How do the modern concepts and teachings of the WTS differ from the old ones of 100 years ago? The vast majority of sincere Witnesses have never even considered or examined older publications such as the ones quoted below. Once I mentioned to a fellow Witness that I was up late the night before studying. They asked what the topic was. “Studies in the Scriptures, volume 2” was my reply. Their face incredulous, they asked me “Why would you be reading that?” My response was there was a lot of fascinating information and that Brother Russell was right on the nose on many topics and that theocratic history is an interest of mine. This answer was sufficient, but still met with skepticism.

So what is the Watchtower view of the Bible, as it relates to our ability to understand and comprehend the Word of God? Here are some examples from the past of their views on understanding scripture relative to the WTS Organization:

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WATCHTOWER VIEW OF THE BIBLE 100 YEARS AGO

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“Bible classes and Bible studies are all to no purpose until the Lord, in due time , sent them the ‘Bible keys’ through the society” WT10/01/1909 p4482

“If the six volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES are practically the bible topically arranged, with Bible proof texts given we might not improperly name the volumes- the Bible in an arranged form. That is to say ,they are not merely comments on the Bible , but they are practically the Bible itself….” WT9/15/1910p4685.

“A person would go into darkness after two years of reading the Bible alone; would be in the light reading the studies in the scriptures alone” WT9/15/1910.p4685

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WATCHTOWER VIEW OF THE BIBLE IN MORE RECENT TIMES

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“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.” WT7/01/73 p402

“Jehovah God caused the Bible to be written in such a way that one needs to come in touch with His human channel before one can fully and accurately understand it. True, we need the help of God’s holy spirit, but its help also comes to us primarily by association with the channel Jehovah God sees fit to use.”  WT 2/15/1981p.17

“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 study we do.” WT 12/01/81p 27

““A special pioneer making a return visit asked the lady what book teaches us the will of God. ‘The Watchtower, of course,’ she said. Our sister proceeded to explain that it was, rather, the Bible. ‘Yes, but what would I do with my recently obtained Bible if I did not use The Watchtower to understand it?’” 1983 yearbook p.21

“Our coming to know “the truth”- the entire body of Christian teachings that has become part of the Bible – and adhering to it are essential for our salvation.” WT 12/15/2009 p.28

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These statements are the views of the Watchtower Society, and many but not all of Jehovah’s Witnesses share them. But they are also more than that too-  They are enforced doctrine that if any JW was to disagree with could eventually lead to his removal from the congregation. The import of these quotes is that the Bible is basically a book for the organization’s Governing Body to interpret. No individual can operate outside of these parameters. A fair question to ask would be; how did God-fearing Christians manage to please God and attain salvation before the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society appeared in the late 19th century? Or the 18th? Or the 17th?  2 Timothy 3:16, 17 says:

“All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness,  that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.

So according to this familiar verse, the man of God, armed with a copy of the Holy Scriptures, is fully competent, completely equipped to face the outside world acceptably to God. Does it seem likely to you that no one was able to understand the Bible properly until C.T. Russell explained it to them through his books in the late 1870s? Since these publications are now spiritually defunct and viewed as “old light”, how could his views be the only way to salvation? If one of Jehovah’s Witnesses believed his teachings nowadays they would be disfellowshipped for apostasy, condemned using references from the very magazine he founded! He taught that Jesus was worthy of worship along with Jehovah. He taught that we do not need an organization but that each ecclesia, or congregation, can choose qualified men to serve as mature (but completely equal to the publishers) elders to lead the prayer and Bible study of each group.

What about the two billion professed Christians around the world today? Can all of these people who have ‘just’ the Bible be living in a spiritual vacuum, without any hope for salvation? John 14:26 says:

“But the helper, the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my name, that one will teach you all things and bring back to your minds all the things I told you.”

And John 15:26 says:

“When the helper arrives that I will send you from the Father, the spirit of the truth, which proceeds from the Father, that one will bear witness about me”

Far from a publishing corporation or even an individual or group, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit, a helper and teacher, would instruct people and witness about him. We need that Spirit. Fellow worshipers are needed too, of this there is no doubt. (Proverbs 27:17; Hebrews 10:24, 25) But not as men that would take the place of Jesus Christ as our Mediator. This is God’s view of the Bible, a book that we all need to read and study in an “undertone day and night” (Psalms 1:1) so as to gain God and Christ’s favor.

(This article adapted with appreciation from Brother M. Barry, http://deathorobedience.blogspot.com)

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11 Comments on The Watchtower Society View of the Bible

  1. Amos says:

    Excellent post Bro. JJ.
    The quotes that you’ve taken from the early Reprints (WTs), are the main ones I was refering to in the other thread.

    I wholeheartedly agree with your question; “how did God-fearing Christians manage to please God and attain salvation before the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society appeared in the late 19th century? Or the 18th? Or the 17th?”

    I would say….”How would any man be saved, between the death of the Ap. John, & CT Russell’s time?” We know of course, that this is completely wrong.

