The Watchtower Answers Its Critics (Part 4) 7 Pag

8/8/2019 The Watchtower Answers Its Critics (Part 4) 7 Pag

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32. The NWT translates Mt 25:46 as, And these will depart into everlastingcutting-off. The Greek word that is translated as cutting-off iskolasis (Strong # 2851). According to Strongs Greek dictionary, this wordcan only mean correction, punishment, or penalty, but no reference ismade to cutting-off. If the word kolasis was translated correctly ascorrection, punishment, or penalty, as it should be according to StrongsGreek Dictionary, how would this verse read?

Regardless of the word used, Matthew 25:46 contrasts eternal life andeternal punishment. The NIV reads: "Then they will go away to eternal

punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." If those punished aretortured in hell's inferno, as you no doubt suppose, then they would alsohave to live eternally in order to endure everlasting torture. However,eternal life is not our birthright. It is a gift of God. The eternal punishmentis everlasting deathor being permanently cut off from life.

Elsewhere the Scriptures make it plain the final judgment imposed uponthe symbolic goats of Christ's illustration is everlasting destructionnoteverlasting torment in hell. For example, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 reads inthe NIV: "They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shutout from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to bemarveled at among all those who have believed."

What does the word "destruction" mean to you?

33. According to scripture, Jesus is the first and the last (Rev 1:17-18), thefirst and the last is the Alpha and Omega (Rev 22:13), and the Alphaand the Omega is God (Rev 1:8). In other words, Jesus = the first and thelast = the Alpha and the Omega = God. How can this be if Jesus is notGod?

Jehovah and Jesus share titles, although there are subtle differences inthe offices they each occupy. Alpha and Omega , the Greek equivalent tosaying A-to-Z in English, is a descriptive title that Jehovah and Jesus mayshare, but for different reasons. Jehovah is the ultimate First and Last, inthat he is the only person in existence that had no beginning. And, healone innately possesses immortality and life in himself. No one gave

Jehovah life, but he gives life to all others, including his firstborn and only-
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begotten Son.

As the firstborn Son of all Creation, Jesus is unique among all of God'ssons, in that he was the first and only creature directly created byJehovah. All [others] were created through the Son. That is why, in fact,Jesus is called the only-begotten Son of God. Jesus is also the firstcreature raised from the dead to immortality. That's why the Bible callshim the " firstborn from the dead." At Colossians 1:18, Paul said of Christ:"He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he mightbecome the one who is first in all things ." The next verse goes on toshow that it pleased God to make his son first in all things.

Jesus is "last" in the sense that he will never be surpassed in glory by anyfellow creature. He will always be the closest to God.

34. Since the WTS prohibits the use of blood transfusions, why does it permitthe infusion of albumin, clotting factors, and gamma globulins, all of whichare components of human blood and are derived from human blood? SinceActs 15:29 clearly refers to the old Jewish law of not EATING blood (Gen9:4, Lev 3:17, Deut 12:16), and since the WTS has changed its teachings onother major health related issues like vaccinations, organ transplantations,and its opposition to tonsillectomies (Golden Age, 4/7/26, pg 438), etc. and

simply calls these changes "New Light", how can you be sure they won'tsome day change their teachings on blood transfusions and refer to thatchange as "New Light" also?

Jehovah's Witnesses know what the Bible teaches on that topic and eachof us that are spiritually mature know that we will eventually stand beforeJehovah in judgment. (see www.watchtower.org on main topic BLOOD)

35. If the NWT is the most accurate word for word translation of the Bible,why does it alter the written word of God by adding the words itself and[true] in Eccl 12:7 when these words dont exist in the Hebrew? Howwould this verse read without the addition of these words? What doesscripture say about adding words to the Bible? See Prov 30:5-6. If what theWTS teaches about the spirit of man is correct, then how can the spirit of a man return to God after the body dies and returns to the earth?

