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Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses by country

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Numerous cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses have been heard by Supreme Courts throughout the world. The cases revolve around three main subjects:
##practice of their religion,
##displays of patriotism and military service, and
##blood transfusions.
The Supreme Courts of many states have established the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses and other faiths to engage in the practice of evangelism.[1]



Contents  [hide]
1 Armenia
2 Canada
3 France
4 Germany
5 India
6 Japan
7 Philippines
8 Russia
9 United States
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

Armenia[edit]
On July 11, 2011, the Grand Chamber issued a ruling for Bayatyan v. Armenia; Armenia was found to be in violation of ECHR Article 9 (right to freedom of religion or belief) in the conviction of Mr. Vahan Bayatyan, a Jehovah's Witness and Armenian national, for draft evasion.[2]
Canada[edit]
The Supreme Court of Canada has made a number of important decisions concerning Jehovah's Witnesses. These include laws that affected activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1950s and more recent cases dealing with whether Witness parents had the right to decide what medical treatment was in the best interest of their children based on their faith.
On November 15, 1955 (Chaput v Romain [1955] S.C.R. 834), one of Jehovah's Witnesses successfully brought action against police officers for disrupting a religious meeting and seizing articles. The entry and the seizure were made without a warrant. No charge was laid against any of the participants including the appellant and the items seized were not returned.[3]
On January 27, 1959, the Supreme Court of Canada found that Maurice Duplessis, the premier of Quebec, wrongfully caused the revocation of Frank Roncarelli's liquor licence. Roncarelli, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was a restaurant owner in Montreal who offered bail security for members of his faith arrested by the Municipality. The Witnesses were frequently arrested for distributing magazines without the necessary permits under a city by-law. The Chief Prosecutor of the city, Oscar Gagnon, overwhelmed by the number of Witnesses being arrested and then released as a result of Roncarelli's intervention, contacted the Premier who spoke to Edouard Archambault, Chairman of the Quebec Liquor Commission. Extensive testimony showed the government actors believed Roncarelli was disrupting the court system, causing civil disorder, and was therefore not entitled to the liquor licence.[citation needed]
On June 26, 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a 6-1 decision saying courts must take into account the maturity and decision-making capacity of minors before ruling on enforced medical treatment. The case involved a young Jehovah's Witness, identified only as A.C., who was admitted to a hospital in Winnipeg with internal bleeding as a complication of Crohn's Disease. Doctors sought a blood transfusion, but A.C. and her parents refused on religious grounds; child welfare officials moved to take her into care and a court ordered that she be given the transfusion. The judge said he was satisfied she was competent, but since she was under 16 the judge felt that her competence was immaterial to existing law.[4] Justice Rosalie Abella wrote for the majority, "A young person is entitled to a degree of decisional autonomy commensurate with his or her maturity."[5]
France[edit]
On October 5, 2004, the Court of Cassation—the highest court in France for cases outside of administrative law—rejected the Witnesses' recourse against taxation at 60% of the value of some of their contributions, which the fiscal services assimilated to a legal category of donations close to that of inheritance and subject to the same taxes between non-parents. The court ruled that the tax administration could legally tax the corporation used by Jehovah's Witnesses if they received donations in the form of dons gratuits and they were not recognized as associations cultuelles.[6]
On June 30, 2011, the European Court of Human Rights found France to be guilty in violation of ECHR Article 9 (religious freedom) in regards to the 60% tax levied on all donations received from 1993-1996. The Court found that the tax assessment represented a cut in the association's operating resources sufficient to interfere with the free exercise of its members' religion in practical terms.[7] By 2011, the Government of France sought the Association to pay a sum of 58 million Euros. A representative of Jehovah's Witnesses in France stated that "no other major religion in France was subjected to this tax" and that "the Court saw that this was not a legitimate effort to collect revenue, but rather an attempt to use taxation as a means of restricting the worship of Jehovah's Witnesses."[8]
Germany[edit]
In December 2000, Germany's Supreme court ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses did not have to pass a test of "loyalty to the state".[9][10][11]
The Federal Constitutional Court held that transfusing blood to an unconscious Jehovah's Witness violated the person's will, but did not constitute a battery.[12]
India[edit]
In July 1985, in the state of Kerala, some of the Jehovah's Witnesses' children were expelled from school under the instructions of Deputy Inspector of Schools for having refused to sing the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana. A parent, V. J. Emmanuel, appealed to the Supreme Court of India for legal remedy. On August 11, 1986, the Supreme Court overruled the Kerala High Court, and directed the respondent authorities to re-admit the children into the school. The decision went on to add, "Our tradition teaches tolerance, our philosophy teaches tolerance, our Constitution practices tolerance, let us not dilute it".[13]
Japan[edit]
In 1998, The Watchtower reported that, "On March 8, 1996, the Supreme Court of Japan [ruled that] ... Kobe Municipal Industrial Technical College violated the law by expelling Kunihito Kobayashi for his refusal to participate in martial arts training."[14][non-primary source needed]
According to Awake!, "Misae Takeda, a Jehovah's Witness, was given [a] blood transfusion in 1992, while still under sedation following surgery to remove a malignant tumor of the liver." On February 29, 2000, "the four judges of the Supreme Court unanimously decided that doctors were at fault because they failed to explain that they might give her a blood transfusion if deemed necessary during the operation, thus depriving her of the right to decide whether to accept the operation or not."[15]
Philippines[edit]
In 1993, the Supreme Court of the Philippines held that exemption may be accorded to Jehovah's Witnesses with regard to the observance of the flag ceremony out of respect for their religious beliefs.[16]
In 1995 and 1996, the Supreme Court of the Philippines granted an exception to laws regarding marriage to a practicing Jehovah's Witness because enforcement of those laws would have inhibited free exercise of religious beliefs.[17][18]
Russia[edit]
[icon] This section requires expansion. (October 2008)
After the fall of the communist bloc of nations in Eastern Europe and Asia, Jehovah's Witnesses were allowed to worship freely in those nations for the first time since World War II. However, in recent years political resistance to minority religions has prompted several court cases in the Moscow courts that have led to the denial of registration for Jehovah's Witnesses in the Moscow district.[19][20] Jehovah's Witnesses won a favorable verdict in the European Court of Human Rights on June 10 2010 in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses of Moscow v Russia.[21]
United States[edit]
In the United States, numerous cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses are now landmark decisions of First Amendment law. In all, Jehovah's Witnesses brought 23 separate First Amendment actions before the U.S. Supreme Court between 1938 and 1946. Supreme Court Justice Harlan Fiske Stone once quipped, "I think the Jehovah's Witnesses ought to have an endowment in view of the aid which they give in solving the legal problems of civil liberties."[22]
The most important U.S. Supreme Court legal victory won by the Witnesses was in the case West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette (1943), in which the court ruled that school children could not be forced to pledge allegiance to or salute the U.S. flag. The Barnette decision overturned an earlier case, Minersville School District vs. Gobitis (1940), in which the court had held that Witnesses could be forced against their will to pay homage to the flag.
The fighting words doctrine was established by Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942). In that case, one of Jehovah's Witnesses had reportedly told a New Hampshire town marshal who was attempting to prevent him from preaching "You are a damned racketeer" and "a damned fascist" and was arrested. The court upheld the arrest, thus establishing that "insulting or 'fighting words', those that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace" are among the "well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech [which] the prevention and punishment of...have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem."
On January 15, 1951, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of a lower court in convicting two Jehovah's Witnesses lecturers of disorderly conduct of conducting public speeches in a city park of Harford County in Maryland without permits. The Supreme Court stated that the initial conviction was based on the lack of permits that were unconstitutionally denied, therefore convictions were not able to stand. The initial conviction was declined for review by the Maryland Court of Appeals under its normal appellate power, and further declined to take the case on certiorari, stating that the issues were not "matters of public interest" which made it desirable to review. Chief Justice Fred Vinson delivered the opinion of the Court, stating that rarely has any case been before this Court which shows so clearly an unwarranted discrimination in a refusal to issue such a license. It is true that the City Council held a hearing at which it considered the application. But we have searched the record in vain to discover any valid basis for the refusal.[23]
On March 9, 1953, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned and remanded the Supreme Court of Rhode Island's affirmation of the conviction of an Ordained Minister of Jehovah's Witnesses for a violation of holding a religious meeting in a city park of Pawtucket. The opinion of the court was that a religious service of Jehovah's Witnesses was treated differently from a religious service of other sects. That amounts to the state preferring some religious groups over this one. The court stated that the city had not prohibited church services in the park as Catholics could hold mass in the same park and Protestants could conduct their church services there without violating the ordinance.[24]
In a more recent case, Jehovah's Witnesses refused to get government permits to preach door-to-door in Stratton, Ohio. In 2002, the case was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court (Watchtower Society v. Village of Stratton — 536 U.S. 150 (2002)). The Court ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses, holding that making it a misdemeanor (to engage in door-to-door advocacy without first registering with the mayor and receiving a permit) violates the first Amendment as it applies to religious proselytizing, anonymous political speech, and the distribution of handbills.
See also[edit]
##Jehovah's Witnesses and governments
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ “Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” –1993, chap. 30 pp. 679-701 | “Defending and Legally Establishing the Good News” | . © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
2.Jump up ^ http://www.strasbourgconsortium.org/index.php?pageId=9&linkId=189&contentId=1636&blurbId=887
3.Jump up ^ http://csc.lexum.org/decisia-scc-csc/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/6697/index.do
4.Jump up ^ Edmonton Sun, 2009-06-27
5.Jump up ^ The Canadian Press, 2009-06-26
6.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses and governments
7.Jump up ^ http://www.strasbourgconsortium.org/index.php?pageId=9&linkId=189&contentId=1636&blurbId=1313
8.Jump up ^ http://www.tdgnews.it/en/2011/11/witnesses%E2%80%99-legal-victory-in-france-now-final-and-enforceable/
9.Jump up ^ "German high court defends rights of religious minorities" (Press release). Jehovah's Witnesses; Office of Public Information. December 19, 2000. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
10.Jump up ^ "Federal Administrative Court grants long-awaited recognition to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany" (Press release). Jehovah's Witnesses; Office of Public Information. February 17, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
11.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses Granted Legal Status". Deutsche Welle. March 25, 2005. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
12.Jump up ^ Decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court: [1] BVerfG, 1 BvR 618/93 vom 2.8.2001
13.Jump up ^ "Bijoe Emmanuel & Ors V. State of Kerala & Ors [1986] INSC 167". indiankanoon.org. August 11, 1986. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
14.Jump up ^ "Legally Protecting the Good News". The Watchtower: 22. December 1, 1998.
15.Jump up ^ Supreme Court of Japan Rules in Favor of Witness. Access date: April 10, 2014.
16.Jump up ^ "1993 RP Supreme Court ruling in Roel Ebralinag, et al. vs. Superintendent of Schools of Cebu". March 1, 1993.
17.Jump up ^ "2003 RP Supreme Court ruling in Estrada vs. Escritor". August 4, 2003. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
18.Jump up ^ "2006 RP Supreme Court ruling in Estrada vs. Escritor". June 22, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
19.Jump up ^ Criminal charge against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia continues, JW-Media.org (Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site)]
20.Jump up ^ 29 Forum 18.org, 2004-03-29
21.Jump up ^ ECHR exonerates Moscow Community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, JW-Media.org (Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site)]
22.Jump up ^ Melvin I. Urofsky (2002). Religious freedom: rights and liberties under the law. ABC-CLIO. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-57607-312-4.; citing Shawn Francis Peters (2002) [2000]. Judging Jehovah's Witnesses: Religious Persecution and the Dawn of the Rights Revolution (Reprint ed.). University Press of Kansas. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-7006-1182-9.
23.Jump up ^ http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/340/268/case.html
24.Jump up ^ http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/345/67/case.html
External links[edit]
##Jehovah's Witnesses news releases
  



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Faithful and discreet slave

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
The faithful and discreet slave is the term used by Jehovah's Witnesses to describe the religion's Governing Body in its role of directing doctrines and teachings. The group is described as a "class" of "anointed" Christians that operates under the direct control of Jesus Christ[1] to exercise teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.[2][3]
The concept is a central doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses' system of belief[4] and is based on their interpretation of the Parable of the Faithful Servant in Matthew 24:45–47, Mark 13:34-37 and Luke 12:35-48.
The doctrine has undergone several major changes since it was formulated in 1881 by Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement. Russell initially 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". Bible Students consequently regarded Russell as the "faithful and wise servant" of the parable.[5][6] In 1927 the Watch Tower Society announced that the "servant" was not in fact an individual, but was made up of the entire body of faithful spirit-anointed Christians; by 2010 that group numbered about 11,000 Witnesses from around the world.[7] In 2012 the society announced an "adjustment" of the doctrine, explaining that the slave was now understood to be synonymous with the Governing Body, a small group of anointed elders serving at the religion's world headquarters. The announcement also marked a change in belief about the timing of the slave class's appointment by Christ: it was said to have taken place in 1919 rather than in apostolic times, as previously believed.[8]



Contents  [hide]
1 Role
2 Origin and history
3 Development of doctrine
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References

Role[edit]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus uses the faithful and discreet slave "to publish information on the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and to give timely direction on the application of Bible principles in daily life"[9][10] as the only means of communicating God's messages to humans. It is referred to as God's "prophet"[11] and "channel",[12] and claims to provide "divine" direction and guidance. Jehovah's Witnesses are told their survival of Armageddon depends in part on their obedience to the slave class.[13]
Governing Body members are said to act in the role of the faithful and discreet slave class when arriving at decisions on doctrines, activities and oversight of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, including making appointments to positions of responsibility.[14][15][16]
Origin and history[edit]
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."
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][18][19] (Earlier publications apply different dates to this event. The date of Christ's inspection has previously been identified as 1919,[20] though publications have also suggested Russell's group passed God's test of fitness 40 years earlier, using The Watchtower as his principal method of spreading Bible truth from 1879. Publications had claimed the slave class began using the Watch Tower Society as its legal instrument in 1884.)[21][22] 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[edit]
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."[23][9][24]
In 1895, Russell's wife Maria claimed that Russell himself was the figure referred to in the parable at Matthew 24:45-47, though Russell initially declined to accept the personal application of the title, suggesting that it should apply to the Watch Tower rather than its editor.[25][26] In 1897 Russell agreed that Christ would have made a "choice of one channel for dispensing the meat in due season [emphasis in the original]" and while he did not refer to that "one channel" as an individual, Russell did apply to it the personal pronoun "he" (for example: "if unfaithful he will be deposed entirely"), and noted "whoever the Lord will so use, as a truth-distributing agent, will be very humble and unassuming" and "he would not think of claiming authorship or ownership of the truth."[27]
In 1909, in an unsigned article, the Watch Tower mentioned that the "application to us of Matthew 24:45" had come "some fourteen years ago", or about 1895. The article went on to say "the Society's literature was the channel through which the Lord sent them practically all that they know about the Bible and the Divine purposes." [emphasis added][28]
The prevailing view among Bible Students that Russell was "the faithful and wise servant" of Jesus' parable,[29] was reiterated in the Watch Tower a few weeks after Russell's death in 1916:

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.[30]
The Watch Tower Society's official history of Jehovah's Witnesses states that Russell "did not personally promote the idea, but he did acknowledge the apparent reasonableness of the arguments of those who favored it."[31]
In 1917, the publisher's preface to the book, The Finished Mystery, issued as a posthumous publication of Russell's writings, identified him as the "faithful and wise servant" appointed by Christ;[32] as late as 1923, the Watch Tower repeated 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'."[33]
In 1927, Watch Tower 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.[34]
A 1950 issue of The Watchtower appeared to assign to the "mother organization"—in reference to the Watch Tower Society—the task of feeding Christians "meat in due season";[35] in 1951 the magazine defined the "faithful and discreet slave" as a class of people whose teachings were imparted through a theocratic organization.[36]
From 2000 the Governing Body was increasingly described as the representative[37][38] and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class".
Watch Tower Society publications had taught that the "faithful and discreet slave" class had had a continuous uninterrupted existence since being appointed by Christ at the time of Pentecost AD 33,[20] 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.[39]
The Watchtower 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,[39][40] providing the same spiritual food to Christians worldwide.[20] Watch Tower publications did not identify 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",[40] but they 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").[41][42][43]
A series of talks at the 128th annual meeting of the Watch Tower Society in New Jersey on 6 October 2012 made further changes to the doctrine about the identity of the "slave". The society's report on the meeting said that "the faithful and discreet slave was appointed over Jesus' domestics in 1919. That slave is the small, composite group of anointed brothers serving at world headquarters during Christ's presence who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. When this group work together as the Governing Body, they act as 'the faithful and discreet slave.'" The report said the slave "logically" must have appeared after Christ's presence began in 1914.[8]
The doctrinal change also redefined the "domestics" of the parable—previously identified as individual "anointed" Witnesses[44]—as all Jehovah's Witnesses.[8]
Criticism[edit]
Following his expulsion from the organization in 1981, former Governing Body member Raymond Franz claimed the description of the slave in the parable as a "class" of Christians was unsupported by scripture and was used to emphasize the concept of the slave being connected to an organization, diminishing its application to individuals in encouraging the qualities of faith, discretion, watchfulness and individual responsibility. He argued 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.[45]
Franz 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.[46] He said the "anointed" remnant, which at that time was claimed to comprise the "slave" class, had negligible input into Watch Tower Society doctrine and direction, which were set by the Governing Body.[47]
Franz also argued that the Watch Tower Society and its doctrines were 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 taught by the Society.[48] He concluded: "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."[48] Franz also claimed that Jehovah's Witnesses' official history book, Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, misrepresented Russell's view of the "faithful steward" by emphasizing his initial 1881 view that it was the entire body of Christ, without mentioning that he altered his view five years later.[49]
See also[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
144,000
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Christ Leads His Congregation". The Watchtower: 14. March 15, 2002. "the faithful and discreet slave is directly under the control of Jesus Christ."
2.Jump up ^ Watchtower August 1, 2001 p. 14, "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.'"
3.Jump up ^ "Jehovah, the God of Progressive Revelation", Watchtower, June 15, 1964, page 365, "The abundance of spiritual food and the amazing details of Jehovah's purposes that have been revealed to Jehovah's anointed witnesses are clear evidence that they are the ones mentioned by Jesus when he foretold a 'faithful and discreet slave' class that would be used to dispense God's progressive revelations in these last days ... How thankful we should be for the provision God has made of this slave class, the modern spiritual remnant, as they faithfully dispense the revealed truths of Jehovah! ... Jehovah's faithful witnesses have been progressively brought to an understanding of Jehovah's purposes, which are clearer now than ever before in history."
4.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
5.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1927, page 55.
7.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, 1927, as referenced by Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Report of Annual Meeting, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, October 6, 2012.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963), The Four Major Cults, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, pp. 246–247, ISBN 0-8028-3117-6
10.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, Watch Tower Society, 2005, p. 16.
11.Jump up ^ The Watchtower April 1, 1972, p. 197.
12.Jump up ^ The Watchtower August 1, 2002, p. 13.
13.Jump up ^ "Do You Discern the Evidence of God's Guidance?", The Watchtower, April 15, 2011, pages 3-5.
14.Jump up ^ "Do You Discern the Evidence of God’s Guidance?", The Watchtower, April 15, 2011, "Jesus Christ is the assigned Leader of the congregation. He has delegated some authority to a faithful slave class, made up of faithful spirit-anointed Christians. That slave class, in turn, appoints overseers in the Christian congregation."
15.Jump up ^ "Do You Take the Lead in Showing Honor?", The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 23, "It is Scriptural for “the faithful and discreet slave” through its Governing Body to appoint men to positions of responsibility, and some men are appointed to exercise authority over other appointed men."
16.Jump up ^ Overseers and Ministerial Servants Theocratically Appointed", The Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 15, "The Governing Body appoints qualified brothers at the branches to represent it in making appointments of elders and ministerial servants. Care is taken that those acting representatively on behalf of the Governing Body clearly understand and follow the Scriptural guidelines for making such appointments. Hence, it is under the direction of the Governing Body that qualified men are appointed to serve in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide."
17.^ Jump up to: a b Organized To Do God's Will, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 16.
18.Jump up ^ Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963), The Four Major Cults, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, pp. 300–301, ISBN 0-8028-3117-6
19.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (1975), The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, p. 109, ISBN 0-631-16310-7
20.^ Jump up to: a b c "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism”, The Watchtower, September 15, 1983, page 19.
21.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 22, "... in many ways the evidence was beginning to accumulate that, of all the early voices heard, Jehovah had chosen the publication we now call The Watchtower to be used as a channel through which to bring to the world of mankind a revelation of the divine will and, through the words revealed in its columns, to begin a division of the world's population into those who would do the divine will and those who would not. For this reason 1879 was a turning point in the work. This little group, headed by C.T. Russell, had now been tested and had been found fit to undertake the great preliminary campaign leading up to the climax expected in 1914."
22.Jump up ^ "Willingly Expand Your Ministry", The Watchtower, June 1, 1963, page 338.
23.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, October/November 1881.
24.Jump up ^ Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 142.
25.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, Watch Tower Reprints, page 3811, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 215.
26.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 33–37. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
27.Jump up ^ The Battle of Armageddon (Part IV, "Studies in the Scriptures") by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 613.
28.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1, 1909, Watch Tower Reprints, page 4482, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 292
29.Jump up ^ "Testing and Sifting From Within", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626, "According to Brother Russell, his wife, who later left him, was the first one to apply Matthew 24:45-47 to him. See the Watch Tower issues of July 15, 1906, page 215; March 1, 1896, page 47; and June 15, 1896, pages 139-40."
30.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1916, Watch Tower Reprints, page 5998, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 357
31.Jump up ^ "Testing and Sifting From Within", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 626, "Many ... clung to the view that a single individual, Charles Taze Russell, was the "faithful and wise servant" ... Particularly following his death, The Watch Tower itself set forth this view for a number of years. In view of the prominent role that Brother Russell had played, it appeared to the Bible Students of that time that this was the case. He did not personally promote the idea, but he did acknowledge the apparent reasonableness of the arguments of those who favored it."
32.Jump up ^ Publisher's Preface, Studies in the Scriptures, Series VII: The Finished Mystery, Peoples Pulpit Association, Brooklyn, NY, 1917.
33.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 63.
34.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, 1927, as referenced by Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626.
35.Jump up ^ The 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."
36.Jump up ^ "Release Under Way to the Ends of the Earth", The Watchtower December 15, 1951, page 749|"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."
37.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 29
38.Jump up ^ "Seek God's guidance in all things", The Watchtower, April 15, 2008, page 11.
39.^ Jump up to: a b "How Are Christians Spiritually Fed?", The Watchtower, January 15, 1975.
40.^ Jump up to: a b "Do You Appreciate the “Faithful and Discreet Slave”?", The Watchtower, March 1, 1981, page 24.
41.Jump up ^ Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1945, page 307.
42.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 128, 129. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
43.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 179–183. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
44.Jump up ^ Insight In The Scriptures volume 1, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 805-806.
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 165–167. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
46.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
47.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 153–164. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
48.^ Jump up to: a b Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 130–134. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
49.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 67.
  



