4 ORGANIZATION books (1967-2005); "modern Haggai" justifies PIERCING "apostates", baptizing into ORG

[00:00:00]Hi everyone.

[00:00:02]>> Greetings.

[00:00:03]We're in >> [snorts] >> the discussion of 1972 in David Reed's literature Jehovah's Witness literature, a critical guide to Watch Tower publications, a wonderful a wonderful aid to all of us who are coming out of the organization and being able to get an overview of what they've published on everything over the years, including booklets by the way.

[00:00:25]>> Yeah.

[00:00:26]>> And we're in the section now where we're talking about the Nathan Knorr era in 1972. We've already discussed the Byington version, which was a bit of a scratcher of the head back in 1972. Why are we publishing a book by a non-Jehovah's Witness who's also an unknown if he's a >> at all? Why are we publishing a old Bible? And we made the obvious jump back then that it was another Bible with the name Jehovah in it.

[00:00:52]Didn't quite notice that the name Jehovah hadn't made it into the New Testament. I don't remember that occurring to me at the time. I was just glad to have a new Bible.

[00:01:00]>> And the translations on the hot topics for Witnesses like John 1:1 wasn't altered.

[00:01:08]>> No. No, so it didn't really support us except for the inclusion of the name in the Old Testament, yeah.

[00:01:13]>> Yeah. So that's probably what they focused on.

[00:01:16]>> But they had another couple of books come out in 1972 which were more important to us at the time cuz we got to use them right away.

[00:01:23]>> Mhm.

[00:01:23]>> They they were the organization for kingdom preaching and disciple making and paradise restored to mankind by theocracy, which was a discussion of the books of Haggai and Zechariah. So I ate that one up like, I want to know more about these, especially Zechariah, this very mysterious book.

[00:01:42]So we'll talk about it and but I I don't think it quite occurred to me at the time that this organization book >> Mhm.

[00:01:49]>> this new organization book had replaced the book that was only 5 years old.

[00:01:53]>> Yeah.

[00:01:54]>> Your word is a lamp to my foot. So David Reed talks about that in his brief discussion of the organization book.

[00:02:01]Let's read him.

[00:02:02]>> This organizational manual and catechism replaced the 1967 book, Your Word Is a Lamp to My Foot.

[00:02:12]It caused considerable internal turmoil by calling for the appointment of a body of elders in each congregation with the chief responsible positions to rotate annually among these elders.

[00:02:28]This in effect unseated the powerful congregation servant pastor in each local JW church, some of whom had ruled unchallenged for many years and made him just one of the elders.

[00:02:45]The rotation arrangement was gradually phased out after a dozen years with one position at a time being made permanent once again.

[00:02:55]>> Mhm.

[00:02:57]Of course, the change to the elder arrangement had been had been expedited the year before by the publication of the entire Aid Book in which it was clear that the Aid Book supported the idea that they were elders in the first century.

[00:03:13]>> Yeah.

[00:03:14]>> And therefore, the I think the change was announced at that 1971 assembly where I was baptized that there would be a change in the in the organization structure.

[00:03:24]>> Yeah.

[00:03:25]>> A governing body.

[00:03:26]And that would require, of course, a change at the local level.

[00:03:29]>> He He also mentions that this book was again replaced in 1983 by Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry.

[00:03:38]>> Yeah, I'll show you that book in a minute, plus its successor, because it was replaced in 2005.

[00:03:43]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:45]>> But before we get to that, >> Mhm.

[00:03:46]>> uh important to note then, why have they replaced their procedural manual? Their their What what we call it? A >> Well, he calls it >> structural or >> a manual and a catechism.

[00:04:00]>> A catechism. What do they What does he mean by that? Well, it's the baptism questions, etc. >> are in the in those books, yeah.

[00:04:06]>> So, had all that change between 1967 and 72? No, the big change is the one David Reed notes here.

[00:04:12]>> here.

[00:04:12]>> The elder arrangement is a is a major shift.

[00:04:16]>> Yeah, so I mean, that wouldn't have impacted us much, but anybody who was an elder, who became an elder, or who had that position, yeah, that would would be a big change.

[00:04:28]>> why is that so important? I didn't realize it fully at the time, although I I had some older witnesses telling me that well, this is a big one because we've had since Rutherford's day a single presiding overseer.

