THE 11 DISFELLOWSHIPPING OFFENSES 9: PROMOTING A SECT (HAIRESIS). II

The Greek word hairesis occurs nine times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Acts 24:5 speaks of “the sect (hairesis) of the Nazarenes.” These words show that the word “sect” is seen in relation to a bigger religion from which it has deviated. In this case the reference is to a sect in relation to the Jewish religion.

When we now are discussing the issue of “promoting a sect,” we must see this in relation to the true religion that is found in the Bible.

THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE RELIGION

In ancient times, God had only one people, which was the nation of Israel. In the first century CE, God also had only one people which consisted of the Christian congregations in different countries.

“THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF THE TRUTH”

The disfellowshipping offense of making a sect that mentioned in the quotation above is centered around the rejection of “Bible truth.” Therefore, we need to know the meaning of this expression. In his second letter to Timothy 4:3, 4 (NIV), Paul shows that there is only one “truth.”

³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Paul parallels “sound (or, healthful) doctrine” and “truth,” and he contrasts truth with myths. This truth would not suit the desires of many people. Therefore, they would listen to teachers who said what they liked to hear. The result would be that they would believe in myths rather than sound or healthful doctrine, and the result was the formation of sects. In 1 Timothy 3:15, Paul connects truth with God’s household, which is his congregation:

If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

The comments in the quotation from the Shepherd book connect the “truth” with the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I agree with that, and I show in chapter 1 of my book My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, third edition, that all the basic truths taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses are based on the Bible.

C.T. Russell and his co-workers established most of the basic truths, and J. F. Rutherford and his co-workers made some adjustments to the beliefs of Russel. From 1942, when N.H. Knorr became the president of the Watchtower and Bible Society; all the basic truths had been established. These basic truths continued to be preached throughout the 20th century.

However, in the last part of the 20th century and in the 21st century changes started to occur. Most of the basic doctrines were upheld, but in several cases, false teachings were introduced. The organization also changed from being theocratic to becoming autocratic and dictatorial, and all power was in the hands of a few men, at present 11 in number.

This is a parallel to what happened at the end of the 1st century and during the 2nd century CE. The letters of John and Revelation were written at the end of the 1st century. In 1 John 2:18, 19, 4:1-3, and 2 John 7-11, we read about false prophets and antichrists, and in the first three chapters of Revelation, we read about false teachings and false practices inside the Christian congregations. Moreover, some elders became ambitious and wanted more personal power. They elevated themselves to bishops, and in time, a clergy with priests and bishops had developed.

“The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth,” had now been polluted. The congregations still upheld the basic Christian doctrines, but false doctrines and false practices were introduced as well. This is a clear parallel to what has happened with “the pillar of truth,” the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, in the last part of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century.[1]

THE PURPOSE OF THE TRUE RELIGION TODAY

Today, we have the whole Bible, and the truth about God and his purpose is written in this book. However, a person who seeks this truth cannot just read through the Bible and voila! He or she sees the truth clearly. The present situation requires an organization that works for Jehovah and his purpose. I will now elucidate this.

That Jehovah should have a people, an organization in the last days is expressed in several prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the book of Daniel, we find the expression, “the people who are the holy ones of the Supreme One. (Daniel 7:27) In the last chapter of Daniel, we read that his prophecies dealing with the time of the conclusion (end) should be sealed until this time. (Daniel 12:10–12) The angel who spoke with Daniel also showed that God would have a people. We read in 12:7:

7 And I began to hear the man clothed with the linen, who was up above the waters of the stream, as he proceeded to raise his right [hand] and his left [hand] to the heavens and to swear by the One who is alive for time indefinite: “It will be for an appointed time, appointed times and a half. And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish.”

It is obvious that if the power of the holy people should be crushed, the holy people must be a tight-knit group that could be distinguished from all other groups, and who could be identified and targeted.

A symbolic beast is described in Revelation chapter 13. This beast “was given authority to act for 42 months,” which is the same time mentioned in Daniel 12:7, and it should “wage war against the holy ones and conquer them.” (Revelation 13:5, 7) And further: “The dragon grew wrathful at the woman [the symbolic woman mentioned in 12:1–2], and went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed, who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.”(Revelation 12:17).

Why should Jehovah have an organization in the last days? There are at least three good reasons for this.

First, the Bible is written in a way that prevents anyone just to read it and learn the truth. In a prophecy about the people of God in the last days in Daniel 11:33, we read: “And as regards those having insight among the people, they will impart understanding to the many.” The only way to learn the truth about God is by the help of teachers who are connected with Jehovah’s organization.

Second, the reason why Jehovah has reserved the truth for his organization is that humans cannot stand alone in this world that is governed by Satan. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Those who learn the truth will gradually get a new personality. In order to keep this personality pure in spite of the pressure from worldly persons, we need to have fellowship with others who have the same personality. Therefore, persons who learn the truth are drawn to Jehovah’s organization.

Third, Jesus spoke about an enormous work that should occur in the last days, namely, the preaching of the good news of the Kingdom in all the world. Paul wrote in Romans 10:13-15:

¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” ¹⁴ However, how will they call on him if they have not put faith in him? How, in turn, will they put faith in him about whom they have not heard? How, in turn, will they hear without someone to preach? ¹⁵ How, in turn, will they preach unless they have been sent out? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who declare good news of good things!”

In order to preach, Christians must be sent out. Because the truth can only be learned through Jehovah’s organization, and those who learn the truth will be a part of this organization, they will also be “sent out” to preach the good news. If any sincere person could learn the truth just by reading the Bible, there would be a great number of independent truth-seekers who did not know about each other, and so would have no way of contacting each other. Therefore, they could not be “sent out.” But because of Jehovah’s organization, there is systematic preaching work in every country in the world.

What are the qualification and background of those who “will impart understanding to the many”? In order to understand the Bible, there must be a group with different qualifications that work together. Understanding the text of the Bible can only be done by persons who have an intimate knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, and some of the group must have this knowledge. An understanding of many of the prophecies in the Bible requires a detailed knowledge of the history. This is not as straightforward as many believe.

For example, many prophecies are connected with the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. This conquest is universally believed to have occurred in 587 BCE. But there is strong evidence, both astronomical and historical, that this conquest occurred 20 years earlier, in 607 BCE.[2] This year is important in order to calculate the beginning of Christ’s presence and the last days. In order to calculate the year when Jesus started his preaching work, we must know the Julian date of year 20 of Artaxerxes I. It is universally believed that this is 445 BCE. But there is strong evidence, both astronomical and historical, that this is the year 455.[3]

A number of prophecies, including time prophecies, have been fulfilled on the people of God, Jehovah’s organization in the last days. In order to understand these prophecies a person must know which group is the people of God and have an intimate knowledge of the history of this group.

