The Pitfall of a Circular Reasoning Based Faith: Jehovah's Witnesses...again.

While researching for this article, I was amazed to find how well some verses in the Bible speak directly against the teachings of the Watchtower Society. This is no doubt why the organization encourages its followers to "live in a bubble"; emphasizing the importance of putting their full trust in the society and its teachings without considering outside influences. The Watchtower Society is a perfect example of the pitfall of a circular reasoning based faith. When people base their conclusions from their evaluating process and assume claims are truthful from the same source that discourages them from questioning their own beliefs, you know something's up. The Watchtower's claims are equivalent to someone saying, "I'm always right, I never lie, and don't doubt or question me when I say that." The faith of circular reasoning and its necessary intolerance of other beliefs ensures that you will never be sure whether what you believe is true. Any type of circular reasoning will always blind you from absolute certainty, because you must assume that your source is reliable by its own standards. I'm so glad that believing the Bible IS NOT this type of belief. God's existence is so credible from studying the intricate parts of His creation and the brilliant design that we see throughout his creatures. The Bible is also credible, from it's perfectly fulfilled prophesies to it's description of historical events that agree with modern archeology, to it's very existence; surviving so much opposition and oppression. More on this in a later post, hopefully.

Listen to these claims by the Watchtower Society that confirm it's a circular reasoning based faith. The numbers before the paragraphs refer to the numbers below where the paragraphs were taken from.

In a resource of the Jehovah's Witnesses, What Does God Require of Us?, Jehovah Witness congregational leaders are portrayed as, 1 "These men are not elevated above the rest of the congregation (Matthew 23:8-10). They are not given special titles (2 Corinthians 1:24). They do not dress differently from others. Neither are they paid for their work." THOSE attributes may be true. But these men are actually given much more control than could be recognized from their titles or clothing. Listen to these excerpts from Watchtower publications that will steadily build up to a circular reasoning based faith.

2: "So Jehovah's visible organization under Christ is a channel for bringing the divine interpretation of his word to his devoted people."
3: "We acknowledge as the visible organization of Jehovah on earth the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, and recognize the Society as the channel or instrument through which Jehovah and Christ Jesus give instruction and meat in due season."
4: "If we are to walk in the light of truth we must recognize not only Jehovah God as our father but his organization as our 'Mother'. "
5: "Make haste to identify the visible theocratic organization of God that represents his king, Jesus Christ. It is essential for life. Doing so, be complete in accepting its every aspect.
6: "They (Witnesses) must adhere absolutely to the decisions and scriptural understanding of the Society because God has given it this authority over his people."
7: "Avoid independent thinking ... questioning the council that is provided by God's visible organization ... Fight against independent thinking.
8: "To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise, we must identify that organization and serve God as a part of it."

When a Jehovah's Witness is disfellowshiped from the congregation, he is to be avoided. This may not always be because he was involved in some type of immorality, but this can happen even for simply questioning the authenticity of the society.

9: "A disfellowshiped person is cut off from the congregation, and the congregation has nothing to do with him. Those in the congregation will not extend the hand of fellowship to this one, nor will they so much as say 'hello' or 'good-bye' to him ... (The congregation members) will not converse with such a one or show him recognition in any way. If the disfellowshiped person attempts to talk to others in the congregation, they should walk away from him. In this way he will feel the full power of his sin ... The disfellowshiped person who wants to do what is right should inform any approaching him that he is disfellowshiped and they should not be conversing with him."

Not only is a Jehovah's Witness told to avoid former Jehovah's Witnesses, he is also told to avoid any individual with an opposing viewpoint to what the Watchtower society teaches. Therefore, anyone who poses a threat to the society's teachings is to be avoided.

10: "Have no dealings with apostates ... For example, what will you do if you receive a letter or some literature, open it, and see right away that it is from an apostate? Will curiosity cause you to read it, just to see what he has to say? You may even reason: 'It won't affect me; I'm too strong in the truth. And besides, if we have the truth, we have nothing to fear. The truth will stand the test.' In thinking this way, some have fed their minds upon apostate reasoning and have fallen prey to serious questioning and doubt."

Again, there seems to be a constant reminder of stay in the "truth" by avoiding opposition. The suggestion that "The truth will stand the test" adds credibility to the warning, while still maintaining that the Jehovah's Witnesses have the truth without seeming to be cautious about a compromise with another belief. The phrase serves as a good support for simply avoiding other beliefs for their "apostate reasoning", not as much for their truthful claims (as we know Christianity would be). I'm assuming that when the phrase refers to, "apostate reasoning", it is referring to anything but circular reasoning (the pitfall of reasoning confidently and safely). It's odd that Jehovah's Witnesses discourage their believers from studying other faiths, but they strongly emphasize that non-Jehovah's Witnesses should study opposing faiths using the same concept that "The truth will stand the test" and "there is nothing to fear from such an examination." The following excerpt is from an introduction to a study addressed to prospective members.

11: "We need to examine not only what we personally believe but also what is taught by any religious organization with which we may be associated. Are it's teachings in full harmony with God's word, or are they based on the traditions of men? If we are lovers of the truth, there is nothing to fear from such an examination. It should be the sincere desire of every one of us to learn what God's will is for us, and then to do it."

Do you see what's happening here? I sense a contradiction as well as a religious scheme for prospective members. It seems that non-Witnesses are encouraged to seek the truth (obviously to increase the chance for converts to the Witnesses faith) while Jehovah's Witnesses themselves are told to remain in what they believe because they already have the truth, and it is not necessary for them to dive into researching other beliefs for the possibility of leaving the faith (but how could the truth lead us away?). The problem is that the Jehovah's Witnesses are reliant on what they assume is a God inspired organization. As we'll see in the next quotes, they place their full trust in the Watchtower Society and are limited to their own religious studies by the very same organization that stresses the importance of knowing why and what you believe. It seems to me that this literature should not only be addressed to non-Witnesses, but also to the Witnesses themselves. They need it more than anybody else; they need to study their own out-reach resources.

12: "Rather we should seek for dependent Bible study, rather than for independent Bible study." 13: "He does not impart his holy spirit and understanding and appreciation of his Word apart from his visible organization."
14: "The Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as a whole, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah's visible organization in mind."
15: "We all need help to understand the Bible, and we cannot find the scriptural guidance we need outside the 'faithful and discreet slave' organization."
16: "They (questioners) say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But strangely, through such 'Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching 100 years ago."

Here, it is evident that what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe is circular and relies completely on the reliability of the society's filtering system in which it indoctrinates it's believers through a circular, deceptive, and autocratic method. By revealing the assumptions that are made in their faith, we Christians can attempt to show the witnesses what all their faith is held in: the organization. Though I'm sure they would agree with me that they've placed their full trust in the society's decisions. There would be no problem with this if the society truly was divinely inspired, but the problem is, it's not! The Bible is the only true revelation from God. The society makes its interpretations with the presupposed notion that the Bible has become fallible through history from the work of Satan. Therefore we would expect this new "inspired Bible" (the organization and its doctrines) to have its teachings set in stone just like the Bible has throughout the ages. Looking at it from a Witness's standpoint, why would God allow the Bible to be diluted by Satan and then leave us with no hope. In their view, this is where the organization comes in. But there are major problems with this. Examining the society (the new"inspired Bible"/"truth"), we see that it has changed its opinions on some issues, sometimes drastically. Consider the failed prophesies, and the many times that the organization changed the dates to avoid embarrassment. They were inspired doctrines taught by the inspired society, weren't they? By claiming that the Bible is no longer profitable without the proper interpretation, the Watchtower society automatically claims the aspects that characterized the "old revelation" (the Bible). Yet the Bible never changed throughout history, the society did. By analyzing the society much like in the previous post, the motives are made clear and the society's history provides us with a confirmative case for the truth of the organization as well as the character of its "inspired" founder.

