Defend Jehovah's Witnesses: January 2014

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Inaccurate False 'Prophet' Claim Made Against Jehovah's Witnesses - Links to Accurate Information

Click on any link to view:

PROPHET (Insight-2 pp. 694-698; Watchtower Online Library)
The Greek pro·phe′tes literally means “a speaker out [Gr., pro, “before” or “in front of,” and phe·mi′, “say”]” and thus describes a proclaimer, one who makes known messages attributed to a divine source. (Compare Tit 1:12.) Though this includes the thought of a predictor of the future, the fundamental meaning of the word is NOT that of prediction. (Compare Jg 6:7-10.)

Why Jehovah's Witnesses Are Not False Prophets - Does the Watchtower Society Really Claim to be an INSPIRED Prophet? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Jehovah's Witnesses and the "False Prophecies" Accusation - A Misrepresentation of the Facts (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Jehovah's Witnesses and the 'False Prophet' Claim (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Have Jehovah’s Witnesses Ever Claimed to be INSPIRED Prophets? (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Have Jehovah's Witnesses ever claimed to be an INSPIRED prophet? (Search For Bible Truths)

Does the Watchtower Society really claim to be an inspired prophet? (Jehovah's Witnesses Questions and Answers)

The Problem with "False Prophecy" Polemics (Bible Translation and Study)

The Churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Question of Unfulfilled Prophetic Expectations (Jehovah's Witnesses United)

Dates (1914; 1975) (Search For Bible Truths)

'False Prophet' Claim and Jerusalem 607 B.C.E. (Search For Bible Truths)

The Destruction of Jerusalem - 607 B.C.? (Search For Bible Truths)

Are Jehovah's Witnesses False Prophets? (From God's Word)

Why so many False Alarms? (Pastor Russell)

Has The Watchtower Society Ever Claimed to be Infallible? (Search For Bible Truths)

Was Nathan a False Prophet? (Jehovah's Witnesses Stand Firm)

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Does 2 Corinthians 13:14 Prove That the Trinity Doctrine is Correct?

Many times another Scripture is used by trinitarians along with Matt. 28:19 which is also supposed to show the Father, Son, and holy spirit all being mentioned in the same breath. Somehow this is intended to prove that they are all equally God. That Scripture is 2 Cor. 13:14:

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." - ASV.

Does that verse really say the Father, the Son, and the holy spirit are three persons who constitute the one Most High God? Doesn't it say, instead, that the Lord Jesus Christ is one individual, the holy spirit is another individual (whether a person or a thing), and that God is another different individual?

Does it say Jesus is God? Does it say the holy spirit is God? No, it treats God as someone entirely separate from those two! So, either the inspired Bible writer is completely ignoring the person of the Father: "the grace of...Christ [an individual person]...the love of [a composite] God...and the communion of the spirit [an individual person or thing], or, since the Father alone really is the only true God (Jn 17:1, 3; 1 Cor. 8:6), Paul is including the person of the Father in this verse and properly identifying him alone as God (as all his readers at that time well knew - see the CREEDS and ISRAEL studies)!

The actual wording of the "trinitarian" 2 Cor. 13:14, when examined, proves it to be evidence against a trinity concept. (Analyze Luke 9:26 and 1 Tim. 5:21 in this "three mentioned together so they must be equal" manner of trinitarian "evidence.")

For more, see:

Scriptures that mention together the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (rs p. 405-p. 426; Watchtower Online Library)

Exposing the False Reasoning Behind Trinity Proof Texts (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Why Are There Two Different Versions of the Creation Account in Genesis?

This question reminded me of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John's accounts. Though these
books differ slightly in the treatment of the material, they are still in perfect agreement with each other. We just have four separate accounts from slightly different points of view.

In regard to Adam’s creation, Moses, in compiling the book of Genesis referred to written records or “histories” that predated the Flood. The first of these begins with Genesis 1:1 and ends at Genesis 2:4 with the words, “This is the history of the heavens and the earth . . . ” The second historical document begins with Genesis 2:5 and ends with verse two of chapter five. This is why we have two separate accounts of creation from slightly different points of view.

In the second of these accounts, in GENESIS 2:19, the original Hebrew verb translated “WAS FORMING” is in the progressive imperfect form. This does not mean that the animals and birds were created after Adam was created. Genesis 1:20-28 shows it does not mean that. So, in order to avoid contradiction between chapter one and chapter two, Genesis 2:19, 20 must be only a parenthetical remark thrown in to explain the need for creating a “helper” for man. So the progressive Hebrew verb form could also be rendered as “had been forming.”—See Rotherham’s translation (Ro), also Leeser’s (Le).

These two creation accounts in the book of Genesis, though differing slightly in the treatment of the material, are in perfect agreement with each other on all points, including the fact that Eve was created after Adam.

Source: 8-15-68 Watchtower

For more, see:

Creation - Links to Information (Defend Jehovah's Witnesses)

Friday, January 24, 2014

How Could God Produce Light on the First Creative Day if the Luminaries Were Not Made Until the Fourth Creative Day?

How could God produce light on the first day if the luminaries were not made until the fourth day?

"The Hebrew word rendered “make” in Genesis 1 verse 16 is not the same as the word for “create” used in Genesis 1:1, 21, 27 chapter 1, verses 1, 21, and 27. “The heavens” that included the luminaries were created long before the “first day” even began. But their light did not reach the surface of the earth. On the first day, “there came to be light” because diffused light penetrated the cloud layers and became visible on the earth. The rotating earth thus began to have alternating day and night. (Genesis 1:1-3, 5) The sources of that light still remained invisible from the earth. During the fourth creative period, however, a notable change took place. The sun, the moon, and the stars were now made “to shine upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:17) “God proceeded to make” them in that they could now be seen from the earth." (Highlights From the Book of Genesis; w04 1/1 p. 28-p. 31; Watchtower Online Library)
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"The divine will concerning luminaries was accomplished on Day Four, it being stated: “God proceeded to make the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for dominating the day and the lesser luminary for dominating the night, and also the stars. Thus God put them in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth, and to dominate by day and by night and to make a division between the light and the darkness.” (Ge 1:16-18) In view of the description of these luminaries, the greater luminary was quite apparently the sun and the lesser luminary the moon, though the sun and moon are not specifically named in the Bible until after its account of the Flood of Noah’s day.—Ge 15:12; 37:9.

"Previously, on the first “day,” the expression “Let light come to be” was used. The Hebrew word there used for “light” is ʼohr, meaning light in a general sense. But on the fourth “day,” the Hebrew word changes to ma·ʼohr′, which refers to a luminary or source of light. (Ge 1:14) So, on the first “day” diffused light evidently penetrated the swaddling bands, but the sources of that light could not have been seen by an earthly observer. Now, on the fourth “day,” things evidently changed.

"It is also noteworthy that at Genesis 1:16 the Hebrew verb ba·raʼ′, meaning “create,” is not used. Instead, the Hebrew verb ʽa·sah′, meaning “make,” is employed. Since the sun, moon, and stars are included in “the heavens” mentioned in Genesis 1:1, they were created long before Day Four. On the fourth day God proceeded to “make” these celestial bodies occupy a new relationship toward earth’s surface and the expanse above it. When it is said, “God put them in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth,” this would indicate that they now became discernible from the surface of the earth, as though they were in the expanse. Also, the luminaries were to “serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years,” thus later providing guidance for man in various ways.—Ge 1:14." (Creation; Insight-1 pp. 526-547; Watchtower Online Library)
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"It should be noted that, whereas Genesis 1:1 states that God “created” (Heb., ba·raʼ′) the heavens and the earth in the beginning, verses 16 and 17 state that, during the fourth creative “day,” “God proceeded to make [Heb., a form of ʽa·sah′] the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for dominating the day and the lesser luminary for dominating the night, and also the stars. Thus God put them in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.” The Hebrew word ʽa·sah′, often translated “make,” can mean simply to establish (2Sa 7:11), appoint (De 15:1), form (Jer 18:4), or prepare (Ge 21:8).

"Thus the record here states what the already existing sun, moon, and stars now became in relation to planet Earth. On the first “day” light (Heb., ʼohr) evidently gradually penetrated the cloud layers still enveloping the earth and would have become visible to an earthly observer, had he been present. (Ge 1:3) On the fourth “day” things changed." (Luminary; Insight-2 p. 284; Watchtower Online Library)

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Inaccurate False 'Prophet' Claim Made Against Jehovah's Witnesses - Links to Accurate Information

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Does 2 Corinthians 13:14 Prove That the Trinity Doctrine is Correct?

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Why Are There Two Different Versions of the Creation Account in Genesis?

Friday, January 24, 2014

How Could God Produce Light on the First Creative Day if the Luminaries Were Not Made Until the Fourth Creative Day?

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Protestants?

UPDATE: Attempt to Ban JW.ORG Fails in Russia

Los Testigos de Jehová ganaron una importante victoria judicial (Rusia; JW.ORG)

As Testemunhas de Jeová ganharam uma importante vitória judicial de (Rússia; JW.ORG)

Testimoni di Geova hanno vinto una grande vittoria in tribunale (Russia, JW.ORG)

les Témoins de Jéhovah ont remporté une grande victoire de la cour; (Russie, jw.org)

Zeugen Jehovas hat einen wichtigen Sieg vor Gericht (Russland; jw.org)