Bridge of Reason

  It is commonly understood among Mormons that the Fall was a good thing. A 27 April post on X has sent the Christian world in a spin because it plainly said as much: 'In the LDS Church, we do not see Eve eating the forbidden fruit as a mistake or even a sin. on the contrary, we celebrate her courage and wisdom to partake of the fruit, transgress the bounds of Eden and become all that her Heavenly Father wanted her to be.' Of course, nobody outside the Mormon Church would teach such a thing. It goes against everything the Bible tells us, everything Christianity teaches about the nature of man, the purposes of God in creation , and the meaning of the atonement. People get uncomfortable when we use the word 'cult,' but it must be understood that error on this level cannot be winked at. It must be called out for what it is, plain heresy. People must be warned, and the fact someone 'sincerely believes it’ is no excuse. If it upsets our Mormon neighbours then pe...

  Christians around the world are celebrating what is, perhaps, the greatest event in human history – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For millennia we have believed that Christ was raised bodily, that the body He inhabited while living was raised to perfection. In 1 Corinthians 15 v 35-54 we find details of what His (and our) new body looked like, it is not the same, and yet it is. Sown perishable it is raised imperishable, it dies physical, it is raised spiritual. Jesus’ body clearly had unearthly powers as we can see from it popping in and out of locked rooms at will (John 20 v 19) and vanishing before people’s eyes (Luke 24 v 31). But the Watchtower would have us believe this was all a big con. They claim that Jesus was not raised bodily but as a spirit, that Jehovah somehow dissolved His physical body into its constituent atoms to hide it away. They claim that Jesus only appeared to be in physical form in order to convince His disciples that He had indeed been raised. The...

  This Contribution by Robin McEwen Common questions that Jehovah's Witnesses often employ on hearing criticism of their religion/organisation are ‘Where else would I go?’ and ‘which other religion is as close to early Christians as ours?’ I get the impression that JWs think in terms of groups, denominations, and organisations. I believe this stems from the fact that they are taught that their own group is ‘the truth’, and all other groups or churches as false. O n finding out you are a Christian, a Jehovah’s Witness will want to know which church or denomination you belong to, as they seem to have a set opinion on each church group. What they are unaware of, is that within the rich tapestry of Christian cultures/denominations there is a unity which arises out of the fellowship that all born again believers share. We may worship in varied ways organise our churches slightly differently etc., but generally speaking, we have unity. He who unites us, Jesus Christ, is infinitely g...

  Reachout Trust recently had a stand at the New Wine Leaders’ Conference (NWLC) in Harrogate, UK, and I was amazed at the number of organisations represented on other stands, all working to promote Jesus and His Father to the world. There were some 76 stands covering almost every niche of society and its need for Christ. People providing worship needs for the elderly, for the disabled, for families. Book shops providing a huge variety of literature on almost every subject about Christianity from a wealth of different authors. Tearfund was there, bringing physical support to impoverished peoples along with the word of Christ into foreign lands. Church website experts, sound engineers, our stand was bracketed by Christian solicitors on one side and a Christian Insurance broker on the other. Then, of course, there was us, working with the cults to help those lost sheep to find the Lord. The leaders of the Watchtower organisation, their Governing Body, claim that Jehovah has only ...

  The immutability of God is defined as God’s not changing in any way in his nature, in his moral character; God is ‘without variableness or shadow of turning.’ James 1:17 A corollary of this is God’s impassibility, meaning God is emotionally unchangeable; he doesn’t suffer, he is not subject to fits of passion in response to circumstances. James writes: ‘ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shadow due to change.’ 1:17 In the Old Testament we read: ‘ God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it? Numbers 23:19 Yet we also read: ‘ Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people...And [Moses] said, ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here...And the L...

  Is God Omnipresent? The psalmist writes: ‘ Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ Ps.139:7-10 ‘ Thus says the  L ord : ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, a nd what is the place of my rest?’’ Isaiah 66:1 “ Am I a God at hand, declares the  Lord , and not a God far away?   Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the  Lord . Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the  Lord . Jer.23:23,24 The psalmist, Isaiah, and Jeremiah are convinced of the Lord’s omnipresence. Yet Adam and Eve hid from the LORD. Gen.3:8; Cain went out from his presence. Gen.4:16; Jonah fled from the...

  Is God Omniscient? ‘ O LORD, you have searched me and know me! You k n ow when I s it down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my ly i ng down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.’ Psalm 139:1-4 ‘ For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done…’ Isaiah 469,10 ‘ I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’ Jer.17:10 ‘ No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’ Heb.4:13 An omniscient God is a God who knows everything. From the Latin omnis meaning ‘all’ and scientia meaning knowledge. He knows the thoughts of the hearts of human beings, a word before it is spoken, an action before it is taken...

Is God Omnipotent? ‘The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah ; ‘Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?’ Jer.32:27 An omnipotent God is a God who is infinitely powerful, for whom nothing is too hard. It is often thought this means there is nothing God cannot do. That sometimes prompts the question, ’Can God make a rock so big he can’t lift it?’ Here we come across something God can’t do; God cannot do something that is self-contradictory. He can’t make something that limits his own power.   He can only do things that are logically possible. Jesus taught his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossib...