Letter to Witness 1

The word Trinity is definitely not in the bible.  Whether we agree that there is a trinity or not does not matter because the bible never speaks about it.  The question is whether we believe in Jesus.  Because Jesus said, Therefore I said to you, You will die in Your sins.  For if you do not believe that I am [he], you will die in Your sins. John 8:24 (All scripture references are taken from the New World Translation).  So, obviously whether we believe in Jesus is the important thing.  However, there are different Jesus’s floating around that will not save us.  How do I know this?  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:4 For, as it is, if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the one we preached, or you receive a spirit other than what you received, or good news other than what you accepted you easily put up [with him].  So, we must have the right Jesus to be saved.  The wrong Jesus won’t save you.  This I’m sure you agree is the most important question.  Which Jesus do we have?  I’m going to answer all of your scripture questions at the end of this letter, but first would like to talk about God’s character. 

How many gods are there? 

Isaiah 43:10-11 You are my witnesses, is the utterance of Jehovah, even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and have faith in me, and that you may understand that I am the same One.  Before me there was no God formed, and after me there continued to be none.  I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.

Isaiah 44:6  This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, ‘I am the first and the last, and besides me there is no God.’

Again and again throughout Isaiah 45, God says that there is no other God besides Him.  There never was and never will be. 

So, who is God? 

Revelation 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says Jehovah God, the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.  

So the only God is called the “Alpha and Omega”

Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Who is saying this?  It must be God because of Rev 1:8.  The speaker of this verse identifies Himself in verse 16.  I, Jesus sent my angel to bear witness to you people of these things for the congregations.  Pleas ask some elders in your church if I am telling you a lie.  If this is true Jesus claims to be God. 

Jesus allowed Thomas to call Him “My Lord and My God!”  in John 20:28 after seeing the holes in his hands and side.  Was he just cursing?  Does that seem appropriate?  If Jesus wasn’t God, wouldn’t He have chastised Thomas for saying that.  Especially since the devil tried to get Jesus to worship him in Matthew 4:9 and Jesus answered him, “Then Jesus said to him: “Go away, Satan!  For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.  If you pick up one of the old watchtower interlinear Greek/English bibles, which I still believe are available, you can see that the word used by the devil for worship is “proskuneo”, and the word that Jesus used for worship was also “proskuneo”.  Therefore, it is forbidden to “proskuneo” anyone besides Jehovah God (that is what Jesus said).  Even the angels know this because in Rev when John was awestruck by everything the angel had shown him, it says in Rev 19:10 At that I fell down before his feet to worship [proskuneo]  him.  But he tells me: “Be careful!  Do not do that!  All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who have the work of witnessing to Jesus.  Worship [proskuneo] God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires prophesying. 

Look these things up and ask your elders if I am lying to you.

How is it that we are allowed to “proskuneo” Jesus then?

When the ladies were running from the empty tomb and Jesus appeared to them, what did they do?  Matthew 28:9 And look!  Jesus met them and said: “Good day!”  They approached and caught him by his feet and did obeisance [proskuneo] to him.  This used to read worship in the older versions of the New World Translation until it became too difficult to deal with and they changed all the “worship” verses to “obeisance” and stopped handing out Greek/English interlinear bibles.

In Hebrews 1 God does refer to the firstborn Jesus (which I will address with your scriptures in a moment).  But the interesting thing is: 

#1 God tells the angels in Hebrews 1:6 But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says; “And let all God’s angels do obeisance [proskuneo] to him.

#2 God calls Jesus God…Hebrews 1:8-10 But with reference to the Son: “God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness.  You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness.  That is why God, your God, anointed you with [the] oil of exultation more than your partners.”  And: “You at [the] beginning, O Lord laid the foundations of the earth itself, and the heavens are [the] works of your hands.  They themselves will perish, but you yourself are to remain continually; and just like an outer garment they will all grow old, and you will wrap them up just as a cloak, as an outer garment; and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will never run out.”  (****this is very important!  Please look up the Greek word translated O Lord in the New World Translation, because it is JEHOVAH, the Name of God, and to cover up the fact that God calls Jesus JEHOVAH, they have translated this scripture O Lord.  This is the only time in whole New World Translation where they do this.  And in fact, the reason they wrote the NWT was to capture the sacred Name of God.  Read it again and ask why did they change this one instance?  Because Jesus is called Jehovah by God Himself.****)

Which Jesus do you believe in?  The Jesus of the watchtower or the Jesus of the bible?  Our salvation depends on this, because the Jesus of the bible paid the full penalty for our sins and we are saved, not based upon works, but solely upon confessing our sins and letting Jesus pay the full price for our sins that we might be saved.

