Bridge of Reason

In the last Watchtower Wednesday we looked at the Watchtower explanation of John 3:16 and what it means for Jesus to be God’s ‘Only begotten Son.’ On jw.org they go into some detail to explain the Greek monogen ē s : ‘The Greek word mo·no·ge·nesʹ is defined by lexicographers as “single of its kind, only,” or “the only member of a kin or kind.” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1889, p. 417; Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford, 1968, p. 1144) The term is used in describing the relation of both sons and daughters to their parents.’ They then go on to talk about the ‘only begotten’ son of the widow of Nain (Lk.7:11,12), of Jairus having an ‘only begotten’ daughter (Lk.8:41,42), and the man with an ‘only begotten’ son with an unclean spirit (Lk.9:38). This is designed to make ‘only begotten’ so pedestrian as to be hardly worth mentioning. Thus Jesus, likewise, is the ‘only begotten son from the father’ (Jn.1:14). When you see cults leaning heavily on

‘Dear ones, if you want to hear God speak to you, there’s one way I can guarantee you that you will hear God speak, read your Bible. If you want to hear God speak to you audibly, read it out loud. I promise you…I promise you, you’ll hear Him speak.’  Justin Peters   In a recent article entitled: I "Hear Him" by Aligning My Mind with His Will [1] , Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared how he personally hears from God. Now it is no surprise, that as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he mentions being ‘ nourished by hearing the word of God from the holy scriptures and from the teachings of the prophets.’ The Holy Scriptures to which he refers would not just be the Bible, but also the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants. The teachings of the prophets would be things taught as true by those who have held the position of prophet, seer and revelator of the LDS church. In his commentary, Elder S

  I had a food stain on my shirt. My wife said something she thought rather funny: ‘How could you miss a mouth that big?’ I didn’t laugh, but rather I was perturbed that I now had a bright red stain on my new white shirt. My wife reassured me that she had a stain remover that can eradicate any blemish. Hearing this made me feel better, and less concerned when I missed my huge mouth for the second time. And she was right, once the stain remover was rubbed into the stains they vanished. The Bible teaches us that we are all ‘stained’ with sin, but the good news is there is a ‘stain’ remover. Through His blood shed on the cross of Calvary, Jesus removed the stain of sin so that we, who have repented of our sin and put our hope in him, are now without blemish. What good news! But some may ask, can Jesus remove every stain? The Bible says yes: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin

In my last Watchtower Wednesday I pointed to an article on the Watchtower website in which they address this question of Bible accuracy. They offer seven principles by which to test the accuracy of a Bible translation. We will look at how the New World Translation, and Watchtower Society itself, stands up when put to their own test. 1. Context ‘ A ny author can appear to contradict himself if his words are taken out of context.’ You may know that Jehovah’s Witnesses insist Jehovah has an organisation . Yet Charles Russell solemnly warns his Bible students: ‘ Beware of ‘organization.’ It is wholly unnecessary. The bible rules will be the onlyrules you will need. Do not seek to bind others’ consciences...and do not permit others to bind yours. Believe and obey as far as you can understand God’s Word today…’ (Watchtower, Sept.15, 1892, p.216) ‘ ...it is plain that the forming of a visible organisation of such gathered out ones would be out of harmony with the spirit of the

  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.      LUKE 22:44   “GREATEST SUFFERING WAS IN GETHSEMANE. We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering.  His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross.  It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: ‘Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit-and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink.’ That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body” [1]   Peculiar to Mormonism is the idea that Jesus atoned for the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane. Though espoused by many Mormon lead