Relationship With "faithful and Discreet Slave"
Until late 2012, the Governing Body described itself as the representative and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class" (the approximately 11,800 remaining anointed Jehovah's Witnesses) who are collectively said to be God's "prophet" and "channel for new spiritual light". At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was defined as referring to the Governing Body only and the terms are now synonymous. The Governing Body is said to provide "spiritual food" for Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide.
The Governing Body does not consult with other anointed Witnesses when formulating policy and doctrines or approving material for publications and conventions, and interprets the authority exercised by the older men of Jerusalem in cases such as the first-century circumcision issue as validation for its authority. In 2009, The Watchtower indicated that the dissemination of "new spiritual light" is the responsibility of only "a limited number" of the "slave class", asking: "Are all these anointed ones throughout the earth part of a global network that is somehow involved in revealing new spiritual truths? No." In 2010 the society explained that "deep truths" were discerned by "responsible representatives" of the "faithful and discreet slave class" at the religion's headquarters; those views are then considered by the entire Governing Body before it makes doctrinal decisions. In August 2011, the Governing Body cast doubt on other members' claims of being anointed, stating that "A number of factors—including past religious beliefs or even mental or emotional imbalance—might cause some to assume mistakenly that they have the heavenly calling." The Governing Body also stated that "we have no way of knowing the exact number of anointed ones on earth; nor do we need to know", and that it "does not maintain a global network of anointed ones."
The vast majority of Witnesses who profess to be anointed have no authority to contribute to the development or change of doctrines. Anointed Witnesses are instructed to remain modest and avoid "wildly speculating about things that are still unclear," instead waiting for God to reveal his purposes in The Watchtower.
Read more about this topic: Governing Body Of Jehovah's Witnesses
Famous quotes containing the words relationship with, relationship, faithful, discreet and/or slave:
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)
“The proper aim of education is to promote significant learning. Significant learning entails development. Development means successively asking broader and deeper questions of the relationship between oneself and the world. This is as true for first graders as graduate students, for fledging artists as graying accountants.”
—Laurent A. Daloz (20th century)
“A little in drink, but at all times your faithful husband.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
—Howard Brenton (b. 1942)
“Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service, there resides
To make me slave to it.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)