First Post
This is the first post on this blog. The purpose of this blog, as the name might suggest, is to demonstrate that Jesus is YHWH or "Jehovah" from the pages of the New Testament. Many of the things written will be geared also toward some of the various cultic groups, most notably the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the Jehovah's Witnesses (hence the reason why I say "Jehovah" instead of the now generally accepted "Yahweh"). In such cases, you may find that some articles use the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures exclusively in order to demonstrate not only the deceptive flaws and inconsistencies in the translation, which are the result of extreme theological bias, but also to demonstrate that, try as they might, they still can't hide the truth.
This blog is generally geared toward the lay-person, though you might find some of the articles a little heavy. I pray that this information will enrich the Body of Christ not only to see more clearly the fact that Jesus is Yahweh (or "Jehovah") God, but also to help make them ready to make a defense. (1 Pet 3:15)
Though I have been a Christian for 8 years and a student of the Word, this is in many ways only the beginning of my journey in digging in below the surface and providing information to the Body of Christ. Thus far, it has enriched me tremendously, though it does take work. May my work, God willing, bear fruit for His Name's sake and for the glory of Jesus, the Name above every name.
This blog is generally geared toward the lay-person, though you might find some of the articles a little heavy. I pray that this information will enrich the Body of Christ not only to see more clearly the fact that Jesus is Yahweh (or "Jehovah") God, but also to help make them ready to make a defense. (1 Pet 3:15)
Though I have been a Christian for 8 years and a student of the Word, this is in many ways only the beginning of my journey in digging in below the surface and providing information to the Body of Christ. Thus far, it has enriched me tremendously, though it does take work. May my work, God willing, bear fruit for His Name's sake and for the glory of Jesus, the Name above every name.
posted by Mathetes | [quick link]
13 Comments:
Thank you! Be sure to check back soon. I hope to post some interesting stuff this week -if nothing else, at least some good, but brief, internet article and some links to some helpful books.
I applaud your blog, former JW member speaks out.
The core dogma of the Watchtower organization is that Jesus had his second coming 'invisibly' in the year 1914.Their entire doctrinal superstructure is built on this falsehood.
Jehovah's Witnesses door to door recruitment is by their own admission an ineffective tactic. They have lost membership in all countries with major internet access because their false doctrines and harmful practices are exposed on the modern information superhighway.
There is good and valid reasons why there is such an outrage against the Watchtower for misleading millions of followers.Many have invested everything in the 'imminent' apocalyptic promises of the Jehovah's Witnesses and have died broken and beaten.
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Respectfully, Danny Haszard www.dannyhaszard.com
Quoting Christ Jesus: "The Father is Greater than I am."
I believe Jesus, don't you?
I sure do, and I believe that Jesus, having equality with the Father, did not consider that equality a thing to be grasped but voluntarily added on a human nature and submitted Himself before the Father, according to the eternal plan of the Triune Jehovah, for the salvation of His people.
I believe in the same Jesus who said that He shared glory with the Father before the world began, the same One of whom New Testament writers apply passages from the Old Testament about Jehovah to, the same One that said, "I am the First and the Last," the same one that John says Isaiah saw in His glory, which even the NWT cites as referring to Isaiah 6:1 -Jehovah on the throne, the same One identified as "Jehovah Jesus" many times in the notorious J-documents which the NWT selectively and inconsistently uses to "confirm" its "restoration" of the Divine Name. :)
What about the one that was called "The firstborn of all creation"... Who then created Jesus? And who resurrected him when he was dead for 3 days?
Why did Jesus, when the Jews accused him of making himself equal to God, say, "Most truly I say to YOU, The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing. For whatever things that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner." John 5:19
There are obviously two separate entities. Anyone with a logical mind would grasp that.
I fully grasp that the Father and the Son are two separate Persons. Did you think that I don't? I, however, distinguish between Being and Person. The Trinity teaches that there is One Being subsisting of Three co-eternal, co-existent Persons. Your appeal to logic shows you are making a category mistake, and it shows your presupposition of unitarianism.
I have heard the "firstborn" argument before many times. Have you never interacted with anyone about this? It sounds like you might not have. Check the Old Testament significance of the term. It was used of Israel, for example. While it sometimes referred to actually being the "first-born" son, it very clearly came to have the meaning of preeminence. Israel was not the first nation, though they were certainly God's "first-born", the heir of God's promises. Likewise, Christ is the Heir of the Kingdom, and believers are "co-heirs with Christ".