It stands to reason that all the mentioned requirements cannot be fulfilled by one person. Therefore, God has one organization in our time. And all the requirements are fulfilled by different persons inside this organization. Since the 1870s, the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses have served Jehovah as his organization. The basic doctrines of the Bible have been established and the good news of the Kingdom has been published all over the world.

But in the last part of the 20th century and in the 21st century, a situation that in some respects resembles the situation in Corinth with the “superfine apostles” has developed. The members of the Governing Body have elevated themselves to a supreme position. They have all power over the doctrines, the assets, and the money of the congregations, and anyone who does not accept everything they do and write will be disfellowshipped.

Moreover, while the basic doctrines of the Bible have been upheld, the members of the Governing Body have also introduced some false doctrines. This means, in keeping with this study, that the members of the Governing Body have, in some respects, behaved like sectarians. They have introduced some practices and doctrines that deviate from the truth of the Bible and contradict the Bible. This will be discussed in detail in the next section.

[1]. Two articles showing how the members of the Governing Body have introduced false teachings are: “The holy place being brought into its right condition — then relapsing to a wrong condition. Part I and Part II,” and “The implementation of the elder arrangement was a blessing — the creation of the Governing Body has been a disaster.”

[2] . See my book, Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Persian Chronology Compared with the Chronology of the Bible — Volume II Assyrian, Babylonian, and Egyptian Chronology.

[3] . See my book, Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Persian Chronology Compared with the Chronology of the Bible — Volume I Persian Chronology and the Length of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews.

THE JUSTIFICATION FOR MAKING A DIVISION

Because “division” is a negativly loaded word—it is associated with deviation from something that is just and right—it seems to be strange when I claim that making a division can be biblically justified. But I will show below that this is really the case. In some situations, Christians must make a division in the positive sense of the word in order to follow the laws of God.

In his first letter to the Corinthians 1:10, Paul says:

Now I exhort you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions (skhisma) among you, but that you may be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.

Christians are free people, and in their personal lives, different persons will make different decisions. But because the Christian faith originates with God, in matters of faith, everyone should have the same opinion and the same view. What was the reason why there was no unity in Corinth? We learn that from 1: 11, 12:

¹¹ For the disclosure was made to me about YOU, my brothers,  by those of [the house of] Chlo’e, that dissensions (eris) exist among you. ¹² What I mean is this, that each one of YOU says: “I belong to Paul,” “But I to Apollos,” “But I to Cephas,” “But I to Christ.” ¹³ The Christ exists divided.

According to Louw and Nida, the word eris, that is translated by “dissensions,” has the meaning, “to express a difference of opinion, with at least some measure of antagonism or hostility — ‘to argue, quarrel, dispute’” Were the dissensions in Corinth right or wrong? To think highly of persons as originators of the Christian faith was wrong. Those who looked up to persons were implicitly creating a division.

If we were in the congregation of Corinth with the mentioned divisions that were developing in the congregation, we would have no choice but to oppose the three mentioned divisions and opt to separate ourselves, in effect, causing another division, saying: “I belong to Christ.” However, in this case, we have not created a sect because, unlike the others, our purpose in causing divisions is to distance ourselves from the teachings of the real sect promoters, and in support of the original Christian teaching,  stress that we “belong to Christ”.

The important point is that if something is wrong, we must oppose it, even if that would cause divisions. This is a right basis for making divisions.

This is what Paul implies in 1 Corinthians 11:19 (NWT84):

For there must also be sects (hairesis) among YOU, that the persons approved may also become manifest among YOU.

Only those who would say, “I belong to Christ” would have God’s approval, and they had to distance themselves from the others who looked up to men. So, in this case, a division (skhisma) — a “sect” in the positive sense of the word — would be right, and this is confirmed by Paul’s words in 11:19.

THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY HAS FOLLOWED THE SAME COURSE AS THE SUPERFINE APOSTLES IN CORINTH

Paul discusses the justification of making a division in his first letter to the Corinthians. In his second letter to this congregation, he discusses a situation that is a good illustration of the situation among Jehovah’s Witnesses today, namely the actions of “the superfine apostles.” Regarding these, Paul wrote in 11:2-6 (above) and 11:12-15 (below):

² For I am jealous over YOU with a godly jealousy, for I personally promised YOU in marriage to one husband that I might present YOU as a chaste virgin to the Christ. ³ But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, YOUR minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ. ⁴ For, as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or YOU receive a spirit other than what YOU received, or good news other than what YOU accepted, YOU easily put up [with him]. ⁵ For I consider that I have not in a single thing proved inferior to YOUR superfine apostles. ⁶ But even if I am unskilled in speech, I certainly am not in knowledge; but in every way we manifested [it] to YOU in all things.

¹² But what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to eliminate the pretext of those who are wanting a basis for being found equal to us in the things about which they boast. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is therefore nothing extraordinary if his ministers also keep disguising themselves as ministers of righteousness. But their end will be according to their works.

There are four areas where the “superfine apostles” deviated from the truth:

• They had elevated themselves to the position of apostles of Jesus (verses 12, 13).
• They preached another Jesus that the One preached by Paul (verse 4).
• They presented another spirit than the one presented by Paul (verse 4).
• They misled the members of the congregation in Corinth (verse 3).

The Watchtower of November 15, 1964 had the article, “Keeping the Organization of Public Servants Pure, Chaste.”  This article includes a fine discussion of the superfine apostles, and I make a long quotation from it. I mark different parts of it with different colors and different letters:

(a) By faithfully appealing to this pure Word of God the New World Society has been able to purify its doctrines and to keep its teaching pure and truthful.

¹⁴ From the very first number of the Watch Tower magazine in July of 1879, which is eighty-five years ago, it has been the endeavor of Jehovah’s dedicated people to do this. So it is very late in the day that the statement comes from the Roman Catholic Pontifex Maximus Paul VI, just back from his pilgrimage to the Middle East, as reported by the New York Times under the dateline “Rome, Jan. 8,” namely:

(b) Pope Paul stressed that “anyone who wants to be true Christian” must go back to the Scriptures. “The return to the Gospel must be our continual exercise of thought, spiritual fervor, moral renewal, religious and human sensitiveness,” he declared.

