Click on the following links for informative articles concerning this:
How Jehovah's Witnesses Are Organized? (From the Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site)
Jehovah's Witnesses - Their Worldwide Organization and Work (From the Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site)
Our Ministry, History and Organization (From Jehovah’s Witnesses Official Media Web Site)
Click on the following links to view answers to other common questions about Jehovah's Witnesses:
Where can I find the Official Jehovah's Witnesses' Web Site, On-line Publications and Public Information?
How Can I Contact My Local Jehovah's Witnesses?
Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Christian religion?
What beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses set them apart as different from other religions?
Where And How Do Jehovah's Witnesses Meet?
How Old is the Religion of Jehovah's Witnesses?
Are Jehovah's Witnesses an American religion?
Why have there been changes over the years in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses?
Their Contributions to the Community
What Impact Have Jehovah's Witnesses Had on Civil Liberties in The United States?
What are some early christian writings that support Jehovah's Witnesses' teachings?
How are they financed?
Don't Other Religions Besides Jehovah's Witnesses Also Follow The Bible?
Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe that their religion is the only right one?
Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only they will be saved?
What is the fate of those whose beliefs differ from Jehovah's Witnesses?
Why are Jehovah's Witnesses persecuted and spoken against?
Why do some people hate Jehovah's Witnesses?
What does it mean to be a "Witness for Jehovah"?
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Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
What is the scriptural basis for the abstinence of blood and is it relevant for Christians today?
A conference occurred in 49 C.E., in which the apostles and older men of Jerusalem who served as a central body of elders for all Christians held a discussion. In this discussion, Jesus’ half brother James brought to the council’s attention certain essential things that he deemed important to include in their decisions, in particular, "to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood." (Acts 15:19-21) He referred back to the writings of Moses, which reveal that even before the Law was given, God had disapproved of immoral sex relations, idolatry and the eating of blood, which would include eating the flesh of strangled animals containing blood. -Genesis 9:3, 4; 19:1-25; 34:31; 35:2-4
The decision was made, and as they themselves stated, was made in accord with God’s holy spirit:
"The holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper." -Acts 15:28, 29.
So the divine prohibition against blood applies to Christians today. Throughout human history, God consistently made it clear for humans to abstain from blood. God began with commanding Noah and his family to abstain from blood. (Gen. 9:4) He repeated this through the Mosaic law (Le 7:26,27; 17:10, 11, 13, 14) and He continued to remind us through the pages of the New Testament. (Acts 15:28, 29; Acts 15:19, 20)
"This law [of abstaining from blood] was ancienter than the days of Moses, being given to Noah and his sons, long before the days of Abraham: and therefore when the Apostles and Elders in the Council at Jerusalem declared that the Gentiles were not obliged to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, they excepted this law of abstaining from blood, and things strangled, as being an earlier law of God, imposed not on the sons of Abraham only, but on all nations, while they lived together in Shinar under the dominion of Noah: and of the same kind is the law of abstaining from meats offered to Idols or false Gods, and from fornication." (Italics his) -The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, by Sir Isaac Newton (Dublin, 1728, p. 184)
"It ought to be observed, that this prohibition of eating blood, given to Noah and all his posterity, and repeated to the Israelites, in a most solemn manner, under the Mosaic dispensation, has never been revoked, but, on the contrary, has been confirmed under the New Testament, Acts xv.; and thereby made of perpetual obligation." - Joseph Benson; Benson’s Notes, 1839, Vol. I, p. 43.
For more, see:
FAQs about the Sanctity of Blood
The decision was made, and as they themselves stated, was made in accord with God’s holy spirit:
"The holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If you carefully keep yourselves from these things, you will prosper." -Acts 15:28, 29.
So the divine prohibition against blood applies to Christians today. Throughout human history, God consistently made it clear for humans to abstain from blood. God began with commanding Noah and his family to abstain from blood. (Gen. 9:4) He repeated this through the Mosaic law (Le 7:26,27; 17:10, 11, 13, 14) and He continued to remind us through the pages of the New Testament. (Acts 15:28, 29; Acts 15:19, 20)
"This law [of abstaining from blood] was ancienter than the days of Moses, being given to Noah and his sons, long before the days of Abraham: and therefore when the Apostles and Elders in the Council at Jerusalem declared that the Gentiles were not obliged to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, they excepted this law of abstaining from blood, and things strangled, as being an earlier law of God, imposed not on the sons of Abraham only, but on all nations, while they lived together in Shinar under the dominion of Noah: and of the same kind is the law of abstaining from meats offered to Idols or false Gods, and from fornication." (Italics his) -The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, by Sir Isaac Newton (Dublin, 1728, p. 184)
"It ought to be observed, that this prohibition of eating blood, given to Noah and all his posterity, and repeated to the Israelites, in a most solemn manner, under the Mosaic dispensation, has never been revoked, but, on the contrary, has been confirmed under the New Testament, Acts xv.; and thereby made of perpetual obligation." - Joseph Benson; Benson’s Notes, 1839, Vol. I, p. 43.
For more, see:
FAQs about the Sanctity of Blood
Friday, May 28, 2010
Paradise - Links to Information
Click on any of the following to view:
PARADISE - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
PARADISE (Insight-2 pp. 574-577; Watchtower Online Library)
Paradise (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
Are the paradise conditions described in Isa. 11:6-9 a literal or figurative promise? (Search For Bible Truths)
Luke 23:43 and the New World Translation (Search For Bible Truths)
NWT and Luke 23:43 (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
If true Christians will live on Paradise Earth forever, won't over-population become a problem? (Search For Bible Truths)
PARADISE (Insight-2 pp. 574-577; Watchtower Online Library)
Paradise (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
Are the paradise conditions described in Isa. 11:6-9 a literal or figurative promise? (Search For Bible Truths)
Luke 23:43 and the New World Translation (Search For Bible Truths)
NWT and Luke 23:43 (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
If true Christians will live on Paradise Earth forever, won't over-population become a problem? (Search For Bible Truths)
Would it be boring to live forever? (Search For Bible Truths)
When God’s will is done on earth, will people still get sick or die? (Search For Bible Truths)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
What should a Christian's actions be, if any, toward someone who is desiring to know and follow God's counsel, yet whose status may at present be considered that of an illegal alien?
The Bible advises Christians to obey the laws of the land in all matters where it is not in conflict with God's law. (Rom. 13:1; Acts 5:29) But the Bible does not charge us to become acquainted with all the details of civil and criminal law so as to enforce these.
We have an example in Onesimus. He was a run away slave and yet was with the apostle Paul. While Onesimus was in Rome, Paul didn't hand him over to the Roman authorities for punishment as a fugitive slave and a possible thief. Though Paul believed that a Christian should obey the law of the land, he clearly did not consider that it was the duty of the congregation to serve as an arm of the government in policing people's lives. Paul personally urged Onesimus to return to his legal master and eventually he did. We have to balance those things which are directly spoken of as wrong, with those which may offend Caesar but not Jehovah. (See Philem. 8-22.)
Similarly, today, we don't check every detail as to a person's legal status in the country. But we do strive to abide by the laws of the land that we live in, according to our best knowledge of them.
For much more, see:
Are illegal immigrant Witnesses reproved? (JWQ&A)
We have an example in Onesimus. He was a run away slave and yet was with the apostle Paul. While Onesimus was in Rome, Paul didn't hand him over to the Roman authorities for punishment as a fugitive slave and a possible thief. Though Paul believed that a Christian should obey the law of the land, he clearly did not consider that it was the duty of the congregation to serve as an arm of the government in policing people's lives. Paul personally urged Onesimus to return to his legal master and eventually he did. We have to balance those things which are directly spoken of as wrong, with those which may offend Caesar but not Jehovah. (See Philem. 8-22.)
Similarly, today, we don't check every detail as to a person's legal status in the country. But we do strive to abide by the laws of the land that we live in, according to our best knowledge of them.
For much more, see:
Are illegal immigrant Witnesses reproved? (JWQ&A)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Was there ever a heavenly hope held out to God’s servants prior to the coming of Christ Jesus?
While Jesus was on earth, he clearly stated that “no man has ascended into heaven.” (John 3:13) At Pentecost, Peter likewise said of David that he “did not ascend to the heavens.” (Acts 2:34) In reality, there is nothing in the Scriptures to show that a heavenly hope was held out to God’s servants prior to the coming of Christ Jesus. Such hope first appears in Jesus’ expressions to his disciples (Mt. 19:21, 23-28; Luke 12:32)
Just examing one instance in John 14:2, 3, Jesus said that he was going to heaven to prepare a place for the apostles. That means no place existed prior to the one being prepared.
This was fully comprehended by his disciples only after Pentecost of 33 C.E. - Acts 1:6-8; 2:1-4, 29-36; Rom. 8:16, 17.
The Scriptures show that Christ Jesus was the first one to ascend from earth to the heavens of God’s presence. (1 Cor. 15:20; Heb 9:24) By such ascension and his presentation of his ransom sacrifice there, he ‘opened the way’ for those who would follow—the spirit-begotten members of his congregation. (John 14:2, 3; Heb. 6:19, 20; 10:19, 20)
For more, see:
Heaven
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Just examing one instance in John 14:2, 3, Jesus said that he was going to heaven to prepare a place for the apostles. That means no place existed prior to the one being prepared.
This was fully comprehended by his disciples only after Pentecost of 33 C.E. - Acts 1:6-8; 2:1-4, 29-36; Rom. 8:16, 17.
The Scriptures show that Christ Jesus was the first one to ascend from earth to the heavens of God’s presence. (1 Cor. 15:20; Heb 9:24) By such ascension and his presentation of his ransom sacrifice there, he ‘opened the way’ for those who would follow—the spirit-begotten members of his congregation. (John 14:2, 3; Heb. 6:19, 20; 10:19, 20)
For more, see:
Heaven
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
“Hallowed be thy name” - What name?
“Hallowed be thy name” - What name?
Jesus gave this prayer to the Father (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). He began this prayer by saying ‘Hallowed be thy name’ or, in more modern English, ‘May your Holy Name be honored.’- GNB (cf. JB, NJB, MLB, LB, etc.)
Obviously, since he was praying to the Father in heaven, he didn’t mean his own name: Jesus. So what is the Father’s name? It is the same name which is the only name to be called the ‘holy name’ in all of the scriptures.
Here are some examples:
(ASV) Leviticus 22:1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they hallow unto me, and that they profane not my holy name: I am Jehovah.
(ASV) Leviticus 22:31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am Jehovah. 32 And ye shall not profane my holy name ….
(ASV) 1 Chronicles 16:7 Then on that day did David first ordain to give thanks unto Jehovah, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren. 8 O give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; Make known his doings among the peoples. 9 Sing unto him, sing praises unto him; Talk ye of all his marvellous works. 10 Glory ye in his holy name;
(ASV) 1 Chronicles 16:34 O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth for ever. 35 And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us together and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, ….
(ASV) Psalms 33:1 Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous: …. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, Because we have trusted in his holy name.
(ASV) Psalms 103:1 Bless Jehovah, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless his holy name.
(ASV) Psalms 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah; And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
(ASV) Ezekiel 20:39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
(ASV) Ezekiel 36:20 And when they came unto the nations, whither they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
(ASV) Ezekiel 39:7 And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah,
(ASV) Amos 2:6 Thus saith Jehovah: …. 7 they that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name ….
I don’t believe you will find any scripture which refers to anyone but Jehovah (who is the Father) by the use of the term “holy name.”
So when Jesus prayed to the Father and praised His “holy (or ‘hallowed’) name,” he was also identifying the Father as Jehovah (YHWH).
For more on the essential knowledge of who God and Jesus really are (John 17:1, 3) see the KNOW study.
For more about God's Name, see:
God's Name
Monday, May 24, 2010
Rapture - Links to Information
(Also see the Heaven category.)
