I decided to take the WT up on their offer at JW.ORG and go through their short lessons to “Learn what the Bible Teaches.” WT speak is in RED, my comments are in BLACK, anything else is in BLUE. I logged in to JW.ORG, and under "Online Bible Study Lessons" I clicked on "Get Started" or it may say "Pick a Lesson Now," OR for Bible Study Lesson 1.1 simply click here.
Before you begin reading, I strongly suggest you have, at the ready, the WT's Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. You can download a free PDF copy here.
Before you begin reading, I strongly suggest you have, at the ready, the WT's Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. You can download a free PDF copy here.
Lesson 1.1 About the Bible—Can the Bible Help You? I found nothing wrong with
this Lesson. All the information was general in nature and pretty innocuous. I would like to point out one interesting fact concerning Point #3 Accurate Prophecy. I agree that the Bible contains many accurate prophecies, the Bible also condemns False Prophets--those not speaking for God and their punishment--death. The WT has a history of False Prophecies and I have blogged about four of the biggest and most infamous.
#1--Prophecy of 1878--The End of the Harvest, here
#2--Prophecy of 1914--The Destruction of Christendom and the End of Human
Rulership here
#3--Prophecy of 1925--Resurrection of the Patriarchs here
#4--Prophecy of 1975--Armageddon Promised! here
Lesson 1.2 Who is God, the Creator? Point 1 God the Creator has a name. The Bible teaches that God created all things. (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11).
To show that God is the creator of “all things” the WT cites Genesis and Revelation which do indeed show that God created “all things.” However, what the WT leaves out is just as important as what they put in. They have left out two key verses on the creation of "all things"—John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16-17.
Why did they leave these out? The WT teaches that Jesus DID NOT create “all things.” John and Colossians prove that Jesus did create “all things.” Thus, the WT has the wrong Jesus. To prevent the Bible Student from finding this out they make sure the student does not read these two verses. The student is taking the WT’s guided tour of the Bible where the WT carefully guides the student away from any verses that contradict WT doctrine (as in the case of John 1:3) or the WT will change the verse to align with their doctrine instead of changing their doctrine to align with God's word (as in the case of Colossians 1:16-17).
John 1:3. The WT teaches that Jehovah created Jesus and Jesus then created “all other things.” The apostle John in John 1:3 states in two ways, positively and negatively, that Jesus is the Creator. First positively: that by Jesus “all things came into existence through him.” Pretty clear, Jesus created “all things” that have been created. The WT teaches that one thing was created without Jesus and that one thing was Jesus himself, who was created by Jehovah.
In order to drive home the point that Jesus created "all things," John puts it negatively this way, “apart from him (Jesus) not even one thing came into existence.” The WT teaches that one thing did come into existence without Jesus and that one thing was Jesus himself, who was created by Jehovah.
Choose you this day whom you will believe, Holy Scripture OR the Watch Tower. I have blogged extensively about John 1:3 here.
Colossians 1:16-17 (from the KIT's Greek side) you see that Paul wrote four times that Jesus created “all things.” The WT recognizes that these verses contradict their “Jehovah created Jesus then Jesus created all other things,” doctrine, therefore, they add the word “other” in front of “all things” and now, after the insertion, the verse reads “all other things” and nicely goes along with their doctrine.
Choose you this day whom you will believe, Holy Scripture OR the Watch Tower. I have blogged extensively about Colossians 1:16-17 here.
After the WT has shown that God is the Creator of "all things," they then launch into "God has a name." They ask, "Let’s start by getting your view. When you introduce yourself to someone new, what’s the first piece of personal information that you share?" They want you to answer "Your Name." If you do, this pops up: "Most people would agree. Often, the first piece of information we share with someone is our name. This is the first step in building a relationship. But does God have a name?"
In Lesson 1.2 the WT is endeavoring to drive home two points: (1) God is loving and is interested in your well-being. I have no problem with this. (2) God's name is Jehovah. In one of their slides the WT quotes Psalm 83:18, “Many people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” Two slides later you are given a multiple choice question about God's name. If you answer "Jehovah", the WT acknowledges, "“Jehovah” is the most common spelling of God’s name in English. “Yahweh” is another common spelling. Here is where I begin to have a problem with the WT. I have blogged extensively about this here and here.
The WT's goal is two fold: First, to have you (just like all JW's) believe that God's name is actually Jehovah. Secondly, that "true" worshipers honor God's name, Jehovah. Consider the WT publication, Good News from God! The title of Chapter 10 on page 20 reads, “How Can You Recognize True Worship?Further down on page 20, “Question 3. How can you recognize true worshippers? Consider these five identifying marks:” Mark #2 on page 21 reads, “Jesus’ true followers honor God’s Name, Jehovah. Where you live, which religion makes God’s name known? And what would be the answer to this question? Why, Jehovah's Witnesses of course!
Finally, in an effort to 'toot their own horn,' the WT in “What Does the Bible Really Teach?,” page 195, states “Clearly, God’s name is of the UTMOST importance,” and who treats it as such. Why, Jehovah's Witnesses of course! Once they have declared using Jehovah is of the UTMOST (greatest, highest) importance, they now must defend the use of Jehovah as God's personal name, untenable as it is, as I have shown. But stuck they are and so they dig in their heals and you read in their various publications some form of: "Jehovah is God's personal name," and they down play (i.e. you must look far and wide to find) "Yahweh is the name agreed on by Hebrew scholars" and "Jehovah was first used in 1270 C.E. by a Catholic Monk."
In Conclusion: In Lessons 1.1 and 1.2, the WT wants you to believe that God's personal name is actually Jehovah. IT IS NOT, as I have shown in this blog and here. AND they want you to believe that God created "all things." God did create all things (Isaiah 40:28), however, the Bible also teaches that Jesus created "all things." Thus Jesus is God. However, the WT teaches that Jesus is not God and therefore any verse that says Jesus created "all things" must be changed or explained away, which the WT does.
The next Lesson 2.1 is here.
#2--Prophecy of 1914--The Destruction of Christendom and the End of Human
Rulership here
#3--Prophecy of 1925--Resurrection of the Patriarchs here
#4--Prophecy of 1975--Armageddon Promised! here
Lesson 1.2 Who is God, the Creator? Point 1 God the Creator has a name. The Bible teaches that God created all things. (Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11).
To show that God is the creator of “all things” the WT cites Genesis and Revelation which do indeed show that God created “all things.” However, what the WT leaves out is just as important as what they put in. They have left out two key verses on the creation of "all things"—John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16-17.
Why did they leave these out? The WT teaches that Jesus DID NOT create “all things.” John and Colossians prove that Jesus did create “all things.” Thus, the WT has the wrong Jesus. To prevent the Bible Student from finding this out they make sure the student does not read these two verses. The student is taking the WT’s guided tour of the Bible where the WT carefully guides the student away from any verses that contradict WT doctrine (as in the case of John 1:3) or the WT will change the verse to align with their doctrine instead of changing their doctrine to align with God's word (as in the case of Colossians 1:16-17).
John 1:3. The WT teaches that Jehovah created Jesus and Jesus then created “all other things.” The apostle John in John 1:3 states in two ways, positively and negatively, that Jesus is the Creator. First positively: that by Jesus “all things came into existence through him.” Pretty clear, Jesus created “all things” that have been created. The WT teaches that one thing was created without Jesus and that one thing was Jesus himself, who was created by Jehovah.
In order to drive home the point that Jesus created "all things," John puts it negatively this way, “apart from him (Jesus) not even one thing came into existence.” The WT teaches that one thing did come into existence without Jesus and that one thing was Jesus himself, who was created by Jehovah.
Choose you this day whom you will believe, Holy Scripture OR the Watch Tower. I have blogged extensively about John 1:3 here.
Colossians 1:16-17 (from the KIT's Greek side) you see that Paul wrote four times that Jesus created “all things.” The WT recognizes that these verses contradict their “Jehovah created Jesus then Jesus created all other things,” doctrine, therefore, they add the word “other” in front of “all things” and now, after the insertion, the verse reads “all other things” and nicely goes along with their doctrine.
Choose you this day whom you will believe, Holy Scripture OR the Watch Tower. I have blogged extensively about Colossians 1:16-17 here.
After the WT has shown that God is the Creator of "all things," they then launch into "God has a name." They ask, "Let’s start by getting your view. When you introduce yourself to someone new, what’s the first piece of personal information that you share?" They want you to answer "Your Name." If you do, this pops up: "Most people would agree. Often, the first piece of information we share with someone is our name. This is the first step in building a relationship. But does God have a name?"
In Lesson 1.2 the WT is endeavoring to drive home two points: (1) God is loving and is interested in your well-being. I have no problem with this. (2) God's name is Jehovah. In one of their slides the WT quotes Psalm 83:18, “Many people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” Two slides later you are given a multiple choice question about God's name. If you answer "Jehovah", the WT acknowledges, "“Jehovah” is the most common spelling of God’s name in English. “Yahweh” is another common spelling. Here is where I begin to have a problem with the WT. I have blogged extensively about this here and here.
The WT's goal is two fold: First, to have you (just like all JW's) believe that God's name is actually Jehovah. Secondly, that "true" worshipers honor God's name, Jehovah. Consider the WT publication, Good News from God! The title of Chapter 10 on page 20 reads, “How Can You Recognize True Worship?Further down on page 20, “Question 3. How can you recognize true worshippers? Consider these five identifying marks:” Mark #2 on page 21 reads, “Jesus’ true followers honor God’s Name, Jehovah. Where you live, which religion makes God’s name known? And what would be the answer to this question? Why, Jehovah's Witnesses of course!
Finally, in an effort to 'toot their own horn,' the WT in “What Does the Bible Really Teach?,” page 195, states “Clearly, God’s name is of the UTMOST importance,” and who treats it as such. Why, Jehovah's Witnesses of course! Once they have declared using Jehovah is of the UTMOST (greatest, highest) importance, they now must defend the use of Jehovah as God's personal name, untenable as it is, as I have shown. But stuck they are and so they dig in their heals and you read in their various publications some form of: "Jehovah is God's personal name," and they down play (i.e. you must look far and wide to find) "Yahweh is the name agreed on by Hebrew scholars" and "Jehovah was first used in 1270 C.E. by a Catholic Monk."
In Conclusion: In Lessons 1.1 and 1.2, the WT wants you to believe that God's personal name is actually Jehovah. IT IS NOT, as I have shown in this blog and here. AND they want you to believe that God created "all things." God did create all things (Isaiah 40:28), however, the Bible also teaches that Jesus created "all things." Thus Jesus is God. However, the WT teaches that Jesus is not God and therefore any verse that says Jesus created "all things" must be changed or explained away, which the WT does.
The next Lesson 2.1 is here.
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