¹⁵ However, the Roman Catholic Pontifex Maximus cluttered up the way of this return of Roman Catholics to the Bible:

(c) He said that study of Scripture did not imply disavowal of church traditions, “but an increasing effort to bring our Christian faith closer to its original concept, search for greater essential faithfulness to the thinking of Our Lord, and spiritual invigoration of what the authentic development of tradition has brought down to us.”—N.Y. Times, Jan. 9, 1964.

 (d) ¹⁶ To the contrary of this, the New World Society of Jehovah’s witnesses endeavors to purify itself of all religious traditions and to adhere to the pure written Word of God. We remember Jesus’ condemnatory words against man-made traditions.—Matt. 15:1-14.

 (e)¹⁷ Very plainly the apostle Paul was talking about doctrinal purity and about keeping  the true Christian organization free from the teaching of false apostles, when he wrote these words to the congregation that he had founded in Corinth, Greece:

¹⁸ “I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ. But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ.

(f) For, as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted, you easily put up with him. For I consider that I have not in a single thing proved inferior to your superfine apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, I certainly am not in knowledge.”—2 Cor. 11:2-6.

¹⁹ Certainly, when the serpent in Eden tempted Adam’s wife Eve in order to seduce and corrupt her, its effort was in the matter of doctrine, in the matter of religious belief. It was not in moral or sexual behavior. The serpent induced Eve to believe that her Creator, Jehovah God, was a liar in what he had taught her husband Adam.

(g) In a like cunning manner, during Paul’s absence from Corinth, those so-called “superfine apostles” were trying to corrupt the Christian congregation there. How? By preaching a Christ different from the one whom Paul had preached, by trying to put in the congregation a spirit different from the one they had got through Paul along with its gifts, and by preaching a kind of “good news” different from the good news that Paul had preached to them. Thus those so-called “superfine apostles” were trying to marry off the Corinthian congregation to a different Christ as a spiritual husband. This was leading to a spiritual immorality. How?

²⁰ The apostle Paul had already promised them in marriage to Jesus Christ the heavenly Son of God. So now if they let themselves become engaged to marry some other Christ, they would be losing their spiritual morality. They would be losing their spiritual chastity, their virgin chastity, that they owed to Jesus Christ as their promised Husband.

(h) The apostle Paul wanted to present this Christian congregation that he had founded as a “chaste virgin to the Christ,” but here those “superfine apostles” were trying to break the congregation’s engagement to Jesus Christ and switch it over to a counterfeit Christ. They were trying to seduce the already engaged congregation to commit spiritual immorality, spiritual adultery, inasmuch as in Jehovah’s law given through Moses an engaged virgin was considered as already the wife of the man to whom arrangements had been made to marry her.

²¹ Hence the apostle Paul likened those so-called “superfine apostles” to the serpent in Eden, and he tried to protect the Christian congregation from them. The jealousy that Paul had over them was not a selfish, impassioned, ungodly jealousy, but was a godly jealousy that tolerated no rivalry but insisted on exclusive devotion to Jesus Christ their original Bridegroom. Paul was truly a “friend of the bridegroom,” and he desired to experience in due time the friend’s “joy on account of the voice of the bridegroom” when speaking to his “chaste virgin” Bride in heaven.—John 3:29.

The important point of the article from which I have quoted above is expressed in the words:

(a) By faithfully appealing to this pure Word of God the New World Society has been able to purify its doctrines and to keep its teaching pure and truthful.

(d) To the contrary of this, the New World Society of Jehovah’s witnesses endeavors to purify itself of all religious traditions and to adhere to the pure written Word of God.

In 1964, when the article was published, this goal was achieved. The teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses were pure and truthful. These pure and truthful teachings are still the basic doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But in the last part of the 20th century and in the 21st century, some of these teachings were changed and new teachings were introduced. This is a situation that in some respects resembles the situation with the superfine apostles in the congregation in Corinth.

The (a) and (d) texts in green shows that the leaders of the Witnesses focused on the word of God, the Holy Bible. Even the Pope admonished Christians to go back to the Scriptures, as the yellow text (b) shows.  But in addition to the Scriptures, he also showed that Christians must accept the traditions of the Church, which in many respects contradict the words of the Bible. (yellow text c)

We do not know much about the superfine apostles. But the words in brown (f, g, and h) illuminate some of the actions of these persons. The word “apostle” refers to someone who is sent out, and in a technical Christian sense, the word refers to the 12 apostles of Jesus. The superfine apostles were members of the congregation in Corinth, and they evidently had received a teaching position as elders, or they had elevated themselves to a teaching position (11:6). The study note in NWT13 to 2 Corinthians 11:12 says:

The things about which they boast may refer to their assertions that they qualified to serve as apostles. (2Co 11:7) Later in this chapter and in chapter 12, Paul highlighted his own qualifications to show that the basis for their claim was severely lacking. He also frankly stated that the “superfine apostles” were actually “false apostles…disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.”—2Co11:13

Returning to the justification of making a division, we can clearly see that Paul, by distancing himself from the “superfine apostles,” acted in the right way. The congregation in Corinth was one of God’s congregations, and the doctrines the members believed in and taught were the truth. This should, of course, not be rejected. But the teachings of the “superfine apostles” had to be rejected. I will now use the situation in Corinth as a background for describing the situation in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses today.

SECTARIAN TRAITS INTRODUCED BY THE PRESENT GOVERNING BODY

Paul compares the “superfine apostles” to the snake who represented Satan. This suggests that these “apostles” had bad motives and that they wanted to deceive other members of the congregation. I am certain that the 11 members of the Governing Body do not have bad motives. Nevertheless, they have introduced human commandments that have caused harm and loss for tens of thousands of my brothers and sisters, and they have introduced some false teachings. These are clear sectarian traits, and the most important one is that they have given themselves unlimited power.

In what follows, I will discuss how four of the basic errors of the members of the Governing Body in the last part of the 20th century and in the 21st century resembles the errors of the superfine apostles and Diotrephes, who is mentioned in 3 John:

• They have elevated themselves to the same position as the apostles of Jesus.
• They reject the full inspiration of the Bible.
• The man-made system of disfellowshipping contradics the instructions in the Bible.
• They are preaching another Jesus than the One preached by Paul.

