(I posted this on another forum, but am reposting here to see what you all think! Thank you for bearing with me. :)
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In one book, "The Watchtower's Coming Crisis" by Daniel Rodriguez (amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Watchtowers-Comin ... 606&sr=1-4 )
it mentions that the name/title "Jehovah's Witnesses" is ONLY APPLIED to the annointed! The rest of us (coming to the organization after 1935) are just their "companions, other sheep, great crowd, jonadab class..." This is according to various Watchtowers and publications:
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"... in the year 1931, the anointed remnant embraced the Scripturally backed designation 'Jehovah's Witnesses'." - Paradise Restored to Mankind - by Theocracy!, 1952, page 105.
And Rodriguez says (on pages 10 & 11), "The anointed remnant are those of the original 144,00 Jehovah's Witnesses who remain alive. Therefore, the name Jehovah's Witnesses only applies to them.
"Thus no real gathering and organizing of these marked ones, the "other sheep" was encouraged, even in the year 1931, when the remnant of the 144,000 spiritual Israelites embraced the name Jehovah's witnesses. " - The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1966, p 119.
Rodriguez: "Four years after the "remnant" of the 144,000 adopted the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931, they were further identified as the faithful and discreet slave. Those who came to the Watchotwer after 1935 became known as the other sheep , NOT Jehovah's Witnesses. This is why those at your door are not truly Jehovah's Witnesses if they came to the Watchtower after 1935. The following quote further clarifies this distinction between the two classes:"
"After all, Revelation 12:17 warns us that Satan is "waging war" with the anointed remnant. Because of their close association with the anointed, the "other sheep" are likewise targets of Satan's wrath." - Watchtower, Aug. 15, 2001, p. 25.
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Well, I'm just gobsmacked! If we (great crowd) are NOT really JW's, this just blows my mind. I got to thinking about the two baptism questions we are asked. The second one goes something like, "...this step of baptism identifies you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization..." or something like that.
So the baptismal question never directly says we BECOME one of Jehovah's Witnesses, just that we become identified as one!! This is really obtuse language, because "being identified as one" can mean anything! It can mean we are perceived that way by people outside the organization, who, for the most part, are unaware of the two separate classes of JW's, and it can also mean we see eachother that way, even if we're really not!! (did that last part make sense?)
So then I got further thinking... if a person is DF'd or DA's himself, the announcement is made, "So and so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses."
(BIG AH HA MOMENT HERE!) Do you see it??? Do you see this makes no sense? If we're not "officially" one of JW's (because we're not of the annointed), then how can it be said in this announcement that "we're no LONGER one of JW's"...??? It's because the society KNOWS that most of us have no awareness of this little tiny detail so they can just tell us this, based on our incorrect perception of what we really are (or aren't) and make this pronouncement upon us.
Well, I'm sure any lawyer or legal team can tell you that so much of the law depends on these little tiny details and niggling facts, words, or phrases. (Of course, all they have to do to change this is to announce that so-and-so is no longer identified as one of JW's if they want to get down to the nitty-gritty of the matter.
I guess what I really want to know here is whether this is still a WT teaching -- that ONLY the anointed are truly known as Jehovah's Witnesses (according to the society)...??