Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991

Articles on Jehovah's Witnesses

by James Walker

Salvation for the Jehovah's Witness is linked directly to their two-class system.

There are the "anointed" Christians who are said to be "born again" and are hoping for a home in heaven.

However, this represents a small minority. According to the theory, only a total of 144,000 are in this "class" of which less than 9,000 are still alive today.

Christ Is Not The Mediator

The millions of other Jehovah's Witnesses fall into the second class. These "other sheep" are told that they can have no personal relationship with Christ. They must earn eternal life, survive Armageddon, and live forever on a "paradise earth."

In the "Questions from Readers" section of the April 1, 1979 Watchtower the question was asked, "Is Jesus the `mediator' only for anointed Christians?"

The answer was given, "...So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the `mediator' only for anointed Christians." (p.31).

The 9,000 "anointed" remnant are considered the "Bride of Christ. The Husband (Christ) and the Bride (the "anointed") have "offspring" which form the millions of "other sheep.

Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that the biblical reference to Christ being the "Eternal Father" (Isaiah 9:6), is a promise of the "children" fathered by Christ in relationship to his Bride (the "anointed" Jehovah's Witnesses). (Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, p. 736).

Concerning the "other sheep" (also called the "great crowd"), Witnesses are taught, "...such other recipients of the ransom benefits must be earthly subjects of Christ's kingdom, and as children of and "Eternal Father" they attain everlasting life." (Ibid).

Not Born Again

The "anointed" are said to be born again and sons of God. But the "great crowd" are said to be sons of Christ and his Bride (the "anointed" class).

However these "offspring" are not brought into the kingdom by being born again. They do not become "children" of the "Eternal Father" and the "bride of Christ" through a second birth.

Under the section "Born Again" the Jehovah's Witness book, Reasoning from the Scriptures, gives this definition:

"Being born again involves being baptized in water... and begotten by God's spirit..., thus becoming a son of God with the prospect of sharing in the Kingdom of God.

"Jesus had this experience, as do the 144,000 who are heirs with him of the heavenly kingdom" (p. 76).

Salvation = Loyalty Plus

The "great crowd" of Jehovah's Witnesses numbers over 3.6 million. To gain salvation, they have to be loyal to their "Father" (Christ) and their "Mother" the "anointed class" or "Bride of Christ" which represent God's Kingdom.

The August 1, 1981 Watchtower warned the "other sheep" saying, "Your attitude toward the wheatlike anointed `brothers' of Christ and the treatment you accord them will be the determining factor as to whether you go into `everlasting cutting-off' or receive `everlasting life'" (p. 26).

This "attitude" includes subjecting themselves with unquestioning loyalty to "Christ's kingdom" which is manifested in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

That loyalty involves a number of steps. In the book You can live Forever in Paradise on Earth the Watchtower spells out several of those steps.

Under the chapter, "Becoming a Subject of God's Government", the requirements for "other sheep" are listed.

"DO YOU WANT to live forever on earth under God's government? Any person in his right mind would answer, Yes?... But to receive them you cannot simply raise your hand and say: `I want to be a subject of God's government.' Much more is needed" (p.27).

How Much More?

The chapter lists three areas of requirements:

1) Knowledge needed including Kingdom history and a new "language" in order to be able to call on Jehovah and to serve "shoulder to shoulder" (pp. 127-28).

2) Righteous conduct by keeping the laws of Jehovah which may call for "...hard changes to make in order to keep God's requirements" (pp. 131-33).

3) Loyalty to God's government [represented on earth by the anointed Governing Body of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society headquartered in Brooklyn, New York] (p. 133).

Salvation = Literature Distribution

This final category includes an additional mandatory duty that, "Jehovah would require" of his servants. This requirement for salvation is that they must he, "...loyal spokesmen or proclaimers of God's kingdom" (Ibid).

This is mainly a reference to the door-to-door "preaching" work which is illustrated by a color picture on the same page.

In effect, the Watchtower Society has made door-to-door magazine and book distribution (in exchange for donations to the Society) a requirement for salvation for over three and a half million people.

According to Jehovah's Witness teaching, a person cannot have eternal life without participation in the door-to-door witnessing. The Society makes this very clear saying,

"God's will is that, to make good his salvation to everlasting life, the believer must be a preacher in this world." (This Means Everlasting Life, p. 137).

In another publication the Society pictures several Jehovah's Witnesses engaged in door-to-door literature distribution. The accompanying text gives this warning:

"Only the preachers of God's kingdom can expect to be protected during the end of this world and to live through Armageddon into the new world."

"We have to do more than merely accept the Kingdom message in order to be saved.... we must also publicly declare that Kingdom message to others...." (From Paradise Lost of Paradise Regained, p. 249).

While the Watchtower Society does not place a dollar price on salvation they do indicate that man hours must be given in exchange for salvation. This is called "publishing" and careful records are kept by the Society.

In 1988 alone a total of over 785 million hours were given by Jehovah's Witnesses world-wide. Almost 243 million hours were given in the United States alone. (Watchtower, January 1, 1989, p.7).

Even those of the "anointed" class have to earn their salvation.

The Watchtower Society warns the "anointed" not to become, "...overconfident of our position. We need to keep examining ourselves to be sure that we are really doing what God and Christ require of us (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 80).

There is a major difference between this voluntary labor and Christians who donate their time to their churches.

Christians are not taught that they mst donate their time in order to be saved. Christians are not told that they will be destroyed at armageddon if they do not faithfully "preach" door-to-door."