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posted 06 September 2007 ***
In this article we look
at what the Watchtower Society say concerning truth and lie.
The Watchtower Society announced recently, via a letter to every congregation,
that from January 2008 there will only be one PUBLIC edition of The
Watchtower per month with the second one being for 'internal consumption'
only. The letter to all congregations dated February 9 2007, read in
part:
"The Watchtower will continue to be published
semi-monthly, but it will have two different editions. In the issue
dated the 1st of each month, all the material will be directed to the
public. It will have no study articles. This issue will be known as
the public edition. The Watchtower that is dated the 15th of each month
will be solely for the Christian brotherhood. It will not be offered
to the public. It will contain all the study articles for one month
and secondary articles that are appropriate for dedicated servants of
Jehovah. That will be known as the study edition.
"The advantages of this change will be quickly evident… in the study
articles, we have to explain terms like 'pioneer' in ways the public
understand. After this new arrangement goes into effect, everything
in the study edition will be expressly for dedicated individuals and
Bible students who are making spiritual progress. Hence, the information
can be more pointed and more beneficial."
Whereas the explanation seems reasonable one cannot help feeling that
they want to hide the changes and alterations in policy and the involved
non-Biblical teaching that we often critique in this column. Time will
tell if we will be able to get hold of these copies, but I do hope so,
as we will be able to see if they get stronger and clearer over their
teachings when they do not have to let the public in on it.
I take a quick look at every Watchtower and Awake! that
comes out and from time to time an article strikes me as almost inappropriate
to have been written by the Society. One such appeared on page 3 of
The Watchtower 1 February 2007, "Truthfulness - Expected Only
of Others?" I felt like saying, on your past record, yes! But let's
see what the article actually says:
"'I hate lies…'… Most of us feel the same
way. We like to think that information given to us - whether by word
of mouth or in written form - is truthful. But do we tell the truth
when we pass information on to others"
Note the inference that the information written down is true but are
we careful how we pass it on. Later in the article, they go on to say:
"Consider the damage that untruth can do.
Falsehood breeds distrust… Fabrications by researchers ruin promising
careers and tarnish the reputation of respected institutions… Widespread
lying can cause damage both to individuals and to society as a whole.
Few would dispute that fact. Why, then, do people deliberately tell
what is untrue? And is every untruth a lie? We will consider the answers
to these and other questions in the next article."
Clearly falsehoods are a problem as is, wait for it, fabrications by
researchers! Surely they are shooting themselves in the foot; why do
people do it, surely they know, but why are they directing people to
their own faults? This becomes clear in the next article where one of
the questions that they answer is, "Is every untruth a lie"! I had to
read that a few times before I believed they actually said it. Take
a look in your dictionary and see that one of the definitions for untruth
is, "lie". No wonder they don't want the public to be aware of their
teaching!
The next article which starts on page 4 is entitled, "Why Be Truthful?"
It starts off fine with the teaching that at the beginning of mankind's
history everything was based on truth and it was not until the Devil
came onto the scene that lies began. They then give some interesting
reasons as to why people lie; "Greed and selfish ambitions" and "Fear
of the consequences" are two which are very relevant to each one of
us but also to the Watchtower Society on their past history. Then on
page 6 we have this amazing statement:
"Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth
is a lie. Why not? A dictionary defines a lie as "an assertion of something
known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive."
Yes, lying includes the intention to deceive someone. Hence, to speak
an untruth unwittingly - such as giving someone incorrect facts and
figure by mistake - is not the same as to tell a lie"
That seems fair enough on the surface but I cannot help but feel that
they are going to use this at some time in the future to change some
facts they have given 'unwittingly'. However, they then go on to a statement
that is in their 'Bible Dictionary':
"Moreover, we need to consider whether the
person asking for information is entitled to a comprehensive answer."
However, that is something totally different; to hold back information
is one thing but to deliberately misquote is another; not to tell all
you know is your choice but to use what you know in a deceptive way
is not. This thought was raised in their article on "Lie" in Insight
on the Scriptures Vol.2, p.244:
"While malicious lying is definitely condemned
in the Bible, this does not mean that a person is under obligation to
divulge truthful information to people who are not entitled to it. Jesus
Christ counseled: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw your
pearls before swine, that they may never trample them under their feet
and turn around and rip you open." (Mt 7:6) That is why Jesus on certain
occasions refrained from giving full information or direct answers to
certain questions when doing so could have brought unnecessary harm.
