I am not trying to vent here, however I have somewhat of an internal dilema.
Having been a very faithful, committed JW for many years,
I do not understand how the (current) GB justifies applying the title FDS
to themselves.
On what basis do they claim to be Faithful, Discreet or a Slave?
Please explain: Faithful, Discreet & Slave
by Amnesty Vendor 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Amnesty Vendor
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inbyathread
Welcome to the Board. If you ever find the answer to that one, let us know. We've been kicking that one around for awhile now.
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SickofLies
The offical answer I believe is that Jesus came down and inspected all religions in 1919 and found them to be the only ones handing out 'spritual food' even though what they taught then is nothing like what they teach today. The idea of 1919 and Jesus inspecting them and declaring them clean is at the same level as the claims made by Scientology.
BTW, Welcome to the board.
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Double Edge
click on this link:
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Elsewhere
The FDS is, first of all, any Jehovahs Witness who writes publications for the Watchtower Society. The GB in turn acts as the central "hub" that everything goes to.
Who is the GB: p. 1-1
1. GOVERNING BODY: The Governing Body is made up of brothers who are anointed servants of Jehovah God. They act as representatives of the “faithful and discreet slave” class which has the responsibility for giving direction and impetus to the Kingdom work. (Matt. 24:45) While the Governing Body delegates certain details or responsibilities to committees made up of its own members, or committees made up of other dedicated servants of God, or to instruments such as corporations and legal agencies, it always takes the lead for the smooth functioning of the organization and the unity of all of God’s people. As the Governing Body, it has the prerogative to use its discretion and look into any matters it deems necessary to examine with regard to the Kingdom work. To oversee various aspects of the work, committees have been established as follows.
Who writes the publications: p. 24-1
4. Those used as writers must be dedicated, baptized brothers or sisters in good standing with their local congregations and who have writing ability. They should be exemplary, modest, not inclined to talk loosely to others about their writing activity. Sisters may be found to be especially talented in writing articles of interest to women. However, they should not be used to prepare articles that are basically an exposition of Scripture. Whenever anyone is given an assignment to write an article for The Watchtower or Awake!, that person should be given a copy of the memorandum “Writing for Our Journals.” It is not necessary that the person read the Standards Manual if that is available locally . However, the one in the branch responsible for sending in the article should be well acquainted with this publication and follow its rules when editing material submitted. This will do much to assure that articles will be usable for publication.
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minimus
The GB doesn't claim to be the FDS. This doctrine is so obviously stupid that once you can see the dumbness of it, you'll have no questions that the religion is not the "Truth". The FDS is supposedly ALL anointed ones on earth at any given time. Their total is 144,000 but while they live on earth, they are of the FDS which feeds their fellow "domestics" spiritual food at the proper time. The reality is that Brother Old&Faithful living in Africa who partakes has no clue about dispensing any spiritual food. He gets it either when everyone else gets their "food" or much later since he lives so far from New York. This point alone shows that it's not all anointed ones living on the earth at a given time that feeds and dispenses such food. Quite frankly, Bethelites that are non anointed get their food before the other Witnesses do and the writing is primarily done by nearly 100 year old men?? No way! They're thinking about changing their Depends. It's the "Nethinim" the "helpers" to the GB that do all the work and write the publications. This whole parable is just that---a parable about faithfulness.
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Apostate Kate
Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Now what true theologians have to say about it.....
Mt 24:45
Verses 45--51. This passage is in fact a parable, though it is not
expressly so called. The design is to show that his disciples should
act as if they were each moment expecting his return. This he
illustrates by the conduct of a servant who did not expect his master
soon to return, who acted with great impropriety, and who was
accordingly punished.Verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, etc. By the
conduct of a faithful and wise servant he intends to denote a faithful
Christian, a servant of God, or a teacher of religion.Whom his lord. His master. It has no reference to God. It means the
lord or master of the servant. Applied to Christian teachers, in the
spiritual meaning of the parable, it refers to Christ, who has
appointed them as teachers, and who is their Lord and Master, Joh
13:13-14.Over his household. His family. Christian ministers are the servants
of God appointed over the church, the family of Christ, 1Th 5:12-13;
1Co 3:5; 4:1; 12:28.Meat in due season. The word meat here means food of all kinds.
When the Bible was translated into English, it included, as the
original does, all kinds of provisions requisite to support and nourish
life.In due season. At the proper time. As they need it, or in the
accustomed times. This was the office of a steward. Among the
ancients this office was often filled by a slave--one who had shown
himself trusty and faithful. The duty was to have a general
superintendence over the affairs of the family. Applied to Christian
ministers, it means that they are to feed the flock of God, to minister
to their wants, and to do it as they need it, Joh 21:15-17; Ac 20:28;
1Co 4:1-2. Albert BarnesMt 24:45
These words may be applied two ways.1. To all the faithful servants of Christ in general.
Thence learn, That for a person to spend and end his days in the
service of Christ, and doing his will, gives good assurance of a
blessed condition. Blessed is that servant.2. To the ministers of the gospel in special may these words be
applied.And here observe, 1. The character and duty of a gospel-minister:
He is the steward of Christ's household to give them their meat
in due season.Observe, 2. The qualifications requisite in such stewards,
faithfulness and prudence: Who then is that faithful and wise
steward?Observe, 3. The reward insured to such stewards as answer these
qualifications: Blessed is that servant. BURKETTMt 24:45
Who then is a faithful and wise servant? In Lu 12:42-46, is given
a similar parable in answer to a question of Peter. There the Lord
speaks of "the faithful and wise steward;" here he describes a
steward, but speaks of him as a servant.Ruler. Preachers, elders, deacons, Sunday-school superintendents,
teachers.Household. All under their religious charge.
Peoples New Testament CommentaryLu 12:42
Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall
set over his household, to give them their portion of food in
due season? The answer of Jesus shows that he especially
addressed the disciples, for a steward is distinct from the
household. On him the whole burden and care of the domestic
establishment rested. Thus Jesus showed that he meant the
disciples, yet did not exclude any who heard from profiting by his
discourse. Fidelity is the first requisite in a steward, and wisdom is
the second. All Christians are stewards; preachers, elders,
Sunday-school teachers, etc., are stewards of place and office. Rich
men, fathers, etc., are stewards of influence and possessions.
TheFourfold Gospel and Commentary -
greendawn
Welcome AV, as already mentioned above in theory all the anointed are part of the collective FDS however in practice only the GB are operating as the FDS because they don't allow any other anointed to produce any spiritual food for the R&F.
If you ask them are you the FDS they will say, not just us but all the anointed are. If you ask them why don't the rest contribute anything to feeding the flock, only God knows what they will answer to that question.
In fact they have a lot of non anointed producing and contributing spiritual food when there are supposedly thousands of anointed in the world who are never consulted.
This goes back to the days of Rutherford who declared that all JWs are FDS but in practice he never allowed anyone else to write anything except one or two close asssociates. -
Amnesty Vendor
Excellent point GD!
I remember discussing this topic in detail with AD Schroeder, several years ago.
He then, pointed me to an older WT article (I'll try to find it later) which basically explained it this way (this totally me paraphrasing from memory):
'In a farm family, the father plants, the mother maintains the house, the son harvests, etc. In the end, who provided the food? Well they all did, either directly or via support. In a similar way, the entire FDS provides food in various ways.'
That calmed me down for a while, until they came up with this 'given ones' doctrine. To me, this was manufactured to keep 'their buddies' in prominent positions. Why didn't JC just inspire his other anointed brothers to take on their responsibilities? -
greendawn
AV that explanation that Shroeder brought up is nothing but the usual WTS tripe, the other anointed simply do not contribute anything to the ideology and running of the org not any more than the non anointed anyway, therefore to the GB they are basicaly non existent and basically they don't want to know about them. On the other hand there are the non anointed that contribute to both administration and ideology.
The GB want all power in their own hands and at the most they will give some out to some of the so called given ones as long as they are part of their familiar and loyal inner circle.