A Walk Around the Watchtower

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The Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped by yesterday. I never pretend not to be home, and when I’m less stressed out I like to engage them in terms of biblical exegesis — religion is all about conflict. Yesterday I was still recovering from the disappointment of not getting a job I really wanted, so I simply answered their questions and accepted their Watchtower magazine. Thumbing through it, I ran into some hermeneutical obstacles — an occupational hazard for those of us who’ve spent a little too much time with the Bible, I suppose. A story about Joshua informed me that “Jehovah wants you to succeed.” It tasted a little too much like prosperity gospel and not much like life in the present. So I flipped a few more pages.

An article on Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year, as it is traditionally called), warned against Christians celebrating it, in part because of ancestor veneration. The Watchtower declares, “the Bible show that the ‘ghosts’ and deceased ‘spirits’ are really wicked spirit creatures pretending to be the deceased. For what purpose? To mislead people and bring them under their evil control!” Now, I admit to being drawn into the Ghost Hunter fan-base, but I do recall the story of Saul summoning Samuel from the dead. The Bible doesn’t indicate that he’s evil; in fact, it is Samuel himself! If ghosts want to deceive then they need to show up a little more clearly and give more direct messages.

I then learned about King David’s remarkable musical prowess in the story about music in the Bible. It is truly amazing what can be extrapolated from a literal reading of the Psalms. The magazine informs us that King Sennacherib, emperor of Assyria, demanded male and female musicians from Hezekiah. “It seems that they were first-class performers.” This seemed a little too much like the stereotype of Jewish entertainers, and since it was extra-biblical I couldn’t accept it. The story concludes by indicating that music is not a human invention. “The Bible describes music and singing in the heavens themselves, where spirit creatures play figurative harps and sing praises around Jehovah’s throne.” As I pondered what a figurative harp would sound like, I could swear I heard the sound of one hand clapping.

Being that time of year, the issue has an Epiphany story. Well, most Christians associate the wise men with Christmas, so I’ll call it a Christmas story. Eager to be honest, the author notes that the wise men were really foreign astrologers. And although they were into witchcraft, the angel announced Jesus’ birth to them to lead them away from this abhorrent practice. Then a divine revelation came to them in a dream in order that they could avoid Herod and his wicked plan. So the astrology that led them to Jesus was bad, but the end result was good.

When the Jehovah’s Witnesses ask me if I know about the Bible, I look at my feet and kick at an invisible speck of mud on the floor as I admit that I have taught Bible for nearly twenty years. But when they ask what I believe about the Bible I tell them the same thing I tell my students — what I believe is personal and I choose not to share it. I don’t begrudge any person of their religion. I even share the Jehovah Witnesses’ hope that the future may be brighter than the present. If you want to convert a religion professor, even an adjunct one, however, it will take more than a Watchtower to do it.

7 thoughts on “A Walk Around the Watchtower”

  1. ABibleReader

    Hi Steve,

    I stumbled upon your blog because of a Google alert I had set on “Jehovah”.

    On the topic of Saul summoning “Samuel”, from the dead, here’s some commentary you might find interesting. I would enjoy reading your thoughts on it, even if you totally disagree with it. This is from the Watchtower Publication, “Insight on the Scriptures” article under the topic of “Spiritism”:

    King Saul’s visit to a medium.

    When Saul went to the medium, Jehovah’s spirit had for some time been removed from him, and in fact, God would not answer his inquiries by means of dreams or by the Urim (used by the high priest) or by the prophets. (1Sa 28:6) God would have no more to do with him; and God’s prophet Samuel had not seen Saul for a long period of time, from before David’s being anointed to be king. So it would be unreasonable to think that Samuel, even if still alive, would now come to give Saul advice. And God would certainly not cause Samuel, whom he had not sent to Saul before his death, to come back from the dead to talk to Saul.—1Sa 15:35.

    That Jehovah would in no way approve of or cooperate with Saul’s action is shown by his later statement through Isaiah: “And in case they should say to you people: ‘Apply to the spiritistic mediums or to those having a spirit of prediction who are chirping and making utterances in low tones,’ is it not to its God that any people should apply? Should there be application to dead persons in behalf of living persons? To the law and to the attestation!”—Isa 8:19, 20.