Click on any of the following to view:
RAPTURE - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
Rapture (rs p. 312-p. 317; Watchtower Online Library)
What is the "Rapture" and is it a Bible Teaching? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is Matt 24:40-42 Really Evidence For the "Rapture"? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)
When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be "caught up" to be with the Lord, what subject was being discussed? (Search For Bible Truths)
Who are the ones that will be `caught up in the clouds,' as stated at 1 Thessalonians 4:17? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will Christ appear visibly on a cloud and then take away faithful Christians into the heavens while the world looks on? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will all true Christians perhaps be taken to heaven after the great tribulation? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will faithful Christians perhaps be taken to heaven secretly, simply disappearing from the earth without dying? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Click on any of the following to view:
RAPTURE - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
Rapture (rs p. 312-p. 317; Watchtower Online Library)
What is the "Rapture" and is it a Bible Teaching? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is Matt 24:40-42 Really Evidence For the "Rapture"? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)
When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be "caught up" to be with the Lord, what subject was being discussed? (Search For Bible Truths)
Who are the ones that will be `caught up in the clouds,' as stated at 1 Thessalonians 4:17? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will Christ appear visibly on a cloud and then take away faithful Christians into the heavens while the world looks on? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will all true Christians perhaps be taken to heaven after the great tribulation? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Will faithful Christians perhaps be taken to heaven secretly, simply disappearing from the earth without dying? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Sunday, May 23, 2010
God's Kingdom - Links to Information
Click on any of the following to view:
KINGDOM OF GOD (Insight-2 pp. 159-170; Watchtower Online Library)
Kingdom - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
What is God's Kingdom? (Search For Bible Truths)
What Is God’s Kingdom? (Pastor Russell)
The Good News of the Kingdom of God (Pastor Russell)
Kingdom - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
What is God's Kingdom? (Search For Bible Truths)
What Is God’s Kingdom? (Pastor Russell)
The Good News of the Kingdom of God (Pastor Russell)
When will God's Kingdom come? (Search For Bible Truths)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
When God’s will is done on earth, will people still get sick or die?
No.
When Jesus was on Earth he healed the sick. (Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:40-42; John 5:5-9) The Bible shows that as ruler of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jesus will do healing on a far grander scale than when he was on earth:
"At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness. For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain." (Isa. 35:5,6)
"And no resident will say: “I am sick.”' (Isa. 33:24)
Jehovah God can and will undo the cause of sickness and heal all our "maladies":
"Him who is forgiving all your error, Who is healing all your maladies." (Psalm 103:3)
“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3, 4)
For more, see:
Earth
Are the paradise conditions described in Isa. 11:6-9 a literal or figurative promise?
Why did God create deadly microrganisms? (jwitness forum)
Articles from the WBTS:
When Sickness Is No More!
Does the Devil Make Us Sick?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
When Jesus was on Earth he healed the sick. (Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:40-42; John 5:5-9) The Bible shows that as ruler of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jesus will do healing on a far grander scale than when he was on earth:
"At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness. For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain." (Isa. 35:5,6)
"And no resident will say: “I am sick.”' (Isa. 33:24)
Jehovah God can and will undo the cause of sickness and heal all our "maladies":
"Him who is forgiving all your error, Who is healing all your maladies." (Psalm 103:3)
“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3, 4)
For more, see:
Earth
Are the paradise conditions described in Isa. 11:6-9 a literal or figurative promise?
Why did God create deadly microrganisms? (jwitness forum)
Articles from the WBTS:
When Sickness Is No More!
Does the Devil Make Us Sick?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Preaching - Links to Information
Click on any link to view:
PREACHING - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
PREACHER, PREACHING (Insight-2 pp. 671-674; Watchtower Online Library)
Preaching (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
The Good News of the Kingdom of God (Pastor Russell)
Does the method of preaching from house to house have its basis in the Scriptures? (Search For Bible Truths)
Regarding the ministry, how do we know that it is the duty of each and every Christian and not just a few? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
What is an "evangelizer" and how is it different from a minister/publisher? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
House to House (Pastor Russell)
Why did Jesus use the scriptures when talking to people? (Search For Bible Truths)
What Does it Mean to be a Witness of Jehovah? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is it true that Jehovah's Witnesses print the 1st & 2nd most widely distributed magazines in the world? (Search For Bible Truths)
Why do Jehovah's Witnesses preach from house to house? (Search For Bible Truths)
Why do the Witnesses call repeatedly even at homes of people who do not share their faith? (Search For Bible Truths)
If we are to help others in saving their lives in a temporary way, how much more are we to help them in hearing the good news of the Kingdom which can give them everlasting life? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Scriptures of encouragement when faced with opposition in our ministry (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Should you allow some physical traits that you have no control over get in your way of talking to others about God's Kingdom? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Why do Jehovah Witnesses go door to door in twos? (Search For Bible Truths)
If Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people go to heaven, then wouldn't making more Jehovah's Witnesses reduce their own chances of getting into heaven? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is the ‘speaking in tongues’ that is done today the same as that done by first-century Christians? (Search For Bible Truths)
For how long did Noah preach and how can this be proved Scripturally? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Women's key role in the ministry (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
PREACHING - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
PREACHER, PREACHING (Insight-2 pp. 671-674; Watchtower Online Library)
Preaching (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
The Good News of the Kingdom of God (Pastor Russell)
Does the method of preaching from house to house have its basis in the Scriptures? (Search For Bible Truths)
Regarding the ministry, how do we know that it is the duty of each and every Christian and not just a few? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
What is an "evangelizer" and how is it different from a minister/publisher? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
House to House (Pastor Russell)
Why did Jesus use the scriptures when talking to people? (Search For Bible Truths)
What Does it Mean to be a Witness of Jehovah? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is it true that Jehovah's Witnesses print the 1st & 2nd most widely distributed magazines in the world? (Search For Bible Truths)
Why do Jehovah's Witnesses preach from house to house? (Search For Bible Truths)
Why do the Witnesses call repeatedly even at homes of people who do not share their faith? (Search For Bible Truths)
If we are to help others in saving their lives in a temporary way, how much more are we to help them in hearing the good news of the Kingdom which can give them everlasting life? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Scriptures of encouragement when faced with opposition in our ministry (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Should you allow some physical traits that you have no control over get in your way of talking to others about God's Kingdom? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Why do Jehovah Witnesses go door to door in twos? (Search For Bible Truths)
If Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people go to heaven, then wouldn't making more Jehovah's Witnesses reduce their own chances of getting into heaven? (Search For Bible Truths)
Is the ‘speaking in tongues’ that is done today the same as that done by first-century Christians? (Search For Bible Truths)
For how long did Noah preach and how can this be proved Scripturally? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Women's key role in the ministry (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
From what source was the Flood of Noah’s day?
The Genesis account of creation tells how on the second “day” God made an expanse about the earth, and this expanse (called “Heaven”) formed a division between the waters below it (the oceans) and the waters above it:
"And God went on to say: “Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters.” Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it came to be so." (Genesis 1:6-8)
This is further explained by the apostle Peter:
"For, according to their wish, this fact escapes their notice, that there were heavens from of old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those [means] the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. " (2 Peter 3:5,6)
So the Bible explains that there was an insulating blanket for the planet...a water canopy (or, “heavenly ocean”; Heb., mab·bul′; Gen. 6:17) at that time.
Not only does Genesis mention “the floodgates of the heavens” opening up, but it also mentions this in combination with "springs of the watery deep":
"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened." (Gen. 7:11)
The Bible says that the Deluge was so overwhelming that “all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered.” (Gen. 7:19)
For more, see:
According to the Bible, what was the time span between Adam’s creation to the Flood?
Did the Great Flood of Noah's Day Really Happen?
In what year does the Bible indicate the Great Flood occurred and why didn't Noah's father and grandfather enter the ark?
Who were the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:2?
Who were the Nephilim?
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
"And God went on to say: “Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters.” Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it came to be so." (Genesis 1:6-8)
This is further explained by the apostle Peter:
"For, according to their wish, this fact escapes their notice, that there were heavens from of old and an earth standing compactly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God; and by those [means] the world of that time suffered destruction when it was deluged with water. " (2 Peter 3:5,6)
So the Bible explains that there was an insulating blanket for the planet...a water canopy (or, “heavenly ocean”; Heb., mab·bul′; Gen. 6:17) at that time.
Not only does Genesis mention “the floodgates of the heavens” opening up, but it also mentions this in combination with "springs of the watery deep":
"In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened." (Gen. 7:11)
The Bible says that the Deluge was so overwhelming that “all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered.” (Gen. 7:19)
For more, see:
According to the Bible, what was the time span between Adam’s creation to the Flood?
Did the Great Flood of Noah's Day Really Happen?
In what year does the Bible indicate the Great Flood occurred and why didn't Noah's father and grandfather enter the ark?
Who were the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:2?
Who were the Nephilim?
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What did the tree of the knowledge of good and bad represent?
By standing for “the knowledge of good and bad” and by God’s pronouncement decreeing it to be out-of-bounds for the human pair, the tree became a symbol of God’s right to determine or set the standards for man as to what is “good” (approved by God) and what is “bad” (condemned by God). It constituted a test of man’s respect for his Creator’s position and his willingness to remain within the area of freedom decreed by God.
What was represented by the tree is well expressed in a footnote on Genesis 2:17, in The Jerusalem Bible (1966):
“This knowledge is a privilege which God reserves to himself and which man, by sinning, is to lay hands on, 3:5, 22. Hence it does not mean omniscience, which fallen man does not possess; nor is it moral discrimination, for unfallen man already had it and God could not refuse it to a rational being. It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence by which man refuses to recognise his status as a created being. The first sin was an attack on God’s sovereignty, a sin of pride.”
For more, see:
The Knowledge of Good and Bad (JWQ&A)
Garden of Eden
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
What was represented by the tree is well expressed in a footnote on Genesis 2:17, in The Jerusalem Bible (1966):
“This knowledge is a privilege which God reserves to himself and which man, by sinning, is to lay hands on, 3:5, 22. Hence it does not mean omniscience, which fallen man does not possess; nor is it moral discrimination, for unfallen man already had it and God could not refuse it to a rational being. It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence by which man refuses to recognise his status as a created being. The first sin was an attack on God’s sovereignty, a sin of pride.”
For more, see:
The Knowledge of Good and Bad (JWQ&A)
Garden of Eden
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Monday, May 17, 2010
Is Satan really the ruler of the world?
Notice what the Bible says:
"Satan, the god of this evil world." (2 Cor. 4:4) NLT
"The whole world is under the control of the evil one." (1 John 5:19) NIV
"And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world." (Rev. 12:9) NASB
When Jesus was "tempted by the Devil," Jesus didn't question Satan's role as the ruler of this world. The Bible explains what happened: "The Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him: 'All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.' Then Jesus said to him: 'Go away, Satan!'" - Matthew 4:1, 8-10
But the Bible assures that this situation will not last forever:
"The world [including Satan as ruler] is passing away, but he that does the will of God remains forever." (1 John 2:17) The beneficial results of this are described in the following verses: Psalm 37:9-11, 29; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4.
For more, see:
Satan
If God is good why did he make bad things like wars, sickenss and pain? (jwitness forum; Links to videos included)
Who Really Rules the World? (WBTS)
Who Is the Devil? (WBTS)
Does God Really Care About Us? (WBTS)
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
"Satan, the god of this evil world." (2 Cor. 4:4) NLT
"The whole world is under the control of the evil one." (1 John 5:19) NIV
"And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world." (Rev. 12:9) NASB
When Jesus was "tempted by the Devil," Jesus didn't question Satan's role as the ruler of this world. The Bible explains what happened: "The Devil took him along to an unusually high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him: 'All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.' Then Jesus said to him: 'Go away, Satan!'" - Matthew 4:1, 8-10
But the Bible assures that this situation will not last forever:
"The world [including Satan as ruler] is passing away, but he that does the will of God remains forever." (1 John 2:17) The beneficial results of this are described in the following verses: Psalm 37:9-11, 29; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4.
For more, see:
Satan
If God is good why did he make bad things like wars, sickenss and pain? (jwitness forum; Links to videos included)
Who Really Rules the World? (WBTS)
Who Is the Devil? (WBTS)
Does God Really Care About Us? (WBTS)
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Can you be Christian and NOT believe in the Bible?
