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A LETTER OF RESIGNATION
Joycelyn Chambers
194E Gordon Johnston Dr
Ft. Sheridan, IL 60037
April 8, 1993
Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
334 S. Mt. Prospect Rd.
Des Plaines, IL 60016
To Brother Hans Schiller and all congregation elders:
This letter is to inform you of my resignation from the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. I have given this organization several years of my life, and I ask you to give me just a few minutes of your time to explain why I came to this decision.
The reason for my resignation from the society is that I have, in my zeal for proper service, been made aware of several false prophecies that the society has made in the past.
In looking over several articles from old Watchtower literature, I have come to understand that the Watchtower Society DID predict the end of the world on several occasions despite my being told that these predictions were only to mean the end of the "gentile times". A recent Awake magazine was a very good testimony to the fact that the Society attempts to excuse or gloss over it's past. I was taught by several members of the organization that Jehovah's Witnesses had NEVER predicted the end of this "old system of things". Yet, this Awake (March 22, 1993) clearly states that Jehovah's Witnesses "in their eagerness for Jesus' second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect". Suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect??? What an understatement! It then went on to say that NEVER in these instances did they say "These are the words of Jehovah". I would beg to differ about this (as you will note from the enclosed copies of Watchtower literature).
Another point worth mentioning is the fact that the Watchtower (Febuary 1, 1992) specifically displayed Martin Luther as a false prophet only to be contridicted as the Society attempted to hide behind him in the Awake of March 22, 1993. Is he or is he not a false prophet? Am I to trust my eternal life to an organization who keeps wishy-washily changing their minds on such important issues as these?
There is a Bible test concerning false prophets in Deut. 18:18-22. According to Jehovah, the true prophet that we MUST listen to will be the one of whom Jehovah says, "I will put my words in his mouth..." So if a person or an organization claims that Jehovah HAS put words into their mouth, they are claiming to be that prophet, and according to v22, their message MUST come true, or they are a FALSE PROPHET. As you can see from the enclosed insert, the Watchtower Society has claimed this EXACT THING numerous times, (although they deny it explicitly in the March 22, 1993 Awake heretofore mentioned) so their prophecies must be judged accordingly. No prophecy that the Society has made to date has come true: the prophecies have ALL been false. Please notice that this passage doesn't even mention that the false prophet must claim to be INSPIRED in order to be a false prophet, so no false prophet could rightly get off the hook just by saying that they never claimed inspiration. Nor is there a way out of this delimma just by the false prophet saying "I never claimed infallibility and I have always said that I make mistakes". True prophets of Jehovah were fallible human beings, but they did not falsely prophesy. Persons or organizations who falsely prophesy are not just fallible humans: they are by definition false prophets! There is just no way around it. Can you imagine an O.T. false prophet blaming his false prophecies on "overzealous followers"? Jesus warned us in Matt7:15 to beware of false prophets and to judge a false prophet by his fruits(false prophecies). He spoke of true and false prophets. There is no mention made of "uninspired" prophets, prophets "in a sense", or false prophecies overlooked because the false prophets "admitted his mistakes".
I also discovered that, according to historians, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BCE - far from 607 BCE (as indicated in "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth"). This certainly puts a dent in the 1914 date, I would think. How long will it be before the Society changes the 1914 date, just as they have with so many others? Will we soon learn that Christ returned in 1934 instead of 1914...INVISIBLY? That would add 20 years to "this generation", which would be very convenient right about now, wouldn't you say?
I truely believed that the Society was God's "channel" and that the Governing Body's commands were Jehovah's commands. I can't imagine how I would have felt if my daughter Briahna (who has hemoglobin C disease) had needed a blood transfusion and I had withheld it, and she died!!! Futhermore, if I had been responsible for her death in this way, what if in a few years time the Governing Body were to change their mind about blood transfusions just as they did concerning vaccinations and organ transplants? (Are we to really believe that God changed his mind about these matters??) What would they have said to me? Would they wash their hands of my daughters death by saying that "We just made a mistake...we are not inspired...we never claimed to be infallible..."?
The eating of blood, as prohibited under the law, required the DEATH of the animal whose blood was eaten. Blood transfusions do not TAKE lives; they SAVE them! Even so the penalty for eating blood was not death. If you will refer to Leviticus 17:14-16, you will note that the unclean person need only "wash his clothing and wash himself; he shall be unclean until evening, THEN HE WILL BE CLEAN." On the other hand, a person would be stoned to death for doing any work on the Sabbath Day. Therefore, the Sabbath was obviously more important, according to the law, than eating blood. Yet Jesus, at Luke 6:9-10, said, "I put it to you: is it against the law on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to SAVE A LFE, or to destroy it?" We are not talking about casual eating/drinking of blood here, we are talking about SAVING LIVES... what do you think Jesus would do?
These, of course, were not the only factors in my decision. I have also leanred who Michael the Archangel really is... he is NOT Jesus. The reason I know that he isn't Jesus is because I have come to the accurate understanding of who Jesus is... He is GOD ALMIGHTY. Also, clearly indicated at Daniel 10:13, Michael is portrayed as ONE of the chief princes, which would lead any reasonable mind to believe that were other chief princes. Jesus was unique and not "one of" anything. At any rate, this certainly confirms that Jesus and Michael could not be the same. Did the first century disciples have the slightest idea that Jesus was Michael? It doesn't seem so. Yet Jesus told the Pharisees at John 8:24, "Therefore I said to you, you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in you sins." (compare Isa. 43:10-13) Judge Rutherford decided that Jesus was Michael. Even Russell taught and all the Internation Bible Students believed on the basis of scripture that Jesus could not be Michael. Did they die in their sins? You will not find in the Bible a single reference to Jesus being Michael or Michael being Jesus.
What I did find in scriptures was that Jesus was Jehovah! Testimony to this FACT can be found at Zachariah 11:13 where Jehovah was valued at "thirty" (30) pieces of silver". Isn't it true that Jesus was sold for thirty (30) pieces of silver? (cf:Matthew 26:15) In addition, I found at Zachariah 12:10 the statement of Jehovah "they will look upon ME whom they have pierced". When was Jehovah pierced? Also, in reading Revelation 1:8, you will clearly that the Alpha and Omega is Jehovah. Again at Revelation 22:13, the Alpha and the Omega is Jehovah, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Yet if you read Revelation 2:8, It says "I am the first and the last who became DEAD and came to life again". I know that he Father Jehovah did not die, therefore this must be a reference to Jesus. I understand this to mean that the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, are all refernces to Jesus...who, by the power of reason, is God.
I am sure that we will agree that Jesus is the ONLY begotten Son of God. (John 3:16) Isn't it reasonable that God would beget God just as man begets man? Doesn't the begotten offspring always share the nature of the parent and wouldn't this fact make Jesus God by nature? And yet the bible teaches that there is only one God. The belief that there is a big "G" God and another little "g" would be a form of polytheism. Jehovah states that He was alone at creation, that he stretched out the heavens BY HIMSELF! (Isa. 44:24) There was no little "g" god with him. And yet we know that Jesus was the creator. (John 1:3 and Col. 1:15-18).
The Trinity is a complicated reality. Paul even said so at 1 Tim. 3:3-16. One example which I found to be helpful to conceptualize the Triune nature of God is fire. One flame can generate (the word "begotten" means generated) another flame, yet the first would be not said to be older in time, would it? No, they both would have existed the same length of time, but just together rather than seperate. Also, having the nature of fire rather than being like US, they can be easily united as one flame again. Flame has properties that solid materials just do not possess. So also does God have physical properties which are alien to man and not easily understood by him, yet God IS what he is. He will not change his nature just so man can understand him. The Holy Spirit, who is also God, was of course likened to fire in Acts at the day of Pentacost. That is why this one person of the Godhead could generate "flames" on so many other persons without diminishing himself one bit. (Acts 2:3-4)
Yes, Jesus did say that "the Father is greater than I" (John 14:28) an illustration that will make this easier to comprehend could be the fact that a circuit overseer is greater than an elder, and yet they are both human and equal as to their nature. The term "greater", here refers to one's position, not one's nature. Jehovah the Father is greater than Jesus (who is Jehovah the Son) by POSITION, but both are God by NATURE.
In the 1969 Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures on pages 17 through 19, reference is made to how the translators will determine and give "identity" to the Greek words "kyrios" and "theos". In following this principle while reading, I noticed in Romans 10:9-13 the word "kyrios" occurs three (3) times, all in reference to the same person. Yet it is only translated in verse 13 as "Jehovah", while in verses 9 and 11 it is translated "Lord". Is this a deliberate mistranslation or an oversight? Another instance where I noticed this occurred was at Phil. 2:11 (which is a quote from Isa. 45:22,23). Also in Philippians, the translators added the word "other" in verse 10 which completely changes the meaning of what is stated on the Greek side. Another place where the translators failed to follow their own rules of translation was at 1 Peter 3:15 where Christ is identified as Lord. Yet this is a quote from Isa. 8:12,13 and so should have been translated "sanctify the Christ as Jehovah in your hearts". (even the footnotes at the bottom of the page show that the "J" documents identify that "Lord" as Jehovah God.)
Many of the Society's beliefs today were first propounded by Rutherford. A "light flashed up" to Judge Rutherford in 1935 which excludes most Witnesses today from the new covenant. Jesus never taught this, nor did the apostles. Every person who received Christ was to be in the new covenant and have Jesus as their mediator. It is the only way that a person can have their sins forgiven and that is why it is so important. Did Rutherford get this authority to change the Christian faith in this way from the Holy Spirit? No, in fact Rutherford claimed that the office of the Holy Spirit was defunct, (he believed that the "helper" wouldn't be needed after Jesus' return to his temple in 1918), and he said that he got this direction from angels. NowI know that the belief today is that the Holy Spirit does direct the Society. But I want to know what sort of "angels" would tell the Judge that the Holy Spirit was no longer needed and that he only need listen to them? And what of the other things these "angels" taught Judge Rutherford? Would any good angels lie and mislead him in this way? Should we trust our eternal destiny to the teachings of these "angels"? The Society still claims to be directed by angels today. Are these the same "angels" that directed Judge Rutherford about the Holy Spirit and other equally important matters???
Christians were forwarned of this exact thing at Galatians 1:8. Paul says that "even though we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned". And verse 11-12 Paul goes on to say "I want you to know brothers, that the gospel I preach is not something that I made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." Paul spells out for us the gospel he preached at 1 Cor. 15:1-5 as the "death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ". This is still the gospel to be preached today and no angel has the right to change it.
Futhermore, I want to know if the same "angels" who direct the Governing Body today have also inspired the artwork on page 159 of the Revelation Book??? Please notice the palm of the angel's right hand and compare this to the person on the cover of the "Spirits of the Dead" brochure. I plead with you brothers to read 1 Tim. 4:1-16 which reads, "the spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon thier faith and follow the decieving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron".
I know that the office of the Holy Spirit is not defunct, and in fact I have received Him as the scriptures teach (John 1:12 and Romans 8:6-16) Having received Him and being forgiven of my sins and indwelt by Him, I am a child of God and am in the new covenant. I take personally the admonition at 1 Tim. 4:6, "if you point these things out to the brothers you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truth of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed". I personally would rather follow the Bible under the guidence of the Holy Spirit than to follow the Watchtower as dictated by fallible, often mistaken, uninspired "angels"(or men!). These "angels" cannot even make up their mind about medical procedures (or perhaps Jehovah changes His Mind) and thus they endanger the lives of their followers. These "angels" told Russell and Rutherford that Christ has been present since 1874 but now they teach He came in 1914 (conveniently invisible) and they do not seem to give out any prophecies but false ones.
This has been a very difficult thing for me to learn that I have been lied to and deceived. This organization is just not what it proclaims itself to be. In truth, this letter merely scratches the surface of all that I have recently learned about the Society. It's occultic roots, its altered bible, and it's checkered history. I can easily produce documentation for what I have said, which I would be glad to show interested ones.
I have given just afew years of my life... I feel an immense compassion for those who have given 10 years., 20 years., or even their lives for an organization which has lied to them. I do care very much for those who might regard me as an enemy. I do not feel hatred towards anyone. (2 Cor. 4:1-6) But considering the above written information, I of course in good conscience continue to be associated with this organization. Therefore, please remove my name from your records. If disfellowshipping action is instituted, I will turn the matter over to my attorney for defamation of character.
Sincerely,
Joycelyn Chambers
Copyright 1993.
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