WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? A WT book—Chapter 7 Part 1 "Real Hope for your loved ones who have Died"

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 7 “Real Hope for Your Loved Ones Who Have Died,” On page 72 the WT states, “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and unrighteous.” The WT goes on to name a few of these righteous faithful people and state that some are discussed in Hebrews Chapter 11. Heb. 11:8 names Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as great men of faith. What is so curious is that the WT prophesied that many of those named in Heb. 11, including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be resurrected in 1925.

Here is what the WT said, "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection." “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” 1918, pg. 89.

The WT so believed the above prediction that they built a home in San Diego, a home for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. They called the home Beth Sarim (meaning House of Princes)—they picked San Diego because its climate is similar to the climate of Israel.

How sure was the WT that the 1925 date was fixed in Scripture? "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914." The Watchtower 9/1/22, page 262.

"Our thought is that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge." WT, pg. 106 4/1/23.

Did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. return to life in 1925? If NOT, then the WT is a false prophet.

What does the Bible have to say about false prophets? The definitive passage is found in Deuteronomy 18:20-22:

(20) “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”

(21) "You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?”

(22) "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” New American Standard

The Bible teaches that if someone makes a false prophecy, and they have claimed to be a prophet of God, then they are a false prophet and are not to be listened to. In fact, in Deut. 18:20 false prophets are to die.

Does the WT claim to be the prophet of God? In 1972 they said, "People today can view the creative works. They have at hand the Bible, but it is little read or understood. So does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?...This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses. . . Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a “prophet” of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record." The Watchtower, 4/1/72, p. 197.

We did review the record—their 1925 Prophecy—what is the WT response to this and other WT false prophecies—Next month in Part 2 which is here.