ANSWERING JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES SUBJECT BY SUBJECT
by David A. Reed
Baker Book House, 247 pages, $9.99

After devoting his last few efforts for Baker Book House to an examination of Mormonism, David Reed has returned to the subject for which he was initially known: Jehovah’s Witnesses. Reed was a full-time minister, elder and presiding overseer for the Watchtower Society during the 1970s and early 1980s.

His latest volume, Answering Jehovah’s Witnesses Subject by Subject, is a thorough analysis of major and minor beliefs of past and current Jehovah’s Witnesses. The book contains “new and different material” from his previous offerings, covering more than 80 subjects. A few, such as AIDS and prayer, may have readers at first wondering about their relevance. While others, including birthdays, blood transfusions and voting, are more obvious.

Even longtime students of Watchtower teachings will be enlightened by some of the subjects covered. For example: What are Alcyone and Pleiades and what do they have to do with Jehovah’s Witnesses? See pages 30 and 180 for the answers.

The book comes with Scripture and subject indexes, the latter of which is helpful in finding information on topics supplementing the major entries.

One minor problem is that the book does not deliver on all the promises made on the back cover. A few subjects mentioned there (the New Covenant, spiritism and taxes) are not specifically dealt with in the book, while disfellowshiping gets only a brief mention under a different heading. Perhaps these were condensed or edited out by the publisher.

Despite this problem, the book is yet another excellent resource from one of the more productive commentators on Watchtower history and theology.

—MKG

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