In the February, 2017 article, “Who is Leading God’s People Today?” the Watchtower points out that after his ascension to heaven, Jesus worked through the apostles he had chosen and empowered them “by holy spirit.”

From this, it concludes that he works through the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the same way today. Of course, this doesn’t follow at all. Any group can claim to be “God’s organization” and to be “guided by holy spirit.”

Let’s look at 3 claims the Watchtower makes in support of its assertion.

Claim #1: Angels are involved in the Watchtower’s preaching work.

The article states that “angels assisted the governing body,” citing the angelic appearance to Cornelius in the book of Acts. If Jehovah’s Witnesses make this point to you, ask them, “Do you believe angels show up at meetings of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and tell them what to say and do?” Most likely they will tell you no. At best, they will have to say, “I don’t know.”

The article claims that the fact that the Governing Body oversees over eight million people who are preaching and that angels are involved. How do we know that? In many cases, they have called on people who have been praying for help. Ask the Witnesses, “Don’t you think evangelicals, Mormons, Muslims, and many other groups encounter and proselytize people who have been praying for help? Does that prove that angels are helping them too?

Claim #2: The Watchtower’s founder realized the importance of 1914.

The article then jumps from the days of the apostles to the late 19^th century, when Charles Taze Russell founded the Watchtower. Ask Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Did Jesus lead his people between the end of the first century and the end of the 19^th? Who was the Governing Body then? Which organization was his organization?” They have no good answer for such questions.

The article asserts that Russell “discerned that Christ would return invisibly and that ‘the appointed times of the nations’ would end in 1914.” Point out to Witnesses that Russell actually taught that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874 and that 1914 would be the end of the great tribulation and usher in the complete end of the rule of the nations of the world. When World War I broke out, he thought that was what was happening.

It quickly became evident that he was wrong. Apparently, neither the Holy Spirit nor Jehovah’s faithful angels were giving him his information.

Claim #3: In 1919, Jesus appointed “the faithful and discreet slave.”

The article then claims that in 1919 Jesus appointed a small group of Jehovah’s Witnesses as “the faithful and discreet slave to give his domestics food at the proper time.”

Ask Jehovah’s Witnesses to prove that any such thing happened. For example, where do we find the date 1919 in the Bible? How do they know that such a thing took place, apart from the Watchtower’s unsupported assertion that it did?

Your turn:

Have Jehovah’s Witnesses presented you these claims made by the Watchtower organization? Did you challenge them? If so, how did they respond?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

(thegoldguys.blogspot.com/ )