Romans 10:9  For if you publicly declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. 

Eph 2:8-9         By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift.  No, it is not owing to works, in order that no man should have ground for boasting.

Titus 3:5           …owing to no works in righteousness that we had performed, but according to his mercy he saved us through the bath that brought us to life and through the making of us new by holy spirit. 

Romans 4:4      Now to the man that works the pay is counted, not as an undeserved kindness, but as a debt.  On the other hand, to the man that does not work but puts faith in him who declares the ungodly one righteous, his faith is counted as righteousness. 

NO WORKS

ANSWERING THE SCRIPTURES THAT YOU GAVE ME TO READ. 

John 3:16  and John 17:3 definitely prove that there was only one human ever “begotten” by God.  And according to John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten god who is in the bosom [position] with the Father is the one that has explained him.  This is a rather tough “translation” of this scripture, but the point is that God has physically revealed Himself only through Jesus His human Son.  In fact if you read Isaiah 6 you will see that although John says noone has ever seen Jehovah, Isaiah did.  Isaiah 6:5  Woe to me! For I am as good as brought to silence, because a man unclean in lips I am, and in among a people of unclean in lips I am dwelling; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies, himself!  How could he see Jehovah based on John 1:18.  This is interesting, if you read on in Isaiah 6, he was given a prophecy in verse 10 (I’m not going to write it, you can read it in your bible).  This prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus’ day.  Turn to John 12 and read verses 36b-43 and find out who Isaiah was looking at.  Jesus spoke these things and went off and hid from them.  But although he had performed so many signs before them, they were not putting faith in him, (WHO?) so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled which he said: (this is the prophecy of Isaiah 6 when Isaiah saw Jehovah of armies) Jehovah, who has put faith in the thing heard by us?  And as for the arm of Jehovah, to whom has it been revealed?”  The reason why they were not able to believe is that again Isaiah said:  “He has blinded their eyes and he has made their hearts hard, that they should not see with their eyes and get the thought with their hearts and turn around and I should heal them.”  Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him. (WHO?)  All the same, many even of the rulers actually put faith in him (WHO?) but because of the Pharisees they would not confess [him], (WHO?) in order not to be expelled from the synagogue; for they loved the glory of men more than even the glory of God.  Isaiah saw Jesus, and called Him Jehovah.  Exactly what John 1:18 says.  Am I misinterpreting this?  Ask your elders.      

Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and things invisible…In other words the point is that Jesus is above everything ever created, because He is the creator.  The firstborn child was given authority over the whole house.  Jesus has authority over everything, and therefore has the authority of the firstborn.  Another understanding can be found in verse 18 where Jesus is referred to as the firstborn from the dead…So, He is not only over all things, but He is also the One who leads the resurrection.

You stated that God is one, and you are right, but humans have a limited ability to understand an infinite God.  One of the scripture you used to prove this is Deut 6:4.  This scripture is very important to the Jews (about like John 3:16 to Christians), and they recite it daily at the wailing wall.  It reads Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.  In Hebrew (please look this up and prove me either right or wrong) it reads Shema (hear) Israel; YHVH (Jehovah) elohiym (God) echad (one) YHVH (Jehovah).  However, elohiym is a plural word for God.  In Hebrew there is singular (one), duo (only two) and plural (3 or more).  (We only have singular and plural in English).  And the word echad specifically means a compound unity (like a glass full of ice and water, there is just water in the glass but it has two forms).  So, literally it reads.  Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our plural God is all one compound Jehovah.  Now I don’t even begin to try and explain how God is one and yet three, I’m just telling you what the bible says.  And definitely, as proven by your scriptures, Jesus subjected Himself to the Father and to the Father’s will placing Himself under God the Father.  This is a mystery that confused the Jews also, but they weren’t confused on what Jesus said to them: John 10:30-33 I and the Father are one.  Once more the Jews lifted up stones to stone him.  Jesus replied to them: “I displayed to you many fine works from the Father.  For which of those works are you stoning me?”  The Jews answered him:  “We are stoning you, not for a fine work, but for blasphemy, even because you, although being a man make yourself a God.  (By the way if you look up in your interlinear bible you will see that it doesn’t say “a God”, it says “God”)  Either way it is obvious that the Jews thought He was saying that He was God.  So, for us to have difficulty over it is not that surprising.  However, we must believe whatever the bible says, even if we don’t fully understand it.  (We have to listen to Jesus based on His resurrection from the dead).  Romans 1:3   concerning his Son, who sprang from the seed of David according to the flesh, but who with power was declared God’s Son according to the spirit of holiness by means of resurrection from the dead.                