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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithful_and_discreet_slave





















Faithful and discreet slave

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Part of a series on
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The faithful and discreet slave is the term used by Jehovah's Witnesses to describe the religion's Governing Body in its role of directing doctrines and teachings. The group is described as a "class" of "anointed" Christians that operates under the direct control of Jesus Christ[1] to exercise teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.[2][3]
The concept is a central doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses' system of belief[4] and is based on their interpretation of the Parable of the Faithful Servant in Matthew 24:45–47, Mark 13:34-37 and Luke 12:35-48.
The doctrine has undergone several major changes since it was formulated in 1881 by Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement. Russell initially 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". Bible Students consequently regarded Russell as the "faithful and wise servant" of the parable.[5][6] In 1927 the Watch Tower Society announced that the "servant" was not in fact an individual, but was made up of the entire body of faithful spirit-anointed Christians; by 2010 that group numbered about 11,000 Witnesses from around the world.[7] In 2012 the society announced an "adjustment" of the doctrine, explaining that the slave was now understood to be synonymous with the Governing Body, a small group of anointed elders serving at the religion's world headquarters. The announcement also marked a change in belief about the timing of the slave class's appointment by Christ: it was said to have taken place in 1919 rather than in apostolic times, as previously believed.[8]



Contents  [hide]
1 Role
2 Origin and history
3 Development of doctrine
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References

Role[edit]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus uses the faithful and discreet slave "to publish information on the fulfillment of Bible prophecies and to give timely direction on the application of Bible principles in daily life"[9][10] as the only means of communicating God's messages to humans. It is referred to as God's "prophet"[11] and "channel",[12] and claims to provide "divine" direction and guidance. Jehovah's Witnesses are told their survival of Armageddon depends in part on their obedience to the slave class.[13]
Governing Body members are said to act in the role of the faithful and discreet slave class when arriving at decisions on doctrines, activities and oversight of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, including making appointments to positions of responsibility.[14][15][16]
Origin and history[edit]
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."
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][18][19] (Earlier publications apply different dates to this event. The date of Christ's inspection has previously been identified as 1919,[20] though publications have also suggested Russell's group passed God's test of fitness 40 years earlier, using The Watchtower as his principal method of spreading Bible truth from 1879. Publications had claimed the slave class began using the Watch Tower Society as its legal instrument in 1884.)[21][22] 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[edit]
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."[23][9][24]
In 1895, Russell's wife Maria claimed that Russell himself was the figure referred to in the parable at Matthew 24:45-47, though Russell initially declined to accept the personal application of the title, suggesting that it should apply to the Watch Tower rather than its editor.[25][26] In 1897 Russell agreed that Christ would have made a "choice of one channel for dispensing the meat in due season [emphasis in the original]" and while he did not refer to that "one channel" as an individual, Russell did apply to it the personal pronoun "he" (for example: "if unfaithful he will be deposed entirely"), and noted "whoever the Lord will so use, as a truth-distributing agent, will be very humble and unassuming" and "he would not think of claiming authorship or ownership of the truth."[27]
In 1909, in an unsigned article, the Watch Tower mentioned that the "application to us of Matthew 24:45" had come "some fourteen years ago", or about 1895. The article went on to say "the Society's literature was the channel through which the Lord sent them practically all that they know about the Bible and the Divine purposes." [emphasis added][28]
The prevailing view among Bible Students that Russell was "the faithful and wise servant" of Jesus' parable,[29] was reiterated in the Watch Tower a few weeks after Russell's death in 1916:

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.[30]
The Watch Tower Society's official history of Jehovah's Witnesses states that Russell "did not personally promote the idea, but he did acknowledge the apparent reasonableness of the arguments of those who favored it."[31]
In 1917, the publisher's preface to the book, The Finished Mystery, issued as a posthumous publication of Russell's writings, identified him as the "faithful and wise servant" appointed by Christ;[32] as late as 1923, the Watch Tower repeated 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'."[33]
In 1927, Watch Tower 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.[34]
A 1950 issue of The Watchtower appeared to assign to the "mother organization"—in reference to the Watch Tower Society—the task of feeding Christians "meat in due season";[35] in 1951 the magazine defined the "faithful and discreet slave" as a class of people whose teachings were imparted through a theocratic organization.[36]
From 2000 the Governing Body was increasingly described as the representative[37][38] and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class".
Watch Tower Society publications had taught that the "faithful and discreet slave" class had had a continuous uninterrupted existence since being appointed by Christ at the time of Pentecost AD 33,[20] 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.[39]
The Watchtower 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,[39][40] providing the same spiritual food to Christians worldwide.[20] Watch Tower publications did not identify 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",[40] but they 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").[41][42][43]
A series of talks at the 128th annual meeting of the Watch Tower Society in New Jersey on 6 October 2012 made further changes to the doctrine about the identity of the "slave". The society's report on the meeting said that "the faithful and discreet slave was appointed over Jesus' domestics in 1919. That slave is the small, composite group of anointed brothers serving at world headquarters during Christ's presence who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food. When this group work together as the Governing Body, they act as 'the faithful and discreet slave.'" The report said the slave "logically" must have appeared after Christ's presence began in 1914.[8]
The doctrinal change also redefined the "domestics" of the parable—previously identified as individual "anointed" Witnesses[44]—as all Jehovah's Witnesses.[8]
Criticism[edit]
Following his expulsion from the organization in 1981, former Governing Body member Raymond Franz claimed the description of the slave in the parable as a "class" of Christians was unsupported by scripture and was used to emphasize the concept of the slave being connected to an organization, diminishing its application to individuals in encouraging the qualities of faith, discretion, watchfulness and individual responsibility. He argued 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.[45]
Franz 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.[46] He said the "anointed" remnant, which at that time was claimed to comprise the "slave" class, had negligible input into Watch Tower Society doctrine and direction, which were set by the Governing Body.[47]
Franz also argued that the Watch Tower Society and its doctrines were 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 taught by the Society.[48] He concluded: "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."[48] Franz also claimed that Jehovah's Witnesses' official history book, Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, misrepresented Russell's view of the "faithful steward" by emphasizing his initial 1881 view that it was the entire body of Christ, without mentioning that he altered his view five years later.[49]
See also[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
144,000
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Christ Leads His Congregation". The Watchtower: 14. March 15, 2002. "the faithful and discreet slave is directly under the control of Jesus Christ."
2.Jump up ^ Watchtower August 1, 2001 p. 14, "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.'"
3.Jump up ^ "Jehovah, the God of Progressive Revelation", Watchtower, June 15, 1964, page 365, "The abundance of spiritual food and the amazing details of Jehovah's purposes that have been revealed to Jehovah's anointed witnesses are clear evidence that they are the ones mentioned by Jesus when he foretold a 'faithful and discreet slave' class that would be used to dispense God's progressive revelations in these last days ... How thankful we should be for the provision God has made of this slave class, the modern spiritual remnant, as they faithfully dispense the revealed truths of Jehovah! ... Jehovah's faithful witnesses have been progressively brought to an understanding of Jehovah's purposes, which are clearer now than ever before in history."
4.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
5.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 33. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1927, page 55.
7.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, 1927, as referenced by Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Report of Annual Meeting, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, October 6, 2012.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963), The Four Major Cults, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, pp. 246–247, ISBN 0-8028-3117-6
10.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, Watch Tower Society, 2005, p. 16.
11.Jump up ^ The Watchtower April 1, 1972, p. 197.
12.Jump up ^ The Watchtower August 1, 2002, p. 13.
13.Jump up ^ "Do You Discern the Evidence of God's Guidance?", The Watchtower, April 15, 2011, pages 3-5.
14.Jump up ^ "Do You Discern the Evidence of God’s Guidance?", The Watchtower, April 15, 2011, "Jesus Christ is the assigned Leader of the congregation. He has delegated some authority to a faithful slave class, made up of faithful spirit-anointed Christians. That slave class, in turn, appoints overseers in the Christian congregation."
15.Jump up ^ "Do You Take the Lead in Showing Honor?", The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 23, "It is Scriptural for “the faithful and discreet slave” through its Governing Body to appoint men to positions of responsibility, and some men are appointed to exercise authority over other appointed men."
16.Jump up ^ Overseers and Ministerial Servants Theocratically Appointed", The Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 15, "The Governing Body appoints qualified brothers at the branches to represent it in making appointments of elders and ministerial servants. Care is taken that those acting representatively on behalf of the Governing Body clearly understand and follow the Scriptural guidelines for making such appointments. Hence, it is under the direction of the Governing Body that qualified men are appointed to serve in the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide."
17.^ Jump up to: a b Organized To Do God's Will, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 16.
18.Jump up ^ Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963), The Four Major Cults, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, pp. 300–301, ISBN 0-8028-3117-6
19.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (1975), The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, p. 109, ISBN 0-631-16310-7
20.^ Jump up to: a b c "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism”, The Watchtower, September 15, 1983, page 19.
21.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 22, "... in many ways the evidence was beginning to accumulate that, of all the early voices heard, Jehovah had chosen the publication we now call The Watchtower to be used as a channel through which to bring to the world of mankind a revelation of the divine will and, through the words revealed in its columns, to begin a division of the world's population into those who would do the divine will and those who would not. For this reason 1879 was a turning point in the work. This little group, headed by C.T. Russell, had now been tested and had been found fit to undertake the great preliminary campaign leading up to the climax expected in 1914."
22.Jump up ^ "Willingly Expand Your Ministry", The Watchtower, June 1, 1963, page 338.
23.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, October/November 1881.
24.Jump up ^ Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 142.
25.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, Watch Tower Reprints, page 3811, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 215.
26.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 33–37. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
27.Jump up ^ The Battle of Armageddon (Part IV, "Studies in the Scriptures") by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 613.
28.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1, 1909, Watch Tower Reprints, page 4482, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 292
29.Jump up ^ "Testing and Sifting From Within", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626, "According to Brother Russell, his wife, who later left him, was the first one to apply Matthew 24:45-47 to him. See the Watch Tower issues of July 15, 1906, page 215; March 1, 1896, page 47; and June 15, 1896, pages 139-40."
30.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1916, Watch Tower Reprints, page 5998, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 357
31.Jump up ^ "Testing and Sifting From Within", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 626, "Many ... clung to the view that a single individual, Charles Taze Russell, was the "faithful and wise servant" ... Particularly following his death, The Watch Tower itself set forth this view for a number of years. In view of the prominent role that Brother Russell had played, it appeared to the Bible Students of that time that this was the case. He did not personally promote the idea, but he did acknowledge the apparent reasonableness of the arguments of those who favored it."
32.Jump up ^ Publisher's Preface, Studies in the Scriptures, Series VII: The Finished Mystery, Peoples Pulpit Association, Brooklyn, NY, 1917.
33.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 63.
34.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, 1927, as referenced by Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Society, 1993, page 626.
35.Jump up ^ The 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."
36.Jump up ^ "Release Under Way to the Ends of the Earth", The Watchtower December 15, 1951, page 749|"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."
37.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 29
38.Jump up ^ "Seek God's guidance in all things", The Watchtower, April 15, 2008, page 11.
39.^ Jump up to: a b "How Are Christians Spiritually Fed?", The Watchtower, January 15, 1975.
40.^ Jump up to: a b "Do You Appreciate the “Faithful and Discreet Slave”?", The Watchtower, March 1, 1981, page 24.
41.Jump up ^ Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1945, page 307.
42.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 128, 129. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
43.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 179–183. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
44.Jump up ^ Insight In The Scriptures volume 1, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 805-806.
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 165–167. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
46.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. p. 125. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
47.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 153–164. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
48.^ Jump up to: a b Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom. Commentary Press. pp. 130–134. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
49.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 67.
  



Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses



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Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

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Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits ingesting blood and that Christians should not accept blood transfusions or donate or store their own blood for transfusion.[1] The belief is based on an interpretation of scripture that differs from that of other Christian denominations.[2] It is one of the doctrines for which Jehovah's Witnesses are most well known.[3]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that the Witnesses' refusal of transfusions of whole blood or its four primary components—red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma—is a non-negotiable religious stand and that those who respect life as a gift from God do not try to sustain life by taking in blood,[4][5] even in an emergency.[6] Witnesses are taught that the use of fractions such as albumin, immunoglobulins and hemophiliac preparations are "not absolutely prohibited" and a matter of personal choice.[5]
The doctrine was introduced in 1945, and has undergone some changes since then. Members of the religion who voluntarily accept a transfusion and are not deemed repentant are regarded as having disassociated themselves from the religion by abandoning its doctrines[7][8][9] and are subsequently shunned by members of the organization.[10] Although accepted by the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority does not endorse this doctrine.[11][12]
The Watch Tower Society has established Hospital Information Services to provide education and facilitate bloodless surgery. This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees, whose function is to provide support to adherents.



