How do Witnesses reconcile Isaiah 43:10 with John 1:1

by Vanderhoven7 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Ding
    Ding

    Many JWs don't attempt to defend anything.

    They just refer you to the WT website and move on.

  • Blotty
    Blotty

    Context is everything, its a comparison between God and gods of the nations of the time.. Its untrue there were no other "gods" besides Jehovah. The title is used of Aaron and Moses, Satan, Angels and human Judges.

    you cant use apparent exclusive titles to prove anything as they are reapplied:

    God: [Listed above] also Hebrews 1:8 is quoted from a text which is addressing apparently a king as "God" (possibly Solomon)

    Savior: Jehovah/ Jesus, Othniel and Ehud

    Lord: Jehovah/ Jesus and others are addressed as "Lord" including Saul

  • Wonderment
    Wonderment

    sloppyjoe2:

    "The verse I don't believe any JW could defend nor even know is how the word "other" was added to Colossians 1:16"

    Three months ago I submitted this:

    As I stated before in this thread, the words "all" and "everything" in the description of creation by John, Colossians & Hebrews must be logically understood in a relative manner, since Paul indicated: the Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Col 3.1) What's the point of Paul calling attention of the Colossians to the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, if he was the Ultimate Creator, the Almighty God?

    Furthermore, the use of the words of "all" and "everything" in the description of creation by John, Colossians & Hebrews goes hand-in-hand with the way we moderns use these words in our everyday lives. Ex., "the Church leaders took all the children to the city park." Does "all" here indicate that all the children of the city (or of the whole country or the world) went to the city park? Or more likely, that children associated with this Church went to the park? Context is everything.

    Today, I will add a few texts to the subject:

    Romans 3:23 says literally, "All [pan'tes] have sinned." Does this statement include the God above, Jesus Christ, and the faithful angels? Obviously not! Exclusion in action!

    Colossians 1:20, “And through him God reconciled everything [or, all things - ta pan'ta] to himself." Were Satan and his followers included in this 'reconciliation'? No! Exclusion in action!

    Most relevant of all is the fact that Paul himself indicated that the Greek expression [all things] does not include God:

    " Now when it says that "everything" [or, all things] has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything [or, all things, ta pan'ta] under Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:27, NIV)

  • hooberus
    hooberus
    What's the point of Paul calling attention of the Colossians to the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, if he was the Ultimate Creator, the Almighty God?

    Jesus being seated on the right hand of God is a fulfillment of the messianic prophecy of a man at the right hand of God.

    “Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.” Psalm 80:17

    It does not deny his deity, but actually proves that he is the messiah and still a man. Jesus is both divine and human. Verses showing that he is a man do not disprove that he is also divine.

    “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:3

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    I still can`t get my head around how their can be only one GOD ? If such a being exists in the first place . If by however means one (1) GOD came into existence it defies beleif / logic that there was only one (1) ?

    If it happened once it could happen again ? Either in the past or sometime in the future ?

    Doesn`t this make sense ?

    Or am I alone in my thinking/reasoning.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    God didn’t come into existence, he just exists, that’s what makes him God. Does that sound impossible? The alternative is that there is an infinite regress of causes, which seems even less plausible. We can’t comprehend a being without beginning and cause because we exist in space and time, whereas God transcends all that.

  • punkofnice
    punkofnice
    Vandy - How do Jehovah's Witnesses reconcile these verses with John's gospel?

    They won't even try.

    Sloppy - You would go in circles with a JW with neither side budging.

    If the Governing Body(TM) (Pee be upon them), say the Bible does or doesn't mean something, then the Jobots will obey.

    They don't try to reconcile anything, they are told what to think and anything outside of this is...dare I say....APOSTACYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYy

  • Blotty
    Blotty

    @hooberus

    you have left one thing out, Jesus was referred to as "The last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45) - was Adam also Divine?
    The hebrew idoim "Son of" denotes membership to a guild - sons of men are mankind The son of man, either denotes messiahship or his human "flesh" nature/form ("son of" & "flesh" can also mean direct descendent, but that's context dependant)

    The Word (prehuman Jesus) was said to have become flesh (John 1:14) been murdered then been raised up as a spirit creature (1 Corinthians 15:45 (B))

    Jesus only ever claimed to be a man while on earth. what's more other fleshly beings could not ascend to heaven (John 8:21)

    When he was placed at teg right hand of God for suffering his death he was a spirit, not Flesh (Phil 2)

    Wonderment never said Jesus was not divine - he just said Jesus is not God

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    slimboyfat

    We can’t comprehend a being without beginning and cause because we exist in space and time, whereas God transcends all that.

    That still doesn`t explain how only one (1) and not many more exist ?


  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    I don’t know the answer to that but I do believe it is addressed in the Summa Theologica, why one God rather than many, is the logical conclusion, if that is any help.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit