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7/24/2019 Into the Light of Christianity by William J. Schnell, 1959
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$2.50
It
was
in the year 1954 that William J. h nell wrest led with God
in prayer
for
an
entire
night.
s
morning
li ght
broke
he arose with
peace
in his soul and a song in his
heart.
For the first time in thirty years Schnel l was a free man. For
three
decades he
had
been enslaved in
one
of the most total i
tarian
sys-
tems
of
the twentieth century. That morning he stood up with the
firm
determination
that with the he lp of
God
he wou l d revea l
to
the wo r ld the inner workings
of
the Watch Tower Society.
INTO
THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
The Basic Do.ctrines of ·
the
Jehovah's
, Witnesses in the Light of Scripture
This
is a
sequel
to
the
author's book,
Thirty Years
a Watch
Tower
Slave. This
book constitutes a step by step refutation
of
the basic
doctrines of the
Jehovah's
Witnesses
in the
light of
the
Scriptures.
Paperback - $2.50
THIRTY YEARS WATCH TOWER SLAVE
The Confessions
of
a
Converted Jehovah's Witness
The
simpl
e,
impellin
g
and
powe
rful
s
tory of
a
Christian
caught
in
the meshes of
t his move
ment,
his
ri
se to positions of a
uthority, the
hopelessness of his si tuation, and remarkable conversion aft er an
entire night of
pray
er.
CHRISTIANS AWAKE
Restoring
the
Art
of
Witnessing,
Evangelizing, and Soul Winning
Cloth - $3.50
Paperback -
$2.50
"'Christians,
Awak
e ' s a last ca ll
The
cu lts, as well as at heism
and
agnosticism are
closing in. WiU the s l
ee
ping giant , Chri s tia nity,
a
waken
in
ti m
e? I beli
eve
he will. M
ay
this
book
help
in
th i
s
di r
e
ction
"
So writes
the a
uthor
in
th
e Preface of
th i
s book.
This
is a gu ide and ha ndbook for those who wish to r ecapture the
art
of witness
in
g
which
was practiced by
the
e
arly
Chri s tians, with
em p
hasis on witnessing to the J ehovah's Witnesses.
Paperback - 1.
50
BAKER
BOOK HOUSE,
Grand
Rapids, Michigan
In
Australia and New Zealand:
S.
John Bacon Publishing Co., Melbourne
In Canada: G. R. Welch Co., Ltd., Toronto
In South Afiica: Word of Life Publishers, Johannesburg
The Basic Doctrines
of
the Jehovah's Witnesses
in the Light of
Scripture
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NTO
THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTI NITY
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NTO THE
LIGHT
O
CHRISTI NITY
The
Basic Doctrines o
the Jehovah s Witnesses
in
the Light ol Scripture
by
W
J.
Schnell
B KER BOOK HOUSE
Grand Rapids,
~ l i c h i g n
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 59-15534
COPYRIGHT
©
1959
by
William J Schnell
All Internalional Rights Reserved
ISBN: 0-8010-7917-9
First P
ri
nting October 1959
Second
Printin
g
No
ve mber 1959
Third
P r
intin
g Oct
ober
1962
Fourth Printing
November
1967
Fifth Printing December 1970
Sixth P rinting Mar ch 1972
PHOTOLIT
OPRlNTltD
IJY USHING MALLOY lNC.
ANN ARBOR. MICHIGAN UNITED STATES
OF
AMERICA
972
Dedicated to Ethel who
to
gether wjth
me hand in hand in
love for
and
faith
in
Jesu
s Christ
our Saviour walked out of error
and darkness
into the li ght
of
Christianity
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FOREWORD
From T hirty Years a Watchtower Slave to In to the Light of
hristianity
is a far cry
. ln
the former book 1
could
but only
w
ri l
e of my sad lot in the meshes of a c
ul l
. co
uld
bu t re
pon do lorously of a condilion of heart and mind, which
made
for frustration and defea t. Out of all of that
error
and dark
ness, however,
there
already sh
one one
solid ray of light: I
had found in
J esus Christ my Savior.
nto the L ight of hristianity is as differe
nt
from T hirty
Years a W atchtower Slave
as is day
from
night. The years the
ca
nk
er worm has eaten out of my life, tota ling well over
thirty
years,
hav
e been r
es
t
ored
in a sh
ort
seven yearsl Come
with
me,
as I retrace the wondrous journey on which the
Lord
has taken
me. Do
not ju
st see, but observ
e; do not
just
hear
, but
li
sten;
do
not just
touch, but fee
l.
For
what
I am writing a
bout
goes
beyond
the
sen
se-
perception.
It
deals wi
th
the
qui
cken
in
g of
the s
pirit
. All
around
me, as well as within my heart, was
on
ly
death, error
and darkn
ess to report of my former life. But
beho
ld
, th is is a
report of
life, of
truth an
d lig
ht
, of a new
birth,
and a siuing in heavenly places within the precincts
of historic Chri stia
ni t
y.
But you will find more
here
. As you follow the Lord's
lea
din
g graciously accorded me
in
the past seven years, observe
how
H e t
oo
k me by the
hand
a
nd
led me
in t
o s
ituat
ions
wherein
J had
to co
nf
ess
what
H e had
done
for me.
Th i
s con-
fess
ion solidified
th
e new
li
e begun by
th
e Lord.
It did
more.
It brought me
int
o situations, where I had to prove a
nd
account for the faith which was within me. This
made me
dig
in to the word of God
and into the
writings and confessions
of
other Ch
ristians.
This
made me beg
in
rightfully to divide
th e word of
truth
. In two
short
years the wo
rd of
tr uth washed
away all
the
e
rr
ors of former years.
T ec
hni
ques came to view, as
one
false doctrine af ter another
fell before the excellency of the doctrines of histo
ri
c Christi-
anity. In astonishment I reali zed that
at
best I could only travel
one mil e wi th the seeming Scripture
support
of a
Jehovah
's
Witness doctrin e but
that
I co
uld
walk more than two miles
with full Sc
riptu
re on the Christian doc
trin
e. A
great truth
dawned up
on
me.
It is
this:
If
a
man
asks you to walk a mile
with
hi
m, wa
lk
two.
I
th
e cultist co
me
s to you with his so
called p
roo
f,
do not
argue, but listen to his proof; a
nd
when
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he left off, and
walk
the second mi le, 111tv the
l i
/
of
hri
st
iani
ty.
On
th i
s journey in to
th
e lig
ht
, J confess gn1t d
11l
ly. I have
used
th
e wr
it i
ngs and
th
ough ts oI m an y
Chri
s
Li :i
n writ «r
s.
l
have
al
so used
th
oug
ht
s of Russcll
it
e
s,
J eh ova h's \
Y
it ncsscs. '
l' h
c
W atchtower Society, T he Bib le
La
yman's Moveme
nt
, Bat k
to
th
e
Bibl
e W
ay
pap er
s.
All
or
these arc
rar
L
nu m
erous lo
l ist s
in
gly.
l
acknow ledge
th
e
great
debt l owe to a
ll
o (
sourc
e
s.
I come
LO
th e in evitable conclusion th aL
a
born -aga in Chr is
tian can onl y grow a
nd mat
ure
if
h e or sh e
co
nsta
nt l
y con
fesses h is
or
her sa lvation to other men. This is di e ·ew T esta
m e
nt
vVay oC
preac
hi ng, which is in fact: w itnessing for Chr ist
(Aces I 8) . T he one
who
does th is fa
it
hf u
ll
y will be
force
d co n
s
tantl
y to swdy God's word, wh id1 in
turn
w ill become the
living word of Gotl in him (1 Peter 1:23). l n th at way
al
one,
will
th
e im
ag
e .ind
li k
eness o [
Go
d, our grea t Sa viour J esus
Christ, com e to
fu ll
grow t11
and
deve
lopm
en t w ithin our N ew
Crea tion .
With
gr
eat
joy I rea
li
zetl that
this is
C
hr ist
i
an
i
ty Bl
essed is
her lot , thrice
ble
ssed
be
cause she bel ieves in her
tr
iun e Goll.
f
you are till Jost, iI you at e befuddl ed in er ror a nd darkness
in a c
ul t
,
if
you
are
a
cultur
e Christian born in to an associa
tion of your chu rch, come, come with
me
In to th e Ligh t of
hristian i ty
and repen t
th
e ways of flesh, by ackn
ow
ledg
in
g
your sinfulness as one born in
fl
esh and blood in sin and dea
th
,
and accept J esus Ch rist as you r persona l ';n ·iour. l you do,
you have
th
e assura nce
th at O
U are
born ag
ain. T ha t is
the
only binh that ma t
te r
s, for th en you will grow and ma tu re
in
h
eave nly places (John 1:12, 13).
794 T errace
Rd
.
Du ne
di n
, Florido 33528
Uni
ted States of America
W . J. Schn ell
CO N T E N T S
Chap ter
I .
I n to th e Li
gh
t of Chr istia ni ty .
. . . . .
· . . · . · · · ·
11
Cha p ter 2. My L ot H as
Fa
llen
in
Pleasan t
Pl
aces .
. . . . .
. · 25
Chapter 3.
R
eb elli on
Is
as th e Sin
of
Wi tchc
raft
· . . · · · 37
Chap ter
1.
H earsa
y
R esul ts in Cu l ts · . . . · · · · · · · · · · · · · 45
Chap ter
Chap ter
Chap
ter
Chapter
Chapt
er
5. H ow Russelli sm Sta
rt
ed . .
.. . . . ..
· .
·.
· · · · · · · 53
6.
Th
e
Hi
sto
ri
c Chr ist i
an
D
octrine
: H e
ll
Is a
Place
of
Etern a l Pu n is
hm
en t .
. .
. . . · . · . · · · · · 67
7.
"He
ll Is
tlie C rave,
sa y
t c
Jch
ovah s
87
W itnesses
s.
Which
Is T rue :
H e
ll
Is
a
Pl
ace of
Et
ernal
Pun ishm
en t
, or
H ell
Is
th e
Grave
?
99
9.
M an Is
Crea tee I
in
th
e Im
age
and Li keness
of
Go el
115
Cha
pter
10.
Ma
n Is a So
ul
, Say
th
e J ehovah 's Witnesses . 129
Ch
ap t
er
J
1
Im mor t
al it
y of
th
e Sou l
Broug
ht
to
Ligh
t
143
by J esus Christ
. . . . . . . . . .
· . . · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Chapler 12. J esus Ch r isl l s
th
e Son of
Go
d . · · · · · · · · · · · · · 155
Chapter 13. De
ni
al of the De
it
y
of
Ch
rist th
e
J ehovah 's Wi m esses as U n-Chr tstians . . . · · · · · 173
4
T he
S
econ
d Ma n Is the L ord from H eaven . . . 191
Chap ter I
Ch
apter 15. Chr istianity or Cults: Which? · · · · · · · · · · · · · .205
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hapter
INTO
TH
LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
From Frustrat on to ssurance
The
li
ght of
the
world
,
our
Lord Jesus Christ, entered
my hea
rt
, flooding
it
with grace
as
forgiven
ess
came.
With
this
grace came peace wi
th
God and
men
- a peace which goes
beyond human understanding.
Open
Fa th
er
arms received me
back into His house, historic Christianity, that early morning
of the night of
April
18 1952.
What
rich meaning Peter's
words took on for me - Grace u
nt
o you, and peace, be multi
plied I Peter 1 2).
How <lid th is come about? In desperation, torn asunder
by a troubled conscience, mindful of my sinfuln
ess
and aware
of
my
compl
ete
fiasco as a full-time servant of the Watchtower
Society with its pens
um of hou
rs: works-re ligion
and
as a prac
ticing .Jehovah's Witness, I finally came to my senses.
All night
long
I had sought release and relief from the
turmoil and frustration. What had made this quest so urgent?
In t
ensely active as a Jehovah's Witness from
1
921 on, I
had
never come to a
halt
, or to a res
t.
Then
a heart attack
compelled me to halt, to rest.
When
my fa ther became seri-
ously ill and cancer was s u s e q w ~ n t l y discovered, there came
even a
greater
shock. An operation failing, father lingered on
a forty-day death bed before he passed away. visited him on
numerous occasions during
hi
s ordea
l.
t was
during th
ese
vis
it
s
that
father co
nf
essed to me
that he had no
assuran
ce
of
salvation.
He
threw
him
self
upon th
e mercy of
the
Lord
and found forgiven
ess
and grace and peace.
During my last visit with him, about a week before he
died,
he as
ked
me
to give h
is
testimony for him over his grave.
I can now gladly say,
with
his confession still .ringing in my
ears, that Father died a saved man. He
had
come free from
Wa t
c
htower
slavery.
am ashamed to confess though,
that
I did not give his
testimony for him at that time. My brother-in-law, to whom
11
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12
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRlST
JANITY
I did not relaLe my father's wonderful conversion, as I still was
much too shocked as a faithful Watchtower slave to accredit
it, much l
ess confess
it, convinced me that it would be best
to have a Bethelite come and give th e funeral witness. J ac
qui esced. My father's confession
would
have to wait and would
not be
kn
own to men until the Lord would free me.
No one will ever appreciate what a
r
emendous shock I
sustained as a res
ult
of father"s co
nf
ess
ion.
t
sh
oo
k me to the
core.
It
added fuel to
the
already large areas of doubt deeply
w
orkin
g on me and expa
nding
from within.
Seven reas of Doubt
As I look back I can discover seven areas of doubt gnaw
ing away at
the
Watcht
ow
er religion within me.
What
were
they?
1. I
kn
ew
enoug
h of the Bible to realize chat ic teaches
that o
ur
salvat ion was foug
ht
for and won by our L
ord
J esus
Christ a lmost 2,000 years ago,
and
that
Lhi
s w
as
accomplished
on th e Cross at Calvary. Yet, as one of J ehovah's Witnesses
I
was
constantly training people to look for sa
lv
at ion at some
future date in Armageddon, convincing them to work hard
for
it
as
a Kingdom
Publi
sher.
2. From
ma
n y Scriptures I was aware th at we
are
all lost in
s
in
and death, and that we
can
be saved only by coming as
sinners to our Lord J esus, believing on Him, th us being born
again to a new li fe
in
th e spirit.
As one of J ehovah 's Witnesses I was looking for my sal
v
at
ion to be effected in Armageddon
and that
onl
y,
i f I were
"wilhin the
anti
-typi
ca
l c
it
y of refuge
,
which
we
believed to
be the New
World
Soc iety of Jehovah's
Witne
sses. On ly by
being in that Society co
uld
I be saved.
3.
Havinq- read P
s.
49:7, that no man, not even a perfect
one, can redeem his
bro
ther, and
in th
e 15th verse, that "God
will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall
receive me," I reali
ze
d that I fell far short a
nd
was a sinn
er
.
Every effort on my part to
be
come
better
before the Lord by
works, crea ted a h
or r
ible nig
htmare
of se lf
-a
ton ement .
Yet, as one of J ehovah's Witnesses I taught
ot
hers th
at
the
counting a
nd
repo
rting
of hours of service to the Watchtower
Society, the
pla
cing of the
ir
b
oo
ks, booklets
and
magazines
with the people, meant their fulfilling of theocratic re
quire-
INTO THE
LIGHT OF
CHRISTIAN l
TY
13
me
nL
s which wo
uld
assure all of us a place of safety in Arma
geddon. Sa lvation
would
come by wo
rk
s.
4. Our Lord Jesus Christ said if we come to Him we
shall find peace and rest, no matter how heavy our
burden
.
For thirty years I bad worked hard, been successfu
l,
a
nd
had led many in to Watchtower service.
1
had come the Watch·
tower way
unto
the Lo
rd
-
but
I
had
fou
nd
no pea
ce
an
d rest.
5.
Ephesians 4, and other Scripture
s,
including 2 T im. 1:13,
show that a "form of sound words" has come down to us from
our
Lord .Jesus, the apostles and prophets.
As a progressive light worshipper and a J ehovah 's Wit°:ess
in good standing, I had observed the Watchtower magazm e
change
ou
r doctrines between 1917 to 1928, no l
ess
than
148
times, and had witnessed thi s chimera take place many tim
es
later, and
th
ereafter .
6.
Having read of
the
events between the resur rec
on
ai:d
ascension of o
ur Lord
Jesus Christ, I also read Acts I
:8,
m
which the
Lord
tells us to become
my
witnesses,"
or
C
hr i
st's
witnesses.
Yet, here I was a "Jehovah's Witn
ess"
Why? Becau
se
the
Wat
cht ower Society had gi
ve
n us that new name. Why did we
get that new name? Because as partisans of
Ruth
erford between
1925 to 1
93
1, we h
ad
expelled
an
d disfellowsh ipped some 40,000
Bibl e students from our
mid
st. As partisans
of Rutherford
we
needed a new name. We received it at the Co
lumb
us, Ohio,
conventi on in 193 1. Yet, Jesus said when the Holy Spirit would
come, then we
wo uld
become His Witnesses.
7.
A
ss
uran
ce of salvation is p rized amidst J ehova
h'
s Wit
nesses. You wo
rk
hard for it . But as you perfo
rm one
task,
other tas ks loom
ahea
d and you are n ever sure. For thirty years
I sought assurance in this manner. I h ad not found it
When I d
roppe
d my futile efforts to win such assurance
as
a Kingdom Publisher of J ehovah 's
Witn esses
, a
nd
threw
myse lf
up
on
Lh
e mercy of the Lord, the Lord gave me grace
and
ass
ur
an
ce in
one night.
These areas of doubt
had
been en larging and now
with
the a
dd
ed s
ho
ck of my father's confess ion, I slowed down
groggily; a
iml
essly I tried to "reason
as
my J ehovah's
Witness
training prompted
me to
do
. Fmally, h
ope
l
ess
ly lost,
I came to my sen
ses.
I went to the Lord in prayer.
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4
INTO
THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
Remembering
the ays of My
Youth
I
remembered
"the days
of my youth
," in which,
during
four
blissful years, I
had belonged
to
my Father's house
-
when
I
had been born
again, a Christian,
and
had revelled in a
personal relationship with our Lord
Jesus Christ. I remem
bered
those
wonderful
days,
when
every
desire
had
become a
prayer,
every
imagination had become
a possibility
of
reality,
as
Christ
dwelled
within.
I
had found Christ
in those years - I recalled. I
remembered
that when
I
had found Him,
I
had
found
grace
and
peace. Peace
had constantly been
multiplied to
me.
God
used
the
combina
tion of my
sore
plight, and my remembrance
of
how
it
used to
be with
me
n
my
Father's house,
to
bring me to
my
knees
that April
18th
night in
1952.
How meaningful
became
to me what
once I
had
read
in
Eccl.
12:1 ,
"Remember
now thy
Creator in the
days
of thy
youth."
What
a blessing this was
to
become
for
me
Coming Home
Like
a Prodigal
Like
a
Prodigal
was I .
At
first,
supplication came hard.
There
was
pride
left.
Had
I
not been
associated successfully
with the Watchtower organization? Had I
not
done much work:
four
years in
Bethel,
twenty-one years
in the
full-time service;
placed
close
to
a
quarter
million
books
in
my
time;
helped
many into the
organization? Had I
not done
this
unto the
Lord?
As
long
as I
felt like that, prayer came hard. But
as I
continued,
I was
smitten
by
the Holy
Spirit. I was
smitten to
the
core.
It dawned upon
me, as
the thought
flitted
for
the
first time across
my brain, that
I
had not worked for
the
Lord
I
had worked for
rebels, heretics
and
apostates. I
had worked
for
the
"image"
of
Charles
T.
Russell,
which
is
the Watch-
tower Society. I
bore ·the "mark" of achievement on
"my
hand"
and
in "my forehead."
As
my hands
were stayed
in
prayer, my forehead became
pierced
by the Holy
Spirit. I realized
that
I
had sinned
griev
ously against
the Lord
Jesus Christ, for salvation
cannot
come
by
achievement.
Then,
it
struck me with awful
force
that
what
I had done was even worse I had helped water down God's
Word
,
the
'Bible.
This
I
had done to the minds of
many Faces
places . circumstances, flooded
back into
my
conscience.
Horrible, horrible, torment
and
torture
My
thoughts
,
racing
with frightful
speed backwards
into
my life,
unreeled
a
nightmare
of
sin, remorse, fear.
Then,
as
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
15
I
kept
praying, "Forgive, Forgive, Forgive," my'
thoughts
jelled. I realized, suddenly,
that
I had
smitten
those who bore
the
name of Jesus by declaring them to be
Satan's servants.
I
remembered
I had helped
gather
evidence against
Lutheran
pastors, pastors
of the
very
church of
my ancestors
and
against
which
I
had rebelled, long
ago
in the blasphemy trial
at
Magdeburg, Germany.
I
had attacked and had helped
vilify
the
churches
of
Christianity.
As
I prayed,
this array
of
misdeeds,
once
hidden behind the
"mark
in
m y forehead," were now
brought to
consciousness
by
the
Holy
Spirit.
He pierced
my
conscience
that night. This caused me to
sink
in abject fear
and dejection into the
deepest pit I had ever known. It was
very close
to
Hell
Hell
was nigh
to me
that night.
Not only
was I a back
slider;
but
in this
night of prayer the Holy Spirit revealed
to
my
heart and
mind
and
soul
the depravity into which
I
had
sunk.
I
was eating for spiritual
existence,
the
husks
of the
Watchtower
field
and feeding others
therewith.
It
is
then that
I realized
the nature
of
my plight.
Struck now with conviction
as
the
worst
of
sinners, shock
gave way
to deep
repentance. I
laid all
that I
had been
carry
ing around
behind
"the mark in
my forehead," before
the
Cross. I
laid it before the
Lord
with but one
clear
plea,
a cry
for
forgiveness As in
the
case
of
the
Prodigal,
it was essentially
a cry
for the kind of
food I once had
had in my
Father's house
-
the pure word without Watchtower
helps,
or
husks. I re
membered
that
the
right
food,
"eating
our
Lord
Jesus, the
bread from heaven," brought
a new
birth. The
words
of Peter
came
to
m y mind:
"Being
born again,
not of
corruptible seed,
but
of incorruptible,
by
the Word of
God, which liveth
and
abideth
forever"
1 Peter
1:23).
The Holy Spirit then prompted
me to pray
for
the right
things,
for
release from
the hypnotic
trance
of
the Watchtower-S
ociet
y-designed indoctrination.
Its
satanic implications became crystal clear
to
me.
Struggle for Freedom
Repentance and
submission
now entered my
heart and
prayer
was
the weapon on
this
battleground
.
Event after
event, I
recited
to
the Lord
i'n confession.
Morn
ing
dawned.
Forgiveness
had not
come.
Never had
I persisted
in
pleading like
that in
all my
life I realized, this was
it,
or
never.
Desperation
overcame me.
In that deep
desperation I
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16
lNTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
cried
out,
"Father,
if it is
thy will, I will write, publish
and
what I have here confessed."
No sooner had that confession been put in to words, then
l
fell some res
traint
vanish
within
my soul - a whole wall of
self-will.
and
pride tumbled. Why? I
had
just promised
the
Lord to
put
my whole
life
-
my
time
of
ill-
pra
cti
ces
-
into print
by confess
in
g
it
publicl
y. Later
I r
ea
lized a person can make
a
ll
th e
pr
ivate co
nf
ess
ion
s he wants to; th
ey
will
be
of no avail
unl
ess
they are publicly re
pe
a
ted
(Rom. 10:8-10).
I had committed great sins
of
err
or
Merely leav ing the
Watchtower moveme
nt
silently behind and e
nt
ering into a new
life which
now
beckoned, would never
trul
y free me from
vVatchtower er
ror and
thinking. Looking abo
ut
me
at
this stage,
I recognize tens of thousands of former J ehovah's Witnesses
who
ha
ve left
th
e
Wat
chtower moveme
nt
, or who have been
di
sfe
ll
ows
hipped
from
it in
pu rges,
but
who still
are
enslaved
to it in at least eleven sects they have formed aro und it.
The
wo
rds
0£ th
e a
po
s
tl
e John, found in I j o
hn
1
:8- 10
,
come to my mind:
If
we say
that
we have no sin, we deceive
ourselve
s, and th
e truth is not in us. f we c
onf
ess our sins, he
is faithful
and
just to forgive us
our
sins,
and
to cleanse us
from all unrighteousn
ess.
f we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is
not
in us." Let's face it, all
you who formerly
wer
e J e
hovah s Witn
esses a
nd
who
st
ill p
er
sist now in your doctrinal heresies, come all the way to
th
e
cross, and confess the sins of heresy and rebellion, which were
our bas ic wrongs to start with.
ubl
ic
Confession Brings True Freedom
Peace beca
me multipli
ed to me
in
a s
tr
ange
and
wonde
rful
way.
J
could never have thought it up in a mil1i
on
years t
was the eventual
appeara
nce of my book Th irty Years a Watch-
tower in Oct. 1956, which started a chain o( events,
that
brou
ght
me tot al delive
ran
ce from
th
e Watchtower Society,
a
nd
slavery.
This
book actu a
ll
y became
th
e
public
confe
ss
i
on
which
not
only led
me
to total freedom in Christ,
but
eventually
became
in
s
trumental in
he
lping mo r
e th
an
two
thousand
J ehovah s
Witn
esses come free
into
the li g
ht
of Christianity.
These r
es
ul
ts
in turn reveal clearly that I have not only found
forgiveness,
but that
bless
in
gs
have been
added
to me.
My
experience
and
confession has
attrac
t
ed
many others
to the
INTO THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
17
As a former Prodigal I
ha
ve now a "feast in my
Fath
er s
h
ou
se," w
hi
ch I
humbl
y co
nfess,
s
ur p
a ses
in
bl
ess
ings
the
lot
of man
y "e
ld
er
broth
ers." The
thir
ty years of my
li f
e which
th
e canker worm dev
oured
have seemingly been r
es
tored by
God
and
have become fruitful. I
thought
I
had
been useful
in
so
-call
ed
service privileges in
high places
in the Wa tchtower
organizat ion,
durin
g which time I
had
been a servant. I now
returned
to my Father. I
return
ed as a Son, a
nd actuall
y
feasted on "so great a salvation"
that
had come to me. I shared
it with
my
former brethren,
Je h
ovah's Witnesses; a
nd
,
wonder
of wo
nd
er
s,
man
y,
many actually came free from
th
e Watch
tower
fi
eld of service in "a far coun
tr
y."
With
joy, therefore, I can say with the Psalmist,
T
he L
or
d
is the portion of
min
e inheritance a
nd
of my cup;
thou
main
tai n
csL
my lot. The lines are fallen
un t
o me in pleasant places:
yea, have a goodly h
erit
age" (P
s.
16:5,6).
Have You Ever Been in a u u m ~
Things,
however, were
not
very easy at first.
1
found my
self in a complete vac
uum
.
was not as
ye
t
to t
a
ll
y
fr
ee from the
Wat
c
ht
ower movement.
The Jehovah s
Witne
sses sensed it and kept working
on that
weakness on the local level. Pressures, ignited and intensified
by fear
of
Armageddon, were brou
ght
on me in many insidious
ways. This warped my
thinking
. Slowly
bitt
erness took hold
of my heart.
Thi
s was a deep-rooted bitterness
pertaining to
everything
about Jehovah
's
Wi tn
esses, even including
their
persons .
On th e other hand, I realized an even greater dilemma. I
could not
make
any sense of many Bible doctrin
es
.
In
fac
t,
I
confess to have been
at th
at stage
in
a
qua
si-hypn
ot
ic condition,
if there is such a thing. I now know I had reached the
point
many former J ehova
h'
s W
itn
esses reached on the
ir
way
out
of
Watchtower slaver
y. Upon
com
in
g free from Watchtower
di
rec
tion from Brooklyn, N. Y. USA, such usually gravitated into
one
of th
e eleven sects which in
tim
e
had
formed on the
othe
r
periphery of the Watchtower movement. Such really are still
in the Watchtower
orb
it ,
or
course
of
action, even though now
th
ey
are on
ly sate
llites.
In my case
that
bec
ame
even more aggrav
ated
. I h
ad be
come fairly well
kn
own
in
Watcht
ower circl
es
thro
ugh my book
business. A
number
of persons, themselv
es
already on the fence
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18
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
to start
Bible Studies and to
arrange
for Meetings. They
wanted
me to form,
in
fact, ano
ther
sect.
The
press
ure
broughl upon
me at this stage by W alchtower
adherents was to keep me off balance. l t r
esulted,
however, in
causing bittern
ess
in my heart,
and
pushed me perilously close
to the idea 0£ forming a sect de
di
cated to "smashing"
th
e
Watchtower moveme
nt
.
Unknown to me at the time, warped as I still was in my
thinking, I was actually beginning to go the way of a ll
un
reconstructed
Ru sse
llites." was
th r
owing away "so great a
salvat ion"
in
failing to center my li fe work in the blessed fact
of
what the Lord J esus had done for me. In stead of singing
to J ehovah
's
Witnesses the glorious
new
song of the Lamb, and
of salvation through
Him
, I was about to embark on los ing
myse
lf
once aga
in
by "wreaking vengeance
upon
the ' l\Tatch
tower Society." H ow foolish
First
Manus
cript
Di
scarded
Under such circumstances, I wrote my first manuscr
ipt
for
Thirty
Years a Watchtower Slave.
Is it
any wonder that th is
first
manuscript
was a clarion call to all opposers of the ·vvatch·
tower move
ment to unit
e and to s
ma
sh them t took me three
years to
put it
toge
th
e
r
Came the
day
wh en it was completed I read it.
At
once
realized th is was nOl
what
I had promised the Lord I
would
writ
e. Ther
e
came
back
to
my mind the pictu re of my
abje
ct
humility
and contrition
on the
night I bec
ame
free. Had I not
co
n fessed to
th
e
Lo r
d my misspent life as a Jehoval1's
Witness,
as
a
faithful
adhe
rent of
the
Wa t
c
ht
ower
movement
, <luring
which
phase of my life I
had
spread hatred, vilification, and
e
rror
about Christianit
y? Had
I
not
he
lp
ed conjure up the
pi
cture
in th
e minds
of th
e J e
hovah 's
Witnesses
that
the
Christian
chur
ch with its clergy, its doctrin
es, and
its practices,
was an enemy? 1 thus helped make the J ehoval1's
Witn
esses
enemies of
truth
and organized Chri stianity. In this manu
sc
ript
I was making a comple te turnabout a
nd
was heaping
this ve
ry
same ha tred and vilification
up
on
Jeho
vah's Wit
nesses. Enemies of Chr is
tianit
y the J ehovah's
Witn
esses have
become . Bitter ene
mi
es
the
y are. But enemies
must
be loved,
not hated.
On
e d
es
tro
ys
e
nemi
es
of Ch r
i
stian
ity by
winning
them for Christ. ln that way they eventua lly have to become
INTO THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
19
Th is manuscr
ipt
had been wr it ten, I realized at
that
read
ing, more
in
the spirit of my former li fe as a Watch tower
adherent. As a
pr
acticing J ehovah
's Witness
before I had re
turned to th e Lord, I had been a very belligerent man. I
had
fomented strife. l
had
l
ed
a cane swinging brigade in a head
smas
hin
g expedition at
Madi
son Square Garden. I had caused
legal troubles, forced arrests, he
lp
ed pacl records. I had elim
inated from
the
co
ngregat
ion
s as opposers,
brethr
en who wo
uld
not abjectly go along
with the Watchtower
Society.
Wh
en I
read
this manuscript w
hich
rela ted my story
in
a spirit
of
acrimony, l realized that I could not release it. n fact, I
no longer was
th
e same
man
. I had found the Lord Jesus and
H e had come into my heart. 1
ju
st could not
put
th at manu
script out I
th r
ew it into the wastepa per basket.
Why could I no t publish this manuscript? t would have
re
ally hit tlle Watchtower Society a smas
hing blo
w
But thin
gs
had cha nged. Jn
th
e place of belligerence, the
Lo
rd had
put humility and meekn
ess
. H e
had
placed on me
a
burden
to
win
J e
hova
h's
V\
Ttnesses, not to
hit
them. I realized
that
I had been in
the
pond of despair, slowly sinking i
nto
Hell. The Lord had rescued me Now that I was free I could
n
ot
turn around and
hit
others who we
re
sinking in that
pond,
and who might be
hopeful
oCcom
ing
free.
A great sa
lv
ation and much forgiven
ess had
come 1 me
I had been shown great mercy and now I could love much.
Thus I felt that my attitude towards the Je hovah's Witnesses
sho
uld become one of mercy and love, no t bitterness and hatred.
The L ord lesses the New
Ma
nuscript
I completely rewrote my manuscr
ipt
for
the
book
Th
ir
ty
Years a Watchtower Slave
It
now co
nform
s to the promise
made- in April, 1952. It is a
tru
e facsimile of
the
gist
of
the
confessions I
mad
e that night,
in
which I
found
forgiveness
a
nd
freedom in J
esus
Christ.
Oh, how giad I am that
th
e Lord led me to
do th
is Wh y?
Now
it
has
become
ev
ident, so very evi
dent, th
at th is com
pilation
has created a
mirro
r .
The
pa thos and shades of an
act ual
li f
e lived under Watchtower co
nditi
ons as
related
in that
book etch
out in
star
k relief the pattern of a
li f
e un der a
false Gospel.
In
m y book,
Th
irty Years a
Watch
tower Slave
first
of
all
there are de
pi
cted for all J ehovah's Witnesses to sec, all the
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20 I
NTO
THE
LIGHT
OF C
HRISTIANITY
which no
Wat
chtower dinning in to
th
eir ears can erase.
But
more than
th
at. By focusing attention on
th
e fact that
ch
e J ehovah
's
Witn
esses
blindly and abjectly follow Watchtower
organization instructions and
thi
nking
to
the excl usion of the ir
own thinking, this book for the first time affords Jehovah's
Witnesses a look at
what
they
ar
e doing, and
what
was and
is being done with them a
nd
to
th
em by the 'i.Vatch tower
Soc iet
y.
As
many see
themse
l
ves
-
and
th
ey
arc indeed many - for
the first time in th e reading of this book th
ey
are sh
oc
ked.
The
ir
letters to me show that. They insta
ntl
y see
th
emse lves
in the
book. One of
ma
ny writes: When look back at it all
l simply stand aghast
at
the fact that l could have been such
a fool as to fall for such a cult. Oh , how I th ank
God
that I
am now not a wal king, talking tool
of
Satan . Another
wri t
es:
I fo llowed
yo
ur account all
th
e way through. First I
was
hurt
, th en enraged, then determined to really tel l you off.
l sa t d
ow
n to write, bu t, l never finished the letter. l knew for
th
e first time, definitely, that there were
amo
ng
th
e
thin
gs yo u
de
sc
rib
ed, two po
in t
s l had actually
done
mysel
f
T h
at
st
op
ped
me. l decided to wait before writing. Now, six months la ter,
after
looking at myself and the Watchtower Society with new
eyes, l saw
wh
at
had
h a
pp
ened to me. Ju st today, at this
writin
g,
came another letter. (Th ey come dai l
y).
In it a former
J ehovah's Witn
ess
says in
part
, I
hav
e come a long way since
I wrote you some tim e ago. Time
and good
rea
din
g have erased
some of th e bittern
ess
the Watc
hto
wer Society left in my
h
ear
t, as I now
kn
ow Christ as my
per
sonal Savi
our
.. More
than two
th
ousa
nd
letters 0£ this kind have come to me beca use
of this book. You see, sharing so great a salvation which
had come to m
e,
trul
y
multipli
ed peace to m
e.
I Sit ack to
nfoy
a
Re
st
Once
Thirty Years a
Watchtower
Slave
had been completed
and the Baker .Book House had
put
it in to print (Oc
tob
er,
1956), l sett
led
back, peacefully, co
nt
e
nt
to s
it
at home. I d id
not kn
ow
it
th
en,
but
I was still in a s
tup
or. l fe
lt
l
had
finished my promised task for the Lord and now could
pr
epa re
for
a
pl
easant life of mere chu rch at tendance and listening to
sermons. Had I been a llowed to follow my fl
es
hly inclina
ti
ons,
I would never have fully come into the Lght of Christiani ty.
Again th e
Lord
showed me
His marked
favor by lead
in
g
th e way. Of co
ur
se l did not
know thi
s a t fir
t.
No sooner
INTO
THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTJA
N
ITY
2
and I assure you it was w
holl
y
unsu
spected, I bega n to receive
many inviLations from
pa
s
to r
s and chu rch
es
to
co
me and give
my public tes timony.
Have you ever been fully taught never to go in to a cer
tain
pl
ace? T hat such a place is unclean?
That
it is to be
s
hunn
ed at all costs? l had. To me Christian c
hur
ch
es
were
places in which were roos
tin
g all unclean things. l h
ad
been
t
aug
ht
to thi nk of
th
e
Chri
stian c
hu
rd1es as Babylon
th
e
Grea
t.
Having believed that so lon g of th e ch urch
es
of organi
ze
d
Christian
it
y,
it
had become second n
atu
re to me.
Can you im agine the quandary into which sucJ1 an invi
tation
put
me? I had newly come from Watc
ht
ower slavery.
~ u t 1 was sti ll brainwashed to their way
of
thi nking. I instin
c
tively shied a:-vay from
Christianit
y. Much less was I
pr
e
pared
to go to
th
etr chu rc
he
s
and
talk to them l did
not
want
to go there. The Lord kn ew
th
ough that as a
Conn
er rebel,
l was a heretic a
nd
apostate from th e faith. f were ever
to come in to the light of Christianity, I wo uld have to find
a way back to assoc
iat
e in fellowship with
Hi
s p
eop
l
e.