ELEVATING THEMSELVES AS “APOSTLES”

Jesus Christ was a humble man, and he admonished his apostles to be humble as well. According to Matthew 23:8-12 Jesus said:

 ⁸ But YOU, do not YOU be called Rabbi, for one is YOUR teacher, whereas all YOU are brothers.  ⁹ Moreover, do not call anyone YOUR father on earth, for one is YOUR Father, the heavenly One.  ¹⁰ Neither be called ‘leaders,’ for YOUR Leader is one, the Christ.  ¹¹ But the greatest one among YOU must be YOUR minister.  ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

An organization that is found in different countries and is spread all over the world needs a leadership. In chapter 3 of my book My Beloved Religion — And the Governing Body, third edition, I show that there was not any group in the first century CE that was governing the Christian congregations and therefore could be called “The Governing Body.” We read in Acts chapter 15 that on one occasion the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem under the guidance of holy spirit made some doctrinal decisions. But there is no similar account anywhere in the Christian Greek Scriptures, and there is no indication that the apostles and the elders constituted a government of the Christian congregations.

Jesus was the one who was governing the congregations because they were a part of his kingdom. (Colossians 1:13) Each congregation had a body of elders who took the lead. But when we study the book of Acts, we see that it was the holy spirit that led the different congregations and the preaching work in the first century CE and not a group of men.

How has the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses been led in modern times? In the 1870s, C.T. Russel and his companions studied the Bible, and after a short time, they were able to understand the basic doctrines of the Bible. The congregations at that time were independent of any organization. But C.T. Russell, who had invested his fortune in the work of spreading Bible truth, was the leader of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. However, a great number of other persons than Russell contributed articles to The Watchtower, and this shows that many person were taking the lead among the true Christians.

One passage that was discussed in those days where Matthew 24:25-47, where “the faithful and discreet slave” is mentioned. Some Bible students believed that this servant was Russell, while others would not apply the scripture to any particular person. J. F. Rutherford was the president of Watchtower Bible and Tract Society from 1917 to 1942. He was the spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he wrote all the books and many other publications that were published.

In the days of Rutherford, the concept “the faithful and discreet slave” was applied to all anointed Witnesses on earth, both men and women. This means that no person was elevated as the faithful and discreet slave. But the “food at the proper time” was connected with the literature published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. This means that there were no particular persons were believed to have been chosen and appointed by God as his special servants, constituting “the faithful and discreet slave.”

The viewpoint that “the faithful and discreet slave” was a collective expression of all the anointed Witnesses on earth, men and women, continued throughout the presidency of N.H. Knorr, until 1977, and for the rest of the 20th century. But in the 21st century the viewpoint changed. The Watchtower of July 15, 2013, page 21, says:

¹⁰ Who, then, is the faithful and discreet slave? In keeping with Jesus’ pattern of feeding many through the hands of a few, that slave is made up of a small group of anointed brothers who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food during Christ’s presence. Throughout the last days, the anointed brothers who make up the faithful slave have served together at headquarters. In recent decades, that slave has been closely identified with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Note, however, that the word “slave” in Jesus’ illustration is singular, indicating that this is a composite slave. The decisions of the Governing Body are thus made collectively. (italics in the original.)

 

The situation today is that 11 men who are known by name, and who regularly are seen on the television screens at JW Broadcasting, are identified as “the faithful and discreet slave.” They are viewed as the mouthpieces of Jehovah God. If we view this situation in the light of Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:8-12, that are quoted above, we do not get a good taste in our mouths. To put the focus on 11 persons who functions as a government for Jehovah’s Witnesses does not accord with the words of Jesus. And these 11 men have elevated themselves even more. The Watchtower (study edition) of January 2020, page 31, says:

Not all who have the hope of living in heaven are part of “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Read Matthew 24:45-47.) Just as in the first century, Jehovah and Jesus today are using a few brothers to feed, or teach, many. Only a few anointed Christians in the first century were used to write the Christian Greek Scriptures. Today, only a few anointed Christians have the responsibility to give God’s people “food at the proper time.”

And The Watchtower, Study Edition, of February 2022, has the title: “Do you trust in Jehovah’s Way of doing things?” On pages 4 and 5 we find the following comments:

⁷ We no doubt wholeheartedly agree that Jehovah always does what is right. The challenge for us, however, might be to trust in his human representatives. We might wonder whether those with a measure of authority in Jehovah’s organization really act according to Jehovah’s direction or their own…The plain truth is that we cannot say that we trust in Jehovah if we do not trust in his earthly representatives—those whom Jehovah trusts.

⁸ Today Jehovah leads the earthly part of his organization by means of “the faithful and discreet slave.” (Matt. 24: 45) Like the first-century governing body, this slave oversees God’s people worldwide and gives direction to congregation elders. (Read Acts 16:4, 5.) The elders, in turn, implement the direction in the congregations. We show that we trust in Jehovah’s way of doing things by heeding the direction we receive from the organization and the elders.

¹¹ We can strengthen our trust in the direction we receive from the elders by remembering that they pray for holy spirit when considering matters that affect the congregation. They also carefully consider relevant Bible principles and consult guidelines provided by Jehovah’s organization.

The quoted words above show that the 11 members of the Governing Body compare themselves with those who, as God’s secretaries, wrote the Christian Greek Scriptures. And they claim that those who do not trust the 11 men of the Governing Body do not trust in Jehovah. These words show that they are dignifying and  glorifying themselves exactly as were the superfine apostles.

The members of the Governing Body deny that they are inspired by God, that is, that they get messages from God. At det same time they make claims that is the same as claiming inspiration, and they demand that all Jehovah’s Witnesses must show absolute obedience.

One example of this claim of inspiration and absolute obedience is found in the Study Edition of The Watchtower of February 2022, study article 6, paragraph 15:

As the end of this system of things draws near, we need to trust in Jehovah’s way of doing things as never before. Why? During the great tribulation, we may receive instructions that seem strange, impractical, or illogical. Of course, Jehovah will not speak to us personally. He will likely provide direction through his appointed representatives. That will hardly be the time to second-guess the direction or to view it with skepticism, wondering, ‘Is this really coming from Jehovah, or are the responsible brothers acting on their own?’ How will you fare during that crucial time in human history? The answer might be indicated by how you view theocratic direction now. If you trust the direction we receive today and readily obey, you will likely do the same during the great tribulation.​—Luke 16:10. (The word “now” is in italics and bold script in the original.)

Even if the members of the Governing Body give instructions that are “strange, illogical or impractical,” this is “Jehovah’s way of doing things,” as the second clause says. All the Witnesses must follow these instructions. This means that even when we do not understand the meaning of something the Governing Body says or writes, we must believe that it comes from Jehovah. This is a direct claim of inspiration from God!

