Mon, Nov 6th - 5:10PM
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Every Jehovah’s Witness Should Be Asked These Questions (Using the New World Translation):
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? 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 Watchtower teaching is based
on 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? 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? 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 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? (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;
John 14:28) 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 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) 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
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 was created? (Revelation 21:6; 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 4:16, 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 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 human 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 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 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 activity assigned as gauges
or measurements of spirituality? "Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the
entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed
based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible as the standard for all their
beliefs." (Reasoning From The Scriptures, p.199) "Because Jehovah's
Witnesses base all of their beliefs, their standards for conduct, and
organizational procedures on the Bible, their faith in the Bible itself as God's
Word gives them the conviction that what they have is indeed the truth. So
their position is not egotistical but demonstrates their confidence that the
Bible is the right standard against which to measure one's religion."
(Reasoning From The Scriptures, p.203-204) Where does the Bible say that a prophet is no
longer a false prophet if he admits he made a mistake after a prophecy fails?
(Consider Deuteronomy 18:20-22) Do the many failed predictions of the
Watchtower Society ever make you question if they really are God’s channel of
truth? Where does the Bible say that a person must
belong to an organization that didn’t exist until the 19th century to survive
Armageddon? How do you reconcile the Watchtower teaching
that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will not reside with Christ in His heavenly
kingdom with Matthew 8:11? How could Christ preach to the “spirits in
prison” who were alive during the days of Noah, and how was the gospel preached
to “them that are dead,” if there is no consciousness after death? (I Peter
3:18-20; 4:5-6) If “the spirits in prison” in I Peter 3:19
refers to demons and not people who died before the resurrection of Christ,
then why did Jesus preach to demons? Why did the Holy Spirit speak directly and
refer to Himself as “me” and “I” in Acts 13:2? If Christ is not God, how do you reconcile
John 17:5 with Isaiah 42:8 and Isaiah 48:11? If the NWT is the most accurate word for word
translation of the Bible, why is the word “son” added to Acts 20:28 even though
the word “son” is not in the Greek text of Acts 20:28? If Christ was created by God and is the
wisdom of God, as taught in Watchtower publications, how is it possible that
God was ever without wisdom? (Proverbs 8:1-4, 12, 22-31) If the Watchtower Society can trace its roots
all the way back to Christ, can you name one Jehovah’s Witness who lived before
the 19th century? Why does the Watchtower Society withhold the
names of the men on the New World Translation Committee who translated the
Hebrew and Greek texts into English for the New World Translation so that
nobody can see if they had any credentials that qualified them to produce a
Bible translation? Why did Paul make a distinction between a
person’s body and their soul in Acts 20:10? Why did Christ tell the early Christians they
would be persecuted for the sake of His (Jesus’) name instead of Jehovah’s
name? (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:12, 17; Acts 9:16) If the human soul is the body then how can
the soul come out of a person? (Genesis 35:18) Why does the New World Translation put the
name Jehovah in the New Testament even though it does not occur in the Greek
text of the New Testament? -Arnold J. Saxton For more information about Jehovah’s
Witnesses visit: Witnesses For Jesus, Inc. www.4witness.org AnswerJW.com www.answer.com MM Outreach Inc. www.mmoutreachinc.com TowerWatch Ministries www.towerwatch.com Six Screens of the Watchtower www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com
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