Bridge of Reason

  In Questions from Readers, the Watch Tower Society addresses the question: ‘ Does Stephen’s prayer to Jesus, as found in Acts 7:59, show that he understood Jesus to be Jehovah?’ The New World Translation gives us: ‘ And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal, and said: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: ‘Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them.’ And after saying this he fell asleep in death.’ vv 59,60 They put the name Jehovah in the text where the Westcott and Hort Greek text has the word Lord translating the Greek kurios. Their own Kingdom Interlinear also translates Lord. The article they use is from a 1959 Watchtower: ‘The prayer offered by Stephen when he was being martyred is recorded at Acts 7:59, 60, which says: “And they went on casting stones at Stephen as he made appeal and said: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then, bending his knees, he cried out with a strong voice: ‘Jehova...

The Watchtower Society of Jehovah's Witnesses teaches that the doctrine of the Trinity is not found in the Bible or in the teachings of the early church Fathers, that it is of pagan origin. They believe there is a single Deity, named Jehovah, and reject that there are three distinct persons revealed in Scripture, all God, making up the compound "One" of Deuteronomy 6:4. “ The central doctrine of religions of Christendom. According to the Athanasian Creed, there are three divine Persons (the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost), each said to be eternal, each said to be almighty, none greater or less than another, each said to be God, and yet together being but one God. Other statements of the dogma emphasize that these three ‘Persons’ are not separate and distinct individuals but are three modes in which the divine essence exists. Thus some Trinitarians emphasize their belief that Jesus Christ is God, or that Jesus and the Holy Ghost are Jehovah. Not a Bible teaching.” - R...

Last week, on the Facebook page, I wrote about a discussion I had recently with a Jehovah’s Witness. The name of God inevitably came up. This issue has been done to death, I know, the usual texts thrown back and forth (what Doug Harris would call ‘Wimbledon witnessing’). He came up with the usual argument from Matthew 6, the idea in the Lord’s Prayer that we should sanctify the name. I pointed out, as I always do, that Jesus didn’t use the name in praying, to which he replied: ‘You don’t use his name when you are addressing your father.’ I must agree with him. I never used my father’s name, neither have my children used mine in addressing me. Jason Michael Learner, in the Facebook discussion, wrote: ‘To be fair, there are loads of names for God, Elohim, El Shaddai , LORD and each of these tell us something about His character and personal attributes. Abba is another example, it shows us something about the nature of God's character and the type of relationship that not only Jes...

  On their website the Watch Tower write: ‘As we read Jesus’ prayer in John chapter 17, we can see Jesus’ deep love not only for his apostles but also for us. (John 17:20) The most important thing to Jesus, though, is not our salvation. During the whole time he was on earth, the most important thing to him was to glorify his Father’s name. For example, when Jesus first explained why he had come to earth, he read from the scroll of Isaiah: “Jehovah’s spirit is upon me, because he anointed me to declare good news to the poor.” We can be sure that when Jesus read this, he pronounced God’s name clearly. —Luke 4:16-21. ‘Long before Jesus came to earth, Jewish religious leaders taught people not to use God’s name. Imagine how much Jesus must have hated that tradition. He said to those religious leaders: “I have come in the name of my Father, but you do not receive me; if someone else arrived in his own name, you would receive that one.” (John 5:43) Then, a few days before his death, ...

  In last week’s Watch Tower Wednesday on the Facebook page we saw the International Bible Students of Charles Russell's day became, in 1931, Jehovah's Witnesses. This was under the leadership of Joseph Rutherford, although many groups of International Bible students stayed faithful to Russell, and have survived until today. Jehovah's Witnesses, on their website, address this question of God's name and justify the change, making several main points: Jehovah is the name God gives himself in Isaiah 42:8 and Exodus 3:15. Jesus calls us to 'sanctify' God's name In Matthew 6:9 Joel tells us our salvation is in God's name Joel 2:32 God's name reveals his character But is that name Jehovah? Did Joseph Rutherford create more questions than answers for subsequent generations of Jehovah's Witnesses in his determination to give his followers their distinct identity, as opposed to the simpler name of International Bible students? A Lively Discussion A ...

  We are often asked this question. Jehovah’s Witnesses regard Christians as, at best neglectful and neglectful, at worst part of a great conspiracy to eradicate God’s name. Perhaps you have, like me, heard Jehovah’s Witnesses speak of the shocking number of Christians they meet who simply don’t know the name. I gently point out that if someone on the doorstep tells a Jehovah’s Witness they are already a Christian, going to this or that church, they are probably not. They just say that to get rid a Jehovah’s Witness of their doorstep. Further, i t should be recognised that Jehovah's Witnesses understand full well we cannot know with any degree of certainty how the consonants YHWH should be pronounced, and ‘Jehovah’ is only ‘a common rendering’ of the name. In an article on JW.ORG they say as much. This is a Poor Conspiracy Nevertheless, i t is worthwhile pointing out that we do use the ‘common rendering’ of Jehovah. It is preached from pulpits, it is found in Christian books ...

One of the valuable lessons I learned early in my life is, a man who does a lot of explaining has usually got a lot of explaining to do. It is often a sign someone is trying to excuse or justify something, and the more they ‘explain’ the less plausible they sound. Haven’t you ever listened to someone ‘explaining’ and thought, ‘Come on, it cant be that complicated?’ I am not saying some things, like some Scripture passages, don’t need some unpacking, but we all know the Scripture reading principle: the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things. The cults, of course, have their explanations all lined up and they are prepared to ‘explain’ their position at some length. This is where plain and contextualised Bible reading and understanding are so important. Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you God’s name at the drop of a hat. They will have their explanations lined up, their proof texts ready, and will explain the importance of knowing God’s name. They wil...