Bridge of Reason

  The Watch Tower Society insists the title 'Word' means Jesus is 'God's spokesperson': “ The beginning” refers to the time when God began his creative work and produced the Word. Thereafter, the Word was used by God in the creation of all other things. (John 1:2, 3) The Bible states that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation” and that “by means of him all other things were created.”—Colossians 1:15, 16. "The phrase “the Word was a god” describes the divine or godlike nature that Jesus possessed before he came to earth. He can be described in this way because of his role as God’s Spokesman and his unique position as the firstborn Son of God through whom God created all other things." This effectively makes him no more than a great prophet, much as in Islam. As a created being, albeit the first to be created, the only difference between him and other prophets is one of precedence. Does the Bible say Jesus was created? Is Jesus just another spokesperson ...

  The Watch Tower Society has much to say about John 1:1. ‘ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.’ —John 1:1, New World Translation. In Insight on the Scriptures they write: 'This scripture reveals details about Jesus Christ’s life before he came to earth as a human. (John 1:14-17) In verse 14, “the Word” (or “the Logos,” Greek, ho loʹgos ) is used as a title. The title “the Word” apparently describes Jesus’ role in communicating God’s commands and instructions to others. Jesus continued to make known God’s word during his ministry on earth and after he returned to heaven.—John 7:16; Revelation 1:1.' It is noteworthy that the Watch Tower Society utilises words like 'apparently' ‘evidently’ and 'seemingly' quite a lot in their commentary on Bible teaching. It's as if they are determined to not be nailed down and so use ambivalence as a backstop. Their understanding of the word, 'Word,' is that it 'a...

  Isaiah 53 in the Great Isaiah Scroll It is in Acts 8:26-38 we find the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official from the court of Candace. The Spirit directs Philip to ‘go down from Jerusalem to Gaza’ and talk to the man. Here was the last watering hole before the desert on the route from Jerusalem to Egypt, from where he would go on to the ancient Nubian kingdom south of Aswan on the Nile. The man was probably a God-fearer – ‘he had come to Jerusalem to worship.’ He was ‘seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.’ This was unusual for an outsider, a Gentile. He had, nevertheless, been to Jerusalem and would have heard of the crucifixion, of the events at Pentecost, and might have witnessed the beginning of the Christian Diaspora. What would he have seen and heard that would draw him to Isaiah 53? Philip is instructed to join the man’s chariot, which he did and found himself invited to come up and sit with him. What if it had been Charles Russell in that...