Questions for Jehovahs Witness

The following is taken from the book:
“Questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses: “who love the truth” 2 Thess.2:10″ In the beginning was the Word. But WHY was the Word misquoted? JOHN 1:1

This text `THE WORD WAS GOD’ has been a problem for four presidents of Jehovah’s Witnesses. C.T. Russell thought he found relief when in 1876 N.H. Barbour, an Adventist, introduced him to Wilson’s EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT. Mr. Wilson never studied Biblical Greek in a college. He was a follower of John Thomas, a `false prophet’ and founder of the Christadelphians. Thomas nor Wilson believed “THE WORD WAS GOD.” In the interlinear feature of his book which is no translation at all, Wilson placed `a god’ under theos. In his translation, however, of theos, he wrote: “the LOGOS was God.”

F.W. Franz. the current President of Jehovah’s Witnesses, realized the deficiency of the DIAGLOTT, decided to translate his own Bible called THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Mr. Franz never studied biblical or koine Greek. He did not graduate from any college nor did he receive a Rhodes Scholarship as he claims. He translates the phrase “the Word was a god.” In his KINGDOM INTERLINEAR he interlineates “god was the Word.” Such a translation creates another god. “To us there is one God.”

F.W. Franz found a translation that agrees with his, THE NEW TESTAMENT by Johannes Greber. (SEE MAKE SURE OF ALL THINGS p.489, 1965 revision.) Who was Johannes Greber? He is the author of another book: COMMUNICATION WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD OF GOD. In it Greber writes on page 300: “After I had convinced myself at the spiritistic meetings that God’s spirits speak to men through mediums, as they had spoken to the early Christian communities, my first thought was to beg for full enlightment on these problems concerning Christ. Who was Christ? My request was granted, to the smallest details, and that knowledge thenceforth constituted the most precious possession of my soul. In what follows, I shall repeat the truths regarding Christ. His life, and his work of Redemption, as they were imparted to me by the spirit which taught them.” The spirit said: “At that time you were told that Christ is the highest of the spirits created by God and the sole one to be created directly; Christ Himself was not God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world” 1 John 4:1. Greber’s translation is directly from the demon world. He is quoted in Watchtower publications. (See AID TO BIBLE UNDERSTANDING p. 1134)

In the Watchtower publications ALL SCRIPTURE IS INSPIRED OF GOD & BENEFICIAL p. 327 it states: “Note what Hebrew and Greek scholar Alexander Thomson has to say in his review of the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION: “The translation is evidently the work of skilled and clever scholars,” THE DIFFERENTIATOR, April 1952. This sentence is another WATCHTOWER lie. The late Mr. Alexander Thomson was not a Greek or Hebrew Scholar. He in fact did not even formally study Greek or Hebrew in any school according to his co-editor Dr. Frank Neil Pohorlak of Inglewood, CA. Mr. Thomson was employed in a bank in Scotland and did not believe that Jesus was God.

WHAT DO GREEK SCHOLARS THINK ABOUT THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS TRANSLATION

OF JOHN 1:1?

Dr. Julius R. Mantey: Calls the Watchtower translation of John 1:1 “A GROSSLY MISLEADING TRANSLATION.” It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 `the Word was a god.” But of all the scholars in the world, so far as we know, none have translated this verse as Jehovah’s Witnesses have done.”

Bruce M. Metzger, Professor of New Testament Language and literature at Princeton Theological Seminary said: “Far more pernicious in this same verse is the rendering,… `and the Word was a god,’ with the following footnotes:”`A god,’ In contrast with `the God’.” It must be stated quite frankly that, if the Jehovah’s Witnesses take this translation seriously, they are polytheists. In view of the additional light which is available during this age of Grace, such a representation is even more reprehensible than were the heathenish, polytheistic errors into which ancient Israel was so prone to fall. As a matter of solid fact, however, such a rendering is a frightful mistranslation.”

THEOLOGY TODAY April, 1953

Dr. J. J. Griesback: “So numerous and clear are the arguments and testimonies of Scriptures in favor of the true Diety of Christ, that I can hardly imagine how, upon the admission of the Divine authority of Scripture, and with regard to fair rules of interpretation, this doctrine can by any man be called in doubt. Especially the passage John 1:1 is so clear and so superior to all exception, that by no daring efforts of either commentators or critics can it be snatched out of the hands of the defenders of the truth.”

Dr. Eugene A. Nida (Head of the Translation Department of the American Bible Society Translators of the GOOD NEWS BIBLE): “With regard to John 1:1 there is, of course, a complication simply because the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION was apparently done by persons who did not take seriously the syntax of the Greek.”

Dr. William Barclay (University of Glasgow, Scotland): “The deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translations. John 1:1 is translated: `…the Word was a god’, a translation which is GRAMMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”

THE EXPOSITORY TIMES Nov. 1953

Dr. B. F. Westcott (Whose Greek text is used in JW KINGDOM INTERLINEAR): “The predicate (God) stands emphatically first, as in John 4:24. It is necessarily without the article…No idea of inferiority of nature is suggested by the form of expression, which simply affirms the true Diety of the Word…in the third clause `the Word’ is declared to be `God’ and so included in the unity of the Godhead.”

Dr. Ernest C. Colwell (University of Chicago): “A definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the verb;…this statement cannot be regarded as strange in the prologue of the gospel which reaches its climax in the confession of Thomas. `My Lord and my God.'” John 20:28

Dr. F. F. Bruce (University of Manchester, England): “Much is made by Arian amateur grammarians of the omission of the definite article with `God’ in the phrase `And the Word was God.’ Such an omission is common with nouns in a predicate construction. `a god’ would be totally indefensible.”

Dr. Paul L. Kaufman (Portland, OR.): “The Jehovah’s Witness people evidence an abysmal ignorance of the basic tenets of Greek grammar in their mistranslation of John 1:1.”

Dr. Charles L. Feinberg (La Mirada CA.): “I can assure you that the rendering which the Jehovah’s Witnesses give John 1:1 is not held by any reputable Greek Scholar.”

Dr. Harry A. Sturz: (Dr. Sturz is Chairman of the Language Department and Professor of Greek at Biola College) “Therefore, the NWT rendering: “the Word was a god” is not a “literal” but an ungrammatical and tendential translation. A literal translation in English can be nothing other than: “the Word was God.”

THE BIBLE COLLECTOR July-December, 1971 p.12

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THE HISTORY OF THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Charles Taze Russell, born Feb. 16, 1852, was the founder of “Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society”, who later became known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell lived in Pittsburgh and was not educated beyond the seventh grade. He had no theological training, and knew neither Greek nor Hebrew. His church background was Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, although he became an agnostic early in life. Later, he returned to the study of the scriptures and became convinced that the Bible did not really teach such doctrines as the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Bodily resurrection of Christ and the existence of hell. In 1884 he and a group of like minded people formed the “Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society”. Russell perjured himself in court, and his wife was given a decree of divorce because the Judge of the High Court of Ontario was of the opinion that no woman of ordinary sensibility could live with a man of so much egotism and arrogance. Russell wrote numerous articles and published a six-volume series of books entitled, “Studies in the Scriptures”. Russell proclaimed himself “the faithful and wise servant” of Luke 12:42. Russell died in 1916.

Joseph Franklin Rutherford succeeded Russell. Joseph Rutherford or “Judge Rutherford” as he was called, was sent to the Atlanta penitentiary for sedition in 1918, and was released in March, 1919. He became a martyred hero to the Witnesses. Rutherford was a lawyer and a special judge in the absence of the regular judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Boonville, Missouri prior to 1909. In 1917, he was unanimously chosen to succeed Russell. He held the position of President of the Society until his death in 1942. Some of his accomplishments were as follows: (1) He wrote a book a year, plus numerous articles for the “Watchtower” and “The Golden Age” and successive editions of the “Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses”. (2) He revealed the new name for the Society as “Jehovah’s Witnesses” in 1931. The name was supposedly revealed by God from Isaiah 43:10. (3) He did help the cause of religious freedom by winning many cases in the U S Supreme Court as well as in State Supreme Courts.

Nathan H. Knorr succeeded Rutherford as President of the Jehovah’s Witnesses immediately after Rutherfords’ death. Knorr had been a bodyguard for Rutherford, so he was familiar with the duties of the President. Knorr founded a committee that set the groups doctrine and published its articles, instead of having one man doing all the writing. Two of the most popular and dangerous books to come out of this committee were “Let God be True” and “The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures”.

(A) .. THE JEHOVAHS WITNESSES’ POSITION ON THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST:

(1) “The King, Christ Jesus, was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature.” – WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, PG. 22, EDITION 1946.

(2) “In his resurrection he was no more than human. He was raised as a spirit creature.” – “THE KINGDOM IS AT HAND”, WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, PG. 258.

(3) “Christ’s body was dissolved into gasses” .. “preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love.” – WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, PG. 129, VOLUME 2.

(4) The J.W. belief centers around 1 Peter 3:18. This verse says that Christ was “made alive in the spirit”.

(5) “Dematerializing His assumed human body and returning to His invisible spirit state, Jesus in His ascension ran no risk to His life such as from radiation belts around the earth or cosmic rays in outer space. While He did not ascend to heaven in the human body that He had sacrificed and that He left forever upon God’s altar, He did return to heaven with the merit or value of His human life that He had lain down for dying mankind.” – “LET YOUR NAME BE SANCTIFIED”, PG. 272.

(B) .. WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST:

(1) “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 15:14

(2) “The word ‘RESURRECTION’ in the Bible is never applied to soul or spirit of man.” – “J.W.’S AND THE RESURRECTION” PORTLAND TRACT SOCIETY.

(3) “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rais it up.” – “But He was speaking of the temple of his body.” – JOHN 2:19,21

The greek word “SOMA” is translated “BODY” throughout the New Testament, and that is the word John uses.

(4) “See my hands and my feet, that it is I Myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” LUKE 24:39

Later in luke 24, Vs. 42 and 43, He eats food. Sometimes J.W.’s attempt to explain this by 1 CORINTHIANS 15:44 as a “spiritual body”. Paul still uses the word “SOMA” for body in this verse, so a spiritual body is not “A SPIRIT”.

(5) Concerning 1 PETER 3:18, this verse only proves that it was by the spirit of God that Christ was raised, as mentioned in ROMANS 8:11.

(6) The true teaching concerning the resurrection of Christ does indeed determine a persons eternal destiny! 1 CORINTHIANS 15: 14,17 and ROMANS 10:9.

APPLICATION ………

Highlight the verses above in your bible for quick reference, and become familiar with them.
When discussing any topic with a J.W., don’t let them stray from the topic. Be sure to discuss only one topic at a time, and reach a conclusion before moving on.
Always remember 1 PETER 3:15 when witnessing to anyone.
Memorize Colosians 2:8,9.
PRAY !!!

