INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTICLES DEALING WITH THE GOVERNING BODY PART II

NOT MANY OF YOU BE TEACHERS 

The words in the heading are taken from James 3:1:

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment.

The Watchtower literature has made several comments on the words of James, and these comments illuminate the issue in an excellent way. The Watchtower of march 15, 1959, page 191, says:

However, there are those in the visible organization who are teachers in official capacities. The Master has designated the “faithful and discreet slave” to see that spiritual “food at the proper time” is provided for his servants. (Matt. 24:45-47) Those associated with that slave class in such a role bear a heavy load of responsibility before Jehovah God. They must exercise prayerful vigilance to adhere closely to the inspired Word of God and not to “teach commands of men as doctrines.” (Matt. 15:9) They must be on guard that they never abuse their office by “teaching things they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain.” (Titus 1:11) And they must take heed to the responsibility that is theirs of living in harmony with the righteous requirements of God’s Word that they teach, as is emphasized in Romans 2:21-23.

The Watchtower of December 1, 1977, page 712, 715, says:

IT IS not an easy thing to make right decisions on all the questions that we face in life. Jesus’ half brother James acknowledged that “we all stumble many times.” This was a reason, he said, that “not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.” (Jas. 3:1, 2) If we expand our giving of advice to others, we multiply our responsibility and liability for the outcome…

But no Christian should presume to superimpose his conscience on another. If he does, he may bring the other person into difficulty, or may damage that one’s faith. Consequently, he himself would be subject to a “heavier judgment,” or a certain degree of condemnation, as James says.​—Jas. 3:1.

The Watchtower of December 1, 1978, page 22, says:

‘A HEAVIER JUDGMENT’

⁵ Because of not fully comprehending or appreciating “all the counsel of God,” would-be teachers needed to have impressed on them the serious position in which a teacher finds himself. James pointed out that teachers, including himself, “shall receive heavier judgment.” (Jas. 3:1) Because a teacher stands before others as instructing or leading them, more is expected from him than from other members of the congregation. This is in harmony with the Scriptural principle: “The one whom people put in charge of much, they will demand more than usual of him.” (Luke 12:48) Hence, a teacher’s words and actions come under closer scrutiny than those of other Christians. Furthermore, if a man errs in his teaching and this results in problems for members of the congregation, or if his actions give occasion for legitimate offense, he comes in line for severe judgment by Jehovah God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God said: “I tell you that every unprofitable saying that men speak, they will render an account concerning it on Judgment Day; for by your words you will be declared righteous, and by your words you will be condemned.”​—Matt. 12:36, 37.

⁶ The disciple James continues his argument: “We all stumble many times. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man.” (Jas. 3:2) Since even exemplary teachers are prone to err in word, the peril of doing so is far greater in the case of unqualified men. And the more any teacher may err, the more harm will result to the congregation and the heavier will be the judgment against the individual.

There are several important points in the quoted comments from The Watchtower:

• A teacher must adhere closely to the inspired Word of God and not “teach commands of men as doctrines.” (1959)
• No teacher should presume to superimpose his conscience on another. If he does, he may bring the other person into difficulty or may damage that one’s faith. (1977)
• If a man errs in his teaching and this results in problems for the congregation, the heavier will be the judgment against the individual. (1978)

In the next section, I will discuss the points above in detail.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY 

The comments regarding teachers in James 3:1 in the Watchtower literature relate to the elders in the congregations and to persons who want to serve as teachers. But the comments never include the members of the Governing Body. But because these brothers serve as teachers for the worldwide community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the words of James must first and foremost be applied to the members of the Governing Body. At present, there are 21 articles in the category “The Governing Body,” and in what follows I will demonstrate how these articles show that the members of the Governing Body in many different ways violate the three points mentioned in the last section.

ADHERING CLOSELY TO THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

For 120 years, the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses have believed in the full inspiration of the Bible. This means that 1) Every word in the Bible is inspired by God, 2) All the details and nuances in the original texts are important to us, and 3) Every account in the Bible is included with the help of holy spirit for a particular purpose. The members of the Governing Body will say that they accept point 1). But their writings during the last ten years show that they do not accept points 2) and 3). This means that they no longer believe in the full inspiration of the Bible, as the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses have done for 120 years. I refer to the following articles:

“The members of the Governing Body do not believe in the full inspiration of the Bible.”

