"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippines 4:8
Islam claims that Muhammad is the perfect example of what humanity should be. Muslims even go as far to claim that he was not a sinner pretty much stating he was a sinless man. I have to seriously disagree there’s only One sinless man I know of and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just to be fair let’s give our Muslims friends the benefit of the doubt and put those claims to the test. Truth is able to withstand scrutiny but false ideas will not, we’re going to take a look at some of the Quran and Hadith which describe Muhammad’s life as Islam’s “prophet”.
It’s well known that Muhammad was fond of little girls, he was especially fond of a 6 year old girl named Aisha, let’s see how he loved her from Islam’s Hadith.
Muhammad’s Wife Aisha
Sahih al-Bukhari 5133: “the Prophet (ﷺ) married her [Aisha] when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old….”
We’re told from al-Bukhari that Muhammad consummated his marriage with Aisha at the age of nine. This is not a good start for someone who is supposed to be a prophet of God. We’re given more insight of Aisha’s experience by Sahih Muslim.
Sahih Muslim 1422 c: “’A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported that Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) married her when she was seven years old, and she was taken to his house as a bride when she was nine, and her dolls were with her.”
According to Sahih Muslim he confirms that Muhammad married Aisha when she was still a little girl, and was taken to Muhammad’s house at 9 years old along with her dolls. Let’s look at one more.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4931: “I used to play with dolls. Sometimes the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) entered upon me when the girls were with me. When he came in, they went out, and when he went out, they came in.”
Sunan Abi Dawud also agrees with Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari that Muhammad had sexual relations with a prepubescent girl. This is Islam’s great prophet who is to be an example to others and how they should live their lives.
Let’s compare this to the Lord Jesus Christ its only fair, because as Christians we have nothing to hide or fear.
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.
Christ went through everything we could ever experience in life and while we fail miserably, the Lord Jesus was triumphant in every way because He never sinned.
1 Peter 2:21-22 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
We’re told again from the apostle Peter that Christ never sinned and never lied. Yet He was willing to suffer for us on our behalf, bearing our sins and taking the wrath of God upon Himself.
1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
John the apostle tells us there’s absolutely no sin found in Christ, He’s the spotless Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. Contrast this to Islam’s Muhammad who’s morality was that of a sinful man who slept with under age girls.
It’s our hope that our Muslim friends would flee from the twisted religion of Islam and come into the Light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
Very recently the world of Islam has been shaken to its core, a well renowned Muslim scholar by the name of Dr. Yasir Qadhi was interviewed by a fellow Muslim named Muhammad Hijab. During this interview Hijab was pressing Qadhi on the “perfect preservation” of the Quran. In which Qadhi responded making a shocking statement. Qadhi in regards to the Quran said “the standard narrative has holes in it” (pic above).
Muslims have always said that the Quran has been perfectly preserved, that every Quran in the world is exactly the same word for word, dot for dot, sound by sound, letter by letter. That there are no 2 Qurans which are different in all the world. In later articles we’ll be diving into this claim deeper to see if this is true? But for now let’s talk about the crucifixion of Christ and how the Quran get’s it wrong.
As a Christian if you’ve ever had the chance to speak with a Muslim you may hear “Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet.”Islam teaches Jesus Christ is only a prophet, He’s not the Son of God and He was not crucified on the cross. In-fact they teach at the last moment before Christ was crucified allah sent angel Jibril (Gabriel in Arabic) to save the Lord Jesus from dying on the cross. The idea comes from the Quran in Surah. 4:157-158:
And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah .” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. — Surah 4:157-158
Here in Surah 4:157-158 it says “they did not kill him (Jesus) nor did they crucify him” the text also says “another was made to resemble him to them” in other words, because allah is the greatest of deceivers he tricked everyone into believing that Jesus Christ was crucified but it was not actually Him. Somehow allah did the switcheroo, instead of Christ on the cross it was someone else who “resembled” Him.
My friends this is the great deception of Islam, this is why many Muslims are in a darkness which is leading them into the pit of hell. When engaging Muslims a good first step is to get them to understand that their own Quran affirms the Bible. Muslims are shocked to hear this because they have been told the “Bible is corrupted.”
In order to prove to them this is not true you can point them to these verses. First the Quran says that allah sent the Torah (5 books of Moses) to Moses, the Psalms to David; and the Gospel (Injeel) to Jesus Christ.
Torah “We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of messengers,”— Surah 2:87
Psalms “We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms,”— Surah 4:163
Gospel – “It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong),” — Surah 3:3 Also, “And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah,” — Surah 5:46
Because the Quran contradicts the Bible in many places this poses a huge dilemma for Muslims. If the Quran is correct in saying the Bible is preserved and affirmed then Islam is false. If the Quran is incorrect then Islam is false because the Quran is wrong. Either way Islam crumbles.
There are verses in the Quran which says allah’s words cannot be changed, but Muslims claim the Bible is corrupted. If this is true that means the Quran is wrong because allah’s words have been changed. Christians do not believe in the Quran and allah is definitely not the God we Christians serve. I’m just providing the means how you can shackle a Muslim and cause them to self-destruct with the huge contradictions from the Quran.
If a Muslim denies the Bible they are confirming the Quran is false and Muhammad is a false prophet which is true. If the Quran is true in saying the Bible is not corrupted then Islam crumbles. Here are the verses which says allah’s words cannot be changed or altered.
“Rejected were the messengers before thee: with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs, until Our aid did reach them: there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of Allah. Already hast thou received some account of those messengers,” — Surah 6:34
“The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfillment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all,”— Surah 6:115
“For them are glad tidings, in the life of the present and in the Hereafter; no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity,”— Surah 10:64
With that established we know the Bible is the Word of God and is truth. Muslims ask the question, where in the Bible did Jesus Christ say He would die? In the Bible we find the words of Christ Himself who prophesies His own death.
Matthew 20:17-19 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify [him]: and the third day he shall rise again.
Mark 10:32-34 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, [Saying], Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luke 18:31-33 Then he took [unto him] the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge [him], and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
This is a problem for Muslims because we’ve just learned that the Quran affirms the Bible is preserved, and we just read in the Bible Jesus Christ said He would be put to death and rise again. To our Muslim friends, you must abandon the darkness called Islam, Muhammad didn’t die for you but Jesus Christ did. And through Him (Jesus Christ) you can have eternal life. Islam can never provide the full assurance Christians enjoy knowing we have a home in heaven.
Learn more about how this all got started and shook the Muslim world with “the standard narrative has holes in it” which is forcing many Muslims to leave Islam.
Jehovah Witnesses claim “Jehovah God” refers to only the Father. They deny Jesus Christ is the “The Alpha and the Omega” in this article we will seek to identify if Christ is “The Alpha and the Omega” or not.
If we examine the context of the verses in Revelation we can come to a clear understanding who “The Alpha and the Omega” is. Reading the surrounding text is paramount in understanding a passage. Let’s focus on Revelation 1:8, I’ll include the text before and after highlighting the verse in focus.
v1 is speaking of this individual who’s (1) coming in the clouds, that’s the first point to keep in mind (2) every eye shall see Him, and (3) “and they [also] which pierced him:”
The question we have to ask are there other scriptures which speak of this individual coming in the clouds? We sure do let’s take a look.
On 4 separate occasions the Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the one coming in the clouds, the cloud rider which is a Yahweh reference.
Here we have 4 verses in-which the Lord Jesus says they will see the Son of man (Jesus Christ) coming in the clouds. Also it’s a well known fact Jesus Christ was pierced when He was on the cross.
Ok, so we’ve dealt with verse 7, let’s move onto verse 8. While reading from v7 to v8 there’s a continuous narrative, the one who’s coming in the clouds speaks and says “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
Here the speaker says (1) I am Alpha and Omega (2) the beginning and the ending says who? The Lord in the Greek it’s κύριος used not the Tetragrammaton which is where we get the name Jehovah from. (3) which is and which was and which is to come.
Let’s work backwards “which is and which was and which is to come” as we established Jesus Christ is the one coming not the Father. Also which is speaks to the deity of Christ, which was points to the death of Christ and which is to come of course is referring to when Christ second coming in the future. And lastly, the same speaker says He’s the Alpha and Omega.
v9 is without a doubt speaking of Jesus Christ not the Father. (1) I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, (2) the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, (3) for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
John the apostle says he’s a companion or partaker in tribulation. Jesus Christ mentions that believers will have tribulation in this world.
Jesus Christ is called the King of kings and Lord of lords, the King of the kingdom is Christ; He’s the One who has established an everlasting kingdom sitting on the throne of David.
Jehovah Witnesses try to twist these verses to say that the Alpha and Omega is not Jesus Christ but “Jehovah.” JW’s always refer to the Father as “Jehovah” only therefore they try to diminish the deity of Christ. As it was just proven through methodically going through the verses we see plenty of proof that the Lord Jesus is the Alpha and Omega spoken of in Revelation.
If the Trinity were true, it should be clearly and consistently presented in the Bible. Why? Because, as the apostles affirmed, the Bible is God’s revelation of himself to mankind. And since we need to know God to worship him acceptably, the Bible should be clear in telling us just who he is.
Should You Believe in the Trinity? pg 5
The Watchtower Society claims the doctrine of the Trinity is not “clearly and consistently presented in the Bible.” Before we prove this statement to be untrue we have to understand how the Watchtower is structured. The governing body (8 men) are the ones who call all the shots, they’re responsible for disseminating Watchtower doctrine to its members.
The everyday Jehovah Witness in my personal view are people who are sincere, but in all their zeal they are sincerely mistaken. In fact they are kept in the cult by confusion and manipulation of the scriptures. On the other hand the governing body in my opinion are deceivers and are fully aware of what they are doing. For this reason when dealing with Jehovah Witnesses I try to view the every day Witness as someone who’s lost and deceived by a group of deceivers. Therefore, a little compassion goes a long way in dealing with the JW’s at the carts.
Why are the JW’s confused about the Trinity doctrine, well first and foremost is because they’ve failed in knowing who the Lord Jesus is; if you get Christ wrong then all your doctrine will be erroneous.
Let’s go through some scriptures which lays out the Trinity doctrine. And we will aim to make it consistently clear and present it for our Jehovah Witness friends.
Jesus Christ is the Creator of the heavens and the earth:
Notice the LORD created the heavens alone and spread abroad the earth by His self. Let’s move on, if God created everything then what do Jehovah Witnesses do with John 1:1-3, 10.
Is this a contradiction when God says He’s created all things alone? Well if you’re a Jehovah Witness it is because according to their theology Jesus is not God yet Jehovah used Jesus to create everything other than Himself.
Question if Jesus is a created creature as Watchtower teaches that would place Jesus in the created category with everything else besides God who is uncreated/eternal. But wait the scriptures especially Colossians 1:16 which says Jesus created all things. This means Jesus Christ can’t belong in the same category otherwise Christ would have to create Himself.
Watchtower takes Colossians 1:16 and instead of saying “all things” they altered the scripture to say “all other things” in order to fit with their own theology claiming Jesus is a created lesser god. Can you see how adding the word “other” completely changes the meaning of this text? these are just 1 of the sneaky tricks the Watchtower is known for.
This would make Jesus Christ God because He created the heavens and earth.
The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is God. We can determine the Holy Spirit is God in the following ways: (1) He’s called God. (2) He’s treated on an equal basis with God the Father and God the Son. (3) He has the attributes of God. (4) He does the work of God.
It certainly clear the Trinity can be seen in just these few verses and there are many more found in our Bible. This is a big dilemma for Jehovah Witnesses, and because this information is damaging to the Watchtower theology JW’s are instructed by the governing body not to research in order to keep them in the dark.
The Watchtower teaches that Christians believe in 3 gods, they cannot grasp like all non-Christians the understanding how 3 individuals of the Godhead can all be the Almighty God (Jehovah). JW’s agree the Father is God Almighty no argument there. When the subject of the Son or the Holy Spirit comes into play this is when the JW mind shuts down.
A logical illustration is imagine two persons named John and the other Mark. We are indeed talking about two distinct persons, one named John the other Mark; they are distinct one from another. Yet John and Mark are both human, John isn’t more human than Mark or vice versa. When grasping the difference between being and person then we can understand how it’s possible for the 3 Persons of the Godhead to be the 1 God.
This is clearly laid out in the scriptures more strongly in the New Testament but I will endeavour to show this in the Old Testament as the Trinity is all over the Bible.
Before Sodom and Gomorrah had fire and brimstone rained down upon, Abraham was visited by 3 men one of those men was called the LORD. In the beginning of Genesis chapter 18 we read:
Genesis 18:2 tells us the LORD came with 2 others, these other two turn out to be angels, later go ahead towards the city of Sodom and Gomorrah in order to witness what’s taking place in those cities.
Abraham eats food with God, the LORD then ask “Where is Sarah thy wife?” (Genesis 18:9) and goes onto tell Abraham how she will give birth (Genesis 18:10).
The covenant keeping God tells Sarah she’ll give birth and Sarah laughs because she’s been struggling with the fact that she’s been unable to give birth (Genesis 18:11). Additionally, she and Abraham are well in age and in unbelief thinks it’s not possible but we know that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27).
The following verse says that “Sarah laughed within herself” (Genesis 18:12) the LORD then replies:
But wait the Jehovah Witnesses in their attempt to deny the deity of Christ will quote verses which highlights the humanity of Christ, Him being fully man while neglecting the verses which proves His deity. There’s 2 verses written by the apostle John which says:
Being that the Bible has no contradictions, then who did Abraham sit down with who is called the LORD in Genesis chapter 18? We can only come to the conclusion that’s it’s not God the Father nor God the Holy Spirit. That leaves only one Person and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the pre-incarnate Christ who makes numerous appearances in the Old Testament.
God is beyond His creation but understanding the Godhead is not completely out of our reach. I would have to disagree with the statement “there is nothing like this in creation”, if we look around we can see the stamp of God in creation, while yes it is true God is beyond His creation but He didn’t leave us utterly without being able to grasp the understanding of how God is 1 yet comprised of 3 distinct Persons.
This is just one example but as was demonstrated God has fixed the truth of Himself in all that before our eyes. This is why in the book of Romans says that we are without excuse.
Trinitarians are not without understanding, the Watchtower would have people think we’re scratching our heads in confusion but it’s just not so. Jesus Christ is of the same substance or nature as the Father, the same is true of the Holy Spirit. God is the perfect being who doesn’t need anything outside of Himself, all 3 Persons of the Godhead have eternally enjoyed perfect love and fellowship among the 3. The apostle John sums it up clearly in John 1:1, 1 John 5:7.
God didn’t leave us stranded without understanding how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the 1 God spoken of in scripture. He left us His word and we can see it in creation itself.
Here we have the comment “Trinitarians are not agreed among themselves” this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Those who hold to the Trinity doctrine all agree on the fundamental teachings. Unfortunately, there are doctrines which may seem similar but in actuality are not the same as Trinitarianism.
For instance modalist believe God is 1 being, where they differ is they claim God is absolutely 1 person. Modalism (also Sabellianism, Monarchianism) teaches the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are 1 Person, The Father changed into the Son at some point in time; and the Son turned into the Holy Spirit. Modalist deny the distinction of Persons within the Godhead, and it was classified as heresy by the early church. People who believe in modalism are not identified as Trinitarians.
Another heresy that exist is arianism which teaches the Father as Almighty God alone with the Son as a lesser created god such is the case with the Jehovah Witnesses in which they have a lower demi god. They also claim the Holy Spirit is not a Person but God’s “active force.” This heresy came about by Arius of Alexandria and has been the biggest criticizer of the Trinitarian doctrine.
The Godhead has been always present in scripture, Christians has always believed since the beginning there’s one God, who exists as three co-equal, co-eternal and co-substantial divine persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And while we do not get our doctrine from the early church fathers we can certainly establish they also held to the Trinity doctrine from these few early quotes.
Origen: “If anyone would say that the Word of God or the Wisdom of God had a beginning, let him beware lest he direct his impiety rather against the unbegotten Father, since he denies that he was always Father, and that he has always begotten the Word, and that he always had wisdom in all previous times or ages or whatever can be imagined in priority . . . There can be no more ancient title of almighty God than that of Father, and it is through the Son that he is Father” (De Princ. 1.2.; PG 11.132).
“For if [the Holy Spirit were not eternally as He is, and had received knowledge at some time and then became the Holy Spirit] this were the case, the Holy Spirit would never be reckoned in the unity of the Trinity, i.e., along with the unchangeable Father and His Son, unless He had always been the Holy Spirit.” (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt., Vol. 4, p. 253, de Principiis, 1.111.4)
Ignatius of Antioch: “In Christ Jesus our Lord, by whom and with whom be glory and power to the Father with the Holy Spirit for ever” (n. 7; PG 5.988). “We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word was made flesh.’ Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.” (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The ante-Nicene Fathers, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975 rpt., Vol. 1, p. 52, Ephesians 7.)
Tertullian: “We define that there are two, the Father and the Son, and three with the Holy Spirit, and this number is made by the pattern of salvation . . . [which] brings about unity in trinity, interrelating the three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are three, not in dignity, but in degree, not in substance but in form, not in power but in kind. They are of one substance and power, because there is one God from whom these degrees, forms and kinds devolve in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” (Adv. Prax. 23; PL 2.156-7).
The Jehovah’s Witnesses, argue that the doctrine was “made up” during the time of the Council of Nicea (325). This council was brought together by Emperor Constantine to deal with the heresy of Arianism which was threatening the Christian Church. The council defined what was already established in the Bible concerning the Godhead, the nicene council sought to defend against the attack on the Person and deity of Christ. Which is what arianism is all about and continues today with such cults as the Watchtower.
What proof does the Watchtower have to substantiate such a claim? The Watchtower consistently misrepresents the biblical teaching of the Trinity, a organisation which makes the following statements.
“The doctrine, in brief, is that there are three gods in one: ‘God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,; all three equal in power, substance and eternity.” (Let God Be True, 1952, p. 100).
Christians never taught “three gods in one” this misunderstanding of the Watchtower is the basis why Jehovah Witnesses do not understand the Trinity; as they continually misrepresent the teaching.
In this regard, Jesuit Joseph Bracken observes in his book What Are They Saying About the Trinity?: “Priests who with considerable effort learned . . . the Trinity during their seminary years naturally hesitated to present it to their people from the pulpit, even on Trinity Sunday. . . . Why should one bore people with something that in the end they wouldn’t properly understand anyway?” He also says: “The Trinity is a matter of formal belief, but it has little or no [effect] in day to day Christian life and worship.” Yet, it is “the central doctrine” of the churches!
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
It’s clear that if individuals seek to approach the Trinity doctrine purely through a carnal mind it’s beyond their understanding. This statement only proves there are people who find the Trinity perplexing not that the teaching itself is hard to understand. It becomes more understood if you can make the distinction between “Being” and “Person”, the first refers to nature while the second refers to an individual.
Catholic theologian Hans Kung observes in his book Christianity and the World Religions that the Trinity is one reason why the churches have been unable to make any significant headway with non-Christian peoples. He states: “Even well-informed Muslims simply cannot follow, as the Jews thus far have likewise failed to grasp, the idea of the Trinity.
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Just because Muslims cannot grasp the Trinity doctrine doesn’t make it not true, the same way Catholics have a hard time understanding faith alone in Christ alone is how an individual is saved. The children of Israel sinned multiple times, they didn’t understand the LORD’s ways, we are not to follow the Jews but Christ Jesus Himself. Christ said He is the Way (John 14:6) not the Jews. The book of Isaiah tells us that the Jews eyes are closed to the truth (Isaiah 6:10, Isaiah 44:18), but there’s coming a time in which God will open their eyes to the truth.
As for this portion of the statement “Even well-informed Muslims…” according to their own sources Muslims deny Jesus died on the cross, that He’s the Son of God, and the Trinity is “the Father, Son and Mary.” How can the Watchtower even begin to think Muslims are an authority on scripture, their own Quran and Hadiths are contradictory to the Word of God. We certainly cannot take Islam’s word for how we are to understand doctrine.
The distinctions made by the doctrine of the Trinity between one God and three hypostases do not satisfy Muslims, who are confused, rather than enlightened, by theological terms derived from Syriac, Greek, and Latin. Muslims find it all a word game. . . . Why should anyone want to add anything to the notion of God’s oneness and uniqueness that can only dilute or nullify that oneness and uniqueness?”
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
It’s strange that the Watchtower would appeal towards Islam as a source of authority. Groups like Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, Unitarians etc. Will over emphasise the “oneness” of God at the expense of the plurality in the Godhead. Witnesses will agree with the Christian on every point when it comes to God being 1, even though the Witnesses actually are not monotheist technically.
They are blinded by the fact that just as God the Father works, the Son also works (John 5:17). Anything the Father can do the Lord Jesus can do, this is a devastating passage for the Witnesses. Just as the Father raises the dead the Son does likewise (John 5:21). The Son of God gives eternal life (John 10:28), this can not be spoken of a mere angel; not even an archangel such as Michael can be spoken of giving eternal life. Eternal life can only come from God Himself and this is why while the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible the doctrine is.
“Not a God of Confusion”
HOW could such a confusing doctrine originate? The Catholic Encyclopedia claims: “A dogma so mysterious presupposes a Divine revelation.” Catholic scholars Karl Rahner and Herbert V orgrimler state in their Theological Dictionary: “The Trinity is a mystery . . . in the strict sense … , which could not be known without revelation, and even after revelation cannot become wholly intelligible.”
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
The Watchtower loves to partially quote sources using dots and gaps in quotes to try to support their view, making it seem as if the other party is agreeing with their position, here’s the above quotes in their entirety.
“It is manifest that a dogma so mysterious presupposes a Divine revelation. When the fact of revelation, understood in its full sense as the speech of God to man, is no longer admitted, the rejection of the doctrine follows as a necessary consequence. For this reason it has no place in the Liberal Protestantism of today. The writers of this school contend that the doctrine of the Trinity, as professed by the Church, is not contained in the New Testament, but that it was first formulated in the second century and received final approbation in the fourth, as the result of the Arian and Macedonian controversies. In view of this assertion it is necessary to consider in some detail the evidence afforded by Holy Scripture. Attempts have been made recently to apply the more extreme theories of comparative religion to the doctrine of the Trinity, and to account for it by an imaginary law of nature compelling men to group the objects of their worship in threes. It seems needless to give more than a reference to these extravagant views, which serious thinkers of every school reject as destitute of foundation.”
Another use of the dots and gaps by Watchtower is in this statement by Karl Rahner and Herbert V orgrimler “The Trinity is a mystery . . . in the strict sense … , which could not be known without revelation, and even after revelation cannot become wholly intelligible.” That statement goes on to say: “Its import is as follows. (1) The one God exists in three “Persons” (Subsistence) which are the one divine Nature (the one divine essence, of divine substance) and therefore are equally eternal and almighty.”
However, contending that since the Trinity is such a confusing mystery, it must have come from divine revelation creates another major problem. Why? Because divine revelation itself does not allow for such a view of God: “God is not a God of confusion.”-1 Corinthians 14:33, Revised Standard Version (RS). In view of that statement, would God be responsible for a doctrine about himself that is so confusing that even Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholars cannot really explain it?
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Deception at its finest by the Watchtower. The source by Rahner and Orgrimler clearly states that God did reveal the trinity doctrine in the scriptures. Even God Himself couldn’t be understood without revelation and even after cannot be fully known. The Jehovah’s Witnesses use deception to make an argument against this fact. The LORD created all from nothing, does the Watchtower understand how God did this? God did not disclose how exactly He created everything, does that mean He’s a God of confusion? Definitely not! How can the finite creature explain the infinite the nature of the Creator? God is omniscient, how can God be all-knowing? That’s only for God to know and not us.
Furthermore, do people have to be theologians ‘to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent’? (John 17:3, JB) If that were the case, why did so few of the educated Jewish religious leaders recognize Jesus as the Messiah? His faithful disciples were, instead, humble farmers, fishermen, tax collectors, housewives. Those common people were so certain of what Jesus taught about God that they could teach it to others and were even willing to die for their belief.- Matthew 15: 1-9; 21:23-32, 43; 23 :13-36; John 7:45-49; Acts 4:13.
