It seems as though it's a formal consolidation of power. Not that they didn't have it, but somewhere along the line someone realized they needed authority from God. If a committee is going to claim the authority to change doctrine or establish it as being authoritive, it's not enough to just publish it in the monthly magazines. Apparently this has become an issue, and it should. At some point the members of the Governing Body needed to shift the balance from being corporate executives to having the actual authority from God to speak decisively on theological issues.
But how does the information, or data, get from God's mouth to their ears? That's going to be the toughest issue they're going to have to address, and how the mechanics work is going to be the difficulty. They've pretty much ruled out angels, theophanies and visions, so what to do? The Catholics explain the Pope's inspiration as being latent—present but not evident. The Pope makes a declaration and even though he's not aware of any inspiration being present, it is in a way that even he doesn't understand. It's like the assumption of Mary into Heaven. Well, I agree with them...she was assumed into heaven, and it was the Pope who made the asumption! There was no scripture supporting it, neither was there any traditons. It was just something that Catholics think just came from Heaven, was focused into that pointy hat he wears and goes into his head without him being aware of it. Then he declares it! No one ever asks him how it came to him; it's enough that he said it. And as far as I can tell, this is exactly how it comes to the Governing Body. It's latent inspiration. The Governing Body also is self sustaining, and the members are invited to participate. When one of them dies or otherwise vacates a seat, the general membership has nothing to say on who moves into the body. In essence they become dictators, and if you don't like something they say, it's their way or the highway! And not only can they create and change doctrine, they can even turn your family and friends against you.
Now some may say, "Well, there's nothing new about this. Isn't that how the ancient apostles acted and were chosen?" Yes, but they did see angels, have theophanies, dreams, visions and other forms of revelation. The Governing Body does not. Had they been running things anciently, they wouldn't have needed Peter to have a revelation about taking the Gospel to the Gentiles or changing the policy on circumcision...they just would have done it without being aware of how or where it came from. And members wouldn't be justified in debating the blood transfusion issue—because the policy dictating it would come from the Governing Body, and it would no longer be a matter of exegesis, but of revelation from God.
That's quite a change when you think about it.
