The Church Fathers
were leading religious teachers saith the Watchtower?
If you ever read the magazine “Should you believe in the Trinity” by the Watchtower, the reader will get the impression the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers theology was the belief of Our Lord Jesus Christ was not God.
On page 7 of this magazine you will read the statement “The ante-Nicene Fathers were acknowledge to have been leading religious teachers in the early centuries after Christ’s birth. What they taught is of interest.”
If this is true and a fact the Church Father’s were leading religious teachers as the Watchtower claims, I would like to know, who acknowledged the Church Fathers as LEADING RELIGIOUS TEACHERS IN THE EARLY CENTURIES AFTER CHRIST’S BIRTH? Was it Jehovah’s Witnesses who acknowledge the Church Father as leading teachers?
Page 7 continues as the Watchtower begins to quote the Church Fathers. The reader will immediately get the impression the Church Fathers didn’t believe Jesus was God. How does the Watchtower do this? They do this by partially taking quotations, removing certain words and statements and also combining statements that have no relations on what the Church Father originally intended to say to the reader. May I remind the Watchtower what they said on their famous publication Qualified to be Ministers; 1967; page 199;
“Be very careful to be accurate in all statements you make. Use evidence honestly. In quotations, do not twist the meaning of a writer or speaker or use only partial quotations to give a different thought than the person intended. When you make references to the Scripture or to any other authority, be definite. And use reliable, capable authority. The Bible is the most conclusive and reliable of all. Quoting from official publication of an organization to show what they believe is good. Also one wants to use evidence from an authority that the hearers will accept.”
Hypocritically, the Watchtower has broken every rule regarding their own statement. Did the Watchtower provide references to any authority they quoted in the magazine “Should you believe in the Trinity?” No, they didn’t provide a bibliography for all the quotations of any of the sources they quoted. Did the Watchtower use an authority the hearers will accept?
Well, do Jehovah’s Witnesses acknowledge the Church Fathers as an authority? The Watchtower did say “The ante-Nicene Fathers were acknowledge to have been leading religious teachers in the early centuries after Christ’s birth.” I guess Jehovah’s Witnesses must accept the Church Fathers as an authority since the Watchtower is quoting them.
If you ever had a Bible study with a Jehovah’s Witness at your home and ask, “Have you ever read the works of the Church Fathers?” 100% of the time they will say “NO.” They will take for granted whatever the Watchtower writes and claims in their publications.
The fact is, the Watchtower encourages Jehovah’s Witnesses not to research anything the society writes because the brothers of the organization has done it for them. Indeed the Jehovah’s Witnesses will read the following encouraging words from “ The Watchtower; June 1, 1967; page 338; “Don’t waste your time researching. The brothers in the organization are assigned to do that very thing.”
Well, since the brothers of the Watchtower are assigned to research for Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jehovah’s Witnesses are encouraged not to waste their time researching, let us check what the brothers of the Watchtower has failed to tell Jehovah’s Witnesses regarding our wonderful Church Fathers who in fact are labeled by the Watchtower as LEADING RELIGIOUS TEACHERS.
Justin Martyr:
“...who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times of your reign, having, as we before said,..”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 352.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said “the first-begotten Word of God is even God?” Why didn’t the Watchtower quote these words of Justin in the magazine? Do you believe it was Jesus that appeared in the burning bush?
Justin Martyr:
“...although the words of the Psalm expressly proclaim that reference is made to the everlasting King, i.e., to Christ. For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born..”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 415.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said Christ in the book of the Palms is Priest AND GOD?
Justin Martyr:
“...which I wish to do in order to prove that Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit; and your interpreters, as God says, are foolish, since they say that reference is...”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 418.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said he is going to prove that Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts? I thought there is only one God and One Lord of Host which is the Father?
Justin Martyr:
“Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus made to Christ: ‘God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing ye to our God, sing ye: sing to our King, sing ye; for God is King of all the earth: sing with understanding. God has ruled over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 419.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said Psalm 46 is in reference to Christ?
