The Watchtower Study Edition – August 2024 – What You Should Know

The August 2024 Watchtower Study Edition articles are clearly motivated by the ongoing legal developments in Norway.

There is nothing convincing in the August 2024 Watchtower articles, to persuade the Norwegian government to reverse their decision to not grant Jehovah’s Witnesses any further access to taxpayers’ funds.

Written by Lester Somrah - July 11, 2024

On July 2^nd 2024, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses released to the general public, the August 2024 issue of The Watchtower Study Edition on their website. This Study Edition provides information to Jehovah’s Witnesses on how handle allegations of religious offenses in their congregation. This Watchtower Study Edition is a follow-up on 2024 Governing Body Update # 2 and “Adjustments to Handling Serious Wrongdoing in the Congregation.”

The August 2024 issue of The Watchtower Study Edition will be considered by each congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses during October/November 2024.

Question from Readers (page 7)

Question - Is the marking described at 2 Thessalonians 3:14 an action taken by the congregation or by individual Christians?

Short Answer – By individual Christians.

Long Answer – Paul’s letter at 2 Thessalonians 3:14 was directed to individual Christians in Thessalonica and not to the local elders. Hence the previous practice of marking by local congregation elders of Jehovah’s Witnesses had no scriptural basis. Some local elders abused this provision simply as a revenge or vendetta tool against an individual Jehovah’s Witness.

What Has Changed – With immediate effect, instead of giving a marking lecture in which an elder would describe the “disobedient spirit” of an individual Jehovah’s Witness without naming them and advising the audience not to have un-necessary association with the individual(s), the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses has now placed the religious practice of marking in the hands of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses (as a “personal decision”) who are aware of the “disobedient spirit” of an individual Jehovah’s Witness. Individual Jehovah’s Witnesses can socialize with the “disobedient” individual at their religious events. However, they are prohibited from discussing their “personal decision not to associate with him for social occasions or recreation” with other Jehovah’s Witnesses outside their immediate family.

Although the article identifies examples of “disorderly conduct”, it contains no scriptural directives on how congregation elders may influence or control the “personal decision” of an individual Jehovah’s Witness to either associate or not associate, with an individual who is “disorderly” and has a “disobedient spirit”.

“Remove the Sinner from Amongst Yourselves!”

The articles “Responding to Sin With Love and Mercy” and “Help for Those Who Are Removed From the Congregation” discusses how congregation elders treat an individual baptized Jehovah’s Witness who is accused of “serious wrongdoing”. These are religious offences found in the elders’ manual “Shepherd the Flock of God”.

“Responding to Sin With Love and Mercy” – Key Points

No more unnecessarily intrusive questions.
A “committee of elders” (no longer a “judicial committee”) can meet with a “with the sinner more than once, to lead the wrongdoer to repentance.”
If the “sinner repents” and there were witnesses to the wrongdoing, “the elders would discreetly make them aware that the matter was handled and that the sinner was corrected.”
If the “sinner repents” and the wrongdoing is widely known in the congregation, an elder would announce to the congregation that the brother or the sister has been reproved.”
Wrongdoers who are minors (under 18) – “The body of elders will arrange for two elders to meet with the minor and his Christian parents….The elders will thereafter occasionally check with the parents to make sure that the minor is getting the help he needs. If a baptized minor unrepentantly persists in a wrong course, a committee of elders will meet with him along with his Christian parents.”

“Help for Those Who Are Removed From the Congregation” – Key Points

The following applies both baptized wrongdoers who are minors (under 18) and baptized adults.

