Conversion Process.
The worst enemy of the truth is not the obvious lie, but that which most closely resembles the truth!
Once again, ignorance
When I first came to know Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was only 17 years old. Although I was Catholic by birth, I had never held a Bible in my hand until I stumbled upon the JWs. My knowledge of the Gospels was limited to the short stories about Jesus. They were those stories that were heard at Sunday Mass or read in the catechism and that almost always began like this: “At that time, Jesus said to his disciples…”.
I was deeply impressed when a JW drew my attention to the date of 1914 which, according to Bible prophecies, would mark the beginning of the last generation before the end of the world. Not only had the JWs predicted this date decades in advance, but in addition, the events that had occurred since 1914 (world wars, epidemics, famines, earthquakes) seemed to prove them right.
This message won me over, as it did so many other millions of people around the world, and very soon I began to preach from house to house… and I kept doing it for 43 years!
Ever-greater responsibilities
Over the years, my zeal for the work was rewarded with ever-greater responsibilities. Thus I served as presiding overseer in seven congregations. I contributed directly to the founding of three of these congregations through my full-time activity over 15 years. One day I received from the world headquarters in Brooklyn, New-York my appointment as district overseer (a kind of inspector who regularly visits some twenty congregations). Because of my duties, I sometimes spent weeks at the branch offices of the Watch Tower Society and came to have very detailed knowledge of the inner workings of the organization, especially regarding confidential information. I also had personal contacts with the members of the Governing Body, for whom I translated the talks at some assemblies. Being, like them, an “anointed” member, I was authorized to partake of the bread and the wine during the annual Memorial. I no longer even remember the many talks I gave in congregations, at assemblies in different countries, and even at the great conventions such as those at Yankee Stadium in New-York.
In time, I had a family, and together with my wife and our five children we were very often invited to take part in the program of the regional, national, and international assemblies, at which we were always presented as a model family. My three eldest daughters were regular pioneers and married regular pioneers who, moreover, serve as elders to this day.
Although the Watch Tower Society recommended limiting oneself to reading its own publications (which I did for many years, reading all the books by C.T. Russell, by J.F. Rutherford, and whatever was published up to 1998), little by little I built up a library containing numerous works “of the world.” Because of that, I gradually came to realize that the leaders of the JWs were mistaken in their predictions and in their explanations of the Bible. But I kept looking for excuses for those errors and attributed them to human imperfection…. until the year 1998!
The generation of 1914
Once, when revisiting an “interested person” with whom I was conducting a Bible study so that he might become a disciple, I found him acting very strangely. He told me he was like that because he had seen a television program about the JWs. When I asked him what was troubling him about the subject, he suggested that we watch together the program he had recorded. I had already seen many programs against the JWs (generally made so badly that instead of making a JW doubt, they reinforce him in his conviction). But what I saw and heard that day at the home of the “interested person” was truly revealing. The argument was based on a book written by Raymond Franz, a former member of the Governing Body in Brooklyn. His book “Crisis of Conscience” revealed that the members of the Governing Body had known, at least since 1978, that 1914 could not be the date of the establishment of the Kingdom in the heavens and that, consequently, the generation of 1914 had passed away and Armageddon had not come. Despite the evidence, this erroneous date continues to be regularly mentioned in their publications.
Civilian service
I also learned that for more than twenty years the leaders had known that there was no biblical reason for the brothers to refuse civilian service as a substitute for military service. A majority of the members of the Governing Body were in favor of a change, but they did not reach the required 2/3, which is why young Witnesses kept going to prison until 1996, the year in which The Watchtower finally announced the change of understanding.
I was greatly surprised at such insensitivity on the part of men whom we regarded as “shepherds.” In some countries the prison sentences were five years, three, or one. I knew some who spent seven and even eleven years in prison because of their refusal to perform substitute civilian service. One day I invited to my home one of them who had finally come out of prison without having given in to the authorities. He was now an invalid. He was startled by the slightest noise and had a terrified look in his eyes. I admire the devotion and courage of his wife, a victim like him of the consequences of a false teaching for which none of the leaders ever apologized in The Watchtower magazine.
Quite the opposite; they simply wrote the same as always: “some have thought that…” when the truth is that “everyone was required to think that…” If a Witness agreed to perform substitute civilian service, he was regarded as disfellowshipped and had to request reinstatement if he wanted to return to the organization. (As far as is known, none of those disfellowshipped has been rehabilitated, even though they were treated unjustly, because they acted in accordance with the Bible.)
Blood transfusions
But there are worse matters than that. We refer to those who refuse a blood transfusion believing that it is God’s will. How many have lost their lives in this way? Although there are no published figures on the number of JWs who have died for this cause, Dr. Jerry Bergmann and David Reed have concluded that between 450 and 1150 die every year! And when we consider that blood transfusions have been forbidden for JWs for more than 50 years! (See Blood Transfusion by Dr. Jerry Bergman, Witness Inc., p. 3. (Dr. Jerry Bergman is an expert before the courts of the United States on questions relating to the JWs. He has written more than 20 books and more than 400 articles in specialized works).
Reading these facts, many will ask themselves: “Why do the JWs accept this?” It is because they believe that this organization is “God’s channel on Earth.” The Witness who does not accept a specific belief of the JWs – for example, that the Times of the Gentiles ended in 1914 and that the Kingdom of God has been established in the heavens and that the announced presence of Christ began then, or that only 144 000 Christians will go to heaven – risks being disfellowshipped at any moment. That is the worst thing that can happen to them, because it is something regarded as… worse than death! (The Watchtower of 1.4.1986, p. 30-31)
After reading the book by Raymond Franz, which allowed me for the first time to have access to what went on in the secret meetings of the members of the Governing Body, I realized that I was in a sect run by some ten men. During the following six months, I meticulously verified all the information contained in that book with the help of the Bible and, in matters of chronology, with the help of encyclopedias. It has now been some five years since I resigned from all my positions because I could not take it any more. My conscience prevented me from continuing to work closely with the Watch Tower Society up to the present moment, when the last drop made the cup run over.
Having reached this point, I could not keep silent about the facts I had discovered. I began to spread the verifiable and irrefutable proofs that they were in error about 1914, which had been calculated on the basis of a false date (607 B.C.E. instead of 587 B.C.E. for the destruction of Jerusalem). Of all those with whom I discussed this, only one betrayed me and denounced me before the elders of the congregation. A judicial committee made up of three elders was formed, and they disfellowshipped me. When I was informed of this decision, I immediately appealed to the Germany branch. Here is the translation of my letter of appeal:
Letter of appeal
Karl Heinrich Geis
Friedrich Heene Str. 3
D-67061 LUDWIGSHAFEN
Wachtturm-Gesellschaft
Niederselters, Am Steinfels
D-65618 SELTERS
September 9, 1998
Subject: Appeal against disfellowshipping on the grounds of apostasy.
Dear brothers!
I simply cannot believe that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E. as the Watch Tower Society teaches. Rather, I believe that it happened in 587 B.C.E., as follows from the irrefutable proofs based on what science really acknowledges and on what is found in all history books, in all encyclopedias, and in all reference works. What was truly decisive for me is that the Word of God itself teaches us in Zechariah 7:1-5 that in the fourth year of Darius (518-517 B.C.E.), Jehovah himself reckoned that for 70 years the Jews had been fasting every year since the destruction of Jerusalem. Since 517+70=587, there is not the slightest doubt that the Bible points to 587 B.C.E. as the real date of the destruction of Jerusalem. For me, then, the question is not:
· If the statements of the Bible and those of science do not agree, whom would you believe?
Rather, the question is:
· If the statements of the Bible and what science really knows do not agree with what the ‘Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ says, whom would you believe?
Since I have made it clear that I have decided in favor of 587 B.C.E. as the date of the destruction of Jerusalem, because the Bible and science show it, that is why they want to disfellowship me from the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, solely because I disagree with the teaching of the Watch Tower Society. Does that not remind you of the story of Galileo and a certain ecclesiastical tribunal?
