When Watchtower’s new ‘history’ book was released this summer it was said to have been released because their old one had too many pages. “God’s Kingdom Rules!” was presented as a slimmer, and therefore more translatable, volume than its predecessor.
I’ve recently had a chance to go through it, and I firmly believe its purpose is much more complex than we have been led to believe.
A key difference between Watchtower’s old and new history book is that the new version is meant to be studied at weekly meetings. The older Proclaimers book was merely a personal reference volume, and had no questions and answers for the paragraphs.
As a study book, each Jehovah’s Witness will soon be expected to study a lesson from the new history book and attend the requisite Q&A book group each week. Throughout and after this very long process, Jehovah’s Witnesses will be well-armed with its fallacies and fabrications.
“God’s Kingdom Rules!” is a carefully crafted whitewash of Watchtower history that cunningly converts past bitter defeats into glorious victories. The book is spectacularly Orwellian.
Rearranging history
The volume opens by attempting to thrill the reader into imagining they are someone from 1914 sitting in the room when Charles Taze Russell announces the “end of the Gentile times.”
Only the perspective of an ardent believer in Pastor Russell is given. What the book fails to mention is that many of Russell’s followers were disillusioned by the lackluster results of his predictions.
As with Harold Camping in 2011, Russell’s 1914 end of the world prophecy was a failure. Both cases left behind followers that either believed in what was cooked up next, or cut their losses and moved on.
Rather than being recognized as an abysmal and embarrassing theological failure, Russell’s failed prediction has been re-shaped as the triumphant herald of the end of an age. In quite dramatic fashion, the moment is portrayed as an exciting historical event rather than the depressing disappointment it truly was.
Only a few pages later do you find Watchtower’s new and improved embarrassment: the “overlapping generations” doctrine, designed to explain Matthew 24:34.
Over the past century, Watchtower has been forced to evolve. They have transitioned from setting hard apocalyptic dates to using the generation who witnessed the “events” of 1914 as an apocalyptic barometer.
Since this original generation have all died off, the doctrine has gone through some strenuous changes. The current contortion can be found in question and answer form very early into the book. It spuriously claims that two generations can actually be considered as one.
George Orwell, author of the legendary novel 1984, spoke about theocratic entities changing their history in this way:
“A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened.”
The organization that controls Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world through its “ruling caste,” the Governing Body, is claimed to be infallible. Logically, it simply cannot err while continuing to claim a perfect status. However, being an entity established by humans, it does fail. When this happens, a “rearrangement” of the past is called for, which is exactly what the God’s Kingdom Rules! book accomplishes.
The beginning of the book somewhat desperately tries to convince the reader that God’s plan has been progressively revealed. This “new light” strategy is a perfect way to covertly accomplish what Orwell was talking about. It allows for a future restructuring of past events which are then portrayed as the progressive understanding of “God’s will.”
It’s a “get out of jail free card,” to borrow a Monopoly metaphor.
Jehovah’s Witnesses – conquerors of the courtroom?
Section 4 of the book, entitled “Kingdom Conquests – Legally Establishing the Good News,” sparked a special interest for me. It paints the Watchtower as under direct attack from Satan through the world’s legal systems and its citizens. Irwin Zalkin, who is currently battling in court against the Watchtower, had this to say about their practices:
“These guys will deny and deny, they are belligerent, they are arrogant, they treat victims as adversaries. This is not an organization that is ready to accept the reality of what they have been doing.” (Source: U-T San Diego)
Section 4 of the book attests to the accuracy of Zalkin’s observations. The language clearly indicates that Watchtower sees opponents in the courtroom as agents of the devil.
The book again attempts to alter Watchtower’s history by awarding the organization with the image of “conquerors” of the courtroom. Countless court documents over many decades paint a picture very similar to the words Zalkin used: arrogant and belligerent. Yet, within Watchtower’s new “history” book, they are portrayed as the valiant conquerors who vanquished the dragon.