Computers for Christ

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COMMENTS ON THE JW FILE, AND A RESPONSE TO MURRELL SELDEN

by Eric Pement

The file entitled “The History of Jehovah’s Witness” [should be “Witnesses”], does have a few problems with it, as was pointed out by Murrell Selden. However, Mr. Selden does not always identify the right problems, and some of Mr. Selden’s own statements in rebuttal to the JW file are not always accurate either.

Murrell begins by saying, “The file on Jehovah’s Witnesses does not report the beliefs of JW’s!” I agree–the file does not report the beliefs of JW’s. On the one hand, I might reply that the file was not intended to: it is entitled “The HISTORY of …”, not “The DOCTRINE of … ” But on the other hand, I feel that if you carry only one file on Jehovah’s Witnesses, you ought to have a more well-rounded discussion of JW doctrine. The file focuses on only a single belief, their doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, and other Watchtower distinctives are omitted. A few are hinted at in the fifth sentence–denial of “the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the Bodily resurrection of Christ and the existence of hell.” Although Charles Russell and present-day Jehovah’s Witnesses would agree on the first three elements of this series, they might balk at the fourth, “the existence of hell.” Technically, Russell and his successors define hell as “the grave,” and they do not deny the existence of the grave. They do, however, deny the existence of eternal, conscious torment of the damned.

REGARDING CHARLES T. RUSSELL:
I do not agree with Selden’s assertion that the file “makes abusive statements about three JW’s.” While Charles Russell is described as being linguistically deficient, guilty of perjury, and divorced, these statements, IF THEY ARE TRUE, should not be considered “abusive.” The simple reporting of history, and the honest reporting of sins, is not abuse. The file contains no name-calling or angry words, such as “dirty liar,” “slob,” “Satan-inspired,” etc. The closest the file comes to abuse is in quoting the statement of the Judge of the High Court of Ontario, specifying his reason for granting a divorce to Mrs. Maria Frances Russell.

In fairness to Mr. Selden and to the truth itself, I must point out a couple of errors. First, Russell was never charged with perjury or found guilty of perjury by any court. Inspection of the transcript of a trial called Russell v. Ross (Ontario, 1913) reveals that Russell said (under oath) that he knew the Greek alphabet, but when tested on the spot, he was unable to identify various Greek letters. Technically, this is evidence that he lied about his ability to read the Greek alphabet, but the court never charged him with perjury. It did, however, rule against him.

Second, Russell’s wife was not given a decree of divorce, she was given a decree of “separation.” The judge was not Judge of the High Court of Ontario (that was Russell v. Ross in 1913), it was Justice Orlany, Superior Court of Pennsylvania, ruling in the case of Russell v. Russell (1908). His actual words were, “His [Russell’s] course of conduct towards his wife evidenced such insistent egotism and extravagant self praise that it would be manifest to the jury that his conduct towards her was one of continual arrogant domination, that would necessarily render the life of any Christian woman a burden and make her condition intolerable.” (Records of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Vol. 37, page 348 [1908]).

REGARDING JUDGE RUTHERFORD:
It is true that Joseph F. Rutherford, along with seven other Directors of the Watch Tower Society, was incarcerated in Atlanta for anti-war sedition in 1918, and released in 1919. It is also true that the conviction was overturned and this fact should have been noted.

I would like to correct Mr. Selden on one minor point. Rutherford was not “exonerated of all charges in the U.S. Supreme Court”. The U.S. Supreme Court became involved in this case in March 1919, when Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis directed that Rutherford and his co-Directors, all incarcerated in Atlanta, be released on bail. The Supreme Court declaring that they had a “right to bail” is not the same as declaring them innocent.
One month later, April 1919, the Federal Second Court of Appeals in New York held that the eight men had not received a “temperate and impartial trial” in 1918, and “for this reason” it reversed the guilty verdict rendered the previous year. This court was not the Supreme Court, and their verdict was not an “exoneration of all charges,” but instead an admission of mistreatment by a previous court.

REGARDING NATHAN H. KNORR:
There is certainly no abusive language here about Knorr. It should have been noted that Knorr died on June 7, 1977, and was succeeded two weeks later by the current president of the Watchtower Society, Frederick W. Franz.

REGARDING THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES’ POSITION ON THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS:
Murrell Selden stated, “It is claimed that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus assumed a fleshly body (Gk., soma) during the forty days following his resurrection. That is not true! Jesus did assume a fleshly body … ”

In this case, Mr. Selden did not read carefully. All the author of that file did was to quote Watchtower source material. He actually “claimed” very little, but let the Watchtower view speak for itself.

The Selden/Watchtower problem hinges on the word “assumed.” As Bible-based Christians, we maintain that the body of Jesus was RESURRECTED (i.e., raised back to life). The Bible teaches that “the body without spirit is dead” (James 2:26, New World Trans., 1984). I agree. Conversely, the body WITH spirit is alive. We are saying that the Bible’s statements about the resurrection of Jesus simply mean that the body of Jesus was reanimated. In other words, Jesus’ BODY came back to life (only with supernatural power and glory, such that it can never decay or die again).

That’s the whole point of the empty tomb. The corpse, the cadaver, is gone because Jesus got up and walked out of the tomb!

The Watchtower Society teaches that at his resurrection, Jesus’ body was destroyed (dissolved/disintegrated/etc.) not raised intact. Any appearances of Jesus in the New Testament are when Jesus ASSUMED (i.e., took on) a body, but the body in which Jesus appeared bore no real connection with the body which was slain. For the average JW, the reason Jesus assumed a body was to accommodate the weak faith and unbelief of the disciples.

As evangelicals, we believe that IF God the Father had dissolved the fleshly body of Jesus, and transformed him into a spirit being, Jesus COULD have assumed fleshly bodies, just as angels do. This is possible. But instead, the Bible teaches that God the Father raised the fleshly body back alive — the same body, only this time imbued with immortality. That’s the point of John 2:19-21. “Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. … But he was talking about the temple of his body.” (NW, 1984) We agree with this scripture. However, if the Watchtower leaders are right, Jesus said it wrong. He should have said, “Break down this temple, and in three days I will dissolve it even more.”
Take some time to read Acts 2:24-32, 13:30-37, and 26:8. The emphasis is on the fact that Jesus did not remain dead, his corpse did not decay, “nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31, NW). If the Watchtower is correct, then his flesh saw annihilation, disintegration, and TOTAL corruption. We Christians say his flesh was given immortality (i.e., deathlessness), and was raised to eternal life.

What about going through walls (John 20:26)? Why couldn’t they recognize Jesus normally (Luke 24:15-31, John 20:14)? Are those characteristics of a fleshly body, asks the Watchtower Society?

Listen carefully now.

(a) The Bible affirms that the nature of the resurrection body is immortal (not mortal), incorruptible, existing in glory, in power, and spiritual. The resurrection body of Christ and the resurrection body which God’s faithful people will receive on the Last Day is a “spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44). It is with a BODY, not as a SPIRIT. There is the glory of God and the power of the Spirit of God infused in the resurrection body, and this is one reason why the resurrected Jesus could do supernatural things which mortal, unpowerful bodies–like mine–cannot.

(b) Moreover, even mortal bodies which are subject to pain and death are capable of doing a lot more than you would think. The mortal body of Jesus could walk on water (Matt. 14:25), and could walk straight “through the midst” of an angry crowd without being seen (Luke 4:30, John 10:31). I also believe that a miraculous acceleration of a boat is involved in John 6:21 (“immediately” in the KJV, New International, and the Kingdom Interlinear). Of course, all these miracles are done through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, working with mortal humans. If the Spirit of God could enable a mortal Jesus to enter a room with the doors shut (and to do other miracles), there is no reason to say that the Lord Jesus, with a glorified, immortal, tangible body could not also be transported into a closed room.

(c) The objection about not recognizing Jesus is answered by simply reading the text. Luke 24:16 says “their eyes were kept [or held] from recognizing him.” It doesn’t say Jesus’ face was altered, or the body he “assumed” looked different. It simply says their eyes were KEPT from recognizing him.
The passage in John 20:11-16 also does not attribute Mary’s inability to recognize Jesus to any changes in his face. Since nothing indicates a physical alteration in Jesus’ features, we may assume that the reason indicated in Luke 24:16 (the power of God) was behind Mary’s temporary lack of perception in this instance, also.

One last point for the resurrection of the body of Jesus.

If we look at John 20:24, we find Thomas’ statement, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe.” When Jesus showed himself to Thomas, alive instead of dead, he told him, “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and take your hand and stick it into my side, and stop being unbelieving but become believing” (John 20:27, NW).

If Russell’s teaching is correct, then Jesus’ body really dissolved, and those holes in his hands and side which he exhibited to Thomas were not ACTUALLY created by the nails and spear. However, Jesus was leading Thomas to THINK they were. In essence, Jesus is deceiving Thomas about the origin of those wounds. This conclusion is inescapable if the Watchtower is right.

However, if Jesus was not deceiving Thomas about the origin of the wounds, then those wounds in his body were created by the spear and nails. As biblically-based Christians, we acknowledge that the body of Jesus was transformed as it was raised back to life, and infused with spiritual power and glory, and that his resurrected body had genuine continuity with the body which suffered death on the cross.

Thank you for considering these statements, and I pray that they have helped to clear up a few questions about the file on Jehovah’s Witnesses.

written by Eric Pement on 1/17/1986

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The Last Witness

Are you ready for a friendly challenge? If you are then read on! A good witness testifies truly. Concerning God and salvation, the last Word, or the last witness must be the Bible when it’s interpreted properly. Lets’s look at it.

QUESTION: Can a person KNOW he’s got eternal life?

ANSWER: “These things have I written unto you that you believe of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life…” I John 5:13

QUESTION: Was the BODY of Jesus resurrected?

ANSWER: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…But he spake of the temple of his BODY.” John 2:19,21 “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not FLESH and BONES, as ye see me have.” Luke 24:39 “Then saith him to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my HANDS; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into MY SIDE” John 20:27

QUESTION: Was Jesus ever Michael the Archangel (as it’s claimed in ‘THE

TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE’ p.49)?

ANSWER: Impossible! Jesus was never an angel (Hebrews 1:4,8-13). Jesus created EVERTHING in the HEAVENS and the earth, visible and INVISIBLE – that includes angels (Colossians 1:16). “All things were made by him…” (John 1:3) Jesus ALLWAYS was (Micah 5.2), therefor He was not created.

QUESTION: Are we saved by works in any way, shape or form?

ANSWER: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his MERCY HE SAVED US, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5 “For by GRACE (underserved kindness) are ye SAVED THROUGH FAITH and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of GOD, not or works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9 Works can be EVIDENCE of the KIND of faith that saves. Also, see Romans 3:20, 4:5. We must believe that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead (I Corinthians 15:3,4). Accept Him as your own personal Saviour and Lord (Romans 10:9). Remember, He PHYSICALLY rose from the dead.

