The "faithful and discreet slave" of Matthew 24:45 is the Governing Body —
currently eleven men at Watchtower headquarters in New York (Jody Jedele
and Jacob Rumph were appointed at the annual meeting on 5 October 2024;
Anthony Morris III was removed in February 2023). They are the sole
channel through which Jesus feeds his followers. "Our spiritual health
and our relationship with God depend on this channel." (Watchtower,
July 15, 2013, p. 20) Obedience to these men determines your salvation.
Ask the JW: "If the Governing Body told you something that contradicted what you read in the Bible, which would you follow?" Most will say the Bible. Then share the 1981 Watchtower quote (Aug 15) which says that reading the Bible alone leads people back to "apostate doctrines" including the Trinity. Ask: "If reading the Bible alone leads to the Trinity, maybe the Bible actually teaches the Trinity?"
The Watchtower itself admits that reading the Bible without their guidance leads to Trinitarian theology. That's an astonishing admission — the Bible naturally teaches what they call heresy.
Jehovah has always used an organisation — Moses, the apostles
Moses and the apostles performed miracles, gave prophecy that came true, and were confirmed by God directly. The Governing Body has given multiple false prophecies (1914, 1925, 1975) and claims no inspiration. says a prophet whose words don't come true is not from God.
We need the faithful slave to understand the Bible correctly
But the Watchtower's own publication admits that reading the Bible alone leads to what they call apostasy. Doesn't that suggest the Bible's plain meaning disagrees with Watchtower teaching? praises the Bereans for checking Paul's teaching against Scripture — they didn't need an organisation to understand it.
Jesus appointed the Governing Body in 1919 — the evidence is that they do the work.
Notice the reasoning: 'How do you know Jesus appointed them?' 'Because they do the preaching work.' 'How do you know doing the work proves appointment?' 'Because Jesus said the faithful slave would be feeding at the right time.' 'How do you know they are that slave?' 'Because they say they are.' That is circular — the Governing Body's authority rests entirely on their own claim. Every other group God appointed in the Bible — Moses, Elijah, the apostles — was confirmed by external evidence: miracles, fulfilled prophecy, God's audible voice. What external, verifiable evidence confirms the Governing Body's appointment in 1919?
The Governing Body are not our leaders — they are fellow servants giving direction.
Consider what that means in practice. These eleven men determine what you believe, who you associate with, whether you can speak to disfellowshipped family members, how you spend your weekends, and whether you receive a blood transfusion. If you publicly disagree with any of their teachings, you face a judicial committee and potential shunning. In what meaningful sense are they 'not leaders'? If it looks like leadership, functions like leadership, and carries the consequences of leadership — calling it something else is doublespeak. Jesus warned about leaders who 'lord it over' others () while the Governing Body does exactly that, just under a different label.
We obey the faithful slave because Jehovah directs them. Even if instructions don't seem logical, we trust that Jehovah is guiding them.
The November 2013 Watchtower (study edition, p.20) said: "At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah's organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not." Compare this with — the Bereans were praised for testing the apostles' words against Scripture. Paul did not say "obey even if it seems wrong." He said "test everything" (1 Thess 5:21). Blind obedience to men contradicts the very principle the Bible commends.
Jehovah has always used an organisation. He used Israel, then the first-century congregation, and today the Watchtower organisation is his sole channel.
Where does the Bible say God would use a single human organisation headquartered in one city as his exclusive channel? Jesus said "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am" (Matt 18:20) — not "where the Governing Body has authorised a Kingdom Hall." The early church had no centralised headquarters dictating doctrine. The Jerusalem council in Acts 15 was a one-time meeting, not an ongoing governing body. Paul rebuked Peter publicly (Gal 2:11) — apostles corrected each other, they did not demand unquestioning obedience.
Circuit overseers and elders lovingly shepherd the flock under Governing Body direction.
says elders should shepherd "not lording it over those entrusted to you." Yet the Watchtower's hierarchy — Governing Body → Branch Committee → Circuit Overseer → Elder Body → Ministerial Servants → Publishers — functions as a top-down command structure. Elders receive confidential instructions from the "Shepherd the Flock of God" manual that rank-and-file members are forbidden to read. A shepherd who keeps secrets from his sheep and requires obedience "whether it appears sound or not" is lording it over the flock.
The Governing Body is guided by holy spirit and has always upheld 1914 as a key date.
Internal doubts about 1914 existed at the highest levels. Nathan Knorr said "I don't know. We may be right and I hope we are." Albert Schroeder proposed 1957 as an alternative. The Writing Committee voted to stop pushing specific dates. These facts, documented by Raymond Franz in Crisis of Conscience, show that the men who demand your unquestioning acceptance of 1914 were themselves uncertain.
I'm not speaking for the Watchtower — these are my personal beliefs.
I appreciate your honesty. But here's a gentle question: could you share that view publicly in your Kingdom Hall without consequences? If a Witness publicly disagrees with official teaching — say, by admitting they pray to Jesus — they risk a judicial committee. The fact that you feel free to believe differently in private but couldn't say it openly at the Hall tells you something important about how much freedom you actually have. The early Christians had robust disagreements openly (Acts 15, Galatians 2). They didn't need to whisper their convictions.
We follow our conscience, guided by the organisation.
A circuit overseer told Raymond Franz that "the Governing Body can overrule our conscience." A district overseer said that if the Society says a green book is black, it is black. When the organisation can override your personal conscience, you no longer have one — you have compliance. Compare with : "Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind."
We are not 'taken captive' — we are submitting to God's organisation, not to a philosophy.
Read in your New World Translation: "Look out that no one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ." Notice Paul's three diagnostic markers for captive teaching: (1) human tradition, (2) elementary principles of the world, (3) NOT according to Christ. Now ask honestly: whose tradition tells you which of the 1900s prophecy dates was the real one — the Bible's, or eleven men in New York revising the timeline? Whose elementary scheme controls whether you can attend a family wedding — Christ's, or "the organisation's"? And the third marker is the deciding one: "not according to Christ." If a teaching is centred on Christ — his deity, his finished work, his mediation directly between God and the believer — Paul says it is safe. If it is centred on a human channel that displaces Christ from the centre, Paul says you have been carried off as prey. then gives the antidote: "in him all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily, and YOU have been made full by means of him." Not by means of an organisation, by means of HIM.
The Governing Body acknowledges mistakes through 'new light' — that's how they correct error.
"New light" is the mechanism that protects the divine-guidance claim while still permitting doctrinal change. Notice the structure: if Jehovah guided the Governing Body into the old teaching, then a change means Jehovah is now guiding them into the new one — which means they cannot admit error in the ordinary sense, because admitting error would mean the prior guidance was never real. Compare what the Southern Baptist Convention did in 2022: the Convention itself commissioned Guidepost Solutions to audit its handling of abuse, then voted to publish the report unredacted — naming its own failures in front of its own members. A democratic tradition can self-criticise because its authority does not depend on never having been wrong. A claim of divine guidance cannot do that without dissolving its own foundation. This isn't a moral judgement on individual brothers — it's a structural observation about how the authority claim works.
Don't attack the JW personally for following the Governing Body. They sincerely believe this is God's arrangement. Focus on the Watchtower's own admissions and failed prophecies rather than mocking the organisation.
Read in context, through to the end of that parable, then , until you can explain from memory what the Bereans did with Paul's teaching. Before you mention the August 15, 1981 Watchtower, read the quotation for yourself so you can state accurately what it says about reading the Bible alone. Practise the opening question aloud: 'If the Governing Body told you something that contradicted what you read in the Bible, which would you follow?' Expect 'we need the faithful slave to understand the Bible correctly'; rehearse the gentle reply that the Bereans checked even an apostle against Scripture. Keep the focus on the organisation's own admissions, never on the person in front of you.