The Question of 1800 Years
A Lucy Lutheran and Whitney Witness Dialogue
Join Lucy Lutheran and Whitney Witness as they discuss what it means to live a scripturally sound life and to be a part of our Church as God intended.
God does not require blind faith. Jesus does not walk beside us because we don't ask questions. He is the way, the truth and the light, and as true believers, we are asked to continually search for God in everything we do and to be prepared to defend Him and our faith with authentic understanding and truth. This is how Jesus walked, and is at the core of our purpose here on Earth. It's easy to have faith, more difficult to diversify the conversation on belief without ostracizing the very people seeking to share and find footing in that faith. This discussion poses an important conversation about the Church as Jesus intended it to be versus false teachings guiding His sheep.
Lucy: “Hello again, Whitney.”
Whitney smiled back, though a bit nervously.
Whitney: “Hi, Lucy. I brought my Bible, just like you said. I’ve been thinking about what we talked about…ya know…testing teachings by Scripture & all.”
Lucy: (smiling warmly) “I’m so glad to hear that, Come on in if you’d like. I made some coffee.”
Whitney hesitated for just a moment, then nodded.
Whitney: “Alright. Thank you.”
They sat at the kitchen table, Bibles between them.
Lucy: “So, last time we talked about how Paul, in 1st Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to test everything. And how the Bereans were called noble because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if Paul’s words were true. I appreciated that you were open to that conversation.”
Whitney: (smiles faintly) “It made me think. I even mentioned it at our congregation meeting. We talked about how important it is to be loyal to Jehovah’s organization.”
Lucy: “Loyalty can be a good thing…if it’s loyalty to the truth. But may I ask you something again? When you say ‘Jehovah’s organization,’ are you saying the Watchtower Society speaks with God’s authority?”
Whitney: “Well, Jehovah uses the Faithful and Discreet Slave to provide spiritual food in our time. So yes, the organization is how Jehovah directs His people.”
Lucy: (looking very thoughtful) “I see, so according to the Watchtower, for almost 1,900 years after the apostles died, there wasn’t a faithful channel of truth on earth, until the late 1800s, when the Watchtower Society began?”
Whitney: (nodding slowly.) “That’s what we’re taught, yes. The truth was lost after the apostles, and Jehovah restored it through His organization.”
Lucy: “Whitney, can I ask you to think through that claim for a moment? Do you realize what that really means? For 18 centuries, millions of professing believers all over the world who loved the Lord Jesus, whose lives were changed, who translated Scripture, who suffered, and even died for the Gospel…well…all of them were deceived, according to the Watchtower. Are you comfortable with that idea?”
It’s a sunny Saturday morning when Whitney Witness knocks on Lucy Lutherans door. This is their second meeting. Whitney is a witness for Jehovahs Organization, is well accustomed to resistance during her door to door missionary work, and regularly ascertains and defends her church without question to her faith. That is, until she knocked on Lucy's door…
Whitney: (frowning slightly) “I’ve never thought about it that way. I guess I always assumed Jehovah waited until people were ready.”
Lucy: “But Scripture doesn’t say that Jehovah would leave His church without truth for 1,800 years. In fact, Jesus said the exact opposite.” (turning to Matthew 16:18 and sliding her Bible across the table.) Would you read this, Whitney?”
Whitney: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Lucy: “Right, so Jesus promised that His Church would never be overcome. He’s saying that the defenses of Hades itself couldn’t stand against the advancement of the Gospel. There is no hint that it would disappear for eighteen centuries until a publishing society in New York brought it back. Either Christ kept His promise, or He didn’t.”
Whitney: “But people fell into false teachings. The churches became corrupt.”
Lucy: (nodding in agreement) “Yes, churches have always had false teachers, even in the first century. But there’s also always been faithful believers clinging to the Word of God. Christ’s Church may have been small at times, but it was never gone. Otherwise, His promise would have failed. Let me ask another question. If the Watchtower claims to be God’s channel, shouldn’t it be consistent in its teaching?”
Whitney: “Well, yeah.”
Lucy: “Then why has it changed its core doctrines so many times? Their own publications have predicted several specific years for Armageddon; 1914, 1925, and even as recent as 1975, and then later said those were just misunderstandings. They once said Jesus returned invisibly in 1874, then changed it to 1914. And they’ve reversed their teaching on who the ‘generation’ of Matthew 24:34 refers to, several times.”
Whitney: (nervously looking down) “We believe the light gets brighter, like Proverbs 4:18 says.”
Lucy: “Indeed it does. But that passage is talking about the righteous walking in holiness, not doctrines changing. When a prophet claims divine authority, Deuteronomy 18 says the test is whether his words come true. If they don’t, the message didn’t come from God. Whitney, the Watchtower has made false predictions in God’s name. That should make any honest follower pause.”
(There was a pause that seemed like an eternity. Whitney was just staring at her Bible, tracing the edge of the page with her finger.)
Lucy’s tone was gentle, never pressing…as she continued…
Lucy: “Whitney, when I first realized my own church had traditions that didn’t line up with Scripture, it shook me deeply. Soo deeply! That was my entire world. It was all I knew.
But eventually it was freeing, because truth isn’t afraid of scrutiny or examination. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 4: 4 and 7: 15-16, to test everything by His Word.”
She reached for her Bible again.
Lucy: “Remember 2nd Corinthians 13:5, ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith?’ That’s not a command to test our obedience to an organization, it’s to see whether we’re truly trusting in the same Christ who is revealed in Scripture.”
Whitney: (Looked up quickly) “I want to be sure I belong to Jehovah.”
Lucy: “And that’s a good desire, but belonging to Jehovah comes through belonging to Jesus, because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If the Watchtower teaches a Christ different from the Jesus revealed to us in Scripture…then it isn’t leading people to Jehovah at all.”
(There was another long silence. Finally Whitney leaned in to speak)
Whitney: “Maybe next time we could talk about who Jesus really is.”
Lucy: “I’d like that very much.”
As Whitney left, Lucy prayed quietly again, that the same Word which calls, enlightens, and sanctifies…would begin its quiet work in Whitney’s heart.