[00:04:42]>> Yeah.

[00:04:42]>> There were no other overseers. It's only the presiding overseer.

[00:04:46]>> Yeah, so I'm I don't know the the individual cases, but for a lot of of people in a position like that, this is going to ruffle feathers. It's you know, they're not going to be too happy.

[00:04:59]>> Yeah, and >> but now they have to cooperate with a a body of elders.

[00:05:02]>> Yeah, I remember that I I I felt those vibrations cuz I was a pioneer and one of the other elders was a pioneer and then two of them were pioneers. And I got to talk to some of these new elders and I got to talk to the former, as they called them in those days, congregation servant. You could pick up a vibration which was well, this is not ideal, but it is the organization's arrangement and you could see that.

[00:05:25]>> Uh >> I I also couldn't help but think every time they update a book like that or replace it, they have an instant audience for this new book.

[00:05:33]>> Yeah.

[00:05:34]>> So, it's it's it's not a bad thing as far as financially profiting the organization.

[00:05:41]>> Yeah, that's right. So, then when you think about that aspect, it didn't occur to me at the time that they're making any profit on a >> Yeah.

[00:05:48]>> 25 cent or 50 cent book.

[00:05:51]Uh then these two books become significant because this is the replacement for the organization book of 1972.

[00:05:58]It's called Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry. That's 19 83.

[00:06:03]>> Mhm.

[00:06:03]>> And then in 2005, this one. Organized to do Jehovah's will.

[00:06:09]>> Yeah.

[00:06:09]>> And what's happened is you as you map these let's see now, 40 years of changes.

[00:06:16]What's the big change that you see if you were baptized back in the 1970s as we were?

[00:06:21]Well, you see the >> Yeah, the baptismal question changes.

[00:06:26]But I think even the the changes in policy make it necessary for them to to change these books all the time, too.

[00:06:34]>> And expand them. So, if I remember correctly, when I was baptized in '71, there was somewhere between 40 and 80 questions. I >> Yeah.

[00:06:43]>> I have to check it again, but you know I don't have the book.

[00:06:45]>> Yeah.

[00:06:46]>> But in these two books, there's over 100 questions.

[00:06:49]>> Mhm.

[00:06:49]>> So, why is that a Why is that a problem?

[00:06:53]Well, because the New Testament, where we get the doctrine of baptism from, >> Mhm.

[00:06:59]>> makes it very plain that well, the models we have, let's say uh Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch.

[00:07:06]>> Yeah.

[00:07:06]>> Looks like he's baptized the same day and he only needs to figure out one thing and that is who is Isaiah talking about.

[00:07:13]>> Yeah.

[00:07:13]>> Well, you could say if you're a witness, well, that's because he already is Jewish. Therefore, he knows about the true God and he knows about >> the Old Testament >> etc. So, he only needs to know who the Messiah is and therefore he's baptized in the name of Jesus.

[00:07:26]But when you go to another example later in the book, let's say the Philippian jailer, >> Mhm.

[00:07:32]>> who asks Paul after the earthquake happens and this this miracle occurs, "What must I do to be saved?" He's awestruck. This is must This is an action of the true God.

[00:07:41]>> Yeah.

[00:07:42]>> And [snorts] there's no evidence that he's got any Jewish connection.

[00:07:45]>> Mhm.

[00:07:46]>> In fact, there's no synagogue in the city of Philippi.

[00:07:48]>> Mhm.

[00:07:49]>> So, he's coming from pagan background and he's asking the obvious question we'd all ask is well, how do I get to know this this >> You're right.

[00:07:59]>> God that that does this, that that opens jails up by earthquakes.

[00:08:03]>> Mhm.

[00:08:04]>> And what's the answer he gets? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your family. And they're all baptized.

[00:08:12]>> Yeah.

[00:08:12]>> Well, where's the preparation?

[00:08:15]Where's the 80 questions?

[00:08:16]>> Yeah, I do think in in that account they they try and make out like, well, he goes home with them and and the family is all together and they I guess they get their 100 questions then.

[00:08:30]But I mean, he immediately just takes them and then and then he he's baptized and his family, too.

[00:08:37]>> Well, they spend a night.

