by Black Sheep 21 Replies latest watchtower bible
The August 15, 1965 Watchtower was still using Jehovah’s witnesses only for the annointed and Jonadabs for the 'Great Crowd', who by then they were having to give positions of responsibilty as they were running out of Jehovah’s witnesses for company servants and service committees.
That knocks at least thirty four years off the Jonadab's eight decades of the "...special privilege it is to be Jehovah’s Witnesses!"
trying to remember.....they didn't decide that the great crowd of other sheep was why there were people associating who were not anointed until the mid-thirties....and after that they were allowed baptism. when they stopped referring to them as jonadabs i really don't know...i think it likely was gradual though. i know my mother was baptized in 1938 but even at that point all the literature was directed solely to the anointed. it is rather interesting though that if you were baptized prior to 1935 you were automatically considered anointed....in retrospect, that whole dim light brightening sure does gloss over a lot of difficult issues.
I certainly can't say for a certainty, but I think that, while technically "Jehovah's W(w)itnesses" applies to the anointed, they probably lumped the "great crowd" or "Jonadabs" into the group (one flock, one shepherd) after 1935 since this is when they came to recognize the group.
Since Watchtower Library only goes back to 1950, this is the oldest reference I am willing to find at the moment ...
*** w50 11/1 p. 415 par. 7 Beginning the New World Society ***
The people for Jehovah’s name whom he has called with the high calling to the heavenly kingdom and whom he has taken out from all nations by the agency of the new covenant are now about complete. Only a small remnant of them are yet on earth. Also nowadays of the many who devote themselves completely to God through Christ there are few who give evidence of receiving the high calling. Evidently those few who now receive the high calling are favored that way in order to replace any among the spiritual remnant who may lose their Kingdom opportunity through unfaithfulness in the midst of this world. So the high calling or heavenly calling is soon to cease, the full membership of the Kingdom class being finally purchased from among mankind and proved to be faithful conquerors over Satan’s world. But now already in this year 1950 there are hundreds of thousands of others who have made a full dedication of themselves to Jehovah by Christ and who have undertaken the serious service of Jehovah’s witnesses. Before the year 1935 we never envisaged this “great crowd” of consecrated “other sheep”. What of them? we now ask.—Rev. 7:9-17.
__________________
Similar to the fact that, technically to Jehovah's Witnesses, the term Christian Congregation applies only to the anointed, as in the illustration of all parts compared to the human body have a purpose, everybody at the Kingdom Hall thinks the illustration of 1 Cor 12:12-26 applies to them too.
The WATCHTOWER august 15,1934 p. 249:
"The name "Jehovah's witnesses" applies specifically to God's anointed ones who have been taken out of the world and made witnesses for Jehovah, and these alone bear the new name".
Nice! So just like " Congregation " refers biblically to the anointed body of Christ, so does Jehovah's witnesses. So after Rutherford's false teaching of the heavenly hope ending you were not a " Jehovah's witness " when you were baptized. As mentioned above by wannabefree " undertaken the serious service of Jehovah's witnesses. " was stated. This is not the same as being a Jehovah's witness. A RN is associated with a Doctor and may undertake the serious service of the Medical profession, but they will never be a Doctor and enjoy that status. The Jonodabs are never going to be Jehovah's witnesses no matter how closely they associate with the Spiritual Doctors/GBFDS.
So what is the difference between Jehovah's witnesses and Jehovah's Witnesses? Marked BTW!!
w67 1/15 pp. 54-55 pars. 13-14 The Modern Fulfillment of the "Penny"
However, in the year 1937 it became more fully appreciated that the faithful prophets and men of integrity from John the Baptist back to the first martyr Abel were also witnesses of Jehovah, "so great a cloud of witnesses." (Heb. 11:1 to 12:1, AV) Later the book entitled "The New World," published in 1942, indicated that the "great crowd" of the "other sheep" foretold in Revelation 7:9, 10 were also witnesses of Jehovah. (Pages 368, 369, 375) Today the "great crowd" of these "other sheep" that have been gathered into association with the anointed remnant are regularly included among Jehovah's witnesses. If, since the year 1935, they have not proved themselves to be Jehovah's witnesses, then by all the facts of history what have they proved themselves to be? Who are they, if not Jehovah's witnesses of modern times?
Thus the title "Jehovah's witnesses" is now seen as not applying exclusively to the anointed remnant, and so this new name for Christians could not be the symbolic "penny" of Jesus' parable. The "new name" was not the "penny" back in the year 33 C.E. on that day of Pentecost, inasmuch as those Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ were already Jehovah's witnesses by being from birth members of Jehovah's chosen people of Isaiah 43:1-12.
By the way, the capital W for "Witnesses" was introduced in March-April 1976.
I never knew I was just a w-witness in 1966 when I got baptized
Rutherford also described a whole group of classes -- Ruth class, Esther class, etc.
If you ask a JW today what happened to all these classes and teachings, you get a blank stare.
If they say anything, it's to mumble something about the light getting brighter.
The real questions are:
-- "Was any of this ever really the truth, or was it just stuff Rutherford dreamed up?"
-- "If it was the truth, what happened to it? Why isn't it important today? Why is it never mentioned?"
-- "Does history show that the WT leadership really speaks for Jehovah God or does it speak the leaders' imaginings?"
These are questions JWs dare not face because they how how much of the WTS' "Bible truth" is simply made up by the leaders as they go along and jettisoned when they decide to go in a different direction.
"New light" is simply a phrase the WT uses to make sure JWs don't formulate such questions or think about them if someone else presents them.
WT 8/15/1937, p. 250:
"The great multitude therefore are witnesses for Jehovah, but they do not bear the official name, for the reason that they are not of the anointed house of Jehovah. They perform the service along with the remnant. They must possess the same faith, devotion and zeal".
"The great multitude therefore are witnesses for Jehovah, but they do not bear the official name, for the reason that they are not of the anointed house of Jehovah. They perform the service along with the remnant. They must possess the same faith, devotion and zeal".
I wonder if this was forgotten by 1967!? How long have they been conveniently forgetting what they said earlier?!! No wonder the R&F have no idea of what is going on!!!
