Bridge of Reason

The Watchtower May 15, 1988, sort to tackle one of the thorny problems that Jehovah's Witnesses have, namely, the appearances in the Old Testament of “the Angel of the Lord,” or as they say, “Jehovah’s angel.” They cannot say that the angel was Jehovah because “no man has seen God at any time.” However, they also cannot say that the angel was a manifestation of Jesus - because according to their belief He had no eternal pre-existence as Jesus. Therefore they maintain that these were Jehovah’s angelic representatives; but this is where the problems start because of the way they were treated. The article [pp.21-23] first deals with Moses in Exodus 33:17-23 and rightly points out that God says, “You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live.” However, Moses was able to see the ‘back’ of God. The Society tells us that this is just the “afterglow of the divine presence.” We can probably accept that but an important point has been made - no man can see the fa...

Some seasoned and timely advice on discussing the Mormon "sacred" (secret) temple ceremony with Mormons and a very interesting discussion to follow. I don't generally tackle the subject because  Mormons refuse to discuss it and it is just plain frustrating, but the author is right in pointing out that it can be appropriate and helpful to bite the bullet, can be seen as a biblical duty, and the advice offered is sensitive while still challenging. I wish as much could be said of some of the Mormon responses. Mormon Coffee » The Duty to Expose a Shameful Ceremony is Infinitely More Sacred Than a Shameful Ceremony

If there is one aspect of the Watchtower Society that clearly shows their deception it is the way they quote or rather misquote many authorities. They make quotations that deny the very things they believe, support them through judicial editing. This is despite there own advice to others. “Be very careful to be accurate in all statements you make. Use evidence honestly. In quotations do not twist the meaning of a writer or speaker or use only partial quotations to give a different thought than the person intended…” - Qualified to be Ministers, WB&TS, 1967, p.199. We have published a number of examples before in books such as Awake! to the Watchtower but we provide a new selection here. The first quotations come from the Society's publication Reasoning from the Scriptures and are found under the heading of ‘Neutrality’, pp.272-275. It will be noticed from the first quotation that the Watchtower are so determined to prove the point of neutrality they even use a quote from someo...

In a 19th June news statement the Mormon Church explained its purpose, structure and place in the world. In the Organisation section they state the following: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is organized the same way that Christ organized His church in New Testament times. It is led by a prophet who serves as president of the Church. He has two counselors, and these three leaders constitute the First Presidency. The First Presidency is assisted by twelve apostles, who are special witnesses of Jesus Christ to all the world. Leaders called seventies assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and serve in various areas throughout the world. Local congregations are led by bishops. The main organization for women in the Church is the Relief Society, which was founded in 1842." To claim that the Mormon Church is organised the same way that the Lord organised his church in New Testament times Mormons would have to find a clear biblical model of church and demonstrate...

An excellent article by Doug Harris on the work of Reachout Trust. How did it start? Why do we do it? What are the challenges? How do we plan to meet them? Let's talk about it. New Statesman - Working to educate the youth