The article discusses three areas where Governing Body’s lack of belief in the full inspiration of the Bible is seen:

• A great number of accounts in the Hebrew Scriptures, such as the Song of Solomon, have no meaning for us today — they are only filling material.
• The details and nuances of the original text are not important to us. This is seen in the Watchtower literature after the year 2013 and in the NWT13.
• Several words Jesus spoke about the resurrection are contradicted and rejected.

“The illustration of the faithful and discreet slave and other illustrations — What the Governing Body do not understand.”

The article shows that the members of the Governing Body are guilty of two basic errors, 1) They treat the illustrations as prophecies, and 2) They apply illustrations of the Kingdom of the heavens to other persons and things than to the 144 000 heirs of the Kingdom to whom these illustrations refer.

The article discusses several illustrations, and I show how we can know when an illustration is a prophecy and when it has no prophetic element. The illustration about the faithful and discreet slave has no prophetic element.

“‘For many are called but few are chosen’ — What the Governing Body do not understand.”

Most of the doctrines taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses for three decades after World War II are based on the Bible and therefore represent Bible truth. But there are two exceptions:

The first wrong viewpoint was presented in 1952. It was the doctrine that Witnesses who were disfellowshipped should be shunned. The true biblical doctrine is that Christians should not fraternize with disfellowshipped persons. But they can speak with them and greet them, and they can admonish them to repent and rebuke them.

The second wrong viewpoint existed from the days of C.T. Russel. It was the doctrine that the Witnesses should preach the good news of the Kingdom as a witness to all the nations. The purpose of this was to gather all living humans in two groups — Jehovah’s Witnesses who would survive the end and all others who would be eternally annihilated.

 The true biblical doctrine is that the Christian community, represented by Jehovah’s Witnesses, should gather the rest of the 144,000 members of the heavenly government, as well as other righteous persons who would survive the end and who would be the nucleus of the coming new system of things. Most of the persons who did not serve God inside the Christian community would get their chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ during his Kingdom of Thousand Years.

The illustrations of the wheat and the weeds and the sheep and the goats have been used as evidence for the gathering of all humans in two groups. These illustrations are discussed in detail, and it is shown that they cannot be used as evidence that all outside the Christian community will be eternally annihilated.

“The Governing Body’s new view of the resurrection is contradicted by the Scriptures”

The new view of the resurrection is related to the words of Jesus in John 5:28, 29 and who are those who “did good things” and who “practiced vile things.” I show that the old view is correct and the new view is wrong. And I show that one reason for the new view is that the members of the Governing Body do not understand Greek and therefore they have misunderstood the Greek text related to the resurrection.

“The Governing Body in 1972: Where God’s Word does not itself ‘draw the line,’ no human has the right to add to that Word by doing so”

The article shows that teachers are needed in order to understand the Word of God. They should not “draw the line,” but they should help people to understand the Bible. How the members of the Governing Body have drawn the line in connection with the prohibition against the use of blood, as well as several other areas are discussed.

“The members of the Governing Body are led astray and lead astray because of their lack of knowledge of the biblical languages

The article shows that the translation of Daniel 11:26, which is dealing with the king of the north is wrongly translated in NWT13. Therefore, the members of the Governing Body have given an interpretation of the actions of the king of the north that is the very opposite of what the Hebrew text of the verse says. This illustrates that they are not qualified to be Bible expositors because of their lack of knowledge of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

“Analysis of evidence used to show that the Governing Body is ‘the faithful and discreet slave’”

The Watchtower uses three lines of evidence to prove that the eight members of the Governing Body are ‘the faithful and discreet slave’, 1) Reliance of God’s Word, 2) Evidence of holy spirit, and 3) Evidence of angelic assistance.

The article has a detailed discussion about the difference between inspiration from God and direction from God. After that, the three kinds of evidence are discussed. The claim that the members of the Governing Body rely on God’s Word is shown to be false because the members of the Governing Body no longer believe in the full inspiration of the Bible.

The 94 so-called “clarified beliefs that have been published between 1990 and 2021 are claimed to be evidence of holy spirit. It is shown that most of these are not “clarified beliefs” but rather “clouded beliefs.” Fifteen of the “clouded beliefs” are discussed in detail.

The increase in new members is used as evidence of angelic assistance. However, I show that the Latter-Day Saints have a similar increase in new members, but the Governing Body would not say that this increase is evidence of angelic assistance for the organization of the LDS. Moreover, Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced much increase in new members every year since World War II. So, the increase of new members since 2013, when the eight members of the Governing Body for the first time claimed that they were ‘the faithful and discreet slave’, cannot be used to prove that this claim is true.

