by Randall Watters reprint of the March/April 1987 Bethel Ministries Newsletter This issue we have a letter by an active Jehovah's Witness (a Dentist, no less!) that we can review. He uses the usual proofs to establish that the Watchtower is God's organization and that they alone have the truth of the Bible. I have reprinted the letter starting on page 2, then on pages 8-10 I will give a quick response to the claims of the Witness, which can be used by Christians who wish to quickly break down their faulty foundation early in the conversation. Two important reminders in relation to these quick answers: First and foremost, they must be delivered in a spirit of mildness and love; the Witness is not your enemy, but rather a candidate for the love of Christ. Secondly, you must listen intently to what the Witness is saying, so that you can respond to his/her statement, and not go off on tangents that defeat the purpose of these quick answers. Why give quick answers? You must realize that the usual tactic of the Witness is to criticize the churches and their teachings, thereby elevating themselves as having the truth. The individual JW has often found many effective points of attack that have worked well for him. His technique usually consists of: * asking a question which will open up his plan of attack, * being aggressive in making a point as to why the Watchtower is following the Bible and the churches are not, * changing the subject when the conversation becomes unfavorable to the Watchtower viewpoint (such as when false prophecies are brought up), * bringing up enough difficult issues in rapid succession to cause the Christian to question what is true and what is false. To avoid being manipulated by this effective technique, here are some valuable pointers: * Analyze what the JW is saying; refute that point alone. Refute each assertion made by the Witness quickly; don't discuss the entire subject until you have responded to their first barrage of assertions. This will establish certain things in the mind of the Witness: First, that you have answers that they are not accustomed to hearing; and second, that you have every intention of calling their bluff. This may scare them into leaving, as they may only want to talk to someone who cannot refute them (let them go in peace). Hopefully, however, they will actually respect you, not only for your calmness but that you have studied these issues and have an intelligent answer. * When you have responded intelligently to the barrage of objections the JW has (and without pointing the finger at them personally), he/she will usually be quiet and allow you to say a few things. This is your opportunity to share the message about his/her need to come to Christ and be born again (John 3:3,5,7), and that this is Jehovah's arrangement for life. The article in this Newsletter on "Salvation" would be very helpful to you in this regard. By this time he/she will usually want to dig deeper into some of the answers you gave earlier, and this will give you opportunity to do so. * Remember that your goal is to share the Word about a relationship with Christ; so only deal with their objections to get them out of the way--don't dwell on issues that will embarrass them or make them angry with you, or stir up resentment. If they are lovers of truth, their conscience will provoke them to learn more about what you are saying. My hope is that you will not only gain the respect of the Witness and his interest, but that you will plant some seeds of interest that will later cause him to see his need to search the Word of God on his own, and see that Christ can offer him something far more wonderful than the Watchtower.
Letter from a Jehovah's Witness[Addressed to another ministry in Ohio regarding one of their tracts about JWs] "Friends," I read and noted your letter concerning the so called "cultism" of Jehovah's Witnesses. Your organization must be sincerely interested in determining the truth about religion and the Bible. I am a reasonable and logical individual that is sincerely concerned with finding out the truth about God, his Son Jesus and the Bible. Jesus said it best that he set the "pattern" or "example" for us to follow. He also said that the two most important commandments were love of God and love of fellow man. This is the bottom line whenever one must reasonably decide on a religious organization to follow and accept. Therefore no matter how much one can argue concerning Greek translation or one or two scriptures in the Bible, one cannot claim to be a Christian unless one follows the requirements set forth above by Jesus. Let us make a list of certain practices of well known so-called Christian faiths and see if these practices fit the criteria described by Jesus. If they do not follow his example or commandments they can be truthfully called false prophets and antichrists. This is the bottom line: 1. Neutrality: Jesus said in the 17th chapter of John that neither he nor his followers were part of this world. That in essence means that Christians must be NEUTRAL toward politics. Jehovah's Witnesses are! 2. Killing and warfare: Christ said that one must not kill and that a Christian must love one's enemy as oneself. How could you love your enemy if you killed him? The history of man reflects that most of the so called major "Christian" faiths did go to war, Christian brother against "Christian" brother. I am specifically describing Catholics, all of the main Protestant groups, Mormons and others. Jehovah's Witnesses did not and will not go to war, killing other Christian brothers! 3. Paid clergy class: Jesus specifically told his disciples not to charge for their services. Our beloved brother Paul never charged for his spiritual services and did secular work so that he would not be a "burden" to the brothers. There is no scriptural principle for setting up a special "clergy" class. In fact ALL of the early Christians were ministers. Jehovah's Witnesses follow the above scriptural principles, few other so-called "Christian" groups do. J.W.'s do ask for a contribution for the Christian publications that they feature in their door-to-door ministry but that ONLY covers the cost of printing and publishing. No profit is made. I, in fact, give away much of the literature that I have paid for. Remember Oral Robert's recent request for 4.5 million dollars or that he would be "taken by the Lord!!! What would Jesus think of such unscriptural behavior? 4. Pagan Doctrines and Practices: A careful student will easily discern from the Bible and other recognized authorities that many of today's so called "Christian" holidays are not Christian but are prudently PAGAN. Please read in any encyclopedia noting the Babylonian origin of the following: Christmas, Halloween, Mother's Day, birthdays, Easter, New Year's, etc. Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate such pagan holidays. Second Corinthians says "get out of the unclean thing." Have you?????? I have. 5. Unscriptural doctrines and teachings: The doctrines of the trinity, hellfire, immortality of the soul, that everyone dies and goes to heaven, that Israel is still in a covenant relationship with God, Mary is the mother of God, the Pope is infallible, the cult of the priesthood, etc.--are sincere attempts to explain the Bible. Unfortunately they are ALL unscriptural. I can use ANY BIBLE TRANSLATION and easily DISPROVE any and all of them. In fact any Jehovah's Witness can do the same. J.W.'s do not teach any unscriptural pagan doctrines. Read the 15th chapter of First Corinthians. Notice how after the end of the 1,000 years that Jesus returns the Kingdom to his Father and is SUBJECT TO THE FATHER. No trinity here. Jesus and God are separate individuals and personalities. United in will and purpose but not equal. I have completely looked up hundreds of scriptures in all of the standard translations that disprove the trinity doctrine. No way Jose!!!! The hellfire doctrine is unscriptural and perverted. The scriptural references to hellfire are symbolic for absolute destruction of the wicked and do not mean eternal torment. 6. Use of God's name: The Bible teaches that it is important to know and use God's name and it specifically gives his name to us. Please note Psalms 83:18 in the King James Bible. Jesus knew and used the divine name as noted in the 17th chapter of John. The Lord's prayer in Matthew 6 commands us to sanctify God's name. Unfortunately most Bible translations in current use by so called "Christian" faiths do not contain the divine name. Paul stated in Romans that "Whoever calls on the NAME OF JEHOVAH will be saved." That is a direct quote of the Hebrew scriptures by Paul and in the Hebrew scriptures Jehovah's name is used. Please check out any Bible translation. Significantly the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE, used extensively by Jehovah's Witnesses used it in all the thousands of places that it was used in the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures. Does your church use God's name? Who is internationally known for using it? You got it, Jehovah's Witnesses. 7. Unity of faith: Paul stated in First Corinthians chapter 1, verse 10 that all of Christ's followers should be completely united in the faith. Do we see this in the so-called mainline churches today? Hardly, many are arguing over doctrinal matters, conservative versus progressive fractions. Try to get a group of so called "Christians" together and try to get them to agree on the main teachings of the Bible. Just TRY. I challenge you!!!! On the other hand gather a group of Jehovah's Witnesses together (practicing Witnesses, not disfellowshiped apostates) and see if you can get agreement. You will. All are in perfect harmony. No disparity on the Kingdom, etc... 8. Cultism: Your group accuses J.W.'s of cultism. That is interesting especially considering the fact that we have over 4 million active Witnesses WORLDWIDE. Remember we do not count individuals unless they are professed and active. The Anglican Church claims millions of members, but a small percentage are active, probably (less than 10% according to their own admission). We are the second largest religious group in Italy today. Hardly a cult. A cult professes to glorify an individual. J.W.'s do not. We are not Russellites or Rutherfordites. We are Jehovah's Witnesses. NO SINGLE MAN IS GLORIFIED OR WORSHIPPED IN OUR ORGANIZATION. We produce and print ourselves more religious literature than all of the other so-called "Christian" churches COMBINED. We can hardly be called a cult. Cults are concerned with their self interests, we are interested in the interests of God's Kingdom with Christ as king of that Kingdom. 