The book cultivates this image by ignoring the negative and focusing on the positive. Granted, Watchtower has been involved in many landmark victories throughout the 20th century. They’ve even received attention from the outside world for their efforts to protect their freedom to propagate an unpopular message.
For instance, Joel Engardio, civil liberties advocate and creator of the documentary “Knocking,” had this to say about Watchtower in the courtroom:
“There have been nearly 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court involving Jehovah’s Witnesses that involved the issue of constitutional rights… We have to thank Jehovah’s Witnesses for being on the forefront of protecting everyone’s freedoms.”
Engardio is talking about giving credit where credit is due, as I understand it. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t want any of the credit. This is clearly spelled out on page 156:
“Why have Jehovah’s people won so many landmark legal victories? We have no political influence. Yet, in country after country and court after court, fair-minded judges have protected us from the onslaught of tenacious opposers and, in the process, have set precedents in constitutional law. Without a doubt, Christ has backed our efforts to gain those victories. (Read Revelation 6:2) Why do we fight such legal battles? Our intent is not to reform the legal system. Rather, our goal is to ensure that we can continue to serve our King, Jesus Christ, without hindrance.”
They never intended to give the legal system a helping hand. Clearly, they do not concern themselves with the rights of others. Rather, their sole concern has always been running their doomsday propaganda machine without hindrance.
If they took an ounce of credit for any of the constitutional precedents they have helped introduce, they would be part of what they preach as being doomed. Within their theology the legal systems of the world, including their written laws, are merely things to be used until Armageddon comes and they are all destroyed.
Do we really owe them a debt of gratitude as Engardio claims? Are Jehovah’s Witnesses really team players in the battle for freedom?
Democracy on the chopping block
Unfortunately, Engardio isn’t the only one who buys into Watchtower’s side of the story. He, as well as people who see Jehovah’s Witnesses as brave defenders of freedom, need to take a good look at pages 26 and 27 of their new book. It shows the structure of the kingdom they predict will destroy the world’s governments and take their place. Atop this structure is the heavenly person who has allegedly been directing the Watchtower since 1914. This is what they have to say about their ruler:
“Enthroned in 1914, Jesus Christ is a powerful, just, wise and merciful King who is humble before Jehovah God. (Isa. 9:6, 7; 11: 1-3) Unlike imperfect human rulers, he cannot be corrupted, nor is he hampered by fractious congresses and parliaments or self-seeking lobbyists and special interests groups.”
As a religion founded in the United States of America, a system of checks and balances made the Witnesses possible in the first place. Before the advent of representative democracy, the world was mostly ruled by a slew of dictators who wielded absolute power.
In a world of dictators there was no freedom of religion, and an outfit like Watchtower could never have been conceived. They relied on these systems in order to even get off the ground, yet they make the claim that, in the future, humanity will revert back to the old ways with an established monarchy.
Watchtower has had many opportunities over the past 100 years to show that their organization is different, but they have completely failed in this endeavor. They have been plagued with scandals, cover-ups, false prophecies, and have shown utter disregard for the sanctity of life itself.
According to Watchtower’s record, any monarchy setup by them would undoubtedly be exactly the same as every other failed dictatorship that has ever existed. There is no reason to believe otherwise.
All they can do is desperately attempt to alter their past and misrepresent themselves to everyone as something they are not. Fortunately, we now live in a world that is interconnected through technologies such as the internet. It is now much more difficult to get away with changing your own past in the manner to which Watchtower has become accustomed.
People simply have more access to information than ever before. And knowledge is power.
Further reading…
I have decided to declare spiritual war on the Watchtower Society for all of its spiritual abuses.
It is not my intention to “preach”, rather my intention is to oil rusty cogs.
The gloves are off Watchtower.
My first shot is crime of the century, supertramp.
Great article, James!
It seems obvious to me that someone (not me!) needs to go through the book line by line and repudiate it.
Some brave, organised, person out there could do this as an online resource!
The WTBTS is Orwellian in its desire to rewrite its own history. We cannot allow this to happen.
Peace be with you, Excelsior!