QUESTION: Is the Holy Spirit a person or an active force of God?

ANSWER: “Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of HIMSELF; but whatsoever HE shall hear, that shall HE speak: and HE will show you things to come.” John 16:13 “…the Holy Ghost SAID, separate ME Barnabas and Saul for the work whereonto I have called them.” Acts 13:2 Can you grieve a force or blaspheme a force? NO. But you can to a person, and that’s what you can do to the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 Matthew 12:31

QUESTION: Did Christ return in 1914?

ANSWER: “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the SECRET chambers; beleive it NOT. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the comming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:26,27 “…Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.” Acts 1:11

QUESTION: Who is Jesus Christ? ANSWER: Isaiah 45:11,12,18 ……. JEHOVAH CREATOR Col. 1:16, John 1:3 …… CHRIST CREATOR Isaiah 45:23 …………. KNEE BOW TO JEHOVAH Phil. 2:9,10 …………. KNEE BOW TO CHRIST Isaiah 44:6 ………….. JEHOVAH KING Mark 15:2-5 ………….. CHRIST KING Isaiah 45:24 …………. JEHOVAH, RIGHTEOUS-STRENGTH I John 2:1, Col. 1:29 …. CHRIST, RIGHTEOUS-STRENGTH Exodus 20:1-5 ………… WORSHIP ONLY JEHOVAH Heb. 1:6 …………….. WORSHIP CHRIST (Christ worshipped – Matt. 28:9,17, Jn. 20:28) II Corinthians 6:16 …… GOD IN US Romans 8:10 ………….. CHRIST IN US Joel 2:32 ……………. CALLS ON THE NAME OF JEHOVAH Rom. 10:9-13, Acts 7:59 .. CALLS ON THE NAME JESUS Psalms 23:1 ………….. JEHOVAH, SHEPHERD John 10:11 …………… CHRIST, SHEPHERD Revelation 1:8 ……….. JEHOVAH, FIRST & LAST Revelation 1:17,18 ……. CHRIST, FIRST & LAST Revelation 1:8 ……….. JEHOVAH, ALPHA & OMEGA Revelation 22:12,13 …… CHRIST, ALPHA & OMEGA Exodus 3:14 ………….. JEHOVAH, I AM John 5:58 ……………. CHRIST, I AM Are there TWO Kings? TWO Shepherds? TWO Creators? TWO Firsts and Lasts? That is a resounding NO. We’re talking about the same person, that is, the same ESSENCE, the same NATURE. God (He didn’t try to hang onto His equality with God, but humbled Himself and became a man, made temporarily lower than angels (Hebrews 2:9). BUT, He would be restored to His former glory and receive it again (John 17:5). He could say, “…my Father is greater that I” (John 14:28), but He never said, “…my Father is BETTER than I”. “BETTER” is a comparison between natures (Heb. 1:4) – whereas “GREATER” is a comparison of POSITIONS, that resulted when Christ humbled himself to come down to earth and die for us. Our President is greater in POSITION, but not necessarily better by NATURE than any of us. The Son inheroted the nature of His Father when He was born in the flesh. That nature is DIETY. Jesus also has that nature when He was with the Father before His physical appearing. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD IS WITH US.” Matthew 1:23

QUESTION: Is the Holy Spirit God?

ANSWER: Acts 5:3 “…lie to the Holy Ghost” Acts 5:4 “…not lied to man, but unto GOD” I Cor. 3:16 “…ye are the temple of GOD…” I Cor. 6:19 “…your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost” Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the SPIRIT, if so be that the spirit of GOD dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of CHRIST, he is none of His.”

QUESTION: Do the wicked suffer forever?

ANSWER: “And the smoke of their TORMENT ascendeth up FOREVER and EVER; and they have NO rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” Revelation 14:11 (This speaks of a majority of the earths population living at that time. Revelation 13:8). For humanity in general, see Revelation 21:8 which seems to describe a similar fate where it talks of the lake of fire.

QUESTION: Was the times of the Gentiles fulfiled in 1914?

ANSWER: Luke 21:24 speaks of the literal Jerusalem, just like it does in verse 20. The eariest possible time that you could say that Jerusalem was no longer trodden down of the Gentiles was in the June, 1967 war, which Israel got old Jerusalem back for the first time in some 3,500 years. Yes, God is still dealing with the nation of Israel as is plain in Romans 11:25.

Hopefully, this paper will be a help to you, and that you wil ask Jesus into your life as Lord and Saviour if you haven’t yet. If you do, or have comments, please write to: Wally Tope P.O. Box 142 La Canada, Calif 91011

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THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS BOOK!!

Would you place you trust in a surgeon who was about to perform a major operation on you, if he refused to give you his name or credentials?
OR….

Would you place your faith in an attorney, who was defending you against false accusations of felony charges, if he also refused to give you his name or credentials?

We can see how important it is that we rely on the names and credentials of those who serve us in the important aspects of our life. As in the case of the lawyer, it is essential to know these things, for without knowledge, we would have no assurance that he would truly and honestly represent you. It is therefore of the utmost importance to know the men, the credentials and the qualifications of those who we entrust our spiritual lives!!

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has failed the public at this most crucial point, as they refuse to give their followers the names and credentials of the Translation Committee of their Bible, The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (see pg. 258 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose). This is more important than the Watchtower Society will admit since the New World Translation Committee has deceived many in their translation of the Bible in the following ways:

They have invented non-existent rules of Greek grammar and then proceeded to follow these rules only when necessary to support their peculiar theology. A clear example of this is John 1:1, where the Translation Committee has rendered the Greek “and the Word was a god”. We cite the appendix of another Watchtower publication (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, page 1158), for their footnote concerning John 1:1: “The reason for their rendering the Greek word Divine and not God is that it is the Greek noun Theos without the definite article…” May we call the Watchtower Society’s attention to verses 6, 12 and 13 (also found in the first chapter of the Gospel of John). Here the Greek noun Theos appears without the definite article (as in John 1:1) and yet the Translating Committee has translated each verse as (Jehovah) God.
Another example of non-existent rules followed only when needed to support their theology is found in the forward of the afore mentioned Kingdom Interlinear Translation (pg. 18). Here we are taught how to restore the Divine name. We are instructed that we can render the Greek words “Kyrios” (Lord) and “Theos” (God) into Divine name by determining if the Christian (Greek) writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). If so, we can render “Kyrios” (Lord) and “Theos” (God) as Jehovah God. Once again, the Watchtower “rule” is avoided by the Translation Committee as they translate Philippians 2:11. The Apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 45:23 as he states that “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Jehovah God (Kyrios) to the glory of God the Father.
The Translation Committee has made up a Greek tense that is non-existent. We cite the 1950 edition of their “New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures” rendering of John 8:58 where they have translated “ego eimi” as “I have been” and state that it is “properly rendered in the perfect indefinite tense” in the Greek language. There is NO “perfect indefinite sense” in any language! After the Watchtower Society was informed of this fact, they made the change to the “perfect tense indicative” but as the Greek student knows, it is present tense and is correctly translated “I AM” (see Exodus 3:14).
They have added words to Scripture which changes the meaning of the texts to agree with their theology. Notice the Watchtower’s rendering of Colossians 1:16,17, where the word “other” has been added four times to the text, completely changing its meaning. When Paul wrote those passages that the Son created all things, it is obvious that the Son was not himself created. The Watchtower, however, believes that the Son is also a created being and has therefore added “other” – not found in the Greek Biblical text at all – to make it appear that the Son is also a creature. As mentioned before, the Translation Committee has added the word “a” to John 1:1 to make the Son a creature rather than God Himself. Take note also of the same deceitfulness displayed in Philippians 2:9 where the word “other” is again added, when it is not found or even suggested in the original Greek.
The men who comprised the Translation Committee had no adequate schooling or background to function as critical Bible translators. The self-appointed “scholars” who made up this Translation Committee were: N.H. Knorr, F.W. Franz, A.D. Schroeder, G.D. Gangas and M. Henschel. Aside from the current President Franz, none of the Translation Committee members knew Biblical Greek or Hebrew and Franz’s ability is open to serious question. This came out in the Scottish Court Sessions in November, 1954 (just four years after the release of the Watchtower Scriptures). The following exchange of question and answers between the attorney and Franz is taken from the trial transcript:
Have you also made yourself familiar with Hebrew?
1. Yes….
2. So that you have substantial linguistic apparatus at your command?
3. Yes, for use in my biblical work.
4. I think you are able to read and follow the Bible in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French?
5. Yes…..(Pursuer’s Proof, pg. 7)
6. You, yourself, read and speak Hebrew, do you?
7. I do not speak speak Hebrew.
8. You do not?
9. No
10. Can you, yourself, translate that into Hebrew?
11. Which?
12. That fourth verse of the second chapter of Genesis.
13. You mean here?
14. Yes.
15. No, I wouldn’t attempt to do that. (Pursuer’s Proof, pgs. 102,103).

What Franz failed to do was a simple exercise which an average first or second year Hebrew student in any seminary would have no difficulty (see further, “We left Jehovah’s Witnesses – A non-Prophet Organization” – Edmond C. Gruss, pg. 59-101). It is also interesting to note that no Greek scholar with andy credentials will ednores the New World Translation. Bill Centnar, in 1954 (while still a Jehovah’s Witness working at Bethel), was assigned to interview a well known Bible translator, Dr. Edgar J. Goodspeed, asking him for his evaluation and recommendation of the New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Dr. Goodspeed replied: “No, I’m afraid that I could not do that. The grammar is regrettable…”.

We agree with Dr. Goodspeed and go a step further and state that the theology brought forth in this translation is a fatal distortion of Biblical truth. We ask you not to put your trust in such a bias translation of Holy Scripture or in the Society that has deceived many in the writing of it; we ask that your faith and trust be placed in the Lord Jesus Christ who said that unless you believe that HE IS the Eternal God (Ego Eimi – “I AM”), you will die in your sins (John 8:24). It is because of the danger of the perversion of the New World Translation of Holy Scriptures that this warning has been written. Our concern is for you to come to know the TRUE LORD Jesus Christ…

Let us help you discover more…

PERSONAL FREEDOM OUTREACH MIDWEST
P.O. Box 26062
Saint Louis, Missouri 63136
(314) 388-2648 (voice phone)

====[ The Christian BBS – Vic., B.C. – 604-478-2789, 8,N,1 – 24 Hrs. ]==== FIFTEEN REASONS WHY I CANNOT BE A JEHOVAH’S WITNESS by Rev. Robert B. Mignard

The crystal clear teachings of the Word of God will not allow a thorough going Bible Student to embrace the doctrines set forth by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The basic teachings of this sect are in conflict with the Scriptures. Fifteen of their unique doctrinal errors are listed here and constitute sound reasons why no one may unite with the Witnesses and still hold to the truth of God.

THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE ABSOLUTE, UNIQUE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST

Scripture demonstrates that the Lord Jesus Christ is Jehovah, Isaiah 41:4, 44:6 and 48:12 declare that the attribute of being the “first and last” belongs to Jehovah alone. **************In Revelation 1:7, 8, 11, 17 and 22″23, 14************ Jesus Christ is shown possessing this very attribute, thereby making Him the Jehovah of these Isaiah passages, and indeed of the entire Old Testament. Isaiah 45:22-25 speaks of a universal worship, which one day all mankind will render unto Jehovah. Phil. 2:9-11 applies this Isaiah passage to Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 44:22, 23 sets forth Jehovah as the redeemer. Eph. 1:7 establishes Jesus Christ as this redeemer.

In Isaiah 45:24 and 54:17 Jehovah is our righteousness. In 1 Cor. 1:30 Jesus Christ is our righteousness.

Isaiah 43:11 reserves for Jehovah alone the work of saving man. “Besides Me there is no Saviour.” Titus 2:13 teaches that Jesus Christ is the Saviour, thereby establishing Him as the Jehovah of Isaiah chapter 43.

An honest student of the Scripture will read and compare the verses used above.

2. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TEACH THAT JESUS CHRIST IS A CREATED BEING – SIMPLY ANOTHER GOD.

This doctrinal error is achieved through a spurious translation in their New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scripture which renders John 1:1, “And the Word was a god.” Isaiah emphatically denies this error in 43:10, 44:6 and 45:5, 21, and shows their translation of John 1:1 to be illegitimate. Four times Jehovah declares the impossibility of there being “another god” or “a god” beside Himself. Every honest student of Scripture must acknowledge the solitary aloneness of Jehovah.

3. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE PERSONALITY AND DIVINITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Of the many Scripture references which demonstrate this to be false John 16:13, 14 is representative. Eight times the Lord Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit by the personal masculine pronoun. The Greek word “Spirit” is neuter but the pronoun employed is not “it” but rather “he” or “himself”. Christ was grammatically incorrect, for the pronoun must agree with the noun in gender, but theologically correct in this recognizing the Spirit’s personality. Were the Holy Spirit not a person, the pronoun “it” would have been used and the grammar of the passage kept intact. Even the Witnesses’ own New World Translation acknowledges the Spirit’s personality in the translation of these two verses. The divinity of the Holy Spirit is clearly demonstrated in the following references which the honest student will carefully study: Acts 5:3, 4; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 13:14. In 1 Cor. 12:4-6 the Holy Spirit is called Lord (v.5) and God (v.6). In placing Isaiah 6:8-10 along side of Acts 28:25-27 it becomes evident that the God of Isaiah 6 is the Holy Spirit.

4. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

Though the truth of the Trinity is amusing to the Witnesses, nevertheless it constitutes part of the revelation of God. The Bible student discovers there is a Person in Scripture known as the Father, who is God (Eph. 1:2). There is another Person in Scripture called the Son, Jesus, Jesus Christ who is God (Titus 2:13). There is still another Person called the Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Spirit of God who is God (Acts 5:3,4). The one Greek word theos, “God,” is used of all three Persons, thus ascribing the same divinity of each. The careful student also notes the fact of the Trinity in Isaiah 48:16, 17; 28:19 and 2 Cor. 13:14. The conclusion is simply that there is one God manifest in three Persons known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and since each Person is God, the persons are equal.

5. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE BODY, CORPOREAL RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD

False doctrine declares “The man Jesus is dead, only His spirit arose.” The witness of Jesus Christ is quite different (Luke 24:36-45). Even a casual glance at v. 39 dispels any doubt concerning the bodily resurrection. Thomas met the physically resurrected Christ (John 20:24-29), as did the other disciples who ate fish with Him (John 21:12-14). Paul testifies to the corporeal resurrection of Jesus Christ in 1 Cor. 15:3-19. The guards at the tomb, the chief priests and Sanhedrin would never have become excited, Matt. 28:11, 15 if “only His spirit arose.”

6. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE BODILY VISIBLE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST

They say, “We must not expect Him to come again as a human being” “Coming is properly translated presence and refers to the invisible presence of the Lord.” In contrast, a Bible student discovers the truth that Jesus Christ IS coming back again physically, literally. In Revelation 1:7 “every eye shall see Him”; in Thess. 4:16, 17 “the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven”; and in Acts 1:10, 11 He “shall so come in like manner as we have seen Him go into heaven.” The testimony of these passages is irrefutable.

7. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY PRESENCE OF THE BELIEVER WITH CHRIST UPON DEATH

According to 2 Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:21-24 and Luke 16:20-22, the believer, immediately upon death, passes into the presence of Christ. The body sleeps in the ground (John 11:11-14), awaiting the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-23), while the soul and spirit now separated from the body (Jas. 2:26), pass into heaven.

8. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CHIDE THE BELIEVERS’ HOPE OF HEAVEN

John 14:1-3; Phil. 3:20, 21; Pet. 1:3-5; and Rev. 3:21 are but a few of the many passages in Scripture which speak of the “living hope” of being with Christ forever.

9. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE REALITY AND ETERNITY OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT

Scripture teaches that reality of hell. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke more of hell than heaven and informs us that hell is a furnace of fire, (Matt. 13:49-50); a place for Satan and his emissaries, (Matt. 25:41); and unquenchable fire, (Mark 9:42-48); Furthermore, He insisted upon the fact that hell is eternal. The Greek word aionios, which is defined as that which is without end, and which is used to describe the everlasting life mentioned in John 3:16 and the eternity of God in Rom. 16:26 is delibertly used by Christ to describe the duration of hell (Matt. 18:8), and by John in Rev. 14:11. Aionios does not have a double meaning. If it means that God is eternal and the life which the believer receives is eternal, then it must mean that hell is also eternal.

10. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY THE PERFECT SALVATION OF CHRIST’S CROSS

Without any warrant from Scripture, the Witnesses teach that the Millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth, will afford all mankind from Adam onward conditions, to earn salvation. Where is there a single Bible verse supporting this? The Lord Jesus Christ has purchased our salvation on the Cross, Rom. 3:21-26, and it remains for man to believe and be saved (Eph. 2:8-0 and Acts 16:30, 31). Salvation is wholly apart from human effort (Rom. 3:27, 28).

11. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DENY PATRIOTISM AND SALUTE TO THE FLAG

Scripture enjoins all believers to be loyal citizens. The careful student will see this in Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-15 and Matt. 22:21.

12. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE 144,000

Through good works and sincere effort it is the hope of Jehovah’s Witness to become the of the 144,00. In the two chapters in which the 144,000 are mentioned, Revelation 7 & 14, the student of Scripture notes that 144,000 are literal Jews of the ancient tribes with no Gentiles among them (7:4-8); are all males (14:4); are virgins (14:4); will minister during the Great Tribulation (14:6-13); and do not earn their office by works but are imagination can sound Biblical interpretation allow a Gentile sect to claim for its devotees a place among the 144,000.

13. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES USE A PERVERTED TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scripture is a fumbling translation of the New Testament which no reputable Greek scholar will endorse. The Translation has been altered to fit the heresy. For instance, the Greek word for “other,” “allos,” does not appear in the Greek text of Col. 1:16,17 but is inserted four times in their translation to make Christ appear as part of the creation, and hence fit their doctrine that He is a created son, another god. “…because by means of Him all other things were created.” This and dozens of other passages make the New World Translation a travesty of God’s Word.

14. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS DOCTRINAL SYSTEM IS BASED UPON THE INTERPRETATIONS OF CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL

In 1874 a Brooklyn haberdasher, Charles Taze Russell, announced that he possessed all the truth. In his many volumes Russell “left scarcely one great truth of fundamental doctrine untouched with his unholy and unwarranted conclusions,” (Dr. Wm. E. Biederwolf). As a careful study will reveal, Russell’s writings serve as a broad base upon which the Jehovah’s Witness structure is erected. Presently the Jehovah’s Witnesses are following the fallen conclusions of a rascal who was divorced by his wife, was in trouble in the courts and who fleeced his followers with “miracle wheat” sold at an exorbitant price, which he claimed would produce 15 times as much wheat as an ordinary bushel.

15. THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES NEGLECT A VAST AREA OF SCRIPTURE TRUTH

A careful analysis of numerous books, pamphlets and magazines turned out by the Watch Tower Publishers, reveals that only a small percentage of the Bible is used. A mere 6 1/2% of the Scripture is quoted, leaving untouched the rest of the Word of God. Evangel Missionary Fellowship, Inc. P.O. Box 25, Largo, Florida, U.S.A.

====[ The Christian BBS – Vic., B.C., 604-478-2789, 8,N,1 – 24 Hrs. ]==== He is not Here… HE IS RISEN As he said…

Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Gospel of the Resurrection

Our hope as Christians resides in the resurrection for our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, while addressing the Corinthians boldly states: “if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).

The religious group known as Jehovah’s Witnesses states that they indeed believe in the resurrection of Christ, but is this an honest claim when their doctrines clearly teach that Christ was raised a spirit? In the Watchtower publication “The Time Is At Hand” (page 129) it is announced “whether it [Christ’s body] was dissolved into gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love, of Christ’s obedience, and of our redemption, no one knows.”

The Sacred Scriptures give us a completely different view of the Resurrection of Jesus, because it nowhere states that His resurrection and told the manner thereof when he addressed the Jews in the Gospel of John 2:19-21. Jesus said “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up… but he spoke of the temple of his body.” Also in the same Gospel we find the disciple Thomas at first doubting Christ’s resurrection, the Jesus appears to Thomas and offers for his examination the same body that was crucified. The body of Jesus still bore the prints of the mails and the spear wound in his side.

The Watchtower Society evades this Scripture verse by stating “He [Jesus] merely materialized flesh and blood to be seen and believed.” (Make Sure of All Things, 1953 Edition, page 314). This is only a vague assumption on the Watchtower’s part as there is no Scripture reference to back up their claim. Worse yet, it means Jesus intentionally deceived Thomas into thinking he saw the actual body that Jesus had been crucified in. If the resurrection was only an illusion, then Christianity could have easily been discredited by displaying the real dead body of Jesus.

An interesting development takes place in the 24th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, when we are told that the disciples of Christ made the same mistake the Jehovah’s Witnesses are presently making. In verse 37 it is noted that the disciples thought they were seeing the ghost of Christ. “But they were terrified and affrightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” Jesus then proceeded to calm their fears and correct their error; “Behold my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see for a spirit has not flesh and bone as ye see me have” (verse 39). Here again, the Watchtower Society badly asserts that Jesus materialized a body, but as noted earlier there is no Scriptural evidence to back this misguided claim and it completely ignores the clear context and plain meaning of the words of our Lord.

