The Faithful and Discreet Slave is the term used by Jehovah's Witnesses to describe the collective body of "anointed" Christians alive on Earth. This "remnant" of the 144,000, whose members expect to ascend to heaven at death,[1] currently numbers about 10,000. Jehovah's Witnesses believe this group exercises teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.[2]
The Faithful and Discreet Slave is described as a "class" of Christians that operates under the direct control of Jesus Christ[1] and has been delegated the task of "feeding" Christians with scriptural instruction and exercising direction over their interests and affairs.[3] The concept is a central doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses' system of belief[4] and is based on their interpretation of one of the parables of Jesus Christ at Matthew 24:45-47 ("a faithful and wise servant" KJV).
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus uses this group exclusively "to publish information on the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and to give timely direction on the application of Bible principles in daily life"[5] as the only means of communicating God's messages to humans. Hence, it is referred to as God's "prophet"[6] and "channel".[7] In practice, few from this group make any contribution to decisions on doctrines and activities of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. All decision-making authority is held by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is made up of a small number of men of the Faithful and Discreet Slave class and is described as its representative and spokesman.[8][9][10]
The doctrine was originated by Watch Tower Society founder Charles Taze Russell, who in 1881 first applied it to the "church" — the "little flock" of 144,000 who would go to heaven — but five years later explained that it was an individual who would act as a sole "channel" or agent for Christ, dispensing "food", or new truths, for God's "household".[11] Russell's followers identified him as that "servant" until that view was rejected in 1927.
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Origin and history
The parable on which Jehovah's Witnesses base their doctrine of the Faithful and Discreet Slave, as rendered in the King James Version, reads: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods."
Current Watch Tower teachings hold that the Faithful and Discreet Slave class has had a continuous uninterrupted existence since being appointed by Christ at the time of Pentecost AD 33,[12] when the first 120 people upon whom holy spirit was poured out began "feeding" Jews with spiritual food. As new disciples came in, they filled the role of "domestics" and joined in feeding others. The apostles and other early Christian disciples who wrote the books of the New Testament were also part of the Slave class providing spiritual food to Christians.[13]
The Watchtower has claimed members of the Slave class were a close-knit body of Christians rather than isolated, independent individuals, and that one generation of the Slave class fed the succeeding generation to maintain the unbroken line for more than 1900 years,[13][14] providing the same spiritual food to Christians worldwide.[12] Watch Tower publications have not identified the groups filling the role of the Slave class between the close of the Apostolic Age and the early 20th century, suggesting it disappeared from "clear view",[14] but has implied they might have included the Lollards and the Waldensians (the latter movement described by The Watchtower as "faithful witnesses of Jehovah ... who sought to revive true worship of Christianity").[15][16]
Watch Tower publications assert that Christ, the "master" in the parable, returned in Kingdom power in 1914 and at that date identified those associated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society as the only group still faithfully feeding his followers.[17] (Earlier publications identify the date of his inspection as 1919).[12] Christ, in fulfillment of the parable, subsequently appointed anointed Christians associated with the Watch Tower Society "over all his belongings". The "belongings" are said to today include Jehovah's Witnesses' Brooklyn headquarters, branch offices, Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls worldwide as well as the "great crowd" of Jehovah's Witnesses.[17]
Development of doctrine
In 1881, an article in Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence by the magazine's editor Charles Taze Russell identified the "faithful and wise servant" as "that 'little flock' of consecrated servants who are faithfully carrying out their consecration vows – the body of Christ ... the whole body individually and collectively, giving the meat in due season to the household of faith – the great company of believers."[18][19]
By 1897, however, Russell had altered his view and began explaining it was a person, not the Christian church.[20] He described the "servant" as the sole channel or agent for Christ, providing "food" for God's "household". The "servant" would be humble, making no claim to authorship of the material he delivered, and would be removed and replaced if he failed to remain faithful. His teaching may have originated with his wife, Maria, who had claimed in 1895 that he was the figure referred to in the parable at Matthew 24:45-47.[21][22] Russell subsequently accepted similar claims by Bible Students.[23][24][25] In 1909 he described as his "opponents" those who would apply the term "faithful and wise servant" to "all the members of the church of Christ" (his original teaching) rather than to an individual.[26] Even after his death in 1916 Zion's Watch Tower repeated the view, noting in a biography of its former editor,
| “ | Thousands of the readers of Pastor Russell's writings believe that he filled the office of "that faithful and wise servant," and that his great work was giving to the Household of Faith meat in due season. His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation.[27] | ” |
The publisher's preface to the 1917 book, The Finished Mystery, issued as a posthumous publication of Russell's writings, identified him as the "faithful and wise servant" appointed by Christ[28] and as late as 1923, the Watch Tower encouraged the same belief about his role, declaring: "We believe that all who are now rejoicing in present truth will concede that Brother Russell faithfully filled the office of special servant of the Lord; and that he was made ruler over all the Lord's goods ... Brother Russell occupied the office of that 'faithful and wise servant'."[29]
