Bridge of Reason

  Telling the truth means you don’t need to remember what you've said before is a valuable expression to note as it can help us to separate the lies from the truth.   The Watchtower is famous for the vast amounts of literature and information it pumps out to its members.   In recent years the number of written items has reduced, being replaced by visual media mostly on JW Broadcasting, but the sheer volume seems to be remaining the same.  This can sometimes result in slip ups in what pronouncements are made by the Governing Body. During the recent 2024 Annual Meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (available for viewing on JW Broadcasting) an announcement was made, by the Governing Body member Gerrit Losch, that two new members were being added to the Governing Body.   Those new members are Jode Jedele and Jacob Rumph who are both somewhat younger than most of the present members of the body, Rumph now being the youngest at 52.   Losch welcomed these new me...

  As a rule, I tend to avoid the subject of the Trinity when talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses.   The reason being that it is such a big subject and one to which they are so vehemently opposed.   Their rejection of the doctrine is one of the few teachings that has made it through the decades from the very early days of the organisation. Additionally, they have been taught so many untruths about the Trinity idea by the Watchtower that one has to wade through them before even beginning to put forward the Biblical evidence They have been taught that the doctrine is confusing and that Jehovah is not a God of confusion, quoting 1 Cor 14 v 33 as proof.   This argument is a complete fallacy as we are not saying God ‘invented’ the Trinity, it’s just what is; if we find it confusing then that’s our problem not God’s mistake! The doctrine can be found in the Bible today, but you have to have a certain mindset to understand how it can be so – three separate persons yet still...

  I have a copy of the Berean Bible Teachers Manual, with the King James Bible, dated 1921. It gives, ‘Verse-by-verse comments on the entire Bible, condensed from The WatchTower, from Studies in the Scriptures, etc.’ It goes on to explain: ‘These brief comments by C J Woodworth are claimed to faithfully represent the fuller presentations of the six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures.’ The ‘etc.’ above includes comments from, ‘The Hell Pamphlet, Tabernacle Shadows, and the Spiritism Pamphlet, Zion’s Watch Tower, September 1879, a 1907 newspaper report of a sermon by Charles Russell, a 1905 Theology Quarterly, and discourses on the Chart of the Ages.’ It is incredibly well organised, its reference system clear. You may go from a Bible reference, as you would in any concordance, to a brief comment taken from one of the above publications, and if you have those publications, you may be sent to the right pages to read the context. Set alongside a set of Studies in the Scriptures, ...

    The Watch Tower Society believes that only Jehovah is God therefore only he is entitled to receive worship. Any other worship is wrong. The Society states: ‘ Most Hebrew and Greek words that can denote worship can also be applied to acts other than worship. However, the context determines in what way the respective words are to be understood.’ - Insight on the Scriptures, vol.2, 1988, p.1211 However, the Society's conclusions are decided in advance. They decide Jesus isn’t God the Son and allow that conclusion to colour every text that mentions Jesus being worshipped. This is not the way to do an open-minded Bible study. History The above position on worship has not always been held by the Society. Today a Jehovah’s Witness must not worship Jesus, but in 1916 they were told that many would worship even Charles Russell: ‘ Charles Taze Russell thou hast, by the Lord, been crowned a king and through the everlasting ages thy name shall be known amongst the people, and thy ...

  In the December 2022 Watchtower Study edition, we read: 'He said: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your Kingdom.” Jesus replied: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.” (Read Luke 23:39-43.) Nothing suggests that this criminal had accepted the message about “the Kingdom of the heavens,” which Jesus preached during his ministry. And Jesus never did say that the man would get into the Kingdom. (Matt. 4:17) Jesus was speaking about the future earthly Paradise.... 'As a Jew, the repentant criminal would have known about Adam and Eve and the Paradise in which Jehovah had placed them. So the criminal could well have realized that the Paradise that Jesus mentioned would be a beautiful garden here on earth.—Read Genesis 2:15.' Will this Jew's dying request not be enough to get him into the kingdom? What is Paradise, and who might this man expect to see when he gets there? With whom will he walk in this restored garden paradise? I Tell You, Today...

  In their Watchtower No 2, 2021, we read: 'The Bible describes the time period just before the end as “the last days.” (2 Peter 3:3, 4) Second Timothy 3:1-5 states that the last days would be marked by a steep moral decline. (See the box “ Just Before the End of the World.”) Do you see people who exhibit selfish, greedy, fierce, and unloving traits today? This too is evidence that we are living very near the end of the world.’ They go on to ask, ‘How long will the last days be? According to the Bible, only “a short period of time.” Then, God will destroy “those ruining the earth.—Revelation 11:15-18, footnote; 12:12.' This teaching keeps Jehovah's Witnesses tied to the organisation for fear today might be the day. We've all heard their leaders speak on this, especially Anthony Morris, who seems to take particular glee in describing the end and its suffering. Bleak seems to suit the man's character and demeanour. It seems we should know what the Bible says ...

  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...