The last set of scriptures you gave me had to do with the Holy Spirit being a force and not a person.  I agree that this would be easier to understand, but the scripture definitely doesn’t support it, because Jesus continually called the Holy Spirit “He” and “Him”.  The NWT doesn’t translate John 14:16-17 very well because, as you will see in your interlinear bible, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit “Him” and “He” the New World Translation doesn’t write that.  If you will get a watchtower Greek/English interlinear bible, you will find that Jesus always referred to the Holy Spirit as “He”.  He never referred to the Holy Spirit as an “it”.  See for yourself in John 14:16-17 and John 16:7-13 even the NWT translates it Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth, it is for your benefit I am going away.  For if I do not go away, the helper will by no means come to you; but if I do go my way, I will send him to you.  And when that one arrives he will give the world convincing evidence concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment:  in the first place concerning sin, because they are not exercising faith in me; then concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will behold me no longer; then concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.  I have many things yet to say to you, but you are not able to bear them at present (a good way to describe our understanding of the “Trinity”)  However, when that one arrives, the spirit of the truth, he will not speak of his own impulse, but what things he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things to come. Is the Holy Spirit an “it” or an “He”?   

Look at Acts 5:  Ananias and Sapphira lie about some real estate that they sold, and they bring less than the full amount to the apostles and pretend it is the full amount.  But Peter said: “Ananias, why has Satan emboldened you to play false (in other words lie) to the holy spirit and to hold back secretly some of the price of the field?  As long as it remained yours, and after it was sold did it not continue in your control?  What was it that you purposed such a deed as this in your heart?  You have played false (lied), not to men, but to God.  Acts 5:3-4 (This is a good scripture showing the Holy Spirit was called God)  How do you lie to a “force”?  You can only lie to a person, not to firewood, or electricity, or gasoline.    Also, Ephesian 4:30 says, Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which you have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom.  How do you grieve a power source?  You can only grieve a person.

In Acts 13:2 it says: As they were publicly ministering to Jehovah and fasting, the holy spirit said (How can a power source say?) “of all persons set Barnabas and Saul apart for me (how can a power source be a “me”?) for the work to which I have called them.”  Then in verse 4 the bible says, they were sent out by the holy spirit…(how can a power source declare authority over men and then speak to them and send them out?).  For this to make sense, the Holy Spirit must have a personality of some type, you must agree.

Please feel free to share these questions with anyone that you respect in the Jehovah’s Witness church, but be alert if they don’t answer them or tell you to stop trying to find the answer, because then something is being hidden, and that should make you nervous.  Also, if you have any other scriptures with specific questions about the Christian faith, please write them down and I would love to answer them. 

One last question, I would like to ask, in Matt 24:4-31 Jesus clearly teaches that His return will not be secret and that we shouldn’t be deceived if someone comes along and says the Lord has secretly returned (look at verse 26).  How does this line up with C.T. Russell’s teaching that the Lord secretly returned in 1874 (or 1914 depending on which Watchtower edition you are looking at).  By the way, I have some old Watchtower’s stating that Jesus has secretly returned, if you would like to read them.  How does this line up with Matt 24? 

Hoping you find faith in Jesus alone,

Some other scriptures:

JW’s teach Jesus came secretly in the Spirit to those who were faithfully watching in 1914.  This is contradictory to Matt 24:23-27.  They also believe that He did not and is not coming in the flesh which is directly contrary to 2 John 7.

And in Genesis 18 their bible clearly says, that Abraham ate with Jehovah and talked with Him.  How could this be, if John 1:18 and 1 John 4:12 are true.  It had to be Jesus.

Also, the Watchtower Bible and Tract society said, that in the Greek New Testament, when the word “Theos” occurs with the definite article (the word “the”) that it is to be translated as Jehovah.  They were faithful to do this except in one instance John 20:28 where Thomas says to Jesus, “My Lord and (the) God”.  You can see this if you use one of their Greek Interlinear Translations which has the Greek written word for word next to the English.