True Christianity is much more than membership in one of the many religions. Jesus himself foretold the rise of counterfeit Christians. (Matthew 7:22, 23)
Jesus told his followers: “You are my friends if you do what I am commanding you.” (John 15:14) Since Jesus’ teachings affected all aspects of their lives, Christ’s disciples initially referred to their religion as “The Way.” (Acts 9:2) Soon thereafter, “[they] were by divine providence called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
With this in mind, Jesus not only fulfilled scripture but continuously quoted the Scriptures because the Bible is the ultimate authority and guide on how people should live their lives. But he humbly made sure to attribute all of this wisdom to his Father:
"What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me." (John 7:16)
This is because the Bible itself shows that:
"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16)
For more, see:
Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Christian religion?
Are Jehovah's Witnesses not Christians because they do not believe in the trinity?
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Articles from the WBTS:
What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?
Jesus told his followers: “You are my friends if you do what I am commanding you.” (John 15:14) Since Jesus’ teachings affected all aspects of their lives, Christ’s disciples initially referred to their religion as “The Way.” (Acts 9:2) Soon thereafter, “[they] were by divine providence called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
With this in mind, Jesus not only fulfilled scripture but continuously quoted the Scriptures because the Bible is the ultimate authority and guide on how people should live their lives. But he humbly made sure to attribute all of this wisdom to his Father:
"What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me." (John 7:16)
This is because the Bible itself shows that:
"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16)
For more, see:
Are Jehovah's Witnesses a Christian religion?
Are Jehovah's Witnesses not Christians because they do not believe in the trinity?
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Articles from the WBTS:
What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Would it be boring to live forever?
Some think that it would be boring to live forever. They may point out the monotonous life of many retired people who have little to do but sit and stare at the television screen. If that is how you feel, consider what astronomer Robert Jastrow said when asked if everlasting life would be a blessing or a curse. Jastrow replied: “It would be a blessing to those who have curious minds and an endless appetite for learning. The thought that they have forever to absorb knowledge would be very comforting for them. But for others who feel they have learned all there is to learn and whose minds are closed, it would be a dreadful curse. They’d have no way to fill their time.”
Whether you would find everlasting life boring or not depends much on your attitude. If you have ‘a curious mind and an endless appetite for learning,’ think of what you could accomplish in the fields of art, music, architecture, gardening, or whatever worthy pursuits interest you. Eternal life on earth would provide wonderful prospects for developing your potential in various fields of endeavor.
The Bible assures us that life without death will not be boring. “Everything he has made pretty in its time. Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the true God has made from the start to the finish.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Jehovah God’s creation is so rich and complex that it will continue to intrigue us, stimulate us, and make us happy as long as we live—even forever.
A man who studied the bird known as the Siberian Jay called it “an extraordinary, enchanting acquaintance” and claimed that observing the bird was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his life. The more he studied the bird, the more intriguing he found it. He said that even after 18 years, his study was far from finished. If one species of bird can intrigue, stimulate, and keep an intelligent man happy during an 18-year-long intense study, just imagine the potential for joy and satisfaction that there must be in studying the entire earthly creation.
Picture all the interesting fields of science that will open up to someone who is not restricted by time. Imagine all the fascinating places there will be to explore and all the interesting people there will be to meet. Try to grasp the endless possibilities to conceive, create, and construct things. There will be no limit to the opportunities for us to develop and make use of our creativity. When we reflect on the abundance of creation, it is obvious that eternity is the only time measure that can do justice to life’s possibilities. Furthermore, there is no end to learning about our loving Creator. How, then, could everlasting life be boring and unrewarding?
The Bible shows that by means of a resurrection, living forever will also be extended to those who are dead. (John 5:28, 29) Many of the mysteries of history might become clear to us when those who experienced them can fill in the details and answer our questions. Think of all the insight on different periods of history that the resurrected ones will supply. (Acts 24:15)
For more, see:
Man's Quest for Everlasting Life
FROM earliest times, mankind has dreamed of living forever ...
Do You Want to Live Forever?
Some may say that they have no interest in living forever. Why would anyone feel that way?
You Can Live Forever
To all who are willing to accept God's standards of right and wrong will be granted the gift of “everlasting life.”
How Long Can People Live?
You Can Believe in a Paradise Earth
God's purpose was that humans would live on earth forever amid Paradise ... Adam and Eve were designed to live forever on a paradise earth ...
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Whether you would find everlasting life boring or not depends much on your attitude. If you have ‘a curious mind and an endless appetite for learning,’ think of what you could accomplish in the fields of art, music, architecture, gardening, or whatever worthy pursuits interest you. Eternal life on earth would provide wonderful prospects for developing your potential in various fields of endeavor.
The Bible assures us that life without death will not be boring. “Everything he has made pretty in its time. Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the true God has made from the start to the finish.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Jehovah God’s creation is so rich and complex that it will continue to intrigue us, stimulate us, and make us happy as long as we live—even forever.
A man who studied the bird known as the Siberian Jay called it “an extraordinary, enchanting acquaintance” and claimed that observing the bird was one of the most enjoyable experiences of his life. The more he studied the bird, the more intriguing he found it. He said that even after 18 years, his study was far from finished. If one species of bird can intrigue, stimulate, and keep an intelligent man happy during an 18-year-long intense study, just imagine the potential for joy and satisfaction that there must be in studying the entire earthly creation.
Picture all the interesting fields of science that will open up to someone who is not restricted by time. Imagine all the fascinating places there will be to explore and all the interesting people there will be to meet. Try to grasp the endless possibilities to conceive, create, and construct things. There will be no limit to the opportunities for us to develop and make use of our creativity. When we reflect on the abundance of creation, it is obvious that eternity is the only time measure that can do justice to life’s possibilities. Furthermore, there is no end to learning about our loving Creator. How, then, could everlasting life be boring and unrewarding?
The Bible shows that by means of a resurrection, living forever will also be extended to those who are dead. (John 5:28, 29) Many of the mysteries of history might become clear to us when those who experienced them can fill in the details and answer our questions. Think of all the insight on different periods of history that the resurrected ones will supply. (Acts 24:15)
For more, see:
Man's Quest for Everlasting Life
FROM earliest times, mankind has dreamed of living forever ...
Do You Want to Live Forever?
Some may say that they have no interest in living forever. Why would anyone feel that way?
You Can Live Forever
To all who are willing to accept God's standards of right and wrong will be granted the gift of “everlasting life.”
How Long Can People Live?
You Can Believe in a Paradise Earth
God's purpose was that humans would live on earth forever amid Paradise ... Adam and Eve were designed to live forever on a paradise earth ...
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Friday, May 14, 2010
"Begotten" and "Created" as Found in Scripture
"Begotten" and "created" are English words carefully chosen by Bible translators to convey the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words of the original manuscripts as closely as possible. So first we should determine what the words "created" and "begotten" actually mean in English. The Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1963 ed. that I have at home says:
"create ... 1: to bring into existence...3 : cause, make" - p. 195. And beget ... begot ... begotten ... 1 : to procreate as the father : sire 2 : cause" - p. 77.
These two words can share the identical meaning of "cause to be." That is, we may say the mother (or father) has created a child or (more often) someone has begotten some thing that he built or produced somehow.
The Hebrew word yalad means "to bear, bring forth, beget"- Gesenius, #3205, but it can be used (as the equivalent English word also can) for "cause to be." For example, when God says he "begot"/"fathered" (yalad) the nation of Israel (Deut. 32:6, 18), he clearly means that he caused it to be or created it as a nation. There is no implication that it was somehow begotten out of the very substance of his body. In like manner God calls the nation of Israel his son, his firstborn because it was the very first nation created by him and for him (cf. Ex. 4:22). Again, anything Jehovah causes to be may be said to be "begotten" by him and is his "offspring."
"Do you thus repay [YHWH], O foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?" - Deut. 32:6, NRSV.
"You forsook the creator who begot [yalad] you and ceased to care for God who brought you to birth." - Deut. 32:18, NEB.
"Men of Athens [nonChristians], .... The God who made the world and everything in it ... does not live in shrines made by man. .... Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold or silver, or stone..." - Acts 17:22, 24, 29, RSV.
"Before the mountains were born [yalad] or you brought forth the earth" - NIV, AT, JB, NJB, NAB (1991), NASB; "begotten" - NAB (1970); "were given birth" - MLB. Or, "Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed." - Living Bible, cf. TEV. So, the Hebrew word most often translated "begotten, brought forth" may also be understood (as in English) to mean created or produced.
1 Cor. 8:6 tells us, again, that God is the Father of ALL things. He is the Creator of all things. The very common usage of "Father," "son," "begotten," "born," etc. is again used here for creation. Not only is God the Father of all created things here, but these things have literally "come out" (ek) from him. ("But to us there is but one God, the Father, [out of - ek] whom are all things".) Yes, the original New Testament word used here is "ek" which literally means "out of" (W. E. Vine, p. 1270) and is commonly used in the sense of generating, begetting. For example, Matt. 1:3 literally reads in the original manuscripts: "Judah generated Perez and Zerah out of [ek] Tamar." Judah was the father, but the children were literally out of the body (essence, flesh) of their mother Tamar.
Someone could speculate that since God existed alone before creation, he used some of his own substance (Spirit), which apparently is an incomprehensibly powerful and infinite energy "substance," to create or produce the other spirit creatures in heaven (his 'sons,' the angels - yes, angels are called 'sons of God' - e.g., Job 38:7; Ps. 89:6). If so, he may have modified it before producing them (just as he must have modified somewhat the earth 'substance' from which he created Adam's substance), so that their spirit "substance" is different from his own (just as there are different forms of energy found within this universe). Then we might speculate that he directed his "Firstborn Son" (through whom he created everything else) to use more of that Spirit (unlimited energy) to create the material universe which scientists know started in an incomprehensible blast of energy ("the Big Bang") which was then converted into the matter and energy of our universe. God then (through his firstborn son) created (or "begot") all the complex details within that universe, including mankind.
The terms "generated" and "begotten" had different meanings for Christians before the 4th century advocates for a trinity idea transformed them into the trinitarian terms that are generally used today. Church historian (and trinitarian) Dr. Williston Walker writes in his classic work, A History of the Christian Church, 4th ed.:
"[The beginning of the 4th century debates over the deity of Christ] hinged in turn on interpretation of the Greek term gennetos ['generated'] as that was applied to the Son. [Although] traditionally translated 'begotten,' in Greek philosophical terminology [as well as in Scriptural terminology: Luke 7:28; Jn 3:5; 1 Jn 5:1; Ps. 90:2; Prov. 8:25] it had a broader and hence vaguer sense. It denoted anything which in any way 'came to be' and hence anything 'derivative' or 'generated.' Christian thought had early learned to express its monotheistic stance by insisting that God is the sole agennetos ('underived,' 'ungenerated' ['unbegotten']): that is, the unique and absolute first principle. By contrast with God, all else that exists - including the Logos, God's Son - was described as generated ['begotten']." - p. 132, Charles Scribner's Sons, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1985. [Emphasis and bracketed material added.]
Justin Martyr (c. 100-165 A.D.) wrote:
God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and therefore He is God, but all other things after him are created and corruptible {Justin has just concurred that the world itself was begotten by God} .... take your stand on one Unbegotten, and say this is the Cause of all. - ANF 1:197 ('Dialogue').
But,
Jesus Christ is the only proper Son who has been begotten by God, being His Word and first-begotten - ANF 1:170 ('Apology').
And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son - ANF 1:167 ('Apology').
Furthermore,
"NT 1. ginomai is used in the NT in a variety of connections.
"(a) It means to be born (Gal. 4:4); .... to be made, be done (Jn 1:3; Matt. 11:21) ....
"3. genesis means birth in Matt. 1:18 and Lk. 1:14. It also means created life or being." - p. 181, Vol. 1, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1986.
And, that, of course, is why the first book of the Bible is named "Genesis" - the Greek word for 'birth' is here intended for 'creation.'
"The first book [of the Bible]....is generally known among Christians by the name of Genesis....because it gives an account of the origin [creation] of all things." - Today's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 254, Bethany House Publishers, 1982.
and,
is the Hebrew OT word which means, according to Gesenius, "(2) to create, to produce" and (3) "to beget" and "NIPHAL - (1) to be created, Gen. 2:4; 5:2; .... (2) pass. of Kal No. 3, to be born, Eze. 21:[30]...." - p. 138, 139, Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, Baker Book House, 1979.
