A Lutheran Becomes One of Jehovah’s Witnesses
RECENTLY the Helsinki, Finland, branch office of the Watch Tower Society received a letter from a young woman who said:
“I am a former opposer of the truth, slanderer of Jehovah’s witnesses, who was in such a desolated condition that I wasn’t able to see a spark of light in the institution which I had served as a Sunday-school teacher and director of a girl’s youth group. For over twelve years I have used most of my free time zealously in Lutheran Church circles. The fact that I have often been in religious occasions where priests ridiculed and warned against Jehovah’s witnesses started me to thinking about the matter. What if they have the truth? I thought. My heart cried out in vain, for I desired understanding of my Biblical questions. I prayed to God that he would direct me to people who worship him in the right way. The traditions of my fathers no longer satisfied me. I felt that I needed the right kind of spiritual food for everlasting life.
“As if in answer to my prayer, two men came to me. They were Jehovah’s witnesses. They were seeking rooming accommodations for an assembly they were having in our city. I invited them in, much to the amazement of my family. I asked them questions one after another and every time I received an answer from the Bible. When I heard the truth from Jehovah God I grasped it immediately, for it was just what I longed for.
“Soon it became clear to me that the doctrines of the Bible they presented were much different from what I had learned as a child. Later, as I conversed again with Jehovah’s witnesses, an incident began to bother me. I had seriously warned one of my students who came to me and said that she had begun to go to the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses, since she did not get anything from church. Now I desired to shout to that same girl that she should hurriedly get in touch with Jehovah’s witnesses because they have the truth. A heavy weight fell from my heart when one day I received a letter from that same girl saying that she did not heed my warning but, after moving to another city, had started to go to the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses and was now one of them.
“Before me was a decision. It was not easy, but I understood that to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. I left the church, much to the chagrin of my godfather and priest. The same day I took part in a social occasion where all the youth of the church were present, along with several priests and a bishop. In a private conversation with the bishop he admitted that infant baptism was not Scriptural. I asked why the church teaches it then, and I got this answer: ‘We have become so accustomed to it and if we moved it now according to the Bible it would just result in greater confusion.’ So that is it!
“My previously arranged talk at this occasion became my farewell speech to the church. I spoke first to the youth of the church, that the doctrines of immortality of the soul, trinity, infant baptism, etc., that I had taught them were not Scriptural. I exhorted them to be alert, not to believe credulously what they were taught but to study first. I noticed that before me was a more earnest audience than ever before. The priests and the bishop became pale as a result of what they heard. I rejoice that I don’t any more have to be a slave and teacher of lies (although I received $200 a month for it).
“I am happy that in this dark world there is still a chance to flee from the sinking ship to safety in the New World society, where we may serve God after Christ’s example. I hope that I will become a mature witness in connection with the theocratic organization and obediently make known the Kingdom, whose appointed King is our Redeemer Christ Jesus.”