The Watchtower of 1 March 1952 set out formal disfellowshipping and directed that an unrepentant wrongdoer 'has to be set aside, he must be avoided'; a November 1952 Questions From Readers added that a faithful spouse or child would keep natural and legal obligations toward a disfellowshipped family member but have no 'religious communion' with him.
Claim ID claim-shunning-1952-avoidance-introducedConcerns 1 March 1952Explicit statement
The Watchtower of 1 March 1952 set out formal disfellowshipping and directed that an unrepentant wrongdoer 'has to be set aside, he must be avoided'; a November 1952 Questions From Readers added that a faithful spouse or child would keep natural and legal obligations toward a disfellowshipped family member but have no 'religious communion' with him. Source: The Watchtower, 1 March 1952Source: The Watchtower, 15 November 1952
The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation presents the practice as a Bible command (1 Cor. 5:11-13) rather than a 1952 innovation.
1 March 1952 · pp.137-145 · par. 8 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“When he will not repent, will not change his course of action, then he has to be set aside, he must be avoided.”
The March 1952 issue (with 'Keeping the Organization Clean', pp. 131-137, doc 1952160) is the first systematic statement of disfellowshipping and avoidance; the Norwegian Supreme Court (2026, para 39) dates the shunning doctrine to this issue.
15 November 1952 · pp.703-704 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“But to have religious communion with the disfellowshiped person—no, there would be none of that! ... Hurt to such one would not be authorized, but there would be no spiritual or religious fellowshiping.”
Answers how a faithful spouse, parent or child should treat a disfellowshipped family member in the same household: marriage dues and natural obligations continue, religious fellowship ends; dependent adult children told to consider living apart.
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