Now I
th
ank the Lord for m king me go. It appears to
me
now, in the light of
what transpir
ed, that the Lord took my
hand
and
led me in to
the light
of Christi ;
rnity.
I procrastinated. But invitations persisted. Finally, I
ac
ce
pt
ed the first
ca
ll - to St. Pau l and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On
my way,
whi
le
changin
g st
at
ions
in
Chicago,
I
almost
turn ed back.
llut th
e tax i drove on, bl
ess it
s driver, and I
ca ught the train and s
ub
sequently a
rriv
ed in St. Paul. There
was no one th ere to welcome
me
or meet me, and J felt
deep ly lost as l repaired to my reserved hotel room.
But th
ese feelings we
re
soon
di
sp elled by
the
Lord
in Minne
apo
lis. Speaking in
the Fourth
Aven ue
Baptist
Church, a
serva
nt
of the Lord came to my aid.
Dr
.
Rich
ard Clcarwater
s,
th e pastor, watched me with compass ion. H e ensed my un
cer ta
in t
y about what I was
doin
g. At the e
nd of
the m
eeting
he enco
ur
aged me. The next nig
ht
,
at th
e Evangelical Free
Chu1:ch l had a compl etely overcrowde<l church, and th e
pa
stor,
a ch1lcl of
Cod,
gave me a wonderful b
ro t
herly
fe
llowship.
Lat
er
, in a letter, Dr. Clea
rw
aters d rew my attention
to
th
e
YOO
edition
of
the Goodspeed New Testament tran
s
lation
and
me
to read its foreword. Jn it,
Dr
. Goodspeed
says one
thtrd
of
th
e whole tex t of the New
Testament
is
taken up with
th
e
battle
con tr a-heresy. This amazed me.
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22
I NTO _
TH E
LIGHT OF CHRI
ST
IANITY
im po
rtant
th
e
ba
tt le contra-heresy was in
th
e first century.
You, havi
ng
com e by th e h an d
of
the Lord out
of th
e
most
modern _and efficie
nt
of h eresies o( th is twent ieth century, have
been raised up by the Lord as one voice to use yo
ur
former
p e r i and insight into
th e
se matters to help Chr isti
an
it y
her batt le and
to
w
in Jehovah
's W
it n
esses
for
Chr ist." M y
e y e ~
were
.o
pen now.
l
ha
ve
since n
ever
fa
il
ed
to
give
publi
c
te umony m a ny
and
all
churches,
wherever
and wh
enever
the
opportunity has presented itself. T he
Lord
h
ad
sh
own
me
th a t
what 1
foo lishl y
had
thoug
ht
unclean, was clean.
The
Lord us
ed
one of his faithful
serv
an ts to give me focus. H ere,
th e Lord gave me a clear indication of Hi s will. H ow th ankful
l am for
His
l
eadin
g It has truly le
e
me in to pleasant places.
Public inistry Begins
As soon
as it
became
clear
to me th at this was what the
Lord
want
ed
me
to
do
,
l
bega n
accepti n
g in v
itation
s from all
over tl1e U A a
nd
from
Cana
da.
mad
e u p my mind at the
tim
e
that
l
wou ld
se
rve all
denomination
s th at n
eeded
me.
Lutheran Chur ches called me to vVisconsin in
Fe
br uary,
1957.
T hen received a call , my first one, from Ca na
da
. De
an
W. Go
rd on Brown
of the Bapti
st
Seminar
y in
Toronto,
Ontario, Ca nada, invited
me
for an e
ight
-
da
y e
ngag
ement.
l
gave my
public
test
im
on y in ma ny Fellowship
Baptist
Ch
urches during
that tour
.
Dean Brown
,
I
was l
ater appra
ised,
is often ca lled in Canada , Mr. Baptist. But to m
e,
he beca
me
a frie
nd and
b ro ther in C
hr i
st, giving me a
real
s
piritual
boost. The m
ee
tings there were a success. Mor e th an three
hundr
ed fifty copies o(
my book
were
placed
at the end of
the
meetings.
I
was
recalled
for
a
fourteen
-
cl
ay pe
riod in
April, 1957.
Includ
ed in
this second
appearance, was a one-d
ay
ap
p earance at the
larg
e Peoples Church in
Toronto
. T
hi
s
chu
rch
is a bulwark
of
Evangelism in
Canada.
Its l
ove
a
nd
p assion
for lost so uls reaches out into th e entire world.
t
was n
ot
s
urpri
s
in g
, therefore,
for
Dr. Oswald Smith to g ive me,
at
this stage, such a valuable boost. Dr . Oswald Smi th presided
at
th i
s mee
ti n
g a
nd la t
er,
in
a to
rrid qu
es
ti
on
and
a nswer
mee ting, spar ked by many J ehovah s
Witne
sses, did a
wonder
f
ul
MC
job.
l t
appears
to me
that
Ca
n a
dian
c
hur
ch
me
n
arc
k
een
ly
aware of
th
e gr
ave inroads the
J e
hov
ah 's Witnesses are
ma k
INTO T HE
LIGHT
OF
CHRlSTlAN1TY
23
the
ser
iousness of the
implication
s the New Wor ld Society
poses to Chr ist iani ty.
Ot h
er men in Canada
and
in the USA invi ted
me into
th eir chu rches . In vitations came to me from Lu theran, Baptist
and
man y o ther churches. Of th e Evan gelical den
om
in a tions
1 had marvelo us a
nd
specia l help from such groups as the
Chr isti
an and Mi
ssionary
Allianc
e,
Th
e Assemblies
of God
and
the Ch
ri
st
i
an
Reformed Churc
hes.
Unstintin
gly,
th
ey
afforded
me
all
Lhe assistance th ey cou ld
ma rsha
l,
and
crea ted
f
or
my testimony a
continent-
wide
plat
form w
hi
ch s
panned
from T a
mp
a to
Montreal, fr
om
New
York City to Sea ttle,
from Vancouver to Eugene, O
rego
n,
and cr
isscross across the
USA and
Canada.
Churches from the larges t to th e sma llest
were put at my dis
po
sal. Some of th e ab lest men in Chris
ti anity hono red th e platform with th e ir
pre
sence. Audiences
ra
n
ged from
a m
ere ten, to
two
th
ousand in
one night. On l
y
th
e L
ord
co
uld do
that
Jn
th
e s
umm
er of 1957 1 was invit ed
to
com e to
North
Dak
ota
by a
Chr
i
st ian
book
seller,
Mr.
Ch r
is Losby. H e had
wr
it t
en
me that
be felt a
real
bu rd en for J eh
ovah's Witn
esses.
Hi s sinceri ty impell ed me to accep t his in v
itat
ion. Upon ar
ri ving in Mi not,
North
Dakota, J fou nd a man t
ota
lly c
rippled
in his body, able only to move his n eck a
nd ank
les, o th erwise
totally rigid. His body was
rigid
, but his soul a
nd
h ea
rt
we re
fl
ex
ible in
th
e
serv
ice
of the
L
ord. This
man, h
aving
a bed
rig
ged
h ori zontally in his station w
ago
n, toge
ther with
his
wife and me, travelled over
North
and ou
th
Dak
ota
a
nd
Montana , a
nd
app
eare
d
every night
to give m y wi tness. This
brother
ha s since go ne home to the Lord , but live on as a
witn
ess
for
what the
Lord
Jesus
did
for
him
a
nd
for
me,
be
cause of
hi
s
devotion in th e face of such difficulties. The
Lord blessed
us
.
n 1958,
in J a
nu
ary
of
that year, l was
given
one
of
my
greatest boosts. I was called by a stal
wart
Chr is
tian pa
stor,
W. H .
Br
ooks,
of
Vancouver, B.C., Canada,
pas
tor of
th
e
Allia nce Tab ern acle Church
th
ere. H e in vited m e to speak
to audiences of several large d enom ina tions in Vancouver.
For
fourteen <lays 1 sp oke in Baptist, Fo
ur
sq uare, Assem bly of
God,
Alliance,
Luth
eran chu rches,
and
at
hu ge
Yo
uth
for C
hr i
st
and
Me
nn
o
ni t
e rall ies. I
spo
ke in
both th
e En glish a
nd the
Ge
rm
an language,
and had
a t
otal
atte
n
dance
of
12,500,
and
pla
ced
979
co
pies of
my book, T hirty Years a Watch tower
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24
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRJSTJANITY
These
hund
reds of books were boug
ht
by Chr istians
who
are determined to use my book as a mi
ss
ionary and as a
source for
qu
es tions to be levelled at J ehovah s Witn
esses
to
for ce them to defend their orga ni
za
tion. By marking
th
e
numerous organizatio
nal chan
ges revealed in
th
e book a
nd
by putting bookmarks in such places to insure a ready
reference, th ey now effectively con front th e Jehovah 's Wit
nesses who call
at th
e
ir
doors.
A week later, under the
au
spices of the Lutheran Cou ncil
of Seattle, Was hi ngton, and
th
e
Luth
eran Bible In sti t ute of
Seattle, ano th er 6,500 h ea
rd
me give my public tes ti mony
in the foremost chu rches of Luthera
ni
sm.
Pastor Brooks truly became an in strument of the Lo
rd
,
fo
r
it was his effort which caused my being called in to chu rch
es
all over Canada, from Vancouver to
Mo
nt rea
l.
He s
ub
sequ ently
sponsored me on an eight -week tour, which prov ided me with
a listening audience of
thirt
y-one thousand and w
ith
thi r ty
eight rad iocasts w
ith
unnumbered audi ences.
Trul
y, the Lord was causing friends to come fro m every-
wh
ere, to
ass
ist in giving th is tes timony. Christian publish
ing houses followed in the train . Th e Baker Book H ouse has
done an
un
stinting j ob in putting my book befor e the pu bli c.
Evangelical Publ ishers
of
Toronto, Canada, have pushed
th
e
book
in
Canada. Marshall, Morgan a
nd
Scott, London,
En
g
land, in Empire editions,
ha
s spread the book across th e
whole English-speaking worl d. You can today find copi
es
of it as easily in
Kings
ton, B.W.I., or Singapore, as you can
in Hongkong or Cap etown. J an H aan of Groningen, th e
Ne
th
erlands, p
ut
it
into the
H oll
an
d language. Fosterla
nd
s-
Stiftelsen
of
Stoc
kh
o
lm
, put it into Swedish. Now comes forth
an edit ion in
Da
nish by
th
e house of Credo, soon to be
followed by an edition
in
No rwegian. T he C
hr i
stliche Ver
lagsansta lt o[ Kanstanz a Bodensee, Germany, is busily en
gaged in transla ting it
into
German, so
th
at it is soon to
appe ar in
th
at language. A Spanish edition is ava ilable from
Baker Book H ouse.
An
d so th e tes tim ony goes over th e
wh
ole
wor ld; an d I s
tand
in ut ter speechl
ess
amaze
me
n
t
Wh ence com
es
such unselfish
co
-operation? H ow different
from the Watchtower Society did Chr istia ni ty behave towards
m
e
H ow wrong I had be
en
abo
ut it in
my wa
rp
ed Watch
tower thinking How blessed a fellowship is
th
e communion
Chapter
MY
LOT
HAS FALLEN
IN
PLEA
SA
NT PLACES
omes
the Ex p
erienc
e
of
M y M ahan aim
T he Bible abounds in incide
nt
s of men an<l women breaking
away from
se
lfishn ess to th e service of the Lord. It appears
th at when such breakaways reached the stage of crisi
s,
such
men and
wo
men
ex
pe
rien
ced unusual help fr om friends ap-
p
ear
ing Com out of
no
where, as
if
sent by th e Lor
d.
Ta
ke J acob
's
breakaway. H e ha<l served Laban for ye
ar
s
in
a h uckster-lik e way. Remembering th e promise of Beth el, at
Go
d 's co
mm
a
nd
he
fi
nall
y
brok
e
with
Laban and
fl
ed w
ith
his famil y to freedom in
th
e promised la11d . Because of th is
breakaway he experienced a crisis.
T h ings were at their darkest, and i t appeared
as
if J acob
might be overwhe
lm
ed . The day of crisis was about to dawn
for
him
. H e was about to face
hi
s
bro
th er Esau, whom he
h ad chea ted - and he feared
grea
tl y. Encamped at a place
called Mahanaim, J acob sud de
nl
y
fo
und himse
lf
surrounded
by angel
s.
T hey came as if to say: "J acob, we protected
yo
u
aga inst Laban from the rear, and we will
sc
reen yo u aga inst
Esau ah ead." W e can hear
th
em continue W elcome to the
land
of
th
y fa
th
ers."
That
was J acob 's Mahana
im
, when
th
e
help of God was pro ffered in unmistakab le term s by angels
who bad
exp
ressly come to visit h im. Need l
ess
to say, he made
good
hi
s escape (Gen. 31-32).
On another occasion, at precisely
th
e same spot, a t Mah
a-
naim, sat David. H e was a fugitive fr
om
his son Ab
sa
lom. H e
had been de
th
roned
and
had no comfor ts about him . His
needs at the moment were different than had been those of
J acob who was l
oa
ded with foodstu ffs a
nd
travel gear. At. th is
hour of cr isis
in
Dav
id
's
li f
e, when it app eared
th at
all fri
end
s
had left him, when food
and
wa ter was lacking, David 's needs
were
ph
ys
ical.
Then when things were dark
es
t, lo, here com
es
Shobi, the
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26 INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF
CHRlSTlANITY
things he needed. These
me n
, not angels
th i
s
tim
e,
brou
ght
things angels probably could
not
have broug
ht
him.
They
came ju st
when
they
most
needed. Their appearance
h elp
ed David make
good his escape. This was David's Maha
naim (2 Sam.
J
9).
My Mahanaim came when it appeared, as some J ehova h's
Witnesses boastfully sa id, "Schnell' s story will soon die out
a
nd
be forgo tten,
and he
will be s
or r
y
and
will
return
to
the
fold." As I stated, at th is stage of crisis for me, invit
at
ions
came from
pastor
s and churches everywhere, giving me the
fin
es
l n
at
i
on
-wide platform a
man
ever
had
for a public
witne
ss. The
Lord
had
raised
up th e very
kind
of friends that
we
re
needed to help me,
and
others af ter me, to make good
our
escape. The Lord
raised
up help for my
warfare
from
among the very ones I
had
wronged so of ten, a
nd
from whom
I expecled no help.
Oh
,
ch
at all who
hav
e been proselyted by
th
e cu
lt
s into
fl
es
hl y servitude would take this to heart
The
Christian
c
hu r
ch
lo n
gs in love a
nd
co
mpa
ssion to
help save
yo
u
Thirty-eight
de n
om
inations called
me
into
lheir midst a
ncl
backed
me
up in my tes
tim
ony for one sole
reason - to help win those souls, lost in th e cul t
s,
for Christ.
Being lec l by the Lord to give my testimony about
the
delive
ran
ce which c
ame to
me, with
the
generous backing of
friends from ever
ywher
e, I soon
began
o realize that my lot
h
ad
"fa llen
unto
me in pleasa
nt
places."
Two
wonderful
things began to emerge out of those mee tings.
D
octr
inal questions forced
th
emselves almost at once upon
my a
ttention.
They
we
re
most
distressing at first.
Though
I
h
ad
been
thoroughly trained
y
the Wa
tc
ht
ower
Society to be
co
me a g
lib
user of Scripture in
th
e Watchtower way in argu
ing Jehovah's Witness tenets, I suddenly found that I knew
nothing real about the Bible. Its treasur es, its depth
s,
its cleans
ing power as the
water of
truth" and its fac
ilit
y to bring
abo
ut
a new birth, were unknown to me. All I
kn
ew was an acquired
ju
ggling dex(erity with torn
out
Scripture texts used by J e
·11ovah's Witnesses. It was a
most
disconcerting
expe
rience.
What was I to do? I was in a di lemm a. Not on ly was I
wrongly
dividing
th
e Word of God,.
but
I was being pressed
with questions abo
ut
it in these
publi
c meetings. Jt was
one
thin
g to testify as
t'o
my experiences
in Watchtower
slavery
and
to expose
it
,
but
it was
quit
e a
noth
er
matt
er to give
an
MY
LOT HAS FALLEN IN PLEA
SANT
PLACES 27
Wh
en I c
ame
free
from
the
Wat
c
htow
er
mov
ement I was
thrown
in to a complete
spiritual
vac
uum. now
co
uld
see so
clear
ly
h at
I had been limi ted to a n
arrow
orga nizational line
of thinking. Perverted to human adaptation of spi
ritual truths
,
I ha<l been hy
pnotized to
Watcht
ower
invented
indire
ct ion. I
was drawn inwardly to the core of the orga nizat ion, the
Wat
ch
tower Society
and
the
Watcht
ower magazine. l could not soar
outward
beyond
the orbit
al
limit
ations set by an occult-like
inver
sion .
Complete
inertia in spiritual matters h
ad
taken hold
of me now
and
my
mind
remained blank, as the
fles
h attacked
W atc
ht
ower practices from
which
I had been jarred.
I was free physically
from
Wat
chtower
direction,
but
spirit
ually
I was forced into a vacuum. Why? Because 1 con tinued
to accept
and
believe in the e
rr
ors of Ru ssell ism:
no
Hell; no
immortal soul ; denial of the Deity
of
Christ; disbe
lief
in the
Trinity and a LleniaJ of
the
Lord's bodi ly res
ur r
ection. At this
poim I had
eddied
and then become stagna
nt.
'N as my escape
going to be good? This was my crisis
l e is th en that began to discern
what
had happened to
tens of
thousands
of Jehovah's Witnesses and
Ru
sse lli tes from
1
912 on - those who were either cast out of the Wa tchtower
orga nization, or who had
reb
ell
ed
again
st
it and left. Though
free from v\latchtower di rection in a phy sical way. they re
mained ens laved in orbital thinking of reb ellion and heresy.
T he
braiuwa
shing
th
ey had
un d
ergone had completely bereft
them of the ab ili ty to use God's word properly.
M::iny of my friends
toda
y find
th
emse lv
es
in sects led by
men who indulge in attacking
the
Watcht
ower orga
ni
zation
in
th
e m
os
t vociferous way.
In
addition
these e
rrorist
leaders at
tack one anoth
er
in their papers. But a ll
keep
on prea
ching
th
e her
es
ies of Russe llism. As long as
th ey
do th is, they cannot
make good
th
eir escape from
the
Watchtower movement.
All those caug
ht
in
th
e meshes of the eleven sects
orbi
ting
as
sa
tellil
es
around the -vvatchtower subvers ion fail to realize
th
eir grea t di lemm a of doubl e damna
tion
.'' J esus po in ted up
the
de
ep-
root
ed plight of
what
I te
rm d
ouble damnation"
when H e
told the
Pharisees,
who
like present -day c
ulti
sts, were
experl proselyters, Woe unto you, scrib
es
and pharisees, h ypo
crites for ye compass s
ea
and land to make one proselyte, and
when he is made, ye
make him
twofo
ld
m
ore th
e c
hild
of H ell
Ge nna)
th an yourselves" (Ma tt . 23 : J5) . That is
th
e
true
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28
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
they fail to come
all
the way,
and
as a result double
damnation
enthralls them.
How grateful
I
am
to the
Lord
for having forced
me out of
t
he
condition of feeling sorry for myself - for
extricating
me
from the usual lethargy in spiritual things which engulfs a
cultist
as
he comes physically free from a cult.
The Lord led me out of
it
all
in
the
hour
of my cris
is,
when
total escape hung
in
the balance, by sending me friends
from
everywhere -
drawing
me
out in
a positive way to be g
uid
ed
into a place of fellowship in hi storic Christianity. May I say
to all Jehovah 's Witnesses who have come
out
of the fire of
direct
Wa t
chtower slavery
into the
frying pan of reflected in
version of
the sects:
On
your
trek
to freedom do
not
s
top at
Haran
too long. Come a
ll
the way to the
promi
sed land. Come
fully into hi
stor
ic Christianity, even if you do not know where
specifically you will
eventuall
y find a church home.
That
of
course, is
what
you
mu
st
long
for
and
find.
£
you stay a
Ru
sse
llite, you will
never
come
hom
e to yo
ur
Father's
house.
The
Watchtower
Society will
laugh
at
your
ineffectuali ty.
Can
you
not
hear them smugly saying, "You
see, once they leave us they
can
not be useful anywhere else.
Th ey
lo
se all service privileges."
How
wrong they are, if y
ou
come free a
ll the
way
These questions and discussions about "
the faith
once de
li
vered to the saints'' (Jude 3), wh
ic
h I increasingly encoun
te
red in
the
ma n
y meetings, challenged me.
The
y impelled
me
to dig
into th
e Scriptures day and
night,
as I had
never
done before. I
read
the Bible
from
cover
to
cover. As I
read
,
ju
st
sim
pl
y
read
ing, a
nd
then thi
n
kin
g
over wha
t I
had
read,
I notic
ed
my
brainwashed
mind
discard Watchtower errors.
While
reading a certa
in chapter
I wo
uld
suddenly rem
ember
a favorite Watchtower text, onl y it was being debunked by
what
the
chapter as a whole taught.
In
th is manner, step after
step, Watchtower errors were
washed
out of m y mind - washed
out by
th
e water of truth, the
Word
of God. I t is
ju
st as simple
as that.
You
w
ill read
later
in
this book how the Holy Spirit step
by
step
opened up the Word for me and led me quite r ation
ally into the
li
ght
of
Christianity. The ma
nner
in which t
hi
s
was done, can be
come
for you th e most effective tec
hnique of
MY
LOT
HAS
FALLEN IN PLEASANT
PLACES
29
You will marvel at this fact, as you le
arn
w
ith
me -on my
trek to freedom
in
Christ, th at a
Jehovah'
s ·witn
ess, in
his
doctrines, can go a mile
with
you
with
seeming Scripture sup
port; then he reaches his ultimo ratio
Espousing
the spiritual
doctrines
of
historic Christianity you can surge
on an
o
ther mile,
and then some. Side by side, thus, I
placed
Jehovah
s
Witnesses
doctrines and their proofs, and then followed up with spiritual
do
c
trine
s
and
their
proofs.
In
every instance,
without
a single
exception,
I
found that
the proofs
of
the doctrines
once
de
li
vered to
the
saints"
outdistance the
doctrines of heresy. It
became obvious to me, that
the
doct rines of hi
stor
ic C
hr i
sti
an
ity were
truth
s, while the teachings of the sects were un
scriptural,
or
at best half-truth
s.
I
le
a
rned
fast, because I
had
to use this
knowled
ge to
earnestly
contend
for the faith almost immediately.
Flight From a Cult
Must
Quickly B e Followed By a
Washing
With
the
Word
Many Jehovah
's
V\
f
it n
esses
encouraged
by
coming
to
my
public meeting
s,
began to
take
hold of reading
th
e Bible wiLh
out
Watchtower Society
help
s.
They
marvelled at
what
th
ey
found.
Before
me
I have one of hundreds of letters received
fr
om
J ehovah
s
Wit nesses, who
tr u
e to my own experience,
were led
farther
t
han
a mere breakaway from physical
l\T
atc h
tower control. Share this letter
with
me:
D
ear Mr.
Schnell:
I
h ave
just
read
in the
Evangel
M auc zine about
the wonde7ful
results you
ha
ve
had
in the
pubh
sh
mg of
y
our
book, Thirty
Yews
a W
atchtower
Slave
I was
overjoyed
to rea
d
that
663 have
come out of that sect as a resul t
of reading
yo
ur
book. I too,
because of it came out two years ago and was converted. Then
my mo
ther
who was also a Witness,
read your
book and came
o
ut
. I
had
been in
th
e organization
about five
years
and
Mama
ab
ou
t the same.
When
I first l
eft
the
organization
I
began studying
the Bible lik e
I never h
ad
before and to my amazement I discovere d that the
'l\'
atcht
ower
sect
had
so very
littl
e Scripture truth
and
so much
of
what they falsified and wrested
from t ~ i r cha
p ters a
nd
t.rue
m
eani
ngs or cont exts. I also went to the
Library
and got a Bible
Dictionary and
an Encyclopedia
and Hit
chcock's
nalysis of the
Bible and other
books
and
I
truly
l
earned
th
e
real truth
through
study
in
g
WITHOUT
Wa t
c
ht
ower he
lp
s.
And
I
know
i t was
God
that really opened
my
mind and blind
eyes
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30
JNTO THE LICHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
. Pr ecisely.
in this manner
,
although
a
bit
more forcefully,
did
I
experi
ence
the power of
God
th rou g
h
Hi
s
word
to
wash
away the e
rr
ors
of
heresy.
That
is
th
e
on
ly way it can be
do
ne.
And most
s
in
cerely,
to
a
ll
who
st i
ll
arc
ca
u
gh
t
in
t11eir flight
in some_ of
the
eleven ects who now
vegetate
on the ha lf-w
ay
rout
e, like
Lot's wife turn ed into
a
pillar of salt,
o u ts
id
e
of
th
e 'l\'
atc
htower Organi1.ation, I say, Do not
remain
in these
in ter
me
di
ate
pl aces
on
your
flight.
Fle
e fast,
for
these
in-b
e
t
wee
n places
are
still
in
the orbit
of
th
e v\l
at cht o
wer
m
ove
m
ent
L
et th
e
God of truth lead
yo u
th ro ugh Hi
s
word. Brea
k
th
e spiritual sha ckles which
rivet
you to heresy.
Get
rid
of
th e
errors
o(
Ru
sselli sm in
doctrines
by
allowing th
e wat er of
truth to wash
th
em away. Then you will fully return to "
th
e
faith of
our
fathers"
a
nd
your long co
nd i
t ion
of re b
e
llion will
come
to an en
cl . Prodigal, you will
co
me home. l t can be done.
Th
e
above
cit
ed
sis
ter
h
ad
it
happen. Twenty-one hundr
ed
othe
rs
have had it
h
appen. Above
all,
I can
test
if
y that
it took
the wa ter
of rruth
, rightly ha ndl
ed,
but two years
to
wash all
vVatchtower er rors away.
Not
a trace of them is left now.
Thus
guided
by the
Lord
's hand into sh
ar
ing
my
tes tim ony
wi
th ot
hers,
rather than
s
iuin
g
comfortably al
h
ome
and re
gretting
my losses
o(
thirty years and
feeling sorry
for myself,
I exper
i
enced th
e work
ot the truth in me liberating me
fully.
I can tes
tif
y to the veracity
of
the L
ord's
statement in
John
8: 32. "And
ye shall
know th
e tr uth, a
nd the
truth
sha
ll
make
yo u fr
ee.''
But why? Herc is
th
e rea l
reason:
"Then sa
id
J es us
to
tho
se J ews
which believed
o n
him,
f
ye
continue
in
my word,
th
en
are
ye m y disciples
ind
ee
d " (Jo
hn
8:31); and then, and
only then
docs
th
e 32nc.l verse
above qu
o ted
come
fully
into
pl ay.
IL
came
to
me that way. I t cam e to Mrs. N.
th
a t way .
a
lready
ha s
come to
twenty-one hundred J e
hov
ah 's \i\litnesses
that
way. l confide
nt l
y
believ
e
it
ca n
come to millions that
way.
Christianity Has Held Fast the form of
so d
words
But l spoke
of
two wonderful lhings w
hi
ch happened
to
me
as a
resul
t
of
m y pu bli c tes
tim
o ny. The second o
ne came
to me as a startling surprise
Truly
th
e
Lord
was show ing me
Hi
s wo
nd
ers.
Dinned
in t
o m y
ears
and
jelled
in t
o
my
thinking
from
l
921
on,
when
I was but s
ix t
een years o ld, was
the Watchtow
er contention
MY
LOT HAS
FALLEN
IN
PLEASANT PLACES 31
th
ey h
ad
become
Babyl
on
the Great
- that every
thin
g
that
was
un
clean was found in
their midst
- that they were
divided
right
down the
middle
- that
th
ey differed in every w y that they
even
opposed
one
another.
In short, we
were told
th
at
they
were
absolutely ho p
ele
s.
I t was as a resu lt
of that
brainwas
hing
that I was very
re
lu
ctant
to
accept the invitations
of
pastors
and churc
h es to
to the
ir places
of
wors
hip
and
give my testimony.
To
me, 111
my
brainwa
she
d co
ndition and hard
ened here
ti
cal
lhink
in
g,
Lbc ch ur
ches were like
a
" mess o f
unclea
n foods," a
nd
''out-of-b
ounds"
eve n
to a re
sp
ecta
ble cx-
Watd1
t
ower
slave. I
w uld n
ot im
ag
in e myself
going there
any
mor
e tha n
could
Peter persu
ade
himse
lf
to sit down an d ea t the mess of food
put before him
in the
dream.
Former Ru sse llite friends
upon
h
ea r
in g
of my go in
g
to
these chu rches,
wrote
m e long leue rs tell i
ng me
how
improper
and
unclca
i l was
LO do
so. J eh
ova
h's W
it
nesses everywh
ere
snic
k
ere
d a
nd said,
''
c
hnell has
old
out
all the
way
now."
Bu
t leu ers a lso c:.imc from me
mb
ers
of ma n
y sects other th
an
R ussellites a
nd
.Jehovah's \ \fitnesses
warning
m e about
going
back to the
"flesh-
pots
of
Egypt"
and of
going down to "Egy
pt
for
help. "
t
appeared
that
all
th
e
proponents of
h eresy
frowned
u
pon
m y o u r ~ e
of
ac tion
I am.
h
ere to
testify
aga
inst
th
is
long bac
k
drop of thi
nkin
g a
nd
1ll-pract1sc. l t was
th
e
goodness
of
th
e L
or
d w
hich caused
me
to
go
to
th
ese
churches;
a nd
in
go ing I t
ook tbe
on ly way
ope
n
Lo me to find
true
freedom. J
am
convin ced t
hat
it is
God's
way.
What di d I find in
the
c
hu r
ches? I made an
amazing
dis
covery. L
et
me s
ha r
e
it
with
yo u.
Si.nee .I foll
owed.
the Lon.l's leading
and
began tes
tif
ying
publ1cly
111 th
e
various
churches, l
have
served
thirty
-eight
differ
ent denom
i
natio
n
s. have fouud someth
i
ng
t
ruly
amazi
ng.
I h
ave
found that in a ll
of
these thirty-e
ight denominatio
ns of
historic Christ
i
anity
whi ch l
have come
to know,
Lhey have
kep t '' the lo
rm of sou
nd words,··
of
wh ich
Paul spea
ks in 2
Tim
.
I 13 Th
ey acLUally believe
the
same docLrines
"o
nce
del
ivered Lo
th
e sa in ts": hell a p lace
of eterna
l punis
hm ent;
im morta li ty
of
the
soul; deity of
Christ;
trinity; bodily
resur
re
c
tion
of
J esus
Christ; and
t
he
gospel of J esus
Christ.
I
have
fou
nd
omeching eve n more
startl
ing. l n all of
them
I found
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32 l TO THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
ing
from
th
e peculiar o
ddities
of
th
e
human mind and human
proclivity for
adaptation.
Not only did thi s amaze me; it
stre
ngth
ened me like no
thin
g el
se
ever co
uld
. It gave me a
wonderful ins
ight
in to historic Chri stiani ty. It has
made
me
a staun ch defend er and lover
of
Christianity.
D
enominations
re Gif ts of Diversity
H a
ving
come from
th
e mono
lithi
c top-down concep t
of
an
au thoritarian
se
t-up , I can apprecia te
th
e value of non-con
formity in
th
e rea
lm of
fellows
hippin
g. Jn the New T esta
ment
way
of
preaching, which has every saved one go
ing forth
and
confess ing as lo
hi
s
or
her salva tion in
or
der to
win
lost sou
ls
for Chri st, however, there
must
be co
mpl
ete
unanimity
in
practice. Unity in
th
e churches and
denominations
is achieved
not ec
um
enica
ll
y, but in a healthy
mann
er in the field
of
the
world.
During question a
nd
answer portions of my
me
etings I
always aUow open qu estions, shot r ig
ht
from the s
hould
er.
Thi
s pe
rmit
s me to come m
ore
qui
c
kl
y to
grip
s
with
what
is
in th
e
mind of
my hearers. I am often
qu
eried by at te
nd
ing
Jehova
h'
s
Witn
esses, a
nd
oflen also by o ther excl usivist
s, Now
th
at
you no lon
ge
r belong to the ' l\ a tchtower, how can yo u
pick
th
e rig
ht
denomination?" Of course, thi s is often meant
to be a lead ing question designed t en
tr
ap me. However,
it
does not bother me
at
all. vVh y? Becau
se
of my long experience
in a forced top-down gleichshc ltttng set-up , I have come to see
th
e
great wi
sdom of the
Lord
in having
diver
sity of gifts cr
ys
tal ize
in t
o differe
nt denomin
ations (l Cor.
12 :5).
I came
to
a
pp r
ecia te the Lo
rd '
s le
tt
ers to th e seven churches
in Asia. T he
point
to
me
was, the
re were
seven differe
nt
churches, and
th
e
Lord
sanct ioned these. Study
them
in Rev.
2 and 3.
Noti
ce how differe
nt
t ey were from one another. Yet
each was a gold
en
ca
ndl
estick. Of the seven chu rches
onl
y
one,
th
at of Laod icea, was spewed out; and still ,
promi
se for
salvation by way
of
repe
ntan
ce is m
ade
also to them. I asked
m
yse
lf,
Why
seven c
hu r
ches?
Wh
y such diversity
in structur
e?
and
still ,
wh
y is each descr
ib
ed as a ca
ndl
estick ?
This is
the
very thing I have verified in my communion
with
mod
ern deno
min
a tion
s,
at least the thirt
y-e
ight - in which I
served. T here is grea t div ers
it
y in
pr
actises,
in
tec
hniqu
es, even
in
in t
erpretations - all caused by man 's
inh
ere
nt
procl ivity for
MY LOT HAS
FALLEN
IN
PLEASANT
PLACES
33
Thus such qu es tions a bo
ut
denominations do not
bother
me
at
all. T he Hol y
Spirit
has shown me histo ric Chris
tianit
y
as a t
rue mag
nifi
ca
t
,
useful across time a
nd
s
pa
ce, co
mpletel
y
adaptable to all n
at
ion
s,
kindreds
and
tongues: to all types
of
hu m
a
ni t
y, even Lhe most unique individua ls prefe
rring the
odde
st kinds
of ga
rb . Christia
ni t
y was nol meanc to become
ri
gid
with humanl
y devised a
uth
o
ritariani
sm. t was illvinely
or
dained to be loosely stru c
wr
cd on c
arlh,
designed to accom
modate
within
its bounds of fellowship kindred souls, on their
long, tedious, pilgr im jo
urn
ey toward the heavenly hom
e.
1
simply answer the
qu es
tion a
bout
denomi
nati
ons
with
the s
ame
insight ano
th
er heretic, Augustine, fou
ncl: When
So
lomon
constructed his te
mpl
e, it was bui lt
up
witho
ut
noise
and
sound of h
ammer,
chise l, etc. Why? Because every stone
had
been c
hi
seled to size in the quarries; every beam had been
c
ut
to fit on location in
th
e forests o( Le
banon.
All
th
e noise of
hammering and c
hi
se
ling, wa s done
th
ere. It is
th
e same way
with the ch urch. Wh en it is completed in heaven, where it
becomes
th
e heavenly J erusalem, th er e will be no division, no
strif
e,
no tes
tin
g. t will be ceme
nted
with love a
nd
in quiet
ness. All the
hamm
ering and chiseling which is done here on
ea
rth
, is done in the various deno
min
ations; a
nd
there
in
h eaven,
it
will have come to an e
nd
.
Thus, I conclude my reply to the
qu
es tioning Je
ho
vah's
Witnesses: L
et
us have a vision of the
comp
leted chu rch in
heaven
and
as we co
me
o
ut
of Watc
htow
er slavery, let us seek
in various churches or deno
minat
ions such a church home which
will make fo r our peet1liar kind
of uniqu
eness a
happy
place
in
th i
s st
rang
e
pilgr
im land as we travel on to Zion, our mother
which is above.
Mak
e sure
thou
gh, th
at th
e c
hur
ch you select
is a golden candlestick, is bas
ed
on the
Ro
ck, o
ur
Saviour
God
J
es
us Chri st,
th
at it is
fundam
e
nt
al, a
nd that
it teach
es
the word
of
God a
nd
preach
es
the gospel of J esus Christ.
Go ing f
rom
denomination to
denomination
I marvelled at
lhe mann er in which
th
e
Lord
worked
th r
ough many d iffere
nt
church
es Hi s wo
nd
ers t perform. My apprecia tion for h istoric
Christiani ty deepened. Do I consider Christianity divisive?
No
,
it
is just bl essed
with
such a s
up
era
bund
ance of d iversi
ty
of
g
if t
s,
th
at no one gro up or segment can co
nt
ain
th
em all.
H ow
wond
e
rful
is historic C
hri
stianity which a
lr
eady
on
thi
s
earth
co
nt
ains so many differe
nt
mansion
s, pre
saging our
futur
e
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34
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF
C
H RlSTlAN
lTY
no one, no t even th e most unique of humans can il to find a
pl::i
ce su itable to his peculiarity, to become in practise fitted
for heaven, our
future home
What is Chr istia
nit
y?
l s
it a stra it jacket?
l s
it a rigid,
unyielding tota l entity of hu man
for
m? No, Chr istia ni ty is the
e
xp r
ession of two great reali
ti e
s. She is th e home of all in
wh
om th
e H oly
Spirit
is
fashioning th
e image nd likeness
of
our
L
ord
J esus Christ,
impr
essing
upon
our
so
ul
s
th
e new
image in the place
of
the old one we had los t in sin and
death
after
Adam. She consists
of
a brotherhood
of
saved ones on
ea rth in
their
pi lgrim journey toward s the promi
se
d lan d, shar
ing th e.ir sa lvation with all th e in ha bitants of earth who
are
st ill lost, co
nf
essing to
th
em
what th
e
Lord
J esus
did
fo r
them,
if h
ap
ly they
might
lead such to salvation.
/\s I we
nt from
churd1 Lo c
hu r
ch, denom ination Lo denomi
nation, giving
my
testimony, exposing vVatc
ht
ower
tr i
c
ks
l was
soo n led by
th
e
Lord
to
in j
ect
th
e gospel of Je us Ch
rist
and
Hi
s wondrous grace into my testimony. observed
tha
t in a
l
most
all
chu rches in
wh
ich I appeared, people were being
saved from perdition by being born
aga
in , by being led to
repen tance and receiving forgiveness, and comi ng in to the
com munion
of
the sa
ints
.
As a matter of fact, I became so impressed wi th this Lhat
l .soon shared the good news
of
my sa lvation wi th the in tent
of drawi
ng others
to
Jesus. I had fou
nd
a no
th
er
great boon.
l
fo und
th
at in confe
ss
ing what the Lord had done for me, n
ot
only in saving me from sin and death but from the "dual
dam naLion" of a heretic, I was continllally being streng th ened
in
the
m
ost
holy fa ith. I
found
that
lost ones r
esponded,
a
nd
soon found that upon in
vitation
they
wo
uld come to the al tar
to present th
emselves to
the
Lord. I had become a fi sher of men.
It was in fellowship wi th
Chri
stia ns of thin
y-e
ight different
denominat
i
ons
Lhat I fou nd th is
grea
t boon. Not onl y could
I joyously con
fess
what the Lord had <lone for me, b
ut
in
Christianity 's ha llowed tabernacles I fou
nd hear
i
ng
ears
of
seekers
who
were lost,
who not on
ly listened, but also
were
attrac ted I had n
ever
w itnessed such a tliing in a Kingdom h a ll
of
J ehovah 's W itnesses. T he L ord was using rne to
he
lp save
souls. T hat, as I now know,
s
Christ iani t
y
and I fou
nd
it
in th
e
churches of the various
d
en o
mi na
t ions I
did
not find
it in
MY
LOT
HA
S FALLEN I N PLEASA N T
PLACES
35
Wi th tha t, however, came even a deeper insight into· h istoric
Christ ia ni ty than already had been mine by emu lating Augus
tine. H ere, in thirty-ei
ght
different denominations I observed
th
e sttme thing h
appe ning
which p uzz led the disciples, wh
en
j ohn sa id, " Master, we saw o ne cas
ting
out
dev ils in thy na me;
a nd we forbade h im, beca use he followcth not
wi
th us." I t was
then th a t the
Lord
gave me insi
ght
in to Christi<tnity, seem
i
ng
ly
div
id
ed
, with
the
same
wor
ds tha t had cl
eare
d
up the
matter
for
J ohn so long ago, when he said in Luke 9:50, "
And
J esus said unto hi m, Forbid him no t ; fo r he that is ot against
us is for us."
1
will never forget that lesson.
ln
my wond er ful jo
ur n
ey t freedom, wi thin th e midst of
these many different denominations, I h
ave
seen as wonderfu l
works a
nd
as deep a love and as diverse g
i( t
s
am
t as
ma n
y
fa
ul t
s
as were described for us by the Lord J esus in R ev. 2
a nd 3, when He reviewed the "seven ch
ur
ches of Asia ." I have
see Christiani ty draw ing men into disciplesh ip with Jes us
Christ. Indubitably
they are
golden
C(lndlesticlu
I hope
that
lhe
ca n
did di
scu
ss
ion
o(
these many wonder(u l ex p
er
iences
will
help Jehovah
's Wicnesses,
and
ot her
cu
lt ists who loo k down
their
noses when speaking of histor ic Christianity - so they
will be advisecl to wa lk softly, and to look circumspectly around
them before they
attac
k histor ic
Chri
s
ti
an i ty on
th
e score
of
dev isiveness.
I
hope
that J ehovah's Witnesses will become wise a
nd
be
advised to
refra in from sinn ing w ith their mouth, and refrain
fro m de nying
Christian
ity its grea t wor ks of love:
for
in deny
ing these they
unwittin
gly become
the
tools of exclusivists and
top-dow n organizers, and of such like
th
e W atch tower So ciety,
who toss them to and fro, a
nd
carry th em about
"wit
h every
w
ind
of do ctr ine, by the sleigh t of men, and cunning craftine
ss
whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (E
ph.
4: 14).
Especially is t
hi
s
true
now, when cul ts
are
co
ming in
like
a Hood on o ne side, and super organizers on the o
th
er
side
are
auempting
to co
n
st r
uct a world-wide strait jacket for his
tori
c
Ch ri
stia
ni ty. "
Lill
ie children, i t is the last time: and as ye ha ve
h
eard
that ant ic
hris
t
sha
ll come, even now
are
th
ere
many
an t ichr ists; wh
ereby
we know
th
at it is the l
ast tim
e. T hey went
ou t from us but they
wer
e not
of
us; for if
th
ey
had
been
of
u
s
the
y wo
uld
no do
ubt
have
co
ntinued
w
it
h us:
but
they
went out, that they might be ma de man
if
est th at they
are
not
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36
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
a f o r ~ i d ~ l e array of w o r ~ e r ~ of iniquity straining to perfect
a strait pcket for Chnstiamty, how
much
wiser
than
con
demning
would
it be to look
at
the works" and
the
"fruits''
and io finding
them,
as I found them
when
I was led i n t ~
thirty-eight _different denominations,
how
blessed will you be
For. m ~ n m g
the1:°
you find historic
Christianity,
loosely or
ganized m many richly endowed spiritual fellowships. n Rev.
2
and
3
note how the Lord
views
the
diversity
of
denominations
ch_urches. Look at this diversity
as
a gift, as a blessing in
disguise.
. From .
the
apostasy
of the Watchtower
system I came free
m one nrght of
prayer.
But
from
heresy and
rebellion
I
only
came free by
being
washed with
the
Word of God and in fellow
ship with the churches
of
historic Christianity.
And thus
, led
by the Lord's hand, I walked into the
light
of Christianity.
The Lord
be
praised
hapter
REBELLION
IS
AS
THE
SIN
OF
WITCHCRAFT
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and
stubbornness
rs
as
iniquity
and
idolatry (l
Sam. 15:23).
A
great
truth
dawns
upon me as I
look with knowing
eyes
upon
the beginnings
of
the
vVatchtower Society. It becomes
etched out
in bold
relief as its history of eighty years passes
in
review before
my
eyes. It cries out as I scan
the fate
of its
adherents. How like Saul is
the
course of the Watchtower
Society
How
applicable to it, as they were to Saul, are the
above quoted
words of
the prophet
Samuel.
Saul then, as well as the Watchtower Society in its begin
ing, obviously had failed
in
some vital way. "Because thou
hast
rejected
the word
of
the
Lord, he hath
rejected
thee
from being
king."
The word of
the
Lord had laid out
the
way in
which Saul
was to behave. The Word of God
has
established
the
way which
Christianity
is to
function. Saul rejected the word of the
Lord
and followed his own, so-called
better
way of sacrifice. The
'"-'atchtower Society rebelled against the way of Christianity
and
followed its own
better
light. To
both
comes down the ver
dict:
Obedience
is
better than
sacrifice."
Word of od Describes
the Stru
c
ture
of hristianity
Historic
Christianity
was established by Jesus Christ
who
is
its
foundation stone. Because of this fact
it
has the
truth
and manifests all the evidences of solid continuity.
n Eph. 4:7-12 we read: But
unto
every one of us is given
grace
according
to the
measure
of
the gift
of Christ.
Wherefore
he saith,
When he ascended
on
high, he led captivity [the way
of the
flesh] captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Now
that
he
ascended,
what
is
it
but
that
he
also descended first
into the
lower
parts
of the earth?
He that descended is the same also
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38
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Historic Ch ristianity, note, t
hu
s
is
built upon the solid
foundation
of
J esus Chr is t.
It
is H e who fills all things - things
below a
nd
above, on this
earth
below, anti in h eaven above.
Th
erefor
e,
C
hri
st
is
th
e cent er. Therein li
es Chri
s
tianity
's
foundati
on.
All Aesh must descend
into
the grave. All who on their
way to
th
e grave are drawn by C
hri
stiani ty
in t
o the new
J esus Christ, ex p
er
ience a new b
irth in
the
spirit
while
m the fles h. As they become filled with Christ, they grow into
th
e image
and
l ikeness of God, and now on
the
way to the grave
have become c
aptiv
e in Chr ist. Descend ing now with
th
e image
of Christ growing within,
the
flesh dies;
but
a
ut
omatically
the
~ d s
totally. to its new cen t
er Christ
Jesus. This asce
nd
seemingly workmg at cross purposes to
th
e desce nding, while
it takes place al ready in this life in faith a
nd
s
pirit
, becomes
in
h
ea
ven a rea
lit y.
. Chri st
ianity,
therefore, is that heavenly society which fun
c-
tions on earth
O
draw,
and
eventually to fill , all who come
unto
the L
or
d J esus in
faith
.
Chr
isti
anity
is
thu
s
th
e most
un
ifyi
ng
and co
mpa
ct
entity
ever envisioned
and
finds
it
s com
ple tion in Christ J esus in heaven, there becoming the fulln
ess
of
him tha t filleth all
in
all (Eph. J
:23).
Onl y God can work such a
work
in us. The Holy S
pirit
was
sent lo perform this work in each and every
indi
vidua l so drawn
C:
h
r.ist
iani t
y. Thi
s
happen
ed al
the
very
beginning
of
Christianity
and
happens ioday. Each and every one born
again, from A
es
h
in t
o s
pirit, gr
ows to the
exte
nt
that
he con-
fesses to lost ones what Christ has done to and for him. Only
l.he_ measure of the individual's gift - or, in terms used by
Scnptur
e,
the
pound,
or
tale
t
sets th e limit o(
gro
wth or
o
ut r
each.
But it pleased God to raise some who are gifted beyond the
me
as ur
e
of
the ca
pabilit
y
of mo
st individuals to assimila te
and
con
e.ss
before men .
th
e good news of salvation . They have this
postt10 not
of
merit, but by grace. God has e
nd
owed
th
em in
a
~ p ~ c
way in.
o ~ d e r ~ h t they ma
y become
an
instructing,
ed1f y
g
and
pc
rl
ectrng gift un to all
with
in histo
ri
c Chris
ti
a
ni t
y.
Wh
y were the ad
ditional
gifts
add
ed un to us, since we are
already rich be
yo nd
co
mpare
and measure, each one of us in
Chri
stia
ni t
y hav
ing
J esus
Chri
st as our cent ral gift of
li f
e?
n Eph. 4:
13
we read:
And he
gave some, apostles; a
nd
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; a
nd
some, pastors a
nd
REBELLION IS AS
THE
SIN OF WITCHCRAFT 39
ministry, for the edify
ing
of the body
of
Ch rist: Lill we all come
in the unity
o( the
faith,
and
of the knowledge of the on
of
God, un to a perfect ma n, un to the measure of the sta
tu r
e
of
the ful ness of Christ.
Your pastors, teachers and evangelists then, are gifts. These
gifts arc given by the Lord J esus to historic Chr istianity, given
not to lord it over her, but to perfect,
ed
ify and minister
unto
her
. T here
almost
leaps
in t
o view one benefit which the
Lord
J esus
through
grace worked
through th
em for us. Perhaps, 1,
as a former heretic, can see it more
qui
ckly an d more read ily.
H so, then I
am
ob liged to draw yo ur atten tion to it with the
grea ter clarity.
Th
ey, and
their minis
tr
y,
have been used th ro ugh·
o
ut
all
th
ese centuries to pres
er
ve the good thing which was
co
mmiu
ed un to thee by
the
Holy
Spirit
wh
ic
h dwe
ll eth
in us.
How? As
Paul
says in 2 Tim. I:
1
3, H old fast the form of
sound words, which thou hast
hear
d
of
me, i faith a
nd
love
wh
ic
h is in C
hri
st Jesus.
onti ity o Christianity ssured
From this we sec that the con tin uity of Chr istian ity is
based in the
main
on two factors, which in
in terp
l
ay
effect a
cha nge in differen t ways in different
ind
ivid uals on the one
ha nd, a nd itself become un changea ble as a mode ol operation
across time a
nd
space on the other hand.
We will use the last aspect first
in th
e framework
of
this
discussion. Through the agency
of
pastors, teachers and evange·
lists, who were gifts given by the Lord
O
Chr i tianity, wou
ld
be
preserved '
'th
e form
of
so
und
words
or
the fa ith once
delivered to the saint
s.
Th i
s would make, througho ut the
whole ten
ur
e of
Chri
stianity, for so
und
d
octr
i
ne''
which in
tu rn wou ld form a sol
id
fou
nda
tion for the
ind
ividual to asce
nd
into th
e image a
nd
likeness of Lhe
Lord, and
into heaven.
Someone once sa id Doctrines are
th
e rungs
of
the ladder up
on
which we
wa
lk in to heaven. That is precisely the th
oug
h t here.
Pa ul clinches this by saying, that pas tors, Leachers and
eva
ng
elists are g
iv
en for the
per
fec
tin
g
of
the saints, for the
wor
k of
the
ministr
y, for th
e e
di fyi
ng
of the
body of Christ.
Now we come to the first aspect.
Th
e mi nistry of pastors,
teachers,
an
d evangelists
in
preserving sound
doc
tri
ne
would
dovetail in to
the
work
of
the ind ivid ual: e
nh
ancing, perfect ing,
polishing,
making more
effective
t
he good t
hing
which was
committed
unto
you by
th
e Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us.
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40
INTO T H E LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
or a new birth . Th a t a lon e coul d come to an
indi
vidi1al
in
comin
g
to th
e ce
nt
er of Chr i
st
ia ni ty, .Jesus Christ. Once that
gift was within an individu al, th ese other g if ts: pastors, eva nge
lists
and teachers
co
uld
p
erfec
t,
mini
ster
unto
, and
ed if
y in
ea
ch.
Mode of eration of the T wo spects
Thi
s
th
en wo uld be
th
e mode of ope ratio n in Chris
ti
ani ty.
The
pasto rs, t
eac
h
ers
and
e
van
ge
lisls wo
ul
d
work
on eart
h to
gen
erate
for Chr is
tianit
y a n a tmosphere a
nd
a backdrop
of
so
lid
un
cha ngea
bl
e truths which wo uld be as solid in operation
as is the
ac tu
al
fou
nd
ations of
Ch ris
tianit
y which is
it
s
center
Christ J esus in heaven.
Chri
st esus
within
us as
th
e image and liken ess
of
God,
which resul ts fr om th e new birth , bro ught to perfection by
th e e
di f
ying, ministerin g a nd pe rfec ti
on
of Lhe sa
in t
s by the
work of pastors, teachers a nd evange list
s
wo uld bring
ab o
ut
a n effectiveness of Christianity's miss io n o n earth wh ich would
resull in bringing untold
milli
o ns unto Chr is t from o ut of
tim
e a
nd
space.
Chr is
ti
a ni ty's m
ag
na carta,
th
erefore, is fou nd in \fart.
28: 19, 20.
T b
ere
th
e th ree-fo ld comm i
ss
ion is Go ye,
there-
fore
, and teach a ll na tions, ba p ti zing th em in
th
e name
of
th
e Father, and of
th
e
So
n , and
of
th e H oly G host: T
eac
hing
them to
observe
all th ings
what
soever l
ha v
e commanded·
you
Note the
two
asp ects here? ( I) All are to
go
o
ut
a
nd draw
all nations by
te llin
g
th
em o f
wh
a t
Christ
has do ne
for
u
s.
(2) After such are dra wn into a perso nal relationship and have
been
bap
ti
zed as o
utw
ard e
vid
ence o f
their
be
in
g born
again,
th
ey
mu
st be
taug
ht
to o b
ser
ve
all
t
hin
gs
what
soe
ver I
co m
manded you.
T he work of th e H oly Sp irit is differe
nt
in every way in
every one of us, and is at tu n
ed
to the mea sure of
th
e g
ift
in
us .
t
becomes
evide
nt and fr u
itfu
l
no
t o nl y if and when
we
become inwa
rdly
filled with it ,
but
when outward ly in our
relation s
hip
and fe llowsh ip with o
th
ers
"we
a ll
come
in
th
e
unity
of th
e
faith
, and
of th
e kn owl
edge
of
th
e Son of God,
un t
o a perf
ec
t ma n, unto
th
e m
eas
ure
of th
e sta tu re
of the
fullne
ss
of Chr ist"
(E
ph . 4: 13
T he m easure of the sta tu re of th e fuln ess of C
hr i
st is
a
tt
a
in
ed whe
n
the
im
age
a
nd
lik
eness
of
God
beco
me
totally
our center of li fe. Christianity thus in fellows
hi p
, edifica tion,
"REBELLION IS AS TH E SIN OF WITCHCRAFT
41
a heavenl y socie ty in which Chr ist as the im age
and
li keness
o E God is
th
e
cen
ter .
ln
a broad sweep, Chr isLianity
thus
unifies th e many differences, but does no t e
limin
ate them .
t unites
th
e ma
ny
lives
which
were scattered by sin a
nd
death ,
but
not
by putting all
in t
o on e ea
rthl
y mold
of cu
s
tom
,
language
or dr
ess. Christ.ianity, by
th
e tes
tim
ony
of
the sa
ved
l
th
e
un
saved , seeks
to draw
others
to
Ch rist . I t ca
refully
watc
hes
for the
fir
st
si
gn
tha t
the Lord
J esus
ha
s
brou
g
ht
ab o
ut a new birth, and immediately starts its inLima te work
of pe rfec ting, ministering and e
di f
ying so th at such may
become tota lly absorbed by C
hr i
st J esus within them .
Cults re Counterfeit in Strncture
l h
ad ju
st
come
out of
th
e New W o rld Society o f J eho
va h
's
Witnesses. When I
discovered th
e mo de
of operatio
n
of
C
hr i
s
t ia
ni t
y
and
its
purpose
o f
crea
ting a s
piritual
society on earth
across time and space,
on
our pilgrim 's tr ek towa
rd
s heaven,
where th e rea li ty is, I m arvelled at the dep r av ity of the Watch-
t
owe
r s
ub
versio n.
This
was
indeed
an
amazi
ng
di
scovery to
m e who had for Li1irty years de no un ced
Ch r
isti anit
y.
I now know tha t a ll cul ts, including the heresies of the
early
Chr istia n age, in te rpose an in term e
di
ary center for sal
va tion . In th is way
they
side tr ack
th
e true purpose
of
Chris
ti
a
ni
ty, w
hi
ch is, to g ive
th
e im
age
and
lik
eness of J esus Christ
full pla
y for growth in
th
e individual. T he c
ul
ts el iminate
Chr ist as th e center.
In ord er to crea te the pos i
tion
of
beco
ming
the
inter
medi
ate cent er,
th
ey
mu st
dest
ro
y
"t
he
form of sound words"
and e limin
ate the
g
if
ts ap po
inted
to
pr e
se
rv
e these intact.
Th
ey
mu
st e
limin
a te the p
osit i
ons o f
pastors,
teache
rs
and
evange-
li sts by se tting th emse lves up, iu the ir new ce
nt
er of things,
as pro mu lga ti ng new truth
s.
These
tr u
ths must be eve
rch
ang
ing
to
ma in ta in a platform of som e thing fresh and new
em ana ti ng Crom
th i
s new cen ter.
This
m ust be so to cover up
th e absence of H oly Spirit. Such have to be ra ised over their
converts so
th
at they may ru le top down, in
contras
t to
pa s
tors, t
eac
hers a
nd
evangel ists, whom
th
e H oly Spirit r aised
out 0£ Chr istianity to wo
rk for eac
h one a pe
rfe
c
tin
g,
mini
ster
ing and ed ifying wo rk.
Thu
s gradu ally from this newly created center, whi ch can
be
ju
st one m an,
or
seve
ra l
,
or
a
gr o
up
.
co
me
top
down
a
ll
in structions, revelations, teachings, evangeli zing. This is not
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42
1NTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
et
h in us," but to bring about adherence to the in
st
ructions
of the cul l, Lhus synchronizing he Jives of all cultists in to a
fleshly uni ty, or a co un terl eit
uni
ty in comrast with the per fect
uni ty in the staLUre of the fulln ess of Christ. The cult thus
frankl y nega tes Chris
ti
anity
and
is an ti-C
hr i
st.
Notice the Change o L ot Upon Coming Into Christianity
The
pr
oof of this can be vividly demons
tr
a ted by m y ow n
ex
perience,
by
what actually happened to me.
ln contrast to this "top-down" activation to which I
had
been subjected for thirty years, T found that in one nig
ht
I
had been lifted up oul of this milieu. How? By reading
W atc
ht
ower books? Nol By the grace show n and granted me
by God
that
night wa s li fted un to "heaven ly places."
Looking back upon this remarkable demonstration of lib
era
ti
on Crom
th
e rules of
th
e
fl
esh, and from the
inverting
force
of
the herd instin ct of organi
ze
d fl esh centered in Broo
k-
lyn, New York, as The New World Society, I
kn
ow what Paul
meam when he said in
Ep
h
es
ians 2:5, "Even when we were
dead through ou r trespa
sses,
made us al ive togeth er with
Christ (by grace have ye been saved) and raised us up with
h im, and made us sit with hi m in heavenly places in
Chr
ist
Jesus."
What
a differe nce th is is comp ared to my life as a J ehovah's
W itness in the New World Society As a fa ithful Kingdom
Publisher and Jehova h
s
Witne
ss
for the long span
of
th
ir t
y
years, I was pushed down, and the
Faithful and
W ise Servant
Class
of
Brooklyn, New York, was
rai
sed up over me. I was
under their thumb. They, perched
hig
h on the ladder of
th
e
hie
rar
chy, ta ug
ht
me top-
cl
own.
In stead of preac
hing
tlie gospel of Jesus Christ, in which
there is power unto salva tion, as a J ehovah s Witness I preached
The Gospel of the Kingdom," ''another gospel." The gospel
of J
es
us Christ ra ises us up to "s
it
with him in heavenl y
places." The Watchtower "Gospel
of
the Kingdom enslaves
men to a herd-like ro
utine
of
the
fles
h. I am now aspiring to
the uniLy of fai th which is the image and likene
ss o[ God,
or
Chri
st
within me
; then I was striving by way of achieve
ment, to create a fleshly unity, with the evidence of the ma rk
on my hands" a
nd
the m
ar
k on my forehead." n Christi
a
ni t
y now, gra
du
ally
Lh
e image
of
Goel is
impr
essed on my
'
'REBELLION IS
AS
THE S
IN OF
WITCHCRAFT"
43
But when I came to the Lord in prayer that night and
shed these m
ark
of
ac
hievement as ent rees for salvation, con
fessing my sin
s,
1 was humbled low. 1 d ied unto the fleshly
works a
nd
its thinking. It is the n
that
I was
ra
ised up , as a
Chr
ist ian, as an individual, to a pla ce with
Chr
ist. I now can
joyously con(ess
that
it turned out to be a " heavenly place."
What a blessing
th
at w
asl
I had
turned rom
the
Wat
c
ht
ow
er
Society, and its works
o(
witchcraft, from its "sleight of men, and
cun
ning craftiness."
I had come home to learn
that
obedi ence is better th an
sacrifice."
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Chapt
r
HEARSAY RE ULTS IN CULTS
H eresy
egins
Early
To the
ex ten t Chrislianity fa il
ed
to earnestly co
ntend
for
the faith
a
nd individual
Christians failed to practice
th
e N ew
Testament
way of
preaching
by discipling'' or
w
itnessing, to
that exlent
heresi
es
came
in
. Someone once said
quite
aptly
Heresies
are the
unpaid bills
of
Christianity.
As I looked back into early times of Christianity, as I
eagerly
did
upon
coming
free,
it
appeared
lhat
when light
shone its
bright
e t
and
true knowledge was diffused every-
wher
e, certai n shadows which could lead to darkness were al-
ready flitting across
1.he
scene.
Thi
s
proc
ess usually affected
in dividuals who
had
failed
t
become synchroni1ed
and brought
in to unity of the fa ith,
and
who therefore looked with contempt
upon the work of pastors, teachers and eva ngelists. The
moment
that happened, such were no longer
gu
ided by the
Holy
Spirit,
but became
add
icted to fa lse teach ings,
harkening
unto such as
dwelt in the shadow
of
Christianity. That is
wh
y
in the
final
ana
lysis,
their behavior
became li ke witchcraft, leading to
rebe
llion to
practice
i t.
In the very age a
ncl
ce
ntury
, when the truths once delivered
to the sa
int
s had just been given, in which the church had
just
been establish
ed
upon
th
e
foundation
or
ce
nt
er
of
Jes us
Christ, you would think
that
preaching by hearsay of.
men
would be en t irely impossible.
Bu t, even while the apostl
es
were sti ll
al
ive, divisiveness was
in ev
id
ence in
Corinth and
in
many
oth
er
pl aces. Could it
be
th
a t the early emergence of fal
se
teaching believed
on
by
hearsay from
some
man,
caused the
Lord
to give
Christianit
y
its special gifts of pastors, teachers and evangelists?
V\That were these spirits against which J o
hn
warned when
he
sa
id
, Believe
not
every sp
irit
? They were, no doubt,
45
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46
IN TO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
tea chings clistracLing
from Je
sus Chr isL as the center
of
their
salvaLion,
or
h
av
ing looked upon
Him
as
th
e
brilliant light of
th
e world f
or
a moment
ca
used
th
em Lo Lurn away from Him.
That moment o f nol walking Lowar
cl
s th e Lord
and
turning
the
ir
backs upon Him was sufficienL LO ca use th em to wa lk in
their
own
shad
ow
away from Hi m . F leeL ing l
y,
no longer looking
up on Christ as the cen ter, they bega n to divide the word of
God
wrongly.
I t is in
th
e
wrong
use
of God's
wo
rd
that
he
re
sy
is effected.
Paul
co
mm ends
the
m e
th
od oJ study practiced by rhe B
ere
an
s.
H e
asked
Christians Lo check in
the
Sc
riptur
es
th
e statement
made by
men
about
them. Whil
e it is commendable
to
study
a ll sp irits, that i s, read or liste n lo the teac
hi n
gs of those who
claim to be born-aga in C
hr i
stia ns, Pa ul warn s the Thessalonians
to prove all things; ho ld fas t tliat whi ch is good . . . (Thess.
5:21).
Already at
that
time Lhe apostle John co
uld
say Believe
no t every s
pirit
, bu t
pr
ove the spir its,
whether
they are
of
God
(I J ohn 4:
J) .
To what are
we
to hold fast ? P a
ul ad
moni sh
ed
Timothy
as follows: Hold fasL t e ro
rm
of so und
word
s,
which
thou
hast h
ea
rd of me, in
fait
h a
nd
l
ove
which is in Ch rist J esu
s
(2
Tim .
I : 13 .
The attack of th e enemy earl y came against the
Word of God, particula rly aga inst th e doctrines once delivered
to
th
e sa in t
s.
It came by rebelli on, or witchci-aft, in teaching
new
and ch anging doctrine s based on a man' s in terpretation.
Why
were
Christians a
lr
ea
dy
warned aL
that
time to prove
all things, or sp irits?
I t
was becau se many would-be teachers
were
no longer adhering to th e form of sound words. John
says because ma ny false prophets are gone out in to the world.
Why gone ou t in to
th
e
wor
ld ?
Th
ey had rebelled against the
Lord 's arrangeme nt and had left th community o Christia nity.
Th ese false prophets arc men who cla im to have to do w
ith
spiritual things
wh
en in rea li ty they are not spi ri tually minded.
They no lon
ge
r hold fast or ad he
re to
the
form of
sound
words.
Departure from
the
Faith
Such dep
ar
mre from the faith came very ea rly. It ca
me
by
way of
rebellion.
I t
came
by way of individuals who manifested
a perverse spirit and
who
promulgated false teachings. Each, in
order to
vi
e
with other
s, h ad
to hav
e teachings
just
a shade
HEARSAY RESULTS
lN
CULTS
47
from the
truth
s once delivered Lo
Lh
e saints. T h ese i'ndividuals
designed th e ir teachings to draw followers a fter th em. Such
followers looked upon these
teach
ers as new centers. They
were, therefore, ta ught to
accept
teachi ngs
based
upon the
h
earsay
from the te
acher.
To the
ex
tent
th
ey fell
for
this,
to
th
a t extent
th
ey de
parted
from the word
of
God.
The
y
were
train
ed to use the word of Gou decei tfully, t
ea r
ing S
cr
iptures
out
of
their
co
nt
e
xt in
order
to
pr
ove
the
st
at e
m
ents of
their
l
ea d
ers or teac hers
to
be
true.
That is how heresy came in.
t first
th i
s departure from
th
e faith w
as ba r
ely p erceptible
to them a
nd
in
th
em. I t
ca
me to ex p
ress
ion in reaso
nings
of
men as these men
evo
lved
their own
way
of interpretations. But
in the ir repetition such human interpretations soon became
embellished, and gradua lly bega n to cong ea l and harden.
Those
who th us dep<Lrted from the truth ac
tu
a lly converted themselves
to
th
e
ir own ab e
r
rations,
a
nd
sub seq uenLly b
ecame
hypno ti zed
in Lh c
ir
fal se teachings.
Thu
s
th
ey convinced
the
mselves
of
the
corr ecLness o( their
conclusio
ns. They b
ecame
hardened by
pr
actice,
thei
r conscien
ce
beca me sered by
th
e
co
ns
tant
r epeti
tion of e
rr
or. Th at is
pr
ec ise ly the process we as J ehovah 's Wit·
nesses hoped Lo accomp l ish when we dev ised the seven s tep
program for prose ly1ing as you n
atl in
my
book T
hirty
Years
a Wal chtower Slave
To
rhe extent
l eare
rs of a f lse leader believed in the
hearsay o[ hi s do ctr
in
es, to th at ex tent
did
they cease to believe
in J
csus Christ. Fa ith in
what
a man sa id, took the
place
of
fa ith in
what
J esus sa id. Th e instructions
o
Jesus as recorded
in Matthew 28:20 t
eac
hing
th
em Lo observe a ll
things
what
soever have commanded you,
wer
e disr
eg
arded.
Jesus Christ,
with
Hi
s teac
hings a
nd co
mm
a
ndm
e
nt
s. no lo
ng
er was
th
e
center of a ll
thin
gs to them. T hey
n
ow had
their own
teacher,
or tea
chers and teac
hi n
gs.
Th at is how heresy is b
orn.
t
is born of disobedience. It is
rebell ion, a
nd
is as the sin or wiLchcraft (I Sam. 15:23).
t
is
no longe r based
up
on th e reve lati on o f Goel given
in Je
sus
Chri
st, mainLa in ecl by
apos
tles, prophets, pas to r
s,
teachers, and
evange lists and the (orm of so
und
word
s la id for us in God 's
wo
rd.
t
ref
uses
to
acce
pt
the ministr y
of
pastors, t
eac
hers and
evangelists. I t doles upon the reasoni ngs and spiri t of on e ma n ,
or a group of men, who are ac lually outside of Christiani ty and
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48
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
illfulness
Forces
rong
ecision
Th
ose who follow the teachings of a heresy, or
of
a man, do
so will£ully. T hey
prefer
to heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears (2 Tim . 4 :
3 .T
hey lik e something new a ll
the
time.
The
ir
s is a
se
n
se
rel igion. Because of that they depe nd upon
th
e whims and caprices of men ra th
er
than upon the work
of
Holy Spirit within them. The worship
th
ey prefer is a wors
hip
based on the rul
es
of
ad
ap
ta tion,
or
the
fl
esh. Such worsh
ip
is
in opposition to
the
sp ir i tual worship pr
ac
ticed in historic
Christiani ty, based on the spirit, with its ce
nt
er in heaven.
Willful men fo llow such a lead. Those taking the lead
in
such a system arc a
nti
-Chr ists. Mo st. of such leaders originally
sinned aga
in
st
better
light. They did so de
lib
eratel
y,
as J ohn
says in the above quoted passage. Seldom,
th
erefore, will yo u
be ab le to win these back to the grace of God.
But
do
n
ot
be discouraged. Rather be concerned that you
may ever be earnestly contending for
th
e
faith
against such,
with th
e
so
uls of lost men as your battlegrou
nd.
In fact heresies
were able
to
rise and divert many
so
uls to
perdition
because
Christianity has often in i ts
hi
scory fa iled
to
defend
the fa
ith
everywhere by using the New Testame
nt
way of preaching,
or witnessing.
tudy of H w Error Is Organized
Ano
th
er chap t
er
will graphica lly show just how such errors
came to co
un
teract Chrislianity in the hearts
of
many. That
happened already in early centuries.
But
here l
et
me say briefly
that
th
e teach us that by far the grea test dangers to
sp
iritu
al worsh
ip
are to arise in the last clays. We
read
Paul's
warn
in
g to
Timothy,
B
ut Lh
e
Spirit
saith expressly,
that
in
la ter times some shall
fa
ll away fr
om th
e faith, giving h
ee
d to
seducing spirits,
and docu
·ines of demons, thro ugh the hypocri
sy
of men that speak li
es,
brand ed in their own consciences as
with a hot
iron
(1 T im.
4:
I .
In what way do such errors come in? Paul shows
th
at they
fi
n t
come in by way of doctrin
es.
Do uble-facedness, or hypocrisy,
causes
part
isans to take
up
1.hese doctrines and s
pr
ead them.
Then that sor t of thing hardens and becomes fixed.
H ow does it h
ar
den? It becomes systematized into routine,
or
a new
sys
tem
of
things, as Jehovah's
Witn
esses designate
th
eir routine. Such systems e
mp h
asize
th
e necessity of work
and
HEARSAY R ESULTS IN CULTS 49
grace is thus forced in to the background. That is h·ow these
systems
pr
ove that they are demon-ins
pi r
ed. And they lead to
perdition which is the l
ot
of the demons.
Jn what
way
do
fa lse teachings make
th
eir
inroad
s
in to th
e
realm
of
sound Christian doctrin
es?
f you listen often enough
to false doctrines and say nothing to coun teract them
in
every
instance, their very repetition may give them the sound
of
truth to you . T ha t is why Paul
admon
ishes early C
hr
istians and
us late r ones, too, to
prove
all Lh in
gs;
hold fast that which is
good (I T hess . 5:2 1 .
In
oth
er
wor
ls,
he warns us to
be
discerning. H ow are
we
Lo do
so?
W e
a.re
to co
un
teract such
doctrines of demons with th e fo
rm
of
sound
words, and our
minds will be renewed and strengthened with every onslaught .
Defense
0£
the faith is lhe bes t
in
surance against reception of
error and a hardened consc ience caused by repetitious bearing.
H owever, if
one
consta
ntl
y listens to the repetition
of
error
and does n
ot
hing to renew his knowledge
of
sound words by
the dai ly
reading
of God's word, then there r
es
ults a
lm
ost surely
a d
epartu
re from
the
fa ith .
n
speaking
of
the work
of
fa lse
teac hin
gs
in latter tim
es,
Pau l shows that it results in a com
ple te depart
ur
e from the fa ith on the
par
t of those who give
heed. H e describes the result of such departu re from so
und
doctrin e into a system of works as being a defiled or seared
conscience.
It
pla
in l
y means
th
at
th
eir wors
hip
becomes
routine
and
h
abi tu
al. I t is
not
daily renewed by the Holy Spirit.
It
is con
trolled by the
fl
esh which cr
ea
tes instincts for religious behavior
or a worship in a carnal way . Worship has become a m
ass
sys
tem, from which all personal relationship to Jesus h
as
been
blotted ou t.
How far has he come at this stage from
th
at in which, as
Pa
ul
put it,
we
are led by the Ho ly Spirit which dwelleth in
you ? The promise of the Lord J esus
th
at the Holy
Spirit
shall
lead you i
nto
all truth no longer applies here.
Tho
se who are
add icted to heresy instead, are '' led
through
the hypocrisy of
men that speak lies.
T he above are the last stages of heresy. No longer do such
teachers, as at first they had done in th e apostolic age, give
ex
pr
ess
ion
to
fin
e shades
of
views on
do
c
trin
es, based on
th
e
tru th once delivered to
th
e saints. No,
here
already these truths
50
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I TO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
as.
a m these false teachers u
se
the Bible deceitfully, as I
will grapluc
al l
y demonstrate
later
we
did
as J ehovah
s
Witnesses.
They
pervert
and
twist
with
lies of cu
nnin
gness, Scr
iptur
e pas
sages torn o
ut of
context, which chimerically c
hang
e aga
in and
again in the retelling.
That is
how it was clone at
th
e beginning
of
th
e Christian age, and that
is
bow it works today.
L aller T imes
y
Worse
. e s y
error
are to become worse
in the latter
days."
Will
it
be in t
er
ms
of
numbers of adherents, or in degree and
kind of deception, or what is even worse, in effic iency?
Nothing has aided the propagati
on
of her esy more
than
the
inventi on of movable type, or printing. This
ca
me in the 16th
century. \Ve have seen
that
the effectiveness of heresy against
the "word of truth" lies in its repetition. False teachers so
on
sensed the poss ibilities.
They
saw
that
this retelling
of
li
es
co
uld
be immeasurably augmented by print. Th ese lies could be
printed
in boo
ks
and
distributed in the
pl
ace of the Bible.
They
could
in
time, take the place
of
God's word. This sub
version could be repeated and repeated in millions of copies
It
would be read by millions
in
the form
of
books, booklets,
pamphlets and magazines. t works
out
that way too.
Its
repetition gradua
ll
y causes a hardening of such stateme
nt
s into
accepled facts in the minds
of
Lhe readers. Slowly method is
in terwoven in to the process of retelling,
and
a
sys
tem is created.
Insensibly
th ese
patterns are arranged to create
an orbit
aro
und
a center
and
then the
center
throws
it
self above the system and
forms a cu lt below, which becomes a schism or a sect. This
lrend leads away from spiritual
pla
ces.
It
is rea lly
th
e
introduc
tion
of
the h
er
d-mentality
of th
e beast into the rea lm
of human
behavior. Heavenly places fade from view.
umanism
or
Humanizing Salvation
Th
e proclivities of the flesh have always enabled man to
adapt him
self to his environment, as well as to mold the en-
vironme
nt
to suit him. This adaptability was crea"ted
right into
Adam. He
was
able to dress a
nd
keep the garden, to adapt
himse
lf to dominion over the beasts, etc. Depraved as all flesh
now is,
t
inva riably wars against
th
e spirit.
That
is
ou
r
great
weakness in the esh, in this body of death. Flesh, plus the devi l,
"HEARSAY" RESULTS
IN
CULTS
51
l
esh Enters Almost Always
Into
Every Move We Make
Let me take an example.
The
Pharisees were accused by the
Lor<l of having
do
ne the same thing in relation to the Law.
The Lord says to them, for
ye
tithe
mint
and anise and
cummin , and have left undone the weightier matters of the
Jaw (Matt. 23:23) .
What were the weightier matters of the law?
They
were
ju
stice
and
mercy
and
faith ,
and
those the Ph
ar
isees
had
left
behind.
They
substi
tuted
a system
of
routine.
With
two-faced
hypocritica l
mi
en the y replaced
ju
s
ti ce
with
es
hly banaliti
es
of
time counting, weighing,
reporting and
outward rituals
of
performances. All
of
these, as you note, are
hum
an equations.
This tells us something very revealing.
Th
e cults and
heresies
o{ th
ese latter times, even as the
Phari
sees which most
effectively opposed Christianity, ar
e therefore
not
in absolute
opposition to everything Christian. This makes them the more
dangerous.
The
J ehovah's Witnesses because of their almost
p
er
fe
ct chimerical blend
of
Scripture, are the most dangerous
in my judgment. I say this adv isedly, as one having come out
of this heresy . I know how it works. We must look for the
quirks
of
the heretical mind .
One
of
th
ese is flesh,
or rather
the abiliLy of the flesh slightly tinged with the spi rit , to adapt
the sp iritual to the fles
hl y.
This creates the appearance
of
rightness of worship based on the Bible. Heretics mouth many
ScripLures .
But note
how they
mi
su
se
the Sc
ripture
s.
They
use
them to prove that they are right. That is of mmost and pri
mary imp
orta
nce to them.
Above all they use terms similar to
th
ose used y Christian
it
y. And never lose s
ight of
this fact, th
ey
are following a hearsay
in terpreta tion of men.
They
s
ub
scribe to listening to a select
gro
up
at some headquarters.
Such sys tems become even more
dang
erous wh en they have
las ted more than two generations. By that time they have gone
to seed. Misled first by false teac
hings,
then by
th
eir own rea
sonings in the second generation, they become finally so hard
ened
and set
in error that
they readily become martyrs for
their tenets.
In
fact they are as willing to die for their error as
if it were the truth. May I say, as my book Thirty Years a
Watc
ht
ower Slave shows (therein lies i ts sign
ifi
can
ce)
that this
has already happened to the Jehovah's Witnesses.
52
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NTO
THE
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?ecomes hardened. That
is
a tragic fact. But far more tragic
1s the fact that
the
Lord
then sends them a strong delusion.
Right after o
ur
court battl
es
, all the way to the United States
Supreme Court, during which thousands were jailed, there came
the
great
delusion of The The
ocracy of
1938.
How
ha
s this altered the behavior of
the
cult? Now the
adherents believe that the y are right, that their way alone is
right
. As proof, we have the fact t
bat
thousands have gone to
jail for
it
and others have died for it.
As yo
u will read
in
my
book Th irty Years a Wat chtower Slave and it is important that
you do read it, I myself was happy and willing to go to
jail
sixteen times, to be stoned on
ce
a
nd
to be mobbed twice. I
would gladly have died for the Watchtower way of error.
The
members of the
sec
t or c
ult
o
ut
of which the power of the
gospel of J esus Christ miraculously saved me, Jehovah's Wit
nesses
, pride themselves
that
their foreheads are become
as
hard as flint, adapting to their own use the Isa
iah
Scripture.
Al
as
, it also shows though , that they have the
mark
in the
forehead
of
the
Wa t
c
ht
ower here
sy
gone to seed.
hapter
HOW RUSSELLISM STARTED
How Did Th ey Get That W ay?
Sharpened by
what
h
appened
to me for thirty years, I have
tra
ce
d for you th e inception,
the
formation, the spreading,
and
the hardening of heresy contra
hi
storic Christianity. I have also
demonst
ra t
ed for you its method of operation to be that which
the Scripture describes as rebelli
on and
witchcraft. Now we
move from the general to the spec
ifi
c. Let us examine the early
beginnings of J ehovah's Wi tnesses.
Ch
arl
es
T.
Ru
sse ll became an agnostic in
1872.
He
rebelled
against historic Christianity and left the spiritual worship of
God. Being in
the
state of rebellion against God, which is
the
conditi
on
of all
reb
els, he looked arou
nd
to find
some
handle
by which he co
uld
ju sti
fy
his positi
on
of agnosticism. A
few
years lat
er
it came his way. H
ow?
Cut
L oose fr
om Ch
ristia
nity One ls
T oss
ed To and
Fro
In Chri
stian circl
es
to be sure such rebellion results in a
depart
ur
e from the faith . This is normally followed by a
smiting of one's former brethren followe<l by filthy dreams
defiling the
fl
es
h, despising dominion a
nd
speaking evil of
dignities Qude 8 .
Having freed himself from the benevolent gifts of Christian
ity - the pasto
rs,
teachers and evangelists - Ru
sse
ll came across
the writings of Mr s. Ellen White. Th
ey fa
scinated Russe ll. He
was particularly fascinated by the newly invented doctrines that
Hell is the grave. Th is did for him,
what Paul
said unsound
teaching generally does to those who rebel against God;
it
tic
kle<l
his ears.
It
did
that
and more.
It ob
li terated for him
the true Bible doctrine that He
is the place of eternal punish
me
nt
of
lost
so
uls
in
torment.
54
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
HOW RUSS£LL1SM STARTED
55
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in
argument
at ion,
and
which
is
pungently described by
Paul
as "deceitfu
ll
y
handling
the word of God."
n this frame of mind he began to s
tudy
the Bible with the
thought of finding tex ts o support his rebellion. His spirit of
inquiry
was
one
of opposing ·•sound doctrine
,
and be needed
the
color of Scripture
o
make his teachings acceptable. He had
to find all kinds of passages which would support his views
even
as
Mr
s.
Ellen
Whi
.te had done. Soon because of his im
proper spirit of inquiry, he began to get what may be termed
half-knowledge of things pertaining to God's word. He became
the co
unt
erpart of an able minister of the New Testament. But
he
ministered to the letter of the word, not to the
spirit
as
did
and do the faithful pastors, teachers and evangelists of historic
Christianity. The result w
as
that his "letter ministry" killed
off
all spirituality (2 Cor.
A closer knowledge of Ru ssell 's experience h
as
led me to
recognize the manner in which I was diverted from historic
Chri
s
tianit
y. Also I know now from wide experience how the
Jehovah's Witne
sses
were severally and collectivelY diverted
from historic Christiani ty. With this knowledge we can accu
rately determine how to work with them. This is very impor
tant All who have turned away from the faith look for Scripture
passages to disprove historic Christianity. You must never allow
th
em to
band
y God's word about in your presence in this
manner.
f
you do, you are helping them o convert themselves
to heresy
right
in front of you. They need your help to free
themselv
es
from this stunt of inversion for which they have
been tra
in
ed. Stop th em every time by making them read in
its context every Scripture they
quote
to you.
Being a methodi
ca
l man, Russell began publishing FOOD
FOR THINKING
CHRJSTIANS, and set up the banner line;
HELL IS THE GRAVE. Th is then
is
the method of heresy.
Gather all passages which seemingly contradict the Bible doc
trine
yo
u wish to oppose, and t
ea
r them
out
of context.
This
was and is the age-old trick of heresy. Set
your
doctrine, then
marshal all the passages of Scripture you can Lo buoy it up and
to give it
Bibl
e color. ln tha t way a barrier is erected against
proper study of the Bible. n this manner
on
e Bible doctrine
after another toppl
es
and
fa
lls.
t
is done by misusing God's
word, by using
it
deceitfully to prove oneself right.
That
is
why
Gotl's Word Prot
ec
t the heretic against him
se lf
(2 Tim.
2:24-26) .
R ussell s H eresy
Could On l
y Be Effective
Outside
of
Chr
is
tianit
y
How co uld Ru
sse
ll get away
with
such doctrinal subversion?
True
, he wou ld at Lract man y who too were rebellious
an
d who
disliked the Bible doctrine of Hell as a place of eternal
punish·
men t in torment. Flesh and blood have always disliked
that
doctrine.
t
hurts That is why il is pla yed clown and watered
down in the thinking of many so-ca
ll
ed Christians today. Show
me
one who deni
es
the existen ce of Hell
and
I will show you
one who is Christian in name on l
y.
But co
uld
Russell continue
his subversion to the point where
it
would beco
me
a
sus
ta
ining
way of life?
Ru s
s ll
Enginee
rs Layman s
Revolt
Being a layman, Ru sse ll naturally led a layman's revolt frorn
historic Christianity.
His prob lem was to find a w
ay
to establ ish himself
as
a
center of a movement of men.
Jn
what garb should he appear?
He hit upon it . He would don
ch
e ga
rb
of a teacher. How
cou
ld
he put himse lf acr
oss
as a teacher? He would start a new
w
ay
of Bible stud y. Fi rst he would set up a pattern of
what
he
wanted to prove. He wo
uld
make sure this pattern was in
contradiction to some Bible doctrine of historic Christianity.
Then he would proceed to do researcJ1, in order to find a
ll
sorts
of Scripture passag
es
to prove his postulale.
In this manner he raised a wall and a tower, a watch tower,
which gave h im the mien o[ a seer on higher grou
nd
t
han the
re
s
t.
H e began to formulate such rindings
in
a
publication
which he called FOOD
FOR THlNKIN
G
CHRISTIANS
. Th is
pamphl
et was pr
in t
ed .and broadcast everywhere.
But mor
e ha
pp
ened.
In
the pro
cess
he became the sole
arbi ler of
wh
at was
o
be published, and
what
co
mbination
of
Scriptures was to be used. T ha t made him the dispenser of new
knowledge, or
as
he called it, '' food." ·whence came this new
food?
t
certainl y did not come from God. It w
as
not the
br
ead
"Jesus Christ" who came
fr
om heaven. No, lhis new food was
expanded Crom the humanly devised
FOOD
FOR
THINKING
CHRISTIANS to a bi-mo
nthl
y paper THE WATCHTOWER
and
was s
ub
sequently augme
nt
ed by six vo
lw n
es
of SCRIP-
56
I NTO T
HE LI
GH T OF C
I N I T Y
HO
W
RUS
SE
LLISM STARTE
D
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Th
e Ho u
se
ho
ld of Faith
.
No
longer was rhc Bibl
e, Cod's
'
l\Tor
, this food.
Hi
s li t
erature
took its place. Cull ism had
come in.
t
ce
nter
ed
first
around hi
s person, th en aro
un
d
hi
s
Im a
ge.
Hi
s I mage was
and
is
THE WAT
CI I
TOWE
R BIBLE
AND
TRACT
S
OCIETY
,
In c.
Remember my former descripti
on
of how her
esy
made its
entr
y
in
former ages? Keep
that in
mind
. Now let us eval
uate
Ru
sselli sm a t this stage in tl1at light.
Whal
wa
s
Ru
ssell' s pri
mar
y a
im
? t was to us
urp th
e task of th e Holy
Spirit and
thus
thwan
th e
in t
erp
lay
of
the two aspects or Chr i
st
ianity.
In this
manner
there emerged a n
ew
center, a lbeit an
in t
e
rm
e
diar
y
one, whi'ch deflected the eyes from
J s
us Christ an d focused
the
a tte
nti
on on the Watchtower Socie ty. The <lrawing-power
of
Ru sse ll a
nd hi
s collabora tors was
no
longer an ex press
ion
and confessing of
what
the
Lord
had one ror them, but a
hu m
an ly de
vi
sed system
of subt
le ar
gument
s.
Thu
s no one was
dra
wn to
.Jes
us C
hr i
st. All were
drawn into
a new way of
thinkin
g and then
in
to the Watchtower Societ
y.
Thi s subversion
rapi
dly became complete. t co
uld
be term
ed
occult,
or
witch
craft
in
nature.
Forming a Gos
pel
s Spearhead for H eresy
Th
e gospel,
or th
e good news
of sa
lvati
on
in
J
Christ,
is
th
e
tr
eme
ndou
s
winnin
g force
of
evangeliza tion. vVith
it
Chri
stia
nit
y has effectively
drawn milli
ons to Christ.
Evang
eliza
tion is therefore a
publi
s
hing
work
of great
m
agnitud
e.
It
is not
only
or
first to be proclaimed by
th
e
prin t
ed page, for each
Chri
st ian is a l
etter
written by the H oly
Spir
it. H owever, be
is not
a
mini
ster
of th
e J
etter (2
Cor. 3:6, a
nd
al
so
2 Cor. 3:2
,3),
but
of
the s
pirit
.
n contrast to
th
e decay and
deat
h of
fles
h
of
every genera
tion everyw
her
e,
the
Christian
confession a
nd
w
itness
carr
i
es
with it the demo
nstr
at ion
of
a tremendous change of life and
presages a com
ing lif
e
in th
e s
pirit in
heaven as
no
book or
pamphlet could ever co nv
ey.
It is a certificate of a new birth
and
indi
sputably draws millions of lost souls to salvation. T his
is THE NEW TESTAMENT WAY
OF
WITNESSING.
Ru ssell cleverly
co
umer-poised this genuine gospel wi
th
a
sp
uri
ous H ar
ves
t Gospel.
Condemning
historic Christianity, he
declared
that
the harvest of the world had beg
un
and now that
a
ll
whea t wou
ld
be
gat
her
ed
in o
ut of hi
st
or
ic C
hr i
stia
ni
ty
and
Thi
s was very clever.
This
kind
of
message was
plausibl
e and
effective only because we
are
living
in
wha t a
pp
e
ar
to be
th
e
la
st days. Its very
pl
ausibility points
it up
as a serious danger
to Christians and historic Christianity. Let us face it, therefore.
Let us not
hide
ostrich
-l
ike fr
om
it
.
Thi
s so
rt of
thin
g,
however, is n
ot
ne
w.
Cult
s usually
pr each a f
orm
of gospel,
or
cry
a
n
ot
her gospel (Gal.
1:6-9).
Th
e cry goes o
ut
Christ
is
wit
h us (Ma
tt
. 24:23,24) .
He
is
h ere.
Russe
ll was a very s
hr
ewd s
tudent of
human
na
tu re.
H e had
some knowledge
of
Chris
tian
ity. H e knew
that
in
her mid
st
was a devoted
cl
ass
of men
w
ho
were pastors, teachers,
and
evangelists; and he
kn
ew why they were there. Becau
se
of
that
it
was
obv
ious to
him
th
at hi
s heresi
es
co
uld
never
fl
o
ur i
sh
within historic C
hri
stia
ni t
y. So, already evinc
ing th
e
natur
e and
tale
nt of
a fa l
se
teacher, or anti-Christ
as
described in I Jo
hn
2:
18, 19
, he c
am
e to his
depart
ure
from the
fa
ith.
In
orde
r to destroy the confidence
of
his
adhe
rents
in
the
benevolent services
of
the pastors, teache
rs
a
nd
evangelists of
hi
storic Christianity,
Ru
ssell attacked
th
em.
He
de
cl
ar
ed that
the cl
ergy had become a co
nd
e
mned
class.
He
allud
ed that in
the pla ce of the clergy
th
e Lo
rd
had set
him
and
hi
s Image,
th
e '
l\Tatc
htower Society.
As l
a
ter se
rvants, they
wou ld
now
fructify the Bible, or
brin
g fo
rth
new lig
ht
or
pr
ese
nt truth,
as he coined it.
VVh
o wou
ld
be
th
e preacher
of thi
s prese
nt
t
ruth ?
I t wo
uld
be a new
mouthpi
ece, or paper,
entit
led
ZIO
N'S WATCHTOWER
AN
D H
ERAL
D
OF CH RI
ST'S
PR
ESENCE. This was .in the year
1879.
Solid round Gives Way to ons tan t hange
That the J ehovaJ
1 s Witn
esses are a
ddi
cted to heresy is
proved
by
wh
at
h
appened to their pr
edecessors
onc
e
they
left
historic Christianity be
hind
.
Th
ere began to ob
tain
an un
healt hy con
ditio
n
of
flux, wi
th li
g
ht
ever changin
g, and
w
ith
revelation by revol
ution.
FOOD
FOR THINKING
CHRISTIANS and ZION
'S
WATCHTOWER
AND
HERALD
OF
CHRIST'S
PR E
SENCE,
became the stage
up
on which was performed a co
ntinuin
g act
of
ventriloquism.
Many
p
oor
ly
inform
ed laymen became
fas
cinat
ed by the performance. Many who h
ad
rebellious
th
oug
ht
s
58
£NTO
THE
LIGI
IT OF CHRL
STJJ\N
ITY
HOW
R USSELLJ M STARTED
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But the mo uthp iece had to have a bod y. Six other
men
were
pr
eva iled upon in 1884 to come in
wi
th Russell and ap pear
before a court of
minor
jurisdiction
in
All
eg
heny Gou 11 ty, Pa. ,
and ask for a corp
ontte
charter. Russell was laying the basis [or
a legal
stabi
li ty wh ich could protect hi s
wr
itings, a
nd
which
would
in
sur
e conLinuat i
on
of his heresies . I
k
was he
re
cr
eating
hi
s Image, to be revived aga in sho
uld
he die before his orga n i-
zat
ion
was
tak
en to heaven.
Thi
s was
to
become
an
u11u
sual
organization
whi
ch was whi le he was alive it wa s his d ummy),
and which was not (a y
ear
an l a h
alf
: i ftcr his dea th it was
d issolved legally by a
Federa
l Distri ct Cour t for the alleged
treason
of
its leaders), and
was agai
(when Rutherford revived
the
Im
age in 1919).
Un
der
it
s aegis as a du
mm
y c:orpo
ration
, o r as the
Watch·
tower once ca
ll
ed it , a beast
of
ll11rtle11
1
THE WATCH-
TOW
ER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIET
Y
for
a
tim
e served as
a fro
nt
for Ru
ssell.
It
gave the a
pp
ea
ran
cc of
many
for
one
man.
It
a
ll
owed
him
to a
ssume
le
ad
ers
hip
a
nd
gave
time
for
his position to je ll in to
an
excl us
iv
e pos
it i
o n amidst
hi
s ad
heren ts. Laymen were deliberately Je
e.I to
lose sight
of
the
form
of so
und
words. H ell as the
pl
ace
of
e te
rnal puni
s
hm
ent or
torment
, 1.he Scrip t
ural
teachings
of lb
e
immor t<i
l the
De
it
y
of Chri
st, th e
Tr
in
ity,
the
bodil
y res
ur r
ection of
.J
esus
Christ, and
th
e gospel
of
J esus C
hr i
st, were s
ubv
en cd a
ncl
sys·
tem
atica
ll
y
overth r
own
in th
eir th
in
king.
This new sys tem
of
t
hing
s, like BABYLON T HE G R EAT, .
graduall
y became filled like a cage full
of
unclean things. This
was done by co nstantly
repe
a ting
in
diffe
rent
combin
ati
ons,
passages
of
Sc
riptur
e to ven tri l
oq
ui ze
doctri
nes of d
emo
ns.
T hese
are
and were that H e
ll
is th e grave,
that
m
an
is
0 11
a par
with
the
beast,
th
at J esus Ch rist is not
God but Co
d's first
creation, and
th
a t the Tr inity is fa lse. These h
er
es ies Ru ssell
did not
inv
ent. He bo
rrowed
them from former here tics: Arians,
Gn ostics, Ma
ni
cheans and Montan ists.
Adaptation
of
Spiritirnl ruths to a System
of
Flesh
Russell now held the fleshly m
ea
ns for
graduall
y
we
l
ding
his hearsay gospe l
into
a new system
of
things to cou
nterac
t
Chri
sti
an
ity.
Th
e
WATCH
TO
WER
ma
gazine
thu
s became
th
e mo
uth·
Ch ristiani ty a
nd
the benefit
of
the
mi n
istry of pastors, · teachers
and
evangelists w
ith
w
hi
ch
Christ
i
an
ity was gifted,
th
ey
fell
easy
pr
ey to
the
cunning
craf tiness
of
th
is WATC
HTOWER
maga·
zme.
n
its pages
doctr
ines
wer
e discussed in a new way. T hey
were n
ot
presented
po
s
it i
vel y as sol id, sound forms
of
words.
No, doctrines were tossed to and fro, kicked around.
Words of
God,
torn
o
ut of
their
proper
set
ti
ng,
emerged
in
ma n
y gyrations
as the new doctrines
of th
e c
ul
t. T hese new doctri nes were
never based on the sol id ground h
anded
clown by the Lord
J esus, the apostles and prophets. They were
the product
of
th
e
win ds
of
imagination . All solidity c;eased. A ni
ghtmare
began.
Thi s was eventua lly to become Lhe Wa tchtower Society des igned
nightmare.
Ru
ssell a
nd
his co
ll
ab
ora
tors consi
stent
ly
worked
th
ro
ugh
his
dummy,
th e W
atchtower
Society.
Th
is was a work
of fl
eshly
a
malgamation
. ln the place
of
Holy
Spirit
,
who
works
di f
ferent
ly in each h
ear
t,
the vVatch
towe r began to create reaso
n·
ing
s to
work
w
ithin
the m
in
ds o(
it
s
ad
here
nt
s.
Thi
s was n
ot
an es t
abli
s
hin
g wo rk.
t
esse
nt i
ally resul t
ed
in a co
mplet
e d is·
soci
at
ion of t·hese
adhe
ren ts for all
tim
e from Ch
ri
stian ity.
No l
onger did
Holy
Spirit
work
in
these so
ul
-washed fo l-
lowers of Ru ssell,
nor
was H e dwell
in
g
within
them.
In
fact,
the y had been led to deny
the
pe rson of the H oly Spir i
t.
In
their thinkin
g th ey had
demot
ed the Holy Sp
ir i
t to be but
th
e
active in fluence
of
God, or
th
e wi
nd.
And, ipso facto since
God's w
ind
or influence now solely
worked
th rough the
WATCHTOWER, us
ing
it as a mo
uthpie
ce, instead of working
in th e heart
of
each adherent ,
th
ey claimed to get thei r new
do
c
trine
s out of the
ai
r. Th ey were
quite cand
id, for every
wind
o( d
octr
ine c
reat
ed in each subsequent WATCH-
TOvVER issue by
th
e sleight of man, actually did beg in to
toss them to
and
fro, from issue to issue (Ep h. 1:9-14). A
kaleidoscopic change thus worked on them to eliminate all
se
mblance o(
personality and inclividuality in
think
ing, un til
they
all thoug
ht alike.
How di<l th
ey clo it?
Th
ey
inv
e
nt
ed t
he
scheme of
pr
esenting
gradations
of truth in
la
yers
of
t
ime. That pr
oved e
ff
ective.
The WATCHTOWER mag
az
in
e
began Lh
e sys tem o f prese
ntin
g
to
it
s readers so-ca
ll
ed
pre
se
nt
truth.
Th'e
expression
p
resen t
u·
uth
is, of co
ur
se, a
pa
radox. But, because
their
teaching was
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IJ RIS
TI AN
ITY
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way, it co
nsta
ntl
y ch
anged in essc
11
cc,
but
it
1t•1111lnctl
"present "
in aspec t
be
ca use
it
was "presently,"
t
or
th
.ll p:11
tirnl:tr
at
leasl,
what
WATCHTOWER lea ders procJaiml'd l<1 he truth .
"Prese
nt
Lruth" became preserH by co111i1111011s dwnge.
To make this c
ul
t become a li ving t h i n it wa s ru.:n.:ssar y to
g ive
t
a n ide
al
a nd
so
a mo<licum
of
(;nod
Nl'Wli i11
o rder
that it might genera te '
'a
nother gospe l."
Jr
h
ad
w
hav
e a sensa
tion
al aspect
about
it.
t had to cause a
drnn
gc
ol
in
its adherems.
What e
xp
ec tation amidst Christians ha s 1
t •
1 ·11 t l'S I
pull
on
th
e
ima
g ination
of
man? Ever
whe
11 c le
av
e lrilitor ic Chris
tianity behind, t
hey begin
to specu la te alJ0 11t 1
t
c Sem nd
Com
·
ing of C
hr i
sr. Even in early Christ iani ty lhaL happc11cd again
a nd again . Ta ke the case of
the
T hcssalo11ia11s. The emire
Chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians shows thal
th
e 1 1 i a n too
speculated abo
ut th
e
Lord
's coming aga i11 , a11d nccclcd correc
tion . The apostles kept them in l ine.
In Lhis layman's movement
of th
e Wl\'l'C l I
TOWER
SO
CI
ETY
th
ough, God's g
if
t to ChristianiLy - pas
to
rs, rca<hcrs a
nd
evangelists - no longer wie l
ded
any influc11 cc. R 11sscll had as·
tut
ely discre
di t
ed
and
di
scarded th
em. T l1u s tlte
RussclliLcs
were
fully
at th
e mer
cy of
Russell
and
his
ima
g
i11a1
io 11 . What was
one o(
Lh
eir
grea
t de usions? They declared our Loni J
cs
us had
r
etu
rned in
Hi
s Seco nd
Comi
ng
unob
served
lo
hurna11 eyes.
R a lher amu. ingly, they d id not recognize thi rclurn u11til 1876,
lwo years
after
i t ac
tu
ally happe
ned.
It was
1
have
tr
a nspi red in 1874.
Lik
e the
The
ssalonians, they had speculated and reached
lheir
co
nclusions. t LOok them,
ho w
ever, all o( two years to
re
cogni ze the L
ord's
re
turn
. Yet, as
Paul
say
s,
in
I T hessa
lon ians, when Lhe Lord comes,
it
wil l not ta ke Lwo years
to
recogni
7e hi
s rel
urn, for
he shall descend with a SHOUT . . . I
Thus Lhe departure Lrom the faith was sign aled in a unique
and novel way.
Th
e vVATCHTOWER magazine
for Lh
e first
tim
e in lhe
hi
swry of the l
ast
2,000 years, promulgated som e-
thing quite
new
, which no other heresy h ilcl eve r proclaimed.
Th ey dcclaretl
th
e Lord's return to be invisible. They made
mu
ch of
th
e new te
rm
they h
ad coin
ed "
Lh
e seco
nd
presence
of
Ch r
ist." This was indeed a departure
t WilS sensaLiona l It drew thousands in to the
WATCH
TOWER orbit. t rea lly tickled the ears
of
lhe o ld hereLicsl
pre
enL LO
hi
disciples throughout the
age
by saying, ''and lo,
I
ain
with you alway, eve n
unto
the end
of th
e
wor
ld" (Matt.
28:20
) .
Russell now infe
rred
that Jesus had L bee n right, Lh
at
in fa ct he
had
been absent all the age. Now, on ly since 1874,
wa
s He rea lly
beginning to
be "
pr
esent. "
Over
cas
ting the tru
e
1 n i n
of the Lord 's return in glory
and
powe
r_ Ru s
s.ell
soned down
Lhro ugh
three
Greek words: Parousw Epipliania
a
nd
Af>ocnlypse.
T h
ese so-called
thre
e s
tag
es
of
th
e
Lord
's
return
,
all eve n including the Apocalypse
which means
revela
t
ion,
were successively reveal
ed
in
th
e columns
o{
THE
WATCHTOWER AND HERALD OF CHRIST'. PR ES.ENCE.
We see
Lh
e creaLion
of
an occ
ull
media
with
.Yfachiavell ian
c
unning. Th
is media is also
th
e cha
nn
el
through
wh ich
en·
lightcnm e
nl
and instruc
ti
on are lo flow w
hi
ch
accompany
the
Lord's Secon
cl
Presence in ord er Lo bring a bo
ul
the
se
ui n
g up
o f a new
wor
l
d, THE
NEW
WORLD OCl ETY on earth.
The
parousia of Ch rist, wh ich li tera
ll
y means "co
ming
near," was in terp reted to
mean
' 'p resence," a
nd Lhi
s " presence"
was sa id
Lo
be an
in
vis
ib l
e one.
On
ce
Lhi
s
in t
e
rp r
etation
was
ac
epte
d, it became very easy for Russel l to set
himself
up
as a
tcac:hcr. H e n
ow
h
ad
a
fi
eld a ll of his own choos
in
g.
But
mo re, this gave Russell a mission lo th is world. Chri
st
had revealed Hi mself
to
him alone ancl could o
nl
y be discerned
by
th
e watchmen standing upon
th
e ram pans of
hi
s
WATCH·
TO
\
VER
SOCIETY.
Christ
's
epip
h nin
or
appearance could
onl y come
in t
o view through the in terpretations given
in
the
co
lumn
s
of THE WATCHTOWER
. These
excat
hed ra s
tate·
mcnls and
reports
would
form the
new GOSPEL OF THE
KIN GDOM, for
whi
ch they misused Matt. 24:
14. In
o th
er
w
or
ds,
the
seco
nd
st
age
of
Chri
st 's re
turn
,
of
H i
s
e
piph
ania
or His a pp
ea r
ing to view, oul o
nl
y mate
riali
ze
to
Wa tchtower
enlightened eyes. Witcl1cra
ft wa
s
at
work
A pocnlyj
Jse
or R eve l tion
Armageddon will
bring
in Lhe Ap
oca
lyp se h e ' . ' A T ~ H
TOWER
ind
eed
is a revel
ation
n co
nn
ecuon
with du
s commg
revel
at i
on of J esus Ch rist from the h
eave
ns, and
th
e false
in t
erpretation
of
it,
is revea
led
th
e
at
titude o( the coming
an ti-Chr ist.
\Vhen sha ll
th i
s wicked one be rev
ea
led ? Paul says "and
th en shall the
wicked
be
re
ve
aled
, whom the L
or
d sh
all
co
n·
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brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after
the
working of Satan with all
power and
signs
and
ly
ing
wonders,
and
with
all deceivableness
of unrighteousn
ess in th em that
perish: because they received
not
the
love of truth,
that
they
might
be saved
[but
deceived it to
argu
e their religion
by
mis
using
it),
and
for this cause shall God send them a s
trong
delusi
on, that
they
should
believe a lie" (2
Thes s.
:8
.
We
see
th i
s prophecy fulfilled
in
th
e
Jeho
vah's
Witn
esses.
Delusi
ons
The greatest delusion which the Jehovah's Witnesses have
accepted is the doctrine of
THE THEOCRACY OF
1938. I
penned from a lifetime of experience in THIRTY YEARS A
WATCHTOWER
SLAVE the steps leading to its un veiling,
and
also painted with a true-to-life brush the effects this
THEOC-
RACY HAD upon th e Jehovah 's Witnesses
up
to 1952. Space
he
re will not permit to discuss
thoroughly the impli
cations,
and
to
unearth
the sinister aspects of it,
as it
bids fair to become
the
greatest
delusion
of
all time.
In
a
coming
book,
The
NEW
WORLD SOCIETY OF JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES,
this will
be completely exposed to view.
But what are these s
trong
delusions in
the
lesser sense? Let
us trace a few of them.
From
the
moment
the
WATCHTOWER was published,
it
was designed to give voice to
a
great delusion, namely, as its
subheading proclaimed for all to see, to
be
ZION 'S WATCH-
TOWER
AND
HERALD
OF
CHRIST'S
SECOND PRES
ENCE.
On
its pages, s
ub
seq
ue
nt l
y,
we see fulfilled everyt
hing
pr
e
di
cted
in
2 Thess. 2. Step by step the r
ea
der
s
conscience became
hard
ened and a new world view al toge
th
er foreign to historic
Christianity
was
fas
hioned. By means of speculation, changes,
new light, new dates, new doctrines, its adherents were tossed
to and fro, and
kept
employed in a g
as
ping chase. To all th is
were addecl
brea th t
aking
expec
ta tions
The panoramic view used by Satan in his th ird temptation,
was used with
great
effect
in
the
columns
of the
WATCH-
TOWER.
t
brought
forth
things old and new. Long before
th
e
invention of the
moving
picture, the
WA
TCHT
OWER
effec
tively
applied it
s
prin
c
ip l
e to
hold
fast
the attention of it
s
term " times
of
the Gentiles" was given a bizarre connotation, to
give credence to
the
predictions for 1914. Then
the
seven
times" of Leviticus 26 came
into
use,
and
was harnessed to put
the accent on 1914.
Slowly 1914 jelled in their thinking.
Everything
and
every
bo dy in
the organization strained
towards that da te when all
expectations were to
be
fulfilled. The faithful would
be
trans
la ted
to
heaven;
the unfaithful would be
destroyed
in
Armaged
don which would then be fought;
th
e
world
would come to
an en d.
n
t
he
Place of Pastors of Christianity a Pastor
Charles
T.
Russell
becam
e the sole
arbiter
of "prese
nt
truth." Insensibly his adherents began to accept him as Pastor
everywhere. His
WATCHTOWER
became the Teacher.
His
dummy, The
'\l\Tatchtower Society, became his evangelist. Really,
he became all three in one. n time he was elected as Pastor of
mo r
e
than on
e t
hou
sand congregations.
Trul
y, now he fulfilled
2
Tim.
4<l-
4_ But
he
did
it
only
in
a
minor,
bagat
elle way,
as
it
turned
out later. Th
e real subv ers ion
on that
score was
several shades lower when
it
came in some twenty years later.
By 1912 Russell was generally hailed
and
accepted to be that
Fa ithful and Wise servant" mentioned in Matt. 24:45-46. Note
how far the subversion
from
historic Christianity bad come
from
lhe date of the laymen's rebellion, which
had
begun in
1876.
In
th
e
plac
e of Christ Jesus as the center of salvation, the
laymen's
rebellion
of 1876
had
placed
the
WATCHTOWER
SOCIETY, which was to become the IMAGE of a man.
In
the
pla
ce
of the
g
if t
s
of
Christianity: pa
sto
rs,
t
each
ers
and
eva nge
li
st
s,
it placed ONE man .
In
the
place of the form of so
und
words
and
of a
mini
stry
"for the perfecting· of the saints" so that they might come " to
the measure o[ the fuln
es
s of C
hr i
st " they had
put
the idea
of
revelation by revolution, truth changing as new light.
In the place of the
fa
ith which was once delivered to the
sain ts," had now come the
th
esis of ever
cha
nging doctrines.
In the pla
ce
of growth towards a filling with the ima
ge and
lik
en
ess
of
God,
o
ur
L
ord
J esus Christ, had come a s
trainin
g
to
wa r
ds a date, 1914.
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thron
es and a
Great
Multiwde
getting
a seco
nd
chan ce to
stand before
th
e throne as servants .
Jn
th
e place of the
pre
sent J
es
us
Ch r
ist, who promised to be
with Hi
s c
hu r
ch alwa
ys,
had now come a
mouthpi
ece whose
reports alone materialized Christ's presence for them in
it
s
columns.
ay
That
Seemeth ight
This
way
of
e
rror
was now louri s
hin
g like the grass. It had
been devised cunn ingly to
es
tablish a new system
of
t
hing
s
to
take the place of histor ic Christianity. Fellow Chr istian,
make
no mistake a
bout
this. The WATCHTOWER
SOCIETY then
established, poses now as God's
organ
iza tion
, and
h
as
elim
inated contempt
uo usly
and
with
mali
ce aforethoug
ht
,
Chris-
tianity,
by puttin
g
it
as
SATAN'S OR
G
ANIZATION.
As suc
h,
the
Watchtow
er Society now ca
mp
aigns for the full destruction
of
Christiani ty in an
Arm
ageddon to come.
Accor
cli
ng to
ch
is concept the harvest,
or ga
th
e
ring
of
all
th e fai thful to the Watchtower nucleus began. Thi s nucleus
now became
th
e R e
mn
a
nt of
the whole age.
Thu
s
th
ey es
tab
i
sh ed successive
limit
ations (or Chri
st
ia
ni ty.
Automatically another
limit
ation was placed, namely, a
limit
of 144,000 memb
ers was decreed for
th
e Chu r
ch
in heaven.
These were daubed the Littl e Flock.'' T his remnant, ga thered
around the WA TCHTOWER, was to be saved <luring the
third stage of the Lord' s Second Presence, the Apocalypse. This
was to be the battl e
o(
Armageddon to be fought
in 1914, when
this world would end .
So li ttle
did th
ey, by that time,
think of
Chri stia
ni t
y,
that
they averred that only a small number of the
144,000
were
saved
during
the whole gospel age, and th at the ove
rwhelming
numb
er were being saved th rough
th
e WATCHTOWER or
gan
iza tion between
1874
to
1914. To th
e
ir
way
of thinking
Christianity had been a total failure.
a
y
of Error omes to aught
A house had been bui lt. house was not built upon the
foundation
which is J esus Christ.
Nor
d id
it
have ;ipostles a
nd
prophets
as pillars.
t
l
ac
ked pastors, teachers and evangelists
as ado
rn
ers.
drawing
, and
th
e heavenly
pla
ce. Soon will come
it
s
fulness
n
heaven when
th
e Lo
rd
of Glory appears in
the
clouds.
The
house
Cha
rl
es
T . Ru
sse
ll built
and
which he l
abor
iously
erected between
1874
and
1914
was co
mpleted
according to
cont ract
in
1914. There was only one thing wrong
with
i t.
It
had been
built upon
the shifting sa
nd
s
of huma
n
interpretation
s.
The moveme
nt
it housed was born in rebellion and
nurtured in
witd1
craft
a
nd
was full
of
uncl
ean t
hin
gs
a
nd
her
esies.
When
J914
came and the predictions
mad
e for
it
did not transpire,
there came a big sto rm as all the winds o f false doctrin
es edd
ied
arou
nd i ts ce
nt
er
and
inve
nt
or. Charles T . Russe
ll
died two
years
la
ter , in
1916. His
house crumbfed
with him
in
utter
ruin
to
th
e dust. It was a terrible fall. But such is human stubborn
ness th at it could be put back together again.
How ? Charles T. Russell had left behind his dummy - the
corporate charter of THE WATC
HTOWER
SOCIETY-as
his
IMA
GE. t is truly to become a
sys
tem
th
at was -
th
en was
no
t.
W o
uld
it
be again?
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Chapter
HISTORIC CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE : HELL IS
A PLACE OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT
Bequea
t s
H eresy
n this IMAGE, the corporate ch
ar
ter of THE WATCH-
TOWER
BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, Russell left behind
more
than
a vehicle of rebellion and a vista of a NEW WORLD
SOCIETY.
With
it, he willed a heresy accomplished. So potent
was this organized
depart
ure from the faith, that it has held
under its thrall not only the Jehovah's Witnesses , but also all
the eleven sects which have revolted against the IMAGE. These
latter rebelled against the manner in which the IMAGE was
revived in the form of
the
NEW WORLD SOCIETY. On their
trek out of it, they could not go back farther than the accom
plished heresy of Charles
T.
Russell.
Herein lies the danger o( Watchtower supervised soul and
brainwashing.
This
is not only a danger for J ehovah's Wit
ness
es Ru sse
llites, or other lost souls;
it is
a
pr
esent danger to
all Christians. Present-day J ehovah's Witnesses know the value
of
attacking
Christian
thinking
with
their
heretical doctrine:
Hell
is
the grave. They already do this unconsciously. It was
the original
pattern
of
their departure
from the faith.
They
follow in Russell's pathway, who
had
rebelled against historic
Christianity and denied the Bible doctrine that H ell
is
a place
of eternal punishment in tonnent.
Once the fatal step to deny this Bible doctrine is taken,
then insensibly the need for salvation from sin and death,
ceases. Only the enormity of a conscious fate in hell, will bring
many unsaved ones to a conviction of sin and to a realizat ion
of
their
hopel
ess
plight. No works, no system of things devised
by humans, can exert benevolent strictures upon this fate
in
the hereafter . Only salvation
in
Jesus Christ can save to the
ut t
ermost, because
on
ly the
Lord
Je
sus is Lord over the living
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could say,
in
Philippians 2:11 : That every tongue should con
fess
that
Jesus
Christ
is Lord, to the glory oi God
th
e Father.
In
the 10th verse Paul says,
That at
th e name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things
under
the earth."
The tongue
a
nd
knees are
organs and parts which only bend and speak while there is life.
f those
in
and
under
the earth (and the sea for that matter
too)
are annihilated and
unconscious,
how
can
they sp
ea
k
or
how can they bend
th
e
ir
knees?
Only a true recognition of what
our
fate in
Hell
can be,
brings
us to a conviction of sin and
unto
Jesus Christ our
Lord
and Saviour. Lose sight of that, deny this doctrine, and you
can from this viewpoint of the flesh be converted to a salvation
in the flesh by some system where pride of achievement can be
employed. That would
not
lead to salvation.
I t
would result
in perdition.
On ly Way
Into
the Light of Christianity
When
once I came free
from the
thrall
of the
' \fatchtower
system, I found myself
in
a
vacuum
as far as doctrines is con
cerned.
But
the Lord took
me
by
His
hand, and led me
step
by step to discard the heresies of Russell. False doctrine after
false doctrine fell before the word of God when once I
learned
to "rightly divide it.
The
manner of describing
what
happened is a living one.
It is nothing more
than
a faithful eye-witness report of what
happened,
to my thinking,
step
by
step
as the Lord led me out
of
heresy into the light
of
Christianity.
This
book is
as
much
an
eye-witness account of
coming
all the way free, as THIRTY
YEARS A
WATCHTOWER
SLAVE
wa
s an eye-witness
account
of how the IMAGE of Russell was revived and brought to life
again.
Both
books
together
can be an inestimable boon to those
entrapped in her
es
ies as well
as
a great he
lp
to
stay
free to
those
who might
be in
danger.
Both books can
be
used effec
tively as missionaries May the
Lord
bless what now follows in a
special way, as it is truly the result of amazing grace that a
report
such
as
this can be wri tten. It is a finding of life.
The Fate
of the
Wicked
Up
to the time
of
my coming free, in my thinking the
wicked" were all those of this generation between 1914 and
Armagedd
on
who
failed to become
Jehovah's
Witnesses . But
chapters of this book. The Lord has shown me that this view
was a warped
one.
It
has now
become clear
to me that at
the
core of this error is a wrong
understanding
of what the fate of
the wicked really is.
Studying God's word
without
Watchtower helps, I found
that
from
ancient
times comes
Jehovah's
positive statement,
There is no peace to the wicked" (Isa. 57:21). Presaging the
coming
oi
peace to those souls whose
spirits failed
before
the
Lord, "whose souls have made (Isa. 57:16), it is shown that
the
Lord's wrath
was upon all the souls
He
had created (Isa.
43:7).
Reading from the 16th to the I 9th verses
of
Isaiah 57, I
began to see the Lord's procedure of enlivening the spirit, or
God-consciousness, of the Israelites.
Of
course, this concerns
souls other
than
Israelites, too. All this has an emphatic con
clusion. The fate of those souls which are
lost
is described,
But the wicked are like the troubled sea, whose waters cast up
mire and dirt. Ther e is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked"
(Isa. 57:20,21).
Echoing,
as
coming from
out of the
depths
of ages of dying
ones on sea,
in
the
earth, in
Hell and Heaven, I
found
this
positive
statement
in Rev. 14: 9-11: And the third angel fol
lowed them, saying with a loud voice, f any man worship the
beast
and
his image,
and
receive his mark
in
his forehead, or
in his
hand,
the same shall drink of the wine of the
wrath
of
God, which is poured
out
without mixture [of mercy]
into
the
cup
of indignation;
and
he shall be tormented with fire
and
brimstone [Gehenna-Hell] in the presence
of
the holy angels,
a
nd in
the presence
of
the Lamb: and the smoke
of
their tor
ment
ascendeth
up
for ever a
nd
ever:
and
they
have no
rest day
and
night
who worship the beast and his image,
and
whosoever
receiveth
the
mark of his name. Note, there is no peace for
the wicked." That is the ever-recurring
refrain
.
Flesh Denies Hell Because It Wants to Escape Punishment
Men who are only born of blood,
and
of the will of flesh,
and
of the
will
of a
man,
but are not born of
God and
deny
that they possess
an
immortal
so
ul (John 1:13 in reverse appli
cation), I realize
from
my own background, will willfully deny
that they are
created
in the
image
and likeness of
God
(Gen.
I :26,27). We
of
Jehovah
's
Witn
esses
in order
to erase
the
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our thinking by willfully painting our lot to be the sam e as
that
of a
beast
.
n
this way we a
dapt
ed our
human
fate to th
at
of a beast, by the ar t of reasoning. Herein , I s
udd
enly realized,
lies the
tremendous
app eal to
fl
esh of the heresy TUAT
HELL
lS THE G
R.A
VE This
imm
edi ately reveals the I ru e flaw in th e
Jehova
h'
s ·
witn
esses reasonin g. For
the
startling fac t is, that the
beas t is made in the image of its own, or species, and .is per
pe
a ted by the process of procreati
on
and
birth.
Ru sse ll had ventriloquized his
denial
of H ell as th e place
of p unishm
ent
in torme
nt
, by using
th
e above ph enomena in
giving his wrong concl usions weight.
He
misused Eccl. 3:1
8
19
I
said in
mine
heart concerning t
he
estare of th e sons of
men,
tha t Goel might m anifest them, and th at they mi gh t see
that
they themselves
are
beasts, for that whi ch befalle th
the
sons
of
men befalleth beasts; even one thing
befalleth
them : as the one
clieth so dieth th e oth
er
; yea, L ey have all
one
br
ea
th; so that
a
man
hath no pre-e
min
ence above a beast: for all
is
vanity ."
l
os
t s
ight
,
how
ever,
in
the misuse
of
t
hi
s
Scriptu
re,
of
the fact that man had lost ' ' the image
and
likeness o( Goel"
which had become marred by s
in
a
nd
death_ Po
intin
g
up
this
prese
nt
-day estate
o(
the
fl
esh in in, degradation and d
ea t
h, so
differ
ent
from what man was crea ted to be, Solomon add s this
significant statemen
t,
Who knoweth
the
spirit of man that
goeth upward,
and
the spirit of the beast that goe
th
downward
LO
the eart h? That which is o( Cod ascendeth, th at which is
nCll of
Go
d,
but
of th e
ea r
lh, desrcml eth .
Seeing
th
e
text
in its con t
ext
suddenly ope ned my eyes.
1
saw th a t Eccl. 3:18,19
in
contex t
points
up quite
su
cc
inctly,
th
at
the fate of a beasl is
quit
e d
iff
ere
nt fr
om tha t of a man.
Wh en man loses
hi
s body by d y
in
g, something else
in
him,
which the beast
hath
no t,
man'
s soul, re
turn
s to
God
and that,
upward R
at
her than teaching that th e
end
of man and beast
are the same it teaches
quit
e the opposite.
But my mind insisted on formu lating Solomon's qu ery
"Who
knoweth? In
E
ze
k. 1
8:
4 I got the
an
swer. It says there,
Be
hold all souls are mine.'' Later, in another cha
pt
er,
we
sha
ll
thoroughly discuss this entire c
ontext
ancl not
ju
st this
one verse.
God
thus is not only the Creator, but far m ore
importan t H e is pictured here to be th e owner
of
all so
ul
s.
or
separated
from Him) , or alive (Jiving un to
God)
not
se
p
ara ted
fr
om
Him
, such souls
are
His.
T
wo
K
in
ds of Vessels
T he distinction of two kinds of vessels is evident only in
existence.
The
distin c
tion
of
th
e
fate
of two ki
nd
s of vessels of
Goe.I can only be ma de if we think of
both kinds as
consciously
alive.
Th is
point
is ra ised by Paul,
in
Rom . 9:21: " H
ath
not the
potter power over the clay, o f
th
e same lump to make
one
vessel un to
honor,
and ano ther
un t
o dis
honor
?"
Th
is Scripture
op
ened my
mind
to see h ow foolish
wa
s my
th inking as a J ehovah's
Witn
ess. Men who arrogantly claim to
die
lik
e beas ts
ar
e accused by Is
aiah
, Surely your
turning
of
things upside down shall be esteemed as potter 's clay: for s
hall
th e work say of him
that
ma
c l
e
it
, H e made me not [
in b.is
image)? Or shall
the
thing framed say
of
him that framed it,
H e had n ot u n c l e r t a n d i r ~ g ?
(I
sa. 29:
16) .
This made me realize
th
at
it
was
high tim
e for me
to
remain quiet
, lo sto p
th
e foolish
process of " reasonings" or co
nt
ending
with
th e Lo
rd
abo
ut
my
f
ate a nd na
ture
. t dawned upon me I better shut up" or I
wo
uld
be ta lking myself into potter's clay to be molded in to a
"vessel of dishonor before I went
into
the grave.
1
concluded right th en a
nd
there,
it
is far better for me
to
say, "But now, 0 L
or
d, thou
art
our
Fath
er: we are the clay,
a
nd
thou our potter ; and we all are
the
work of th y ha
nd
"
(Isa. 64:8) .
vVi
sdom was slowly com ing in to my foo lish heart
as
tru e knowledge of God dawned.
Why
is the above a better attitude for us? Isaiah sa
ys,
vVoe
un to him
that
stri veth with His Maker
Let
the potsh
er
d strive
with the potsherds of the ea rth (the cultists among them
se
lves -
arguing H ell to be
th
e grave, denying it to be
the
place of
ete
rnal punishmen t in torment]. Shall
the
clay say to him th at
fashioned it,
Wh
a t makest thou?
or
thy work, he hath no
han ds? (Isa. 45:9) .
Th
e foll force of this q uestion came home
to me
whe
n I read the whole co
nt
ex t, particul arl y Lhe verses
that fo
llow it Will you read
th
em?
Pride
of the
Flesh Does Not
llow
You to Thinli Rat io
nall
y
b
ou
t H ell
Proud men in
times past, a
nd
now
in pr
ese
nt
times, have
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They desire not to
repent of
their evil and hate to come
humbly
in re
pentance
to
the Lord
. To cover up this
willful
wickedness , they behave like the ostrich, burying their heads
into
the
ear th
(claiming that
Hell
is the
Grav
e) so that
th
ey
can live in the flesh as they please.
Why had I accepted Ru
ss
ell's
he r
esy? I too
liked
to sugar
coat my obstinacy by misusing God's
word
to give authority to
my foolish views. Because
the Watchtower
k
ept me
busy fabri
cating such
foolish views, I fell for th em. Upon my conversion
I had to face th is fact. I was much more to blame for what
happened to me, than were they. They had merely given m e a
means of accommodating my
fl
esh , so
that
I could have a
form
of godliness" while
den
y
ing
the power thereof. " l
had, ever
thereafter, helped
rai
se the cry : "Hell is the Grave, and had
become an interested party
to
it.
Reading
more
of God
s word by itself
without Watchtower
helps, I began to real i
ze
that we Jehova
h'
s Witnesses were not
th e only foolish ones. We had lo ts of company. Israel had often
been lik
e that too. To
them
the
prophet Jeremi
ah had to say,
O
house
of
Israel, cannot I do w
ith
you as thi s potter?
saith
the
Lo
rd
.
Behold
, as
the
clay is in
the
potter's
hand,
so are ye
in
my
hand,
0 house
of
Israel
f
it
do
evil
in
my sight, that
it
obe
y not my voice,
then
I
wnl repent of
the good,
wh
erew
ith
I
said
I would benefit the
m
(Jer. 18:6,
10).
It is almost as if these admonitions
are
spoken to the
Je hova
h'
s Witnesses: "And they said,
There
is
no
hope: but we
will
walk after our
own
devices, an d we will every one do the
imagination
of his evil heart " (Jer. 18:12
). Thu
s, rather-than
to seek to be vessels
of hope
,
when th
ey
died and
were
buried
they went to Hell forever, from whence
their
sp
irit
will be
called
on
the day of
Ju
dgment (Rev. 20
)
an d unit
ed with
a
ho
rribl
e body
of their own
wickedn
ess,
because they
are
objects
of eternal
wrath.
H ow th e above
opened
my eyes Hope is possib le only to
one
who is in
danger of
becoming a vessel
of
wrath
in
a condi
tion
and place
of punishment
in
whi
ch such could conscious
ly
feel
wrath. It
s
then that Rom.
9:22 became clear to me:
What
if
God,
willing to show His wrath, and to make His
power
kno wn, endur
ed with
much
long
-suffering the vessels of
wrath
fitted for
destruction.
his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he
had afore
prep
a
red
unto
glory"
(Rom. 9:23).
Do the
K
inds of
Vessels
Ha
ve Something
in ommon
To understand
th e
fate
of
th
e vessels
of wrath and
that
of
th
e vessels of mercy, I had to understand what they had
in
common, if anything. I found it in
Rom.
9:23 in this statement,
Which He had
afore
prepared unto
glory."
'What was that? Goel made man
in His
image and likeness"
an
immortal
soul
in
a body of flesh.
He,
afore
made him thu
s
constituted, for His glory Tha t is why Ezekiel speaks of
J ehovah say
ing
, "I have no
pl
easure
in the death
[cease to
function
as a vessel
of
glory for wh
ich
I originally fashioned
him] of the wicked;
but
that the wicked turn from hi s way and
live
(Ezek.
33:11).
Obviously all,
whether
good or evil, experience physical
dea th.
f
the wicked
rep
en ts while in
hi
s Hesh and
return
s from
hi
s ways,
what
is
hi
s destiny? Does
he
still di e
ph
ysicall
y,
as
if
he had not
repented
at all? That was
th
e qu estion which now
agitated my
th
inking.
Peter helpe
d
me
out of that s
ordid
way
of
reasoning.
He
says, "
Bl
essed be
the God
and
Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten
us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead''
(1 Peter
1:3).
I was
quick
to no te that
th
e vessels of mercy spoken of by
Paul
in
Rom. 9:23, appear here again.
Thi
s puzzled me. l
1
h y
are
they called vessels of mercy? vVh y not vessels of glory if
th
ey
are
saved?
It
dawned
up
on
me.
They had sinned
and
had
become vessels of wra th , fitted for destruction o
nl
y. But now,
they had
been
born aga
in
or begotten anew to a lively hope.
H
ope
less
inde
ed was the
fat
e
of
man.
Lo
ok at the type of
sentence that would be levelled against him
if
he s
inn
ed, "But
of the tr
ee
of th
e
kno
wledge of good
and
evil,
th
ou sha
lt
n
ot
ea t of it : for
in
the day thou ea tes t th ereof
thou
shalt surely
die. f the death, as
threatened
h ere, would be an
un
conscious
state, then
why doe
s
the
H e
br
ew
in thi
s text say,
dying thou
shalt die"? This is
not
the dea th of a beast. When a beast dies
it ceases to exist and is forgotten.
t
is true, its kind is carri
ed
on
by
pr
ocr
ea
tion
an
d
birth.
This, of
co
ur
se, makes
no
difference
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conlenteclnes
s
etc. All
that
com
es
to an
end when
the animal
di
es. But
Adam was differently cons
tituted.
Adam
was not
on
ly se nse-conscious as was th e bcasl, ab le to
use five senses. Adam h
ad
a soul within him.
Th
erefore h e
was ac
Lu
ally self
-co
n
sc
ious and God-conscious. No t o
nl
y like the
beast s mankind
carried
on by
procreation
and
bi n
h . Adam
was
immortally
consc ious of the fact that he was
Adam
and
noL
his son
s.
As
man
's
bod
y slowly <lies
dai
ly and that amidst tonure
a
nd
lonnent of pa in, worries and troubles, and then th j
s
body
is in
ut t
er decay, it would seem outwardly as if man were
actua
ll y dying like a Least. But this si
milari
ty is o
nl
y
up
to the
grave. Here the similar i ty ends, as Solomon in Ecclesiastes so
forcefu lly shows man s spi rit ' 'goeth upward" to God and the
spirit of the beast
goeth
downward to
th
e earth.
As
man's
spirit,
which was given him by God, turns upward, he remains
he, self-conscious, co
minuin
g in the soul, which is separated
from the body.
What sort of destiny is to be the
ir
s who
are
vessels of mercy?
Peter
con tinue
s To
an in her i tance inco
rr upt
ible a
nd
un
defiled, and that fa<leth not away, r
es
erved
in
heaven for you.'"
This
inherita nce of all such vessels of mercy, then, is in
heaven. It
is
no more
on
earth,
as would have been. Adam 's i f
he had not sinned .
Th
e inher itance of such is - as s
Lh
eir soul
in
se
paration from the body which has decayed - immortal, or
incor ruptible.
But
wh
at
in the vessels of mercy is saved? T he
body?
The
spirit? The soul?
Reading on in l Peter I:9, I
got
a startling answer: "Receiv
ing th
e e
nd of
your
faith, even the
sa
l
vat
ion
of
your
souls.
f
then
the
"vessels of mercy" experience
sa
lv
at
ion of their so
ul
s
with J
es
us Christ, what abou t the "vessels of wrath, fit on ly for
destruction? Especially so since both
the ju
st and
the
unjust will
receive resurrection bodies
in
Lhe
Day of Ju dgment (Jo
hn
5:28,29) .
H e
ll
ls a Pla ce
Slowly I began to rea li ze that what Peter is saying here is,
that
th
ese "vessels
of
mercy" have a soul which, wli.ile they are
dead physically, liv
es
on. For why else, if they did not live on,
would
it
m
atte
r
if
they were saved?
f
th
e
end of
th
eir
sal
vat
ion
place called heaven,
th
en those who are "vessels
of
wrath,
whose souls are
not
saved, must be somewhere else. f not, then
al l of this makes no sense whatever.
I
reall
y g
et
ting into something here th
at
was
quit
e
damagmg to my smug J ehovah 's Witnesses reasoning. At once
I had to as k m yse lf, f it is th e souls
of
the "vessels
of
mercy"
which are saved , and th
at in
heaven,
wha
t happens to the so uls
of
Lhe
"vessels
of wrat
h"?
With
a soul-
pier
c
ing
shoc
k
I realized
how fooli
sh
I had been glibly to u
se
Eccl.
3: 18
19 as depicting
sou l a
nnihilation
, especia lly when I read in
th
e 21st verse, "Who
knowe
th
the sp iri t
of man th
at goe
th upw
ard?" Nobody knows
that by himself, nor by reason
of
other humans
and
their
teachings. God alone knows tha t.
God knows - for H e knows "what
is
in
man
."
What
God
a
lr
eady knows abo
uL
my destiny alas will become common
knowledge in
th
e Day of Ju dgment when all will be revealed.
IC that
is
so, then I will be there: e
it
her as a "vessel
o(
mercy"
or a "vessel
of
wrath."
l t
will be I, either in a body
0£ ev
il
in
which a perv
er
ted soul will recognize itself,
and
I will therefore
know it ; or in a new and glor ious body saved by grace w
ith
all
deformity and sins erad icated
by
the blood of J esus Chri st.
Daniel writes o(
tha
t Day of
Judgm
e
nt
when all this will be
revealed: "And many of them t
hat
sleep in the
du
st of the
earth shall awake, some to eve
rl as
ting lif
e and
some to shame
and everlasting co ntemp t" (Dan. 12: 2). Shame a
nd
co nlempt
are
vivid feelings which
are
possible only because
th
e soul,
or
self-consciousness
of th
e crea tu re is alive f these feelings
are
everlast ing, then what
is
the fate of
the
soul? It is either
ete
rnal
life
or ete
rn al death
Cou
l d
thi
s really
be
, I
mu
sed? The chain reference of
Daniel
12 led me to our L
ord's
words where H e says,
M
arvel not
at
thi s; for the ho
ur
is coming in which all that are in the
graves [the Greek here means remembrance ] shall hear h
is
voice,
and
shall come forth: they that have done good [bu ilt up
their God-consciousness in the spirit]
unto
the resur rection of
li
fe;
and they th
at
have done evil [lived only to gr
at
ify a
se
n
se
consciousness of
their depraved
flesh] unto the resurrection of
d
am
nat ion
(John
5:28,29).
T his text says ll that are in the graves,
all
without excep
ti
on
wi
ll h
ear
th
at
call
This
is a call
not
onl y (
or
the
bod
y
but
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HELL A PLA CE
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the point of se parat ion o( body from soul. J Lhis were not so
the term r
es
urrect ion
wo uld mak
e no sense whatever.
This text speaks of th e resur rection of all - to be united
again,
bod
y and soul. Bodi
es
may be in
th
e sea or in the ea
rth;
bo th are their graves.
Wh
en that call for resur rect ion goes
forth
, and n
ew
bodi
es
are received, or old ones brought together
from the fragmems of
th
e ear th, Lhen even the a
pp
earan ce of
these wil l a
lr
eady
indi
ca te their
eterna
l
destin
y.
The
so
ul of
the wicked will be reunited with
it
s erstwhile body, reflecting
the ev il he pract iced on earth before he died, to live in ever
lasting sha me and
co
nt e
mpt.
On the o ther hand, the so
ul that
was savetl by the blood of J
es
us Christ and cleansed white, will
receive a new wond erful glori
fi
ed body that will instantly re
spond
to every command of its soul for good. Such a
bod
y will
s
hi n
e like a star in heaven. That will be life
as
it was meant for
th e "vessel of glory." T hen, Paul says He will "change our vile
bod
y, that
it may be fashioned like un to His glorious body."
Those havi ng lost th e image and likeness of od shall never
find
it
in the resu
nect
ion,
unl
ess
it has once aga
in
become
impressed
upon
them in a new birth in the spir it. Then they
will receive a
bod
y fas
hi
oned a (ter Hi s gl
orio
us body.
Oth
er
wi
se they
wi
ll
app
ear
in the image of the earthly Adam to
"ev erlas ting shame and co
nt
emp t."
Th
e encl al most always reveals m
ore
a boul
th
e beginning
than does the beg inning. Wilh gre
at int
eres t I read of this s
ad
fact as displayed in Eccl. 8:6, "For to ever y purpose th
ere
is a
tim
e and
ju
dgmen t,
th
erefore the misery of man is great upon
him [here and hereafter) ." Wh
y? Beca
use he is conscious, "For
he
kn
oweth
not th
a t
whi
ch shall be; for w
ho ca
n tell h
im
when it shall be? T here is no man tha t
hath power over the
spirit to
retain th
e s
piril;
ne
ith
er halh he power in the day of
d
ea
th. "
My
ut t
er fool ishness to believe
the
grave to be Lhe end
of
th
e soul was brought forc ibly home to me as I continu
ed
to
re
ad
th i
s Scr
iptur
e to whi ch I had b
ee
n led.
n
the seco
nd
p
or t
ion of ve rse 8 of chap ter 8 "and th
ere is
no
discha
rge in
that war
ne
ith
er s
hall
wick
ed
ness deliver those
that
are given
un to it ." Oh Lord,
what
an escape Where had I b
ee
n trave
ling?
I had been te
llin
g so many that the wicked
are
a
nnihilated
Th
at
the grave
is
the end
"
And
so I saw
th
e wicked buried, who h
ad
come and gone from
the place
of
the holy, and th
ey
were forgotten in
th
e city
where
they had clone so: because sentence against an evil wo rk is
not executed speedily,
th
erefore the hea rt
of
the sons
of men
is
full y set in them to do evil."
Wha t was J read ing here? All of this tu rn
ed
out to be a
de
scription of what happens LO the wi cked after he dies and
ha s been
buri
ed,
as
shown in verse 8. Wilh full force came
the
imp lication of all th is
in t
o my mind as I continued reading
th e 12th and 13th verses, "Though a sinner do evil a hundred
time
s,
and his days be prolonged, ye t surely know that it
shall be well with them
t
ha
.t
fear God, whi ch fear before him;
but
it shall not be well wiLb the wicked, n
eithe
r shall he pro
long his days, whi ch are as a sh
ado
w; because he feareth not
Goel ."
Search as I will, I cann ot find out the des tiny
of
each a
nd
every so ul
individu
ally, and thus Eccl.
8:
17 co
nclud
es, "Then I
beheld all the work
of Go
l
, th
at
a man
cann
ot
find
out
the
work tha t is done
und
er the sun : because though a man la
bor
to seek it ou t, yet he shall not find iL : yea further :
thoug
h a
wise man ma y think to know
iL
, yet shall he not be able to
find it." Th e answer to man 's destiny ca nn ot be
found
on earth
lJnder the sun, as that of a beast can be det
er
mined , because
m an was crea ted "in the
im
age a
nd
liken
ess
of God" who is in
heaven .
I now
kn
ow i
t,
beca use I have learn
ed
to
ap
precia te what
our
Lord J esus said .in J ohn 5:28,29. There will be a day of
Ju dgment
of
the "vessels of mercy " and "t he vessels of wra th ,"
an<l
I ,
and
we all will be
th
ere a
nd
we
wi ll kn
ow
i
t I t m
ay
be
the mosl shameful and contemptuous experience of
our
exist
ence, se
ttin
g an ete rn al pattern of immortality; or
the
most
glorious and joyous experience of our ex istence, in s
uch
heavenly
places as eye hat h not seen, nor ear has h
ear
d of.
Human
T
e1
•ms Seek
lo
Describe the Fate
of
the Sou l
"D us
t"
and "grave," ''sleep" and "dea th " are vivid hum
an
t
er
ms used to describ e
man'
s departu re from
ph
ys ic
al
li fe
on
earth.
Wh
ere does man go when he leaves the earth? H as
the
war com e to an encl for him? Death and grave seem to be the
gates by which man leav
es
the ea
rthl
y scene. Is d
ea t
h a
nd th
e
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O
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me
rcy
and "vessels
of
wrath ?
Thi
s was tanLali zing me. I t
agi Lace c\ my innermosc soul.
Thi
s much I know. When men bega n
to di
e,
th
ey
learn
ed
how
to di
g a grave. As Lhey descr ib
ed
what
they
had
dug
, those
who s
poke
H ebrew ca lled it Queber or so
metim
es ge J rah
H ere is where my
Bible di
ctionary came in handy.
T hough tfully, s
in
ce they really tlid not know wh a t truly
ha
ppened
to ma n
in the
grave,
other
than that th
e
worms
a te
up his body, they were un
sure
what happened to
hi
s ide
nt i
ty or
person, or hi s soul. Then divine reve la tion led
th
em to another
term , sheol. Sh
eo
l Lo them quite often embraced m
ore th
a n
the
grave.
t
m ea nt to them the "
pl
ace of the
unse
en <lead. In
many p laces in the H ebrew Bible we see the contex t limit the
mea ning of thi s remarkable word Sheo l ju st to the gra ve. Bue
in far more places th e co
ntext
gives i ts full meaning mu ch
br
oader pl ay as the place of the un seen dead.
This
wa s a vague
fores
hadow
in g of a
futur
e life.
While
ueber can always be tra nsla t
ed
grave," it is so
tr a
nsl
ate
d, I seem to find ,
th i
rty
-seven times
in the
Ole T esta
ment. Sheol sho
uld
neve r have been lranslatecl at all.
l t
s true
mea ning is a lways de termined by Lle contex t in whi ch it is
found . The
Kin
g J ames Version transla Lccl th is remarkable
word Sheol; Lhirty-one times "grave"; thirty-o
ne
times "hell ;
Lhrec
time
s "pit."
As for Queber or g rave, it m ay belo
ng
to a person
anti
th us
be located in a definite locale and can be d ug,
or
hewn ou t of
a rock (Gen. 50:5). T here are many graves in the la nd (Ezek.
Jtl: l l ,
and
people when
dead,
are
laid
in to a g
rav
e (1 Kings
13:3 0).
In
cem eteries g
rav
es are localed al
ongside
eac h o th er
2 Sam. 19:37). OClen men sprink le dust over a gra ve 2
King
s
23:6).
This
was ce rtainl y revealing to me, as we of the W atchtower
did not use
th
e term
ueber
very much. ·we preferred to in sist
on Sh
eo
l. But
Sheo
l,
T
b
ega
n to find o
ut as
I
continu
ed swdi es
in
th
e
Bibl
e wilhou t
Watc
htower hel ps, in
most
in sta nces, is
not apposite to the bod y. I t is apposit e, or
fitting
only to b e
used
in conn ec tion with
the
soul.
Now wa it , said m y co nscience: cert a inly a body has been
know n to go to Sheo
l. Often
the contex t m akes
Sheol
out to be
the grave.
Bu t
, such Sc
riptures
whi
ch we
.J
eh
ova
h '
s
Witn
esses
work in the g
ra
ve, nor h
ave th
ey any m
ore
a reward, " e tc., ·w
ith
what did they dea l? L
et
me check. Co ntex t a fter con text was
read . Every co nt
ext
on these
va
rious Scrip tures used by th e
.J ehova h 's "Wi Lncsscs shows that they speak of the scnse-perccp·
tions of th e body, and not
about
the soul.
Because these Scrip tu res show tJ1is. the
cults
l
ove
to tear
th em out of context, os tensibl y to Ring
Lh
em at historic Chris
t ia
ni t
y,
but
more sub
tl
y
to
dece ive. O
ur
J e
hovah
's
v\litness
tcchniq uc was to rivet a Christ ia n's at ten t ion
on
these to rn
o ul verses so that th e con text wo uld escape
hi m
.
As to wha t th ese Sc
riptur
es, so lov ing ly used by the J ehova h 's
Witnesses, ac
tu
all y mea n if le ft in their context , l will demon
s
trat
e to you in a coming chapter by full use of th e co n text.
With great
s
ur pr
ise you will Lhcn see that such texts were
del iberately torn out , to b lind the eyes
0£
th e un wary to
prec
io u
s truths en1bodied in
them.
You will then app rec iate
why the apostle describes the d
oc
t rin es o l heresy as
do
ct rin es of
de
mon
s. t is a t
an's
work, and d iabol ica ll y clever.
S/1eol
unlik
e
e
be r
docs
11o l
al way · m
ea
n
gr
:
wc
."
\ V
e
read of
the
sorrows of
Sheol
in 2 Sam. 22:6.
Su r
ely there is
110 sorr ow o[ a ny
ki
nd , or any kind of feeling in th e g rave,
where che b
ody
with its sense percept io ns destroyed, is buried
(Eccl. 9: 5, lO
.
In De
ul.
32:22, the
word
Sh
eo
l is wro
ng l
y translatecl He ll ."
Man 's
anger
a
lready reac
hes to the
grave
or
She
ol. But lhat the
fire of God' s wrath goes beyo nd
th
e grave, is rea ll y wh at Deu
t.
32:22 pos
tu l
tes.
This,
in fac t, is one of
th
e clea r
pr o
jec tions of
Hell beyond the grnve. The grave, as is dea th, is bu t one of th e
gateways to H ell (
Luke
16:22,23).
Pu r
s
ui n
g th is fasc
in
a ti ng subject further, I
noti
ced that reve
l
at ion
s g iven to p
ro p
hets
brought to th
e fore the fir
st
co n
trasting
statements rega rding the destiny of souls. This l
eft
the d
es
Liny
o Lhe body in the grave. J
ob,
un der inspiration, cou ld a
lr
ead y
in his <lay say, Ca nst thou by searchi ng, find out God? Ca nst
thou find out the
Almi
ghty unto
perfect
ion? (Job 11 :7).
For thar m a tter, 'il\That is th e r:rnge o f God's love, or the
depth of His wrath? That is wha t J ob is d riving at.
Th
at is
what is de finitely in hi s mind, for he continues, "
I t
is as high
as heaven; what ca nst thou do? deeper t
han
Sheo l ; wh:il ca nst
th
ou
kn
ow?" (Jo b
11
:8).
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time, I came across a remarkable
thought
expressed by the
Psa lmi.st, of whom I know
that
he was un der ins
pirati
on, which
i
s,
l
J
ascend
up into
heaven,
thou
art there. l I
mak
e my
bed in Sheol, behold
thou
art
th
ere" (Ps. 139: 8) .
We all know that God is alive in heaven. T hus we can
easily fo llow David's state
ment that
H e is alive there, and being
omnipresent, would reach alive
into
the Sheol. He certainl y
would
not
be
or
go alive to the grave,
where the
y ca
nn
ot
h
ea
r,
f
ee
l, see, talk a
nd
walk Thus Sheol here, is
the
place of
th
e
dead, but lo, they are living dead." They arc
mo
st certainly
such whose bodies
ha
ve a
lr
eady been eaten by worms of
th
e
earth, and whose bones have already been burned up by
che
mi
cal actions.
Whil
e the bodies of the
dead
have
thu
s been
di sso lved, still there will be
many
souls who sha
II
co
ntinu
ous ly
exper ience where
th
e worm dieth not, and the fire .is n
ot
qu enched."
But
that is
another
matter, to be di scussed la ter.