What I find interesting is how the NWT says "firstborn of all [other] creation". Hmm. That word "other" is not in the Greek (check your KIT). Wonder why they had to put that in there? Maybe because putting "other" makes Jesus out to be a creation, something which the Greek doesn't say. Who created Jesus? Nobody. There is nothing that says Jesus was created. Jesus is the uncreated, the self-existed Yahweh.
Seriously, before you make these generic pot-shots, perhaps try reading a good book on the Trinity so that you understand it better. It really sounds like you don't understand what we are saying. Your arguments show this very much.
Regarding the resurrection, the New Testament affirms that the Father raised Him but also that Jesus would raise Himself. Check John 10:17 where Jesus says He has the power to take His life back up. Check also John 2:19 where Jesus says the "temple" (his body) will be destroyed, but He will raise it up again.
Also, go back to Phil 2, another place where the NWT inserts a word that doesn't belong in the Greek so that it fits with their theology (the Name above every [other] Name). How could One who isn't really Deity be in the morphe (form, nature) of God, not consider "equality" with the Father a thing to be grasped (since He has it, being by nature YHWH), yet voluntarily humble Himself by taking on a human nature? That is one powerful angel... an "angel" that the writer of Hebrews says is be worshipped by the angels (check the 1961 version of the NWT where they rightly translate proskuneo as "worship" instead of the later "do obeisance"... despite the fact that every instance of the word in reference to the Father remained as "worship"), and is specifically distinguished from angels and set above them -not all "other" angels, mind you :). Is the Son to worship, or sorry... "do obeisance to" Himself? :)
If this is all true of a mere creature, when we have no meaningful way to distinquish true worship from idolatry.
Again...
I fully admit that the Father is not the Son -that is part and parecel of Trinitarian theology. I also fully admit that the Son has, in the economy of redemption, taking a role of submission to the Father -again, part of the doctrine of the Trinity. If you want a decent book on the Trinity, perhaps you might want to check out something like:
The Forgotten Trinity by James R. White
But please tell me how John can say that Isaiah saw the glory of Christ, referring to Isaiah 6:1 where he saw Jehovah sitting on His throne?
Please tell me why the writer of Hebrews quoted Psalm 102:25-27, which is a prayer to Jehovah and about Jehovah, and apply it to the Son in Hebrews 1:10-12.
How come, a few verses before that, the writer quotes from the LXX a verse about the angels worshipping Him, which, if you look in the LXX, is clearly in reference to Jehovah?
Also, what I find really interesting, since you went through the trouble of highlighting (capitalizing) a word in your comment, "Most truly I say to YOU", is that the NWT actually avoids pronouns in certain, conspicuous cases.
John 14:14 in the NWT says, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."
Check the KIT. The left out the word "me". The Greek says, "If you ask ME anything my my name, I will do it." Hmm... perhaps they left that out because it would mean Christ was receiving supplications (prayers)? I wouldn't be shocked, to be honest.
I noticed they did leave the pronoun "him" and the entire phrase "to him" in John 20:28. That is good, but perhaps they missed the significance. Thomas said to Jesus: "My Lord and my God!" upon seeing the risen Christ. Jesus responds to him by saying essentially, "So, now you believe?" Yes, a tacit affirmation of Thomas' confession.
I am aware that Witnesses will say that Thomas was simply exclaiming in shock... like how we might say, "Oh My!" But look at the text. It says that Thoams said TO HIM (to Jesus), "My Lord and My God". Jesus' answer not only doesn't condemn Thomas' words, but affirms them as saying, "so after all of this, you now believe, now that I'm standing right here?" Believe what? Perhaps what Thomas just confessed?
Another interesting thing here is that Thomas' words use the definite article before both Lord and God. The Greek is actually, "The Lord of me and the God of me!". Thomas addressed Jesus as "the God" of him. Blasphemy? Or something else?
Please do answer my initial questions, however, about John 12:41 and Heb 1. I look forward to it.
Soli Deo Glorie
Sorry for all the type-o's and the apparent "smugness". I don't mean to be smug or sarcastic. I take this stuff very seriously. I believe White book on the Trinity (mentioned above) would be beneficial. Even if you disagree with his exegesis of Scripture, at least you would know what it is that you reject.
