The Reasoning Book - Which Religion is Right?

In last week’s Watch Tower Wednesday on the Facebook Page we saw in the Reasoning book, p 328, the question 'How can a person know which religion is right?' They suggest a series of tests, beginning with:

'(1) On what are its teachings based? Are they from God, or are they largely from men? (2 Tim. 3:16; Mark 7:7) Ask, for example: Where does the Bible teach that God is a Trinity? Where does it say that the human soul is immortal?

'(2) Consider whether it is making known the name of God. Jesus said in prayer to God: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.” (John 17:6) He declared: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:10) Has your religion taught you that ‘it is Jehovah you must worship’? Have you come to know the Person identified by that name—his purposes, his activities, his qualities—so that you feel you can confidently draw close to him?'

Do they have a point? Is this how we are to judge for ourselves 'which religion is right'? What tests would you, as a Christian, use to test the claims of any group claiming to be the 'right' religion?

Barry Amor helpfully commented:

‘The ‘right’ religion would teach the truth about the ‘right’ God. From a Christendom point of view the ‘right’ God is the one revealed in the Bible (as it was written by the Holy Spirit). If you need to change the Bible to make it meet your teachings then you’re not the ‘right’ religion. Does your religion point you to the Christ? He is the good news of the Bible after all. That would be the best indicator of the ‘right’ religion; does it point you to Christ?’

Changing the Bible

The Trinity, of course, is an explanation of everything we find in the Bible regarding the character of God, the person and saving work of Jesus, and the person and work of the Holy Spirit. One might ask, ‘Where in the Bible does it say the Holy Spirit is not a person?’ He speaks, leads people, is grieved, opens our minds to Bible truth, and teaches us about Jesus. Remarkable achievements for an impersonal force.

The Watch Tower have changed the Bible to accommodate their Unitarian beliefs. John begins his gospel saying Jesus, ‘the Word was God.’ The New World Translation says, ‘the Word was a god.’ (John 1:1)

Paul explicitly tells us that Jesus relinquished equality with God, ‘the form of God,’ to become a servant, ‘the form of a servant.’ Paul later writes,’God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name…’ (Philip.2:6,9) The New World Translation adds ‘other’ to the text – every [other] name – with no justification except to make Jesus a creature, an angel, and not equal to God.

The writer to the Hebrews says of Jesus:

'For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’?

‘Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be my son’?

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’

But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever, the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of your kingdom.’’ (Hebrews 1:5-8)

God says of Jesus, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ (Mt.3:17)

Read more about Christ’s Divinity here.

The Name

So we come to the name:

‘Consider whether it [the religion] is making known the name of God. Jesus said in prayer to God: “I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world.” (John 17:6) He declared: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Matt. 4:10) Has your religion taught you that ‘it is Jehovah you must worship’?’

Let’s make one thing clear; I hear the name regularly in church, despite the Jehovah’s Witness belief that that can’t be so. Indeed, in a daily reading my wife and I are following, I read the name out loud just today. The idea Christians don’t know and use the name of God is a wicked lie.

There is something strange about their argument here in the Reasoning book. They insist Jesus taught his disciples the name of God.

However, Jesus taught his disciples to call God Father (Mt.6:9). He led by example by praying to God, calling him Father (Jn.17:6; 11:41) He taught his followers to, ‘pray to your Father who is in heaven’ (Mt.6:6) that their lives should shine such they ‘give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’(Mt.5:16)

If the message of Jesus was the Name, if Jesus’ disciples had been good Jehovah’s Witnesses they, in turn, would have taught the early church the same important lesson.

The defining and embryonic moment in early church development is surely Peter’s sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2). Notable by its absence from Peter’s preaching that day, is the call to ‘make manifest the name of God,’ the call to worship Jehovah. Indeed, the focus of Peter’s sermon is Jesus, the key verse in this text being:

‘Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ (Acts 2:36)

Note, Peter refers to ‘God’ (theos) here, as he does throughout his sermon. Even when he quotes Joel, he uses theos (God) and kurios (Lord). The same when he quotes David. Jehovah’s Witnesses will want to argue that ‘Jehovah’ is correct in Joel 2:31,32, which is what they have in Joel and Acts in their NWT; but don’t miss the point. Peter nowhere teaches God’s name in this formative and defining moment in church history; Peter teaches Jesus.

The ‘Right’ Religion?

The Reasoning book asks, 'How can a person know which religion is right?' This is the way the world thinks. With so many religions in the world, so many voices, how can I know which one to join. This is the wrong question. It’s the wrong question because it starts from the wrong place.

You don’t need a religion, you need a Redeemer.

Read through the first three chapters of Romans, read Romans 7. In Paul’s day there was a veritable cornucopia of religions, but they served no ultimate purpose. The Bible makes clear our problem is not the wrong religion, our problem is sin. We don’t need a religion, we need a Redeemer, and it was this Redeemer that Peter announced at Pentecost. It’s this Redeemer the Old Testament foreshadows, and the New Testament reveals. It is this Redeemer to whom Paul appeals at the end of Romans 7:

‘Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!’

The Reasoning book is asking the wrong question. You don’t need a religion, you need a Redeemer. Do you know him?

Obama's mother posthumously baptized into LDS Church - Salt Lake Tribune

In the wake of his remarkable success it seemed that the world and his wife wanted to claim President Obama as their own with even an Irish connection being dug up. Now the Mormons have got in on the act by posthumously baptising his mother. They have in the past upset the Jewish community, the Catholic Church and now the American President with this wacky and unbiblical practice but there is no indication that they will review it. And, of course, it is always someone else’s fault and they promise a thorough inquiry to uncover the real culprits. Maybe they should try looking in the mirror. President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized posthumously into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last year during her son's campaign, according to Salt Lake City-based researcher Helen Radkey. The ritual, known as “baptism for the dead,” was done June 4 in the Provo temple, and another LDS temple rite, known as the “endowment,” was...

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