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
One must be born again to know the Father and Jesus Christ who sent into the world to save sinners. The Watchtower in the above statement is appealing to “knowledge” claiming the Pharisees who were educated didn’t recognise the Lord Jesus as the Messiah. Are Christians now to follow the Pharisees or Christ Himself? We do not get our doctrine from the Jewish religious leaders but from the risen Lord.
As the Bible says the Comforter who is the Holy Spirit, He will teach believers all things concerning Jesus Christ our Lord; He will testify about Christ and this is the only true way to know who God is.
Unfortunate for the Jehovah Witnesses who don’t believe in having the Holy Spirit, nor being born again. The Watchtower consistently goes against the teachings of Christ to their own detriment. If you’re an active Jehovah Witness leave the Watchtower and run to Jesus Christ for salvation, He’s the only salvation one can have.
Like all Black Hebrew Israelites, Sicarii believes Black people as well as Spanish and Indian people are the “true Hebrews.” Recently Sicarii visited Spanish Harlem in order to “wake people up to who they truly are”, claiming they are the “real Israelites.” Where do they get this idea from? Well, like all cults they use Bible verses out of context in order to indoctrinate others.
They claim minorities such as blacks, West Indians, Haitians, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans, Guatemalans & Panamanians, native American Indians, Seminole Indians, Colombians, Uruguayans, Mexicans, Argentinians and Chileans. Are from the 12 tribes spoken of in the Bible who have disobeyed the LORD and are suffering the curses spoken of in Deuteronomy 28 (we’ll dive more deeply at a later article), they say it refers to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Sicarii and other Black Hebrew Israelite camps use eisegesis to read themselves into a text found in scripture instead of using exegesis. For the purposes of this article it would be best to define what these 2 words mean to get a clearer understanding.
Eisegesis Definition: the interpretation of a text (as of the Bible) by reading into it one’s own ideas. First Known Use of eisegesis was in 1892.
Exegesis Definition: Exposition, Explanation especially : an explanation or critical interpretation of a text.
A tactic you’ll find executed by Sicarii is they’ll have 1 or 2 others reading portions of scripture while a 3rd members adds his eisegesis into the text to prove a point. The paring up of 1 main person (the speaker) will have 1 to 2 others by his side reading scriptures one after another in order to disorient the individual they are looking to indoctrinate.
While never reading verses in their entire context, it’s important to know when interpreting scripture to read a few verses before and after the text in question to get the full understanding of what’s being said; especially when you’re engaging BHI.
Preferably it’s better to understand the entire chapter and book to have fuller knowledge of what the author is telling us. This can be done in 2 ways, (1) is narrowing down to the text you’re focusing on. A visual of this is knowing the theme/background of the book for instance Galatians.
The theme of Galatians is Paul is confronting men who were spreading false doctrine saying a person must believe in Christ and be circumcised. Did you catch that? These men were coming unto the assembly of believers and told them they must believe on Christ plus keep the law in order to have salvation, this would be a false Gospel. The message was a mixture of Christianity and Judaism, this is exactly what the Black Hebrew Israelites teach.
(2) We look at the surrounding text in the book for this example lets take Galatians 2:4 which says:
Isolating the above text gives us a small understanding of what’s happening and cults love to do that in order to confuse you. Reading the surrounding text gives us more context to Galatians 2:4.
Galatians 2:1 Tells us Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem and took Titus with them. Galatians 2:2 tells us Paul went there by revelation and preached the gospel most likely there was a mix of Jews and Gentiles. Galatians 2:3 Paul tells us Titus a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised: Galatians 2:4 And false believers came in spying our freedom in Jesus Christ to bring us into bondage (the Law). Galatians 2:5 Paul and Barnabas opposed those false believers that the truth of the gospel might continue with the believers in Galatia.
Then we can focus on the text being discussed which is Galatians 2:4 and it makes perfect sense being that we took the time to look at the context of that particular verse. (1) Theme of book (2) surrounding text (3) text in question. In a perfect world we would have the time to do this always, but when debating with the BHI we don’t have the time really to dive that deep.
The best thing to do is to look at the first 1-2 verses before Galatians 2:4 and the verse after to get a quick understanding of the context. Never allow them to isolate a verse as they will try to chain verses together which have no basis to be paired together.
As in Galatians 2:4 Sicarii takes it further saying you must be of a certain “nationality” to have salvation. This is the reason you’ll hear the BHI ask “what’s your nationality?” depending on your answer is how they will treat you. BHI believe only certain people are in God’s favor and all others cannot be saved. For instance anyone of German descent is from “Esau” and they believe that God hates Esau and will quote this verse.
From the verse above they claim it’s ok to hate others because God “hates Esau.” This of course doesn’t mean God actually hated Esau in fact God blessed Esau. God preferred Jacob over Esau as Esau was not in the lineage of Christ. How can we know this to be true? The Bible has no contradictions and we can gain better understanding of how words such as “hate” were used back then.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the One all believers should want to model after and we read from the Lord Himself in Luke 14:26 which says:
Here we see that Christ is saying if you prefer your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and your own life above Jesus Christ then you can’t be a follower of Christ. The love a believer has for the Lord must supersede and be first in our life. Now the question is was Christ telling us to actually hate our families and friends? Of course not because Jesus Christ is without sin, and to hate someone is sin.
Unless the Black Hebrew Israelites are ready to charge Jesus Christ with sin which I’m sure they don’t then their argument fails. If they are willing to say that God actually hates “Esau” would contradict His own word and Holy character and being.
If the Lord tells us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 35) then how can anyone think Christ would tell us to hate those closest to us but love our enemies? The Lord tells us to love all people, but He must be our first love, and that’s all Romans 9:13 is saying. Sicarii would take this verse to mean to hate others who are not minorities i.e. blacks and latinos. This is a gross misinterpretation of the scriptures.
Another belief Sicarii holds is that the Bible is only for Hebrew Israelites. They deny Gentiles are non-Jews found in the Bible by saying those who identified as Gentiles were in actuality Hebrews living in other lands and when the word Gentile us used it means “a gentile state of mind” in other words lost Jews. This is how they try to get around verses which clearly teach a distinction between Jews and non-Jews.
There are 2 words used in the Bible to describe an individual who is not from the nation of Israel. As mentioned earlier (1) Gentile and the other (2) nations, here are the definition for both.
Nations גּוֹיgôwy, go’-ee; rarely (shortened) גֹּי gôy; apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:—Gentile, heathen, nation, people.
Outline of Biblical Usage masculine noun: I. nation, people A. nation, people i. usually of non-Hebrew people ii. of descendants of Abraham iii. of Israel B. of swarm of locusts, other animals (fig.) proper masculine noun C. Goyim? = “nations”
Gentiles ἝλληνHéllēn, hel’-lane; from G1671; a Hellen (Grecian) or inhabitant of Hellas; by extension a Greek-speaking person, especially a non-Jew:—Gentile, Greek.
Outline of Biblical Usage I. a Greek either by nationality, whether a native of the main land or of the Greek islands or colonies II. in a wider sense the name embraces all nations not Jews that made the language, customs, and learning of the Greeks their own; the primary reference is to a difference of religion and worship
One way around the objection that only Hebrews can be saved is by pointing them to Acts chapter 10. We have the account of Cornelius who was a centurion (Act 10:1) during the time Jerusalem was under the rulership of Ceasar and the Roman empire.
Cornelius is spoken of as being “devout man, and one that feared God with all his house” this is evidence that Cornelius obviously had some kind of belief in God. He didn’t know who God was at this point and time but he prayed to God always (Act 10:2). He had a vision an angel visited him and told him his prayers “come up for a memorial before God.”
Cornelius is told by the angel Simon Peter is in Joppa send for him (Acts 10:5) and he will tell you want to do (Acts 10:6). Cornelius sent men to bring Peter from Joppa and now Peter after receiving his own vision in Joppa is told by the Spirit to come to Cornelius (Acts 10:17, 10:19). When Peter comes into the house of Cornelius, he’s told about the vision Cornelius received and that he was visited by an angel.
Peter starts to preach the Gospel to Cornelius and everyone that was there from Cornelius’ household, and something extraordinary happens. Just like in Acts chapter 2 the Holy Spirit indwelt the believers in the upper room and they spoke in touges. So did Cornelius and all they of his household. Now remember Cornelius is a Roman centurion, there’s no chance that any Jew could be part of the Roman army as the Romans hated the Jews.
This plus many other verses prove that salvation is not only for the Hebrews but also for Gentile believers in Jesus Christ. I’ll leave you with a few more verses from the Old Testament which prove God wants to save both Jews and Gentiles. The word stranger(s) is another word which refers to non-jewish people.
Strangers (non-Jews) are to be treated as one born among the Hebrews. How are they keeping the commandments of God when the LORD says to “love him (the stranger) as thyself” is Sicarii loving the stranger as themselves?
Hebrews are called to love the stranger who lives among them, but so called “Black Hebrew Israelites” hate white people (non-minorities). But God Himself says that He loves the stranger and gives the stranger food and clothes. Therefore, God commanded the Hebrews to “love ye therefore the stranger” because the Hebrews are to be reminded when they were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The LORD tell the Israelites to give a fair portion of the inheritance to the strangers and themselves, these strangers are once again living among the Israelites.
In this passage of Isaiah the LORD is saying Egypt are His people and Assyria are the work of the LORD’s hands and Israel is His inheritance. Three sets of people are shown favor by the LORD.
Again the Lord Jesus is spoken of as the One who would gather Jacob (Israel) again to God. Even though Israel is not gathered Christ would still be glorious in the sight of God. This is the same glorious One will be a “light to the Gentiles” because Christ is the LORD’s salvation for all people not only Israelites.
In the last two articles we’ve been examining the teachings of a small influential cult called the Christadelphians. The Christadelphians deny the personhood of the Holy Spirit and believe He’s not distinct from the Father. Let’s dive into this one and see if that’s what the Bible teaches? If you’ve missed the last post you can view it here: Christadelphians “Doctrines to be Rejected” 2
We reject the doctrine that the Holy Spirit is a person distinct from the Father.
Other non-Trinitarian cults agree with the Christadelphians on the personhood of the Holy Spirit, calling Him an “it” and would say the Holy Spirit is “God’s active force” sort of like an electrical current or invisible power.
In the word of God we can gather that the Holy Spirit possesses all the traits and attributes of Personhood, He has a will, a mind, He speaks; and feels just like you and I. If these are not the characteristics of a person then I’m not sure what is?
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter
The Lord Jesus told His disciples that He must go away, if not then the Holy Spirit wouldn’t come. The Holy Spirit was sent into the world by the Lord Jesus and the Father (John 14:16), just the same as Christ was sent into the world also by the Father (John 10:36, John 3:17, John 17:18). Only a person could be sent into the world, not a force or idea. In this article it’s my task to present to you the Personhood of the Holy Spirit.
The wonderful truth is we can only fellowship with a person, therefore, how important is it to the believer to recognise the Personhood of the Holy Spirit? There are no disagreements as to the Father and the Son (Jesus Christ) being distinct persons, so is the One who lives in believers is a person as well.
He possesses all components of personhood as you and I. Non-Christian cults such as the Christadelphians would refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it.” Confusion from text such as Romans 8:16 reads “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit” this can cause some to think the Holy Spirit is an “it” instead of a person.
This difficulty comes with the English translation. Do not be mistaken Christ refers to the Holy Spirit multiple times as being a “He.” In John chapters 14-16 the Holy Spirit is referenced as “He”, “Him.”
Note these 3 scriptures of many shows forth the characteristics of a person. The Lord Jesus says in John 14:17 the Holy Spirit is called “Him” and we can “know Him” but the world “cannot receive or see Him”, but believers can because “He” will dwell in us.
Christ continues in John 15:26 saying “when the Comforter is come” only a person can “come” only a person can “send” another person. And the verse says the Holy Spirit will “testify of me” that’s of Christ Jesus. Then in John 16:13“the Spirit of truth” is called “He” and will “guide” believers into all truth. He “speaks” and “hears” lastly He will show believers things to come. Look at all the personal pronouns just in 3 verses.
The Holy Spirit also possesses all the categories of personality that is intelligence,emotion and will. 3 more scriptures which come to mind in regards to these categories are:
Intelligence gives a person the ability to think, know and understand things. This is shown in the book of Romans chapter 8 in which apostle Paul explains to believers the Spirit has a mind of His own “the mind of the Spirit” (Romans 8:27). The verse before tells is the Spirit “maketh intercession” (Romans 8:26) for believers only a person who has consciousness can perform such an act.
Emotion is the capacity to feel whether those feelings are sadness, joy or anger; these are only displayed from a person. We find in the book of Ephesians the Holy Spirit can be grieved. The definition of “grieved” is (1)to cause to suffer distress (2) to feel or show grief over (3) to submit a formal grievance concerning. Believers are told “grieve not the Holy Spirit” or don’t cause distress to the Holy Spirit.
The biblical definition of grieve: λυπέωlypéō, loo-peh’-o; from G3077; to distress; reflexively or passively, to be sad:—cause grief, grieve, be in heaviness, (be) sorrow(-ful), be (make) sorry.
Outline of Biblical Usage I. to make sorrowful II. to affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow III. to grieve, offend IV. to make one uneasy, cause him a scruple
How can an impersonal force be caused grief or sorrow? It can’t, it’s just not possible for electricity or wind to be grieved or have emotions. The Christadelphians like other cults that deny the Trinity fail to understand the Personhood of the Holy Spirit. We agree the Father and Son are persons but when it comes to the Holy Spirit they fail to see these scriptural truths.
Will is the ability to make choices, in the book of Acts we’re given insight as the Holy Spirit gave direction to Paul and Barnabas asking for them to separate which was accompanied with speech.
Acts 13:2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
It’s simple to see the Holy Spirit possesses the same characteristics of personhood we do (intellegence, emotion, will), the Holy Spirit is called “He” and “Him” and is able to think, feel and make decisions. If this doesn’t constitute Personhood then what does? In our future article we’ll answer the question does man have an immortal soul.
Hello it’s been a little while since our last post. We will be doing a series, examining the Brochure from the Watchtower called “Should you believe in the Trinity?” The Jehovah Witnesses are but a few groups who deny the doctrine of the Godhead/Trinity and call it satanic. It’s our endeavour to search out and see if the Trinity doctrine holds up to scrutiny or crumbles under critical observation.
1. Should You Believe It?
DO YOU believe in the Trinity? Most people in Christendom do. After all, it has been the central doctrine of the churches for centuries. In view of this, you would think that there could be no question about it. But there is, and lately even some of its supporters have added fuel to the controversy. Why should a subject like this be of any more than passing interest? Because Jesus himself said: “Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” So our entire future hinges on our knowing the true nature of God, and that means getting to the root of the Trinity controversy. Therefore, why not examine it for yourself?—John 17:3, Catholic Jerusalem Bible (JB).
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Often Jehovah Witnesses cite verses such as John 17:3 as a “proof text” is teaching against the Godhead/Trinity but they seem to miss the context of the verse. It’s perhaps the most intimate chapter of the Bible, we get to listen in on the Lord’s High priestly prayer.
The Lord Jesus is moments away from being taken captive to be brought before Pontius Pilate and later crucified. He [Jesus Christ] lifted up his eyes to heaven and spoke of the intimate fellowship the Son has with the Father and that believers also will enjoy.
Christ says “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” the JW immediately would say see Jesus calls the Father the only true God. They place emphasis on the Father being God alone, but they never look at the verse in its entirety. The text says the Father and the Son are the one God.
The Bible doesn’t only call the Father God it also ascribes this to the Son Jesus Christ as well. 1 John has a similar text which is speaking only of the Lord Jesus and it says:
Why don’t Jehovah Witnesses take this verse in 1 John 5:20 in context with John 17:3? The Watchtower teaches them Jesus is not God Almighty and practice Arianism a heresy the early church condemned.
Various Trinitarian concepts exist. But generally the Trinity teaching is that in the Godhead there are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; yet, together they are but one God. The doctrine says that the three are coequal, almighty, and uncreated, having existed eternally in the Godhead.
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
The Jehovah Witnesses understanding of the Trinity is wrong, when they say they don’t believe in the Trinity they are attacking the teaching of modalism. Christians have never taught modalism to be the doctrinal teaching of the Godhead.
Notice they start by saying “Various Trinitarian concepts exist” this is not true for there is only one true doctrine of the Trinity which Trinitarians believe. Which is we believe there is one God, who exists as three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial divine persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Each one of the persons in the Godhead share the same nature which is the one nature of God. We do not believe in 3 separate gods, neither do we believe the Father at one time changed into the Son and the Son changed into the Holy Spirit.
This is not what Trinitarians believe. Trinitarians believe all 3 persons of the Godhead exist at the same time in perfect fellowship before all creation even began. We find this wonderful truth in the very beginning of our Bible.
Elohim or God is a plural word the text also mentions the Spirit of God that’s the Holy Spirit. There are many passages in the Old Testament that teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, it’s just more plainly seen in the New Testament.
אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem’; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), (very) great, judges, mighty.
Outline of Biblical Usage
(plural)
rulers, judges
divine ones
angels
gods
(plural intensive – singular meaning)
god, goddess
godlike one
works or special possessions of God
the (true) God
God
Others, however, say that the Trinity doctrine is false, that Almighty God stands alone as a separate, eternal, and all-powerful being. They say that Jesus in his prehuman existence was, like the angels, a separate spirit person created by God, and for this reason he must have had a beginning. They teach that Jesus has never been Almighty God’s equal in any sense; he has always been subject to God and still is. They also believe that the holy ghost is not a person but God’s spirit, his active force.
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
In speaking of the Almighty God the book of Revelation informs us on this matter.
As we examine the verses it say “Behold, he cometh with clouds” is the Father the one coming in the clouds? Reading on it also says “every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him” every eye will see Him, are they going to see the Father? The Bible says the Father dwells in light which no man can approach. The one who’s coming was pierced, was the Father or the Son pierced? By asking these simple questions we see it can’t be speaking of the Father in Revelation 1:7-8.
The same person in Revelation 1:7-8 speaks saying “Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” We see here this individual calls Himself the Almighty, but not only that He says “which is to come” who’s coming if it’s not the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Supporters of the Trinity say that it is founded not only on religious tradition but also on the Bible. Critics of the doctrine say that it is not a Bible teaching, one history source even declaring: “The origin of the [Trinity] is entirely pagan.”—The Paganism in Our Christianity.
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
The above quote is very misleading, first it was taken by Arthur Weigall and his book called “paganism in our christianity.” Arthur is a modernist and doesn’t believe the Bible is God’s word, in his book not only does he speak against Christianity but he also speaks against the Watchtower calling their own beliefs “Angel-Christology.”
The Watchtower uses strawman arguments in their attack against the Trinity trying to assert something Christians do not believe in the first place. Christians believe in only 1 God, we don’t believe in 3 gods as Watchtower claims. Trinitarianism is monotheistic because the doctrine teaches there’s only 1 God and within the 1 God exist 3 co-eternal co-equal Person’s the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The 3 distinct Persons are all fully God and share the one nature of God.
Jehovah Witnesses are actually not monotheist because they believe in Jehovah and reduce Jesus Christ to a lesser “godlike” angel or “a god.” This means they are actually polytheistic in their belief, more specifically Henotheism.
Henotheism is the belief of one particular God in this case “Jehovah” out of several others namely Jesus (a god) and many others. Watchtower teaches there are others who also can be called god even though they are not Jehovah God they get this from 1 Corinthians 8:5 by pulling the text out of context saying Paul the apostle taught there are many legitimate gods. This of course is not the meaning of that particular text. By reading the surrounding text we can get the true context of that verse.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that [there is] none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.
Paul was addressing the believers in Corinth that any other “god” is actual not god at all but an idol and therefore it’s nothing. When the Jehovah Witnesses claim Jesus is not God but “a god” they are placing Jesus in the category of a false God. Christians never would agree to this because we believe Christ Jesus is the Almighty God along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. All 3 Persons of the Godhead are the 1 Almighty God.
Lastly, the doctrine of the Trinity/Godhead didn’t derive from pagan triads of deities. It was formulated by Christians strictly on the basis of the teachings of God’s word. The Watchtower points to Babylonian religion which was polytheistic and makes the statement that the Trinity came from such. This is of course not so, the Babylonians believed in not just 3 separate gods but a plethora of gods. Christians don’t believe in a multitude of gods we only worship 1 God.
If the Trinity is true, it is degrading to Jesus to say that he was never equal to God as part of a Godhead. But if the Trinity is false, it is degrading to Almighty God to call anyone his equal, and even worse to call Mary the “Mother of God.” If the Trinity is false, it dishonors God to say, as noted in the book Catholicism: “Unless [people] keep this Faith whole and undefiled, without doubt [they] shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this: we worship one God in Trinity
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Watchtower claims it’s “degrading to Jesus” to say He was never equal to God if the Trinity is true? Christians have always believed the Lord Jesus Christ is equal to the Father because they share the same nature. The watchtower argument against the deity of Christ is that Jesus is not Jehovah but “a god.” If the Father alone is Jehovah (the true God) then what does that make Jesus if He’s not Almighty God?
Is Jesus Christ a true God or a false god? There are no other choices either Christ is the True God just as His Father is also the True God, or Jesus is an additional god who is not truly God. This brings a big problem for the Jehovah Witness theology, when they started teaching Jesus was a created being it made them have 2 God’s.
Watchtower’s teaching of Jesus is merely a created creature as opposed to being God Almighty is degrading to Jesus Christ to demote Him to an angel or “godlike one” is completely heretical on their part. The Bible tells us that the Son should receive the same honour the Father receives.
Does the Watchtower honour the Son even as the Father is honoured? According to them the Father (Jehovah) alone is to be worshipped. Yet we have abundant proof that Christ was worshipped in the scriptures.
There are good reasons, then, why you should want to know the truth about the Trinity. But before examining its origin and its claim of truthfulness, it would be helpful to define this doctrine more specifically. What, exactly, is the Trinity? How do supporters of it explain it?
Should You Believe in the Trinity?
The Watchtower consistently misrepresents the doctrine of the Trinity, they assume Christians believe the Father and Jesus Christ are the same Person. This statement couldn’t be farther from the truth, Christians have consistently believed there is only 1 God and that 1 God consist of 3 distinct Persons. Each Person of the Godhead are fully and equally God because all 3 share the same nature.
Christians reject the notion of 3 separate gods, we are not tritheist, we affirm Deuteronomy 6:4 but can’t over look the distinction between the 3 Persons of the Godhead laid out in the scriptures. If you want to know more about The Doctrine of the Trinity feel free to read our past article. Moving forward we’ll continue to examine the Watchtower’s “Should You Believe in the Trinity?”
It came suddenly a knock on the door, but you’re not expecting anyone who can this be? As you open the door you’re confronted with a well dressed individual, a Jehovah Witnesses. Immediately the Jehovah Witnesses goes into their well trained presentation, depending on the message that particular day they will ask leading questions.
All in the attempts to get you to agree to a “home bible study”. This is one of the main ways JW’s lure in unsuspecting people into the Watchtower cult. They will speak of subjects which are appealing to the flesh. What they won’t tell you upfront is that Jehovah Witnesses believe you must be part of the organisation in order to be saved.
If you visit the FAQ page on their website there’s an article called “Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Feel That They Are the Only People Who Will Be Saved?” if you ask “must I be a Jehovah Witness in order to be saved?” they will tell you no, as the following quote says:
It’s pretty clear that the Watchtower is deceptive in what they teach, on JW.ORG they will paint the organisation one way claiming “No. Many millions who lived in centuries past and who weren’t Jehovah’s Witnesses will have an opportunity for salvation.” but truly say “survival of individuals today depends on their faith and their loyal association with the earthly part of Jehovah’s universal organization.”
There’s double talk when speaking to Jehovah Witnesses and any group which claims exclusivity on salvation is a cult. Salvation is only found in Jesus Christ alone. Not in any organisation or group, the Lord Jesus said:
John 11:25-26 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
This is the first article concerning the World Mission Society Church Of God. We’ve been warned time and time again by our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles to remain steadfast in the faith because many deceivers and false teachers would teach heretical doctrines.
It’s in our best interest to remain focused on Christ and by doing so we come to know our Lord more each day, as we study the scriptures we’ll not be in a dangerous position to be lured into any cult. Because we’ll be able to distinguish true teachings of the Bible from the false. We’re starting with a high level view of WMSCOG’s beliefs otherwise known as the “Mother god church”. I myself am learning what they teach so bare along with me.
Any group which claims exclusivity on “the truth” or makes any statement that you need to be part of their church in order to have salvation is a cult. According to the WMSCOG website it claims (1) “The church that Jesus established and the apostles attended is the Church of God” (2) “The Church of God, which we are attending today, is the only legitimate church that God has established to save human beings” (3) “Let us confirm that the Church of God is the true church that has inherited the truth.”
In this statement they claim Jesus established their church, it’s the only legitimate church established to save human beings and they alone are the true church. We can conclude WMSCOG is saying all other churches are not “legitimate.”
The issue is any group which comes along with a “new teaching” or “revelation” cannot be Christian. This is how cults start with some new teaching no one ever heard of. If this is true then why didn’t the Lord Jesus or any of the apostles preach about “mother god?” That’s because what WMSCOG teaches is not in the Bible, they take specific scriptures and pull them out of their context in order to deceive others in believing what the cult teaches.
The WMSCOG is reminiscent of the Jehovah Witnesses with a different twist. They’re both legalistic teaching their members they have to observe rule keeping, both have a distorted view of who Jesus Christ is. This group in particular claims a dead Korean man named Ahn Sahng hong is Jesus Christ and God the Father. Which highly blasphemous on many levels.
Nowhere in the Bible will you find “god the mother”, the scriptures the WMSCOG uses in order to get you to believe this are (Mt 6:9) and (Gal 4:26). Let’s look at those verses closely and see if “god the mother” is spoken of. By looking at the surrounding text we can get the context of what’s being said.
The Lord Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them how to pray.
AhnSungHong the false Christ renounced Buddhism and was baptised in 1948, at the time he was attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Afterwards he was excommunicated in the year of 1962 from the Seventh-day Adventist over disputes he held against the cross. A few others left the SDA and followed Ahn and in 1964 he then established his own group called Witnesses of Jesus Church of God.
Some beliefs Ahn’s taught was baptism as the first step towards salvation. Everyone must adhere to keeping the Sabbath day, and not worship on Sundays. He also considered the cross to be idolatry. The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread should be kept. As well as other feasts found in Leviticus 23.
During the course of Ahn’s Witnesses of Jesus Church of God another member by the name of Um Sooin, created a division with a new teaching. She claimed through tying in different verses using eisegesis that she was “the only bride”, “the Heavenly Jerusalem”, “the New Jerusalem” on earth, “the comforter sent by God.”
This in turn caused Ahn to write a book refuting Um Sooin called Problems with the New Jerusalem, the Bride and Women’s Veils in which Ahn said:
Ahn Sahng-hong, Problems with the New Jerusalem, the Bride and Women’s Veils, 1980 & 1983
Even within this cult they cannot agree on doctrine, it shows the confusion within the World Mission Society Church of God. The Bible tells us that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) and if God is not the author of confusion then this means satan is the one working within this group.
Here’s another paragraph from the WMSCOG in which they claim to believe in the Bible and its entirety then say “come to God the Father and God the Mother.” The Bible never teaches anything about god the Mother, therefore, we can conclude the members do not believe the Bible but what they are told by their leaders what the Bible means.
All cults operate in this way they indoctrinate people in regards to certain teachings to the point when the individual tries to read the Bible for themselves they do so with a filter which was provided by the group in question in this case WMSCOG.
This is only meant to be an introductory insight into what this particular group believes, it’s our intention to dig deeper into the World Mission Society Church Of God doctrines in later issues. Thanks for reading, stay safe and God bless.
The term “born again” refers to a new beginning in the relationship between God and the person who is born again. (John 3:3,7) God adopts those born again as his children. (Romans 8:15, 16; Galatians 4:5; 1 John 3:1) Similar to those who are legally adopted, they experience a change of status, becoming part of God’s family.—2 Corinthians 6:18.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
Jehovah Witnesses believe only a small amount of people called the “anointed class” more commonly known as the 144,000 can be born again having a heavenly hope. They pull these verses out of context from (Revelation 7:9, Revelation 14:1, 4-5) and take the number (144,000) literal yet they will also say all other references concerning them are figurative.
Does the Bible say can only a small group of 144,000 individuals be born again or is it possible that more than 144,000 people can be born again?
In John 1:12 it states “as many”, there’s no limited number here telling us only 144,000 people can only be born again. The words “as many” means an unlimited number can receive Jesus Christ. To be born again means to be made a new creature in Christ(2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15), to be justified(Romans 5:1, 9, Romans 8:30, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Galatians 2:16) and reconciled to God(Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:20).
Paul the apostle touches upon teaches this truth, that Christ has only one body found in the book of Ephesians.
Seen from Ephesians 3:1-7 “That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body” this gives clarity pertaining to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 10. When He spoke of “other sheep” it was in revealing those “other sheep” as Gentiles, non-Jews. We know this because He was speaking concerning “this fold” meaning the Jewish people in this chapter.
Jesus said: “Unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) So being born again prepares a person to rule with Christ in God’s Kingdom. This Kingdom rules from heaven, so the Bible describes the “new birth” as providing an inheritance that is “reserved in the heavens.” (1 Peter 1:3, 4) Those who are born again are given the conviction that they will “rule together as kings” with Christ.—2 Timothy 2:12; 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society teaches there’s 2 classes of Christians, a small group named the “anointed class”. This special class are the only Christians who have the Holy Spirit. The other group called the “great crowd” are Christians who don’t have the Holy Spirit. These unbiblical teachings from the Watchtower are taught from Revelation 7:9 (great crowd) and Revelation 7:3,4 (144,000).
This doctrine of a 2 class system created by Joseph Franklin Rutherford in 1935, prior to his teaching the founder Charles Taze Russell taught Christians, “Jehovah Witnesses” all had a heavenly hope. Russell said the “heavenly calling” was closed, only 144,000 had been chosen by 1881. Rutherford as second president moved the date of 1881 to 1931.
The Bible shows that the “Great Crowd” are located in heaven. The current Watchtower teaches believers in Jesus Christ having two hopes this is contradictory with biblical teaching of the Other Sheep becoming “one flock” found in Ephesians.
Notice one body and one hope, one body in Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses teach there are two bodies and two hopes, the bible never teaches two hopes or classes of Christians.
How is a person born again?
When Jesus discussed the subject, he said that those born again would be “born from water and spirit.” (John 3:5) This expression refers to baptism in water followed by baptism with holy spirit.—Acts 1:5; 2:1-4.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
What was the Lord Jesus referring to when He said “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit”? If we take the Watchtower’s interpretation that being “born of water” means baptism this would contradict the rest of scripture. We read in the Bible that salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Baptism is a command the Lord gave for those who have already been saved by trusting in Christ. Baptism was not given as a means of salvation. The mention of water can refer to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:25, 26, 1 Peter 1:23, James 1:18). This can also refer to the Holy Spirit who is often a likened to water (John 7:38, 39), we also remember the Lord speaking of rivers of living water.
The Watchtower completely misunderstands and misapplies John 3:5 teaching a works based salvation.
Jesus was the first person to be born again. He was baptized in the Jordan River, after which God anointed (or, baptized) him with holy spirit. Jesus was thus born again as a spiritual son of God with the hope of returning to life in heaven. (Mark 1:9-11) God fulfilled this hope by resurrecting Jesus as a spirit creature.—Acts 13:33.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
The Lord Jesus DID NOT have to be born again because He’s sinless, undefiled and separate from sinners (Hebrews 7:26). Only sinners need to be born again so why did Jesus Christ get baptized by John the Baptist? The Lord tells us why it was to fulfill all righteousness.
This was done by the Lord to fulfill all that the Old Testament and New Testament saints did in accordance to God’s word. For instance the Bible in the Old Testament speaks of sprinkling when it came to blood or anointing with oil etc.
The Lord by being baptized was confirming all which was done back then all the way to present and future acts such as baptism by immersion. This was the real meaning behind Jesus being baptised.
Notice what the Watchtower says here “with the hope of returning to life in heaven” yes the Lord did return to heaven but they won’t tellyou that they believe Jesus returned as “Michael the arc-angel” Jehovah Witnesses do not believe Jesus is a real man in heaven but and angel.
Another very important fact to point out is this “God fulfilled this hope by resurrecting Jesus as a spirit creature.” The Jehovah Witnesses deny the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is very serious to deny the bodily resurrection is a salvific problem. Anyone who denies the physical body resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot have salvation.
The Christian faith hinges on the resurrection of Christ if the resurrection never happened then everything else falls our hope would be in vain.
This is why no one involved in a non-Christian cult can be saved; world religions for that matter as well. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and others deny Jesus Christ in many ways especially the resurrection. With the JW’s they say Jesus body was disintegrated and He rose as a “spirit creature.” Jesus didn’t rise from the dead in the same body which was on the cross. Very dangerous for those who reject the resurrection.
Jesus Christ rose bodily all you need to prove this is see that the Lord had His disciples to touch the wounds in His body, He also ate food with them. If He was not raised in the same body then He would not have wounds, additionally a spirit would not as for food to eat and continue to ingest food before them. Lastly He told them He’s not a spirit but that He does indeed have flesh and bone.
Yet the Jehovah Witnesses will believe the Watchtower’s teaching over what the Bible says.
Others who are born again are also baptized in water before they receive the holy spirit. (Acts 2:38, 41) They then have the sure hope of life in heaven, which God will fulfill in the resurrection.—1 Corinthians 15:42-49.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
It’s obvious by this quote from the Watchtower they don’t understand that a Christian is saved first and given the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. Afterwards then is the believer baptised to signify that they have died with Christ and are raised in newness of life.
Baptism doesn’t save anyone on Jesus Christ saves, people received the Holy Spirit in the Bible before baptism. Read Acts chapter 10 and you’ll see that Cornelius was given the Holy Spirit before he was baptised.
Misconceptions about being born again
Misconception: A person must be born again to gain salvation or to be a Christian. Fact: Christ’s sacrifice provides salvation not only for those who are born again as the ones who will rule with Christ in heaven but also for the earthly subjects of God’s Kingdom. (1 John 2:1, 2; Revelation 5:9, 10) That second group of Christians have the opportunity to live forever in Paradise on earth.—Psalm 37:29; Matthew 6:9, 10; Revelation 21:1-5.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
The Watchtower teaches it’s a “Misconception” that an individual must be born again. Again we see the great damage being done by cults they undermine the very words of the Lord Jesus, distorting the Bible thereby deceiving its members in this case Jehovah Witnesses who aren’t allowed to research outside of the societies publications.
The Lord Jesus told Nicodemus “you must be born again.” How can a group which claims to believe in the Bible contradict it so much?
Please note what the Watchtower says here “Christ’s sacrifice provides salvation not only for those who are born again as the ones who will rule with Christ in heaven but also for the earthly subjects of God’s Kingdom.” The Watchtower teaches a 2 class system, they believe there’s a small group of anointed Christians who will live in heaven and a larger group which will live on earth who aren’t anointed.
Nowhere will you find this doctrine in the Bible, the “2 class system” was invented by Joseph Rutherford 1935.
The Bible specifically tells us there’s one body (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 20, Ephesians 2:16, Ephesians 4:4, Colossians 3:15) and one hope (Ephesians 4:4). How is it then the Jehovah Witnesses have two bodies with two hopes? The doctrines of the Watchtower are erroneous to say the least. Lastly you will not find the phrase “paradise earth” anywhere in the Bible.
Misconception: A person can choose to be born again. Fact: The opportunity to have a relationship with God and gain salvation is open to all. (1 Timothy 2:3, 4; James 4:8) However, God chooses those who will be born again, or anointed with holy spirit. According to the Bible, being born again “depends, not on a person’s desire or on his effort, but on God.” (Romans 9:16) The expression “born again” can also be rendered “born from above,” confirming that the selection of those who are born again comes “from above,” or from God.—John 3:3, footnote.
What Does It Mean to Be Born Again? Bible Questions Answered
Another misunderstanding the Watchtower makes is that God chooses some to be born again, while God chooses others not to be born again yet somehow these individuals who are not born again are Christians. They would lead the reader to believe Christians are teaching anyone “can choose to be born again.”
This is far from the truth, Christianity teaches that God draws the guilty sinner and at the point of conversion the individual is sealed by the Holy Spirit indwelling the new believer. No where will you find in the Bible a person who is a believer in Jesus Christ but yet not born again.
The Watchtower is caught between a rock and a hard place. A core teaching for witnesses is that only 144,000 people will enter heaven. And they will rule as kings with Jesus. This number is based on misinterpretation of Revelation 7 and 14, and proven untrue by Watchtower’s own numbers of those who partake of the emblems during the “memorial”.
Watchtower would have people believe that since the 1st century Christians on the day of Pentecost till 1935 those who would be called to be part of the 144,000 has “closed.” Does the Watchtower expect us to believe the that number 144,000 was not reached before the Society was even formed?
On the day of Pentecost we’re told three thousand souls were saved after the apostle Peter preached Christ to the people (Acts 2:41). In Acts chapter 4 we have the apostles Peter and John going into the temple again they preached Christ crucified and five thousand people believed (Acts 4:4). Afterwards we’re not given the number of converts but we see how fast the Church was growing.
In Acts 5 we have another multitude of people who believed in the Lord Jesus and added to the church.
This is the theme of the book of Acts so thousands of people were saved in the 1st century alone. Is it logical to believe that the number 144,000 wouldn’t be reached way before 1935 when the Watchtower claims “the heavenly calling was closed?”
In the year 95 A.D. 40,000 Christians are said to have been martyred alone. We can conclude that the number 144,000 would have been quickly reached way before Charles Taze Russell came and formed the Watchtower. There is not a two class group of Christians, the Bible tells us that there’s One Body and One Hope. All believers in Christ are anointed and heaven bound.
We hope and pray that if you’re a Jehovah Witness you’ll research the history of the Watchtower Society outside of their own publications if you’d like to know the true history, because the Watchtower has whitewashed their own history to hide the facts from you.
It’s truly a sad day when we see how sinful mankind is, here we are smack dab in the middle of a global pandemic. People are dying by the truck loads, world wide according to the Wikipedia’s Template:2019–20 coronavirus pandemic data chart which has live updates, we now have 2,310,572 confirmed cases worldwide.
In the epicenter of this pandemic New York, there’s 236,732 in New York State confirmed with COVID-19, New York City bears a little more than half of that number tallying 131,263 and has resulted in 8,893 death thus far.
You would think this would wake people up to the fact of sin in the world. That individuals hearts would be open and there are those whose hearts have been opened to the fact that one day we all will be faced with death. None of us are immortal and have an appointment with death which we cannot change.
And while the numbers of deaths continue to climb due to COVID-19 New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo said this:
“The number is down because we brought the number down.” And emphasized: “God did not do that. Faith did not do that. Destiny did not do that. A lot of pain and suffering did that . . . That’s how it works. It’s math. And if you don’t continue to do that, you’re going to see that number go back up. And that will be a tragedy if that number goes back up.”
Andrew Cuomo Governor of New York
Here’s a man who has blasphemed God, who has undermined people’s faith in the God who can save people from this pandemic. If Andrew Cuomo has no belief in God that’s his choice but to come out on a public forum a try to denounce the God who made you.
All of the things he enjoy’s car, home, political career as well as having a family, health and financial stability how are these things possible without God? Andrew Cuomo is not exempt from sin, he also needs the living Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. Andrew Cuomo not only spoke blasphemous against the LORD GOD our Creator, Cuomo has also advocated for abortion rights signing the expanded abortion rights into law.
Many of us have taken all that God has given us for granted, and because of man’s pride and sinful nature the nation has become ungodly by the day. By the removing of God from our schools, the open celebrations of homosexuality and pride parades; and by neglecting to teach our children the word of God. By the secular universities which teach evolution and the growing religion of atheism. This world has become a dark place.
Andrew Cuomo doesn’t realise it now but there’s coming a day when he will have to stand before the God of the universe to give an account for all he’s said and done. And for his sake I hope he does it as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and not as a secular humanist.
It’s up to Christians everywhere to continue to pray for all those people who lost their loved ones, those who are providing medical help in hospitals. For the homeless who are on the streets hungry and fully exposed to this disease, for police who are trying to keep order, for MTA workers keeping transportation running, for supermarket workers providing available food.
We need to continue to pray for America, Canada, Italy and all the countries of the world. People need God more than ever and nows the time for us to pray that they would seek the Lord while He may be found (Isaiah 55:6-7)
The Watchtower taught to worship Jesus until 1954, afterwards they changed their beliefs saying to worship Jesus Christ was idolatrous. Now The Jehovah Witness religion is in reality a polytheistic religion claiming Jesus is not God but a god.
Most Jehovah Witnesses are ignorant of the history of the Watchtower and what they taught. Charles Taze Russell taught the worship of Jesus Christ in the initial Watchtower Charter’s. In the 1950’s and onward worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ became viewed as idolatry.
First, we have to understand what Paul meant here by worship. He used the Greek word pro·sky·neʹo. Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that this word literally means to ‘kiss the hand of someone in token of reverence or to do homage.’ An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine, says that this word “denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to man . . . or to God.” In Bible times pro·sky·neʹo often included literally bowing down before someone of high stature.
Is It Proper to Worship Jesus? Awake! April 8, 2000
προσκυνέωproskynéō, pros-koo-neh’-o; from G4314 and a probable derivative of G2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):—worship.
to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence
among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication
used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank
to the Jewish high priests
to God
to Christ
to heavenly beings
to demons
The Watchtower changed the word “worship” which all bibles use in order to show Jesus Christ is to be worshipped as God, and replaced it with “obeisance” in the verses which speaks about Christ deity.
Here are Watchtower quotes which prove they used to teach to worship Jesus Christ as God.
Russell’s understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is was incorrect because he thought Jesus was God the Father. That aside Russell did teach Jesus was to be worshipped. When Russell died the new president Joseph Franklin Rutherford continued teaching the same.
In the 1950’s, the Watchtower organisation changed their teaching on Jesus to correspond with their manipulated the New World Translation. In opposition to other scholarly translations, the Jehovah Witness “bible” translates the word proskuneō as obeisance rather than worship when pertaining to Jesus Christ. Every other occurrence, in the New World Translation translates the word proskuneō as worship.
With all the flip flops in doctrine we can clearly see that the Watchtower is not being used by God in anyway. We have verse upon verse which proves the Lord Jesus is to be worshipped as God.
Apocalyptic groups use fear tactics in order to spread panic in order to gain more followers. Once such group is the Watchtower organisation. This global pandemic is a gold mine for them. Some of the grandiose claims made by the Jehovah Witnesses is astounding, quotes stating to join their organisation for salvation.
‘Stay Awake and Keep Your Senses’ The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1981
Instead of leading people to the only One who can save the Lord Jesus Christ, the Watchtower would direct you to their organisation for salvation. Does this sound right what does the Bible say about salvation?
The Bible says salvation belongs to the LORD God not an organisation (Watchtower). With that said lets look at some of the content of the new Awake magazine.
As mentioned earlier apocalyptic groups will use fear as a catalyst to gain membership and will offer themselves as a “saviour” but as we’ve just seen only Christ Jesus alone is the Saviour. Here are the topics listed in the latest Awake.
1 Is God to Blame for Our Suffering? – People have been deceived by teachings that misrepresent God. What is the truth? 2 Are We to Blame for Our Own Suffering? – If the answer is yes, then it might be in our power to reduce our suffering. 3 Why Do Good People Suffer? – The Bible helps us to understand the answer. 4 Were We Meant to Suffer? – Would a God who created such beauty in the world consign us to a life of suffering? If not, what went wrong? 5 Will Suffering Ever End? – The Bible tells us exactly how God will eliminate suffering. Help Is Available – Even if our problems seem unsolvable, there is a reliable guide that can help.
After reading these titles can you see a common theme? I’ll give you a hint the common theme is suffering. The Watchtower thrives on catastrophic events and will lay claim that they “predicted” the event.
They took information from a medical “The medical journal Vaccine reported in 2003” and made it seem as the Watchtower predicted this current global pandemic. The quote from the The medical journal Vaccine was a hypothetical question put forth by the journal. It was not a prediction.
Another failed prophecy by the Watchtower is the claimed prediction of WW1.
This is exactly what a doomsday cult does they use fear in order to recruit and keep their members by telling them they need to associate with the organization in order to have salvation.
In one of the subjects “God rejects religion that misrepresents him.” Here’s what the Watchtower had to say: “This includes religions that teach that God causes our suffering and those that are involved with warfare and violence.” they go on to quote a verse from Jeremiah.
It’s quite ironic that a group who’s well known for multiple false prophecies would point to a verse which speaks against the very thing they are doing themselves. Just to list a few of their false prophecies.
1799 LAST DAYS BEGIN – 1914 THE END OF THE WORLD. “The careful student will have observed that the period designated ‘The Time of the End’ is very appropriately named, since not only does the Gospel age close in it, but in it, also, all prophesies relating to the close of this age terminate, reaching their fulfillments. The same class of readers will have noticed, too, the special importance of the last 40 of these 115 years (1874-1914), called ‘The End’ or ‘Harvest.'”
Studies in the Scriptures Series III – Thy Kingdom Come p.121
“The Scriptural proof is that the period of his presence and the day of God’s preparation is a period from 1874 A.D. forward. The second coming of the Lord, therefore, began in 1874; and that date and the years 1914 and 1918 are specially marked dates with reference to his coming. Prophecy can not be understood until it has been fulfilled or is in the course of fulfillment. From 1874 to 1914 the prophecy concerning the Lord’s coming was being fulfilled and could be understood, and was understood, by those who were faithful to the Lord and who were watching the development of events, but not by others.”
Creation 1927 2,175,000 ed. p.289
“The prophecy of the Bible, fully supported by the physical facts in fulfilment thereof, shows that the second coming of Christ dates from the fall of the year 1914.”
It goes without saying that the verse in Jeremiah 14:14 really fits the Watchtower in all of the failed prophecies they have passed off in their publications.
The last heading states “Jesus denounced religious hypocrisy” this couldn’t be said better. The Lord Jesus does denounce hypocrisy and the organisation is full of it. Do you remember last years Jehovah Witness convention? It was named “love never fails international convention 2019.”
Yet ex-Jehovah Witnesses are being shunned because they no longer want to be a Jehovah Witness and they risk losing their families, friends, jobs and work colleges. Unless you choose to remain a Jehovah Witness only then will the “love never fail” but if you choose to leave then does the love fail? Looks to be so.
Jehovah Witnesses pride themselves on “working” for the kingdom, they believe in a works based salvation. If so what were these people the Lord Jesus was speaking about trusting in? Their own works. Notice “have we not and in thy name” they trusted in themselves and not in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
During this weekend besides hearing more about the Coronavirus another event infinitely more important is taking place. Tomorrow many people will observe “Easter Sunday” biblically known as the Passover or Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible does indeed tell us that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days on the first day of the week (Sunday), but it never gives us an actual date when this occurred.
Have faith of ye Christian saints for the Lord Jesus is risen indeed! The focus in this article is to bring to light the erroneous teachings of the Watchtower from their 2016 article Why Did Jesus Suffer and Die? Did It Really Happen?
We want to shed some light to particular and extremely important aspect of the Resurrection the Watchtower seemed to neglect in their article. The opening paragraph begins with
In the spring of 33 A.D., Jesus the Nazarene was executed. He had been falsely charged with sedition, savagely beaten, and nailed to a stake. He died in excruciating pain. But God raised him back to life, and 40 days later, Jesus ascended to heaven.
The Watchtower | No. 2 2016
Yes it’s true that Jesus the Christ was charged with sedition and other false charges such as wanting to “destroy the temple” and the Jews didn’t want to believe the claims of Christ. They were angry because Jesus Christ made claims to His deity as being God and their Messiah.
You see the Jehovah Witnesses don’t believe Jesus Christ is Almighty God but a lesser god who was created to be precise Michael the archangel. This is something they won’t tell you at first when they come knocking.
I want to also direct your attention to this statement from the above Watchtower quote “But God raised him back to life,.” Yes it’s true God raised Jesus from the dead but they’re being vague. In truth God the Father raised Him (Jesus Christ) from the dead,
All three raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, because all three are the one God we read about in the Old Testament and New Testament.
This extraordinary account comes to us from the four Gospels of the Christian Greek Scriptures, commonly called the New Testament. Did those things really happen? That is a pertinent and serious question. If they did not, Christian faith is valueless and the hope of eternal life in Paradise is nothing more than a wishful dream. (1 Corinthians 15:14) On the other hand, if those events really did happen, then there is a bright future for mankind, one in which you can share. So, are the Gospel accounts fact or fiction?
The Watchtower | No. 2 2016
The Watchtower gets something right here by asking the question about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ saying “Did those things really happen? That is a pertinent and serious question. If they did not, Christian faith is valueless and the hope of eternal life in Paradise is nothing more than a wishful dream.”
I agree it’s very serious to know if Jesus Christ truly conquered death by being raised from the dead after 3 days. The Christian faith hinges on the Resurrection if it didn’t happen then our faith is in vain, but if it did then those who haven’t placed their trust in Christ are in grave danger.
The tragedy is that Jehovah Witnesses will affirm Jesus Christ rose from the dead but what do they really mean? You’ll find out that Watchtower teaches Jesus didn’t rise from the dead physically. They teach Jesus rose spiritually, and they go even further to say He later took on a different body. This is yet another thing they will not tell you at the door.
The body He appeared with to the disciples in the upper room was “not the same body” which hung on the cross according to the Watchtower. This is a huge error which is a salvation issue. All Christians since the time of the apostles affirm that Christ rose from the dead in the same body He was crucified. To prove this point Thomas was shown the wounds of the nails in Jesus Christ hands and side. If it was a different body then He wouldn’t have any wounds from the crucifixion.
When a Jehovah Witness ask if you’d like to have a “bible study” what they’re really want is to indoctrinate you with Watchtower theology a little at a time. They’ll gloss over Bible truths such as they don’t believe Jesus was crucified on a cross, they deny the bodily resurrection, they deny Jesus Christ is God, they also deny the Godhead (Trinity) and other foundational truths of the Christian faith.
It’s our sincere prayer that those trapped in the organization would wake up and leave this non-Christian cult and come to the true Jesus Christ of the Bible. The only One who has the power to save guilty sinners.
Many Witness are afraid to leave, if they do they will lose their families from being shunned. Therefore they feel stuck, the Jehovah’s Witness life is completely wrapped up in the organization so the Jehovah’s Witness has much to lose; family, friends and job all gone in a matter of moments.
It’s a huge sacrifice to follow Christ but there’s nothing more satisfying or fulfilling for you soul. If you’re a Jehovah Witness or just an unbeliever place your trust in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. God bless.
Sin has been the downfall of mankind ever since the first man and woman sinned in the garden. All it took for Adam and Eve to sin was the first doubt/lie to be sown. The devil approached Eve in the garden and asked “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” this was the first seed of doubt.
After Eve answered him the first lie ever told was spoken “Ye shall not surely die” then satan appealed to her temptations saying “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”.
Notice satan told Eve you shall be like gods, and because they believed the lie they ate the fruit which God told them not to do and sin entered the world ever since and has been our downfall.
This lie continues on today as we see a world which rejects God, a world in which people indulge in sin, a world which prides itself on unrighteousness. As morals decline with each passing moment love dwindles away only to give rise to false love. A “love” that says “do what thou wilt”, not only that but also a world which claims there’s no absolutes.
In that statement alone we find contradiction and hypocrisy to claim “there are no absolutes” or “all truth is relative”. A claim as such in essence is making an absolute truth claim. Where mankind truly deviated and was lead astray was with the embrace of Atheism.
I think it’s quite interesting when you start to look into the history of Atheism and it’s roots. It started in India during the Vedic age. The name is derived from the Vedas which comes from the Hindu text. It’s ironic Hinduism a religion with the most “gods” has any relation to a religion which rejects the idea of any deity.
As Christians it’s normal to have Atheist upset at the notion of mentioning God, The Lord Jesus Christ, morals and sin. I wanted to take the time to look at some alarming responses from Atheist.
“As these ChristoTalibans sow? So should they reap. Here are a whole bunch more of your psychotic, ChristoTaliban Christian preachers of hate and death. All of them crying for the brutal murders of lgbts based on their bibles.
I wonder how Christians would feel if LGBTS had a book that said all Christians should be put to death, how fast Christians would call that hate speech?
Or I wonder how Christians would react if all LGBTS stated that as Christians want to do unto us? The same shall be done unto them, how fast you Christians would cry that LGBTS are persecuting you?
But as all these Christians sow? So should they reap and as they want to do unto lgbts? The same should be done unto them”—Anonymous Atheist
Atheist comment # 1 Ever since the attacks on 9/11 when planes flew into the WTC and Pentagon buildings the term Taliban has been tossed around. Nowadays if you disagree with someone you’re automatically labeled. In the case of this person they think all Christians are “ChristoTalibans”. I don’t understand how someone who doesn’t believe in God would try to quote from the Bible?
I guess by using this term they are trying to say that Christians are chopping people’s heads off, shooting people in the head and tossing their bodies in a ditch? In my response to this individual I said that as Christians we don’t hate anyone that includes individuals who identify as LGBT.
I went on to say that I don’t agree with the sin of homosexuality but that doesn’t mean I hate them, I desire for them to be saved the same as I have the desire to see a heterosexual saved. I’m not certain what kind of “Christians” this atheist has come across? I’ll be the first to say that anyone who claims to be a Christian and looks to inflict harm even to the point of death is not a Christian! Perhaps they think the Westboro Baptist cult are “Christians”?
“Again, you fool, telling a native American they should become a Christian? Is like telling a Jew to join the Nazi party or a black person to join the KKK” —Anonymous Atheist
Atheist comment # 2 This comment shows the lack of knowledge of what Christianity stands for. This individual keep on insisting that “Christians” were responsible for the Crusades and other atrocities which are attributed to the Roman Catholics. This is common between atheist and unbelievers in general in which try to place Christians in the same boat as Catholics.
No, Christians were not responsible for the Spanish Inquisition, sorry to break the news but Christians were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope at that time Pope Clement VII was against the people to own a personal copy of the Bible in english. The clergy wanted to remain in power by keeping the Holy Scriptures written in Latin, by doing so no lay person would be able to read God’s word without the church’s interpretation.
Praise be to God for men like William Tyndale who translated most of the Bible in English. He played a vital role in the production of the Authorised King James Bible first published in 1611. Tyndale while in a discussion with a clergyman who made this blasphemous statement “We had better be without God’s laws than the Pope’s.” responded saying:
As I digress I’m not certain how telling anyone regardless of race would take offence to being told they should become a Christian. If we truly believe salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ then wouldn’t we want others to come, taste and see that the Lord is good?!
“Stop lying you fake Christian. Enjoy the same judgment you have given unto me and others”—Anonymous Atheist
This was in response to my comment “I love you and hope you don’t get the Coronavirus. God help you and your soul.”
Atheist comment # 3 In loving kindness we pray for those who are outside of the Ark (the Lord Jesus Christ). In this particular discussion I made reference of staying safe, praying this person would remain healthy from the Coronavirus. And in turn they felt the need to say “stop lying you fake Christian” as well as being hatful saying “enjoy the same judgement”.
I’m uncertain of what judgement this person is speaking of because I never declared judgement upon anyone. So how can this atheist say “Enjoy the same judgment you have given unto me and others”?
Just goes to show how depraved humans have become when you reject the God who made you. It brings a verse to my mind in Jeremiah.
How true the word of God is which exposes the sinfulness of our hearts. We have to pray for atheist because while they may shake their little fist up to the sky. Wholeheartedly angry at the God they claim doesn’t exist which makes no sense.
We need to show these people who have been indoctrinated to believe that everything came from nothing, a scientific impossibility. May the Lord open their eyes and show them they were created in the image of God, and their lives do have meaning.
That their lives are not “star dust” that “evolution” is completely false, that abortion is murder; and that outside of God they have no basis for their moral standards. Anything outside of the existence of God is meaningless.
Mankind has been trying to be god ever since the downfall of man and the tragic fact is many have fallen for this lie of the devil. Souls are at stake and therefore we must speak the truth in love to these lost individuals.
The world experienced many events which has changed the course of humanity, events like the American Revolution, Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918, World War 1 & 2, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, 9/11 Terrorist attacks etc. This current event the world over is experiencing right now has brought the world to a screeching halt.
COVID-19 has radically changed the world in a short span of time, stores closed, park shutdowns and mandatory quarantines. We’ve yet to know the full impact of this virus and its lingering effects. During times such as these people are asking the questions “why are these things happening”, “what is the meaning of life”, “will I and my family be fine” and “what lies after death”?
In our human effort try to find the meaning to these questions, we’re scrambling to stop this pandemic from spreading. Social distancing has become a new catch phrase, home isolation, the need for medical supplies and of course a vaccines to get rid of this virus.
At best COVID-19 has shown us that mankind is not always ready to face what’s to come. With our “technological advances” COVID-19 has proven the frailty of human existence that we don’t have all the answers and we’re not guaranteed tomorrow. These are but a small taste which will come upon the world stage in a later time, how late no one knows?
The Bible makes it known that pestilences will be one of the signs leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. Not just pestilences but wars, earthquakes, famines and heavenly signs.
Let us not forget the Bible records pestilences in the book of Exodus. Moses brought plages upon the people of Egypt from the LORD because they wouldn’t let the Israelites go to worship the LORD. It was God’s judgement upon the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites (read Exodus chapters 7-11).
In the last book of the Bible the Revelation of Jesus Christ or simply put Revelation, the same plagues come upon the world. First we have the opening of the “six seals” in chapter 6.
It speaks of the four horsemen these horsemen bring war, pestilence, famine and death. In verse 8 it speaks of the horseman called Death who kills the fourth part of the earth.
Continuing in that chapter it mentions a great earthquake, the sun turning black as hair and the moon becoming like blood. As well as stars falling from the sky unto the earth.
Revelation also speaks of the seven trumpets and the seven last plagues which are filled up with the wrath of God (Rev chapter 15). when you have a chance read Revelation it will put a lot into perspective as those are the coming events the world hasn’t seen yet.
All of these things should make you think of the frailty of your life. Thus far the count of COVID-19 deaths is at 27,365 and continues to climb each day. The 1918 Spanish influenza claimed the lives of 50-100 million people.
For Christians this is an exciting time not because we want to see people lose their lives to COVID-19. Our excitement comes from seeing the Bible unfolding before our eyes and knowing that each moment brings us closer to the One who has Redeemed us from sin and death. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ because He delivered us from fear by promising us a better place and that’s with Him.
Don’t wait until something tragic happens to you, place your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. He came to save sinners just like you and I; He was crucified, buried and on the 3rd day rose from the dead being victorious over death and hell.
This article is not to say that COVID-19 is attributed to God, not in the least. This virus is a result of the fallen world we live in due to sin. The fear of COVID-19 will lose its grip on you if you trust in Christ and receive the free gift of eternal life!
There are cults and other groups which would take the word of the Living God and twist them, add to them or completely remove a scripture text from its context. By doing so a multitude of people have been deceived into believing a lie perpetrated by the Watchtower.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society: has claimed they are not neither inspired nor infallible. Here’s the quote from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Here we have a direct quote from the Governing Body, the men who are in charge of directing the entire organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Who disseminate all doctrines JW’s believe worldwide, and these men come out and said they are not ‘inspired nor infallible’. If you know anything about the Jehovah’s Witnesses they believe they alone are the only Christians in the world and teach all ‘Christendom’ are or satan.