As to the capitalization of YOU, I was copying and pasting. It is capitalized in the NWT when the word "you" is used as a plural "you".
It's better than saying "y'all" like we do down here in Texas.
Well, as long as you believe that the Father is Greater than the Son, I guess you are on the right track.
The concept of one God, and only one God, is prevalant throughout the scriptures. Nowhere in the scriptures does it indicate that God is a conglomerate of three entities or persons.
This is what I believe the bible to say: God Jehovah (the Father)is one Jehovah. His First Creation was the Son (Christ). God's Holy Spirit is an attribute of himself and not a person.
Nevermind, you obviously automatically think I am wrong in this instance, and that you are right. So let's agree to disagree.
I believe that God Jehovah will be merciful not only to me and those who worship him like me, but also to those who worship him differently, as long as they have the right motives. Now, if they know that certain things they practice are rooted in pagan worship, and decide to practice them anyways, that's for God to judge and not me.
I, on the other hand, believe that I am serving God to the best of my abilities. I try to keep my worship free from pagan practices, like the use of idols and the concept of a triune god.
But, if in all honesty, you believe that the Trinity has no roots whatsoever in pagan origins, then good for you.
Just try not to use this forum to "expose" things. Use it to explain your beliefs.
I just can't stand some people that say, "oooo...we're EXPOSING Jehovah's Witnesses...yes they're honest, yes they love God and Jesus, yes they generally display Christian qualities...but their beliefs are different to me, so they're going to hell."
Saying or feeling something like that is not Christian.
I wish you the best in your search for the truth.
This will be my last comment in response. Friend, listen, I am not holding anything personally against you, but it is my contention that Jehovah's Witnesses teach a false Gospel and a false Christ. Both of those, to anyone who knows the Bible, are serious matters. Likewise, the Watchtower publications consider my views a false Gospel and a false Christ, also. I am part of "Babylon" according to them. So to merely push these off and make it sound like I am being "un-Christian" for contending for what I believe to be God's truth is silly. According to that, the apostle Paul was decidedly un-Christian, also, in making such a big deal about the Judaizers in the epistle to the Galatians.
That brings me to my next point. You will never be found in God's favor through serving Him to the best of your abilities. You know, that I hope? I won't either. I am not singling you out. For by our own works shall no flesh be justified in His sight. He who seeks to be justified by the Law must fulfill the whole Law. The one who rests upon his own goodness before God is under a curse (Gal 3:10). The "best of my abilities", as good as it is, still fails miserably at His holy standard, and yes, God will judge by it. By works of the Law shall no flesh be deemed acceptable in His sight, since by the Law we become conscious of our sin.
However, He graciously promises to us sinners that all who trust wholly in the blood of Christ alone to atone for their sins and cover them shall be saved. Christ is the appointed Savior, and only by His blood, through faith, are we accounted as righteous in God's sight. That is the essence of the Gospel, the very Gospel that the apostle Paul says is the *only* gospel, and that those who teach otherwise shall be anathema ("eternally condemned". Those are strong words, and it is a strong issue. There is no salvation in Christ plus me trying really hard. There is no favor in God's sight standing upon our own goodness and service to God, even in part. If we seek to be justified before God by the Law, then we shall be judged and condemned by it. Yet, God's promise is that all who abandon their trust in their own works and stand upon His blood and righteousness shall be saved.
Now, before you charge me with being unloving for making this point, consider how "loving" it would be for me to not say anything, knowing that it is only by God's will that we awaken the next morning. I'm not telling you this so I can point and say, "Ha! You are going to hell!" No, I'm telling you this because I pray the Holy Spirit will work in your heart to consider it and give up on this dead-end system... so that you would be justified in Christ, forever forgiven, forever righteous in God's sight, forever accepted, a co-heir of the Kingdom with Christ, there to rule and reign with Him!
I'm not asking you to respond. In fact, you came here. I didn't bring you here. Yet, I still will pray for you that you will leave this way of death.
Also... a quick apology to Sean for misunderstanding his use of caps for "YOU".
Bravo, Tim. Well defended, eloquent comments.
SDG
Peter,
Thanks for your encouragement and for stopping by. I read a little of your bio -I am an OCD sufferer, which can often carry with it depression, so I can somewhat sympathize with your struggle. I also know of a dear woman in our church who suffers from fibromyalgia -horrible. May the God of all grace be with you, today. Thanks again for stopping by!
Soli Deo GLORIA
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