Lies to cover up lies, hailed as “New light, Orwellian
indeed. Shame on w,t, writers knowingly participating
in a blatant whitewash.. Thanks James for you research
and excellent article.
This was a great article commentary James – thanks for putting the effort into writing it. Very glad I don’t feel obligated to read their cunning whitewashed dogma like this new book you’ve reference any more. What beautiful freedom of thought I/we now have! The language used in their publications is so coercive and manipulative it makes me feel slightly ill to read it now that I’m more aware. That’s a good comparison to Orwell’s description also- it’s the same pattern being followed by the WT as they repeatedly scramble to cover over the enormous cracks in their “god-directed” organisation that time & history relentlessly reveal.
I’ve wanted over the past few years to start writing and publishing articles about the watchtower’s blatant fallacies too but due to health and other difficulties have not been able to prioritise doing so to date – so just wanted to show support for the cause and offer encouragement in the meantime to you, Cedars and some others now who are doing some very valuable and effective work.
Thanks to you guys for keeping this up in order to help others get free.
Ps. I agree also with Excelsior!’s comment- that we can’t let them rewrite their own history…
Lies to cover up lies, hailed as “New light”, Orwellian indeed.
Shame on w,t, writers knowingly participating in a blatant
whitewash. Thanks James for your research, and excellent
article.
James – actually I need to correct something you said. The Governing Body DOES NOT claim to be infallible. They state this time and time again. Since they do not claim to be infallible, which every human knows is not possible. They can stand on this changing light or new light theory and people will continue follow. From what I see they have done something much better then claiming infallibility by creating this new light or progressive revealing of Bible truth scenario. Things can always be changed with out saying we were wrong, but can always say more light is\was being revealed.
Hello Scrubmaster, I agree that the GB doesn’t claim infallibility as individuals. The article states that it’s the organization itself that is said to be infallible which is governed by the a board of directors. The mantra the JW’s use about this is that the Watchtower is a “perfect organization run by imperfect people.” It’s a clever way to redirect responsibility to a non-living entity. Yet, for all practical purposes perfection is being claimed (how could “God’s organization” be imperfect?).
“This is not an organization that is ready to accept the reality of what they have been doing.” – Irwin Zalkin
— That speaks to the heart of the entire organization and its doctrine and practice. So disgustingly sad the effects on real lives.
Agreed, Excelsior.
‘People simply have more access to information than ever before. And knowledge is power.’ Thank you for such a cogently argued article, James Strait.
Access to information is the crux of the issue; the internet means those who previously thought they were ‘the only ones’ to experience injustice within this organisation now know categorically that they are not. And collectively, and separately, in individual ways, they can use this knowledge for good, to empower others to trust themselves. Your article is a great example of this.
Really good article. I enjoyed it.
One thing though, in case you are hoping that visiting witnesses will read it and take it seriously, the proclaimers book was actually studied at weekly meetings. Possibly not in all countries I guess, but in the USA I remember it being the study material for parts that were on Thursday nights in the 90s. And these parts as I recall were actually q and a.
I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, and I don’t mean this to be argumentative.
The doctrine is very screwy where the GB is concerned. They do not claim to be infallible INDIVIDUALLY, but interestingly enough they do make it very clear that is only as a group that they function as the faithful and discreet slave and channel of truth.
This is the reason why, I believe, so many witnesses take issue with saying anything contrary to what the body says as a whole as oppose to what the individuals say in particular.
Take for instance the recent comments by Morris at the zone meeting. Everyone I’ve tried to talk to uses the argument that it was just him talking and he isn’t perfect. But try to say that same thing about something that actually comes from a watchtower or book and they will caution you about speaking against the slave. See the difference?
It’s the same old trick they’ve been using for years, a form of plausible deniability. While they never come out and say it, they do in fact say it; in fact they shout it from the rooftops because it is in fact what the majority of witnesses believe.
Individually they are imperfect.
Together they are inspired.
My bigger comment was meant for scrub master, I’m not sure if I did it right.
