Posted by Seeker [Seeker] on November 28, 1999 at 11:58:44 {hcnmikA.FkjQkQtcahuY79YAW9JMpc}:
In Reply to: Organizational Obedience posted by Noggin on November 28, 1999 at 11:12:56:
I think the Bible does describe a level of organization -- on the congregation level. In the first-century, there obviously were older men in each congregation. These older men took the lead in teaching, though others taught as well. So Heb. 13:17 tells the Christians to respect these older ones.
This congregation-level organization is a far cry from what you see today in the WTS, of course. The first-century organization resembled what Russell set up in the late 1800s. This first-century organization was sufficient to preach the good news in "all creation under heaven."
Apparently, with Rutherford and especially Knorr, they didn't have enough faith in God to allow the brothers to continue this congregation level organization. Instead of leaving it up Jesus to direct the congregations, they took it upon themselves to add more and more human layers of hierarchical organizational structures. The end result is an organization that doesn't resemble the first-century Christians at all.
Seeker