Even more astonishing is that the accusation of apostasy is the biblical ground invoked by the judicial committee for its judgment of disfellowshipping (or excommunication). I therefore appeal against such a sentence, and I justify my appeal by calling your attention to the false interpretation of the facts and of the biblical texts applied.
1) 2 John 9-11: “Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting; for he who greets him shares his wicked work.”
I am being accused of not “abiding in the doctrine of Christ” without being told in what way or how I have “gone ahead”! Is it not rather the Watch Tower Society that has gone too far, calculating 1914 on the basis of a false date such as 607 and claiming that this generation would not pass away before the end of the world came? Did not Jesus warn his disciples in Luke 21:8, saying: “Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.”? You know very well that the second volume of the Studies in the Scriptures written by Russell was entitled “The Time is at Hand,” and that it is precisely in that book that numerous false prophecies are found, among which there are at least seven concerning the year 1914 that did not come true.
In case you do not remember, allow me to summarize the predictions of the Watch Tower Society:
· The beginning of the “last days” was in 1799, 1874, 1910, 1914.
· The end of the “last days” was in 1914, 1925, 1975.
· The time for the parousia or presence of Christ was in 1874, 1914, 1925.
· The Watchtower asserted that Jesus returned in 1874 and that he began to reign in 1878.
· The resurrection of the “anointed” took place in 1878, 1918.
· Armageddon was to begin in 1874, 1914, 1920, 1925, around 1975.
· The time for the resurrection of Abraham, David, etc., to live on earth was set for 1925.
· The end of the 6000 years of human history was in 1872 (later changed to 1975).
Consequently, is it not rather the Watch Tower Society that -again and again- has gone ahead and has not abided in the teaching of Christ, who precisely said: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36)? Am I really an “apostate” because I can no longer believe the things you say about 1914 and because I have decided to abide in the teaching of Christ?
2) 2 Timothy 2:18: “These [men] have swerved from the truth by holding that the resurrection is past already. They are upsetting the faith of some.”
The judicial committee cited this text to me as biblical proof that I have apostatized and “swerved from the truth.” I would like to point out to you that this text speaks of men who said that the resurrection had already taken place and that, because of this, the faith of some was being subverted. Was it not the Watch Tower Society that taught that the resurrection of the “anointed” already took place in 1878? And was it not also the one that subverted the faith of many when it changed this date, saying that the resurrection had taken place in 1918? First they asserted that the resurrection had taken place in 1878 – something shown to be absolutely false! To whom should we apply this verse of 2 Timothy… to me, or to the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Speaking of those who make such assertions about the resurrection, these leaders themselves write in The Watchtower: “However, regarding this fundamental teaching – what they were teaching as to the time of the resurrection – the apostle Paul aptly branded them as apostates, with whom faithful Christians were not to have fellowship.” (The Watchtower, April 1, 1986, p. 31)
3) 1 Corinthians 1:10: “I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”
By means of this text, the judicial committee wanted to show me that I cause divisions if I do not say the same as the Watch Tower Society. Unity would be in danger! Allow me to remind you, in all modesty, that according to the Bible it is not the viewpoint or the teaching of the Watch Tower Society that is the bond of union, but rather “love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14). Even Russell, of the Tower, acknowledged:
“One of the failings generally committed is the attempt to… try to bring all members to think in the same way about the meaning of the Word of the Eternal One… it should not be insisted that everyone come to see every detail as some may see it, or even as the majority may see it. ‘Unity in essential things; love in those that are not,’ that is the rule it behooves us to follow.” (Studies in the Scriptures, “The New Creation,” pp. 353-355).
The apostle Paul, like other Bible writers, recognized that Christians could very well hold a different opinion on certain questions. The reasons could be different degrees of maturity or knowledge, as well as various other factors. He wrote:
One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him stand. One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Romans 14:2-6)
Paul sees no reason here to disfellowship a Christian because he does not share his point of view!
When its prophecies are shown to be false, the Society always says that those were dates of no importance. On the one hand, if the Society is mistaken, it is of no importance; but on the other, if a Jehovah’s Witness does not believe in an erroneous date such as 607 B.C.E., that is indeed serious – so serious that he must be disfellowshipped! Did not Brother F.W. Franz, our president who has since died, say publicly at an assembly, with regard to the chronology, that one could accept it or reject it? (“…the chronology. You can accept it or reject it.” – see The Watchtower 15.10.1966 page 631). Was Brother Franz ever disfellowshipped for publicly inviting the brothers, in front of many witnesses, to reject the chronology if they so wished? Far from it! Then… why do it to me now? Should there not be one and the same law for the great and for the small? Did not God’s law say: “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor”? (Leviticus 19:15)
4) The Watchtower of 1.4.1986, pp. 30-31:
In the end, the elders of the judicial committee found the basis for disfellowshipping me, but not in the Bible. It was in an article that posed the question: “Why have Jehovah’s Witnesses disfellowshipped (excommunicated) some people who still profess to believe in God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ?”
The answer is this: “to be accepted as an approved associate of Jehovah’s Witnesses, one is required:
1. to adhere to the whole body of biblical truths,
2. including the Scripture-based beliefs that are specific to the Witnesses
As, for example, the cited article says:
“That the year 1914 marked the end of the Times of the Gentiles and the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the heavens, as well as the time for the foretold presence of Christ…”
So then, (1.) the Word of God, and in addition (2.) the teachings of men… but that is what Jesus roundly condemned in Mark 7:9 and 13, saying: “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!” [For example, Jesus said: “Watch therefore – for you do not know when the master of the house will come.” But you say: “1874, 1878, 1914, 1925, 1975”] and in this way you are making void the Word of God through your tradition which you keep handing on. And the saddest thing is that you do many such things.”
It is clear that there is no biblical reason to disfellowship me. The teaching that comes from men, according to which the time of the end supposedly began in 1914 and this generation would see the end of the world, has dishonored God and Jesus Christ, causing many people to mock them. It is this human tradition, inherited from Russell – who himself adopted it from the Adventist Barbour” [and which, be it said in passing, I cannot accept] – that is the heart of the matter, the real reason for my disfellowshipping!
In view of all the above, I consider that my appeal against the judgment of the judicial committee is sufficiently justified. I see no need to comment here on the whole course of the judicial proceedings of 29.8.1998 before the committee. On Saturday, September 5, two elders of the judicial committee came to visit me to ask me whether I had repented of having said that the Watch Tower Society was leading people into error with the date of 607 B.C.E. and with the claims concerning 1914. Come now, brothers! How could I possibly repent when the Bible itself shows all the false prophecies of “the Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses,” and in Deuteronomy 18:21, 22 it says: “How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? – when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.”
They are asking me to follow the Society wherever it may go. Have I become an apostate because I choose instead to “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Revelation 14:4)?
One of the elders, who was predisposed to testify against me, told me in a private conversation that he would follow the Society even if IT were wrong, because IT would be the one that would have to render an account. I then called his attention to the fact that at the Nuremberg Trials, that was exactly the line of argument presented in their defense by those who were “only obeying orders.” After a long silence he said to me: “Yes, you are right; each of us will have to render an account for himself.” In that case, each one must also verify things for himself, and that is exactly what I have done, and that is why I now doubt the truthfulness of the teaching about 1914 based on 607 B.C.E. (1 Thess 5:21). Would it not be more correct for the elders of the committee to follow the biblical counsel: “convince some, who doubt; save some, by snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 22-23), instead of being strictly dogmatic? Personally, I have no doubts about the Bible, but about human teachings! One of the elders of the judicial committee told me [in the presence of the other two]: “You know that we also have doubts.” How is it possible for judges who themselves have doubts to disfellowship someone for having doubts?
What they have asked of me is to be a hypocrite. If I keep silent, nothing happens. But like the apostles before the Sanhedrin, I have said to these elders of the judicial committee: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard… We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29).
