Bridge of Reason

  In last week’s Watchtower Wednesday on the Reachout Facebook page we looked at a Watchtower article entitled, ‘Help Your Bible Students to Become Baptized Disciples.’ I wonder what people made of the Watchtower approach to making disciples? This is a key issue because it is where your journey of faith begins. If you start in the wrong place, proceed in the wrong way, you won’t end up at your intended destination. I am reminded, reading the article, of Jesus' words for the Pharisees in Matthew's gospel, 'They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders...'  (Mt.23:4) The article begins with Pentecost, typically telling the story their way, not allowing the text to speak for itself. ‘What was a large crowd in the first century told to do?’ they ask. Not surprisingly, while they must acknowledge the gift of speaking in other languages ( dialektos ) they give no explanation for this remarkable gift. Salvation, they go on to say , is gaine...