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Refuting Jehovah's Witnesses
This is definitely not exhaustive but wanted to share some of the verses that some Jehovah Witnesses recently tried to "convert" me with and then how I refuted their answers with the living and abiding Word of God.
The first verse that they took me to was Revelation 3:14
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this..
They stated that if Jesus had a beginning then He must have been created. The easy answer is truly this: God is called the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End; so if God has a beginning then He was also created but even more piercing is that if God is also the Omega or End, then there will be a day that God doesn't exist, He will have an end. To which they of course said that couldn't happen, I then told them that they were using double hermeneutics which is against correct biblical interpretation. Which I, of course, do not believe that God has a beginning or an end but wanted them to see where their logic must take them. So, I continued to take them to proving Jesus is truly God.
I asked them what the term "Alpha and Omega" means. They stated, "The Beginning and the End" I then asked them, "how many Alpha and Omegas are there?" They replied, "one, the Lord Jehovah" Which is found in Isaiah 41:4; 44:6 and Revelation 1:8. So, getting what I wanted from them to show them Christ, I took them to Revelation 22. Read the whole chapter for yourself but I want to take a look at 4 verses in this chapter: 12,13, 16, 20
"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly " Amen Come, Lord Jesus.
This Alpha and Omega in verses 12,13 is "coming quickly" and notice verse 16 says that it is Jesus who is speaking and then Jesus uses the same term, "I am coming quickly" in verse 20 and John reconfirms who this by stating, "Amen Come, Lord Jesus." So, we have just seen that if there is one Alpha and Omega then Christ must be Jehovah, because He is called the Alpha and Omega in Revelation 22 just as Jehovah is shown in the above mentioned references.
The last verse they took me to is John 17:3
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
They ask, "If Jesus is truly God why would He say that Jehovah is the only true God?" This is easier to answer than some may think because God the Father calls Jesus God in Hebrews 1:8
But of the Son He says,
"YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
Notice who is doing the talking: God the Father about the Son. The Father says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and forever"
God the Father just called Jesus, God.
This is what is so great about the Word of God; it, when read and studied comletely, explains itself. Know that there is many other testaments of who our triune God is, and that it exactly what I worship: the triune God.
I don't know what will happen with those two that came to my door that day, but I told them that I wasn't into winning an argument but in the salvation of their souls. We spoke for about 45 minutes and spoke about many things, I just pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin and warped thinking of who He truly is.
4 comments:
hello, i'm a jw. we come across that somewhat frequently but the answer is actually pretty simple, i'm surprised the jw at your door didn't remember it or know it.
if you look at the quotation marks in revelation 22 you'll notice that the speaker changes between verses 11 and 12 and between verses 15 and 16. if you read john 1:1 it says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" (NIV)
so god gave the revelation to jesus (obviously god wouldn't need to reveal it to himself), and then jesus sent it through an angel.
so sometimes the angel is quoting god and sometimes he is quoting jesus. if you look at the quotes there is a change of speakers. some translations have it, some don't.
you cannot use one scripture to support an idea and at the same time ignore the countless other scriptures that contradict it.
-agape
Anonymous...
thanks for dropping by and I appreciate any dialogue you are willing to come into.
As far as saying that God wouldn't need to reveal anything to Himself this is where you need to understand the Kenosis in Phil 2:5-8 which opens our eyes to eternity and Christ taking the form of a bond servant...
John 1:1 is an interesting part of Scripture that you bring up because you would then have to have an answer of why then it would say that the Word (Jesus) was with God and the Word was God.
I know that the New World Translation puts the article "a" in front of the word God in verse 1 but here is what commentator G.L Borchert says about that claim:
Those misguided interpreters have sought to argue their case from the fact that the Greek word for God (theos) here does not have an article.16 Possessing a little Greek knowledge can sometimes lead to incorrect deductions and to very inappropriate theological conclusions. Simply because the Greek term “Word” (logos) here has an article and the Greek term for “God” (theos) lacks the article does not mean that the term “God” should be rendered as “a god.” In this predicate nominative construction the Greek verb “to be,” when linking the noun “God,” is used in a generic or adjectival manner. It does not therefore mean that the Word is “a god” as over against “God” or that the Word merely possesses some attributes of the “divine nature.” As Beasley-Murray has pointed out, there is another Greek word (theios) for that type of divine reference, for instance in 2 Pet 1:4, where believers are said to participate in the “divine nature.”17 The meaning of John 1:1 is not merely that the Word has divine characteristics but that the Word participates in the reality called God. That Word was true deity, and John wanted there to be no doubt about it.
Anonymous...by the way, how can you say that the speaker changes? The Alpha and the Omega in verse 12,13 states, "I am coming quickly" and then in verse 20 the speaker again refers back to verse 12 to say, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Wrapping up the thoughts of that speaker, which is Jesus Christ. There is absolutely no evidence in the Scripture that has the speaker changing.
But you must say that because you are not letting the Scripture speak for itself, but you are allowing your JW convictions interpret Scripture for you.
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