The Watchtower of March 1st contains a “secondary” article entitled: “What Is the Spiritual Paradise?”.
The article tells us “that a spiritual paradise is an environment that is pleasing to the eyes and soothing to the nerves, allowing one to enjoy peace with one’s fellowman and with God”. We are told, however, that a spiritual paradise is not for everyone; it is found “in association with Jehovah’s Witnesses”. In case there should be any doubt, it later states “the spiritual paradise exists in this very nonparadisaic world only because Jehovah’s Witnesses cultivate it” !!
To attain to paradise will require work. The article tells us that “knowledge of God is closely associated with paradise”. It then asks “Can you see why associating with a community of individuals who strive to cultivate such qualities would indeed be like being in paradise?” [Notice the use of the word LIKE being in paradise]
So what is necessary? The article tells us that “when we live clean, moral lives and do God’s will in other ways [notice the use of the word “other”], we help build the spiritual paradise and we contribute to our own happiness”. Further “having a close relationship with Jehovah God-which is a crucial part of the spiritual paradise”.
Finally, it states “The existence of the spiritual paradise in these ‘critical times hard to deal with’ is an evidence of the power of God and a token of what he can and will accomplish in the future”.
There appears to be some circular reasoning here that goes something like this: How do we know there is a spiritual paradise? Because there are people who say there is, and therefore we know that God is establishing a spiritual paradise.
We need firstly to make clear that the expression “spiritual paradise” is not in the Bible as such. It’s an expression that became popular by the organisation after the failure of its 1975 prophecy and the failure of the Witnesses’ hopes of a literal earthwide paradise coming in that year.
In 1975 the new study book entitled “Man’s Salvation out of World Distress at Hand“ was released. I recall my mother-in-law (who at the time had been a long-serving zealous pioneer) remarking: “You watch. When they see that Armageddon is not coming in 1975, they’ll switch our attention to a substitute spiritual paradise”. Mother-in-law should have been a prophet! For in that new 1975 book, it contains three chapters devoted to the Spiritual Paradise (chapters 6, 7 and 8). Chapter 6 states that Isaiah 53 foretold the spiritual paradise to be found among Jehovah’s Witnesses. In paragraph 3 it states: “But there is a paradise that is being enjoyed by those who are now living on the earth. Since mankind’s earthly environment is more and more being polluted and the surface of the earth is no paradise today, the paradise at present being enjoyed on earth by true Christian worshipers of Jehovah must be a figurative one, a spiritual paradise.[Note the use of the word “must”; also the circular reasoning]. The prophecy of Isaiah with reference to Jehovah’s Messianic Servant foretold the establishment of this spiritual paradise for faithful worshipers of Jehovah.”
This must have created some problems for the Society, for eight years later, the December 1st, 1983 Watchtower carried this question as a ‘Question from Readers’: “Do the restoration prophecies of Isaiah and other ancient prophets have their final fulfillment in the spiritual paradise of God’s people today, or do they also have a literal application to the Paradise of the future “new earth”’? The answer cuts right to the chase by referring to the Man’s Salvation book comments and then asks “Does this mean that none of the features of these restoration prophecies will be fulfilled in the literal Paradise on earth during Christ’s Millenial Reign? Far from it!” [Good to be so definite!]
Then it states “The statement in the Man’s Salvation” book must be viewed properly in its context”. It doesn’t say that the context was that the book’s writer was relying on this text to support his contention that JWs are in a spiritual paradise!
Chapter 8 of the same book offers another scriptural support for the spiritual paradise teaching. In paragraph 4 it refers to 2 Corinthians 12 wherein Paul states that he [was he the man referred to when he said ‘I know a man’?] was taken up to the third heaven in a vision. The third heaven he was shown was, as stated in paragaph 9, the spiritual paradise of our day [i.e. in 1975].
Unsurprisingly, Bible commentaries do not support this view. For example, the book “The Message of 2 Corinthians” in the Bible Speaks Today series of commentaries, written by Paul Barnett (an Australian scholar) published by Inter-Varsity Press states that Paul “gives no detail about the place of the body in this experience. “ The writer states “In this passage Paul is responding to the new missionaries who are pointing, apparently, to ecstatic experiences as a demonstration of their claims over the Corinthians as against the place of Paul. By his reply Paul rejects accreditation by ecstasy.” No mention of 20th century, or even 21st century Jehovah’s Witnesses!
The Awake! magazine of April 8th, 1997 goes back to the 1975 position and repeats the Isaiah application to the spiritual paradise. Memories are short, perhaps!
More reliable is the Insight volume 2 in the section “Paradise”. It states that “the Greek word paradeisos occurs three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures”(p574). It correctly states that Jesus’ words at Luke 23:39-43 do not refer to a spiritual paraddise (p575), neither does Revelation 2:7 (p576). That leaves the “third heaven” passage from Second Corinthians. On this it states “this paradise envisioned could refer to a spiritual state among God’s people”(p576). Notice the use of the word “could” here. From this “could” position later dogmatic statements have arisen, such as in this recent March 1st Watchtower.
The word “Could” has become something worthy of writing an article about! For this latest Watchtower article is part of a feature series that follows the article “How to Find Real Happiness”. In short there is no solid basis for asserting that there is a spiritual paradise in the form that the Watchtower is describing.
Ozzie (could be but isn't!)