Evidence: How Long Have I Been Asking For It?

I've been asking Jehovah's Witness apologists (like Stand Firm* who at least started to man-up to the task on September 10th 2010 [update: as of 20th October 2010 StandFirm has removed the blog post I'm linking to]) to stump up with evidence that their religious order is the only true religion on the planet approved by Almighty God (after selection by Jesus Christ). I first made this request for evidence in May 2010.

Not one Jehovah's Witness has had the courage, confidence or facts to supply this evidence.

Why not?


* interestingly, Stand Firm, the only "active Jehovah's Witness" who has acknowledged my request for proof, makes the following claims on his blog;


Q: Who are you?
A: I go online as StandFirm. As far as a reader needs to know, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and I enjoy defending my faith, especially against the claims of opposer. [emphasis added by me]


Surely providing evidence to back up the claims of Jehovah's Witnesses being "the truth" would be part of defending your faith in the Watch Tower Society.


He also says;
Q: Are you really one of Jehovah's Witnesses?
A: Yes! I am an active baptized publisher, and I have privileges in the congregation. Moreover, I wholeheartedly support the faithful and discreet slave as represented by the Governing Body, as well as what they teach, as it is firmly based on the Bible and on reason. [emphasis added by me]


Again, if the teachings of the Governing Body are based on reason, then is should be a straightforward exercise to provide an opposer - or an honest-hearted one - with evidence to prove that your religious order was chosen by Jesus in 1919, particularly if you whole-heartedly support the ones making the claim.


The reason cited by Stand Firm for starting his blog was that he'd seen some of the claims opposers like me have made about "the truth";
Q: How did you come to know these ideas?
A: I read them out of weakness and curiosity. As I examined ever further, however, I was surprised at how unconvincing opposers were. Thus, after reading defenses written by other Witnesses, I decided to write my own defense blog. [emphasis added by me]


However, when Stand Firm's feet are held to the fire, he is unable to provide evidence to overturn unconvincing opposers who claim that, actually, Jesus most certainly did not select Jehovah's Witnesses/Bible Students in 1918/1919. If what we claim is so unconvincing (i.e. that the Governing Body are deceitful manipulators of the truth and that Jehovah's Witnesses are not "in the truth") then it should be extremely easy to rebut.


I have to confess to admiring Stand Firm's efforts enormously. He's the only Jehovah's Witness apologist I've come across who is willing to debate the claims of the Governing Body/unique beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses without resorting to ad hominem attacks.


It is my sincere prayer right now that he goes onto see the truth about "the truth".

Question for Jehovah's Witnesses - What Happened to the Biblical Truths?

Jehovah's Witnesses are very proud of their heritage, as manifested in such publications as the "Proclaimers" book wherein the history of the Watch Tower Society is presented. The Governing Body also publishes articles in the Watchtower magazine that promote the idea that the Witnesses have been fed "spiritual food" of the highest quality, "food" that contains only Biblical "truths". For example, the study Edition of the Watchtower magazine (not distributed to the public via the door-to-door work), September 15th 2010, page 26, paragraph 4 states (available as a PDF download);

Christ found these same faithful anointed Christians doing their utmost to provide timely spiritual food for the household of faith. From 1879 onward, through thick and thin, they had been publishing Biblical truths about God’s Kingdom in the pages of this magazine.

So, the claim is that from 1879 onwards, the "faithful and discreet slave" (at that time believed to be Charles Russell, who composed his "Divine Plan of the Ages" by measuring the Great Pyramid of Giza), via Watch Tower Society, published Biblical truths in the Watchtower magazine (at that time known as "Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence).

These "Biblical truths", here described as "timely spiritual food" included such teachings as;

• Christ had returned invisibly in 1874
• the recently revised teaching that the rapture would take place in 1878 
• Armageddon would start in 1914

However, were these teachings

1. Biblical
2. true

The answer, of course, is no. It's puzzling, then, that the Governing Body is choosing to describe them as "Biblical truths" and "timely spiritual food" when it should be obvious to even the most loyal-to-the-Watchtower Jehovah's Witness that they aren't. It's also curious that these "timely", "Biblical truths", as published by the Watch Tower Society, are no longer available; can you find these publications and Watchtower articles from the 1800s in your Kingdom Hall library? What about on the Watch Tower CD-Rom Library? Again, the answer is no; these teachings are no longer current*.

