1943, Franz was for all practical purposes himself the editor of
The Watchtower. He was in practical terms the head theologian of the Watchtower Society, and Nathan Knorr generally rubber stamped his writings. Governing Body member Karl Klein often called Franz the "oracle of the organization." When this "oracle" testified before a "worldly" court that Jehovah is the sole editor of
The Watchtower, he did so in his capacity as an authoritative spokesman for the Watchtower Society, and so his pronouncements must be regarded as an official policy statement.
Of course, a sole editor cannot be a mere figurehead. He must have direct input to the material edited. Thus Franz was claiming that no man -- not even he himself -- had the final say as to what appeared in The Watchtower, but only Jehovah God did. Thus Franz made a direct claim that The Watchtower is inspired in everything that appears in it.
Finally we may consider some statements that appeared in the July 1, 1973 Watchtower on page 402:
4 Consider, too, the fact that Jehovah's organization alone, in all the earth, is directed by God's holy spirit or active force. (Zech. 4:6)
Note that the claim is not made that "Jehovah's organization" simply has men in it who read the Bible and come to a personal understanding and then communicate this to the rest of the organization, so that the "direction" is a passive thing already set down in the Bible. No indeed, the organization is actively and purposefully and right now "directed by God's holy spirit or active force." That is a direct claim of direct inspiration.
Only this organization functions for Jehovah's purpose and to his praise. To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book. Many persons of the world are very intelligent, capable of understanding complex matters. They can read the Holy Scriptures, but they cannot understand their deep meaning. Yet God's people can comprehend such spiritual things. Why? Not because of special intelligence on their part, but as the apostle Paul declared: "For it is to us God has revealed them through his spirit, for the spirit searches into all things, even the deep things of God." (1 Cor. 2:10) Jesus Christ praised his heavenly Father for 'hiding such things from the wise and intellectual ones but revealing them to babes.' (Matt. 11:25) How very much true Christians appreciate associating with the only organization on earth that understands the "deep things of God"!
Here we find plain statements that no one besides the leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses can understand the Bible. Why? Because holy spirit has revealed to them and them alone what the Bible means. Since the Bible is a static document set in stone by about 1600 years ago, the Watchtower statement certainly is not talking about a mere coming to a personal understanding of the Bible, but about understanding special things hidden in the Bible, not by one's own power of understanding, but by direct action of the holy spirit on the minds of JW leaders, where the holy spirit inserts the 'correct' understanding into the minds of these men. This is a direct claim of plenary inspiration, such that everything written in Watchtower publications is claimed to have God's stamp of approval and is inspired.
5 Direction by God's spirit enables Jehovah's servants to have divine light in a world of spiritual darkness. (2 Cor. 4:4) For instance, long ago they understood that 1914 C.E. would mark the end of the Gentile Times or "appointed times of the nations," during which the Gentile nations were allowed uninterrupted rulership of the earth. (Luke 21:24) This 2,520-year period began with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Babylonians in the late seventh century B.C.E. For example, Zion's Watch Tower of March 1880 had declared: "'The Times of the Gentiles' extend to 1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then." Only God by his holy spirit could have revealed this to those early Bible students so far in advance.
Here again we find an unequivocal claim of direct, divine inspiration. Only by God revealing this information about 1914 to C. T. Russell and company could they hope to understand the Bible. Indeed, there is no way they could have understood it on their own, but only by means of God's insertion into their minds of the correct understanding. And just as Rutherford stated in the book Preparation, this "revealing" was done by means of God's messengers, or angels, and so it is simply another way of claiming direct inspiration.
Ironically, the above claim about 1914 has proved to be quite misleading. Various "apostate" publications, especially the 1983 version of Carl Jonsson's The Gentile Times Reconsidered, pointed out that Russell himself did not 'discover' the 1914 chronology. So in the 1993 Proclaimers book the Society was forced to admit that it was Nelson Barbour who actually originated this nonsensical set of ideas. So if the claims in the 1973 Watchtower are basically true, we must conclude that Nelson Barbour was actually the one to whom holy spirit revealed the wonderful truths about 1914.
AlanF