9. False prophets: All of mankind is imperfect, so are Jehovah's Witnesses. The apostles Paul and Peter both made mistakes, serious ones, but they continued making Christian progress in humility. Please read the first chapter of the Book of Acts and you will note that the early followers of Christ did not understand the timing of his return. Moses made errors. No man on this earth is perfect nor is any religious organization. Without much difficulty I can recite some of the major mistakes of some of the so called churches of Christendom: a. The Inquisition b. Punishment and death for reading the Bible. c. Burnings at the stake for disagreement with church fathers. (Read the history of John Calvin and you will note that he personally had a Christian brother burned at the stake for disagreeing with Calvin's theology. You will remember that Calvin is the founder of the Presbyterian Church). d. Wars and killing of fellow Christians: History well reveals the massive numbers of human beings killed in wars supported by the so-called mainline churches, at last count over 100,000,000 have died in this century! The Catholic Church had an agreement with the Nazi regime of Hitler that they would not interfere with Hitler's politics. The Baptist Church in Germany recently admitted their serious error of not publicly disclaiming Hitler's actions. Ministers and Bishops of both sides "blessing" their country's forces. Hardly actions that could be called Christian. And some have the nerve to call J.W.'s "false prophets." Jesus stated that whoever lives by the sword will die by the sword. 10. The Kingdom: Jesus stated that his main objective was to preach the good news about the Kingdom of God. Who is internationally known for this work? Jehovah's Witnesses are!!! Not the churches of Christendom. Jehovah's Witnesses are fulfilling Bible prophecy (Matthew 24:14). The future of mankind is only in God's real government, the Kingdom, with Jesus as King. Christendom is concerned with the Kingdom as "something within you." Hardly scriptural. 11. Doing God's will: This is the real bottom line for a Christian to accomplish. Jesus noted in the 7th chapter of Matthew that many would come and call upon him (so-called Christians) but that he would disown them because they were not doing the will of his Father. Are you doing God's will? Do you teach individuals about the Kingdom of God, that it is a real government and the only hope for all of us or are you teaching only personal salvation and belief in Christ as the only important thing?? Much more is involved. 12. I can go on and on listing the failures of organized religion: Homosexuals in the ministry, ego-seeking ministers, false pagan doctrines; but I am completely satisfied that Jehovah's Witnesses have more to offer than anyone else that claims to be Christian. You can "put down" our translation but you must realize that Jehovah's Witnesses would not be so unbalanced to use only The New World Translation of the Bible. We use all of the standard accepted translations and cross reference them. Do you think we are stupid? Admittedly some minor variations are present but I am looking and praying for overall harmony in the Bible. I would not be so unwise to place all of my faith in one or two isolated scriptures. Would you? Errors in translation do happen. Translations are not inspired of God, only the original scriptures are. (Second Timothy 3:16). One must read and study the entire Bible using many translations before making reasonable conclusions about God's Word. 13. BOTTOM LINE: I personally feel and can scripturally support that Jehovah's Witnesses are the closest thing to the true Christian faith that is on the earth today. No person has ever given me a better alternative. If you can show me a worldwide organization that meets the Bible's requirements for pure Christianity then I will look elsewhere. In conclusion I am proud to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses and plan to stay one. I have tasted Jehovah's Spiritual Feast and am satisfied with a wonderful spiritual meal. PLEASE REMOVE MY NAME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST. I have tasted and like filet mignon. I never want to eat hamburger again. If you wish to know where you can obtain filet mignon every day forever please visit your local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. You will be welcome. Sincerely, _____ _____, D.D.S. The Christian Response to Jehovah's Witnesses [This is a quick point-by-point response to the letter from a Jehovah's Witness above.] 1. Is "being part of the world" largely a condition of the heart or is it determined solely by outward appearances? Otherwise several servants of God who were outwardly involved in politics of the world, yet in their heart were no part of the world, would be under Jehovah's condemnation. Jehovah's servants were to be no part of the world in all times--it was not a new command with the coming of Christ (Heb. 11:24-27). Daniel was an official in two pagan courts; Joseph was second in charge over all Egypt, and Nehemiah was an official in the court of the pagan King Artaxerxes; yet all three would be classed by the Watchtower as part of the faithful men of old who considered themselves as "strangers and alien residents in the land" (Heb. 11:13,21,22), who were "reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence, God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them." (Heb. 11:13,16, NWT) Accordingly, a Christian may feel a responsibility towards his community or country without necessarily putting his "faith" in such as the ultimate remedy for man's ills. Even John the Baptist counseled soldiers to be content with their wages (not to change professions--Luke 3:14). A LOVE of the world and its ways is what the Bible specifically condemns, and such is not always judged by outward circumstances (1 John 2:15-17). 