Here is a rought draft of my reply to this part of the societies letter.
“The fact that he require his worshippers to have “oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God” does not mean that we can no longer think for ourselves.”
Does this thinking include Biblical matters were we might disagree with the society?
Well you next say “It does , though , mean that we recognise the wonderful provision that he has made to reveal truth through “the faithful and Discreet slave”.
You make the assertion that “truth” comes through a group labelled as the “faithful and discrete slave” So is this the only source of truth?
That would mean that we could only receive knowledge of the Bible from people who claim to be the “Faithful slave”
So how does this work as they often quote from other sources in explaining the Bible and have some times got things wrong?
But try as I might I can find no statement in my Bible that explicitly says “truth” will only come from God through the “Faithful slave”
You explain: “Jesus said he would have on earth a “Faithful and discrete slave” (His anointed followers on viewed as a group)through which agency he would provide spiritual food to those making up the household of faith.(Matt 24:45-47)”
The trouble here is that the important point “(His anointed followers on viewed as a group)” is added and not part of the scripture.
The Bible says nothing about the “faithful and discrete slave” being “His anointed followers on earth viewed as a group” It doesn’t mention it being a select group of Christians. Or only of the anointed. It doesn't even say that it should be taken as anything other than an illustration as to being awake as to his coming.
“Jehovah’s witnesses recognise that arrangement. As was true of the first-century Christians, they look to the governing body of that “slave” class to resolve difficult questions-not on the basis of human wisdom, but by drawing on their knowledge of God’s Word and his dealings with his servants, and with the help of Gods spirit for which they earnestly pray.”.
I thought it was the belief that the faithful and discrete slave has only been in existence in the last days so the bible doesn’t seem to support the idea you present . 1st century Christians wouldn’t have followed a faithful slave as it didn‘t exist. So how can we be like 1st century Christians and look to the “governing body of that slave class”?
Also do you notice the contradiction, “they look to the governing body of that “slave” class to resolve difficult questions-not on the basis of human wisdom” “drawing on their knowledge of God’s Word and his dealings with his servants”
Isn’t drawing on their knowledge also drawing on their wisdom? Although they use the Bible to guide them many matters are not touched on in the Bible or require interpretation.
If they don’t use their wisdom in these matters do they just pray and hope they are being guided by holy spirit.
I think not .The bodies of elder certainly do not operate like this when dealing with matters. They try to reason on things using the Bible and also logic and wisdom. Don’t they follow the pattern set by the governing body?
Of course they use human wisdom to understand things, how else do you explain the mistakes that have been made?
Did holy spirit instruct them to print that the generation born in or before 1914 would not die out before Armageddon? Or was that human wisdom?
“A loving Christian is ready to believe those who have proved trustworthy in the past.” The “faithful and discrete slave” clearly has proved true to its description by faithfully discharging its duties, and so fully merits our trust.”
I must note as well that you imply that anyone not trusting the “faithful slave” is unloving. Do you not think that is wrong to impute motives to people who do not feel the same as you? Also does this form of logic stand firm. I feel you are confusing two issues one of mistrusting a person and another of do we give over our thinking to another person. Just because someone was right in the past does not automatically make them right again, it is not a matter of trust but of reasonableness and logical argument along with evidence that proves a matter true.
Beside this point were does it say in scripture that the “faithful and discrete slave” would have a “governing body“?
First it was said truth comes through the faithful and discrete slave now you imply its the governing body. Which is it? I can not even find the expression governing body in my Bible .I thought it was the belief that the faithful and discrete slave has only been in existence in the last days so the bible doesn’t seem to support the idea you present .
In fact in my research I have found that it was not until 1927 that the “slave” was taught to be a class ,and up till then it was thought to be Russell himself , alone .( JW’s in the Divine purpose pg 95). But it is today taught that this “slave” was chosen by Jehovah in 1919 and is a group.
So it seams a bit odd then that the group chosen to dispense truth by Jehovah did not itself believe that it was that group but taught that it was Russell for 8 years after they were chosen.
Any way where does truth come from the faithful slave or the governing body or both?
Is it not true that up until 1975 the governing body did not get directly involved with spiritual direction but was purely a legal body who ran the printing company.
This is an important issue as it was stated earlier that truth comes from the “faithful slave” now its said to be a “governing body” of that “slave” like 1st century Christians.
So can anyone who claims to be of the faithful and discrete slave receive truth from Jehovah and dispense it?
If not where in the Bible is this shown to be the case?
When I read the new testament I can find no reference or appeals to following a governing body . So when you say “this is the way Jehovah has arranged matters.” I am a bit confused.
The article I questioned said that a mature Christian “does not ...insist on personal opinion or harbour private ideas when to comes to Bible understanding.”
This is the point at issue .Not whether there is a “governing body” or a “faithful and discrete slave” that if it wants to can print articles about the Bible that give insight into it. Or try to resolve difficult questions.
But can we as individuals use our common sense and logic to reason on such points and come if the need be to other conclusions. Or even would God grant holy spirit to others in order to understand the Bible?
You see if we take the idea that understanding only comes from a group of men who claim that they are used by God and we are not to question that , ultimately they can say what they like and we would have to obey. If “oneness in the faith and in the accurate Knowledge of the Son of God” means we must accept ideas that make no logical sense to us because we must only listen to a few select men I feel it would be dangerous for us. We would no longer be following God out of love and respect but be doing what was expected of us by men. Isn’t this what Jesus criticised the Pharisees for?
For me logic and common sense would demand that we should only follow things that make sense due to reasoning presented by the writer not the credentials of the writer. I can see no order to do otherwise in the Bible. What is the point of unity if you are united in a mistaken belief? It worries me that if before the society changed it’s mind as to “this generation” that if you disagreed with them you could be considered apostate even though the society was wrong and you were right. Could this be true of other issues even now?
I feel that in order to remain sane and in control of our faculties we must have our own opinion on matters, sometimes it may coincide with that of the governing body, but it is still our opinion and we haven’t given our mind to someone else to do our thinking.
I cant see how the statement at 2 Peter 2 1:20,21 has much bearing on the matter as it refers to interpreting prophecy and is not the issue at question. Even then it does not support the argument used as it does not mention interpretation coming from a “faithful and discrete slave” or a governing body but through holy spirit. With which I might add all 1st Century Christians were anointed.
Since as Jehovah's witness all life decisions are supposed to be Bible based and therefore if all understanding of the Bible comes from a group of people who feel only they can understand the scriptures and have Gods backing to do so then this means Jehovah’s witnesses must not doubt and just believe everything they are taught by the governing body of the “Faithful slave”.
If you feel I have misunderstood the issue or are unaware of certain facts I would appreciate you pointing this out to me as I would like to understand the issues fully so as to know how to lead my life.
I thank you for your time in considering this.
