Bridge of Reason

Mormons claim that, following the time of the apostles, the Christian Church fell into total apostasy. They claim: Apostasy was prophesied...2 Timothy 3:1-3 A 'Restoration' was anticipated...Acts 3:19-21 But, while apostasy was foretold, the Bible disallows total apostasy: ‘And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ (Matthew 16:18) ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:19/20) ‘And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God , to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the f...

The Proof of Obedience When it comes to discipleship Jesus made it clear that words are not enough. Many find the message of Jesus attractive, and are prepared to look further into it. Like the rich young man, they are curious, ask questions, but come with the baggage of assumptions we all can carry. It’s a lazy kind of curiosity that assumes the answer is going to be just the one I already decided is right. In Jesus’s day it was assumed riches were a sign of God’s blessing, a sure sign someone was heading for eternal life. Jesus put his finger on what was always going to hold back this young man and issued the challenge. ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.’ Read the whole account in Mark’s gospel to see how prevalent this thinking about riches was (Mark 10:17-27) Discipleship costs, more than riches, more than reputation, more than comfort, which is why the first test of discipleshi...

The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God’s name, his one true name, the name by which he is identified is Jehovah. But, biblically, God has and is identified by many names, names Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t seem disposed to talk about. In Genesis 1:1 he is ‘God,’ the Hebrew elohim . In Genesis 17:1 he is ‘God Almight,’ the Hebrew El Shadday . In Psalm 8:1 he is ‘Lord,’ the Aramaic  Adonay . In 1 Samuel 1:3 he is ‘Lord of hosts,’ the Hebrew yhwh tseba’ot . In the New Testament Jesus teaches his disciples to call God ‘Father,’ the Greek Pater Matthew 6:9 The disciples, following Jesus’ teaching, called God ‘Father’ 1 Corinthinas 1:3 Indeed, in the whole New Testament God is called Father. He is the Father to whom we pray Matthew 6:9 He is our Father and Jesus’ Father John 20:17 By the power of the Spirit of adoption we call him Abba, Father Romans 8:15 Our fellowship is with the Father 1 John 1:3 Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses only became Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931, based ...