WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? A WT book—Chapter 6 "Where are the Dead?"

DISCLAIMER--I will, by no means, exhaustively write about each and every error in each and every chapter of this book—that would require a book several times the size of this WT book. I will pick out a topic or two from each chapter to write about. Some will be a “mole hill” in the landscape of Bible doctrine and others will be a “Mt. Everest.”

Chapter 6 “Where Are the Dead? In this chapter I am going to zero in on the sub-title “WHAT REALLY HAPPENS AT DEATH,” pg. 58-59. The WT invites you to read Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. I invite you to read all 12 chapters of Ecclesiastes—paying particular attention to the phrase, “under the sun,” which occurs 29 times. In this section the WT reverts to TWO methods that they use to “prove” that what the scriptures teach coincides with WT doctrine. Once again, reading the verses the WT points out in CONTEXT will often expose the WT lying about the verses they want you to read. See my Blog on the importance of CONTEXT here.

Method #1—The WT TELLS US what the Bible means by what it says. However, what they should be doing is to let the Bible interpret the Bible. More specifically, let Ecclesiastes be its own commentary, which we find in Eccl. 1:1-3, “The words of the congregator, the son of David, the king in Jerusalem. The greatest futility!” says the congregator, “The greatest futility! Everything is futile!” What does a person gain from all his hard work at which he toils UNDER THE SUN?"

The writer is telling us how things are “under the sun,” i.e. from the human perspective. He is not telling us a doctrinal statement about whether or not the soul continues after death. Besides, it's a mistake to use the Old Testament to interpret the New Testament. It is the New Testament that sheds light on the Old Testament.

What do we find in the New Testament? In 2 Cor. 5:8 Paul says, “But we are of good courage and would prefer to be absent from the body and to make our home with the Lord. So whether at home with him or absent from him, we make it our aim to be acceptable to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Christ, so that each one may be repaid according to the things he has practiced while in the body, whether good or bad.” According to WDTBRT the WT states that memories, feelings and senses do not function after death since our brain is destroyed at death (Page 12 1^st paragraph). So what part of Paul went to be at home with the Lord? In Matt. 17:1-8, In the Transfiguration of Jesus, both Moses and Elijah are alive and talking with Jesus. If their senses cease at death, how was this conversation possible.

Method #2—the WT avoids verses that clearly demonstrate that the soul survives death. For example, Rev. 6:9-11, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness they had given. They shouted with a loud voice, saying: “Until when, Sovereign Lord, holy and true,  are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled.”

Matt. 10:28, “And do not become fearful of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” How does this verse make any sense if as WDTBRT page 12 states, “The dead do not see or hear or think? Not even one part of us survives the death of the body."

What Does the Bible Really Teach--A WT Book Chap. 7  Part 1 is here.