Myth of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave"

B J Kotwall

Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time? Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to YOU, He will appoint him over all his belongings. Matthew 24:45-47 (New World Translation of the Holy Scripture 1984 (NWT))

The above verses in Jesus' parable are used more frequently then any other verses by The Watchtower Society (WTS) to keep a stranglehold on Jehovah's Witnesses.

It is our intention to show, in this treatise that the WTS has used these parabolic verses to take on an incorrect and completely unjustified prophetic sense. (The Watchtower (WT) 1981 March 1, p. 24; WT 1960 July 15 p. 462; God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached. 1973. p. 350)

The "Slave" was the whole body of Christ
The WTS up to 1895 taught that the Slave was the whole body of Christ. (WT 1881 November p. 291; 1890 January p. 1171; 1895 April 1 p. 1797).

Russell was the "Slave"!
But soon in 1896 the thinking was changed and an individual, Charles T.Russell, was chosen as the Slave. Russell also happened to be the head of the WTS.

Bible commentators, outside the WTS understand the passage as a parable, which Jesus gave to encourage each of his individual followers to be a faithful and wise servant rather then an evil slave. Jesus was not giving here a prophecy as WTS contends. In support Jesus continued by saying in the next verses:

But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, 'My master is delaying,' and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect and in an hour that he does not know, and will punish him with the greatest severity and will assign him his part with the hypocrites. There is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be. Matthew 24:48-51 (NWT)

Russell however converted this admonition into a personal appointment for himself as the "Faithful and Wise Servant" - God's mouthpiece to mankind! The WTS maintained from 1896 to 1927 that Russell was that Servant (Slave). (WT 1896 March 1, p. 1946; Studies in Scriptures Vol I 1924-1927 editions p. 7; Vol.4 p. 613; Vol. 7 pp. 3, 5, 422, 418; WT 1917 March 1, p. 6049; Harp of God 1921 p. 229).

Russell was not the Slave"!
Rutherford, the second president of the WTS changed this belief in 1927 and asserted that the Slave designation applied not to an individual - Russell - but to the WTS organization. It was also falsely publicized that Russell had never claimed to be that Slave. (WT February 15, 1927 p. 56; God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached 1973 p. 346). However, since critics exposed this lie of the WTS they made a half-baked and false admission in their latest biography Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993) that ".the idea that Russell himself was the faithful and wise servant.came to be generally held by the Bible Students for some thirty years." (p. 143) The Proclaimers book on the same page also places the blame on Russell's wife Maria for the teaching that Russell was that Servant. The writers of the Proclaimers book pretend to be unaware that that the WT of 1917 March 1, p. 6049 states very clearly that, "Watch Tower unhesitatingly proclaims brother Russell as 'that faithful and wise servant'" (p. 143)

The "Slave" is over 1800 years old!
The WTS also teaches, without any support, that the "Slave" represents the Christian congregation from its beginning in A.D. 33 up to now:

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that this parable pertains to the one true congregation of Jesus Christ's anointed followers. Beginning with Pentecost, 33 C.E., and continuing through the 19 centuries since then, this slavelike congregation has been feeding its members spiritually, doing so faithfully and discreetly. (WT 1981 March 1, p. 24)

And further:

From Pentecost, A.D. 33, up to this very present hour this ("feeding") has been lovingly and carefully performed. Yes, and these "domestics" have been fed on progressive spiritual food that keeps them abreast of the "bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established." WT 1960 July 15 p. 435.

So the well-nourished Christian congregation (Slave) as WTS claims was more than 1800 years old by the time Russell appeared on the scene in mid 1870s. This claim is downright nonsense without any proof or justification. Because, if it was the case that there was a Slave operating for over 1800 years, there was no need for Russell to have "revived the great truths taught by Jesus and the Apostles" (Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose 1959 p. 17). WTS cannot answer where this 1800-year-old congregation was located! Russell certainly did not seek out this non-existent congregation and neither did this mythical congregation seek Russell out! In fact Russell never turned to any earthly organization. He acted independently on his own. Russell and his associates were actually anti-earthly organization. Russell affirmed that:

We belong to NO earthly organization.All the saints now living, or that have lived during this age, belonged to OUR CHURCH ORGANIZATION: such are all ONE Church, and there is NO OTHER recognized by the Lord. Hence any earthly organization which in the least interferes with this union of saints is contrary to the teachings of Scripture and opposed to the Lord's will. (WT February 1884)

"Slave" was spiritually unclean!
The next consideration is to be given to the WTS's claim that Christ returned invisibly in 1914 and in 1919 he made a temple judgment which resulted in WTS being selected over all other churches! Jesus accomplished this despite the fact that he knew that WTS was spiritually unclean at that very time!

