What Is the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Jehovah’s Witnesses say they base their beliefs on “all 66” books of the Bible. (1) They also teach that Jesus appointed a small group of anointed men, the Governing Body, to prepare and give out “spiritual food.” The group’s understanding, they say, is refined over time as “new light.” This page sets out those three terms in the organization’s own words, dates them, and notes where the Bible Students who parted ways in the 1910s differ.

Key Points

• The Governing Body says it is “not the leaders of our organization” and that Jesus is the Head of the congregation. (2)
• Since 2012 the Governing Body itself has been identified as “the faithful and discreet slave” of Matthew 24:45–47, appointed in 1919. (3)
• “New light” is the name for adjusted teaching. The organization ties it to Proverbs 4:18 and says its leaders have “made mistakes in doctrinal matters.” (4) (6)
• In 1967 The Watchtower said the Bible “cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization in mind.” (7)
• Associated Bible Students kept Charles Taze Russell’s writings but chose independent, self-governing congregations. They have no central body. (11)
• Christians of other churches agree with Witnesses that Scripture is inspired. Where they disagree is whether any group’s interpretation can be the test of faithfulness.

Three Terms

Governing Body. jw.org describes it as “a small group of mature Christians who provide direction for Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide.” Its task is to “oversee the preparation of Bible-based instruction through the publications, meetings, and schools.” It says it “follows the pattern set by ‘the apostles and elders in Jerusalem’” in Acts 15:2Acts 15:2 · King James VersionWhen therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.Acts 15:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The page says members meet weekly, “striving for unanimous decisions,” and that the world headquarters is in Warwick, New York. (2) The same page says:

Like those faithful men, the members of the Governing Body are not the leaders of our organization. They look to the Bible for guidance, acknowledging that Jehovah God has appointed Jesus Christ as the Head of the congregation.

“The faithful and discreet slave.” The phrase comes from Matthew 24:45Matthew 24:45 · King James VersionWho then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?Matthew 24:45 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The 2012 annual meeting report summarizes the teaching this way: the slave “was appointed over Jesus’ domestics in 1919,” and is “the small, composite group of anointed brothers serving at world headquarters.” It adds that “when this group work together as the Governing Body, they act as ‘the faithful and discreet slave.’” (3) Who is the faithful and discreet slave? covers the July 2013 Watchtower that published this teaching and the earlier view it replaced.

“New light.” The jw.org answer on changed beliefs says: “We have always used the Bible as the sole authority for our beliefs, so we have adjusted our beliefs as our understanding of the Scriptures has been clarified.” It cites Proverbs 4:18, which the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) renders “the bright morning light that grows brighter and brighter until full daylight.” (4) A 2006 study article said increasing light “refines them organizationally, doctrinally, and morally.” (5) A 2021 study article said that “at times, they have made mistakes in doctrinal matters and in organizational direction,” and that “Jehovah reveals the truth gradually.” (6) Which teachings changed is covered in How have Watchtower teachings changed?. How to read the wording of a publication is covered in How do you read Watchtower language?.

How the Bible Relates to the Channel

Witnesses do not say the publications replace Scripture. The beliefs page says, “We recognize the Bible as God’s inspired message to humans,” and adds, “While we accept the entire Bible, we are not fundamentalists.” (1) The question is who interprets the Bible. A 1967 study article answered it this way:

Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization in mind.

That is from The Watchtower, 1 October 1967, paragraph 9. (7) Later publications add that the Governing Body is not inspired. To summarize the position: its explanations are still the food that Jesus’ appointed slave provides.

A Dated History

jw.org says Russell “was not the founder of a new religion” and that Witnesses view Jesus as their founder. (8) Proclaimers quotes Russell’s Watch Tower as saying, “We do not separate ourselves from other Christians by taking any distinctive or peculiar name.” (10) The date claims about 1914 are covered in What happened in 1914?.

Where Other Groups Differ

After Russell’s death, Proclaimers says, some associates would not cooperate with the Society. “Such fragmented groups used a variety of names, some of them clinging to the designation Associated Bible Students.” (10) The Pastoral Bible Institute, formed by some of these groups “in 1918,” describes them this way:

The Associated Bible Students are congregational. That is, individual Bible classes are independent, self-governing bodies, while maintaining fellowship with other like congregations.

The Institute says its elders “assume no ecclesiastical titles.” It also says that, after Russell died, the Watch Tower organization “changed many of its teachings from those presented in Studies in the Scriptures.” (11) Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses share some roots and some doctrines, including the denial of the Trinity. They disagree about whether a central body is the channel for Christ’s teaching. This page found no reliable source for other splinter groups, so it does not describe them.