Remember, the angels and men are called sons of God in scripture. This obviously does not mean the spirit person who created everything literally gave birth (in the sense of earthly creatures) to them!
The Father has 'begotten' us all as his creation (through his firstborn son).
"create ... 1: to bring into existence...3 : cause, make" - p. 195. And beget ... begot ... begotten ... 1 : to procreate as the father : sire 2 : cause" - p. 77.
These two words can share the identical meaning of "cause to be." That is, we may say the mother (or father) has created a child or (more often) someone has begotten some thing that he built or produced somehow.
The Hebrew word yalad means "to bear, bring forth, beget"- Gesenius, #3205, but it can be used (as the equivalent English word also can) for "cause to be." For example, when God says he "begot"/"fathered" (yalad) the nation of Israel (Deut. 32:6, 18), he clearly means that he caused it to be or created it as a nation. There is no implication that it was somehow begotten out of the very substance of his body. In like manner God calls the nation of Israel his son, his firstborn because it was the very first nation created by him and for him (cf. Ex. 4:22). Again, anything Jehovah causes to be may be said to be "begotten" by him and is his "offspring."
"You forsook the creator who begot [yalad] you and ceased to care for God who brought you to birth." - Deut. 32:18, NEB.
"Men of Athens [nonChristians], .... The God who made the world and everything in it ... does not live in shrines made by man. .... Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold or silver, or stone..." - Acts 17:22, 24, 29, RSV.
"Before the mountains were born [yalad] or you brought forth the earth" - NIV, AT, JB, NJB, NAB (1991), NASB; "begotten" - NAB (1970); "were given birth" - MLB. Or, "Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed." - Living Bible, cf. TEV. So, the Hebrew word most often translated "begotten, brought forth" may also be understood (as in English) to mean created or produced.
1 Cor. 8:6 tells us, again, that God is the Father of ALL things. He is the Creator of all things. The very common usage of "Father," "son," "begotten," "born," etc. is again used here for creation. Not only is God the Father of all created things here, but these things have literally "come out" (ek) from him. ("But to us there is but one God, the Father, [out of - ek] whom are all things".) Yes, the original New Testament word used here is "ek" which literally means "out of" (W. E. Vine, p. 1270) and is commonly used in the sense of generating, begetting. For example, Matt. 1:3 literally reads in the original manuscripts: "Judah generated Perez and Zerah out of [ek] Tamar." Judah was the father, but the children were literally out of the body (essence, flesh) of their mother Tamar.
Someone could speculate that since God existed alone before creation, he used some of his own substance (Spirit), which apparently is an incomprehensibly powerful and infinite energy "substance," to create or produce the other spirit creatures in heaven (his 'sons,' the angels - yes, angels are called 'sons of God' - e.g., Job 38:7; Ps. 89:6). If so, he may have modified it before producing them (just as he must have modified somewhat the earth 'substance' from which he created Adam's substance), so that their spirit "substance" is different from his own (just as there are different forms of energy found within this universe). Then we might speculate that he directed his "Firstborn Son" (through whom he created everything else) to use more of that Spirit (unlimited energy) to create the material universe which scientists know started in an incomprehensible blast of energy ("the Big Bang") which was then converted into the matter and energy of our universe. God then (through his firstborn son) created (or "begot") all the complex details within that universe, including mankind.
The terms "generated" and "begotten" had different meanings for Christians before the 4th century advocates for a trinity idea transformed them into the trinitarian terms that are generally used today. Church historian (and trinitarian) Dr. Williston Walker writes in his classic work, A History of the Christian Church, 4th ed.:
Justin Martyr (c. 100-165 A.D.) wrote:
But,
And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son - ANF 1:167 ('Apology').
Furthermore,
"NT 1. ginomai is used in the NT in a variety of connections.
"(a) It means to be born (Gal. 4:4); .... to be made, be done (Jn 1:3; Matt. 11:21) ....
"3. genesis means birth in Matt. 1:18 and Lk. 1:14. It also means created life or being." - p. 181, Vol. 1, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1986.
And, that, of course, is why the first book of the Bible is named "Genesis" - the Greek word for 'birth' is here intended for 'creation.'
"The first book [of the Bible]....is generally known among Christians by the name of Genesis....because it gives an account of the origin [creation] of all things." - Today's Dictionary of the Bible, p. 254, Bethany House Publishers, 1982.
and,
is the Hebrew OT word which means, according to Gesenius, "(2) to create, to produce" and (3) "to beget" and "NIPHAL - (1) to be created, Gen. 2:4; 5:2; .... (2) pass. of Kal No. 3, to be born, Eze. 21:[30]...." - p. 138, 139, Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, Baker Book House, 1979.
Remember, the angels and men are called sons of God in scripture. This obviously does not mean the spirit person who created everything literally gave birth (in the sense of earthly creatures) to them!
The Father has 'begotten' us all as his creation (through his firstborn son).
Thursday, May 13, 2010
When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be "caught up" to be with the Lord, what subject was being discussed?
To see whether this belief (Rapture) that faithful Christians will be bodily caught up from the earth is the accurate interpretation of this verse, an examination of the context of the surrounding verses as well as the context of the entire Bible's teachings would be recommended.
When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be "caught up" to be with the Lord, evidently some members of the Christian congregation in Thessalonica had died. Paul encouraged the survivors to comfort one another with the resurrection hope. He reminded them that Jesus was resurrected after his death; so, too, at the coming of the Lord, those faithful Christians among them who had died would be raised to be with Christ:
1 Thess. 4:13-18, RS: "We would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep ["those who sleep in death," NE; "those who have died," TEV, JB], that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
For more, see:
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be "caught up" to be with the Lord, evidently some members of the Christian congregation in Thessalonica had died. Paul encouraged the survivors to comfort one another with the resurrection hope. He reminded them that Jesus was resurrected after his death; so, too, at the coming of the Lord, those faithful Christians among them who had died would be raised to be with Christ:
1 Thess. 4:13-18, RS: "We would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep ["those who sleep in death," NE; "those who have died," TEV, JB], that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
For more, see:
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Does the Bible Support the Doctrine of the Double Nature of Christ?
If Jesus were a man who could not have failed in his mission, there would be no way for us to relate to him. His life would become devoid of meaning because we relate to others based on our experience. Our experience tells us we can fail. If Jesus were God he could not have failed, and therefore could not be somebody with whom we can relate. The doctrine of the double nature of Christ strips us of a true appreciation of the challenges he faced and the manner in which he handled them.
Consider the account of Satan's attempt at tempting Jesus in the wilderness. (Mt. 4:1-11)
If Jesus really were God...
1.) Satan would not have even bothered tempting the One who could not have failed.
2.) Jesus would not have constantly been referring to God as a separate person and how Jesus should not put Him to the test.
3.) It would have been pointless for Satan to offer "all the kingdoms of the world" to Jesus since it is only by God's allowance that Satan has control over them.
4.) Satan's request for Jesus to worship him would have been absurd to both of them.
5.) Jesus would never have said, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord (Jehovah) your God and him only shall you serve.'" (Mt. 4:8-10) RSV. Jesus said that his worship belongs to God, not Satan. If Jesus was God, this statement would make absolutely no sense at all.
Jesus always spoken of as a single being
We find no passage in the Bible in which it is taught that Jesus had two natures, one human and one divine...but he is always spoken of as a single being, "the Christ the Son of the Living God." Jesus constantly spoke of himself using the personal pronouns, "I", "myself", and "me". His Father (the One Jesus described as "the only true God"; John 17:1-3) is also overwhelming identified in the Bible by the singular person pronouns "I," and "Me," and "He," and "Him". That is because God and His son Jesus do not have dual or tri-natures. Jesus, being in God's image (2 Cor. 4:4) was only one...just as God is only one. (Deut. 6:4; 1 Tim. 2:5)
The Bible says that Christ AND Man (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4) are in God's image. If it is true that God possesses a tri-nature, then why does Man (who was created in God's image) not display any kind of a multi-nature about him whatsoever? Certainly if God and Christ possessed such dual or tri-natures, and such a fundamental multi-nature aspect is conspicuously absent in Man, how then could it be said that Man was made in God's image?
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5) (God Himself has no tri-nature and there was no dual nature for Jesus.)
Jesus' death
The argument that only the human part of Jesus died is a denial that God died for us. So the doctrine of the double nature of Christ not only conflicts with Scripture, it conflicts with other trinitarian dogma:
A comparable difficulty faces Trinitarians when they assert that only the human part of Jesus died. If Jesus were God, and God is immortal, Jesus could not have died. We wonder how it is possible to maintain that 'Jesus' does not represent the whole person. Nothing in the Bible suggests that Jesus is the name of his human nature only. If Jesus is the whole person and Jesus died, he cannot be immortal Deity. It appears that Trinitarians argue that only Deity is sufficient to provide the necessary atonement. But if the divine nature did not die, how on the Trinitarian theory is the atonement secured?
"Are you not from of old, O Lord my God, my Holy One? You shall not die." *
(Hab. 1:12) NRSV. (If Jesus were God, and God is immortal, Jesus could not have died.)
"Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and we all are witnesses of this." (Acts 2:32) NLT. (If Jesus were God, did Jesus then raise himself up from the dead?)
God's Law to ancient Israel required "soul for soul [or, life for life]." (Exodus 21:23) So the death covering mankind's transgressions would have to equal what Adam had lost. Only the death of another perfect man could pay the wages of sin. 1 Timothy 2:6 & Romans 5:16, 17 outline that Jesus was such a man. Jesus was "a corresponding ransom" for the saving of all redeemable mankind descended from Adam.
For more, see:
Dual Nature of Christ (JWQ&A)
Is Jesus God?
Trinity Indexes
Examining Trinity 'Proof Texts'
Consider the account of Satan's attempt at tempting Jesus in the wilderness. (Mt. 4:1-11)
If Jesus really were God...
1.) Satan would not have even bothered tempting the One who could not have failed.
2.) Jesus would not have constantly been referring to God as a separate person and how Jesus should not put Him to the test.
3.) It would have been pointless for Satan to offer "all the kingdoms of the world" to Jesus since it is only by God's allowance that Satan has control over them.
4.) Satan's request for Jesus to worship him would have been absurd to both of them.
5.) Jesus would never have said, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord (Jehovah) your God and him only shall you serve.'" (Mt. 4:8-10) RSV. Jesus said that his worship belongs to God, not Satan. If Jesus was God, this statement would make absolutely no sense at all.
Jesus always spoken of as a single being
We find no passage in the Bible in which it is taught that Jesus had two natures, one human and one divine...but he is always spoken of as a single being, "the Christ the Son of the Living God." Jesus constantly spoke of himself using the personal pronouns, "I", "myself", and "me". His Father (the One Jesus described as "the only true God"; John 17:1-3) is also overwhelming identified in the Bible by the singular person pronouns "I," and "Me," and "He," and "Him". That is because God and His son Jesus do not have dual or tri-natures. Jesus, being in God's image (2 Cor. 4:4) was only one...just as God is only one. (Deut. 6:4; 1 Tim. 2:5)
The Bible says that Christ AND Man (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4) are in God's image. If it is true that God possesses a tri-nature, then why does Man (who was created in God's image) not display any kind of a multi-nature about him whatsoever? Certainly if God and Christ possessed such dual or tri-natures, and such a fundamental multi-nature aspect is conspicuously absent in Man, how then could it be said that Man was made in God's image?
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5) (God Himself has no tri-nature and there was no dual nature for Jesus.)
Jesus' death
The argument that only the human part of Jesus died is a denial that God died for us. So the doctrine of the double nature of Christ not only conflicts with Scripture, it conflicts with other trinitarian dogma:
A comparable difficulty faces Trinitarians when they assert that only the human part of Jesus died. If Jesus were God, and God is immortal, Jesus could not have died. We wonder how it is possible to maintain that 'Jesus' does not represent the whole person. Nothing in the Bible suggests that Jesus is the name of his human nature only. If Jesus is the whole person and Jesus died, he cannot be immortal Deity. It appears that Trinitarians argue that only Deity is sufficient to provide the necessary atonement. But if the divine nature did not die, how on the Trinitarian theory is the atonement secured?
"Are you not from of old, O Lord my God, my Holy One? You shall not die." *
(Hab. 1:12) NRSV. (If Jesus were God, and God is immortal, Jesus could not have died.)
"Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and we all are witnesses of this." (Acts 2:32) NLT. (If Jesus were God, did Jesus then raise himself up from the dead?)
God's Law to ancient Israel required "soul for soul [or, life for life]." (Exodus 21:23) So the death covering mankind's transgressions would have to equal what Adam had lost. Only the death of another perfect man could pay the wages of sin. 1 Timothy 2:6 & Romans 5:16, 17 outline that Jesus was such a man. Jesus was "a corresponding ransom" for the saving of all redeemable mankind descended from Adam.
For more, see:
Dual Nature of Christ (JWQ&A)
Is Jesus God?
Trinity Indexes
Examining Trinity 'Proof Texts'
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
What is God's Kingdom?
The entire theme of Jesus’ preaching was God’s Kingdom:
"I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43)
Most are familiar with the model prayer. In it, Jesus taught us to pray for God's Kingdom to come:
“Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
Daniel 2:44 says more about this kingdom:
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”
After that, mankind will be under just one government, God’s Kingdom. That Kingdom will do God’s will and bring great blessings such as removing Satan and his demons. (Revelation 20:1-3) The Bible also mentions that faithful humans will no longer get sick and die. Instead, under Kingdom rule they will be able to live forever. (Revelation 22:1-3) The earth will be made into a paradise.
For much more, see:
What Is God’s Kingdom? (WBTS)
When will God's Kingdom come?
When Will God’s Kingdom Come? (WBTS)
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
"I must declare the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this I was sent forth.” (Luke 4:43)
Most are familiar with the model prayer. In it, Jesus taught us to pray for God's Kingdom to come:
“Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
Daniel 2:44 says more about this kingdom:
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”
After that, mankind will be under just one government, God’s Kingdom. That Kingdom will do God’s will and bring great blessings such as removing Satan and his demons. (Revelation 20:1-3) The Bible also mentions that faithful humans will no longer get sick and die. Instead, under Kingdom rule they will be able to live forever. (Revelation 22:1-3) The earth will be made into a paradise.
For much more, see:
What Is God’s Kingdom? (WBTS)
When will God's Kingdom come?
When Will God’s Kingdom Come? (WBTS)
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Monday, May 10, 2010
What is the "Rapture" and is it a Bible Teaching?
The Rapture is the belief that faithful Christians will be BODILY caught up from the Earth, suddenly taken out of the world, to be united with the Lord “in the air.” The word “rapture” is understood by some persons, but not by all, to be the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
The word "rapture" does not occur in the Bible and the belief that faithful Christians will be BODILY caught up from the Earth is not found in the Bible.
Only 144,000 Go To Heaven - Not in Bodily Form
The book of Revelation shows that the total number of those with the hope of going to heaven is a relatively small and limited number: 144,000. Along with Christ, they would be kings and priests in heaven. (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-4; 20:6) Included among them would be individuals who had been associated with the congregations in Thessalonica. (Acts 10:34, 35)
The Bible shows that those who will go to heaven (those of the 144,000) will do so only after they have died and not in bodily form. In writing to Christians in Corinth, Paul stated: “This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Look! I tell you a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52) So upon dying in faithfulness during Christ’s presence, each one with the heavenly hope will instantaneously receive his heavenly reward. “In the twinkling of an eye,” he is resurrected as a spirit creature and “caught away” to meet Jesus and to serve as a coruler in the Kingdom of the heavens.
After referring to the 144,000 Christians with the heavenly hope and who had died, Paul added: “Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (Thessalonians 4:17) “The living” would be those alive during Christ’s presence. They would be “caught away” to meet the Lord Jesus. As in the case of faithful early Christians, death as a human is necessary for them to be united with Christ in heaven. (Rom. 8:17, 35-39)
Vast Majority of Mankind Have Hope of Future Earthly Paradise
The Bible shows that God's original purpose was for mankind to live on Earth (Gen. 2:17) and that the vast majority of mankind would have the prospect of being resurrected in the future to life in Paradise on Earth:
"But the meek ones themselves will possess the EARTH, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace." (Ps. 37:11)
Ps. 115:16 says: "The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the EARTH he has given to human beings." (NRS)
"For thus saith Jehovah that formed the EARTH and made it, that formed it to be inhabited. " (Isa. 45:18) ASV
Matt. 5:5: "Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the EARTH."
Matt. 6:9, 10: "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon EARTH."
2 Pet. 3:13: "There are new heavens and a new EARTH that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell."
Related Articles:
Do All Good People Go to Heaven? (WBTS)
Who Will Inherit the Earth? - "As in Heaven, Also Upon Earth"
How should we understand promises of earthly blessings? Are they relevant today? (WBTS)
Eternal Happiness--In Heaven or on Earth?
Heaven is viewed by many as the only place to find true peace and happiness. Is heaven simply a place of blissful peace? (WBTS)
For more, see:
Index
Scripture Index
The word "rapture" does not occur in the Bible and the belief that faithful Christians will be BODILY caught up from the Earth is not found in the Bible.
Only 144,000 Go To Heaven - Not in Bodily Form
The book of Revelation shows that the total number of those with the hope of going to heaven is a relatively small and limited number: 144,000. Along with Christ, they would be kings and priests in heaven. (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-4; 20:6) Included among them would be individuals who had been associated with the congregations in Thessalonica. (Acts 10:34, 35)
The Bible shows that those who will go to heaven (those of the 144,000) will do so only after they have died and not in bodily form. In writing to Christians in Corinth, Paul stated: “This I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Look! I tell you a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52) So upon dying in faithfulness during Christ’s presence, each one with the heavenly hope will instantaneously receive his heavenly reward. “In the twinkling of an eye,” he is resurrected as a spirit creature and “caught away” to meet Jesus and to serve as a coruler in the Kingdom of the heavens.
After referring to the 144,000 Christians with the heavenly hope and who had died, Paul added: “Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (Thessalonians 4:17) “The living” would be those alive during Christ’s presence. They would be “caught away” to meet the Lord Jesus. As in the case of faithful early Christians, death as a human is necessary for them to be united with Christ in heaven. (Rom. 8:17, 35-39)
Vast Majority of Mankind Have Hope of Future Earthly Paradise
The Bible shows that God's original purpose was for mankind to live on Earth (Gen. 2:17) and that the vast majority of mankind would have the prospect of being resurrected in the future to life in Paradise on Earth:
"But the meek ones themselves will possess the EARTH, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace." (Ps. 37:11)
Ps. 115:16 says: "The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the EARTH he has given to human beings." (NRS)
"For thus saith Jehovah that formed the EARTH and made it, that formed it to be inhabited. " (Isa. 45:18) ASV
Matt. 5:5: "Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the EARTH."
Matt. 6:9, 10: "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon EARTH."
2 Pet. 3:13: "There are new heavens and a new EARTH that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell."
Related Articles:
Do All Good People Go to Heaven? (WBTS)
Who Will Inherit the Earth? - "As in Heaven, Also Upon Earth"
How should we understand promises of earthly blessings? Are they relevant today? (WBTS)
Eternal Happiness--In Heaven or on Earth?
Heaven is viewed by many as the only place to find true peace and happiness. Is heaven simply a place of blissful peace? (WBTS)
For more, see:
Index
Scripture Index
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Bar Kochba and the Christians
(For use with the 'ISRAEL' and '"Jehovah" in The New Testament' study papers.)
If the trinity (or just the deity of Jesus) had really been taught (or believed) by the first Christians, the schism between the Jews (who considered such a teaching "an unpardonable offense") and Christians would have been immediate, irrevocable, and incredibly intense. But that is not what caused the greatest and final split between the sect of the first Christians and the Jews.
"The Jewish belief that the parting of the ways came not at Stephen's martyrdom but after Bar Kochba's war against Hadrian [132-135 A. D.] is now gaining ground. Previously there had been no event sufficiently striking to sever the ties. Christians frequented the synagogues: they were still a Jewish sect. [See the ISRAEL study] But Bar Kochba was hailed by Aqiba as the Messiah. This the Christians could not condone and they stood aside. .... The Jews regarded the Christians as renegades: the Christians would not fight for Aqiba's Messiah. The die had fallen and there was no recalling the past." - Encyclopedia Britannica, p. 167, Vol. 13, 14th ed.
Noted Christian Bible historian, Philip Schaff writes:
" (A.D. 132-135). A pseudo-Messiah, Bar-Cochba (son of the stars, Num. 24:17), afterwards called Bar-Cosiba (son of falsehood), put himself at the head of the rebels, and caused all the Christians who would not join him to be most cruelly murdered." – p. 37, History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995 reprint.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
It was the generation following the destruction of the Temple which brought about a final rupture between Jews and Christians .... In the third rebellion against Rome [132-135 A.D.], when the Christians were unable to accept bar Kochba as their Messiah, they declared that their kingdom was of the other world, and withdrew themselves completely from Judaism and everything Jewish. The alienation process was completed. Judaism and Christianity became strangers to each other .... A wall of misunderstanding and hate was erected by the narrow zealotries of the two faiths. [pp. 152, 153, Jews, God and History, Max I. Dimont, A Signet Book, 1962.]
"Cochba [bar Kochba] ... tortured and killed the Christians who refused to aid him against the Roman army." - p. 42, Greek Apologists of the Second Century, Robert M. Grant, The Westminster Press, 1988.
"Another Christian apologist, Justin [Martyr], tells how ... Bar Kochba, the leader of the insurrection, ordered Christians alone to be executed if they would not deny and curse Jesus the Messiah." - Ibid.
"After the war the Jerusalem church, once Jewish, consisted only of Gentiles." - Ibid.
...........................................................
Not everybody agreed to Aqiba's view that Simon [Bar Kochba] was the Messiah. The Jewish Christians refused to accept this claim; the Christian author Justin Martyr tells that Simon commanded Christians 'to be lead away to terrible punishment,' unless they denied Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and cursed the man from Nazareth (First Apology 31.6). - See: Wars between the Jews and Romans: Simon ben Kosiba (130-136 CE)
.............................................................
L. Michael White [Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin]:
The relationship between Judaism and Christianity after the turn of the second century would become more and more hostile as time went on partly because of other political forces that continued to develop. .... As a result within sixty years after the first revolt there would arise a new rebellion. We typically call this the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome or the Bar Kochba revolt. And it's named after a famous rebel leader who really becomes the central figure of this new political period. He's called Bar Kochba. .... His real name seems to have been Shimon Bar Kosova, and he probably was of a royal family of the Jewish tradition. But he takes to himself this messianic identity and claims that in the year 132 it is time for a new kingdom to be reestablished in Israel. Apparently he did take Jerusalem for some time. ...It's possible, although we're not absolutely sure, that he thought he could rebuild the temple too. But events would not let that happen.
The Romans very quickly began to put down the revolt and within three years all of those who had followed Bar Kochba were either killed or dispersed. ....
The one thing that does happen in the second revolt, though, is [that] the self-consciously apocalyptic and messianic identity of Bar Kochba forces the issue for the Christian tradition. It appears that some people in the second revolt tried to press other Jews, including Christians, into the revolt, saying, "Come join us to fight against the Romans. You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don't you? Join us." But the Christians by this time are starting to say, "No, he can't be the messiah -- we already have one." And at that point we really see the full-fledged separation of Jewish tradition and Christian tradition becoming clear. - Jews and the Roman Empire
..............................................
"Revolt
"The Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva convinced the Sanhedrin to support the impending revolt and regarded the chosen commander Simon Bar Kokhba the Jewish Messiah, according to the verse from Numbers 24:17: "There shall come a star out of Jacob" ("Bar Kokhba" means "son of a star" in Aramaic language).
"At the time, Christianity was still a minor sect of Judaism and most historians believe that it was this messianic claim that alienated many Christians (who believed that the true messiah was Jesus) and sharply deepened the schism." - http://www.answers.com/topic/bar-kokhba-s-revolt?hl=simon&hl=bar&hl=kokhba
........................................
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum asserts that the "rift caused by the destruction of Jerusalem [70 C.E.] proved to be a temporary one, and a partial reconciliation did come about despite Hebrew Christian opposition to the new Judaism of the rabbis." p. 41, HEBREW CHRISTIANITY, Its Theology, History and Philosophy.
He also says that 132-135 C.E. was a key period, the 2nd Jewish revolt against Rome under Bar Kochba. When the revolt broke out, the Jewish Believers joined the revolt with their rabbinic brothers. However, Rabbi Akiva made the sad error of declaring Bar Kochba to be the Jewish Messiah. This is where the real rift occured. If anyone can be accused of turning Christianity into a Gentile religion, it is not Paul, nor the church leaders in Asia Minor, but rather Bar Kochba, according to Fruchtenbaum.
..................................
[The] PBS "Frontline" program "From Jesus To Christ: The First Christians" is … steeped in Jewish history and Jewish concerns. The four-hour program [aired] Monday and Tuesday, April 6 and 7 [1998. Here are some of the issues covered on that program]:
".... The period after the First Revolt is dominated by an increasingly hostile relationship between Christians and Jews as the followers of Jesus move increasingly away from their Jewish roots. "Part 3: Let The Reader Understand" examines this period, the creation of the four Gospels and the Second Revolt, led by Bar Kochba.
After the Jews are crushed by the Roman army, Christianity begins to assert itself and accommodate the forces of the empire that killed its leader." - http://www.jewishsf.com/bk980320/etearly.htm
This is when a true split occurred, as Christians refused to join in the four-year struggle because Bar Kochba claimed he was the Messiah.
"Until the year 132, Christians considered themselves a sect of Judaism.
In that year, Simon bar Kochba (Simon son of the star), was confirmed by the great Rabbi Akiba as the Messiah. bar Kochba was a great leader and warrior, and led a revolt of tens of thousands of Jews against the Romans (similar to recent conflicts in Chechnya, or Grozny.) The Christians, who would have been eager to fight the Romans, couldn't, because they already had a Messiah. This was the final split, where Christianity stopped being Judaism. .... By the 390's A.D., Galastria, Bishop of Galatia counted 156 different sects of Christianity, all blending the Christian story with local and tribal concepts. There were cults that believed that Jesus was a God when born, those that believed that he became a God later. Some believed that Jesus did not have normal bodily excretions, and those who worshiped Satan because they believed that serpent had won in the Garden of Eden. The confused and varied notions of what Christianity meant were consolidated by the growing concentration of power and centralization in Rome, in various councils, beginning in Nicea, in 325 A.D." - http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tzohr.htm
..............................
[Quoted above in more detail under heading of 'L. Michael White']
"The one thing that does happen in the second revolt... is [that] the self-consciously apocalyptic and messianic identity of Bar Kochba forces the issue for the Christian tradition. It appears that some people in the second revolt tried to press other Jews, including Christians, into the revolt, saying, "Come join us to fight against the Romans. You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don't you? Join us." But the Christians by this time are starting to say, "No, he can't be the Messiah -- we already have one." And at that point we really see the full-fledged separation of Jewish tradition and Christian tradition becoming clear." - L. Michael White: Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/wrestling.html
(For more, see the Trinity Index.)
If the trinity (or just the deity of Jesus) had really been taught (or believed) by the first Christians, the schism between the Jews (who considered such a teaching "an unpardonable offense") and Christians would have been immediate, irrevocable, and incredibly intense. But that is not what caused the greatest and final split between the sect of the first Christians and the Jews.
"The Jewish belief that the parting of the ways came not at Stephen's martyrdom but after Bar Kochba's war against Hadrian [132-135 A. D.] is now gaining ground. Previously there had been no event sufficiently striking to sever the ties. Christians frequented the synagogues: they were still a Jewish sect. [See the ISRAEL study] But Bar Kochba was hailed by Aqiba as the Messiah. This the Christians could not condone and they stood aside. .... The Jews regarded the Christians as renegades: the Christians would not fight for Aqiba's Messiah. The die had fallen and there was no recalling the past." - Encyclopedia Britannica, p. 167, Vol. 13, 14th ed.
Noted Christian Bible historian, Philip Schaff writes:
" (A.D. 132-135). A pseudo-Messiah, Bar-Cochba (son of the stars, Num. 24:17), afterwards called Bar-Cosiba (son of falsehood), put himself at the head of the rebels, and caused all the Christians who would not join him to be most cruelly murdered." – p. 37, History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995 reprint.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
It was the generation following the destruction of the Temple which brought about a final rupture between Jews and Christians .... In the third rebellion against Rome [132-135 A.D.], when the Christians were unable to accept bar Kochba as their Messiah, they declared that their kingdom was of the other world, and withdrew themselves completely from Judaism and everything Jewish. The alienation process was completed. Judaism and Christianity became strangers to each other .... A wall of misunderstanding and hate was erected by the narrow zealotries of the two faiths. [pp. 152, 153, Jews, God and History, Max I. Dimont, A Signet Book, 1962.]
"Cochba [bar Kochba] ... tortured and killed the Christians who refused to aid him against the Roman army." - p. 42, Greek Apologists of the Second Century, Robert M. Grant, The Westminster Press, 1988.
"Another Christian apologist, Justin [Martyr], tells how ... Bar Kochba, the leader of the insurrection, ordered Christians alone to be executed if they would not deny and curse Jesus the Messiah." - Ibid.
"After the war the Jerusalem church, once Jewish, consisted only of Gentiles." - Ibid.
...........................................................
Not everybody agreed to Aqiba's view that Simon [Bar Kochba] was the Messiah. The Jewish Christians refused to accept this claim; the Christian author Justin Martyr tells that Simon commanded Christians 'to be lead away to terrible punishment,' unless they denied Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and cursed the man from Nazareth (First Apology 31.6). - See: Wars between the Jews and Romans: Simon ben Kosiba (130-136 CE)
.............................................................
L. Michael White [Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin]:
The relationship between Judaism and Christianity after the turn of the second century would become more and more hostile as time went on partly because of other political forces that continued to develop. .... As a result within sixty years after the first revolt there would arise a new rebellion. We typically call this the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome or the Bar Kochba revolt. And it's named after a famous rebel leader who really becomes the central figure of this new political period. He's called Bar Kochba. .... His real name seems to have been Shimon Bar Kosova, and he probably was of a royal family of the Jewish tradition. But he takes to himself this messianic identity and claims that in the year 132 it is time for a new kingdom to be reestablished in Israel. Apparently he did take Jerusalem for some time. ...It's possible, although we're not absolutely sure, that he thought he could rebuild the temple too. But events would not let that happen.
The Romans very quickly began to put down the revolt and within three years all of those who had followed Bar Kochba were either killed or dispersed. ....
The one thing that does happen in the second revolt, though, is [that] the self-consciously apocalyptic and messianic identity of Bar Kochba forces the issue for the Christian tradition. It appears that some people in the second revolt tried to press other Jews, including Christians, into the revolt, saying, "Come join us to fight against the Romans. You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don't you? Join us." But the Christians by this time are starting to say, "No, he can't be the messiah -- we already have one." And at that point we really see the full-fledged separation of Jewish tradition and Christian tradition becoming clear. - Jews and the Roman Empire
..............................................
"Revolt
"The Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva convinced the Sanhedrin to support the impending revolt and regarded the chosen commander Simon Bar Kokhba the Jewish Messiah, according to the verse from Numbers 24:17: "There shall come a star out of Jacob" ("Bar Kokhba" means "son of a star" in Aramaic language).
"At the time, Christianity was still a minor sect of Judaism and most historians believe that it was this messianic claim that alienated many Christians (who believed that the true messiah was Jesus) and sharply deepened the schism." - http://www.answers.com/topic/bar-kokhba-s-revolt?hl=simon&hl=bar&hl=kokhba
........................................
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum asserts that the "rift caused by the destruction of Jerusalem [70 C.E.] proved to be a temporary one, and a partial reconciliation did come about despite Hebrew Christian opposition to the new Judaism of the rabbis." p. 41, HEBREW CHRISTIANITY, Its Theology, History and Philosophy.
He also says that 132-135 C.E. was a key period, the 2nd Jewish revolt against Rome under Bar Kochba. When the revolt broke out, the Jewish Believers joined the revolt with their rabbinic brothers. However, Rabbi Akiva made the sad error of declaring Bar Kochba to be the Jewish Messiah. This is where the real rift occured. If anyone can be accused of turning Christianity into a Gentile religion, it is not Paul, nor the church leaders in Asia Minor, but rather Bar Kochba, according to Fruchtenbaum.
..................................
[The] PBS "Frontline" program "From Jesus To Christ: The First Christians" is … steeped in Jewish history and Jewish concerns. The four-hour program [aired] Monday and Tuesday, April 6 and 7 [1998. Here are some of the issues covered on that program]:
".... The period after the First Revolt is dominated by an increasingly hostile relationship between Christians and Jews as the followers of Jesus move increasingly away from their Jewish roots. "Part 3: Let The Reader Understand" examines this period, the creation of the four Gospels and the Second Revolt, led by Bar Kochba.
After the Jews are crushed by the Roman army, Christianity begins to assert itself and accommodate the forces of the empire that killed its leader." - http://www.jewishsf.com/bk980320/etearly.htm
This is when a true split occurred, as Christians refused to join in the four-year struggle because Bar Kochba claimed he was the Messiah.
"Until the year 132, Christians considered themselves a sect of Judaism.
In that year, Simon bar Kochba (Simon son of the star), was confirmed by the great Rabbi Akiba as the Messiah. bar Kochba was a great leader and warrior, and led a revolt of tens of thousands of Jews against the Romans (similar to recent conflicts in Chechnya, or Grozny.) The Christians, who would have been eager to fight the Romans, couldn't, because they already had a Messiah. This was the final split, where Christianity stopped being Judaism. .... By the 390's A.D., Galastria, Bishop of Galatia counted 156 different sects of Christianity, all blending the Christian story with local and tribal concepts. There were cults that believed that Jesus was a God when born, those that believed that he became a God later. Some believed that Jesus did not have normal bodily excretions, and those who worshiped Satan because they believed that serpent had won in the Garden of Eden. The confused and varied notions of what Christianity meant were consolidated by the growing concentration of power and centralization in Rome, in various councils, beginning in Nicea, in 325 A.D." - http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tzohr.htm
..............................
[Quoted above in more detail under heading of 'L. Michael White']
"The one thing that does happen in the second revolt... is [that] the self-consciously apocalyptic and messianic identity of Bar Kochba forces the issue for the Christian tradition. It appears that some people in the second revolt tried to press other Jews, including Christians, into the revolt, saying, "Come join us to fight against the Romans. You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don't you? Join us." But the Christians by this time are starting to say, "No, he can't be the Messiah -- we already have one." And at that point we really see the full-fledged separation of Jewish tradition and Christian tradition becoming clear." - L. Michael White: Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/wrestling.html
(For more, see the Trinity Index.)
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Is God still interested in us?
Paul said that God is interested in mankind and that, "He is not far off from each one of us." (Acts 17:24-27)
The earth and the people on it must have a special place in God's heart. He went through extaordinary lengths to create us:
"He the [true] God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited." (Isa. 45:18)
We have no reason to feel that we are unloved, worthless or possibly forgotten when the Bible shows how much He cares for us:
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
God’s will is that “all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
We can be certain that in God’s due time, there will be no more suffering or death on planet Earth. Instead, the conditions foreseen in the book of Revelation will eventually come to fulfillment:
“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3, 4)
For more, see:
Is God really interested in revealing himself to humans?
Why Does God Permit Suffering?
Does God really care about us?
AT SOME time in your life, you may have asked: 'If there is a God who really cares about us, why does he permit so much suffering?'
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
The earth and the people on it must have a special place in God's heart. He went through extaordinary lengths to create us:
"He the [true] God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited." (Isa. 45:18)
We have no reason to feel that we are unloved, worthless or possibly forgotten when the Bible shows how much He cares for us:
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
God’s will is that “all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
We can be certain that in God’s due time, there will be no more suffering or death on planet Earth. Instead, the conditions foreseen in the book of Revelation will eventually come to fulfillment:
“Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3, 4)
For more, see:
Is God really interested in revealing himself to humans?
Why Does God Permit Suffering?
Does God really care about us?
AT SOME time in your life, you may have asked: 'If there is a God who really cares about us, why does he permit so much suffering?'
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Friday, May 7, 2010
Resurrection - Links to Information
Click on any link to view:
RESURRECTION - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
RESURRECTION (Insight-2 pp. 783-793; Watchtower Online Library)
Resurrection (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe Regarding Physical And Heavenly Afterlives? The 144,000? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)
What scriptures show that people that died will have a second chance and not just a judgment as soon as they are resurrected? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Did Jesus raise himself up from the dead (John 10:17-18)? (Search For Bible Truths)
Did Jesus raise himself up from the dead? (John 10:17-18) (Examining the Trinity)
Would a resurrection be in the plans of a child only once it has left the womb? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
RESURRECTION - Links to Information (INDEX; Watchtower Online Library)
RESURRECTION (Insight-2 pp. 783-793; Watchtower Online Library)
Resurrection (Search Results From the Watchtower Online Library)
What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe Regarding Physical And Heavenly Afterlives? The 144,000? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)
What scriptures show that people that died will have a second chance and not just a judgment as soon as they are resurrected? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Did Jesus raise himself up from the dead (John 10:17-18)? (Search For Bible Truths)
Did Jesus raise himself up from the dead? (John 10:17-18) (Examining the Trinity)
Would a resurrection be in the plans of a child only once it has left the womb? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Why did Jesus use the scriptures when talking to people?
Of all of humanity's differing opinions concerning how things ought to be, what is to determine which course is the best way for us to live our lives? Everyone needs to agree on one ultimate Source of reference or else there will be confusion and dissention. The Bible is that Source because it is "inspired of God". There is no one better to give advice than the Creator and Designer of humans:
"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16)
Jesus quoted the Scriptures because the Bible is the ultimate authority and guide on how people should live their lives. But he humbly made sure to attribute all of this wisdom to his Father:
"What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me." (John 7:16)
"Jesus said: “I do nothing of my own initiative; but just as the Father taught me I speak these things." (John 8:28)
The Bible contains the principles needed in order for us to successfully solve our problems. People may not always respect another person's OPINION, but the chances are greater that people will respect the Scriptures and Biblical principles that that person may refer to.
For more, see:
Quote that explains fascinating facts concerning Jesus' use of Scriptures (JWQ&A)
Bible
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16)
Jesus quoted the Scriptures because the Bible is the ultimate authority and guide on how people should live their lives. But he humbly made sure to attribute all of this wisdom to his Father:
"What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me." (John 7:16)
"Jesus said: “I do nothing of my own initiative; but just as the Father taught me I speak these things." (John 8:28)
The Bible contains the principles needed in order for us to successfully solve our problems. People may not always respect another person's OPINION, but the chances are greater that people will respect the Scriptures and Biblical principles that that person may refer to.
For more, see:
Quote that explains fascinating facts concerning Jesus' use of Scriptures (JWQ&A)
Bible
Search For Bible Truths - ARCHIVE
Scriptures Index
Search For Bible Truths - Search Guide
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Exposing the False Reasoning Behind Trinity 'Proof Texts'
The following links lead to research showing how the most frequently used so-called 'Proof Texts' are not proof of the Trinity in any way.
(Links to more guides can be found at the bottom of this list.)
Gen. 1:26
Gen. 1:26 - "Let Us Make Man in Our Image" (SFBT); This scripture prove Trinity? (SFBT); Image (Examining the Trinity); How is Man Made in God's Image? (Gen. 1:26) (SFBT); ("Let us make man in our image") - ELOHIM 3-6; I-AM 5; (Examining the Trinity)
Gen. 19:24
Gen. 19:24 ("Jehovah rained down fire ... from Jehovah") (Examining the Trinity)
Ps. 45:6
"Your throne, O God" - HEB (Examining the Trinity); God and gods (SFBT); How is Jesus a god? (SFBT)
Isa. 6:3
"Holy, Holy, Holy" - Is. 6:3 (SFBT)
Isa. 9:6
Isa. 9:6 "Mighty God, Eternal Father" (Examining the Trinity); Isa. 9:6 - NWT (DNWT); NAME - “Jesus,” “Immanuel,” and Is. 9:6 (Examining the Trinity); BOWGOD (God and gods) (Examining the Trinity); Does Isa. 9:6 prove that Jesus is God? (SFBT); Why is Jesus called "Mighty God" at Isa. 9:6? (SFBT); One God in Three? (Pastor Russell; Heading: "No Trinity in the “Old Testament”'); How does the Codex Sinaiticus render Is. 9:6? (JWQ&A); How is translated Isaiah 9:6 in old Aramaic Targums? (JWQ&A)
Isa. 42:8
Heb. 1:3 / Isa. 42:8 Does Jesus really share Jehovah's Glory? (Examining the Trinity)
Isa. 43:11
Isa. 43:11 / 2 Pet. 3:18 Jehovah only Savior; Jesus Savior (SFBT); Title Confusion Trick "Saviour" (Examining the Trinity); How many saviors at Isaiah 43:11? (jwitness forum); A short exchange on "savior" and Isaiah 43:11 (INDNWT)
Isa. 44:6
Isa. 44:6 "pronoun confusion trick" (Examining the Trinity); Isa. 44:6 / Rev. 1:17 "First and the Last" (SFBT)
Isa. 48:16
Isa. 48:16; Trinitarian "speaker confusion" trick (SFBT)
Jer. 23:6
"Jehovah Is Our Righteousness" - NAME 4 (Examining the Trinity); Why is Jesus called Mighty God? (SFBT)
Micah 5:2
Micah 5:2 (Examining the Trinity); BWF - 'Beginning,' 'Wisdom,' and 'Firstborn' (6th par. down; Examining the Trinity); Is Micah 5:2 saying that Jesus' ORIGIN was “from early times”? (SFBT); Who created Jesus? (SFBT); Did Jesus have a beginning (Micah 5:2)? (jwitness forum); Micah 5:2 (JW Stand Firm)
Hab. 1:12
Habakkuk 1:12 (INDNWT); Why does the NWT render Habakkuk 1:12 "Are you not from long ago, O Jehovah? O my God, my Holy One, you do not die", when many other Bibles render it as "O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die."? (JWQ&A); Scribal notes (JWQ&A); "King of Eternity" did not die, but His Son did (JWQ&A)
Zech. 12:10
Zech 12:10 / John 19:37 (DNWT); Zech. 12:10 "...they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." (DNWT); Zechariah 12:10 (INDNWT)
Mt. 1:22,23
Matt. 1:23 ("Immanuel") - NAME 2 (Examining the Trinity); How was it that "all things were made through (Jesus)"? (Vs. 22) (SFBT); How and why did Jesus come to Earth? (SFBT); Jesus merely a man? (SFBT); Should Jesus really be considered to be God because he was symbolically “named” Immanuel (Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:23) which means “God is with us”? (SFBT)
Mt. 12:32
Blasphemy to Christ: forgiven; to HS: not - HS (Last 20 par.) (and f.n.#10 &11);(Examining the Trinity); BOWHS (f.n.) (Examining the Trinity); Matthew 12:32 "whoever says something against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven" (Examining the Trinity)
Mt. 28:19
What does Mt. 28:19 mean? (JWQ&A; Quote from WT 2002 April 1st); Mt. 28:19 "...in the NAME of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit" (Examining the Trinity); Mt. 28:19 - NWT (DNWT); Does Mt. 28:19 prove that the Holy Spirit is God? (SFBT); Concerning Mt. 28:19... (JWQ&A); 2 Cor.13:14 "Jesus", "God", "and the...Holy Spirit" (SFBT); Shem Tov's Hebrew Matthew 14th century manuscripts (JWQ&A); Some comments by scholars and translators (JWQ&A); Online references that discuss the possible spurious origins of Matt. 28:19 (JWQ&A)
In Defense of the New World Translation. John 1:1 files (INDNWT); John 1:1 - A Number of Trinitaran Translations and Scholars Admit "a god" (Defending the NWT); Defending the charge that the NWT translators made up a rule for the word for "God/god" (theos). (Defending the NWT); How does the Coptic text render John 1:1? (VIDEO AT BOTTOM OF POST; SFBT); The Coptic Language and John 1:1 (SFBT); John 1:1c - English translation: "The Word was a god." (SFBT); John 1:1 "and the Word was" (pastorrussell); "and the Word was divine." (pastorrussell); Should John 1:1 read: "And the Word was divine"? (JWQ&A); "and the word was with (pros) God." (JWQ&A); John 1:1c Primer (Examining the Trinity); DEFinite John 1:1c (Examining the Trinity); Harner's JBL 'Qualitative' Article (Examining the Trinity); HARNER: JBL 'Qualitative' Article Refuted (Examining the Trinity); QUAL ("Qualitative" John 1:1c) (Examining the Trinity); SEPTGOD (John 1:1c and the Septuagint) (Examining the Trinity); Logos (The 'Word') (Examining the Trinity); VIDEO: John 1:1 Part 1 and Part 2 (SFBT); John 1:1 was examined by Origen in his "Commentary on John." (JWQ&A); IF God is a trinity, then how is it that “the Word (Jesus) was WITH God”? (John 1:1) (SFBT); Is the New World Translation the only Bible to phrase John 1:1c as "the Word was A God"? (SFBT); NWT - John 1:1 (Defending the NWT); "Was" and "Beginning" in John 1:1 (Examining the Trinity); If Jesus is not God, how can he be a god? (SFBT); God and gods - What is a god and who have been called 'gods'? (SFBT); Video: "Early Jewish and Christian Monotheism - The Early use of "God" and the Christological Implications" (SFBT); God and gods (from BOWGOD study) (Examining the Trinity); Was the Word “God” or “a god”? (pastorrussell); If the Father is the "only true God" (John 17:3), does that mean that Jesus is a false god? (SFBT); Why is Jesus called "Mighty God" at Isa. 9:6? (SFBT); The Holy Trinity (pastorrussell); They call me Trinity (pastorrussell); What About Trinity "Proof Texts"? (WBTS); The Truth About the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (WBTS); Is Jesus God? (WBTS); “Those Who Are Called 'Gods'” (WBTS); Is There Only One True God? (WBTS); Jn 1:1 NWT - Mantey (DNWT); Jn 1:1 Martin (DNWT); John 1:1c - English Translation: "The Word was a god." (SFBT); With God? (SFBT)
RU - Jesus Raised Himself? (Examining the Trinity); The Trinity and John 2:19-22 (JW United)
John 5:18 "...making himself equal to God" (Examining the Trinity); John 5:18 - What is this scripture saying? (JWQ&A)
John 5:23 - "That all may honor the Son JUST AS [kathos] they honor the Father." - NIV (Examining the Trinity)
John 6:7-15 Holy Spirit as a "he" (Examining the Trinity); Why, in John 16:7, is the holy spirit spoken of as a "helper"? (Examining the Trinity)
John 8:19
What did Jesus actually say at John 8:58? (SFBT); John 8:58 "I AM"; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); In Defense of the New World Translation. John 8:58 files (INDNWT); Stafford's "'ANI HU and the LXX of Isaiah" (INDNWT); Sahidic Coptic John 8:58 and Sahidic Coptic Exodus 3:14 (Sahidic Coptic Insight on NT Verses); What About...John 8:58? (From God's Word); John 8:58 (Bible Translation and Study; Scroll down to First Scriptural Heading); Miscellaneous Questions about the New World Translation (Jn 8:58) (Bible Translation and Study; Scroll down to Fifth Heading); What About Trinity "Proof Texts"? (WBTS; Scroll down to 5th Heading); How do we know that 'I Am' at Ex. 3:14 in KJV is incorrect? (JWQ&A); Jesus' reply had to do with the length of his existence...not his identity (JWQ&A); Luke 23:43 and the New World Translation (SFBT)
Did Jesus raise himself up from the dead (John 10:17-18)? (SFBT); RU - Jesus Raised Himself? (Examining the Trinity)
ONE - John 10:30 (Examining the Trinity); In John 10:30, does Jesus say that he and his Father are one person? (SFBT); What About Trinity "Proof Texts"? - John 10:30 (WBTS; 2nd heading down)
John 10:33 "a god" or "God"? (Examining the Trinity); THEON (Examining the Trinity); MY GOD 8-9; (Examining the Trinity); How is Jesus a god? (SFBT); John 1:1c - English Translation: "The Word was a god." (vs. 33) (SFBT); How is John 10:33 translated in the coptic? (JWQ&A)
Seen Me: Seen Father - John 14:7-9 (Examining the Trinity)
John 14:14
John 14:14 (DNWT); Words Omitted (John 14:14) (DNWT); What kind of prayers are heard by God? (SFBT); Ask Who? (jwitness forum); John 14:14: To "me" or not to "me", that is the question (Sahidic Coptic Insight on NT Verses); The Sahidic Coptic of John 14:14 (JWQ&A)
John 20:28 "My God" (DNWT); MY GOD (Examining the Trinity); Why did Thomas say "My Lord and my God" at John 20:28? (SFBT); Why did the apostle Thomas exclaim "My Lord and my God!" at John 20:28? (JWQ&A); John 20:28 - Is Jesus Given the Title 'ho theos'? (Bible Translation and Study; Scroll down to 3rd Scriptural Heading); God and gods (SFBT); How is Jesus a god? (SFBT)
Acts 5:3, 4 Lied to the Holy Spirit...lied to God? (Examining the Trinity); Acts 5:3 "play false" (INDNWT); The Doctrine of the Trinity and Acts 5:3, 4 (JW United); The Holy Spirit - God's Active Force (JW United)
Acts 8:29
Acts 10:38
"Anointed with Holy Spirit" (Examining the Trinity)
Acts 13:2
Acts 13:2 "The holy spirit said: “...for the work to which I have called them.'” (Examining the Trinity); The Holy Spirit "speaks" at Acts 13:2 ('Reasoning From Scripture' Archive)
Acts 20:28
Acts 20:28 ("God...with his own blood") (DNWT); ACTS 20:28 (In Defense of the NWT); Does Acts 20:28 really say that God bought the church with his "own" blood? (SFBT); Acts 20:28 ("God...with his own blood") (Examining the Trinity); A Response to Alleged New World Translation "Errors" (Jehovah's Witnesses United); "The Sahidic Coptic version...does not speak of 'the church of God which he purchased with his own blood,' (Acts 20:28) (NWT and Coptic); God bought church with His own blood?; (SFBT); How does the 2nd/3rd century Sahidic Coptic version translate this text? (JWQ&A); Does God have blood (Acts 20:28)? (jwitness forum
Acts 28:25
Acts 28:25 "The holy spirit aptly spoke through Isaiah" (Examining the Trinity)Rom. 8:27
Rom. 8:27 (phronema) (INDNWT); Rom. 8:27 - Why is the Greek word translated differently in the NWT? (Jehovah's Witnesses United); Rom. 8:27 "Mind of the Spirit" (Examining the Trinity)
Rom. 9:5
ROM. 9:5 - " ... Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." - KJV (DNWT); AO - Speaker Confusion (Listing #6) (Examining the Trinity); Is Rom. 9:5 really proof that Jesus is God? - " ... Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." - KJV (SFBT); ROMANS 9:5: Is the Christ here "God"? (IDNWT); "God Over All" in Romans 9:5: Translation Issues and Theological Import (JW United); "The Coptic text of Romans 9:5 has some ambiguity, it appears to be less so than the Greek, and points clearly to two entities -- Christ and God" (Sahidic Coptic Insight on NT Verses)
1 Cor. 8:5,6
How was it that "all things were made through (Jesus)"? (Vs. 6) (SFBT); 'Unitized Title' Vs. 'Title with Identifiers' (1 Cor. 8:6) (Examining the Trinity); 1 Cor. 8:5,6 ("To us one God, the Father") - TC 6-7 (and f.n.'s #4, 6); BWF 3-4 ("source")
1 Cor. 12:11
1 Cor. 12:11 "The holy spirit wills" (Examining the Trinity); Do scriptures personifying the "Holy Spirit" mean that it is a person? (SFBT)
2 Cor. 3:17
2 Cor. 3:17 "The Lord is the Spirit." (Examining the Trinity)
2 Cor. 4:4
2 Cor. 4:4 "Christ, who is the image of God" (Examining the Trinity); Image (Examining the Trinity); Does Gen. 1:26 prove Trinity? (SFBT)
2 Cor. 13:14
2 Cor. 13:14 "the sharing in" (INDNWT); 2 Cor.13:14 "Jesus", "God", "and the...Holy Spirit" (SFBT); HS fn. #13 (Examining the Trinity); 2 Cor. 13:14 "Jesus", "God", "and the...Holy Spirit" (Examining the Trinity); 2 Cor.13:14 "Jesus", "God", "and the...Holy Spirit" (Examining the Trinity)
Eph. 4:30 "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit" (Examining the Trinity); How can the Holy Spirit be "grieved"? (SFBT); What about scriptures that seem to show the Holy Spirit being personified? (SFBT)
Eph. 5:5
Eph. 5:5 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S RULE - Pt 1 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S Rule - Pt 2 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); 'Sharp's Rule' Primer (Examining the Trinity); Sharp's Rule (A response to a major accusation made by Robert H. Countess) (DNWT); Titus 2:13 "Sharp's Rule" (DNWT); Trinitarian Apologetics: A Case Study Involving Rob Bowman and Granville Sharp (Jehovah's Witnesses United)
Phil. 2:6
PHIL 2:6; Part 2 - Notes (Examining the Trinity); NWT - Criticism by Zondervan's So Many Versions? - "[Other]" and Phil. 2:6 (DNWT); New World Translation and Philippians 2:6 (INDNWT); What does it mean when Phil. 2:6 says that Jesus was in God's form? (SFBT); Huparchon (or `Uparchon') - Does the word `being' in Philippians 2:6 [KJV], really literally mean `remaining or not ceasing to be'? (SFBT); God and gods (SFBT)
Why does the NWT at Col. 2:9 state that in Jesus "all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily," where as other translations state that in Jesus "dwells the fullness of Deity or the Godhead?'"; (DNWT) Does Col. 2:9 prove that Jesus is God? (SFBT); Col. 2:9 - "Fulness of Deity" (Examining the Trinity); "Theotes simply does not literally mean "godhead," and the use of "godhead" by the KJV translators was not intended as some would understand it today..." (JWQ&A); "The Fullness of the Divine Quality" in Colossians 2:9 (Bible Translation and Study)
SHARP'S RULE - Pt 1 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S Rule - Pt 2 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); 'Sharp's Rule' Primer (Examining the Trinity); Sharp's Rule (A response to a major accusation made by Robert H. Countess) (DNWT); Titus 2:13 "Sharp's Rule" (DNWT); Trinitarian Apologetics: A Case Study Involving Rob Bowman and Granville Sharp (Jehovah's Witnesses United)
1 Tim. 3:16
1 Tim. 3:16 God "manifest in the flesh" KJV (Examining the Trinity); How does the 2nd/3rd century Sahidic Coptic version translate this text? (JWQ&A); Did God become flesh (1 Tim 3: 16)? (jwitness forum)
1 Tim. 5:21
SHARP'S RULE - Pt 1 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S Rule - Pt 2 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); 'Sharp's Rule' Primer (Examining the Trinity); Sharp's Rule (A response to a major accusation made by Robert H. Countess) (DNWT); Titus 2:13 "Sharp's Rule" (DNWT); Trinitarian Apologetics: A Case Study Involving Rob Bowman and Granville Sharp (Jehovah's Witnesses United); 2 Cor.13:14 "Jesus", "God", "and the...Holy Spirit"
SHARP'S RULE - Pt 1 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S Rule - Pt 2 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); 'Sharp's Rule' Primer (Examining the Trinity); Sharp's Rule (A response to a major accusation made by Robert H. Countess) (DNWT); Titus 2:13 "Sharp's Rule"; (DNWT); Trinitarian Apologetics: A Case Study Involving Rob Bowman and Granville Sharp (Jehovah's Witnesses United)
Heb. 1:3
Heb. 1:3 `He [Jesus] is the reflection of his [God's] glory' (Examining the Trinity); Heb. 1:3 / Isa. 42:8 Does Jesus really share Jehovah's Glory? (Examining the Trinity)
Heb. 1:6
Heb. 1:6 "All angels of God worship him" KJV (Examining the Trinity) Worship (as used in Scripture) (Examining the Trinity); Worship or Obeisance? (Bible Translation and Study); PROSKYNEO-Always "Worship"? (In Defense of The New World Translation); Heb. 1:6 - "Let all the angels of God worship him [Jesus]." (JWQ&A); Heb. 1:6 "All angels of God worship him" KJV (SFBT); Should we worship Jesus (Hebrews 1: 6; Matthew 1:2)? (jwitness forum); Did Jehovah's Witnesses worship Jesus prior to 1954? (jwitnessforum); Instance of prototokos in NT (SFBT)
Heb. 1:8 "Thy Throne O God" (Examining the Trinity); Hebrews 1:8 "Thy throne, O God" (DNWT); Heb. 1:8 (INDNWT); George Wesley Buchanan and Hebrews 1 (INDNWT)
2 Pet. 1:1
Trinity "Proof Texts"SHARP'S RULE - Pt 1 (Examining the Trinity); SHARP'S Rule - Pt 2 (Endnotes) (Examining the Trinity); 'Sharp's Rule' Primer (Examining the Trinity); Sharp's Rule (A response to a major accusation made by Robert H. Countess) (DNWT); Trinitarian Apologetics: A Case Study Involving Rob Bowman and Granville Sharp (Jehovah's Witnesses United)
2 Pet. 3:18
Isa. 43:11 / 2 Pet. 3:18 Jehovah only Savior; Jesus Savior; (SFBT); Title Confusion Trick "Saviour" (Examining the Trinity)
1 John 5:7
The 'Johannine Comma' - 1 John 5:7 (INDNWT); But Your Bible's Been Changed! (From God's Word); Newton proved that the words in 1 John 5:7 were spurious... (Pastor Russell); 1 John 5:7 (KJV) (Examining the Trinity); How does the accuracy of the New World Translation Bible compare to other translations? (SFBT); 1 John 5:7 proof of the Trinity? (SFBT); "Word" and 1 John 5:7, KJV ("Oneness") (JWQ&A); "Jehovah" in the New Testament (end notes) (SFBT, 10th par. end note #1, 10th par. "Zondervan")
1 John 5:8
1 John 5:8 (Examining the Trinity); Trinitarian reasoning - water and blood persons too? (SFBT); How can the Holy Spirit be "grieved"? (SFBT); What about scriptures that seem to show the Holy Spirit being personified? (SFBT)
1 John 5:20
Translating "In" (DNWT); 1 John 5:20 "True God" (DNWT); 1 John 5:20 "We are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." - KJV (Examining the Trinity); 1 John 5:20 (INDNWT); "The Only True God" (Examining the Trinity) If the Father is the "only true God" (John 17:3), does that mean that Jesus is a false god? (SFBT); The Bible’s Viewpoint - Is There Only One True God? (WBTS); Is Jesus Christ God? WHO IS “the Only True God”? (WBTS)
Rev. 1:8
Rev. 1:8 "Alpha and Omega" (Examining the Trinity); Is Jesus the "Alpha and the Omega" (Rev. 1:8)? (jwitness forum)
Rev. 1:17
Isa. 44:6 / Rev. 1:17 "First and the Last" (SFBT); Title Confusion Trick - "First and Last" (Is. 44:6; Rev. 1:17) (Examining the Trinity)
Rev. 5:6
Throne (Rev. 22:1) (Examining the Trinity); Rev. 5:6 and Rev. 5:13 "Throne" (Examining the Trinity); "Jehovah" in the New Testament; "Holy, Holy, Holy" - Is. 6:3 (SFBT)
Rev. 5:6 and Rev. 5:13 "Throne" (Examining the Trinity)
Rev. 22:1
Throne (Rev. 22:1) (Examining the Trinity)
Rev. 22:13
Alpha and Omega (AO) - Speaker Confusion Trick (Examining the Trinity); Is Jesus the "Alpha and the Omega" (Rev. 1:8)? (jwitness forum)
More material:
Trinity 'Proof' Texts Refuted (From In Defense of The New World Translation of The Holy Scriptures)
What About Trinity "Proof Texts"? (From the Official Website of Jehovah's Witnesses)
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