This week’s study in the God’s Kingdom Rules book celebrates the organization’s use, from early on, of a “variety of methods of preaching to reach the largest audience possible”. The study is taken from paragraphs 1-9 of chapter 7.
The first two paragraphs draw a parallel between Jesus’ use of acoustics when speaking to a lake-shore crowd and the organization’s use of “novel techniques to spread the good news of the Kingdom to large audiences”. The rest of the assigned material deals with two specific methods used in the early 20th century: Newspapers and the Photo-Drama of Creation.
Paragraph 4 points out that by late 1914, “over 2,000 newspapers in four languages were publishing Russell’s sermons and articles”. Paragraph 7, however, tells how the practice of using newspapers was discontinued. But, we may ask, why discontinue a practice which resulted in such wide exposure? Two reasons are given: the high price of paper in Britain and Russell’s death in 1916. But do these reasons make sense?
What paper prices had to do with this question is hard to know. Either the newspapers were benefitting from printing Russell’s sermons or they weren’t. In any case this was a regional issue restricted to Great Britain, and only relevant while the war lasted. On the other hand, Russell’s having written his last sermon certainly did put a wrinkle in the plan. But the article in the December 15th, 1916 Watchtower, from which the paragraph quotes, mentions neither of these factors. Rather, it gives another reason altogether: “[The newspaper work] had become greatly curtailed, owing to our dropping from the list many papers of small circulation, and further, to our policy of retrenchment [cost-cutting] necessitated by conditions produced by the war. (w1916 12/15 pp. 388, 389.) Cost-cutting? One blog dedicated to all things Russell states that “the Society bore the telegraph expense, but the newspaper space was given free.” But Edmond C. Gruss, in his book Apostles of Denial, pp. 30, 31, contests this notion of free space, citing two major newspapers as evidence that the “Society” paid for the space at advertising rates. This isn’t a very important issue, but I can’t help ask, if the “newspaper work” no longer made financial sense, why don’t they just say so?
Paragraphs 8 & 9 celebrate the then cutting-edge picture presentation of the Photo-drama of Creation. Certainly, this was an achievement of note. It is hard not to be impressed by the hand-colored slides and the ahead-of-its-time moving pictures with sound. Why the organization wasn’t similarly ahead of its time in the use of electronic devices and the internet is the question that naturally comes to mind, but that’s another matter.
While the information in this week’s study is fairly innocuous, there are a few glaring inconsistencies. First, while the book is careful not to call pre-1919 Bible Students “God’s people”, and refrains from stating outright that Jesus was directing the pre-1919 preaching efforts, the point is made indirectly with statements such as, “Under the direction of the King, God’s people continue to innovate and adapt as circumstances change and new technologies become available.” If the pre-1919 Bible Students were innovators, and “God’s people” continue to innovate, then it is strongly implied that the pre-1919 Bible Students were also “God’s people”. It seems they were God’s people whenever we need them to be.
Paragraph 6 opens with this statement: “The Kingdom truths published in those newspaper articles changed people’s lives.” Considering how many things have changed since then – like Russell’s rejection of the concept of a religious organization – it’s hard to say if lives were changed by things that are still considered “truths”.
And finally, there is the great irony of the statement in paragraph 5: “Those who have a measure of authority in God’s organization today do well to imitate Russell’s humility. In what way? When making important decisions, consider the advice of others.” The reader is then directed to read Proverbs 15:22:
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.
How do the members of the Governing Body apply this counsel? Is there a simple way for individual JWs to submit suggestions? Or, if that seems like opening the door to too much correspondence, what about the elders? With thousands and thousands of elders logging onto jw.org, it would be a simple thing to ask their input on a given doctrinal or procedural change. But is it ever done? No. Men who are insecure about their claims to authority rarely ask advice. Besides, if you’re God’s appointed channel, what need have you of counsel from mere mortals?
Aside from the aforementioned inconsistencies, there’s also the matter of how the Good News was to be preached. In every instance in the Christian scriptures, individual Christians preach personally. True, they speak to large groups at times, but they do so personally. Never do we see them hanging banners at the entrance of cities, or canvassing a given city with written notes that speak for them. Could it be that Christians are expected to personally preach, rather than spread their message through the proxy of mass broadcasting?
Whatever the answer to that question, the counsel to be creative and innovative in preaching the Gospel is good advice. But let us not forget that, while active preaching is an important Christian activity, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God” consists primarily in showing love for one another – especially for the less fortunate among us. God’s people today would do well to “continue” to obey that most important of commands. That would really be something to celebrate.
Anyone know what happened to the weekly CLAM Review? Maybe I missed something, I don’t see any reviews past the end of January.
I’ve been going through some personal difficulties and something had to suffer, so it was the CLAM review.
Deo_ac_veritati Your comments bring back memories of when I was a teenager. (around 40 years ago) Many many times I discussed this issue of why there is not a secret ballot with my father who was an elder. I said some disagree with some of the resolutions but are afraid to put their hands up. You would know bro’s real feelings if it was secret ballot. But nothing was ever done. The only change in all that time was recently it was changed to majority vote, so only just over 50% have to put their hands up and agree. Yes… Read more »
Hi Andere – The reference to water being used for acoustic purposes was strange. I know it’s mentioned in the literature from time-to-time, but in this instance why bother saying ‘Jesus had a big watery microphone.’ It was as if they wanted to say the water and not Jehovah’s holy spirit was the force making Jesus’ words powerful. Whatever next? Jesus is Babylon the Great sitting on many waters? Will all these scriptures end up being skilfully misinterpreted? I do hope not. (Revelation 1:14-15) . . .Moreover, his head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and… Read more »
Hi Marina, indeed, the reference to water being used for acoustic purposes is ridiculous. I like boating. I know on the water, low sounds, like from an heavy engine can reach some distance. But with words out of a human mouth it does not have the same effect. First of all, the words are spoken in the air, not inside the water. Therefore the words have to be carried by the water but that does not work like that. Therefore, I dare to say the His words cannot be carried by the water unless He was able to have His… Read more »
So I am no genius but in first year physics I learned that sound appears to travel over water because there is less chance of it being blocked by trees, buildings etc that are on land surfaces. Also if its a nice and calm day then sound waves are reflected not absorbed by water. The layer of cooler air above the water surface also helps carry sound waves by internal reflection (or is it refraction?). If the air was warm then the opposite happens – dispersion. Anyhow all this cannot account for Jesus’ voice to be carried crystal clear all… Read more »
Thanks for your review AndereStimme, Russell knew if he wanted to reach a large audience quickly, it had to be through having his own publications and outsource media outlets. Something he would of understood working with Barbour, his evil counterpart “Barbour”,as he was known later on. You asked the question, Why the organization wasn’t similarly ahead of its time in the use of electronic devices and the internet is the question that naturally comes to mind, but that’s another matter. My understanding to that question is by a Prominent Brother, the answer according to him , was that some in… Read more »
“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed” Yes, I can relate to this point. At our hall last year, the elders noted that the Branch had graciously allowed us to purchase two large flat-screen TVs to put on the walls of the main hall. We were to vote as a congregation on whether to spend some several hundreds of dollars to buy these. They then asked if there were any questions about the matter (and I have no doubt they expected none, at least no controversial ones). Unfortunately for them, one brother (I’ll let the readers conclude… Read more »
*chuckle*
Ahem, …I too knew a brother (wink wink) who asked to delay a congregation resolution that called for a substantial financial commit and asked for time, (a week) to consider the request. He also raised his hand three times trying to reason the point out. When the vote was eventually taken that evening, he abstained and was duely noted, …publicly.
Baby steps!
Hats off to you Deo, …and those like you!
😉
There’s been a question in my mind: is that meant to be a solid food we get with the Kingdom book and WT articles. He 5:14 “But solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their powers of discernment trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” Is that skewed history, boasting about questionable achievements, flashing with the spiritual “light” (false prophesying), continuous bashing of other denominations, obey-obey-obey-talk, interspersed with occasional seeds of true biblical counsel really a solid food? Take Par.3 as an example. The paragraph talks about Bible Students using newspapers back then. The last… Read more »
Hi Tyhik, I agree that you need to be wise about whether or not to stop attending meetings. If we look at the first century Christians, some felt it was important to stay going to the Synagogue to reach as many of their fellow jews as possible, whilst others that it was important to avoid old and counterproductive associations/ doctrines (ie circumcision). One answer was not the same for all. I pray that whichever is the right course of action for you, YHWH will make it both clear and compelling. Clear, so that you are confident that your decision is… Read more »
amoreomeara and others, your support is very much appreciated!
“I’ve tried talking, logical arguments, information, but that did not work.” Yes, logic doesn’t go very far with them – I’ve had the same experience. As I stated in a previous comment this morning, unity always trumps truth with this religion. My only suggestion is to always use a Biblically-based argument with them – in this way, they at least can’t accuse you of not using the Scriptures. However, even if you do that, you will (usually) not be successful – because unity trumps truth for them. I have mostly stopped attending the CLAM, have pretty much completely stopped formal… Read more »
Well done Deo. I guess I have that to look forward to. Continue to be cautious as serpents. Regarding the GB my wife’s answer is – as long as they are teaching the truth of the Bible then that is fine. They say they do not get inspired messages, so that only leaves the Bible … so as long as they can show me…..
There’s actually no need to concede the point about baptisms. Acts 2 says “about 3000 were added”, so nobody was keeping an exact count. And they were added to an unknown number of already-believers. Acts 4 says that just the men – the NLT even specifies “not counting women and children” – who had believed were about 5000. As far as I can tell, that’s where the numbers end. Even the 120 in the upper room at Acts 1 is an approximate number. For an organization that directs attendants to count people in the bathroom and that will announce a… Read more »
Wow, thanks for that AndreStimme – I hadn’t had time to look into those verses specifically yet, but gives me just the evidence I need for the next time (and there will be a next time as we all know) they come to me on this. Beautiful answer, again, many thanks for your assistance on this!
Deo, I have been thinking of whether there is a point in trying to argue with elders at all. Bible based, of course. Or would it be wiser to accept the inevitable and just walk away.
I still tend to think that though most of the elders will never see the light, some perhaps will and their “executing” a sheep who has been just following Bible may contribute to their waking up one day.
“Or would it be wiser to accept the inevitable and just walk away.” Well, yes, it may be “wiser” but not so pragmatic. Most, if not all of us, know that simply walking away (by that I mean formally disassociating, which, admittedly, I’m not sure you meant) entails the possibility of walking away from all your friends and immediate family as well, assuming they are baptized – not such an easy thing to do. I agree with you that there are some elders who will “see the light” as you put it – we’ve got our share right here on… Read more »
Howdy Deo. It’s quite alarming that as a group we will slam Churches like the LDS (mormons) or the Catholics for claiming that their leaders have authority to legislate outside of the Bible yet play the Old “The Faithful Slave says” card whenever our bible evidence falls short. How is this any different then Papal or Mormon Prophet claims to revealing new information from the Creator? I like to use this little “lurk” that Jesus used when talking to the Pharisees Mat 21:24 Jesus answered them, “I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer,… Read more »
Wow, that’s quite a story Enoch. Thanks very much for sharing with me; I will keep this strategy in mind when I inevitably have to face them again. One of my biggest shortcomings is that I tend to express myself much better in writing than “on the spot” extemporaneously in verbal form. So when I get in that back room with the elders, it is a bit nerve-wracking. I’ve decided that should they get me into a spot, I will simply tell them I will get back to them, on my own time, so that I can prepare myself ahead… Read more »
Deo, well done! You have been marked and are now going to be in the firing squad, but fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. If a person loves God and truth, conflict is inevitable. Mat 16:25 – Jesus said that if we try to save our soul, we will lose it, but if we lose our souls for his sake, we will find it. It is a wonderful thing to break free from the shackles of man made religion and experience true freedom in Christ. Our test is to maintain our integrity and obediently… Read more »
Thank you so very much Colette, your kind words mean the world to me. I know I’m marked now, so am preparing for the inevitable battle to come. I must PM you sometime, as Meleti gave me your email (at your request and with your consent of course) some time ago – just been so busy with life…. but will make it a point to make contact sometime in the near future.
Deo, Please do.
Meleti, it occurred to me that we’ve gotten quite off topic here from the OP you did. My apologies to you; I mean no disrespect. Should you wish me to move this to “Discuss the Truth” I’ll most respectfully abide by that decision – this is your site after all.
All that being said, the encouragement and suggestions I’ve obtained here from my Christian brothers has been most uplifting – my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to them for there support and assistance. As usual, I’ve experienced so much more Christian love here than at the Hall.
I wish I have the same courage as you tyhik! I have similar thoughts but I haven’t spoken up or done anything about it yet maybe because I am too timid and scared. Anxious about what will happen if I do. That feeling of not being spiritually fed is getting stronger however and the meetings are making me dissatisfied. So either I dig out my fav books to read in my own time (Keep in Gods love, and the Young people ask volume) when I am in a sentimental mood, or continue my bible reading. I just hope the situation… Read more »
Candace, my situation is much easier than yours and many-many others’. My family members have been in “truth” for decades, whereas I became just recently an unbaptized publisher, but never progressed to baptism. My progress was undermined by that second baptism question about the org being God’s. I researched it and became convinced it isn’t.
If elders will take me seriously on, I’ll be shunned by the congregation I imagine. But at least my still sleeping family members would have an official excuse not to shun me and that would make things very much easier for all of us.
Dear Candace, I remember the desperate feeling in my head from the mind numbing nonsense and lack of spiritual substance. And so long now between magazines, which are so devoid of substance anyway. May I suggest that you download e-sword? http://www.e-sword.net .It is free and has some superb bible commentaries that the WT also uses. I was totally amazed at the depth of spiritual understanding that was available more 100 years ago. If you get stuck on how to use it, ask Meleti to send you my email address. I could use a bible study partner so maybe we can… Read more »
Good advice Colette. I’ve been a big ESWORD fan for quite a while now and I found out recently that some of the CO’s use it. Every now and then if I’ve got a few extra bills floating around I donate to the site. Like you said, the commentaries are excellent. One thing you notice about them is their candor. If something is ambiguous or unclear they will present alternative views and let the reader draw their own conclusions. It also helps undo the “myth” that up until Charles Taze Russell Christendom had no scriptural knowledge. Many of the commentaries… Read more »
Having since disavowed much of what Russell taught, are 21st century JWs enemies of truth also?
Howdy Tyhik. By “family” do you mean you are young and you might have to lose contact with your parents/siblings…or do you mean you are married and have partner/kids etc. I’m not asking for age as you have to be careful about anonymity . I just read your other post about not ever being baptized and didn’t know if you meant that looking back as an adult or speaking as a youth? Hope you don’t mind me asking, I just didn’t want to address you in the wrong context/genre.
Hi Enoch. By family I meant my wife and kids, oldest of them in his early twenties and baptised, still living with us. Yeah, thus far we have had a pretty harmonious atheist-jw marriage, me not opposing to her taking care of children’s “spiritual upbringing”. Who’d be against their children behaving well, being respectful to their parents, not messing with drugs etc. I looked a bit into the WT teachings 20 years back when my wife studied with witnesses, but I did not find much harmful on a shallow look. A few years back God gave me suddenly a very… Read more »
Howdy Tyhik. Thanks for the clarification…..I actually had assumed wrongly so I’m glad I asked! 🙂
You sound like a broad minded and balanced person. It’s great that you were able to maintain family unity whilst still having your own beliefs. Hope things continue to progress well with your search.