At the end of the article, there is a detailed analysis of the question: “How can a religion with false teachings be the true religion?”

NOT TEACHING “COMMANDS OF MEN AS DOCTRINES” 

This point is closely related to the point above. If Christian teachers are adhering closely to the Word of God, they will not teach the commands of men as doctrines. This means that any doctrine that is taught by Christian teachers must be directly based on one or more texts in the Holy Scriptures.

The worldwide Christian organization must have leaders, and these leaders must make a number of rules so the organization can function smoothly. These rules are not directly based on the Bible. But they should not contradict any text in the Bible, and the members of the organization must accept and follow these rules.

However, these rules are not “doctrines.” The Greek word that is used in Matthew 15:9 that NWT13 renders as “doctrines” is entalma, and according to Louw and Nida, the meaning of this word is “that which is authoritatively commanded.” This means that in connection with Christian faith and Christian life, only doctrines (entalma) that are directly based on the text of the Bible are acceptable. However, this requirement is grossly violated

“Our obedience to the Governing Body must be relative and not absolute”

The Governing Body demands absolute obedience. In the 21st century, the reverence for the members of the Governing Body is so high among the ordinary Witnesses that they are treated almost as prophets. Because the members of the Governing Body lead the Christian community we should view them as elders that we must obey in a relative sense.  This means that we cannot obey all the human commandments that they have made or the doctrines they have published that contradict the Holy Scriptures.

Some will question whether grave errors can occur at all inside the organization of the true religion that has the backing of Jehovah. The messages to the seven congregations in Asia, written by the apostle John in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. are discussed.

“The members of the Governing Body have devalued and restricted the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ”

By his death, Jesus bought all the offspring of Adam. Because of the righteousness of God, every descendant of Adam must get the opportunity of either accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. The members of the Governing body do not accept this. And they teach that a great number of Adam’s descendants will be eternally annihilated without having had the opportunity to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.

The article analyses passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures showing that Jesus died for all human beings. It shows that most persons who ever have lived will get a resurrection in the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus to get their chance to choose everlasting life. It also shows that the view of the members of the Governing Body that those who died in the worldwide flood and in Sodom and Gomorrah will not get a resurrection is a false doctrine.

“The Governing Body’s new focus on money”

The Watchtower Society had never previously solicited money. However, from the start of the 21st century, there was a change in the viewpoint of money. The Watchtower Society gradually introduced arrangements from which they could get more money — now the Society was soliciting money on a grand scale, something that was unthinkable for the Bible Students in the 19th century and Jehovah’s Witnesses in the 20th century. The history of a Kingdom Hall in Bergen illustrates the issue.

“God’s administration — his channel of communication”

The eight men of the Governing Body claim that they have been appointed by God to be “the faithful and discreet slave,” and that they are God’s channel of communication.  The article discusses several passages in the letter to the Ephesians. It shows that God’s administration (oikonomia), which is his channel of communication,  is abstract and does not refer to anything concrete. His administration is the way he is administering or managing things. The Watchtower Society or any humans are not God’s channel of communication. But the Watchtower Society has been used as a tool to communicate God’s truths to the nations. The claim of the eight members of the Governing Body that they are “the faithful and discreet slave,” and God’s channel of communication is preposterous and absurd.

NOT SUPERIMPOSING THEIR CONSCIENCES ON OTHERS 

After World War II, several articles in The Watchtower stressed that the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses did not have the authority or the wish to make decisions on the part of individual Witnesses. Each one had to follow his or her own conscience. This was expressed in a clear way in The Watchtower of October 1, 1972, page 589:

Jehovah God expects us to use our faculties of intelligence, our knowledge, understanding and judgment, and to do conscientiously what our faith points us to do. God does not place us under the conscience of some other human in such matters. We must each make our own decision in harmony with conscience—conscience molded by God’s Word. We must also take the consequences of our own decisions, not expect someone else to make the decision and bear that responsibility for us.

It would therefore be wrong in such matters to try to extract from someone else, from a body of elders or from the governing body of the Christian congregation, some rule or regulation that ‘draws the line’ on matters. Where God’s Word does not itself ‘draw the line,’ no human has the right to add to that Word by doing so.

