Thu, Aug 18th - 8:11AM
Every Jehovah's Witness Should Be Asked These Questions
Is there anything about the Watchtower Organization that
you don’t like or that you find difficult?
Do you ever have difficulty getting along with other
Jehovah’s Witnesses, and do you ever find yourself able to get along with
non-JWs easier or better than you can get along with Jehovah’s Witnesses?
(Watchtower publications say that true Christians have love among themselves,
and that this love is one of the identifying marks of the only true Christian
religion, God’s organization.)
Why are Jehovah’s
Witnesses instructed to ask people if they were on the wrong road would they
let pride or stubbornness keep them from admitting it while they are told they
must never ask this of themselves?
Does it ever bother you
that if you do not change your beliefs to line up with Watchtower teachings
each time the Watchtower Society changes their teachings you could be
considered an apostate and disfellowshipped?
Since the truth never
changes do you ever wonder if a change in Watchtower teachings or policies
means they had the truth and lost or rejected it or were previously teaching a
falsehood with which you were forbidden to disagree?
Has anyone ever become
convinced of Watchtower teachings and become a Jehovah’s Witness by just
reading the Bible? (The answer is no.)
Why is it important for
everyone else to question their religion but forbidden for Jehovah’s Witnesses
to question theirs?
Do you ever find it difficult to understand how the
Watchtower leadership concluded that any particular Watchtower teaching is based
on the Bible or the clear teachings of Scripture?
Does the “New Light” always expound or add to the “Old
Light,” or does the “New Light” ever completely replace or disprove the “Old
Light?” (Psalm 33:11; 119:89; Proverbs 19:21; Ecclesiastes 1:9-10; James 1:17)
Does the Watchtower Society encourage personal study,
discernment, and growth, or do they require a child-like dependence?
What would happen if a JW followed the example of the
Bereans and critically examined Watchtower teachings to personally discern if those
teachings really are taught in Scripture? (Acts 17:10-11)
While the Bible certainly does not condemn all use of
Christian literature and Bible study helps, and Christian books and magazines
(and other materials) can be helpful, where does the Bible indicate that
Christians must submit to the infallible views and interpretations of an
organization or its publications?
While Acts 8:30-31 does indicate that people occasionally
need help understanding Scripture, where in this passage is there any
indication of an organization? Since the Ethiopian eunuch never saw Philip
again, where is there any indication that the Ethiopian eunuch had to join or
submit to an organization or anyone? Did Philip use the Bible alone to expound
upon the meaning of Scripture or did he use additional literature? If the Bible
alone was sufficient for Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, doesn't this indicate
that the Bible itself is sufficient for us also? Where in these passages is
there any support for the teaching that people must join a particular
organization and submit to the interpretations of that organization? (Watchtower
publications use Acts 8:30-31 to say that the Watchtower Society is God's only
Bible-interpreting organization and that people cannot understand Scripture
without the Watchtower Society.)
If the Watchtower Governing Body is supposed to be God's
"Faithful and Discreet Slave" that guides people in their
understanding of Scripture and is God's only channel of truth, then does the
Watchtower interpretation of Matthew 24:45-47 mean that for eighteen or nineteen
centuries God did not have any true representatives on earth? (Consider
Ephesians 4:11-16)
Do you ever feel that Watchtower leadership (Governing
Body or local Elders) is intrusive in matters of personal preference or opinion
where no genuine Bible truth, principle, or command is at stake? (I Peter
5:1-3; 4:15; Romans 14:1-13)
Are Jehovah's Witnesses loved and hated because of their
faith and loyalty to Jesus Christ and the word of God or because of teachings and
practices peculiar to the Watchtower organization? (I Timothy 1:3-7)
Is the Gospel being proclaimed by Jehovah’s Witnesses the
same Gospel that was preached by Christ and the Apostles? (I Corinthians
15:1-4; John 3:13-15; Acts 4:15-19; II Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-8)
Why does the Watchtower Society avoid the possibility
that Acts 20:20 refers to house-churches, since the early Christians usually
met for worship in private homes? (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 6:19; Colossians
4:15; II Timothy 3:6; Philemon 2)
Does Mark 16:15 or the context thereof specify the method
or means Christians must use to spread the gospel?
Did the lack of unity among believers at Corinth mean
that they were not Christians? (I Corinthians 1:2, 11-13; Watchtower publications use I Corinthians 1:10 to teach
the importance of complete conformity to the teachings of the Watchtower
Organization, and insist that such unity proves that JWs are the only true
Christians and that those who do not have such unity are false Christians.)
Where is there any reference to an organization in I
Corinthians 1:10, and where in I Corinthians 1:10 (or the context thereof) are
we told that unity is to be achieved by submitting to an organization?
(Watchtower publications use I Corinthians 1:10 to teach the importance of
complete conformity to the teachings of the Watchtower Organization, and insist
that such unity proves that JWs are the only true Christians and that those who
do not have such unity are false Christians.)
Where in the Bible did Jesus Christ ever deny His deity?
If John 20:17 means that the Father is God, then why
doesn't John 20:28 mean that Jesus is God?
If only the Father is God and Jesus is "a god,"
then just how many "gods" do JWs have? (John 1:1 NWT; Isaiah 43:10;
44:8)
Why isn't the same rule that is applied to John 1:1 in
the New World Translation, so that it says the word was “a god,” also applied
to the other New Testament passages where Theos is used without the definite
article? In the 282 New Testament references to God without using the definite
article with the word theos the New World Translation usually renders theos as
"God," such as in Luke 20:38 and John 1:18. Should John 1:8 be changed
to say that no man has seen “a god?” (Incidentally, JWs also point to John 1:18
which says "No man hath seen God at any time," and people did see
Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God as He is, only visions or materializations
of God, but there have been those who have seen God manifest in the flesh.
-John 4:24; 6:46; 14:9; Philippians 2:6-7; I Timothy 3:16)
Do you believe Jesus is “a god?” Do you believe Jesus is
a true god? If Jesus is a true god how do you reconcile this with John 17:3? If
Jesus is a false god how do you reconcile this with John 1:1? (Watchtower
publications say that only the Father is the one true God (Jehovah) based on
John 17:3 and they say that Jesus Christ is “a god” based on the New World
Translation’s rendering of John 1:1.)
If Jesus is not God, how do you reconcile this with
Colossians 1:16 and Isaiah 44:24?
How do you reconcile the New World Translations’
rendering of Colossians 1:16 with Isaiah 44:24, which says Jehovah was alone when
Jehovah created everything? “Because
by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the
earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are
thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have
been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16 NWT) “This is what Jehovah has said, your
Repurchaser and the Former of you from the belly: ‘I, Jehovah, am doing
everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was
with me?’” (Isaiah 44:24 NWT)
Since there is no Bible verse that says explicitly that
the Father is Jehovah should we assume that the Father is not Jehovah?
(Watchtower publications deny the deity of Jesus Christ by saying that there is
no Bible verse that says explicitly that Jesus is Jehovah.)
How do you reconcile Isaiah 9:6, where Jesus is called
Mighty God, with Isaiah 43:10 & Isaiah 44:6? (Also compare Isaiah 10:20, 21
NWT)
Whose manifestation and whose kingdom is referred to in
II Timothy 4:1?
Who is the First and the Last? (Isaiah 44:6; Revelation
1:8, 17-18; 2:8; 22:13, 16 NWT) There is contradiction in Scripture unless
Jesus is Jehovah.
Who did Stephen pray to in? (Acts 7:59-60)
For whom did John the Baptist prepare the way? (Isaiah
40:3; Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 1:76; also compare Malachi 3:1 and Matthew 11:10 NWT)
There is a contradiction in Scripture unless Jesus is Jehovah.
Who is Jehovah of Hosts? (compare Isaiah 8:13,14 with I
Peter 2:7-8 and Isaiah 6:3, 8-10 with Acts 28:25-27 NWT) There is contradiction
in Scripture unless Jesus is Jehovah.
Who promised the New Covenant? (Jeremiah 31:31-34;
Hebrews 10:15-17 NWT) There is a contradiction in Scripture unless the Holy
Spirit is Jehovah.
Where does the Bible say that the Holy Spirit is God's
active force? Why did Peter say that Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit when
he had lied to God, unless the Holy Spirit is God? (Acts 5:3-4) How is it even
possible to lie to an impersonal force? (Acts 5:3)
How do you reconcile the almost exclusive emphasis of JWs
on the name Jehovah with Acts 1:8?
Where in the New Testament did Jesus tell His followers
to declare the name Jehovah?
Where does the New Testament say that declaring the name
Jehovah is a mark of true Christians?
Which name is consistently uplifted in the New Testament (Jesus or Jehovah)?
Why do you assume that the submission or subjection of
Christ to the Father means inferiority? (I Corinthians 15:28) Does the Bible
ever indicate that the husband's headship over the wife means that a woman is
naturally inferior to men? Do you believe that compatibility between functional
subordination and equality of being is possible? How do you reconcile the
subjection of Christ to Joseph and Mary with the claim that Jesus Christ is
inferior to the Father by virtue of His being subject? (Luke 2:51; John 1:3; I
Corinthians 15:28)
Where does the Bible say that Jesus is Michael the
Archangel or that Michael the Archangel is Jesus Christ? (Hebrews 1:5-6)
Why do you insist that being called “Son” means that
Jesus was created? (Hebrews 1:5) The term "son" is used in the Bible
to denote or imply almost any kind of descent or succession (consider Exodus
2:10 and Hebrews 1:5, 8), and “Son of God” was a messianic title which
signified the function of Deliverer. (E.g. Matthew 16:16; Note that the Devil
tempted Christ by bringing against Him the popular Jewish conceptions of the
Messiah. -Matthew 4:1-11)
Since the word only-begotten is the rendering of the
Greek word monogenes, which simply means the only one of a class or kind, how
does being called “Only-begotten” in Scripture mean that Jesus was created?
How does being called “firstborn” mean that Jesus was
created, since firstborn means pre-eminent or the legal heir? (Colossians 1:15;
the nation of Israel was called firstborn even though there were other nations
in existence before the nation of Israel was formed, and also note that King
David was called firstborn even though he was the youngest son in his family,
and Joseph's son Ephraim is called the firstborn even though Ephraim was born
after Manasseh. –Psalm 89:27; Jeremiah 31:9)
Does the use of the word Arche with Almighty God mean
that Almighty God is created? (Revelation 21:6; 22:13; Watchtower publications
use Revelation 3:14 to say that Jesus is a created angel. But the word
"beginning" in Revelation 3:14 is the rendering of the Greek word
Arche, which means first cause, origin or source, and is where we get the
English word "architect.”)
Where does the Bible say that Jesus Christ was not bodily
resurrected? (Luke 24:36-43; Acts 10:39-41)
Where does the Bible say that in heaven today Jesus
Christ does not have a glorified human body? (Colossians 2:9; I Timothy 2:5)
Where does the Bible say that the return of Christ will
not be in visible human form? (Acts 1:9-11) Did Christ ascend into a literal or
figurative cloud? (Acts 1:9)
Can you verify that
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian army in 607 BC (and not 586 BC)? Does
it concern you that the Watchtower calculations making 1914 the year Christ
returned are based on a date they cannot verify and a
prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s recovery from lycanthropy) that
was fulfilled in Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime? (Daniel 4:30-36)
How do you reconcile the promise of Matthew 28:20 with
the Watchtower teaching that the return of Christ would be invisible and that
He returned invisibly in 1914 AD?
If the Second Coming is past and Christ returned in 1914
AD, why do Jehovah's Witnesses still observe the Memorial service, since this
was to be observed "... until he arrives?" Doesn't this contradict
the purpose of the Memorial? (I Corinthians 11:26 NWT)
If Jesus was hung on a single upright pole, a torture
stake, and not on a cross then why was more than one nail used to fasten His
hands, and why does the Bible say that the written charge was placed over His
head and not over His hands? (John 20:25; Matthew 27:37)
While Ecclesiastes 9:5 & 10 (favourite JW proof
texts) may not prove there is conscious life after death, do these passages
prove that there is no conscious life after death or could these passages and
their context be dealing with the inevitability of physical death? Do you
believe that all will receive the same fate or destiny, whether they are
faithful or wicked? “All are the same in what all have. One eventuality there
is to the righteous one and the wicked one, the good one and the clean one and
the unclean one, and the one sacrificing and the one that is not sacrificing.
The good one is the same as the sinner; the one swearing is the same as whoever
has been afraid of a sworn oath.” (Ecclesiastes 9:2 NWT) Does the phrase “the
remembrance of them has been forgotten” in Ecclesiastes 9:5 mean there will be
no resurrection after this life for anyone?
Have you considered the possibility that Ezekiel 18:4 (a
favourite JW proof text) refers to death in the same sense that Adam and Eve
died the very day they ate the forbidden fruit? (Genesis 2:17; 5:3-5) “Look!
All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul
of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.”
(Ezekiel 18:4 NWT) Death means separation: Physical death is the separation of
the soul and body. (Genesis 35:18) Spiritual death is separation from God.
(Romans 5:12, 17; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13; I Peter 4:6)
How do you explain Matthew 10:28 and other passages that
make a distinction between the body and the soul?
If by "destroy," in Matthew 10:28, Christ meant
a termination of existence, then why did He use the Greek word
"apollumi?" Christ used the word apollumi in Luke 5:37 concerning the
destruction of wineskins ("be ruined." NWT) If God had wanted the
Bible to say or indicate that the soul and the body are distinct and that the
soul is immortal how would He have changed such passages? (Also, note that while
the Bible does say that animals have souls, the Bible does not say or indicate
that animals have immortal souls.)
In Acts 7:59 was Stephen asking Jesus to take away his
bad breath? (Watchtower literature says that the spirit is merely one's
breath.)
If the account of Luke 16:27-31 is a parable and the Rich
Man represents false religious leaders and Lazarus represents true Christians,
as is taught in Watchtower publications, then who were the Rich Man's five
brothers and why did he want Lazarus to witness to them, and why did Jesus
portray Abraham as speaking to a man who no longer existed?
If Luke 16:19-31 is a parable (even though
the context gives no indication of this), have you considered that a parable is
an example or picture which verifies something and a symbol is a small representation
of a greater reality?
How can a copy, no matter how exact, be the original? Is
a copy of a CD the original CD? Is a copy of a document the original document?
If God created an exact duplicate of you today and gave it your exact thoughts,
emotions, and memories, would you and your duplicate always have the same
thoughts, emotions, and memories, or would you actually be separate people
living separate lives? Would you be willing to die so that your duplicate could
continue living your life without you around, since he would really be you and
you would still be living and conscious because he would have your thoughts,
emotions, and memories, your life pattern? (Watchtower publications deny that
physical death is separation of the soul and body, and that resurrection is a
reuniting of the soul and body, by teaching that resurrection means that God
recreates a body with the same life pattern and memories, an exact copy.)
Where does the Bible forbid service in the armed forces
and where in the Bible is any soldier told to resign from the military?
Where does the Bible forbid a medical blood transfusion
to save a life? (Romans 4:15)
Where does the Bible forbid celebrating religious
holidays, such as Christmas? (Romans 14:5-6)
Where does the Bible forbid celebrating birthdays?
While the Bible teaches much about the Old Covenant for
Jews and the New Covenant for Christians, where does the Bible teach a third
arrangement of a "great crowd" of "other sheep" who do not
have a heavenly hope? (John 17:20, 24; I Peter 1:3, 4)
Where is the "great crowd" according to
Revelation 19:1 in the New World Translation? “After these things I heard what
was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: ‘Praise Jah, YOU
people! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God.’”
(Revelation 19:1 NWT) If God had wanted Revelation 19:1 to say that the
"great crowd" has a heavenly hope, how would He have changed this
passage to indicate that?
If Christ had wanted to mean that the "other
sheep" were gentile converts, how would He have changed the wording of
John 10:16 and the context thereof?
The New World Translation is consistent in the
punctuation in the dozens of other New Testament passages where Jesus uses the
expression "Truly I tell you" or "Truly I say to you"
("tell" and "say" are the same word in the Greek text); so
why does the New World Translation make an exception in Luke 23:43 and put a
comma after the word “today.” “And he said to him: ‘Truly I tell you today, You
will be with me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:43 NWT) “And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43 KJV) If I were to vocally and personally say something to you
right now it would be quite obvious that I would be speaking "today;"
where does the context of Luke 23:43 indicate any logical reason that Jesus
would feel the need to verbalize the quite obvious fact that He was speaking
those words on that very day?
Where does the Bible tell you to shun a friend or
relative who conscientiously chooses to leave the Watchtower Organization?
Why does the Watchtower Society avoid the
possibility that “house” in II John 10 refers to a church and that this passage
and its context is dealing with church membership and discipline and not who
you accept into your own home, since the early Christians usually met for
worship in private houses? (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 6:19; Colossians 4:15;
II Timothy 3:6; Philemon 2)
Did you know that the Watchtower Society
originally taught that Charles Taze Russell was God’s “faithful and discreet
slave” of Matthew 24:45-46, and how do you explain the Watchtower Society’s
change of position on this fundamental issue?
If the Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only true
witnesses for God does this mean that God did not have a witness for over
eighteen centuries, since the Jehovah’s Witnesses did not exist as an
organization until the nineteenth century?
According to Acts 2:32, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33,
and Acts 13:30-31, were the early Christians witnesses of Jehovah or of Jesus
Christ?
If the “faithful and discreet slave” of
Matthew 24:45-46 that guides people in their understanding of Scripture did not
exist until modern times does this mean that God did not care if anyone
understood the Bible for all the previous centuries?
How did anyone understand the Bible during
the centuries prior to the existence of the Watchtower Society? What kind of
God gives His people a Bible without any means of understanding it?
If Christ deliberately bypassed the religious
elite and highly educated to reveal truths to ordinary people, and the Apostles
commended and encouraged personal study and discernment, why should we assume
that God intended for people of our generation to receive (without question or
doubt) the interpretations of people claiming to have some special key to
understanding Scripture that ordinary people don't have? If the Bible is the
complete Word of God and the final authority why should we assume that God
expects people of our generation to interpret Bible passages in relation to
Christian literature or a theologian instead of interpreting Bible passages in
relation to context and the whole Bible? Scripture itself is the key to the
interpretation of Scripture. While there definitely is need for ministers and
Christian books, and there are difficulties in the Bible, for the most part the
Bible is self-interpreting and self-explanatory when one is familiar with its
contents.(Psalm 119:104,105,130; Proverbs 2:3-6; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11-12;
II Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17)
Have you ever taken time to personally look
up all the Bible passages cited or referred to in a Watchtower publication to
examine the relationship of each Bible passage to its context and see for
yourself if they are rightly dividing God’s Word or misapplying and misusing
Scripture texts?
Does Romans 14:2-12 indicate that it is
acceptable for Christians to differ on some religious issues, especially
conscientious differences of opinion?
According to John 5:39-40 is Bible knowledge
sufficient for salvation, and what is required for salvation according to this
passage?
Where in the Bible did anyone record their
time in witnessing on paper or have record cards of activ
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