Hi I have heard Jehovah's witness mention "the faithful and Discreet slave."
Can someone please tell me what that is
Evanescence
the Faithful and Discreet Slave
by Evanescence 17 Replies latest watchtower bible
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greendawn
In their understanding the faithful and discreet slave (FDS)is a the body of JWs, that according to their statistics consists of around 8000 "annointed" persons out of the jw total of six million, and who believe that they will be taken to heaven during Armageddon whereas the rest of the jws will stay on earth.
Always according to them, this class has been approved by God to be his only channel for passing on religious truth to the world (an extra ordinarily grandiose claim)and generally possess an exclusive right to be representatives of god among mankind.
However in practice only the dozen or so members of the Governing Body of the jws (pretend to) operate in that capacity with all the rest being strictly forbidden to dispense any religious truth or contradict them in any way. Thus all authority to decide what the jws should believe and how their org should be run is decided by this tiny inner circle in Brooklyn, often with tragic results. -
Dragonlady76
FDS: The 12 old men in crooklyn are the FDS/GB
DL76
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Nathan Natas
Greendawn is correct.
The concept of the faithful and discreet slave is derived from the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, where Jesus says,
45 “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. 47 Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings.
The problem with this is that Jesus was speeaking illustratively and gave no hint that he was speaking about any literal individual (Charles Taze Russell thought he was that slave) or group of people or "class" (as taught in years following Russell's death).48 “But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, ‘My master is delaying,’ 49 and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, 51 and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites. There is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be.
(New World Translation)
As defined in the WTS literature, mankind is divided into three groups - those who sin puposefully and will therefore receive everlasting destruction, those who follow the direction of the anointed follwers of Christ who will live forever on paradise earth and those who are members of a group of 144,000 "Bride of Christ" who will rule with Christ in heaven. Although all in the theoretical 144,000 are supposed to be equals, only twelve or fewer (right now, ten) get to play "governing body." The WTS says that approxiamtely 8,000 members of this 144,000 are still alive on earth, but input from 7,990 of them (approximately) is neither sought nor accepted. The WTS has produced a "supergroup" of ten within their "supergroup" of 144,000. If pressed, they will probably say that this has something to do with Jesus 12 original followers.
The whole thing is a sham.
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DanTheMan
The problem with this is that Jesus was speeaking illustratively and gave no hint that he was speaking about any literal individual (Charles Taze Russell thought he was that slave) or group of people or "class" (as taught in years following Russell's death).
A noteworthy point here is that when the phrase appears in Watchtower publications (as it does so very often) the words are capitalized, a tactic which has the effect of imprinting upon the minds of JWs the idea that Jesus was prophesying about a specific group of people and was giving them a title that they would be known by. Which, at best, is a bizarre interpretation.A typical phrase that you might hear spoken in prayer at the Kingdom Hall would be something like "We're so thankful Jehovah that you provide such a nourishing spiritual feeding program for us through your Faithful and Discreet Slave..."
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greendawn
And of course the twelve that act as the FDS have absolutely no credentials to show to justify their claim of superiority over the other 7990 "annointed", they are FDS because they happened to be in the Brooklyn bethel and were well connected with the powers that be. It's called lust for power.
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watchtower_and_afake
A typical phrase that you might hear spoken in prayer at the Kingdom Hall would be something like "We're so thankful Jehovah that you provide such a nourishing spiritual feeding program for us through your Faithful and Discreet Slave..." Im still wondering, do you think Jehovah knows about this Faithfull Disceet Slave? LOL. And if they are supposed to give the proper food at the proper time, wouldnt that "old light" be food poisoning? I know it makes me sick!!
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Englishman
As Ray Franz pointed out in C of C so admirably, there is absolutely no connection in the Scriptures between the parable of the FDS and the 144,000.
Zilch. Nothing.
Englishman.
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jula71
In reality the use the story of the FDS is to put a mask on who really is in charge. I have heard a million times the FDS are directing the work and the GB are just “helpers”. Who else is buying that? Not to long ago, there was a thread about 2 anointed that were trying to be tracked down for a JC for apostasy. As I said, the FDS is only a façade.
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greendawn
It's the usual crafty double thinking again whenever it's in their interests to say that the FDS is all the "annointed" they say that, but if it's in their interests to say that the GB alone is the FDS they speak accordingly, I don't believe in their concepts of the FDS or the 144000 but this issue shows that they don't keep to their own stated beliefs.