    Therefore, when the account reads: “When the woman saw ‘Samuel’ she began crying out at the top of her voice,” it obviously recounts the event as viewed by the medium, who was deceived by the spirit that impersonated Samuel. (1Sa 28:12) As for Saul himself, the principle stated by the apostle Paul applied: “Just as they did not approve of holding God in accurate knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting . . . Although these know full well the righteous decree of God, that those practicing such things are deserving of death, they not only keep on doing them but also consent with those practicing them.”—Ro 1:28-32.

    The Commentary on the Old Testament, by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch (1973, Vol. II, First Samuel, p. 265), refers to the Greek Septuagint at 1 Chronicles 10:13, which has added the words “and Samuel the prophet answered him.” (Bagster) The Commentary supports the view that is implied by these uninspired words in the Septuagint, but it adds: “Nevertheless the fathers, reformers, and earlier Christian theologians, with very few exceptions, assumed that there was not a real appearance of Samuel, but only an imaginary one. According to the explanation given by Ephraem Syrus, an apparent image of Samuel was presented to the eye of Saul through demoniacal arts. Luther and Calvin adopted the same view, and the earlier Protestant theologians followed them in regarding the apparition as nothing but a diabolical spectre, a phantasm, or diabolical spectre in the form of Samuel, and Samuel’s announcement as nothing but a diabolical revelation made by divine permission, in which truth is mixed with falsehood.”

    In a footnote (First Samuel, pp. 265, 266), this Commentary says: “Thus Luther says . . . ‘The raising of Samuel by a soothsayer or witch, in 1 Sam. xxviii. 11, 12, was certainly merely a spectre of the devil; not only because the Scriptures state that it was effected by a woman who was full of devils (for who could believe that the souls of believers, who are in the hand of God, . . . were under the power of the devil, and of simple men?), but also because it was evidently in opposition to the command of God that Saul and the woman inquired of the dead. The Holy Ghost cannot do anything against this himself, nor can He help those who act in opposition to it.’ Calvin also regards the apparition as only a spectre . . . : ‘It is certain,’ he says, ‘that it was not really Samuel, for God would never have allowed His prophets to be subjected to such diabolical conjuring. For here is a sorceress calling up the dead from the grave. Does any one imagine that God wished His prophet to be exposed to such ignominy; as if the devil had power over the bodies and souls of the saints which are in His keeping? The souls of the saints are said to rest . . . in God, waiting for their happy resurrection. Besides, are we to believe that Samuel took his cloak with him into the grave? For all these reasons, it appears evident that the apparition was nothing more than a spectre, and that the senses of the woman herself were so deceived, that she thought she saw Samuel, whereas it really was not he.’ The earlier orthodox theologians also disputed the reality of the appearance of the departed Samuel on just the same grounds.”

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    • Steve Wiggins

      Thanks for the question. Here are my thoughts:

      The primary issue is the way the Bible is utilized to make a coherent picture where it does not exist. It is difficult to explain since many Christians (and a few Jews) do it so automatically that it appears to be the default way of dealing with the Bible. What I’m referring to is the practice of prooftexting. Prooftexting is lifting verses of the Bible out of context and using them to erect a theological construct. What is primary here is not the Bible itself but the construct being made. Verses plucked out of context and laid next to one another may be used to distort what the Bible says in its own context. That is what this article is doing.

      The ancient Israelites, like most ancient peoples, believed that the dead did not go to heaven or hell, but a shadowy place called sheol. They did not come back to life — resurrection was a much later idea, they were not ghosts, but they were a mere shadow of their former selves. The dead are weak, sleepy, and low energy remainders of the once vital person that they had been. If we take the account in 1 Samuel at face value, without interpolating other verses into the text, we see that it is Samuel who is conjured. He makes a true prediction, the sign that he is an actual prophet, and he is recognized by the other characters of the narrative.

      The theologians cited in the article had very definite theological agendas to which a plain sense of the text would have been problematic. Reformers had invested a great deal in their particular reading of scripture, most of which involved considerable prooftexting — it was the standard method of the day. Now that we know much more about the Bible and its composition, this method no longer holds up. If we take the Bible seriously, there are multiple viewpoints and each passage should be allowed to speak for itself. When 1 Samuel does so, we clearly have Samuel coming back to give a final warning to a deviant Saul. If the necromancer can’t really call back the dead, there would have been no need to curtail their activity in ancient Israel.

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      • ABibleReader

        Thank you for your analysis. I appreciate having the opportunity to discuss this topic with someone of your background.

        Please allow me to question you on your statement:

        “If the necromancer can’t really call back the dead, there would have been no need to curtail their activity in ancient Israel.”