The NWT has not altered the Word of God. The bracketed word [itself] is


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innocuous and changes nothing. As for the expression [true] God: TheNew World Translation explains in its appendix that there are severalhundred places in Scripture where the Hebrew word for God, Elohim , ispreceded by the definite article. When that occurs in reference toJehovah, the NWT always uses the expression "[true] God" in order tomake the distinction. Literally the expression should say "the God," butthat is an awkward expression in English. So, the translators used a wordthat distinguishes the expression "the God" from the ordinary use ofElohim without the definite article. As for the spirit returning to the trueGod who gave it, that simply means that the dead person's future life'sprospects rest with God. In the NIV, Ecclesiastes 12:7 reads: "and thedust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to Godwho gave it." The CEV reads: "So our bodies return to the earth, andthe life-giving breath returns to God"

The Message Bible reads: "The body is put back in the same ground itcame from. The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it."

The NWT reads: "The dust returns to the earth, just as it happened tobe and the spirit itself returns to the [true] God who gave it."

As any reader can see, there is no alteration of the text. There is merely avariation in the translations. The textual variations are trivial and do notalter the meaning . The Bible is simply saying that at death we dissolveinto dust and the animating spirit returns to God.

36. The WTS book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth states onpage 147, Bible evidence shows that in the year 1914 C.E. Gods timearrived for Christ to return and begin ruling. It also states In the sameway, Christs return does not mean that he literally comes back to this earth.Rather, it means that he takes Kingdom power toward this earth and turnshis attention to it. In 1Cor 11:26, Paul writes, "For as often as you eat thisloaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, UNTIL

HE ARRIVES." If Christ arrived in 1914, why do Jehovah's Witnessescontinue to partake of the bread and wine? Shouldn't they have stopped in1914?

Not necessarily. Whether Jesus' parousia began in 1914 or will begin atsome future time, the expression "until he arrives," as it relates to thelegitimate partakers of the bread and wine, has to do with Jesus arriving to receive his bride-like congregation to himself. Jesus said that the finalgathering of his chosen ones will occur during his presence, during a timeof unprecedented global tribulation. Obviously, when the last survivingmember of the bride of Christ has died, and the marriage of the Lamb
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takes place in heaven, then there will be no more ceremonial eating of theemblems of Christ's death. He will have fully arrived at that time.

37. In Acts 2:26-27, Peter, referring to the time the dead Jesus spent in thetomb, quotes David referring to Christ, On this account my heart becamecheerful and my tongue greatly rejoiced. Moreover, even MY FLESH WILLRESIDE IN HOPE, because you will not leave my soul in Hades If Jesusbody was destroyed while he was in the tomb, why does he say that his fleshwill reside in hope? For what hope was his flesh residing? If there is noconscious awareness after death, how could he hope, in the first place?

Peter was quoting from the 16 th Psalm. In that Psalm, David wasexpressing his confidence in the resurrection. David said that while hewas alive, "my own flesh will reside in security." David was not sayingthat his flesh resided in security after his death. We can rightly assumethat David's corpse rotted in the grave. Peter indicated as much when hewent on to say in the 29 th verse: "Men, brothers, it is allowable tospeak with freeness of speech to you concerning the family headDavid, that he both deceased and was buried and his tomb is amongus to this day." David's flesh resided in security while he was alive ,because of the hope of the resurrection.

As it applies to Jesus, Jesus also had the hope of a resurrection. He wassecure in the knowledge that Jehovah would resurrect him and not leavehim to rot in the grave. That is why he was willing to die in the first place,because he had hope . Hebrews 12:2 says the same thing: "For the joythat was set before him he endured a torture stake, despisingshame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

38. In the NWT, every time the Greek word "proskuneo" ( ) is used inreference to God, it is translated as "worship" (Rev 5:14, 7:11, 11:16, 19:4,Jn 4:20, etc.). Every time "proskuneo" is used in reference to Jesus, it istranslated as "obeisance" (Mt 14:33, 28:9, 28:17, Lk 24:52, Heb 1:6, etc.),even though it is the same word in the Greek (see Gr-Engl Interlinear).Especially compare the Greek word "proskunhsan" used with reference toGod in Rev 5:14, 7:11, 11:16, and 19:4 and the same exact word used withreference to Christ in Mt 14:33, 28:9, and 28:17. What is the reason for thisinconsistenc y in translation? If the NWT was consistent in translating"proskuneo" as "worship", how would the verses above referring to Christ

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The questioner supposes that words do not have variations in meaningdepending on the context of their usage. However, according to Strong'slexicon " proskuneo " has several nuances in meaning, and is used todenote doing an act of respect before a human ruler or dignitary. It is notalways used to denote what we call an act of worship. The NWT is fully

justified in making a distinction between the oriental custom of doingobeisance before a human superior and doing an act of worship beforeGod.

The question discerning persons ought to ask is this: If the apostles'bowing before Jesus indicates that they thought Jesus was God, who wasJesus bowing to when he prostrated himself in the Garden ofGethsemane? Should we suppose that one third of the trinity worships theother 66% of the godhead?

39. Jesus Christ is referred to as "Mighty God" in Isa 9:6 ("For there hasbeen a child born to us, there has been a son given to us... And his name willbe called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and Eternal Father...").Jehovah God is referred to as "Mighty God" in Isa 10:20-21. How can thisbe if there is only ONE God? Jesus is also called the Eternal Father in Isa9:6. Since only God is eternal, that is, has no beginning and no end, how canthis be if Christ is not God but was created by God? If Mighty God andEternal Father are only titles given to Christ, why would he be given anytitle in scripture that did not accurately apply to him?

The verse in question reads from the NIV: "For to us a child is born, tous a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. Andhe will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, EverlastingFather, Prince of Peace."

Careful readers will note that the prophecy in Isaiah says that the Messiah

"will be called" by such names as Mighty God, Eternal Father. If that werein reference to Jehovah, he would have already been known as suchwhen the prophecy was written. Secondly, Trinitarians are faced withexplaining the obvious absurdity that the Son of God is also his ownFather. That should prove to be an insurmountable obstacle seeing thateven the most ardent Trinitarian will confess that there is a distinctionbetween the Father and the Son of their supposed triune godhead.Thirdly, a prince is a son of a king. Jehovah is the King, not a prince.

Jesus is a Mighty God by virtue of the fact that Jehovah appoints him tothat high office. That is in fact what the prophecy is foretelling, namely that

the Messiah will inherit the throne of David and rule God's kingdom inplace of God. Jesus becomes the Eternal Father of mankind by virtue of
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the fact that he brings the dead back to life and grants them everlastinglife. The Bible explains how our original father, Adam, brought death uponthe whole race. Jesus is called the Last Adam because he replaces Adamas mankind's father. He will become our Eternal Father when heabolishes death and imparts everlasting life to Adam's offspring.

40. Acts 17:31 Paul says, "Because he has set a day in which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a MAN whom he hasappointed, and he has furnished a guarantee to all men in that he hasresurrected him from the dead". Did Paul believe that the future judge of the world, Jesus Christ, would be an invisible spirit creature or an immortalman? Similarly, after Jesus death, Paul writes in 1Tim 2:5, For there is

one God, and one mediator between God and men, a MAN, Christ Jesus.Did Paul, speaking in the present, believe that Jesus was an invisible spiritcreature or a man?

Paul personally knew Christ as an invisible mighty spirit. He never metJesus as a man. He also has the unique distinction of being the only human to have seen Jesus in his glorified state after his ascension. SurelyPaul knows the truth of the matter. When discussing the resurrection ofChrist in the 15 th chapter of 1 st Corinthians, Paul stated: "After that heappeared to James, then to all the apostles; but last of all heappeared also to me as if to one born prematurely."

Why did Paul say that his personal encounter with Jesus on the road toDamascus was like being born prematurely? The reason is because allthe others who saw Christ after his resurrection saw Jesus as heappeared in some human form. Paul, however, saw Jesus as he presentlyis, in his glorious spirit state. It was like Paul was born premature in thatthe others of the 144,000 will not be privileged to see Jesus in spirit untilthey are born as spirit sons in heaven. That is why Paul likened theexperience to being born prematurely. However, he referred to Jesus asa man because, obviously, Jesus once was a man, and it was because ofhis faithfulness as a man that God rewarded him by making him aheavenly king. Put another way, although Jesus is not still a man, hiscourse as a man was what qualified him to judge mankind, so in thatsense it is appropriate to speak of him as a man.

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The Watchtower Answers Its Critics (Part 4) 7 Pag