Justin Martyr:
“But if you knew, Trypho,” continued I, “who He (Jesus) is that is called at one time the Angel of great counsel, and a Man by Ezekiel, and like the Son of man by Daniel, and a Child by Isaiah, and Christ and God to be worshipped by David, and Christ and a Stone by many,..”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 535.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when Justin claimed King David worshipped Christ? This is a very interesting statement by Justin. Don’t you think this is really interesting and this teaching should be included your magazine “Should you Believe in the Trinity.” Why didn’t the Watchtower add this teaching of Justin? I mean really, this is very interesting theology.
Justin Martyr:
But both Him, and the Son (who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like to Him), and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to every one who wishes to learn, as we have been taught.
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 304.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said “We worship and adore the Holy Spirit”?
Justin Martyr:
Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judaea, in the times of Tiberius Caesar; and that we reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove. For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Justin Martyr); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 309.
Do you accept Justin Martyr as an authority when he said we reasonably worship Jesus?
Irenaeus:
The Word was with God,” for He was the beginning; “and the Word was God,” of course, for that which is begotten of God is God
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Irenaeus); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 675.
Do you accept Irenaeus as an authority when he said “What is begotten of God is God?”
Irenaeus:
Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven,, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Irenaeus); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 680.
Do you accept Irenaeus as an authority when he said Jesus is our Lord and God?
Irenaeus:
That John knew the one and the same Word of God, and that He was the only begotten, and that He became incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume I; (Irenaeus); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 910.
Do you accept Irenaeus as an authority when he said Jesus became incarnate for our salvation? You don’t believe in the incarnation of Christ do you? The Church Fathers did however.
Hippolytus:
The Logos alone of this God is from God himself; wherefore also the Logos is God, being the substance of God
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume V; (Hippolytus); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 314.
Do you accept Hippolytus as an authority when he said Jesus is from God himself wherefore the Logos is God being the substance of God?
Origen:
“...listen to the manner in which John speaks in the Apocalypse: “Thus saith the Lord God, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” For who else was “He which is to come” than Christ?”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume IV; (Origen); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 520.
Do you accept Origen as an authority when he said Rev 1:4 is in reference to Christ and calls Him the Almighty?
Origen:
After this, as though his object was to swell the size of his book, he advises us “to choose Jonah rather than Jesus as our God;”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume IV; (Origen); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 1307.
Do you accept Origen as an authority when he said Jesus is our God?
Origen:
I and My Father are one.” We worship one God, the Father and the Son
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume IV; (Origen); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 1328.
Do you accept Origen as an authority when he said We worship the Father and the Son.
Origen:
I am sure no human power or language can explain, unless as prostrate suppliants we pray to the Word, and Wisdom, and Righteousness Himself, who is the only-begotten Son of God, and who, pouring Himself by His graces into our senses,
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume IV; (Origen); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 603.
Do you accept Origen as authority when he said we pray to the Word Who is Jesus?
Origen:
for our duty is to pray to the Most High God alone, and to the Only-begotten, the First-born of the whole creation
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, A.Roberts and J. Donaldson; Volume IV; (Origen); The Sage Digital Library Collection; Version 1.0, Albany, Or, USA, 1996, Page 1340 and 1341
Do you accept Origen as an authority when he said “It is our duty to pray the Most High God alone and to the Only begotten, the First Born of the whole creation who is Jesus Christ?”
I must admit, the Watchtower is correct regarding the Church Fathers. What the Church Fathers taught is in fact very interesting theology. They taught is OK to pray to Jesus, they worshipped Jesus, Jesus is God and the same substance of God, worshipped and adore the Holy Spirit. These teachings or doctrines the Church Fathers taught were never mentioned in the Watchtower magazine Should you Believe the Trinity. I wonder why?
QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE BROCHURE
“SHOULD YOU BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY”
by
THE WATCHTOWER AND BIBLE TRACT SOCIETY
1. WHY DIDN’T THE WATCHTOWER PROVIDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY OR ANY REFERENCES FOR ALL OF THE QUOTATIONS IN THE BROCHURE INCLUDING THE CHURCH FATHERS?
2. DID YOU STUDY THIS BROCHURE BY GOING TO THE LIBRARY AND LOOKING UP ALL THESE QUOTATIONS ESPECIALLY THE ANTE-NICENE CHURCH FATHERS?
