The Governing Body is not inspired—so why does its authority override Scripture?
If you have come to realize the freedom promised in the Bible—the freedom of the Christian, the freedom from the bondage of religious law, and the freedom to worship Jehovah through Jesus Christ alone—then you are already standing at the beginning of a difficult road.
The doctrine of the Trinity—regardless of how it is explained, or which organization teaches it—rests on a false premise.
There comes a moment when truth becomes impossible to ignore.
You begin to see the freedom promised in the Bible more clearly—the freedom of a Christian, freedom from law-based control, and the freedom to worship Jehovah through Jesus Christ alone.
Read more“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:17
Jesus consistently taught that God is not distant or inaccessible. He portrayed Him as a loving Father who invites people to come near (Matthew 7:7–11; Luke 15:11–24). Yet Jesus also made a sobering statement:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” — John 6:44
On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issued a clear command for an active, persistent search—not just for material needs, but for deeper understanding and relationship with God:
“Keep on asking, and it will be given to you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
(Matthew 7:7)
Faith is a term that gets used often, but it is not always well understood. The Bible gives a clear starting point in Book of Hebrews 11:1–2, where faith is described as “the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen.” This definition immediately stretches beyond what modern thinking tends to accept. In a world shaped by scientific materialism, many people assume that only what is visible or measurable is real. Yet the biblical concept of faith calls us to recognize a deeper reality—one that is not always seen with the eyes but is no less certain.
The Bible frequently refers to unseen beings as spirits (John 4:24; Hebrews 1:14). Yet this raises sincere questions: What is a spirit? What is a spirit body? What is meant by the heavenly or spiritual realm? The Scriptures provide insight, but they do not fully explain the nature of these things. This reminds us to approach the subject with humility. As the apostle Paul wrote, “at present we see in hazy outline” (1 Corinthians 13:12). For now, our understanding is partial, and that is by design.
When you receive the Holy Spirit, your entire being is transformed. Your priorities shift, your day-to-day life changes, and your beliefs align with Jehovah’s teachings as revealed through Jesus.
The Bible reminds us that the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking, but about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Have you ever truly contemplated this scripture? It means the kingdom isn’t centered on physical or material things—it’s about a transformed life marked by righteousness and spiritual fulfillment.
A historical look at how the baptism questions of Jehovah’s Witnesses changed over time
Baptism is one of the most important acts of faith in Christianity. In the New Testament it represents a person’s appeal to God for forgiveness and a clean conscience through faith in Jesus Christ.
“Baptism… now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but the appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Peter 3:21
...let God be found true, even if every man be found a liar - Romans 3:4
This biblical principle became my guiding light in late 2024, after decades of wrestling with failed prophecies, the 1975 disappointment, and the ever-shifting doctrine of "overlapping generations." As someone baptized in 1963 and raised within the Jehovah's Witness organization, I had known only the New World Translation my entire life.
I was baptized in April 1963. I’m not sure of the exact date, but by my calculation I was 12 years old at the time.
Did I know what I was doing? I did not. I only knew that if I didn’t get baptized, I would die at Armageddon. This is what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. This is what they teach. This is what I was taught.
In October 2023, I began to question our beliefs — and when I say “our beliefs,” I mean the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The doctrine we were taught came from the organization, and at the time I believed it was all grounded in the Bible. All Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are being taught what the Bible says.
For many years I wondered why the Bible never described the future in specific terms. And while it does touch on the future, it never gets specific. But if you jump around and cherry-pick certain verses from certain chapters of certain books, you can prove almost anything. I’m certain of this.
Most Jehovah’s Witnesses look forward to living in a paradise earth — the idea that God will rebuild paradise on earth for mankind to inhabit. To support this, they turn to Psalms, where it is written poetically that a child will play near a snake and a young boy will lead wild animals. The pictures in their publications do a remarkable job of selling this vision to people’s imaginations.
(there will be an inhabited garden earth but not in the way they think)
The Bible says that in the new heavens and the new earth, righteousness will dwell. But if you ask a Jehovah’s Witness what they want in the new world, the answers are usually personal — youth, a big home, a fast car.
