The religious group that wakes me up in the morning

Greece: trekeath.com

The religious group that wakes me up in the morning

Yes, wakes is a proper English word.

wakes

From the rate my blog vote in the previous article. The winners:

Wunderbar 4

This blog is better than running from Chuck Norris 4 (From Rick)

This post is dedicated to the friendly Jehovah's Witnesses that leave a message on my phone at least once a month. They call in the morning and wake me up temporarily from my CPAP assisted sleep. They invite me to a Bible study. I had a phone discussion with a nice lady representative one day and turned the tables on her and gave her a short lecture on why her version of a free will theodicy does not work. She invited me to meet with her elders and I assured her that although I would be nice, I was quite busy and in the end her elders would not want me to be part of their church.

I am not a prophet, but I would be being willing to predict that event. I am not a gambler, but I am willing to bet on that taking place.

I hope the Jehovah's Witnesses are calling some Latter-day Saints and leave a message on their answering machines. The Jehovah's Witnesses should call some local LDS churches and then the Mormons can send some missionaries down to the Kingdom Hall and talk shop.

But first...some short humour.

Jeff Jenkins from Thoughts and Theology

Presents in my links this film several weeks ago. I did not produce the video and I am not vouching 100% for its historical accuracy, but it does present an interesting historical review of an important non-Christian religious movement.

The video is produced by this group:

Good News

Walter Martin was one of the top scholars in regard to the Jehovah's Witnesses as a non-Christian movement.

He writes that Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The name Jehovah's Witnesses was taken in 1931 to differentiate from the Watchtower organization run by Russell's successor Judge Rutherford. Martin (1965)(1997: 79). The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was founded in 1896. Martin (1965)(1997: 80). Russell had been teaching previously.

John Ankerberg and John Weldon state Charles Taze Russell's dates of birth and death (1852-1916). The Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be the only organization in the world through which Jehovah God operates and supplies a true Biblical interpretation. Ankerberg and Weldon (1999: 127).

Jesus described his church in Matthew 16: 18. In Acts, Peter initially was the primary Apostle, but the primary focus soon moved to Paul in the latter part of Acts. Paul also wrote and/or had scribes write more books of the New Testament than did Peter.

The true church Jesus described in Matthew 16: 18 is the Church of Jesus Christ. In the early stages it could be stated that both Peter and Paul led aspects of the early Church, which was one Church. Today there is still one Church that is led through various persons and denominations. Where there is essential Christian doctrine taught, believed and lived with persons indwelled with the Holy Spirit, there is the Church of Jesus Christ. There is sin and error present in the Church in this present realm, and there is no one faultless Christian leader or faultless Christian movement as sin influences all.

There is also no one true denomination at the expense of all others. There may possibly be one Christian denomination with better Biblical and systematic theology than others, but this does not make it the true Church and all the others false.

From:http://www.waltermartin.com/cults.html
The Deity of Jesus Christ

Throughout the entire content of inspired Scripture the fact of Christ’s identity is clearly taught. He is revealed as Jehovah God in human form (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14; John 1:14; 8:58; 17:5 [cf. Exodus 3:14]; Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:11; Colossians 2:9; and Revelation 1:8, 17–18; etc.). The deity of Jesus Christ is one of the cornerstones of Christianity, and as such has been attacked more vigorously throughout the ages than any other single doctrine of the Christian faith. Adhering to the old Arian heresy of the fourth century A.D., which Athanasius the great church Father refuted in his famous essay “On the Incarnation of the Word,” many individuals and all cults steadfastly deny the equality of Jesus Christ with God the Father, and, consequently, the Triune deity. Jehovah’s Witnesses, as has been observed, are no exception to this infamous rule. However, the testimony of the Scriptures stands sure, and the above mentioned references alone put to silence forever this blasphemous heresy, which in the power of Satan himself deceives many with its “deceitful handling of the Word of God.”

The deity of Christ, then, is a prime answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses, for if the Trinity is a reality, which it is, if Jesus and Jehovah are “One” and the same, then the whole framework of the cult collapses into a heap of shattered, disconnected doctrines incapable of even a semblance of congruity. We will now consider the verses in question, and their bearing on the matter.

Refutation of Watchtower Theology in Regard to the Triune Deity

One of the greatest doctrines of the Scriptures is that of the Triune Godhead or the nature of God himself. To say that this doctrine is a “mystery” is indeed inconclusive, and no informed minister would explain the implications of the doctrine in such abstract terms. Jehovah’s Witnesses accuse “the clergy” of doing just that, however, and it is unfortunate to note that they are, as usual, guilty of misstatement in the presentation of the facts and even in their definition of what Christian clergymen believe the Deity to be.

First of all, Christian ministers and Christian laypersons do not believe that there are “three gods in one” (Let God Be True, 100), but do believe that there are three Persons all of the same Substance—coequal, coexistent, and coeternal. There is ample ground for this belief in the Scriptures, where plurality in the Godhead is very strongly intimated if not expressly declared.

The Resurrection of Christ

Jehovah’s Witnesses, as has been observed, deny the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and claim instead that He was raised a “divine spirit being” or as an “invisible spirit creature.” They answer the objection that He appeared in human form by asserting that He simply took human forms as He needed them, which enabled Him to be seen, for as the Logos He would have been invisible to the human eye. In short, Jesus did not appear in the same form that hung upon the cross since that body either “dissolved into gases or is preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love”. This, in spite of Paul’s direct refutation in 1 Timothy 2:5, where he calls “the man Christ Jesus” our only mediator—some thirty years after the resurrection!

The Scriptures, however, tell a completely different story, as will be evident when their testimony is considered. Christ himself prophesied His own bodily resurrection, and John tells us “He spake of the temple of His body” (John 2:21).

What can be understood from reading the material from the site where Martin's family presents portions of his work, and the Martin and Ankerberg and Weldon texts are that Jehovah's Witnesses deny the deity of Christ, the Trinity, and the resurrection of Christ. There are other errors as well.

For one to truly know God he or she must believe in the deity of Christ. Christ as infinite God and perfect finite man, outlasted human finite sin, covered sins and paid the penalty for the sins of fallen humanity. This is the atonement.

To accept Christ as deity, the Holy Spirit as deity (Matthew 28: 19-20, Acts 5) and the Father as deity is to understand the New Testament nature of God is basic terms.

One God, one nature and substance with three distinctions.

To accept the Biblical resurrection of Christ, is to accept the predictive resurrection teaching of Christ in John 2: 19, descriptions of Jesus resurrection in the Gospels, and to accept Paul's teaching on resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. Note, I stated the Gospels, but even if the ending of Mark (16: 9-20) is viewed as questionable because it is missing in two of the oldest minority Alexandrian texts, Codex Vaticanus (B) and Codex Sinaiticus (Sin.), Mark 16: 1-8, makes it clear Christ was risen. The ending is present in the majority Byzantine texts, and it is possible that Mark did indeed write it or it was written by another inspired scribe.

As noted in comments the description of the minority Alexandrian texts and majority Byzantine texts is in general terms, please see comments.

ANKERBERG, JOHN AND JOHN WELDON (1999) Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Eugene, Oregon, Harvest House Publishers.

MARTIN, WALTER (1965)(1997) The Kingdom of The Cults, Minneapolis, Bethany House Publishers.