NEW LIGHT excuse by F&D Slave is the biggest CON of all time ! Men of Sodom Resurrected; Not Resurrected ; Then Resurrected; Now not Resurrected !! Before 1927 the Generation of Matthew ch.24 applied to anointed ; then after 1927 it was generation of all people not just anointed ; 2010 now back to just Anointed!! I could go on with more FLIP FLOP examples such as Blood Fractions, Organ transplantsEtc but New Light is just OLD LIGHT Flashing on & off!!
Rich, at the very least weekly instruction talks were given from the book. I am sure of this because I gave a couple of instruction talks from the book.
What? The GB and WTS is not infallible? I need my Prozac now! How can I go on! Alack the day! Oh Tear my shirt off in anguish! HA HA.
Really, if those knuckleheads that buy and sell the ‘New Light’ passage (Prov 4:8) would actually READ the WHOLE paragraph around the passage, then they would find that the subject matter has NOTHING to do with someone spoon feeding information that changes over time. It has to do with the difference between choosing a life of good or evil. Lies over lies! Isn’t that the way of a person caught in an evil tangled web of lies? You know, like Bernie Madoff? Serves ’em right, because this is further proof that they aren’t the chosen ones at all. Just a bunch of con artists, just like their founding father Taz.
@scrubmaster yes! That’s what they were called. Instruction talks. The old number 1 on the school.
Excellent article!
Great article James! What the Watchtower Society is doing reminds me of a nice move… “Animal farm”! Internet is exposing them beyond imagination, even in Africa!! We are getting more and more “light” on the Organization that the “new light” in few years to come will be “new nonsense”!!
Fine points as far as they go. But a bit more in the way of reviewing the actual book wouldn’t have gone amiss. You don’t seem to have made it past the first few pages and overlapping generation. Surely there are other interesting observations to be made about its content?
I agree with you that …in effect, the so-called “God’s organization” is considered perfect however, you can argue till you’re blue in the face with a JW who will say even if God is perfect, the people in the organization are not perfect and thus can make mistakes….which is why it is easy for them to buy into ” the light gets brighter” the closer to Armageddon they get. But when you say to them, if God is perfect why would he allow his people to follow false teachings for so long? They have no answer. If you mention, what about the people that have died from not having transplants or vaccinations etc… their answer will be that they will be resurrectedin the new system. It’s circular thinking and you can never break it because there is always an answer even if it makes no sense to most thinking people. Its pretty sad but I remember arguing with people and defending my JW faith in those terms too.
I find it quite interesting how there is always an underlying issue that forces the society to make a change “new light”. You can see this clearly from Ray Franz’ story. I think there are a lot of witnesses getting tired of “new light” despite it being presented nearly round the clock lately. Just take this year, the Circuit overseers received a lot more authority, congregations now pledge monthly donations, and the movement of the JWorg logo along with JW broadcasting. Many witnesses can’t even see the religion they fell in love with anymore. Perhaps the light is getting too bright.
Miss Rowling,author of the Harry Potter series would do well to take fantasy writing lessons from the writing staff of the Watchtower. Almost my entire family tree is loaded with the mindless followers of Charlie Russell, Drunk Rutherford, ad nauseum. As a youth I remember our home bookcase crammed with copies of The Dawn series, Studies in the Scriptures, etc. Also it was a different message coming from the platform. So I ask, “how many different ways can you describe a red rubber ball, and have them all mean basically the same?” BTW-I’m 65 and was wondering if they make”Tight Pants” in stretch material or Haband? Please do not envision this since the results could cause mental anguish. HAPPY NEW YEAR,Mark H Palo
follow my show-from behind closed doors-on sixscreensofthewatchtower.com- sat @ 530 pm est
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@TonnyMorris, You say ” Perhaps the light is getting too bright.” (2 Corinthians 11:14) . . .no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light. . .
@Sue, the good for those who survived “vaccination” and “Blood transfusion” dogma is that…
“God will not wipe out the whole human race altogether. God will save flesh that is not of this world, by shortening the days of the great tribulation” (see w61 11/1 p. 671)!
@Hakizimana Jean de Dieu – I fail to see what that has to do with my comment. The ones I am talking about did not survive….they are dead. Plus I believe holy books are written by men to enslave men. So many interpretations all claiming to be the right one. Lives are important because it is all we have.
I am forced to question all this rhetoric about new light, old light (lies), we never said that light, new understanding light, fog light, hi beams light, lite light, blinding I say.Think of this, if all they have is a nub of a candle, sputtering in a stiff breeze off the East river, you’ll be lucky to see a faint flicker at best. Hmmm, I wonder if during WW2, did the brethern turn off the lights at the brothel,er, I mean Bethel? All one needs to know is the WT cruel and uncaring vacillations over the rape question. buenos noches, marco polo
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The JWs have revitalized the heresy of Arianism.
They are also the modern day Enochian Cult.
Their Enochian Sex Rituals us the reason why the elders do nothing when you report sex abuse to them.
The higher you go in the Hall, the more you know.
The Society likes to claim that a cult has just one leader not a group of men like the Governing Body, but really, the Governing Body are to be thought of as just one slave, so that argues MORE for a cult than if they were thought of as individual imperfect leaders.
Great article, James. Can’t wait to see how they are going to explain why the 1914 “overlapping generation” is passing away with still no sign of Armageddon! Did Jehovah lie… or did the G.B. lie? What other explanation could there be? If they dare to claim that they “misinterpreted” that particular “increased light” then they call into question all previous interpretations of “increased light” (full list in the Feb 15, 2006 Watchtower). I can visualize it now… “Well, yes, we did get the overlapping generation light wrong… but the light regarding blood transfusions… no question, we definitely got that right”! Yes, of course you did! The whole G.B. claim to authority rests on their claim that they are the one and only recipients of God’s increased light. When the 1914 overlapping generation passes away that claim will be proven to be false – and the WTS house of cards will finally collapse – a kind of corporate Armageddon. How ironic!!
Welcome to 2015 everybody!
Excellent article James.
Watchtower continues to rewrite their history.
Of course they have re-written secular history as well, 607 BC for the destruction of Jerusalem, instead of 586, 625 BC for the Battle of Carchemish, instead of 605. All to fit in with 1914. Lies, lies and more lies! Maybe this year will see the collapse of their whitewashed walls.
They together come up with the overlapping generation idea which is a clear and deliberate lie to God! They together decided that giving to the poor is not important ignoring the example and command of Christ. They together decided that accumulating huge real estate is more important. God forgive them although they know what they are doing!
Yes, I feel somewhat ill also when I try to read their propaganda! Thanks to all of you with a stronger stomach. I want to know about it but I don’t want to have to read it myself, so thanks for the update! Great article.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ! ! ! !!
CELEBRATE IT ! ! ! if you want to: )
Makes me ill also to read anything from WT now, but regret that I threw all my literature out because it’s a great resource now to see all the crap that was published through “new” eyes!
We can only hope!
Good article! Archive.org use to have an extensive collection of older literature. Link no longer active because of dispute about content. Suspect, but don’t know that WTBS lawyers had a hand in this. After all, you’re not entitled to know what we once said. Also, tried to download “God’s Kingdom rules”, but link is no longer active.
The GB don’t claim to be fallable, but try getting a Jehovah’s Witness to name but ONE criticism of them.
You won’t.
They may *claim* they are fallible, but as far as the congregations go, they’re perfect.
Masters of the LIE. Russell had it Right to begin with. Rutherford was a Jesuit infiltrator working for the Crown and the Vatican to convert the Bible Students to good little New World Order clones (slaves) who believe ATON is ‘Jehovah’, a made up name for the Egyption Pharaoh Akhenaton, the original monotheist. Monotheism is a Sham people; a Lie. Just ask Shiva and Cali…
Mother, Father, Offspring, The Trinity. Left Brain, Right Brain, Center Brain, also the Trinity. YOU are the Center Brain or Offspring of GOD and GODDESS, Not ‘Jehovah’, a lone male god wannabe…