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 DEFINITIONS of
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Definitions

Language's Role in Control

Orwell’s 1984 and J.W.ese

Language with an Agenda

J.W.ese Changes on Command

Breaking the Language Barrier

The Author’s Testimony

Acknowledgments

Key to Abbreviated Refs.

Copyright

Contact

Definitions of JW words and expressions
 
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A

Abaddon  noun  1.  Jesus Christ, the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.  2. obsolete Satan the Devil, the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.  Note: This dramatic reversal is found in JW Bible commentaries published just 13 years apart, demonstrating the changeableness of the “J.W.ese” language.  See AJWSBS and JWL.

Abba, Father!  Theological  (From Romans 8:15)  An expression reflecting the closeness members of the anointed class feel toward Jehovah God.  The vast majority of JWs see themselves as part of the “great crowd” of “other sheep” automatically excluded from this experience. 

abomination of desolation  obsolete  (From Matthew 24:15 KJV)  The League of Nations/United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretation, as in “These worldly people are idolaters because they worship the abomination of desolation.”  JWs today prefer the New World Translation rendering disgusting thing that causes desolation.

abomination that maketh desolate  obsolete  (From Daniel 12:11 KJV)  The League of Nations/United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretation, as in “These worldly people are idolaters because they worship the abomination of desolation.”  JWs today prefer the New World Translation rendering disgusting thing that is causing desolation.

Abraham  noun  1. The patriarch, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob.  2. Jehovah God, in passages such as Luke 16:23-30.  (To negate the concept of punishment after death the sect makes each of the characters in this passage purely symbolic, with the rich man and Lazarus each representing a class of people, and Abraham representing God.)

Abrahamic covenant  Theological  God’s arrangement to bless all mankind through a world government administered from heaven by Christ and 144,000 chosen followers.

Abraham’s seed  Theological  Jesus Christ plus 144,000 chosen followers.

accounts, the  Organizational A local congregation’s bookkeeping records, kept on forms and in a format prescribed by the Watchtower Society.

Accounting  Organizational At a circuit or district convention, the volunteer-manned department responsible for handling monies received from contribution boxes (and, formerly, from the sale of food at a cafeteria and snack bars.)

accounts servant   Organizational  The ministerial servant assigned to handle a local congregation’s bookkeeping.

accurate knowledge  The beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as in, “I was religious most of my life, but I was without accurate knowledge until the brothers came to my door.”

action   Short for judicial action, as in, “If sister Thompson confirms what you’ve told me about Jerry Smith, the brothers will have to take action.”

action, a committee   The official disciplining of a JW member by a judicial committee through disfellowshipping or a lesser punishment.

action, judicial   An official move to set up a judicial committee and summon before it an individual accused or suspected of wrongdoing.

active  adjective  1. Technical Having reported time at least once during the preceding six months.  2. Informal Participating in field service and/or reporting time.

active force   Theological  The “holy spirit” (usually not capitalized by JWs), viewed as neither deity nor person, but rather as the invisible force Jehovah God uses to accomplish his will.  During creation “God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters,” according to Genesis 1:2 in the JW New World Translation.

active publisher  Technical  A Witness who has reported time during at least one of the preceding six months. 

activity  noun  1. Work performed and reportable as field service, as in “Have you reported your activity this month?”  2.  Scheduled field service, as in “Will you be participating in this afternoon’s activity?”

A.D.  obsolete  Anno Domini (In the year of our Lord), an expression avoided by Jehovah’s Witnesses today.  Following the pattern of The Watchtower, they prefer to label dates with the expression Common Era, abbreviated C.E.

Adam  noun  1. The first man. 2. The first human, originally created with both male and female characteristics, later transformed into a man when God took the female characteristics from him to make Eve—a teaching found in the September 1, 1956 Watchtower, pages 530-533, and still referenced as current information.

adjust verb, adjustment noun  A euphemism JWs use in reference to doctrinal changes or new teachings developed to replace failed prophecies.  For example, “In 1980 our thinking on the acceptability of organ transplants underwent an adjustment.”

administration  noun  The JW New World Translation’s substitute for “dispensation” at Ephesians 1:10, interpreted by the Watchtower Society as God’s heavenly government in the hands of Christ and the 144,000.

advancement  noun  1. Spiritual progress as measured by climbing the ladder of success in the Watchtower Society’s hierarchy through obtaining a higher position.  2. Spiritual progress as measured by taking on greater privileges of service, such as by rising from the level of an auxiliary pioneer to that of a regular pioneer.  Note:  Only #2 is available to women, since they are excluded from the hierarchy.

after Armageddon  An expression commonly used by JWs today, referring to the anticipated earthly paradise populated exclusively by Witnesses after God wipes out the entire global population of non-Witnesses.  Example: “Look at the size of that mansion!  A millionaire must live there.  That will be my house after Armageddon.”

Aid book, the  nickname  The Watchtower Society’s 1971 book Aid to Bible Understanding now viewed as obsolete and superseded by Insight on the Scriptures (1988). 

NOTE:  Our listing of JW expressions includes nicknames of certain books of current interest.  For a more complete catalogue of such materials, or for more details about a particular book, see Jehovah’s Witness Literature:  A Critical Guide to Watchtower Publications by David A. Reed (Baker Book House, 1993).

alcoholic beverages   Drinks containing alcohol—their moderate use is approved by Jehovah’s Witnesses, but excesses are common even at high levels of the organization.

alcoholism  noun  A sinful practice that is definitely not a disease—but that has been widely tolerated in the Watchtower organization, especially at Brooklyn head­ quarters, where Bethelites have had a reputation for heavy drinking.

Almighty  adjective  All-powerful—a term JWs formerly applied to Jesus Christ but now restrict to the Father only. In JW terminology the Father is the Almighty God, while the Son is only a mighty god.  (See AJWSBS and JWAVBV.)

ancient worthies  Chiefly plural; obsolete. Faithful men of pre-Christian times, especially those named in Hebrews, chapter 11, who Witnesses during the 1920’s-1950’s expected to be resurrected at any moment and to appear among them.  See JWAVBV, JWL.

angel  noun  The order of creation to which Jehovah’s Witnesses assign Jesus Christ, Satan the Devil, the demons, and obedient spirit creatures.  See AJWSBS, JWAVBV, INDEX.

Anglo-American world power  A fictitious government or nation composed of England and the United States, believed by JWs to be a de facto reality—invented to make Bible prophecies fit Watchtower interpretation.

anniversary  noun  An annual commemoration or celebration sometimes acceptable to JWs.  They celebrate wedding anniversaries and the anniversary of Christ’s death, but the organization puts on trial and punishes JWs who celebrate the anniversary of Christ’s birth (Christmas) or anyone else’s birthday.  See AJWSBS.

announce a disfellowshipping   To inform the local congregation, from the speaker’s platform, that an individual has been disfellowshipped by a judicial committee—usually seven days after reaching the disfellowshipping decision, if no appeal has been made.  Once the announcement has been made, other Witnesses must shun the offender.

announcements   A service meeting part—usually at the beginning or end of the meeting—devoted largely to communicating schedules of upcoming activities and other mundane matters concerning the local Kingdom Hall, literature supplies, and similar information.

annual meeting, the   The official corporate annual meeting of the members (shareholders, or stockholders) of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, generally held in Pennsylvania or nearby in New Jersey.  Besides the limited number of corporate members, admission to the closed meeting is by ticket only.

anointed  adjective 1. Of or pertaining to a member of the anointed class.  noun  1.  The anointed class, especially with the, as in, “She is one of the anointed.”  2.  With the, the Messiah or Christ.

anointed class  144,000 faithful Christian believers from the day of Pentecost until the present—believed by JWs to be the only people going to heaven and the only true members of the body of Christ.

anointed remnant  1. The remaining members of the anointed class still alive on earth today or at any particular time during the last days, officially tallied at the annual Memorial and currently reported as numbering between eight and nine thousand.  2.  The tiny minority of JWs who profess the heavenly hope. 

anthem, national  A musical piece dreaded by JWs, who view it as representing satanic rulership.  Forbidden to stand up when it is played, and often encountering abuse for taking that position, JWs cringe at the sound.  See AJWSBS.

antichrist, the  noun  1. An unnamed biblical character prefiguring collectively the clergy of Christendom.  2.  The clergy of Christendom, collectively.

NOTE:  Witnesses also refer to clergy of other churches as “the man of lawlessness” and consider them as the worst villains, second only to “apostate” ex-Witnesses.

antitype  noun A person, nation, or other thing prophetically foreshadowed or prefigured by a biblical character, nation, or thing.  Examples: The Watchtower organization is the antitype of Noah’s Ark, and Christendom is the antitype of unfaithful Jerusalem, according to Watch­ tower interpretation.

antitypical  adjective Foreshadowed or prefigured by.  Example: “Antitypical unfaithful Jerusalem is Christendom.”

antitypical Babylon   Collectively, all false (i.e., non-JW) religions today, as prefigured by the ancient Babylonian Empire and/or Neo-Babylonian Empire viewed as a prophetic pattern  or type.

antitypical Israel  The anointed class of believers supposedly at the core of the JW organization, as prefigured by the ancient nation of Israel.

antitypical Jerusalem   The JW organization, viewed as having been prefigured by the ancient Jewish capital.

Apollyon  noun  1.  Jesus Christ, the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.  2. obsolete Satan the Devil, the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.  Note: This dramatic reversal is found in JW Bible commentaries published just 13 years apart, demonstrating the changeableness of the “J.W.ese” language.  See AJWSBS and JWL.

apostasy  noun  Any rejection of, or deviation from, Watchtower teaching, even in relatively minor matters—viewed as the most serious form of sin, equivalent to outright rebellion against God himself.  Example: “Sister Johnson, please!  Don’t question what the Society has said about the year 1914.  That could get you disfellowshipped for apostasy.”

apostate  noun  A former Witness who now denies Watchtower doctrine.  adjective  Of, or pertaining to, a former JW who now denies Watchtower doctrine.

NOTE:   Apostate is the worst derogatory term in Witness vocabulary.  A JW sees apostates as ranking below prostitutes, murderers, and child abusers.

apostolic succession  The Roman Catholic teaching that the position and/or authority of the twelve apostles has been passed on to other men in our day.  Note: Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the concept as a false doctrine when promoted by Catholics, but embrace the same concept in viewing their own Governing Body as the modern day equivalent of the twelve apostles.

appeal   verb  To request a rehearing of an unfavorable judicial committee decision.  For example, the chairman of such a committee may say to the accused at the end of the proceedings, “The committee has concluded that you must be disfellowshipped.  However, no announcement will be made for seven days, to allow you opportunity to appeal, if you wish.”

appeal committee  Organizational.  Three or more elders assigned to form a temporary body to rehear a case previously tried by a judicial committee.  The appeal committee’s decision is usually final, with no further appeal available.

appointed  verb, past tense  Placed in position by God.  Example:  “The appointed servants in a congrega­tion serve as Jehovah’s representatives.”

appointed times of the nations  A divinely fixed interval of 2520 years set aside for uninterrupted rule by Gentile nations opposed to God, commencing with the alleged desolation of Jerusalem in 607 B.C. and ending 1914 A.D. with the heavenly enthronement and invisible return of Christ.  Formerly, the Gentile times.

 

“appointed times of the nations”

Acceptance of the “J.W.ese” definition for a word or expression is not optional for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Nor is it a mere academic question.  I have personally known elderly JWs who were put on trial for doubting the official definition of the “appointed times of the nations.”  Convicted of such a thoughtcrime, they were sentenced to forced shunning, cutting them off from all contact with children, grandchildren, and lifelong friends.

 

appointment  noun  Assignment from God, through His organization, to serve in some special capacity.  Example: “Appointment to serve as an elder is made by Jehovah God through His organization.”

appreciate spiritual things   To demonstrate a positive attitude toward the teachings and instructions of the Watchtower Society, as in, “We won’t let our daughter play with the Johnson girl, because the Johnsons don’t appreciate spiritual things.”

appreciation   Appreciation of spiritual things, as in, “She quit pioneering because she’s lacking in appreciation.”

appreciation of spiritual things   A positive viewpoint toward the Watchtower Society’s teachings and organizational arrangements.

approved associate   obsolete An unbaptized person who is studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses, who is attending meetings, and who has conformed his lifestyle and beliefs to Watchtower standards—and who is hence declared eligible to share in field service and to turn in a report that will be accepted by the organization.

archangel  noun  Michael, alias Jesus Christ, who JWs believe to be the first angel created by God.  See JWAVBV.

ark, the   The ark of salvation, God’s organization.  For example, an elder may tell an inactive Witness, “Get into the ark!  Your life depends on it.”

ark of salvation   The Jehovah’s Witness organization, allegedly prefigured by Noah’s ark as the only safe place to be when destruction from God rains down upon the modern world.

Armageddon  noun  God’s final war, ending the present wicked world, with the destruction of all human governments and the permanent annihilation and eternal death of all non-JWs.  See AJWSBS.

artificial blood   An experimental product, Fluosol-DA, which JWs looked to hopefully between 1980 and 1985 when it was proved ineffective.

arrangement, the   In any specific situation or circumstances, the procedural instructions provided by the Watchtower Society through its publications, letters, and appointed representatives.   For example, an elder may reject suggestions for an innovative approach to meetings or door-to-door work by replying,  No.  Let’s just follow the arrangement.”  This puts the weight of the Watchtower Society and God’s invisible heavenly organization behind his words.

assembly  noun  1. A large JW district convention held annually in a rented stadium or convention center for three days or longer with approximately 10,000 to 60,000 in attendance at each convention site in numerous cities around the globe.  2.  A smaller annual or semi-annual JW circuit convention lasting two or three days with approximately 500 to 2000 drawn from several local congregations in attendance at a JW Assembly Hall or a rented high school auditorium.  3.  Any special gathering of JWs from more than one congregation.

assembly hall    noun  Essentially an oversized Kingdom Hall, a building with seating capacity to accommodate several congregations at the same time and used for small assemblies.  Note:  The Assembly Hall may be owned by one of the Watchtower corporations or by a local legal entity formed for that purpose.

assembly overseer  1.  A JW elder in each circuit responsible for organizing and directing the various departments handling physical arrangements at a circuit assembly.  2. The elder caring for similar responsibilities at a district convention or international assembly.

assembly release(s)   1.  noun  New Watchtower books, booklets, tapes, or CDs announced and made available, usually at a district assembly.  Example:  “We just got home from the convention.  Here, let me show you the new assembly releases.”

assistant congregation servant  obsolete  A discontinued second-in-command post in the local JW hierarchy.  Today’s congregation overseer shares some of his power with the congregation secretary and the field service overseer.

association, freedom of  A democratic concept advocated by Jehovah’s Witnesses insofar as it applies to their organization’s legal right to hold meetings, but denied by the organization to individual members who seek outside association.  For example, a JW may face trial and punishment for attending a political rally, participating in a town meeting, or sharing in the worship service of another church.

astrologers  noun  The derogatory term JWs use for the “wise men” who brought gifts to baby Jesus.  In the Watchtower view it was Satan the Devil who sent the Star of Bethlehem as part of the plot to have Jesus killed in infancy.

attend   verb   To belong to (a specific congregation).  Since the concept of membership is offensive to JWs, they avoid saying they belong to a certain congregation and say instead that they attend that congregation.

attendant  noun  Technical An usher (nearly always male) assigned to seat people, to keep order, and to direct traffic at a JW meeting or assembly.

audience contact  Eye-contact with listeners; one of the speech counsel points on which JWs are graded when giving student talks in the Theocratic Ministry School.

Auditing Department   The division of a circuit or district convention organization responsible for collecting, counting, and dispensing the convention’s funds.

aux. pio.   abbreviation auxiliary pioneer

auxiliary pioneer   1. A JW whose application has been accepted for the privilege of full-time service during a single month or a number of consecutive months, currently with a monthly goal of 60 hours.  2. To hold this assignment, as in, “I plan to auxiliary pioneer in April if I can schedule my vacation then.”

Awake!  The less-doctrinal companion magazine to The Watchtower designed to capture the attention of people who are not religiously-minded.  Formerly titled The Golden Age and Consolation.  As of this writing approximately 13 million copies are produced semi-monthly in 75 languages.

 
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B

b.a.   slang  A Bethelite who privately manifests a bad attitude (abbreviated b.a.) through untheocratic thoughts or facial expressions, or by secretly flaunting disregard for organizational authority or authority figures.  Use of this term is confined largely to the Bethel family and is seldom heard among JWs in general.

baby   noun   One of the few acceptable reasons for a woman to stop pioneering or to avoid entering pioneer service.  The statement, “She had a baby,” carries this immediate implication when a woman’s spirituality is being discussed by fellow Witnesses.

baby shower   A social gathering for the purpose of bestowing gifts on a pregnant woman for her future infant—one of the few acceptable occasions for JWs to hold a party.

Babylon   noun   1. Non-Witness religious organiza­tions collectively.  Example: “Alice has gone back to Babylon,” means, “Alice has resumed her involvement with her non-Witness church.”  2. The ancient neo-Babylonian empire and/or its capital city.  3. The land of the post-deluge Tower of Babel.

Babylon book, the  nickname  The Watchtower Society’s 1963 publication titled Babylon the Great Has Fallen!” God’s Kingdom Rules!  See JWL.

Babylon the Great   The “world empire of false religion” composed of all non-JW religious organizations and their members.  See AJWSBS.

Babylonish  adjective  1. False-religious.  Used primarily to describe doctrines and practices of other sects.  2. Characteristic of ancient pagan Babylon.

Babylonish captivity   1.  The seventy-year period from 607 to 537 B.C.E. when the leaders and people of Judah were held captive as exiles in the Neo-Babylonian empire, according to Watchtower interpretation.   2.  A similar period from 1914 to 1918, allegedly foretold in Scripture, when Watchtower followers in a weakened spiritual condition compromised with worldly influences, culminating in the 1918-1919 imprisonment of president J. F. Rutherford and other leaders of the sect.

Babylon’s fall   1.  The Medo-Persian conquest of the Neo-Babylonian empire in 539 B.C.E.  2.  The prophesied defeat of modern Babylon the Great—the non-JW religions—in 1919 when Watchtower leaders imprisoned on sedition charges were released from the Atlanta federal penitentiary.

back call  obsolete  1. A return visit to a householder who showed interest when JWs knocked on his or her door on a prior occasion.  2. Such a householder, as in the sentence, “The woman on the third floor is my back call” (= “The woman on the third floor is someone I visited earlier with the intention of returning again.”)

back call book  obsolete  A small pocket notebook used for recording the address and other pertinent information regarding potential and actual back calls.

bad association   1. Any non-Witness, or a JW who is obviously headed for trouble.  Example:  “It wouldn’t be right to go to a restaurant with our worldly neighbors; they’re bad association.”  2. The act of spending time with a worldly person.  3.  obsolete  A designation equivalent to disfellowshipped person but applied to an unbaptized individual who had begun to engage in congregation activities.  (The practice was discontinued, apparently after encountering defamation lawsuits from such individuals.)

bad attitude   slang  A Bethelite who privately manifests untheocratic thoughts or facial expressions, or secretly flaunts disregard for organizational authority or authority figures.  Use of this term is confined largely to the Bethel family and is seldom heard among JWs in general.  (Usually abbreviated b.a.)

bag   slang A briefcase or book bag used in field service.

ban   noun   A governmental prohibition on the door-to-door preaching activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or, in more extreme cases, a total outlawing of the sect.  Example:  “Our brothers in Greece were preaching under ban at that time.”  

