THE FIVE REVOLUTIONS AMONG THE BIBLE STUDENTS AND JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
Between 20 and 30 billion people have lived on this earth. All of them have inherited sin and death from their first father, Adam. Based on the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the purpose of God is the restoration of all things. (Acts 3:21) This will happen during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.
THE NATURE OF THE FOUR REVOLUTIONS
The basic question for all humans is: Will their salvation or everlasting death depend on the actions they perform while living in this old world as imperfect sinners? Or, will they die as punishment for their sin in this old world, receive a resurrection during the thousand years, and their salvation or everlasting death will depend on what they do during the thousand years?
In other words, will the final choice of humans that leads to everlasting life or to everlasting death occur when humans are imperfect sinners in this old world? Or will this final choice occur during the thousand years when humans have become free of sin and are perfect?
Is it true that when the great tribulation comes at the end of this old world, the 8 billion+ living humans have been separated into two groups, the “sheep” who will receive everlasting life, and the “goats” who will be everlastingly annihilated?
This is the issue that has sparked four distinct revolutions within the communities of the Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
During the 150 years since C.T. Russell and his group of young men started their systematic study to find Bible truths, we have seen many changes. Of these changes, only five can be called revolutions.
The first revolution occurred when Russel and his fellow Bible students discovered the truth that Jesus died for all and bought all Adam’s descendants, and that the ransom sacrifice guarantees that all Adam’s descendants who die because of inherited sin will receive a resurrection during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, and that their final test for everlasting life will occur during the thousand years.
This means that the test for everlasting life is not in this old world, where all humans are imperfect sinners. But the final test will be on the thousand-year-long Judgment Day. Every descendant of Adam who has died because of Adam’s sin will have a personal chance to choose to accept the ransom sacrifice during the thousand years. This is the teaching of the restoration of all things. (Acts 3:21)
The second revolution occurred in 1924, when The Watchtower upended the teaching on the restoration of all things. The new view that gradually limited the ransom sacrifice held that the final test for everlasting life for most of Adam’s descendants occurs in this world, when humans are imperfect sinners.
The thousand-year reign of Jesus will come with the resurrection of the dead. But far fewer humans will receive a resurrection and the opportunity to choose everlasting life during the thousand years than the Bible students believed. And a great number of Adam’s descendants would be everlastingly annihilated without any hope of a resurrection.
The third revolution occurred in 1965, when The Watchtower published 12 articles on the resurrection. These articles reinstated many of the viewpoints held by Bible students. The articles expressed the correct view of the ransom sacrifice: Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants, and he bought them all. And most of Adam’s descendants who have died will be resurrected during the thousand-year reign of Jesus.
But there was one contradiction in one of these articles, namely, that billions of humans will be everlastingly annihilated in the great tribulation, many of whom have never had the chance to choose to serve God. When Jesus died for all and bought all, why would so many people be everlastingly annihilated in the great tribulation? This was an inconsistent contradiction.
The reason for this contradiction was that the brothers who conducted these excellent studies on the resurrection were unable to free themselves from the viewpoint of 1924, which held that all humans would be separated into two groups in this old world, leading to everlasting salvation or everlasting death.
If they had held the view of the Bible students, which is the true biblical view, that the only ones who will be sentenced to everlasting annihilation for what they do in this old world are those who are permeated by wickedness. All other Adam’s descendants, except the 144,000 who will reign with Jesus in heaven, will receive their final judgment to everlasting life or everlasting death after their resurrection, during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.
The fourth revolution occurred in 1988, when the Watchtower refused to accept Jesus’ words that the inhabitants of Sodom will receive a resurrection. The claim was that Jesus’ words did not mean what they said. The words were a hyperbole, an exaggeration. This is a clear example of rejecting the faith in the full inspiration of the Bible.
| The basic obstacle to the correct understanding of God’s judgment leading to everlasting life or everlasting death, and the restoration of all things, is the misinterpretation of the illustration of the sheep and the goats, introduced in 1924, and a part of this misinterpretation is still held.
It is not true that the humans on the earth will be separated into “sheep” and “goats” when the great tribulation begins, the “sheep” receiving everlasting life and the “goats” receiving everlasting death.[1] |
The fifth revolution occurred in 2015, when the Watchtower presented a completely new view of the Bible, a view that, in reality, was a rejection of the full inspiration of the Bible.