“When an [baptized] unrepentant wrongdoer is removed from the congregation, an announcement is made to inform the congregation that he is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Such expelled persons are no longer called “disfellowshipped” but “as being removed from the congregation.”
Elders should meet with the wrongdoer “again after a few months have passed to see if he has had a change of heart.” Previously this was years or once a year at the time of Lord’s Evening Meal/Passover. The objective of this new directive is to retain as much church members as possible.
After the congregation is informed about the wrongdoer’s removal, all Jehovah’s Witnesses must “not socialize with him”. The word “socialize” is carefully chosen but it means shunning the wrongdoer.
With a baptized minor, his sole circle of friends would normally be other children of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In the case of an unrepentant minor who is “removed from the congregation”, he would not be able to “socialize” with his sole circle of friends and be shunned by them, thus resulting in social isolation and psychological harm. Such shunning will be enforced by the Jehovah’s Witness parents of both the minor and his circle of friends.
Where an individual who is “removed from the congregation” attends a religious event of Jehovah’s Witnesses, individual Jehovah’s Witnesses can use their “Bible-trained conscience” in deciding whether to briefly greet such a person. However, Jehovah’s Witnesses must shun the wrongdoer, not having “an extended conversation or socialize with the individual.”

Summary of The Watchtower Study Edition - August 2024

“Marking” is now the responsibility of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Both baptized wrongdoers who are minors (under 18) and baptized adults, must be shunned if they are an “unrepentant wrongdoer.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses are to shun and avoid apostates at all costs.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are prohibited from greeting an apostate.
Apostates must not to be invited to religious events of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including weddings and funerals of family members who are Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The term "disfellowship" has been replaced with the synoym "remove", based on the inhouse Bible translation of the Governing Body, of the scripture 1 Corinthians 5: 13.
Individual Jehovah’s Witnesses may choose to briefly greet someone who is “removed from the congregation” at their religious events.
By using their freedom of association, individual Jehovah’s Witnesses who choose to associate with an unrepentant baptized Jehovah’s Witness, is a dangerous threat to the existence of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religion.
The word "shunning" is not used in The Watchtower Study Edition - August 2024.
Shunning is described as "Jehovah’s love, righteousness, and justice in action".

Editor's Comments

Freedom of association and religion were concepts that never existed when Paul wrote the Corinthian congregation in the 1^st century. Even if those concepts did exist, Paul showed absolutely no regard for them. Paul was more concerned about the sinful environment of Corinth and its ability to enter the congregation as an infectious disease, a serious threat to the new Christian faith, than freedoms and rights of individuals.

Individuals whose rights and freedoms were infringed upon, either lacked the resources to hold Paul accountable before the Roman courts; or there was no legal framework for holding the apostle Paul accountable for infringing on the freedom and rights of the individual. In fact Paul counseled the Corinthian congregation against taking each other to the courts of “unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 6:17).

From the above analysis of August 2024 issue of The Wachtower Study Edition, although there have been insignificant procedural changes, including replacing “disfellowshipped” with the synonym “removed”, Jehovah’s Witnesses still retains the harmful practice of shunning. Shunning remains a threat to the freedom of religion and speech of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses. By using their freedom of speech, apostates and critics are a dangerous threat to the existence of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religion.

Thus, there is no evidence to support such ideas as a “U-Turn on Disfellowshipping”, “the relaxation in the shunning rules”, “this overdue transformation” etc, as purported on various social media platforms by some former Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The August 2024 Watchtower articles are clearly motivated by the ongoing legal developments in Norway. I belief that the “changes” in the said Watchtower articles are irrelevant to Watchtower’s cause in Norway. There is nothing convincing in the August 2024 Watchtower articles, to persaude either the Norwegian government or their courts, to reverse their decision to no longer grant Jehovah’s Witnesses any further access to taxpayers’ funds.

Abusing their freedoms to infringe on the rights and freedoms of others

Each institution has a right to establish rules regulating the admission of individuals/members in their organization, including the discipline and removal of members who break the rules of the institution.

The August 2024 issue of The Watchtower Study Editon, discuss the directives of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses on how local congregation elders deal with the removal or expulsion of errant members who have broken their religious rules. This is a right guaranteed under freedom of religion, belief and association.

Jehovah’s Witnesses want all the freedoms and rights they can get.