Contents  [hide]
1 Doctrine 1.1 Prohibited procedures
1.2 Permitted procedures and products
2 Bloodless surgery 2.1 Hospital Liaison Committees
2.2 Patient Visitation Groups
3 Acceptance among Jehovah's Witnesses
4 History of doctrine
5 Critical views 5.1 Scriptural interpretation
5.2 Coercion
5.3 Selective use of information
5.4 Outdated medical beliefs
5.5 Inconsistency
6 Further reading
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Doctrine[edit]
On the basis of various biblical texts, including Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10, and Acts 15:29, Jehovah's Witnesses believe:
Blood represents life[13] and is sacred to God.[14][15] After it has been removed from a creature, the only use of blood that God has authorized is for the atonement of sins.[16] When a Christian abstains from blood, they are in effect expressing faith that only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can truly redeem them and save their life.[14]
Blood must not be eaten or transfused,[10][17] even in the case of a medical emergency.[18]
Blood leaving the body of a human or animal must be disposed of.[16]
Certain medical procedures involving blood fractions or that use a patient's own blood during the course of a medical procedure, such as hemodilution or cell salvage, are a matter of personal choice, according to what a person's conscience permits.[19]
A baptized Witness who unrepentantly accepts a blood transfusion is deemed to have disassociated himself from the religion by abandoning its doctrines and is subsequently subject to organized shunning by other members.[8][10]
Certain medical procedures involving blood are specifically prohibited by Jehovah's Witnesses' blood doctrine. This includes the use of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and blood plasma. Other fractions derived from blood are not prohibited. Watch Tower publications state that some products derived from one of the four primary components may be so similar to the function of the whole component and carry on such a life-sustaining role in the body that "most Christians would find them objectionable".[20] For procedures where there is no specific doctrinal prohibition, individuals are to obtain details from medical personnel and then make a personal decision.[21]
Prohibited procedures[edit]
The following medical procedures are prohibited:
Transfusion of allogeneic whole blood, or of its constituents of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma.[22]
Transfusions of pre-operative self-donated (autologous) blood.[23]
Permitted procedures and products[edit]
The following procedures and products are not prohibited, and are left to the decision of individual members:[24]
Blood donation strictly for purpose of further fractionation of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma for either allogeneic or autologous transfusion.[22][25]
Transfusions of autologous blood part of a "current therapy".[23]
Hemodilution, a modified technique in which equipment is arranged in a circuit that is constantly linked to the patient's circulatory system.[23]
Intraoperative blood salvage (autologous) or cell-saver scavenging, a method of picking up blood that has spilled from the circulatory system into an open wound, cleaning and re-infusing it.[23]
Heart-Lung Machine, a method in which blood is diverted to an artificial heart-lung machine and directed back into the patient.[23]
Dialysis, wherein blood circulates through a machine, is filtered and cleaned, then returned to the patient.[23]
Epidural Blood Patch, consisting of a small amount of the patient's blood injected into the membrane surrounding the spinal cord.[23]
Plasmapheresis, wherein blood is withdrawn and filtered, having the plasma removed and substituted, and returned to the patient.[23]
Labeling or Tagging, blood is withdrawn, mixed with medicine, and then returned to the patient by transfusion.[26][23]
Platelet Gel, blood is withdrawn and put into a solution rich in platelets and white blood cells.[23]
Fractions from red blood cells: Hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells.
Fractions from white blood cells:[22] Interferons
Interleukins
Fractions from platelets:[22] Platelet factor 4
Fractions from blood plasma:[22] Albumin
Globulins
Cryoprecipitate
Cryosupernatant (cryo-poor plasma)[27]
Clotting factors, including Factor VIII and Factor IX derived from large quantities of stored blood
Wound healing factor
Erythropoietin (EPO).[22]
PolyHeme, a blood substitute solution of chemically modified human hemoglobin.[22]
Hemopure, a blood substitute solution of chemically stabilized bovine hemoglobin derived from cow's blood.[22]
See also: Blood substitutes
Bloodless surgery[edit]
Main article: Bloodless surgery
A variety of bloodless surgical techniques have been developed for use on patients who refuse blood transfusions for reasons that include concern about AIDS, hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections, or immune system reactions.[28] Thousands of physicians throughout the world have expressed a willingness to respect patients' preferences and provide bloodless treatment[29][need quotation to verify] and about 200 hospitals offer bloodless medicine and surgery programs for adult and pediatric patients who wish to avoid or limit blood transfusions, or to avoid treatment contrary to Jehovah's Witnesses' blood doctrine.[29] Bloodless surgery has been successfully performed in such invasive operations as open-heart surgery and total hip replacements.[30] However bloodless medical and surgical techniques have limitations, and surgeons say the use of various allogeneic blood products and/or pre-operative autologous blood transfusion is the standard of care for some patient presentations.[31][32]
In cases of certain medical emergencies when bloodless medicine is not available, blood transfusions may seem to be the only available way to save a life. Watch Tower publications suggest that in such instances, Jehovah's Witnesses request that doctors provide the best alternative care possible under the circumstances, with respect for their personal conviction.[33] The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged that some members have died after refusing blood.[34]
In some countries, including Canada and the UK, a parent or guardian's decision can be legally overruled by medical staff. In this case, medical staff may act without consent, by obtaining a court order in a non-emergency situation, or without such an order in an emergency.[35][36] In Japan, a doctor must respect the wish of an adult but can override the wishes of a child and their parents if the child is under 15. If a child is aged 15 to 17, a doctor will not perform a transfusion if the parents and the child refuse the transfusion. If a child aged from 15 to 17 objects to a transfusion but the parents demand the transfusion, then a doctor can override the child's wish.[citation needed] In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that in cases of "an imminent threat to a child's life", physicians in some cases may "intervene over parental objections".[37]
Hospital Liaison Committees[edit]
In 1988, the Watch Tower Society formed Hospital Information Services, a department to help locate doctors or surgical teams who are willing to perform medical procedures on Witnesses without blood transfusions.[38] The department was given oversight of each branch office's Hospital Information Desk,[39][40][41] and of one hundred Hospital Liaison Committees established throughout the United States.[42][43] As of 2003, about 200 hospitals worldwide provide bloodless medical programs.[29] As of 2006, there are 1,535 Hospital Liaison Committees worldwide coordinating communication between 110,000 physicians.[43][44]
Hospital Information Services researches medical journals to locate information on the availability and effectiveness of bloodless surgery methods.[45] It disseminates information about treatment options to local Hospital Liaison Committees, and to doctors and hospitals.[44]
Patient Visitation Groups[edit]
Annually since 2004, Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States have been informed that "with your consent, the law allows for the elders to learn of your admission [to hospital] and provide spiritual encouragement",[46] but that "elders serving on a Patient Visitation Group [could] have access to your name" only if patients made their wishes known according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).[47]
Jehovah's Witnesses' branch offices communicate directly with congregations regarding "ways to benefit from the activities of the Hospital Liaison Committee (HLC) and the Patient Visitation Group (PVG)."[48] A Jehovah's Witnesses publication in 2000 reported that Argentina had fewer than a hundred HLC committeemen "giving vital information to the medical community", adding that "their work is complemented by hundreds of other self-sacrificing elders who make up Patient Visitation Groups that call on Witness patients to help and encourage them".[49] Each branch office appoints PVG committeemen, who serve as volunteers.[50][51]
Acceptance among Jehovah's Witnesses[edit]
Since the elaboration of the blood doctrine to the point of prohibiting transfusion, the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses have adopted the organization's position.[52][53][54] Those Jehovah's Witnesses who accept the blood doctrine typically hold strongly to their conviction.[55] In the August 1998 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine, Donald Ridley, a Jehovah's Witness and organization staff attorney, argued that carrying an up-to-date Medical Directive card issued by the organization indicates that an individual personally agrees with the established religious position of Jehovah's Witness.[56]
In 1958, The Watchtower reported on a particular member of Jehovah's Witnesses who voluntarily accepted blood transfusion, contrary to Watchtower doctrine.[57] The organization confirms that members have accepted blood transfusions, despite the imposition in 1961 of a communal shunning policy for willful acceptance.[58][59]
In 1982, a peer-reviewed case study of a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was undertaken by Drs. Larry J. Findley and Paul M. Redstone to evaluate individual belief in respect to blood among Jehovah's Witnesses. The study showed that 12% were willing to accept transfusion therapy forbidden by Jehovah's Witness doctrine.[52] One peer-reviewed study examining medical records indicated a similar percentage of Jehovah's Witnesses willing to accept blood transfusions for their children. Young adults also showed a willingness to accept blood transfusions.[60] In another study, Jehovah's Witness patients presented for labor and delivery showed a willingness to accept some form of blood or blood products. Of these patients, 10 percent accepted whole blood transfusion.[54]
Watch Tower publications have noted that within religions, the personal beliefs of members often differ from official doctrine.[61] Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses acceptance of the organization's official position on blood, Drs Cynthia Gyamfi and Richard Berkowitz state, "It is naïve to assume that all people in any religious group share the exact same beliefs, regardless of doctrine. It is well known that Muslims, Jews and Christians have significant individual variations in their beliefs. Why should that not also be true of Jehovah's Witnesses?"[62]
Ambivalence and rejection of the blood doctrine dates back to at least the 1940s. After the Watch Tower Society established the doctrine, teaching that blood should not be eaten (circa 1927-31), Margaret Buber, who was never a member of the religion, offered a firsthand eyewitness account of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Nazi Ravensbrück concentration camp. She relates that an overwhelming majority were willing to eat blood sausage despite having alternate food to choose from, and specifically after considering biblical statements regarding blood.[63]
History of doctrine[edit]
From 1931, when the name "Jehovah's witnesses" was adopted, Watch Tower Society publications maintained the view of Society founder Charles Taze Russell that the reference to abstaining from the eating of blood in the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:19-29 was a "suggestion" to be given to Gentile converts.[64][65] Watch Tower publications during the presidency of Joseph Franklin Rutherford commended the commercial and emergency uses of blood.[66][67] A 1925 issue of The Golden Age commended a man for donating blood 45 times without payment.[68] In 1927, The Watchtower noted, without elaboration, that in Genesis 9, God decreed that Noah and his offspring "must not eat the blood, because the life is in the blood".[69] In 1940 Consolation magazine reported on a woman who accidentally shot herself with a revolver in her heart and survived a major surgical procedure during which an attending physician donated a quart of his own blood for transfusion.[70]
In 1944, with the Watch Tower Society under the administration of president Nathan Homer Knorr, The Watchtower asserted that the decrees contained in Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:10-14 forbade the eating or drinking of blood in biblical times "whether by transfusion or by the mouth" and that this applied "in a spiritual way to the consecrated persons of good-will today, otherwise known as 'Jonadabs' of the Lord's 'other sheep'."[71]
In September 1945, representatives of the Watch Tower Society in the Netherlands commented on blood transfusion in the Dutch edition of Consolation. A translation of their comments into English reads:

When we lose our life because we refuse inoculations, that does not bear witness as a justification of Jehovah's name. God never issued regulations which prohibit the use of drugs, inoculations or blood transfusions. It is an invention of people, who, like the Pharisees, leave Jehovah's mercy and love aside.[72]
According to sociologist Richard Singelenbreg the statement appearing in the Dutch edition of Consolation may have been published without knowledge of the doctrinal position published in the English July 1945 issue of Consolation by the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in the United States.[73]
In 1945, the application of the doctrine on blood was expanded to prohibit blood transfusions of whole blood, whether allogeneic or autologous.[74] The prohibition did not specify any punitive measures for accepting a transfusion, but by January 1961—in what was later described as an application of "increased strictness"[75]—it was ruled that it was a disfellowshipping offense to conscientiously accept a blood transfusion.[76] Watch Tower publications warned that accepting a blood transfusion could prevent Witnesses from living eternally in God's new world, the hope held by members: "It may result in the immediate and very temporary prolongation of life, but that at the cost of eternal life for a dedicated Christian."[77]
In September 1956, Awake! stated, "certain blood fractions ... also come under the Scriptural ban".[78] A position against "the various blood fractions" was reiterated in September 1961.[79] In November of the same year, the doctrine was modified to allow individual members to decide whether they could conscientiously accept fractions used from blood for purposes such as vaccination.[80] This position has been expanded on since; the pre-formatted Durable Power of Attorney form provided by the Watch Tower Society includes an option for Jehovah's Witnesses to "accept all fractions derived from any primary component of blood."[81]
In 1964, Jehovah's Witnesses were prohibited from obtaining transfusions for pets, from using fertilizer containing blood, and were even advised (if their conscience troubled them) to write to dog food manufacturers to verify that their products were blood-free.[82] Later that year, it was stated that doctors or nurses who are Jehovah's Witness would not administer blood transfusions to fellow dedicated members. As to administering transfusions to non-members, The Watchtower stated that such a decision is "left to the Christian doctor's own conscience."[83]
In 1982, a Watchtower article declared that it would be wrong for a Witness to allow a leech to feed on his/her blood as part of a medical procedure, due to the sacredness of blood.[84]
In 1989 The Watchtower stated, "Each individual must decide" whether to accept hemodilution and autologous blood salvage (cell saver) procedures.[85] In 1990, a brochure entitled How Can Blood Save Your Life? was released, outlining Jehovah's Witnesses' general doctrine on blood.
In 2000, the Watch Tower Society's stand on blood fractions was clearly stated.[86] Members were instructed to personally decide if accepting a fraction would violate the doctrine on blood. In a later article, members were reminded that Jehovah's Witnesses do not donate blood or store their own blood prior to surgery.[87]
In May 2001, the Watch Tower Society revised its medical directives and identity cards addressing its doctrinal position on blood; the revised materials were distributed from May 3, 2001.[88] These revised documents specified that "allogeneic blood transfusions" were unacceptable whereas the former document (dated 1999) stated that "blood transfusions" were unacceptable. The revised 2001 documents were active until December 20, 2001. The Watch Tower Society then rescinded the revised document, stating, "After further review, it has been determined that the cards dated "md-E 6/01" and "ic-E 6/01" should not be used. Please destroy these items and make sure that they are not distributed to the publishers." Elders were instructed to revert to the older 1999 edition of the medical directives and identity cards.[89]
Watch Tower Society publications frequently claim negative consequences of blood transfusions:
A 1951 Watchtower declared: "And let the transfusion enthusiasts with a savior-complex ponder the fact that on many occasions transfusions do harm, spread disease, and frequently cause deaths, which, of course, are not publicized." [90]
A 1961 Watchtower quoted Brazilian surgeon Dr Américo Valério as saying transfusions were often followed by "moral insanity, sexual perversions, repression, inferiority complexes, petty crimes" and Dr Alonzo Jay Shadman claiming that a person's blood "contains all the peculiarities of the individual ... [including] hereditary taints, disease susceptibilities, poisons due to personal living, eating and drinking habits ... The poisons that produce the impulse to commit suicide, murder, or steal are in the blood."[91]
A 1969 Awake! reported on a man named Robert Khoury, who, after receiving a blood transfusion said, "When I recovered I found I had a terrible desire to steal."[92]
A 1974 Awake! cited a Centers for Disease Control report that as many as 35,000 deaths and 500,000 illnesses a year might be due to the presence of serum hepatitis in blood for transfusions.[93]
A 2006 Awake! highlighted dangers from transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), citing a New Scientist report that suggested it was the cause of as many as 55200 reactions and 500 deaths in the United States in 2002.[94][95]
Critical views[edit]
Opposition to the Watch Tower doctrines on blood transfusions has come from both inside and outside the religion. A group of dissident Witnesses known as Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood (AJWRB) states that there is no biblical basis for the prohibition of blood transfusions and seeks to have some policies changed.[96] In a series of articles in the Journal of Medical Ethics American neurologist Osamu Muramoto, who is a medical adviser to the AJWRB, has raised issues including what he claims is coercion to refuse transfusions, doctrinal inconsistency, selective use of information by the Watch Tower Society to exaggerate the dangers of transfusions and the use of outdated medical beliefs.
Scriptural interpretation[edit]
Dissident Witnesses say the Society's use of Leviticus 17:12 to support its opposition to blood transfusions[97][98] conflicts with its own teachings that Christians are not under the Mosaic law.[99][100] Theologian Anthony Hoekema claims the blood prohibited in Levitical laws was not human, but animal. He cites other authors[101] who support his view that the direction at Acts 15 to abstain from blood was intended not as an everlasting covenant but a means of maintaining a peaceful relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He has described as "absurd literalism" the Witnesses' use of a scriptural prohibition on eating blood to prohibit the medical transfusion of human blood.[102]
Coercion[edit]
Osamu Muramoto has argued that the refusal by Jehovah's Witnesses of "life-saving" blood treatment[103] creates serious bio-medical ethical issues. He has criticized the "controlling intervention" of the Watch Tower Society by means of what he claims is information control and its policy of penalising members who accept blood transfusions or advocate freedom to choose blood-based treatment.[100][103] He says the threat of being classified as a disassociated Witness and subsequently shunned by friends and relatives who are members coerces Jehovah's Witnesses to accept and obey the prohibition on blood transfusions.[8][100][104] In one particular case involving a Russian district court decision, however, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found nothing in the judgments to suggest that any form of improper pressure or undue influence was applied. It noted: "On the contrary, it appears that many Jehovah’s Witnesses have made a deliberate choice to refuse blood transfusions in advance, free from time constraints of an emergency situation." The court said: "The freedom to accept or refuse specific medical treatment, or to select an alternative form of treatment, is vital to the principles of self-determination and personal autonomy. A competent adult patient is free to decide ... not to have a blood transfusion. However, for this freedom to be meaningful, patients must have the right to make choices that accord with their own views and values, regardless of how irrational, unwise or imprudent such choices may appear to others."[105]
Muramoto has claimed the intervention of Hospital Liaison Committees can add to "organisational pressure" applied by family members, friends and congregation members on Witness patients to refuse blood-based treatment. He notes that while HLC members, who are church elders, "may give the patient 'moral support', the influence of their presence on the patient is known to be tremendous. Case reports reveal JW patients have changed their earlier decision to accept blood treatment after a visit from the elders." He claims such organizational pressure compromises the autonomy of Witness patients and interferes with their privacy and confidentiality. He has advocated a policy in which the Watch Tower organization and congregation elders would not question patients on the details of their medical care and patients would not disclose such information. He says the Society adopted such a policy in 1983 regarding details of sexual activity between married couples.[106][107][108]
Watch Tower spokesman Donald T. Ridley says neither elders nor HLC members are instructed or encouraged to probe into the health care decisions of Witness patients and do not involve themselves in patient hospitalisations unless patients request their assistance. Yet Watchtower HLC representative David Malyon says he would respond to "sin" of Witnesses he is privy to by effectively saying "Are you going to tell them or shall I!"[109] Nevertheless Ridley says Muramoto's suggestion that Witnesses should be free to disregard Watch Tower scriptural teachings and standards is preposterous. He says loving God means obeying commandments, not disobeying them and hiding one's disobedience from others.[108][110]
Muramoto recommends doctors have a private meeting with patients to discuss their wishes, and that church elders and family members not be present, enabling patients to feel free of church pressure. He suggests doctors question patients on (a) whether they have considered that the Watch Tower Society might soon approve some medical practices they currently find objectionable, in the same manner that it has previously abandoned its opposition to vaccination and organ transplants; (b) whether Witness patients know which blood components are allowed and which are prohibited, and whether they acknowledge that those rulings are organizational policy rather than biblical teachings; and (c) whether they realize that although some Bible scriptures proscribe the eating of blood, eating and transfusing blood have entirely different effects on the body.[111] English HLC representative David Malyon has responded that Muramoto's suggested questions are an affront to coerce Jehovah's Witnesses with "complicated philosophical inquisition" and, if used by doctors, would be "an abusive transformation of the medical role of succour and care into that of devil's advocate and trickster".[109]
Selective use of information[edit]
Muramoto has claimed many Watch Tower Society publications employ exaggeration and emotionalism to emphasize the dangers of transfusions and the advantages of alternative treatments, but presents a distorted picture by failing to report any benefits of blood-based treatment. Nor do its publications acknowledge that in some situations, including rapid and massive haemorrhage, there are no alternatives to blood transfusions.[100][112] He claims Watch Tower Society publications often discuss the risk of death as a result of refusing blood transfusions, but give little consideration to the prolonged suffering and disability, producing an added burden on family and society, that can result from refusal.[113] Attorney and former Witness Kerry Louderback-Wood[114] also claims that Witness publications exaggerate the medical risks of taking blood and the efficiency of non-blood medical therapies in critical situations.[115]
Douglas E. Cowan, an academic in the sociology of religion, has claimed that members of the Christian countercult movement who criticize the Watch Tower Society, make selective use of information themselves. For example, Christian apologist Richard Abanes wrote that their ban on blood transfusions, "has led to countless Witness deaths over the years, including many children."[116] Cowan wrote: "When the careful reader checks [Abanes' footnote], however, looking perhaps for some statistical substantiation, he or she finds only a statistical conjecture based on 1980 Red Cross blood use figures." Cowan also says Abanes omits "critical issues" in an attempt to "present the most negative face possible." Cowan wrote that "the reader is left with the impression that the Watchtower Society knowingly presides over a substantial number of preventable deaths each year."[117]
Outdated medical beliefs[edit]
Osamu Muramoto says the Watch Tower Society relies on discarded, centuries-old medical beliefs to support its assertion that blood transfusions are the same as eating blood.[118] A 1990 Watch Tower brochure on blood quoted a 17th-century anatomist to support its view.[119] Muramoto says the view that blood is nourishment—still espoused in Watch Tower publications[120]—was abandoned by modern medicine many decades ago.[100] He has criticized an analogy commonly used by the Society[121] in which it states: "Consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?"[118] Muramoto says the analogy is false, explaining: "Orally ingested alcohol is absorbed as alcohol and circulated as such in the blood, whereas orally eaten blood is digested and does not enter the circulation as blood. Blood introduced directly into the veins circulates and functions as blood, not as nutrition. Hence, blood transfusion is a form of cellular organ transplantation. And ... organ transplants are now permitted by the WTS."[100] He says the objection to blood transfusions on the basis of biblical proscriptions against eating blood is similar to the refusal of a heart transplant on the basis that a doctor warned a patient to abstain from eating meat because of his high cholesterol level.[122]
David Malyon, chairman of the English Hospital Liaison Committee in Luton, England, has claimed that Muramoto's discussion of the differences between consuming blood and alcohol is pedantic and says blood laws in the Bible are based upon the reverence for life and its association with blood, and that laws should be kept in the spirit as much as in the letter.[109]
Inconsistency[edit]
Muramoto has described as peculiar and inconsistent the Watch Tower policy of acceptance of all the individual components of blood plasma as long as they are not taken at the same time.[100] He says the Society offers no biblical explanation for differentiating between prohibited treatments and those considered a "matter of conscience", explaining the distinction is based entirely on arbitrary decisions of the Governing Body, to which Witnesses must adhere strictly of the premise of them being Bible-based "truth".[100] He has questioned why white blood cells (1 per cent of blood volume) and platelets (0.17 per cent) are forbidden, yet albumin (2.2 per cent of blood volume) is permitted.[100] He has questioned why donating blood and storing blood for autologous transfusion is deemed wrong, but the Watch Tower Society permits the use of blood components that must be donated and stored before Witnesses use them.[123] He has questioned why Witnesses, although viewing blood as sacred and symbolizing life, are prepared to let a person die by placing more importance on the symbol than the reality it symbolizes.[112]
Kerry Louderback-Wood alleges that by labeling the currently acceptable blood fractions as "minute" in relation to whole blood, the Watch Tower organization causes followers to misunderstand the scope and extent of allowed fractions.[115]
Witnesses respond that the real issue is not of the fluid per se, but of respect and obedience to God.[124][125] They say their principle of abstaining from blood as a display of respect is demonstrated by the fact that members are allowed to eat meat that still contains some blood. As soon as blood is drained from an animal, the respect has been shown to God, and then a person can eat the meat even though it may contain a small amount of blood.[126] Jehovah's Witnesses' view of meat and blood is different from that of kosher Jewish adherents, who go to great lengths to remove minor traces of blood.[127][128]
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses § Blood
Further reading[edit]
Sloan JM, Ballen K (May 2008). "SCT in Jehovah's Witnesses: the bloodless transplant". Bone Marrow Transplant. 41 (10): 837–44. doi:10.1038/bmt.2008.5. PMID 18246110.
Bayam L, Tait WF, Macartney ID (2007). "Successful repair of a giant abdominal aortoiliac aneurysm in a Jehovah's Witness". Vasc Endovascular Surg 41 (5): 460–2. doi:10.1177/1538574407303172. PMID 17942864.
Massiah N, Athimulam S, Loo C, Okolo S, Yoong W (October 2007). "Obstetric care of Jehovah's Witnesses: a 14-year observational study". Arch Gynecol Obstet. 276 (4): 339–43. doi:10.1007/s00404-007-0346-0. PMID 17522882.
Putney, Leeann J. (July–September 2007), [Putney LJ (Jul–September 2007). "Bloodless cardiac surgery: not just possible, but preferable" (– SCHOLAR SEARCH). Crit Care Nurs Q 30 (3): 263–70. doi:10.1097/01.CNQ.0000278927.44691.8c. PMID 17579310. Check date values in: |date= (help)[dead link]
Eilers June, Rounds Luisa (2007). "Blood Transfusion or Not: A Literature Review of Bloodless Interventions to Treat Cancer Related Anemia". Oncology Nursing Forum 34 (2): 553–554.
See also[edit]
Blood transfusions
Bloodless surgery
Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
Knocking, a documentary on Witnesses that features bloodless medicine.
The Children Act, a novel by Ian McEwan in which the issue is central to the plot.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Keep Yourself in God's Love, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2008, page 77.
2.Jump up ^ Manya A. Brachear, "More doctors honor religious objections to blood transfusions", Chicago Tribune, 9 October 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Evans, Allan S.; Riley E. Moynes; Larry Martinello (1973). What man Believes: A study of the World's Great Faiths. McGraw-Hill Ryerson. p. 361. ISBN 0-07-077440-4. "Two elements of belief are probably better known than any other among non-Witnesses. One is the refusal to fight in war ... the other well-known belief is the refusal to accept blood transfusions."
4.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?. Watch Tower Society. pp. 3–7.
5.^ Jump up to: a b "Be Guided by the Living God", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 22.
6.Jump up ^ "Godly Respect for Blood", The Watchtower, September 1, 1986, page 25.
7.Jump up ^ Muramoto, O (December 1999). "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy.". Journal of medical ethics 25 (6): 463–8. PMC 479294. PMID 10635499.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Muramoto, O. (6 January 2001). "Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses". BMJ 322 (7277): 37–39. doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7277.37. PMC 1119307. PMID 11141155.
9.Jump up ^ Little, Jane (June 14, 2000). "Jehovah's Witnesses drop transfusion ban". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2004-06-18. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Jehovah's Witnesses Public Affairs Office press release, June 14, 2000.
11.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol 26, pages 375-380.
12.Jump up ^ Tom Blackwell, "Without fanfare, Jehovah’s Witnesses quietly soften position on blood transfusions", National Post, 20 December 2012.
13.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1990 p. 24, "God told all mankind that they must not eat blood. Why? Because blood represents life."
14.^ Jump up to: a b Awake!, August 2006 p. 11, "He also gave them his reason, equating blood with the soul, or life, of the creature. He later said: 'The soul [or life] is in the blood.' In the eyes of the Creator, blood is sacred. It represents the precious gift of life that each living soul possesses."
15.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 21
16.^ Jump up to: a b The Watchtower, February 1, 1997 p. 29
17.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 1, 1969 pp. 326, 327
18.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1986 p. 25
19.Jump up ^ October 15, 2000 Watchtower, p. 31
20.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 P.24 par. 16
21.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1989, p. 31
22.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h The Watchtower, June 15, 2000 pp. 29-31
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j The Watchtower, October 15, 2000 pp. 30-31
24.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2006 pages 3,4 para.1-6
25.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witness letter to Cliff Roche, July 30, 2001 (Published in the book Three Dissertations on the Teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, by Greg Stafford, 2002 ISBN 0-9659814-2-8)
26.Jump up ^ Instructions for Filling in The Advance Decision Document, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2005 p.1. This document specifically applies the term "transfusion" to a Jehovah's Witness patient having blood returned to their cardiovascular system after it was completely removed from their body.
27.Jump up ^ West, James. "Informed refusal — the Jehovah's Witness patient", Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology: A Case-Based Textbook, Cambridge University Press, 2011 pp. 19-26.
28.Jump up ^ Farmer S, Webb D, Your Body Your Choice: The Layman's Complete Guide to Bloodless Medicine and Surgery, 2000; pages 11, 14, 75
29.^ Jump up to: a b c Ariga et al., Legal Medicine, 5 (2003) S72-S75
30.Jump up ^ [1], [2], [3], and [4] - successful cases of bloodless surgery
31.Jump up ^ Spence et al., Transfusion May 2003; Vol. 43 p. 668
32.Jump up ^ Transfusion-Free Medicine, edited by Dr Nicolas Jabbour, 2005 p. 13
33.Jump up ^ "Are You Ready to Face a Faith-Challenging Medical Situation?", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990.
34.Jump up ^ "Youths Who Have Power Beyond What Is Normal", Awake!, May 22, 1994, pages 9-15.
35.Jump up ^ Richards, Edward; Rathbun, Katharine (1983). "Medical Risk Management: Preventive Legal Strategies for Health Care Providers". http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/Books/aspen/Aspen.html. Chapter Nine, The Emergency Exception: Aspen Systems Corporation. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
36.Jump up ^ Hartman, Kurt; Liang, Bryan (March 1999). "Exceptions to Informed Consent in Emergency Medicine" (PDF). Hospital Physician 35 (3): 53–55. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
37.Jump up ^ American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics (1997). "Religious objections to medical care". Pediatrics 99 (2): 279–281. doi:10.1542/peds.99.2.279. PMID 9024462.
38.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1988, page 4.
39.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Witnesses—1998 Yearbook Report", 1998 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©1997 Watch Tower, page 23
40.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Witnesses—1996 Yearbook Report", 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©1997 Watch Tower, page 26
41.Jump up ^ "Bridging the Gap Between Doctors and Witness Patients", Awake!, November 22, 1990, page 21
42.Jump up ^ "Are You Ready to Face a Faith-Challenging Medical Situation?", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990, page 3.
43.^ Jump up to: a b September 2002 Certificate of Recognition issued by Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, available online at http://www.jw-media.org/gbl/20021118.htm
44.^ Jump up to: a b January 3, 2006 Letter from Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses; To all Congregations
45.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990 p. 3
46.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2005, page 3
47.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 2004, page 7, emphasis added to quote
48.Jump up ^ "Service Meeting Schedule", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 2006, page 2
49.Jump up ^ "Argentina", 2001 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©2000 Watch Tower, page 212
50.Jump up ^ ""Follow Me Continually"", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2006, page 1
51.Jump up ^ "No One Has Love Greater Than This", Come Be My Follower, ©2007 Watch Tower, pages 178-179
52.^ Jump up to: a b Findley LJ, Redstone PM (March 1982). "Blood transfusion in adult Jehovah's Witnesses. A case study of one congregation". Arch Intern Med. 142 (3): 606–7. doi:10.1001/archinte.142.3.606. PMID 7065795.
 This article presents a consensual survey of one congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where the congregation elders provided the names and addresses of members, and the elders knew precisely the nature of the survey. 59 responses were received. Of the 59, 7 stipulated they would accept plasma transfusion (Table 1 on page 607). This result compelled Findley and Redstone to comment, "there is either some lack of understanding or refusal to follow doctrine among some members". Whether from misunderstanding or refusal to follow doctrine, at no point did Findley and Redstone question whether these responders had honestly expressed their personal conviction. Findley and Redstone also stipulated their methodology may have skewed the results towards official Jehovah's Witness doctrine. (Local elders provided the names to be surveyed, and those surveyed knew local elders would see the results of the study.) The authors also admit that this study may not describe the beliefs of "less religious Jehovah's Witnesses".
53.Jump up ^ Kaaron Benson, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Cancer Control Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, November/December 1995
54.^ Jump up to: a b Gyamfi C, Berkowitz RL (September 2004). "Responses by pregnant Jehovah's Witnesses on health care proxies". Obstet Gynecol 104 (3): 541–4. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000135276.25886.8e. PMID 15339766. "This review refutes the commonly held belief that all Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to accept blood or any of its products. In this population of pregnant women, the majority were willing to accept some form of blood or blood products."
55.Jump up ^ Knuti KA, Amrein PC, Chabner BA, Lynch TJ, Penson RT (2002). "Faith, identity, and leukemia: when blood products are not an option". Oncologist 7 (4): 371–80. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.7-4-371. PMID 12185299.
 "Ms. LF stated that she was a Jehovah's Witness and asserted with an advanced [sic] directive that she did not want blood product support…. The risks and benefits of continuing therapy were discussed with Ms. LF. She remained adamant in her refusal of blood products and repeated that she wanted to continue treatment and to 'die fighting' her disease."
56.Jump up ^ Migden DR, Braen GR (August 1998). "The Jehovah's Witness blood refusal card: ethical and medicolegal considerations for emergency physicians". Acad Emerg Med 5 (8): 815–24. doi:10.1111/j.1553-2712.1998.tb02510.x. PMID 9715245.
Ridley DT (August 1998). "Honoring Jehovah's Witnesses' advance directives in emergencies: a response to Drs. Migden and Braen". Acad Emerg Med 5 (8): 824–35. doi:10.1111/j.1553-2712.1998.tb02511.x. PMID 9715246.
57.Jump up ^ The Watchtower August 1, 1958 p. 478
58.Jump up ^ The Watchtower January 15, 1961 p. 63
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower October 15, 1987 p. 14, "Three areas for attention were mentioned: secretly accepting a blood transfusion, masturbation, and alcohol abuse. After considering that material, quite a number of readers wrote letters of appreciation; they admitted that they had had those faults, but they had been moved to repent and change."
60.Jump up ^ Kaaron Benson, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Cancer Control Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, November/December 1995, "Therefore, while most adult Jehovah's Witness patients were unwilling to accept blood for themselves, most Jehovah's Witness parents permitted transfusions for their minor children, and many of the young adult patients also were willing to accept transfusions for themselves." Available online at http://www.moffitt.org/moffittapps/ccj/v2n6/article13.html
61.Jump up ^ "Where Are the Faithful?", Awake!, April 8, 1996, p. 4, "Nowadays official church dogma may bear scant resemblance to the personal beliefs of those who profess that particular religion."
62.Jump up ^ Thomas JM (February 2005). "Responses by pregnant Jehovah's Witnesses on health care proxies". Obstet Gynecol 105 (2): 441; author reply 442–3. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000149842.31312.e4. PMID 15684182.
63.Jump up ^ Buber, M., Under Two Dictators, 1949 pp. 222, 235-237. Buber states the Jehovah's Witness prisoners all ate blood sausage, until around 1943. At that time she relates that 25 of the 275 Jehovah's Witness prisoners refused to eat blood sausage. She underlines the fact that this occurred in the presence of knowledge of Biblical statements regarding blood.
64.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, November 15, 1892 p. 351, "It will be noticed that nothing is said about keeping the ten commandments, nor any part of the Jewish law. It was evidently taken for granted that having received the spirit of Christ the new law of love would be a general regulation for them. The things mentioned were merely to guard against stumbling themselves or becoming stumbling blocks to others."
65.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, April 15, 1909 pp. 116-117, "These prohibitions had never come to the Gentiles, because they had never been under the Law Covenant; but so deeply rooted were the Jewish ideas on this subject that it was necessary to the peace of the Church that the Gentiles should observe this matter also ... these items thus superadded to the Law of Love should be observed by all spiritual Israelites as representing the Divine will."
66.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, October 15, 1919 p. 47, "A serious difficulty which has been overcome in the use of plywood for airplanes construction was the making from blood of a glue that will stand any quantity of moisture without letting go…. In this plywood, stronger than steel, we have an illustration of how the Lord can take characters, weak in themselves, and surround them with such influence and so fortify them by his promises as to make them "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" of error and sin.—2 Cor. 10:4"
67.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, December 17, 1924 p. 163, "Remarkable Tale of Womanly Heroism…. Fearing the death of the child, the woman deliberately cut her arms and breast with glass from the windshield to provide blood to keep the child alive during the cold nights. The child will recover, but the heroine is expected to die."
68.Jump up ^ Golden Age, July 29, 1925 p. 683
69.Jump up ^ "One Reason for God's Vengeance", The Watchtower, December 15, 1927, p. 371.
70.Jump up ^ Consolation: 19. December 25, 1940. "one of the attending physicians in the great emergency gave a quart of his own blood for transfusion, and today the woman lives and smiles gaily over what happened to her in the busiest 23 minutes of her life." Missing or empty |title= (help)
71.Jump up ^ "The Stranger's Right Maintained", The Watchtower, December 1, 1944, p. 362
72.Jump up ^ Vertroosting (Consolation), September 1945 p. 29, "Wanneer wij ons leven verliezen, doordat wij weigeren, inspuitingen te laten maken, dient zulks niet tot een getuigenis ter rechtvaardiging van Jehova's Naam. God heeft nooit bepalingen uitgevaardigd die het gebruik van medicijnen, inspuitingen of bloedtransfusie verbiedt. Het is een ultvinding van menschen, die gelijk de Farizeën Jehova's barmhartigheid laten."
73.Jump up ^ The Blood Transfusion Taboo of Jehovah’s Witnesses: Origin, Development and Function of a Controversial Doctrine, Social Science Medicine, Singelenbreg, R., 1990, Vol. 31, No. 4, p. 516.)
74.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1945, p. 198-201
75.Jump up ^ "Assume Your Christian Obligations", The Watchtower, March 1, 1966, p. 142, "In the counsel from the pages of this magazine there has been a note of increased strictness with regard to pure worship, the placing of additional obligations on each one individually, strict counsel on morals, honesty, neutrality and such requirements as showing respect for the sanctity of blood."
76.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 15, 1961, p. 63.
77.Jump up ^ Blood, Medicine, and the Law of God, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1961, p. 54
78.Jump up ^ Awake!, September 8, 1956 p. 20
79.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 15, 1961, p. 558
80.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1961, p. 670
81.Jump up ^ Durable Power of Attorney form, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, January 2001 p. 1
82.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1964, p. 127-128
83.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1964, p. 680-683
84.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, p. 31
85.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1989 p. 30
86.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2000, p. 29-31
87.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 2000, p. 31
88.Jump up ^ Letter to All Presiding Overseers and Secretaries in the United States, Watchtower May 3, 2001, and Enclosure
89.Jump up ^ Letter to All Presiding Overseers and Secretaries in the United States, Watchtower December 20, 2001
90.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1951, p. 414
91.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 15, 1961, p. 563-564
92.Jump up ^ Awake!, July 8, 1969, p. 30
93.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 22, 1974, page 18.
94.Jump up ^ Awake!, August 2006.
95.Jump up ^ New Scientist 25 September 2002
96.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol.26, pages 375-380.
97.Jump up ^ "Rightly Value Your Gift of Life," The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 15.
98.Jump up ^ United in Worshop of the Only True God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1983, page 160.
99.Jump up ^ "What Does Jehovah Ask of Us Today?" The Watchtower, September 15, 1999, page 21.
100.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Osamu Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 1", Journal of Medical Ethics, August 1998, Vol 24, Issue 4, page 223-230.
101.Jump up ^ F. F. Bruce, Commentary on Acts, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1955, R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, Wartburg Press, Columbus, Ohio, 1944.
102.Jump up ^ Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963). The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. pp. 249, 250. ISBN 0-8028-3117-6.
103.^ Jump up to: a b O. Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, December 1999, page 463.
104.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 296.
105.Jump up ^ ECHR Point number 136, 139
106.Jump up ^ O. Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, December 1999, page 467.
107.Jump up ^ "Honor Godly Marriage!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1983, page 31.
108.^ Jump up to: a b "Call for new approach to transfusion refusals", The Irish Times, February 27, 2010.
109.^ Jump up to: a b c David Malyon, "Transfusion-free treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses: respecting the autonomous patient's motives", Journal of Medical Ethics, 1998, Vol 24, page 380.
110.Jump up ^ Donald T. Ridley, "Jehovah's Witnesses' refusal of blood: obedience to scripture and religious conscience", Journal of Medical Ethics, 1999, Vol. 25, page 471.
111.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 298-299.
112.^ Jump up to: a b "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 301.
113.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 298.
114.Jump up ^ "Religion Today", New York Times, January 6, 2006
115.^ Jump up to: a b "Jehovah's Witnesses, Blood Transfusions and the Tort of Misrepresentation", Journal of Church and State, Autumn 2005, Volume 47, Number 4, p. 808: "[The Watchtower Society] builds a case that other doctors wish all surgeons would become bloodless surgeons, when in fact those doctors recognize the benefits of blood transfusions for those who are in desperate need."
116.Jump up ^ Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family: A Guide to Ten Non-Christian Groups Out to Convert Your Loved Ones p. 226
117.Jump up ^ Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult p. 146
118.^ Jump up to: a b Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, page 73.
119.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, page 6.
120.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, page 70.
121.Jump up ^ The analogy is used in The Watchtower, June 1, 1969, page 326, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, (1981, pg 167), Reasoning From the Scriptures (1989, pg 73), You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (1989, pg 216), Yearbook (1989, pg 57), What Does the Bible Teach (2005, pg 130) and Awake!, August 2006, page 11.
122.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 299.
123.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 300.
124.Jump up ^ The Watchtower November 1, 1961 p. 669 Questions From Readers
125.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach? 2005 P.128
126.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower: 669. 1 November 1961. "The important thing is that respect has been shown for the sanctity of blood, regard has been shown for the principle of the sacredness of life. What God's law requires is that the blood be drained from the animal when it is killed, not that the meat be soaked in some special preparation to draw out every trace of it."
127.Jump up ^ OK Kosher Certification — Salting of Meat
128.Jump up ^ My Jewish Learning: Making Meat Kosher
External links[edit]
Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
How Can Blood Save Your Life? published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions? from the official website
Bloodless Surgeries and Jehovah's Witnesses PBS Religion & Ethics
Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood
BBC News - Refusing blood 'source of regret'
Critique of Jehovah's Witnesses' blood policy by Raymond Franz, a former member of Jehovah' Witnesses' Governing Body
Ethical Issues in Compulsory Medical Treatment: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses teachings on blood from religioustolerance.org
The Jensen Letters—correspondence between a Jehovah's Witness elder and the Watchtower Society seeking answers to critical questions about important aspects of their blood doctrine. The correspondence begins in 1998 and concludes in 2003 with the writer's resignation as an elder.
  



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Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

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Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Bible prohibits ingesting blood and that Christians should not accept blood transfusions or donate or store their own blood for transfusion.[1] The belief is based on an interpretation of scripture that differs from that of other Christian denominations.[2] It is one of the doctrines for which Jehovah's Witnesses are most well known.[3]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that the Witnesses' refusal of transfusions of whole blood or its four primary components—red cells, white cells, platelets and plasma—is a non-negotiable religious stand and that those who respect life as a gift from God do not try to sustain life by taking in blood,[4][5] even in an emergency.[6] Witnesses are taught that the use of fractions such as albumin, immunoglobulins and hemophiliac preparations are "not absolutely prohibited" and a matter of personal choice.[5]
The doctrine was introduced in 1945, and has undergone some changes since then. Members of the religion who voluntarily accept a transfusion and are not deemed repentant are regarded as having disassociated themselves from the religion by abandoning its doctrines[7][8][9] and are subsequently shunned by members of the organization.[10] Although accepted by the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority does not endorse this doctrine.[11][12]
The Watch Tower Society has established Hospital Information Services to provide education and facilitate bloodless surgery. This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees, whose function is to provide support to adherents.



Contents  [hide]
1 Doctrine 1.1 Prohibited procedures
1.2 Permitted procedures and products
2 Bloodless surgery 2.1 Hospital Liaison Committees
2.2 Patient Visitation Groups
3 Acceptance among Jehovah's Witnesses
4 History of doctrine
5 Critical views 5.1 Scriptural interpretation
5.2 Coercion
5.3 Selective use of information
5.4 Outdated medical beliefs
5.5 Inconsistency
6 Further reading
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Doctrine[edit]
On the basis of various biblical texts, including Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10, and Acts 15:29, Jehovah's Witnesses believe:
Blood represents life[13] and is sacred to God.[14][15] After it has been removed from a creature, the only use of blood that God has authorized is for the atonement of sins.[16] When a Christian abstains from blood, they are in effect expressing faith that only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can truly redeem them and save their life.[14]
Blood must not be eaten or transfused,[10][17] even in the case of a medical emergency.[18]
Blood leaving the body of a human or animal must be disposed of.[16]
Certain medical procedures involving blood fractions or that use a patient's own blood during the course of a medical procedure, such as hemodilution or cell salvage, are a matter of personal choice, according to what a person's conscience permits.[19]
A baptized Witness who unrepentantly accepts a blood transfusion is deemed to have disassociated himself from the religion by abandoning its doctrines and is subsequently subject to organized shunning by other members.[8][10]
Certain medical procedures involving blood are specifically prohibited by Jehovah's Witnesses' blood doctrine. This includes the use of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and blood plasma. Other fractions derived from blood are not prohibited. Watch Tower publications state that some products derived from one of the four primary components may be so similar to the function of the whole component and carry on such a life-sustaining role in the body that "most Christians would find them objectionable".[20] For procedures where there is no specific doctrinal prohibition, individuals are to obtain details from medical personnel and then make a personal decision.[21]
Prohibited procedures[edit]
The following medical procedures are prohibited:
Transfusion of allogeneic whole blood, or of its constituents of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma.[22]
Transfusions of pre-operative self-donated (autologous) blood.[23]
Permitted procedures and products[edit]
The following procedures and products are not prohibited, and are left to the decision of individual members:[24]
Blood donation strictly for purpose of further fractionation of red cells, white cells, platelets or plasma for either allogeneic or autologous transfusion.[22][25]
Transfusions of autologous blood part of a "current therapy".[23]
Hemodilution, a modified technique in which equipment is arranged in a circuit that is constantly linked to the patient's circulatory system.[23]
Intraoperative blood salvage (autologous) or cell-saver scavenging, a method of picking up blood that has spilled from the circulatory system into an open wound, cleaning and re-infusing it.[23]
Heart-Lung Machine, a method in which blood is diverted to an artificial heart-lung machine and directed back into the patient.[23]
Dialysis, wherein blood circulates through a machine, is filtered and cleaned, then returned to the patient.[23]
Epidural Blood Patch, consisting of a small amount of the patient's blood injected into the membrane surrounding the spinal cord.[23]
Plasmapheresis, wherein blood is withdrawn and filtered, having the plasma removed and substituted, and returned to the patient.[23]
Labeling or Tagging, blood is withdrawn, mixed with medicine, and then returned to the patient by transfusion.[26][23]
Platelet Gel, blood is withdrawn and put into a solution rich in platelets and white blood cells.[23]
Fractions from red blood cells: Hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells.
Fractions from white blood cells:[22] Interferons
Interleukins
Fractions from platelets:[22] Platelet factor 4
Fractions from blood plasma:[22] Albumin
Globulins
Cryoprecipitate
Cryosupernatant (cryo-poor plasma)[27]
Clotting factors, including Factor VIII and Factor IX derived from large quantities of stored blood
Wound healing factor
Erythropoietin (EPO).[22]
PolyHeme, a blood substitute solution of chemically modified human hemoglobin.[22]
Hemopure, a blood substitute solution of chemically stabilized bovine hemoglobin derived from cow's blood.[22]
See also: Blood substitutes
Bloodless surgery[edit]
Main article: Bloodless surgery
A variety of bloodless surgical techniques have been developed for use on patients who refuse blood transfusions for reasons that include concern about AIDS, hepatitis, and other blood-borne infections, or immune system reactions.[28] Thousands of physicians throughout the world have expressed a willingness to respect patients' preferences and provide bloodless treatment[29][need quotation to verify] and about 200 hospitals offer bloodless medicine and surgery programs for adult and pediatric patients who wish to avoid or limit blood transfusions, or to avoid treatment contrary to Jehovah's Witnesses' blood doctrine.[29] Bloodless surgery has been successfully performed in such invasive operations as open-heart surgery and total hip replacements.[30] However bloodless medical and surgical techniques have limitations, and surgeons say the use of various allogeneic blood products and/or pre-operative autologous blood transfusion is the standard of care for some patient presentations.[31][32]
In cases of certain medical emergencies when bloodless medicine is not available, blood transfusions may seem to be the only available way to save a life. Watch Tower publications suggest that in such instances, Jehovah's Witnesses request that doctors provide the best alternative care possible under the circumstances, with respect for their personal conviction.[33] The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged that some members have died after refusing blood.[34]
In some countries, including Canada and the UK, a parent or guardian's decision can be legally overruled by medical staff. In this case, medical staff may act without consent, by obtaining a court order in a non-emergency situation, or without such an order in an emergency.[35][36] In Japan, a doctor must respect the wish of an adult but can override the wishes of a child and their parents if the child is under 15. If a child is aged 15 to 17, a doctor will not perform a transfusion if the parents and the child refuse the transfusion. If a child aged from 15 to 17 objects to a transfusion but the parents demand the transfusion, then a doctor can override the child's wish.[citation needed] In the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that in cases of "an imminent threat to a child's life", physicians in some cases may "intervene over parental objections".[37]
Hospital Liaison Committees[edit]
In 1988, the Watch Tower Society formed Hospital Information Services, a department to help locate doctors or surgical teams who are willing to perform medical procedures on Witnesses without blood transfusions.[38] The department was given oversight of each branch office's Hospital Information Desk,[39][40][41] and of one hundred Hospital Liaison Committees established throughout the United States.[42][43] As of 2003, about 200 hospitals worldwide provide bloodless medical programs.[29] As of 2006, there are 1,535 Hospital Liaison Committees worldwide coordinating communication between 110,000 physicians.[43][44]
Hospital Information Services researches medical journals to locate information on the availability and effectiveness of bloodless surgery methods.[45] It disseminates information about treatment options to local Hospital Liaison Committees, and to doctors and hospitals.[44]
Patient Visitation Groups[edit]
Annually since 2004, Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States have been informed that "with your consent, the law allows for the elders to learn of your admission [to hospital] and provide spiritual encouragement",[46] but that "elders serving on a Patient Visitation Group [could] have access to your name" only if patients made their wishes known according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).[47]
Jehovah's Witnesses' branch offices communicate directly with congregations regarding "ways to benefit from the activities of the Hospital Liaison Committee (HLC) and the Patient Visitation Group (PVG)."[48] A Jehovah's Witnesses publication in 2000 reported that Argentina had fewer than a hundred HLC committeemen "giving vital information to the medical community", adding that "their work is complemented by hundreds of other self-sacrificing elders who make up Patient Visitation Groups that call on Witness patients to help and encourage them".[49] Each branch office appoints PVG committeemen, who serve as volunteers.[50][51]
Acceptance among Jehovah's Witnesses[edit]
Since the elaboration of the blood doctrine to the point of prohibiting transfusion, the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses have adopted the organization's position.[52][53][54] Those Jehovah's Witnesses who accept the blood doctrine typically hold strongly to their conviction.[55] In the August 1998 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine, Donald Ridley, a Jehovah's Witness and organization staff attorney, argued that carrying an up-to-date Medical Directive card issued by the organization indicates that an individual personally agrees with the established religious position of Jehovah's Witness.[56]
In 1958, The Watchtower reported on a particular member of Jehovah's Witnesses who voluntarily accepted blood transfusion, contrary to Watchtower doctrine.[57] The organization confirms that members have accepted blood transfusions, despite the imposition in 1961 of a communal shunning policy for willful acceptance.[58][59]
In 1982, a peer-reviewed case study of a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was undertaken by Drs. Larry J. Findley and Paul M. Redstone to evaluate individual belief in respect to blood among Jehovah's Witnesses. The study showed that 12% were willing to accept transfusion therapy forbidden by Jehovah's Witness doctrine.[52] One peer-reviewed study examining medical records indicated a similar percentage of Jehovah's Witnesses willing to accept blood transfusions for their children. Young adults also showed a willingness to accept blood transfusions.[60] In another study, Jehovah's Witness patients presented for labor and delivery showed a willingness to accept some form of blood or blood products. Of these patients, 10 percent accepted whole blood transfusion.[54]
Watch Tower publications have noted that within religions, the personal beliefs of members often differ from official doctrine.[61] Regarding Jehovah's Witnesses acceptance of the organization's official position on blood, Drs Cynthia Gyamfi and Richard Berkowitz state, "It is naïve to assume that all people in any religious group share the exact same beliefs, regardless of doctrine. It is well known that Muslims, Jews and Christians have significant individual variations in their beliefs. Why should that not also be true of Jehovah's Witnesses?"[62]
Ambivalence and rejection of the blood doctrine dates back to at least the 1940s. After the Watch Tower Society established the doctrine, teaching that blood should not be eaten (circa 1927-31), Margaret Buber, who was never a member of the religion, offered a firsthand eyewitness account of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Nazi Ravensbrück concentration camp. She relates that an overwhelming majority were willing to eat blood sausage despite having alternate food to choose from, and specifically after considering biblical statements regarding blood.[63]
History of doctrine[edit]
From 1931, when the name "Jehovah's witnesses" was adopted, Watch Tower Society publications maintained the view of Society founder Charles Taze Russell that the reference to abstaining from the eating of blood in the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:19-29 was a "suggestion" to be given to Gentile converts.[64][65] Watch Tower publications during the presidency of Joseph Franklin Rutherford commended the commercial and emergency uses of blood.[66][67] A 1925 issue of The Golden Age commended a man for donating blood 45 times without payment.[68] In 1927, The Watchtower noted, without elaboration, that in Genesis 9, God decreed that Noah and his offspring "must not eat the blood, because the life is in the blood".[69] In 1940 Consolation magazine reported on a woman who accidentally shot herself with a revolver in her heart and survived a major surgical procedure during which an attending physician donated a quart of his own blood for transfusion.[70]
In 1944, with the Watch Tower Society under the administration of president Nathan Homer Knorr, The Watchtower asserted that the decrees contained in Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:10-14 forbade the eating or drinking of blood in biblical times "whether by transfusion or by the mouth" and that this applied "in a spiritual way to the consecrated persons of good-will today, otherwise known as 'Jonadabs' of the Lord's 'other sheep'."[71]
In September 1945, representatives of the Watch Tower Society in the Netherlands commented on blood transfusion in the Dutch edition of Consolation. A translation of their comments into English reads:

When we lose our life because we refuse inoculations, that does not bear witness as a justification of Jehovah's name. God never issued regulations which prohibit the use of drugs, inoculations or blood transfusions. It is an invention of people, who, like the Pharisees, leave Jehovah's mercy and love aside.[72]
According to sociologist Richard Singelenbreg the statement appearing in the Dutch edition of Consolation may have been published without knowledge of the doctrinal position published in the English July 1945 issue of Consolation by the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in the United States.[73]
In 1945, the application of the doctrine on blood was expanded to prohibit blood transfusions of whole blood, whether allogeneic or autologous.[74] The prohibition did not specify any punitive measures for accepting a transfusion, but by January 1961—in what was later described as an application of "increased strictness"[75]—it was ruled that it was a disfellowshipping offense to conscientiously accept a blood transfusion.[76] Watch Tower publications warned that accepting a blood transfusion could prevent Witnesses from living eternally in God's new world, the hope held by members: "It may result in the immediate and very temporary prolongation of life, but that at the cost of eternal life for a dedicated Christian."[77]
In September 1956, Awake! stated, "certain blood fractions ... also come under the Scriptural ban".[78] A position against "the various blood fractions" was reiterated in September 1961.[79] In November of the same year, the doctrine was modified to allow individual members to decide whether they could conscientiously accept fractions used from blood for purposes such as vaccination.[80] This position has been expanded on since; the pre-formatted Durable Power of Attorney form provided by the Watch Tower Society includes an option for Jehovah's Witnesses to "accept all fractions derived from any primary component of blood."[81]
In 1964, Jehovah's Witnesses were prohibited from obtaining transfusions for pets, from using fertilizer containing blood, and were even advised (if their conscience troubled them) to write to dog food manufacturers to verify that their products were blood-free.[82] Later that year, it was stated that doctors or nurses who are Jehovah's Witness would not administer blood transfusions to fellow dedicated members. As to administering transfusions to non-members, The Watchtower stated that such a decision is "left to the Christian doctor's own conscience."[83]
In 1982, a Watchtower article declared that it would be wrong for a Witness to allow a leech to feed on his/her blood as part of a medical procedure, due to the sacredness of blood.[84]
In 1989 The Watchtower stated, "Each individual must decide" whether to accept hemodilution and autologous blood salvage (cell saver) procedures.[85] In 1990, a brochure entitled How Can Blood Save Your Life? was released, outlining Jehovah's Witnesses' general doctrine on blood.
In 2000, the Watch Tower Society's stand on blood fractions was clearly stated.[86] Members were instructed to personally decide if accepting a fraction would violate the doctrine on blood. In a later article, members were reminded that Jehovah's Witnesses do not donate blood or store their own blood prior to surgery.[87]
In May 2001, the Watch Tower Society revised its medical directives and identity cards addressing its doctrinal position on blood; the revised materials were distributed from May 3, 2001.[88] These revised documents specified that "allogeneic blood transfusions" were unacceptable whereas the former document (dated 1999) stated that "blood transfusions" were unacceptable. The revised 2001 documents were active until December 20, 2001. The Watch Tower Society then rescinded the revised document, stating, "After further review, it has been determined that the cards dated "md-E 6/01" and "ic-E 6/01" should not be used. Please destroy these items and make sure that they are not distributed to the publishers." Elders were instructed to revert to the older 1999 edition of the medical directives and identity cards.[89]
Watch Tower Society publications frequently claim negative consequences of blood transfusions:
A 1951 Watchtower declared: "And let the transfusion enthusiasts with a savior-complex ponder the fact that on many occasions transfusions do harm, spread disease, and frequently cause deaths, which, of course, are not publicized." [90]
A 1961 Watchtower quoted Brazilian surgeon Dr Américo Valério as saying transfusions were often followed by "moral insanity, sexual perversions, repression, inferiority complexes, petty crimes" and Dr Alonzo Jay Shadman claiming that a person's blood "contains all the peculiarities of the individual ... [including] hereditary taints, disease susceptibilities, poisons due to personal living, eating and drinking habits ... The poisons that produce the impulse to commit suicide, murder, or steal are in the blood."[91]
A 1969 Awake! reported on a man named Robert Khoury, who, after receiving a blood transfusion said, "When I recovered I found I had a terrible desire to steal."[92]
A 1974 Awake! cited a Centers for Disease Control report that as many as 35,000 deaths and 500,000 illnesses a year might be due to the presence of serum hepatitis in blood for transfusions.[93]
A 2006 Awake! highlighted dangers from transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), citing a New Scientist report that suggested it was the cause of as many as 55200 reactions and 500 deaths in the United States in 2002.[94][95]
Critical views[edit]
Opposition to the Watch Tower doctrines on blood transfusions has come from both inside and outside the religion. A group of dissident Witnesses known as Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood (AJWRB) states that there is no biblical basis for the prohibition of blood transfusions and seeks to have some policies changed.[96] In a series of articles in the Journal of Medical Ethics American neurologist Osamu Muramoto, who is a medical adviser to the AJWRB, has raised issues including what he claims is coercion to refuse transfusions, doctrinal inconsistency, selective use of information by the Watch Tower Society to exaggerate the dangers of transfusions and the use of outdated medical beliefs.
Scriptural interpretation[edit]
Dissident Witnesses say the Society's use of Leviticus 17:12 to support its opposition to blood transfusions[97][98] conflicts with its own teachings that Christians are not under the Mosaic law.[99][100] Theologian Anthony Hoekema claims the blood prohibited in Levitical laws was not human, but animal. He cites other authors[101] who support his view that the direction at Acts 15 to abstain from blood was intended not as an everlasting covenant but a means of maintaining a peaceful relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He has described as "absurd literalism" the Witnesses' use of a scriptural prohibition on eating blood to prohibit the medical transfusion of human blood.[102]
Coercion[edit]
Osamu Muramoto has argued that the refusal by Jehovah's Witnesses of "life-saving" blood treatment[103] creates serious bio-medical ethical issues. He has criticized the "controlling intervention" of the Watch Tower Society by means of what he claims is information control and its policy of penalising members who accept blood transfusions or advocate freedom to choose blood-based treatment.[100][103] He says the threat of being classified as a disassociated Witness and subsequently shunned by friends and relatives who are members coerces Jehovah's Witnesses to accept and obey the prohibition on blood transfusions.[8][100][104] In one particular case involving a Russian district court decision, however, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found nothing in the judgments to suggest that any form of improper pressure or undue influence was applied. It noted: "On the contrary, it appears that many Jehovah’s Witnesses have made a deliberate choice to refuse blood transfusions in advance, free from time constraints of an emergency situation." The court said: "The freedom to accept or refuse specific medical treatment, or to select an alternative form of treatment, is vital to the principles of self-determination and personal autonomy. A competent adult patient is free to decide ... not to have a blood transfusion. However, for this freedom to be meaningful, patients must have the right to make choices that accord with their own views and values, regardless of how irrational, unwise or imprudent such choices may appear to others."[105]
Muramoto has claimed the intervention of Hospital Liaison Committees can add to "organisational pressure" applied by family members, friends and congregation members on Witness patients to refuse blood-based treatment. He notes that while HLC members, who are church elders, "may give the patient 'moral support', the influence of their presence on the patient is known to be tremendous. Case reports reveal JW patients have changed their earlier decision to accept blood treatment after a visit from the elders." He claims such organizational pressure compromises the autonomy of Witness patients and interferes with their privacy and confidentiality. He has advocated a policy in which the Watch Tower organization and congregation elders would not question patients on the details of their medical care and patients would not disclose such information. He says the Society adopted such a policy in 1983 regarding details of sexual activity between married couples.[106][107][108]
Watch Tower spokesman Donald T. Ridley says neither elders nor HLC members are instructed or encouraged to probe into the health care decisions of Witness patients and do not involve themselves in patient hospitalisations unless patients request their assistance. Yet Watchtower HLC representative David Malyon says he would respond to "sin" of Witnesses he is privy to by effectively saying "Are you going to tell them or shall I!"[109] Nevertheless Ridley says Muramoto's suggestion that Witnesses should be free to disregard Watch Tower scriptural teachings and standards is preposterous. He says loving God means obeying commandments, not disobeying them and hiding one's disobedience from others.[108][110]
Muramoto recommends doctors have a private meeting with patients to discuss their wishes, and that church elders and family members not be present, enabling patients to feel free of church pressure. He suggests doctors question patients on (a) whether they have considered that the Watch Tower Society might soon approve some medical practices they currently find objectionable, in the same manner that it has previously abandoned its opposition to vaccination and organ transplants; (b) whether Witness patients know which blood components are allowed and which are prohibited, and whether they acknowledge that those rulings are organizational policy rather than biblical teachings; and (c) whether they realize that although some Bible scriptures proscribe the eating of blood, eating and transfusing blood have entirely different effects on the body.[111] English HLC representative David Malyon has responded that Muramoto's suggested questions are an affront to coerce Jehovah's Witnesses with "complicated philosophical inquisition" and, if used by doctors, would be "an abusive transformation of the medical role of succour and care into that of devil's advocate and trickster".[109]
Selective use of information[edit]
Muramoto has claimed many Watch Tower Society publications employ exaggeration and emotionalism to emphasize the dangers of transfusions and the advantages of alternative treatments, but presents a distorted picture by failing to report any benefits of blood-based treatment. Nor do its publications acknowledge that in some situations, including rapid and massive haemorrhage, there are no alternatives to blood transfusions.[100][112] He claims Watch Tower Society publications often discuss the risk of death as a result of refusing blood transfusions, but give little consideration to the prolonged suffering and disability, producing an added burden on family and society, that can result from refusal.[113] Attorney and former Witness Kerry Louderback-Wood[114] also claims that Witness publications exaggerate the medical risks of taking blood and the efficiency of non-blood medical therapies in critical situations.[115]
Douglas E. Cowan, an academic in the sociology of religion, has claimed that members of the Christian countercult movement who criticize the Watch Tower Society, make selective use of information themselves. For example, Christian apologist Richard Abanes wrote that their ban on blood transfusions, "has led to countless Witness deaths over the years, including many children."[116] Cowan wrote: "When the careful reader checks [Abanes' footnote], however, looking perhaps for some statistical substantiation, he or she finds only a statistical conjecture based on 1980 Red Cross blood use figures." Cowan also says Abanes omits "critical issues" in an attempt to "present the most negative face possible." Cowan wrote that "the reader is left with the impression that the Watchtower Society knowingly presides over a substantial number of preventable deaths each year."[117]
Outdated medical beliefs[edit]
Osamu Muramoto says the Watch Tower Society relies on discarded, centuries-old medical beliefs to support its assertion that blood transfusions are the same as eating blood.[118] A 1990 Watch Tower brochure on blood quoted a 17th-century anatomist to support its view.[119] Muramoto says the view that blood is nourishment—still espoused in Watch Tower publications[120]—was abandoned by modern medicine many decades ago.[100] He has criticized an analogy commonly used by the Society[121] in which it states: "Consider a man who is told by the doctor that he must abstain from alcohol. Would he be obedient if he quit drinking alcohol but had it put directly into his veins?"[118] Muramoto says the analogy is false, explaining: "Orally ingested alcohol is absorbed as alcohol and circulated as such in the blood, whereas orally eaten blood is digested and does not enter the circulation as blood. Blood introduced directly into the veins circulates and functions as blood, not as nutrition. Hence, blood transfusion is a form of cellular organ transplantation. And ... organ transplants are now permitted by the WTS."[100] He says the objection to blood transfusions on the basis of biblical proscriptions against eating blood is similar to the refusal of a heart transplant on the basis that a doctor warned a patient to abstain from eating meat because of his high cholesterol level.[122]
David Malyon, chairman of the English Hospital Liaison Committee in Luton, England, has claimed that Muramoto's discussion of the differences between consuming blood and alcohol is pedantic and says blood laws in the Bible are based upon the reverence for life and its association with blood, and that laws should be kept in the spirit as much as in the letter.[109]
Inconsistency[edit]
Muramoto has described as peculiar and inconsistent the Watch Tower policy of acceptance of all the individual components of blood plasma as long as they are not taken at the same time.[100] He says the Society offers no biblical explanation for differentiating between prohibited treatments and those considered a "matter of conscience", explaining the distinction is based entirely on arbitrary decisions of the Governing Body, to which Witnesses must adhere strictly of the premise of them being Bible-based "truth".[100] He has questioned why white blood cells (1 per cent of blood volume) and platelets (0.17 per cent) are forbidden, yet albumin (2.2 per cent of blood volume) is permitted.[100] He has questioned why donating blood and storing blood for autologous transfusion is deemed wrong, but the Watch Tower Society permits the use of blood components that must be donated and stored before Witnesses use them.[123] He has questioned why Witnesses, although viewing blood as sacred and symbolizing life, are prepared to let a person die by placing more importance on the symbol than the reality it symbolizes.[112]
Kerry Louderback-Wood alleges that by labeling the currently acceptable blood fractions as "minute" in relation to whole blood, the Watch Tower organization causes followers to misunderstand the scope and extent of allowed fractions.[115]
Witnesses respond that the real issue is not of the fluid per se, but of respect and obedience to God.[124][125] They say their principle of abstaining from blood as a display of respect is demonstrated by the fact that members are allowed to eat meat that still contains some blood. As soon as blood is drained from an animal, the respect has been shown to God, and then a person can eat the meat even though it may contain a small amount of blood.[126] Jehovah's Witnesses' view of meat and blood is different from that of kosher Jewish adherents, who go to great lengths to remove minor traces of blood.[127][128]
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses § Blood
Further reading[edit]
Sloan JM, Ballen K (May 2008). "SCT in Jehovah's Witnesses: the bloodless transplant". Bone Marrow Transplant. 41 (10): 837–44. doi:10.1038/bmt.2008.5. PMID 18246110.
Bayam L, Tait WF, Macartney ID (2007). "Successful repair of a giant abdominal aortoiliac aneurysm in a Jehovah's Witness". Vasc Endovascular Surg 41 (5): 460–2. doi:10.1177/1538574407303172. PMID 17942864.
Massiah N, Athimulam S, Loo C, Okolo S, Yoong W (October 2007). "Obstetric care of Jehovah's Witnesses: a 14-year observational study". Arch Gynecol Obstet. 276 (4): 339–43. doi:10.1007/s00404-007-0346-0. PMID 17522882.
Putney, Leeann J. (July–September 2007), [Putney LJ (Jul–September 2007). "Bloodless cardiac surgery: not just possible, but preferable" (– SCHOLAR SEARCH). Crit Care Nurs Q 30 (3): 263–70. doi:10.1097/01.CNQ.0000278927.44691.8c. PMID 17579310. Check date values in: |date= (help)[dead link]
Eilers June, Rounds Luisa (2007). "Blood Transfusion or Not: A Literature Review of Bloodless Interventions to Treat Cancer Related Anemia". Oncology Nursing Forum 34 (2): 553–554.
See also[edit]
Blood transfusions
Bloodless surgery
Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
Knocking, a documentary on Witnesses that features bloodless medicine.
The Children Act, a novel by Ian McEwan in which the issue is central to the plot.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Keep Yourself in God's Love, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2008, page 77.
2.Jump up ^ Manya A. Brachear, "More doctors honor religious objections to blood transfusions", Chicago Tribune, 9 October 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Evans, Allan S.; Riley E. Moynes; Larry Martinello (1973). What man Believes: A study of the World's Great Faiths. McGraw-Hill Ryerson. p. 361. ISBN 0-07-077440-4. "Two elements of belief are probably better known than any other among non-Witnesses. One is the refusal to fight in war ... the other well-known belief is the refusal to accept blood transfusions."
4.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?. Watch Tower Society. pp. 3–7.
5.^ Jump up to: a b "Be Guided by the Living God", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 22.
6.Jump up ^ "Godly Respect for Blood", The Watchtower, September 1, 1986, page 25.
7.Jump up ^ Muramoto, O (December 1999). "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy.". Journal of medical ethics 25 (6): 463–8. PMC 479294. PMID 10635499.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Muramoto, O. (6 January 2001). "Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses". BMJ 322 (7277): 37–39. doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7277.37. PMC 1119307. PMID 11141155.
9.Jump up ^ Little, Jane (June 14, 2000). "Jehovah's Witnesses drop transfusion ban". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2004-06-18. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Jehovah's Witnesses Public Affairs Office press release, June 14, 2000.
11.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol 26, pages 375-380.
12.Jump up ^ Tom Blackwell, "Without fanfare, Jehovah’s Witnesses quietly soften position on blood transfusions", National Post, 20 December 2012.
13.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1990 p. 24, "God told all mankind that they must not eat blood. Why? Because blood represents life."
14.^ Jump up to: a b Awake!, August 2006 p. 11, "He also gave them his reason, equating blood with the soul, or life, of the creature. He later said: 'The soul [or life] is in the blood.' In the eyes of the Creator, blood is sacred. It represents the precious gift of life that each living soul possesses."
15.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 p. 21
16.^ Jump up to: a b The Watchtower, February 1, 1997 p. 29
17.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 1, 1969 pp. 326, 327
18.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1986 p. 25
19.Jump up ^ October 15, 2000 Watchtower, p. 31
20.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2004 P.24 par. 16
21.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1989, p. 31
22.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h The Watchtower, June 15, 2000 pp. 29-31
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j The Watchtower, October 15, 2000 pp. 30-31
24.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2006 pages 3,4 para.1-6
25.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witness letter to Cliff Roche, July 30, 2001 (Published in the book Three Dissertations on the Teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, by Greg Stafford, 2002 ISBN 0-9659814-2-8)
26.Jump up ^ Instructions for Filling in The Advance Decision Document, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2005 p.1. This document specifically applies the term "transfusion" to a Jehovah's Witness patient having blood returned to their cardiovascular system after it was completely removed from their body.
27.Jump up ^ West, James. "Informed refusal — the Jehovah's Witness patient", Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology: A Case-Based Textbook, Cambridge University Press, 2011 pp. 19-26.
28.Jump up ^ Farmer S, Webb D, Your Body Your Choice: The Layman's Complete Guide to Bloodless Medicine and Surgery, 2000; pages 11, 14, 75
29.^ Jump up to: a b c Ariga et al., Legal Medicine, 5 (2003) S72-S75
30.Jump up ^ [1], [2], [3], and [4] - successful cases of bloodless surgery
31.Jump up ^ Spence et al., Transfusion May 2003; Vol. 43 p. 668
32.Jump up ^ Transfusion-Free Medicine, edited by Dr Nicolas Jabbour, 2005 p. 13
33.Jump up ^ "Are You Ready to Face a Faith-Challenging Medical Situation?", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990.
34.Jump up ^ "Youths Who Have Power Beyond What Is Normal", Awake!, May 22, 1994, pages 9-15.
35.Jump up ^ Richards, Edward; Rathbun, Katharine (1983). "Medical Risk Management: Preventive Legal Strategies for Health Care Providers". http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/Books/aspen/Aspen.html. Chapter Nine, The Emergency Exception: Aspen Systems Corporation. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
36.Jump up ^ Hartman, Kurt; Liang, Bryan (March 1999). "Exceptions to Informed Consent in Emergency Medicine" (PDF). Hospital Physician 35 (3): 53–55. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
37.Jump up ^ American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics (1997). "Religious objections to medical care". Pediatrics 99 (2): 279–281. doi:10.1542/peds.99.2.279. PMID 9024462.
38.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1988, page 4.
39.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Witnesses—1998 Yearbook Report", 1998 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©1997 Watch Tower, page 23
40.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Witnesses—1996 Yearbook Report", 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©1997 Watch Tower, page 26
41.Jump up ^ "Bridging the Gap Between Doctors and Witness Patients", Awake!, November 22, 1990, page 21
42.Jump up ^ "Are You Ready to Face a Faith-Challenging Medical Situation?", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990, page 3.
43.^ Jump up to: a b September 2002 Certificate of Recognition issued by Society for the Advancement of Blood Management, available online at http://www.jw-media.org/gbl/20021118.htm
44.^ Jump up to: a b January 3, 2006 Letter from Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses; To all Congregations
45.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, November 1990 p. 3
46.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2005, page 3
47.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 2004, page 7, emphasis added to quote
48.Jump up ^ "Service Meeting Schedule", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 2006, page 2
49.Jump up ^ "Argentina", 2001 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©2000 Watch Tower, page 212
50.Jump up ^ ""Follow Me Continually"", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2006, page 1
51.Jump up ^ "No One Has Love Greater Than This", Come Be My Follower, ©2007 Watch Tower, pages 178-179
52.^ Jump up to: a b Findley LJ, Redstone PM (March 1982). "Blood transfusion in adult Jehovah's Witnesses. A case study of one congregation". Arch Intern Med. 142 (3): 606–7. doi:10.1001/archinte.142.3.606. PMID 7065795.
 This article presents a consensual survey of one congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where the congregation elders provided the names and addresses of members, and the elders knew precisely the nature of the survey. 59 responses were received. Of the 59, 7 stipulated they would accept plasma transfusion (Table 1 on page 607). This result compelled Findley and Redstone to comment, "there is either some lack of understanding or refusal to follow doctrine among some members". Whether from misunderstanding or refusal to follow doctrine, at no point did Findley and Redstone question whether these responders had honestly expressed their personal conviction. Findley and Redstone also stipulated their methodology may have skewed the results towards official Jehovah's Witness doctrine. (Local elders provided the names to be surveyed, and those surveyed knew local elders would see the results of the study.) The authors also admit that this study may not describe the beliefs of "less religious Jehovah's Witnesses".
53.Jump up ^ Kaaron Benson, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Cancer Control Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, November/December 1995
54.^ Jump up to: a b Gyamfi C, Berkowitz RL (September 2004). "Responses by pregnant Jehovah's Witnesses on health care proxies". Obstet Gynecol 104 (3): 541–4. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000135276.25886.8e. PMID 15339766. "This review refutes the commonly held belief that all Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to accept blood or any of its products. In this population of pregnant women, the majority were willing to accept some form of blood or blood products."
55.Jump up ^ Knuti KA, Amrein PC, Chabner BA, Lynch TJ, Penson RT (2002). "Faith, identity, and leukemia: when blood products are not an option". Oncologist 7 (4): 371–80. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.7-4-371. PMID 12185299.
 "Ms. LF stated that she was a Jehovah's Witness and asserted with an advanced [sic] directive that she did not want blood product support…. The risks and benefits of continuing therapy were discussed with Ms. LF. She remained adamant in her refusal of blood products and repeated that she wanted to continue treatment and to 'die fighting' her disease."
56.Jump up ^ Migden DR, Braen GR (August 1998). "The Jehovah's Witness blood refusal card: ethical and medicolegal considerations for emergency physicians". Acad Emerg Med 5 (8): 815–24. doi:10.1111/j.1553-2712.1998.tb02510.x. PMID 9715245.
Ridley DT (August 1998). "Honoring Jehovah's Witnesses' advance directives in emergencies: a response to Drs. Migden and Braen". Acad Emerg Med 5 (8): 824–35. doi:10.1111/j.1553-2712.1998.tb02511.x. PMID 9715246.
57.Jump up ^ The Watchtower August 1, 1958 p. 478
58.Jump up ^ The Watchtower January 15, 1961 p. 63
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower October 15, 1987 p. 14, "Three areas for attention were mentioned: secretly accepting a blood transfusion, masturbation, and alcohol abuse. After considering that material, quite a number of readers wrote letters of appreciation; they admitted that they had had those faults, but they had been moved to repent and change."
60.Jump up ^ Kaaron Benson, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute Cancer Control Journal, Vol. 2, No. 4, November/December 1995, "Therefore, while most adult Jehovah's Witness patients were unwilling to accept blood for themselves, most Jehovah's Witness parents permitted transfusions for their minor children, and many of the young adult patients also were willing to accept transfusions for themselves." Available online at http://www.moffitt.org/moffittapps/ccj/v2n6/article13.html
61.Jump up ^ "Where Are the Faithful?", Awake!, April 8, 1996, p. 4, "Nowadays official church dogma may bear scant resemblance to the personal beliefs of those who profess that particular religion."
62.Jump up ^ Thomas JM (February 2005). "Responses by pregnant Jehovah's Witnesses on health care proxies". Obstet Gynecol 105 (2): 441; author reply 442–3. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000149842.31312.e4. PMID 15684182.
63.Jump up ^ Buber, M., Under Two Dictators, 1949 pp. 222, 235-237. Buber states the Jehovah's Witness prisoners all ate blood sausage, until around 1943. At that time she relates that 25 of the 275 Jehovah's Witness prisoners refused to eat blood sausage. She underlines the fact that this occurred in the presence of knowledge of Biblical statements regarding blood.
64.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, November 15, 1892 p. 351, "It will be noticed that nothing is said about keeping the ten commandments, nor any part of the Jewish law. It was evidently taken for granted that having received the spirit of Christ the new law of love would be a general regulation for them. The things mentioned were merely to guard against stumbling themselves or becoming stumbling blocks to others."
65.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, April 15, 1909 pp. 116-117, "These prohibitions had never come to the Gentiles, because they had never been under the Law Covenant; but so deeply rooted were the Jewish ideas on this subject that it was necessary to the peace of the Church that the Gentiles should observe this matter also ... these items thus superadded to the Law of Love should be observed by all spiritual Israelites as representing the Divine will."
66.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, October 15, 1919 p. 47, "A serious difficulty which has been overcome in the use of plywood for airplanes construction was the making from blood of a glue that will stand any quantity of moisture without letting go…. In this plywood, stronger than steel, we have an illustration of how the Lord can take characters, weak in themselves, and surround them with such influence and so fortify them by his promises as to make them "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" of error and sin.—2 Cor. 10:4"
67.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, December 17, 1924 p. 163, "Remarkable Tale of Womanly Heroism…. Fearing the death of the child, the woman deliberately cut her arms and breast with glass from the windshield to provide blood to keep the child alive during the cold nights. The child will recover, but the heroine is expected to die."
68.Jump up ^ Golden Age, July 29, 1925 p. 683
69.Jump up ^ "One Reason for God's Vengeance", The Watchtower, December 15, 1927, p. 371.
70.Jump up ^ Consolation: 19. December 25, 1940. "one of the attending physicians in the great emergency gave a quart of his own blood for transfusion, and today the woman lives and smiles gaily over what happened to her in the busiest 23 minutes of her life." Missing or empty |title= (help)
71.Jump up ^ "The Stranger's Right Maintained", The Watchtower, December 1, 1944, p. 362
72.Jump up ^ Vertroosting (Consolation), September 1945 p. 29, "Wanneer wij ons leven verliezen, doordat wij weigeren, inspuitingen te laten maken, dient zulks niet tot een getuigenis ter rechtvaardiging van Jehova's Naam. God heeft nooit bepalingen uitgevaardigd die het gebruik van medicijnen, inspuitingen of bloedtransfusie verbiedt. Het is een ultvinding van menschen, die gelijk de Farizeën Jehova's barmhartigheid laten."
73.Jump up ^ The Blood Transfusion Taboo of Jehovah’s Witnesses: Origin, Development and Function of a Controversial Doctrine, Social Science Medicine, Singelenbreg, R., 1990, Vol. 31, No. 4, p. 516.)
74.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1945, p. 198-201
75.Jump up ^ "Assume Your Christian Obligations", The Watchtower, March 1, 1966, p. 142, "In the counsel from the pages of this magazine there has been a note of increased strictness with regard to pure worship, the placing of additional obligations on each one individually, strict counsel on morals, honesty, neutrality and such requirements as showing respect for the sanctity of blood."
76.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 15, 1961, p. 63.
77.Jump up ^ Blood, Medicine, and the Law of God, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1961, p. 54
78.Jump up ^ Awake!, September 8, 1956 p. 20
79.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 15, 1961, p. 558
80.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1961, p. 670
81.Jump up ^ Durable Power of Attorney form, published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, January 2001 p. 1
82.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1964, p. 127-128
83.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1964, p. 680-683
84.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, p. 31
85.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1989 p. 30
86.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2000, p. 29-31
87.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 2000, p. 31
88.Jump up ^ Letter to All Presiding Overseers and Secretaries in the United States, Watchtower May 3, 2001, and Enclosure
89.Jump up ^ Letter to All Presiding Overseers and Secretaries in the United States, Watchtower December 20, 2001
90.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1951, p. 414
91.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 15, 1961, p. 563-564
92.Jump up ^ Awake!, July 8, 1969, p. 30
93.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 22, 1974, page 18.
94.Jump up ^ Awake!, August 2006.
95.Jump up ^ New Scientist 25 September 2002
96.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol.26, pages 375-380.
97.Jump up ^ "Rightly Value Your Gift of Life," The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 15.
98.Jump up ^ United in Worshop of the Only True God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1983, page 160.
99.Jump up ^ "What Does Jehovah Ask of Us Today?" The Watchtower, September 15, 1999, page 21.
100.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Osamu Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 1", Journal of Medical Ethics, August 1998, Vol 24, Issue 4, page 223-230.
101.Jump up ^ F. F. Bruce, Commentary on Acts, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1955, R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Acts of the Apostles, Wartburg Press, Columbus, Ohio, 1944.
102.Jump up ^ Hoekema, Anthony A. (1963). The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. pp. 249, 250. ISBN 0-8028-3117-6.
103.^ Jump up to: a b O. Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, December 1999, page 463.
104.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 296.
105.Jump up ^ ECHR Point number 136, 139
106.Jump up ^ O. Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses: Part 3. A proposal for a don't-ask-don't-tell policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, December 1999, page 467.
107.Jump up ^ "Honor Godly Marriage!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1983, page 31.
108.^ Jump up to: a b "Call for new approach to transfusion refusals", The Irish Times, February 27, 2010.
109.^ Jump up to: a b c David Malyon, "Transfusion-free treatment of Jehovah's Witnesses: respecting the autonomous patient's motives", Journal of Medical Ethics, 1998, Vol 24, page 380.
110.Jump up ^ Donald T. Ridley, "Jehovah's Witnesses' refusal of blood: obedience to scripture and religious conscience", Journal of Medical Ethics, 1999, Vol. 25, page 471.
111.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 298-299.
112.^ Jump up to: a b "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 301.
113.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 298.
114.Jump up ^ "Religion Today", New York Times, January 6, 2006
115.^ Jump up to: a b "Jehovah's Witnesses, Blood Transfusions and the Tort of Misrepresentation", Journal of Church and State, Autumn 2005, Volume 47, Number 4, p. 808: "[The Watchtower Society] builds a case that other doctors wish all surgeons would become bloodless surgeons, when in fact those doctors recognize the benefits of blood transfusions for those who are in desperate need."
116.Jump up ^ Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family: A Guide to Ten Non-Christian Groups Out to Convert Your Loved Ones p. 226
117.Jump up ^ Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult p. 146
118.^ Jump up to: a b Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, page 73.
119.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, page 6.
120.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, page 70.
121.Jump up ^ The analogy is used in The Watchtower, June 1, 1969, page 326, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, (1981, pg 167), Reasoning From the Scriptures (1989, pg 73), You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (1989, pg 216), Yearbook (1989, pg 57), What Does the Bible Teach (2005, pg 130) and Awake!, August 2006, page 11.
122.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 299.
123.Jump up ^ "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 2." Journal of Medical Ethics, October 1998, page 300.
124.Jump up ^ The Watchtower November 1, 1961 p. 669 Questions From Readers
125.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach? 2005 P.128
126.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower: 669. 1 November 1961. "The important thing is that respect has been shown for the sanctity of blood, regard has been shown for the principle of the sacredness of life. What God's law requires is that the blood be drained from the animal when it is killed, not that the meat be soaked in some special preparation to draw out every trace of it."
127.Jump up ^ OK Kosher Certification — Salting of Meat
128.Jump up ^ My Jewish Learning: Making Meat Kosher
External links[edit]
Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
How Can Blood Save Your Life? published by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
Why Don't Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions? from the official website
Bloodless Surgeries and Jehovah's Witnesses PBS Religion & Ethics
Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood
BBC News - Refusing blood 'source of regret'
Critique of Jehovah's Witnesses' blood policy by Raymond Franz, a former member of Jehovah' Witnesses' Governing Body
Ethical Issues in Compulsory Medical Treatment: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses teachings on blood from religioustolerance.org
The Jensen Letters—correspondence between a Jehovah's Witness elder and the Watchtower Society seeking answers to critical questions about important aspects of their blood doctrine. The correspondence begins in 1998 and concludes in 2003 with the writer's resignation as an elder.
  



Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
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Transfusion medicine
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New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

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Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (March 2013)

New World Translation
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in various languages and versions.jpg
Full name
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
Abbreviation
NWT
Language
127 languages
NT published
1950
Complete Bible
 published
1961
Textual basis
OT: Biblia Hebraica.
NT: Westcott & Hort.
Translation type
Formal Equivalence with occasional ventures into Dynamic equivalence[1][2]
Copyright
Copyright 1961, 1970, 1981, 1984, 2013 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Copies printed
208,366,928[3]

Genesis 1:1–3 [show]






John 3:16 [show]




The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1961; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.[4] Though it is not the first Bible to be published by the group, it is their first original translation of ancient Classical Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Old Aramaic biblical texts. As of December 2014, the Watch Tower Society has published 208 million copies of the New World Translation in 127 language editions.[5][6][7]



Contents  [hide]
1 History 1.1 Translators
1.2 Translation Services Department
1.3 2013 revision
2 Translation 2.1 Textual basis
2.2 Other languages
3 Features 3.1 Use of Jehovah
3.2 Editions 3.2.1 Kingdom Interlinear
3.3 Non-print editions
4 Critical review 4.1 Overall review
4.2 Old Testament
4.3 New Testament
5 See also
6 References
7 Further information 7.1 Online editions
7.2 Supportive
7.3 Neutral
7.4 Critical



History[edit]
Until the release of the NWT, Jehovah's Witnesses in English-speaking countries primarily used the King James Version.[8][9] According to the publishers, one of the main reasons for producing a new translation was that most Bible versions in common use, including the Authorized Version (King James), employed archaic language. The stated intention was to produce a fresh translation, free of archaisms.[10] Additionally, over the centuries since the King James Version was produced, more copies of earlier manuscripts of the original texts in the Hebrew and Greek languages have become available. The publishers claimed better manuscript evidence had made it possible to determine with greater accuracy what the original writers intended, particularly in more obscure passages. They said linguists better understood certain aspects of the original Hebrew and Greek languages than previously.[11]
In October 1946, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, proposed a fresh translation of the New Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses usually refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures.[12] Work began on December 2, 1947 when the "New World Bible Translation Committee" was formed, composed of Jehovah's Witnesses who claimed to be anointed.[13][14] The Watch Tower Society is said to have "become aware" of the committee's existence a year later. The committee agreed to turn over its translation to the Society for publication[15] and on September 3, 1949, Knorr convened a joint meeting of the board of directors of both the Watch Tower Society's New York and Pennsylvania corporations where he again announced to the directors the existence of the committee[16] and that it was now able to print its new modern English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Several chapters of the translation were read to the directors, who then voted to accept it as a gift.[15]
The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was released at a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950. The translation of the Old Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses refer to as the Hebrew Scriptures, was released in five volumes in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960. The complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released as a single volume in 1961, and has since undergone minor revisions.[17] Cross references which had appeared in the six separate volumes were updated and included in the complete volume in the 1984 revision.[18]
In 1961 the Watch Tower Society began to translate the New World Translation into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; the New Testament in these languages was released simultaneously on July 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By 1989 the New World Translation was translated into eleven languages, with more than 56,000,000 copies printed.[19]

Translators[edit]
The New World Translation was produced by the New World Bible Translation Committee, formed in 1947. This committee is said to have comprised unnamed members of multinational background.[20] The committee requested that the Watch Tower Society not publish the names of its members,[21][22] stating that they did not want to "advertise themselves but let all the glory go to the Author of the Scriptures, God,"[23] adding that the translation, "should direct the reader... to... Jehovah God".[24] The publishers believe that "the particulars of [the New World Bible Translation Committee's members] university or other educational training are not the important thing" and that "the translation testifies to their qualification".[24] Former high ranking Watch Tower staff have claimed knowledge of the translators' identities.[25] Walter Martin identified Nathan H. Knorr, Fredrick W. Franz, Albert D. Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel as members of the translation team, writing of them, "The New World Bible translation committee had no known translators with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation... None of these men had any university education except Franz, who left school after two years, never completing even an undergraduate degree." Franz had stated that he was familiar with not only Hebrew, but with Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French for the purpose of biblical translation.[26] In his critique of the NWT, K. J. Baumgarten wrote, the “NWT must be evaluated on its own merits, the qualifications of the committee members are not as relevant as the quality of their work product.”[27]
Translation Services Department[edit]



 New World translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 edition).
In 1989 a Translation Services Department was established at the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses, overseen by the Writing Committee of the Governing Body. The goal of the Translation Services Department was to accelerate Bible translation with the aid of computer technology. Previously, some Bible translation projects lasted twenty years or more. Under the direction of the Translation Services Department, translation of the Old Testament in a particular language may be completed in as little as two years. During the period from 1963 to 1989, the New World Translation became available in ten additional languages. Since the formation of the Translation Services Department in 1989, there has been a significant increase in the number of languages in which the New World Translation has been made available.[28][29]
2013 revision[edit]
At the Watch Tower Society's annual meeting on October 5, 2013, a significantly revised translation was released. Many outdated terms were replaced with modern English. Parts of chapter 8 of the Gospel of John and the alternative conclusions to the Gospel of Mark—were removed. The new revision was also released as part of an app called JW Library.[30]
Translation[edit]
Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
According to the Watch Tower Society, the New World Translation attempts to convey the intended sense of original-language words according to the context. The New World Translation employs nearly 16,000 English expressions to translate about 5,500 biblical Greek terms, and over 27,000 English expressions to translate about 8,500 Hebrew terms. The translators state that, where possible in the target language, the New World Translation prefers literal renderings and does not paraphrase the original text.[31]
Textual basis[edit]
The master text used for translating the Old Testament into English was Kittel's Biblia Hebraica. The Hebrew texts, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and Biblia Hebraica Quinta, were used for preparing the latest version of this translation. Other works consulted in preparing the translation include Aramaic Targums, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Torah, the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Masoretic Text, the Cairo Codex, the Aleppo Codex, Christian David Ginsburg's Hebrew Text, and the Leningrad Codex.[32][33]
Diagrammatic representation of textual basis






Hebrew (click to expand)






Greek (click to expand)


The Greek master text by the Cambridge University scholars B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort (1881) was used as the basis for translating the New Testament into English. The committee also referred to the Novum Testamentum Graece (18th edition, 1948) and to works by Catholic Jesuit scholars José M. Bover (1943) and Augustinus Merk (1948). The United Bible Societies' text (1975) and the Nestle-Aland text (1979) were used to update the footnotes in the 1984 version. Additional works consulted in preparing the New World Translation include the Armenian Version, Coptic Versions, the Latin Vulgate, Sixtine and Clementine Revised Latin Texts, Textus Receptus, the Johann Jakob Griesbach's Greek text, the Emphatic Diaglott, and various papyri.[32]
Other languages[edit]
Translation into other languages is based on the English text, supplemented by comparison with the Hebrew and Greek.[34] As of early 2015, the complete New World Translation has been published in 74 languages or scripts, with the New Testament available in an additional 53 languages.[5][6]
Translators are given a list of words and expressions commonly used in the English New World Translation with related English words grouped together (e.g. atone, atonement or propitiation); these are intended to alert the translators to various shades of meaning. A list of vernacular equivalents is then composed. If a translator has difficulty rendering a verse, the computer research system can provide information on Greek and Hebrew terms and provides access to supplemental publications. Using a search-and-replace tool, vernacular terms in the target language are then automatically inserted into the Bible text. Further editing and translation is then performed to produce a final version.[28]
The complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is available in 74 languages as of December 2014: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani (Cyrillic and Latin scripts), Bulgarian, Cebuano, Chichewa, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional or Pinyin), Chitonga, Cibemba, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Efik, English (also Braille), Estonian, Ewe, Fijian, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hiligaynon, Hungarian, Igbo, Iloko, Indonesian, Italian (also Braille), Japanese, Kazakh, Kikaonde, Kinyarwanda, Kirghiz, Kirundi, Korean, Lingala, Macedonian, Malagasy, Maltese, Norwegian, Ossetian, Polish, Portuguese (also Braille), Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Sepedi, Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin scripts), Sesotho, Shona, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (also Braille), Sranantongo, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tsonga, Tswana, Turkish, Ukrainian, Twi (Akuapem and Asante), Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu.
The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures is available in an additional 46 languages as of February 2015: Cambodian, Chitumbuka, Ga, Gun, Guarani, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hiri Motu, Kannada, Kiluba, Kiribati (Gilbertese), Kongo, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luo, Luganda, Luvale, Malay, Malayalam, Maya, Myanmar, Nepali, Otetela, Pangasinan, Papiamento (Curaçao), Persian, Punjabi, Sango, Silozi, Solomon Islands Pidgin, Swati, Tamil, Tatar, Tetum, Thai, Tigrinya, Tok Pisin, Tongan, Tshiluba, Tuvaluan, Tzotzil, Uzbek, Venda, Vietnamese, Waray-Waray.
The New World Translation is also available on DVD in part in 7 languages as of 2013: American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language, Colombian Sign Language, Italian Sign Language, Korean Sign Language, Mexican Sign Language, and Russian Sign Language.
When the Writing Committee approves the translation of the Bible into a new language, it appoints a group of baptized Jehovah's Witnesses to serve as a translation team. Team members generally have experience in translating the Watch Tower Society's publications, and receive additional training in the principles of Bible translation and in the use of computer programs developed specifically for the task. These systems do not perform actual translation, but assist the translators by keeping track of their translation decisions.
Features[edit]
The layout resembles the 1901 edition of the American Standard Version. The translators use the terms "Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures" and "Christian Greek Scriptures" rather than "Old Testament" and "New Testament", stating that the use of "testament" was based on a misunderstanding of 2 Corinthians 3:14.[35] Headings were included at the top of each page to assist in locating texts; these have been replaced in the 2013 revision by an "Outline of Contents" introducing each Bible book. There is also an index listing scriptures by subject.
Square brackets [ ] were added around words that were inserted editorially, but were removed as of the 2006 printing. Double brackets [[ ]] were used to indicate text considered doubtful. The pronoun "you" was printed in small capitals (i.e., YOU) to indicate plurality, as were some verbs when plurality may be unclear. These features were discontinued in the 2013 release. The New World Translation attempts to indicate progressive rather than completed actions, such as "proceeded to rest" at Genesis 2:2 instead of "rested". The 2013 release indicates progressive verbs only where considered contextually important.
Use of Jehovah[edit]
Main article: Jehovah
The name Jehovah is a translation of the Tetragrammaton (Hebrew: יהוה‎, transliterated as YHWH), although the original pronunciation is unknown. The New World Translation uses the name Jehovah 6,979 times in the Old Testament.[36] The Watch Tower Society notes that the Tetragrammaton appears in "the oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagint".[37] In reference to the Septuagint, biblical scholar Paul E. Kahle stated, "We now know that the Greek Bible text as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the Divine name by Kyrios, but the Tetragrammaton written with Hebrew or Greek letters was retained in such MSS (manuscripts). It was the Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton by Kyrios, when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more."[38]
The New World Translation also uses the name Jehovah 237 times in the New Testament where the extant texts use only the Greek words kurios (Lord) and theos (God).[39] Walter Martin, an evangelical minister, wrote, "It can be shown from literally thousands of copies of the Greek New Testament that not once does the tetragrammaton appear."[40] However, the translators of the New World Translation believed that the name Jehovah was present in the original manuscripts of the New Testament when quoting from the Old Testament, but replaced with the other terms by later copyists. Based on this reasoning, the translators "restored the divine name", though it is not present in any extant manuscripts.[41][42]
The use of Jehovah in the New Testament is not unique to the NWT; translations in English with similar renderings include A Literal Translation of the New Testament ... From the Text of the Vatican Manuscript (Heinfetter, 1863); The Emphatic Diaglott (Wilson, 1864); The Epistles of Paul in Modern English (Stevens, 1898); St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Rutherford, 1900); The Christian’s Bible — New Testament (LeFevre, 1928) and The New Testament Letters (Wand, Bishop of London, 1946).
Editions[edit]
The New World Translation is distributed in print editions commonly referred to as "Large Print" (four volumes), "Reference", "Regular (or Standard) Hard Cover", "Regular (or Standard) Soft Cover".[43][44] The regular editions include several appendices containing arguments for various translation decisions, maps, diagrams and other information; and over 125,000 cross references. The reference edition contains the cross references and adds footnotes about translation decisions and additional appendices that provide further detail relating to certain translation decisions.[45] Many of the non-English translations lack footnotes and some add language-specific footnotes. The 1981 and 1984 revisions incorporated the booklet, Bible Topics for Discussion (previously published separately in 1977), which provides references to scriptures relating to various topics; this has been replaced in the 2013 revision with a simplified Introduction to God's Word.
Kingdom Interlinear[edit]
The New World Bible Translation Committee included the English text from the NWT in its 1969 and 1985 editions of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. It also incorporates the Greek text published by Westcott and Hort in The New Testament in the Original Greek and a literal word-for-word translation.[46][47]
Non-print editions[edit]
In 1978, the Watch Tower Society began producing recordings of the NWT on audio cassette,[48] with the New Testament released by 1981[49] and the Old Testament in three albums released by 1990.[50] In 2004, the NWT was released on compact disc in MP3 format in major languages.[51] Since 2008, audio downloads of the NWT have been made available in 18 languages in MP3 and AAC formats, including support for Podcasts.



 A diskette edition of the NWT released in 1993
In 1983, the English Braille edition of the NWT's New Testament was released;[52] the complete English Braille edition was released by 1988.[53] NWT editions have since become available in several additional Braille scripts.[54] Production of the NWT in American Sign Language began in 2006, with the complete New Testament made available by 2010;[55] sign language editions are also available for download.[56]
In 1992 a digital edition, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References, was released, as a set of seven 3½-inch 720 KB diskettes or four 5¼-inch 1.2 MB diskettes, using Folio View software. In 1993, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References/Insight on the Scriptures was released in English, as a set of 5¼-inch 1.2 MB or 3½-inch 1.44 MB diskettes, containing the New World Translation and Insight on the Scriptures. Since 1994, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References has been included in the Watchtower Library on CD-ROM, available only to baptized Jehovah's Witnesses.[57][58] The NWT is available online at the Watch Tower Society's official website in over 100 languages.[59][60] It is available for download in over 120 various languages in PDF, Mobipocket and EPUB formats. In 2013, an official application entitled JW Library was released on multiple platforms for tablets and mobile devices.[61]
Critical review[edit]

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Overall review[edit]
In its review of Bible translations released from 1955 to 1985, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary listed the New World Translation as one of the major modern translations.[62]
The New Catholic Encyclopedia says of the NWT reference edition: "[Jehovah's Witnesses]' translation of the Bible [has] an impressive critical apparatus. The work is excellent except when scientific knowledge comes into conflict with the accepted doctrines of the movement." It criticizes the NWT's rendering of Kyrios as "Jehovah" in 237 instances in the New Testament.[63]
Old Testament[edit]
Samuel Haas, in his 1955 review of the 1953 first volume of the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Journal of Biblical Literature, stated that although "this work indicates a great deal of effort and thought as well as considerable scholarship, it is to be regretted that religious bias was allowed to colour many passages."[64]
Professor Benjamin Kedar, a Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said in 1989: "In my linguistic research in connection with the Hebrew Bible and translations, I often refer to the English edition of what is known as the New World Translation. In so doing, I find my feeling repeatedly confirmed that this work [the NWT Old Testament] reflects an honest endeavor to achieve an understanding of the text that is as accurate as possible."[65]
Regarding the NWT's use of English in the 1953 first volume of the NWT (Genesis to Ruth), Dr. Harold H. Rowley (1890–1969) was critical of what he called "wooden literalism" and "harsh construction." He characterized these as "an insult to the Word of God", citing various verses of Genesis as examples. Rowley concluded, "From beginning to end this [first] volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated."[66] Rowley's published review is dated January 1953, six months before the volume was actually released;[67][68] Rowley did not update his review following the July 1953 release or the 1961 revision, and he died before the release of the 1970 and later revisions.[69]
New Testament[edit]
A 2003 study by Jason BeDuhn, associate professor of religious studies at Northern Arizona University in the United States, of nine of "the Bibles most widely in use in the English-speaking world," including the New American Bible, The King James Bible and The New International Version, examined several New Testament passages in which "bias is most likely to interfere with translation." For each passage, he compared the Greek text with the renderings of each English translation, and looked for biased attempts to change the meaning. BeDuhn reported that the New World Translation was "not bias free", but emerged "as the most accurate of the translations compared", and thus a "remarkably good translation", adding that "most of the differences are due to the greater accuracy of the NW as a literal, conservative translation". BeDuhn said the introduction of the name "Jehovah" into the New Testament 237 times was "not accurate translation by the most basic principle of accuracy", and that it "violate[s] accuracy in favor of denominationally preferred expressions for God", adding that for the NWT to gain wider acceptance and prove its worth its translators might have to abandon the use of "Jehovah" in the New Testament.[70]
Theologian and televangelist John Ankerberg accused the NWT's translators of renderings that conform "to their own preconceived and unbiblical theology."[71] John Weldon and Ankerberg cite several examples wherein they consider the NWT to support theological views overriding appropriate translation. Ankerberg and Weldon cite Julius R. Mantey, co-author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament and A Hellenistic Greek Reader, who also criticized the NWT, calling it "a shocking mistranslation."[71][72]
William Barclay, Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism, concluded that "the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in the New Testament translation. ... It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest."[73]
Edgar J. Goodspeed, translator of the New Testament in An American Translation, wrote in a letter to the Watch Tower Society: "I am interested in the mission work of your people, and its world wide scope, and much pleased with the free, frank and vigorous translation. It exhibits a vast array of sound serious learning, as I can testify."[74]
Former American Bible Society board member Bruce M. Metzger concluded that "on the whole, one gains a tolerably good impression of the scholarly equipment of the translators,"[75] but identified instances where the translation has been written to support doctrine, with "several quite erroneous renderings of the Greek."[76] Metzger noted a number of "indefensible" characteristics of the translation, including its use of "Jehovah" in the New Testament.
Unitarian theologian Charles Francis Potter stated about the NWT: "Apart from a few semantic peculiarities like translating the Greek word stauros, as "stake" instead of "cross", and the often startling use of the colloquial and the vernacular, the anonymous translators have certainly rendered the best manuscript texts, both Greek and Hebrew, with scholarly ability and acumen."[77]
Religion writer and editor Alexander Thomson said of the NWT: "The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars, who have sought to bring out as much of the true sense of the Greek text as the English language is capable of expressing. ... We heartily recommend the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, published in 1950 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society."[78]
Thomas Winter, an instructor of Greek at the University of Nebraska and former president of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, considered the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures to be a "highly useful aid toward the mastery of koine (and classical) Greek," adding that the translation "is thoroughly up-to-date and consistently accurate."[79]
The Andover Newton Quarterly reported, "The translation of the New Testament is evidence of the presence in the movement of scholars qualified to deal intelligently with the many problems of Biblical translation. One could question why the translators have not stayed closer to the original meaning, as do most translators ... In not a few instances the New World Translation contains passages which must be considered as 'theological translations.' This fact is particularly evident in those passages which express or imply the deity of Jesus Christ."[80]
See also[edit]
Bible translations by language
Jehovah's Witnesses publications
List of Watch Tower Society publications
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jason D. Beduhn, Truth in Translation - Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament
2.Jump up ^ All Scripture Is Inspired by God and Beneficial1990 pg. 326 pars. 32-33 Study Number 7—The Bible in Modern Times: New World Translation A Literal Translation, 1990
3.Jump up ^ New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 Revision), page 4. Access date: 25 February 2014.
4.Jump up ^ "Are All Religions Good?", The Watchtower, August 1, 2009, page 4, "Jehovah’s Witnesses, produce a reliable Bible translation known as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. However, if you are not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, you may prefer to use other translations"
5.^ Jump up to: a b New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, Revised 2013, Total Printed of All Editions of New World Translation: 208,366,928 copies - over 120 languages (updated February, 2014), bi12-E, p.4
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Chitumbuka NT 1984 edition has latest numbers and language list of 122 languages, (updated February 26, 2014), bi7-TB, p.4
7.Jump up ^ 2013 Annual Meeting Report: Languages New World Translation is published has increased from 52 to 121
8.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, 1 November 1959, p. 672: "Up until 1950 the teachings of Jehovah’s witnesses were based mainly upon the King James Version of the Bible"
9.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 99. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7. "The King James Bible was used by the Witnesses prior to the release of their own version, which began with the Greek Scriptures, in 1950."
10.Jump up ^ "Announcements", The Watchtower, August 1, 1954, page 480
11.Jump up ^ "Bible Knowledge Made Plain Through Modern Translation", The Watchtower, October 15, 1961, page 636
12.Jump up ^ "Part Three—How the Bible Came to Us", The Watchtower, October 15, 1997, page 11, "With this objective, associates of the Society set out in 1946 to produce a fresh translation of the Scriptures. A translation committee of experienced anointed Christians was organized to produce the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in English."
13.Jump up ^ "Stand Complete and With Firm Conviction—The New World Translation Appreciated by Millions Worldwide", The Watchtower, November 15, 2001, page 7.
14.Jump up ^ "How the Governing Body Differs From a Legal Corporation:, The Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 30.
15.^ Jump up to: a b "New Bible Translation Completed, Released", The Watchtower, October 1, 1960, page 599.
16.Jump up ^ "New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures", The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, page 315.
17.Jump up ^ Watchtower October 1st, 1960 p. 601 par. 13
18.Jump up ^ Foreword, New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1984.
19.Jump up ^ All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial 1990 p. 331
20.Jump up ^ New York Times, August 3, 1950 p. 19.
21.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 15, 1950, p. 320
22.Jump up ^ Walsh vs Honorable James Latham, Court of Session Scotland, 1954, cross examination of Frederick Franz pp. 90-92
23.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1950, p. 454
24.^ Jump up to: a b The Watchtower, December 15, 1974, p. 768.
25.Jump up ^ Tony Wills, M.A., A People For His Name—A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and An Evaluation, Lulu, 2006. Originally published in 1967 by Vantage Press. "[Frederick] Franz is a language scholar of no mean ability—he supervised the translation of the Bible from the original languages into the New World Translation, completed in 1961." (p. 253)
26.Jump up ^ Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults—Expanded Anniversary Edition, October 1997, Bethany House Publishers, p. 123-124. "the New World Bible translation committee had no known translators with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation. While the members of the [NWT] committee have never been identified officially by the Watchtower, many Witnesses who worked at the headquarters during the translation period were fully aware of who the members were. They included Nathan H. Knorr (president of the Society at the time), Frederick W. Franz (who later succeeded Knorr as president), Albert D. Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel'."
27.Jump up ^ Kenneth J. Baumgarten, A Critique of The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures‍ '​ Treatment of Nine Texts Employing ΘΕΟΣ In Reference to Jesus Christp. 14
28.^ Jump up to: a b A Milestone for Lovers of God's Word (Watchtower October 15, 1999 pp. 30-31)
29.Jump up ^ 2012 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pg. 26
30.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses distribute free Bibles", The Daytona Beach News-Journal, October 26, 2013
31.Jump up ^ How Can You Choose a Good Bible Translation? (Watchtower May 1, 2008 pages 18-22)
32.^ Jump up to: a b "All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial" 1990 pp. 305-314
33.Jump up ^ How the Bible Came to Us, Appendix A3 of 2013 REVISION
34.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993) Chap. 27 p. 611, subheading Translation Into Other Languages.
35.Jump up ^ Appendix 7E in the New World Translation reference edition
36.Jump up ^ Revised New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Accessed 14 October 2013.
37.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. II pg. 9, 1988; Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
38.Jump up ^ The Cairo Geniza, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1959, pg. 222
39.Jump up ^ Bowman, Robert M. Understanding Jehovah's Witnesses. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House. 1991. P114
40.Jump up ^ Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults Revised, Updated, and Expanded Anniversary Edition, Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1997, Page 125.
41.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, August 1, 2008. Brooklyn, New York: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. 2008. pp. 18–23.
42.Jump up ^ "Lord". Insight on the Scriptures 2. p. 267.
43.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1988, page 4
44.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, page 614
45.Jump up ^ "Study—Rewarding and Enjoyable", The Watchtower, October 1, 2000, page 16
46.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published 1993 by Jehovah's Witnesses, "Chapter 27: Printing and Distributing God's Own Sacred Word", page 610
47.Jump up ^ ""Between-the-Lines" Translations of the Bible", The Watchtower, November 15, 1969, page 692.
48.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1978, page 3
49.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, October 1981, page 7
50.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1990, page 32
51.Jump up ^ Watchtower Publications Index 1986-2007, "Compact Discs"
52.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 1983, pages 3-4
53.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, published 1993 by Jehovah's Witnesses, "Chapter 27: Printing and Distributing God's Own Sacred Word", pages 614-615
54.Jump up ^ Awake!, November, 2007 p. 30
55.Jump up ^ 2007 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, published by Jehovah's Witnesses, pages 21-22
56.Jump up ^ Sign Language Connection on jw.org
57.Jump up ^ "The Compact Disc—What Is It All About?", Awake!, April 22, 1994, page 23
58.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 2007, page 3.
59.Jump up ^ "Watch Tower Online Library". Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
60.Jump up ^ "Online Bible-Jehovah’s Witnesses: jw.org". Watch Tower Society. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
61.Jump up ^ "JW Library APP-Jehovah’s Witnesses". Watch Tower Society. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
62.Jump up ^ Robert G. Bratcher, "English Bible, The" The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (revised and updated edition of Harper's Bible Dictionary, 1st ed. c1985), HarperCollins Publishers/The Society of Biblical Literature, 1996, p. 292.
63.Jump up ^ G. HÉBERT/EDS, "Jehovah's Witnesses", The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Gale, 20052, Vol. 7, p. 751.
64.Jump up ^ Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 74, No. 4, (Dec. 1955), p. 283.
65.Jump up ^ Interview quotation as cited by: "The Bible in Modern Times", "All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial", ©1990 Watch Tower, page 326
66.Jump up ^ H.H. Rowley, How Not To Translate the Bible, The Expository Times, 1953; 65; 41
67.Jump up ^ Life Magazine, July 1, 1953, Photo here
68.Jump up ^ "“Walk in the Name of Jehovah Our God for Ever”", The Watchtower, September 1, 1953, page 528, "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society released Volume I of the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures to the New World Society Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Yankee Stadium, New York city, N. Y., Wednesday afternoon, July 22, 1953."
69.Jump up ^ "The Bible in Modern Times", All Scripture..., ©1990 Watch Tower
70.Jump up ^ Jason D. BeDuhn, Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament, 2004, pages 163, 165, 169, 175, 176. BeDuhn compared the King James, the (New) Revised Standard, the New International, the New American Bible, the New American Standard Bible, the Amplified Bible, the Living Bible, Today's English and the NWT versions in Matthew 28:9, Philippians 2:6, Colossians 1:15-20, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, John 8:58, John 1:1.
71.^ Jump up to: a b See Ankerberg, John and John Weldon, 2003, The New World Translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses, accessible online
72.Jump up ^ Dr. Mantey made this comment on videotape. See the video "Witnesses of Jehovah", distributed by Impact Resources, P.O. Box 1169, Murrieta, CA, 92564
73.Jump up ^ R. Rhodes, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, The Essential Guide to Their History, Their Doctrine, and Our Response, Zondervan, 2001, p. 94
74.Jump up ^ "Loyally advocating the Word of God," The Watchtower (15 March 1982), p. 23.
75.Jump up ^ Metzger>UBS Metzger, Bruce M, The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, The Bible Translator 15/3 (July 1964), p. 151.
76.Jump up ^ Bruce M. Metzger, "Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ," Theology Today, (April 1953 p. 74); see also Metzger, "The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures,".
77.Jump up ^ The faiths men live by, Kessinger Publishing, 1954, 239. ISBN 1-4254-8652-5.
78.Jump up ^ Alexander Thomson, The Differentiator, 1952, 55,57 No. 2, 6
79.Jump up ^ Thomas N. Winter, Review of New World Bible Translation Committee's The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, Classics and Religious Studies Faculty Publications, Classics and Religious Studies Department, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, April–May 1974: 376
80.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses and their New Testament." Andover Newton Quarterly. 3.3 (1963): 31.
Further information[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
Online editions[edit]
New World Translation - Study Edition - Watchtower Online Library
Online Bible (1984 and 2013)
Supportive[edit]
Stafford, Greg: Jehovah's Witnesses Defended. [ISBN 0-9659814-7-9]
Furuli, Rolf: The Role of Theology and Bias in Bible Translation: With a special look at the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1999. [ISBN 0-9659814-9-5]
Byatt, Anthony and Flemings, Hal (editors): ‍ '​Your Word is Truth', Essays in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (1950, 1953), 2004. [ISBN 0-9506212-6-9]
The Coptic Evidence
In Defense of the New World Translation at the Wayback Machine (archived December 18, 2007)
Neutral[edit]
BeDuhn, Jason: Truth in Translation - Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament [ISBN 0-7618-2556-8]
The Names of God. Their Pronunciation and Their Translation. A Digital Tour of Some of the Main Witnesses.
Critical[edit]
Metzger, Bruce Manning, The Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus Christ: A Biblical and Theological Appraisal (Theology Today (April 1953), pp. 65-85).
"The New World Translation: What the Scholars Really Said" (www.forananswer.org)
Tetragrammaton in the New Testament
Kenneth J. Baumgarten, A Critique of The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures‍ '​ Treatment of Nine Texts Employing ΘΕΟΣ In Reference to Jesus Christ, South African Theological Seminary 2007.
Robert Countess: Jehovah's Witnesses' New Testament: A Critical Analysis, [ISBN 0-87552-210-6]
NWT and the Deity of Christ - A table showing NWT changes to key Christological passages, written from an evangelical perspective
Hiding the Divine Name Article critical of the Kingdom Interlinear Translation



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