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Declaration

[At the conclusion of the foregoing discourse, “Final Woes to Enemies of Peace with God,” at the “Peace on Earth” International Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses of 1969, the following Declaration was presented to the audience for adoption:]

1. Jehovah’s witnesses, gathered in the “Peace on Earth” Assembly took it as the favored occasion to do what publicly?

WE, Christian witnesses of Jehovah, gathered together in the “Peace on Earth” Assembly in (name of city and land), this (date), take this favorable occasion to set forth our position and attitude in this most turbulent and perilous period of human history:

2. (a) What is the key to enduring peace for mankind, and what is required to be children of God? (b) We disclaim all connection with whom, and why?

² PEACE WITH the Creator of heaven and earth, by means of his long-promised kingdom of his Messiah—this is what we hold to be the key to an enduring peace for all the world of mankind. When we keep our peace with God, we can never be at war with our neighbors who are fellow creatures of God; peace with God and peace with our fellowman go together. In order to be children of God and loyal subjects of his Messianic kingdom we are obliged to be peacemakers. (Matt. 5:9) We therefore disclaim all connection with the professed Christian realm known as Christendom, for her history proves her to be a fomenter of carnal warfare between even fellow religionists, staining her skirts with their blood. She has persecuted with torture and violent death those who have differed from her in religious conscience. She has not promoted the interests of God’s Messianic kingdom, notoriously failing in this regard since the outbreak of World War I in 1914. We can have no part with her, for it is now clearly manifest that the judgments of God as expressed in the Holy Bible are against Christendom and will shortly be executed upon her.

3. (a) Since World War I world revolution in favor of what has been pursued, and why and how? (b) What position will we continue to maintain, at the same time showing what from the Scriptures?

³ The types of political government that obtained previously down till the world conflict of 1914-1918 have failed to maintain the stability of the world of mankind. Since then world revolution in favor of radical focus of government has been attempted and is still being pursued. Much of earth’s population has been brought under Communist domination, to a large extent unwillingly and not by free popular vote. The issue of whether to have a revolution and establish a radical government has been hurled in among the restless people. We, however, still maintain as heretofore our strict Christian neutrality toward the political controversies of this world. From the start we have pointed to the written Word of God to show that long life with peace and prosperity will never be brought by radical political governments of men who are not at peace with God. According to the unerring prophecies of God’s Word, political radicalism must fail as a world remedy.

4. (a) Of what religious division do we disapprove? (b) How have the clergy failed as a light, and caused spiritual death to many?

⁴ We will continue to disapprove of the dividing up of the religious people into clergy and laity. We have the Bible behind us in this position. The clergy and exalted religious leaders of Christendom have fallen short of their obligations toward people who look to them to guide them into peaceful relationship with God. Once holding a heaven-high position in which they could have shone like stars with spiritual enlightenment for their parishioners, they have fallen to earthly, materialistic levels, lacking real spiritual uplift. They have brought no life-sustaining refreshment to Christendom, not to say the rest of mankind. They have made bitter the potion that they have caused their people to drink, both by their sectarian doctrines and by the course in life into which they have directed the people. Because of this embitterment spiritual death has resulted to untold numbers.

5. What obligation upon us do we recognize, and how will we try to discharge it?

⁵ We hold fast to the declaration that Christianity, not Christendom, is “the light of the world.” As dedicated, baptized Christians we recognize our united obligation to serve as “the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14-16) This obligation we, as Jehovah’s witnesses, will continue to discharge by preaching and teaching His written Word. In this Scriptural manner we shall keep on trying to brighten the darkness for as many persons as possible in Christendom, which the clergy and high religious leaders have failed to enlighten spiritually or to bring into the light of God’s favor.

6. (a) Whom do we recognize as our religious Liberator, and how will we imitate him as regards the religious sensibilities of certain ones? (b) Rather than hoping and trusting like these, what will we do?

⁶ We recognize Jesus Christ as our God-given religious Liberator. He has released us from religious subjection and deadness under Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, including Christendom. In his own days on earth Jesus Christ spared not the religious feelings of the men who claimed to be God’s ordained teachers and guides of the people. In imitation of him, we cannot hold back from pointing out to the trusting people of Christendom the delinquency of their clergy and other religious leaders before God. Even though this hurts the religious sensibilities of those religious leaders and is a woe to them, we shall continue to do this as long as we live and they are around in influential positions over Christendom. We will not join them in putting our hope and trust in any man-made international organization for world peace and security, but will continue to declare the doom of such organization.

7. (a) At whose disposal for active service do we hold ourselves, and why? (b) What do we hold ourselves under orders to reveal, and what publicity vehicles will we use to increase our capabilities as publishers of God’s message?

⁷ We hold ourselves at God’s disposal for his service at any time according to his appointment. He has untied us, loosed us from captivity to Babylon the Great, the. figurative mistress of the Euphrates River. Our religious liberty being due to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ, we must use it in harmony with his will at this most crucial time in human history. In obedience to his Holy Bible we confess ourselves to be under orders to reveal to the people that there is no possibility for spiritual life now and everlasting life in the future in or by means of Christendom. She spells spiritual death for her tremendous church membership now and literal death for them in the fast-approaching “day of vengeance on the part of our God.” We Christian witnesses of Jehovah are few in comparison with the 977,383,000 members of Christendom. But God has increased our capabilities as publishers of his present-day message a hundredfold, yes, double that. Through his own earthly organization he has supplied us hundreds of millions of printed pieces of literature, Bibles, books, booklets, magazines, tracts, as vehicles for us to ride in spiritual warfare against the strongholds of error in spiritually dead Christendom. By means of these myriads of publicity vehicles we shall carry out to the end our duty to declare the “day of vengeance on the part of our God,” as a “woe” to Christendom.

8. (a) What is it our happy privilege to announce? (b) What do we join our voices with heaven in saying, and so for what do we give thanks?

⁸ Mankind’s only hope for peace, happiness, prosperity, life, yes, resurrection of the dead, is God’s Messianic kingdom. Happy is our privilege to announce to all nations the establishment of that kingdom in the heavens at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. We join our voices with those in heaven in saying that the kingship of the world of mankind has become the kingship of our Lord God Jehovah and of his Messiah or Christ. We publicly thank Him that he has taken his great power and begun his everlasting reign by his Messiah, his Son Jesus.

9. (a) What will God’s kingdom mean to the nations in the day of his vengeance? (b) Yet what will we loyally do with regard to that kingdom?

⁹ We know that this kingdom means finally a disastrous woe to the political nations at the climax of the day of God’s vengeance, but we will not fear their wrath because of this. Loyally we will, to the end, give our unqualified allegiance to God’s Messianic kingdom. We will obey our reigning King Jesus Christ and carry out further his command to preach “this good news of the kingdom” everywhere for a witness to all the nations until their end comes. We will without letup turn teachable people to God’s Messianic kingdom for realization of the hope of ‘glory to God in the highest with peace on earth forever for his men of good will.’