Back-and-forth flip-flops
To have the greatest
effect, however, it becomes necessary, to show a JW
instances where the 'light gets brighter' excuse could
not possibly apply, because the Watchtower Society taught
a certain doctrine, reversed itself and rejected that
doctrine, only to reverse itself again some years later
and resume teaching the old rejected viewpoint.
Prior to
1975 it taught that each Jehovah's Witness is a minister.
Then, in 1975, it reversed this and began teaching that
most members are not ministers, even changing the monthly
Kingdom Ministry's name to Our Kingdom Service; then in
1981 it returned to the old teaching and again renamed
the publication Our Kingdom Ministry.
The 1972
Organization book instructed that "none in the
congregation should greet" disfellowshipped persons.
(p. 172) Then the August 1, 1974, Watchtower reversed
this by teaching that "Jesus' own example protects
us against adopting the extreme view" of refusing to
speak to them. (pp. 464-465) Then the September 15, 1981,
Watchtower returned to the previous point of view. (pp.
24-26)
Originally the Watchtower Society taught that the
"superior authorities" or "higher
powers" of Romans 13:1 are the secular governments,
but in 1929 this was rejected as a 'false doctrine.'
(Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, p. 91) The
new teaching was that the "higher powers" are
God and Christ. But decades later the old teaching was
adopted again, so that J.W.'s now say Romans 13:1 refers
to the secular governments. (The Watchtower, May 15,
1980, p. 4)
Will the men of Sodom be resurrected? The
Society has answered 'yes' (Wt. July 1879, p. 8), 'no'
(Wt. June 1, 1952, p. 338), 'yes' (Wt. Aug. 1, 1965, p.
479), 'no' (Wt. June 1, 1988, p. 31), 'yes' (1988 book
Insight on the Scriptures, p. 985), 'no' (1988 book
Revelation: Its Grand Climax At Hand!, p. 273). In fact,
as pointed out in Our Kingdom Ministry (December, 1989,
p. 7) early printings of the book You Can Live Forever in
Paradise on Earth say 'yes' but later printings of the
same book say 'no.' (pp. 178-179)
Aware of the
devastating effect such information can have on its
followers' faith in the organization, the Watchtower
Society either tries to cover up the facts or to deny
that the changes constitute a return to a previous point
of view:
At times explanations given by Jehovah's visible
organization have shown adjustments, seemingly to
previous points of view. But this has not actually been
the case. This might be compared to what is known in
navigational circles as "tacking." By
maneuvering the sails the sailors can cause a ship to go
from right to left, back and forth, but all the time
making progress toward their destination... -- The
Watchtower December 1, 1981, page 27
Yet, close
examination reveals many of the flip-flops to be total
reversals, not any sort of forward-moving tacking
process. Why this uncertain vacillation on doctrine,
affirming "truths" today, denying them as
"errors" tomorrow, and returning to the
discarded teachings the next day for recycling as
"new truths" once again?
When the organization
was under one-man rule in earlier days, J.F. Rutherford
apparently waited to consolidate power before casting
aside many of the teachings of his predecessor -- and
even then, some of his moves were clearly strategic,
isolating his followers from contrary opinions and thus
giving Rutherford firmer control. His death in 1942 put
the team of Nathan Knorr and Fred Franz in charge, and
they proceeded to change teachings and procedures to suit
themselves.
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz in
his book Crisis of Conscience reveals how a virtual coup
against third president Nathan Knorr resulted in a new
process for determining doctrine, a two-thirds majority
vote of the Governing Body now being required for any
doctrinal change to take place. Since then, conservatives
have prevailed most of the time, with liberals asserting
themselves during the mid-1970s, only to be shut down in
a purge.
When confronted with the resulting
back-and-forth doctrinal changes, some JWs begin to
realize the political nature of Watchtower leadership --
far from the "theocratic" rule by God that the
organization claims for itself.
This zigzag course means
Jehovah's Witnesses are "carried hither and thither
by every wind of teaching" or "forever changing
our minds about what we believe because someone has told
us something different, or has cleverly lied to us and
made the lie sound like the truth." -- Ephesians
4:14 New World Translation and Living Bible
"TO SUCCEED IN THE
RACE FOR LIFE" "not on a zigzag course" --
The Watchtower, August 1, 1992, p. 17 The organization
says:
Seeing the strenuous efforts needed to succeed in
the race for life, Paul went on to say: "Therefore,
the way I am running is not uncertainlyÉ" (1
Corinthians 9:26) ...Hence, to run "not
uncertainly" means that to every observer it should
be very evident where the runner is heading. The Anchor
Bible renders it "not on a zigzag course." If
you saw a set of footprints that meanders up and down the
beach, circles around now and then, and even goes
backward at times, you would hardly think the person was
running at all, let alone that he had any idea where he
was heading. But if you saw a set of footprints that form
a long, straight line, each footprint ahead of the
previous one and all evenly spaced, you would conclude
that the footprints belong to one who knows exactly where
he is going. -- The Watchtower, August 1, 1992, p. 17
Yet, when we look at the
Watchtower organization's own footprints, what do we see?
The very thing the Bible condemns: a zigzag course.
(Compare December 1, 1981 Watchtower, p. 27, illustration
of "Tacking into the Wind" showing a zigzag
course.)
|