    Amos

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  2. serein says:

    i agree to. how they can say that we can only understand the bible through them is wrong.it is true thoe that we do need help in understanding it when weve never read it befor or even heard about god. remember most of us have been brought up with the bibles teachings or have always had a longing for it and read it and understud, but theres people out there who havnt a clue so need help with it,so we have to help them,does that make us as bad as they for helping some one by telling them they need us to understand the teachings?people do need help but its wrong to say that the only help and salation is through jw organisation.its help from all christians who under stand better than the one who wants to learn,so then we help guide them.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    I am an earnest seeker and at present a defender of no organization but some of the “quotes” from the above article are equally misleading because they are not quotes they are summarized from the writers perspective, is there any information out there that is trustworthy? I am frustrated and discouraged because I felt like this was possibly an earnest sight without the mudslinging and manipulation :(

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    • JJ says:

      Anonymous

      The quotes are word for word excerpts from the original articles. I have looked them up from PDF scans and I believe them to be 100% accurate. If there is an error in one please email or let me know via these comments and I will change it immediately. My goal is not to distort anything but to help all of us as fellow slaves to figure out how to serve Him properly.

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    • andrew says:

      Welcome Anonymous:
      I believe most if not all who comment on this site are also truth seekers. Also most if not all of us come from a JW background. When one begins to learn that not all he was taught to believe with all his heart is true, there is a great feeling of disappointment, maybe anger. It is easy to become unbalanced when one realizes that much of what one did was for an organization and not God.

      That being said in my opinion the article above is not unbalanced. It makes good points and appears to be a sincere effort to find truth. Sometimes to reveal truths you first must reveal falsehoods. The Watchtower organ. goes after “christendom” full throttle. They pull no punches. Many of their critiques are deserved others are not. You will not find total truth in any organization, website, or any teacher. Instead do what Paul recommends in 1 Thess. 5:21 “but test all things. Hold on to what is good.”

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I have not have time to look them all up but the very first one I tried to confirm was this one: “Heavy research is not necessary. The Watchtower has done it for you. The most beneficial study you can do is to read the Watchtower or Awake! or a new book by the organization.” WT6/01/67 p338.
    So I looked it up the the Watchtower Library I have and this is what I found:
    “How will we put these four things into effect? First, study: We may think of study as hard work, as involving heavy research. But in Jehovah’s organization it is not necessary to spend a lot of time and energy in research, for there are brothers in the organization who are assigned to do that very thing, to help you who do not have so much time for this, these preparing the good material in The Watchtower and other publications of the Society. But you do not study enough? Take this suggestion: Often the very best and most beneficial studying you do is that done when you read a new Watchtower or Awake! or a new book with the joy of getting the new truths and a fresh view. You remember the points. You talk enthusiastically to others about them. So try this: Pick up each Watchtower or Awake! as it comes and read it, just for the joy and pleasure it gives. Remember, you are not sitting down to study, just to enjoy the information. This will increase your joy of reading and will give you incentive for more definite, organized study. Jehovah wants you to enjoy your study. He does not want it to be drudgery to you. He is the happy God, taking pleasure in providing all this rich spiritual food” WT6/01/67 p338

    So this is what led me to believe it is probably all summarized from the writers point of view. I just want to be able to draw my own conclusions and when something is in quotations it leads you to believe that is exactly how it reads, when it in fact is not, so it ends up giving me the impression the whole article is slanted and could possibly misrepresent. I don’t want to feel manipulated by either side I am seeking honesty and answers to my questions. I have been warned repeatedly through the years that the Watchtower articles have even been altered by some so as to appear that they say something different than what they actually say and when I find things like this it just gives that claim clout. To me a quote is a quote, and a summary is a summary. I am going to refrain from giving my personal opinion on the actual quote, I just feel it is important to examine the actual articles and it makes me question every single quote mentioned.

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  5. JJ says:

    I am very thankful for your pointing this out. A few of these quotes are indeed paraphrased, and that is NOT acceptable to me at all. I am removing the 1967 reference and am checking the others right now. Once that is done the article will be edited and fixed.

    Again, please accept my apologies brother/sister you are right and this needs to be corrected. A quote should and always be just that- a word for word quote.

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  6. JJ says:

    NOTE: The above article has had the paraphrased quotes removed and is now much more accurate. Thanks to Anonymous for pointing this out. I apologize to all that read the article above for these inadvertent errors. It will not happen again.

    Your Brother in Christ,
    JJ

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Thank You for you consideration , I’m just trying to make really important decisions right now and they must be based on accurate information on either side of the issues.

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  8. Jolly Roger says:

    “A fair question to ask would be; how did God-fearing Christians manage to please God and attain salvation before the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society appeared in the late 19th century? Or the 18th? Or the 17th?”

    This seems to be an important question to you, so let me try to answer it.

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  9. Jolly Roger says:

    “A fair question to ask would be; how did God-fearing Christians manage to please God and attain salvation before the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society appeared in the late 19th century? Or the 18th? Or the 17th?”

    This seems to be an important question to you, so let me try to answer it.

    -They didn’t.-

    Ta Da! Now, why is this so hard to understand? I mean, I seem to remember reading a scripture about only those calling upon the name of Jehovah would be getting away. How many peoples, organizations, groups, or “God Fearing” people were calling upon Jehovah in the 15th century? For that matter, how many could actually read?

    Exactly how does one “attain salvation” anyhow?

    What does this quote:

    “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”

    have to do with attaining salvation? Is it applicable towards baking a really low calorie Chocolate Cheesecake too?

    This line of argument has been repeated over and over and over, and I can tell you where it is going to end up: right in the middle of the annual convention of Southern Baptists with a contingent from the Alabama Southern Baptists screaming at a group of Maryland Southern Baptists who are yelling at the Southern California Southern Baptists who are all arguing over whether newly ordained women priests should be called father, mother, or sister, and what do we call the latest “gay” members of the priesthood, and, oh yeah, are you tithing your full 10 per cent.

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