The words of the quotation represent a clear claim of inspiration. They show that the members of the governing Body put themselves of the same level, or rather above, the Holy Scriptures. When I became a Witness in 1961, we had only one authority, the Holy Bible. Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses have two authorities, the Holy Bible and the Governing Body. But the Governing Body stands above the Holy Bible because the members say that they are the only ones who can interpret the Holy Bible.

The quoted words mean that the Witnesses must treat the members of the Governing Body like those who are inspired by God, like the prophets mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures.  One brother who venerates the Governing Body is Kenneth Flodin, who is the overseer of the Bethel Home at Watchtower Farms. On April 24, 2023, he gave the talk entitled “Jesus’ yoke is kindly” at JW Broadcasting, and he said:

The Governing body could be likened to the voice of Jesus, the head of the congregation. So, when we willingly submit to the faithful slave, we are automatically submitting to Jesus’ authority and direction.[1]

The quotations above remind me of the position the “superfine apostles” had given themselves, as seen in table 1.1.

Table 1.1. comparing the Governing Body with “the superfine apostles”

The “superfine apostles”:

1)     They had elevated themselves claiming to be apostles of Jesus Christ.

The eleven members of the present Governing Body:

1)     The both claim to be inspired by God, and not to be inspired by God. 2)     They compare themselves to those who wrote the Christian Greek Scriptures. 3)     They function as a government for Jehovah’s Witnesses. 4)     They have all power over the doctrines, the assets, and the money in the congregations. 5)     They demand total obedience. Those who are not obedient will be disfellowshipped.

The 11 men’s elevation of themselves has transformed the organization into a dictatorial organization. This was confirmed in a court case in California in 2012. The background of this case was that three elders in the Menlo Park congregation in the USA were removed as elders. They took the issue to court, and Calvin Rouse, the counsel of Jehovah’s Witnesses, said according to the court transcript:

And I say “organization.” I am general counsel for the National Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses out of Brooklyn, New York. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be here, but this is one of our 13,000 congregations in the United States. We are a hierarchical religion structured just like the Catholic Church. And when the order from the Pope comes down in the church defrocking a priest and kicking him out, he no longer has any say in any matter in the local parish priest [sic.] — in the parish. The same is the situation here.[2]

It is absolutely clear that the power that the members of the Governing Body have given themselves collides head on with Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:8-12 that all Christians are brothers, and no group of men should not be called leaders. So, the members of the Governing Body have elevated themselves just as did the superfine apostles in Corinth.

THE REJECTION OF THE FULL INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Believing in the full inspiration of the Bible includes the belief that every word is inspired by God, all accounts are included by holy spirit with a particular purpose, and all the nuances and subtleties in the original text are important.

In addition to these points, the treatment and interpretation of the text will also reveal a person’s real belief in the Bible. This means that a person who believes in the full inspiration of the Bible will always take the text at face value. This means that the text must be viewed in the light of the lexical meanings of the original words and the rules of grammar and syntax in the original languages.

This again means that we must take the text as a literal historical account if the context does not clearly show that a word or clause has a non-literal meaning. In practical application, it means that if a person does not take the creation account as a literal historical account, he or she does not accept the full inspiration of the Bible. And further, a person who does not accept the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:23-38 as an historical account, which shows that the two first humans were created about 6,000 years ago, does not accept the full inspiration of the Bible.

The members of the present Governing Body say that they believe in the inspiration of the Bible. But at the same time, they claim that great portions of the Hebrew Scriptures have no meaning for us today. For example, the drama in Song of Solomon with the Shulamite, the shepherd, Solomon, and different persons who are speaking and acting has no meaning to us. Only some moral principles can be gathered from the Song of Solomon.

The view that great portions of the Hebrew Scriptures have no meaning for us is a false teaching because it devaluates the importance of the text of the Bible. The translation of the NWT13 and many articles in The Watchtower also show that the present members of the Governing Body do not view the nuances and subtleties of the text of the Bible as important. This is also something that leads the readers astray. The inspiration of the Bible is an all-or-nothing supposition. Only belief in the full inspiration of the Bible is acceptable to Jehovah.

Chapter 6 in my book My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, third edition, is entitled “The Governing Body’s new view of the Bible,” and it shows in detail how the Governing Body has rejected the full inspiration of the Bible. A discussion of the same subject is also found in the articles, “Analysis of the evidence used to show that the Governing Body is ‘The faithful and discreet slave’,” and “The members of the Governing Body do not believe in the full inspiration of the Bible.”

DISFELLOWSHIPPING BASED ON HUMAN COMMANDMENTS 

Chapter 5 in my book My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body, third edition, is entitled “The disfellowshipping offenses,” and chapter 6 is entitled “The true regime of disfellowshipping.” These chapters discuss what the Bible says about disfellowshipping, and it shows that the whole disfellowshipping system created by the Governing Body is not found in the Bible and violates a number of biblical principles.

In some respects, the Governing Body has imitated the actions of Diotrephes, whom John mentions in his third letter. 3 John 9 and 10 says:

⁹ I wrote something to the congregation, but Di·otʹre·phes, who likes to have the first place (filotrōpeō) among them, does not receive anything from us with respect. ¹⁰ That is why, if I come, I will call to remembrance his works which he goes on doing, chattering (flyaros) about us with wicked (poneros) words (logos). Also, not being content with these things, neither does he himself receive the brothers with respect, and those who are wanting to receive them he tries to hinder and to throw out (ekballō) of the congregation.

The word filoprōteuō has the meaning “to like or love to be first in rank or position; to desire to be first; to desire to order others.”[3] And Diotrephes “liked to have the first place” in the congregation, just as the superfine apostles in Corinth did. As I have shown above, the members of the Governing Body have elevated themselves to the highest position, the first place in Jehovah’s organization.

Louw and Nida refer to the following meanings of the Greek word ekballō: “to cause to go out or leave, often, but not always, involving force; to send away, to drive out, to expel.” Diotrephes was disfellowshipping members of the congregation for reasons that he himself had made up and invented. The Governing Body has followed exactly the same course, for example, by disfellowshipping anyone who does not agree with any interpretation they make.

The book for elders “Shepherd The flock Of God” lists 46 actions that are disfellowshipping offenses. I show in the mentioned chapter that only 11 of these are disfellowshipping offenses according to the Christian Greek Scriptures and the other 35 are human commandments made up and invented by the Governing Body.