The Watchtower of June 15, 1974, page 355, under the theme “Can one be faithful to God and yet cover up reality?”, perfectly describes the situation in which I find myself:
“Can one be faithful to God and yet cover up reality? What results when no opposition or challenge is presented to a lie? Does not silence help the lie to pass as truth, to have freer rein to influence many, so that they perhaps suffer serious harm? … Is this not like concealing an infection without making any effort to cure it and keep it from spreading? When there are those who are in great danger from a source they do not suspect, or who are being misled by persons they consider their friends, is it unkind to warn them? They may prefer not to believe the warning. They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?… Jesus knew the high position of trust that those religious leaders enjoyed in the eyes of the people. Did this cause him to keep silent and give no warnings to others? No; rather, he vigorously and publicly unmasked them as persons who had betrayed God and man, as lovers of popularity and praise … Although these men bloodthirstily schemed Jesus’ death, his faithfulness to God moved him to make the truth known for the good of all who loved righteousness. His apostles followed the same faithful course, and did not allow themselves to be muzzled… Are we not faced with similar conditions in our time?… Do you believe that no opposition or challenge should be presented to lies? Then what about the falsehoods told about God, distorted representations of his announced purposes?…. Perhaps you agree that wickedness should be clearly exposed for what it is. But what if it is religious people who commit evil acts, perhaps people of your own church? Will your faithfulness to God cause you to speak out in favor of what is right?” (The Watchtower of 1974, 15/6, pp. 355-7)
Just as neither Jesus nor his apostles could keep silent, neither can I keep silent! “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)
The matter is in your hands. I know that the elders of the judicial committee will do nothing without your instructions. Whatever you may decide, remember that Jesus foretold these situations:
“They will put you out of the synagogues… indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you [for example, by ruining a believer’s reputation by branding him an apostate] will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). As for me, I trust entirely in the Father, knowing that the following words of his Son will come true: “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26).
May the undeserved kindness and the wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ be with the spirit you show.
Signed: K. H. Geis
A copy is being sent to the judicial committee
And now what?
I never received a reply to my letter addressed to the Wachtturm-Gesellschaft (the WT Society of Germany), and that despite the fact that for 43 years I gave the best of myself loyally supporting an organization that I believed was the only true religion.
An appeal judicial committee was formed on September 21, 1998, and I had to face six judges (with the public excluded and without a lawyer, as is customary among the JWs). The points raised in my letter of appeal were ignored, and after several attempts to prove the facts mentioned in my letter from the publications of the Watch Tower Society, and not being granted the floor to defend myself, I had no choice but to calmly gather up my Watchtowers and my Bible and, since at that moment all my judges fell silent, I said to them, raising my head high and looking at them all: “When Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin, he was a prisoner. As for me, I cannot remain among you, because you will not even let me present my defense. Unlike Jesus, I am neither bound nor a prisoner, and so I am going to leave you — you, but not the congregation of the brothers and sisters whom I love so much.” The initial verdict of disfellowshipping was confirmed by these judges. I learned of it on October 24 through another JW who was astonished that I was not aware of it.
At present I am happy to be following, not some ten men, but the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Every year, tens of thousands of Witnesses leave the organization. I now know where a good number of them go, ever since I got in touch with some of them, and they are now witnesses of the Jesus who leads them to the Father, just as I am.
I am getting to know a great number of Christians whose faith and authenticity cannot be doubted. These people are regarded by the JWs as antichrists caught in the grip of the “great harlot, Babylon the Great,” who is worthy of destruction at Armageddon. Some of these Christians have become true friends to me, and I count myself happy to be regarded in the same way by them. I still maintain a deep brotherly love for my former Witness companions, even though many of them, deceived and blinded, would stone me as an “apostate” if they could. The day they realize that they are believing in many fables, they may meet the Good Shepherd, who will comfort them and lead them to the Father, and they will at last be glad, like so many others, of an eternity in which no one will mislead or exploit them. They will see the reality of Jesus’ words in John 8:31-32: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” As for me, I do not believe that my decades spent among the JWs were wasted time. I had a unique experience that enables me, at present, to help the victims of sects, and one that will serve me as a lesson for eternity. A lesson I will not forget:
The worst enemy of the truth is not the obvious lie, but that which most closely resembles the truth!
30-09-99
Author: K. H. Geis