Amos, living
mu
ch later
than
David, searchingly
and under
inspiration, came ev
en nearer
to this
truth
. He says,
T
hough
tl1ey
dig
in t
o Sheol,
thence
sha ll
min
e ha
nd
take them;
though
they climb
to
heaven, thence will I bring them do
wn
(Amos
9:2). In any case, observe that the y are alive, though they are
already physically dead.
As God's a no
int
ed
king
, Dav id was sorely oppressed by
ene
mi
es .
These
were
th
e worst
kind
of enemies.
Th
ey were
treacherous ones. ·wishing to be rid of
th
em,
no t
e David's
pr
ayer, Let dea
th
se
iz
e
upon
them,
and
leL them go clown
qui
ck in to Sheol:
for
wickedne
ss
is
in
th eir dwe
ll i
ngs, and
among
th
em (Ps. 55: 15
).
I have to concede, David a
lr
eady
knew
more
abo
ut Hell than the
J ehovah's v\Titnesses do.
Imag
-
ine, David shows th
at
even
after
death
has seized
up
on them,
th eir souls go a li
ve
to
th
e Sheol; and, il is a place where such
sou ls as
the
y fittingly dwell
and
have sui table co
mpany. David
figured shrewdl y
th
a t once they were di spatched Lhere, they
would
not bother hi m
. This was good
re
aso
nin
g, wonderful
disce
rnm
ent of the dest
in
y of the ,w icked. But first of all, it was
God's revelation.
Whil
e Eccl. 9:5,10,
which the
Jehovah 's
Witn
esses
lik
e to use
so mu
ch, conclusively shows that all sense perce
pt i
ons of the
body are gone in the grave, there being no fee
lin
g whatsoever,
David a
lr
eady was awa re, as taug
ht
by
Hol
y Spirit, which I
now know is a lot
bett
er
than
being
taught
by the
at
c
ht
o
we
r
could mea ningly cry o
ut in
the 11
6t
h Psa
lm
, verse
3, The
sor·
rows of dea th comp assed
me
, and lhe pains of Sheol
got
hold
of me; I fo
und tro
ub le and sorrow." He obviously did
not
ex pect obli vion in Sheol,
but troubl
e ancl sorrow
and
pain.
How different from
the
grave does he depict Sheo
l
M
ore
im-
po
rt
a
nt l
y, how fully
he connect
ed the to
rm
en t a
nd tor tu r
e of
d
ying thou shalt die " wi
th th
e co
ntinu
ance of the soul in Sheol
As ocia
Lin
g
pain
with th
e Sheol, David gave elo
qu
e
nt
w
itn
ess
that
he had begun to
un d
erstand
th
e
doctrine
of Hell as being
a place of eternal punishment in torment. However, he clid not
c:learly en un ciate it .
v\Th
y? It had not yet been full y revealed
t
him
. H owever, already he lookecl upon dea
th
and
th
e grave as
the
gates of H ell (
Luke
16:23,24), and already he expressed the
h
ope
th
at
these gates
would
not
pr
eva il aga inst
him
(Ma
tt
.
16: 18). The H oly
Spirit
was a
lr
ead y planti ng Lhis hope in the
hea
rt
s o( men.
Speaking
in
th e same vein as Isaiah h
ad spo
ken, Amos
warns Israel,
''J
have overthTown some of you, as
God
ove
r-
th r
ew Sodom
and Gomorra
h,
and
ye we re as a firebrand plucked
o
ut
of
th
e
burning:
and yet have ye no t ret
urn
ed
un t
o
the
Lord (Amos 4:11). With the
bru
sh of true comp rehension
Amos dep icts this whole n
at
i
on as
being on the road to
Hell
,
and
of
burning
in Sheol,
but
as being arrested on its course by
the grace o( God a
nd
plucked out of
burning
for sa lvation. On
th e
ir
way to d
eat
h and
the
grave,
th
ey were also on
th
e
ir
way
to H ell. Amos already understood
th
e destiny and fate of the
wicked.
lowly now, as I conti
nued
reading God's word,
the
Bible, I
w
as
beg
innin
g to see things by way
of
disce
rnm
e
nt rather
than
by way of
indo
c
trin
a tion.
Th
e
fat
e
of
the
dead,
so long
shrouded
in my be
fuddl
ed a
nd brainwashed mind
, was co
mi n
g cl
ea
r. I
now di sce
rn
ed that the Jews spoke of
Sheol
and
th
e Greeks of
ades.
By th is
tim
e, however, I h
ad
become in tense ly interested.
You already are guessing what was happening, are you no t?
I asked myself, What did Jesus say it was? Wh a t
did He
call it?
T o my s
urprise
I found
that He
calJed
it He
ll ,
or
better,
Gehe
nn
a, Why did H e call it Gehenna? As a Jehovah's Witn ess
I was ta ug
ht
to lay emphasis
on
th is
being th
e n
ame of
a place
o
utside of
J erusalem, in
the
vall
ey
of
Hinnom
,
in
which
the
trash
and
garbage
of
the
city
of
J e
ru
sa lem was
burnt
up. A
82
I NTO T H£ LJ G
HT OF
CHR1STIANITY
HELL A PLACE OF
ETERNAL
PUNISHMENT
83
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1
could
no
longer
go alo
ng
with
what Jehov
ah's Witn
esses
we
re
being taught by
th
e
IMAGE,
the WATCHTOWER SO
C
IE
TY-:- not _after
what
a
lr
eady had
learn
ed, as
yo
u have
read so far. Hurnom, va ll
ey
of Hinnom Where did I h
ear
tha t
before in my
reading
in
th
e ible
?
Had I not
ju
st a li ttle w
hi l
e
ago read about i t? Well, to the Bible
Di
ctionary Ah, Lhere
it
is
. The valley
of
Hinnom is fir
st
me
ntioned
in J osh. 15:8
an
d
in. J osh. 18:11.
n
the
da
ys
of
th
e kings
of
Judah
the valley
Hmnom_ was
th
e scene of wors hip by torturing c
hild
ren to
death with fire
(2
Chron. 28:3; 36:6). Still la ter they built a
shrine for worship to a
god
called Molech, the fire god . This
type of worship was a derisive farce se t up by the devil himself
to u l e
t l ~ e
emerging doctrine
of
H ell as a place
of
etern al
punishme
nt
rn torment, by portraying
it
as if
it
was but a
passing stage. There was nothing eternal
about it at
all
That is precisely what I as one of Jehovah 's v\Titncsscs had
been doing, rai sing all so
rt
s of flippa
nt
points to la ugh
at
Hell.
I shuddered. Oh ,
Lord,
forgive me.
Loo
king further
in to
th
e
Bibl
e
Dictionar
y, I
di
scovered that
much later the
kin
g Josiah, who was a faithful man, razed
Moiech
to
the ground in the vall
ey of
Hinnom.
That
is how
the valley of Hinnom was turned into a clump.
Satan 's
of
H ell, enacted daily in pass ing th rough
the fire _before Molech, and earlier the throwing in of
Ji
ve
humans mto the flames Lhus depic
ting
the
torm
ent of ils flames
lo be
t i n ~ nature,
was now repl aced by faithful Jews as
a dump mto which they threw garbage, trash a
nd
the dead
bodi
es of criminals .
To
refute
Sat
an's ridicule of
Hell
as a place of ete
rn
al
puni
shme
nt
in torment , J esus by usage approved the word
which had com e to describe the place that the dev il had mis·
used as the valley of Hinn om, namely Gehenna." T he Lord
thu s tore the veil of rid icule and mystery away from what had
been practiced in the
va
lley of Hinnom. It was not,
as
tbe
Jehovah 's Witnesses so co nveniently asser t, only a reference to
a place for ga
rb a
ge disposal. J esus was not
he r
e tal
king
about a
dump
; he was spea
kin
g of Heil.
] esus Gives It the T ouch of R eality
This
was
getting br
ea
thtaking
now. followed the formula
fire. In
Matth
ew I learn
ed that
Gehenna (H e
J
) is i:ea
11
y
Christ's
doctrin
e.
He
him
self
me
ntion
s it in Matt. 5:22, 29, 30
as Gehenna; Matt.
7:
19,23, where separation from Chr ist is the
result of eternal punis
hment
in torme
nt
; Mau . 8: 12 where
(Ge
henna) H ell is the condi tion outside of the feasl showing
tha t such recognize their being excluded proving that all the
while they are conscious of
not
being
at
the feas
t.
Ma LL 11 :22-24
where
Hell
(Gehenna) is
dep
icted as
havin
g degrees
of punish
ment
, consciously classi
fy
ing different people and types,
s
ano
th
er point. In Matt. 12:3 1,32 I noted the
Lord
J
es
us dis
cuss ing H ell as punis
hm
en Leternal for the unforgivab le sin.
That Gehenna
is not only a dump outside of J erusa lem as
we
Jehovah's
Witnesses were ta
ugh
t to depi cL it, came clear to
me in reading Matt. 13:40-42. Here
it
is described as a
furnace
of fire." Notice the similari ty of language in describing it
as
a
furnace in
th
e belly o( Molcch (2 Chron. 28:3, 36:6). How like
th e language
of
Isa. 66:24 is the Lord's description of Gehenna
(H
ell) , in Matt. 18:6; Mar k 9:42,43-48. The conscious
puni
sh
me
nt
here for
th
e first time is called
y
our
Lord,
eter
nal.
Ot her s
imilar
s
tatement
s
are
m
ade
by
th
e Lord J esus in
Matt.
22: 13, Matt. 23:
15
and in this la tter chapter the 31st verse. Ob
se rve how the Lord describes the "hellish" natu re in lost man,
which indubitably leads to H ell, which reminds us of David's
same obse rvation in Ps. 55: 15.
Again I came across
th
e Lord 's use
of
the term Gehenna in
Ma tt . 23:31. Still a
noth
er use is gleaned from Mau. 25:30, and
fo
llowed
by
even a more
pungent
u
se of
it in ver
se
46.
From these Ma
tth
ew, a
nd parallel Mark
ancl Luke passages,
I piled
up
to my complete sa tisfaction overwhelmin g evidence
that the Lord J esus taught the doctrine
of
H ell as a place of
etern al punis
hm
ent in to
rm
ent . could not help observe th at
H e called it empha tically, without sugar-coating
it
wi th our
20 th century supersensit iveness, unquenchable fire," outer
darkness," a place of gnashing of teeth and waiting," and a
point
of
no return to
fo
rgi veness, and finally, "better never to
have existed
th
an to be in
it
.
The Doctrine
of
H e
ll
as a Place of Eternal Punishment in
Torment ls a Doctrine Once Delivered to
th
e Saints
84
"TO
THE LIGH
T OF ClIRIST1ANlTY
H ELL A PLACE
OF ETE
R NAL
PUN
HM E T
85
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the .Bible teaches H ell - not
as
a grave - bt1l as a
pl a
ce of ever·
las ting conscio us punislunent.
The doctrin e of H ell as a place for su
ch
punis
hm
ent , I now
sec, thus not onl y com es to us. as i t evolved
in
the
writing
s of
the prophel
s,
but is pl
ai
nly accredited to us by J esus Christ
Him sel f.
Docs
beli
ev
in
g that make me
morbid?
Does it m
ake
ou t
my
God
a fienrl? Does
it
make
our
Lord Jesu
de
s
pi
cable?
Nay,
nay. To understa
nd the
seriousness
of
our plight as men in
eternal
damnation, ho
wever, is to appreciate the
mag it de
of
God s mercy.
That,
it
came
so
clear to me, is wh
at
Paul mea ns
in
Rom.
9:2
1·23. f there were
no
eternal
pu
nis
hm
e
nt
in
to
r
men t in Hell, it s
udd
enly struck
me
wi th great for ce,
then we
wo
ul
d not have needed a Sav iour.
But th
e Lo rd J csus came to
us as o ur R
edeeme
r because there was th is frightful destiny
ahead of us
al l
, as
condemned
souls
who
had
become
"vessels
of
wrath" fit 011ty
for
destruction. H ow clear thal becomes in
His say ings
11
man
were
lik
e a
be
ast, as J eh ova
h'
s
Witne
sses
and
other
cu
ll ists li ke to aver a nd eagerly vie to prove by
mi
susing
Sc
riptur
e, lhen man would
not
be lost. As soon as he died, he
wo
uld
per ish and that wo
uld
be the end o f him as a self
conscious being. H e would
ne
ver recogni le himself anyw here.
Hi
s thoughts,
words
and acts,
performed
in
this bod
y
wou
ld
not in
jud
gme
nt
be resurrected, would not need to come into
.Judgment before
God.
Onl
y as a b
eas
t , before he died , he would
l1
ave
b
ego
tten children and thus the race wo11Jcl li
ve
on in lhem
and <ifter his
KIND.
Tha t is wh
at
happens in the an imal king
dom, to which
.J
eh
ova
h' s Witnesses com p
are
ma n, as far as his
dcs
li n
y is
co
nce
rn
ed.
f
man
di e
s
lik
e a
be
as t, goes to
th
e same
place as a beasl, then he IS N O T
LOST
. H e
wou
ld live, th
en
live on in h
is
offspring.
Bu t,
if
man was created "
in
the im
age and lik
eness of
God,"
His Maker (Gen . 1 26,27), and not li ke the beas t after the
im age of his
KIND
(Gen. 1:24,25),
th
en m an's destiny is an
eternal one. T hat is quite another matter, a far more serious
mat ter (Ma
lt
. I0: 28) .
" Dying t hou s
halt
die" over so long a spell
of
time, has
sh
rouded
in darkness our possession
of "a
n i
mmorta
l sou l." We
fa il to ap precia te that
our
destiny was a nd is, immortal ity Our
Lord J esus tore
th
e ve il from our forge
tf
ulness. H ow?
Th
e
and ha th
brought
life and im m
ortal
ity to light
through
·the
gospel" (2
Tim
. I :
10).
Why the emp hasis he re on "imm ortali ty a m li fe" brought
to ighL? Becau se
th
ese im portan t facts about m an
and
his
d
es
tiny h ad long been shr oud ed in
death, grave
a nd the un seen
heol
an d
Hades
dark ness.
Th
e doctrine of Gehenna, or H ell,
as a place
of
eternal
pu ni
shmen t in torment conu·astively, as
tauglu
by o
ur Lord
Jesus,
brought that eterna
l fate,
as
never
be(ore, to light. H ere are
two
sides of o ur etern al lot: "vessels
of wrath"
and
''vessels of me rcy" who once were mea
nt
to
be
"vessels o f
glory."
The vessels of mercy receive LIFE in J esus
Chr ist in glory, as
th
e "vessels
of
wrath" receive immo rtality
of a I vi ng d
ea
th.
Not o n ly did o ur Lord J esus bring for th to
view
the eternal
destiny
of
Hell which
awa
i ts un r
epen
t
ant
sinners, but as n
ever
before, he
brought forth our
h
ope
for
LIFE
as it
had
been
meant to
be
Jived, in glory his pinpointed the enormity and
scope
o( the act o f
mercy
to be accompli h
ed
by the L
ord
.J
esus righ t here on ea
rth.
In
bringing
to lig
ht
for
those w
ho
believed on Him, J esus opened the way of esca pe from eternal
punishmen t in torment and damnation.
iu: Gospel
of
Salvation
How I praise God, who showed us our great need by the
comi ng of
the
Son,
and in showing it, brought us
so
"great a
salvat ion."
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h p
er
HELL IS
THE
GRAVE, SAY
THE
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
AND
OTHER CULTISTS
Je h
ovah's Witnesses have
undergone
a
comp
lete
soul-wash
ing. This process
ha
s
been
total. I t was accomplished
already
in
the
first
generation
of the
movement
between 1876
and 191
6.
Thi
s was engineered
under
the
able
leadership
of Char
l
es
T.
R ussell. H e developed
the
reasonings
which conjured
up
the
new
doctrines in the
place
of the
doctrin
es onc
e deliver
ed
to
the
saints,
or t
he form of
sound
words
ha n
ded down to
h isloric Christiani ty by
our
Lord J esus Christ, the apostles and
prophets.
T echniques o H eresy
It
was
in
the period
of
18
76 to 1916
that
Charles
T.
Ru
sse
ll
developed
certain techniqu
es
w
hi
ch have become pecul iar to
the Watchtower
system as
represented
b y
the Je h
ovah 's Wit
nesses
today.
Th
e
pattern etched
out was
th is:
Set up an overall
statement
of a
doctrin
e. Give
it
a form which sounds
good
and
different.
\ Vh
at form that doctrine was to take, was for Russell
to say, as he had become the sole arbiter. The
Watchtower
Society, his image as later revived between 1918 to 1942,
in-
herit
ed this position.
Wh
en a pattern had been set, he put up a goal.
In order
to
buo
y up
hi
s doctrine,
he
developed
the
technique of running
to
and
fro
in the
pages of
the Bible and of
tearing suitable
passages out of
context
a
nd
using these
arbitrarily
in ever
changing combina tions. Two things were achieved by
th i
s
technique.
One,
it destroyed the acceptance by
faith
of those
d
octr
in
es once
delivered to
the
sain ts. This was
done
by
ra ising doubts
abo
ut
them
in the
minds
of
the
prospective
converts. Two, by means of reasonings or reason the
true
doctrin
e was
torn
to shreds
and
replaced
wit
h the n
ew
doctrine.
f
the
J ehova
h'
s Witnesses
toda
y
preach
a
doctrine
which
differs from what the
Bibl
e shows
Christianit
y
to
be, it is largely
du
e to their close adherence to Russell 's credo. What was that?
88
1
NTO THE LI
G H T OF CHRI
ST
1AN
ITY
HELL JS THE GRAVE
89
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Come and R eason With Me
Ru
ssell loved to qu o te Isa.
1: 18, Come
now, a nd let us
reason together, sa
iLh
the Lord: tho ugh yo
ur
sins be as scarlet,
th ey sha
ll
be as wh
it
e as sn
ow; th
ough they be red like c
ri m
so
n,
th
ey sha ll be as wool. This passage, he taught, showed that
reasoning'' o(
man
should be used in un derstanding th e u·utb
of th
e
Scriptur
es.
Of
co
ur
se, Sc
riptur
e m
ea
ns some
thin
g e
ntir
ely
differ
e
nt her
e.
God pl eads with Hi s peo pl e to acce
pt
the un chang ing way of
sa lvat io n as described in His unch
anging Word.
Go el wa nts
man
to
change. But
Go
d 's \
iVorcl
a
nd
truth never changes.
Bu t it is this credo, Come now,
and
reason with
me
,
wh i
ch has
pr
omoted the se tting
up
,
ove
r, and
above
th e
Bible
th
e so-called ' '
present
truth
pu b
lished by the
Wat
chtower
So
cie
ty.
t
is th is techn ique of reasoni n
g
whi ch every J eh
ova
h 's
Witne
ss
is La ughl to accep t a nd employ. I t is in this wa y an d
m anner
th
a t they draw co
nverts in to th
e ir ne
t.
Doctrines
Shou
ld Be
Solid Fu
ndamen
tals
Do
ctrines are very
im
portant lo a Chr istian .
Someone
once
said
, and in
thi
s co
nn
ec tion
it be
ars rep
ea
ting, Docu·ines are
th e rungs
of th
e ladder which leads to heaven.
vVhen
were the
doc
trin
es whi ch historic
Christ
iani ty teaches
established? Of the
ear
ly c
hu r
ch it is said in Acts 2:12,
And
th ey continued stea
dfastl
y in
th
e aposlles' do.c
trines
and fellow
ship and
in brea
kin
g
of
br ead , a
nd
in pr ayers.
Not on
ly did
th
ey believe
th
e d
oc
trines taught them by
th
e apos tles, but it is
said
of these ea
rly believe
rs, as
Lu k
e r e
ports in
Acts
5:28,
Behold , ye have fill ed J e
ru
salem with yo ur
do
ctrin e.
Paul rejo ices in the Chr is
ti
ans at R o
me
when he says
in
R om. 6: 17, But
Go
d be thankeel, that ye we
re
serv an ts of sin ,
but ye h ave obeyed from the hea r t that form of doctrine wh i
ch
was de live red yo u. H ere, then, was a lr
eady
a definite form
of
doctrine
delivered. H ow d
ie\
the R oman Chr istians rece ive it?
By reason?
Or
by faith? Pa ul says from the h
ea
r t
;
by faith,
no t by reason .
False Doctrines
Appear
H oweve r, no t a ll in Paul's time rem ain ed in th is proper
re ce
ptiv
e
mo
od in r ega rd Lo doctrines.
We
read
of
P aul 's definite
IL was ag ain st sound doc trines tha t the onslaughts of
heresy were m ade in
th
e first ce
ntur
y. Dr.
Ed
gar Goodspeed,
in
Lh
e foreword
to hi
s 1900 edition of the tra nslation of the N ew
Te s ta ment says that one third of
th
e
writin
gs in
the
t
ext of the
New T estament
are co
nce
rn
ed with the ba
ttle
conu·a heresy m
doctrines.
T h us, wha t
ever
else we may think abo
ut th
e c
ul t
s, and in
th i
s
case
a bo ut
the
J eh
ova
h 's
Witn
esses,
th
ey are
trut
hful when
they boast that the ir doc t rin es have been ta ughl since
th
e da ys
of
th
e apostles . T h ey were th en, and are now,
co
ns
istent
im-
provisa tio ns of reasonings co
nt ra
revela tio n of so
lid
sound
form of words ha nd ed down by J esus, th e a
post
les and
prophets. n th e m a i
n,
heresy's tech
niq
ue then, as now, was to
br
eak dow n the sound fo rm
of
words' ' and ma ke th em fluid
an
d changi ng. Tha t wns a nti
is,
the Mod us Op
erandi of
he resy.
As you exami ne heresy's d
oc
tri nes
th en,
and
th
ose
of
J eh ov ah 's
\IVitnesses now, it will soo n app ea r Lhat Lhe irs is no t
the
sound
form
of
words to wh ich Timothy
wa
s admon ished to ho ld fast
2
Tim. I: 1
3).
Spirit
of
Apf>roach to the Jehovah's Witness Doctrine of
l Jell Is
t i
e
Grav
e
It is
in
this spirit a
nd
wi th th is knowledge
that we mu
st
appr
oach th e .Jehova
h'
s Witn ess doctrine th a t
HELL
IS THE
GRAVE. Th is doctrine is ta ught by them
in
the place of the
Christi an
do
ct rine that H ell is a
pl a
ce
of eterna
l punis
hment
in to rm ent .
\l\fhat is their
do
c tr
in
e
on
t
hi
s po in t? H av ing
examined
close ly
th
e d eve l
op
ment
durin
g O ld
Testament
lim
es
and
h av
in
g
before us the Eull revela t ion of H ell by o
ur
Lord J esus,
we
now
kn
ow tha t
it
was H e
wh
o
br
o ug
ht
li fe and
im
morta
li t
y to
ligh t 2 T
im
.
I:
10
.
In
th
e deve lop ment
of th
e Ch risti an
do c
trine, which cam e by stages of reve la
ti
on, not
reasoning
s, su
ch
words as Sh
eo
l, H ades and finally Gehenn a and Tartarus are
used. As yo u look a t
th
ese words, no te h
ow
these te rm s
are
promi
scuo usly used by the J ehov ah 's W itnesses to
c;rea
te
doubt
abou t the C
hr i
stian doctrine. They ar e ju ggled and some times
lu
mped togeth
er
as one, lo butu·ess the J ehovah's Witne
ss
doctr
in
e.
ehovah'
9
INTO THE LIGHT OF
C
HRISTIANITY
HELL
IS
THE GRAVE
91
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te
x
tb
ook,
MAKE
SURE
OF
ALL
TH
I NGS,
as stated on page
154:
Hell, a defi.nition.
"Fa
l
se
religion leaches
that
he
ll is
a place where the
wicked suff
er a
two.fold
pu
ni
s
hment;
l
he pain
of
loss,
and
the pain
o( sense.
The pain
of loss consists
in the
et
erna
l
separation of
the
si
nn
er from God
and th
e
reali
zation that
the
fa
ilur
e
to reac
h heaven
is due
lo
his fault. The pain of
sense consists in
th
e t
orment
of
unquenchable
fire. t is
claimed that
the
body
by itself is
incapable of pain; it
is
the
sou l
that
suffers.
"This
u
nreasonable doctrine contrad
icts the
Bibl
e,
th
e
truth
of
whi
ch has been con fused by
misrepresenting
in
tr
a nsl
ations of the or
igina l
meani
ng
of three
dist
in
ct
Greek
words
and one
Hebrew word. Sheol, in
Hebr
ew,
and
Hades,
in
Greek,
were
originally
u ed by
th
e
Bibl
e wri ters to rep
re
se
nt gravedom, or the common
grave
of mankind.
Gehenn
a,
in
Greek,
was used as a symbol
of
annihilation
or ever
l
asting
d
ea t
h
in un
consciousness
from
w
hi ch there
was
no awakening.
Tartarus,
in Greek, m
ea
n t a
degraded
or debased condition
on
ly for
rebellious
spirit
crea
ture
s
during
the
ir conscious
lifet i
me
with the certai
n ty of an
nihilation
awaiting them
at the
tim
e
of their execution.
These
original
words
hav
e been
discriminately translated
'hell
,'
'
hell
-fire,· 'grave,'
'p it
'
and 'death.'
The Engli
sh
word 'hell'
is
taken
from
the Ang
lo-Saxon 'hdan,' li ter
a
ll
y
meaning 'lo
conce;i l.' He nce,
the
English
word 'hell,'
to
confor
m wi
th the origina
l
meaning,
scrip
tu r
ally a
pplies
to
gravedom
,
the
common
grave
of mankind,
goo
d a
nd bad
a
li
ke,
in
an
un
conscious
state
wi
tho
u t suffering or pleasure.
After
J esus
introduced
t
he truth about
life
and immortality,
on ly
the
willfully wicked were spoken of as being in
'Gehenna
.'
The
expression
Hades (t
r
anslated
he
ll
) be
ing
ap p
lied to
the dead in God's mem
ory, those
with oppo
r
tunity or
hope
of a resur rection.
ORIGIN
"The false
conceptio
n of
eterna
l
torment afte
r
death
was
introduc
ed ear
ly
in
apostate
Ch r
i
stianity,
and
by
the
Note at the
close
of this quot
a
tion an overall sta
t
ement
.
This
illustrates
lh
eir technique.
J ehova h 's Witnesses use
man
y
Scrip
·
ture pa
ssages,
torn
o
ut of context, to
bu
ttress
the above overall
statement. Thi
s is done
in
an
adroit man
ner an d gives
Bible
color o the
ir crass
statement
of denial
of
the
h istoric
Christian
do
c
trin
e
that
H ell is a p lace of e
tern
al
punishment
in torm
ent.
In this overall
stateme
nt they in clude every
in
gred
ien
t to subvert
th
e
tru
e
doctrin
e by
reason
ing
s
You
will see
this
most
clearly
in
what
follows.
Exconples
o T
ehovah s Witnesses R easonings
n the
firs t col
umn
they use R o
m. 5: 12, 3:23 and 6:23. These
passages
are
used to lend col
or
to
thei
r in
terpretat
ion of
deat
h
and
grave. In
stead of
showing
hell
to
be
t
he
co
mmon lot
of
?ll
ma
nkind in death and
grave, th ese rea
ll
y
po
i
nt up
, as
Paul
mt
encls to
show in Romans,
th
a t
ALL hav
e
sinned, that
ALL
fall sho.rt
o [ the
glory
o( God, no
l
onge
r
being
vessels
of glory"
for w
lu
ch purpose they had been
created in
"the image
and
likeness
of Cod"
(
Gen.
I :26,27) .
Only
half
of
the transitio
n verse of
Rom.
6:23 is used by
them
in
their quote. This
is
done
artfu
ll y
to
cover u p its
true
point. They
quot
e onl y
"for the
wages of sin is death."
n
chis
way they
ignore "but th
e
gift of God
is
eterna
l life
through
Jesus
Chri
st our
Lord.
Their
failure of expl
icitly
using th
is
transition
verse
of
Rom. 6:23
in toto,
can imme
diat
ely be used to s
ho
w
their
m
ethod of
twisti ng
God's
word.
t
presages
what
is co
mi
ng. Be
on gua
rd
How
does it sh
ow
this?
asked
myself,
Wh
y is
th
e second
clause l
eft out? The
r eason is
evident
.
The
second clause
in
application
, proves t
hat both
th e
good and the
bad
live
after
death,
as vessels
of
mercy
and
vessels
of wrath."
R
ead
J
ohn
5:24,
"Verily,
verily, I say
unto
you, he
that
h
eareth my word,
and
believe
th on
him
that
sent
me,
hath everlasting
life, a
nd
shall
not
co
me into condemnation;
but is passed
from
d
eath
to
li f
e.
It
is
th i
s
truth, which
the J
ehovah's Wi t
nesses wish to
hide.
According to thi
s passage
of Scripture
a
believer
in
s
tantl
y
passes
from death to li
fe, as
he
is saved.
From
earliest times,
milli
ons
of
such
saved
ones
have
died and
h
ave been
put
into
92
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
J ehovah 's
W
itnesses say in
their
ove
rall
s
ta tement of doctrine.
" H
EL
L IS
THE
GRAVE
93
vVhcn he descended to the low
er
parts of
the eart
h, as we
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f the
y
are
alive, is
it
their
body,
or
is it
th
e soul?
No
te how this misused pa ssage (Rom . 6:23), when placed
in contex t, can be turned against their false
imp
rovisaLio n.
Was
Jesus L e
ft
in Sheol?
Th
e nex t set
of
passages they misuse are: Ps. 16 :10 and
Acts 2:27: For
thou
w
ilt
not leave my soul in
the
Sheol," and
"Beca use
thou wilt not
leave my s
oul
in Hades."
Th
ey use these passages to
bear up
their
do
c
trine
, tha t
Jesus Christ was not bodily resurrected.
n
th eir thinking H e
ca
me
forth
y in
th
e
Spirit.
They
claim
that
Hi
s body was
dissolved
and
th a t
He
assumed
or created
a b
od
y for each
occas
ion
of
His appearan ce
after th
e resur rect i
on.
This is, of
cour
se, a flat cont r
adict
ion
of Luke
24:36ff.
But let us now turn the
tabl
es
on them
for th eir
mi
suse of
the
se Scri
ptures
.
In
bo
th
passages
it
is s
ho
wn that the soul of
Jesus was not left
in
Sheo
l-Had
es,
which
is
th
e
pla
ce
of
the
un
seen
dead
, as we learn ed the ancients called i t. Jesus' so
ul
was
not
left in the co
mm
on grave of all mankind
How
was
this Scriptur
e fu lfilled?
R
ea
d
th
e
in
s
pi r
ed acco
unt
by Peter , "For
Chri
st also h
at
h
once
suff
ered
for s
in s, th
e
ju
st
foi:
the unju
st,
th at He might
bring us to
God
, being put to dea th in th e flesh [not soul] but
qu i
cken
ed
by th e
Spir
it: by
which He
also we
nt and preac
h
ed
unto the spirit
s in prison" (l P eter 3:
J8,
1
9).
Note, Hi s spirit was
quickened
and not left
in
the grave.
No te also, n
ot in the
fo
rm
of
fl
esh,
but
in
th
e
sp irit and in
a
ll
conscious
ne
ss
did
He
pr
each to
the
s
pirits
in
prison.
Ind
eed, as
pr
om ised in Acts 2:27 and Ps. 16: lO.
Hi
s soul was not left in
Sh
eo
l-Had
es.
Bu
t far m
ore imp
ortant to us,
who
depend
up on this
marv
elous evidence
for
o
ur future re
s
urrecti
on,
Hi
s bod y was
re sur r
ected on
the t11ird da
y,
and
fort
y days l
ater
H e asce
nd
ed
on high
to heaven with i
t.
Thi
s fac t is c
ru
cia lly
important
to u
s,
as P
au
l
riihtl
y asse
rt
s
when he says, Wherefore he sa
ith
, \ \Then he asce
nd
ed up on
hi
gh , wha t is it but that
he
also descended first in to the
l
ower
p
arts of
the ea
rth
? He
that
descended is the s
am
e also
n
oted
previously, he
pr
eached unto the spiri ts in prison
,
and
when he asce
nd
ed on high he t
ook capti
v
it
y ca
ptiv
e."
Only
those who
are
conscious
can
be
impri
soned . At
th i
s
tim
e
th
e
Jews already believed in Paradi
se,
and
th
ey called it Abraham's
lap. That is why they
full
y understood
the
L
ord
's
depiction
of
Lazarus in
Ab
ra
ham
's lap, to m
ea
n Para dise, a nd Di ves place to
mean hell. "
As the
Lo
rd preached to the captives
in
Sh
eol-H ades, so
would
hi sto
ri
c C
hr i
stia nity by
it
s
exampl
e of testim
ony preac
h
to
tho
se ali
ve.
T his
statement
is followed to sh
ow the
a
rra
nge
ment for such pr each ing of
th
e good news. I t is, as has been
s
ho
wn
in
a
pr
evious chapt
er,
aga
inst
th is arr
angement
that
the
J ehovah's
Witn
esses h ave rebelled.
For
that reason
th
ey have
become to ta
ll
y
blind
to this
great
doctrine.
From
what has ju st been
explain
ed, note, how
the Jehov
ah's
\
l\Ti
tnesses can onl y
walk
a mil e
in Scriptur
e
support
for
their
error,
whereas we
go right
on two
mile
s and
the
n some.
M ake Sure of All T hings Affords Us Another
R
ipping c .icample
H ere is an
ot
h er
example
of
ripping
a t
ext in
twa
in
.
n
the
second co
lumn
, p
age
of
MAKE SURE
OF
ALL
THINGS ,
we come upo n another cita
tion of
a half-verse. Luke 12:5 is
qu oted by th
em
to b
ea
r up the
doctrine
that Ge
henna
is
·annihil
ation.
Thi
s passage reads in the
KJV
, "B
ut
I will fore
wa
rn
you whom you sha
ll
fe
ar: Fe
ar him, w
hic
h
af ter
he h
at
h
killed
h a
th
power to cast in to hell :
ye
t I say un to you, Fear
him
."
Thi
s passage is
de
lib
e
ra t
ely
ripped
in
two
in
o
rd
er to destroy
it
s
true me
a ning. L
et
us read
the othe
r part of
Lu k
e
12:4,
wh ich
is by them
cunni
ngly
om
it ted: And I say un to you my friends,
be not afraid of th em that kill the body, and
after th
at have
no
more that they can do.
By r
eadin
g verses 4
and
5 toge
th
er, which
the
J ehovah's
Witnesses endeavor Lo thwart by focusing your attention solely
upon verse 5,
th i
s passage proves
th
at Gehenna is H ell, and not
the
grave,
bu
t far
more
se
riou
s a
fate than
is
phys
ical death
To
preve
nt
y
our
see
in
g t
hi s, the astute Watch
tower Society uses
on
ly verse 5 in
it
s official t
ex
tbook. This is de
lib
era te sub version.
94
I NTO T HE
LI
GH T OF CH R IS TIANIT Y
ou t of co
ntext
to
uphold
their false doc tri
ne
and then to
read
"H
ELL
s T H E GRAVE" 95
I in vite you
no
w to use
with me the Christian
tec
hnique of
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the context i tself. Never fa il to do thal. The contex t usually
shows up the misuse the ' l\latchtower Society has
ma d
e of
that
Scripture. t can also become an eye-open
er
to a J ehovah's
·
witnes
s r i
ght
in fron t
of
you.
oing live to Sheol
Another
passage is c
it
ed in l\i
lAKE SURE
OF
ALL THINGS.
The
y
quote Num.
16:33, "
Th
ey, and
all that appertain ed
to
th
em went
down
a live in
to
the pit
(S
heol) , a
nd
the earth closed
upon
them;
and
they per ish ed from among the congregati
on.
Th is passage as above quoted no more or no less, is actually
m arshaled to up ho
ld
t heir doctrine
that
HELL IS THE
GRAVE
The context, however, of the entire 16th chapter of
Numbers
shows that these were treacherous enemies of the
congregation and that their
puni
shment was so su
dd e
n that it
co
mpletely took them out of sight of the congrega tion. In o tl:er
words they
did not
die
in
th e ord
inar
y way
and
were
not bu
ned
in the
ordinary way of si
nn
ers, bu t the Sheol swallowecl them
up aliv
e.
They did not
go
through the ordinary gates: death
and a grave.
Jehovah's
Witn
esses will say this is not so. To prove
that it
was
so, let me quote David's inspired plea for the sa
me
thing
to
happen
to
his
txeacherous en emies. H e actually
prays, Let
de
ath seize upon them all
and
let them go down qu ick [lik e the
Kora
hit
es in
Numbers
16:33]
into
H ell [Sheol]: for wickedness
is
in
the ir dwellings, and among them (Ps. 55: 15) .
' l\lickedness, as vou
read in
the context
of Num.
16:33, was
in
the dwellings
of
' the Kora
hi
tes. It was truly
among them
. In
this
manner
they were s
ud d
enl y taken and
blotted ou
t as a
pest, by go ing alive
wi t
hout death and grave, in to Hell.
H
iding
the Grave
Much ado is made by the J
ehovah's
' ' itnesses of Job 14:3.
On page 156 of
MAKE
SURE OF
ALL
THINGS,
th
ey quote,
Oh, that
thou
wou
ld st h ide me in the grave, that thou
wo
uldst
keep me
in
secret,
un
til
th
y
wrath
be passed, that
thou
wouldst
appo
in t me a tim e, a
nd
remember me.
