Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that their Governing Body, also known as “The Faithful & Discreet Slave” is God’s mouthpiece on earth. They believe that every official utterance they make, either orally or written, is spiritual food from God Himself. If the Governing Body is God’s mouthpiece on earth, then it is important that all Jehovah’s Witnesses carefully research to see whether these things are so (Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they accepted the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.Acts 17:11).

If anyone claims to be God’s mouthpiece on earth, there should not be any lies, false prophecies, no cover-ups, no distortions of truth, no misquoting of scriptures and/or individuals. Indeed “The Faithful & Discreet Slave” should be at the forefront of showing the fruitage of the spirit when directing what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe is God’s “spirit-directed organization”. All should be done with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness & faith, mildness, self-control (On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.Galatians 5:22, 23). Why? Because “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.Galatians 5:24 NIV).

Here are some things that Jehovah’s Witnesses have discovered when they honestly researched their religion and the men who claim to be God’s mouthpiece on earth.

The Finished Mystery

They Finished Mystery by Charles Taze Russell
For some Jehovah’s Witnesses, they found that simply reading the book, “The Finished Mystery” written by Clayton J. Woodworth and George Fisher with quotations verbatim from Charles T. Russell, authorized for publication & edited by J.F. Rutherford and published by The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. It was considered as Volume 7 of Studies in the Scriptures by those Bible Students who stayed in fellowship with Rutherford. The Finished Mystery is referenced in modern publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses as being a landmark book. However, the Governing Body are not eager for Jehovah’s Witnesses to read this book because most of what is contained in that book is not believed by modern-day Jehovah’s Witnesses. In fact, a lot of what is contained in that book is just plain false teachings, a sure lack of “goodness & faith”. Therefore, the reading of this book was enough for many Jehovah’s Witnesses to wake up to the fact that God’s “spirit-directed organization” was not directed by God’s spirit at all!

Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Millions Now Living Will Never Die was both a speech and a book by the second president of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Joseph F Rutherford. It included bold predictions for 1925 that never came to pass. Rutherford presented his case as a claim, he presented evidence, he challenged the clergy, he insulted big business and wall street, and he laid out his prediction for serial miracles in 1925. Surely, if J. F. Rutherford was a mouthpiece of God, the title would have been fulfilled, if not by 1925, by a time that millions living in the time that this speech was given could see if fulfilled. Instead, it’s clearly proven to be a lie. All those millions are now dead. 1925 came and went without any prophecy/miracle coming to pass. Why would God use liars as his mouthpiece? Clearly there was no “patience” or “self-control” by Rutherford. 
Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Beth-Sarim & the Burial of Rutherford

Beth-Sarim is an embarrassment for the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  In fact, it’s embarrassing for all Jehovah’s Witnesses, whether they are aware of the place or not. You can read more about Beth-Sarim here and Rutherford’s Burial at Beth-Sarim here.

Crisis of Conscience

Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz
In the early 1980’s one of the members of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses was disfellowshipped. His name was Raymond Franz, nephew of the then President of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, Frederick Franz. He subsequently wrote a book entitled Crisis of Conscience. That book was the first time in the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses that the public got a first-hand view of how the Governing Body operated within the confines of their offices at the world headquarters of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society in New York. This book proved to be an eye-opener for many Jehovah’s Witnesses. They began to realize that these were just ordinary, sinful men making huge decisions on behalf of their adherents without prayerfully considering the serious ramifications such decisions would produce. The book decisively showed that these men who are supposedly God’s mouthpiece lacked love, patience, kindness, goodness, faith and self-control. 

The Gentile Times Reconsidered

The Gentile Times Reconsidered is almost 30 years of research by a Swedish Jehovah’s Witness. His name is Carl Olof Jonsson. He was an elder in his congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He diligently researched as much data as possible to prove whether the destruction of Jerusalem happened in 607 BCE. This research by Jonsson is important for all truth-searching individuals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why? Because if the date is wrong, then the date of Jesus invisible return in 1914, as believed by all Jehovah’s Witnesses, is wrong. If 1914 is wrong, then the founding of the “Faithful & Discreet Slave” in 1919 would not be possible. How had the Governing Body received Jonsson’s research when he presented them with it? With love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness & faith, mildness, self-control? 
The Gentile Times Reconsidered by Carl Olof Jonsson

Disfellowshipping of Rape Victims

The policy of Jehovah’s Witnesses with regard to rape is that the victim must shout out or scream if they are being raped. This reasoning is based on a single phrase found in Deuteronomy 22:23-27 (underlined):

23  “If a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man happens to meet her in the city and lies down with her, 24  you should bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the girl because she did not scream in the city and the man because he humiliated the wife of his fellow man. So you must remove what is evil from your midst.25  “If, however, the man happened to meet the engaged girl in the field and the man overpowered her and lay down with her, the man who lay down with her is to die by himself, 26  and you must do nothing to the girl. The girl has not committed a sin deserving of death. This case is the same as when a man attacks his fellow man and murders him. 27  For he happened to meet her in the field, and the engaged girl screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
New World Translation 2013

What if the victim does not shout out or scream? Well then the victim is to be treated as a fornicator. This is clearly presented in The Watchtower January 15 1964, p.63-64, Questions From Readers. Fornication is a disfellowshipping offence for Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are hundreds of instances of Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been raped but did not scream. These unfortunate women have come before judicial committees and deemed to be unrepentant for not screaming out when being raped and were subsequently disfellowshipped. If the Governing Body is God’s mouthpiece, surely they would understand that it is not always possible to scream when being raped. Many Jehovah’s Witness rape victims have come to realize that their mistreatment in judicial committees ultimately came from the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they supply all elders with a publication entitled Shepherd the Flock of God which directs elders to disfellowship those who commit fornication.

Other Reasons to Question God’s Mouthpiece

There are many other reasons why Jehovah’s Witnesses have and continue to question the notion that the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses is God’s mouthpiece. This includes, but is not limited to:

As a reader of articles on this website, you may have additional reasons to conclude that the Governing Body is not God’s mouthpiece. Feel free to share them in the comments section.