The first four revolutions will be discussed in this article, and the fifth revolution will be discussed in parts III and IV in this series.
REFUSING TO ACCEPT WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD
The Christian Greek Scriptures say that Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants and bought them all. Because of the ransom sacrifice, all Adam’s descendants, except those who have sinned against the holy spirit, will receive a resurrection with the possibility of everlasting life.
Studies in the Scriptures Volume I (Study IX, A 149) by C.T. Russell described the purpose of the ransom sacrifice in the following excellent way:
The Restitution Guaranteed by the Ransom—Not Everlasting Life, but a Trial for it, Secured by the Ransom.
The resurrection of all who die in Adam does not give them everlasting life. But they will be resurrected and granted life during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. They will gradually become perfect, and after the thousand years, they will undergo the final test, showing whether they are worthy of everlasting life.
The present members of the Governing Body deny the principal part of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus that Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants and bought them all. They believe that Jesus died for those who will be saved and not for all Adam’s descendants, and that the 8 billion+ who die in the great tribulation, with a few exceptions, will not receive a resurrection. In order to support this belief, they refuse to accept everything the Christian Greek Scriptures say about the resurrection.
A detailed analysis of God’s purpose, including the resurrection, is found in my book, God’s Plan Through the Ages for a Restoration of All Things.[2]
[1]. A detailed discussion of the illustration of the sheep and the goats is found in the book, God’s Plan Through the Ages for a Restoration of All Things, pages 115-140.
[2]. The book can be downloaded from www.mybelovedreligion.no.
ALL WHO ARE DYING IN ADAM WILL BE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST
When we accuse someone of refusing to accept a passage in the Bible, the words, grammar, and syntax of this passage must be clear. 1 Corinthians 15:21, 21-22 is such a text:
21 For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive.
This text can only be understood in one way: All Adam’s descendants who die because they have inherited sin will receive a resurrection. The members of the Governing Body accepted what this text says in 1965 and for 23 years. But then they changed their minds.
The Watchtower of March 15, 1965, page 167, says:
13 Pointing further to that resemblance between Adam and Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul writes in his matchless chapter on the resurrection: “It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. For since death is through a man, resurrection of the dead is also through a man. For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive.”—1 Cor. 15:45, 21, 22.
14 So, just as all of us humans had to depend upon the first man Adam for the earthly life that we enjoy today, so now all of us who are dying have to depend, one and all of us, upon Jesus Christ, “the last Adam.” There will not be another person on earth like Adam; so, if we desire to gain everlasting life on earth, we shall have to gain it through this “last Adam,” Jesus Christ.
The point here is that the words “will be made alive” refer to every single one of us who are dying because of Adam’s sin. The book Reasoning from the Scriptures (1989), page 357, makes a correct statement:
Does 1 Corinthians 15:22 prove that all humans will eventually be saved? It says: “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (RS) As shown in the surrounding verses, what is under discussion here is resurrection. Who will be resurrected? All whose death is attributable to Adamic sin (see verse 21) but who have not also personally committed the willful transgressions set forth in Hebrews 10:26-29. As Jesus was raised from Hades (Acts 2:31), so all others who are in Hades will be “made alive” by means of the resurrection. (Rev. 1:18; 20:13) Will all of these gain eternal salvation? That opportunity will be open to them, but not everyone will take hold of it, as is indicated at John 5:28, 29
The person who wrote the words about the resurrection in Reasoning from the Scriptures had a correct understanding of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ because he believed in the full inspiration of the Bible. Later, this belief changed, and below I present two quotations showing that the members of the Governing Body refuse to accept what Paul wrote and try to explain away the meaning of his words. I quote The Watchtower of December 2020, page 5, (above) and “Bible questions answered,” page 105, (below)[1]:
THOSE WHO “WILL BE MADE ALIVE”
14 What did Paul mean when he said that “in Adam all are dying”? Paul had in mind Adam’s descendants, who inherited sin and imperfection from Adam and thus are in a dying condition. (Rom. 5:12) Adam is not among those who “will be made alive.” Christ’s ransom does not cover him, for Adam was a perfect man who willfully disobeyed God. The outcome for Adam is the same as what is ahead for those whom “the Son of man” will judge as “goats,” namely, “everlasting cutting-off.”—Matt. 25:31-33, 46; Heb. 5:9.
