New Light?

Proverbs 4:18--"But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established."

Imagine that the Watchtower Society told you to meet at the top of the highest skyscraper in the city. They had interpreted from the bible that a true christian needed to have ultimate faith in order to survive Armageddon. All you needed to do is jump off of the building and place your faith in Jehovah's hands, because faith without works is dead. If you did not do this, you would be disfellowshipped. So you follow instructions, because the Watchtower Society is being guided by the holy spirit, and you jump. You hear people applauding your actions until you have dropped too far from the top of the building. You then have a moment of doubt. Should I have really jumped? I don't remember ever reading any scriptures saying that I should do something like this. But wait, wait, I shouldn't doubt them, you think. This is about faith. Trust in Jehovah. Suddenly you hear a voice calling to you from a loudspeaker. "Wait. Don't jump. We have received some "new light" from Jehovah's holy spirit. The bible says clearly that we should not put Jehovah to the test, and by jumping, that is exactly what we would be doing. Then again, we never actually told anyone to jump. That was over zealous members that were acting independantly. As you look down, you realize that in a few seconds, your life will be over.

How would you feel if that happened to you? The illustration is vivid, but it encompasses someone that spent their entire life believing doctrines that were supossedly coming from Jehovah, by means of His holy spirit, only to see those doctrines change. And you must accept those changes without question or risk being disfellowshipped. Sadly, many do accept these changes and do not even attempt to test them to see if there might be a misinterpretation. They are blinded by the false comfort that the Watchtower Society guarantees eternal life in exchange for unquestioned obedience.

Anytime a doctrine is proven false over time or circumstance and is in need of change, we see the phrase "new light" rise to the surface. What exactly is the meaning of new light? A JW will tell you that it is a new understanding of an old truth. Since Jehovah is gradually revealing truth to His people, they are willing to correct their thinking in order to have the right view, and then teach that right view to the world.

C.T. Russell said the following.

"If we were following a man undoubtedly it would be different with us; undoubtedly one human idea would contradict another and that which was light one or two or six years ago would be regarded as darkness now;… But with God there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, and so it is with truth; any knowledge or light coming from God must be like its author. A new view of truth never can contradict a former truth. "New Light" never extinguishes older "light" but adds to it…" Zion's Watch Tower 1881 February pp.3,188

The JWs believe that they are adding to the old light, but that it is not being changed. It is still the truth.

Really? What does the bible say?

Galations 1" 8,9--"But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."

Have the JWs taught anything contrary to what they preached before?

John 16:13-- "However, when that one arrives, the spirit of the truth, he will guide YOU into all the truth, for he will not speak of his own impulse, but what things he hears he will speak, and he will declare to YOU the things coming."

This is Jesus talking about the holy spirit at Pentecost. Does it say that the truth would be revealed gradually?

1 John 4:1--"Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world."

Notice that there is nothing mentioned here about any gradual understandings sent to them by the holy spirit. Why don't we take a look at some of the past teachings of the JWs and put them to the test.

Here is a list from the Finished Mystery, and NO, I'm not making this stuff up.

1) 88 "proofs" that Christ's "Second Advent occurred in the Fall of 1874" (pp.68-71)
2) The remaining Anointed would all be taken from earth to heaven in the spring of 1918. (p.64)
3) "Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions...." (p.485)
4) "Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920....Every kingdom of Earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy." (p.258)
5) The rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2 is "the Bishop of Rome, the embryo Pope, the personal representative of Satan" (p.106)
6) Michael the Archangel is the pope of Rome. (p.188)
7) "Leviathan" of Job 41:2-19 is a locomotive. (p.85)
8) "The chariots rage in the streets, they jostle one another" of Natham 2:4 are the clanking and the bumping of railway cars. (p.93)
9) The "valiant men" of Nathum 2:3 are an engineer and a fireman. (p.93)
10) Demons will invade the minds of churchgoers in 1918, leading to their destruction. (p.128)
11) "Behemoth" of Job 40:15-24 is a stationary steam engine. (p.84)
12) The "voice from heaven" of Revelation 18:4 is the voice of The Watchtower Society. (p.276)
13) The glory of the angel of Revelation 18:1 refers to modern discoveries such as correspondence schools, celluloid, Divine Plan of the Ages, talking machines, vacuum cleaners, induction motors, pasteurization, Panama Canal, shoe sewing machines, subways, skyscrapers, Roentgen rays. (p.273)
14) Revelation 14:20 predicted the precise distance from the place where The Finished Mystery was produced in Stranton, Pennsylvania to its shipping destination in Bethel in New York City (p. 230)

This was from The Finished Mystery, a book from 1917. This was held up as the fulfilment of prophecy, "God-given interpretation" (Watch Tower 1917 December 15) and "the first and only book that makes clear every part of Revelation and Ezekiel." (Watch Tower 1917 October 1) It continues to proudly be described in the Proclaimers and Revelation Climax books as a powerful classic. (jwfacts.com)

God-Given interpretation? How many of these teachings were completely dropped? While you are mulling this over, let's look at a few other teachings from their past.

Most of you know about the pyramids being prophetic. There are also the failed date prophecies, the ever-changing meaning of a generation, and Jesus being worshipped into the 1950s. Ah, but here is one of my favorites.

The constellation of the seven stars forming the Pleiades appears to be the crowning center around which the known systems of the planets revolve.... It has been suggested, and with much weight, that one of the stars of that group is the dwelling place of Jehovah and the place of the highest heavens;....
The constellation of the Pleiades is a small one compared with others which scientific instruments disclose to the wondering eyes of man. But the greatness in size of other stars or planets is small when compared to the Pleiades in importance, because the Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God.
J. F. Rutherford, Reconciliation, 1928, p. 14

How many of these were in need of gradual clarification? How many of these were simply dropped?

However, the Watchtower Society has attempted to justify their past mistakes.

"Like the apostles of Jesus Christ, they have at times had some wrong expectations." Reasoning from the Scriptures p.136

How many times did those Apostles teach those wrong expectations to the public?

Human imperfection falls by the wayside if God's holy spirit is guiding them. Clearly this is not the case.

New light is an excuse to explain away errors in understanding that were taught to the public as truth coming from God. What does God have to say about this?

Dueteronomy 18:20-22--"However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. And in case you should say in your heart: "How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?" when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it."