ClaimAuthority and accountabilityverified1990sExplicit statement

Authority and accountability · Claim record

In January 1997 The Watchtower listed as a divine requirement that 'we must serve Jehovah with his spirit-directed organization' and stated that 'there is only one religious organization on this earth that has all these marks of true Christianity—Jehovah's Witnesses'.

Claim ID claim-authority-1997-serving-with-spirit-directed-organisation-requiredConcerns 15 January 1997Explicit statement

The claim and its evidence

Explicit statement · 15 January 1997 Verified

In January 1997 The Watchtower listed as a divine requirement that 'we must serve Jehovah with his spirit-directed organization' and stated that 'there is only one religious organization on this earth that has all these marks of true Christianity—Jehovah's Witnesses'. Source: The Watchtower, 15 January 1997

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “What Does God Require of Us?”

15 January 1997 · pp.18-22 · par. 21-22 (p. 22) · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“We must serve Jehovah with his spirit-directed organization. … There is only one religious organization on this earth that has all these marks of true Christianity—Jehovah’s Witnesses!”

Listed as the 'fourth requirement' of God for acceptable worship.

Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, What Does God Require of Us?

Confidence note. Opened the WOL document; page marker confirms p. 22. The brief's '1 June 1997' reference was checked: the 1 June 1997 issue contains no article with this wording; this 15 January 1997 article is the 1997 'spirit-directed' statement located.

Corroborated by. src-w-1985-0601-dedication-baptism-questions

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1997-0115-what-does-god-require

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-authority-1997-serving-with-spirit-directed-organisation-required/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.