The purpose of this thread is to acquaint the general public of the the teachings of the bible through the pages of watchtower thereby letting people know the truth about JW.
Teachings on this thread are directly lifted in part from Watchtower publication JW studies globally every sunday.
reference: Watchtower Nov 2016, Study edition, Article 4, paragraph 8-11

TITLE: Called Out of Darkness
“[Jehovah] called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”—1 Peter 2:9.

Question 8. Explain how genuine Christianity came to be corrupted.

8 At Pentecost 33 C.E., thousands of Jews and proselytes were anointed with holy spirit. These new Christians became “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.” (Read 1 Peter 2:9, 10.) The apostles kept careful watch over the congregations of God’s people as long as they lived. However, especially after the death of the apostles, men arose who spoke “twisted things” in order to “draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:6- Many of these men had responsible positions in the congregations, serving as overseers and later as “bishops.” A clergy class was taking shape, although Jesus had said to his followers: “All of you are brothers.” (Matthew 23: Prominent men who were enamored of the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato introduced false religious ideas, gradually replacing the pure teachings of God’s Word.

[“Read” scripture.] 1 Peter 2:9, 10: But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies” of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. For you were once not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not been shown mercy, but now you have received mercy. [End of “Read” scripture.]

Question 9. Describe how apostate Christianity received the backing of the Roman State and what resulted.

9 In 313 C.E., this apostate form of Christianity was granted legal recognition by the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine. From that time on, Church and State began working hand in hand. For example, after the Council of Nicaea, Constantine, who was present at the council, ordered Arius, a dissenting priest, into exile because Arius refused to acknowledge Jesus as God. Later, under Emperor Theodosius I (379-395 C.E.), the Catholic Church, as the contaminated form of Christianity came to be known, became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Historians refer to pagan Rome as having been “Christianized” in the fourth century. The truth is that by that time an apostate form of Christianity had joined the pagan religious organizations of the Roman Empire as members of Babylon the Great. Even so, a small number of anointed wheatlike Christians were doing their best to worship God, but their voices were being drowned out. (Read Matthew 13:24, 25, 37-39.) They truly were in Babylonian captivity!

[“Read” scriptures.] Matthew 13:24, 25: He presented another illustration to them, saying: “The Kingdom of the heavens may be likened to a man who sowed fine seed in his field. While men were sleeping, his enemy came and oversowed weeds in among the wheat and left.
Matthew 13:37-39: In response he said: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; the field is the world. As for the fine seed, these are the sons of the Kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels. [End of “Read” scriptures.]

Question 10. On what basis could sincere people question church teachings during the first few centuries of our Common Era?
10 Still, for the first few centuries of our Common Era, many people could read the Bible in either Greek or Latin. They were thus in a position to compare the teachings of God’s Word with the dogmas of the church. On the basis of what they read in the Bible, some among them rejected the unscriptural creeds of the church, but it was dangerous—even fatal—to express such opinions openly.

Question 11. How did the Bible come to be under the control of the clergy?
11 In time, Bible languages fell into disuse by the masses, and the church opposed efforts to translate God’s Word into the common tongues. As a result, only the clergy and some other educated people could read the Bible for themselves, although not all of the clergy could read and write well. Any dissent from what the church taught was severely punished. Faithful anointed servants of God had to meet together in discreet groups—if they could meet at all. As was the case in the earlier Babylonian exile, the anointed “royal priesthood” could not function in an organized way. Babylon the Great held the people in a viselike grip!

They Broke Free From False Religion (January 23-29)

Question 2. What position did the early Bible Students take regarding false religion as they understood it?

2 In the decades leading up to World War I, Charles Taze Russell and his associates realized that the organizations of Christendom were not teaching Bible truth. Accordingly, they resolved to have nothing to do with false religion as they understood it. As early as November of 1879, Zion’s Watch Tower straightforwardly set out their Scriptural position by stating: “Every church claiming to be a chaste virgin espoused to Christ, but in reality united to and supported by the world (beast) we must condemn as being in scripture language a harlot church,” a reference to Babylon the Great.—Read Revelation 17:1, 2.

[“Read” scripture.] Revelation 17:1, 2: One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me: “Come, I will show you the judgment on the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and earth’s inhabitants were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” [End of “Read” scripture.]

Question 3. What decisive action did the Bible Students take, showing that they understood the need to separate themselves from false religion? (See opening picture.)

3 God-fearing men and women knew what they must do. They could not expect to receive God’s blessing if they continued to support false religious organizations. Consequently, many Bible Students prepared letters of withdrawal from their churches. In some cases, they read the letters publicly at church meetings. Where a public reading was forbidden, some sent copies to every member of the church. They wanted no further dealings with false religion! In another era, such a bold move would have cost them dearly. But in many countries in the late 1800’s, the church was beginning to lose the backing of the State. Without fear of reprisals in such countries, citizens were free to discuss religious matters and to disagree openly with the established churches.

Question 4. During World War I, what was the relationship between God’s people and Babylon the Great?

4 The Bible Students understood that it was not enough for them to inform relatives, close friends, and church members of their stand on false religion. The whole world needed to see Babylon the Great for what it is—a religious prostitute! Accordingly, between December 1917 and early 1918, the few thousand Bible Students zealously distributed 10,000,000 copies of a tract featuring the subject “The Fall of Babylon”—a hard-hitting indictment of Christendom. As you can imagine, the clergy were furious; but undeterred, the Bible Students kept right on with this important work. They were determined to obey “God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) What can we conclude? That far from becoming enslaved to Babylon the Great during the war, these Christian men and women were breaking free from its influence and were helping others to do so