September 1-7, 2014 Watchtower (WT) Study
"Jehovah Knows Those Who Belong to Him"
I printed out the next study edition of the WT, which will be used this coming week. The first article starts on page 7. The article seems to focus on the Governing Body's (GB's) concern with apostasy in the modern day congregation. What is interesting about this article is that it focuses on apostasy that is not quite apparent to members of the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) congregation.
For example, one paragraph mentions that, in Paul's day, "Certain professed Christians adopted false teachings; yet, they continued to associate with the congregation". The paragraph goes on to say that "To the casual observer, these apostates might not have been different from others in the congregation. But their apostasy presented a danger to faithful Christians".
I don't feel the need to quote a great deal of the article. One can simply read the article themselves. However, there are a few points that should be considered.
The article uses words such as "hypocritical worship", "a deceitful form of worship deliberately", "counterfeit Christians". So, it is obvious that these words are directed at some "in the congregation".
What is strange to me is that the article is quite vague. There is no reminder of what constitutes apostasy. Furthermore, It seems that the GB feels the need to warn JWs of apostates in their midsts. However, the article does not give modern examples or even confirm that this is the case. In fact, paragraph 15 directs JWs to not be suspicious.
It seems the whole article is meant to warn of apostates in the congreagation's midst. However, since Elders can easily Disfellowship (DF) members who are proven to be apostates ("Stubbornly holds to and spreads teachings" contrary to Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine), why is this necessary? Are there numerous active JWs who are rejecting recent changes, or even standard JW doctrine, and voicing this to friends and/or family?
The WT is also warning against apostates that are "allowed to remain in the congregation" So, if there are known apostates in the congregation one may wonder why they would be allowed to remain.
Have many faithful JWs voiced concerns over changed teachings? If they were guilty of spreading these teachings, they would have definitely been DF'd. However, has the quiet questioning and disagreeing over certain doctrine caused them to be labeled as having "apostate tendencies"?
