Excellent point about Jesus' clear statement that "I am the Truth..." and the WT arrogance and blasphemy in asserting it is the Truth. Truth means more than facts. We all know Witnesses have fact problems as in the deliberate distortion of academic articles. I so much wanted to be a Christian growing up. America may not have a state religion but our culture is rooted in religion. When I was a little kid, I thought that the Witnesses and Catholics taught the same Christ. ha! A casual reading of Paul's genuine letters plus the letters of early Church fathers shows that the focus was on Christ. Witnesses and Mormons are not Christians. They self identify themselves as Christians. Yet when you consult a dictionary or text book for Christian beliefs that 98% of all Christians believe, you will not find the Witnesses. Jehovah terrified me. Jesus soothed me.
Despite attending meetings and countless mean spirited lectures from my father, my Jesus was and remains a combination of Catholic and Protestantteachings, Cecil B. DeMille and Franco Zefferli my major sources of information. The playground was the place where I received religious instruction. Altho I did well academically, when I was old enough to write a WT, I could never understand Jesus in the WT. The WT conception was spooky. A pre-existence in heaven, hanging out with God but not God, doing what? Ransom? Never believed it. Michael? Jesus was a mere angel. Was there an incarnation? Did Jesus' physical body while on earth materialize from what? Altho I love St. Thomas insisting on proof that he was Jesus, those few scriptures would cause great anxiety. Do the Witnesses believe in the Transfiguration? Why did Jesus stop Mary Magdalene from embracing him post-Resurrection. Was his body toxic? When I asked a priest about Magdalene, he laughed at the Witness belief. It was a good natured laugh, not a mocking laugh.
I always placed an emotional block on their Jesus spooky teachings. As a side note, I learned so much about sexual degradation and tribal conduct at meetings. I was too young for all the information. Plus, now that I read the Bible alone I know that they decide to highlight a small, unrelated matters of scripture. There is much bawdiness in the Bible and Shakespeare. The Witnesses deliberately stress the scariest parts. There are also parts of the Bible that are achingly beautiful with universal truths about human nature. I never heard those scriptures as a Witness.