Yet they speak out the other side of their mouth making tremendous claims. While they don’t use the word ‘inspired’ or ‘infallible’ these quotes say they believe otherwise. Look at some of just many inspiration claims.
The last quote states the Governing Body is appointed through the Holy Spirit by Jehovah God and Jesus. If this is not an inspiration claim then I don’t know what is? Also note the following quote is the same as the last one, but the Watchtower changed a few words so that it would read a bit differently.
This is called deception. It’s obvious the Watchtower claims inspiration from God in which they can say they ‘alone in all the earth’ are directed by God. For this to be true then every word spoken by the Watchtower organization would come true because God cannot err.
Failed Predictions of the Watchtower (Changed Dates)
Here’s a Wikipedia list of some of the many failed predictions from the Watchtower publications, predicted from its founder Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Franklin Rutherford and now ruling Governing Body. You can look into these for yourself and verify if these statements are true.
J. F. Rutherford (1920). Millions Now Living Will Never Die. p. 97. Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of p
1922: The anti-typical “jubilee” that would mark God’s intervention in earthly affairs would take place “probably the fall” of 1925.
Watch Tower, May 15, 1922, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 224.
Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, Watch Tower Society, 1966, pp. 29–35, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, pages 238-239.)(Talk by F. W. Franz, Baltimore, Maryland 1966, cited by Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watch Tower Society, and by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, pages 238-239.
1967: The end-time period (beginning in 1914) was claimed to be so far advanced that the time remaining could “be compared, not just to the last day of a week, but rather, to the last part of that day”.
Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 1967, pg 161.
1968: No one could say “with certainty” that the battle of Armageddon would begin in 1975, but time was “running out rapidly” with “earthshaking events” soon to take place. In March 1968 there was a “short period of time left”, with “only about ninety months left before 6000 years of man’s existence on earth is completed”.
The Watchtower, May 1, 1968, page 273)(Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Society, March 1968, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, pages 246.
The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah – How?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1971, pg 214.
1974: There was just a “short time remaining before the wicked world’s end” and Witnesses were commended for selling their homes and property to “finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service.”
Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Society, May 1974, page 3.
These are just a very small few of years upon years of Watchtower failed prophecies. There are just way to many to list them all here. As we close out I would like leave you with a small clip of Governing Body members Geoffrey Jackson lying in court during the Australian Royal Commission Case 29.
The Royal Commission held a public hearing in Sydney from Monday 27 July to Wednesday 5 August and on Friday 14 August 2015.
The public hearing inquired into the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd.
The scope and purpose of the public hearing was to inquire into: 1 The experience of survivors of child sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church in Australia.
2 The response of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations, reports or complaints of child sexual abuse within the Church.
3 The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd for raising and responding to allegations of or concerns about child sexual abuse within the Church.
4 The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to prevent child sexual abuse within the Church.
The Watchtower uses such terminology as ‘ransom sacrifice’ in reference to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses or other cults can sometimes be a bit confusing. They will use similar vocabulary with different meanings.
Packaged in the words ‘ransom sacrifice’ the Jehovah Witnesses say Adam was created as a perfect man but because he sinned in the garden he lost the perfect life for all humans. Sounds straight forward right? They then say Jesus was Jehovah God’s ‘first created creature’ as Michael the archangel. Then ‘Jehovah transferred Jesus from heaven to earth, and Jesus was born as a perfect human, without sin’. Meanwhile Michael the archangel ceased to exist while Jesus was on the earth. When Jesus went back to heaven Jesus ceased to be and Michael the archangel was recreated in heaven.
The Watchtower would insinuate this by inserting their own meaning into the text. Just as a side note Jehovah Witnesses have their own manipulated bible called the New World Translation, this bible (using the term loosely) was created in order to fit their doctrine. It’s a false bible just so you’re aware. Back to the point is Jesus a created creature or God Himself? We’ll let the Bible answer this for us.
1. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ created the worlds.
Groups such as the Watchtower place an emphasis on works by taking John 3:16 adding the word ‘exercises’ give the notion of working for salvation. If you visit the Watchtower’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures someone at the organization goofed. They didn’t realise their kingdom interlinear doesn’t agree with their New World Translation if you compare them.
You’ll also notice in the above quote that they claim Jesus ‘returned to heaven as a spirit creature’. In the book of Luke chapter 24 we have the account when Jesus Christ showed Himself to the disciples after His resurrection.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ appears to His disciples and they were afraid and thought Jesus was a spirit.
2. The Lord then corrects them showing His disciples He is not a spirit. How does He do this? By showing them His hands and feet which bore the prints of the nails proving it was the same body which hung on the cross. They also physically touch Him and Jesus said He has flesh and bones. A spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones.
It’s interesting that the Watchtower would claim Jesus Christ serves as ‘an advocate’ for those who ‘exercise faith’ in His sacrifice. While this sounds nice and it is true that Jesus is the advocate for all believers, that’s what the Bible teaches.
In Watchtower theology it’s just not that simple. You see they teach that Jesus is the mediator only for ‘anointed Christians’ who number 144,000. The Greek word for advocate is paráklētos
παράκλητος paráklētos, par-ak’-lay-tos; an intercessor, consoler:—advocate, comforter.
The Biblical usage for advocate is as follows. A. one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate. B. one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor. i. of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins C. in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant. ii. of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.
This is very similar to what a mediator does, here’s the Biblical definition for mediator.
μεσίτης mesítēs, mes-ee’-tace; from G3319; a go-between, i.e. (simply) an internunciator, or (by implication) a reconciler (intercessor):—mediator.
I. one who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant. II. a medium of communication, arbitrator.
Both of these roles are fulfilled by Christ as our mediator and advocate. Unfortunately most Jehovah Witnesses are not part of the New Covenant according to Watchtower theology therefore this leaves them without a mediator / advocate. Here’s a few quotes from the Watchtower concerning this teaching.
Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2 p.362 Mediator
The society robs the Jehovah Witness of all the promises given by God because the general Jehovah’s Witness has no clue Jesus is not their mediator. And because they don’t have a the Lord Jesus as mediator being an advocate for them they don’t have salvation.
Lastly, the Jehovah Witnesses believe you must perform works in order to be in a ‘good standing’ when you see ‘exercise faith’ this is what it means. This means they believe by going good deeds they are proving to Jehovah they are worthy of being saved or savable. This teaching is contrary to what God’s word says.
There you go, the Watchtower teaches believing in Jesus Christ is not sufficient that ‘more is required’. They cite James 2:26 as a proof text but the Watchtower entirely misses the meaning of the verse. The apostle James is not contradicting Paul (Ephesians 2:8-10).
James is telling us that true faith produces genuine works but those works have no baring on our salvation. Works are the by product of real faith not a means of acquiring salvation.
Jehovah Witnesses must understand that we are not against them personally, our heart goes out to those who are trapped in the Watchtower and afraid to leave because they will lose their families, jobs, friends etc. We understand it’s giving up a lot. But the Lord Jesus said:
Your soul is on the line, our desire and more importantly God’s desire is that you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. In doing so by trusting in Him for the forgiveness of your sins you can have the free gift of eternal life. You can know right now presently that you have eternal life.
God bless and hope you’ll trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation.
Disclaimer: Thank you for sharing your comments. Please no foul language or insults. The topic of this article is Jehovah’s Witnesses (Jesus Saves—How?). If you get off this topic comments will be deleted.
This post dives into one of the stranger teachings of the Watchtower. How does a Jehovah’s Witness obtain salvation? That’s the question we’re going to answer today.
The Watchtower’s View Of Salvation Is It Biblical?
Since the time the Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth till today Christianity has always agreed upon how one is saved (by Jesus Christ). This foundational truth is shared among all Christian denominations. But there are some who have claimed the name ‘Christian’ yet when examined strays far from Orthodox Christianity.
This will be an interesting topic as most people are aware Jehovah’s Witnesses preach about a ‘paradise earth’ as their main message. How does one get into ‘paradise earth’ and is the message given by the Watchtower backed by the scriptures?
The Watchtower Salvation System
The view of salvation from a Jehovah Witness standpoint is very different from a biblical Christianity. The Witness believe there are two groups of Christians, one small group (144,000) has a heavenly hope. These are referred to as the ‘anointed class’ but the majority of Witnesses are part of another group called ‘the great crowd’ and have an earthly hope meaning they don’t want to go to heaven.
Those who are part of the anointed class are born again but the other group (‘the great crowd’) are not born again. The only possible way for a Jehovah Witness to have salvation is by being associated with the anointed class. Notice the absence of Jesus Christ from the Watchtower’s view of salvation.
Another note of importance is Witnesses don’t believe the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient to atone for sin. In Watchtower theology the ‘ransom sacrifice’ only covers Adam’s sin and gives the Witness the opportunity to earn their salvation. In other words it gives them a ‘clean slate’ and now they have a chance at obtaining everlasting life through good works.
The Jehovah Witness must prove they’re ‘worthy’ to make it into Jesus Christ millennial kingdom. Upon them entering the millennial kingdom they still have the possibility of sinning and have to prove themselves for the next 1000 years. During this time they will be tested by satan and cannot allow themselves to sin, if they endure this testing period only afterwards will they achieve ‘moral perfection’ and be adopted by Jehovah.
In turn they will be left in the same position Adam was before he sinned. Is this what the Bible teaches? Let us now compare this with God’s word to see if it stands in light of scripture.
The Biblical View of Salvation
The Bible makes it clear that all of mankind has fallen when sin entered into the world through the disobedience of the first man Adam. As our representative Adam was given dominion over the earth, but after he ate the fruit from tree of knowledge death reigned.
Human’s are inherently sinful because we’re born with a sinful nature on the account of what happened in the garden. Additionally, we ourselves disobeyed God by committing acts of sin. Acts such as fornication, murder, boastful, disobedient to our parents etc. There’s nothing good in our flesh which can please God because we all sinned by breaking His moral Law.
This is the reason a person is already condemned without Christ as their Saviour. Only Jesus Christ was/is perfect and He alone was able to fulfill the requirement God put forth in order to have salvation. God requires moral perfection and every born again Christian knows we all fall short, all except the Lord Jesus Christ.
Without Christ and the work He did on the cross none of us would have salvation. It’s the death burial and resurrection of Christ in that He conquered the grave in which our whole faith rest. He alone get’s all the glory for there’s nothing I can do within myself to merit eternal life.
The Bible never teaches a 2 class system in fact all believers are anointed because Christ promised He would send another Comforter. This refers to the Holy Spirit who’s the 3rd person of the Godhead/Trinity, He came to live inside believers.
This doctrine poses a number of severe difficulties for the Witness. If a person is not ‘anointed’ (born again) which most Jehovah’s Witnesses believe then they lost out on all the promises. How so? Well.
A person who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit doesn’t belong to God (Romans 8:9). They are left without a mediator because the Watchtower teaches Jesus Christ is only mediator for the 144,000, which places the Witness outside of the new covenant. The Watchtower’s governing body says Jesus is the mediator only for ‘anointed Christians’.
This means all the promises and blessings the LORD gave to believers don’t apply to the average Jehovah’s Witness because they are not part of the ‘anointed class’. No blessings, no rewards, no treasures and no salvation being that they are not in Christ.
The 2 class system of the Watchtower not only robs people associated with that organization of the vast treasures laid up for believers in heaven, they also try to insert themselves in between the individual and Christ. A scriptures which comes to mind is found in the gospel of Matthew.
Just as Christ Jesus was rebuking the religious Pharisee’s for stopping others from entering into heaven by hindering others, the same is true of the governing body who place heavy loads upon members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s our sincere prayer that those stuck in the Watchtower cult would look into the history of all the false prophecies, heretic doctrines and the extra unbiblical policies the organization imposes upon them. Not to mention the rampant child abuse cases happening around the world concerning Jehovah Witness elders.
God’s word never makes a distinction between 2 classes of Christians all believers in Christ receive the same promises from God. The little flock referred to in the gospel of Luke are the Jewish people (Luke 12:32), the other sheep spoken of in the gospel of John are gentiles (John 10:16). Notice in that same scripture Jesus says they will be ‘one fold’ with ‘one shepherd’.
