by AllTimeJeff 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Btw Paul, there is only one religion that insists that the tetragrammaton YHWH is in the New Testament. Jehovah's Witnesses. Why do they do that? They go beyond a translator, all because they insist that God's name is Jehovah.
No other bible has Jehovah/Yahweh even once in the NT. It's an interesting item to research, imo.
The Watchtower's original self proclaiming agenda was to bring light into the world,
through interpretation of bible Scriptures by the guidance of god's holy spirit.
Sold millions of pieces of literature on this premise in the process.
They've failed in doing so which is obvious but they have gravitated toward themselves a whole lot of power and money,
which you can sure they fully intend to keep by any stretch of the imagination.
To accomplish this they have to create bullshit to cover previous bullshit, discreetly hiding away
the most obvious wrongs they have expressed in the past, some which have actually killed people.
there is only one religion that insists that the tetragrammaton YHWH is in the New Testament.
I've never researched that but I had heard that the name was only inserted where there was a quote from the Hebrew scriptures and the Hebrew text had the name. Is that wrong?
JW's would be ok if they didn't insist on unbending unity without questioning.
Jeff, humbly I disagree. Most JWs have similar doubts. If the WT removed the fear and allowed them to talk about their doubts, huge cracks would start to appear in the walls of the WT and the thing would soon come crashing down.
That said, I still think JWs have a spiritual condition, not just one of knowledge. You can help them in the "knowledge" department and they respond like programmed robots.
No other bible has Jehovah/Yahweh even once in the NT. It's an interesting item to research, imo.
Agreed. This is key. Jesus is the name, the Greek manuscripts confirm it and all the quotes from the OT confirm that Jesus is God, the Creator, the Saviour etc.
Here's some interesting bits from The Bible And Religious Cults section in the ESV Study Bible on the matter.
The divine name. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God's one true name—the name by which he must be identified—is Jehovah. Biblically, however, God is identified by many names, including: God (Hb. ’elohim; Gen. 1:1), God Almighty (Hb. ’El Shadday; Gen. 17:1), Lord (Hb. ’Adonay; Ps. 8:1), and Lord of hosts (Hb. yhwh tseba’ot; 1 Sam. 1:3). In NT times, Jesus referred to God as “Father” (Gk.Pater; Matt. 6:9), as did the apostles (1 Cor. 1:3).
The Trinity. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Trinity is unbiblical because the word is not in the Bible and because the Bible emphasizes that there is one God. Biblically, while it is true that there is only one God (Isa. 44:6; 45:18; 46:9; John 5:44; 1 Cor. 8:4;James 2:19), it is also true that three persons are called God in Scripture: the Father (1 Pet. 1:2), Jesus (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3–4). Each of these three possesses the attributes of deity—including omnipresence (Ps. 139:7; Jer. 23:23–24; Matt. 28:20), omniscience (Ps. 147:5; John 16:30; 1 Cor. 2:10–11), omnipotence (Jer. 32:17; John 2:1–11; Rom. 15:19), and eternality (Ps. 90:2; Heb. 9:14; Rev. 22:13). Still further, each of the three is involved in doing the works of deity—such as creating the universe: the Father (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 102:25), the Son (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2), and the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30). The Bible indicates that there is three-in-oneness in the godhead (Matt. 28:19; cf. 2 Cor. 13:14). Thus doctrinal support for the Trinity is compellingly strong.
Jesus Christ. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god. Biblically, however, Jesus is eternally God (John 1:1; 8:58; cf. Ex. 3:14) and has the exact same divine nature as the Father (John 5:18; 10:30; Heb. 1:3). Indeed, a comparison of the OT and NT equates Jesus with Jehovah (compare Isa. 43:11 with Titus 2:13; Isa. 44:24 with Col. 1:16; Isa. 6:1–5 with John 12:41). Jesus himself created the angels (Col. 1:16; cf. John 1:3;Heb. 1:2, 10) and is worshiped by them (Heb. 1:6).
The incarnation. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that when Jesus was born on earth, he was a mere human and not God in human flesh. This violates the biblical teaching that in the incarnate Jesus, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9; cf. Phil. 2:6–7). The word for “fullness” (Gk. pleroma) carries the idea of the sum total. “Deity” (Gk. theotes) refers to the nature, being, and attributes of God. Therefore, the incarnate Jesus was the sum total of the nature, being, and attributes of God in bodily form. Indeed, Jesus was Immanuel, or “God with us” (Matt. 1:23; cf. Isa. 7:14; John 1:1, 14, 18; 10:30; 14:9–10).
Blessings,
Stephen
As I've said before, I find it fascinating to go back to the 80s publications of my youth and see how they talked about the "light" regarding the cry of peace and security, the King of the North, the role of the UN as the "eighth king", evidence of the destruction of false religion soon... all of that has been abandoned! All that "light" is never mentioned except for an old PT outline here and there. They can only say "conditions are bad and the FDS says it's coming soon, so it must be coming soon."
And all of this "dumbing down" has been so gradual over the decades and years, that hardly anyone has noticed. If my grandfather were to come back now, he'd say, "What the hell? How could they have been so completely wrong about everything we believed in the 70s?" But many of the older dubs have too much invested and the newer dubs aren't acquainted with all the changes and the rewriting of WT history.
Their "increasing light" is simply shooting another signal flare from the Titanic.
Stephen, I need to be mindful of singling out the GB, which is what I meant. JW's are the victims of GB dogma.
Paul, if you don't mind a geeky Star Trek reference, I don't want to interfere with your personal search for conclusions. You strike me as someone who will find a way to worship god, whether that be "Jehovah" or another name. That should be organic, and I respect the process.
Having said that, I would be lying to you if I told you that the Governing Body's reasons for having Jehovah in the New Testament is true. Yes, they use it when a NT reference is made to the OT. But, there isn't a single manuscript anywhere that shows YHWH translated in the NT. Not one.
JW's use a bunch of "J" references in the reference bible to back up their insertion of Jehovah in the NT. These aren't manuscripts, but translations from 15th century sects of Jewish Christianity who inserted the name "Jehovah" where it was quoted in the OT. These translators had no basis to do this, other then their personal belief that that tetragrammaton should be there.
I could insist that the name "Jeffrey" be there too. It doesn't make it right or accurate.
The original manuscripts had LORD everywhere. There is no evidence that Jehovah was ever used.
You could look it up.
I don't know what this brief summation will mean to you Paul, but it is the truth. For real. A fact.
Paul: "They've been consistent from the beginning regarding the core issues, right?"
No. The paradise earth was a later add-on. The great crowd used to be (correctly, IMO) in heaven. It used to be ok to pray to Jesus and/or Jehovah, not Jehovah exclusively. They used to not deny the cross.
Paul: "I had heard that the name was only inserted where there was a quote from the Hebrew scriptures and the Hebrew text had the name. Is that wrong?"
Yes, it is wrong. It was added where there are quotes from Hebrew scriptures PLUS numerous other places. There may also be Hebrew scripture quotes where they did NOT add it in, but I'm not sure about that. They imply that they only insert it where there is an Old Testament tetragrammaton quote but that simply is not true.
Jeff and Mad Sweeney, Thanks for clearing that up.
Even if the whole 1914 creed was abandoned and the WTS lost a great deal of their authority because of it, it wouldn't change the fact in the minds of most JW's that the persons at Watchtower headquarters have been dispensing a core body of spiritual truths which JW's firmly believe uniquely sets them apart from all other religions as the truth. Those core teachings are the mortal soul, no hell, no trinity, paradise earth, Jehovah's name doctrines. That is what I mean by the meat not the garnish.
Notwithstanding the above, the WTS claims authority based on Jesus handpicking them in 1919.
What unique doctrines of the WTS are still held to be 'present truth' from the pre-1919 period uniquely informed Jesus to make such a choice?
Clue: NONE.
It used to be truth, now they settle for "increased light."
Thanks to many ex-JWs and the Internet, it is becoming glaringly obvious that the WTS is NOT a source of truth. The evidence continues to mount against them as they continue to 'open their mouths' and publish their unique brand of BS.
