Who is the Governing Body?
Put simply, the Governing Body purports to be a small group of anointed men (currently numbering 7) who represent a much larger group (numbering the thousands) of anointed individuals living on Earth today. In nearly every reference to their position of oversight over the worldwide brotherhood, the Governing Body refer to themselves as being “representatives”…
*** w10 9/15 p.23par.8“YourLeaderIsOne,theChrist”***
In this time of the end, Christ has committed “all his belongings”—all the earthly interests of the Kingdom—to his “faithful and discreet slave” and its representative Governing Body, a group of anointed Christian men. (Matt. 24:45-47) The anointed and their other sheep companions recognize that by following the lead of the modern-day Governing Body, they are in fact following their Leader, Christ.
*** w09 2/15 p.28par.17They“KeepFollowingtheLamb”***
The faithful and discreet slave today is represented by the Governing Body, who take the lead and coordinate the Kingdom-preaching work throughout the earth. The members of the Governing Body are experienced, spirit-anointed elders. They in particular can be described as “those who are taking the lead” among us. (Heb. 13:7) In caring for over 7,000,000 Kingdom proclaimers worldwide in over 100,000 congregations, these anointed overseers have “plenty to do in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58) Listening to the slave class means giving our full cooperation to its Governing Body.
*** w09 6/15 p.24par.19TheFaithfulStewardandItsGoverningBody***
As part of the King’s belongings, they are happy to cooperate fully with the arrangements made by the Governing Body, which represents “the faithful and discreet slave.”
*** w09 11/15 p.14par.3TreasureYourPlaceintheCongregation***
One way to find our place in the congregation and give evidence that we treasure it is to cooperate fully with “the faithful and discreet slave” and its representative Governing Body .
*** w08 4/15 p.11par.18SeekGod’sGuidanceinAllThings***
Our Christian brotherhood is another valuable resource in seeking Jehovah’s guidance. Central to that brotherhood is “the faithful and discreet slave” with its representative Governing Body, which issues a constant supply of spiritual food in the form of printed material and programs for meetings and assemblies.
*** w07 4/1 p.28par.11HumblySubmittingtoLovingShepherds***
Today, Jesus directs us by means of “the faithful and discreet slave,” represented by its Governing Body and the appointed elders.
*** w06 5/1 p.26par.16JehovahTrainsShepherdsforHisFlock***
The Governing Body— the small group of anointed elders who represent the slave class —authorizes its representatives to train and appoint servants and elders in the tens of thousands of congregations worldwide.
*** w06 7/15 p.20par.6FocusontheGoodnessofJehovah’sOrganization***
The ‘faithful slave’ is represented by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses , a small group of spirit-anointed men serving at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, New York.
For the sake of argument, it is perhaps appropriate to remind ourselves of the Oxford dictionary definition of the word “representative”:
representative
Pronunciation: /r?pr?'z?nt?t?v/
adjective
- 1 typical of a class, group, or body of opinion: Churchill was not properly representative of influential opinion in Britain
- containing typical examples of many or all types: a representative sample of young people in Scotland
- 2 (of a legislative assembly or deliberative body) consisting of people chosen to act and speak on behalf of a wider group: the new government lacked a representative assemblythere was no representative body to fight for cricketers until 1968
- (of a government or political system) based on elected or chosen representatives: free elections and representative democracy
- 3 serving as a portrayal or symbol of something: the show would be more representative of how women really are
- (of art) representational: the bust involves a high degree of representative abstraction
- 4 Philosophy relating to mental representation.
noun
- 1 a person chosen or appointed to act or speak for another or others, in particular:
- an agent of a firm who travels to potential clients to sell its products: a sales representative for Norwich Union
- an employee of a travel company who lives in a resort and looks after the needs of its holidaymakers: make your own way to the Valley Inn, where you will be contacted by our tour representative
- a person chosen or elected to speak and act on behalf of others in a legislative assembly or deliberative body: the District of Columbia’s representative in Congressthe Cambodian representative to the UN
- a delegate who attends a conference, negotiations, etc., so as to represent the interests of another person or group: a PLO representative attending a meeting in Damascus
- a person who takes the place of another on an official occasion: the Duke of Gloucester would attend the coronation as the representative of his father, King George V
- 2 an example of a class or group: fossil representatives of lampreys and hagfishes
An obvious question arises when viewing the above references in light of the dictionary definition, namely…
Who chose or appointed the Governing Body to serve as representatives of the Faithful and Discreet Slave?
Put simply, there is no single answer given by the Governing Body to this question, and Watch Tower publications never even attempt to offer such.
Based on the above dictionary definition of the word “representative” (as applied in a legislative and deliberative sense by the Governing Body), there can only really be three individuals or groups of individuals qualified to appoint or choose the Governing Body to serve as representatives of the Slave Class:
- Jehovah God
Jehovah God has already appointed Jesus Christ as head of the Christian congregation (Eph 5:23), and therefore any decision relating to administration thereof would logically fall under Christ’s remit.
2. Jesus Christ
Watch Tower publications proclaim that Christ, as head of the congregation, selected anointed bible students to serve as his Faithful Slave class to oversee his belongings in 1919. Even if this premise is true, (notwithstanding the first reference quoted in this article) no scriptural evidence is offered to explain how the Governing Body was then selected to serve as representatives of the Slave Class. Indeed, there was no such thing as a “Governing Body” in 1919 – there was only the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society. In short, Jesus Christ never selected the Governing Body to serve as representatives of his Slave Class – and what’s more, the Governing Body doesn’t claim scripturally that he did either.
3. The Slave Class themselves
No Watch Tower publications have so far attempted to claim that the modern Slave Class consents to the Governing Body serving as its representative. If such a claim were to be made, then it would be fitting to take a census of each and every member of the anointed to ensure that this is the case – but no such census is forthcoming.
The simple fact is, nowhere in the publications is it suggested WHO exactly has authorised the Governing Body to serve in this capacity. This does not stop the Governing Body from repeatedly insisting that it serves as a “representative” of the Slave Class.
With all of the above in mind, we might well repeat the above question – WHO appointed the Governing Body to serve as representatives of the Slave Class? From WHERE did they receive their mandate to serve? It’s a simple question, and yet to date, no Watch Tower publications have even touched on it.
Cedars