… the Watchtower has changed baptism questions twice during the past 40 years?
Old – from 1973:
Have you repented of your sins and turned around, recognizing yourself before Jehovah God as a condemned sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds for him, the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ?
On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation, have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Jesus Christ and through the Bible under the enlightening power of the holy spirit?
New – from 1985:
On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?
Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with God’s spirit-directed organization?
Jill Struck Greenlee Jacobsen
I was baptized before the dates in this article. At that time all we did was say we wanted to be baptized….and we were at the next assembly. Many people were never really a “Jehovah’s Witness” Back in the 1930’s they would baptize anyone that wanted to be baptized. My paternal grandfather, my Grandmother, my dad and his younger brother (7 years old) Were all baptized at the same time and place. My grandfather never attended meetings, went in the field service or anything else. My father, uncle and grandmother all continued to be “faithful” until their death. I know there were many others from the 1930’s and 1940’s that never continued in the “truth”. Sadly some of my relatives spent time in prison because they wouldn’t serve in the military when drafted and only about half of them continued as Jehovah’s Witnesses after they were released from prison. Many others that I knew, not relatives, spent time in prison during the Korean war and Viet Nam and they also disappeared from the congregations after their release.
I was baptized before the dates in this article. At that time all we did was say we wanted to be baptized….and we were at the next assembly. Many people were never really a “Jehovah’s Witness” Back in the 1930’s they would baptize anyone that wanted to be baptized. My paternal grandfather, my Grandmother, my dad and his younger brother (7 years old) Were all baptized at the same time and place. My grandfather never attended meetings, went in the field service or anything else. My father, uncle and grandmother all continued to be “faithful” until their death. I know there were many others from the 1930’s and 1940’s that never continued in the “truth”. Sadly some of my relatives spent time in prison because they wouldn’t serve in the military when drafted and only about half of them continued as Jehovah’s Witnesses after they were released from prison. Many others that I knew, not relatives, spent time in prison during the Korean war and Viet Nam and they also disappeared from the congregations after their release.