3. DID THE CHURCH FATHERS TEACH JESUS WAS GOD?
4. IF YOU READ FOUR BOOKS REGARDING CHURCH HISTORY BY FOUR DIFFERENT AUTHORS. EACH OF THESE AUTHORS HAVE A DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND. THREE AUTHORS ASSERTS AND HAVE THE SAME POINT OF VIEW, “THAT THE CHURCH FATHERS TAUGHT THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.” HOWEVER, ONE AUTHOR CLAIMS THE OPPOSITE. WHAT ACTION WOULD YOU TAKE TO RECTIFY THIS CONTRADICTION? HOW WOULD YOU RESEARCH THIS CONTRADICTION?
5. IF THE CHURCH FATHERS LIKE JUSTIN MARTYR, IRENAEUS, CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, TERTULLIAN, HIPPOLYTUS AND OTHERS DIDN’T TEACH THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY, THEN WHO WERE THEIR CONTEMPORARY OPPOSERS? IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT RELIGIOUS GROUP IN THE CHURCH FATHER’S TIMES DID BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS GOD ALMIGHTY? OBVIOUSLY, ACCORDING TO YOUR BROCHURE IT CAN’T BE THE ANTE-NICENE CHURCH FATHERS THAT BELIEVED JESUS IS GOD ALMIGHTY. WHO THEN BELIEVED THIS?
6. IF YOU STUDIED THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH THEN YOU MUST BE FAMILIAR WITH A HERETIC NAME CERINTHUS. POLYCARP, A STUDENT OF JOHN THE APOSTLE QUOTES JOHN SAYING CERINTHUS IS “THE ENEMY OF TRUTH”. WHAT DOCTRINES DID CERINTHUS TEACH? WHY IS JOHN THE APOSTLE LABELING HIM A HERETIC?
7. IF THE CHURCH FATHERS TAUGHT THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY AND THEY WERE CONSIDERED “THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH”, SHOULDN’T THE WATCHTOWER BE TEACHING IT ALSO? WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN YOUR BROCHURE WHEN IT SAYS “The ante-Nicene Fathers were acknowledge to have been leading religious teachers in the early centuries after Christ’s birth. What they taught is of interest.” WHO ACKNOWLEDGED THE CHURCH FATHERS AS “LEADING RELIGIOUS TEACHERS?” WAS IT JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES THAT ACKNOWLEDGED THEM AS LEADING TEACHERS? WHO? WHAT WAS SO INTERESTING IN THEIR TEACHINGS?
8. DO YOU THINK THAT A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION OR AN INDIVIDUAL THAT WOULD DELIBERATELY FALSIFY INFORMATION IN ORDER TO DISPROVE A TEACHING, HONESTLY FELT IN HIS OR HER HEART THAT IT WERE INDEED A FALSE TEACHING?
9. IF ONE INDIVIDUAL WAS MISQUOTED, YOU CAN RIGHTFULLY SAY ‘THIS WAS A SMALL ACCIDENT OR A TYPO,’ BUT IF MORE THAN ONE INDIVIDUALS WERE MISQUOTED, LETS SAY SEVEN OF THEM (THE CHURCH FATHERS), WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS AN ACCIDENT OR WAS IT DONE DELIBERATELY?
10. IF THE MEN OF THE WATCHTOWER WHO WROTE THE MAGAZINE “SHOULD YOU BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY” DELIBERATELY MISQUOTED INDIVIDUALS, COULDN’T WE THEREFORE SAY THAT THESE MEN ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN THE TRINITY AND THEY ARE JUST PLAYING MIND GAMES WITH THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES?
11. IF THE CHURCH FATHERS TAUGHT THE TRINITY, WHY DIDN’T THE WATCHTOWER QUOTE THEIR OPPONENTS? IS IT BECAUSE THEIR OPPONENTS WERE HERETICS? WHY WERE THEIR OPPONENTS HERETICS? WHAT WAS SO HERETICAL ABOUT THEIR TEACHINGS?
12. WERE THE CHURCH FATHERS JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES? WHAT DOCTRINES THAT THEY TAUGHT LABELS THEM AS JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES?