 Interesting Quotes from Watchtower Literature
It is important to understand the psychological hold the Watchtower organization has in
the life of the average Jehovah's Witness. The Watchtower organization is the guide, the
teacher, the expounder of correct doctrine. The J.W. attends several meetings each week
where he is repeatedly indoctrinated to believe Watchtower doctrines. Every J.W. thinks
alike and has the same pat answers because they read from the same sources and are
conditioned into thinking the same way: the Watchtower way. So, if you've witnessed to one
J.W., you've heard the same arguments they all will use.
In opposition to the Watchtower, according to the Bible,
Jesus is the mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). He alone is the one who reveals
truth (John 1:17), not the Watchtower organization. As you will read in these quotes, the
Watchtower organization subtly takes the place of Jesus. Though it claims to bear witness
of Him and point to Him, in reality it takes His place. This is typical for a cult.
- "It should be expected that the Lord
would have a means of communication to his people on the earth, and he has clearly shown
that the magazine called The Watchtower is used for that purpose." (1939 Yearbook
of Jehovah's Witnesses, p. 85.)
- "We all need help to understand the
Bible, and we cannot find the Scriptural guidance we need outside the ‘faithful and
discreet slave' organization." (The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1981.)
- "...people cannot see the Divine Plan in
studying the Bible by itself...if he then lays them [Scripture Studies] 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, Sept. 15, 1910, p. 298.
- "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 100 years ago..." The
Watchtower, August 15, 1981.
- "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." The
Watchtower, Oct. 1, 1967. p. 587.
- "Make haste to identify the visible
theocratic organization of God that represents his king, Jesus Christ. It is essential for
life. Doing so, be complete in accepting its every aspect." The Watchtower,
October 1, 1967, p. 591.
- "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, May 1, 1957, p. 274.
- "We cannot claim to love God, yet deny
his word and channel of communication." The Watchtower, October 1, 1967, p. 591.
- "We should eat and digest and assimilate
what is set before us, without shying away from parts of the food because it may not suit
the fancy of our mental taste...We should meekly go along with the Lord's theocratic
organization and wait for further clarification, rather than balk at the first mention of
a thought unpalatable to us and proceed to quibble and mouth our criticisms and opinions
as though they were worth more than the slave's provision of spiritual food. Theocratic
ones will appreciate the Lord's visible organization and not be so foolish as to put
against Jehovah's channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and personal
feelings." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pp. 79-80.
- "After being nourished to our present
spiritual strength and maturity, do we suddenly become smarter than our former provider
and forsake the enlightening guidance of the organization that mothers us? ‘Forsake
not the law of thy mother' (Prov. 6:20-23)." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, p.
80.
- "Never was there a more deceptive
doctrine advanced than that of the trinity. It could have originated only in one mind, and
that the mind of Satan the Devil." Reconciliation, 1928, p. 101.
- "The doctrine, in brief, is that there
are three gods in one: ‘God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,; all
three equal in power, substance and eternity." Let God Be True, 1952, p. 100.
(Here they misrepresent the doctrine of the Trinity.)
- "Ask the student, ‘How many
Jehovah's are there?' Let him answer. The answer is obvious that there is only one
Jehovah...If he is one Jehovah, then could he be three gods, God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Ghost, as the Trinitarians teach?" The Watchtower, April 1, 1970.
p. 210. (Again, the Watchtower misrepresents the doctrine of the Trinity.)
- "The fact that our Lord received worship
is claimed by some to be an evidence that while on earth he was God the Father disguised
in a body of flesh and not really a man. Was he really worshiped, or is the
translation faulty? Yes we believe our Lord Jesus while on earth was really worshiped, and
properly so. While he was not the God, Jehovah, he was a God. The word
‘God’ signifies a ‘mighty one,’ and our Lord was indeed a mighty one.
So it is stated in the first two verses of the gospel of John. It was proper for our Lord
to receive worship in view of his having been the only begotten of the Father. . ." (The
Watchtower, July 15, 1898, p. 216.)
- There are four requirements for salvation as
taught by the Watchtower magazine of Feb. 15, 1983, p. 12. One of them deals with the
Watchtower organization.
- Jesus Christ identified a first requirement
when he said in prayer to his Father: "This means everlasting life, their taking
in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth,
Jesus Christ." (John 17:3) Knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ includes knowledge of
God’s purposes regarding the earth and of Christ’s role as earth’s new
King. Will you take in such knowledge by studying the Bible?
- Many have found the second requirement more
difficult. It is to obey God’s laws, yes, to conform one’s
life to the moral requirements set out in the Bible. This includes refraining from a
debauched, immoral way of life.—1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 1 Peter 4:3, 4.
- A third requirement is that we be associated
with God’s channel, his organization. God has always used an
organization. For example, only those in the ark in Noah’s day survived the Flood,
and only those associated with the Christian congregation in the first century had
God’s favor. (Acts 4:12) Similarly, Jehovah is using only one organization today to
accomplish his will. To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify
that organization and serve God as part of it.
- The fourth requirement is connected with
loyalty. God requires that prospective subjects of his Kingdom support his government by loyally
advocating his Kingdom rule to others. Jesus
Christ explained: "This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the
inhabited earth." (Matthew 24:14) Will you meet this requirement by telling others
about God’s Kingdom?
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