In 1927, Watch Society president Joseph Rutherford reverted to Russell's original viewpoint, announcing that the "servant" was not an individual, but was made up of the entire body of faithful spirit-anointed Christians.[30]
In subsequent years the application of the title became blurred. A 1950 Watchtower appeared to assign to the "mother organization", or Watch Tower Society, the task of feeding Christians "meat in due season",[31] but in 1951 the magazine defined the "Faithful and Discreet Slave" as a class of people, but whose teachings were imparted through a theocratic organization.[32]
Criticism of doctrine
Former Jehovah's Witness Governing Body member Raymond Franz has claimed the religion employs its interpretation of the Faithful and Discreet Slave parable primarily to support the concept of centralized administrative authority in order to exercise control over members of the religion by demanding their loyalty and submission.[33] He says the "anointed" remnant claimed to comprise the Slave class have negligible input into Watch Tower doctrine and direction, which are set by the Governing Body.[34] He claims the description of the slave in the parable as a "class" of Christians is unsupported by scripture and is used to emphasise the concept of the slave being connected to an organization, thus diminishing its application to individuals in encouraging the qualities of faith, discretion, watchfulness and individual responsibility. He argues that if the application of figures in Jesus' corresponding parables as members of a class were consistent, there would also be a "ten-mina class" and "five-mina class" relating to Luke 19:12-27 and a "many strokes class" and "few strokes class" arising from Luke 12: 47-48.[35]
Franz also argues that the Watch Tower Society and its entire body of doctrines was built on the independent Bible study of its founder, Charles Taze Russell, who neither consulted any existing Faithful and Discreet Slave class for enlightenment, nor believed in the concept as currently taught by the Society.[36] He concludes: "In its efforts to deny that Jesus Christ is now dealing, or would ever deal, with individuals apart from an organization, a unique 'channel', the teaching produces an untenable position. It claims that Christ did precisely that in dealing with Russell as an individual apart from any organization."[36]
References
- ^ a b The Watchtower March 15, 2002 pp. 13-14 paragraph 4
- ^ Watchtower August 1, 2001 p. 14 paragraph 8|"A mature Christian ... does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and 'the faithful and discreet slave.'"
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 154. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 160. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
- ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, Watch Tower Society, 2005, p. 16.
- ^ The Watchtower April 1, 1972, p. 197.
- ^ The Watchtower August 1, 2002, p. 13 paragraph 17.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 153. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ You Can Live Forever In Paradise on Earth, Watch Tower Society, 1989, p. 195, paragraph 13.
- ^ "Be Obedient to Those Taking the Lead", The Watchtower, September 15, 1989, page 21, paragraph 5.
- ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 33. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
- ^ a b c "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism”, The Watchtower, September 15, 1983, page 19, paragraph 19.
- ^ a b "How Are Christians Spiritually Fed?", The Watchtower, January 15, 1975.
- ^ a b "Do You Appreciate the “Faithful and Discreet Slave”?", The Watchtower, March 1, 1981, page 24.
- ^ Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1945, page 307.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 128, 129. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ a b Organized To Do God's Will, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 16.
- ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, October/November 1881.
- ^ Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 142.
- ^ The Battle of Armageddon (Part IV, "Studies in the Scriptures") by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 613.
- ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 15, 1906, page 215.
- ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 78-79.
- ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1916, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, page 34.
- ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 63.
- ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 67.
- ^ Watch Tower, October 1, 1909, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 67.
- ^ "Portrait of Pastor Russell", Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, December 1916, page 357.
- ^ Publisher's Preface, Studies in the Scriptures, Series VII: The Finished Mystery, Peoples Pulpit Association, Brooklyn, NY, 1917.
- ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 63.
- ^ Watch Tower, 1927, as referenced by Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626. Raymond Franz notes in Crisis of Conscience (page 67) that the Proclaimers book here misrepresents Russell's position by continuing to place emphasis on his initial view, published in 1881, that the "faithful steward" was the entire body of Christ, neglecting to point out he altered his view five years later, forcefully rejecting the opposing belief.
- ^ Watchtower September 15, 1950 p. 326|"The Father is the great Provider of spiritual food, and he delegates to his organization the duty of preparing and serving this life-sustaining 'meat in due season'. The table is the Lord’s, he sits at the head, and the children seated at the table are waited on and served and helped by the mother organization."
- ^ "Release Under Way to the Ends of the Earth", The Watchtower December 15, 1951, page 749, paragraph 4|"Christ Jesus approved of his remnant as a 'faithful and discreet slave' and set this slave class over all his earthly belongings. Then by the theocratic organization Jehovah led them from one truth to another, opening the eyes of their hearts and the ears of their understanding to see and hear these truths."
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 125. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 153-164. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 165-167. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
- ^ a b Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 130-134. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
See also
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