—Review—
The book for elders “Shepherd The Flock Of God” shows that unnecessary association with disfellowshipped or dissociated persons can lead to disfellowshipping. The basic problem with this law is that a correct understanding of the Greek text shows that association with disfellowshipped ones is not forbidden in the NT. Christians can greet and speak with disfellowshipped persons. But they should not fraternize and socialize with disfellowshipped persons. This means that shunning disfellowshipped persons has no basis in the Bible.
The Watchtower of 1 August 1974 contains two balanced articles on disfellowshipping, and these confirm that the important point is not fraternizing with disfellowshipped persons. One of the articles also indirectly shows that Christians can say a greeting to disfellowshipped ones.
Association with disfellowshipped relatives living in the same household must, of course, occur. But spiritual association should not continue, according to the GB. But with disfellowshipped relatives living outside the household, there should be minimal to no association, is the view. But this creates one basic problem. The mentioned article in the Watchtower of 1974 says that parents, grandparents, and children if they are disfellowshipped, have a natural right to visit blood relatives and offspring. This is, of course, correct. But the present GB does not accept that.
Unfortunately, the balanced view of the Watchtower of 1 August 1974 was not accepted by the GB. And two articles in The Watchtower of 15 September 1981 evidently were written to contradict the basic conclusions of the 1974 Watchtower article.
There are two situations that can lead to disfellowshipping when relatives are visited, and these are analyzed. It is forbidden to have “spiritual association” with a disfellowshipped relative. But I show that there are many situations where this is necessary in order to uphold the spirit and purpose of disfellowshipping. It is also forbidden to criticize the disfellowshipping decision. The problem here is that 30 of the 41 disfellowshipping offenses mentioned in the Shepherd book are made-up and invented by the GB and have no basis in the Bible. But contrary to the justice of the Bible, if we point this truth out, we ourselves will be disfellowshipped. In effect, the GB has taken a page from the legal system of secular governments by sealing judicial cases and slapping a gag-order on all JW prohibiting them from questioning or criticizing any disfellowshipping decision. While this may be a convenient loophole in the secular world, forbidding Christians from asking reasonable questions or pointing out discrepancies, under threat of being disfellowshipped, is a human commandment not sanctioned by the Bible.
The book for elders, “Shepherd The flock Of God”, 12.17 (1) says:
Unnecessary Association With Disfellowshipped or Disassociated Individuals: Willful, continued, unnecessary association with disfellowshipped or disassociated nonrelatives despite repeated counsel would warrant judicial action. —Matt.18:17b; 1 Cor. 5:11,13; 2 John 10. 11: lvs pp. 39-40.
If a member of the congregation is known to have unnecessary association with disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives who are not in the household, elders should use the Scriptures to counsel and reason with him. Review with him information from the Remain in God’s Love book, page 241. If it is clear that a Christian is violating the spirit of the disfellowshipping decree in this regard and does not respond to counsel, he would not qualify for congregation privileges, which require one to be exemplary. He would not be dealt with judicially unless there is persistent spiritual association or he persists in openly criticizing the disfellowshipping decision.
There are several statements in the quotation above that does not accord with a correct understanding of the Greek text of the Bible. First, no passage in the Bible tells Christians not to associate with a disfellowshipping person. We are told not to fraternize or socialize with disfellowshipped ones but, greeting them and speaking with them are not forbidden. Second, relatives not living in the household have a natural right to associate with disfellowshipped relatives. The Scriptures that elders will use to counsel those who associate with disfellowshipped ones will be misleading because they are taken out of context and so do not, in fact, prohibit such association.
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Associating But Not Fraternizing With
Paul speaks of the disfellowshipping of wicked persons in 1 Corinthians chapters 5 and 6, and he says in 5:11 that we should “stop keeping company” with disfellowshipped persons, and ‘not eating with them.’ On my website, there are three detailed studies under the heading “Shunning not based on the Bible.” One study delves into the actual meaning of the apostle Paul’s words at 1 Corinthians 5:11; one study presents the contextual understanding of Matthew 18:15-17, and the other study is a detailed examination of 2 John 7-11.
The conclusion is that the practice of shunning disfellowshipped persons contradicts the Bible. That Christians should not greet and speak with disfellowshipped ones and treat them as if they do not exist was made-up and invented by the author of an article in The Watchtower of 1952. The article does not refer to any passages in the Bible as evidence for shunning. As a matter of fact, no article during the 68 years since shunning was introduced has made a detailed analysis of Bible passages to prove that shunning is a Bible-based practice. At most, scriptures are referred to without any explanation, as we see at the end of the first paragraph in the quotation above.
I will mention just a few points from my detailed study on 1 Corinthians 5:11. The Greek word translated “keep company” is synanamignymi. Does this word indicate that we should shun disfellowshipped persons? The answer is No. A clear scripture showing that Christians can greet and speak with disfellowshipped persons is 2 Thessalonians 3:14, 15 (NWT13).
14 But if anyone is not obedient to our word through this letter, keep this one marked and stop associating (synanamignymi) with him, so that he may become ashamed. 15 And yet do not consider him an enemy, but continue admonishing him as a brother.
This is the only place in the NT where synanamignymi is used apart from 1 Corinthians 5:9, 11, where the word is applied to disfellowshipped persons. Words may have different meanings and references. But synanamignymi is a very simple word that only refers to “mixing together” in some form. The Watchtower of 1 March 1952 implicitly claims that the connotative force of synanamignymi means that Christians are not to be “mixing together” with disfellowshipped ones, to the point of ‘not greeting’ and ‘not speaking with’ them. However, if that were the case, this must also be the force of the same word in 2 Thessalonians 3:14 relating to marked individuals. But this is impossible, as I will show below.
