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Doctrine changes · Claim record

In 1952 The Watchtower, answering a question about proposing toasts to God, Christ or the Kingdom, told readers to shun the custom of toasting, traced it to Babylonian, Greek, Roman and Scandinavian drinking rites, and accepted that this would make Witnesses appear narrow-minded.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-toasting-1952-shunning-customConcerns 15 May 1952Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 15 May 1952 Verified

In 1952 The Watchtower, answering a question about proposing toasts to God, Christ or the Kingdom, told readers to shun the custom of toasting, traced it to Babylonian, Greek, Roman and Scandinavian drinking rites, and accepted that this would make Witnesses appear narrow-minded. The Watchtower, 15 May 1952

Show the evidence (1 source)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”

15 May 1952 · p.319 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“In shunning this custom of toasting, along with many other objectionable customs, we may appear narrow-minded to worldlings. So we are.”

Answering the question ‘Is it proper to propose or to drink toasts to God or Christ or the Kingdom?’, the magazine traces toasting to Babylonian, Greek, Roman and Scandinavian drinking rites and says that God and Christ are not honoured by pagan customs switched to them.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on the Watchtower Online Library and re-opened for audit on 19 September 2026. The Questions From Readers column runs pp. 318-320 and answers three questions; the toasting answer begins after the page 319 marker and the quoted words fall between the page 319 and page 320 markers, so the page is 319.

Corroborated by. src-chg-p-w-1968-0101-qfr-toasting

Notes. The same Questions From Readers column also answers questions on saying ‘Amen’ and on wedding showers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-p-w-1952-0515-qfr-toasting

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