15 Note that Paul said that “in the Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Paul’s letter was written to anointed Christians in Corinth, who would be resurrected to life in heaven. Those Christians were “sanctified in union with Christ Jesus, called to be holy ones.” And Paul mentioned “those who have fallen asleep in death in union with Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:2; 15:18; 2 Cor. 5:17) In another inspired letter, Paul wrote that those “united with [Jesus] in the likeness of his death” will “be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Rom. 6:3-5) Jesus was raised as a spirit and went to heaven. So that will be the outcome for all “in union with Christ,” that is, all spirit-anointed Christians.
Misconception: First Corinthians 15:22 teaches universal salvation by saying that “in the Christ all will be made alive.”
Fact: The context of this verse discusses the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:12, 13, 20, 21, 35) So the phrase “in the Christ all will be made alive” simply means that all who are resurrected receive this blessing through Jesus Christ.—John 11:25.
The quoted texts show two different attempts to explain away Paul’s words. The 2000 article says that “all” refers to the 144,000 members of spiritual Israel. The 2026 online article shows that this viewpoint was rejected. The new view is that the words refer to all who get resurrection. But the words do not say that all who die because of inherited sin will get a resurrection.
Both explanations are wrong, as shown by the fact that the two clauses in 1 Corinthians 15:22 are completely parallel. They show without any doubt that every single descendant of Adam who has died because of inherited sin from Adam will receive a resurrection.
| hōsper (just as) gar (for) en (in) tō Adam (Adam) pantes (all ) apothnēskousin (will die). |
| houtos (so) kai (also) en (in) tō Khristou (Christ) pantes (all ) zōopoiēthēsontai (will be made alive). |
The two quotations above constitute an explicit refusal to accept what the Holy Scriptures say about the resurrection.
[1]. https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/502016130#h=13:0-15:249
THE INHABITANTS OF CHORAZIN, CAPERNAUM, AND SODOM WILL RECEIVE A RESURRECTION
In the last section, I discussed the eternal destiny of Adam’s descendants who die because of inherited sin. I showed that the present members of the Governing Body refuse to accept that the Scriptures say that all these will get a resurrection. In this section, I will discuss the resurrection of specific groups. And I will show that the members of the Governing Body refuse to accept the words of Jesus about the resurrection of these groups.
I quote Matthew 11:20-24 as an example.
20 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his powerful works had taken place, for they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Cho·raʹzin! Woe to you, Beth·saʹi·da! because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Tyre and Siʹdon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more endurable for Tyre and Siʹdon on Judgment Day than for you. 23 And you, Ca·perʹna·um, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to the Grave (hades) you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sodʹom, it would have remained until this very day. 24 But I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sodʹom on Judgment Day than for you.”
1965
The text is clear, and if we accept the full inspiration of the Bible, we must believe that the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida, Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom will receive a resurrection on Judgment Day. This was the view of the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1965. The Watchtower of March 1, 1965, page 139, says regarding the verses quoted above:
As in the case of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus showed that Sodom, bad as it was, had not got to the state of being unable to repent. That is why Jesus said that, if his powerful works that had taken place in Capernaum had taken place in Sodom, “it would have remained” until Jesus’ day. And in that connection Jesus said that Capernaum, which had been exalted in a spiritual way to heaven, would be abased down to Ha’des, not to Gehenna. Heaven for height and Ha’des or Sheol for depth; and by using this contrast Jesus meant that Capernaum would undergo the deepest abasement. Though highly favored by Jesus, that city does not exist today any more than Sodom does. But if Sodom had had Capernaum’s opportunity Sodom would have had ten or more righteous persons in it and it would have continued over nineteen hundred years longer till Jesus’ day and then some. So the spiritual recovery of the dead people of Sodom is not hopeless. (Gen. 18:22-32) Ezekiel 16:46-61 speaks hopefully of people compared to ancient Sodomites.
The viewpoints of the members of the Governing Body regarding the words of Jesus have changed in a zig-zag pattern, as we see below:
1987
The Watchtower of January 15, 1987, page 24, accepted the words of Jesus at face value. We read about the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, Sodom, and Gomorrah, and said:
Jesus goes on to single out for reproach the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where he has performed most of his powerful works. If he had done them in the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus says, these cities would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Condemning Capernaum, which apparently has been his home base during his ministry, Jesus declares: “It will be more endurable for the land of Sodom on Judgment Day than for you.”
