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Doctrine changes · Claim record

From June 1929 the Watch Tower taught that the 'higher powers' or 'superior authorities' of Romans 13:1 were 'primarily the Most High God and his reigning Son Jesus Christ', not secular rulers.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-superior-authorities-1929-jehovah-christConcerns 1 June 1929Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 June 1929 Verified

From June 1929 the Watch Tower taught that the 'higher powers' or 'superior authorities' of Romans 13:1 were 'primarily the Most High God and his reigning Son Jesus Christ', not secular rulers. The Watchtower, 15 November 1950God's Kingdom Rules! (2014), 2014The Watch Tower, 1 June 1929

The organisation’s position or later explanation: God's Kingdom Rules! (2014) p. 56: 'Beginning in 1929, however, our publications had also reasoned that the superior authorities of Romans 13:1 were not the secular rulers at all, but Jehovah and Jesus.'

Show the evidence (3 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Subjection to the Higher Powers”

15 November 1950 · pp.439-448 · p. 441 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“The conclusions arrived at were published in the June 1 and 15, 1929, issues of The Watchtower in the article, in two parts, entitled “The Higher Powers”. … Romans 13:1-7 has since 1929 been taken by Jehovah's witnesses to be instructions on rendering to God what belongs to God. Why? Because the expression “the higher powers” is now understood to mean primarily the Most High God and his reigning Son Jesus Christ.”

Restates and defends the 1929 interpretation; also says 'Up till 1928 they, too, had held to the ecclesiastical interpretation of Romans 13:1-7'.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol.jw.org; wording confirmed; page 441 from page markers (some summaries give pp. 439-440).

Corroborated by. src-kr-2014-ch5-superior-authorities

Notes. Serves as primary evidence of the 1929-1962 teaching in lieu of the unopened 1929 issues.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1950-1115-subjection-higher-powers

Primary JW publication Verified

God's Kingdom Rules! (2014), “Chapter 5 — The King Shines Light on the Kingdom”

2014 · pp.49-57 · par. 23 (p. 56); par. 24 (p. 57) · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Beginning in 1929, however, our publications had also reasoned that the superior authorities of Romans 13:1 were not the secular rulers at all, but Jehovah and Jesus. … The holy spirit guided Christ's followers to just such a view in 1962, when landmark articles on Romans 13:1-7 were published in the November 15 and December 1 issues of The Watchtower.”

The organisation's own history of the 1929 and 1962 positions.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol.jw.org; wording and pages confirmed.

Corroborated by. src-w-1950-1115-subjection-higher-powers, src-w-1962-1115-subjection-superior-authorities

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-kr-2014-ch5-superior-authorities

Primary JW publication Unverified

The Watch Tower, “The Higher Powers (parts 1 and 2)”

1 June 1929 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

The two-part 1929 article (1 and 15 June) that identified the 'higher powers' of Romans 13 as Jehovah and Christ.

No online copy located.

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Original not opened: no lawful scan found (archive.org items 'rihswatchtower1929' and 'Watchtower19291930' are US school/college publications, not Watch Tower Society material). The existence, date and thrust of the article are confirmed by w50 11/15 p. 441 and kr p. 56.

Corroborated by. src-w-1950-1115-subjection-higher-powers, src-kr-2014-ch5-superior-authorities

Notes. Do not quote 1929 wording directly until a scan is opened.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1929-0601-higher-powers

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-doctrine-superior-authorities-1929-jehovah-christ/. 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.