APRIL IS MEMORIAL MONTH, and a great time to learn about the Watch Tower Mystery Doctrine.
Several former members of the WTS have written about a secret teaching called the "Mystery Doctrine" about the anointed as “The Christ.”
This doctrine, which has never been discussed publically since the death of JF Rutherford, but which, equally, has not been repudiated either, teaches that the word "Christ" refers to a Person, the One we know as Jesus, but the expression "The Christ" has been invested with a separate, deeper meaning. It refers to the "Christ Class" those making up the 144,000 plus Jesus .
Writing in his book, "Apocalypse Delayed" Penton tells us:
"The Mystery, as understood by Pastor C.T. Russell, meant not only had Jesus offered himself as a ransom sacrifice for mankind, but the body of Christ, the 144,000 members of his church also participated in the ransoming and atoning work" [pg 40]
He went on to say :
"Pastor Russell divined the mediator for the New Covenant was "the Christ" and that expression meant the 144,000 actually participated in Christ's sacrifice for the world" [pg 187 of "Apocalypse Delayed"]
Going back to Russell’s day, the original idea was a distinction between "Christ," who is Jesus, and "the Christ," which is composed of Head (Jesus) and Body (all spirit-begotten Christians).
In Rutherford's day, those who partake of the bread and wine belong to "the Christ" and who share in the glory of Christ (the mystery doctrine).
But wait! In the 1950s or 1960s, there was "new light" that claimed that there is no distinction between "Christ" and "the Christ" in the Bible, and so they got rid of the latter expression.
Note: Rather than giving up the concept, they simply changed "the Christ" to "the anointed", and they continue to claim that the 144,000 has a special position vis-a-vis the "great crowd" (e.g. the latter are "saved" by the former through association with them).
Edmund Gruss, in his book "The Four Presidents Of The WTS," devotes an entire chapter to this teaching. He recounts meeting Freddy Franz, who when asked to elaborate on this teaching, refused to do so, unless Gruss admitted to being of the "anointed" This reaction indicate the secretive nature of the teaching as maintained by the WTS, and the way it is viewed by those claiming to be of the "Anointed."
Comparing translation renderings
Colossians 1:27
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
27 to whom God did will to make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations -- which is Christ in you, the hope of the glory
NEW WORLD TRANSLATION read a little differently:
27 to whom God has been pleased to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this sacred secret,+ which is Christ in union with you, the hope of [his glory] **
Fred Franz felt the inclusion of "his" in brackets [As in "The hope of [his] glory"] was needed to complete the sense. With that innocent and unobtrusive insertion into the text, Franz shifted the expectation of the anointed from glory in the abstract, to the glory that belongs to Christ exclusively. In a sense therefore, taking on His Glory, they become Him, hence correctly termed "The Christ"
Gruss unearthed the WT of June 15, 1911: "This Christ is composed of many members. This age will end when the full number of the "elect" shall have been found and tested. Then the body will have been completed. When the Messiah is complete, The Christ will be complete" [reprints, pg 4841]
The last public statement made about this teaching was back in 1927 in "The Harp of God", JFR's opus. This is what he said [pg 202]: "The Christ is a composite body made up of many members" He argued that it was through "this Christ" and not the Person we know as Jesus Christ, that the blessings to humankind must come.
Duane Magnani, who also made a study of this doctrine mentions that in the WT of 15 June 1942, [pg 188] the R&F were cautioned not to call the anointed "the Christ" publicly—yet-- he says, the teaching was never officially repudiated. It has been retained to this day, but secretly.
**In the brand new NWT the brackets have been dropped and the word "his" has been absorbed into the translated text.
