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#3 The Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses
3. How have the Watchtower Society's
presidents shaped the organization?
Each president has governed
authoritatively. As a result, his period of rule has been marked by his unique
personality and Bible interpretation. Thus there have been six distinct
"periods" of the Society: 1) the period of Charles Taze Russell (1872-1916); 2)
the period of "Judge" Joseph F. Rutherford (1917-1942); 3) the period of Nathan
H. Knorr (1942-1977); 4) the period of Frederick W. Franz (1977-1992); 5) the
period of Milton G. Henschel (1992-2000); and 6) the period of Don Adams
(2000-present).
Because the Witnesses claim that God Himself was and is the
source or author of their Bible interpretations and doctrines, it is important
to discuss briefly these periods. Doing so reveals the fact that notable
presidents have interpreted the Bible differently from or even in
contradiction to one or more of the others. Examining the writings of these
men plainly shows that the claim of the Jehovah's Witnesses that God is the
author of all the Society's doctrine is false. The Bible teaches that God is not
the author of confusion (1st Corinthians 14:33 NASB). The Society, then, is
guided not by God, but by fallible men.
Charles Taze Russell, the Society's founder, wrote a new
"Bible" for the faithful of his day, which he claimed "came from God through the
enlightenment of the Holy Spirit."
This was the seven-volume Studies in the Scriptures.
He taught that this material was necessary for properly understanding the Bible.
In their principal publication, the Watchtower magazine, September 15,
1910, p. 298, Russell wrote that without Studies in the Scriptures one
could never "see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself." Further, he
said, even after reading Studies in the Scriptures for ten years, if one
stopped reading it and went to "the Bible alone," "within two years he [would
revert back] into darkness." Conversely, one who never read the Bible but did
read Russell's volumes "would be in the light at the end of two years because he
would have had the light of the Scriptures." In other words, Russell claimed
that a new divine interpreter was needed to understand the Bible properly. And
he claimed to be that interpreter.
Yet today the Watchtower Society contradicts many of
Russell's doctrines and "divine interpretations" of Scripture. The true "divine
interpreter" has changed. It is now no longer Russell but the Society itself. It
claims the same authority Russell did: that only its interpretations of the
Bible are authoritative, and that studying the Bible alone will lead to darkness
and heresy.
For example, the Watchtower, August 15, 1981, condemns
those who:
say that it is sufficient to read the Bible
exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home . . . Through such "Bible
reading," they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that
commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching 100 years ago . . .
It is interesting that the
Watchtower Society itself admits that anyone who reads the Bible alone will come
to the same beliefs that orthodox Christianity has always held. Nevertheless,
the writings Russell once called indispensable for understanding the Bible (his
own) are today largely ignored.
Under the direction of the second president, "Judge"
Rutherford, the organization became even more authoritarian. Rutherford
instituted an "era of changes" and ignored, altered, or denied hundreds or
thousands of Russell's teachings. He justified these changes by claiming a
"progressive revelation" that permitted him to shed "new light" on Russell's
ideas.
During the third major era, under the organizational
leadership of Nathan H. Knorr, the number of Witnesses grew from 105,000 to
about 2.2 million. New stress was placed on training in the Jehovah's Witnesses'
interpretations of the Bible. A new Bible translation was produced to support
these interpretations - and additional changes in Bible interpretation and
doctrine occurred.
The fourth era, under Frederick W. Franz, could be labeled an
"era of crisis" because thousands of Witnesses began to examine the history of
the Society independently. They became convinced that it was not God's
organization and left it or were disfellowshipped.
Even President Fredrick W. Franz's nephew, Raymond, is
an example of one who has left the Watchtower. His book Crisis of Conscience
shows why the Watchtower Society cannot be "God's sole channel" on earth. His
text is an authoritative expose by a key leader familiar with the inner workings
of the Society. It portrays an authoritarian group of men who go to great
lengths to retain their image of divine guidance. Raymond Franz concludes that
the Society is not of God. He cites evidence that it 1) is antibiblical, 2) has
given extensive false prophecies, 3) has changed its teachings and policies, 4)
has engaged in lying and cover-ups, and 5) has brought destruction into the
lives of some of its members. "Most of the [Governing] Body were actually not
that well versed in the Scriptures," he writes (p. 97). They practiced
"manipulation of Scripture and fact" to uphold their interpretations of the
Bible (p. 245). The emphasis was "not loyalty to God and His Word, but loyalty
to the organization and its teachings" (p. 257). The Society has reacted to
those who question its authority with the threat of disfellowshipping. For most
Jehovah's Witnesses, disfellowshipping means not only losing friends but also
being separated or cut off from family.
The fifth president, Milton G. Henschel, stepped down in 2000
after only eight years in the midst of a restructuring of the organization.
Henschel's successor, Don Adams, became the Watchtower
Society's sixth president in October 2000. It's a bit too early yet to comment
on the impact of his leadership.
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
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