The literature of the Watchtower Society shows the requirement that the leaders of the Christian community must not superimpose their consciences on others is grossly violated by the members of the Governing Body. I refer to the following articles:

“We cannot trust the ever-shifting views and decisions of the Governing Body”

The article shows that the members of the Governing Body demand that every Witness accept what they write and say, with the threat of disfellowshipping those who express disagreements. In this way, the members of the Governing body are superimposing their consciences on others.

Several examples of how the views of the Governing Body have changed are discussed. Several examples of how the members of the Governing Body, who do not know Greek, have ascribed meanings to Greek words that they do not have. In this way, a huge burden has been placed on the shoulders of the Witnesses, a burden that has no basis in the Holy Scriptures.

“Different kinds of child abuse and the responsibility of the Governing Body”

The first part of the article argues that the members of the Governing Body cannot be held responsible for the sexual misuse of children in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. My experience is that from the early 1990s, the elders have received good information about child abuse and have been admonished to look out for such situations.

The second part argues that the members of the Governing Body are responsible for child abuse in two different areas. They have superimposed their consciences on young children and their parents by admonishing young children to be baptized. This is the same as abuse of these children because the children are not mature enough to promise to serve God forever. Much worse is it that the Governing Body by its representatives has appointed young children to serve as full-time preachers. In 2012, there were 212 full-time servants in the US below 12 years and 6,844 between 12 and 18 years.

The service of a full-time servant requires so much of the servant that most other pursuits must be canceled. Children in elementary school or high school need time to study, time for recreation, and time for rest. This is not possible if the child must use 70 or 80 or more hours in the preaching work per month. If a child is appointed as a full-time servant, he or she will not have time for his or her basic needs. He may be deprived of basic education, and he lives in a situation of much stress. This is the reason why I say that appointing children as full-time servants is the same as child abuse. Several children who have been full-time servants have told me that this service wore them down, and they got mental problems. The article discusses this issue in detail.

“The power struggle inside the Governing Body in the 1980s and 1990s

The article shows that the reason for the change from a theocratic to an autocratic and dictatorial organization is the outcome of the power struggle inside the Governing Body.

In the 1980s, skilled brothers and sisters with knowledge of the original languages of the Bible were invited to participate in a project to study the subtleties and nuances of the original text.  The number of participants grew and nearly the entire sixth floor in the 25 Columbia Heights building was filled by the group and their support staff. However, the members of the Governing Body who did not know the original languages viewed these brothers and sisters as rivals, and they stopped the project.

At this time, a power struggle inside the Governing Body became visible. The two most important men in this struggle were William Lloyd Barry and Theodore Jaracz, who had been members of the Governing Body since 1974. The two men had different personalities and backgrounds. Barry was university educated, had an open mind, had served many years as a missionary in Japan, and cherished Christian freedom, while Jaracz, according to his biographical sketch in The Watchtower of November 15, 2010, page 23, did not even attend high school. He was a hardliner who wanted to make many laws and regulations in addition to the Bible. He was strongly against higher education and did not like intellectual brothers and sisters.

In 1999, Lloyd Barry died, and Jaracz became the leader of the Governing Body. He handpicked new members of the Governing Body who were hardliners like himself. And that is the reason why the organization became autocratic. Barry died in 2010, and during his time as the leader of the Governing Body a crusade against higher education was launched, and 20 new disfellowshipping offenses without any basis in the Bible were created.

The full inspiration of the Bible was gradually undermined. This is seen in the revised NWT of 2013, where nuances and subtleties of the text are not included, and in the view that great parts of the Hebrew Scriptures have no meaning for us today.

ERRORS IN TEACHING LEAD TO GREAT PROBLEMS AND EVEN TO DEATH FOR SOME PERSONS

The Watchtower of December 1, 1978, which is quoted above, shows that errors in teaching can lead to problems, and “the heavier will be the judgment against the individual.” Different problems in the personal life of individual Witnesses can be caused by teaching errors and in such situations, the teacher has a huge responsibility. Teaching errors can also lead to the death of one or more Witnesses, and in such situations, the teacher may have bloodguilt. An article in the Awake!magazine of October 22, 1970, page 27, shows how “criminal negligence,” which is a parallel to false teaching, may lead to bloodguilt:

Then again, the Mosaic law held that death resulting from criminal negligence incurred bloodguilt, and logically so. For example, if a bull gored a man to death the bull was killed. But if its owner knew that his bull was a gorer and he failed to keep it under restraint, both the bull and its owner paid with their lives. Likewise the law required that when a man built a house he build a low wall around the sides of its flat roof. If he failed to do this and a person walking on the roof fell off and was killed, the owner was charged with bloodguilt.​—Ex. 21:28, 29; Deut. 22:8.

