How does the faithful and discreet slave of Jehovah's Witnesses get new information for their members?

Answer 1

First, let me identify the group that we refer to as the "faithful and discreet slave." Jesus refered to this one at Matthew 24:45-51. In the parallel illustration at Luke 12:42-48, Jesus refers to this slave as a steward, that is, a house manager or administrator, one placed over other servants. Even though he is in an administrative role, he himself is a servant. Such a position was often filled in ancient times by a faithful slave. Examples of this can be found at Genesis 24:2 and at Genesis 39:1-6.

So even though the faithful and discreet slave has the commission to "provide the proper (spiritual) food a the proper time," as Jesus indicated, it itself is in a position of submission or servitude to Jesus Christ, Jehovah God, and leadings of God's holy spirit, or active force.

A common misconception that many outside of Jehovah's Witnesses have is that the 12 or 13 members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses are the faithful and discreet slave. Not true. The faithful and discreet slave is all of the ones alive on earth who are of the heavenly calling, those whose hope is to reign with Jesus Christ as kings and priests in heaven once they complete their earthly course. (Revelation 5:10; 20:6)

The Governing Body which consists of a handful of qualified older men, whose function is to serve as the teaching arm of the organization, are representatives of the faithful and discreet slave. They are made up of members of the faithful and discreet slave, but they by themselves are not the entire faithful and discreet slave.

These of the faithful slave do not act independently. Individual members of the faithful slave class including each of the individual members of the Governing Body themselves, in turn, follow the direction of the faithful slave class as a whole, as represented by the Governing Body. So, while the faithful slave and the Governing Body is in submission to the Christ, each one individually is in submission to the faithful slave, right along with the rest of the congregation, so that the entire congregation remains in unity and in submission to the direction of the Christ.

An example of how the faithful slave, or it's representative gets "new" information is found in the scriptures at Acts chapter 15. A dispute arose in the christian congregation in the first century regarding a certain aspect of the Mosaic Law, namely circumcision. Some were saying that the christians needed to adhere to this requirement of the Law of Moses in order to be approved by God. Others were saying that the Mosaic Law had been replaced by the Law of the Christ, so that circumcision was no longer neccesssary. Who was correct? The matter was put before the Governing Body of the christian congregation in the first century, which was located in Jerusalem, and consisted of qualified older men. In verses 28,29, they indicated what their decision was, and how they arrived at that decision. It says: "For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to YOU, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!"(bold italics mine) They indicated that they arrived at a unanimous decision with the help of the holy spirit. (Acts 15:25) Back then, there was a Governing Body that represented the faithful and discreet slave, and Jehovah's Witnesses today pattern their congregation after that same standard.

We believe that today the Governing Body works in harmony with the holy spirit as did the Governing Body in Jerusalem back then. Just like in the first century, this body is used to teach and direct the congregation. When the Governing Body arrives at a decision, they do so, not individually, but as a collective group working together. Together, they pray for God's holy spirit to direct them, and as a group they consider all the scriptural counsel about the matter. They take as long as necessary, including meditating (reflectively ponder) prayerfully on the scriptures. Once it is that these brothers come to a unanimous consensus about the matter, it is accepted as the direction of the holy spirit. The Governing Body, however, does not claim infallibility. They, as well as the entire congregation, realize that they are imperfect men. Contrast this with some religious organizations which do claim infallibilty of their religious leaders. One that comes to mind is that of the Catholic Church. The First Vatican Council of 1870 stated:

"It is a divinely revealed dogma that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians, he defines, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the universal church, possesses through the divine assistance promised to him in the person of blessed Peter, the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed his church to be endowed in defining the doctrine concerning faith or morals; and that such definitions of the Roman pontiff are therefore irreformable of themselves, not because of the consent of the church."

We realize that, while we believe that the Governing Body is under the direction of Jesus Christ and God's holy spirit, members of the Governing Body are imperfect men, and can make mistakes. From time to time adjustmants are made in our understanding. Some things are not fully understood for a time, or incorrectly understood. We believe, however, that as a spirit directed organization, corrections will be made in due course. We fully trust in Jehovah God's ability to correct matters, and that he will make the corrections when he deems it the appropriate time. We fully trust in the ability of His son Jesus Christ, who is the one whom Jehovah appointed as head over the christian congregation. (Revelation 1:16, 20) One area where this comes into play is in the understanding of Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy regarding the time of the end is being fullfilled right now at an incredible pace. (Matthew 24:3-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5) Sometimes a particular prophecy or portion of a prophecy is not fully understood until after the fullfillment has taken place or while it is the process of being fullfillled. We understand that this gradual revealing of understanding is according to God's will and purpose. In The Bible, even those who recorded Bible prophecies often did not understand even what they themselves were writing. (Daniel 12:8,9) Therefore, the faithful slave, as represented by the Governing Body, is continually receiving and dispensing new light, as it becomes available. The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses continues to receive new light, in the form of adjustments to our understanding of the Bible. This is to be expected of God's congregation as Proverbs 4:18 says that "the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established." Since "the day," or end of this world has not been "firmly established" (occurred) yet, we expect this spiritual light to continue to get "lighter and lighter," and we expect the faithful slave as represented by the Governing Body to continue to flash forth "new light" as their understanding increases.