They want:

Freedom of religion
Freedom of association
Freedom of belief
Freedom of speech
Freedom to bash and criticize other religions, etc, etc…

However, Jehovah’s Witnesses will not grant those same rights and freedoms to individuals in their religion. The August 2024 articles provides compelling evidence that, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses abuse their guaranteed freedoms and rights.

It’s one thing to be expelled (“removed”) from the Jehovah’s Witness community.

It’s another thing for the Governing Body to tell individual Jehovah’s Witnesses on a regular basis, not to be friends with or associate in any manner, with those expelled or who voluntarily leave the Jehovah’s Witness community; and if a baptized Jehovah’s Witness (both minors and adults) is found to be doing that, they too will face the same punishment. Therefore some individuals remain trapped in the religion, with no way out from the Jehovah’s Witness community. This latter action promoted in the August 2024 articles, constitutes an infringement on the rights and freedoms of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The punishment of being expelled from a group that has one’s sole circle of friends and support system, extends far beyond the announcement to the congregation that the unrepentant individual has been “removed from the congregation and is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

What follows in the days and months after such an announcement, is far worse than banishment, being sent in exile; and is much more than simply an expulsion from a golfing club. The ostrasim and exclusion are manipulative actions of Jehovah's Witnesses that last for years until the unrepentant wrongdoer demonstrates remorse for their sinful actions and is subsequently re-admitted into the Jehovah's Witness community.

Isolation – A Characteristic of a Cult – An Effective Tool in Shunning

In the context of Jehovah's Witnesses, shunning refers to the practice of deliberately avoiding and cutting off social and religious interaction with an individual who has been disfellowshipped for a serious sin or has violated significant principles of the faith. Shunning occurs in the days, months and years after the congregation is informed that the unrepentant individual is “no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses”.

Shunning is a form of social and emotional isolation imposed by the Jehovah's Witnesses community on individuals who are no longer considered in good standing including disfellowshipped or disassociated individuals. It is a control tool used by Jehovah's Witnesses to prevent their members from openly questioning their beliefs; from leaving the religion; and ultimately prevented from exercising their own individual freedoms of religion, association, speech and expression.

Shunning involves acts of ostracism; social abandonment, isolation; rejection and bad treatment by believers and family members who are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Members are instructed to avoid any contact with the disfellowshipped or disassociated individual, including not engaging in conversation, socializing, or even acknowledging their presence. This practice is intended to encourage the individual to repent, seek reinstatement, and return to the fold.

Isolation

I mentioned isolation of an unrepentant baptized minor earlier in this article. Isolation is one of the characteristics of a cult and is listed under “Behavior Control” of the BITE Model developed by Dr. Steven Hassan.

Jim Jones (Georgetown, Guyana) and David Koresh (Waco, Texas, United States of America) both practiced social and physical isolation of their followers from the outside world. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not practice physical isolation of their followers from the outside world. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that their religion is the only provider for an individual’s salvation. As a result, its advantageous for them to attract new members by living amongst non-believers. Jehovah’s Witnesses nonetheless practice social isolation as discussed below.

“Dictate with whom the member associates with; separates families and destroys the family unit" - During the recruitment and indoctrination process, Jehovah’s Witnesses use the selected Bible verses to dictate to the recruit who should be their friends and associates.

Bible Verses Used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to Isolate a Recruit (‘Bible Student‘)
During the indoctrination process of a recruit better known as a Bible Student or an interested individual, Jehovah’s Witnesses use the following bible passages to isolate the recruit:
1 Corinthians 15:33
Proverbs 13:20
2 Timothy 2:20-22
1 Corinthians 5:6; 2
2 Thessalonians 3:6, 7, 14.
The Bible student is made to think/believe that individuals who do not subscribe to the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses are “bad associations” and “stupid people”. He is also told that his “close friends outside the congregation can cause us [him] to draw away from Jehovah.” The Bible student is further made to think/believe that he must replace his existing friends and support system with “Friends who love and worship Jehovah”.

Pressure is placed on the Bible student to:

distance themselves from friends and family who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses and who have no intentions of joining the religion; and activities deemed incompatible with the practices and teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses.
to have friends and associates from only within the Jehovah’s Witness community. This isolation creates problems later on should the recruit (now a member of the Jehovah’s Witness community as a baptized individual) commit a religious offense or wants to voluntarily leave the Jehovah's Witness community.

As a result of the isolation enforced by the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this creates additional problems in the family unit where one believing baptized member commits a religious offense for which he is unrepentant or wants to leave the Jehovah's Witness community. This often creates estranged family members; results in dysfunctional families in the Jehovah's Witness community; as well as contributes to the breakdown and disintegration of the family unit. Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses have earned the name "home-wreckers".

An example of the isolation of a recruit can be found in the Recruitment Tutorial video – “Help Your Bible Students to Avoid Bad Associations”, in which Neeta successfully recruits Jade as a baptized individual in the Jehovah's Witness community. Each year, Jehovah's Witnesses baptize hundreds of thousands of individuals, making them victims of isolation. For 2023, the number of such individuals was 269,157 – 2023 Service Year Report of Jehovah's Witnesses, available on their official website, jw.org.

For a more detailed explanation of isolation as an effective tool in shunning, please go to 2023 Convention – Saturday Afternoon Review.

Disfellowship and Shunning – Biblical Terms?

Short Answer – No.

Long Answer - Both words are not found in any Bible translation. The word disfellowship was invented by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, appearing first in The Watchtower, September 1st 1946, discussing this same issue of purity outlined in 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

Some translations use the following words at 1 Corinthians 5:13 –

“remove” – Rotherham
“get…out” – Byington’s
“put away” – King James Version

According Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, the above words are synonyms for:

Divorce
Dismissal
Send away
To let go
To set at liberty
Dissolve
To set free

Vine’s also gives the Greek word, aposunagögos, “denoting 'expelled from the congregation,' excommunicated….This excommunication involved prohibition not only from attendance at the synagogue, but from all fellowship with Israelites.” – Volume 4, pg 101. The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not use excommunication as it is associated with the Roman Catholic Church and its “toleration of sin” - The Bible’s Viewpoint Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Arrangement

Shunning

The word shunning is also not found in the Bible.

In the past, Jehovah’s Witnesses have attempted to confuse shunning and disfellowship before government officials, making them think that shunning and disfellowship are the same thing.

The apostle Paul provides a scant definition of shunning in 1 Corinthians 5:11-

“But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner— not even to eat with such a person” – NKJV Study Bible, 2014. Bold & italics mines.
But now I have written unto you not to be mixing yourselves up, —If anyone named a brother, be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner With such a one as this not so much as to be eating together.. – Rotherham. Bold & italics mines.

According Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, synonyms for “to keep company” and “to be mixing yourselves up” are:

to mix, mingle
to drink together
to join

Its noteworthy that Luke 6:22 uses a similar phrase for “not to keep company”:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake” – American Standard Version. Bold & italics mines.
“Happy are you when men hate you and when they ostracize you and twit you and proscribe your name as vile on account of the Son of Man.” – Byington. Bold & italics mines.
“Happy are you whenever men hate you, and when they exclude you and reproach you and denounce your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man.” – New World Translation. Bold & italics mines.

Vine’s provides the following definition for “separate” – to divide; to mark off by bounds; to mark off by boundaries or limits.

Luke 6:22 describes actions of non-believers against believers; whereas 1 Corinthians 5:11 describes an action taken amongst believers against an unrepentant believer. However, when put together, both Bible passages and their synonyms, aptly describe the action of shunning by Jehovah’s Witnesses following the removal of an unrepentant believer. It’s anyone’s guess as to why Jehovah’s Witnesses did not use “ostracize” and “exclude” at 1 Corinthians 5:11.

Lester Somrah

Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.