Friends, it is happening. After two
and a half years of not door knocking, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been given
permission by the Governing Body to return to house-to-house publishing today –
September 1st, 2022.
After reporting of their great
success in letter-writing, phone calls and online bible studies during the
Covid pandemic, I like many, wondered if they would ever return to our streets.
But they are back.
Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have spoken
of their great joy in being able to get back on the doors. Social media is
awash with sentiments like ‘Yes’, ‘Can’t wait’, ‘So excited’,
but for every positive post I saw, I believe there will be an equal number
wanting to scream ‘Nooooooooo’.
Knocking on people’s doors is hard
work. I speak as someone who has done it as a JW and a Christian, and I can say
with the utmost conviction that it is much easier to write letters. Still, you
cannot be a Jehovah’s Witness and say ‘no’ to door-knocking, or rather say ‘no’
to the Faithful and Discreet Slave.
The devoted need not be overly concerned
though, as Governing Body member David H. Splaine told the faithful of the heavenly
help they can expect:
‘It's
all so exciting that will return to the house-to-house ministry starting
September 1st just in time for our worldwide campaign to start Bible studies. I'm
sure the angels are going to be excited too because it will give them
opportunities to help us with our ministry.’[1]
Really? It is almost like Splaine is
suggesting that the angels also took a Covid break. They have been hanging
around twiddling their thumbs until the Governing Body told them they could
play out again. I can assure David Splaine that if any angels do support the
work of JW.org, they are not the good ones!
Continuing his update from the Governing
Body, Splaine went on to say:
‘We
pray for Jehovah's rich blessing on our efforts to offer Bible studies to as
many people as possible. It has been so refreshing to resume more and more of
our theocratic activities in person. We are grateful for the good direction
Jehovah has provided. It strengthens our faith in him and our confidence in
his organisation.’[2]
Here is where the problems
lie for ordinary Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are bound by two entities that do
not exist – Jehovah and his organisation. The god they call Jehovah is neither
the God revealed in scripture, nor the God revealed in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It therefore follows, that this god does not have an organisation
representing him on the earth. The Bible nowhere speaks of God having an
earthly organisation, lead by eight men in suits in New York. How terribly sad
it is that these poor lost people believe that when these men shout ‘Jump’,
they must respond with ‘How high?’.
The Terrible World
David Splaine continues
by feeding the Jehovah’s Witnesses fear of the world around them. Everything
outside of the organisation is bad, so if you want to be safe, trust those who
love you and care for you. He compares the confidence they have in Jehovah and
his organisation with those on the outside:
‘What
a contrast with the world. People today are suffering from a crisis of
confidence. They have doubts about whether the people they look up to, the
politicians, scientists, and businessmen, really have their best interests at
heart. They wonder, do they really care about me or are they just out
for themselves?’[3]
The Terrible Church
Not wanting to leave it there,
Splaine takes the obligatory shot at the church:
‘What
about the clergy of Christendom? They have lost respect for them too, so it's
not surprising that they are sceptical about the book the clergy claims to
represent, the Bible’.[4]
Splaine here speaks with partial
truth. As Christianity wains in the increasingly secular west, people have
indeed lost respect for the clergy. But what he fails to acknowledge is that
the ‘world’ equally has no respect for the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses,
and they would be equally sceptical of their New World Mistranslation of the Holy
Scriptures.
The Bible
Splaine goes on to say:
How
can we help people to have the same confidence in God's word that we have? Let's
consider three reasons why we can trust the Bible?
The three reasons he gives concern
the accuracy of transmission, the prophecies contained within, and changed lives.
I would agree that these are all great reasons to trust the Bible, but there
are problems with each of the examples he uses.
Accuracy
Splaine points out that though we
do not have any original manuscripts, the copies we have can be proven accurate.
He says:
‘…because
of human imperfection some small errors crept into the Bible text, but modern
scholars have a reliable way of identifying those errors.
Suppose
one hundred men are assigned to copy a page of text and one of the men makes a
slight error in his copy. Now one way we could find that error is by comparing
his copy with the ninety-nine others. Similarly, by comparing a number of Bible
manuscripts, scholars are able to identify errors or omissions that one copyist
made. These can be corrected, so we can have confidence that our modern bibles
accurately reflect God’s message to mankind.’[5]
He is correct, but oh the irony. If
only Jehovah’s Witnesses would compare their New World Translation with other
Biblical translations. If only they would allow scholars to identify errors and
omissions made by the anonymous New World Translation Committee.
Prophecy
I have often used the argument of fulfilled prophecies as evidence of the Bible’s divine origin. Most apologists would point to the prophecies fulfilled in the life of Jesus to support their thesis, but not the Governing Body. Rather than pointing people to Jesus, David Splaine uses the oft-used Watchtower prophecy of Daniel[6] regarding the Anglo-American world power. In using this so-called prophecy, he keeps Jehovah’s Witnesses on high alert as the end is playing out before their very eyes.
Changed Lives
Finally, David
Splaine spoke about how following the Bible’s advice changes people’s lives. I
would certainly agree that the Bible can and does change lives, but we need to
listen carefully to the words he uses. He says:
‘Let's
see how following the Bible’s advice affected a violent criminal we will call
Jack’.
When Splaine speaks about the ‘Bible’s
advice’, he goes on to explain that he is speaking of the teachings of Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
‘Now
Jack was in prison waiting for the death sentence to be carried out. He had the
reputation of being one of the most dangerous inmates on death row. One day
Jack sat in on a Bible study and he was impressed by the love the kindness of
the brothers who were conducting the study, he asked for his own study. As he
applied what he was learning, his conduct and personality began to change. In
time he got baptised. During his time in prison, he helped at least four of the
inmates to learn the truth. When the day of his execution arrived one of his
lawyers said: ‘Jack is not the same person I knew 20 years ago. The teachings
of Jehovah's Witnesses have changed his life.’ Well we know that it is the
Bible that changes lives.’[7]
We know that religious instruction can change a person’s outward appearance and demeanour. It can reform a person’s character, yet not in any way deal with the real issue.
When I joined the Jehovah’s
Witnesses, my character and attitude changed. I began to dress differently and
speak differently. I became more moral. I stopped all the things that they told
me offended Jehovah like celebrating my birthday and Christmas. Yes, I changed
but I didn’t know God’s unconditional forgiveness. I didn’t know grace. I didn’t
have the right Jesus and so I had no relationship with the Father, but I did
have religion.
It isn’t following the Bible’s (Watchtower’s)
advice that delivers a person from sin or brings assurance of salvation to a
person’s soul. It is repentance and then faith in the One who died and rose
again. This is what the Bible teaches. This is the gospel that saves and truly
changes lives. If only these poor, lost, blind, people would trust Jesus alone
for their eternal security.
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