The words “malicious talk” are translated from the three words logois (words”), ponerois (“wicked; evil”), and flyarōn (present participle of the verb “to slander; talk nonsense.”) Diotrephes was spreading malicious talk about the apostle John and his fellow elders, who were experienced Christians. Today, we have a similar situation, and the local elders, because they follow the direction of the Governing Body, as written in the Shepherd book, are spreading malicious talk about persons who have been disfellowshipped. One glaring example is that the members of the Governing Body say that those who are disfellowshipped or disassociated are a part of the “antichrists” who were enemies of the Christians. (The Watchtower of September 15, 1981, page 18 and The Watchtower of September 15, 1985, page 31).

I know where I stand, because I worship Jehovah. And I do not react negatively and become sad if someone is spreading malicious talk about me. This is what we must expect in an autocratic organization. But I observe it, and I see it in the light of the actions of Diotrephes and the “superfine apostles.” I have pointed out a number of things where the members of the Governing Body violate biblical principles. The elders viewed this as I was causing divisions and they disfellowshipped me.

What do they now say about me? They say that I am an apostate and that I have turned against Jehovah and his organization. If I do not admit that I am wrong, I will be eternally destroyed by God. This is malicious talk because it is not true. I defend Jehovah and his organization. But I disagree with some of the actions and viewpoints of the members of the Governing Body, actions and viewpoints serious enough that I cannot quietly go along with them, and I do this on the basis of what the Bible says. Diotrephes used malicious talk about John and his fellow elders because they did not agree with him, and the elders today use malicious talk regarding me and a great number of others who are in the same situation because we disagree with the Governing Body.

John wrote in 3 John 10:

he [Diotrephes] refuses to welcome the brothers with respect; and those who want to welcome them, he tries to hinder and to throw out of the congregation.

How does the members of the Governing Body imitate Diotrephes? Programs at congregation meetings and assemblies warn against having anything to do with disfellowshipped persons, even answering a phone call from one of them who is a member of their family. In this way, the organization tries to hinder this contact. And if a Witness continues to welcome a disfellowshipped person into his home, he himself will be thrown out of the congregation, exactly as Diotrephes did.[4]

There are, of course, several differences between Diotrephes and the members of the Governing Body, but there are also several parallels, particularly the way both Diotrephes and the Governing Body use disfellowshipping contrary to the laws and principles of the Bible.

Last year, about 80,000 Witnesses were disfellowshipped, and more than one and a half million Witnesses have been disfellowshipped during the 21st century. Because of the lack of instruction provided to judicial committees and their resulting lack of competence, and because so many disfellowshipping offenses are man-made, I assess that more than 90% of these should not have been disfellowshipped. We can only imagine all the suffering and agony the human commandments of the Governing Body have caused for all these disfellowshipped Witnesses. The members of the Governing Body have a great responsibility because their unbiblical actions have ruined the lives of tens of thousands of Witnesses.

[1]. https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/mediaitems/VODPgmEvtMorningWorship/pub-jwb-095_10_VIDEO

[2]. The Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of San Mateo. Case No. CIV508137, February 2012, page 4.

[3]. J.P. Louw and E. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains.

[4]. The Shepherd  book 12: 17 (1) shows that association with a disfellowshipped person may lead to disfellowshipping. Four articles in the Category “Shunning not based on the Bible” on this website show that custom of shunning disfellowshipped persons is a human commandment that violates several Bible principles.

“PREACHING A JESUS OTHER THAN THE ONE WE PREACHED”

This is a very disturbing point. The coming new system of things and the resurrection of the dead hinge on the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. Yet, the members of the Governing Body have rejected important aspects of the ransom sacrifice.

DEFENDING THE JESUS THAT PAUL PREACHED 

One of the most basic doctrines for the Bible Students and for Jehovah’s Witnesses is the doctrine about the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. Defending the sacrifice of Jesus was the basic reason why Russell started to publish the new magazine Zion’s Watchtower Herald of Christ’s Presence in 1879. J. F. Rutherford also defended the ransom sacrifice, and he wrote several excellent articles about it.

The Jesus Paul preached can be identified by his description of the ransom sacrifice:  When Jesus died, he bought Adam and all his offspring. The ransom sacrifice guarantees that all Adam’s descendants who are not called to reign with Jesus Christ in heaven and who have committed sin against the holy spirit will get a resurrection on the thousand-year-long Judgment Day and get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. Adam was also bought by Jesus. But because he sinned against the holy spirit, he will not get a resurrection.

In the year 1965, The Watchtower had 12 articles dealing with the resurrection and the conclusion was that most of those who had died will get a resurrection.[1] The Watchtower of March 15, 1965, pages 178, 179, said that “the vast majority of dead mankind” will get a resurrection on Judgment Day and get their chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.

The same view was also expressed in the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life (1995) pages 185, 186:

I5 During that Millennium, the resurrection will take place. Those who willfully sinned against God’s holy spirit. or active force, by unrepentantly acting contrary to its manifestation or leadings will not be resurrected. (Matthew 23: 15.33; Hebrews 6:4-6) Of course, God will decide who sinned in that way. But two distinct groups will be resurrected-“the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) Since there will be proper order, it is reasonable to conclude that the first to be welcomed back to life on earth will be the righteous, those who served Jehovah loyally.-Hebrews 11:35-39…

17 How helpful these faithful ones will be during the next phase of the resurrection, when billions of “the unrighteous” are released from the bonds of death! Most of mankind never had a chance to know Jehovah. Satan was ‘blinding their minds.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) But the Devil’s work will be undone. The unrighteous will come back to a beautiful and peaceful earth. They will be welcomed by a people well organized to teach them about Jehovah and his reigning Son, Jesus Christ. As billions of resurrected ones come to know and love their Creator, the knowledge of Jehovah will fill the earth in an unprecedented way.

These words express the biblical view of the resurrection. And they preach the same Jesus that Paul and the other Christians in the first century CE preached.

PREACHING A JESUS OTHER THAN THE ONE PAUL PREACHED 

In Norway, there was a group of my acquaintances that were engaged in deep Bible study. When we came together, we used to discuss topics from the Bible and questions that had arisen from our Bible study. All of us were thrilled by the articles on the resurrection in 1965 and the words about the resurrection in the book Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life.

However, even before the year 1995 when the mentioned book was published, there was evidence that the ransom sacrifice was under attack from some members of the Governing Body. My acquaintances and I studied The Watchtower of June 1, 1988, and this magazine limits the number of those who will get a resurrection. Several brothers questioned the conclusions of this magazine. But it now became clear that those attacking the ransom sacrifice came out victorious, as the following three quotations show:

The first is from The Watchtower of May 15, 1997, page 4. The second is from the brochure What Happens to Us when We Die? (1998), page 25, and the third is from The Watchtower of 1 April 1999, page 14.