(NOTE:  Although outsiders refer to the sect’s ban on blood transfusions and its past bans on organ transplants and vaccinations, JWs themselves avoid this usage of the term.)

baptism   noun   1.  A service JWs normally hold two or three times a year, usually as part of a convention, during which new members are baptized.   2.  The act of baptizing such new members.

baptize   verb  To immerse a new member in water at a baptismal service.

 

Baptism’s significance to Jehovah’s Witnesses

JWs view baptism as a public act demonstrating that an individual has privately made a prayer of dedication to serve Jehovah God under the direction of the Watchtower organization.

 

Battle of Armageddon   The second part of the Great Tribulation; the destruction of all human governments and the rest of Satan’s world, following the Battle of Babylon.  Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they themselves will be the only survivors and that God will send everyone else—men, women, and children—to eternal destruction.

Battle of Babylon   The first part of the Great Tribulation; the destruction of all non-JW religious organizations, including all the churches of Christendom.

B.C.  obsolete  Before Christ—an expression avoided by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Following the pattern of The Watchtower, they prefer to label dates with the expression Before the Common Era, abbreviated B.C.E.

B.C.E.  Abbreviation  Before the Common Era—the expression Jehovah’s Witnesses use in place of B.C. or Before Christ.  (Although others sometimes use B.C.E. to stand for Before the Christian Era, JWs nearly always read it as Before the Common Era.)

beard   noun   The hair on a man’s chin and cheeks.  Although Watchtower founder Charles Taze Russell was bearded, beards have generally been unacceptable among Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout most of this century.  A beard usually marks a man as a non-Witness.  In fact, illustrations in Watchtower publications even depicted Jesus as beardless between 1942 and 1968.  See JWL.

beast(s)   noun  Human governments under the control of Satan the Devil.

beast out of the abyss    The League of Nations, and then later the United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretations of Revelation 17:8.

beast out of the sea   noun  The world-wide political system of human governments under the control of Satan the Devil, according to Watchtower interpretations of Revelation, chapter 13.

beast, two-horned   noun  The Anglo-American world power, an alleged de facto combine of Britain and the United States.

beer   noun   An alcoholic fermented beverage approved by Jehovah’s Witnesses for moderate use, but traditionally consumed in large quantities at Brooklyn headquarters.

Before Christ  (See B.C.)

Before the Christian Era  (See B.C.E.)

Before the Common Era  (See B.C.E.)

belong   verb A term Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid using in regard to their local congregation.  Rather than say, “I belong to the Downtown Congregation,” a Witness would say, “I attend the Downtown Congregation.”

Bethel   noun  1. The Watchtower organization’s world headquarters complex, composed of some thirty buildings, in Brooklyn, New York.  2. A Watchtower branch office complex in another country, particularly when referred to by JWs native to that country.  For example, Canadian JWs refer to Toronto Bethel.  3. Loosely, any of the Watchtower Society’s live-in complexes, including outlying farms operated by full-time volunteers.  4. Obsolete. The four-story brownstone at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, formerly the residence of Congregational pastor Henry Ward Beecher, purchased by the Society to house its headquarters staff when moving to New York City in 1909.  The March 1, 1909 Watch Tower declared, “The new home we shall call ‘Bethel,’” derived from the Hebrew expression for House of God.  5. Obsolete. Plymouth Bethel.

 

Bethel

According to Genesis, Jacob assigned this name (meaning house of God) to the place where God revealed himself to him.  Located at the southern end of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, Bethel later became one of two cities Jeroboam selected as centers of worship to keep his subjects from making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem’s temple in the kingdom of Judah.  Hence, Bethel became known as a center of false worship.

 

Bethel family  1. A collective term for the thousands of full-time Brooklyn headquarters, farm, and branch office live-in volunteer workers.  2. The workers at a given location, as in “the Brooklyn Bethel family” or “the Toronto Bethel family.”

Bethel Home   1.  The residence portion of the Brooklyn headquarters complex.   2.  The residence portion of a Watchtower branch office complex.

Bethelite  noun  A full-time live-in worker at Watchtower headquarters or at any of the Society’s branch offices or farms.  Bethelites are unpaid but receive room and board plus a small monthly allowance for personal items.

Bethel service   A live-in full-time volunteer position at Watchtower headquarters or one of the Society’s branch offices or farms, ranked above pioneering but below circuit work.

Beth-Sarim  noun  A San Diego mansion that served as second Watchtower president J. F. Rutherford’s winter residence, but that was supposedly held in trust for soon-to-be resurrected Old Testament  patriarchs and prophets who would rule the earth from that residence.  See AJWSBS.

Bible  noun  1. The Watchtower Society’s New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.  2.  Any Bible.  See JWASBS, JWAVBV, JWL.

Bible-based   Derived from a correct understanding of Scripture—a term usually applied to Watchtower teachings and literature to endow them with biblical authority.

Bible dictionary   1.  The 1988 Watchtower publication Insight on the Scriptures in two volumes.  2.  The obsolete 1971 Watchtower publication Aid to Bible Understanding.  See JWL.   3.  Any standard Bible dictionary from non-Witness sources.  JWs view these as unreliable, but will quote from one if material can be found to support a particular Watchtower teaching.

Bible drama   A stage play put on at a JW convention with amateur actors depicting Bible characters and modern Witnesses—with a definite lesson to be learned.  The spoken parts are normally recorded ahead of time by trained Bethel speakers; then local Witnesses pantomime the parts on stage.  Though stiff and dry by entertainment industry standards, these brief dramas are the highlights of Watchtower conventions for most JWs, especially the children.

Bible House  Obsolete.  The Watch Tower headquarters building in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

Bible knowledge   Understanding and acceptance of Watchtower teachings, as in, “The church members who agreed to study with us began to gain Bible knowledge.”

Bible principles  General rules of conduct set forth in Watchtower publications, citing the Scriptures as authority.

Bible Students   1. The name early Watchtower followers used to refer to themselves, abandoned in 1931 in favor of the name Jehovah’s Witnesses.  2. Members of groups that remained loyal to C. T. Russell’s teachings and refused to accept J. F. Rutherford’s changes.  Prominent among these groups today are the Chicago Bible Students and the Dawn Bible Students.  See AJWSBS, JWL.

Bible study   noun  1. A one-on-one indoctrination session usually held weekly in the home of a prospective convert with paragraph-by-paragraph consideration of a Watchtower textbook.  2. A prospective convert who takes part in such a study, as in “She’s my Bible study,” meaning, “She’s a prospective convert with whom I conduct a study in one of the Watchtower Society’s books.”

Bible Study Overseer   obsolete  An elder assigned to oversee disciple-making, return visits, and home Bible studies in a local JW congregation.  This was, for a time, the third ranking position in a local congregation, and the elder holding it was a member of the Congregation Committee.

Bible Study Report  See Study Report.

binder   A permanent storage shell that can be purchased at the literature counter to hold a year’s Watchtower or Awake! magazines.  Binders are used by JWs who cannot afford to purchase bound volumes or who wish to save the personal study notes they made in their original magazines.

birth control   Artificial means of preventing pregnancy—some forms are acceptable to JWs and others are objectionable, as spelled out in Watchtower articles on specific methods.

birthday   noun   The anniversary of one’s birth—a subject on which the Watchtower Society has flip-flopped over the years, with positions ranging from encouraging celebration to forbidding it as a disfellowshipping offense.  Birthday parties and birthday cards are currently forbidden.  See AJWSBS.

blood card   slang  A “no blood” card.  Example:  “You won’t be able to get the new book at the assembly unless you can show the brothers your blood card.”

blood fraction   Any of the various components of whole blood, some of which JWs may accept and some of which they must refuse.  The Governing Body has ruled that Witnesses may accept albumin, immune globulins, Factor VIII, Factor IX, and their own blood circulated outside the body in a heart/lung or kidney machine, but they must refuse plasma, red cells, white cells, platelets, and their own blood stored outside the body in a bottle or bag.

bloodguilt   noun  Accountability for violating God’s law on the sanctity of blood, incurred by contributing to an untimely death or by accepting a blood transfusion.  An elder might counsel a Witness in this manner, for example:  “If you hold back from sharing in the preaching work, you will bring bloodguilt upon yourself for the people who die without hearing our lifesaving message.”

bloodguilty   adjective  Having incurred bloodguilt.

blood issue   The organizational decree that JWs must refuse blood transfusions, and the controversy that often results.

blood substitute   Usually a plasma volume expander that keeps veins from collapsing due to blood loss, but that fails to perform all the functions of real blood.

body   slang  The local body of elders.  For example, the Presiding Overseer might say to the Circuit Overseer, “Sure, it’s okay with me for you to park your trailer at Kingdom Hall, but I’ll have to check with the body.”

body of elders   Collectively, the elders of a local congregation meeting together in formal session.

book bag   The small briefcase (men) or large purse (women) JWs use to carry their magazines, books, and other merchandise to householders’ doors.  It also typically contains tracts, handbills, a territory map, a return visit book, and other field service paraphernalia.

book offer, the   The book specified in Our Kingdom Service as the one JWs should be presenting at the doors during a given month.

book room  The cubicle or small room used at Kingdom Hall for storing and dispensing Watchtower books, booklets, bound volumes, and other literature with the exception of periodicals—usually equipped with a window or dutch door to provide counter service.  Also called a literature room.

book study  The one-hour Congregation Book Study Meeting held weekly in each JW congregation, usually on Tuesday evening, for the purpose of studying a textbook assigned by Brooklyn headquarters.  Each congregation usually splits up into book study groups with several book studies meeting simultaneously in private homes and in various rooms at Kingdom Hall.

book study group   The individuals (usually between 10 and 30) assigned to attend a particular Congregation Book Study Meeting.

bound volume  A hard-covered collection of a particular year’s Watchtower or Awake! magazines—the preferred form in which these periodicals are kept for reference.

Branch Office   One of approximately a hundred regional subsidiaries of the Watch Tower Society worldwide supervising the sect’s operations in a particular country and, in some cases, neighboring countries as well.  The Branch Office complex usually includes business offices, living quarters for Branch personnel, warehouse and shipping facilities, and sometimes a literature-production factory.

break  noun A mid-morning or mid-afternoon stop for coffee and donuts during field service activity.   (The duration of the break is often a bone of contention between reluctant Witnesses for whom it is the highlight of the morning and time-conscious auxiliary pioneers eager to get their time started again.  Circuit overseers and regular pioneers commonly keep their time running during the break and relax there as long as they want.)

break integrity   To violate God’s law (as interpreted by the Watchtower Society), especially in the area of political or medical prohibitions.

bride, the  The bride class.

bride class  1. The 144,000 believed bound for heaven, especially in their role as the bride of Christ.  2. The anointed remnant.

brochure   Any of several 32-page JW booklets with the same dimensions as a Watchtower magazine.

Brooklyn   slang  noun  1. The headquarters organization, as in “The elders submitted my question to Brooklyn, and now they are waiting for an answer.”  2. The Watchtower headquarters complex in Brooklyn, New York, as in “We’re going to take a tour of Brooklyn next week.”

Brooklyn Tabernacle  Obsolete.  The Watchtower organization’s name for the former Plymouth Bethel, purchased in 1908 to house the Society’s new offices in New York City.  (See Plymouth Bethel.)

brother, a   slang  A male baptized Witness.

brothers, one of the   slang  1. An appointed elder.  2. A male baptized Witness.

brother, the   slang  The elder in charge in a given context.

brothers, the   slang  The congregation elders.

bulletin board  obsolete The term bulletin board was stricken from JW vocabulary decades ago due to its supposedly unsavory etymology.  Witnesses trace its derivation to the papal bull, and certainly no loyal Witness would want to refer to the Kingdom Hall corkboard as a place for displaying documents issued by the Roman Catholic pope.  Notices are hung on the information board.  (It is technically permissible for JWs to use the term bulletin board when referring to such an object at their place of employment or at the super­ market, but the habit of substituting the expression information board often carries over to this usage as well.)

business territory   Non-residential streets or blocks occupied by storefronts, offices, factories or other commercial/industrial buildings, sometimes set aside to be worked by pioneers or others who express a preference for it.

Byington  The Bible in Living English by Steven T. Byington (Watchtower Society, 1972).  A JW might say, “I took along my Byington to use at that call,” meaning “my copy of Byington’s translation.”  (For more information see pages 130-132 of Jehovah’s Witness Literature: A Critical Guide to Watchtower Publications by David A. Reed, Baker Book House, 1993)

 
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C

C.E.  Abbreviation  Common Era, the expression Jehovah’s Witnesses use in place of A.D. or Anno Domini (In the year of our Lord).

c.o.   slang  1. Circuit overseer.  2. obsolete Congrega­tion overseer. 

In each case, the resemblance to the secular “c.o.,” meaning “commanding officer,” is intentional and appropriate.

caesar   noun  The secular government.

caesar’s law   Secular civil or criminal law, viewed as inferior or subordinate to God’s law (as interpreted by the Watchtower Society).  Example:  A JW working as a secretary or clerk in a government office would say to herself or to a fellow-Witness, “Caesar’s law requires me to keep these records confidential, but I will obey God’s law and tell the elders that Medicare paid for a blood transfusion for Sister Johnson.”

calendar, the  A colorful calendar printed by the Watchtower Society.  JWs superstitiously avoid displaying or using commercial calendars whenever possible, because these commonly feature holidays denoted by religious or patriotic artwork which they consider to be of satanic origin.  (Yet, JW calendars feature the standard names for months and days, ignoring the fact that Thursday is named after the Norse god Thor, March after the Roman god Mars, and so on.)

call   1. A return visit.  2. slang A person whom a Witness has been visiting to cultivate interest, as in, “Skip the second floor when you do that building, because the woman who lives there is my call.”

campaign   noun A special focus of door-to-door work during certain months, as outlined in Our Kingdom Ministry.  For example, January and February may be set aside for a subscription campaign, and December for a campaign with the New World Translation.

captain, car  See car captain.

captivity to Babylon   1.  The seventy-year period from 607 to 537 B.C.E. when the leaders and people of Judah were held captive as exiles in the neo-Babylonian empire, according to Watchtower interpretation.   2.  A similar period from 1914 to 1918, allegedly foretold in Scripture, when Watchtower followers in a weakened spiritual condition compromised with worldly influences, culminating in the 1918-1919 imprisonment of president J. F. Rutherford and other leaders of the sect.

car captain  The individual, usually an adult male, assigned to direct the occupants of a particular automobile or group of automobiles traveling together to work territory from house to house or to make return visits.  (The car captain may assign publishers to work together or send them out alone, and may tell them to start with a certain house and proceed in a given direction.)

car group  The Witnesses riding together to work a section of territory or to make return visits on interested persons.

card  organizational  A Publisher’s Record Card.  (For example, an elder in one congregation may say to an elder in another, “Even though her illicit sex took place in our territory, Sister Jackson’s card is in your congregation’s file, so you will have to set up the judicial committee.”)  See Publisher’s Record Card.

cemetery witnessing   Organized witnessing activity in graveyards on Memorial Day or similar occasions.  The JWs approach people who have come to visit loved ones’ graves, give them a tract, and sometimes also attempt to speak briefly with them.

cemetery work   Cemetery witnessing.

Channel  short for Channel of Communication

Channel of Communication  The Watchtower Society, viewed as God’s mouthpiece or the channel through which God speaks to mankind.

chairman   1. The elder presiding over a congregation’s body of elders.  2. The elder presiding over a judicial committee or other committee of elders.  3. The Governing Body member chairing that body’s meetings during the current year on a rotating basis.

Chairman’s Committee   The chief subcommittee of the Governing Body, composed of this year’s chairman, last year’s, and next year’s.

chariot  See Jehovah’s chariot.

choir   A group of singers performing in one of Christendom’s false churches.  JW Kingdom Halls do not feature choirs, since they are viewed as an invention of the devil.

Christ   noun  Michael, the first angel God created, in his role as Messiah following his baptism by John.  See AJWSBS, JWAVBV.

Christ class   obsolete  The composite Christ made up of Jesus and his 144,000 heaven-bound disciples, a teaching no longer promoted by the Watchtower Society.

Christendom   The non-JW churches, collectively—viewed as an apostate organization under the leadership of Satan the Devil.  See AJWSBS.

Christian  noun 1. A Jehovah’s Witness.  2. A nominal Christian, a non-Witness professing Christianity.  adjective 1. Of or about Jehovah’s Witnesses.  2.  Of or about nominal Christians.

NOTE:  Since Jehovah’s Witnesses believe themselves to be the only genuine Christians, others who lay claim to the name must be impostors, pseudochristians, in their eyes.

Christian Congregation, the   1. Technically, the 144,000-member body of Christ, represented on earth today by a remnant of fewer than nine thousand elderly JWs baptized prior to 1935.  2. Loosely, the worldwide body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Christian congregation, a  A local church body of Jehovah’s Witnesses; JWs almost never use the word church to apply to themselves, but prefer instead the word congregation.

Christian Greek Scriptures, the   The preferred term among JWs for the New Testament.  Use of the expression New Testament marks the speaker as a non-Witness in most cases.

Christian Scriptures   Short for the Christian Greek Scriptures.

Christian Witnesses of Jehovah  An alternate version of the name Witnesses of Jehovah, employed in formal talks, when the speaker wishes to emphasize the group’s profession of Christianity.

Christianity  1. The religion or beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  2. The religion or beliefs of nominal Christians.

church, a   1. A pseudo-Christian religious organiza­tion or congregation.  2. The steepled building such a false congregation meets in.  3. obsolete  A Kingdom Hall.  The first Kingdom Hall was named “New Light Church,” but JWs no longer use the word church in connection with any of their buildings.

Church, the   1. Technically, the 144,000-member body of Christ, represented on earth today by a remnant of fewer than nine thousand elderly JWs baptized prior to 1935.  2. Loosely, the worldwide body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

churches, the   slang  The false non-Witness organizations professing Christianity.

circuit   noun  A collection of between 12 and 20 JW congregations under the oversight of a circuit overseer.

circuit assembly   Technical An annual or semi-annual JW convention for the members of a particular circuit, usually lasting two or three days with approximately 500 to 2000 in attendance at a JW Assembly Hall or a rented school auditorium.

circuit convention  A circuit assembly.

circuit overseer   Technical An elder in full-time service assigned to oversee a number of congregations (perhaps 12-20).  Accompanied by his wife, he usually visits each congregation twice a year for a week at a time, staying with a family in their home and taking meals at the homes of other families that volunteer.  The circuit overseer ranks immediately above congregation elders and exercises limited authority over them.

circuit servant  obsolete  Circuit overseer.

circuit work   The position of a circuit overseer, as in “My son is now in the circuit work.”

city overseer  A local elder appointed to handle city-wide matters in cities with more than one congregation.

class   noun 1. A composite body of people viewed as fulfilling a particular role foretold in Scripture.  For examples, see the Christ class, the Ezekiel class, the Jeremiah class, and so on.   2. The Watchtower missionaries trained together at Gilead School during a particular year.  “Martha was a member of the Gilead Class of 1968.”

class worker   obsolete  In the 1930’s, a congregation publisher.

clergy, clergyman   A distasteful term used to designate prominent paid employees of Satan the devil’s religious organizations.  JWs vigorously reject the application of the term to any of their elders or traveling overseers and deny that their organization has any paid clergy—although traveling overseers receive a monthly allowance.

closed-minded  adjective Characterized by unwillingness to listen to the Watchtower message.

collection plate   An item not found at JW Kingdom Halls but employed only at false churches, in the Witness view.

colporteur   obsolete  A full-time door-to-door Watch Tower distributor in the early years of the organization.  Today’s equivalent is a pioneer or special pioneer.

come into the truth, to   To become a Jehovah’s Witness.  “I came into the truth in 1991.  When did you come into the truth?”

comment   noun  A remark from a member of the audience called on to answer a question during a congregation meeting.  verb  To participate from one’s seat in the audience during a meeting.

committee, the   1. The Congregation Service Committee.  2. A judicial committee.  3. A special committee.

committee action, a   The official disciplining of a JW member by a judicial committee through disfellowshipping or a lesser punishment.

committee business  1. Information of a confidential nature that must remain within the confines of a judicial committee or the congregation committee.  For example, an elder serving on such a committee might say to his wife, “I can’t discuss with you the relationship between Fred Thompson and the Jackson girl because it has become committee business.”  2. An issue to be decided or a task to be handled by the congregation committee.

committee matter  An offense requiring action by a judicial committee.  For example, and elder might explain to the parents of a teenage couple, “If you caught the kids kissing, you parents can discipline them, but if they were engaged in heavy petting or other loose conduct, then it becomes a committee matter and the brothers will have to look into it.”

Common Era   The expression Jehovah’s Witnesses use in place of A.D. or Anno Domini (In the year of our Lord).  Usually abbreviated C.E.

Communion   obsolete  JWs celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal annually at their Memorial service, but they avoid calling it Communion.

complete donation arrangement  technical  Procedures and terminology designed to disguise monies received for Watchtower publications as free gifts totally unrelated to the materials distributed—a policy instituted in the United States following a 1990 Supreme Court ruling against Jimmy Swaggart Ministries in a California sales tax case.  (The Watchtower Society had entered the Swaggart case as a “friend of the court” by joining the International Society for Krishna Consciousness of California, the National Council of Churches of Christ, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and other religious organizations in filing amicus curiae briefs with the high court.  The justices’ January 17 ruling against Swaggart was followed by a February 9 letter from Watchtower headquarters instructing Witnesses to stop naming specific sales prices for literature offered from house to house.  See also contribution.

conditional donation   Money donated to the organization on the condition that it may be returned to the donor in extreme circumstances.

congregation  A local body of JW believers usually composed of between 50 and 150 publishers and their families.

congregation, the Christian     1. Technically, the 144,000-member body of Christ, represented on earth today by a remnant of fewer than nine thousand elderly JWs baptized prior to 1935.  2. Loosely, the worldwide body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

congregation accounts  Financial records of a local congregation’s income and expenses maintained by the Accounts Servant on forms provided by the Watchtower Society.

congregation committee   Congrega­tion Service Committee

congregation overseer   1. obsolete The top elder in charge of a congregation prior to the rotation arrangement introduced during the early 1970’s.  2. slang Presiding overseer.

Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the (specific locality)  The name of a local JW church body always takes this form as in, for example, the East Boston Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Freeport Heights Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

congregation publisher   A rank-and-file Jehovah’s Witness who reports time in field service but who does not pioneer or serve in any other special capacity.

congregation servant   obsolete  Congregation overseer.

Congregation Service Committee   Tech­nical The top three elders in each local JW congregation—the presiding overseer, secretary, and service overseer—who sign routine forms and occasionally perform other tasks as a body.

conscience matter   An area of personal conduct in which organizational rulings allow for some freedom of choice without falling into disfavor.  (Compare personal decision.)

continuous auxiliary pioneer   One who serves as an auxiliary pioneer month after month, indefinitely.

contribute   verb  1. To make a free-will donation to the Watchtower Society or the local congregation.  2. To give money to purchase literature or other items—treated as a donation to evade taxes.

contribution   noun  1. A free-will donation to the Watchtower Society or the local congregation.  2. Money for the purchase of literature or other items, handled as a donation to evade taxes.

contribution box   A receptacle for receiving money at a JW Kingdom Hall or assembly site.  There may be a general contribution box as well as boxes to receive money for specific purposes—to pay for literature, meals at assemblies, etc.  JWs view passing the collection plate at other churches as a false religious practice; they see no resemblance between their contribution boxes and church collection plates.

convention   noun  1. A large JW district assembly held annually in a rented stadium or convention center for three days or longer with approximately 10,000 to 60,000 in attendance at each convention site in numerous cities around the globe.  2.  A smaller annual or semi-annual JW circuit assembly lasting two or three days with approximately 500 to 2000 drawn from several local congregations in attendance at a JW Assembly Hall or a rented high school auditorium.  3.  Any special gathering of JWs from more than one congregation.

convention department   A division of the temporary organization set up to run a district or circuit convention—usually manned by volunteer appointees supervised by a local elder or, in the case of larger conventions, a circuit overseer.  Examples:  Rooming Department, Food Service Department, Auditing Department.

convention overseer   The elder in charge of the temporary organization running a circuit assembly or district convention.

convention report  Obsolete.  A booklet or paperback book published between 1904 and 1969 in connection with a large district or international convention, featuring photographs taken at the gathering and promoting new publications released there.  (Also called simply “convention report.”

convention release(s)   1.  noun  New Watchtower books, booklets, tapes, or CDs announced and made available, usually at a district convention.  Example:  “We just got home from the assembly.  Here, let me show you the new convention releases.”

conversational quality   A point of speech counsel in the Theocratic Ministry School emphasizing the use of natural-sounding speech that is not “preachy”—both from the speaker’s platform and in door-to-door ministry.

counsel   Corrective or instructive advice based on the Bible and/or Watchtower publications and offered by one JW to another, regardless of whether solicited or not.

counsel point   A quality of speech among those enumerated in the Theocratic Ministry School for students to work on.

Counsel Slip   See Speech Counsel Slip.

count time, count (one’s) time   1.  To classify an interval of time as field service that can be reported in the “hours” column of a field service report.  Example: “You can’t count your time on that visit to Martha because, although irregular, she was still an active publisher.”   2. To be in a situation where the clock is running on reportable time.  “These letters I’m writing are to worldly people, so I’m counting time right now.”

NOTE:  Jehovah’s Witnesses speak of themselves as counting time in much the same way that a factory worker who has punched-in his time-card is now on the clock.  It is also similar to the situation of a taxi driver when the meter is running.  The Witness receives no financial remuneration, of course, but views the accumulating time as valuable in itself.

cover (a congregation’s territory)  To finish visiting all the homes in door-to-door ministry, as in, “How often does your congregation cover its territory?”

coverage   The frequency with which all the homes in a congregation’s territory are visited in door-to-door work.  For example, a Witness might ask another from the other side of town, “What’s your congregation’s coverage?” and the other might answer, “Three times a year. What’s yours?”

cross   noun  A pagan phallic sex symbol falsely adopted by the apostate churches to idolatrously represent Christ, who died on an upright stake rather than a cross according to Watchtower teaching.  The JW New World Translation eliminates the word cross and substitutes stake  or torture stake.  See AJWSBS, JWAVBV, JWL, INDEX.

crowd, great   See great crowd.

crucify   verb  To go along with removing the word cross the JW New World Translation eliminates crucify and substitutes impale.

crucifix   noun  Like the cross, JWs view a crucifix as a pagan idol that should be smashed or destroyed.  See cross.

crucifixion   noun    To go along with removing the word cross the JW New World Translation eliminates crucifixion and substitutes impalement.  See cross.

current magazine(s), the   The Watchtower and/or Awake! issues closest to the date in question.

NOTE:  Watchtower magazines are dated the first and fifteenth of each month, and Awake! magazines the eighth and twenty-second.  Those dated the first and eighth are usually offered together as a set, as are those of the fifteenth and twenty-second.

current offer, the   The book, magazines, subscription, or other item designated by the internal quarterly Our Kingdom Ministry as the one to be featured on the day in question.  A particular book is commonly featured for a month at a time.

cut off   1. Kill, as in, “Evildoers will be cut off at Armageddon.”  2. Shun, as in, “You must cut off disfellowshipped family members.”

 
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D

date   noun  A specific time set by the Watchtower Society for the world to come to an end, as in “it is not advisable for us to set our sights on a certain date,” after predictions regarding 1975 proved false.  (The Watchtower July 15, 1976, page 441)

Dawn, the  The Dawn Bible Students, or members collectively.

Dawn Bible Students, the   A breakaway group loyal to the teachings of Watchtower founder Charles Taze Russell, but regarded by Jehovah’s Witnesses as part of the evil slave class.  The group took its name from Russell’s Millennial Dawn book series.

Dawnites   Individual members of the Dawn Bible Students.

deacon   obsolete  An office and term not used by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Instead, they employ the expression ministerial servant, found in the New World Translation where other Bibles say deacon.

Death Warrant   slang used by JW b.a.’s and non-Witness relatives  The Power of Attorney each Witness signs granting an elder or other mature Witness life-and-death authority to refuse blood transfusions and blood products for the signer.

dedication   noun The decision and commitment through prayer to serve Jehovah in association with His organization, preceding baptism. This approximately parallels a Christian’s decision for Christ and saying the sinner’s prayer.  JWs speak of making one’s dedication, as in “Has he made his dedication yet?”

deity   noun  The quality of being superhuman.  Thus, a JW who says, “I acknowledge the deity of Christ,” may mislead a Christian who understands this to mean Jesus is God.

delegate   noun A JW attending an assembly or convention.

demo   slang noun  A demonstration.

demonized   Possessed by or inhabited by evil spirit persons, as in, “The scarf she bought at a yard sale was demonized, and that’s why Sister Miller has been so sick these past few months,” or, “Don’t go to that house.  The people who live there all speak in tongues, so they’re probably all demonized.”

demons, the   Evil spirits, collectively, as in, “Our worldly relatives think Jack’s problem is psychological, but we know it’s the demons.”

demonstration   A role-playing enactment of a Witness speaking to a worldly person, using a presentation or technique outlined in Our Kingdom Ministry or an assembly part outline.  For example, a JW woman might say, “I’m a householder in a demonstration in Brother Beck’s part on the Service Meeting.”

devil   Witnesses believe Satan the devil to be a cherubic angel who was appointed overseer of the newly inhabited earth but who then rebelled against God by misleading Eve into tempting Adam to sin.

devil’s organization, the   Non-Witness religions, all of earth’s governments, commercial and educational institutions form part of Satan the devil’s organization, which JWs believe embraces the rest of mankind in its membership.  “Everyone belongs either to Jehovah’s organization, or to the devil’s,” is typical Witness thinking.

Diaglott, the   The Emphatic Diaglott by Benjamin Wilson, a Greek-English interlinear translation of the New Testament used by Pastor Russell and still published by the Watchtower Society.

different   Unlike the surrounding worldly people, usually in regard to dress and grooming, but sometimes also in regard to conduct or speech.  For example, a JW father might say to his teenage son, “Robbie, you have to get a shorter haircut because Jehovah’s people must look different from the world.  Right now you look just like the worldly kids in this neighborhood.”  JWs in authority often apply a double standard, as in the example here where the father’s grooming may be identical to that of the worldly businessmen he works with, while the son must look “different from the world.”

disappointed, disappointment   euphemism Failure of the Watchtower Society’s prophetic dates for the end of the world in 1914, 1925, 1975, and so on.   Rather than say, “The Society’s dates proved false,” a JW confronted with the information would say, “Some of God’s people were disappointed in that year,” or “experienced disappointment at that time.”

disassociate   verb 1.  To separate oneself volun­tarily from the Watchtower organization.  2.  To be declared by a judicial committee to be voluntarily separated from the Watchtower—even when this is involuntary on the individual’s part.  When a young JW joins the military (regardless of whether this is through recruitment or through conscription) the elders announce that he “has disassociated himself” from the JW organization.  This wording is used apparently to avoid having the congregation disfellowship or expel one who joins the military, as such disciplinary action might be seen as a violation of the law.  See AJWSBS.

disassociated person   One who has voluntarily separated from the Watchtower organization or who has been expelled by the elders under the guise of disassociation.

disassociation   noun  The act of voluntarily separating oneself from the Watchtower organization.

disassociation letter   A signed document from an individual declaring his or her intention to separate from the Watchtower organization.  Elders on a judicial committee often request such a letter from someone they wish to remove from the congregation, especially in situations where expelling the person might prove embarrassing or illegal—as in the case of JWs who embrace Christianity or who join a military organization.

disfellowship   verb  To declare an individual expelled from the Watchtower organization and henceforth subject to compulsory shunning by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  A judicial committee takes this action in private following a closed-door hearing or trial, and then the disfellowshipping announcement is read to the congregation at a Kingdom Hall meeting, usually the Service Meeting on Thursday evening.

disfellowshipped person   A JW who has been formally expelled from the Watchtower organization.

disfellowshipping offense, a   A violation of Watchtower rules that can result in an unrepentant offender being expelled from the sect.

 

Mind your P’s and Q’s

The official Watch Tower Publications Index 1976-1980, a  separate volume indexing topics covered in Jehovah’s Witness publications during that period, lists references to “disfellowshiping” and “disfellowshiped” persons, but the Watch Tower Publications Index 1981 issued the following year refers to “disfellowshipping” and “disfellowshipped” persons.  Notice the difference?  The words are now spelled with two p’s instead of one.  Alert English-speaking JWs worldwide immediately picked up on the change and conformed their own spelling to the Watchtower Society’s new usage.  Any who missed the point or who forgetfully fell into old spelling habits were chided by others as failing to keep up with the Society—or literally failing to mind their P’s and Q’s!  (Interestingly, the September 15, 1981 Watchtower article referenced in the new Index actually uses the old spelling.)

 

disgusting thing that causes desolation  (From Matthew 24:15 NWT)  The League of Nations/United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretation, as in “These worldly people are idolaters because they worship the disgusting thing that causes desolation.” 

disgusting thing that is causing desolation  (From Daniel 12:11 NWT)  The League of Nations/United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretation, as in “These worldly people are idolaters because they worship the disgusting thing that is causing desolation.” 

disloyalty  The serious sin of failing to uphold the Watchtower organization in some thought, word, or deed—seen as equivalent to turning against God.

district   noun  A territory formed by a dozen or more circuits, under the supervision of a District Overseer.

district assembly  A large JW convention held annually in a rented stadium or convention center for three days or longer with approximately 10,000 to 60,000 in attendance at each convention site in numerous cities around the globe. 

district convention  A large JW convention held annually in a rented stadium or convention center for three days or longer with approximately 10,000 to 60,000 in attendance at each convention site in numerous cities around the globe.

district overseer   Technical An elder in full-time service assigned to oversee a number of circuits (perhaps 12-20).  Accompanied by his wife, he usually visits each circuit once or twice annually, staying with a family in their home and taking meals at the homes of other families that volunteer—or staying in an apartment constructed for that purpose at a JW assembly hall.  The district overseer ranks immediately above the circuit overseers in his district and exercises limited authority over them.  He, in turn, reports to the Service Department at Brooklyn headquarters or to the Branch Office having oversight over the country where he serves.

district servant   obsolete  District overseer.

divine  adjective, divinity   noun  The quality of being superhuman.  Thus, a JW who says, “I acknowledge the divinity of Christ,” or “… that Christ is divine,” may mislead a Christian who understands this to mean Jesus is God.

do (a house, street, territory)   To visit all the homes of the (house, street, territory), as in, “When are you going to do that street?” or “We did that territory two months ago.”

domestics   The members of the anointed remnant, as recipients of the spiritual food that they distribute through the Governing Body.

donation  noun  1. A financial or other valuable gift to the Watchtower organization.  2.  Money received as the sale price for Watchtower publications at a Kingdom Hall literature counter or at a householder’s doorstep—termed a donation to deny sales activity in jurisdictions where taxed or otherwise restricted.  3.  obsolete Money received as the price of a meal at a JW convention cafeteria or snack vending booth—termed a donation to evade meals tax in certain states and localities, from March 11, 1990 through the end of 1994 when the sale of food at conventions was discontinued altogether.

double life   Many teenagers and younger children in JW families acknowledge among themselves that they live what they call a double life, playing the role of a Witness at home and at Kingdom Hall, but acting as a worldly person at school and among friends in the neighborhood.

doubt   noun   An inward questioning or feeling of uncertainty about a teaching of the Watchtower Society.  Example:  “Sarah has been staying home from the meetings because she has doubts.”   verb To question the truthfulness of one or more Watchtower teachings.  Example:  “Fred has started doubting lately, and that is why he isn’t giving talks.”

NOTE:  To doubt or entertain doubts is viewed as a symptom of spiritual sickness bordering on sin.

dress   noun  Styles of dress are a major concern for both male and female JWs.  Both are subject to reprimand from the elders if their dress is deemed inappropriate.  At various times certain styles—such as men’s bellbottom pants and women’s pantsuits—have been ruled unacceptable.

 
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E

elder   noun  One of the men appointed by the Watchtower Society to a position of oversight in a Jehovah’s Witness congregation.

elder body   slang The body of elders of a local JW congregation.

elders, the   The body of elders of a local JW congregation.

emblems, the   The red wine and the unleavened bread (often, Jewish Kosher matzo) used in the JW version of Communion at their annual Memorial meeting.

eternal life   The reward, given only to the faithful, of living forever—in heaven for 144,000 chosen ones and on earth for additional millions.  This is not immortality, but life continues uninterrupted because the causes of death have been removed.

everlasting life   See eternal life.

evil slave   1. An individual belonging to the evil slave class.  2. loosely A former JW who now attacks or criticizes the Watchtower Society.

evil slave class   Members of the anointed remnant of the 144,000 who become unfaithful and turn against the Watchtower Society.  (From Matthew 24:48)  The term is applied principally to elderly persons who left the organization many years ago.

expectations   See premature expectations.

Ezekiel class, the   The anointed remnant allegedly at the core of the Watchtower organization—supposedly prefigured by the prophet Ezekiel.

 
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F

factory, the   1. The mammoth printing plant at the Watchtower Society’s New York headquarters, as in “My son the Bethelite works in the factory.   2.  The printing plant at any of the Society’s branch offices or farms.

faithful and discreet slave   1.  The remnant of the 144,000 anointed ones in their role as God’s channel of communication in fulfillment of Matthew 24:45-47.  2. loosely  The JW Governing Body serving as spokesman for the anointed remnant.  (See AJWSBS, JWAVBV.)

fall of Babylon, the   1.  The Medo-Persian conquest of the Neo-Babylonian empire in 539 B.C.E.  2.  The prophesied defeat of modern Babylon the Great—the non-JW religions—in 1919 when Watchtower leaders imprisoned on sedition charges were released from the Atlanta federal penitentiary.

fall of Babylon the Great, the   The prophesied defeat of the non-JW religions in 1919, when Watchtower leaders imprisoned on sedition charges were released from the Atlanta federal penitentiary.

false prophet, a    1. A self-proclaimed spokesman for God whose predictions fail to come true.  2. A term wrongly applied to Jehovah’s Witnesses by their enemies.  Example:  “Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect.  Because of this, some have called them false prophets.”  (Awake! March 22, 1993, page 4)

NOTE:  Although Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves have predicted the end of the world for several different dates—1914, 1918, 1925, and 1975 being the most prominent—and recently dropped their longstanding proclamation of “the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away”  (Awake! masthead on page 4 of each issue from March 1988  through October 1995)—they are taught to believe that the term false prophet does not apply to them, because they never claimed to be a prophet in the first place.  However, see the box titled “a prophet yet not a prophet” on page 90.)

false prophet, the   The dual world power composed of Britain and the United States (the Anglo-American world power), allied with Satan the Devil and the United Nations organization, but finally destroyed in the Lake of Fire, according to Watchtower interpretations of the Bible’s apocalyptic prophecies.

false religion   All of the world’s non-JW religions, collectively.  Example:  “The great tribulation will begin with the battle of Babylon and the destruction of false religion, followed by the battle of Armageddon and the destruction of man’s governments.”

false religionist   A member or adherent of a non-Witness religion.

farm, the   1.  The Watchtower Farms complex at Wallkill, New York, as in, “My son the bethelite works at the farm.  (Note:  The farm includes a massive printing factory where English-language Watchtower and Awake! magazines are produced.)  2.  Any of the Society’s farm facilities staffed by full-time Watchtower personnel who live in dormitories on site.

field, the  The non-JW community viewed as a territory for witnessing, as in, “After you have developed your presentation, the next step is to try it out in the field.”

field service   Technical  Door-to-door literature distribu­ tion, return visits, home Bible studies, and other activity reportable to the Society.

field service report   1. A printed form that each Witness fills out weekly or monthly and turns in to the local congregation to report his or her hours spent in field service, number of books distributed, number of magazines distributed, and so on.   2. The figures listed on such a report.  Example:  “My field service report was low this month because I was down with the flu for two weeks.”

first resurrection   The raising to life of dead JWs and first century saints, alleged to have occurred in the year 1918, when these were supposedly given spirit-bodies to live in heaven.

flock, little   The 144,000 heaven-bound Jehovah’s Witnesses as prefigured by Jesus’ words at Luke 12:32.  (See AJWSBS, JWAVBV.)

flood, the   The worldwide deluge of Noah’s day.

Fluosol-DA   (See Artificial blood.)

Food Service Department   obsolete  The department responsible for preparing and serving food at a JW convention, staffed by volunteers.  Stands selling hamburgers and snacks plus a cafeteria serving meals—usually for meal tickets sold in advance—were standard features of JW assemblies for decades.  Starting in the early 1990’s food was no longer “sold” but was made available on a “donation” basis.  Then, commencing in 1995 the food service arrangement was dispensed with, and the Society instructed JW families to bring their own food to conventions.

force, active  The Holy Spirit.  See active force.

free home Bible study   A regularly scheduled discussion conducted by a JW with a prospective convert, usually in the prospect’s home for an hour each week featuring a paragraph-by-paragraph examination of a Watchtower publication—not the Bible itself.  Although Witnesses usually refer to this among themselves as simply “a study,” they generally say “free home Bible study” when offering it to an outsider.

friends, the   always plural Jehovah’s Witnesses, collectively, as in, “I’m having some of the friends over my house for a get-together,” or “Some of the friends were upset by a remark you made from the platform.”

full-time service   The status and activity of a Witness formally appointed to serve as pioneer devoting sixty or more hours each month to public preaching in the territory.

 
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G

Gehenna   Greek (taken from Hebrew)  Second death, extinction, the Lake of Fire in which the unrighteous dead are instantly annihilated and permanently destroyed.  See AJWSBS and JWAVBV.

generation   noun  1.  current definition “Rather than providing a rule for measuring time, the term ‘generation’ as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics.”—The Watchtower, November 1, 1995, page 17.  2.  obsolete “The Hebrews...reckon seventy-five years as one generation.”—Awake! April 8, 1988, page 14.  3.  obsolete “It does not refer to a period of time, which some have tried to interpret as 30, 40, 70 or even 120 years, but, rather, it refers to people, the people living at the ‘beginning of pangs of distress’ for this condemned world system.”—The Watchtower October 15, 1980, page 31.  4.  obsolete “A ‘generation’ might be reckoned as equivalent to a century (practically the present limit) or one hundred and twenty years...”—Studies in the Scriptures volume 4, 1908 edition, page 604.  5.  obsolete “Or...it would not be inconsistent to reckon the ‘generation’ from 1878 to 1914—36 1/2 years...”—Studies in the Scriptures volume 4, 1908 edition, page 605.

generation, the   obsolete Short for ‘the 1914 generation,’ or ‘the generation that saw 1914’ as in, “We know Armageddon is coming soon, because the generation has nearly passed away.”

generation, this   The people Jesus allegedly pointed forward to in our day when he said, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.”  (Luke 21:32 KJV)  See box.

generation, the 1914   obsolete  Short for ‘the generation that saw 1914’ as in, “We don’t have much longer to wait, brothers, because the 1914 generation is getting well up in years now.”

generation that saw 1914, the   obsolete  Collectively, the people born before 1914 who saw the events of that year—and who were expected to live to see the end of the world and the establishment of a New Order worldwide under Christ’s millennial reign.  This expression became obsolete when the November 1, 1995 Watchtower revised the prophetic interpretation of Jesus’ words at Luke 21:32.

 

the 1914 generation

From the 1960’s through late 1995, Jehovah’s Witnesses had been taught “the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.”  (Awake! magazine’s masthead, page 4 of each issue, March 8, 1988 through October 22, 1995)  During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Witnesses connected this with other predictions in their publications to the effect that the end would occur in the autumn of 1975, when the generation who were teenagers in 1914 would be in their mid-70’s and close to passing away.  (“...are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975...?”—The Watchtower August 15, 1968, page 499)  Afterward, the organization stretched the generation by applying it to the babies of 1914 rather than the teenagers.  And, when it could no longer be stretched, the prophecy was finally dropped at the end of 1995.

 

Gentile Times   obsolete. The 2520-year period from 607 B.C. to 1914 A.D., allegedly foretold by Christ at Luke 21:24 as a fixed interval between the desolation of the Davidic kingdom in ancient Jerusalem and the restoration of this kingdom under Christ.  On this basis, early Watch Tower leaders prophesied the world’s end for October 4/5, 1914; the Society teaches nowadays that Christ took power as king in heaven on that date.  Now called the appointed times of the nations.

get your time in   slang  To spend sufficient time in field service to reach one’s goal of reportable hours—an expression used primarily in reference to pioneers who have assigned monthly or annual goals. 

Gilead or Gilead School   noun  The Watch­ tower Society’s school or training program (of several weeks’ duration) for full-time missionaries sent to foreign lands at the organization’s expense.

Gilead class   The missionary-trainees, collectively, who attend Gilead in a particular year, as in, “Brother Smith and Brother Jones were both members of the Gilead class of ‘68”—comparable to a college’s graduating class. 

go out   slang  Engage in field service activity, as in, “I go out every Saturday morning.”

goal  noun  The number of hours set by the organization as a monthly or annual target for JW pioneers or publishers.  Formerly, quota.  (When I pioneered from 1969 through 1971 a regular pioneer’s assigned goal was 1200 hours per year.—author)

goat   slang  A worldly person who has firmly rejected the message preached by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  (Derived from the Watchtower interpretation of Matthew 25:32-46.)

god   noun  An angelic or superhuman created being.  This usage may be difficult to discern in oral speech, as when a JW is shown evidence that Jesus is God and responds by saying, “Yes, I am aware that the Bible refers to Jesus as god.

god, a   noun  An angelic or superhuman created being.  The JW New World Translation renders John 1:1 to say, “the Word was a god.”  (See JWAVBV and The Jehovah’s Witnesses New Testament by Robert Countess.)

God   noun  The one true Supreme Being.  JWs restrict this term to God the Father and believe that he must be addressed by the name Jehovah.

 

god and God

“I’m not interested in hearing your message, because you people deny the deity of Jesus Christ,” a householder says to the Jehovah’s Witnesses who show up on her doorstep.

“Whoever told you that was mistaken,” one of the Witnesses responds.  “We have always believed in the divinity of Christ.”

If the householder accepts this and consents to listen to the JW message after all, it is only because each party to the conversation understands the words differently.  In actuality, when Witnesses use the terms deity, divine, or god in reference to Christ, they mean merely that He is “a god” in the sense that all angels are superhuman beings or godlike ones, or in the sense that Satan the devil is “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) 

They realize that outsiders take this as an acknowledgment that Christ is the Almighty, the Creator, and the Witnesses sometimes use this confusion to their advantage, postponing confrontation over this issue in order to establish a foothold first on other matters that they can more easily teach a prospective convert.

 

God’s earthly organization  1. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its related corporate entities.  2. The corporation together with its followers.

God’s heavenly organization   Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, and the angels, all functioning together as an organized body.

God’s organization  1. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its related corporate entities.  2. The corporation together with its followers.  3. God’s universal organization embracing all faithful creatures: Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, the holy angels, and JWs alive on earth.

God’s universal organization  All faithful creatures—Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, the holy angels, and JWs alive on earth—functioning together as an organized body under divine direction, and represented on earth by the Watchtower Society.

God’s wifely organization   God’s universal organization, as pictured by the symbolic woman of Revelation 12:1-6.

God’s woman  God’s wifely organization.

good luck   Since Witnesses avoid using this expression, anyone who says, “Good luck!” can usually be assumed not to be a JW.

good news, the   This good news, the JW “gospel” message which is different from the gospel or good news preached by Christians down through the centuries.  See this good news.

good progress   Acceptance of Watchtower teaching and obedience to the Society’s dictates, as in, “My student is making good progress and will be baptized at the next assembly.”

good standing, in      The status of a baptized Witness who has not been disfellowshipped, nor recently reproved, and is not under any accusation of misconduct.

Governing Body or governing body   The ruling council for Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, seen as the successors to the twelve apostles.  Until the early 1970’s the Governing Body was synonymous with the Board of Directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.  Then it was expanded and placed above the various JW corporate entities.  In recent years the Governing Body’s membership has varied from 11 to 17 men.

grace   obsolete Jehovah’s Witnesses never speak of God’s grace.  They use the expression “undeserved kindness” which replaces “grace” in the JW New World Translation.

 

grace or undeserved kindness

People who are well acquainted with the Watchtower organization realize that it is not simply the word grace that is missing from the vocabulary of Jehovah’s Witnesses; the concept of God’s free gift is missing, too.  In fact, JWs are so accustomed to earning God’s alleged favor though obedience to the sect’s works program that hardly an eyebrow was raised when their internal publication Our Kingdom Ministry declared, “We want to give deserving ones the opportunity to learn of Jehovah’s undeserved kindness and the Kingdom hope.”  (December 1993, page 7, emphasis added)

 

great crowd   Collectively, the vast majority of JWs whose hope is to live forever on an earth restored to paradise.  (Derived from Revelation 7:9.)  (See AJWSBS.)

great tribulation, the   God’s final two-part execution of judgment against the non-JW world, consisting of the Battle of Babylon in which all other religious groups will be destroyed and then the Battle of Armageddon in which all human governments and all surviving non-Witnesses will be annihilated.

Greek Scriptures   Short for the Christian Greek Scriptures, the name Jehovah’s Witnesses use for the New Testament.

grooming   noun  Men’s hairstyles, beards, moustaches—all are of great concern to JWs.  At various times certain  male hair, beard, and moustache styles have been ruled unacceptable for JWs.  In most areas Witness men are required to be clean shaven—or in some cases small moustaches are allowed—in order to receive any “privileges” in the congregation.  Hair over the collar or over the ears has generally been prohibited.

group, car  See car group.

 
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H

hall, the   Kingdom Hall

hall cleaning   A weekly group cleaning activity usually assigned to various book study groups by rotation.

Hebrew Scriptures   The Old Testament.  (Use of the term Old Testament immediately identifies one as a non-Witness in most cases.)

headquarters    noun  The Brooklyn, New York, corporate headquarters complex of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society—also referred to as Bethel or Brooklyn Bethel.

headship   noun  1. The biblical principle assigning the family leadership role to the husband, as interpreted by the Watchtower Society.  2. Biblically assigned leadership roles in the local congregation and in the wider organization.

hearing   noun  A judicial committee hearing.

heaven   1. The place in outer space where God dwells and where the 144,000 go following their resurrection.  2. obsolete The Pleiades star cluster, in particular its brightest star Alcyone, long taught by the Watchtower Society to be the location of God’s throne.  See RESCUE.

Hebrew Scriptures, the   The preferred term among JWs for the Old Testament.  Use of the term Old Testament marks a person as a non-Witness.

hell   theological  1. An imaginary place of torment thought to exist by worldly people but actually nonexistent because humans have no immortal soul or spirit capable of surviving death.  2.  The  common grave of dead mankind, a figurative term rather than an actual place. 

For more information, see AJWSBS.

higher education   Post-secondary school training—an expression with strong negative connotations, since college education for the children of Jehovah’s Witnesses is viewed as a waste of time and, worse yet, a satanic snare.

Holy Ghost   A term intentionally avoided by Jehovah’s Witnesses, since they deny the Spirit’s deity and personality.  See holy spirit.

Holy Spirit   See holy spirit.

holy spirit   Not capitalized in JW usage God’s active force: the invisible, impersonal, and inanimate force Jehovah uses to accomplish his will.

home Bible study   A regularly scheduled discussion conducted by a JW with a prospective convert, usually in the prospect’s home for an hour each week featuring a paragraph-by-paragraph examination of a Watchtower publication—not the Bible itself.

householder   noun  1. A non-Witness visited in door-to-door ministry.  2.  A Witness playing the part of a non-Witness in a demonstration on a meeting part at Kingdom Hall.

hymn   noun  1. A disgusting song sung in mock worship at Christendom’s churches,  2. obsolete A song sung at JW worship services during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  Today’s JWs sing songs and are highly offended if these are referred to as hymns.

hymnal   noun  1. A book of disgusting songs sung in mock worship at Christendom’s churches,  2. obsolete A songbook published by the Watchtower Society and used at JW worship services during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  (See JWL.)  Today’s JWs use songbooks and are highly offended if these are referred to as hymnals.

 
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I

IBSA   Technical  The International Bible Students Association.

immortality   Theological  Deathlessness and indestructability—a quality possessed only by Jehovah God in Witness theology, since wicked men and angels will be annihilated, while the righteous will be rewarded with eternal life.

impale   verb   To hang upon a stake.  In order to agree with its denial of the Cross, the JW New World Translation substitutes impale for crucify.

imperfect, imperfection   The condition of fallen man, inclined toward error and evil—roughly equivalent to the Christian term “sinner.”

in good standing   See good standing, in.

in the truth   slang  Associated with the Watchtower organization.  Examples:  “I’ve been in the truth ten years; how long have you been in the truth?”  “I was born in the truth.”

inactive   adjective, technical  Having no time reported in field service for the preceding six months.

inactive publisher   technical  A Witness who has not reported any time for the preceding six months.  [NOTE:  Only active publishers are considered for appointments and for certain privileges.]

inappropriate facial expression  technical A point of counsel addressed when a student in the Theocratic Ministry School is working on “personal appearance” while giving a student talk.

individual choice   The alleged freedom of each JW to decide for himself or herself on such matters as whether or not to take a blood transfusion, whether or not to vote in an election, and whether or not to obey a draft board’s order to report for noncombatant duty.  In actuality JWs making the “wrong” choice are put on trial and punished.

information board  The term bulletin board was stricken from JW vocabulary decades ago due to its supposedly unsavory etymology.  Witnesses trace its derivation to the papal bull, and certainly no loyal Witness would want to refer to the Kingdom Hall corkboard as a place for displaying documents issued by the Roman Catholic pope.  Notices are hung on the information board.  (It is technically permissible for JWs to use the term bulletin board when referring to such an object at their place of employment or at the supermarket, but the habit of substituting the expression information board often carries over to this usage as well.)

Insight   The two-volume Watchtower book Insight on the Scriptures published in 1988 as a replacement for the Aid book.  See JWL.

inspired   adjective  Directed or controlled by a superhuman source, especially by God.

 

inspired, yet not inspired

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Watchtower organization is God’s channel of communication, God’s spokesman to mankind.  Yet, whenever critics bring up the sect’s long record of prophetic failures and doctrinal flip-flops, Witnesses typically respond that the organization has never claimed to be inspired.  This is a classic example of Orwellian doublethink—and plain doubletalk.

 

instruction talk     A talk of 15-20 minutes delivered at the beginning of the Theocratic Ministry School meeting by a capable adult male.

integrity   noun  Faithfulness to God through full compliance with all Watchtower Society requirements.

integrity keeper  One who maintains faithfulness to God through full compliance with all Watchtower Society requirements.

Interlinear, the   The Watchtower Society’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.

International Bible Students Associa­tion   Technical  1. The organizational name Pastor Russell instructed his followers to use to identify themselves and to advertise their meetings.  2. The British corporation formed by Pastor Russell in 1914, which continues to function as the sect’s legal arm in Britain.

invisible presence   theological  1. Christ’s Second Coming, unseen by human eyes, in the year 1914.   2.  obsolete  Christ’s Second Coming in the year 1874, unseen by human eyes, as proclaimed by Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

irregular   adjective,  Technical  Failing to report time during one or more of the previous six months.

irregular publisher   Technical A JW officially approved to participate in field service but who has failed to report time during one or more of the previous six months.

 
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J

JW   abbreviation Jehovah’s Witness or Jehovah’s Witnesses—an acronym commonly used by outsiders and finding some slang usage by Witnesses themselves but seldom found in Watchtower publications.

Jehovah    noun   1. The name of the true God, the God of the Bible, as found in the King James Version at Exodus 6:3 and Psalm 83:18.  2. God the Father, in Jehovah’s Witness usage, not the Son or the Holy Spirit. 

NOTES:

(1)  Watchtower publications have admitted that Jehovah is an incorrect rendering of the Hebrew YHWH, often rendered Yahweh in other modern translations.  See JWAVBV, AJWSBS.

(2)  To reinforce their antitrinitarian teaching, JWs restrict the use of the name Jehovah and apply it exclusively to God the Father.  So, when a Christian tries to establish the deity of Christ and tells a Witness, “Jesus is Jehovah,” the JW hears this as, “Jesus is the Father”­ —a thought contrary even to traditional orthodox theology and ridiculous to the JW’s ears.

(3)  Because Jehovah’s Witnesses are accustomed to referring to the Deity always by the name Jehovah, when they hear non-Witnesses speak about God they are often left with the feeling that this is someone else, not their Jehovah.  The divisive effect of this word-usage pattern contributes to the overall religious and social isolation of sect members from outsiders, one of the goals of any mind-control language.

(4)  As part of their systematic effort to slant their New World Translation to conceal the deity of Christ, Watchtower leaders insert the name Jehovah over two hundred times where Greek manuscripts actually say kyrios (Lord).  Therefore, many verses that Christians would turn to in a theological discussion take on a completely different meaning for JWs.  For example, the familiar words of Colossians 3:23-24 read this way in the New International Version (NIV) :  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  But the New World Translation changes the meaning in the eyes of JWs by having those verses say, “Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the due reward of the inheritance.  Slave for the Master, Christ.”

Jehovah Witness [sic]   erroneous   A common but incorrect form never used by the JW organization itself but often used in error by outside observers.  Occasionally a poorly educated Witness will also be heard to use this expression.

Jehovah’s chariot  Jehovah’s universal organization, as pictured by the chariot in Ezekiel’s vision.

Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses  Jehovah’s Witnesses.  An alternative form of the sect’s name, employed when there is a need or special desire to emphasize that they profess Christianity.

Jehovah’s earthly organization  1. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its related corporate entities.  2. The corporation together with its followers.

Jehovah’s heavenly organization   Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, and the holy angels, all functioning together as an organized body.

Jehovah’s organization  1. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and its related corporate entities.  2. The corporation together with its followers.  3. God’s universal organization embracing all faithful creatures: Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, the holy angels, and JWs alive on earth.