So, my question for Jehovah's Witnesses is this; if the food in 1879 was spiritual, timely and Biblical, why have the Governing Body so significantly changed the menu?

*Jehovah's Witnesses are trained to view such wholesale rejections of previous "timely" "Biblical truths" as the "light getting brighter". However, if the "timely" "Biblical truths" published by the Watch Tower Society during the late 1800s were of such a high quality that Jesus Christ appointed the corporation as his "faithful and discreet slave", why would they need to be abandoned at a later date? Didn't Jesus know that the "timely" "Biblical truths" published in the Watchtower magazine in the late 1800s were neither timely nor true?

Which Truth is "the Truth"?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that in the latter part of the 19th century Jehovah God used a young man named Charles Russell, a haberdasher, to find truth in the Bible. Russell eschewed all organised religion and started his own Bible study group, publishing the findings of his studies in a pamphlet that he paid to have printed and distributed.

In time Russell sold his business interests and eagerly began preaching the message that Jesus Christ had returned, invisibly, in 1874 [1]. He believed this was a truth revealed to him by God. He absolutely believed that Christ would end the present age with Armageddon in the year 1914. However, 1914 came and went and nothing happened other than World War 1 (then known as the Great War) started. But no Armageddon and no 'rapture'.

But Russell doggedly believed he alone had the truth. He went on to publish a series of books called "Studies in the Scriptures". Via these tomes he developed and taught his idea that through studying the Great Pyramid of Gizza, literally measuring it's passageways, man could ascertain God's divine plan for mankind down through the ages. Again, Russell believed that was truth revealed by Jehovah God. He was to claim that his "Studies in the Scriptures" was like the Bible in topical form and that only by reading his books one could fully understand God's inspired Word. In fact, if a person were to choose to only read the Bible, he would not be able to hold onto the spiritual light of truth. He actually claimed that "Studies in the Scriptures" practically was the Bible. [2].

However, what if a Jehovah's Witness in 2010 were to start preaching from the platform or from door-to-door that Christ had actually returned in 1874 and that God's plan for mankind could be ascertained from measuring a pyramid*? What if a Jehovah's Witness were to source the entire "Studies in the Scriptures" series and base their Christian beliefs on what was contained therein? Asides from believing things like Michael the Archangel is the Pope, would they be in step with "present truth"? Could they said to be in "the truth"?

You see, the question needs to be asked which truth is "the truth"? Russell thought he was in "the truth", but he obviously wasn't as Jehovah's Witnesses have rejected all of his "unique" beliefs as being false. Rutherford wasn't in "the truth" when he proclaimed that 1925 was more set in scripture than 1914. None of Rutherford's bold predictions came true. He wasn't in "the truth".

Yet Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that they are in "the truth". But how do they know? Russell thought he was, Rutherford thought he was and Witnesses in the late 80s thought they were in "the truth" when they believed the Governing Body's teaching that the generation of 1914 would still be alive when Armageddon came. Yet none of them were in "the truth"; what they believed was false.

Again, I have to ask, how do you know you're in "the truth"?

* this practise is known as pyramidology and is certainly a questionable practice for a Christian. 

[1] "Proclaimers" book pages 46-48

[2] "If the 6 volumes of 'Scripture Studies' are practically the Bible topically arranged, with Bible proof-texts given, we might not improperly name the volumes- 'The Bible' in an arranged form. That is to say, they are not merely comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself...Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible itself, but we see also that if anyone lays the 'Scripture Studies' ... after he has read them for 10 years-if he then lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone...out experience shows that within 2 years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he has merely read the 'S.S.' with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the light at the end of the two years." (Watchtower, Sept 15, 1910)