New Light

 

The Watchtower 2/1881 pg. 188

Over the decades of their history the Watchtower Society has changed its official stand or doctrine on various issues, e.g., celebration of Christmas, the Great Pyramid being inspired of God like the Bible, that Black people are inferior to White people, the use of blood as medicine, the stand on the flag and service in the armed forces, the prohibitions against vaccinations and organ transplants, whether the second coming was in 1874 or 1914, predictions of dates for Armageddon that never came to pass, if or how much association with disfellowshipped persons is allowed, whether disassociated persons must be shunned the same as disfellowshipped persons, etc.. However, if you point out the string of past errors and doctrinal flip-flopping to a Jehovah's Witness it is likely that he will respond that this proves that he is in God's organization and that God is making their light get brighter. Watchtower publications use Proverbs 4:18 to mean that the introduction of "New Light" proves that they are God's organization. "But the path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established." (Proverbs 4:18 NWT) However, this interpretation of Proverbs 4:18 ignores the context, which demonstrates that Proverbs 4:18 is not a justification for doctrinal changes or a reference to an organization but is a contrast with the way of the wicked. Note the next verse: "The way of the wicked ones is like the gloom; they have not known at what they keep stumbling." (Proverbs 4:19 NWT)

The requirement that any light from God has to be true is an obvious and essential part of the theory about the light getting brighter; the light is not supposed to extinguish the old light but merely adds to the old light. An examination of the history of Watchtower changes reveals that the "new light" has not always been true, and often the "new light" has actually been a re-introduction of "old Light" that had been previously discarded as error or falsehood.

 

Further reading:

WITNESSING TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES