I've always been fascinated by the pictures in the Watchtower. Back in the 70s, I was intrigued by pictures of a beardless Jesus hanging on a stake with two theives hanging beside him. He usually had a full head of hair, but it looked strange for a beardless Jesus to be standing in the midst of his disciples, all with beards! And I wondered what was up? Yeah, I know pictures of Jesus still show him hanging from the stake, even though history has thoroughly debunked it. But I always wondered about the lack of a beard. What was with that? A number of pictures have also (over the years) shown angels with wings. Really? Why would angels need wings? How does that work? And how, aerodynamically, do the angels fly and what keeps their feet and legs up while they're zipping around the vaults of the heavens?
When John was on Patmos he records: " And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, 'See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.'" (Rev. 22:8-9) Here the angel is telling John that he once lived on Earth as a prophet, and that now he was an angel with such glory that it caused John to fall at his feet and try to worship him. Yes, this flies in the face of the Adventist doctrine that men don't have spirits because this angel, whoever he was, was John's "fellowservant" and "of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings" of the book (which John was writing). So perhaps all angels existed one time as men on the Earth or will at some future time live on the Earth. Regardless, do JWs believe that angels have wings?
What really amuses me are the pictures that show the Edenic paradise on the future Earth. Everyone is dressed in nice clothing and some are playing violins, others are hiking with walking sticks or doing an oil painting overlooking a beautiful countryside -- things the great crowd are going to be doing for eternity, right?
Are pictures cleared or designed by the church authorities? Or do the artists come up with them? Is the church going to stick with the stake over the cross?