Scripture makes it emphatically clear that the manner of Jesus’ resurrection was in a bodily form, but what of the texts brought forth by Jehovah’s Witnesses to support their doctrine? A brief look at these will show that their position is quite superficial.

A favorite text is 1 Cor. 15:50, which states that “inherited the Kingdom of God,” He therefore cannot possess a body of “flesh and blood.” However, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are unaware that the term “flesh and blood” appears in the New Testament only five times (in the above verse, Matt. 16:17, Gal. 1:16, Heb. 2:14 and Eph. 6:12). Under close examination we can see that in each case the writer is speaking not of literal flesh and blood, but of natural man. The Christian Church has always taught that natural man (man in his sinful nature) “cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Natural man needs to be born again. (see John 3:3).

A further attempt made to discredit the bodily resurrection, (so strongly taught against by the Jehovah’s Witnesses) is 1 Peter 3:18. Peter, speaking of Christ, states “being made alive in the spirit.” The proposition is set forth that Jesus was raised from the dead as a spirit. However, this text does not say that Christ was brought forth from the dead as a spirit – it simply informs us that Jesus was raised “in the Spirit” or “by the Spirit” (see further Romans 8:11). If we are to understand the term “in the Spirit” as being a spirit (as the Watchtower Society wants us to believe) then we must also believe that all the christians living in Rome were spirits, because according to the Apostle Paul (Romans 8:9) the Christians “were not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.” Also, when we examine other references (Rev.1:10, Gal. 5:25, Eph. 6:18 and 1 Pet. 4:6) concerning “being in the Spirit” it can further be shown who futile the Watchtower’s position is.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses also use the two accounts of Jesus not being recognized by those who knew Him as proof of being resurrected in a different form. This position, however, comes form shallow Bible study, twisting Scriptures and using verses out of context. This is evident from the fact while the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the tow disciples on the read to Emmanus (Luke 24) did not recognize Him because He was in a different form than that which He was crucified. They completely ignore verse 16: “their eyes (the disciples’) were holden that they should not know Him.” This can only mean that it was the same body, because Jesus had supernaturally veiled their eyes. After their faith was tested (verses 25 and 26), He opened their eyes and they knew Him (verse 31). We can clearly see the Scriptures tell us the disciples did not know Jesus because He did not will it so.

In “The Time Is At Hand” (page 128) Witnesses tell us “he [Jesus] appeared to Mary as the gardener. Scripture is clear that it is Mary who is in error thinking that Jesus is the gardener. John 20:15 emphasizes this point when it states: “She, supposing Him to be the gardener.” Once again Sacred Scripture makes it clear that the Watchtower Society has misrepresented what God has set forth in His Word.

An extremely important text on the bodily resurrection of Jesus, (and one which many times is overlooked by Christians) is Colossians 2:9. This text is very significant verse concerning the Deity of Jesus, but its even more so in regard to His bodily resurrection. We are Told by the Apostles Paul “for in Him [Christ] dwelleth all the fullness for the Godhead bodily.” Paul used the Greek word KATOIKEI (dwelleth), which is present time (when Paul was writing some 25 years after the resurrection) dwelling bodily (SOMATIKOS), that is in a physical bodily form. When we view this verse we can now see that Paul announces that at the present time the fullness for the Godhead is still, even in heaven, residing in Christ in a physical, bodily form.

To deny and misrepresent what the Bible teaches concerning Christ’s resurrection is an extremely serious matter and will result in one being lost eternally. “If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from among the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9). If Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in their hearts that God has raised Jesus bodily from among the dead as the Bible teaches, how can those who embrace the Watchtower’s doctrines ever hope of having eternal life? Our concern is for Jehovah’s Witnesses to come to know the TRUE RESURRECTED LORD JESUS….

Personal Freedom Outreach
P.O. Box 26062, St. Louis, MO. 63136 (314)388-2648.====[ The Christian BBS – Vic., B.C., 604-478-2789, 8,N,1 – 24 Hrs. ]====

Destroying the Mediatorship of Christ

The Watchtower Society always has tried to downgrade the person Jesus Christ and the atoning work of His death. Jehovah’s Witnesses proclaim their belief that Jesus is not God but “a god” who was Michael the Archangel and possessed only some of the divine attributes.1

Since Witnesses believe Jesus is not God, they consider Him unworthy of their worship. While every Witnesses is taught to view God the Son in this manner, many Watchtower followers are surprised to learn of what former Jehovah’s Witnesses Duane Magnani calls a “secret doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses”: the teaching that Jesus Christ is not the savior and mediator for most Watchtower.2

Although hidden during earlier times, the Society’s teaching on Christ’s mediation now has become clearer.

First, the Watchtower claims that Jesus did not come on Earth as Christ the savior, but was given this role at age 30. The Watchtower book (Things In Which It Is Impossible For God To Lie) says on page 211: “As regards to Jesus, according to the angel’s announcement at His birth in Bethlehem he was to become a `Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ When did he become Christ or `Anointed One?’ … Not at birth, but at thirty years of age Jesus became Christ or Anointed One.” Watchtower writers have given a new meaning to the angel’s announcement by adding to the biblical text the word “become.” Luke 2:11 clearly states that the angel announced “for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” Scripture testifies that at his birth Jesus already was the Christ, not that he was to become the Christ.

However, the Nov. 15, 1979, Watchtower emphasizes on pages 24-27 that Jesus Christ acts as a mediator only for a select few: those the Watchtower regards as the 144,000 anointed Christians. Members of this group, who also are referred to as “spiritual Israelites,” are those who, according to Witness teaching, will reign in the heavenly kingdom. The April 1, 1979, Watchtower stresses on page 31 that in a “strict Biblical sense Jesus is the `mediator’ only for anointed Christians.”

As one would expect, the Society must twist God’s Word to support this doctrine. Two distinct examples of how the organization has changed God’s word are found in separate citations of 1 Timothy 2:5,6. Watchtower writers said on page 26 of the Nov. 15, 1979, Watchtower: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all (or, for all kinds of people, margin) – this is what is to be witnessed to at its own particular time.” Again, in the same article, the passages is cited and made to state, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men (not all men), a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all.”

As the Society becomes more outspoken and dogmatic in its claim to be the sole channel for biblical truth, it also seeks to keep from its followers the fact that its founder, Charles T. Russell, openly taught that all Watchtower adherents belonged to this “anointed” group. Russell asserted: “Here I first saw that the great privilege of becoming joint-heirs with Christ and partakers with him of the divine nature was confirmed exclusively to those who would share with him in self sacrifice in the service of the truth.”3

Hidden also from present-day Witnesses is Russell’s teaching that Watchtower adherents would inherit the same divine nature possessed by Jesus. The October-November 1881 edition of Zion’s Watch Tower says on page 297:

We see then, that the Divine nature comes to the church, as to Jesus, as a reward from the Father Jehovah for the race of faith well run, for the crucifixion – sacrifice, of human nature … We conclude then that the titles, Mighty God and Everlasting Father, are titles which fully understood, are very appropriate to Our Lord Jesus Christ. And we might add that so perfectly is his bride – body – church, associated with him, both in filling up the measure of the sufferings – being joined in sacrifice and also in Glory that shall follow, that the same titles are applicable to the Church as his body – for `He that hath freely given us Christ, shall he not with him also freely give us all things?’ `Therefore all things are yours, and ye are Christ’s and Christ is God’s (el – powerful one) to rule and bless the nations – and the body with the head, shall share in the work of restoring the life lost in Adam, and therefore be members of that company which as a whole will be the Everlasting Father to the restored race.

Russell, in the following issue of his publication, again elevated his followers to Godhood. Announcing, “Ye are Gods,” he concluded that “When we claim on the scriptural warrant, that we are begotten of a divine nature and Jehovah is thus our father, it is claiming that we are divine beings – hence all such are Gods.” Absent from Russell’s assertion that we can become gods is any reminder of Satan’s lie to eve in the Garden, “You will become like God!” (Genesis 3:5), Lucifer’s fall from glory for wishing to be as God (Isaiah 14:14ff) and words from Yahweh Himself, stating that “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens” (Jeremiah 10:11).

When membership began to increase during the late 1930’s, the Watchtower Society began to stray from Russell’s teaching of who belonged to the anointed. By the time the Aug. 15, 1945, issue of the Watchtower was published, Witnesses were told that they could not all currently be regarded as children of God. On page 253 of that issue, it was written: “he is not yet giving the `other sheep’ the standing of sons of his, sons of `The everlasting Father’ (Isaiah 9:6). But these faithful ones will become such during his thousand-year reign after Armageddon; and now, by virtue of the prospect of eventually becoming Jehovah’s perfect sons, they address him prospectively as `Our Father.'”

The Watchtower demonstrates its departure from biblical Christianity in its offering of little hope and no security of eternal life for the average Jehovah’s Witness. With Christ Jesus’ role as mediator greatly reduced and more than 2.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses in need of a Savior, the Society can conveniently maintain its teaching of a “Christ class,” an entire group of mediators. This doctrine was clearly warned against by Jesus when he cautioned that false Christs would arise (Matthew 24:24).

In light of current Watchtower doctrine, the unanointed Jehovah’s Witness must look elsewhere for his salvation and for someone to intercede for him. Unanointed Witnesses are taught they will get these blessings from the “Christ class” – the remnant ofthe 144,000 now living on Earth today.4 The Nov. 15, 1979, Watchtower magazine says on page 27, “To keep in relationship with `our Savior, God,’ the `great crowd’ (made up of other Jehovah’s Witnesses) needs to remain united with the remnant of spiritual Israelites.” The Aug. 1, 1981, Watchtower then addresses and defines the conditions for eternal life. On page 26, it states, “Your attitude toward the `wheatlike anointed brothers’ of Christ and the treatment you accord them, will be the determining factor as to whether you go into `everlasting cutting-off’ or receive `everlasting life.'”

Further, a false basis for this “Christ class” teaching has been smuggled into God’s Word by the twisted rendering of Scripture in the Society’s New World Translation. 2 Corinthians 5:20 has been distorted to say: “We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: `Become reconciled to God.'”. The in-house Watchtower publication Organized To Accomplish Our Ministry on page 6 quotes this twisted passage and seeks to establish in the minds of Jehovah’s Witnesses that the anointed brothers” – seeks to keep rank-and-file Jehovah’s Witnesses enslaved to its wishes and direction. The Society’s leaders again have demonstrated that they will stop at nothing to propagate their “doctrines of demons.”

The Bibles is clear in its message. One does not need an organization to interpret God’s Word, nor does anyone need to add to it to clarify its meaning. The eternal God, creator of the universe, became man and dwelt among us. He freely offered his human life, shedding his blood in atonement for our sins. The Apostle Paul clearly proclaims the Gospel: that Christ was crucified, died, was buried and on the third day arose from the grave. The sacrifice that Jesus made and his present mediatorship is not limited to a small number, but is available to all, with the added security that these have eternal life (John 5:24, 10:27,28). Scripture is clear that there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5,6). The Watchtower claims the man Jesus is dead and the Society’s leaders must substitute for him.5 Jesus is not dead, but fully alive and able to save completely those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25).

1 The Watchtower, December 15, 1984, pp. 26-29. Let God Be True (Second Edition), pp. 31-41.
2 For photocopies of key Watchtower quotes concerning this doctrine, write: Duane Magnani, Witness, Inc., P.O. Box 597, Clayton, CA 94517. Please include $2.50 for printing and postage costs. 3 The Watch Tower, April 25, 1984 (special issue), pg. 111. 4 Current statistics show 9,081 of the anointed still alive. This figure is based on the number of Memorial Partakers – those who partake of communion when it is served yearly to the local Watchtower congregations – during 1984 as recorded in the 1985 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, pg. 31. See also Watchtower, January 1, 1985, pg. 25. For more information on the Watchtower’s annual Memorial, see PFO Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2, pg.4.
5 Russell, Charles T., Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 5, pg. 454.

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====[ The Christian BBS – Vic., B.C., (604)-478-2789, 8,N,1 – 24 Hrs. ]==== Reproduced by The Christian BBS with permission from: HELP Jesus LOCAL DIST., BOX 2212, STN. R. KELOWNA, B.C., CANADA V1X 4K6 WHAT GREEK SCHOLARS REALLY THINK! About the New World’s translation : “…the Word was a god.”

Dr. J. R. Mantey (who is quoted on pages 1158-1159) of the Witnesses own Kingdom interlinear Translation): “A shocking mistranslation.” “Obesolete and incorrect.” “It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 ‘The Word was a god.'”

Dr. Bruce M. Metzger of Princeton (Professor of New Testament Language and Literature): “A frightful mistranslation.” “Erroneous” and “pernicious” “reprehensible” “If the Jehovah’s Witnesses take this translation seriously, they are polytheists.”

Dr. Samuel J. Mikolaski of Zurich, Switzerland: “This anarthrous (used without the article) construction does not mean what the indefinite article ‘a’ means in English. It is monstrous to translate the phrase ‘the Word was a god.'”

Dr. Paul L. Kaufman of Portland, Oregon: “The Jehovah’s Witnesses people evidence an abysmal ignorance of the basic tenets of Greek grammar in their mistranslation of John 1:1.”

Dr. Charles L. Feinberg of La Mirada, California: “I can assure you that the rendering which the Jehovah’s Witnesses give John 1:1 is not held by any reputable Greek scholar.”

Dr. James L. Boyer of Winona Lake, Indiana: “I have never heard of, or read of any Greek Scholar who would have agreed to the interpretation of this verse insisted upon by the Jehovah’s Witnesses…I have never encountered one of them who had any knowledge of the Greek language.”

Dr. Walter R. Martin (who does not teach Greek but has studied the language): “The translation…’a god’ instead of ‘God’ is erroneous and unsupported by any good Greek scholarship, ancient or contemporary and is a translation rejected by all recongnized scholars of the Greek language may of whom are not even Christians, and cannot fairly be said to be biased in favor of the orthodox contention.”

Dr. William Barclay of the University of Glasgow, Scotland: “The deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New testament translations. John 1:1 is translated: ‘…the Word was a god,’ a translation which is grammatically impossible…It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”

Dr. F. F. Bruce of the University of Manchester, England: “Much is made by Arian amateur grammarians of the omission of the definite article with ‘God’ in the phrase ‘And the Word was God.’ Such an omission is common with nouns in a predicative construction…’a god’ would be totally indefensible.”
[Barclay and Bruce are generally regarded as Great Britain’s leading Greek scholars. Both have New Testament translations in print!]

Dr. Ernest C. Colwell of the University of Chicago: “A definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the berb…this statement cannot be regarded as strange in the prologue of the gospel which reaches its climax in the confession of Thomas. ‘My Lord and my God.’ – John 20:28”

Dr. Phillip B. Harner of Heidelberg College: “The verb preceding an anarthrous predicate, would probably mean that the LOGOS was ‘a god’ or a divine being of some kind, belonging to the general category of THEOS but as a distinct being from HO THEOS. In the form that John actually uses, the word “THEOS” is places at the beginning for emphasis.”

Dr. J. Johnson of California State University, Long Beach: “No justification whatsoever for translating THEOS EN HO LOGOS as ‘the Word was a god.’ There is no syntactical parallel to Acts 28:6 where there is a statement in indirect discourse; John 1:1 is direct….I am neither a Christian nor a trinitarian.”

Dr. Eugene A. Nida, head of Translations Department, American Bible Society: “With regard to John 1:1, there is of course a complication simply because the New World Translation was apparently done by persons who did not take seriously the syntax of the Greek.” [Responsible for the Good News Bible – The committee worked under him.]

Dr. B. F. Wescott (whose Greek text – not the English part – is used in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation): “The predicate (God) stands emphatically first, as in IV.24. It is necessarily without the article…No idea of inferiority of nature is suggested by the form of expression, which simply affirms the true deity of the Word…in the third clause ‘the Word’ is declared to be ‘God’ ans so included in the unity of the Godhead.”

Dr. J. J. Griesbach (whose Greek text – not the English part – is used in the Emphatic Diaglott): “So numerous and clear are the arguments and testimonies of Scriptures in favour of the true Deity of Christ, that I can hardly imagine how, upon the admission of the Divine authority of Scripture, and with regard to fair rules of interpretation, this doctrin can by any man be called in doubt. Especially the passage, John 1:1-3, is so clear and so superior to all exception, that by no daring efforts of either commentators or critics can it be snatched out of the hands of the defenders of the truth.”

Mr. Jehovah’s Witness: Are we to simply ignore these eminent Greek scholars, and stubbornly cling to the Man-made teachings of the Watchtower, none of whom had any education to speak of in Greek Grammar?!

End of Text

THE FOLLOWING IS BY WALTER MARTIN

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF DIVINE DIRECTION compiled by THE CHRISTIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE

1897
“Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874,”

Studies In The Scriptures, Vol. 4, p. 621

1899
“…the ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty’ (Revelation 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership, is already commenced.”

The Time Is At Hand, p. 101 (1908 edition)

1916
“The Bible chronology herein presented show that the six great 1000 year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th Day, the 1000 years of Christ’s Reign, began in 1873.”

The Time Is At Hand, p. ii, (forward)

1918
“Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection.”

Millions Now Living Will Never Die, p. 89

1922
“The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914.”

The Watchtower 9/1/22, p. 262

1923
“Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge.”

The Watchtower 4/1/23, p. 106

1925
“The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his people. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year.”

The Watchtower 1/1/25, p. 3

September 1925
“It is to be expected that Satan will try to inject into the minds of the consecrated, the thought that 1925 should see an end to the work.”

The Watchtower, p. 262

1926
“Some anticipated that the work would end in 1925, but the Lord did not state so. The difficulty was that the friends inflated their imaginations beyond reason; and that when their imaginations burst asunder, they were inclined to throw away everything.”

The Watchtower, p. 232

1931
“There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1914, 1918, & 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time…and they also learned to quit fixing dates.”

Vindication, p. 338

1941
“Receiving the gift, the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord’s provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon.”

The Watchtower 9/15/41, p. 288

1968
“True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end to the world’, even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?…Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that he was using and guiding them.”

Awake 10/8/68 see Luke 21:8

1968
“Why are you looking forward to 1975?”

The Watchtower 8/15/68, p. 494

1972 – IDENTIFYING THE “PROPHET”
“So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?…This ‘prophet’ was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses…Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a ‘prophet’ of God. It is another thing to prove it.”

The Watchtower 4/1/72 see Deuteronomy 18:21)

JESUS IS YAHWEH

Job 33:4

John 1:3
Isaiah 40:28

CREATOR

Colossians 1:16-17
Genesis 1:1

Hebrews 1:10-12

Psalms 106:21

John 4:42
Isaiah 45:21-23
SAVIOR

1 John 4:14
Isaiah 43:3,11

Acts 4:12

Jeremiah 10:10

Matthew 2:1-6
Isaiah 44:6

KING

Luke 23:3
Psalms 47:8

John 19:21

Joel 3:12

2 Timothy 4:1
Genesis 18:25

JUDGE

2 Corinthians 5:10
Hebrews 12:23

Romans 14:10

John 8:24
Exodus 3:14

John 8:58
Isaiah 43:10

I AM

John 13:19
Deuteronomy 32:39

John 18:5

Isaiah 17:10

1 Corinthians 10:4
2 Samuel 22:32

ROCK

1 Peter 2:6-8
Deuteronomy 32:4

Numbers 20:10-11

Isaiah 40:11

John 10:11
Psalms 100

SHEPHERD

Hebrews 13:20
Psalms 23

1 Peter 5:4

John 8:12
Isaiah 60:20

LIGHT

Luke 2:23
Psalms 27:1

John 1:9

Isaiah 48:12

Revelation 1:17
Isaiah 44:6

FIRST & LAST

Revelation 2:8
Isaiah 41:4

Revelation 22:13

THERE IS ONE GOD Deuteronomy 6:4

This graph shows that there is one God. Jesus in Revelation 1:17 is the First and Last. YAHWEH in Isaiah 41:4 is the First and Last. Hence one God.

The references on the right are New Testament references of Jesus. The references on the left, opposite the New Testament references are Old Testament references of YAHWEH. JEHOVAH’S WITNESS AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST by WALTER MARTIN

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has always taught from its inception in 1896 that Jesus Christ was no more than a perfect man, “certainly not the supreme God Almighty in the flesh.”1 Amplifying this, they state categorically that He was in no sense both God and man. “Some insist that Jesus while on earth was both God and man. This theory is wrong…”2

By maintaining that our Lord was the “first and direct creation of Jehovah God,” and that prior to His earthly life He was Michael the Archangel,3 the Witnesses deny the very foundation of the historic Christian faith.

In contrast to this teaching, the Bible and Christian Church declare the full deity of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father.

In the first verse of John’s Gospel, Christ is revealed as the eternal Word of God who became flesh (verse 14) – the “image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Consider the emphasis. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Note that John 1:1 states that the Word was in the beginning – it does not say the Word “became” or “was created” by God as Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. The Witnesses also mistranslate this text to read “the Word was a god”4 but their translation is by both context and grammar an impossibility according to all recognized authorities on Greek grammar.

