by link 15 Replies latest watchtower bible
Could anyone please tell me in what year / publication the Society decided that it was the Faithful and Discreet Slave.
I am aware that between 1896 and 1927 the FDS was considered to be a single individual and not a class of persons so I believe that it must have been sometime after 1927 when they first made the claim.
Thanks to anyone who can come up with the information.
link
bttt
Actually, link, it seems they were moving away from the "individual" FDS toward the "corporate" FDS earlier than 1927:
"?Is not the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society the one and only channel which the Lord has used in dispensing his truth continually since the beginning of the harvest period?"
-- Watchtower 1919 April 1 p.6414
You may find it helpful, Links, to peruse the "QUOTES" website at:
http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/
A TREMENDOUS amount of material awaits you there!
"We would not refuse to treat one as a brother because he did not believe the Society is the Lord's channel. If others see it in a different way, that is their privilege. There should be full liberty of conscience." -- Watchtower April 1, 1920, pp.100, 101
C.T. Russell died on Halloween, 1916. It was in Rutherford's best interests that the WTS should move away from their reverence of the individual "Pastor Russell" and apply their loyalty to the "Organization" (i.e., him).
Watchtower 1919 April 1 p.6414
April Fools Day
Yes, Plum, every year the Watchtower publishes an "April Fools" issue. They just don't realize it.
EVERY issue is an April Fools issue.
Many thanks to all who responded to my question.
I had been trying to work out this FDS doctrine as all the old literature, Zion's Watch Tower etc, from around 1919 refer to the FDS as being a person not a group of people.
At some point there must have been a big change in thinking to the present situation that "the FDS is a group of people and we are it!" and I wondered when that happened.
It seems that even from their early days they saw themselves as God's representatives on earth. Perhaps it was in 1927, when they decided (once again) that the FDS was a group that they also decided that they were IT officially.
Like most things Watch Tower it does not seem to make sense or seem to have any logical sequence to the events.
link
Link, what research have you done already on this subject? I'm only asking so that I can see ways of helping you. Have you consulted older Watchtower publication, like "Jehovah's Witnesses In The Divine Purpose" and the 1955 edition of "Qualified To Be Ministers"? The history in the Qualified book was expanded and polished up a bit to become the JWITDP book.
Both of these books are included on the Watchtower BookShelf CD (WT BS CD) which can be purchased for a pittance from the Quotes website I referred you to above.
EVERY issue is an April Fools issue.
LOL.
Nathan, I have a copy of the April 15 1904 Zion's Watch Tower in which it goes into great detail about how the FDS is a person and not a class. I also have the info from 1927 where the FDS is "reaffirmed" as a class and not a group. I also have the last three issues of the Watchtower CD Roms.
I am trying to determine if, at the time the Society "discovered" that they were the FDS, they believed that the FDS was a class or a person. In order to do this I really need to find out when they first claimed to be the FDS. I have tried searching the CD Rom but the task seems to be beyond me. I can't find the start date.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
link
