Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Does it matter whether Jesus died on a traditional cross or on an upright stake without a crossbeam (as the Watchtower teaches)? For Christians, this isn’t a salvation issue. But to Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s salvation issue which sets them apart from pagan “Christendom.” Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
“What is the greatest gift you have ever received?” (paragraph 1, p. 47)
It’s obvious from the title of Chapter 5 of “Bible Teach” that you are supposed to answer that it’s the ransom (or atoning) sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
But that’s not the answer I would give. While not wanting to minimize the importance of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, I would say that the greatest gift I have received is Jesus Christ himself. Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
After the discussion of the Watchtower doctrine that Jesus is a created being, the rest of “Bible Teach” Chapter 4 covers Jesus’ life and ministry. Most of this you can agree with and continue to build bridges. However, there are some points you will want to challenge.
Assertion #4: Jesus preached the same message that the Watchtower does today Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Paragraph 12 of Chapter 4 (p. 42) of “Bible Teach” refers you to the Appendix entitled “The Truth About the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (pp. 218-219). I will call this “The Anti-Trinity Appendix.”
If you have decided to discuss the full doctrine of the Trinity at this point in your study with the Witnesses, you will want to discuss this appendix in some depth. If you prefer to leave that discussion for later (Chapter 10 or Chapter 15), you can come back to this discussion at that point.
The appendix begins with this statement (p. 201): “PEOPLE who believe the Trinity teaching say that God consists of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each of these three persons is said to be equal to the others, almighty, and without beginning. According to the Trinity doctrine, therefore, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God.”
That is actually a good statement of the Trinity doctrine!
But p. 202 follows that up by saying, “Many who believe the Trinity admit that they are not able to explain this teaching. Still, they may feel that it is taught in the Bible.”
That statement provides a springboard for you to discuss anything I covered in The Jesus Is the God-Man Approach and The Holy Spirit Is God Approach from my book, Getting Through to Jehovah’s Witnesses: Approaching Bible Discussions in Unexpected Ways, including presenting a positive biblical case for the Trinity rather than just a response to Watchtower proof texts. Continue reading
Click image to access this “Bible Teach” chapter on the Watchtower’s website
Once you have finished discussing the Watchtower’s claim that Jesus is Michael the Archangel (if the Witnesses agreed to discuss it at this juncture in the study), you will need to decide whether to discuss the book’s other arguments against the deity of Christ made in Chapter 4 and the related appendix. Continue reading
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