Jehovah’s universal organization  All faithful creatures—Christ, those of the 144,000 already in heaven, the holy angels, and JWs alive on earth—functioning together as an organized body under divine direction, and represented on earth by the Watchtower Society.

Jehovah’s Witness, a  To refer to someone as a Jehovah’s Witness usually identifies the speaker as a non-Witness; a JW is taught to say one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, thus affirming that the expression is a descriptive term rather than a denominational name.  (See Jehovah’s Witnesses.)

Jehovah’s Witnesses (also Jehovah’s witnesses)  Second Watchtower president Joseph F. Rutherford asked assembled members to approve this new name in 1931 to distinguish the sect from other Russellite “Bible Students.”  A lower case “w” was often used by Rutherford and some later writers to emphasize the claim that this is not a denominational name but rather a description of what the members actually are—witnesses of God.

 

Jehovah’s Witnesses not Jehovah’s Witnesses

Roughly 13 million people worldwide attend Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls as their place of worship and, as a result, are viewed in their communities as Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Yet the Witnesses themselves, if asked, will tell you that 7 million of these are not Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They count as JWs only the 5 million who share in their door-to-door work.  “If one does not preach he is not a minister of God and is not one of Jehovah’s witnesses [sic] and is not recognized by the Society as such.”—Qualified to be Ministers, 1955 edition, page 355

 

Jehovah’s wifely organization   Jehovah’s universal organization, as pictured by the symbolic woman of Revelation 12:1-6.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, one of   A JW.  JWs use this expression to affirm that they are actually witness-bearers of God rather than members of a denomination named Jehovah’s Witnesses, JWs are taught to use this expression in place of a Jehovah’s Witness.

Jehovah’s woman  Jehovah’s wifely organization.

Jeremiah class, the   The anointed remnant allegedly at the core of the Watchtower organization—supposedly prefigured by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jesus   noun  The name Michael the Archangel—the first spirit creature God created—took on when he was miraculously transferred to the womb of the virgin Mary to be born as a human.  As an angelic creature, Jesus is a god but not God.  See JWAVBV.

Jesus Christ   = Jesus the Messiah, or Jesus the Anointed One, a title not correctly applied to Mary’s son until he was 30 years old and anointed with “holy spirit” at the time of his baptism by John.

Jonadab, a   obsolete  In JW terminology of the 1930’s a Jonadab was a member of the great crowd—a Jehovah’s Witness with the earthly hope—held to be prefigured by Jehonadab son of Rechab who mounted Jehu’s chariot to ride with him (2 Kings 10:15 NWT).

judicial action   An official move to set up a judicial committee and summon before it an individual accused or suspected of wrongdoing.  Example:  “When the gossip in the congregation started to get out of hand, the brothers had to take judicial action.”

judicial committee  An officially appointed body of three (occasionally more) elders assigned to investigate and judge a JW suspected or accused of wrongdoing.  Essentially a panel of judges in an ecclesiastical court, but with broad powers to investigate and interrogate an individual, call eyewitnesses, compel testimony, pass judgment, and execute punishment.  A judicial committee is case-specific, so that in a congregation with elders A, B, C, D, and E, at a given moment in time A, B, and C may constitute a judicial committee investigating John Smith for adultery, B, C, and E may constitute a judicial committee investigating Jane Doe for cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and if Joe Witness is accused of smoking a new committee must be appointed.

judicial committee hearing   A formal ecclesiastical court trial in which a JW accused or suspected of wrongdoing faces a panel of judges—elders who act together as investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner.

judicial committee meeting   A formal session held by the (usually) three elders forming a judicial committee.  Besides actual hearings with others present, meetings may also be held by the committee members alone to plan strategy, to arrive at a judgment, and so on.

judicial decisions   Rulings made by a congregation judicial committee in regard to persons placed on trial as to their disfellowshipping, disciplining, reinstatement, and so on.

judicial matter   Misconduct that has resulted can result in the individual being summoned before a judicial committee.  Examples:  An elder might tell his wife, “I can’t answer your question about why Peter Rogers walked out in the middle of the meeting last night, because it involves a judicial matter.”  Or, a father might tell his teenage son, “If you put your hands all over Susan like that, it’s more than I can handle through family discipline; it’s become a judicial matter.”

Judge, the   Judge Rutherford

Judge Rutherford   Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942), the Watchtower Society’s second president, exercised one-man rule over the JW organization from Pastor Russell’s death in 1916 until his own demise in 1942.  He authored most of the sect’s books and other materials published during his administration.

 
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K

KIT or K.I.T.   Abbreviation  The Watchtower Society’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures.

K.M.  abbreviation  The internal monthly publication Our Kingdom Ministry.

k.p.    slang, abbreviation  Kingdom privilege, often used sarcastically to describe Kingdom Hall cleaning  or other undesirable assignments.  Resem­blance to the military use of “k.p.” is both intentional and appropriate.

keep integrity  To live in strict obedience to all of God’s laws (as interpreted by the Watchtower Society) without deviation.

Kingdom Hall   The local meeting place of a JW congregation—sometimes a rented room or building, but usually a structure owned by the sect through some corporate or trusteeship arrangement.  The typical Kingdom Hall seats between 50 and 300 people and, viewed externally, resembles surrounding buildings, regardless of whether these are commercial or residential.  Kingdom Halls do not have steeples; if a former church is purchased as a Kingdom Hall, the steeple is removed.

kingdom interests   Field service, meeting attendance, personal study, and other Witness-related activities, as in, “Avoid letting hobbies assume too much importance, lest they cause you to push kingdom interests aside!”

Kingdom Interlinear   The Watchtower Society’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, featuring the Greek text accompanied by an interlinear English rendering in one column and the New World Translation in another column.  See JWL.

kingdom message, the   The “good news” preached to the public by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Kingdom Ministry  obsolete or shortened form.   Our Kingdom Ministry, an internal monthly publication of 4 or 8 pages featuring instructions for field service and for other aspects of life as a JW.  This publication’s name was changed from Kingdom Ministry to Our Kingdom Service in 1976 when the Society began teaching that rank-and-file JWs were not ministers.  Then it was renamed Our Kingdom Ministry  in 1982 when the Society flip-flopped back to the old teaching.  Witnesses often omit the word Our from the title in casual speech and even from the speaker’s platform at Kingdom Hall, as in, “I forgot to take my Kingdom Ministry with me to the meeting.”    See JWL and AJWSBS.

Kingdom Service, Our  See Our Kingdom Ministry.

Kingdom Ministry School   Technical  A training program for elders, with classes held either at a central location or at local Kingdom Halls and with sessions lasting from one day to 4 weeks.

kingdom privilege    slang  A sarcastic description of Kingdom Hall cleaning or  some other undesirable assignment.  Resem­ blance to the military’s “k.p.” is both intentional and appropriate.

 
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last days   Theological  1. The predetermined interval of time from 1914 to the Battle of Armageddon.  2. obsolete The harvest period from 1874 to 1914.

lead, those taking the   1.  The elders in the local congregation.  2. Anyone assigned oversight.

Use of this wording from Hebrews 13:17 (NWT) reminds JWs of the verse’s command to “be obedient” and “be submissive” to such ones.

leader   noun  Jesus Christ.   JWs adamantly refuse to refer to anyone in the organizational hierarchy as a leader, insisting that they have no leader but Christ—in spite of their referring to such office holders as those taking the lead.  Thus JWs dispute the fact that, by definition, those taking the lead are leaders.

legal corporation, the   The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and/or one of its incorporated branch offices, as opposed to the wider unincorporated spiritual entity of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Example:  “The government could close down the legal corporation, but they could never shut down Jehovah’s organization.”

library, the   1. The Kingdom Hall library featuring Watchtower Society publications including annual bound volumes of The Watchtower and  Awake! going back several decades.  Since JWs must live by the Society’s interpretations and instructions, the library is consulted often.  2. The room at Kingdom Hall used to house the library, but also often used elders’ meetings and judicial committee hearings.

lie  noun  A falsehood presented to someone entitled to know the truth of a matter.  verb To present a falsehood to someone entitled to know the truth.  Deception used to safeguard Witnesses in danger or to lead a potential convert into the safety of God’s organization is not considered lying.  See Index of Watchtower Errors.

life   noun Eternal life in the paradise earth after Armageddon, as in, “You must stick close to Jehovah’s organization if you want to gain life.”

light   noun  Enlightenment or clarification received from God though the Watchtower Society.

light, new   A revised teaching that replaces previously held ideas.

light got brighter, the   God revealed new information to replace previously held viewpoints.  Based on the Watchtower interpretation of Proverbs 4:18, this is the excuse most commonly offered by JWs who are shown the organization’s doctrinal changes.  (See RESCUE and JWAVBV for effective responses.)

listening ear, a   A non-Witness willing to receive instruction from Jehovah’s Witnesses, as in, “Sister Cramer was invited in at that door and has not yet come out; she must have found a listening ear.”

literature   Publications of the Watchtower Society, especially those offered to the general public, as in, “I’ve spent a lot of time in service this month, but I haven’t placed much literature.”

literature servant   The ministerial servant appointed by local elders to handle the Society’s publications other than magazines.  He is responsible for requisitioning and stocking this literature, and for dispensing it to Witnesses at Kingdom Hall.  The literature servant works under the direction of the Field Service Overseer and places orders for literature through the congregation’s Secretary.

literature room   The cubicle or small room used at Kingdom Hall for storing and dispensing Watchtower books, booklets, bound volumes, and other literature with the exception of periodicals—usually equipped with a window or dutch door to provide counter service.  Also called a book room.

little flock   Theological  The 144,000 heaven-bound anointed ones.

long hair   A male hairstyle that overlaps the collar or extends over the tops of the ears—a forbidden style that would usually disqualify a male Witness from any privileges in the congregation and that could bring more severe consequences.   Actually, it is not length that makes hair long in the JW view:  an elder whose greased, slicked-down hair measures twelve inches or longer as he combs it straight back from his forehead over the top of his head to a point where it stops just above the back of his collar may initiate official action to punish a young man who wears his hair one or two inches long but who allows it to hang over his collar or over the tops of his ears.

Lord’s Evening Meal, the   The JW equivalent of Communion, served annually after sundown on the Jewish calendar date of Nisan 14 (usually in March or April), with partaking of the cup and loaf limited to the anointed remnant.  The sect reported worldwide attendance of 12,288,917 in 1994, with a mere 8617 partaking.  See AJWSBS.

loving-kindness   The New World Translation’s rendering of a Hebrew term variously translated as love, goodness, or mercy in other Bibles, leading JWs to use this more awkward expression in their every-day speech.

luck, lucky   Fortune, fortunate.  Witnesses avoid saying luck or lucky due to their belief that the expression gives recognition to “the god of Good Luck.”  (Isaiah 65:11 New World Translation)  Yet they will wish someone “the best” and call someone “fortunate”—expressions that mean the same thing.

 
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M

magazine(s)   noun  The Society’s Watchtower and Awake! magazines.

magazine day   A day set aside for door-to-door distribution of The Watchtower and Awake! magazines—usually a certain Saturday or Saturdays.

magazine room   The cubicle or small room used at Kingdom Hall for storing and dispensing Watchtower and Awake! magazines—usually equipped with a window or dutch door to provide counter service.

magazine route   A JW’s collection of addresses where the occupants routinely purchase the latest Watchtower and Awake! magazines when visited every two weeks.

magazine servant   The ministerial servant appointed by local elders to handle the Society’s magazines.  He is responsible for requisitioning and stocking them, and for dispensing them to Witnesses at Kingdom Hall.  The magazine servant works under the direction of the Field Service Overseer and places orders for magazines through the congregation’s Secretary.

magazines, the   The Watchtower and Awake!

making good progress   Readily accepting Watch­tower indoctrina­tion without objections or problems, as in, “My study, Mrs. Jones, is making good progress and will soon be attending meetings, I’m sure.”

man of lawlessness, the   1. An unnamed character of Bible prophecy prefiguring the clergy of Christendom.  2. The clergy (of non-Witness churches) as a class.  [from 2 Thessalonians 2:3 in the New World Translation]

NOTE:  Witnesses also refer to clergy of other churches as “the antichrist” and consider them as the worst villains, second only to “apostate” ex-Witnesses.

manuscript talk   A public lecture given by a speaker who is supplied by the Watchtower Society the complete word-for-word text, rather than merely an outline.  Witnesses usually pay special attention to manuscript talks, on the assumption that the matter is of such great importance that the Society must be sure of its exact wording.

map  See territory map.

mark   verb   To single out a Witness for exclusion from social activities due to misbehavior that does not merit disfellowshipping.  The individual is still greeted as a “brother” or “sister” but is viewed as undesirable association.

marking talk   A service meeting part in which an elder representing the body identifies an individual’s conduct as disapproved, without actually naming the offender.  Listeners who recognize the situation then mark that person.

meat   noun  Deeper teachings normally reserved for students who have already made good progress—such as complex prophetic or chronological calculations, or the requirements to refuse military service and civilian alternative service and to allow one’s child to die rather than receive blood plasma or platelets.

meeting   noun  Any of the five services held regularly each week at Kingdom Hall: the Public Talk and the Watchtower Study usually held consecutively on Sunday morning, the Ministry School and the Service Meeting usually held consecutively on Thursday evening, and the Congregation Book Study usually held on Tuesday evening in a number of smaller groups, one or more at Kingdom Hall and the others at private homes.

meetings, the   The five weekly services of the local congregation, collectively, as in, “Marge must be spiritually sick, because she’s stopped coming to the meetings.”

meeting for service   A brief 15-minute to 30-minute session held at Kingdom Hall or another meeting place for service prior to departing for the territory.  This usually consists of discussion of the daily text and/or suggested presentations.  Not to be confused with Service Meeting.

meeting place for service   A private home where Witnesses gather for a brief formal session prior to departing for the territory.  This is usually the same place where a Congregation Book Study Meeting is held on Tuesday nights.  Formerly called a rendezvous.

member   noun  A JW will vehemently deny being a “member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.”  He will insist that he is actually a witness-bearer for Jehovah God, not a mere member of denomination.  In a fine distinction, however, he will admit to being a member of the local congregation.

Memorial   noun The JW equivalent of a Communion service, held annually after sundown on the Jewish calendar date of Nisan 14 (usually in March or April), with partaking of the cup and loaf limited to the anointed remnant.  The sect reported worldwide attendance of 12,288,917 in 1994, with a mere 8617 partaking.  See AJWSBS.

mental regulating  Jehovah’s Witness indoctrination, especially of children—an expression drawn from the New World Translation’s rendering of “admonition” (KJV) or “instruction” (NIV) at Ephesians 6:4.

Michael   noun  1. The first angel God created who became like a son to him, helped with the rest of creation, and entered Mary’s womb to be born as Jesus.  Upon his resurrection and return to heaven Christ resumed the role of Michael the archangel.  2. Especially among young African-American JWs during the 1980’s Popular singer Michael Jackson who was a Jehovah’s Witness in good standing until mid-1987 when he “disassociated himself” according to the sect’s spokesmen, or was forced out for suggestive dancing and occult practices according to other sources.

mighty God  Jesus Christ, the first angel God created, who became like a son to Him.   In JW terminology the Father is the Almighty God, while the Son is only a mighty god.  (See AJWSBS and JWAVBV.)

milk   noun  Elementary biblical knowledge suitable for new converts, such as the non-trinitarian nature of God, the limitation of heavenly life to 144,000, and the apostate nature of all non-JW churches.

minister   noun  1.  A Jehovah’s Witness.  Prior to 1976, and now since 1982, the Watchtower Society has been teaching that all JWs are ministers.  2.  obsolete  A JW appointed to an official position in a JW congregation, such as an elder or ministerial servant, according to the teaching that prevailed from 1976 to 1982.  This doctrinal flip-flop was reflected in name changes of the internal publication now titled Our Kingdom Ministry. See AJWSBS and JWL.

ministerial servant   organizational  A man appointed to a position in a Jehovah’s Witness congregation roughly equivalent to that of a deacon in a church that also has teaching elders.  Ministerial servants operate the book room and the magazine room at Kingdom Hall, supervise the sound amplification equipment, handle the congregation accounts, direct the attendants, maintain and assign territory maps, and assist the elders in other ways.

ministry   noun  1.  The service performed by a Jehovah’s Witness.  Prior to 1976, and now since 1982, the Watchtower Society has been teaching that all JWs share in ministry.  2.  obsolete  The work of a JW appointed to an official position in a JW congregation, such as an elder or ministerial servant, according to the teaching that prevailed from 1976 to 1982.  This flip-flop was reflected in name changes of the internal publication now titled Our Kingdom Ministry. See AJWSBS and JWL.

ministry school   1.  The Theocratic Ministry School, usually in session at Kingdom Hall one hour weekly on Thursday or Friday evening and open to most meeting attenders to train them in door to door work and public speaking.  2.  The Kingdom Ministry School, a training program for elders, with classes held either at a central location or at local Kingdom Halls and with sessions lasting from one day to 4 weeks.

miracle   noun A supernatural act performed by God as recorded in the Bible.  JWs believe God no longer performs miracles, except in rare instances of providing miraculous protection for Witnesses under persecution.

Miss  A title used in addressing or speaking about an unmarried worldly woman.  See Mr., Mrs.

missionary   noun  A JW trained at Gilead School for full-time ministry in foreign lands at the organiza­tion’s expense.

model prayer, the   The Lord’s Prayer.

modern-day Witnesses of Jehovah   Watchtower followers from the time of C. T. Russell’s break with his Adventist mentors until now,  as distinguished from faithful Old Testament characters, first century Christians, and true believers down through the ages—all of whom were “Witnesses of Jehovah,” or “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” according to the sect.

mouthpiece, God’s    1. The Watchtower Society in its role as God’s spokesman.  2. obsolete Charles Taze Russell, before his successor J.F. Rutherford revised the teaching to mean the Watchtower Society.

move ahead   Usually as part of the expression move ahead with Jehovah’s organization, meaning readily accept ‘new truths’ as these are revealed through the Watchtower Society. 

This is a prime example of the leadership using “loaded language” to put a positive slant on doctrinal changes, with the implication that any who do not instantly conform are left behind for foolishly rejecting progress.

Mr., Mrs.  A title used in addressing or speaking about a worldly person.  For example, a JW saying to another Witness, “John, I’d like you to meet Mr. Jenkins,” is telling John that Jenkins is not a JW; if Jenkins had been a JW, it would have been phrased, “John, I’d like you to meet Brother Jenkins.”  Similarly with Mrs. or Miss and Sister.

Ms.  A title Witnesses find offensive and avoid using in addressing women, because they view its very use as submission to the influence of the feminist movement.  If a JW does refer to someone in the third person as “Ms. Parker,” the intent is to label her as a feminist.

Mystery book, the   Short for the book Then Is Finished the Mystery of God, a commentary on portions of Revelation published by the Watchtower Society in 1969, but replaced by another book a dozen years later.  (While the Mystery book was current, an observer overhearing one Witness say to another, “I spent my time at the beach reading the Mystery book,” might have incorrectly assumed that meant a genre novel.)

 
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name, God’s   Jehovah, the rendition of the Tetragrammaton officially endorsed by the Watchtower Society.

name, the or Name, the   Jehovah.  See God’s name.

national anthem  A musical piece dreaded by JWs, who view it as representing satanic rulership.  Forbidden to stand up when it is played, and often encountering abuse for taking that position, JWs cringe at the sound.  See AJWSBS.

nations, the  A disparaging term JWs use for non-Witnesses, reminiscent of the Pharisees’ view of Gentiles.

need, the  noun  The lack of a sufficient number of active Witnesses to cover a given territory satisfactorily—as determined officially by the Watchtower Society.  Example:  “Sister, you are to be commended for uprooting your family and relocating to serve in an area where the need is great.”

neutrality   noun   1. Refusal to take sides in inter­ national disputes or other worldly conflicts.  2. Refusal to accept induction into the armed forces or into civilian alternative service under conscription.  In situations where such a stand by a religious organization compelling obedience on the part of young male members may be illegal,  neutrality often serves as a convenient code word to conceal the official position of Jehovah’s Witnesses when discussing these matters in the hearing of others.

new light   A revised teaching that replaces previously held ideas.

New Order   The post-Armageddon world in which only Jehovah’s Witnesses remain alive and paradise has been restored.

new person   Someone just beginning to attend the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as in, “The Watchtower Study Conductor knows better than to call on a new person for the answer to such a difficult question.”

new personality   Collectively, the improved behavior, changed mannerisms, revised thought patterns, new vocabulary, and reformed attitudes that result from complete submission to the Watchtower indoctrination and training program.

new system   The post-Armageddon world in which only Jehovah’s Witnesses remain alive and paradise has been restored.

New Testament   obsolete  Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to the New Testament as the Christian Greek Scriptures or, simply, the Christian Scriptures.  Use of the term New Testament marks the speaker as a non-Witness.

new truth   A revised teaching that replaces previously held ideas, or a completely novel thought just introduced by the Watchtower Society.

New World   The post-Armageddon world in which only Jehovah’s Witnesses remain alive and paradise has been restored.

New World Bible Translation Committee   The anonymous group in charge of producing the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

New World Society   obsolete  The JW organization and its worldwide membership—a term used frequently during the presidency of Nathan Knorr.

New World Translation   The shortened form JWs usually use instead of New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures   The Bible version produced and published by the Watchtower Society with hundreds of verses changed to conform to JW doctrine.

N.H.’s   abbreviation  Not-at-homes.

newspaper gospelling  Obsolete. The dissemination of Pastor Russell’s weekly sermons through syndication in as many as two thousand secular newspapers in 1913.

nineteen-fourteen generation  See the generation of 1914.

“no blood” card   A business-card-sized medical document Jehovah’s Witnesses carry in their wallet or purse declaring their refusal to accept a blood transfusion or blood products if found unconscious and bleeding.  Signed, dated, and witnessed with the signatures of two other JWs, the card is intended to serve as a legal document preventing the administration of blood in an emergency.

not-at-homes   slang  A list of addresses where no one answered the door during house-to-house work.  Not-at-homes must be visited repeatedly, and the list reduced in size, before the territory can be considered properly worked.

NWT   Abbreviation The JW New World Translation of the Bible.

 
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O

obituaries, do the   Witnessing by letter to the families of the deceased listed on the obituary page of the local newspaper, when it is possible to obtain their address.  This sort of activity is popular among JW shut-ins, but is also resorted to by pioneers who are short on their hours as the clock approaches midnight on the last day of the month.  Example:  “The weather is terrible today, and I feel like I’m catching a cold, so I think I’ll stay in and do the obituaries.”

objections   Arguments raised by a householder interrupting a Witness’s door-to-door sermon or presentation.  The most common examples include,  I’m busy,”  “I’m not interested,”  “I have my own religion,”  and “You people were just here a short time ago.”  Other objections heard less frequently include, “You’re communists!”  “I’m going to get my gun,” and “Get off my property, before I call the police!”

NOTE:  JWs are trained to respond to initial objections with well-rehearsed replies, but to abort their efforts and depart if objections continue or are threatening in nature.

offer, the   The book or other item specified in Our Kingdom Service as the one JWs should be presenting at the doors during a given month.

O.K.S.  obsolete abbreviation  The initials of Our Kingdom Service, the official title of Our Kingdom Ministry between 1976 and 1982.

old light   A former teaching abandoned in favor of a new doctrinal viewpoint.

old order, the   The evil and corrupt world of today dominated by Satan’s political, commercial, and religious organizations—soon to be replaced by a New Order of righteousness and peace when God destroys the non-Witness population at the Battle of Armageddon.

old system, this    The evil and corrupt world of today dominated by Satan’s political, commercial, and religious organizations—soon to be replaced by a new system of righteousness and peace when God destroys the non-Witness population at the Battle of Armageddon.

Old Testament   obsolete  Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to the Old Testament as the Hebrew Scriptures.  Use of the term Old Testament marks the speaker as a non-Witness.

old world, the    The evil and corrupt society of today dominated by Satan’s political, commercial, and religious organizations—soon to be replaced by a New World of righteousness and peace when God destroys the non-Witness population at the Battle of Armageddon.

one of Jehovah’s Witnesses   A JW.  JWs use this expression to affirm that they are actually witness-bearers of God rather than members of a denomination named Jehovah’s Witnesses, JWs are taught to use this expression in place of a Jehovah’s Witness.

open-minded  An expression applied in door-to-door work to describe favorably a householder willing to listen to Jehovah’s Witnesses and to re-examine his or her own religious beliefs; not applicable at all to a Witness investigating the possibility of leaving to join another religion.

opposer   noun  A knowledgeable non-Witness who speaks against the sect.

order   See New Order, old order.

organization, God’s   See God’s organization, God’s earthly organization, God’s heavenly organization, and God’s universal organization.

organization, Jehovah’s   See Jehovah’s organization, Jehovah’s earthly organization, Jehovah’s heavenly organization, and Jehovah’s universal organization.

organization, Satan’s   The entire world outside of Jehovah’s universal organization.  Specifically, all human governments, all non-Witness religious bodies, and all non-JW-owned commercial entities are seen as branches of Satan’s organization, and all individuals not part of Jehovah’s organization are seen as members of Satan’s organization.

organization, the   The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and its various corporate entities and associated congregations.

other sheep   Theological Those who will eventually inhabit the earthly paradise, i.e., all true worshipers not of the little flock. (From John 10:16)

Our Kingdom Ministry   The current title of an internal monthly publication of 4 or 8 pages featuring instructions for field service and for other aspects of life as a JW.  (Note:  This publication’s name was changed from Kingdom Ministry to Our Kingdom Service in 1976 when the Society began teaching that rank-and-file JWs were not ministers.  Then it was renamed Our Kingdom Ministry  in 1982 when the Society flip-flopped back to the old teaching.)  See JWL.

Our Kingdom Service   obsolete  The name of Our Kingdom Ministry between the Watchtower Society’s 1976 and 1982 doctrinal flip-flops on the proper definition of minister. See JWL.

 

overcoming objections

A conversation between a Witness at the door and a householder raising objections might start out something like this:

Witness:  “Good morning!  My friend and I are calling to share some good news that…

Householder:  “I’m afraid I’m busy right now.  I can’t talk.”

Witness:  “Yes, we realize that people are busy these days, so we just want to tell you briefly that… ”

Householder:  “If you’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, I’m not interested.  I have my own religion.”

Witness:  “It’s encouraging to hear that you do believe in God.  So, even though you’re not interested in Jehovah’s Witnesses, I’m sure you would be interested in the good news that God will soon be intervening in mankind’s affairs to…

 

out in service   Engaged in field service, as in, “I go out in service every Saturday morning.”

outline talk      A public lecture given by a speaker who is supplied by the Watchtower Society a detailed outline, rather than a word-for-word manuscript.

overcome objections   To answer or put aside arguments raised by a householder that would otherwise put an end to a door-to-door presentation.

overcomer   A Witness who succeeds in remaining faithful despite obstacles.

overseer   noun An elder appointed to a position of responsibility.  Within the local congregation these are, in descending order of rank, the Presiding Overseer, the Secretary, the Service Overseer, the Watchtower Study Conductor, and the Theocratic Ministry School Overseer.

overseer, the   1. The Presiding Overseer or the Congregation Overseer responsible for a particular congregation.  2. The elder in charge in a given situation.

oversight   noun  The responsibilities or assignment of an overseer or ministerial servant, as in, “Brother Dugan has been given oversight over the book room.”

 

Elders and Overseers

The men appointed to the body of elders in a local Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation hold that position for life unless disqualified.  From among them individuals are selected to serve indefinite terms as Presiding Overseer, Secretary, Service Overseer, Watchtower Study Conductor, and Theocratic Ministry School Overseer.  In a congregation with fewer than five elders, some may hold two or more of these positions, while in a congregation with more than five elders some may not hold a position of oversight.

 
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P

paradise, the spiritual   The condition in which Jehovah’s Witnesses find themselves today, enlightened and cared for by God’s earthly organization.

paradise, the   1. The post-Armageddon world with perfect conditions restored, inhabited only by JWs and resurrected persons.  2. The original Garden of Eden.

paradise earth, the   The post-Armageddon world with perfect conditions restored, inhabited only by JWs and resurrected persons.

paradise of God, the   The heavenly realm inherited by the 144,000 anointed ones.

parousia   theological  (Greek=”coming” Matt. 24:3 KJV)  1. Christ’s Second Coming in the year 1914, unseen by human eyes.   2.  obsolete  Christ’s Second Coming in the year 1874, unseen by human eyes, as proclaimed by Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

part, a   A speaking or acting part on a JW meeting or assembly program—considered a privilege, and hence often handed out as a favor or reward by the overseer in charge.

partake   verb  To drink from the cup and eat some of the unleavened bread at the annual Memorial service—a privilege reserved for the remnant of the 144,000.

partaker, a   Someone who professes to be of the anointed remnant and who demonstrates this by drinking from the cup and eating some of the unleavened bread at the annual JW Memorial service—a privilege reserved for the 144,000.  The sect reported worldwide attendance of 12,288,917 in 1994, including 8617 partakers.  See AJWSBS.

pastor   obsolete  Although still employed with regard to Charles Taze Russell (“Pastor Russell”), the term pastor has no other current usage among Jehovah’s Witnesses and is intentionally avoided when referring to modern JW clergyman—who claim to be untitled and not clergymen.

Pastor Russell   Charles Taze Russell (born 1852, died 1916), founder and first president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  After associating with Adventists for ten years and serving as assistant editor of an Adventist paper, in 1879 he led a splinter group that broke from that denomination to publish his new magazine Zion’s Watch Tower.  To these “Russellites” he assigned the name International Bible Students Association.  Using interpretations from the Bible and the Great Pyramid of Egypt Russell predicted future events, including the rapture of the Church and the end of the world, for various dates in the early 1900’s.  He died shortly after all of these proved false.  Today his body lies buried next to the Society’s huge stone pyramid marker in a Pittsburgh, PA cemetery.  When successor J. F. Rutherford tried to lead the Bible Students off into a new direction they split up into several factions: various independent Bible Students groups, and Rutherford’s followers whom he renamed Jehovah’s Witnesses.

perfect, perfection   noun  The state of sinlessness and restored health to be achieved by obedient humans toward the end of Christ’s thousand-year reign.  Example:  “The tendency to overeat will be gone when we reach perfection” or “when we become perfect.”

persecution   noun  Any speech or act perceived as hostile toward Jehovah’s Witnesses or directed against an individual Witness on account of his religion.  See box.

 

persecution

Most outside observers would agree that Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered persecution when imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps along with Jews, homosexuals, and groups Hitler targeted.  But JWs also cry “Persecution!” when refusal to sell cigarettes results in dismissal from a store clerk’s job.  They invoke the same expression when a judge issues a court order for a blood transfusion to be administered to a Witness child who would die without it.  Also, when householders awakened early on a weekend morning become enraged at Witnesses ringing doorbells.  Yet, although they view such “persecution” as hostility provoked by Satan the devil, JWs welcome it and rejoice whenever persecuted because they have been taught to see this as proof that theirs is the one true religion.

 

personal decision   1.  A matter left to the individual conscience with no binding directive issued by the organization.  Compare conscience matter.  2.  Ostensibly a choice left up to each individual’s free will, but actually forced by organizational dictates.  Examples:  whether or not to accept a blood transfusion, whether or not to accept employment banned by the sect.

NOTE:  When this expression is used in Watchtower publications, it is usually necessary to examine the context in order to determine which definition is meant.  Even then, the wording may be so subtle that only experienced Witnesses, such as elders, can discern clearly the intended meaning.  Consider, for example, these instructions regarding compulsory military service found in the May 1, 1996 Watchtower on page 19: 

What, though, if the Christian lives in a land where exemption is not granted to ministers of religion? Then he will have to make a personal decision following his Bible-trained conscience. (Galatians 6:5) While taking the authority of Caesar into account, he will weigh carefully what he owes to Jehovah. (Psalm 36:9; 116:12-14; Acts 17:28) The Christian will remember that the mark of a true Christian is love for all his fellow believers, even those who live in other lands or those belonging to other tribes. (John 13:34, 35;1 Peter 2:17) Further, he will not forget the Scriptural principles found in texts such as Isaiah 2:2-4; Matthew 26:52; Romans 12:18;14:19; 2 Corinthians 10:4; and Hebrews 12:14.

When this appeared in print, even some experienced counter-cult workers told me they understood it to mean JWs could now choose for themselves whether or not to accept military service.  But I explained to them that language and verses cited proved that such was not the case at all.  The Watchtower Society meant this the same way it meant similar statements that it is up to each JW to decide whether to take a blood transfusion—that is, it is up to each one to decide whether or not to break the rules and get expelled from the organization and condemned by God.

personal study   Examination of  Watchtower books and magazines with a view toward finding in each paragraph the answers to questions printed at the bottom of each page, as well as reading articles that lack such study questions.

pew   noun A benchlike seat found in pseudochristian churches but not in Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls—or at least not called by that name when a JW meeting place does feature similar seats, temporarily, before other seating can be arranged.  Metal-and-plastic folding chairs or linked-together chairs are most common in American Kingdom Halls.

phonograph record   A recording of one of Judge Rutherford’s talks played at householder’s doors on a windup portable machine prior to the institution of Theocratic Ministry School speech training for rank-and-file Jehovah’s Witnesses.

pioneer   noun A witness assigned the privilege of full-time service either permanently or temporarily.  For the various categories of pioneer, see regular pioneer, special pioneer, temporary pioneer, vacation pioneer.

pioneer partner   A pioneer permanently working in service with another, often rooming together as well.

pioneer rate   obsolete  The deeply discounted price pioneers paid for magazines and books to be resold to the public at list price, with the greater profit margin aiding the pioneer financially to help him or her remain in full-time service.  For example, the price list issued by the Watchtower Society to literature servants in each congregation might have indicated that a certain book with a twenty-five cent list price should be sold to congregation publishers for twenty cents but to pioneers for five cents each.

pioneer work   Full-time service as an appointed pioneer, as in, “I’m so glad that your son has taken up the pioneer work!”

pioneering   Serving as a pioneer.

place   verb  To sell—a euphemism to avoid the sales connotation and any related taxes, licenses, restrictions, and so on.  Example:  “I managed to place two books this morning, one with a man who contributed $5 and one with a woman whose donation consisted of a large can of soup.”

placement(s)  noun  Watchtower literature sold to non-Witnesses, as in, “My placements for the month amounted to 18 magazines and 3 books.”

plan  In current JW thinking only humans make plans or plan for the future, whereas God has a purpose and therefore He purposes things for the future.  [NOTE:  Contrast The Divine Plan of the Ages, volume one of Watchtower founder Charles Taze Russell’s Studies in the Scriptures written well before his successors introduced this semantic distinction.]

platform, the   The speaker’s platform at Kingdom Hall.  JWs say “the platform” in much the same way that churchgoers say “the pulpit,” as in, “It would be inappropriate to make such a crude remark from the platform.”

Plymouth Bethel  Obsolete. The 13-17 Hicks Street mission building of Brooklyn’s Plymouth Congregational Church (once pastored by Henry Ward Beecher), purchased in 1908 by the Watchtower organization to house new offices in New York as well as an auditorium.  The structure was renamed “Brooklyn Tabernacle,” and the “Bethel” name was transferred to the four-story brownstone at 124 Columbia Heights which had served as Beecher’s residence and which was purchased as living quarters for the Watchtower Society’s headquarters staff.

Power of Attorney   A legal document each JW is expected to prepare giving power of attorney for life-and-death medical matters to another Witness, usually one’s mate if married, but often an unrelated elder in the local congregation.  (Non-Witness family members have been heard to refer to this document as the Witness’s Death Warrant.)

preach   verb  To speak to non-Witnesses about religious matters in door-to-door work, at home Bible studies, or informally at other opportunities.

preacher   noun  Anyone who shares in the work of spreading the JW message from house to house or at other opportunities.

 

On Sunday, preachers listen from their seats.

In Jehovah’s Witness terminology the elder who addresses the congregation for forty-five minutes on Sunday morning is not the preacher preaching a sermon from his pulpit as would be said in other churches; rather, he is the speaker giving or delivering a public talk or public lecture from the platform. Most of the people listening in the audience, however, are preachers because they preach by delivering their sermons on householders’ doorsteps in the public preaching work in their territory.

 

preaching work, the   The house-to-house ministry and home Bible study ministry carried on by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

premature expectations   euphemism  The Watchtower Society’s false prophecies concerning the end of the world.   For example, instead of saying, “The Society proved wrong in its prediction that the autumn of 1975 was the likely time for Armageddon,” Witnesses who are forced to comment on the situation at all would be more likely to put it this way:  “Some of Jehovah’s people entertained expectations for that year that proved to be premature.”

presence      theological  1. Christ’s Second Coming in the year 1914, unseen by human eyes.   2.  obsolete  Christ’s Second Coming in the year 1874, unseen by human eyes, as proclaimed by Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

presentation   noun  A prepared sales pitch found in Our Kingdom Ministry or developed independently and used when offering literature door-to-door.

presiding overseer   The head elder in a local JW congregation, appointed to preside over meetings of the body of elders and in other ways to provide leadership.

princes, the   1. Men who will rule on earth as visible representatives of the heavenly kingdom of God during Christ’s thousand-year reign after Armageddon.  2. obsolete Old Testament patriarchs and prophets expected to appear by resurrection during the 1930’s and 1940’s to rule the earth from the Watchtower Society’s Beth-Sarim mansion in San Diego. 

NOTE:  The second definition was dropped in favor of the first after a 1950 JW convention at Yankee Stadium where Watchtower Vice President Frederick Franz announced that the “princes of the new earth” had finally arrived and were present at the stadium—only to silence the wild applause of his audience with the further announcement that many of such princes would be appointed from among the sect’s modern-day members there assembled, rather than exclusively from resurrected Old Testament personalities as previously taught.

private reproof   The mildest form of discipline handed down by a judicial committee to a JW found guilty but repentant—essentially a scolding by the elders in private with no announcement made to the congregation.  This may be accompanied by loss of privileges in the congregation.

privilege  1. Any sought-after position, assignment, or responsibility in the organization, such as pioneering, serving as an overseer, or carrying microphones to the audience at a Kingdom Hall meeting.  2. sarcastic An undesirable assignment such as washing dishes at a convention kitchen or cleaning Kingdom Hall toilets.

probation   obsolete  An old version of reproof in which emphasis was placed on good behavior during a fixed probationary term.

program, the   The series of speaking parts, songs, announcements, and so on, composing a JW meeting at Kingdom Hall or at an assembly, as in, “Brother Rollins assigned me a five-minute part on this afternoon’s program.”

progress   noun   Growing acceptance of Watchtower teachings (by a prospective convert.)

progressive understanding   euphemism  The Watchtower organization’s changing teachings and doctrinal flip-flops.