What does Jesus mean by this? Evidently he is showing that, during Judgment Day when proud ones in Capernaum are resurrected, it will be more difficult for them to admit their mistakes and accept Christ than it will be for the resurrected ancient Sodomites to repent humbly and learn righteousness.
1988
More than a year after expressing faith in Jesus’ words, as we see in the previous quotation, the members of the Governing Body had changed their minds, leading to a rejection of those words. The Watchtower of June 1, 1988, page 30, raised the question:
Will those whom Jehovah destroyed by fire in Sodom and Gomorrah be resurrected?
The answer was:
A recent review of this suggests that these verses need not be taken as statements about the future for the people of Sodom/Gomorrah…
A reexamination of Matthew 11:20-24, though, has brought into question whether Jesus was there discussing eternal judgment and resurrection. His point was how unresponsive the people in Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were and how unlikely it was that they would reform even in the Judgment Day. Saying that it would be “more endurable” for Tyre/Sidon and Sodom/Gomorrah “on Judgment Day” was a form of hyperbole (exaggeration to emphasize a point) that Jesus need not have intended to be taken literally, any more than other graphic hyperboles that he used.
The claim that Jesus’ words do not mean what they say is a rejection of the full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
2013
The view of the members of the Governing Body throughout the 21st century has been that all those who died in the great flood in the days of Noah and in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the inhabitants of Chorazin, Capernaum, and Bethsaida, have been everlastingly annihilated without any hope of a resurrection. This view regarding Sodom and Gomorrah was expressed in the Revised New World Translation (2013), I quote Luke 10:10-12 (above) and the study note in NWT13 to verse 12 (below):
10 But wherever you enter into a city and they do not receive you, go out into its main streets and say: 11 ‘We wipe off against you even the dust that sticks to our feet from your city. Nevertheless, know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you that it will be more endurable for Sodʹom in that day than for that city.
It will be more endurable: Evidently used as a form of hyperbole that Jesus may not have intended to be taken literally. (Compare other graphic hyperboles that Jesus used, such as those at Mt 5:18; Lu 16:17; 21:33) When Jesus said it would be “more endurable for Sodom in that day,” that is, on Judgment Day (Mt 10:15; 11:22, 24; Lu 10:14), he was not saying that the inhabitants of Sodom must be present on that day. (Compare Jude 7) He could simply have been emphasizing how unresponsive and culpable most people were in such cities as Chorazin. Bethsaida, and Capernaum. (Lu 10:13-15) It is worth noting that what happened to Ancient Sodom had become a proverbial and was often mentioned in connection with God’s anger and judgment.—De 29:23: Isa 1:9; La 4:6.
The claim that Jesus did not say that Sodom and Gomorrah will receive a resurrection is a rejection of the full inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
2024
It is likely that the rejection of the words of Jesus, and the doctrine that so many people will not receive a resurrection, caused a number of letters with questions would be sent to the Watchtower Society. The members of the Governing Body saw the need to refine the doctrine of the resurrection and make it more tangible. This was done in the Watchtower of May 2024, pages 5 and 6, paragraph 15:
13 We also know about Jehovah’s mercy toward the Ninevites. God told Jonah: “Their wickedness has come to my attention.” But when they repented of their sins, Jehovah kindly forgave them. He was far more merciful than Jonah was. God had to remind his angry prophet that those Ninevites did “not even know right from wrong.” (Jonah 1:1, 2; 3:10; 4:9-11) Later, Jesus used that example to teach about Jehovah’s justice and mercy. Jesus said that the repentant Ninevites would “rise up in the judgment.”—Matt. 12:41
15 When speaking of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Jesus said that they would fare better “on Judgment Day” than would the people who rejected him and his teachings. (Matt. 10: 14, 15; 11:23, 24; Luke 10:12) What did he mean? We might assume that Jesus was using hyperbole on this occasion. But that does not seem to be the case, any more than when he was speaking of the Ninevites. Rather, it seems that Jesus meant what he said. The “Judgment Day” he referred to in both instances was surely the same. Like the Ninevites, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did bad things. But the Ninevites had an opportunity to repent. Further, remember what Jesus said about the “resurrection of judgment.” It will include “those who practiced vile things.” (John 5:29) So it seems that there may be some hope for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is possible that at least some of those people will be resurrected, and we may have the opportunity to teach them about Jehovah and Jesus Christ.