(Mt 15:1-6; 21:23-27; Joh 7:3-10) Evidently the course of Abraham, Isaac,
Rahab, and Elisha in misdirecting or in withholding full facts from
nonworshipers of Jehovah must be viewed in the same light.-Ge 12:10-19;
chap 20; 26:1-10; Jos 2:1-6; Jas 2:25; 2Ki 6:11-23.
"Jehovah God allows "an operation of error" to go to persons who
prefer falsehood "that they may get to believing the lie" rather than
the good news about Jesus Christ. (2Th 2:9-12) This principle is illustrated
by what happened centuries earlier in the case of Israelite King Ahab.
Lying prophets assured Ahab of success in war against Ramoth-gilead,
while Jehovah's prophet Micaiah foretold disaster. As revealed in vision
to Micaiah, Jehovah allowed a spirit creature to become "a deceptive
spirit" in the mouth of Ahab's prophets. That is to say, this spirit
creature exercised his power upon them so that they spoke, not truth,
but what they themselves wanted to say and what Ahab wanted to hear
from them. Though forewarned, Ahab preferred to be fooled by their lies
and paid for it with his life.-1Ki 22:1-38; 2Ch 18."
Notice in this article you are allowed to exercise an "operation of
error" to anyone you consider prefers falsehood - quite a wide choice
and something that can so easily be misused. However, they don't go
as far in The Watchtower article and end with these sobering words:
"Lies… cannot stand the test of time… Jehovah,
the God of truth, has set a time limit for the toleration of untruth
and of those who promote lies… Jehovah will soon put an end to all lies
and liars… What a relief it will be when at last 'the lip of truth'
will be firmly established forever."
In the light of this article and the obvious claim that they are 'the
truth', I thought it would be helpful to list again some of the clear
lies and deceptions of the Watchtower Society - please check them out
and ask the next Witness that calls to also check them out, especially
in the light of this Watchtower article. Please also remember that this
information is not for those who don't want to accept truth but it is
for Jehovah's Witnesses who obviously should be given all the truth.
RULES OF TRANSLATION
First we will look at 3 rules of translation that they say they adhere
to in their Scriptures.
The Truth of Rule 1
"How is a modern translator to know or determine
when to render the Greek words kyrios and theos into the divine name
in his version? By determining where the inspired Christian writers
have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures. Then he must refer back to the
original to locate whether the divine name appears there. This way he
can determine the identity to give to kyrios and theos and he can then
clothe them." - Kingdom Interlinear Translation, WB&TS, 1969, p.18.
The Lie told
On page 885 of the same publication we find Philippians 2:11 where kyrios
is translated Lord. But applying the above rule of translation, and
realising that Philippians 2:11 is a direct quotation from Isaiah 45:23
[it was even cross-referenced in the original 1950 edition of the New
World Translation]. It should read, "and every tongue should openly
acknowledge that Jesus is Christ is Jehovah to the glory of God the
Father".
The Truth of Rule 2
"Isaiah 1:24 - 'the [true] Lord'. This is
the translation of the Hebrew expression ha-A'don, this being the title
A'don ("Lord; Master") preceded by the Hebrew definite article ha. Although
there are many lords or masters, this prefixing of the definite article
before the title a'don limits the application of the title to Jehovah
God." - Kingdom Interlinear Translation, WB&TS, 1985
The Lie told
In the same publication the footnote to Romans 10:9 tells us that the
Greek word kyrios is ha-A'don in several Hebrew translations. Thus applying
the above rule we should read , "For if you publicly declare that 'word
in your mouth,' that Jesus is Jehovah, and…" However, that is not the
case.
The Truth of Rule 3
"Consequently, religious traditions, hoary
with age, have been taken for granted and gone unchallenged and uninvestigated.
These have been interwoven into the translations to color the thought.
In support of a preferred religious view, an inconstancy and unreasonableness
have been insinuated into the teachings of the inspired writings… To
each major word we have assigned one meaning and have held that meaning
as far as the context permitted. This, we know, has imposed a restriction
upon our diction, but it makes for good cross-reference work and for
a more reliable comparison of related texts or verses." - The New World
Translation, WB&TS, 1951, pp.6 & 9.
The Lie told
Using their Kingdom Interlinear Translation we see that they have not
kept this rule. For instance, in 1 Peter 1:17 we find that we can call
upon the Father but the same Greek word in Acts 7:59 has Stephen making
an appeal to Jesus.
A further example can be found in comparing the same Greek word in Revelation
7:11 where, older persons worship God, but in Matthew 2:11 the magi
do obeisance to Jesus. Is there anything in the context that demands
that these major words are translated in different ways? No! It is simply
a "preferred religious view". The very thing they have condemned as
changing the meaning of the inspired writings.