I was breezing the official website of the Watchtower Society and stumbled upon this very interesting paragraph under an article entitled, "Can You Trust the Bible?":

17: "THE words of Shakespeare echo the sentiments of wise King Solomon of ancient Israel, who some 3,000 years ago wrote: "A fool will believe anything; smart people watch their step." (Proverbs 14:15, Today’s English Version) Yes, only a fool would go through life blindly accepting everything he hears, basing his decisions and actions on frivolous advice or baseless teachings. Misplacing our trust—like stepping onto rotten planks—can lead to disaster. You may wonder, ‘Is there any source of guidance that is worthy of our trust?’ Millions of people the world over place their full trust in an ancient book called the Holy Bible. They look to this book to direct their steps. They base their decisions on its advice and pattern their actions after its teachings. Are such individuals stepping, as it were, onto rotten planks? The answer to that question depends greatly on the answer to another question, Are there sound reasons to trust the Bible? This special issue of Awake! examines the evidence."

I find this paragraph very interesting. Why would Jehovah's Witnesses try to validate the Bible if the Bible itself passes through the "Watchtower filter"? If it's the Watchtower's interpretation that the Jehovah's Witnesses end up practicing and believing, why not question the society's reasoning and the way they determine what God's revelation is? In other words, a trustworthy source serves no purpose until we begin to examine what truths are found in the reliable source. Since it's up to the Watchtower Society to determine those truths that are taught in the reliable source (the Bible), isn't it equally important to question the society's reliability and reasoning when it comes to their interpretation of the Bible's revelation? Since Jehovah's Witnesses are forbidden to do so, they're trapped in believing a lie unless they can recognize the circular reasoning that is inevitable when putting their faith in the society's doctrines.

Obviously, Jehovah's Witnesses would ignore the following Bible verses because they (the verses) were supposedly contaminated by Satan. But for those of us who believe that the Bible is God's infallible word, we can take our stand in these words and hold fast to them as we travel through these times of progressing opposition to the truth. The Bible speaks directly against cults like Jehovah's Witnesses, and you should "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15);

Ephesians 4:11-15, says "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.

Isn't the Watchtower society "human cunning, and craftiness in deceitful schemes"? The Watchtower society speaks against opposers described in this verse, yet the organization is itself one.

2 Timothy 2:15, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

There is no need for a filtering society to tell us what the Bible truly says. We can accept it at face value for what it really says.

2 Peter 1:20-21, "Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

After reading this verse, a witness might say that it's obvious that the officials of the Watchtower Society "were carried along by the Holy Spirit." But giving just one example (out of many), why would the Holy Spirit move men to predict prophesies that eventually fail? As we've seen, if the Bible was diluted by Satan, than the Watchtower Society assumes the place of the Bible with presenting it's infallible doctrines. Infallible!? What about all the failed prophesies by the organization "carried along by the Holy Spirit", as they must inevitably claim.

John 4:1-6, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

I hope this article has inspired you to Witness to the Witnesses and to also research your own faith. After all, "A fool will believe anything; smart people watch their step."

Source: The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin

Numbered sources:

1: What does God Require of Us? (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1997 electronic edition): 2.

2: The Watchtower (June 1, 1938): 169.
3: Ibid. (April 15,1939): 125.
4: Ibid. (May 1957): 274.
5: Ibid. (October 1, 1967): 591.
6: Ibid. (May 1, 1972): 272.
7: Ibid. (January 15, 1983): 22,27.
8: Ibid. (February 15,1983): 12.
9: The Watchtower (July 1, 1963): 411-13.
10: Ibid. (March 15, 1986): 12.
11: The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract society, 1968), 13.

12: The Watchtower (September 15, 1911): 4885
13: Ibid. (July 1, 1965): 391.
14: Ibid. (October 1, 1967): 587.
15: Ibid. (February 15, 1981): 19.
16: Ibid. (August 15, 1981): 29.
17: (Internet source) http://www.watchtower.org/e/200711/article_01.htm