[00:08:38]>> he's he's nursing their wounds from beating, so in between all that, he's conducting a >> catechized.

[00:08:48]>> Yeah.

[00:08:49]>> As David Reed puts it in here, to make the Catholic comparison, right?

[00:08:52]>> Yeah.

[00:08:52]>> Okay. So, but you see that as the pattern throughout the whole book of Acts. There's no delay, no catechistic period as the church later adopted adopt this same policy you have to make sure people understand the faith correctly.

[00:09:06]>> Yeah.

[00:09:06]>> They're baptized into Jesus.

[00:09:08]>> But but the the essential question when someone is baptized in the church is is if they know who Christ is.

[00:09:15]>> Yes.

[00:09:15]>> And if they know that that's the gospel.

[00:09:18]>> Yeah.

[00:09:18]>> His death, burial, and resurrection. He died for your sins. It's pretty simple.

[00:09:24]>> But you've made it more complicated. So, you've got over 100 questions divided into three categories in the in these latter two books. And everything that makes Jehovah's Witnesses distinct from other religions is included in in in those under questions.

[00:09:39]>> all those before you can be baptized.

[00:09:42]Also, because you're not just baptized into Christ, like you see all through Acts.

[00:09:48]You're baptized into the organization.

[00:09:51]And you That's the newest thing.

[00:09:53]>> You're supposed to acknowledge that.

[00:09:54]This is why when we heard the questions being brought to our attention over the years and the first one back in the 1980s in in the in this book organized to accomplish our ministry.

[00:10:06]>> Mhm.

[00:10:07]>> change was in here.

[00:10:09]>> Yeah.

[00:10:09]>> I didn't even notice it and I'm an elder. I didn't even notice they changed the words >> Yeah. It >> until someone brought it to my attention.

[00:10:15]>> Who was thinking about being baptized and said he couldn't be baptized under these questions.

[00:10:20]>> Yeah.

[00:10:21]>> Right. And that was the spirit-directed organization.

[00:10:24]>> Spirit-directed organization, yeah.

[00:10:26]>> had been added to it.

[00:10:27]>> And then by the time 2005 happens, this this change. This is the question they're asking. The second question was Let's Let's read them both. They're both brief. On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will? I do remember that was more or less the question that was asked of me.

[00:10:47]>> Mhm.

[00:10:48]>> But this one was not.

[00:10:49]>> Mhm.

[00:10:50]>> Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization?

[00:11:01]>> Mhm.

[00:11:01]>> Now, I would say that those of us who were baptized under the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit question back in the 1970s and into the early '80s >> Mhm.

[00:11:12]>> were rightly asked the question, "Does my baptism count then because it's a vaguely Trinitarian baptism?" But of course, you don't believe you're >> You didn't think that way.

[00:11:22]>> subscribing to the Trinity.

[00:11:24]>> Yeah.

[00:11:24]>> But this one is plain as to who the third person really is.

[00:11:28]God's spirit-directed organization. And now I understand they got rid of the word spirit.

[00:11:33]>> Yeah.

[00:11:34]Now, you know, even having the >> [clears throat] >> the gall to say that they're a spirit-directed organization considering their changes all the time. And this even demonstrates constant changes in the way you look at things and think things. Are you saying that the spirit is directing you to make these changes?

[00:11:54]>> And taking his own his own name out of the Baptist >> it back to, okay, we won't mention the spirit now.

[00:12:02]Uh the spirit is directing all that? That's blasphemy.

[00:12:05]>> It's blasphemy. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which should by the way is blasphemy of God.

[00:12:11]>> Yeah.

[00:12:11]>> So, when you look at it, yeah, it looks like a mockery that you're changing your policies and your your procedural manual every few years and you're expecting people to think that God's directing >> Yeah.

[00:12:22]>> all of this?

[00:12:23]>> And I think the reason there's a hundred questions is because with Witnesses everything is essential.

[00:12:31]Whereas, when you become a Christian, there's a few things that that you're going to be asked about Christ and him being your savior.

[00:12:41]>> Did he die for you? Your sins? That your sins may be forgiven?

[00:12:44]>> Yeah.

[00:12:45]>> Do you believe that he rose on the third day?

[00:12:47]>> Mhm.

[00:12:47]>> If you can say yes to those two questions, that makes you a Christian. You have faith.

