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What
is the source of Jehovah's Witness Beliefs,
the Bible or the Watchtower?
A Jehovah's Witness wrote:
"The rest of us like to look into the Bible and see if there is grounds for
jumping, and then jump if it seems a good idea."
My response:
You seem to be saying that you look at what the Society says, evaluate their
arguments in light of the Bible, and then either accept or reject the idea based
on your understanding of the Scriptures. You are implying here that you are able
to understand the Bible. I would say that your position on this is contradictory
with the Society’s stated position concerning your ability to understand the
Bible. (I’m assuming that you are not of the "remnant".) They hold that you
cannot understand the Bible without their literature. How then can you evaluate
their literature in light of the Bible since you can’t understand the Bible
apart from what the Society’s literature tells you? I will now document this
with the following statements taken directly from Watchtower publications. I
urge you to check out the quotes for yourself to make sure I am not misquoting
them.
Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the Divine Plan in
studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the
Scripture Studies aside, even after he has used them, after he has become
familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years - if he lays them aside
and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible
for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness.
On the other hand, if he had merely read the Scripture Studies with their
references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the
light at the end of the two years, because he would have the light of the
Scriptures. (The Watchtower; 9/15/1910; pp. 298)
But if each of us were left to himself just because he has a copy of the Bible
and were to direct his movements independently as he thought he understood the
Word, what? It is likely, or possible, that there would be a great deal of
confusion or working in competition among us. Hence, besides individually
possessing God’s Word, we need a theocratic organization. Yes, besides having
God’s spirit of illumination, a Christian needs Jehovah’s theocratic
organization in order to understand the Bible. (The Watchtower; 6/15/1951; pp.
375)
The world is full of Bibles, which Book contains the commandments of God. Why,
then, do the people not know which way to go? Because they do not also have the
teaching or law of the mother, which is light. Jehovah God has provided his holy
written Word for all mankind and it contains all the information that is needed
for men in taking a course leading to life. But God has not arranged for that
Word to speak independently or to shine forth life-giving truths by itself. His
Word says: "Light is sown for the righteous." (Ps. 97:11) It is through his
organization that God provides this light that the proverb says is the teaching
or law of the mother. If we are to walk in the light of truth we must recognize
not only Jehovah God as our Father but his organization as our mother. (The
Watchtower; 5/1/1957; pp. 274)
Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian
congregation as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely
they may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible
cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization in mind.
(The Watchtower; 10/1/1967; pp. 587)
Only this organization functions for Jehovah’s purpose and to his praise. To it
alone God’s Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book. (The Watchtower;
7/1/1973; pp. 402)
They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in
small groups at home. But, strangely, through such ‘Bible reading,’ they have
reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom’s
clergy were teaching 100 years ago,... (The Watchtower; 8/15/1981; pp. 29)
No matter where we may live on earth, God’s Word continues to serve as a light
to our path and a lamp to our roadway as to our conduct and beliefs. (Ps.
119:105) But Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his
"faithful and discreet slave," made up of spirit anointed ones, to help
Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible in their
lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is
using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible
reading we do. (The Watchtower; 12/1/1981; pp. 27)
We have the opportunity to show love for our brothers who take the lead in the
congregation or in connection with Jehovah’s visible organization worldwide.
This includes being loyal to "the faithful and discreet slave." (Matthew
24:45-47) Let us face the fact that no matter how much Bible reading we have
done, we would never have learned the truth on our own. (The Watchtower;
12/1/1990; pp. 19)
Channel to understanding the Bible... All who want to understand the Bible
should appreciate that the "greatly diversified wisdom of God" can become known
only through Jehovah’s channel of communication, the faithful and discreet
slave. (The Watchtower; 10/1/1994; pp. 8)
Based on these statements, I believe your claim of evaluating the Watchtower’s
beliefs in light of the Scriptures is impossible within the authority structure
of the Watchtower religion since the Society teaches that you cannot understand
the Bible apart from their guidance.
A Probing Question for Jehovah's Witnesses:
One last question for you concerning this topic and then I will be done. I’m
curious to know exactly which, if any, doctrines of the Society you have
rejected based on your analysis of the Scriptures on a given point. I’m
wondering if you can demonstrate that you really do disagree with the Society on
something or if what you said earlier has never actually given birth to a
difference. To say that you could disagree without ever actually disagreeing
shows that it is somewhat of an empty theory.
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