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MORE QUESTIONS THAT EVERY JEHOVAH'S WITNESS SHOULD BE ASKED
On page 7 of the booklet Should You Believe in the Trinity?, unreferenced
quotes from Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian,
Hippolytus, and Origen are made. Why are these quotes unreferenced?
Also on page 7 of this same booklet, the statement is made, "Thus, the
testimony of the Bible and of history makes it clear that the Trinity was
unknown throughout Biblical times and for SEVERAL CENTURIES thereafter."
Based on the quotes below (taken from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by
Roberts and Donaldson, Wm. B. Eerdmans publisher), how can the Watchtower
Society make these claims? To see this entire volume online, click Early
Church Fathers
Justin Martyr (110-165 AD):
"... nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being
the first-begotten Word of God, is even God." - First Apology of Justin, Ch
LXIII.
"... but now you will permit me first to recount the prophecies, which I
wish to do in order to prove that Christ is called both God and the Lord of
hosts ..." - Dialogue with Trypho, Ch XXXVI.
"Therefore these words testify explicitly that He is witnessed to by Him who
established these things, as deserving to be worshipped, as God and as
Christ." - Ibid, Ch LXIII.
Irenaeus (120-202 AD):
"... and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that
to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King ..." - Against
Heresies, Bk 1, Ch 10.
"But that He is in His own right , beyond all men who ever lived, God, and
Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the
prophets and apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who
have attained to even a small portion of the truth." - Against Heresies, Bk
3, Ch 19.
Clement of Alexandria (153-217 AD):
"For 'before the morning star it was;' and 'in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.'" and "This Word, then, the
Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our
well being, this very Word has now appeared as man, He alone being both,
both God and man ..." and "The Word, who in the beginning bestowed on us
life as Creator when He formed us, taught us to live well when He appeared
as our Teacher; that as God He might afterwards conduct us to the life which
never ends." - Exhortation to the Heathen, Ch 1.
Tertullian (145-220 AD):
"Him we believe to have been sent by the Father into the virgin, and to have
been born of her - being both Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of
God, and to have been called by the name of Jesus Christ." and "... while
the mystery of the dispensation is still guarded, which distributes the
Unity into a Trinity, placing them in their order the three Persons - the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ..." - Against Praxeas, Ch 2.
"With these did He then speak, in the Unity of the Trinity, as with His
ministers and witnesses." and "...I mean the Word of God, 'through whom all
things were made, and without whom nothing was made.' Now if He too is God,
according to John (who says) 'The Word was God'..." - Against Praxeas, Ch
12.
Hippolytus (170-236 AD):
"For he speaks to this effect: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God.'" and "...'Go ye and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.' And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these,
failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity that the
Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit
manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth." - Against the
Heresy of One Noetus, Ch 14. "For Christ is the God above all, and He has
arranged to wash away sin from human beings." - The Refutation of All
Heresies, Bk 10, Ch 30.
Origen (185-254 AD):
"From all which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit was of such
authority and dignity, that saving baptism was not complete except by the
authority of the most excellent Trinity of them all ..." - Origen de
Principiis, 1.3.2
"For it is one and the same thing to have a share in the Holy Spirit, which
is (the Spirit) of the Father and the Son, since the nature of the Trinity
is one and incorporeal." - Origen de Principiis, 4.1.32
To read the entire text containing the above quotes online, click Early
Church Fathers.
The WTS makes the claim, "So there was no clergy class within Christian
congregations of the first century." (Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of
God's Kingdom, pg. 35). Based on the information below, how can the
Watchtower Society make these claims?
Bishop - comes from the Greek word "episkopos" - Acts 20:28, Phil 1:1, 1Tim
3:1,2, Tit 1:7. See Gr-Engl Interlinear. Also, see footnote on pg. 35 of
Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom to see how the present
English word "bishop" came from the Greek word "episkopos".
Priest - comes from the Greek word "presbuteros" - Acts 16:4, 1Tim 5:17, Jas
5:14, Tit 1:5, 1Pet 5:1. See Gr-Engl Interlinear. Also, see footnote on pg.
36 of Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom to see how the
present English word "priest" came from the Greek "presbuteros".
Deacon - comes from the Greek word "diakonos" - 1Tim 3:8,10,12, Phil 1:1.
See Gr-Engl Interlinear.
Clement of Rome (Phil 4:3, ?-101AD):
"For their own peculiar services are assigned to the high priest, and their
own proper place is prescribed to the priests ... The layman is bound by the
laws that pertain to laymen." - Letter to the Corinthians, Ch. 40, and, "And
thus preaching though countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits
[of their labors], having first proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and
deacons of those who should afterwards believe." - Ibid., Ch. 42, and, "Our
Apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be
strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason,
therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect foreknowledge of this,
they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave
instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should
succeed them in their ministry ... Blessed are those presbyters, who having
finished their course before now, ..." - Ibid, Ch. 44. To see this entire
text online, click ! Early Church Fathers.
