Bridge of Reason

  The Watch Tower Society insists the title 'Word' means Jesus is 'God's spokesperson': “ The beginning” refers to the time when God began his creative work and produced the Word. Thereafter, the Word was used by God in the creation of all other things. (John 1:2, 3) The Bible states that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation” and that “by means of him all other things were created.”—Colossians 1:15, 16. "The phrase “the Word was a god” describes the divine or godlike nature that Jesus possessed before he came to earth. He can be described in this way because of his role as God’s Spokesman and his unique position as the firstborn Son of God through whom God created all other things." This effectively makes him no more than a great prophet, much as in Islam. As a created being, albeit the first to be created, the only difference between him and other prophets is one of precedence. Does the Bible say Jesus was created? Is Jesus just another spokesperson ...

  The Watch Tower Society has much to say about John 1:1. ‘ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.’ —John 1:1, New World Translation. In Insight on the Scriptures they write: 'This scripture reveals details about Jesus Christ’s life before he came to earth as a human. (John 1:14-17) In verse 14, “the Word” (or “the Logos,” Greek, ho loʹgos ) is used as a title. The title “the Word” apparently describes Jesus’ role in communicating God’s commands and instructions to others. Jesus continued to make known God’s word during his ministry on earth and after he returned to heaven.—John 7:16; Revelation 1:1.' It is noteworthy that the Watch Tower Society utilises words like 'apparently' ‘evidently’ and 'seemingly' quite a lot in their commentary on Bible teaching. It's as if they are determined to not be nailed down and so use ambivalence as a backstop. Their understanding of the word, 'Word,' is that it 'a...

  Isaiah 53 in the Great Isaiah Scroll It is in Acts 8:26-38 we find the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official from the court of Candace. The Spirit directs Philip to ‘go down from Jerusalem to Gaza’ and talk to the man. Here was the last watering hole before the desert on the route from Jerusalem to Egypt, from where he would go on to the ancient Nubian kingdom south of Aswan on the Nile. The man was probably a God-fearer – ‘he had come to Jerusalem to worship.’ He was ‘seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.’ This was unusual for an outsider, a Gentile. He had, nevertheless, been to Jerusalem and would have heard of the crucifixion, of the events at Pentecost, and might have witnessed the beginning of the Christian Diaspora. What would he have seen and heard that would draw him to Isaiah 53? Philip is instructed to join the man’s chariot, which he did and found himself invited to come up and sit with him. What if it had been Charles Russell in that...

  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 Watch Tower Society identify their followers as Jehovah’s Witnesses. By what name did early Christians identify themselves? Were they known as ‘Jehovah’s,’ or ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’? Even Jehovah’s Witnesses admit, ‘ We simply do not know how God’s ancient servants pronounced this name in Hebrew,’ saying their pronunciation is mere convention. - The Divine Name in Hebrew Scriptures . See also The Name: it isn't Jehovah  on the Reachout website. If it’s so very important, why hasn’t the pronunciation been preserved, alongside the name? Followers of the Way The earliest Jesus followers were followers of ‘the Way.’ Paul, in his defence before the governor Felix, confessed to being one of their number (Acts 24:14; cf. Acts 9:1,2; 19:9,23; 22:4;24:22) This name and title comes from Jesus’ own teaching, ‘I am the Way…’ (John 14:6) The Bible tells us, ‘in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.’ (Acts 11:26) This reflects their beginning to have a distinct identi...

The Witnesses conclude that there is no immortality of the soul, no consciousness after death. To find the truth we must be acquainted with the Greek and Hebrew words. The Hebrew word nephesh literally means 'a breathing' creature but is used widely. Psykhe is the Greek word denoting the breath, the breath of life, then the soul in all its meanings. The literal meaning of the Hebrew word ruach is 'wind' and by resemblance breath. Primarily the Greek word pneuma denotes the wind, but also breath and then especially the spirit which like the wind is invisible, immaterial and powerful. The Society says that the word can mean the person or the life of the person, and take no account of the other different meanings that many Biblical Greek and Hebrew scholars are aware of. They conclude from Joshua 11:11 that the soul cannot be the part of man that survives death because it is struck by the sword. However, the word nephesh is used here as the person and so no evidenc...

  The Watchtower Society teaches that when a person dies they simply cease to exist. There is not a part of man that separates from the body at death and goes to another place. This means there is no fiery hell of torment but simply the common grave of mankind. WATCH TOWER TEACHING ‘ The Hebrew sheohl’ and its Greek equivalent haides , which refer, not to an individual burial place, but to the common grave of dead mankind; also the Greek geenna, which is used as a symbol of eternal destruction.’ - Reasoning from the Scriptures, WBTS, 1985, p.169. Matthew 25:46 - This verse, they insist, simply means the righteous go to life, the wicked to the cutting off from life, or death. Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10 - These verses, they say, cannot refer to conscious torment after death because ‘ the dead know not any thing.’ (Ecclesiastes 9:5). It is the proclamation by God's servants that worshi p pers of the "beast and his image" will experience second death that causes th...