The WT June 1, 2001 issue contains the article "If God Is For Us Who Will Be Against Us?". In this article the WT talks about identifying the marks of those having God's backing. In paragraph 6 it quotes Jesus words found in Mathew 7:15,16 where he says that "Be on the watch for false prophets that come to you in sheep's covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will recognize them." The article goes on to highlight eight distinguishing "marks". Let us examine those marks.
I - They base their teachings on the Bible.
The Society loves to portray its teachings in comparison to those of the Catholic Church. In these comparisons, the WT teachings appear to be more based on the Bible. But this is where JW “Bible Based” teachings stop. For instance, where in the Bible does it mention about the teachings regarding 1914? Where in the Bible is their a reference to 1918 being the year that the heavenly resurrection started. Where does it say that in 1918 Jesus is to appoint the Society as a his only faithful and discreet slave? Where does it say that 1935 is the year that the 144,000 number has been officially filled, or that that year the great crowd to appear?
Furthermore, what about the erroneous teachings concerning 1914 being the end of the world. What about similar teachings in 1915, 1918, 1920 and especially 1925. Where the teachings of “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” campaign back in the early 1920s Bible based or spiritual food in due time? How about the 1975 teachings? What about the “Generation” teachings? And many other teachings that the Society had to discard, where these Bible based?
Additionally, the Society seldom mentions the teachings of other evangelical churches. For instance, what about the teachings of the Adventists, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Worldwide Church of God and many others? Do not these churches claim that their teachings are Bible based and ask their members or new recruits to investigate this claim?
So by saying that the teachings are Bible based, does not amount to being a distinguishing mark. Most churches claim that, and when one investigates their teachings, one will find discrepancies, very much like those found in the Society’s teachings.
II – They use and publicize God’s name, Jehovah.
The paragraph refers to Isaiah 12:4,5 where it mentions “..Give thanks to Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name…” Then it quotes Jesus model prayer in Mathew 6:9. It is true, the Society uses and publicize’ the word “Jehovah” more than any other church. But it is also true, that there are many churches that use the name “Jehovah”, but not to the same degree.
Not going into much details about whether the first century Christians used the name “Jehovah” the same way the Society uses it today, it is interesting to note that in all of Jesus Christ's recorded prayers in the NT, not once does he address God in his personal name. He rather addressed him simply as “Father”.
Let us not forget that the theme of this article is to show who has the backing of God. So, simply deciding to use the word “Jehovah” more than others do, is by itself no distinguishing mark that God himself is backing you only to the exclusion of others.
III – They reflect God’s joyful personality
The paragraph points to 1 Timothy 1:11 “the happy God” and asks a pointed question. “So how could his worshipers be unhappy or persistently pessimistic?” This point is more directed for internal consumption within the rank and file. The Society often uses this method to prop sunken morale. Apparently, the Society is seeing that a lot of witnesses are suffering from depression and lack of joyfulness in order to highlight this point. The article goes on to say that “, true Christians maintain a joyful spirit because they regularly feast on rich spiritual food…” This is a double-edged sword argument. Another way to look at this is by asking the obvious question and that is; Why are true Christians NOT maintaining a joyful spirit despite feeding on the rich spiritual food offered by the Society? The answer could only be that either the food is bad, or those feeding on it are not true Christians.
Again, the main point is to show who has God’s backing. The Society is telling the rank and file to “Be happy!” in order to prove that we have God’s backing. This is putting the cart before the horse kind of logic.
A JW need only stop by any local evangelical church and see how gloomy and depressed the attendants are. Not!
IV – They base their conduct and their decisions on Bible principles.
JWs are, by no means, unique in applying this point. Many, many Christians claim the same. So no distinguishing mark here.
V – They are organized in the manner of the first-century Christian congregation.
The paragraph does not elaborate on how the first-century Christian congregation was organized, but rather tackles Jesus’ words in Mathew 23:8-11 about who is the true teacher and who is the true leader. Then it points that “the congregation of brothers precludes having a proud clergy class that honors itself with high-sounding titles and elevates itself above the laity.” And also, “Genuine Christian shepherds refrain from trying to make themselves masters over the faith of other.”
As usual, the Society tries to use arguments that can have external and internal applications. For the casual external reader, these argument fall under the “Free-For-All Catholic Church Bashing” where it is easy to point the finger and collect brownie points. For the savvy internal reader, these arguments are directed towards the local elders in the congregations. The accompanying photo of the elder sweeping the carpet in the KH illustrates the point.
For some reason, the average JW cannot see the wider implications of these arguments. Namely, that the Governing Body itself is a form of clergy class with high sounding titles like “Governing Body member” and it does elevate itself above the rank and file. They are “Governing” are they not? The average JW is being “Governed” is he or she not? So we are back to two classes; one is governing, and one is not.
And the bewildering 60,000 dollar question is; Is not the Governing Body, as a unit, being the master over the faith of the entire rank and file? They are the ones that decide what all JWs should read, believe, behave and teach. If this is not mastery over one’s faith, I do not know what else is.
A simple test is for an average JW to walk into a Governing Body session and tell them that, based on scripture, a particular teaching or conduct is wrong and that they must change it. In a true Christian family, all are brothers and equal, as Jesus said, and that there are no leaders. Any member, no matter how insignificant, should have the God given freedom to readjust and rebuke his fellow brothers, if he or she believes that they are in error.
Later, on in paragraph 15 of the article, the writer asks the question; “What group is noted for having no paid clergy?” Though GB members are not paid any significant amounts of money, however, all their personal needs are catered to. Their lodging, in expensive Brooklyn, food, cleaning and laundry, clothing repairs, and many other needs are offered to them free of charge. Who is paying for all these expenses? Is not the laity doing that? GB members get to travel to all sorts of exotic places and get pampered wherever they went. The question is how much money it would take for an average person to live in Brooklyn in similar conditions and pay for similar needs and services? In short, the GB is being paid indirectly which amounts to the same thing.
Where is the real distinguishing mark of God’s backing?
VI – They are submissive to human governments and yet remain neutral.
If the issue is neutrality, JWs are not unique, and therefore, no clear distinguishing mark here.
VII – They are impartial in working “what is good toward all.”
The paragraph states that: “The working of what is good toward all and especially toward those related to them in the faith helps to identify those having God’s backing. Jesus said: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” As individuals, JWs do appear to show love and support toward one another. Some more than others. However, JWs will look upon any non JW as worldly and deserving of death, even if that person has a personal faith in Jesus Christ and lives according to Christian principles. JWs even go farther by disfelloshipping, and thereby cutting off any exchange of love, those that consciously refuse to believe or apply any or some of the Society’s teachings that they believe are contrary to scriptures.
When Christ said that his disciples are to show love among themselves, he was talking at a much broader term than what the Society strictly applies. He was referring to ALL those that have come to put faith in him and are living accordingly. In order to fully apply Christ’s counsel, a JW must show Christian love towards ANY one who has put faith in Jesus and is living according to Christian principles, whether, that person belongs to the Adventist, Church of God, or even Catholic Church and vice versa. When JWs and members of other denominations start showing love among themselves, then they would be abiding by Jesus’ words and would thus be showing who has God’s backing. For in that instance, there would in fact be no more denominations or cults.
A couple of years ago, I had to move to another city because of work, so I had to rent my house. Many responded to my ad in the paper, but eventually, one family that consisted of an elderly man who can barely see, his wife and their three adult children expressed genuine interest and were ready to sign the lease. This family was a devout Christian Greek Orthodox. They paid their rent on time, no smoking, no drugs, no sex, no parties, no lying, no stealing and participated in church activities more than just on Sundays, etc.. When I visited them few months after they had moved, I found huge pictures of Jesus, that extended from the ceiling to the floor, plastered on several walls of the livingroom, and diningroom. They were not worshipping the pictures, but it was their way to express their strong faith in Jesus Christ. But as a JW, I immediately dismissed them as worldly, even my congregation PO who had, for some reason, visited them earlier commented to me jokingly, that when I decided to return to live in my home, I had to exorcize the evil spirits and give the house a thorough anti-pagan washing. I knew exactly what he meant.
A year later, the tenants started to give me some trouble. Nothing too serious, as everything was above board with these people, but still, they were grumbling about one thing or another. During that time, I had started to investigate the teachings of the Society more thoroughly and I began to realize Jesus’ words above concerning showing love to one another, and it dawned on me that this family has very strong faith in Jesus, actually more than many JWs I knew, and that they are living a decent moral life. So, who am I to judge them as being worldly and worthy of death just because they happen to belong to a different church? I realized that if I am to apply Jesus words, then I must extend my Christian love towards them just as if they were a JW family.
VIII – They are willing to suffer persecution for doing God’s will.
It is true that JWs faced countless accounts of persecution since their inception and continue to be objects of ridicule, hatred and persecution in many parts of the world today. But JWs tend to be self cantered around many issues. Persecution is one of them. They believe that they are the only ones that had suffered or continue to face persecution. The only reference to persecution occurring to non JWs are found in the articles of the WT and awake that talk about those persons that stood up to the Catholic Church and pointed to its errant ways only to be persecuted and some even killed. So, in the mind of the average JW, only those that stood up to the Catholic Church and JWs suffered genuine persecution.
The Society tries to extol every bit of mileage of any persecution they had suffered. Case in point is the imprisonment of Judge Rutherford and several of his team-mates. They were sentenced to serve many years in prison yet they ended up serving seven or eight months. But the WT Society extends that period to fulfill the 3 and the half years prophecy of the wild beast conquering the holy ones.
Many of JWs persecution is self induced. Take for example, Rutherford’s imprisonment. He was sentenced on charges of sedition because of some bombastic anti US statements that he made in the “Finished Mystery” book. He was released on the condition that he removes the offending statements which he duly did. Today, the Society will find it extremely embarrassing to reproduce not just the offending statements but the entire book. So, if JWs suffered persecution because they promulgated a book full of offending statements and errors, would that count as genuine persecution for doing God’s will?
Another pitfall the Society falls into is belittling the genuine persecution of others. During the first, second and third century after Christ, countless Christians died in defence of their faith. Historic estimates puts the number around one million Christians that died at the hands of their persecutors. Some were put alight as torches for the streets of the Roman Empire. Some torn apart by wild beasts in live spectator shows. Even if the historic estimates are over exaggerated, and the actual number is somewhere around 200 to 300 thousand. That still posed a problem to the Society’s teaching of two class Christians. The Society teaches that those that will comprise the 144,000 have been called on from Pentecost until 1935. So any Christian that died before 1935 must be one of the 144,000. But the historic numbers show that more than 144,000 had actually died. In order to quell the doubts, the Society offered an answer in a “Question From Readers” format;
*** w72 7/1 415 Questions from Readers ***
Large numbers of Christians are said to have been put to death during the Roman persecution in the first few centuries of the Common Era. How, then, is it possible for thousands in this century to have been called to become part of the body of Christ composed of only 144,000 persons?—U.S.A.
There are historical indications that many Christians were bitterly persecuted, even killed, in the first few centuries. However, it should be remembered that, in itself, a martyr’s death did not give a person merit before Jehovah God nor did it guarantee membership in the heavenly kingdom. Many persons, even in recent times, have been willing to die for a cause, religious or otherwise. A person’s claiming to be a Christian and even dying for his belief does not in itself mean that he is an approved servant of Jehovah God. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “If I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body, that I may boast, but do not have love, I am not profited at all.” (1 Cor. 13:3) It is not death, but faithfulness to the very death, that determines whether an individual will receive “the crown of life.”
Thus the fact that today there is still a remnant of the 144,000 on earth would show that down to this twentieth century fewer than 144,000 finished their earthly course in faithfulness… (circular logic at its best)
(The article goes on to discredit the historic testimonies as being not too reliable.)
So, dying as a lighted torch because of not compromising their faith in Christ would not necessarily be considered as genuine persecution, for the point is not dying, but proving faithful to the very death. However, being imprisoned for eight months for insisting on publishing politically offending statements and totally embarrassing material would definitely be considered faithfulness. I do not know how they can make such assertions.
However, the Society goes on to contradict itself with the following statements;
it-2 610 Persecution
"Persecution of Christians by the authorities of the Roman Empire from and after the days of Nero is a matter of secular history. (See CHRISTIAN.) The charges varied, but the objectives always seemed to be the same, namely, the suppression of Christianity."
(Now the secular history IS reliable)
w93 11/15 11 No Thought of Compromise!
"Was the suffering and death of thousands of the early Christians in vain? By no means! With no thought of compromising their faith, ‘they proved themselves faithful even to death and were given the crown of life."
(So, those thousands of early Christians did prove faithful after all.)
Furthermore, JWs are not unique in being the object of persecution. Many, many evangelical churches have suffered and continue to suffer. Even the Catholic Church has a long list of martyred missionaries.
Paragraph 15 asks the reader to evaluate the facts; What religious group is noted for sticking closely to God’s Word..? Who stress the importance of God’s personal name, even using it to identify themselves? Who optimistically point to God’s Kingdom as the only solution to all human problems? Who uphold Bible standards of conduct..? What group is noted for having no paid clergy, all of its members being preachers? Who are praised for being law-abiding citizens, even though they refrain from taking part in politics? Who lovingly spend time and money in helping others to learn about God and his purposes?
The article goes on to say that only JWs meet those standards.
They set the standards and then offer proof that they alone meet those standards. However, the Bible points to an entirely different list of requirements that prove which is the true religion. James 1:27 “The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world”
In paragraph 17, the writers asks if it is presumptuous of JWs to point out that they alone have God’s backing. They go on to say No! not more so than the Israelites in Egypt claiming God’s backing as well as first century Christians to the exclusion of Jewish religionists.
But JWs are claiming more than what the Israelites in Egypt or first century Christians claimed for one major reason and that is the supernatural miraculous power that they had. God gave Moses miraculous powers IN ORDER TO PROVE HIS BACKING. JWs do not even believe in miracles. Similarly, God gave the first century Christians the Holy Spirit to perform miracles IN ORDER TO PROVE HIS BACKING.
JWs not only do not pocess any miracles to prove any God’s backing, even their teachings, prophecies and predictions have amounted to naught, proving if anything, the LACK of God’s backing.
The paragraph goes on to note; “The facts speak for themselves. In 235 lands, JWs are doing the work Jesus foretold that his true followers would be doing in the time of the end… Math 24:14”. Jesus was prophesying about those that would be preaching the same message that he and his apostles have preached. Do JWs preach the same message that Paul and Peter preached? Did Paul teach that there are two classes of Christians, two hopes? Where did Peter preach about 1914, 1918, and 1935?
The real question then is “Is it presumptuous of Jehovah’ Witnesses to point out that they alone have God’s backing?”