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Doctrine changes · Claim record

The number of symbolic keys Jesus gave to Peter was changed from two to three, the third being used for the Samaritans, in The Watchtower of 1 October 1979.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-chg-keys-of-kingdomConcerns 1 October 1979Later reinterpretation
Later reinterpretation · 1 October 1979 Supported

The number of symbolic keys Jesus gave to Peter was changed from two to three, the third being used for the Samaritans, in The Watchtower of 1 October 1979. The Watchtower, 15 May 1995

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Part 2—Flashes of Light—Great and Small”

15 May 1995 · p.24 · par. 12 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“The Bible Students held that Peter received two keys that opened up the way for people to become Kingdom heirs—one for the Jews, used at Pentecost 33 C.E., and the other for the Gentiles, used first in 36 C.E. when Peter preached to Cornelius. … In time, it was seen that there was a third group involved—the Samaritans.”

The paragraph cites The Watchtower of 1 October 1979, pages 16-22, 26, as the place where the count of symbolic keys changed from two to three.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the wording was read in full and the page number taken from the library's own page markers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-d-w-1995-0515-p2-keys

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