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 questionable doctrine

The term "The Truth" is repeated so constantly that Jehovah's Witnesses sincerely believe there is no other way in which the Bible can be understood. A person that believes God directs the Faithful and Discreet Slave unwittingly attempts to align the Bible with the Watchtower. The primary goal of reading the Bible is to understand it in line with what the Watchtower Society says is truth.

"We must serve Jehovah in truth, as revealed in his Word and made clear in the publications of "the faithful and discreet slave." Watchtower 1996 May 15 p.18

Jehovah's Witnesses believe as truth what comes from the Watchtower Society today - current truth. Yet did not Watchtower followers believe the greatly different teachings of Russell, teachings still accepted by Bible Students? When Rutherford overturned many of these beliefs, did not people then think Rutherford had it correct? When Knorr changed more teachings on release of the New World Translation, Witnesses accepted these new teachings as correct. It is readily apparent that just because a group of people strongly believe something to be true does not make it so.

If you have read all the changed doctrines listed on this site, you will be aware of enough change to know that the Governing Body does not have Holy Spirit directing their interpretations. Jehovah has not presented through the Watchtower Society an accurate and unified body of Truth. The resultant implication of this is very important - current doctrines are equally likely to be incorrect.

There are two ways that a religion develops its doctrines - eisegesis and exegesis. Eisegesis is where scriptures are found to support a pre-existing belief, resulting in inaccurate doctrine and the possibility of any number of interpretations.

A more respected approach is to arrive at doctrinal understanding through exegesis. Let a passage explain itself in its literary context, doing so in line with its relationship to other Biblical passages and parallel literature of the period. To understand Scripture, consider what it meant to the person making the statement and what it conveyed to the person spoken to, in line with what they already knew from other Scriptures, the point made at the time and the prevailing culture.

A large portion of Watchtower doctrine comes from an Eisegesis approach. An Eisegesis approach and resultant inaccuracies can be quickly identified in significant and defining doctrine.

• Only 144,000 are anointed and go to heaven
• All not associated with the Watchtower Society will be destroyed at Armageddon
• Use of the word Jehovah is an important part of worship
• Normal behaviour, such as birthdays or belief in the cross is ungodly
• Shunning of former members
• Refusing to use blood
• That the Last Days started in 1914

For this reason, those that leave and read the Bible in preference to the Watchtower regularly revert to common Christian beliefs.

"From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah's people those, who, like the original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude...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 ..." Watchtower 1981 Aug 15 p.29

Much of Watchtower teaching could never be arrived at by reading the Bible alone. Notable examples are the Watchtower's explanations of prophetic books such as Revelation, with its interpretations referencing obscure events in twentieth century Watchtower history. Is it logical that when John wrote and Early Christian congregations discussed Revelation, they understood it to prefigure events in the early 1900's, such as Rutherford's imprisonment? This is so much the case that Revelation, it's Grand Climax is at Hand has been referred to as scripture in its own right. Referring to the Revelation book, Botting and Botting note:

"This volume, like many Watch Tower publications, blurs the traditional boundaries that distinguish sacred literature from interpretation, so much so in fact that it is argued here that this book functions, in effect, as scripture for this particular reading community." 1984 The Orwellian World of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p.94

Just as a well built house will collapse if its foundation is faulty, when a person builds their beliefs on an incorrect premise, the entire structure will be unsound. Once you no longer believe the premise the Jehovah directs what comes forth from the Watchtower leaders, it becomes possible to read the Bible for what it actually says. Belief in absolute Watchtower truth changes once you can accept that:

• the Watchtower was not chosen in 1919 as God's Organization
• the Watchtower Society has made ongoing significant doctrinal changes
• other religions are equally sincere in attempting to understand the Bible

Strong indication of what is most important to the Watchtower Society comes from the Scriptures concentrated on. On the Watchtower CD Library, of the 1189 Bible chapters, 5% of all citations come from just five chapters, of which four are about the Last Days. By far the most important cited chapter is Matthew 24, to promote that the Watchtower Society alone holds office as the Faithful and Discreet Slave (v45) in the Last Days (v3) and that we must preach (v14). Concentration on a limited portion of the Bible results in a distorted view of its message, and Witnesses that read the entire Bible without the aid of Watchtower publications are regularly shocked to find the message quite different than what they have been led to believe.

This section shows that other religions have good Scriptural reason for not accepting Watchtower beliefs. Many religions have built doctrine through centuries of effort by intelligent and sincere truth seekers. When Watchtower teachings differ from other Christians, it is not because everyone else has been 'blinded by Satan'; it is often because the Governing Body and Watchtower writers do not understand the Bible as accurately as Christian scholars do.

Although a departure from mainstream Christian thinking, little of Watchtower doctrine is unique. Russell originally took much doctrine from the Adventists, such as his belief against the Trinity and immortality of the soul, and his understanding of prophecy. Christians commonly interpret the Bible with "Replacement Theology", claiming Scripture discussing literal Israel and Jerusalem refer to the Church, just as the Watchtower aligns Bible prophecy with itself. There is little difference between Jehovah's Witnesses and American groups that started the same time, such as Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians and Church of God.

Whilst claims of an absolute truth hold philosophical merit, believing it is held within the domain of a single organization proves to be wrong. The Bible contains an array of writings that can be taken as figurative or literal, resulting in a vast chasm of doctrinal variation - hence the wide variety of Christian denominations today. There is no single provable 'true' interpretation of the Bible; certainly the numerous ongoing changes the Watchtower has made to its doctrine should prove this to a Witness. The Watchtower picks and chooses when to refer to Old Testament guidelines and when to claim the Old Testament was superseded by the New Testament. These affect the plethora of prophecy, doctrine and moral stance, and result in endless tweaking and claims of "new light".

This section shows as simply as possible why key Watchtower doctrine are unfounded.

   Paul Grundy  2005 - 2013