By pleading ignorance and raising the possibility that some of the inhabitants of Sodom will receive a resurrection, a part of the doctrine of the resurrection that so many people will not receive a resurrection is taken away. The study note to Luke 11:12 in the 2026 edition of NWT13 goes a little step further. The text of this study note has been changed. I quote the text of this study note per July 3, 2024, above, and per April 20, 2026, below:
Luke 10:12
It will be more endurable: Evidently used as a form of hyperbole that Jesus may not have intended to be taken literally. (Compare other graphic hyperboles that Jesus used, such as those at Mt 5:18; Lu 16:17; 21:33) When Jesus said it would be “more endurable for Sodom in that day,” that is, on Judgment Day (Mt 10:15; 11:22, 24; Lu 10:14), he was not saying that the inhabitants of Sodom must be present on that day. (Compare Jude 7) He could simply have been emphasizing how unresponsive and culpable most people were in such cities as Chorazin. Bethsaida, and Capernaum. (Lu 10:13-15) It is worth noting that what happened to Ancient Sodom had become a proverbial and was often mentioned in connection with God’s anger and judgment.—De 29:23: Isa 1:9; La 4:6.
Luke 10:12
It will be more endurable for Sodom: Jesus indicates that at least some of those destroyed at Sodom and Gomorrah may be resurrected in that day, that is, during Judgment Day. (Mt 10:15; 11:22, 24; Lu 10:14) If so, they would be part of the “resurrection of . . . the unrighteous.” (Ac 24:15) Whether everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah would be resurrected is in the hands of Jehovah, the righteous “Judge of all the earth,” and his Son.—Ge 18:25; Joh 5:22; see also study note on Joh 5:29.
Neither the comments in the Watchtower for May 2024 nor the study note on Luke 10:12 in NWT13, as of April 20, 2026, take the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:20-24 or Luke 10:10-12 at face value. Jesus stated that “Sodom”, including its inhabitants and the other cities on the plain, would receive a resurrection, not some of them, while the two mentioned quotations say that some of these inhabitants, or perhaps all, may receive a resurrection. These statements of ignorance, whether some inhabitants will receive a resurrection, plus the statements saying that the inhabitants of Sodom will not receive a resurrection, are a denial of the full inspiration of the Bible.
Why did the members of the Governing Body, when they touched up the doctrine of the resurrection in order to make it more palpable, go halfway and not the whole way? Why did they say that only some of the inhabitants of the cities Jesus mentioned could perhaps be present on Judgment Day, and not all the inhabitants of these cities, as Jesus’ words stated?
The reason is their basic doctrine of the ransom sacrifice and the resurrection. The Bible Students believed that Jesus died for all Adam’s descendants and bought them all. It follows that all the descendants of Adam will get a resurrection to have their test during the thousand-year reign of Jesus, except those who are permeated by wickedness and have sinned against the holy spirit. This is the true biblical viewpoint.
The present members of the Governing Body believe in a limited ransom sacrifice: Jesus did not die for all and buy all Adam’s descendants, but only for those who will be saved. Billions of Adam’s descendants, for example, those who die in the great tribulation, have received their final test in this world, while they are imperfect humans. Therefore, they will not receive a resurrection and will not face their test on the thousand-year Judgment Day. Therefore, they cannot accept Jesus’ words that all inhabitants of the mentioned cities will receive a resurrection.
The only conclusion we can draw from the view of the members of the Governing Body regarding our time and the great tribulation, even though this conclusion is shocking, is that Jesus did not die for and buy the 8 billion+ humans who will be everlastingly annihilated in the great tribulation.
| The members of the Governing Body do not believe in the full inspiration because:
1) They do not accept the words of Paul (1 Corinthians 15:22) that all Adam’s descendants who die because of inherited sin will receive a resurrection. 2) They do not accept the words of Jesus (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 10:10.12) that all the inhabitants of Chorazin, Kapernaum, Bethsaida, and Sodom will receive a resurrection. |
BELIEF IN THE FULL INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE REQUIRES THAT:
- WE MUST TAKE EVERY ACCOUNT LITERALLY IF THE CONTEXT EXPLICITLY DOES NOT SAY THAT A TEXT IS FIGURATIVE.
- WE MUST BELIEVE THAT EVERY ACCOUNT IS INCLUDED WITH A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
- WE MUST ACCEPT THAT ALL SUBTLETIES AND NUANCES IN THE TEXT ARE IMPORTANT.