DELIBERATE MISQUOTATIONS
The second area I would use to show that the Society has deliberately
misled people is their misquoting of citations. This is especially relevant
because of their reference to "fabrications by researchers" in the article.
The first three quotations come from the publication Reasoning from
the Scriptures pp. 272-275 under the heading of 'Neutrality'. The Society
are so determined to prove the point of neutrality, they even use a
quote from someone who believes that parts of the Acts of the Apostles
is fantasy. The words that the Society have omitted are added in italicst.
These are clear fabrications that surely, "tarnish the reputation of
respected institutions", but at the very least they give a different
thought to the one intended by the author.
"A careful review of all the information
available goes to show that until the time of Marcus Aurelis, no Christian
became a soldier; and no soldier after becoming a Christian, remained
in military service. Against this conclusion it can be argued that,
according to Acts (x 1-48), Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian band,
was baptised, together with others... that according to Acts (xii 12),
Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, 'believed'... and finally that
the jailer at Philippi (Acts xvi 23-34) was baptised... Stories in which
such miraculous embellishments occur cannot be regarded as sober history:
we have in fact, seen reason to hold that, in the first part of Acts,
fact and fancy are blended so as to make a record which is sometimes
allegory and sometimes literal truth." - The Rise of Christianity,
E.W.Barnes, 1947, p.333.
"The Christians stood aloof and distinct
from the state, as a priestly and spiritual race, and Christianity seemed
able to influence civil life only in that manner which, it must be confessed,
is the purest, by practically endeavouring to instil more and more feeling
into the citizens of the state... Those on the contrary, who determined
that it was allowable for a Christian to accept civil and military offices...
when they appealed to the case of the centurion, whose faith Christ
himself had praised (Luke vii) and of the believing Cornelius... even
Tertullian himself, the warm opponent of arms among Christians, did
not feel himself authorised altogether to condemn those who, having
become Christians while they were soldiers, continued in their old profession,
provided it was unattended with any thing which caused them to violate
their fidelity as Christians." - History of the Christian Religion
and Church During the First Three Centuries, Augustus Neander, 1848,
p.168.
"Banners, standards and ensigns are frequently
mentioned in the Bible. "Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch
by his standard, with the ensign of their father's house." (Num 2:2)...
Early flags were almost purely of a religious character... The national
banner of England for centuries - the red cross of St George - was a
religious one; in fact the aid of religion seems ever to have been sought
to give sanctity to national flags, and the origin can be traced to
a sacred banner." - Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1949, Vol.9, p.343.
These final three quotes are again taken from Reasoning from the
Scriptures, this time from pages 69-70 and 179-182 which deal with
various festivals.
"The later Hebrews looked on the celebration
of birthdays as part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly
confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with
those days. Yet the language of Jeremiah, taken in connection with
that of Job, does furnish some ground for thinking that birthdays in
general were joyfully remembered, Job 3:3 &c; Jer 20:14 &c." - The
Imperial Bible Dictionary, P.Fairburn, 1874, Vo1.1, p.225.
"The reason for establishing December 25
as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day
was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the
time of the winter solstice, when the days began to lengthen, to celebrate
the "rebirth of the sun"... The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated
to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun)
also took place at this time, and some Christian customs are thought
to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration... It is held by some
scholars that the birth of Christ as "light of the World" was made analogous
to the rebirth of the sun in order to make Christianity meaningful to
pagan converts... but almost from the first, Christians have generally
regarded Christmas as both a holy day and a holiday. For Christ's birth
brought a new spirit of joy into the world…" Encyclopaedia Americana,
1977, Vol. VI, p.666.
"There is no indication of the observance
of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the
apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent
from the minds of the first Christians... The first Christians continued
to observe the Jewish festivals, though in a new spirit, as commemoration
of events which those festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover
with a new conception added to it of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb
and the first fruits from the dead, continued to be observed, and became
the Christian Easter. Although the observance of Easter was at a very
early period the practice of the Christian church…" - Encyclopaedia
Britannica, 1910, Vol. 8, p.828.
There is no question in my mind that in these two areas the Society
is condemned by its own article. Indeed these lies and distortions cannot
stand the test of time. I wonder what time limit Jehovah has then set
on the Society. May it be that many at present in the Society truly
find the One who said, "I am Truth" before that day comes that 'the
lip of truth' will be firmly established forever.
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