        Is your hypothesis that necromancers *could* really call back the dead, the only possible reason to explain why their activities were curtailed?

        Let us review a few important points.

        It is clear that what Saul did in consulting a spirit medium was a violation of God’s law. Both spirit mediums and those consulting them were judged guilty of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:6, 27) God’s law to Israel stated: “Do not turn yourselves to the spirit mediums, and do not consult professional foretellers of events, so as to become unclean by them.” (Leviticus 19:31) “When you are entered into the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, you must not learn to do according to the detestable things of those nations. There should not be found in you . . . anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead.”—Deuteronomy 18:9-11; Isaiah 8:19, 20.

        If spirit mediums could actually get in touch with the dead, why, then, did God’s law label their practice as something “unclean,” “detestable” and deserving of death? If the communication were with dead loved ones, for example, why would a God of love designate this as a terrible crime? Why would he want to deprive the living of getting some comforting messages from the dead? Does not God’s view indicate that people are not really talking to the dead but that a terrible deception must be involved? Scriptural evidence shows that is the case.

        Now, let us consider the case of Saul. Regarding divine communication with him, Saul acknowledged: “God himself has departed from me and has answered me no more, either by means of the prophets or by dreams; so that I am calling you [Samuel] to let me know what I shall do.” (1 Samuel 28:15)

        Obviously, God would not allow a spirit medium to get around this divine cutoff of communication by getting in touch with a dead prophet and having him deliver a message from God to Saul. Then, too, during the latter part of his life, Samuel himself, a faithful prophet of God, had ceased to have any dealings whatsoever with Saul. Would it not be unreasonable, therefore, to conclude that Samuel was willing to speak with Saul by means of a spirit medium, an arrangement that was condemned by God?

        So, there must have been deception involved, something so unclean that spirit mediums and those consulting them merited the death sentence.

        Thank-you for your time.

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        • Steve Wiggins

          Interesting question. No, I do not suppose my outlook is the only explanation available, but it is based on many years of study on the topic.

          I am not suggesting that necromancers could call back the dead — I do not believe there is any evidence that this is possible. I do believe, however, that the writer of the story believed it to be possible. The reason the dead were unclean has nothing to do with violating Torah, but with cultural purity laws. Throughout much of the ancient world contact with the dead led to ritual impurity and had to be purified by various rites.

          The problem with seeing this as a violation of Torah is that, despite the biblical narrative’s layout, Torah only really came to be part of Israel’s “constitution” with Ezra, in the post-exilic period. Moses is not historically attested, and the Torah is not cited by the prophets as the reason that Israel or Judah should do what they demand. Torah shows up after the exile in the wake of Persian administration. In Saul’s day, Leviticus did not exist.

          If we take the story at face value, the dead are who they are and necromancers were scary people who could bring them back. This meant the land could be polluted and divine wrath engaged, but they don’t shy away from it because of the Torah. It will only come a few centuries later.

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  3. jon

    Many people may profess to know of the Bible through and through and inside out even, more extensively than those who call on them, but unless you have Jehovah’s spirit which he gives personally and is not something you can just acquire for yourselves, you will never know the truth, not only dose he hides the truth from the wise and interlectual ones(worldly wise ones), but gives it to-whom-ever he wants to. God chose the foolish things of this world in order to put the men to shame. Just because some of us have a degree of religious studies it dosen’t mean that you truely know and understand Biblical truths it just mearly means to shows you have a certain amount of knowlege that’s all. I mean I have knowlege of the Bible perhaps more than you will ever have but it’s having the understanding of that knowlege, I dont advertise that fact nor do I have letters after my name what would that prove. Jehovah is searching for honest hearted ones to be part of his kingdom arrangement on earth in that new system of things, not those with a smug pompose self seeking aragant attitude behaviour who seek to exploit their position to sit upon thrones and make them selves Gods also,the worlds full of those type and just look where its got us. However I do know of a number of university proffessors scientist’s and lawers and other learned men of this world who have shown a humble attituded and who have become Jehovah’s witnesses through their own choosing because of the convincing evidence of the Biblical truth’s portraid to them from those who do Jehovah’s will. There are even some christians who also think they were totally convinced of doing what is right according to the Lord even they will relise they to have been making a big mistake.
    Matthew 7:21.
    This reply is not to be takened personally so I do apologise for any afence.
    (my spelling is awfull I know)

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