Introduction

The purpose of this website is to make public the correspondence I have had with the Watchtower, Bible and Tract Society and the subsequent ramifications therein. I make this information publicly available for two reasons. The first reason is, as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was always instructed to make the truth known.

Matthew 5:15 and 16 says: “People light a lamp and set it, not under the measuring basket, but upon the lampstand, and it shines upon all those in the house. Likewise let your light shine before men…” And Mark 4:22 and 23 states: “There is nothing hidden except for the purpose of being exposed; nothing has become carefully concealed but for the purpose of coming into the open. Whoever has ears to listen, let him listen…”

As an Organization that places the highest of value on the bible, the Watchtower Society agrees with the above verses. In their flagship periodical, the Watchtower, they say: “Truthfulness means more than merely telling the truth. It is a way of life. It defines who we are. We make the truth known to others not only by what we say but also by what we do. … If we are to impart truth to others, we must be truthful in all our ways. Our reputation for truthfulness and honesty will have a powerful impact on how people respond to what we teach.” (01August2003, page 16)

The second reason that I make this information available is due to the implicit approval I received from the Watchtower Society to do so. In my most recent letter to them, I requested answers (or at least references that would lead me to the answers) to specific questions. I had asked questions of similar import on prior occasions, and had not received answers. So, in an effort to find some resolution, I asked them once again to answer said questions. I told them that if no answer was forthcoming, I would understand their silence to be taken as a “Yes” answer to each and every question and, further, would ensure that I share this “light” (Matthew 5:16) with the many family and friends who have shared these questions with me.

Although one of my relatives accused me of writing to the Society in an effort to prove them wrong, this baseless accusation is as far from the truth as can be. The correspondence originated in late 1996. At that time, I was recently married. My wife and I were zealous Witnesses donating 1,000 hours (yearly) of our time by knocking on doors and teaching people about the bible by placing Watchtower publications with them. The year prior had been a tough year for me, and I was feeling depressed – at a stand still, so to speak.

Then, in December 1996, a representative of the Watchtower Society visited our congregation for a week. One evening, he gave a talk regarding the importance of personal bible study. He spoke mostly of the typical studying that Witnesses are expected to do, such as reading the bible each week, preparing for the weekly question-and-answer parts at the meetings and reading the latest issues of the Watchtower’s periodicals. While I agreed with all of this, I couldn’t help but think of how little new information I was receiving by doing such studying. I had read the bible several times, and I kept up with the Watchtower Society’s publications. Still, there wasn’t much new or exciting for me to learn. As blasphemous as it sounded to me at the time, I already knew all that stuff.

But then the representative made some very interesting comments. He said: “Perhaps there are those of you in the audience who are very studious and who are quite capable of keeping up with the spiritual feeding program the Watchtower Society provides. Maybe you faithfully attend meeting after meeting and read book after book and find that you never learn anything new.”

When he said this, my ears perked up. He was exactly defining my situation, and I viewed this as God’s answer to my prayers. I was eager to hear what he next said.

He offered this suggestion to persons like me: He said to pick one subject from the bible, and make it our goal to learn absolutely everything about that subject that we could. In doing this, he assured us, the bible would once again come alive to us, our faith would be strengthened and, as an added benefit, we would become a valuable asset in our congregation whenever that topic arose.

I began to contemplate the many bible topics at which I could become an “expert”. Before I could decide on one for myself, however, the overseer suggested Noah’s Flood as one possible topic to explore.

And so that’s the topic I decided upon. Within weeks, I had read everything the Watchtower Society had written in the past 50 years about Noah and the Flood. My wife and I pieced together graph paper in an attempt to get a handle on the dimensions of the ark. We even visited a craft store looking to buy supplies to construct our own scale-model of the ark.

Eventually, I desired to figure out the animal passenger list of the ark. I found the Watchtower Society’s information on this subject somewhat wanting, so I wrote them my first letter.

As an aside, I was also curious as to their use of the term “land” when used in the yearly report of Witness door-to-door activity. So I included a question about this in the letter as well.

I was quite nervous to send the letter. I tried my best to phrase the letter in such a way that the Watchtower Society wouldn’t feel that I was questioning their authority over God’s people, or their interpretation of the bible. They make it quite clear that asking questions is a slippery slope that can get a person into a lot of trouble.* My questions were asked in sincerity, as I really, genuinely wanted to know the answer and I really, genuinely wanted the biblical account of Noah’s Flood to be accurately reflected in the findings of geologists, biologists and historians. At the time of the first letter, I fully believed that the bible was the inspired word of God and that any contradiction between the bible and scientific findings was due to a lack of complete knowledge on the part of scientists or their willful decision to ignore God.

All cited references are available in electronic or paper form for interested persons.

*For example, page 20 of the June 1, 1982 states:

The proper spirit after offering suggestions is to be content to leave the matter to the prayerful consideration of the mature brothers directing the work in Jehovah's organization. But if those making the suggestions are not content with that and continue to dispute the subject in the congregations with a view to getting others to support them, what then? That would create divisions, and could subvert the faith of some.

And page 31 of the April 1, 1986 Watchtower states:

Approved association with Jehovah’s Witnesses requires accepting the entire range of the true teachings of the Bible, including those Scriptural beliefs that are unique to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

And page 22 of the January 15, 1983 Watchtower (in the article “Avoid Independent Thinking”) states:

Avoid...questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization.

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