Bridge of Reason

Most Christians who talk to Jehovah’s Witnesses will eventually come across the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society’s [WBTS] booklet “Should You Believe In The Trinity” [abbreviated to “Trinity” from now on.] As with most WBTS publications, the booklet gives the impression of being a well-produced, scholarly work. It is only as you check it out carefully that the errors begin to come to light. It may not be easy to get a Witness to investigate this publication but we want to give the opportunity to lovingly show some of the faults in it and hope you will be able to do the same with the next one that calls at the door. It is not wise to try to tackle all the arguments at once, concentrate on one at a time. When you show that a particular quote is not the full one the reply that many Jehovah’s Witnesses have been given is, “Well the writer does say these words and therefore we are not misquoting them.” The answer I give to this is to quote John 3:16 & 17 from the New World Translati...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Brigham Young University has yanked the diploma of a man who created a calendar featuring shirtless Mormon missionaries and was later excommunicated from the church. Chad Hardy of Las Vegas attended graduation ceremonies Aug. 15 after finishing up his last four units of study online in June. But on July 13, in between completing his studies and the graduation ceremony, he was excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is a lesson here for all those who want to understand what Mormonism is all about. Some have argued that BYU is a Mormon Church-owned school and, therefore, since Hardy knew and signed up to the rules of conduct, he only has himself to blame. Problem is he hasn't been "active" as a Mormon for six years, according to some reports. His lack of any meaningful involvement in the Mormon Church seemed to be no bar to his gaining entry on a BYU course so we have to conclude that faithfulness to the code, or lack ...

Many Christians, while talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses, are asked to look at the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society’s [WBTS] booklet “Should You Believe In The Trinity” [abbreviated to “Trinity” from now on.] As with most WBTS publications, the booklet gives the impression of being a well-produced, scholarly work. It is only as you check it out carefully that the errors begin to come to light. It may not be easy to get a Witness to investigate this publication but we want to give the opportunity to lovingly show some of the faults in it and hope you will be able to do the same with the next one that asks you to read it. It is not wise to try to tackle all the arguments at once, concentrate on one at a time. I have tried to personally see every book that the WBTS refer to. This was not easy at first because the WBTS left out references to page numbers, where and when published etc. Initially, thanks to the British Library I managed to see most of them. Since completing my research,...

An early Mormon leader stated: “The Bible has been robbed of its plainness; many sacred books having been lost, others rejected by the Romish (sic) Church, and what few we have left, were copied and re-copied so many times, that it is admitted that almost every verse has been corrupted and mutilated to that degree that scarcely any two of them read alike” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, P.2 Jan.1854) Based on such pronouncements, it is commonly, though mistakenly, believed among Mormons that our modern Bible is 'a translation of a translation of a translation...etc.' that in the process of transmission it has “passed through profane hands” and been interfered with by “corrupt priests” with no recourse to early documents. If this were the case it becomes immediately obvious why the Mormon is not encouraged to put a great deal of trust in the Bible. If I were to suggest that, notwithstanding such perceived problems, I had prayed about the Bible and 'believed' it to be 100% relia...

I don't know how many 'ends' there have been but this small list, interesting though it is, could be added to many time over by regular readers of this blog. No one seems to mind that Scripture makes it clear that "concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Mat.24:36) These are interesting examples and this story a worthy addition to the long list of those who insist they know what neither the angels of heaven nor even the Lord of Glory knows: "The end is near? Looking back at some 20th-century predictions: 1914: Jehovah's Witnesses say this is the doomsday year, followed by a series of later dates. In the 1990s, Jehovah's Witnesses quietly abandon a prediction that people alive in 1914 would live to see the Second Coming of Christ. 1919: Meteorologist Albert Porta predicts six planets will come together on Dec. 19, creating a cataclysmic event that would explode the ...

How about this for a group study. I cam across this blog whose stated aim is to buck the trend for Jesus: "I hate the statistic that informs us that 75% of high school students will walk away from their faith shortly after leaving high school. I plan our studies with the intent of lowering that statistic with each student that comes in. My goals include: removing intellectual excuses people give for claiming Christianity is false removing students in these studies from the pond that pseudo-Christian movements fish from (Groups like the Watchtower & Mormonism normally convert Christians into their movements. Not these students!) helping students develop spiritual disciplines (prayer, reading and studying the Bible, memorization, sharing our faith)." Maybe this will inspire others to start such a group. His book choice for the group, Ron Rhode's "Reasoning from the Scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses" is an excellent choice and no small challenge - but it ...