I've always questioned the appropriateness of the title "Faithful and Discreet Slave" that the Governing Body so proudly assigns itself. But I've spent most of my time demonstrating how they've been neither faithful nor discreet. Recently it dawned on my that I'm even more angry at the fact that they call themselves a "slave"! How dare they do this? Please see my latest blog: Slavery! and then share in my venting.
Slavery!
by smmcroberts 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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wasblind
The WTS use that word as a part of their false advertisin' tactic
they manipulate a word to fit their need. They did the same thing
wit the word " generation "
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biometrics
I think we all know the real saves are the "Great Crowd".
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processor
BTW, "a slave does not know what his master does" (John 15:15), which surely does apply to the "faithful and discreet slave."
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Cold Steel
I don't know why more JWs haven't made an issue out of this. The actual word used should be translated “servant” and not “slave.”
The servants of God are not slaves. A servant is “One who is privately employed to perform domestic services.” A slave is “One bound in servitude.” What’s the difference? A servant is a free agent, whilst a slave is not. And God is not about taking free agency from man. He will not do it nor can He do it. Those who serve God do so voluntarily, and the translators of the JW Bible have made a grave error in not realizing it.
I don’t believe Jesus is speaking about a group or body of men when He talks about the faithful and wise servant. He is speaking of individuals. The scripture states: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” Meat is sustenance, and the servants of the Lord are expected to be ready to sustain their families and the church.
“Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” In other words, those servants who prepare for the Lord’s coming will be rewarded with crowns. The next verses speak of an “evil servant” who is not ready for His coming. That, too, is not a body of people, but are individuals.
The JW Bible translators use the term “faithful and discreet” slave. I have no issue with “faithful,” but what about “discreet,” the word the JW translators use instead of “wise,” which is the correct translation? What’s the difference here? “Wise” is defined as “Having wisdom or discernment for what is true, right, or lasting.” But “discreet” is “wise self-restraint in speech and behavior.” In short, even an idiot can exercise wise self-restraint, such restraint that can keep him from being killed; however, the idiot cannot be wise, for it's not in his nature.
The apostle Paul warned that those who serve God in a priestly office cannot take the honor unto themselves, but must be called “as was Aaron.” (See Hebrews 5:4) The JWs put their faith in a body of men who have been neither called nor ordained. And if not, who ordained them, and whence did they receive their callings? The General Body is a manmade group who has taken “this honor” unto themselves. So how was Aaron called? Through direct revelation from God, to Moses. How was the General Body chosen? It was chosen by men and not God.
It's another example of poor translation combined with faulty exegesis.
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King Solomon
Cold Steel said:
The JW Bible translators use the term “faithful and discreet” slave. I have no issue with “faithful,” but what about “discreet,” the word the JW translators use instead of “wise,” which is the correct translation? What’s the difference here?
Yeah, I've been wondering about that but always forget to look into it, as NWT is the ONLY translation to use the word, 'discreet'.
When I hear that word, I think of the butler in "There Will Be Blood" who goes in and cleans up the bloody mess left after Daniel Day Lewis' character bludgeons young preacher Eli Sunday to death with a bowling pin in the mansion (well that, or a high-class discreet call girl).
Defo keeping secrets is my take on the word, and I know the swap didn't appear until much later in the literature as there's Zion's WT (1917) references to "faithful and WISE servant", but by 1950, the name was changed....
I ran into a tantalizing clue on Wikipedia discussing Olin Moyle, a lawyer who worked alongside Rutherford until there was a falling out over Moyle's indiscreet whistle-blowing; this MAY provide an explanation (and it's purely speculation, but interesting to consider):
Resignation
On July 21, 1939, Moyle wrote an open letter of resignation to Rutherford, protesting over conditions at "Bethel", the Watch Tower Society's Brooklyn headquarters, including what he described as ill treatment of workers, discrimination by Rutherford, the use and encouragement of "filthy and vulgar language" and a "glorification" of alcohol. [ 8 ] Moyle said that Rutherford had "many many homes, to wit, Bethel, Staten Island, California" and deplored "the difference between the accommodations furnished to you, and your personal attendants, compared with those furnished to some of your brethren". [ 9 ]
Moyle had been handling the famous Minersville School District v. Gobitis case, and had won at the trial court level as well as at the appellate level. However, after Moyle's removal from the case, the Minersville School District appealed the Gobitis case to the Supreme Court. Rutherford himself argued the case before the Supreme Court in 1940, and the Court ruled against the Jehovah's Witnesses by a vote of 8-1. This ruling triggered a nationwide wave of violence against Jehovah's Witnesses that lasted for the next several months [citation needed] .
Libel lawsuit
Although Moyle had advised his resignation would take effect on September 1, the Watch Tower board dismissed him immediately and he returned to his home congregation in Wisconsin. On October 15, 1939 the directors responded in the pages of The Watchtower, [ 10 ] stating that "every paragraph of that letter is false, filled with lies, and is a wicked slander and a libel". [ 11 ] The article compared his actions with those of Judas Iscariot.
For four years past the writer of that letter has been entrusted with the confidential matters of the Society. It now appears that the writer of that letter, without excuse, libels the family of God at Bethel, and identifies himself as one who speaks evil against the Lord's organization, and who is a murmurer and complainer, even as the scriptures have foretold. (Jude 4-16; 1Cor. 4:3; Rom 14:4) The members of the board of directors hereby resent the unjust criticism appearing in that letter, disapprove of the writer and his actions, and recommend the president of the Society immediately terminate the relationship of O. R. Moyle to the Society as legal counsel and as a member of the Bethel family. — Joseph F. Rutherford, The Watchtower, 1939-10-15
Moyle was disfellowshipped by his congregation, [ 4 ] which wrote a letter to The Watchtower stating that they had not read Moyle's letter, but disapproved of his actions and "never listen to accusations against Brother Rutherford". [ 4 ] [ 12 ] In 1940, Moyle sued the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York over the response in The Watchtower. Rutherford presented a public resolution at a 1941 convention against Moyle, with reference to the September 15, 1941 issue of The Watchtower. [ 13 ] Moyle won his suit, and the court awarded him $30,000 in damages, which was reduced to $15,000 on appeal in 1944. [ 14 ]
The initial jury verdict was affirmed twice on appeal; first by the five member Appellate Division, 2nd Department (3-2); and second, unanimously, by the seven members of the state's highest court, The Court of Appeals, in the capitol at Albany. [ 15 ]
See where I'm going? Moyle defo wasn't "discreet"....
Work on NWT started in 1947, and I wonder if the change to 'discreet' was a not-so-subtle reminder to Bethel insiders that loose lips like those of Moyle's sink ships, esp. when dealing with legal matters pertaining to the "master's possessions". If it can be verified, it's yet another interesting example of where the NWT was done not so much to reflect the original intent of the greek, but simply to respond to a current personal vendetta of Rutherford...
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Cold Steel
...until there was a falling out over Moyle's indiscreet whistle-blowing.
Fascinating how Rutherford twists the scripture to fit his own defense of the seemingly indefensible treatment he meted out to Bethel staff. The board should have suspended Rutherford and appointed an investigative committee to look into the charges. Instead, as they do today in too many work situations, the complaining staff members are either transferred or fired. Especially in government, where I worked my entire career. I majored in Journalism/Communications, yet I found myself working once for a woman who was a secretary who attended a training course in management. She was an idiot, but she shot to the top of our office and given lavish promotions. She was always getting in trouble for making indiscreet decisions, but top management always backed her in the inevitable head butting that resulted, and her ill treatment of staff. Sounds like "God's Organization" suffers from the same maladies!
I reckon Moyle was the faithless and indiscreet slave Jesus spoke about. It's amazing how close the thinking was (where members refused to read Moyle's side) to other cult members led by one person. The one led by Warren Jeffs in Utah and Colorado acts similarly. When members are excommunicated by Jeffs, they are immediately abandoned by their families and reassigned to others. Many ex-members complain that their families aren't even interested in hearing their sides of the stories; they just do what they're told, fearing to do otherwise would mean they would be next! Incredible how human minds work. It's like the Germans in World War II. They turned to one-man rule, abandoning a constitutional government. Then they followed Hitler without thinking, oftentimes turning in their own family members.
Of course, I know no one turns in their own families in the JW community, right? There's no fear of those in charge, right?