Prohibition   obsolete  An evil satanic plot.  Watchtower president J. F. Rutherford devoted a major radio address to denouncing Prohibition and then published the denunciation in booklet form.  Known to insiders as a heavy drinker, Rutherford reportedly used the organization’s Canadian branch to smuggle liquor across the border for his own consumption during Prohibition.

prophecy   noun  1. A prediction of future events made by a genuine divine spokesman or by an impostor.  2. A term that does not apply to the Watchtower Society’s failed predictions that the world would end in 1914, 1918, 1925, and then 1975 because “Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming” merely “suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect.”  (Awake! March 22, 1993, page 4   Amazingly, on the same page featuring this denial Awake!s masthead proclaims this obvious prophecy:  “the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.”)

prophet   noun  1.  Any of the Old Testament characters, such as Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who acted as God’s spokesmen, performed miracles, and foretold future events.  2. The Jehovah’s Witness organization today, in its claimed role as God’s spokesman or channel of communication.  3. A role the JW organization says it has never claimed for itself. 

NOTE:  Although definitions #2 and #3 contradict each other, both must be accepted and believed.  The organization employs definition #2 when asserting its authority over members and definition #3 when trying to escape responsibility for failed predictions.

 

a prophet  yet not a prophet

In a classic example of Orwellian doublethink Jehovah’s Witnesses learn to think of their organization as God’s prophet and, at the same time, not a prophet at all.  These contradictory notions, both of which must be believed simultaneously, are reflected in these quotes from The Watchtower:

“Whom has God actually used as his prophet?… Jehovah’s witnesses are deeply grateful today that the plain facts show that God has been pleased to use them.”—January 15, 1959, pages 40-41

“Thus this group of anointed followers of Jesus Christ, doing a work in Christendom paralleling Ezekiel’s work among the Jews, were manifestly the modern-day Ezekiel, the ‘prophet’ commissioned by Jehovah… these followers of Christ embraced the name ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’… ”—April 1, 1972, pages 198-199

“Jehovah’s Witnesses… do not claim infallibility or perfection.  Neither are they inspired prophets.”—May 15, 1976, page 297 

(For several similar quotes see Index of Watchtower Errors pages 112-113.)

 

Public Lecture   The public talk, the talk given at the Public Meeting.

Public Meeting   A Kingdom Hall session usually held on Sunday morning or afternoon featuring a 45-minute address aimed at the general public (although non-JW visitors in the audience are normally very few).

public reproof   A moderate form of discipline more severe than private reproof but milder than disfellowshipping, handed down by a judicial committee to a JW found guilty but repentant in a case that the congregation already knows about or that must be brought to the attention of the congregation—essentially a public announcement that an individual has sinned but has also repented and been forgiven.  This is usually accompanied by loss of privileges in the congregation.

public speaker   A male Witness, usually an elder from the local area, who delivers the public talk, usually on Sunday morning.

Public Talk   A 45-minute address prepared with a non-Witness audience in mind and given at the Sunday Public Meeting at Kingdom Hall.

publications, the   Books and magazines produced by the Watchtower Society, as in, “You can’t expect to stay spiritually healthy if you don’t read the publications.”

publications index   A reference work published annually by the Watchtower Society indexing significant contents of the prior calendar year’s publications, or one published every few years referencing publications released during a span of five years or longer.

publisher file   A collection of Publisher’s Record Cards maintained by each congregation, containing information on active Witnesses and others associated with the congregation.

publisher   A JW or associated individual approved to participate in field service and for whom a Publisher’s Record Card exists in the local congregation’s files.

publisher rate   obsolete  The discounted price congregation publishers paid for books to be resold to the public at list price, with the small profit margin helping toward the cost of driving an automobile to the territory, etc.  For example, the 1968 book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life was sold to the public at the list price of twenty-five cents but was sold to congregation publishers for twenty cents.

publisher’s card   See Publisher’s Record Card.

Publisher’s Record Card  An index card maintained by the local JW congregation for each individual approved to participate in field service.  The card features the person’s name, address, telephone number, date of birth, as well as other vital information, and is used for permanently recording the number of hours he or she reports in field service each month.  Also noted on the card are special privileges of service, such as pioneering, and any disciplinary actions taken by the congregation.  If an individual transfers to a different congregation or moves to another city, the elders of the new congregation must receive the Publisher’s Record Card before accepting the person into the congregation.

pulpit   The speaker’s stand from which a clergyman addresses his flock in church—hence a word with negative connotations for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Their elders speak from the platform, never from a pulpit in Witness terminology.

pure language   Biblical truth, as defined by the beliefs, practices and lifestyle of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  “Why should you be concerned about speaking the pure language?  For one thing, because your life depends upon learning and speaking it.”  (The Watchtower May 1, 1991, page 13)  This term is taken from Zephaniah 3:9, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.”  (KJV)  Compare theocratic language.

purple triangle, Purple Triangles   1.  The patch of purple cloth that identified Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi concentration camps.  2. Purple Triangles is the title of a Watchtower video about JWs imprisoned in the Nazi camps.

purpose  In current JW thinking only humans make plans or plan for the future, whereas God has a purpose and therefore He purposes things for the future.  [NOTE:  See the 1974 Watchtower book God’s “Eternal Purpose” Now Triumphing for Man’s Good.]  See JWL.

 
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Q

question, to;  questioning  Any admission by a Witness that he or she has doubts or uncertainties about the validity of one or more Watchtower teachings.  To question the Watchtower organiza­tion or its teachings is seen as an indication of disloyalty attributable to spiritual weakness or unfaithfulness.

Question Box   A column featured frequently in the internal monthly Our Kingdom Ministry and used to issue instructions regarding organizational policy and procedure as well as personal conduct.  Topics have included such matters as these: Whether a Witness may properly associate with a congregation if he or she lives outside its territory boundaries (March 1976); The attitude to display when asked to leave a building (November 1965); Eligibility to perform marriage ceremonies (December 1981); and whether Witnesses may properly display the Tetragrammaton on jewelry, automobiles, or other items (September 1974).  Answers are held to be authoritative and binding unless or until superseded by a later Question Box or article on the same subject.

questions, the.  After going over the questions (more than a hundred doctrinal questions listed in an organizational manual) with one or more elders, a new convert is accepted for baptism.

Questions from Readers  A column featured frequently in The Watchtower magazine and used to issue new teachings or clarifications of old teachings regarding doctrine or doctrinally-related issues of personal conduct.  Issues addressed have included these:  Whether Adam and Eve were predestined to die (March 15, 1985); Whether to stand during the playing of the national anthem (January 15, 1974);  When dinosaurs were created and when they became extinct (July 15, 1973);  Whether a Witness may raise or lower a flag (January 15, 1977);  Why Jesus cursed the fig tree (February 1, 1972);  and Whether it would be proper to use pet food containing blood (October 15, 1981).    Answers are held to be authoritative and binding unless or until superseded by a later Questions from Readers or other article on the same subject.

quick build, quick built   A Kingdom Hall constructed by volunteer labor over a three-day weekend.  Example:  “The North Ridge Kingdom Hall was a quick build put up last year.”

quota  obsolete.  noun    The number of hours set by the organization as a monthly or annual target for JW pioneers.  Now referred to as a goal.

 
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R

rate, pioneer   See pioneer rate.

rate, publisher   See publisher rate.

reaching out  verb  A male JW is reaching out when he is exerting himself to prove worthy of a privilege of service in the congregation.

reference Bible  or  reference edition   The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures With References, the current JW Bible with copious footnotes, cross references, and supplementary articles.

Regional, the   The area’s Regional Building Committee.

Regional Building Committee   Elders who direct the quick-build Kingdom Hall construction projects in a particular area.

regular   adjective  (A publisher) having reported time for each of the preceding six months.

regular auxiliary pioneer   One who serves as an auxiliary pioneer month after month, on a continuing basis.

regular pioneer   A Witness appointed permanently to the category of full-time service with an annual goal of one thousand hours (formerly twelve hundred hours).

regular publisher   A Witness who has reported time for each of the preceding six months.  [NOTE:  Only regular publishers are considered for appointments and for certain privileges.]

regulating   See mental regulating.

release(s)   1.  noun  New Watchtower books, booklets, tapes, or CDs announced and made available, usually at a district convention.  Example:  “We just got home from the assembly.  Here, let me show you the new releases.”   2.  verb  To make such new items available.  Example:  “We’re anticipating that the Society will release at least one new book at this convention.”

reinstate, reinstated, reinstatement   Restoration to fellowship after a period of shunning due to being disfellowshipped.  One elder might say to another, “The judicial committee decided to reinstate Jerry Johnson; his reinstatement will be announced at tonight’s meeting.”

religion  obsolete  False religion.  Prior to 1951 the organization taught that the word religion applied only to the false variety.  So, JWs practiced true worship, whereas all other sects represented religion—a satanic counterfeit of true worship. 

NOTE:  It was with this definition in mind (and ignoring the ordinary reader’s understanding of the word) that second Watchtower president J. F. Rutherford’s 1929 book Life declares in its Publisher’s Preface, “This is not a religious book.”  JWs did not see this as a lie, due to their private definition of the term.  However, they knew the sense in which the word was used by the rest of the population to whom they offered the book.

religionist   noun   A member or adherent of a false religion (any religion other than Jehovah’s Witnesses).

remaining ones   See remnant.

remnant  The remaining ones of the anointed class still alive on earth today or at any particular time during the last days, officially tallied at the annual Memorial and currently reported as numbering between eight and nine thousand.­ the tiny minority of JWs who profess the heavenly hope.

rendezvous  obsolete noun A  private home used as a place for JWs to meet prior to going out in field service.  Now called a meeting place for service.

report  noun  1. A form listing a JW’s field service hours and literature placements, usually turned in monthly.  2. verb  To hand in such a form.   Example:  “I’m now an irregular publisher, because I failed to report in September.”

report time  To hand in a field service report listing activity for the month.

representative   noun  One sent by or acting as an agent for another.   However, JWs visiting people’s homes are not representatives of their organization.  See box.

 

Do JWs represent their organization?

As agents representing the Watchtower Society individual JWs solicit monies from door to door, and then the local congregation sends these monies on to the headquarters organization.  Furthermore, according to The Watchtower of February 1, 1952, page 79, it is “Through its legal agency, the Watchtower Society,” that the JW leadership “provides the spiritual food in printed form, arranges for meetings, organizes service activities, sends out special traveling representatives and missionaries,” and so on. 

Yet, the Witnesses who are sent out knocking on doors with those printed materials are instructed to “avoid representing themselves as agents or representatives of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.”  (Their internal monthly Our Kingdom Ministry, February 1989, page 3.)

Why this contradictory use of language?  The very next sentence in Our Kingdom Ministry begins, “In case of an accident or an emergency or if problems are encountered while working trailer parks, apartments, or certain other territory…   Evidently the Watchtower Society wants to avoid any legal liability for its “representatives” in case of accidents, so they must then deny being its “representatives.”

 

reprints  noun  Bound volumes collecting the 1879-1919 issues of Zion’s Watch Tower.

reproof   noun See public reproof or private reproof.

reprove   To give public reproof or private reproof.  Example:  “The judicial committee decided not to disfellowship Janice but rather to reprove her privately.”

research   Research in Watchtower publications is understood when JWs say simply that they are going to do some research.

resolution   A formal motion proposed by the elders and voted on by a local congregation—usually approving a special expenditure of congregation funds or a change in meeting times.

restriction   A limitation placed by a judicial committee on the privileges or activities of a reproved or reinstated Witness.  Example:  “The elders have lifted all of Tom’s restrictions, except that he still can’t represent the congregation in prayer, and he mustn’t allow himself to be alone with Maria.”

Rev., reverend   A clergyman’s title never employed by JW clergy (who claim not to be clergy) and omitted by JWs when referring to clergymen of other faiths.

return visit  noun A planned stop at the home of a householder who has previously shown interest.  The number of return visits made is to be entered on a monthly report.

ridiculer   noun An opposer  (from 2 Peter 3:3 New World Translation)

Rooming Department   The division of a district convention organization responsible for securing accommodations for the tens of thousands who will attend, and assigning families and individuals to rooms.  The department negotiates group rates with hotels and motels but also secures less expensive rooms in private homes, sometimes by door-to-door solicitation.

run ahead, to  The disloyal act of speculating or expressing a personal opinion on a matter of biblical prophecy or interpretation not covered by or explained differently by the Watchtower Society’s publications.

Russell  Charles Taze Russell founded the Watchtower organization and served as its first president.  See Pastor Russell.

Russellite, a   A follower of Pastor Russell—a term originally applied by outsiders to persons associated with the Watchtower organization, but now applied by Jehovah’s Witnesses to members of the Bible Students groups that rejected J. F. Rutherford’s leadership.

Rutherford      Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942), the Watchtower Society’s second president, exercised one-man rule over the JW organization from shortly after Pastor Russell’s death in 1916 until his own demise in 1942.  He authored most of the sect’s books and booklets published during his administration.

 
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S

S-3  The Study Report form, occasionally referred to by this form number.

S-4   The Field Service Report form, occasionally referred to by this form number.

salvation, saved   Survival of the battle of Armageddon to live in the restored earthly paradise to follow.  Hence JWs do not regard salvation as presently attainable; their aim is to maintain loyalty to the organization until Armageddon, so that their lives may be saved at that time.

Satan   Witnesses believe Satan the devil to be a cherubic angel who was appointed overseer of the newly inhabited earth but who then rebelled against God by misleading Eve into tempting Adam to sin.

Satan’s organization   Non-Witness religions, all of earth’s governments, commercial and educational institutions form part of Satan the devil’s organization, which JWs believe embraces the rest of mankind in its membership.    “Everyone belongs either to Jehovah’s organization, or to the devil’s,” is typical Witness thinking.

SCE:SSE (example)   Code identifying the desk and the individual writer of an anonymous letter from Watchtower headquarters.  Both form letters and personal correspondence responding to congregations and to individuals are usually anonymous and are signed with a rubber stamp signature such as “Watch Tower B&T Society” or “The Governing Body.”

school, the   1. Usually, the Theocratic Ministry School.  2. In some contexts, Gilead School, the Kingdom Ministry School, Pioneer School, or another special educational program run by the Society.

second death, the   Annihilation in the Lake of Fire or Gehenna.  See JWASBS and JWAVBV.

Secretary   noun  The title of the elder appointed to care for all correspondence between the local congrega­tion and the Watch Tower Society’s branch office.  Because he can put his own twist on letters to the Society the Secretary is the second-most-powerful elder, next to the Presiding Overseer.

Seed of Abraham  Theological  Jesus Christ plus 144,000 chosen followers.

sell   verb  JWs vehemently deny that their literature distribution constitutes selling, even when the item is imprinted with a price and is exchanged for that amount of money.

separating work   1.  current definition Helping people now to choose which side they will be on when God destroys the rest of mankind and preserves only Jehovah’s Witnesses at Armageddon.  2.  obsolete  Sharing under angelic direction in Christ’s work of separating the sheep from the goats since 1914 in fulfillment of Matthew 25:31-33.  (JWs who had believed this separating work was in progress ever since 1914 were suddenly told in the November 1, 1995 Watchtower that the sheep and goats would not be separated until later.)

sermon  noun A prepared message presented on the doorstep during house-to-house work.  In JW usage the 45-minute public address given on Sunday morning at Kingdom Hall is not a sermon but a talk.

servant   A male JW appointed to a position of responsibility in the Watchtower organization—nowadays usually in the lower ranks of the hierarchy in local congregations.  Examples:  ministerial servant, literature servant, circuit servant (obsolete), district servant (obsolete), and so on.

service   noun  1. Field service—door-to-door literature distribu­tion, return visits, home Bible studies, and other activity reportable to the Society.  2.  Any activity performed for the Society, such as at a Watchtower printing factory or farm, or in the district or circuit work.

service bag   See book bag.

Service Department    The division of the headquarters organization that oversees the local congregations and the circuit and district overseers.  Handling questions from local elders by letter and by telephone, the Service Department sometimes becomes involved with local judicial committee cases.

Service Meeting   A one-hour weekly gathering at Kingdom Hall, usually on Thursday or Friday evening, providing instruction in field service activity and in daily conduct.  Our Kingdom Ministry provides outlines and some detailed information for each meeting.  Of all the congregation meetings, the Service Meeting is the one least aimed at the visiting public and most strongly directed at Witnesses themselves.  Not to be confused with the meeting for service.

service year   The period from September 1 through August 31 of the following year—used in place of the calendar year for accumulating and reporting field service activity, in much the same way that a fiscal year is used by businesses or an academic year by schools.  (For example, the 1998 service year begins September 1, 1997 and ends August 31, 1998.)

setting   The imaginary circumstances in a role-playing segment on the service meeting or in a woman’s student talk in the Theocratic Ministry School.  Example:  “My setting is at the outside door of an apartment building in house-to-house ministry.”

sheep, a   slang  A worldly person who appears to be responding favorably to the message preached by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  (Derived from the Watchtower interpretation of Matthew 25:32-40.)

sheep, other   Theological Those who will eventually inhabit the earthly paradise, i.e., all true worshipers not of the little flock.  (Derived from John 10:16)

sheol   Hebrew  Mankind’s common grave, actually nonexistence rather than a place where the dead are conscious.  See JWASBS and JWAVBV.

sick  See spiritually sick.

simplified literature distribution arrangement   An alternative name for the complete donation arrangement.   Rather than acknowledge tax-evasion as a financial motive for the new approach to literature distribution, the Watchtower Society introduced it to followers as a simplified arrangement that would facilitate accomplishing the work.  See complete donation arrangement. 

sister   slang  A female baptized Witness. 

Note: When a male JW addresses a female Witness as “Sister” this sometimes carries the connotation of putting her down, reminding her that her proper role is that of subjection to male direction—although in most contexts there is no negative connotation attached to this term, as when “brothers and sisters” are spoken of in the third person.

six-month average   The average hours from a Witness’s field service reports for the previous six months.  Example:  “The elders have called me to meet with them because my six-month average has dropped to three hours.” 

Society, the   1. The headquarters organization in Brooklyn.  2. Collectively, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and associated corporate bodies

Society’s reprints, the   A 1919 seven-volume hardcover collection of articles reprinted from the 1879-1919 Watchtower magazines.

Son of God   1. Michael, the first angel God created, who became like a son to him and who later entered Mary’s womb to be born as Jesus.  2. Adam, the first man created to live in the Garden of Eden.  3. Any of the 144,000 anointed Witnesses.

song   noun   A hymn used at Kingdom Hall.  Today’s JWs insist on calling these songs and are highly offended if these are referred to as hymns, although they were freely called that at Watchtower meetings during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

songbook   noun  A book of hymns published by the Watchtower Society and used at Kingdom Hall.  During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s these were called hymnals, but today’s JWs call them song­ books and are highly offended if anyone calls them hymnals.  See JWL.

sons of God  1. The 144,000 anointed ones.  2. The angels.

soul   noun  1.  A living human or animal.  2. A person’s life or an animal’s life.

Note:  Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught to totally reject the concept of an immaterial soul that survives the death of the body.  See AJWSBS and JWAVBV.

sound servant   The ministerial servant or helper responsible for operating the microphones and amplifier at Kingdom Hall or at a JW convention.

souvenir convention report  Obsolete.  A booklet or paperback book published between 1904 and 1969 in connection with a large district or international convention, featuring photographs taken at the gathering and promoting new publications released there.  (Also called simply “convention report.”

speak   verb  1.  To deliver a Sunday public talk to a congregation.  2.  To handle any speaking assignment at a congregation meeting.

speaker, the   noun    The male Witness, usually an elder, who delivers a Sunday public talk to a congregation.

special pioneer   A JW appointed to the position of full-time service with the highest goal in hours, 140 hours per month.  Special pioneers are usually very effective at what they do and are often sent into relatively virgin territory not regularly covered by a JW congregation.  This is the highest organizational position open to a large number of women, ranking immediately below missionaries and traveling overseers’ wives.

Speech Counsel Slip   A Watchtower form issued to each Witness enrolled as a student in the Theocratic Ministry School and used by the school overseer to grade the student’s performance in giving talks.

Spirit, the   The Holy Spirit, though usually not capitalized in Jehovah’s Witness usage.  See holy spirit.

spirit   noun  1. The impersonal life-force found in each of the body cells of both humans and animals.  (JWs deny that man has a spirit that survives death.  Rather, a man’s spirit is seen as equivalent to the electricity powering a machine: it leaves the body at death in much the same way that electricity leaves a machine that is shut off, but it does not continue to exist apart from the physical body.)  2. God’s holy spirit or impersonal active force by which he accomplishes things.  3. A living being with an immaterial body.  Examples: Jehovah God is a spirit, angels and demons are spirits,  and Christ was raised a spirit, according to Watchtower teaching.  4. An individual’s dominant characteristics, as in, “Joanne has a humble spirit and always puts others ahead of herself.”  See AJWSBS and JWAVBV.

spiritual food   The publications and meeting programs provided by the Watchtower Society.

spiritual Israel   The 144,000 spirit-anointed believers from Pentecost, 33 A.D. to present.

spiritual Israelite   A member of the 144,000.

spiritually sick   Having a poor relationship with God and a poor moral character, as evidenced by failure to maintain field service activity and meeting attendance, or by abandoning one or more Watchtower teachings.

spiritually weak   Experiencing difficulties in maintaining a good relationship with God and in danger of slipping morally, as evidenced by low or declining hours reported in field service activity or by failure to study Watchtower publications regularly.

split   verb  Divide into two congregations.  Example:  “When we increased to a hundred and fifty publishers, the Boxtown Congregation split to form the North Boxtown Congregation and the South Boxtown Congregation.”

NOTE:  A JW congregation will split when warranted by growth beyond recommended numbers or limited seating capacity in an existing Kingdom Hall.  A congregation will not split over dissention, as this would simply result in the expulsion of dissenting individuals.

spokesman, God’s   The Watchtower organization in its role as the channel of communication from God.

stake   noun  The upright pole, without a crossbeam, on which Christ was impaled, according to the Watchtower Society and its New World Translation.  Also called torture stake.

stand, take (one’s)   To declare oneself on Jehovah’s side by dedication and baptism, or verbally declaring one’s intention to join Jehovah’s Witnesses.

star of Bethlehem   In the JW view of the Christmas story, a supernatural manifestation produced by the Devil to lead evil astrologers to the baby Jesus as part of a satanic plot to have the Christ-child killed.

start your time   To make your first call of the day or of a particular witnessing period, since reportable time is measured from your first call to your last call.  Example:  “Brother Jones, you’ll be driving 15 minutes before we reach the territory.  Please pull over right now, so I can start my time by leaving a tract at one of these homes we’re passing.”  Pioneers with a set goal to reach are usually the Witnesses most concerned with starting their time.

steeple   noun  An obscene phallic symbol drawn from pagan sex worship and used to adorn Christendom’s churches as an indication of their satanic orientation.  JW Kingdom Halls do not have steeples; if a former church is purchased as a Kingdom Hall, the steeple is removed.

street witnessing   Field service activity accomplished by standing on a busy sidewalk and displaying Watchtower literature (usually magazines) or by walking with the foot traffic, approaching pedestrians and offering them literature. 

NOTE:  Street witnessing is typically carried on by pioneers who try to reach their monthly goal in hours by starting their time early in the morning, perhaps at 7 a.m. outside a subway station.  This enables them to witness to commuters at an hour when it would be considered rude to be ringing doorbells.

street work    slang See street witnessing.

student   noun   1. A prospective convert with whom a weekly Bible study is conducted.  2.  An individual enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School.

student talk   A five- or six-minute presentation given at the Theocratic Ministry School by a sister or by a young or inexperienced brother, after which the School Overseer offers constructive criticism.

study   noun  1. A weekly lesson conducted by a Witness with a non-Witness or an unbaptized child.  2. A non-JW receiving such lessons, as in, “Did you meet my study Janice who came to last night’s meeting?”

study article   An article in The Watchtower magazine featuring study questions for each paragraph at the bottom of the page.  Two or three study articles usually form the core of each issue of The Watchtower and serve as the focus of discussion in the weekly Watchtower Study Meeting.

Study Report   A Watchtower form Witnesses use to report the home Bible studies they conduct with prospective converts.  The overseers who collect the reports thus learn the name and address of each new student, as well as details concerning the material studied and progress made.

study questions   The numbered questions corresponding to numbered paragraphs and found at the bottom of pages in most of the Watchtower Society’s books and Watchtower magazine study articles.

stumble   1. verb, transitive  To cause someone to loose faith in or draw away from God’s organization, as in, “You stumbled by new student by the ethnic jokes you made after the meeting.”  2. verb, intransitive  To loose faith in or draw away from God’s organization, as in the prayer, “Jehovah God, please help me not to stumble over these doctrinal changes!”

stumbling block   Something that causes someone to stumble, as in, “The blood issue became a stumbling block to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, and they stopped their study.”

subjection   noun  Submissive obedience, as in, “A theocratic sister will always show that she is in subjection to her husband.”

subscription(s)   noun  Enrollments to receive the Watchtower and/or Awake! magazines regularly, usually through the mail.  For example, a Witness returning from a morning of door-to-door work might gleefully exclaim, “I obtained four subscriptions!”

NOTE: Prior to April 1990, The Watchtower and Awake! listed “$5.00 (U.S.) per year” as their subscription price.  Now a set price is no longer charged.

suggested contribution   The euphemistic expression used instead of “price” during the period when the Society attempted to charge a set amount for literature without “selling” it.

suggested donation   The euphemistic expression used instead of “price” during the period when the Society attempted to charge a set amount for literature without “selling” it.

Sunday school   A feature of Christendom’s churches foreign to Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls, where separate programs for children are regarded as inappropriate.

Sunday meetings   The public talk and Watchtower Study meetings, usually but not always held on Sunday morning or afternoon.

symbolize… dedication   To get baptized, as in, “You will have opportunity to symbolize your dedication at the assembly.”

 
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tacking   The Watchtower Society’s pattern of back-and-forth changes in doctrine, described in positive terms as comparable to a sailboat’s “tacking into the wind” as illustrated in the December 1, 1981 Watchtower magazine on page 27.

talk  noun 1. A 45-minute public address given at the Sunday public meeting at Kingdom Hall.  2. Any of the assigned presentations given from the platform at a meeting or assembly.  [NOTE:  JWs never refer to such a talk as a sermon. They reserve the term sermon to refer to a prepared message presented on the doorstep during house-to-house work.]

talk, the   The 45-minute public address given at the Sunday Public Meeting at Kingdom Hall.

telephone witnessing   Jehovah’s Witness telemarketing, carried on primarily by Witnesses physically unable to go from house to house, and occasionally by pioneers struggling to reach their goal of hours.

telephone work   Telephone witnessing.

temporary pioneer   obsolete Auxiliary pioneer.

territory   noun  1. A geographical area assigned for field service, such as the towns assigned to a congregation or the city blocks assigned to an individual JW.  2. A map defining such an area.

territory envelope   A cardboard, paper or plastic sleeve used to store and protect a territory map.

territory map   1. A small map section of a few streets or blocks cut from a town street map and assigned temporarily to an individual or a book study group for field service.  2. A city or town street map showing a congregation’s assigned area for field service.

territory servant  A ministerial servant responsible for storing and assigning territory maps.

theocracy, the   The kingdom of God, perceived by JWs as a present-day functioning government headed by God himself and represented on earth by the Watchtower Society.

Theocrat, the   Almighty God, Jehovah (God the Father, alone, according to Witness theology).

theocratic   adjective  1. Connected with God’s rulership.  2. Showing appreciation for God’s rulership by obedience to organizational instructions.

theocratic brother   A serious-minded male JW who works hard in field service, a model Witness.

theocratic haircut   Any short, 1950’s-style men’s hair style, as in, “Instead of conforming to this world, you should demonstrate your desire to please God by getting a theocratic haircut.”

theocratic language   The unique vocabulary and word usage peculiar to Jehovah’s Witnesses, viewed positively from their standpoint as a superior language supplied by God and required of those who truly serve him.  (Yes, JWs recognize that they speak J.W.ese, but they call it their theocratic language.)  Compare pure language.

Theocratic Ministry School   A Kingdom Hall meeting usually in session one hour weekly on Thursday or Friday evening and open to most meeting attenders for the purpose of training them in door to door work and public speaking.

theocratic order   Adherence to organizational arrangements (“God”’s way of doing things) in obedience to the Watchtower Society’s instructions.

theocratic organization, the  The JW organization—with God as head.  

Theocratic School   Theocratic Ministry School—from 1976 when the Society began teaching that rank-and-file JWs were not ministers until 1982 when the Society flip-flopped back to the old teaching. See AJWSBS.

theocratic sister   A serious-minded female who works hard in field service and demonstrates subjection to the brothers—a model Witness.

theocratic war strategy   Hiding truth from persons not entitled to it, or deceiving outsiders to advance the organization’s interests.  Falsehoods presented to “God’s enemies” are not considered lies, due to the state of war existing between God’s forces (the JWs) and Satan’s (the rest of the world).

this good news  The message Jehovah’s Witnesses preach, namely that Christ returned invisibly in 1914 and will soon destroy most of mankind, leaving only Jehovah’s Witnesses alive to experience the transformation of this planet into a global paradise. 

NOTE:  This expression is taken from Matthew 24:14 where Jesus speaks of “this gospel” or “this good news.”  In the JW interpretation his use of the word this means he was speaking of a gospel or good news other than the one generally spoken of in the New Testament—a special gospel message (this good news) to be preached only during the time of the end.  (Compare Galatians 1:8-9.)

this system   The present wicked world, before Armageddon, in which Satan rules all of mankind with the exception of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

this world   The present wicked system of things, before Armageddon, in which Satan rules all of mankind with the exception of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Thursday night meetings   The Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting, typically held on Thursday nights.

time  Hours in field service, as in “Have you got your time in this month?”

time of the end Theological  The predetermined interval of time from 1914 to the Battle of Armageddon.

time slip  A form listing a JW’s field service hours and literature placements, usually turned in monthly.  See Field Service Report.

torture stake   noun  The upright pole, without a crossbeam, on which Christ was impaled, according to the Watchtower Society and its New World Translation.  Also called simply stake.

’Tower   short for Watchtower or Watchtower.  Example:  “I’ve already studied my ’Tower.

traveling brother  A circuit or district overseer.

traveling overseer  A circuit or district overseer.

traveling work  The work of a circuit or district overseer or his wife.

tribulation, the   The final destruction visited upon this world by God.

Trinity   In the JW view, a three-headed false god invented by Satan the Devil.

true worship   The Jehovah’s Witness religion.

Truth book, the   The 1968 Watchtower book The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life.

truth, new   A revised teaching that replaces previously held ideas, or a completely novel thought just introduced by the Watchtower Society.

truth, the  The JW organization, as in, “I’ve been in the truth since 1981.”

Tuesday meeting, the   The Congregation Book Study, typically conducted on Tuesday evening.

type  noun  A biblical character, nation, or thing that serves as a prophetic pattern illustrating or prefiguring a later person, nation, or thing, called its antitype.   Example:  Unfaithful Jerusalem serves as a prophetic type foreshadowing Christendom, according to Watchtower interpretation.

typical Babylon  The ancient Babylonian Empire and/or Neo-Babylonian Empire viewed as a prophetic pattern  or type prefiguring all false (i.e., non-JW) religions today, collectively.

typical Israel  Ancient Israel viewed as a prophetic pattern or type prefiguring a religious body today.

 
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U

unassigned territory  A town, county, or other geographical area not assigned to any congregation of JWs for regular door-to-door coverage.

unbaptized associate   A new convert who understands and accepts the basic JW teachings and who has brought his or her life into conformity with JW standards (quit smoking, resigned from unacceptable employment, etc.), but had not yet begun reporting time in field service, nor been baptized.

unbaptized publisher  A new convert who understands and accepts the basic JW teachings and who has brought his or her life into conformity with JW standards (quit smoking, resigned from unacceptable employment, etc.), has therefore been approved to begin sharing in door-to-door work, and who has actually begun reporting time in field service, although not yet baptized.

unbeliever  noun  A non-Witness, irrespective of any profession of belief in Christ that such an individual may have made or membership in another church.

unbelieving mate  noun  A non-Witness married to a JW.

underlining   Drawing a pen or pencil line under the words in a paragraph that best answer the study question at the bottom of the page—the most common form of personal study JWs do in preparation for meetings that will discuss the material studied.  Example:  “I’m all set for Sunday’s meeting; I’ve already done my underlining.”

undeserved kindness  The expression which replaces “grace” in the JW New World Translation of the Bible.  See box at grace.

unevenly yoked  Married to a non-Witness.

unity   The uniformity in belief and practice that is the most highly prized characteristic of the Watchtower organization, in the eyes of Jehovah’s Witnesses—achieved by unquestioning obedience to the Brooklyn leadership.

universal organization, God’s   The vast network of angels in heaven and Jehovah’s Witnesses on earth, all working together as an organized body under God’s direction.

Universal Sovereign, the   God

 
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V

vacation pioneer   obsolete Auxiliary pioneer.

victorious organization   The Watchtower organization viewed as the earthly part of God’s universal organization, hence assured of ultimate victory over hostile political, religious and social elements opposed to Jehovah’s Witnesses.  “Put Faith in a Victorious Organization!” declared the front cover of the March 1, 1979 Watchtower magazine.

vindication   theological  1. Final proof that God is truthful and good, thus disproving the accusations made by Satan the devil.   2. capitalized  A three-volume book by that title written by J. F. Rutherford and published by the Watchtower Society in 1931 and 1932.  See JWL.

NOTE:  While traditional Christianity has generally focused on human salvation as its main concern, Witnesses are taught that the vindication of Jehovah’s name is the most important issue.

 
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W

wait on Jehovah   To put up with perceived injustices, errors, wrong practices, etc., in the Watchtower organization, in the expectation that God will either intervene to rectify matters or will correct one’s viewpoint.

Watchtower, The   The principal doctrinal magazine of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society   informal The organization that governs Jehovah’s Witnesses.  This general name encompasses a number of similarly named legal corporations, the most prominent of which are listed here.

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.   The branch organization in charge of JWs in the United States.

Watchtower Society   Short for Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

Watchtower Study, the   The weekly meeting devoted to paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of a Watchtower study article.

Watch Tower, The   obsolete  Former name of The Watchtower magazine.  See JWL.

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society  The Pennsylvania corporation that serves as the parent body for the various legal entities owning property for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Watch Tower Society   Short for Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

WBBR   A New York radio station formerly owned and operated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

wedding shower   A social gathering for the purpose of bestowing gifts on an engaged couple or a future bride—one of the few acceptable occasions for JWs to hold a party.

week   noun 1. As in common usage, a seven-day period.  2. In JW prophetic interpretation, a seven-year period in some contexts and a seven-thousand-year period in other contexts.

where the need is great   J.W.ese for “where there aren’t enough active Witnesses to cover the territory at least twice a year.”  JWs who relocate their families to serve “where the need is great” are viewed as heroes.

wild beast(s)   noun  Human governments under the control of Satan the Devil.

wild beast out of the abyss    The League of Nations, and then later the United Nations organization, according to Watchtower interpretations of Revelation 17:8.

wild beast out of the sea   noun  The world-wide political system of human governments under the control of Satan the Devil, according to Watchtower interpretations of Revelation, chapter 13.

wild beast, two-horned   noun  The Anglo-American world power, an alleged de facto combine of Britain and the United States.

wise men, the   In the JW view of the Christmas story, evil astrologers led by the Devil to seek out the baby Jesus as part of a satanic plot to have the Christ-child killed.

Witness  noun A Jehovah’s Witness.  verb (not capitalized) To speak to nonmembers about the JW faith.

Witnesses of Jehovah  A variation of the name Jehovah’s Witnesses, often employed in formal talks.

Word, the   1. Jesus Christ in his prehuman role as the first angel God created and the angel selected as God’s spokesman.  2.  The Bible.

work   verb To cover (a territory, street, etc.) by visiting all the homes in door-to-door preaching activity, as in, “We’re going to work that territory next week,” or, “Was this street worked recently?”

work, the   The public preaching activity performed by Jehovah’s Witnesses from door to door and in other ways.

world, the   Non-Witnesses, collectively, as in, “Get a shorter haircut, son, so that you won’t look like the world!”

world headquarters   The Brooklyn Bethel complex.

worldwide work   The operations of the Watchtower Society.  This euphemistic expression is used most often in regard to financial contributions to make Witnesses and the people they solicit feel they are donating to “the worldwide work”—God’s work that is being done—rather than to a religious institution like others that raise funds.

worldly   adjective  Connected with or characteristic of Satan the devil’s evil organization.

worldly expression   A saying inappropriate for JWs to use.

worldly girl   A young non-JW woman, automatically assumed to be immoral and evil.

worldly person   A non-Witness, looked down upon as one who does not merit God’s approval.

worldwide work   The organizational activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses, especially as referred to in a fund-raising context.

worship   Primarily field service, but also including other organizational programs and activities.

Writing Department   The division of Watch­ tower headquarters responsible for generating new literature.

written review   1.  A written test administered to all students in the Theocratic Ministry School approximately once every four months.  2.  The meeting devoted to administering and self-grading this test.  Example:  “Tonight is written review, so it might be a good idea to wait until next week before inviting your study to her first meeting.”

wrongdoing   noun  Any offense against God’s law—as set forth and interpreted in Watchtower Society publications—punishable through a judicial committee.

WTB&TS   Abbreviation  Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

 
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Y

year   noun 1.  A calendar year.   2.  A service year.   For example, when a JW pioneer says, “I put in 1073 hours last year,” the time period referred to is the twelve-month period from September through last August.

yearbook   An annual publication in book form reviewing the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide and focusing on a few different countries each year.  Examples:  “We’ll get our new yearbook in December,” and, “I looked up the figures in the 1966 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  See JWL.

yeartext   A Bible verse or excerpt selected by the Society for prominent display at each Kingdom Hall worldwide throughout the calendar year.

Youth book   The Watchtower book Your Youth—Getting the Best out of It.  See JWL.

 
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Z

zionism   1. currently An evil Jewish political movement that misinterprets biblical restoration prophecies as applying to the modern state of Israel.  2. obsolete A divinely approved Jewish movement fulfilling prophecy, encouraged and supported by the Watchtower Society during the presidency of Pastor Russell and the early part of Judge Rutherford’s administration.

Zion’s Watch Tower   obsolete  The chief JW magazine The Watchtower was originally titled Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.

zone   1. currently  A group of Watchtower Branch Offices under the oversight of a zone overseer.  2.  obsolete  A circuit.

zone overseer   A Governing Body member or other high-ranking headquarters representative sent out to visit Branch Offices in much the same way that a circuit overseer visits the congregations in his circuit.

zone servant   obsolete  A zone overseer.



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