by amandm 19 Replies latest watchtower bible
This link might interest you: https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/how-many-jw-members/
So you can consider a unbaptised publisher as an official member of JW whereas an inactive JW will not be registered as an official JW. That's what i understand.
@SlappySlap
I believe a jw is considered inactive after not turning in a time report for 6 consecutive months.
This might help: https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php
Can anyone please clarify if the word "Publisher" used in JW land is appropriate. I strongly feel this is one of their cult Loaded word. I dont see this word used in any of the religions to denote preachers.
I have an Understanding that a Publisher means one who publishes anything in printed form.
When I was new in the cult, this word seemed very inappropriate, even until now.
If you look at the KJV which is probably what Russell used, see how the word "publish" is used, not about publishing something in printed form.
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=publish&qs_version=KJV
for example:
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
https://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-dictionary/publish.html
PUB'LISH, v.t. L.publico. See Public.
1. To discover or make known to mankind or to people in general what before was private or unknown; to divulge, as a private transaction; to promulgate or proclaim, as a law or edict. We publish a secret, by telling it to people without reserve. Laws are published by printing or by proclamation. Christ and his apostles published the glad tidings of salvation.
Th' unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator's power display;
And publishes to every land
The work of an Almighty hand.
Also regarding the use of the word publisher: I will add that there are quite a few words used by the WTS that are awkward in today's English and can be traced back to the vocabulary of the first years of Russell/Rutherford and the bibles commonly used then. (The first volume of the NWT was printed and available for use in 1950, additional volumes coming about until 1961 when the whole NWT was available).
When a publisher fails to report 6 months on a row, he is inactive, and is not counted anymore (that’s how it used to be).
In my assignment I was the only elder for a year with more than 100 publishers. A lot of people in third world countries live without papers, bills, invoices. So to report was hard for them and many just forgot. Every six months, with the visit of the CO, I spent nights visiting families to ask them if they could remember hours, magazines etc. Every six months I used to ask the CO, a fellow missionary, to talk about it in local nec. If you didnt follow it up you had easily 20-30 inactives going out in fs just because they didnt film out their report.
Try census results for various countries. There were some interesting numbers discussed here a few years ago, Canada might have been one that was discussed.
Check out the Pew forum
Thanks Black Sheep, I had no idea there was so much info about the JWs and all the other religions in the pew report. Very interesting stats. I wish we could see some of these stats from other countries. Far as I know USA is the only country that goes into this much detail.