[00:12:54]>> There's another book though, and this one was more intriguing to me at the time, Paradise Restored to Mankind by Theocracy so let's read what David Reed says about it.

[00:13:03]>> Jehovah's Witnesses are identified as a modern-day Haggai, who was a prophet.

[00:13:10]Right?

[00:13:11]A modern-day prophet.

[00:13:12]In this commentary on the books of Haggai and Zechariah, and both Hebrew prophets are presented as prophesying about events related to the Watchtower Organization's activities from the year 1914 onward. This will be a big surprise for a lot of people if they've read the two books that it's all about you.

[00:13:36]>> Big surprise to Haggai and Zechariah, too.

[00:13:38]>> Yeah. Thus, the inspired prediction of Zechariah 2:11 that many nations will certainly become joined to Jehovah in that day.

[00:13:50]That's translated from the New World Translation.

[00:13:53]Is said to have had its fulfillment from 1935 C.E. onward, 4 years after the anointed remnant had embraced the designation Jehovah's Witnesses.

[00:14:08]>> With a small w.

[00:14:09]>> Yeah, that's And from the book.

[00:14:12]>> Oddly enough, >> Oh, sorry. Go ahead.

[00:14:14]>> After it Oh, it's okay. You can read if you want to.

[00:14:18]All right, I'll read it. Oddly enough, after admitting that several of the organizations' prophecies proved to be incorrect in the light of historic events, that's their words in this book.

[00:14:30]The discussion goes on to applaud the disfellowshipping of or excommunicating of religious apostates or rebels from the theocratic organization, again Fred Franz's words.

[00:14:42]Because these individuals are false prophets, also his phrase. And [clears throat] it declares this in connection with such renegade JWs, and then it has a quote based on Zechariah chapter uh 13.

[00:14:56]Jehovah, the God of true prophets, will put all false prophets to shame either by not fulfilling their their false predictions of such self-assuming prophets or by having his own prophecies fulfilled in a way opposite to that predicted by the false prophets. You could say that's a summary of the Watchtower's entire history.

[00:15:16]>> Yeah.

[00:15:17]I don't know how how they can write this with a straight face.

[00:15:20]>> And Fred Franz writes this, and he's been a witness to most of this from 1914 onward when he was baptized, as I recall.

[00:15:26]>> Yeah.

[00:15:27]>> So, we've done a whole video on this, so we won't belabor the point now, except to say that Fred Franz in this book justifies piercing. That's the reference to Zechariah >> Yeah, that's the expression he uses.

[00:15:40]>> Piercing those who in who've dared to step out of line, who've dared to step away from God's organization, call false prophets and apostates here.

[00:15:49]>> Yeah.

[00:15:50]>> It's okay for family members to pierce them, according to the logic of Fred Franz.

[00:15:54]>> How they become false prophets is never indicated. What prophecies have they made when they say, "I don't believe you're God's organization." And they step away from it.

[00:16:09]You know, that's >> That's not worth it.

[00:16:11]>> this is the method of of Rutherford is you get accused of something, just accuse the other person of it.

[00:16:17]>> Right. Put him on his on his heels.

[00:16:19]>> Yeah.

[00:16:19]>> And Fred Franz is doing this here with some, let's see now, 30 years after Rutherford died. He's picked up this technique. In all of the books that Fred wrote about prophecy, you see this continual tendency to criticize the enemy.

[00:16:33]It's it's even developed from Rutherford's day. It's now not just Christendom over and over again, but it's also everybody who dares to challenge the authority of God's organization.

[00:16:43]>> Yeah.

[00:16:44]>> within the movement itself.

[00:16:46]>> Mhm.

[00:16:46]>> So, we'll put in a link to that.

[00:16:48]>> Yeah.

[00:16:48]>> This is a discussion of the Paradise Restored to Mankind by Theocracy book with quite a bit of references to the way he applies what the way Fred applied these prophecies to the present day.

[00:17:00]>> There's actually two videos, so when you finish that one, follow the link because uh it goes into the second part of that video.

[00:17:09]>> Yeah. Next time we're into 1973 in the build-up towards 1975 Armageddon.

[00:17:16]>> Mhm.

[00:17:17]>> See you next time.

[00:17:18]>> Bye.