Bridge of Reason

  Jehovah's Witnesses are known for denying the Deity of Christ. They explain on their website: 'While many Bible translators render the verse this way, others see the need to render it differently. In the original-language text, the two occurrences of “God” (Greek, the·osʹ) at John 1:1 are grammatically different. In the first occurrence, the word “God” is preceded by the Greek definite article, while the article does not appear before the second occurrence. Many scholars note that the absence of the definite article before the second the·osʹ is significant. For example, The Translator’s New Testament says regarding this absence of the article: “In effect it gives an adjectival quality to the second use of Theos (God) so that the phrase means ‘The Word was divine.’” Other scholars and Bible translations point to this same distinction.—See “ John 1:1 From Additional Translations.” Is Jesus 'a god' with a lower case 'g'? Does translating the Greek as 'divi...

I spend a significant amount of time speaking with Jehovah's Witnesses about the deity of Christ. It's one of their favourite topics, since they have memorised verses which seem to indicate that Jesus was created and somehow “less than” the Father. If you are willing to go down this theological rabbit hole with one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you are a brave soul indeed. Yet, such a discussion needn't scare us. Some Christians say that the only thing we can do is share our personal testimony with Jehovah's Witnesses, as any other discussion is fruitless. Whilst a testimony is powerful and I'd certainly encourage sharing it, the fact remains that at some point the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses need to be addressed biblically. Therefore consider: every Jehovah's Witness has one main argument against Jesus deity. If you address their core misunderstanding, the rest may fall down like a house of cards. Let's explore this together and hopefully, h...

People don’t believe in miracles, not because they haven’t witnessed a miracle, but because their world view will not allow for miracles. Even though someone they otherwise respect should relate an account of a miracle many will not believe it. They will, rather, reconsider the esteem in which they hold their friend. Neither will showing them a miracle guarantee their conversion because they may make every effort to explain it away and we have seen this. So it was with the people who saw the miracles of Jesus and his disciples, who drove out demons, healed the sick and preached the kingdom message. They saw Jesus feed five thousand (John 6:1-15) and ate their fill, but this did not guarantee their accepting who Jesus was. When the crowd later sought out Jesus in Capernaum he said, ‘You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will ...

In his Theological Word Book of the Bible (an essential on every Bible scholar’s shelf) Alan Richardson points out: ‘The knowledge of God is not reached by abstract speculation as in Gk. philosophy, but in the actual everyday business of living, or social relationships and of current historical events. God is not known by thinking out ideas about him, but by seeking and doing his will as made known to us by prophetic men and by our own consciousness of right and wrong. (cf. John 7:17 , Jas.1:27, 1 John 4:7 .,f 12)’   He cites in particular Jeremiah 22:15-16 , “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me?’ declares the LORD.” The error upon error of the Watchtower Society is mainly the product of their having sought God in books. This arises from the laudable 19th century preoccupation with universal education and the peculiarly America...

These notes are based on a sermon I preached recently at my own church. It was a privilege to be asked to speak on such an important subject and since the responses have been very kind and positive I thought it good to rearrange my notes into a blog post. It is normal to make certain assumptions when presenting such a message and on this occasion I assume the Bible to be our authority on all issues of life and faith. If you want to talk about why the Bible should be the final authority in these things please do get in touch and I will be happy to address that question. Comprehending the Incomprehensible God Incomprehension is the major objection to this teaching.”It doesn't make sense,” is what people say and you can understand their problem. The definition of the Trinity is that there is one God who exists in three ‘persons’ or ‘personalities’: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each member is equal in nature and substance, each fully God. Yet there is one ...

It always interests me what influences people’s thinking. Nowhere is this more important than in how we approach the Bible and so I found this story fascinating. A new, free, version of the bible is available but this reviewer concludes that notwithstanding the translator’s claims it is “Jehovah’s Witnesses lite”. " There is a new version of the Bible on the market (not another version!). This one is free and it is available online. James R Madsen is the translator and editor of the New Simplified Bible . This new translation of the Bible comes in three different editions: The Jehovah Version The Yahwist Version The LORD Version Although the translator makes the disclaimer that his version of the Bible is not related to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the New Simplified Bible could be classified as 'Jehovah’s Witnesses lite.'" Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: The New Simplified Bible.