The Scriptures describe them as having unclean garments because of their long association with Christian apostasy.They had many practices, characteristics and beliefs similar to the weedlike sects of Christendom. (WT 1960 July 15 pp.435-6)

"Slave" served contaminated food!
An another criterion for selection of the WTS was "the serving of the food, the right sort of food was the issue at the proper time. It was according to this that a decision must be rendered by the returned master." (God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached 1973 p. 350).

We observe that the "right sort of food" served by the WTS at that time consisting among other things was that:

The teaching of the time of the end began in 1799
Christ returned invisibly in 1874.
The world would be destroyed in 1914
The Pyramids were God's Witness - a Bible in Stone
Rutherford had started to preach in his talks that the world was to end in 1925. He later, in 1925, published a book on the same topic.
The Finished Mystery was published in 1917. The book contained the most extensively nonsensical material, which WTS has ever put together in one book.

We are asked to believe that despite all these aberrations of the WTS at that time, Jesus chose to select the WTS above all other Christian sects! And of course the appointment was confirmed by Jesus and conveyed to the WTS - all invisibly too! As regard the proof required that the WTS was consistently serving food that was clearly superior to any being offered by other Christian sects, we have to simply refer to the WTS's own admissions as quoted above in WT 1960 July 15 pp. 435-436; and in God's Kingdom. book p. 350!

Over 99% of "Slaves" do not provide any input!
Another important point is that the "faithful and discreet slave" is supposed to comprise of the entire remnant of the 144,000, which presently number 8755 by WTS's last count. These "anointed" remnants are scattered throughout the world. This composite slave of 8,755 anointed persons are supposed to share the parabolic dispensing of food and as a collective body they are ALL placed over the master's belongings. (United in Worship of the Only True God 1983 p. 120; God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached 1973 p. 343; WT 1981 March 1 p. 24). It is a complete charade to say that these 8755 anointed remnants, who are distributed around the world, do any type of developing and sharing of the spiritual food presented to JWs by the WTS. Ray Franz ex-Governing Body member of the WTS in his book In Search of Christian Freedom (1991) referring to this topic says:

It is perhaps the most obvious fiction found in the whole range of published explanations of Scripture produced by the organization. The fact is that not even 1 percent of the number of "anointed" ones have the slightest part in determining what Jehovah's Witnesses receive in the way of Biblical material or in the forming of policy or the directing of the activities of that people..By far the majority of the articles published in The Watchtower magazine were written by persons not of the "anointed class" (p. 154)

Chronologically the "slave" does not exist!
Another point is the fact that the 1914 date for the arrival of Jesus is based on a WTS chronology which is indisputably false. Their incorrect linchpin 607 BC date for the fall of Jerusalem has a very heavy burden of evidence against it and has simply no support outside the WTS. The fact that the concept of identifying the Slave rests on false chronological calculations obviously demonstrates that the Slave has no justifiable "existence". Carl Olof Jonsson in his book The Gentile Times Reconsidered (1998), with the aid of irrefutable and scholarly arguments, demonstrates the WTS's false stance on the 1914 date and the subsequent myth of the Slave.

In conclusion we would like to state that the story of the "faithful and discreet Slave" is a man-made counterfeit fable. This "Slave" deserves full contempt and rejection by all thinking persons.

Summary
We have considered not one but six reasons why "the faithful and discreet slave" is a figment of the imagination of the WTS. A summation of these reasons is given below:

The WTS has not even been sure about what they wish to put across about the entity of the Slave. Up to 1896 the WTS speculated that the Slave was an organization (the whole body of Christ). After 1896 up to 1927 (11 years after Russell's death) the WTS held that the Slave was an individual - Russell. After 1927 the WTS again conjectured that the Slave was an organization.
The Slave was considered to have had an existence for some 1800 years from Pentecost. No justification or proof was provided - just asserted. This was again rank speculation.
Despite the fact that the Slave was spiritually unclean and was serving tainted "food", we are expected to believe that, Jesus selected the WTS to be the Slave from amongst all the other Christian sects. Christ did this despite the fact that the WTS was still spiritually unclean and serving tainted "food" at the very same time the appointment of WTS was being made by Jesus! All this was admitted by the WTS in their own publications as shown above.
The Slave which is supposed to comprise of the entire remnant of the 144,000, presently totalling some 8755 "anointed" persons, are all supposed to provide input in dispensing of "food" to JWs around the world. However, in reality, these persons are just figureheads and are never consulted in any decisions or announcements the WTS makes. The whole concept of the functionality of the remnant is a ridiculous pretence and patently false.
A defunct and entirely false chronology established 1914 as the date of "return" of Jesus. Since this chronology is proven false it can be asserted that Jesus did not return in 1914 and consequently could not have selected the WTS as the Slave in 1919!

© Copyright B J Kotwall