Category: Jehovah’s witnesses

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One Reason Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christian.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Here is one big reason why the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christians. They deny the deity of Jesus, and as a consequence the Trinity. They believe he was the archangel Michael, who was transfigured by God the Father into the man Jesus. They believe he was a created being. They believe he was just a man. This is a quote from their website,

“Jesus’ opposers accused him of making himself equal to God. (John 5:18; 10:30-33) However, Jesus never claimed to be on the same level as Almighty God. He said: “The Father is greater than I am.”—John 14:28.

 Jesus’ early followers did not view him as being equal to Almighty God. For example, the apostle Paul wrote that after Jesus was resurrected, God “exalted him [Jesus] to a superior position.” Obviously, Paul did not believe that Jesus was Almighty God. Otherwise, how could God exalt Jesus to a superior position? —Philippians 2:9.

JW.org

Jesus was accused of making Himself equal to God. Why else would these people want to stone Him to death. The one verse of scripture they quote is ridiculous because it proves the opposite point they are trying to make when you simply read a few verses previous, and prior to it.

“…18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God…” John 5:18

All one must do is read John 1 you say? Well the JW’s have their own version of the, ahem… “bible” called the New Word Translation. It isn’t actually a true translation. It is a hack job done by their scripture twisters to make it say what they want it to say. They change John 1 into saying that, “and the Word was a god.” That quote comes from their website where they have their N.W.T. available to read for free. Here is what the Bible really says in John1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was in the beginning with God.3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” John 1:1-5

“14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.15 John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’”16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:14-18

Let’s not overlook the fact that Jesus accepted worship from people as God. If He was not God, He would have rebuked them for worshipping Him, or else He would have been guilty of sin.

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind stopped.33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly God’s Son!”34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;36 and they were pleading with Him that they might just touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were cured.” Matthew 14:31-36

This is where the wise men came to Him, “And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.11 And after coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their own country by another way.” Matthew 2:10b-12

“8And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.” Matthew 28:8-9

“Then He said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”” John 20:27-29

These sections of scripture should be enough to show that either Jesus was actually God, and so worshipping Him was not a sin, and it was not a sin for Him to accept that worship, or He was a liar, and a sinner for portraying Himself as God and accepting worship as God. The entire Biblical context provided from the beginning of the Old Testament, to the end of the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus is God incarnate. To deny the deity of Christ is to prove that you do not know Him.

We haven’t even addressed the ἐγώ εἰμί (ego eimi) statements Jesus made. When Jesus says, “I am” He is declaring that He is YhVh. It is a direct relation to the proper name of God which God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. For a fuller treatment of this information you can read this article from Dr. James White.

“​1 When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples. 2 Now Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met there with His disciples. 3  Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, *came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and *said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He *said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9 to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.” 10 Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”” John 18:1-11

This is a quote from the MacArthur Study Bible on this last bit of scripture,

“John 18:4–8 Whom do you seek? By twice asking that question (vv. 4 7), to which they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth” (vv. 5 7), Jesus was forcing them to acknowledge that they had no authority to take his disciples. In fact, he demanded that they let the disciples go (v. 8). The force of his demand was established by the power of his words. When he spoke, “I am he” (v. 6), a designation he had used before to declare himself God (8:28 58; cf. 6:35 8:12 10:7 9 11 14 11:25 14:6 15:1 5), they were jolted backward and to the ground (18:6). This power display and the authoritative demand not to take the disciples were of immense significance, as the next verse indicates. John 18:8”

Apologetics · Deity of Christ · God · Islam Muslims quran · Jehovah's witnesses · mormonism · Theology · Trinity · Uncategorized

The Deity of Christ from the Old Testament for our Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, and Muslim friends, part 2.

Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Today we are going to pick up where we left off from the last article you can read it here.  Earlier we examined Genesis 15:1-2 to see that the Word of the Lord is God.  We also connected these verses with John 1:1-18 to see that the Word is Jesus.  Today we are going to look at Genesis 15:3-7 which will reinforce our previous assertion that the Word of the Lord is God, Jesus is the Word, and Jesus is God.  [The text in the brackets is mine.]  The blue text indicates who is doing the action and the red is what is being done.

Genesis 15:3-7 (NASB) 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

[If you notice, the person doing the talking is identified as “the word of the Lord.”  You can tell he is a person because he is, “saying.”  The word of the Lord is speaking to Abram.]

“This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said,

[Notice the Word is referred to as, “He.”  What did He do?  He, “took him outside and said…”  How can anyone look at these verses and not come to the conclusion that the Word of the Lord is God, and how can they, in light of John 1:1-18 not see that Jesus is the Word and He is God?]

“Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6  Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”

If this isn’t enough, I’ll post some more later on.  Study the word, to know the Word, and His intent.  Knowing Him is knowing God.  To know God, and be known by Him, to be His adopted child and heir, is to be saved by this Triune God’s grace according to His sovereign will, regenerating and indwelling by His Spirit, and the justifying work on the cross of His Son.

Apologetics · Deity of Christ · God · Islam Muslims quran · Jehovah's witnesses · mormonism · Theology · Trinity · Uncategorized

The Deity of Christ from the Old Testament for our Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, and Muslim friends.

Bob Snyder1 Comment

lamb

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the same accusation from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons (LDS), and Muslims.  They claim that Jesus is not God, but a god, good man, prophet, teacher, and so on.  I think it is great that we can always go to the word of God to let it make the defense.  Charles Spurgeon was quoted as saying, “The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.”  I agree with him.

With that being said let’s take a look at Genesis 15:1-2, and John 1:1-18.

In Genesis 15:1-2 we see that the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. Now, you don’t hear a vision. You see it. Some people would insist that this is just Abram hearing God speak to him, but this is actually the preincarnate Christ appearing to Abram in a vision, and speaking to him. Abram said, “…O LORD God…” or אֲדֹנָי ’ăḏônây; an emphatic form of âḏôn; or (shortened) אָדֹן ’adon; from an unused root (meaning to rule); sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine): — lord, master, owner. Compare also names beginning with “Adoni-”.; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only): — (my) Lord. In this section of God’s word ăḏônây is used in conjunction with יְהוָֹה yhwh; (the) self-being aseity or Eternal; name of God: — the Lord. So essentially he is saying, Adonai YHWH or Sovereign eternal self-being, was being, is being, always is, one and only true God.  It is obvious that Abram believed the word of the LORD to be the one true, eternal, and self-being God.

We can look at John 1:1-18 and see who John said the Word of God is. Again, it is obvious that Jesus is the Word.

John 1:1-18 (NASB) 1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  He was in the beginning with God. 3  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
The Witness John
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7  He came  as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8   He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Word Made Flesh
14 And the Word became flesh, and  dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18  No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Jesus is not a god like the Mormons say.  He was not Michael the angel transfigured like the Jehovah’s Witnesses would tell you.  He was not just a prophet like Muslims claim.  If there is any doubt now that Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God, it is not due to lack of evidence.  It is due to disbelief.  May God grant you true and saving faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord and God.