I had to write some text about my observations at last Sunday's Watchtower study...
The curious case of the 2012 year text Watchtower article
The March 4 study article of the Watchtower lay the foundations of the 2012 year text of Jehovah's Witnesses: "Your word is truth." - John 17:17
The article starts with first impression comments about Jehovah's Witnesses and their use of the Bible.
"A brief historical review will highlight the contrast between those who truly respect God's Word and those who do not".
What follows is a view inside the 49 C.E. gathering of the apostles and older men in Jerusalem about the uncircumcised Gentiles into their midst.
It was "not a mind-numbing theological debate over dry technicalities, but a lively doctrinal discussion. Strong opinions were expressed on both sides of the issue."
Paragraph 5 continues: "Compromise and lobbying are common at church councils today. However, at that meeting in Jerusalem, there was no compromise. nor did any lobbying for votes take place. What is more, a unanimous decision was reached".
This seems to be an author's message direct to the Governing body. Insiders, observers and readers of former Governing body member Ray Franz's publication "Crisis of Conscience" (1983) learned about the existing voting procedure inside the Governing body. They also learned about the lobbying in the corridors by Governing body members.
At page 32 the Watchtower quotes one member of the Governing body: "To know where we are going, we have to know where we have come from."
It seems that paragraph 14 starts to make clear where "we have come from."
The writer noticed "we cannot say for certain which individuals or groups belonged to the anointed wheat class, but we can confirm that there have always been some who have courageously defended God's Word and exposed the church's unscriptural teachings".
Who are these individuals? The paragraphs 15 - 17 give us some examples of those "we have come from." I made some additions from internet sources (Wikipedia etc.)
1. Archbishop (Saint) Agobard of Lyons, France (779-840 C.E.), spoke out against image worship, churches dedicated to saints and the church's unscriptural liturgies and practices.
A quick read in some Encyclopedias learns that " Agobard is notorious for his vocal attacks on the local Jewish population", "Agobard accused emperor Louis of abandoning his 817 Ordinatio imperii decree, which promoted an all-encompassing unity of church and empire."
2. (Catholic) Bishop Claudius of Turin.
3. Archdeacon Berengarius of Tours
"He spoke bitterly and unjustly of popes and councils, unable to forgive them for making him untrue to himself; but this meant no rejection of the Catholic conception of the Church. His opposition was limited to the eucharistic doctrine of his time, and he controverted the theory of Paschasius not least because he believed it was contrary to Scripture and the Fathers, and destructive of the very nature of a sacrament."
4. Peter of Bruys
"Peter of Bruys admitted the doctrinal authority of the Gospels in their literal interpretation; the other New Testament writings he seems to have considered valueless, as he doubted their apostolic origin.To the New Testament epistles he assigned only a subordinate place as not coming from Jesus Christ, but rather being the work of men. "
5. Henry of Lausanne
"He seemingly rejected the invocation of saints and also second marriages, and preached penitence. Women, inflamed by his words, gave up their jewels and luxurious apparel, and young men married prostitutes in the hope of reclaiming them."
6. Piere Valdes - Peter Waldo
"Sometime shortly before the year 1160 he was inspired by a series of events, firstly, after hearing a sermon on the life of St. Alexius ."
7. John Wycliffe (1330 - 1384)
"But he entered the politics of the day with his great work De civili dominio. Here he introduced those ideas by which the good parliament was governed – which involved the renunciation by the Church of temporal dominion. The items of the "long bill" appear to have been derived from his work. In this book are the strongest outcries against the Avignon system with its commissions, exactions, squandering of charities by unfit priests, and the like. To change this is the business of the State. If the clergy misuses ecclesiastical property, it must be taken away; if the king does not do this, he is remiss. The work contains 18 strongly stated theses, opposing the governing methods of the rule of the Church and the straightening out of its temporal possessions."
8. William Tyndale (1494 - 1536)
"In 1530, he wrote The Practyse of Prelates, opposing Henry VIII's planned divorce from Catherine of Aragon, in favour of Anne Boleyn, on the grounds that it was unscriptural and was a plot by Cardinal Wolsey to get Henry entangled in the papal courts of Pope Clement VII. [18] The king's wrath was aimed at Tyndale: Henry asked the Emperor Charles V to have the writer apprehended and returned to England under the terms of the Treaty of Cambrai, however, the Emperor responded that formal evidence was required before extradition. [19] Tyndale made his case in An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue. In 1532, Thomas More published a six-volume Confutation of Tyndale's Answer, in which he alleged Tyndale was a traitor and a heretic."
9. Henry Grew (1781 - 1862)
"Before and during the convention, there was fierce debate about the participation and seating of women delegates and attendees. Grew sided with the British organisers and spoke in favour of the men's right to exclude women, despite his daughter's also being excluded. [3]
In 1854 a similar public debate took place when Grew and Mary attended the fifth annual National Women's Rights Convention in Philadelphia. Grew debated with Lucretia Mott, during which he lauded the supremacy and authority of men. "
" The writings of Henry Grew influenced George Storrs, and later, Charles Taze Russell. Henry Grew and George Storrs are both mentioned as noteworthy Bible students in the October 15, 2000 issue of the The Watchtower magazine, published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Jehovah's Witnesses."
10. George Storrs (1796 - 1879)
"Storrs became one of the leaders of the Second Advent movement and affiliated with William Miller and Joshua V. Himes. He began publication of his magazine The Bible Examiner in 1843 and continued it until 1879 with a few breaks. After a considerable amount of study, Storrs preached to some Adventists on the condition and prospects for the dead. His book Six Sermons explained his conditionalist beliefs.
Storrs' writings influenced Charles Taze Russell, who founded the Bible Student movement from which Jehovah's Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups emerged."
Attending the Watchtower study I was surprised about these list of possible anointed Christians, and Governing body predecessors. Why? Because they are mainly members of the Catholic Clergy, including the titles and positions, and involved in governmental politics. Some started the anti-semitism in the Church, and so not the best examples of anointed Christians.
My personal conclusion is that the writer of this remarkable Watchtower article is one of the members of the Governing body, who want to set clear "were we have come from". Using the timeline in the article I imagine that this writer of the so called anointed class, sees himself a successor of the early Bishops and the early Churge Clergy rather than a part of the Clergy of a nowadays American religion.
Strange fact is, that I can hardly find a connection to the 2012 year text.
Gorby