Moreover, the Scriptures proclaim that Christ made “himself equal with God” (John 5:18) and that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The Bible further states that Christ claimed to be the great I AM (Jehovah) of the Old Testament (see Exodus 3:13-16 with John 8:58), and the Jews during His ministry understood Him so clearly that they sought to stone Him to death for blasphemy (John 8:59; cf. 10:28.33).

Jehovah’s Witnesses pervert these texts and many others in their determined attempt to demote our Lord from His position of God and Creator (Colossians 1; Hebrews 1;), and they compound their error by translating the Greek of the New Testament in many places contrary to all known grammatical authorities.5 It is certainly true that during His earthly life our Lord voluntarily limited Himself as a man (Philippians 2:6-8), and thus He never strove to usurp the prerogatives of Deity. But one does not have to “rob” what is His by inheritance (Hebrews 1). As we have already shown, He was true Deity – “the great God” (Titus 2:13).

We must not forget that Christ humbled Himself even to the death of the cross and therefore as a man could say, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). However, let us not forget that Christ never said, “My Father is better than I”; “better” is a term of comparison between natures (Hebrews 1:4) while “greater,” as in the context of John 14, is a term of comparison relative to positions.

Our President, for instance, is greater in position than any of his fellow Americans by virtue of his office as President of the United States; but he would be the first to insist that as a human being he is not necessarily better. So Christ was admittedly inferior to His Father positionally while on earth as a man, but the Scriptures indicate He was His Father’s equal on the spiritual plane at all times (Hebrews 1:3; John 5:18).

Jehovah’s Witnesses always point to Christ’s humanity in the Scriptures; they carefully omit mention of His claim to full Deity and the thus “wrest…the…scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16).

Our Lord taught His Full Deity (John 8:58, John 8:24) and the Bible calls Him the “Alpha and Omega, the first and the last” (Revelation 1:17,18). Yet it is Jehovah alone who declares that He is “the first, and…the last” (Isaiah 44:6). Since there can be only one first and last, God fully manifested Himself in Jesus Christ, “the first and the last” (Revelation 1:17,18) as the Scriptures and the Christian Church maintain.

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny these and many other great doctrines of the Bible. They are therefore misguided followers of a fallible, human organization. Consequently, they too, desperately need the salvation that the Godman, Jesus Christ, alone offers to all men who will come to Him and accept Him as their Saviour and Lord (John 3:16, 5:24).

Let God be True, Edition 1946, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 87.
The Harp of God, J.F. Rutherford, pp. 101 and 128
The Truth Shall Make You Free, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 49; also The Kingdom is At Hand, pp. 46, 47, 49.
New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures – John 1:1, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
See Jehovah of the Watchtower, Moody Press, Chicago, Revised Edition, 1974 for a full-length study of Jehovah’s Witnesses with full documentation on their errors.

AND THE TRINITY by WALTER MARTIN

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity has been consistently misunderstood, probably more than any other teaching of the Bible. Frequently investigation into the doctrine of the Trinity has been dismissed from serious discussion or study by invoking the time-worn assertions – “It’s a great mystery” or “This is incomprehensible” – thus discouraging many from investigating the scriptural basis of the doctrine.

Due principally to this attitude as well as certain complex aspects of the Trinity doctrine itself, there has been a revival of anti-Trinitarian heresies during the past one hundred and fifty years, and they have gone largely unanswered. Prominent among those groups rejecting the historic doctrine of the Trinity are Mormonism, Christian Science, Unity, Spiritism, Herbert W. Armstrong and his Radio Church of God and Jehovah’s Witnesses – i.e., The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

According the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Trinity is a Satanic dogma of apostate Christianity that prevents people from knowing the true God, Jehovah. The Watchtower puts it this way:

The doctrine in brief is that there are three gods in one:

God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost…the

Holy Spirit is not a person and is therefore not one of the

gods of the Trinity…the Trinity doctrine was not conceived

by Jesus or the early Christians…the obvious conclusion

therefore is that Satan is the originator of the Trinity

doctrine. 1

Since the Watchtower denies that the Trinity doctrine is Biblical; and since they complicate the issue by defining it incorrectly – the task of true Christians is two fold: First, a definition in accord with historic Christianity must be given. Secondly, it must be shown that the doctrine of the Trinity is both Biblical and essential to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

THE HOLY TRINITY

Definition: Within the unity of the One God there are three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; and these three share the same Nature and attributes. In effect, the three Persons ARE the one God.

From this concise statement, similarly set forth in many theological texts,2 it is clear that the Christian Church does not believe that “there are three gods in One.” Quite to the contrary, we affirm that there is but one God, as Scripture repeatedly asserts (Deut. 6:4, Isa. 43:10, 1 Tim 2:5).

Having defined the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, it becomes necessary, secondly, to demonstrate inductively from the Bible that it is true.

To accomplish this, we begin with one basic premise: If it can be shown from Scripture that there are three persons, all of whom are called Jehovah (God), then, since there is only one Jehovah (Isa. 44:6, 48:12), those three Persons are the one God. Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.

Just how it is possible for three to be One and for that One to be three, will also be explained. But first, the evidence:

THE FATHER IS JEHOVAH

Jehovah’s Witnesses are quick to agree with the Apostle Peter that the Father is called Jehovah. Moreover, Peter and many other Biblical writers identify Him as a “person” (2 Peter 1:17). It is therefore unnecessary to press this point, the Witnesses having already conceded it.

However, we would point out that the word “person” is, by definition, descriptive of “ego” or “I.” Without “ego,” which distinguishes man from the beast, personality as such would cease to exist. Any reputable lexicon of Greek dictionary will substantiate the fact that the Greek word “ego,” is the basis for our English term, “I.” Jehovah designates His Being as The Great I AM (Ex. 3:14): So the Deity is Personal and possesses Ego, the hallmark of Personality.

We see, then, that one of the three “Persons” – the Father – is designated “God.”

2. THE SON IS JEHOVAH

A careful study of the first chapter of Revelation (vs. 11-18) will show that Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, identifies Himself as “the first and the last” and “the one who became dead” and who now lives for all eternity.

It is of no small significance that in verse 13 of the last chapter of Revelation, He confirms this title with great emphasis, identifying Himself in verse 16 as “I Jesus,” and declaring that He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” The context reveals that it is Jesus speaking (vs. 12), for He – not the Father – is coming “quickly” (Rev. 1:7; 1 Thess. 4:15,16).

It must never be forgotten that these titles (“the first and the last,” “the Alpha and the Omega'” “the beginning and the end”) belong only to Jehovah God (Isa. 44:6,8; Rev. 1:8, 21:6). But Jesus Christ claims them as His own, because He, the Son is also Jehovah!

We see, then, that there are either two firsts and two lasts (a hopeless contradiction of terms), or the Son is Jehovah, the one who was pierced for our sins (Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7,11,13) and who is truly “the fullness of Jehovah in flesh” (Col. 2:9).

The angel who showed John the wonder Revelation forbade the Apostle to worship him, for he was but a created being, a “fellow servant.” Quite properly, he declared, “worship Jehovah,” (Rev. 22:9). Yet Jesus Christ, whom Jehovah’s Witnesses say is also a created being (i.e., Michael the Archangel), commended the worship of Himself as Jehovah (John 20:28,29). This would have been a blasphemous act of presumption on His part and a direct violation of His Father’s commandments (Ex. 20:3; Deut. 6:17), unless He were in some mysterious sense on in Nature and Being with His Father. In such a case He would in truth be “equal with God” and entitled to receive worship as Jehovah(John 5:18,23).

Jehovah’s Witnesses have always taught that Jesus Christ was no more than a perfect man, “certainly not the supreme God Almighty in the flesh.”3 They state categorically that He was in no sense both God and man. “Some insist that Jesus while on earth was both God and man. This theory is wrong.”4 Jehovah’s Witnesses also maintain that our Lord was “the first and direct creation of Jehovah God,” and that prior to His earthly life He was an angle.5

In contrast to this teaching, Scripture and the Christian Church declare the full Deity of Jesus Christ, and His equality with God the Father.

In the first verse of John’s Gospel, Christ is revealed as the eternal Word of God who became flesh (verse 14) – the “image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Consider the emphasis “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” John 1:1).

Note that John 1:1 states that the Word already was in the beginning – it does not say the Word “became” or “was created” by God, as Jehovah’s Witnesses teach. The Witness incorrectly translate this text to read “the Word was a god,”6 but their translation is by both context and grammar an impossibility according to all recognized authorities on Greek. No recognized translation bears out their error.

Moreover, the Scriptures proclaim that Christ made “himself equal with God” (John 5:18), and that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Deity bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The Bible further states that Christ claimed to be the great I AM (Jehovah) of the Old Testament (cf. Exodus 3:13-16 with John 8:58), and the Jews understood Him so clearly during His ministry that they sought to stone Him to death for blasphemy (John 8:59; cf. 10:28-33).

Jehovah’s Witnesses pervert these texts and many others in their determined effort to demote our Lord from His position of God and Creator (Colossians 1; Hebrews 1); and they compound their error by translating the Greek of the New Testament, in many places, contrary to all grammatical authorities. It is certainly true that during His earthly life our Lord voluntarily limited Himself as a man (Philippians 2:6-8), and thus He never strove to usurp the prerogatives of Deity; But one does not have to “rob” what is His by inheritance (Hebrews 1). He was true Deity – “the great God” (Titus 2:13).

We must not forget that Christ humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross, and therefore, as a man, could say, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). However, let us remember that Christ never said, “My Father is better than I.” “Better” is a term of comparison between natures (Heb 1:4), while “greater,” as in the context of John 14, is a term of comparison relative to positions.

The President of the United States, for instance, is greater in position than any of his fellow-Americans by virtue of his office, but he would be the first to insist that he is not better than other human beings. So Christ was admittedly inferior to His Father positionally while on earth as a man, but the Scriptures clearly and unmistakably state that he was at all times His Father’s equal on the spiritual plane of Divine Being or Nature (Heb. 1:3; John 5:18). Note also that in 1 Corinthians 15:28 it is function that is dealt with – not Deity.

Jehovah’s Witnesses always point to Christ’s humanity in the Bible; they carefully omit mention of His claim to full Deity, and they thus “wrest…the…scriptures, unto their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16). the second Person, the Son, is also called God, then, despite the efforts of the Watchtower to prove the contrary.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS JEHOVAH

It is peculiar, to say the least, that Jehovah’s Witnesses can agree with the Apostle Peter when he declared that the Father is Jehovah – and then contradict his affirmation that the Holy Spirit is likewise Jehovah, as recorded in Acts 5:3 and 4.

No Christian theologian has ever denied either the Person or Deity of the Holy Spirit, for the evidence to substantiate both is abundant in Scripture. For instance, a thorough study of the book of Acts, chapter thirteen, reveals that the Holy Spirit is a Person, because He possesses “ego.” Luke records therin that the Holy Spirit as a Person has “ego” (13:2,4) and, furthermore, that He (not “it”) prophesies to His servants and commissions them, as well (21:11). See also such verses as John 14:26, 15:26, Acts 8:29, 13:2, and Romans 5:5.

The Scriptures are clear that the Holy Spirit has a “will” (1 Cor. 12:11; Heb. 2:4), and since “will” denotes “ego” or personality, as opposed to the neuter (animals), obviously the Spirit is a person. We have also seen from Peter’s words that when Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, he lied to Jehovah (Acts 5:4). Both the thirteenth chapter of Acts and Isaiah 48 add to the proof that the Holy Spirit is God, since He answers the prayers of the Apostles (Acts 13:1-4) and is designated Deity by the prophet Isaiah (48:16). Even the Watchtower admits that God alone answers prayer.

The Bible, then, does indeed teach that the Spirit is a Person and that He is called God. It is therefore apparent that there are three Persons mentioned in Scripture and that they are all identified as God: Yet there is only one true God (Isa. 45:22).

“LORDS MANY AND GODS MANY”

There are two other important points that must be mentioned.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that, because the Bible designates some beings and idols as “gods,” it is proper for them to call Jesus “a god” and worship him as the angels did (Heb. 1:6). This is an important point and must be clarified.

Of course, it is true that God made Moses appear as a god in Pharoah’s eyes (Exodus 7:1). Moreover, Satan, certain of the judges of Israel and pagan idols are described as “gods” in the Bible (John 14:30, Psalms 82:6, 1 Cor. 8:4, 10:19, 2 Cor. 4:4). Nevertheless, they are not deity by nature, as the Apostle Paul flatly states (Gal. 4:8). They are “gods” by angelic or human acclamation, and God addresses them in that context. Worshiping a thing can make it your god; but it is not God by nature – for by nature there is only one God (1 Cor. 8:4-6, 1 Tim. 2:5).

When this cardinal distinction is made in Scripture, the Watchtower’s doctrine is refuted, and the problem of the usage of the term “gods” or “a god” disappears.

COMPOSITE UNITY AND THE TRIPLE POINT

The second important fact to be remembered is that of the meaning of the term “one.”

“How is it possible,” say the Jehovah’s witnesses, “for Jehovah to be three and one both at the same time? It is illogical, unreasonable and confusing; and God is not the author of confusion!”

To answer this all-too-common objection, it should be kept in mind that the word “one” can denote composite as well as solitary unity. For instance, in Genesis (chapter 2), Adam and Eve are called one flesh; and Numbers (chapter 13) speaks of “one” when the context indicates that is was in reality a cluster of grapes hanging from one stem. Here are bona fide instances of composite unity.

The same Hebrew word, “echod” (one) is used in both cases, however, even as it is in Deuteronomy 6:4 where we are told that God is “One.” The evident composite unity indicated here is confirmed in the New Testament. Our Lord spoke of composite unity where marriage is concerned (Mk. 10:8); so He, too, was aware of this important distinction. See also Joshua 9:2; Judges 20:1; 2 Chron. 30:12; Isaiah 65:25; Nehemiah 7:66 and Ezra 6:20 for further instances of composite unity.

Finally, let us illustrate how it is both logically and rationally possible for three to be one and one to be three simultaneously, since Jehovah’s Witnesses do NOT believe this is possible.

It is a well-known fact of chemistry that plain water, when placed in a vacuum under 230 millimeters of gas pressure and at a temperature of 0 degrees Centigrade, solidifies into ice at the bottom of the container, remains liquid in the center and vaporizes at the top! At a given instant the same water is both solid, liquid and gas, yet all three are manifestations of the same basic substance or nature: H2O – hydrogen: two parts; oxygen: one.

If one of the simplest of all created substances can be three in manifested form and yet remain one in nature, then the Creator of that substance can surely be Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three Persons and one Nature – without any violation of logic or reason whatever if He so wills.

God is not triples (1+1+1) – He is triune (1x1x1), and He has revealed Himself fully in the Person of our Lord, Jesus Christ (Col. 2:9; John 14:9).

Jehovah’s Witnesses are not confused by the doctrine of the Trinity they are confused by the Watchtower Society, from whose power only the Son of God can liberate. It is our prayer that, in His own time, this will come to pass – “for ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free…and if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:32,36).

Once the foregoing data have been understood, the following texts from the Old and New Testament confirm the doctrine of the Trinity. A prayerful reading of these passages will help strenghten your faith in this great and truly divine revelation of the Nature of God. It will promote faith in Him “who is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him by faith,” since He alone is “the Way,” (Heb. 7:25; John 14:6; Acts 16:31; 1 John 2:2; Romans 10:9-13).

Let God Be True, Watchtower Society, Edition 1946, pp. 81, 82, 87, Reconciliation J.W. Rutherford, p. 115.
The Trinity, Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, p 115.
Let God Be True, p. 87
The Truth Shall Make You Free, Watchtower Society, p. 49, The Harp of God, J.W. Rutherford, pp. 101, 128.
The Kingdom Is At Hand, pp. 46, 47-49.
Let God Be True, pp. 34, 35.

TRINITY TEXTS: (1) Old Testament Hints – Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22, Genesis 11:7, Isaiah 6:8, 48:12, Zech. 12:9,10. (2) The Creation – Genesis 1:2, In 1:3. (3) The Incarnation – Lk. 1:35. (4) The Baptism of Christ – Matt. 3:17,17. (5) The Resurrection of Christ – Acts 2:26, 1 Thess. 1:10 (The Father), Jn 2:19-21, (The Son),
Rom. 8:11, 1 Pet 3:18 (The Holy Spirit), Acts 17:31 (God). (6) The Great Commission – Matt. 28:19. (7) The Divine Benediction – 2 Cor. 13:14. See also John 14:16,26, 15:26. JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES AND THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST by WALTER MARTIN

Jehovah’s Witnesses ant their official organization, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, have historically denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and have maintained that His was a “spirit” or “spiritual” resurrection to quote the Watchtower.

“The King, Christ Jesus, was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature.”1

Further developing their teaching, the Witnesses proclaim: “In His resurrection He was no more human. He was raised as a spirit creature.”2

In addition to this, the Watchtower has even suggested that Christ’s body was “dissolved into gases” or “preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love.”3

IN order to understand the true teaching of the resurrection, it is necessary to review briefly the Biblical position, which is at considerable odds with the Watchtower.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is quite literally the historical bedrock upon which the Christian faith rests. The Apostle Paul indeed tells us that “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). He also declares, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins” (verse 17).

From these two statements in the Word of God, we can see the resurrection of our Lord determines the validity of our faith and even our salvation, for without His resurrection our faith is “vain” and we are “yet in our sins.”

In this connection, it must also be remembered that every verse in the Bible which deals with the resurrection of the dead, and the Lord particularly, refers exclusively to the human body; i.e., a bodily resuscitation; never a spirit or spiritual resurrection. In fact the word “resurrection” is never applied to the soul or spirit of man. This fact is born out in the original Hebrew and Greek. Beyond this, our Lord specifically prophesied that His resurrection would be bodily; that is, in a glorified form of the body He then possessed. When speaking to the unbelieving Jews, as recorded in the second chapter of John’s Gospel, Christ stated “Destroy this temple, and inn three days I will raise it up” (verse 19).

The Jews, however, thought he was referring to the temple in Jerusalem but the Apostle John clearly declares our Lord’s meaning: “But he spake of the temple of his body” (verse 21).

The Greek word soma is translated “body” throughout the New Testament, so it is an inescapable fact that Christ was referring to his own physical form – hence a bodily resurrection.

Two classic New Testament references which corroborate our Lord’s prophecy of His bodily resurrection are in the 20th chapter of John and 24th chapter of Luke. In John 20 when our Lord appeared to the doubting Thomas, the same body in which He died upon the cross is evidenced by His own words:

“Reach hither thy finger, and behold by hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (verse 27).

In Luke 24, we again see how the words of Christ refute the spirit resurrection idea of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrightend, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your heart? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (verses 36-43).

Not only, then, did our Lord have “flesh and bones,” but he showed them the same hands and feet which bore the wounds of Calvary (verses 39, 40). The fact that He also ate broiled fish and a honeycomb (verse 42 and 43) proves that He was not a “spirit creature” as Jehovah’s Witnesses contend. Moreover our Lord’s words, “It is I myself…a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (verse 39) was uttered according to verse 37 and 38 because the disciples thought He was a spirit. Jesus, however absolutely disproved that by offering His body as tangible evidence (verse 39, 40).

Sometimes Jehovah’s Witnesses attempt to explain away these appearances of Christ by asserting that He had a “spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44) or that He merely assumed different bodies to encourage His disciples, which the Witnesses say accounts for the fact that those who knew Him the best in life did not recognize Him after His resurrection (John 20:11-16; Luke 24:15-30).

The Witnesses also argue that 1 Peter 3:18, which refers to Christ’s resurrection and states that He was “made alive in spirit” (literal Greek), establishes their theory, but they are in error.

While it is true that Paul speaks of “a spiritual body” he nevertheless calls it a “body” (Greek “soma”) and we have already seen how Christ possessed “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). A spiritual body then is not “a spirit” as the Witnesses make our, but a glorified, immortal, physical form possessing certain spiritual characteristics or attributes (i.e., the ability to pass through locked doors or vanish at will. John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:31)

Again, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ idea that because Mary Magdalene and the disciples could not recognize Christ on three occasions “proves” that He had assumed “different bodies” other than the one in which He died upon the cross, is disposed of by Luke 24:16. Luke there tells us that when the disciples encountered Jesus their eyes were kept from recognizing Him as a direct act of Christ’s will. When He finished His conversation, He allowed their sense of vision to perceive who He really was; thus “their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight” (verse 31).

Finally, 1 Peter 3:18, far from “proving” that Jesus was raised a spirit as the Witnesses insist, only proves that He was raised in or by the Spirit of God as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:11. The main objections, then, that Jehovah’s Witnesses raise against the bodily resurrection of our Lord are all thoroughly answered by the Scriptures themselves and represent no real threat to historic Christian doctrine of the resurrection.

The Bible, therefore, does have mush to say about the resurrection of Christ as we have seen, and nowhere supports the spirit-resurrection theory of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In fact, all of it contradicts their teaching.

To the sincere, zealous, yet misled members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Christian church must repeat the statement of our Lord Himself: “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:38, 39).

The true teaching concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ does indeed determine a person’s eternal destiny (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17). For “If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from among the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, Literal Greek).

Let God Be True, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, p. 122, Edition 1946.
The Kingdom is at Hand, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
258.
Studies in the Scripture, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
129, Vol 2.