Tacking in the Wind
Whenever others have asked us how we can have faith in the Society even though their views have changed over the years on various matters, we’ve given them the example of “tacking in the wind.”
I did a little research with the Watchtower Library CD, and wanted to find out more on their reasoning with this. I was shocked to find that that explanation was only given once back in Dec of ’81. The word tacking was only used twice in the article, with no scriptural reference or support, and included a Diagram of ‘tacking’. According to the diagram and the rules of sailing, 90o turns, right then left, are used. Yet when you look at some of the changes that have been, in the Watchtower, you’ll see that the changes are not 90o but 180o. They are the exact opposite. So instead of tacking it’s actually going back and forth. Notice how the fates of those who died in Sodom changed 8 times.
WT 7/1879 p.8------The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
WT 6/1/52 p 338 ---The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
WT 8/1/65 p.479---- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
WT 6/1/88 p.31 ---- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
Live Forever Book
Early editions p.179- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
Live Forever Book
Later editions p.179- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
Insight, Vol2 p. 895- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
Revelation p.273---- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
That is just one example, many others include; superior authorities, rape victims, vasectomies, sex sins in marriage, alternative military service, vaccines, transplants, etc.
I also couldn’t help but think of the scripture at Ephesians 4:14-15 “14 in order that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in contriving error.”
This scripture did not seem to correspond with the Tacking teaching at all, neither did the one at
Jude 3 (NLT) “Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.” (bold mine)
How could changes of 180o, a turning to the Right & the Left, have any scriptural basis? As you can see in the following pages, I not only found that the scriptures, and numerous other articles in the WT, not only did not support the teaching of “Tacking in the Wind”, but actually quite the reverse. You might find it interesting to notice the few pages that follow; they are excerpts from various articles from the Watchtower Society, and scriptures from the NWT
*** it-2 1187 Wind ***
Figurative Use. Winds can spring up quickly and just as quickly die down, thus appropriately representing the transitoriness of man’s life. (Job 7:7) Having no solid substance, wind can denote vain knowledge and labor, empty words and hopes (Job 15:1, 2; 16:3; Ec 5:16; Ho 12:1), as well as nothingness. (Isa 26:18; 41:29; Jer 5:13) As vain works end up in futility, pursuing them is like “striving after wind.” (Ec 1:14; 2:11) And the man who brings ostracism upon his house takes “possession of wind.” He gains nothing that is worth while or has real substance.—Pr 11:29.
Winds scatter and toss objects about, and so being ‘scattered to every wind’ or ‘divided toward the four winds’ signifies complete dispersion or division. (Jer 49:36; Eze 5:10; 12:14; 17:21; Da 11:4) Like a vessel that is tossed about by the winds, with no set course, persons lacking Christian maturity are subject to being “carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in contriving error.”—Eph 4:13, 14.
*** w94 2/15 22 Keep Your Distance When Danger Threatens ***
Christians must be sensitive to dangers that could shipwreck their faith. (1 Timothy 1:19) Nowadays, conditions are by no means ideal for keeping a steady course. Just as a boat can be driven off course by winds and tides, so our dedicated lives can lose direction because of the constant tug of our imperfect flesh and relentless buffeting by the spirit of the world—now almost gale force in intensity.
*** w82 9/1 14 "Look! Jehovah Came With His Holy Myriads" ***
12 The false teachers of Jude’s day also were like deceptive clouds promising much-needed rain, but that were really waterless and driven by winds. Those men were carried about by winds of error, and because of being like “waterless clouds” they were spiritually empty and unprofitable. Let Jehovah’s Witnesses beware of all such presumptuous false teachers.
*** w81 10/1 12 Can You Tell Right from Wrong? ***
All Christians need to be “stabilized in the faith.” (Col. 2:6, 7) Then the changing winds of the moral philosophies of this world will not deceive or seduce us. Parents and Bible teachers do well to remember that serving Jehovah means more than knowing the doctrines of the Kingdom. It also means understanding and following God’s righteousness.—Matt. 6:33.
*** w79 2/15 20 Visits from Older Men Benefit God's People ***
18 In a world where people are tossed about by confusing winds of religious doctrine, Jehovah’s people need to be stable, full-grown Christians. (Eph. 4:13, 14) Their position must be steadfast, not shifting quickly because of independent thinking or emotional pressures. (Col. 1:23; 2:6, 7) Rightly, then, traveling overseers should emphasize the need for all Christians to grow constantly in accurate knowledge of God. (Phil. 1:9, 10; Col. 1:9-11) They encourage personal, family and congregational study so that Christians will feed, not just on ‘the milk of the word,’ but on “solid food,” in order to appreciate fully “the word of righteousness,” and to “have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” (Heb. 5:12-14) When they inspect a congregation’s spiritual condition, traveling overseers will counsel Scripturally on such points.
*** g70 4/22 12 What's Going On at Church Services ***
It is clear that confusion and unrest are widespread throughout Christendom’s churches. They are being battered hither and thither by the winds of change, like a ship that has lost its moorings. They have no apparent guidelines. Rules prescribed yesterday are no longer valid today, and so people conclude that today’s rules will not be applicable tomorrow. Not even the Bible is accepted as an authority any longer.
*** w95 10/1 32 When "No Wind Is the Right Wind" ***
When “No Wind Is the Right Wind”
“WHEN a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” These words, attributed to first-century Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, bear out a long-recognized truth: For life to have direction, goals are essential.
Often, however, life is an aimless drift. Many are content simply to avoid the rocks and whirlpools of everyday life. With no fixed bearing, they become like waves that are “carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next.” (James 1:6, “Phillips”) For such people, “no wind is the right wind.”
The Bible provides examples of those who were goal oriented, thus serving as role models for Christians today. Moses “looked intently toward the payment of the reward.” (Hebrews 11:26) Paul wrote: “I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize.” He encouraged fellow believers to “have this same attitude.”—Philippians 3:14, 15, “Today’s English Version.”
With our eyes intently fixed on the Bible’s promises, may we imitate the faith of such goal-oriented men.—Compare Hebrews 13:7.
*** w94 9/15 32 "Roots That Cannot Be Dislodged" ***
This is a warning for those who profess to be Christians, for Jesus said that some would have “no root” in themselves and would stumble. (Matthew 13:21) Furthermore, the apostle Paul wrote about persons who would be “carried hither and thither by every wind of [false] teaching.” (Ephesians 4:14) How can this be prevented?
Just as the roots of a sequoia spread expansively in the earth’s nourishing soil, so our minds and hearts need to delve expansively into God’s Word and draw from its life-giving waters. This will help us to develop a firmly rooted faith. Of course, we will feel the effects of stormy trials. We may even tremble, like a tree, in the presence of adversity. But if our faith is well grounded, we will prove to have “roots that cannot be dislodged.”—Compare Hebrews 6:19.
*** w85 5/1 9 Accepting the Challenge of Christian Maturity ***
attention span. Though they are curious about everything around them, they are also unpredictable, changeable, and unsettled. Obviously, anyone remaining in such a state is in grave spiritual danger. He is likely to be “tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in contriving error,” as the apostle Paul described it at Ephesians 4:14.
7 Waves and wind can break forth as quickly as they dissipate. Today, when it is planned for things to go obsolete, trends, fads, and fashions come and go. Things that were considered essential just a short while ago are completely outdated and forgotten. Whether it is in the field of entertainment, dress and grooming, or anything else, how unwise—and childish—it is to be caught up in always wanting or getting the latest in everything, only to be outclassed and disappointed quickly. In spiritual matters, the consequence of such unsteadiness can be disastrous.—Compare James 1:6-8.
*** w79 6/1 10 Go On Walking as Children of Light ***
Go On Walking as Children of Light
“You were once darkness, but you are now light in connection with the Lord. Go on walking as children of light.”—Eph. 5:8.
THE man battled against the fierce wind. Straining with each step, he unfalteringly walked forward. Why all the effort? Why did he not merely turn around and walk with the wind? Because a short distance behind him loomed a deep dark chasm. He had no choice if he wanted to live. No wonder he struggled to walk against the wind.
2 Today, like a vicious wind, the “spirit of the world,” under the direction of Satan, is attempting to sweep all mankind in a course that will inescapably lead to a “chasm” of destruction, at the expression of God’s wrath. (1 Cor. 2:12; Eph. 5:6) To avoid such wrath requires that a Christian, as it were, ‘walk against the wind.’ He must struggle if he is to walk as a ‘child of light,’ and not as the ‘nations walk’ or conduct themselves.—Eph. 4:17; 5:8.
*** w54 8/15 506 Endurance Through Hope ***
14 Nor should we think that we can attend any theocratic meeting and expect it to build up our hope if we let our mind wander onto personal interests, “the anxieties of this system of things.” (Mark 4:19, NW) Never allow the thoughts to have free rein, but direct the mind so that it can concentrate on the message being delivered. Drowsy minds cannot concentrate well. So wake up the mind. It tends to be lazy. And if not being alert at studies of Jehovah’s people is a decided danger, then what will happen to the hope of those who become negligent in attending spiritual feasts? Just this: Their “anchor” will not hold. They will seek their own interests, finally drifting back into the world. They may suffer irreparable shipwreck. (2 Pet. 2:20) “That is why it is necessary for us to pay more than the usual attention to the things heard by us, that we may never drift away.” (Heb. 2:1, NW) Do not forget that usual attention is not enough. We must give the very closest attention “to the things heard by us” “that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men.”—Eph. 4:14, NW.
*** g92 2/8 9-10 Divorce-Its Bitter Harvest ***
Friends, therapists, lawyers, or media personalities are nothing more than imperfect humans. So when we need advice on marriage, why rely solely on them? Wouldn’t it make more sense to turn first to Jehovah God, the Designer of marriage? His principles don’t change with the shifting winds of “expert” opinions. They have held true for millenniums, and they work today.
Question??? What about the changes with Porneia???
*** Rbi8 Ezekiel 1:12 ***
12 And they would go each one straight forward. To wherever the spirit would incline to go, they would go. They would not turn as they went.
*** Rbi8 Isaiah 30:21 ***
21 And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: “This is the way. Walk in it, YOU people,” in case YOU people should go to the right or in case YOU should go to the left.
(Deuteronomy 5:32) And YOU people must take care to do just as Jehovah YOUR God has commanded YOU. YOU must not turn to the right or to the left.
(Joshua 1:7) “Only be courageous and very strong to take care to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, in order that you may act wisely everywhere you go.
*** w93 5/1 4 Do We Need the Bible? ***
The Bible is an anchor of stability in today’s turbulent world
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 3:5-6 ***
6 In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight.
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 4:25-27 ***
25 As for your eyes, straight ahead they should look, yes, your own beaming eyes should gaze straight in front of you. 26 Smooth out the course of your foot, and may all your own ways be firmly established. 27 Do not incline to the right hand or to the left. Remove your foot from what is bad.
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 9:6 ***
6 Leave the inexperienced ones and keep living, and walk straight in the way of understanding.”
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 9:15 ***
15 to call out to those passing along the way, those who are going straight ahead on their paths:
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 11:5 ***
5 The righteousness of the blameless one is what will make his way straight, but in his own wickedness the wicked one will fall.
*** Rbi8 Proverbs 15:21 ***
21 Foolishness is a rejoicing to one who is in want of heart, but the man of discernment is one who goes straight ahead.
*** Rbi8 Ecclesiastes 1:15 ***
15 That which is made crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot possibly be counted.
*** Rbi8 Ecclesiastes 7:13 ***
13 See the work of the [true] God, for who is able to make straight what he has made crooked?
*** Rbi8 Mark 1:2-3 ***
3 listen! someone is crying out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Jehovah, YOU people, make his roads straight,’
*** Rbi8 Hebrews 12:12-14 ***
12 Hence straighten up the hands that hang down and the enfeebled knees, 13 and keep making straight paths for YOUR feet, that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather that it may be healed.
Hebrews 6:19 This [hope] we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm, and it enters in within the curtain
Home
Tacking in the Wind
Whenever others have asked us how we can have faith in the Society even though their views have changed over the years on various matters, we’ve given them the example of “tacking in the wind.”
I did a little research with the Watchtower Library CD, and wanted to find out more on their reasoning with this. I was shocked to find that that explanation was only given once back in Dec of ’81. The word tacking was only used twice in the article, with no scriptural reference or support, and included a Diagram of ‘tacking’. According to the diagram and the rules of sailing, 90o turns, right then left, are used. Yet when you look at some of the changes that have been, in the Watchtower, you’ll see that the changes are not 90o but 180o. They are the exact opposite. So instead of tacking it’s actually going back and forth. Notice how the fates of those who died in Sodom changed 8 times.
WT 7/1879 p.8------The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
WT 6/1/52 p 338 ---The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
WT 8/1/65 p.479---- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
WT 6/1/88 p.31 ---- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
Live Forever Book
Early editions p.179- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
Live Forever Book
Later editions p.179- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
Insight, Vol2 p. 895- The men of Sodom will be resurrected.
Revelation p.273---- The men of Sodom will not be resurrected.
That is just one example, many others include; superior authorities, rape victims, vasectomies, sex sins in marriage, alternative military service, vaccines, transplants, etc.
I also couldn’t help but think of the scripture at Ephesians 4:14-15 “14 in order that we should no longer be babes, tossed about as by waves and carried hither and thither by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in contriving error.”
This scripture did not seem to correspond with the Tacking teaching at all, neither did the one at
Jude 3 (NLT) “Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.” (bold mine)
How could changes of 180o, a turning to the Right & the Left, have any scriptural basis? As you can see in the following pages, I not only found that the scriptures, and numerous other articles in the WT, not only did not support the teaching of “Tacking in the Wind”, but actually quite the reverse. You might find it interesting to notice the few pages that follow; they are excerpts from various articles from the Watchtower Society, and scriptures from the NWT