But millions who have died without knowing God have the prospect of being awakened in such a peaceful new world, for the Bible promises: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the the righteous and the unrighteous.”—Acts 24:15; Luke 23:43.

But millions of other people have died without showing whether they should comply with God’s righteous standards… These too are in God’s memory and thus will be resurrected,  for the Bible promises: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”—Acts 24.15.

Yet millions of other people have died without showing whether they would comply with God’s righteous standards… These others too are in God’s memory and thus will be resurrected, for the Bible promises: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”—Acts 24.15.

I discussed these quotations with several brothers, and we realized that the Governing Body had a different view of the resurrection compared with the view that were presented in the articles in 1965. Now we had to expect millions of “unrighteous” persons receiving a resurrection instead of billions that we previously had expected.

In the Watchtower literature from the 21st century, I count 12 examples of the word “billions” used in connection with the resurrection, as in The Watchtower of December 2020, page 13, where we read about “the resurrection of billions of people who died in the past.” However, the magazine does not tell whether most of these billions are “righteous” persons.

Of the 12 places where the number “billions” is mentioned, I count four places where the word is connected with those who did not know God before their resurrection (The Watchtower of February 15, 2001, page 28; August 1, 2015, pages 5, 6; the study edition of February 2017, pages 9-13; and Awake!of September 2009, pages 10, 11). So, the present view is that millions of unrighteous persons, rather than billions will get a resurrection.

The members of the present Governing Body do not accept what the Christian Greek Scriptures say about the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. Therefore, the members of the Governing Body preach a Jesus other than the one preached by Paul and the first Christians.

I would like to be more specific about resurrection and the millions versus the billions. I have written the book The Atonement Between God and Man, where I, in a detailed manner, show what the Bible says about the ransom sacrifice and how the members of the Governing Body reject important sides of this sacrifice. The main points are expressed in the frame below:

The true view of the ransom sacrifice: Jesus died for all descendants of Adam and bought all those by his death. Each one must get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice. The false view of the ransom sacrifice: Jesus died only for those who will be saved, for “all sorts of men” and not for “all men.” Each descendant of Adam will not get a personal chance to accept or reject the ransom sacrifice.

I will illustrate the words in the frame by making a comparison between the view of the Bible Students in the 19th century and the view of the present members of the Governing Body.

It would seem to be an impossible claim, but the fact is that the present leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not understand the most basic truth in the Bible. They do not fully understand the purpose of the ransom sacrifice and how Jehovah will counter Satan’s rebellion.

But C.T. Russel and the Bible students understood this.

THE BIBLE STUDENTS Adam sinned, and all his descendants inherited sin from him. Jesus was a perfect man, exactly as Adam was. When Jesus died, he bought Adam and all his unborn descendants. None of Adam’s descendants had asked to be born with sin or had any responsible for this. The ransom sacrifice is a guarantee that each one of Adam’s descendants will get the same chance as Adam got, so they can make a personal decision without any outside influence of inherited sin on whether they will worship Jehovah or not. In order to achieve this, Jehovah will make a Judgment Day one thousand years long. During this time, Adam and his descendants will be resurrected as humans. Because of the ransom sacrifice, they will, during the thousand years, proceed toward human perfection. At the end of the thousand years, no human will any longer have inherited sin. And now, they are in the same situation as Adam, and they can, without any outside influence of inherited sin, choose to serve Jehovah or not. The everlasting destiny of the human descendants of Adam will be decided during the thousand-year-long Judgment Day and not during this old system of things. The Bible students understood the purpose of the ransom sacrifice. But they did not understand all the details, for example, that Adam had sinned against the holy spirit and would not get a resurrection.

THE PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY The members of the Governing Body have a much more restricted view of the ransom sacrifice than the Bible students had, and what the Bible teaches. They no longer believe that Jesus bought all Adam’s descendants and that all these will get a personal chance — they believe that Jesus only died for the descendants of Adam who will be saved. Their belief is that what is saving humans and giving them everlasting life today is the preaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When this preaching has reached the point Jehovah wants, the great tribulation will come. Then the great crowd, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, will survive the great tribulation, and all others will be eternally annihilated withput any hope of a resurrection.[2] The everlasting destiny of most of Adam’s descendants will be decided during this old system of things and not during the thousand-year-long Judgment Day.

THE TRUE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF THE RANSOM SACRIFICE Jesus bought Adam and all his descendants with his ransom sacrifice. The purpose of the preaching of the good news of the kingdom in the first century CE was not to separate all humans into two groups, those who would be saved and those who would be everlastingly annihilated. But the purpose was to find sincere persons who would become heirs of the heavenly kingdom and who would reign with Jesus Christ in heaven. The purpose of the preaching in our time is not to separate all humans into two groups, those who will be a part of the great crowd who will survive the great tribulation and all the others who will be eternally annihilated in the great tribulation. But the purpose of the preaching is to gather the rest of the 144,000, who will reign with Jesus in heaven, and the great crowd who will survive the great tribulation and will make the earth ready for the resurrection. All other descendants of Adam, those who have died in the past and those who die in the great tribulation, are bought by Jesus Christ. Therefore, they will get a resurrection on the thousand-year-long Judgment Day to get the same chance as Adam. There is one exception, though. Some persons have sinned against the holy spirit. These people, including Adam, were bought by Jesus. But because they are incorrigibly wicked and Jehovah knows that they will not change, they will not get a resurrection.

The Bible Students believed that the eternal destiny of Adam’s descendants will be decided during the thousand-year-long Judgment Day. The present members of the Governing Body believe that the eternal destiny of most of Adam’s descendants is decided by their actions in this old system of things before the great tribulation and not during Judgment Day The Bible teaches that the eternal destiny of all Adams descendants, except the 144,000 who will reign with Jesus in heaven and those who have sinned against the holy spirit, will be decided on Judgment Day and not during this old system of things. The article “Getting Adams chance” gives a detailed description of this subject.

The true picture of the ransom sacrifice stresses the wisdom, the love, the power, and the righteousness of God. Every descendant of Adam who has inherited sin, will get the choice of serving God or not in a situation where he or she no longer has inherited sin. We do not know how many will follow Satan when he is released from the abyss after the thousand years. But it is likely that most of the perfect humans who have experienced how good it is to serve Jehovah will turn against Satan and continue to serve Jehovah.

It is crystal clear that because of the perverted view of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus by the present members of the Governing Body, we are justified when we say that they preach another Jesus than the One Paul preached.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY

The situation I have described above must be viewed in the light of the words of James in 3:1, 2 (above), 2:10 (middle) 1 Peter 1:10 (below):

¹ Not many of YOU should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment. ² For we all stumble (ptaiō) many times. If anyone does not stumble (ptaiō) in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle also [his] whole body.

¹⁰ For whoever observes all the Law but makes a false step (ptaiō) in one point, he has become an offender against them all.

¹⁰ For this reason, brothers, all the more do YOUR utmost to make the calling and choosing of YOU sure for yourselves; for if YOU keep on doing these things YOU will by no means ever fail (ptaiō).

One important word in these verses is the verb ptaiō. Several Bible translations, including NWT84 and NWT13, render this word as “stumble.” But this may be too weak a rendering. According to Louw and Nida, the meaning is “to fail to keep the law (of God) — ‘to stumble, to err, to sin.”

The expression “stumble (ptaiō) in word” may be interpreted as a slip of the tongue, as a wrong word that all of us sometimes say. But James 2:10 uses ptaiō as a violation of God’s law. And 1 Peter 1:10 uses the verb in the sense of failing to get God’s approval in order to get the heavenly reward. So, the verb ptaiō in James 3:2 does not refer to a slip of the tongue but something with much more serious consequences.

The reason why many should not be teachers is the human tendency to violate laws and give wrong instructions to others. Doing this may have serious consequences for the persons who are taught. Therefore, teachers will get a heavier judgment than others when they teach something to others that is false.

The words of James must be applied to any teacher in the Christians congregations, including the members of the Governing Body. When a teacher teaches what is false or does something that harms other Christians, he is responsible for this. The members of the Governing Body should be held accountable for their false teachings, for their system of disfellowshipping that violates Bible principles, and for their extreme treatment of disfellowshipped and disassociated persons. The problem is that there is no one in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses who has the authority or will to hold them accountable.

I have shown that there is a parallel between the actions of Diotrephes and the superfine apostles in Corinth and the present situation in the organization. I will now draw a parallel between the situation of accountability between these persons from the 1st century CE and the members of the Governing Body.

Was Diotrephes guilty of disfellowshipping offenses? Absolutely! As  3 John 10 shows, he was a loidoros, one who was reviling or cursing, and a pleonektēs, one who was exploiting the brothers.

John wrote his third letter to Gaius, who was an elder in his congregation. Because of the serious sins of Diotrephes, why did not John tell Gaius and the congregation to disfellowship Diotrephes? According to verses 9, Diotrephes wanted to have the first place in the congregation, and that he had achieved this and had supreme power in the congregation is seen by the fact that he was able to throw persons he did not like out of the congregation.

It seems that the situation in this congregation was similar to the situation among Jehovah’s Witnesses today. No one in that congregation had the will or the authority to hold Diotrephes accountable for his bad actions. And there is no one in the organization today who has the authority or the will to hold the members of the Governing Body responsible for their actions.

What can we say about the superfine apostles in Corinth? Were they guilty of disfellowshipping offenses? Absolutely! They taught false doctrines and where false apostles who had elevated themselves (anatrepō), and they were sect promoters (hairesis) and exploiters (loidoreo) because they misled the congregation members and created a fraction in the congregation.

In his first letter to the congregation in Corinth, Paul discussed what was disfellowshipping offenses, and he asked the congregation to disfellowship the man who lived with the wife of his father. In the second letter, he commended the congregation because they reinstated the man when he stopped his wrong actions.

So why does not Paul tell the congregation to disfellowship the superfine apostles? We do not know the situation in the congregation. But it appears that the superfine apostles had managed to get the same supreme position in the congregation in Corinth as Diotrephes had in his congregation. We read in 11:20-21

²⁰ In fact, YOU put up with whoever enslaves YOU, whoever devours [what YOU have], whoever grabs [what YOU have], whoever exalts himself over [YOU], whoever strikes YOU in the face. ²¹ I say this to [our] dishonor, as though our position had been weak.

The Watchtower of April 1, 1975, pages 201-202, had the following comments on these verses:

There are many other like admonitions in the Christian Scriptures. But some men in responsible positions in the early congregation evidently began taking little advantages. They felt somewhat important in the position they held. They felt that it entitled them to a little more than the “ordinary” member of the congregation deserved. They allowed themselves special privileges, and they expected things of a material nature from the brothers. In that way they could live a little easier, they could be looked up to as being “somebody.” That was all they wanted, at first. But gradually they and their successors in office became more demanding, more bold, more arbitrary in expressing authority. They deceived and misled the congregation in order to gratify their desires and ‘exploited them with counterfeit words.’ The apostle Paul describes some such men at 2 Corinthians 11:19, 20.​—2 Pet. 2:3.

As the context shows, the superfine apostles criticized Paul and argued that they even had a higher position than he had. And verses 20 and 21 indicate that they had succeeded in becoming leaders in the congregation. Therefore, Paul was not in the position to tell the congregation to disfellowship them. What he did, was to describe the wicked actions of the superfine apostles.

So, it seems that we have the same situation as in connection with Diotrephes. No one in the congregation in Corinth had the will or the authority to hold the superfine apostles accountable for their bad actions. And there is no one in the organization today who has the will or the authority to hold the members of the Governing Body accountable for their actions.

The situation is the same with the members of the Governing Body today. However, the words of James can be applied to the members of the Governing Body. Jehovah God tolerated the bad situation in the congregation of Diotrephes and in the congregation in Corinth, just as he tolerates the bad situation in the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses today. But we can be certain that at some time, Jehovah God held Diotrephes and the superfine apostles accountaable for their false teachings and their wrong actions. And we can be certain that God will hold the members of the Governing Body accountable for their false teaching and false actions as well, because teachers shall receive heavier judgment.

[1]. The Watchtower of 1965: “Worship the God of Resurrection.”; “Death and Hades to Give Up the Dead.”, “Part II.”; “The Dead Who Are in Line for Resurrection.”, “Part II.”; “For Whom There Are Resurrection Hopes.”, “Part II.”; “Who Will be Resurrected from the Dead?”, “Part II.”; “Who Will be Resurrected—Why?”; “Our Own Twentieth-Century Generation and the Resurrection.”; Earthly Opportunity Opened Up by Resurrection.” in The Watchtower of January 1, January 15, February 1, February 15, March 1, and March 15, 1965.

[2]. The Watchtower of May 2024 has opened the possibility that more people than we have believed will be saved. But there is no change in the basic view of the members of the Governing Body that I have described.