In the book “God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached”, published by the Watchtower Society in 1973, on page 209-210, para. 55 they explain that it was with the publishing of the book “Let God Be True” in 1943, that the 1874 date for the beginning of Christ’s “invisible presence” was done away with and replaced with the 1914 date. …
Category: Doctrine
Articles about doctrine
Composite Christ
Those Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim to be of the 144,000 refer to themselves by many titles: the remnant, the faithful and discreet slave, and the anointed to name a few. I say that they refer to themselves by these titles because the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim to be the spokesman for the 144,000 teaches that it is the remnant of the 144,000 in their role as the faithful and discreet slave who are responsible for the teachings put forth in the pages of The Watchtower and other publication of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. So when Watchtower publications speak of the faithful and discreet slave or the remnant or the anointed, the writers are referring to themselves.
Differences
When asked about it, many Jehovah’s Witnesses will minimize the differences between the 144,000 and the “other sheep”, saying that the only difference is where they will spend eternity.
I Am With You Always
I’ve been thinking, reading, meditating and praying about the subject of God’s omnipresence and His presence in us a lot lately. This was started by an ongoing online discussion between some Jehovah’s Witnesses and some ex-Witnesses. A person who is studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses wrote the following on a forum during a discussion of Jesus’ presence.
In Jesus’ Name
On whose name did first century Christians focus? As I was leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses, I did a word search in the New World Translation with “Jesus” and “name”. Below are some of the results arranged by subject. This study showed me more than anything else that it was the name of Jesus that was given priority by Christians in the first century and that it should be given the same priority today.
Is Our Salvation Eternal?
The table below came from a handout from Dan Hall at the first Witnesses Now for Jesus conference that I attended back in 1998. I’ve used it here with his permission.
On Romans 6:7
Romans 6:7 “For whoever has died has been acquitted from his sins.” (NWT) – Does this really mean that we pay for our sins when we die?
Our Adoption
Imagine being a child, a broken, desperate, orphaned child, a child in dire need of a Father. In your brokenness, you’ve acted out, in fact badly enough that you are now in detention.
Now imagine you are introduced to someone who, despite your behavior and incarceration is interested in adopting you into his family. In fact, interested enough that he has sent his son to bail you out of detention and he has drawn up the adoption paperwork that has your name on it. …
The Watchtower and Johannes Greber
Much has been said and written over the years regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses reliance on Johannes Greber’s “The New Testament—A New Translation and Explanation Based on the Oldest Manuscripts” to support their rendering of John 1:1 and Matthew 27:52,53 in their “New World Translation.” …