What Matthew 24:45 Says

The name “faithful and discreet slave” is the organization’s reading of Matthew 24:45Matthew 24:45 · King James VersionWho then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?Matthew 24:45 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The King James asks, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” The Greek is τίς ἄρα ἐστὶν ὁ πιστὸς δοῦλος καὶ φρόνιμος. πιστός is faithful. δοῦλος is a slave or a servant. φρόνιμος is prudent, which the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) renders “discreet.” The sentence is a question inside a parable. The lord of the servant is away. The faithful servant feeds the household at the right time. The next verses describe an evil servant who beats his fellows and is cut asunder when the lord comes (Matthew 24:48–51Matthew 24:48–51 · King James Version^24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; ^24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; ^24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, ^24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Matthew 24:48–51 · King James VersionOpen the Source). The parable does not name a twentieth-century body, a year of appointment, or a headquarters.

The 2012 annual meeting report is where Jehovah’s Witnesses identify that slave with the Governing Body, appointed in 1919. (3) The Greek question and that identification are two different sentences. One is in Matthew. The other is in the meeting report. Who Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave? quotes the July 2013 Watchtower that published the teaching.

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Trinitarian Christianity Compared

Most Christians, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant, read the Bible within a community and with teachers too. In fairness, the Witness model is not the absence of Scripture. The objection is narrower. A body that admits doctrinal mistakes (6) is still the body without which, in the 1967 wording, the Bible “cannot be properly understood.” (7) If so, the reader has no fixed point from which to test the next adjustment.

Acts 17:11Acts 17:11 · King James VersionThese were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.Acts 17:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source (King James Version) gives the Bereans’ test:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Acts 17:11 · King James Version

The Bereans tested an apostle by Scripture. The Jerusalem council of Acts 15, which the Governing Body cites, was the apostles and the elders together (Acts 15:2Acts 15:2 · King James VersionWhen therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.Acts 15:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source, Acts 15:6Acts 15:6 · King James VersionAnd the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.Acts 15:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source). Catholic and Orthodox churches do claim a continuing office that teaches. Dei Verbum 10 says the task of authentically interpreting the word of God “has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church,” and that “This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it.” (17) The Orthodox Church in America page on Tradition says, “Among the elements which make up the Holy Tradition of the Church, the Bible holds the first place,” and then names the Church’s dogmatic decisions and approved councils. (18) That page is a catechism, not a synod. Neither sentence identifies that office with a small group appointed in 1919, or with the 1967 claim that the Bible cannot be understood without that group. Trinitarian creeds claim to summarize what the text already says, and they invite testing against it. 2 Timothy 3:16–172 Timothy 3:16–17 · King James Version^3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ^3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.2 Timothy 3:16–17 · King James VersionOpen the Source says Scripture makes “the man of God” “throughly furnished unto all good works.” John 5:39–40John 5:39–40 · King James Version^5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. ^5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.John 5:39–40 · King James VersionOpen the Source warns that searching the Scriptures can still miss the one they testify of. For that reason Christian evaluation of the Witnesses rests on single passages read in context, such as What Does John 1:1 Mean? and Is Jesus the Creator or a creature?, rather than on the claims about authority alone. Is the Bible True? is the claim that Scripture can be tested. How Was the Bible Canon Decided? is which books the churches received. Which Bible Translation Is Most Accurate? is the English text, including the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible). The Trinity is the confession those passages are read beside. Jesus is God.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is the Governing Body Located?

jw.org says the world headquarters is in Warwick, New York, and that the Governing Body members meet each week. (2) The 2012 annual meeting that identified the Governing Body as the faithful and discreet slave was held in Jersey City, New Jersey. (3)

Is the Governing Body Inspired?

No, by its own account. The 2017 Watchtower quoted in Who is the faithful and discreet slave? says, “The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible.” (12) Witnesses still treat its direction as coming from the slave Jesus appointed.

Do Witnesses Use Only Their Own Bible?

They mainly use the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible), and they say they accept all 66 books. (1) Its translation choices are reviewed in How reliable is the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible)?

Keep Reading

• Who is the faithful and discreet slave?
• How have Watchtower teachings changed?
• How do you read Watchtower language?
• Should Jesus be worshipped, or only given obeisance?
• Does “Jehovah” belong in the New Testament?
• The Trinity
• Is the Bible True?
• How Was the Bible Canon Decided?
• Which Bible Translation Is Most Accurate?
• Charity in Disagreement