It wasn’t until I read Eric’s blog that I found clear proof that the Bible never describes paradise as being on earth. Paradise, in the Bible, is always in heaven — God’s realm. That is where paradise is.
Because I had always believed the organization taught what was in the Bible, I decided to go back to my roots and start from zero. Does God exist? I didn’t know. Are we a product of evolution? I couldn’t think of a better explanation at the time.
I had already read Ray Franz’s book Crisis of Conscience, and was deeply troubled by the way he had been treated. I also read his book In Search of Christian Freedom, which is currently only available as a PDF. That book opened the door to a new understanding. I then read 1914 and the Reconsideration of the End of the Gentile Times, which made it clear that C.T. Russell was no visionary — he simply recycled ideas he had gathered from others.
I won’t go into the content of those books here.
I have always felt, because of creation itself, that God exists — that Jehovah exists. I also knew from the Bible that God’s name was Jehovah (or YHWH in modern Hebrew letters). With that conviction in mind, on March 7, 2024, I had the Tetragrammaton tattooed on the inside of my right wrist. I have always believed tattoos are permanent, and I never want to be rid of this one. It reminds me daily of the God I serve.
I continued reading the Bible, books about the Bible, and accounts from Jehovah’s Witnesses who had left the organization — some humorous, some deeply serious.
In late 2024, I came across Eric Wilson’s book about how salvation has been denied to Jehovah’s Witnesses. I expected it to be full of bitterness and hostility, but I wanted to give it a fair chance, so I downloaded the free sample on my Kindle.
Shutting the Door to the Kingdom of God: How Watch Tower Stole Salvation from Jehovah’s Witnesses by Eric Michael Wilson
The preface of that book opens with this sentence:
“Are you willing to obey the direction of the Governing Body?”
This question was being put to Wilson by a circuit overseer and a body of elders, at a time when he himself was serving as head of that body of elders. Like him, I immediately thought of the verse where Peter says we must obey God as ruler rather than men — and sure enough, when Peter said that, they accused him of being an apostate.
I have personal records going back to the 1980s showing that I was already wrestling with the question of truth versus so-called “truth.” I have always found it troubling that we seemed to have two kinds of truth. That’s an oxymoron. You cannot have two kinds of truth. There is only one kind — the true kind. We know God’s word is truth. We have the word of Jehovah, the word of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit testifying to the truthfulness of God’s word.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have held rotating beliefs on many things. According to information published by the Watchtower under Joseph Rutherford, heaven was located in the Pleiades constellation. That’s not entirely baseless as an ancient idea — but it is an extraordinarily foolish thing to publish as doctrine.
Anyway, back to my conversion to Christianity. In the first chapter of Hebrews, Paul — if he is indeed the author — speaks of God communicating with mankind. He writes that in times past, God spoke through the prophets, but in these last days he spoke through his Son. This clearly indicates that Jesus was not to be replaced or superseded. As the fulfillment of the Law, he brought a new law — and the only law of Christians is love: to love one another.
To set that aside and construct an entirely new set of rules to be followed — which is what all religions do, including Jehovah’s Witnesses — is to nullify the sacrifice of Jesus. I personally am not comfortable doing that. Once this becomes clear, there is only one path left for a seeker of truth: to follow Jesus’ words alone. As scripture says in many places, do not go beyond what is written. And yet, that is precisely what we do.
Perhaps my clearest example of this is from 1973, when Jehovah’s Witnesses effectively banned smoking. I am no fan of smoking, but to deny someone salvation on that basis alone is wrong. Jesus placed no stipulations on people’s personal habits.
In conversations with Jehovah’s Witnesses, I have come to believe that most practicing Witnesses pick and choose what they accept from the organization. They embrace the major teachings, but hold their own views on everything else. One example that comes to mind is the organization’s shunning policy. I have never gone along with it. It has always seemed inhumane to me — deeply wrong. I believe conscience must guide us to a significant degree. Even Paul said as much: that his conscience was clear, that he served God the way he knew he should, without looking to any human being to validate his worship.
Email for comments: tarsus.headed_0a@icloud.com