2. Jehovah's Witnesses will allow for self-defense against intruders or when a person's life is threatened and there is no way out. To allow for self-defense at all is to open the door to interpretation on just what constitutes self-defense. Where does one draw the line? At the door of your own home? What if your neighbor's wife is being butchered to death before your eyes, and you have the opportunity to kill the intruder in the few moments before she is dead? Do you draw the line at your door, your neighbor's door, your community, or your country? In Judges chapter 20 we find that Jehovah allowed and later instructed brother to go to war against brother over a moral issue, knowing that the tolerance of immorality was a greater evil than the killing of the offenders. Son of Abraham fought son of Abraham, and thousands lie dead, even at the direction of Jehovah. Yet, the slaughter began from the natural outrage of the 11 tribes against the tribe of Benjamin for condoning homosexuality; only later did Jehovah join in and direct the war. Godly men had a sense of justice; it was not considered a lack of love for their neighbor to put murderers to death in certain circumstances. To stand by and do nothing is to fail to love one's neighbor. Jesus told his disciples to take up a sword and a money pouch for their rural travels (Luke 22:35,36), since highway robbers were common and they would need protection. This did not contradict his commanding Peter to put away his sword a little later (Matt. 26:52-54), as Peter was trying to use the "arm of flesh" to prevent the fulfillment of prophecy. He was walking in the flesh and trusting in the arm of flesh; the fate of such a man is to die by the arm of flesh. 3. In 1 Cor. 9:15 Paul said that he did not take advantage of his right to receive money for his services. Yet, he makes it clear to the selfish Corinthians that a shepherd of the flock has the God-given right to do so, even allowing for a wife to be supported as well! Jehovah's Witnesses totally ignore verses 3-14, where Paul concludes by saying, "In this way, too, the Lord ordained for those proclaiming the good news to live by means of the good news." (NWT) Rather than the Watchtower being funded by this BIBLICAL manner, they have chosen the alternate method of selling books and magazines from door-to-door, strangely reminiscent of the warning against those who were "peddlers of the Word" (2 Cor. 2:17). Though such activities may not be wrong in and of themselves, the Watchtower makes the claim that they do not make any money from their literature; it is only offered to "cover the cost of printing." Yet, the Witness is not aware that about 70% of the organization's funds are derived from selling books and literature. Additionally, the Watchtower believes in appointing bishops and deacons, which they have renamed as "overseers" (or, elders) and "ministerial servants," discarding the more accurate Greek designations of presbyters, bishops, and deacons. Even the Watchtower has recognized that in a technical sense, only these are truly ministers; though they have gone back and forth on this teaching. Some of those appointed by the Governing Body are paid by the organization, namely, the Circuit and District Overseers and missionaries, as well as members of the Bethel Families. HOW MUCH they are paid is not the issue. The issue is, these men are "appointed to the office of overseer" by the Governing Body and some are PAID. As far as what individual Christians do that may be in disobedience to the Word or to the principles of the Word, they will have to suffer the consequences. Unlike the Watchtower, Christians do not believe in a particular "organization" that has to be justified in its actions; believers are individuals and are dealt with accordingly by God. Mr. Roberts has been rebuked by many fellow Christians in a spirit of love already. His ministry is not viewed as "God's sole channel of truth to the world," as is the Watchtower. In summary, Jehovah's Witnesses certainly DO NOT follow the Scriptural precedents laid out by Paul for financing the church; they have chosen their own method, and arrogantly criticize the churches for doing what Paul said was okay to do! A loyal Jehovah's Witness would not give away his literature, either, as he is continually taught NOT to in the Watchtower's Kingdom Service, as it supposedly causes confusion in the people that normally buy the literature. You are out of bounds in this. 4. Studious Christians have been aware of the origins of Holidays for centuries; it is not a new idea brought to light by Jehovah's Witnesses; it's just that Witnesses never bother to ask good Bible students WHY they STILL celebrate holidays. Jehovah's Witnesses use the Gregorian calendar, which names days of the week and months of the year after ancient gods and goddesses, and think nothing of it. Why? Because such "grossly pagan trappings" have long since lost their significance. Who cares if pagans worshipped trees centuries ago; that the Spring Equinox was once a time of fertility rights, and that some people were put to death on their birthdays? It appears that Job, a righteous man, celebrated the birthdays of his children (Job 1:4), and the angels celebrated the birth of Christ (Luke 2:8-14). Paul said that we are not to be judged as to whether we hold certain days above another or not; let each one be