The words of verse 15 show explicitly that “not to speak with” and “not to greet” cannot be part of the semantic meaning of synanamignymi in verse 14. The text says that we should admonish as a brother the same individual with whom we should not have any fellowship. When we approach this marked brother, the first thing we will do is to say a greeting to him. After that, we will admonish him, and that also requires that we speak with him. So, there is absolutely no doubt that the scriptural injunction to stop “associating with” (synanamignymi) in this text does not include the ideas of ‘not speaking with’ and ‘not greeting’ marked individuals. Therefore, the same must also be the case regarding the same Greek word in 1 Corinthians 5 regarding disfellowshipped ones.
The marked person mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 3:14 is a brother, and we will associate with him at the meetings, and we may even go together in the field service. But because he or she has been scripturally marked, we will keep a distance from him or her, i.e. we will not be fraternizing or socializing with him or her. To eat with someone in biblical times implied a close relationship with that one. Hence, to show the marked person that he or she had to change their behavior, Christians would refrain from eating with them.
The conclusion is that the use of the same Greek word in the expression “stop keeping company with,” at 1 Corinthians 5:11, indicates that we must also greet and speak with disfellowshipped persons and that shunning such ones has no basis in the Bible.
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“Dette er en eksempeltekst til nettsiden. Når du skriver tekst til nettsiden så er det viktig å huske på at det både er en potensiell kunde som leser dette, men også Google skal «lese» denne teksten. Prøv å skriv innhold som er informativ for det produktet eller den tjenesten du tilbyr, der søkeord, fraser og setninger flettes inn på en naturlig og lettleselig måte. ”
The Balanced View of Disfellowshipped Persons in The Watchtower of 1974
The Watchtower of 1 August 1974 has two articles dealing with disfellowshipping that suggested a more balanced view on disfellowshipped persons than had been the case earlier. These articles had several good points that were not carried forward. Page 464 says:
Thus, Jesus’ own example protects us against adopting the extreme view of certain rabbinical writers in this matter of dealing with persons as “a man of the nations and as a tax collector.” We see, too, a close similarity between the treatment accorded these and the treatment set forth in the apostle Paul’s instructions regarding those disfellowshiped from the Christian congregation, namely, not “mixing in company” with such ones nor “even eating” with them. (1 Cor. 5:11) Clearly, treating an unrepentant sinner as “a man of the nations and as a tax collector” means there should be no fraternizing with such a one. But, as Jesus’ example shows, this does not require our treating such a one as an enemy or refusing to show common courtesy and consideration. Nor does it rule out the giving of help to those who want to correct a wrong course and gain or regain God’s favor…
The author draws the same conclusion that I have pointed out above. Christians should not be fraternizing with a disfellowshipped person. But they should treat him or her with common courtesy and consideration. These words can hardly conform with the view that we do not greet or speak with a disfellowshipped person, and that we treat him or her as if he or she does not exist, as is the present view and practice. The balanced view of the author of the article is seen in his words on page 465:
The Christian certainly would not want to wish peace to the man who was a deceiver and an antichrist. There is, however, nothing to show that Jews with a balanced and Scriptural viewpoint would refuse to greet a “man of the nations” or a tax collector. Jesus’ counsel about greetings, in connection with his exhortation to imitate God in his undeserved kindness toward “wicked people and good,” would seem to rule against such a rigid stand.—Matt. 5:45-48
The view was and is that the words of Matthew 18:17 about treating a person as a tax collector or as a man of the nations can be applied to disfellowshipped persons. The words of the article that there is ‘no evidence that Jews with a balanced view would refuse to greet a man of the nations or a tax collector’ can only be interpreted in one way: There is no biblical reason why Christians should not greet a disfellowshipped person. The words of Jesus in Matthew 5:45-48 support the view of the article.
43 “You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing?47 And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? 48 You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
But the conclusion in the article about greetings based on the words of Jesus apparently were not accepted by the GB. But the shunning of disfellowshipped persons, to the point of not greeting them, has continued without letup for 68 years.
The conclusion reached in those 1974 Watchtower articles that it is scriptural to greet and speak with disfellowshipped ones is clear, but it was not carried forward or implemented. This may indicate that the person who wrote the article, and perhaps others as well, wanted to change the GB’s extreme view of disfellowshipped persons. But this attempt was apparently quickly squelched, and so the extreme view continued. This may also explain the extreme view regarding relatives of disfellowshipped persons that I will discuss below.
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OVERSKRIFT 3
Dette er en eksempeltekst til nettsiden. Når du skriver tekst til nettsiden så er det viktig å huske på at det både er en potensiell kunde som leser dette, men også Google skal «lese» denne teksten. Prøv å skriv innhold som er informativ for det produktet eller den tjenesten du tilbyr, der søkeord, fraser og setninger flettes inn på en naturlig og lettleselig måte.
OVERSKRIFT 3
Dette er en eksempeltekst til nettsiden. Når du skriver tekst til nettsiden så er det viktig å huske på at det både er en potensiell kunde som leser dette, men også Google skal «lese» denne teksten. Prøv å skriv innhold som er informativ for det produktet eller den tjenesten du tilbyr, der søkeord, fraser og setninger flettes inn på en naturlig og lettleselig måte.
CONCLUSION
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