The principle involved here has a very direct bearing on the use of automobiles today. If a driver kills a man with his auto because of driving too fast, or carelessly or recklessly, or because of having been under the influence of narcotics or alcohol, then in the eyes of God he would incur bloodguilt.

“The members of the Governing Body’s are twisting God’s thoughts”

Peter speaks about those who are twisting God’s thoughts in 2 Peter 3:16. Sad to say, in many instances, the members of the Governing Body have been twisting the Scriptures. Two examples are discussed in detail, namely, the Scriptural view of sexual relations and the shunning of disfellowshipped and disassociated persons.

In 1974, the Governing body had decided that anal and oral copulation and other lewd actions inside marriage were porneia and could lead to disfellowshipping and the dissolution of the marriage. This view was abandoned in 1978.

The members of the Governing Body are responsible for the dissolution of hundreds of marriages against the laws of God. They are also responsible for all the suffering of men, women, and children as a result of the dissolution of these marriages.

In 1952, The Watchtower said that disfellowshipped persons should be shunned, and from 1981 onward, also disassociated persons should be shunned. This doctrine has now been in effect for 70 years.

Because of this unbiblical doctrine, the members of the Governing are responsible for the destruction of thousands of families and for the hardship and distress of hundreds of thousands of persons. And still more severe, they have bloodguilt because of all those who have committed suicide because of being shunned by family and friends.

“The implementation of the elder arrangement was a blessing — the creation of the Governing Body has been a disaster”

The article shows that there was no governing body in the first century, and therefore there should be no governing body in our time. The elder arrangement has been a blessing because the elders have supported the individual Witnesses in different ways.

The article shows that the creation of the Governing Body has been a disaster because the members of the Governing Body have made so many human doctrines that have devastated and ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of Witnesses. The article lists some of these human doctrines. I list the following unbiblical decisions that particularly have harmed the Witnesses:

The crusade against higher education started in 2005, and young witnesses have been forced not to pursue higher education. This has now lasted for 17 years.

The members of the Governing Body are responsible for the lack of higher education among tens of thousands of young Witnesses. And they are responsible for the problems these Witnesses have to find secular jobs so they can support their families.

The members of the Governing Body have created 37 disfellowshipping offenses that have no basis in the Bible.

The members of the Governing Body are responsible for the ruined lives of the hundreds of thousands that have been disfellowshipped because of these human commandments. They also have bloodguilt because of the disfellowshipped persons who have committed suicide because they have been shunned by family and friends.

In 1972, the members of the Governing Body made a decision in connection with coagulation Factor VIII which was important for hemophiliacs. They decided that one infusion of this factor was acceptable, but two or more infusions were the same as eating blood and was forbidden. This decision was reversed and canceled in 1975. Without infusions of Factor VIII many hemophiliacs had severe pain and some died.

The members of the Governing Body are responsible for the severe pain many hemophiliacs experienced during the mentioned three years. And they have bloodguilt because of those who died for lack of Factor VIII.

Many individuals who have been Witnesses have become hooked on hard drugs. It is extremely difficult to quit this habit. If anyone wants to quit, there are two kinds of help he or she can get. They can be helped by family and friends and by professionals, and they can be helped by the use of methadone. It is a synthetic narcotic that does not cause persons to become intoxicated, and it is used as a medicine. In 1973, the members of the Governing Body decided that the use of methadone was a disfellowshipping offense, and this decision was valid for 40 years, until 2013. But even though the use of methadone now is accepted, persons who want to quit their habit are still shunned by family and friends and derived from this help.

The members of the Governing Body are responsible for the miserable lives thousands of hooked Witnesses were living between 1973 and 2013 when methadone was forbidden, and they are responsible for the miserable lives during the years 1952 to 2023 when they demanded that these persons had to be shunned by family and friends. The members of the Governing Body also have bloodguilt of those who wanted to quit but who died from their abuse because the Governing Body had denied them the help by which they could have quit. They also have bloodguilt because of hard drug abusers who committed suicide because they could not see any way out of their abuse.

The way the members of the Governing Body have treated and are treating hard drug abusers by denying them the help they need is so bad that I am completely breathless. This is cruel and inhuman, and it is the most serious accusation against these men.

OVERSKRIFT 2

OVERSKRIFT 3

CONCLUSION