convinced in his own mind (Col. 2:16; Rom. 14:5). It is noteworthy that the Watchtower does not forbid the celebration of wedding anniversaries, yet censures the observance of the birth of an individual! We are to flee from idolatry, and Paul says to quit touching the "unclean thing," assuming, of course, that it is still a recognized form of false worship. Holidays (at least in the Western world) are no longer considered as days of worship to particular gods, and the suggestion of such is at best amusing to the Westerner, who sees holidays as a day off and a time to be with the family, etc. 5. It's interesting that not only is the basis for almost all the "false" doctrines you just mentioned contained in the Bible, but scholars have recognized such for 2000 years. Even the early church fathers from the first two hundred years of the church wrote extensively on the Deity of Christ, the personality of the Spirit, the resurrection body, the nature of the soul, hell, etc., and these are the men who determined what was canonical (inspired) and what was not! Yet you, who accept the 66 books of the Bible as inspired (how do you know all 66 books are inspired, unless you agree with the early church?) reject the very men whose existence and writings are necessary to establish the authenticity of these books! The Watchtower uses a non-historical method of interpretation (dependent on their Governing Body), ignoring the historical context of numerous Bible verses. The Witness attempts to force a unique 20th-century interpretation onto a book of antiquity. Rather than using the historical, grammatical, interpretive method of understanding Bible doctrine, the Watchtower has a board of interpreters in Brooklyn that decide on matters of interpretation--the very sin of which they accuse the Catholic Church! Jehovah's Witnesses can construct a chain of Scriptures which appear to prove their point, but such chains ignore the historical context of the very verses they quote. The subjection of Christ to the Father no more denies the trinity than does the subjection of woman to the man deny her equality with man. Neither do Trinitarians consider the Father and the Son to be the same person, as you suggest. What you appear to be disproving is a straw-man concept of the trinity. The existence of hell was taught by none other than Christ himself, and supported by most of the other Bible writers (Luke 16:19-31; Matt. 18:8,9; 24:48-51). Obviously, you are not aware of the prevailing teachings on hell and everlasting punishment of the Jewish faith--teachings that Jesus not only failed to address as unscriptural, but rather, embellished and used as a warning to those who reject his words! On what basis, furthermore, can you write off such a commonly accepted doctrine, which his followers understood only too well? Is it rather not because you don't want to believe something that you make it "symbolic?" What is your criteria for determining whether something is symbolic or not? What is your method of interpretation? 6. Jesus tells us that he magnifies the name of the Father; he does not use the name as a test of faith or as a charm. The magicians of the first century apparently used the divine name as a charm in their magic practices, but that does not make them servants of God. There is NO EVIDENCE that Jesus actually pronounced the divine name, since none of the existing New Testament manuscripts have the name YHWH in them; his talk of the name of God more likely involved the reputation and person of God, rather than the pronunciation of his name. It appears that the CHRISTIANS (not the Jews) were the ones who (from the start of translating their sacred books) left the tetragrammaton (YHWH) out. They became skilled at using the Septuagint (the Jews' Greek Bible of the day) to prove that Christ was the person behind many Old Testament passages previously attributed to Yahweh. Therefore, the "name above ALL names" in the New Testament was JESUS, and it was the Father's good purpose that all things be done in the name of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father (Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:9-11). Yahweh intended that the name of his Son, not his name, be the means to salvation, and that he would receive the glory from this. To shift the emphasis to the name of "Jehovah" would be in direct contradiction to God's will. The New World Translation has attempted to "restore" the name of God in their their New Testament on the presumption that the early church must have put it there when quoting from certain Old Testament texts, though the evidence is strongly against such a conclusion. There is little evidence that the early Christians ever pronounced the divine name, wrote it, or even considered it as a mark of the true faith at all. The question is not, "Do you pronounce the divine name?" but rather, do you magnify the name of JESUS? Who is internationally known for using the name of Jesus (not "Jehovah")? 7. If you are trying to prove that Paul required Christians to agree in all things, you are mistaken. The early church was quite diverse in various matters (Rom. 14:1-6). Some were staunch vegetarians; some could consider certain days (holy days) as important if they wanted (and they were not to judge others who disagreed). The context of 1 Cor. 1:10 does not involve doctrine per se; it is regarding their bickering and elitist mentality they had towards each other. Corinth was the center of the Gnostic mind, where each one prized themselves on knowing something that others didn't. Paul calls this childish, and urges them to get out of their playpens and to get along with one another. The same tendencies even exist in the churches today, as this is simply human nature. Mainline Protestant denominations generally agree on the trinity, the nature of the soul, eternal punishment, the bodily resurrection, the heavenly hope, the new birth, etc. On less important issues, there are differences. You seem to be looking for absolute conformity; something which never existed in true Christianity, but only in the cults which broke away from the faith. Such absolute conformity could only be maintained by excommunicating any who disagreed in the slightest with the "prophet" set up as the sole interpreter in such groups. Any organization can create that type of unity by becoming cultic, but that is not Christianity. 8. The number of members in an organization does not determine whether they are a cult or not; Mormons are more numerous than JWs. Neither is following a man the sole criteria. One can follow a group of men as if they were one man (Russell was once the Watchtower's "faithful and discreet slave," now the Governing Body of 13 men represents this "slave"). If this group sets themselves up as the sole interpreter of the Bible, they are most definitely a cult. 1 John 2:27 says that we have no need for certain men to teach us the truth, for the Spirit teaches us such things. Jehovah's Witnesses talk about the "Society" as Communists talk about the "Party," in an attempt to convey that many are ruling their organization, when, in fact, only a few men make all decisions and tell the others what to believe. 9. All Biblical prophets were known to be imperfect, but it didn't change the fact that they were killed for making a false prophecy in the name of Jehovah (regardless of "admitting their mistakes" when the prophecies didn't come true--any idiot would have to admit his mistake if he predicted the end of the world and it didn't come true). Paul and Peter made mistakes, yes; false prophecies, no! You are using the Reasoning From the Scriptures technique of confusing the issue here, then you go on to attack certain practices of the Catholic Church in order to draw attention away from your past record of failed prophecies. Furthermore, I do not intend to represent the Catholic or Baptist Church, but Christianity as a whole. 10. The "good news" according to the Apostle Paul is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ; i.e., the message that Christ died for your sins. This was the very message that got over 3000 saved in ONE DAY in Acts chapter two (Acts 2:41,47). The Watchtower, on the other hand, claims that they are preaching a new gospel, not taught in centuries past; namely, that Christ was enthroned in 1914 and is now administering earth's affairs through the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society! (WT, May 1, 1981, p.17) Paul himself warned of those coming along with a "different gospel" (2 Cor. 11:4), and Jesus warned of those claiming a "secret return" of Christ, since Christ's real return would be evident to all, believers and non-believers alike (Matt. 24:23-27; Rev. 1:7). The churches are the ones who are preaching the same simple salvation message (as in Acts 2), not Jehovah's Witnesses. To the JW, the "Kingdom" represents the government of the anointed remnant over the earth; to a Christian it means not only God's future government by Christ, but more especially, the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer--certainly Scriptural! 11. To those who were concerned about trying to work to please God (as if salvation was based on works), Jesus said that "this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom he has sent" (John 6:29), namely Jesus Christ. The question is NOT are we going door-to-door and preaching about a government by 13 men in Brooklyn or 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, but whether or not we have repented of our sins and become born again! (John 3:3,5,7) ONLY THEN can a person really please God by his works, since God is then at work IN HIM (Phil. 2:13). By bypassing this important step, a person remains under the wrath of God in disobedience (John 3:36). Paul said that he chose to preach nothing but the "cross of Christ," since this was the message that the Holy Spirit chose to work through and save people--not clever rhetoric (1 Cor. 1:17-24). 12. You have not yet come to know what Christianity has to offer. I would like to show you, if you will sincerely listen. Your New World Translation reads considerably different on passages involving the nature of Christ, the resurrection, and the indwelling Spirit. Perhaps you would like to sit down with me and discuss why they have changed these verses, and what other Bibles say, as well as what the Greek or Hebrew says. 13. I am offering you a better alternative than the shifting doctrines of the Watchtower, if you will but listen. To know Christ personally is the greatest experience a man can have; but you must be born again to understand the things of God. Are you willing to be obedient to Jesus when he said we must be born again? I will not point you to a fallible organization, but to a perfect and everlasting relationship with the Son of God, in whom all of Deity is manifest and in whom everything is complete in heaven and earth. What more could you ask for? |
HOW TO RESPOND
to Jehovah's Witnesses