Is it true that the Watchtower Society's prophecy that Armageddon will come
before "the end of the generation of 1914" (You Can Live Forever In Paradise
On Earth, pg. 154), is no longer taught as truth?
If so, then does that mean that this teaching of the Watchtower Society,
which they have taught for decades, was a false teaching?
Since the Watchtower Society teaches that they are the "one channel that the
Lord is using during the last days of this system of things" (Jehovah's
Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pg. 626) and that the governing body
is "the mouthpiece of Jehovah God", does this mean that God changed His mind
about this particular teaching?
Is it possible that God could change His mind?
Has the Watchtower Society ever changed their mind before about a teaching
that they once taught as the truth?
Is it true that the Watchtower Society once taught that Armageddon was going
to occur in:
1914 - "The Time Is At Hand" - 1888 (1911 Ed.), pg 101; Zion's WT -
1/15/1892, pg 22
1918 - "The Finished Mystery" - 1917, pg. 62, 485
1925 - "Millions Now Living Will Never Die", 1920, pg 89-90; WT, 7/15/24, pg
211
During WW II - WT, 9/15/41, pg 288
1975 - KM, 6/69, pg 3; AWAKE!, 10/8/68, etc.
Before the end of the generation of 1914 - Live Forever book, pg 154;
AWAKE!, 10/8/95, pg 4?
Since the Watchtower Society claimed that their teaching of Armageddon
coming before the "end of the generation of 1914" was "Jehovah's prophetic
word" (WT-5/15/84, pg.6) and "the Creator's promise" (Awake!, 10/8/95,
9/22/95, 9/8/95, etc. pg.4), therefore speaking "in the name of Jehovah"
(Deut 18:22, NWT), then according to Deut 18:20-22, does this mean that the
Watchtower Society is a false prophet?
If so, are you aware of what the Bible says about false prophets? See Mt
7:15, 24:11, Mk 13:22, 2Pet 2:1, 1Jn 4:1, Rev 19:20, 20:10.
Would a loving Jehovah God destroy billions of people at Armageddon?
Would a loving God kill people at Armageddon, like Mother Theresa, who have
spent their entire lives helping their fellow man?
If Armageddon is going to occur very soon, and the only people who will
survive are Jehovah's Witnesses, then that means that millions of people
through no fault of their own, who have never even heard of Jehovah or the
Watchtower Society, will be killed. This would include millions of innocent
small children and infants. Would a loving God do this?
Is it true that the Watchtower Society once taught:
- Against vaccinations? - Golden Age, Feb 4, 1931, pg. 293
Golden Age, Jan 5, 1929, pg. 502
- Against organ transplants? - Watchtower, 11/15/67, pg. 702
- That it was okay to celebrate Christmas and birthdays?
- That Christ is the almighty of Rev 1:8? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg.
15
- That Christ established a "Church"? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg 17
- That Christ returned invisibly in 1874? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg.
54, 60, 68
- That the Holy Spirit has a personality? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg
57
- That the pyramid of Gizah was God's witness and was used to predict the
year of
Armageddon? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg. 60
- That Armageddon would definitely occur in the spring of 1918? - The
Finished Mystery
1917, pg 62
- That Christ was crucified? - The Finished Mystery, 1917, pg. 68
- That Leviathan of the Bible refers to the steam locomotive? - The Finished
Mystery,
1917, pg 85
- That Michael is the Pope of Rome and his angels are the Catholic bishops?
- The
Finished Mystery, 1917, pg 188
According to "current" WTS teachings, Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and
in 1918 he chose the WTS as His earthly organization because they were the
only organization teaching "the truth". If this was so, then Jesus would
have known the teachings of the WTS as put forth in The Finished Mystery
published in 1917. Do you really think that Jesus would have chosen an
organization which taught so many things that were not correct and are no
longer taught as "the truth"?
For more documentation of changes in WTS teachings, click:
Free Minds, Inc.
Watchtower Observer
Comments From The Friends
Watch The Tower
Don't believe any of this? Look it up in original WTS literature and see for
yourself.
Since the WTS no longer teaches the above as "the truth", does this mean
that the above teachings are false teachings? If so, does this mean that
while the WTS taught the above as "the truth", that they were really guilty
of false teachings? Do you really believe that an organization directed by
God would have changed its teachings on so many issues so many times over
the course of its relatively short history? If any other religious
denomination changed its teachings over the last 100 years as much as the
WTS has, do you think the WTS would be critical of them?
When the Watchtower Society changes it's teaching on something to the exact
opposite of what it once taught as "the truth" (eg. Christ died on a
cross/Christ didn't die on a cross; vaccinations violate God's
laws/vaccinations are okay, etc.), is this like a light that gets brighter
and brighter, or is it more like one light that is completely turned off and
a totally new light turned on? Since it appears that the WTS has changed its
teachings many times to something that is the exact opposite of what was
once taught as "the truth", how do you know that what is now taught as "the
truth" isn't really a false teaching and won't someday be changed?
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