 |
The Evidence Against the Booklet What Does God Require of Us?
by Timothy R. Butler
ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, I received a copy of What Does God Require of Us? from a family member after they had been visited by a few Jehovah's Witnesses. I decided to take that opportunity to examine each core point the booklet made and provide a Biblical response to it.
This paper is the result of that work, which was originally posted to the on Usenet in April of 2001. In this revised edition, I hoped to make this a much more useful piece for those who want answers to the questions posed by one of the Jehovah's Witnesses' popular pieces of literature.
I believe it is of the utmost importance that anyone considering the points made by this booklet read the
the counterpoints below before accepting the views espoused by the booklet. When reading each
point it would be wise to do so prayerfully and with an open Bible, so that you will not be convinced by what others have
written (including myself), but what the Bible says.
ISSUE ONE: THE HOLY SPIRIT
"What, though, is the Holy Spirit? It is not a person like God. Rather, it is God's active force."
- Pg. 4-5, Lesson 2, Section 3
That quote cites Psalm 104:30 "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.", which actually does not provide any support at all for the "active force" proposal. John 14:26 is another verse on the Holy Spirit which provides more support for the opposite conclusion - that the Holy Spirit is in fact a person:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
This clearly assigns a gender to the Comforter (Holy Spirit), something that would not apply to an active force (if it were an active force, "it" would have been a better term for Jesus to use). Further proof of the existence of this Person is the fact that an active force would not teach, for if it were teaching, it would actually be God teaching. If that were the case, then Jesus was incorrect in this verse, however since we have no proof to the contrary, we can safely assume the Holy Spirit is not God's active force.
ISSUE TWO: THE SON AND CREATION
"Jesus is the only Son that God created by Himself"
-Pg. 6, Lesson 3, Section 1
Initially one may get this impression after reading the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, but a closer look at Colossians 1:15-16 reveals something completely different:
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible..."
Here is the problem: if God created Jesus, how then could Jesus have created all things, including those in Heaven (vs. 16)? This would only make if the verse said "for in him were all other things were created," something it clearly does not. We can also see, by cross-examining John 1:1 that "...in the beginning was the Word...." Obviously Jesus would not have been in the beginning if He had in fact been created, and this renders the point we are discussing moot.
ISSUE THREE: WORKS REQUIRED FOR SALVATION
"Would you like to share in these future blessings? If so, you need to keep learning about Jehovah and obeying his requirements."
-Pg. 11, Lesson 5, Section 7
In the context of this statement, it seems to imply that one must fulfill certain "requirements" to be one of God's people. A thorough study of the Scriptures reveals that there is only one requirement to be "born again," and that is stated in John 3:16 - "...whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Christ died to eliminate works based religion. This is further clarified by Paul in Ephesians 2:8:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God..."
ISSUE FOUR: THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST
"When he returned to heaven, he was not enthroned right away...In 1914, Jehovah gave Jesus the authority He had promised him. Since then Jesus has ruled in Heaven as Jehovah's appointed King."
-Pg. 12, Lesson 6, Section 2
This statement does not makes sense since we never read about a "Prince Jesus," nor do we find any references to 1914 in the Bible. Additionally, we can see that Jesus already had kingship in Heaven in Matthew 28:18 when He stated that "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Having "all power" indicates Jesus was already ruling as king before His ascension into heaven.
ISSUE FIVE: PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED
"Soon Jesus will judge people, separating them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats ... The "goats" are those who will have rejected God's Kingdom ... In the near future, Jesus will destroy all of the goatlike ones"
-Pg. 13, Lesson 6, Section 5
This point refers to 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, so lets take a look at that verse:
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power..." (emphasis added)
This doesn't say they will be annilated or be destroyed - but face eternal destruction, that is constant punishment in Hell. Keep in mind here the fact that the world "eternal" is used here, meaning it goes on forever, unlike simply destroying something in which the action only continues for a limited amount of time. This can be best summed up in the words of Revelation 14:11:
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."
ISSUE SIX: PRAYER
"Jehovah listens only to the prayers of righteous people. For your prayers to be heard by God, you must be trying your best to live by his laws."
-Pg. 15, Lesson 8, Section 7
There is certainly no evidence in the Bible for this statement. The verses cited in What Does God Require of Us?, Proverbs 15:29 and 28:9, do not lend support to the argument, but simply state that prayers from the righteous are to be preferred. God listens and answers all prayers - maybe not always in the way imperfect humans want, but always in the way that is best for us.
It is worth noting that if God did not listen to prayers from those who were not righteous, then we would have no way to pray for forgiveness and become righteous in the first place for "there is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). To emphasize the point here, we receive righteousness only through Jesus, as Romans 5:21 makes clear:
"That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
ISSUE SEVEN: THE TRINITY AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST
"Trinity: Is Jehovah a Trinity-three persons in one God? No! Jehovah, the Father, is 'the only true God.' ... Jesus is His firstborn Son, and he is subject to God."
-Pg. 22, Lesson 11, Section 2
The easiest way to see where the Trinity originates is to walk through a number of key Bible verses. Probably the most essential verse for the deity of Christ, and thus the trinity, is John 1:1:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
The key here is "the Word was God." In the New World Translation (NWT) or Emphatic Diaglott Bible translations made available by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, this key verse has been modified to say "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a god." However, while this neatly fits into the doctrinal package mentioned here, it is a violation of correct Greek grammer.
The original Greek of John 1:1 is (transliterated for this document):
"en arche en ho logos kai ho logos en pros ton theon kai theos en ho logos"
The literal translation of which is:
"in beginning was the word, and the word was with the God, and God was the word"
While theos can be translated "a god," there is a clear preference in translation to translate this word God - in the KJV Bible for example, of the over 1,300 times this word was mentioned only twenty of them were translated "a god." Further more, it is generally a bad idea to translate the same word form two different ways in the same sentence as is done in the NWT.
Additional support for Jesus' deity is lent by John 8:58:
"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."
We also find support for this in Colossians 2:9, where the Apostle Paul stated:
"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form..."
Genesis 1:26 provides further evidence for the Trinity by God's plural reference:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Emphasis added)
Revelation 1:8 also lends support (the words translated "Lord" is kurios o theos, kurios being
a reference to the Messiah, not God the Father):
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord"
Finally, Isaiah helps us to fully understand who Jesus is one of the best known verses in the book he wrote - Isaiah 9:6:
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. " (emphasis added)
Here we can see that Jesus is indeed the "Mighty God" and the "everlasting Father" - in other words, God incarnate. This means we have at least a bi-unity, since God the Father also goes under these titles. If we then add the Holy Spirit, who we found to be a real person above, we end up with what could best by called a tri-unity or trinity.
ISSUE EIGHT: CHRISTMAS AND EASTER
"Jesus was not born on December 25. He was born about October 1, a time of year when shepherds kept their flocks out-of-doors at night. ... Jesus never commanded Christians to celebrate his birth. Rather, he told his disciples to memorialize, or remember, his death."
-Pg. 22, Lesson 11, Section 3
This is a symbolic date picked for the celebration of his birth, while it is not be the correct date, that is beside the point. Picking the date they did was also a way to move the newly Christianized world away from the winter solistice holiday, something that was a very good idea. As to Jesus never commanding us to celebrate His birth; he never commanded us not to either - and is it ever a bad time to celebrate the love and mercy of God?
"The early Christians did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, nor do true Christians today"
-Pg. 22, Lesson 11, Section 3
This is a false assertion, which assumes that what one does with Christmas and Easter somehow determines whether one is a Christian or not. More over, this statement overlooks the previous point that "he told his disciples to memorialize, or remember his death" - if you reject Easter, you overlook the remembrance of His death and physical resurrection. Finally, Paul clearly rejects judging people by their days of celebrations in Colossians 2:16-17:
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
ISSUE NINE: THE CROSS
"Jesus did not die on a cross. He died on a pole, or a stake. The Greek word translated "cross" in many
Bibles meant just one piece of timber. The symbol of the cross comes from ancient false religions. The cross was not used
or worshiped by the early Christians. Therefore, do you think it would be right to use a cross in worship."
-Pg. 23, Lesson 11, Section 6
Let's first address the issue of whether or not Jesus died on a cross. The word used in the Gospels is Stauros which can indeed be translated either as cross or a stake. However, it stands to reason that since the Romans used a cross for executions, that they did not switch to a stake for Jesus' crucifixion.
The larger issue here, however, is the second part of this statement. It is important to remember that Christians do not worship the cross, but use it as a symbolic reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for us. As it is simply something used in worship, not the object of worship, it is no more harmful then using pews or microphones in a worship service.
ISSUE TEN: BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
"Is it wrong to accept a blood transfusion...true Christians will not accept a blood transfusion"
-Pg. 25, Lession 12, Section 6
The first thing to remember with this point, as was stated before, is that true Christianity is not determined by one's works. However, going beyond that, the verse in question for this point is Acts 21:25:
"As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only
that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from
fornication."
The reference to blood is clearly speaking about eating/drinking blood, not receiving a transfusion. While at first these acts may seem similar, they are actually very different. On the one hand, eating/drinking blood puts the blood into the digestive track - something that serves absolutely no useful purpose. On the other hand, blood that is infused is not digested at all, and any attempt to say that it was would should extreme ignorance to bodily systems.
SUMMARY
Through this summary of What Does God Require of Us?, you may have noticed a trend. In particular, each point consists of a slight distortion of truth in the booklet so that the "facts" can fit correctly into the doctrines of the Watchtower. Considering, then, that the core points of this group are based on incorrect facts I must urge you to reconsider what ever thoughts you have on this group.
FURTHER READING
These resources proved invaluable to the writing of this article. You may find them useful for further research in to
the topic of the Jehovah's Witnesses among other groups.
- eQuip.org/The Christian Research Institute, www.equip.org
- The Watchman Fellowship, Inc., www.watchmanfellowship.org
- Answering Islam: A Christian-Muslim Dialog, www.answering-islam.org
- The Kingdom of the Cults, Dr. Walter Ralston Martin, ISBN-1556617143
Verbatim distribution permitted.
|
|
