A Witness Replies to a Clergyman
THE advertising activity of Jehovah’s witnesses in connection with an assembly to be held in Iron River, Michigan, prompted the Iron County ministerial association to issue a warning to the people to stay away. One of Jehovah’s witnesses commented on this warning in a letter to the Iron River Reporter, which that paper published March 20, 1952. A local clergyman replied thereto, whose letter was printed in the March 27 issue. That letter in turn called forth the following response from the witness who had written the first letter:
“Mr. Lloyd D. Mattson
Iron River, Michigan
Dear Sir:
“Your recent letter addressed to me is unbecoming to a minister of the gospel. The apostle Paul tells us to meekly instruct those that oppose themselves (2 Timothy 2:24, 25) yet you launch a vicious attack upon Jehovah’s witnesses, smear the reputation of a man long dead and consequently unable to defend himself, and then take a slap at the good people of this county by inferring that they are childlike and ignorant and unable to decide for themselves what they want. I searched in vain for a legitimate Scriptural argument that would persuade me that the witnesses were being misguided.
“You say that you present facts. But unrelated facts can be very misleading. It is true that Charles Taze Russell had domestic trouble. Do you know the circumstances? Does that fact in itself preclude him from having been a Christian? Did not Jesus say that marital difficulties were to be expected among his followers? (Matthew 10:34-36) If this is one of the facts in your ‘fact’ campaign, it proves nothing.
“Russell knew no Greek, and the witnesses are founded on ignorance, you say. Tell me, what gives understanding? A knowledge of Greek or the spirit of God? The Greek text of the Bible can be examined, even by the uninitiated, with the help of concordances and dictionaries, but discernment of truth comes only by God’s spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Again your ‘facts’ prove nothing, except that you are making the same charge of ignorance against us that the Pharisees made against the early Christians. (Acts 4:13) It may be of interest to you to know, however, that in 1901 Jehovah’s witnesses were publishing an interlinear Greek-English ‘New Testament’ known as the Emphatic Diaglott, and that in 1950 they produced and published the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, which Goodspeed termed ‘an interesting and scholarly work’.
“Jehovah’s witnesses are un-American, you charge, calculating to stir up popular feeling thereby. It has ever been the practice of those with a religious grudge to settle to steer true Christians into difficulties with the State. Please see John 19:12; Acts 17:5-7. The witnesses are good citizens. Some have lived in this town for 35 years and are respected by all that know them. They obey all right laws of the State. But, when the demands of God and of the State conflict, what then? They obey God. The powers ordained of God mentioned in Romans 13:1-4 are not the political powers of this world, but rather the authorities within the organization of the true church. Your misunderstanding on this point has led you to recognize such gangsters as Hitler and Mussolini and caused Baptist to kill Baptist in two world wars.
“In claiming protection according to the democratic constitution of this country we are doing nothing more than Paul did when he appealed to Caesar. In spite of his appeal for justice, Paul still knew that the Roman government was of the Devil. Can you Scripturally refute the fact that the Roman government together with all others past and present are controlled by Satan? It may be hard to take, but read it for yourself.—Luke 4:5-7; 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4; Revelation 16:14; 19:19.
“You declare that you are afraid of Jehovah’s witnesses because of their warped character. But is their character as warped as that which you and your associates in religion have produced in Christendom after 1,500 years? Are we warped because we want none of your racial prejudice, your bickering politicians, your commercial oppression, your world wars and your moral delinquency? You have identified yourself with Christendom and you must share her guilt. We are separate. We devote our lives to preaching the incoming Kingdom of God as the world’s only hope, leaving the present task of maintaining order on earth to those who think it more important than preaching. (Luke 9:59, 60) Not a warped viewpoint, Mr. Mattson, but strictly that of the first-century Christians.
“I shall not labor this correspondence any longer with you. You have made your decision and you will answer for it. The people, whom you refer to as ignorant and childlike, must now make theirs, and they will not require you to act as a spiritual policeman for them. Jehovah’s witnesses will be calling upon them this week for this purpose.
“Because you are singularly misinformed about the witnesses, your source material appearing to be about 30 years old, I suggest that you come to the public talk Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., and get up-to-date. I use the term ‘Mr.’ in this correspondence because the term ‘reverend’ occurs only once in the Authorized Version Bible and is applied to Jehovah God. My conscience forbids me to flatter men with such titles.—Job 32:21, 22.
Yours faithfully.”