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Jesus Anointed For His Death!

In John's gospel account, chapter 12 and verses 1-8 we read, 12  Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2  There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 3  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 4  Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, 5  Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 7  Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 8  For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. ...
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Testifying to Jehovah's Witnesses

Over the last number of posts, we have been examining Watchtower Society (WtS) beliefs and gradually moved towards a defence of Christian orthodoxy. In this polemic, we will examine the happenings surrounding the WtS's critical year of 1919 because in that year, according to the WtS, it gained a unique status. The year, 1919 , is critical for the WtS because it believes that not only did Jesus Christ come invisibly to reign over the earth in 1914 but in 1919 judged the fitness of each earthly organisation to represent Jehovah God on earth according to the terms of Matthew 24.45-47. A WtS publication God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached (Frederick W. Franz, 1975, chap. 17 p. 350 par. 40) described this time like this: The serving of food, the right sort of food, at the proper time was the issue. It had to be according to this that a decision must be rendered by the returned master. Well, then, what about that body of Christians internationally hated and perse...

Watchtower Mistakes Up To 1919

As I mentioned last time, Don Cameron 1 , a one-time Jehovah's Witness (JW) elder, has tabled 48 doctrines which the Watchtower Society (WtS) was teaching from 1876 to 1919 but now no longer teaches. The WtS believes now that Jesus Christ returned invisibly in 1914 and began inspecting the societies, organisations and religions of the world according to various criteria. Four criteria were to be applied to the teachings of these organisations according to the JW historian of the WtS, Frederick Franz, in Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom ( Proclaimers ) (1993) * (free pdf download from the Internet) p. 47 : a) teaching must be correct b) teaching must be at the proper time c) teaching must be found in the Scriptures d) teaching must be rejected if found to be based on tradition (as summarised by Cameron). We can't cover all the 48 beliefs cited by Cameron but I will cover 3 of them in some detail below and then list others below these below. ...

The Preposterous Claim of the Watchtower Society (Revised)

A former Jehovah's Witness (JW) elder, Don Cameron 1 , says that the Witnesses are 'captives of a concept': JWs believe that they are connected to the only organisation in this world chosen by God to speak for him!  Is this not a preposterous claim! It's not only a highly inflated view, it's false. But, to testify adequately to JWs, evangelicals need to know that Witnesses believe this lie about the Watchtower Society (WtS) itself because all JWs receive their doctrine and teaching from the Society.   But, how did the WtS come by this preeminence in God's plan you will surely ask?

Hard to Testify to Jehovah's Witnesses at your Door?

Well, yes it is! And there is a particular reason why that is so difficult. Moreover, orthodox Christians often don't realise or don't have a clear picture of this gigantic obstacle between them and Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) when talking  with them .  Actually, the JWs hold a false but determinate assumption; for them it is a bedrock truth but is a lie. Hence,  to lay the groundwork for a successful *   meeting with them  we need to know the nature of this fantastic illusion JWs accept, sometimes, without fully knowing it . The JWs' Fantasy   JWs are held in thrall to an oppressive fabrication of their second leader's fertile imagination. They  seriously imagine the Watch Tower Tract and Bible Society (WTS) to be Jehovah God's only legitimate and trustworthy organisation on earth. All orthodox Christian groups are viewed as corrupted, unreliable and not to be trusted. Furthermore, the WTS is held to be the only means by which God speaks Tru...

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Importance of Dates

The first important date for the Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) was 1799. Charles 'Taze' Russell (1852-1916), the first leader of what later became the JWs promoted 1799 as the 'beginning of the time of the end'.  The organisation kept teaching the date until 1928 ( http://bit.ly/1PjtDEc ) which included time under the JWs second leader Joseph Franklin 'Judge' Rutherford (1969-1942) . 1874 was the next important date and, according to Russell, was to be the year of Christ's coming or 'invisible presence'; the year in which Jesus Christ began to reign on His throne in heaven. 1914 was first prophesied by Russell as the end of the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16.14-16) . So, although you may have heard 1914 published as the year in which Christ's secret presence in the heavens took place, initially, for the first leader of the JWs, it was not so. His presence would mean that in 1914 all the kingdoms of the earth would be struck down and abolis...

Jehovah's Witnesses Used To Worship Jesus

If you ask Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) today do they wor ship Jesus Christ , they will say 'no'. Christians are amaze d at th e news of this missing dimension in the J ehovah's Witness (JW) pr acti ce . BUT, it is perfectly consistent with JW basic beliefs about Jesus Christ Himself. L et us then investigate their basic beliefs about Him . Firstly , they say, 'Jesus was/i s a creation of Jehovah God [Yahweh]', the first 'direct' and only creation of J ehovah . Hence, Jesus did not always exist but, f or JWs, came into existence as a 'spirit- being' exist ing as Michael, the Archangel before his Fath er sent him to earth !     Orthodox Christians find this type of notion strange to say the least. F or them the Son of God is co-eternal with the Father and was in the words of the Nicene Creed , ' begotten not made'. Historically considered, their teaching is known as Arianism. Secondly , JWs say, that Jesus while on earth...