When criticized for errors it has made or for changing its doctrines, occasionally the Watchtower admits that its writings aren’t infallible or inspired like the Bible.
However, these moments of humility are dwarfed by the sweeping authority over the lives of Jehovah’s Witnesses which it claims God has given it. In effect, it places its own writings on a par with or even above the Bible, while denying that it does so. Continue reading
The “obvious fallacy” occurs when “words like absolutely, undoubtedly, certainly, it is only reasonable to conclude and so forth are substituted for logical reasons.”[1]
Using such words or phrases isn’t always wrong, but we need to be careful to examine whether they are being used as a substitute for evidence and logic.
Here are three examples from Watchtower literature. Continue reading
A major source of biblical error is reading more into a passage than God actually put there. Sire calls this “overspecification”, which occurs when “a more detailed or specific conclusion than is legitimate is drawn from a Bible text.”[1] Using this method of interpretation allows one to create new doctrines with little or no actual biblical foundation. Continue reading
The Watchtower’s own translation of Deuteronomy 18:20-22 reads as follows: “If any prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name that I did not command him to speak or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. However, you may say in your heart: ‘How will we know that Jehovah has not spoken the word?’ When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word is not fulfilled or does not come true, then Jehovah did not speak that word. The prophet spoke it presumptuously. You should not fear him.”
In recent weeks, I’ve documented false prophecies the Watchtower has made concerning the years 1914, 1918, 1925, and 1975.
When Christians present this documentation and accuse the Watchtower of being a false prophet, how do Jehovah’s Witnesses respond? The Watchtower has trained them to present several defenses. We will look at two of them today. Continue reading
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