--- title: Shunning — The 1947 Reversal url: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-1947/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-1947.md type: argument perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching topics: [Authority, Practice] challenges: [Salvation Requires Works and Organisation Membership, Disfellowshipped Members Must Be Completely Shunned] verses: [1 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 2:6, Galatians 6:1, Matthew 18:17, Luke 15:1, Romans 16:17, Matthew 9:9, Luke 15:4, 2 John 10] strength: Strong tone: Good attribution: Research — Awake! January 8, 1947 p. 27; Watchtower March 1, 1952; Canadian Supreme Court testimony (Wall v. Judicial Committee, 2017); Norwegian court proceedings (2024) added: '2026-04-01' last_reviewed: '2026-04-01' index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # Shunning — The 1947 Reversal *Awake! 1947 vs Watchtower 1952* ## Doorstep Question > "Did you know that in 1947 your own Awake! magazine called excommunication "altogether foreign to Bible teachings" and said it had pagan origins? Five years later the organisation adopted the identical practice — using the same scriptures. What changed?" ## JW Claim Disfellowshipping (now called "removal") is a loving, scripturally mandated arrangement to keep the congregation clean. It is based on 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 and 2 John 10-11. The practice has always been part of true Christianity, and those who comply with shunning do so as a personal conscience decision, not under organisational compulsion. ## Strategy 1. Begin with the 1947 Awake! — this is THEIR OWN publication, not "apostate material." On January 8, 1947, page 27, Awake! ran an article entitled "Are You Also Excommunicated?" It stated that the Catholic practice of excommunication is "altogether foreign to Bible teachings" and traced its origins to pagan sources — "the superstitious Greeks" and "the Druids." It cited the Encyclopaedia Britannica: "Papal excommunication is not without pagan influence." The article concluded that excommunication entered Christianity only "after Catholicism adopted its pagan practices" in AD 325, and that clergy used it as "a weapon of great force." Critically, the article listed the very same scriptures (1 Corinthians 5, 2 John) the organisation later used to JUSTIFY disfellowshipping. 2. Introduce the five-year reversal. On March 1, 1952, the Watchtower published two study articles — "Propriety of Disfellowshipping" and a companion piece — that formalised the entire judicial committee system: charges brought by a congregation member, two-or-three-witness rule, investigation by the company servant, a hearing, and an announcement. Pages 131-134 laid out the procedure. Page 141 stated that "those who are acquainted with the situation in the congregation should never say 'Hello' or 'Goodbye' to him." Disfellowshipped persons were described as representatives of "the devil's organisation." No explanation was given for why a practice condemned as pagan in 1947 was now Jehovah's will. 3. Ask the conscience question: "If excommunication was pagan and unbiblical in 1947, and the same scriptures were used both to condemn it and to support it, what changed in those five years — the scriptures, or the men interpreting them?" 4. If they are open, share 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 — Paul's follow-up to the very discipline passage in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul says the punishment was "sufficient" and urges the congregation to "forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow." The biblical model is restorative, not punitive. Also share Galatians 6:1 — "restore him in a spirit of gentleness." And note that in Matthew 18:17, Jesus says to treat the unrepentant person "as a tax collector" — but Jesus himself ate with tax collectors (Luke 15:1-2). Jesus pursued the lost; he did not institutionally shun them. 5. If appropriate, mention the court testimony contrast: In the 2017 Canadian Supreme Court case (Wall v. Judicial Committee of Highwood Congregation), Watchtower lawyer David Gnam testified that "normal family relations continue, with the exception of spiritual fellowship" and that Jehovah's Witnesses "don't use the word 'shun' or 'shunning'." Yet the Watchtower's own 2013 publications direct members: "Do not look for excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example, through e-mail." The elders' manual (Shepherd the Flock of God) instructs elders to counsel members about "undue association" with disfellowshipped relatives. In Norway (2024), the Oslo District Court stripped Jehovah's Witnesses of their official registration partly over shunning, and the Watchtower lawyer argued they merely practise "social distancing" rather than "shunning" — a distinction the court did not accept. The organisation says one thing in court and another at the Kingdom Hall. ## Key Insight The organisation adopted a practice it had publicly condemned as pagan and "altogether foreign to Bible teachings" — using the same scriptures — with no explanation for the reversal. This is not a minor doctrinal adjustment; it is a total inversion of position that has separated families for over seventy years. The biblical model (2 Corinthians 2:6-8, Galatians 6:1, Luke 15:1-7) is restorative, not punitive — yet the Watchtower's system institutionalises permanent social death unless the individual returns on the organisation's terms. ## JW Responses & Counters ### Response 1 **JW says:** "That was old light. Jehovah progressively reveals truth, and the organisation refined its understanding." **Counter:** Old light should not directly contradict new light on the same scriptures. In 1947, 1 Corinthians 5 was cited to show excommunication is unbiblical. In 1952, 1 Corinthians 5 was cited to mandate it. The scriptures did not change — the organisation's policy did. Your own founder C. T. Russell said "new light never extinguishes older light but adds to it" (Zion's Watch Tower, February 1881). This did not add; it reversed. ### Response 2 **JW says:** "Disfellowshipping keeps the congregation morally clean, just as Paul commanded in 1 Corinthians 5." **Counter:** Read the follow-up. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, Paul says the punishment was "sufficient" and commands the congregation to "forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow." Paul's model was temporary and restorative. Does the Watchtower's current practice look more like Paul's instruction or like the medieval Catholic excommunication their own 1947 article condemned? ### Response 3 **JW says:** "2 John 10-11 says not to greet such ones or receive them into your home." **Counter:** Read the context. Second John is addressed to "the elect lady" about travelling false teachers who "do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh" (verse 7) — antichrist teachers promoting a different gospel. It is not about a baptised member who questions a policy or commits a personal sin. Romans 16:17 similarly addresses false teachers causing divisions, not personal failings. Stretching these passages to cover every disfellowshipping offence goes beyond what they actually say. ### Response 4 **JW says:** "Shunning is a personal choice — nobody forces family members to cut off contact." **Counter:** In court, Watchtower lawyer David Gnam told the Canadian Supreme Court that "normal family relations continue." Yet the 2013 Watchtower says "do not look for excuses to associate with a disfellowshipped family member, for example, through e-mail." The elders' manual instructs elders to counsel members who show "undue association" with disfellowshipped relatives. And in kingdom halls around the world, a member who maintains contact with a disfellowshipped person risks being disfellowshipped themselves. If the consequence of exercising your "personal choice" is losing your own standing, it is not a free choice. ### Response 5 **JW says:** "Jesus said to treat the unrepentant as 'a man of the nations and a tax collector' (Matthew 18:17)." **Counter:** And what did Jesus do with tax collectors? He ate with them (Luke 15:1-2). He called one to be his disciple (Matthew 9:9). He told the parable of the lost sheep — the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and GOES AFTER the one that wandered (Luke 15:4-7). Jesus' model is pursuit, not abandonment. The Watchtower's system inverts Christ's example: instead of going after the lost, it forbids the flock from even speaking to them. ## What to Avoid Do NOT use this argument as a "gotcha" or an attack. Many Jehovah's Witnesses have personally lost children, parents, or lifelong friends to disfellowshipping — and they are grieving silently, right now, on the doorstep in front of you. This is a bridge, not a weapon. Do not call the Watchtower a cult. Do not lead with emotional manipulation or personal stories of shunning victims. Lead with their own published material and let the contradiction speak for itself. If the person becomes emotional, stop arguing and listen. The goal is to plant a seed of honest inquiry, not to win a debate. Never mock the practice; instead, point them gently to what the Bible actually says about restoration. ## Homework Look up the January 8, 1947 Awake!, page 27, on the Watchtower Library app or CD. Read the article "Are You Also Excommunicated?" Then compare it with the March 1, 1952 Watchtower articles on disfellowshipping. Ask yourself: did the scriptures change, or did the organisation's policy change? Then read 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 and Galatians 6:1 — what does Paul say should happen AFTER discipline? ## Next Moves - [The Governing Body — Eleven Men in New York](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/governing-body.md) - [Dual Prophet Test](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/dual-prophet-test.md) - [Watchtower's Changed Teachings](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/new-light.md)