The Word: 'God's Spokesperson'?

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 for God? What does the Bible actually say on these issues?

We saw last week that Jesus is more than simply a messenger. The idea that Jesus is 'God's spokesperson' aims at the very heart of the Trinity doctrine, the Christian doctrine of the godhead. Traditionally, we believe that when any member of that holy company acts God is acting. In the Watch Tower's Unitarian model that cannot be, so Jesus becomes subordinate, a 'spokesperson,' and the Holy Spirit becomes a force. Again, they write:

"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)"

Where does the Bible say that? Where does the text say it? It doesn't.

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God...'

We need go no further to make the point, the text does not say, 'in the beginning God created the Word.' Having rejected Christ's deity, however, they must explain his existence. Only eisegesis will do this. This is the old Arian heresy that teaches, 'there was a time when the Son was not.'

Maybe that is true, after all, doesn't the Bible say he is, “the firstborn of all creation” and that “by means of him all other things were created.”—Colossians 1:15, 16.

That pesky word 'other'? It isn't in the Greek, but has been added by the Watch Tower 'translators' to help us understand what the Bible really means (what God intended to say?) The text in any reputable Bible translates as, ‘By him all things were created…’

The text doesn’t say, ‘by means of him,’ as though he were no more than an agent of God, but it say, ‘By him all things were created…’ The word they ‘translate ‘other’, as in ‘by means of him all [other] things were created,’ is πάντα which translates as ‘all things’ ‘everything.’ You can find, on the Bible Hub, a list of every instance of its use in the New Testament.

They go on to write:

Let’s look at his nature for a moment, in the very text they reference. John tells us two very helpful things:

‘All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.’ John 1:3

Perhaps John is labouring a point here to press home Jesus’ complete deity by writing, ‘and without him was not anything made that was made.’ It’s as though he anticipated that knock at your door on Sunday afternoon, so he writes, everything made was made by him...get it? If Jehovah’s Witnesses are right that is simply not true, because Jesus would be made and can’t have made himself.

As if to press home his point, he goes on, ‘In him was life, and the life was the light of men.’ v 3

Christ is not contingent, but has life in himself. What sort of being is not contingent, but has life in itself? Did someone say ‘God’? This goes a long way to explaining how he could have made everything and the everything didn’t include himself; because he is God.

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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The Mormon Church, disturbed by the continuing identifying of polygamus sects in the news with the name Mormon, recently issued a press statement aimed at "clarifying" issues. It is interesting to note that if you substitute the name "Christian" where they use the name "Mormon" it makes a very good argument for us against the claims of the Mormon Church. The full press release is reproduced below in italics with each paragraph rewritten in ordinary text to present it from a Christian perspective. SALT LAKE CITY 10 July 2008 On 26 June, Newsroom published a package of information featuring profiles of ordinary Latter-day Saints in Texas. With no other intention but to define themselves, these members provided a tangible depiction of what their faith is all about. They serve as the best distinction between the lifestyles and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Texas-based polygamous group that has recently attracted media attent

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Last time we saw that only 144,000 have a heavenly hope. Where does that leave the rest of the millions of faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses, the great crowd? “ The key to the identification of the ‘great crowd’ is found within the description of them in Revelation chapter 7 .The vision there presented is concerning persons not in heaven, from where the 'New Jerusalem comes down,' but on earth, among mankind .If the ‘great crowd’ are persons who gain salvation and remain on earth, how could they be said to be 'standing before God's throne and before the Lamb?' (Re 7:9) The position of 'standing' is sometimes used in the Bible to indicate the holding of a favored or approved position in the eyes of the one in whose presence the individual or group stands .It thus appears that the "great crowd" is formed of those persons who have been preserved during that time of wrath and who have been able to "stand" as approved by God and the Lamb.” - I

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