Again , please observe their technique. That is what I
want
to fu lly impress
upon
you. T
hi
s verse, too, is torn out of its
context.
vV y?
This
done in order to prove
that
meanin
debunking he resy. What happens when you read the
whole
Hth chapter of Job? Let us read it and see.
. .
.
I t is acwally a
comparison
of man
to
flowers, trees, etc., and
of
man enclosed
in
God's
wr a
th.
Th
e statement
is then
made
that when a tree is chopped down, or dies, its h
ope
to
sprout
out
anew a
nd
live again l ies
in
wa ter reachi ng its roo ts.
Li k
e
animals, trees and flowers, man's body is con
de m
ned to r
etur
n
to d ust
Lo
decay.
But
here is w
here the
likeness ends. Unlike
th em, man does not come back as
him
self in the body.
Why
no
t?
To
crown
this we read in the 10th verse, But man
diet
h,
and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the spi rit [breath of
l ives:
Hebrew]
and where is he?" In the grave? Dead? U n
consc
iou
s?
Comes back J ob's inspired answer,
f
a
man
die, shall he
live aga in?"
What
d id
Job
expect to lose when he d ied? As the
context shows, he
expec
ted to lose his body or sense conscious
ness, as did the tree aml the flower. But he did not expect
to
lose
hi
s soul.
With
the faith of the true Old Testament
be-
1 evers, who were highl y regarded by Goel, as Paul shows in
Heb. ,
Job
sings out
the
great truth concerning Sheol , All
the
days o [ my appoin ted Lime will I wait, till m y change come."
f .Job was expecting to
be un
conscious
in
the co
mmon
grave
of mank ind, then for him time would be no more.
Time: clays
to come, wa i
ting through
them, implies if anything, consc
ious
ness (Rev. 6:9-10) .
The
re is more
to
come. J ob continues in the l 5th verse,
"Thou
shalt ca
ll , a
nd
I wi ll answer thee.
Whom
will the Lord
call? T he body
alo
n
e?
No, more than that. Job says, " I wi
ll
answer
th
ee."
'Who
is I?
It
is
the person
.J
ob,
soul and
body,
who will answer th e Lor d.
The
l
4th
chapter of Job closes with this dear i
ndication
0£
whal happens
in
the Sheol. Speaking of man and hi s demise .Job
depicts
man's
end in the flesh
and
portrays the loss
of
his body.
Job further
s
ho
ws man's inability
to
keep track of the sensu al
world once his body has died and he
ha
s lost hi s sense percep
t ion. t is exactly as we read in Eccl. 9:5,10, For the living
know tha t they shall die:
but
the dead know
not
any thing,
n eit her have they any more a rewar
d;
for the memory of them
. . . .
Whatsoever hand findeth to do,
do
96
INTO THE
LIGHT OF
CHRISTIAN ITY
Even though the body is dead, unable to know a
nd
do any
"HELL IS THE G RAVE"
97
with the Christian tec
hniqu
es for debunking heresy. R ead
th i
s
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thing about the li fe on earth, J ob speaks in the 22nd verse,
"But his l esh
up
on him shall pain and his soul within him
shall mourn ." Who is described her
e?
Thi s is the man who
di ed with
out
hope. Th is
man
is not li ke Job. Although th e fire
of chemi
ca
l reaction have consumed the bones
and
the worms
have gnawed the
fles
h awa
y,
for su ch
th
ere still is
pain
.
As for the destin y of J ob, wh
at
was it? J ob had faith. H e
expressed it
in
the 1
4th
and 15th verses. He says here that he
will
wa it
[or the Lord to call
him
.
H e knows the Lord will call his soul and
body
and sp irit
together aga in . That is why he has peace and rest.
Hi
s flesh
does not burn in reflection on him as it
burn
s upon the soul of
on
e who knows it will get back ngain the body once it has gone
to H ell. As far
as
his sense perceptions are conce
rn
ed,
Jo b
's
case with the Lord rests, because he has fa
ith
in the Lord and
hi
s ca ll. Tha l is why hi soul is not now
tortur
ed and tormented
with what is to come, but is tranqui l and re5 tful. But note th is
outsta ndin
g factor here, both
Job
and
the man descr
ibed
in
pain , are described as being consc ious And that after dea th
What
a beautiful descri pt ion of the Sheol is
that
fo
und in
Job J4.. But
to destroy it for you,
th
e J ehovah's
Witne
sses de
lib
era tely tear from
it
s cont ext a s
mall
verse, verse 13. In th is
way they hope lo rivet your au ent ion on what th y want you to
see. Th ey hope thus to prevent you from see ing what
h
e Lord
caused J ob to write there these many ce
nturi
es ago.
C
ornmon rave of Manlt in
d?
Co
ntinuin
g
ou
r
exam
i11ati
on
of
the Jehovah's
Witnes
ses'
tex tb
oo
k MAKE SURE OF
ALL
THTNGS on H e ll , we find
J ehovah's Witnesses misusing Isa. 38:10,l l , on page 156. T hey
qu
ot
e,
"I sa id, in the noo
ntid
e of my days,
J
shall go to the gates
of Sheol [die and be buried]: I depri
ve
d of the residue of my
years. I said, I shall not see Jehova h, even J ehovah
in
the
land
of the living: I shall behold man no more with the
in h
a
bitants
of
th
e world."
T o what use is this passage put by the J ehova h's Witnes
ses?
I t is used to show that
dead
men are
in
the common grave of
mankind," unconscious. Bu t note aga in, what th e co ntex t teaches
ou th rn.
pas age for yourself
befor
e continuing.
Now
that
you have read the context, let us examine it.
H ezekiah had been very il l.
During
his illness he learn ed a
lesson taug
ht
him by J ehova h. ·wha t was
that
lesson? H e
learned not to live in the
fi
e h, gra t ify
in
g the bodily senses,
which could only res
ult in
bitterne s (verse I
7).
R
ather,
he
l
earned
to
de
liv
er
his soul (seH-con
sc
iousn
ess)
, to deliver
it
now whil e he was alive in the
fl
esh, from the corruption of the
bod y. H av ing been delivered in his living (rom sin of the body
and
in
the soul, he s::tys, "For th ou hast cast all my s
in
s
behind
thy back."
H e says tha t
in
this new sta te
of
affairs he can truly live, a
nd
see Jehova h, the great Cod in whose image and likeness he was
crcated.
' 'Th
e Jiving, th e living, he shall praise thee, as I
do
th is
da y: th e fat her to he chi ldren shall make known thy
truth
"
(Isa. 38: 1
9).
T his is a great
truth
Th i
s is life thi s living
in
th e land of the livin
g
Let the lesh, which goes on to corruption
in
th
e grave die
now
as H
eick
iah lea
rn
ed,
so
that
y
our
so
ul
may be delivered from
i
s wo rk a nd a
lrea
dy
un
encumber
ed
by
it
now, can soar in the spirit to live foreve r
T ha t is wha t Isa. 38: 10, J I teaches when read in its context.
The J ehovah's ' t\lit nes e do not wan t yo u to see that.
That
is
why th e ' '\fatchtower ociety rivets your attention to just verses
JO
and
11. ln
chis mann er you become blind to
what
Hezekiah
rea lly lea rned
during
his illness.
Crmrl sion
Ever) pa
ss
age the o
ffi
cial tex tbook of the J ehova
h'
s
Witn
esses,
JJ\K SUR E
OF LL
T HJ GS, used on pages 154-164, to
pro
ve
H
ELL
IS T H E GRAVE,
and
there are many, can easily
be refu ted by using the
hr
istian tec
hniqu
e o f
debunking
heresy. Let them
qu
ot
e,
then stop them at
the
end of quo t
e,
ge t
yo
ur
Bible, and read the contex t.
Always, when you are co11frontecl
wit
h th e c
rud
e procedure
o ( cu ltists to rip a passage out of context, lov ingly put
it
back
in to context aga in.
Do n
ot
let J ehova h's Witnesses and oth er cu lti sts in your
hearing and
pr
esence band y God's word about. Do not permit
them
to
rform
ju
gg ore Stop th
98
INTO
THE
LICHT
OF CHRISTIAN
ITY
and
in
so do
ing
you will ea
rn es
tly contend for the fa
ith once
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delive
red
Lo
th
e
sa
ints.
In
that
manner,
you will repel the
enemy's s
ubtl
e onslaught against yo
ur
faith, and may
be
.
in
stru-
mental in winning
lost souls for
Chri
st. t is as simple as all that.
Chapter 8
WHICH
IS
TRUE: HELL
IS A PLACE
OF
ETERNAL
PUNISHMENT IN
TORMENT,
OR HELL IS THE GRAVE?
Do
Not
Accept octrine
y
R easoning
Never
rati
onali
ze
a doct rine of historic Christianity with its
oppos ite heretical doctrine
in
comparison f yo u do so, you
un consciously give room to the doctrine of heresy in your
thinking. H eretical doctrines have remained alive because de-
fen ders
of
doctrin
es
of
hi
storic Christianity have
do
ne so
in
the
pa
st.
Wh
y is thi s so?
Why
has the
cont r
oversy co
ntinu
ed without
c
onclu
sio n when in speaking ab
out
the
Chri
s
tian
doctrine
of
the de
it
y of Christ, the
apo ti
e could close ou t all a
rgument
about
the ma uer by say ing
th
at no man can say
th
at J
es
us is
th
e
Lord
,
but
by
th
e Holy
Spirit
(1 Cor.
12 :3)?
All doctrines
o
nce
de
livered unto the sa in ts have re-
mai ned
dominant
within the
pr
ec incts of
hi
storic Christianity,
becau
se
they are accepted by faith as
th
e
truth
revealed by o
ur
Lo
rd es
us, the apostl
es
and prophets.
It
wa s sufficient for
Timo
th
y to have the apostle Pa
ul
admonish
him
,
Hold
fast
the
form of so
und
words, which
th
ou hast h eard from me,
n
f ith and love which is in Christ J
es
u
s.
That good thing
whi ch was co
mmitt
ed
unt
o thee keep by
th
e Holy
Spirit
which
dwelleth in us
(2
T im.
l:
13,14) .
Why th
en, have
th
ese do
c-
trines
rema ined domina
nt
? Becau
se
th e H oly Spirit upheld
them wit
hin
the be lieving hea rts of Chri stians ever thereafter,
as generation came, a
nd
generation went.
D
oc
trines of H eresy rot ght
ln
y Demons
T o say
th
at there is a ''t heology' ' of
th
e c
ul t
s is a gross
misnomer, and shows a compl ete lack of understanding of the
c
ul t
s. Doctrines ' 'of demons ca me in ea rly to oppose tru e Chris-
tian doctrines. Wh at are these doctrines? These are the views
100
T O T HE
LI
GHT OF CHRJSTJANITY
tickled th e ir
eil
rs. Look ing for
somet
hi ng n
ew
m
any
list en
to
WHI
CH
IS
TRU
E? 101
call
ed it.
Wh a
l 1 h
ad
n
ot bee
n a
ble
to do
in thi
r ty
yea
rs of
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wh
at is sa id a bout n
ew
d
oc
tr ines.
Fin·all y th
ey acce
pt
th
em
.
' Vh
y?
T hey li
ke human
reason ings
better
t.han to
exerc
ise
faith
in the Lo rd a nd His
word
. T hey
arc
foll
owe
rs of men in a
na tu ral way,
an
d
accep
t hearsay' more r
eadi l
y
t.b
a reve
ht i
o
n.
H eret ical doc tr ines a re only possib le as
suc
h, apar t from
r
evealed tru
th,
in
the of e
rr
or
in
o
pp
os
it i
on
to truth.
Men
raise
d
oc
trin
es
in
o
rd
er
to
pe
r
vert
t
ru
e d
octrin
es.
Jn
th i
s
mann er th ey emp l
oy t.h
e tec hniques of demon
s
or of Sa
ta
n,
wh
ose ti
tle
me
an
s
Th
ey use
th
e Sc
riptur
es
in th
e
wa
y t
he
dev
il
docs, qu o ting wrongly
in
order to d eceive .
Thus
it is in herent ly im poss
ible
to d iscuss th e doc trines o f th e cu lts
ra
ti
onall y by co
mp
a
rin
g
th
em w
ith the
d
octrin
es once de
liver
ed
to
th
e s
ai n
ts. H
erc
is
why
it
w ill
fail.
T wo K inds of Knowledge
Jn
o
th
er
wo
rds,
th
ere
ar
c t
wo kind
s
of
kn
ow
led
ge:
( I) true
kn ow
led
ge
as revealed
by
Chri
st.
J esus,
th
e ap
os t
les a nd
pro
ph ets,
and
(2) fal se
kn ow
led
ge in th
e
or
m
o co
nclu
sions
through
Lh
e process of fa
ul l
y r
easo
nings or reasoning
fr
om false
prem ises. H
ow
can tha t be sh
ow
n conclusivel
y?
For thirty years
J
was one o r
th
e J ehova h 's V\f
it n
esses. not
o
nl
y had acce
pt
ed
th
e
ir
doc
trin
es, but. was
quit
e e
ff
ec t
i
ve in
teac
hin
g them to o th
ers,
winn ing severa l
hundr
ed
in to the
c
ult.
N
ot
on
ly
was a ble Lo
in
st.ill
th
ese false d
oc trin
es
into th
e
thinkin
g of u
ew
conve
rt
s,
but Lo
t
eac
h whole co
ng r
e
ga
tions to
go o u t ; incl w
in
oth ers. Thus th e fact tlrn t I co
uld
successfull y
t
ea
ch their doc
trin
es a
nd
cause o th ers to e
mbrace
them
prov
es
that did kn
ow
t.h
em .
Thu
s
1
wo
rk
ed for
th
e
propaga i
on
of
h eresy. I n
th
is s
am
e
ma nn
er
as do all
go o
d J ehov
ah
's 'Witnesses, so al
so
I worked
for
sal
va t
ion. Jt was
with
me a very
ser
io us matter, as it is
with
many J eh
ova
h 's
Witn
esses t
oday
.
Jn
t.h
e
cour
se
of tim
e, alas,
n
eve
r recei
ved
ass
urance
of sal
va t
ion .
In creasin
gl
y
t
hi
s
wo
rr ied
me. A hea
rt auac
k la
id
me l
ow,
a
nd
very mu ch li
ke
m any o th
er
men b
efo
r e,
in
sick ness l was a rres ted
in
m y foo lish way. Af ter
r ising
fr
om my sick bed I was a
di
fferen t ma n.
Jn
the
fa
ce of
dea th
and
th
e grave, I
had
come free
fr
om s
in
a
nd
d ea
th
.
By 1952
I des
pa
ired co
mp l
e tely of
im
plementing tha t expe-
nd in pra
at ni
Ap ril ab
hard
work
, th e Lord d
id for
me th
at
nig
ht.
H e
save
d my so
ul.
came fr
ee
.
L ord T akes
old
to Teach ew K
ind
of Knowledge
H ow was saved? W
as
saved by the reasoni ngs of some
man? No, I
was saved by
aith in
t
he
Lon
i J esus.
Note,
o
nl
y
th
en
did
the ha
nd
of the L
or
d ta ke h old of me. By m
ak
ing
th
e
siu rn
t.i
on
he
caused me to
be
pul in to circumstances where the
w
ate
r of truth
in th
e past seven
ye
a rs has
totall
y
washed
away
all e
rror
s.
By Hi
s
grace
no t o
nl
y h
ave
fo
un
d
salvati
on, b ut
al so lig
ht
and
truth.
h
ave
s
ubseq
uen tly come in to a
ne
w kind
of
kn
owledge, l
ea
rning to app reciate and un ders
ta
nd fu lly
the
d
oc tri n
es of
hi
sto
ri
c C
hr
istia
ni
ty.
e Lo
rd
has
th u
s pl
ace
d
me in t
o
a unique
pos
it i
on .
have
n
ow,
by Hi s grace, comp l
ete
comprehension of two kinds of
kn ow ledge. Be
in
g bo rn aga i
n,
th e H o ly Spirit
wo
rks a nd d
we
lls
w
it h
in me, [
ru ct
i
fy
i
ng 1h
e
know
led
ge o
the
do c
t r
in
es of
hi
s
to r
ic
Chr istia
ni
ty.
Thu
s the
doctr
ines
of
C
hr i
st
ia n
i ty are n
ow
up h
el
d
by the H oly Spiri t in m y h
ea
r t by fai th. In my memory sha rper
th
a n
eve
r,
retain th
e d
octrin
es of heresy w
hi
ch so i
nd e
l
ib l
y
stamp
c
cl
in to
it
. h
ave
n
ow
come to m a tu ri ty
in Chri
st
and
th u
s ca n,
ri
gh t
wi
thin
me,
rev iew bo th
sets
o f doctrines; and
confess th at in every ins
tance
the H oly Sp irit conv inces me of
th
e
exce
llency of
t.h
e d
oc trin
es of hi sto
ri
c C
hr ist iani
.ty.
Thu
s
the H oly S
piri
t has become
the
p
ow e
r to u
ph
o
ld
the tr ue doc-
trin
es
in
m y hea rt. No t on ly h
as
the ba tt le b
ee
n joined
in the
pris t seven years since J came free, but i t has b
ee
n
wo
n by
rev
el
at i
on
a
nd li
g
ht
il
nd
truth.
On
e c
an
onl y ta
lk
o
ut
of
th
e f
ul n
ess
o
hi
s h
ea
rt
, a
nd
de-
scr ibe onl y wh
at
has hap
pe
ned.
Be
not surp r ised therefore, if
I
h
ave
u
sed
in wr
it
ing th is book th e pattern as it was spun within
me
to brin
g m e to the ligh t. N
ote
t
he
p
la
n ?
Jn
Cha
pt
er
6, I
po
rt.
rayed
th
e
doc
t rine
of Chr
istia
ni
ty of H ell as a
place
of
eternal pu nishme
nt
in torme
nt
a
nd
in Cha p
te
r
7, I
a ll
owe
d the
J ehovah'
s W itnesses
th
ro
ugh
thei
r
textboo
k,
MAKE SU R
E
OF
ALL
TH IN
GS, to do th eir best to asse
r t
th
at
H ELL IS TH E
GRAVE
.
Wh i
ch of the two sh in es
in th
e
greater exce
lle
ncy?
Behold , a nd see, a
nd
exp
er
ience h
ow
the H
oly
Sp i
ri
t will uphold
th e tr ue do c
trin
e in your h eart.
102
l NTO T
HE LI
G
HT
OF
CHlUSTlANITY
inst
ea
d
of
li ving
un t
o the
Lord,
changed to dying
un t
o
the
WHICH IS TRUE?
103
thought
o( th
em
as
being
in
th e co
mm
on grave
of mankind
th
en
it
wo
uld
not
at
all have
matt
ered
to Abrah
am
whether
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Lord. The body, in
torture
an d torment 'of dy
in
g thou s
halt
die, was
returned
to
du
st (Gen. 3: 14) , out of wh ich ele
ment
s
it
had been f
or
med (Ge n. 2:7; Isa. 43:7; J
ob 10 :9),
a
nd
his
spirit
, or God-consc iousness, was
returned
to the
Lord
(Eccl.
1
2:7).
Life un to th e Lord ended a
nd
dying un to
th
e Lord began .
Th
e body,
after
death, was p
ul int
o
th
e grave.
Deat
h
and
th
e grave
thu
s were lhe two out ward evidences that man
had
di
ed. T he body was
in t
e
rr
ed a
nd
decayed; the spirit
had
re
turn
ed to God.
Bu
t the soul, now withou t a
bod
y to express
itself, where was i
t? l f
it had buil t up its s
piritu
al express ions,
its li
vi
ng
unto God
in the s
pirit
, then, of co
ur
se, it st
ands
to
reas
on
th at it would relllrn to God.
But wh
a t if
it
had lived
on
ly
in
the body, usi ng only the fks b facets
of
the
breath
of
lives ? (Gen. 2:7) .
What Did ] acob Thinfl
of
H ell
and
the G1·ave?
All
Bible
writer
s knew
what
was
put in t
o
queber, the
grave. All writers knew th a t man di ed. Ja cob certainly kn ew
that throu
gh dea th and the grave
man
e
nt
ered Sheol,
th
e place
of
th
e unseen d
ea
d.
Un
seen by
him
,
of
course, he could not
ye
t
distinguish
what
h
appened
to
th
ose
tha
t did goo d, and
what
ha
ppened
to those
tha
t
did
evil.
Ge
n. 37:35 shows a t least how much he knew
about
Sheol.
J acob says
th
ere, And all his sons and a ll his
daug
hters rose
up to comfo
rt
him,
but he
refused Lo be co
mfort
ed; and, he sa id ,
For
I will go clown into S
HEOL un t
o my son in
mourning
This
soun ds lik e the same litnguagc e
mpl
oyed by Job later, in
Job 14:22, desc
ribing
t he co nsc ious sta te of a
man
in Sheo l
It
is quite evide
nt
that Ja co b in saying he would go unto
his son
cli<l
not mea n the grave,
or
th
e co
mmon
grave of
mankind.
Th
is co
uld not
b
e.
J acob believ
ed
the
report
of
his
sons that
.J
oseph was devoured and d igested by wild beasts and
th
erefore was not buried in a grave. Bes ides, nobody goes
mournin
g
in t
o the grave.
Adam
was sen ten
ce
d to
di
e
and be
placed
in t
o the grave, dead. Furthe
rmore
, nobody can go to
anoLher 's grav
e.
B
ut
the ·ouls do go to Sheol
ome
in peace,
some being wicked, w
ith
o
ut
pe
ac
e a nd res
l.
Abraham
was def
init
ely promised by
th
e Lord , in Gen. 5: 1
5, And
thou sha lt go
to th y fat hers in peace; thou s ha lt be buri
ed
in a
goo
d old age.
he
went
to them in peace, or to J acob wh
ether
he went mourn
ing to
hi
s son.
r
m
atte
red only - and
thi
s is
th
e po
int
- because
th
ey
cons
i<l
ered the
ir
forefathers to be
in
th
e Sh
eo
l,
th
e place
of
the unseen dead, and not
in
the common grave of mankind.
Th
ey knew that
th
e
ir
bodies had decayed and had long since
be
en ea ten by worms in the grave; but
th
ei r
so
uls were
thought
of
as being in the Sheo
l.
The Sheol of the O
ld
T esta ment (transla ted Hades
in
the
New
Testamen
t) came
de
fini tely to mean
th
e
pla
ce of
th
e
unseen
dead so
uls.
It
was
thou
g
ht
t
ha
t upon all
of
these was
the wrat
h
of
God, which enclosed
th
em. Of this wrath, Job
says,
T
hou preva
il
est forever again st
him
,
and
he passeth:
thou
c
hang
est his co
un t
enan
ce,
and se
nd
est
him
away (.Job
14:20) .
Wh
ere and how? .But his flesh
upon him
shall have
pain
, and his so
ul
wi thin
him
shall
mourn
(.Job 1
4:22).
That
the wra th
of
God abides upon a ll flesh Moses shows in
Ps. 90:7, By
th
y wrath are we troubled. The wrath
of
Goel
pr
esses in
on
all Aesh. Man has become a vessel
of
wrath
fit
only for des tructi on.
In o th er words
th
en, it is t
hrou
gh the gates of dea
th
and the
grave th
at
man loses his tabernacle,
or
bod
y.
His
s
oul
becomes
naked before Goel (Gen. 3:9,10) . Tn his soul, now, in Sheol
H ades,
man
mo
urn
s
hi
s loss.
lsainh Comes to See H ell
Sheol then came to be regard ed as being for some a place
of
res t, a nd f
or
oth ers a pl ace of torment.
R evela tion was slowl y ge tting bright
er
and
brighter
in Isa
iah
's tim e, as men began to a
pprec
ia te vaguely,
the
lo t of
th
e
wicked .
In
Isa. 66:24 we rea d,
And
th
ey
shall go forth, and
look upon
th
e carcasses of th e men th
at
have transgressed
aga inst me; for the wo rm shall not di e; ne
ith
er sha ll th e fire be
qu enched; and
th
ey shall be an abhorring
un t
o all
fl
esh.''
Et
e
rn
al pu
ni
shme
nt
comes
o
the fo re here - ete
rn
al
puni
sh
ment for the wicked - in torment.
L eaving Behind God s W
ord
, Jehovah s Witnesses
L ove Reasonings
While
this wrath of God is upon all fl esh,
God'
s love devised
104-
lNTO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
His
glory which H e in tended for
th
em when he or iginally
created them in "
Hi
s image a
nd
liken
ess.
"
The
measure
of the
WHICH lS TRUE?
105
the terror of the
Lord,
we
persuade men; but we are
made
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degree of this etern al punishment upon the vesse ls of wrath
and its severi ty for all time, is accentua ted by the enormi ty of
the sacr
ifi
ce God made, in se
nding
His beloved Son to become
the Sav iour.
Truly,
both life a
nd
immo
rt
a lity
came
to light by
this act of mercy: life fo r the "vessels of glory unto God, pun-
ishment for the "vessels of wrath.''
The J ehova h's Witnesses like to reason that way. Th ey like
to say that GOD IS LOVE. H e
ca
nn
ot puni
sh a crea ture con-
sciously forever. They imply, that beca use GOD IS LOVE, he
is constitutionally in capable of punishing the
vess
els
he
has
fashioned in Hi s image in etern al torment of
Hellfir
e. 1( this is
true, if God cannot, because of divine
natur
e
do
this,
then
I
ask the J ehovah's
Witne
sses,
Wh
y
did
H e go to so
great
a
length to save these lost souls by sacrificing
Hi
s Son? Why so
grea t an offer ing to save such souls if they were dead and un-
conscious anyway?"
Wrath
to
Come
Th
e Lord's comi ng obviously aved lost souls not
on
ly from
the wrath of Cod a lready upon them, whi ch had caused them
to
die
and be buried and th
eir
ouls to become naked (sans
body). n
Ma
tt
. 3:7 an<l
Luk
e 3:7
John
th e Ba
pt i
st
warned
hum
ans to fl ee from
t
he
wrath
to come . He must mean
something
occurring in the conscious life a fter
death
a
nd
burial.
Wh
en is this wrath to come"? Isaiah already says "
the
day
of
the Lord cometh, cruel bo th with wrath and fierce
anger
(Isa. 1
3:9). In
R omans
2:5,Ci, Paul
warns men against
the
com-
ing revelation
of wrath
in
the
clay
of
.Jud
gment of
God, as we
read
,
But af
ter thy
hardn
ess and impen itent h
ear
t,
tr
eas
ur
est
up
un to th
yse
lf wrath against
Lh
e day
o ( wrath and
revel
ation
of the
right
eous judgment of God; who will re
nd
er to every
man according to hi s deeds."
Is
thi
s somet
hin
g to look forward to with equ a
nimity? No.
It is a foregone conclusion
that
all souls
mu
st face
the
wrath to
come on Judgmen t rlay. Paul says, For we must
all appear
before the judgmen t seat of Chr ist; that every one may receive
the things
don
e in
h
s body acco
rdin
g to
what
he ha th done,
whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5: I 0) . Is this a perfunctory
mani
fest un to God;
and
1
trust
also are made ma
nif
est in your
own consc iences."
Escaping
the
Wrath to
Come
As all in th e day of resurrection hear the voice of J esus and
come forth Uohn 5:28,29), many wi c
om
e forth with the
hor ribl e bod ies they con ju red up in their wickedness, and their
souls
within
them,
wiJI
stand naked before
the Judge.
In Romans 2 Paul shows that the "vessels of mercy" will
receive the glory ancl honor they SOltght in a glorious body in
immorta
li t
y 7 th verse), or
in truth and
fact
in LIFE
unto God.
This then is a coming to eternal LIFE. Clearer still
ar
e Paul 's
words, " For we know that i[ our earthly house of this tabernacle
were <lissolvetl, we have a building of
God,
a
hou
se
not made
with
hand s, etern il l in the heaven
s.
For in this [earthly
hou
se
bo cly] we groan, earn e tly desiring to be c ut 1ed upon with our
hou
se
which is from heaven"
2
Cor. 5:
1
-2)
.
f
, after this house or body is dissolved and a new body
in
the resurrection is forthcoming,
what
is
the
destiny of
the
righteous?
t
is un to God,
an
d as Paul says,
f
so be
that
to be
clot
h
ed
we shall n
ot
be
fo und
naked
[without the garment
s of
sa lva
ti
on
] 2
Cor. 5:3).
But
to come forth in
th
e d
ay
of resur-
rect ion in th
e old body
of fle
sh,
hid
eous acco
rdin
g to a
wi
cked
soul, will mean to remain a "vessel of wrath ; and being naked
such a one wiJJ be eject
ed
to depart in to everlasting fire pre-
pared for the dev il and his angels." Such a one is a "vessel of
wrath, fit on ly for des truction.
Note what Paul says of them in Rom. 2:8,9, in co nt rast to
wh
at
is said o f eternal lif e in glory
in
verse
7:
B
ut
unto
them
that are con tent ious, and do
not
obey th e truth, but obey
unrighteousness, indignation and
wr
ath , tribula tion a
nd
anguish,
up on every soul of man
that
doe th ev il; o[ the J ew first
and
a lso of th e Gentiles."
Notice the contrast which there will be in the d
ay
of ju dg-
ment
for the
right
eous a
nd
the unrighteous.
n
verse 7, there is
promised to the righteous a body in glor
y,
ete
rn
al life in im-
morta
lit
y. In verses 8 a
nd
9 there is no mention of a new body,
nothing
new; the old one with
torment,
torture is
continued in
a JI eternit
y.
106
I
NTO
THE
LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
judged to
be
either LIFE in
a
new
glorious body
unto the
Lo
rd,
or
DEATH in
an
old body
made hideous
with sin in
WHICH IS TRUE?
107
the
Son
of Ma n
,
and the
Son
of
God, was in mystic
union both
as
man and
Goel
on earth.
In Isa. 9:6, "For
unto
us a
child
is
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absence from the
Lord.
judgment
to Come
The
wrath of God then
,
which caused man to die and be
buried, will have an outcome in immortality. This eternal des
tiny will
be
irrevocably fixed when a ll shall appear
in the
resurrection
(Jo
hn
5:28,29) before
the
judgment
seat
in the
same
manner
Adam
and
Eve once personally were summo
ned
before God in
the
garden of Eden. On that
occasion
(Gen.
3: 18-19) , they were sentenced "dying thou shalt die." Adam
dreaded that hearing. So did
Eve.
They
hid
;
the
y cowered be
hind
trees, seeking cover.
How
much more so then, is
the day
of
judgment
to be
dreaded
by the wick
ed and unrepentant
All will
be
called
forth by the
Lo
rd
- all will be
summoned.
Every so
ul
wil l
get
a
pe rsonal hearing,
and
in this process can fall into
the hands
of
the
living
Gotl
(Heb.
10:31). Again in H eb. 12:29 Paul says
"for our God is a consuming fire."
f
all souls have been dissolved in
the
common grave of man
kind, as
the Jehovah's
Witnesses aver, why does
Paul
say in
2 Cor. 5:11, "Knowing therefo re the terror of
the
Lord, we
persuade men; "
Why
would
Paul
spend his
entire
life to
persuade men to
come
unto
salvation,
if
a
judgment upon
t
hem
were
not the prospect of the futu
re?
This
judgmen
t
to
come will result in a terrible
thing
to many,
and in
some
thing
blessed
for
o
th
ers. I t will
result in eternal punishment n to r
ment
in hellfire,
or it
can result in a
life
of g
lor
y in immortality.
Which do you
seek,
Rom.
2:7
or
Rom
. 2:8,9? (Cf . al
so Matt.
5:21;
John
5:22;
Rom.
14:10; H eb. 9:27;
Matt.
12
:4
1;
Heb.
10:7
and
Ja mes 2: 13).
The
Great Portrayal
of
a Soul, Come From
Heav
en
All
th
e witnesses we h ave
ma r
shaled so
far
have been
men,
a
lb
e
it inspired men. But now
comes
the Lord.
It
is
said of him,
"And
no
man
hath
ascended
up
to heaven,
but He that came down from
heaven, even
th
e
Son of Man
which
is in heaven" ]
ohn
3: 13) . He came down from heaven,
but even now is in heaven;
and
He actually will appear
from
born, unto us
a son
is
given
. We
see this
miracle
projected
and
described.
Born
as a
man,
Jesus
Christ came
as
and
in
fashion of
a
man into the
world.
He
lived
th
e li
fe of
a
man
from the cradl
e to
the
grave. He experienced
all
a
man
ever
experiences. Yet, He also was
the
Son
of
Goel, says
Isaiah here.
So truly was H e God,
that the
government of the un iverse was
upon His
shoulder.
Not only did
H e come from heaven, as He says
in
John 3:
13,
but He is going back there. Here is the one
who
for a
ll
pur
poses of our discussion here, in
evaluating the
excellency of
the Christian doctrine under
discussion,
can authoritatively lift
the
veil of the unseen for us.
Up
to His time
SHEOL-HADES
had
been only
understood
to
be the
state
of the
unseen dead.
For
the
first time,
and
we
can be
present,
the
Son of Man has
lifted that
veil
Are you
stirred at what is
coming?
What
are
death and the
grave?
Are
they
Hell?
The
Phari
sees believed
in
Sheol-
Hades
but
could
not define them. Others, like
the
Sadducees
who
in
this
respect
were
much
like
the
.Jehovah's Witnesses of today,
said
HELL is the
GRAVE, or
"the common
grave
of mankind."
The Veil Cast side - The
Inside
of Sheol
No
Longer Unseen
The
revelation
came. A
marvelous
confess
ion of who
Jesus
is, given by Peter,
furnishes
for us
the
verdant background.
We
read, "And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou
art
the
Christ,
the
Son of
the
living God. And Jesus answered
and
said
un t
o hi m,
Bl
essed
art thou, Simon
Bar-jona: for flesh and blood
hath not
revealed
thi
s
unto
thee,
but
my
Father which is in
heaven.
And
I say
unto
thee, That
thou
art Peter
and
upon
this rock I wi
ll build
my church;
and the gates of hell
shall
not
prevail against
it" (Ma
tt_ 16: 16-18) .
This
at once raises
the
question: What are
the
gates of hell?
L
et
us
open our Bible
s at
Lu k
e 16
and
read a few remarks
of the
L
ord
as
He
is
in the
process of
lifting the
veil
from
Sheol-Hades, and as he
brings "l
ife
and
immortality
to
li
ght"
(2
Tim. 1: 10
:
"A nd it
came to pass,
tha
t
the be
ggar died,
and
was
carr
i
ed
by
the
angels
into
Abraham's bosom:
the
rich
man
also
died
,
and was buried; and
in hell
he lifted
up
hi
s eyes,
1 8 INTO THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
The rich man
died
and
was buried
(in a grave) and it says
this is
the
way he en tered hell. Death and Hades (grave)
th
en,
WHICH
IS
TRUE?
1 9
which would have within its ethnological roots
the
con'notation
of its fearful meaning.
The
word
is
GEHENNA . n use of thi s
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are
th
e "gates
of
hell."
f
they
are
the "gates of hell'' they
cannot be hell. The grave then is not hell,
as
the Jehovah's
Witnesses contend.
Lazarus Not in
ell
Another distin ction made by the Lord s
hould be
noted here.
La
za
ru
s
di
ed.
Hi
s soul was immediately carried
by
angels to
Abraham 's lap. Also notice that the di rection from the rich
man in hell, was up - the
rich
man lifted up his eyes." In
J esus' day the term Abraham's lap" was understood to mean
Pa r
ad ise, which though unseen,
as
was hell, was dist
inct
from it .
The soul of the righteous then, does go upward It does not
go downward, where hell is. Eccl. 3:21, shrouded for ages in
mystery, here finds authori tative definition. The soul of the
righteous goeth upward. The soul of the wicked, who lives like
a beast gratifying his sense perceptions
or
body, then goeth
downward, falling, fa lling farther and farther away from God.
Th
ese t
er
ms
up and
"down"
are
clustered with r.ich symbolic
meaning.
What a revealing pic
ture
we have here. Sheol-H ades up to
now shrouded in myster
y,
is peopled with conscious souls There
is
no need for guesswork any longer.
New Word Used to escribe H ell
Sheol-H ad
es
is a term which
had
been used to refer to the
place of all
th
e unseen dead.
It
now appears from what Jesus
reveals
th
at SHEOL-HADES
is no
longer an adequate term. He,
at least, had.
di
stinguished between Para
di
se
(A br
aham
's
lap)
and
hell, which up to now had not been differentiated. New dis·
tinctive terms would therefore have to take
th
e place of . those
terms. Unl
ess
th is is so,
th
en truly
as the
Jehovah's
Witnesses aver, Jesus was merely giving a parable which told
nothing abo
ut
the beyond.
Here now comes the real proof
that
J
es
us was revealing
so
mething
about
what
is
beyond -
what is
the state
of
conscious
souls of men who h
ad
left the e
ar
thly scenes
as
Dives a
nd
Laz
ar
us
had done. It is obvious that the words Sheol and Hades were
no longer adequate to desc
ribe
the revelation per tain ing to the
destiny of souls. Thus the Lord Jesus uses another word It is a
word which is so graphic and pungent,
th
at it will never be
word GEHENNA Jesus Christ shows, that
HELL
IS NOT THE
GRAVE (Sheol-Hades-Queber)
but is
GEHENNA.
Without equivocation Jesus shows th
at
there
is
a
punish·
me
nt
far more worse than death and the grave.
In
Matt. 10:28
he says, "A
nd
fear not them which kill the bod
y, but
are
not
able to kill the soul;
but
rather fear him which is able to
destroy
both
body
and
soul
n
GEHENNA
(hell) ."
The body and soul
are
separated by death.
In
the grave the
worms gnaw up the flesh and the fiery process of chemical re
action burns
up the
bones. That
is
bad. But
the
Lord here
shows something far worse, far more severe than this physical
death
What is it? For
the
first time the Lord Jesus giv es us a
beyond-the-ve il description of the fearful implications of soul
death. We read in Mark 9:4346 and 48, And if thy hand
offend thee, c
ut
it off: it
is
better for thee to en ter into life
than having two hands to go
in t
o GEHENNA (hell) ,
rnt
o the fire
that
never shall be
qu
enched:
wh
ere
th
eir worm
dieth no
t,
and the fire is
not
quenched."
1£ Paradise -
or
as the Jews termed it in J
es
us' day, "Abra
ham's lap," in which souls rest
in
peace -
is in
heaven and
apart from hell, and is fixed by a great gulf, then Hell,
in
which
souls are tormented
in
pain and anguish, is
ind
eed a PLACE.
It
ca
nn
ot be the GRAVE, i f both death
and the
grave are its
~ a t e s
go ~ o w n into the grave by death
is
bad enough; but
1f oQe
dies faithful such a one will fall into Abraham's lap.
But to go down in to the grave by dea th, a
nd
to
fa
ll into hell
is worse, because such soul is irrevocably lost in Hell
and
dies
con tinually
in
separation from God.
In
Paradise
are
such
so
uls
who have l
os
t
their
bodie
s, but
as "ve
sse
ls of mercy" awa
it the
day
when
they shall receive a body of glory in immortality in
th
e day
of
resurrection.
In
hell
ar
e such souls who remain
ve
ssels of
wrath
" and who in the d
ay
of resurrection receive
th
eir old bodies
with
the new ingredient of immortality
in
them, for a living death of total separation from God, in a
body of shame and contempt.
Wicked Soul Sees eath
T
hus
the
Lord
portra
ys
for the first time how souls see
110
I NTO T H E LIGHT OF C
HRISTIANIT
.Y
th
at a resurrect
ed
body w
hi
ch is s
inful
will ever bec
om
e a
vessel of glor
y in
li fe in a
bo
dy
of
glory in
immortalit
y,
whi
ch
WHI CH IS T R UE?
111
sha
ll
h
ear Hi
s voice Qo
hn
5:28) .
Th
a t is
the
las t
tim the
se
ga tes will function - for
it
is sa id,
An
d dea th and Hades
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is
what
we as vessels
of
mercy today are s
tr
etc
hi n
g ourselves
o
ut
to find (Rom .
2:7).
The possession of a body of shame and
contempt in resurrection seals
th
e fa te of such a vessel of
wra th forever, and con
de
mns such a one in i
mmo
rtali ty of
soul - dy
in
g thou shalt di
e
- to eternal total separation from
God. Is it not be tter to go in to the grave
with
o
ne
hand , than
to go i
nt
o G
EH E
N
NA
with two?
Th
at
is
th
e po
int
th
e
Lord
makes.
It is sa
id
of Enoch, He d id no t see d
ea
th.
t
is
the
com
bination of dea th and the grave, as th e ga tes of hell, which
sh
all not prevail against the
v
essels of mercy. Did no t Jesus
promis
e ve
ri l
y, ve
rily,
I say
un
to you, if a
ma
n keep my say
ings,
he
shall never see dea
th
(John 8:51) ?
Vot to See IJeath
Wh at does th is sta tement mean? Those
wh
o
are
included
n
this statemen t will never see d
ea
th as those who go to
GE
HE N
NA (hell ) see
it
, as
th
ose who receive back
their
old
body of s
in
fi t only fo r shame, con tempt and d es
tru
ction, see
it
.
Th
e
mom
e
nt th
e so
ul
s of such
are
called o
ut of
he
ll
, and
the
bodi
es are called out of
th
e grave (sea or grave
on
earth)
(R ev. 20) and reunited, a t th at moment of awakening
(John
5:28,29) they will aga in see dea th staring them right in the
face, as they
are
told to stand a t the left hand of the L
or
d.
D
ea
th stares them
ri
gh t in the face then. G
EHENNA,
a lake of'
fire, a vast place, is
ju
st ahead. Their fa te is sealed the moment
they
appear
in
their o
ld
bodies now with the
ingr
edient of
imm
orta
lity
in them. TH AT IS seeing
dea
th
in
sha
me
(naked
ne
ss)
and
co
nt
e
mpt in
a body
in imm
o
rt
a
li t
y.
A Glimps I
nto
the Fu ture
As
thi
s day
of jud
gmen
t, wh
ich is also
th
e day of
th
e Lord ,
approaches, we l
oo
k with
in
terest upon R ev. 20:12-1
3.
It says
th
ere, And I saw the d
ea
d, small and grea t, stand before God;
a
nd
the books were opened: and ano ther book was opened,
whi ch is the book of li fe: and the d
ea
d were judged o
ut
of the
things
writt
en
in
the b
oo
ks, acco
rdin
g to their wo
rk
s . . . And
de
a th and H ades [grave, or
th
e g
at
es of H ell] delivered up
the
dead
which
were in them: and they were
judg
ed every man
[grave] were cast
in t
o the L ake of F
ir
e [Gehenna] . . . (
Rev.
20: l 5 . And
i f
any man was not fo und
wr
it ten in the b
oo
k of
li fe, he was cast in the Lake of Fire [Gehenna].
Why is this? Because, and here is the proof, in the day of
res
un
ection when all shall come fo rth, the good and the bad,
com ing out of dea th and grave and hell and heaven, immortality
as
th
e na
tu r
e of man comes in to view. For
th
ose
wh
ose na
me
s
are wr
it t
en in the Book of Life, glory and immo
rt
ali ty (R om.
2:7 ; fo r those whose names have n
ot
been
writt
en in the book
of
Li f
e, a body of death, vil e, in shame and c
on t
empt and im-
mort a
li
ty . Since such no longer
can
die
in
the body, de
ath
and
the
gr
ave, a long
wi
th them, are
th
row n
in
to
GEHENNA
,
the
vast place a
nd doma
in
of
DEAT H , and such will SEE IT for
ever as their mode of life.
A
nnihi
lation or Eternal
o r m n t ~
Wh
ich
T he Jehovah 's
Witn
esses and certa
in
o ther cul tists, foolishly
teach th at
th i
s even t denotes a
nnihil
ation . Is
it tru
e?
No
te the
gate
s
of
he
ll
are closed now
that judgm
e
nt
has been pro
no
un
ced. W
it
h resurrec
ti
on
brin
ging back (or reviving again,
which is what that term means body and
so
ul
in t
o unity then,
plu
s
th
e
ingred
ie
nt
of
im m
ortali
ty added
to it in res
ur r
ection,
such
so
u ls as lack the IMAGE AN D LIKEN
ESS
OF GOD which
is newly
im
pressed up on those
wh
o are in Christ, are fit only
for destr uction in perpetuity out of sig
ht
of God. Gehenna,
in which alone they are fit to live, is now tight ly locked. There
is no way ou t of
it
. It is ju st a pe
rp
etual d
ea
th in outer Dark
ness su ffering the
unqu
encha ble fir e of God's
wr
ath, in a
domain so vast tha t it is termed a lake. I t h
as
no
pl
ace of
eit her en try
or ex
it. Is
thi
s annihil
at ion
?
Aga
in
,
i f
t
hi
s seco
nd
d
eat
h (which we have seen is forever ,
or
th
e ac tual clos
in
g of
Ge
he
nn
a (hell)
,
means
annihilat
ion
and co
mpl
e te unconsciousness, how is it that we r
ea
d in R evela
ti
on 21 8, But the fearf
ul
, a nd un
be
lie
vin
g a
nd th
e abomina
bl
e,
a
nd
murderers, and wh
ore
mongers, a
nd
sorcerers, a
nd
idola tors,
and all liars, shall have their
pa
rt
in the lake which burn etb
with fire and brimsto ne: which is the second death ? Fire and
br imstone are men tioned here. T ha t is the same word ing as in
R ev. 20: 10, A
nd
the devil tha t deceived them was cast
in t
o.
112
INTO THE
LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
prophet are,
and
sha ll be tormented day
and
night for ever
and ever.''
WHICH IS T RUE? 113
resurrection we shall awaken in bodies of shame and contempt,
of death
and
sha
ll
see the
land of
living no more (Isa. 38) for
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Let us see
what
happened to the beast and the false prophet.
We
read in Rev. l 9: 19
and
20, concerning the beginning of the
judgment, this, And I saw the beast and the kings of .the
earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against
him
that sat on the horse, nd against his army. And the beast
was taken,
and
with
him the
false
prophet that
wrought miracles
before him, with which
he
deceived them
that
received the
mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image. These
both were cast
alive
into the lake of fire burning with brim
stone.''
If
as the Jehovah's Witnesses
and
some other cultists
say, this transpired al the beginning the m i l l e ~ n i u m .Rev.
20:5,
then
is
it not obvious
that
when m the end of the m1llen
niuro, as we read
in
Rev. 20:
10,
the devil
is
cast
in
the same
lake of fire,
it
s
there
said both the beast and false prophet
are
still alive in there
in
the lake of fire, so much so that they
are tormented day and night,
and
have been alive for
1,000
years?
f
those cast
into the lake of
fire
are
alive,
then
the second
death
(which is
what
Hell,
or
Gehenna, i
s)
means to be in the
place
of
the living dead, the land of the.
~ e a ~
separated from
God
forever.
Then
it does
not
mean anmh1lat1on.
Lifting
of
the Veil
y
Jesus Proves Hell to e a Place
of
Eternal
Punishment
in
Torment
Our
Lord Jesus gave us a full view
of
man's horrible fate as
"ch ildren
of wrath.'' This
has been a great boon to us. f any
thing,
it
gave us an insight as we never had before,
that
all men
are lost. The Lord Jesus handed us a lifeline by showing us the
enormity
of th
e fate
th
at awaited us as
children of
wrath."
Death
and
grave Sheol-Hades)
or
the common grave of man
kind are as nothing compared
to
Gehenna
We are lost, fellow men, for by nature we are children of
wrath (Eph.
2:3).
We can be saved from our ~ a t e only .
~ e n
we are born again in the spirit. Accept by faltb the hfelme
which is
in
the
hand
of the
Lord
Jesus.
Let His
image and
likeness be impressed
upon
you, in which "image a
nd
likeness
of God you were created, but which you lost through sin. You
shall
th
en in the resurrection, be a "vessel of glory" in im
mortality.
1
You shall
live
in the land of
th
e l i v ~ n g .as e z ~ k i ~
we sha ll be sent to Hell.
Invitation to
Take
Hell Serious
As one of the Jehovah's Witnesses, believing and teaching
this awful error
that
HELL IS
THE
GRAVE, I also was
on
my way to He1l
and
perdition. I was
proud of
my
a c h i e ~ e m e n t s
as a Kingdom Publisher, as one of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Twenty
-
one
years of full.time service, a
quarter
million books
sold, 463 new converts baptized, indelibly impressed the seal of
achievement (onto my hands) . Completely obsessed with the
doctrines of heresy, my
brain
was filled with them as I bore
th
e
mark of this kind of thinking (on my forehead) . I had become
smug and self-satisfied. My barns were filling up in the The-
ocracy
of
works. But what, if as
it
almost happened when a
heart aLtack laid me low, the Lord should require my soul of
me - in this condition
When
I realized
my mortal
danger,
with
all
of
its implica
tions, I came to the Lord. I did not even come with a plan
aforethought. I just threw myself upon the mercy of God.
The
grace of God became
min
e in one night of prayer. Forgiveness
came. Assurance came of salva tion, as a wondrous gift, unearned,
undeserved, rich
and
free
Therefore,
by the
grace of God, I
am not
crying out now as
did that rich man after he departed through the gates of hell:
death and the grave, from out
of
hell f I did, that would be
rather
futile.
But
I am crying out as one who walked r ight up
to the brink of hell, and then was plucked as a brand out of
the fire. I am crying out
to
Jehovah's Witnesses still living.
Turn from your fatal delusion Leave behind the errors of the
WATCHTOWER SOCIETY. Turn now, while your soul is
stiJI within your body. Change your course right now, ere your
body enters the gates of hell: death and grave. Come to Jesus
Christ. Believe on Him. Be saved from this WRATH
TO
COME. Believe His sayings. He meant them Be saved from
perdition to come. f you
do
YOU SHALL NEVER SEE
DEATH
. You will REALLY be in that vast throng of MIL
LIONS
NOW
LIVING WHO SHALL
NEVER DIEi
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Chapter 9
MAN CREATED IN
THE
IMAGE AND
LIKENESS OF GOD
Coming away from the discussion of Hell, its eternal impli-
cations, its present danger to us, you will find,
as did
I,
that the
discussion oE the doctrine of an immortal soul is a sort of anti-
climax.
That is because in the order of cause
and
effect, sin is the
cause,
and
He
ll
is
Lh
e effect.
The
fact
is that si
n
is the
overtone
of life and death: for in
order
to sin
one
must be alive;
then
in death sin can no longer be performed . Death then could be
a conditi
on
n which one cannot sin, is restrained from doing
so,
and
still be al
iv
e.
How?
The
apostle shows
that the
Christian who dies
in or with
Christ, shall live with
Him. He
also shows
that
this dying takes
place
in
this life;
and
to the
extent
it takes place, to
that extent
such
an
one already lives with Christ.
Th
e very use of this
picture projects the existence of a realm of reality
of
life
and
death
as
two contrasting conditions: of Obedience
and
Life,
or
Sin (or transgression) and Death, both in the conscious realm.
Jehovah Has
m
mortality
Since
man
was originally made a
nd
created
in
the image
and
likeness of God, which he subsequently lost as a result
of
sin,
th
e qu es tion now came to me, What is this image
and
like-
ness in which man was created in the first place? In this principle
of cause and effect, since in the las t three chapters of our dis-
cussi
on
we have seen
that
the effects are eternal let us examine
the cause by finding
out
who man is.
But before I could do
th
at, I
bad
to find out who
God
is.
H ere s what I found.
De
scribing God, Paul says of
Him
in l
Tim.
6:16
Who
only
hath
immortality.
We
look upon a more
lu
cid
portraiture
ll6
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Father
hath life in himself [immortality]; so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself.
IN THE
IMAGE
AND LIKENESS
OF GOD
117
Jesus died in
the
body to save our souls
which
without
Him
would be eternally lost
as we
died. L
osing at
death our bodies
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In what way did the
Father
give the Son to have life in
Him
self? Jesus answers, Therefore doth my
Father
love me, because
I lay down my life, that I
might
take
it
again. No man taketh
it
from me,
but
I
lay it
down of myself. I have
power
to lay
it
down, and I
have power
to take
it again.
This commandment
I
have received
of
my
Father (John
10: 17,18).
This
being
so,
Paul answers for us the above query
and
in his answer lies the
direct
proof that
man
has an immortal soul. Paul says, Because
he hath appointed a day in which he will judge
the
world in
righteousness by that man whom He
hath
ordained; whereof
he
hath
given assurance unto all men,
in
that he had raised
him from
the
dead (Acts 17:31).
Coming
of
Jesus Proves
Man
Has an
Immortal
Soul
Of the
Lord's
coming
to
earth,
bodily as man (Col. 2:9)
Paul says, But is
now
made
manifest
by the appearing of our
Saviour Jesus Christ,
who
hath abolished death, and hath
brought life
and
immortality to light through the gospel
2
Tim. 1:10) . As
we
have seen, in
the
former chapters,
this
brought to light that man has
an
eternal destiny: life
in
glory
and immortality or death in shame and
contempt
and
in
immortality.
By actually
becoming
a
man
Jesus portrayed anew
how
a
man was
created
by God in His image and likeness thus
having
an immortal soul.
n this revelation of the God-head in a
human
body (Col.
2:9),
living
as a
man,
we see the creation
of man
re-enacted,
the
impress
of
the image renewed, coming
forth
as
composed
of:
body and
spirit. The
apostle
Peter
in 1
Peter
2:24 says,
Who
in
his
own self bare our sins in
his
own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live
unto
righteousness;
by
whose
stripes ye were healed.
Why did Jesus bear our sins in His body? For ye were as
sheep going astray,
but
now
are
returned
unto the Shepherd
and Bishop
of your
souls 1
Peter
2:25) comes the answer.
t
shows
that our
souls were lost,
no
l
onger
knew the way
of
life to God, but were on the way
of
death away from God.
returning
to the grave our souls would continue to die, farther,
farther away from God. There was no anchor for our souls.
Once we lost the
body
tying us to
terra
firma,
we
were lost
without it.
We
needed
an anchor first, to stop us
from
falling
and
going
astray. When our Lord Jesus died as a man on the Cross, He
changed all of this. For not only did He die; He was resurrected,
and
in
doing so,
He
became the anchor
of
our souls. He caused
us to be anchored against the day
of judgment.
s
Paul
says
of
us, I pray
God
your whole
spirit and
soul and body be pre
served 1 Thess.
5:23).
Peter says, Wherefore
let
them
that
suffer according to the
will of
God commit the keeping
of their
souls to
him
in well
doing, as
unto
a
faithful
Creator. The
death of our
Lord
Jesus
in
His body projects a
full hope,
so strong,
that
Paul could say
of t in Heb. 6:9,
Which
hope we
have
as an
anchor
of the
soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil.
Such
a soul
is
not tossed to and fro
in
hell,
but is saved
now
with the
sure promise
of a new and glorious
body
in the
day of
resurrection
. Such a soul does not come in
judgment to receive its
old
body in immortality in the day of
resurrection, to have its
fate
sealed forever in
Gehenna
. The
soul of
such
a
one
has been saved from the fate
of
a vessel of
wrath.
His soul has
been
saved not only by the
death of
Jesus
Christ in the body but by
His
resurrection in the body to a
life of glory and immortality.
The
Whole
Man
f there
is a
whole man,
then when is a man not whole? n
our dealings with
man, we
deal either with
him bodily,
or with
his r ange of thoughts, or with his aspirations. But God,
knowing
all aspects of
man,
deals with him differently.
In
this
manner then
we
have the testimony of God in His
word,
furnishing
us
with
proof of what constitutes a whole man.
God's
word exerts itself in
this
manner upon man. The Holy
Spirit knowing
the
man's frame, unerringly,
directs the
effec
tiveness of God 's
work
upon the whole man.
That
is
the
way
to look
at
it. The word of God is quick, and powerful, and
8
INTO THE
LIGHT OF CHRIS
T
IANITY
a discerner
of
thoughts
and
intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12) .
The whole man is,
ac
cording to
the Hol
y Spirit, body and soul.
IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD
9
T he Holy S
pirit
furnishes us this in Gen. 2:7. It reads quite
terse ly, yet revealingly, And the Lord formed man of the dust
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H ow Wa s Man Created?
With these opening remarks in mind let us now look at the
facts in the case of man.
Let
us look on the report of the Bible.
How was he cr
ea
ted?
First off, we note that animals were created first. As rep
or
ted
by the Holy Spirit in Gen. 1:24-25,
And
God sa
id
: Let the
ear th bring forth
th
e living creature after h
s
kind, cattle, nd
creeping . thing, and beast of the earth aft er his k ind . . . and
ca ttle after kind, a
nd
everything that creepeth upon the
ea
rth af ter
his
kind : and God saw
th
at it w
as
good.
Wh
at
is th e outstanding feature of the above creation report
by the Holy Spirit, caused to be written by Moses? It is thi s.
G
od
created all these lower
creatur
es
after their
ow
n k
in
d. n
other words, each kind had
it
s own pa ttern , or image of the
species.
Next we come to the report of how man was crea ted. Is
he
too, crea ted only
in
the im age of h
s
own k
in
d,
as
are all a
n
imals? Let us see . We do have the facts you
kn
ow, put down for
us so long ago by the Ho ly Spirit who was an eye-witne
ss
and
pa
rt
icipa
nt
. Let us read this
rep
or t. We find
it
in Gen.
I
:26,27,
And God said, Let us make man in our image, af ter ottr li ke-
ness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over the cattl e, and ov
er
all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that cree
peth
upon the
ear th . So God created
man
in h is own image, in
th
e image of
God
created he hi
m;
male and female created he them.
Wh
at
is
the o
ut
s
tanding
fact in this report?
t
is thi
s:
man
was crea t
ed
in
the image
of
God He r
e is riveted fo r us, for all
time, the vas t gulf which exis
ts
betwe
en
a
nim
als a
nd
beast, a
nd
man or
hum
ans.
Created in the Im age of
od
This
crea tion of m an with
an imm
ortal soul, or immortality,
w
as
a gift of God to man. It was a gift which He did not give
to the a
nim
al world. T hey, the animals, too received a gift: life.
But it
is not the
kind
of life which is
inher
ent _
n
man,
im -
mo
rtalit y It is that which God created and gave to man alone.
Never forget that. That is his im age.
of the ground,
and
breathed
into
his nostrils the
br
ea th of life
[He
br
ew: rua
hh -
plural,
'br
e
ath
of lives '],
and
man became a
living
so
ul.
What did God create here?
Th
e bod
y? Th
e
so
ul?
Fir
st off, note that God formed man
s
body out of already
existing materials,
in
the
same ma
nn
er a po
tt
er forms a v
esse
l.
True, He was making this v
ess
el in His likeness. Yet, H e formed
man from the ground, thus already tes tifying before the world
began (John 3: 16) of the coming of Hi s Son, in whom would
dwell the God-head bodily (Col. 2:9) .
Wha t then did God create in ma
n?
God crea ted man's soul.
How? The worksheet given us in Gen. 2:7 says that God did so
by
brea thing int
o his nost
ri l
s the
br
e
ath
of
li f
e.
Th
e He
br
ew
word ruahh is a plural word, meaning actually, brea th of lives.
On
ce the body of
Adam
was formed, a
nd
the
br
ea th of life,
or
betler the breath of lives w
as
brea thed in to Adam s
n
os
tril
s,
the acco
unt
says,
Man
became a Jiving soul ;
that
is,
one ca
pable of living
unto God
,
in
fellowship and
in
eternity.
It is very important for us to pause here and ask, according
to Gen. 2:7,
Ju
st how did God crea te man? In Gen. 2: 7
it
says,
And
th
e Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed in to his nos trils the breath of life; and man became a
living
so
ul.
Wh
at
does this show? t shows graphi
ca
lly, that the outer
man,
t.h
e body, a
nd
the
inner
man, the soul, were here mystically
mto one and that by a creative act of God . Here uniquely,
for all time, was created an individual who througho
ut
all
ete
rnit
y wo
uld
remain
HE,
his ide
ntit
y forever
intact
.
Th
e body of this man was not created in the sense that
it
was made out of nothing. Gen. 2:7 says
it
was formed out of
the
du
st of the
ground,
or from
ex
isting ma
tt
er.
Bu
t the
inn
er
man,
th
e soul, was created. It w
as
not taken from something
which existed.
Th
e individual Adam, or the soul, was created
by
Go
d s breath .
How is that shown elsewhere? Let us read 2 Tim. 3: 16, All
scripture is given by inspiration
of
God , a
nd
is pro
fi
table for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction , for instr uction in rig
ht
eou
s
n
ess
. The Greek term here for given by inspi ration of God
120
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
n what way does this explain ruahh or the breath
of
lives"
in
Gen. 2:7?
We read
in Ps. 33:6, "By the
word
of
the
IN
THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS
OF
GOD
121
This was a puzzler. Reading
on,
verse 22, "And ·the Lord
heard the voice
of
Elijah;
and
the soul of the
child
came
into
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Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts by the breath
of
His mouth. Cou
ld
thi
s
mean
God
breathed
creatively all the
hosts
of
heaven
into
existence?
The
Jehovah s Witness would immediately here counter,
"That may be
true
of angels. They are spirits, like
the
wind.
Br
eath,
wind,
spirit, all have the same
connotation.
Firmly we must reject
that
by quoting J
ob
33:4, "
The
Spirit
of
God has made me and the breath of th e Almighty hath
given me li fe." This is Job talking, not an angel. Job was created
as JOB, by the breath of the Almighty to live In the same way
Adam was created by the breath
of
God to eternal
li f
e.
Pondering over this, the true essence
of
2 Tim . 3: 16
dawned
upon me.
In
2 Tim. 3: 16 we
read
that
God
's
word
was God
breathed.
Of
it, God's word, it is said by Jesus, Heaven and
earth
sha
ll pass away, but my words shall not pass away"
(Matt. 24:35),
and
Peter sa
ys
in 1 Peter 1:23,24,25, Being
born
again,
not of corrupt
ible
seed,
but
incorruptible, by
the
word
of
God, which liveth and abideth forever . but the
word
of the Lord endureth forever." f the word of God, I op
in
ed,
theopneustos or God-breathed as Paul calls it, is immortal,
then
why not the soul God
created with
His breath?
Can a Distinc tion Between Soul and Body e Shown?
f a distinction between soul and body can at all be made,
Scripture
must
show that a point
of
severance exists.
Reading
Gen. 35:18,
It
came to pass,
as
the soul was departing (for she
died) that she called his
name
Benoni." Does this Scripture
show a point
of
departure
of
the soul from
the
body?
It came to me, now thinking along lines of a
Jehovah's
Witness, i f I had to prove such a departure or severance of sou l
from
the
body, I would actually have to
ha
ve Scripture
proving
an
entering of the soul into the body. Was there Scripture,
apart from Gen. 2:7, now under discussion?
I came
upon
1 Kings 17 :21, He stretched himself
upon
the
child three times
and
cri
ed unto
the Lord, and said 0 my
Lord
God,
I pray thee, let this chi
ld
's soul come
into
him again."
Could this be a valid description?
A Jehovah's Witness would reply, the return
of
the soul
him again, and he revived." The blood
of thi
s child had not
been spilled, or poured forth
out of
its body. So, i t was
not
the
blood
that
came back into it . It was the soul, which came back
into it again, not the blood.
But a pet Jehovah's Witness demarche came to my
mind.
Was this not the
sa
me as
in
the case of Lazarus
whom
the Lord
resurr
ected? You
do not
there
read of
anyone
reporting
,
nor do
you read
of
the
Lord
explaining,
where
his soul was as
he
lay
dead for four
days?
Why does
John
11 not mention such an explanation?
It
is
because
no
one asked Lazarus
whether
his soul was conscious or
unconscious. Everyone was so
thrilled
and awed with the glory
of <?od manifested
in
this resurrection
that
no one was flippant
enough
to ask Lazarus about
that.
The
Scripture
is here mute
on that
score
in
the same way as in l Kings 17:23. n these
passages it gives voice not
to
what
the
soul was
doing
while out
of the
body, but to
th
e glory
of God
who could put body and
soul together again.
Herein lies the crux
of our
di
sc
ussion. God can, and does,
not only form the body
of
man, but also creates his soul, and
He IS
able
to fuse
them
into one, by
either the
power of
Creation as in Gen. 2:7, or of resurrection as
in John
11 or
I Kings
17.
As man became al ive, we note, he also came alive in the
could
think, reason, associate with God, all
things
which
dtd not happen to the beasts, who only
could
come alive
in
the
blood
in their
bodies. Man came
into
his
own
and be
came God-conscious.
Note
the divergence from the
bea
st?
Both
beast and man have
li f
e in the body
through
blood. That is the
limit
of
the beast though. But
man, po
ssessor of an immortal
soul, emerges into God-consciousness How
did
this take place
in
Adam's case?
A dam Exercises God-Consciousness
The day came
when
Adam surveyed
all
beasts. As a result
of this, he gave each a
name
. n
th i
s survey he soon discovered
that
there was among them no helpmate for him. Also he
talked with
God
in the cool
of
the evening. Thus man was
122
INTO
THE LIGHT
OF
CHRlSTIANITY
God-consciousness toward God. Man's soul, giving
him
the con
sciousness that he had to come to terms n
ot
only
with
flesh on
IN THE
IMAGE
AND LIKENESS
OF GOD 123
The soul? No. The body.
But
when the body
di
sso lves, what
hap pens to the rest of the whole man?
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ear th but al
so
with God in heaven, thus gave eloquen t evidence
as to its destiny.
As th
e body of
man
became a vessel of glory, a soul glorious
to God, being complete for life within itself for eternity,
man
in obedience would have a
life
of glory
in imm
ortality. The
spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching out all inward
parts of the belly (Pro
v.
20:27).
From the very beg
inning
of man's existence, did the Lord
light
up
man's spirit. Adam surveyed the beas ts,
and
he rea
soned himself to the conclusion that there was
no
suitable help·
mate or companion among them for him.
God put
man to sleep
and gave him Eve. Upon wakening Adam immediately discerned
what God
had
done. He said, This is now bone of my bones,
and fle
sh of my flesh; she shall be called Wo
man
, because she
was taken out of
ma n
(Gen. 2:23) .
Adam
recognized
in
Eve bone of my bones, flesh of my
fle
sh. H av
ing
been created
an
immo
rt
a l so
ul
Eve
was
a s
eparate
be
ing. She h
ad
become by act of crea
ti
on a living soul
in
her
own self-consciousness.
It was
in
this ma
nner
that new souls were
multipli
ed. We
read, And God blessed them and God said unto them, be
fruitful, a
nd
multiply, a
nd
repl enish the earth (Gen. 1:28) .
Souls would conLinuously be multiplied
with
the multiplying
of bodies as they became
se
lf
-co
nscious by
an act
of
God.
This
would be, as it was in Gen.
2:
7, first the forming of the body
from existing
thing
s, then the placing of
the
soul
in the
body
by God.
J
ob
ask
s,
Did not
he
that
made me
in th
e w
om
b, make
him
?
And
did n
ot one
fashion us
in
the womb?
(Job
31:1
5).
God kept forming vesse
ls
out of existing mat
er
ials, each time
placing
in
the body a new immortal soul.
Looking at Creation of
Man From
the View of Dissolu tion
Let us n
ow
approach chis subject from still another view.
Unfortuna tel
y,
there is
another
side.
It
is the dissolution of
man
.
Wh
at
happened
when
man
sinned?
We
read, In
th
e
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
br
ead, till thou return unto the
ground; for
out
of it wast thou
tak
en; for
dust thou
art, a
nd
We
read
in
Eccl. 12:7,
T
hen shall the dust r
eturn
to
earth
as it was: and the spirit shall return
un
to God who gave it.
So the spirit of man, made by God, returns to God, as the body
return
s to the du st of the ground out of
whi
ch it was formed.
What H appens to
th
e Sou l, If It Is Immortal1
But what abo
ut
the soul, the self-consciousn
ess
of man? Is it
too dissolved? f it is, then it is not of the substance of im
mort
ality. Let us see.
Paul says in
2
Cor.
5:
10, For we must all
app
ear before the
judgment
seat of Christ; that every
one
may receive the things
done in hi
s body, acc
ording
to th
at
he ha
th
done, whether it
be good or bad. Who appears before this judgment seat? Just
the body? No. The whole man: body-soul.
ll hear
the
voice
of
the
Lord
in
the day of resurrection
and their
soul will receive a
glorious new body.
Is not the body o
ur
eart
hly tabernacle?
Wh
a
t,
if
it
is
di
s
solved in to dust?
Why, if such a soul does
not
receive a tabernacle from
heaven, but instead, one from earth, is it called naked ? (2 Cor .
5:1
-4)
. J o
hn
actually saw souls without bodies, earthly, or resur
rection bod ies - n
ot
yet clothed (Rev.
6:9,
10)
.
When they, the
souls of the dead coming out of the great tribulation (verse
9)
cried out (verse 10) , we ob
se
rve that the Lo
rd
gave t
hem
robes
(verse
11)
, so they would not be naked a
nd
co
uld
rest. Obvi
ousl
y,
without cover o{
a
glorious new resur rec tion body, such
souls find
no
rest
until
the day of resurrection.
Then there are the souls of those of former ages of whom
Paul writes in Heb. 12:22,23, But ye re come
unto
mount
Zion, a
nd
un to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeru-
salem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and chu rch of the firstbo
rn
, which are written
in
heaven,
and
to G
od
the
jud
ge
of
all, a
nd
to
the spirits
of
just
men
made p ·fect.
Again we read
in
an
ot
her chapter, Rev. 20:4, a
report
by
John. H e says, I saw souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of J esus.
124
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
when the
Lord Jesus came,
Paradise
and
hell came
to view:
Paradise, a place
of
peace and rest, and hell, a place
of
no
peace and rest.
IN
THE IMAGE AND
LIKENESS
OF GOD
125
as
it did
Abel, to live a new
life
in
and
after
the
spirit.
Such
in
times
past
in faith, and we today by
the Holy Spirit working
in us, were again, fruits the (Gal.
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Description
of
Souls
In Paul's
wonderful experience
related
in 2 Cor. 12:2-4 he
actually describes a soul,
I
knew
a
man
in
Christ
above four
teen years ago (whether
in
the body I
cannot
tell; or
whether
out of
the
body, I
cannot
tell:
God
knoweth) ; such a
one
caught
up
to third
heaven. And I
knew such
a
man
(whether
in
the
body, or
out of the
body, I
cannot
tell:
God
knoweth) ;
how that he
was
caught
up
into Paradise and heard unspeakable
words,
which it
is
not
lawful
for
a
man to utter. Here
we have
a description of a soul's experience in Paradise.
The soul of
a
man,
then, is
immortal.
Fate
of
the Soul
f
in this life a soul lives
only
to gratify its sense-conscious
ness, or the flesh, it comes under
the
law of sin.
Its
wages is
death.
When
it
dies,
it
loses its sense-consciousness as
the body
decays in
the
grave (Eccl. 9:5,10) - to
await the
day
of
resurrec
tion when the old
body
with the ingredient of immortality
comes
forth
to
judgment.
f in
this life a soul lives to express itself
in the
spirit,
or
in
its
God-consciousness as living
unto the Lord, it
learns to
walk
and to
talk with
God.
Such
a soul will
never
see
death in the
day
of
resurrection, as then it will receive a body of glory in
immortality. Resting in Paradise, such (as we have seen in
Rev. 6: 9,
10
can
talk, feel, cry, etc., even
though
their
bodies
have been slain and have
been
dissolved
long
since.
Many men
from
Abel
on
have lived
after
the
spirit in their
fallen bodies. Of such we
read
in John
1:
12, But as
many
as
received
him,
to
them
gave
he
power to become the sons of
God; even
to them
that
believe on
his
name.
Such, living like
Abraham,
lived
after the
spirit.
How
do we know?
We read
,
But they now desire a
better
country,
that
is, a heavenly:
wherefore
God
is
not ashamed
to
be
called
their
God:
for
he
hath
prepared
for
them
a city" (Heb. 11:
16). n spirit
they
saw the day of Jesus in faith and rejoiced.
Eternal Life in
Glory, or
Immortality in
· Shame
and Contempt
born producing the of Spirit
5:22)
in
the
place
of
the
fruits
of the
flesh.
This
being
the case, the
one
soul expressing itself in
the
flesh and another
soul
expressing itself
after
the spirit, we
can
see
the potentials
for war.
Thus,
early in
man's
existence, soon
after
his fall, the soul became
the
scene
of
this warfare.
·whether
one lives solely to gratify the body
of
flesh, or lives the way
of
the spirit
determines
the
destiny
of the
soul, as
in faith it
hopes
for redemption
to come in
the Redeemer
promised from
Gen.
3:
15
on.
f a man lives solely to gratify the flesh,
then
at
death he
will,
without
a body anchoring him to the earth, be lost
in
hell -
falling far
away
from God. Within
itself
it
wiil
contain the
memory
of
all the feelings, thoughts, and deeds it
committed
in
the body
of
sin. This will cause
torment
and torture. As to its
future, it has no
hope.
Such
a soul continues
what
already
it
has
been doing
while still in the body
dying
thou
shalt die
(Ezek. 18:4). Because
of the
prevalence
of sin
t will be
unable
to
enter the
land
of the
living, Paradise.
f
a
man's
soul has lived
after the
spirit,
then
he
has
slowly
learned
to use
the
power of God.
Such
a
man
bears fruits
of the
spirit, by which
he
becomes stabilized in
spiritual
living. As we
shall see
in
chapter 10,
Christ
becomes
for
such a
one the
anchor,
who
being
thus
in
Christ, is
anchored until the
resur
rection when his soul
puts
on a body
of
glory in immortality.
Such a soul,
though
separated from the
body,
through
the
quickening
power
of the spirit
can,
while waiting
upon
Christ
and
the day
of
resurrection
in
Paradise, observe, feel, talk,
touch, live
in the
spirit (Rev. 6:
9,
10
.
The Soul a Battleground
With the soul
thus
being immortal, and the arbiter
between
spirit and
flesh,
or
two worlds
within
man,
the
soul truly
would
be
the glory of God. But with
sin
having entered into the
soul,
all
offspring
of
Adam, since all were created in possession of an
immortal soul, have become a battlefield between
the
flesh and
the
spirit.
The
very fact,
that
this
has
been so
al1 down through
the corridors
of
history, is
eloquent
proof that man has an
126 INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
is well described for us in Gal. 4:22,23,
For
i t is written that
Abr
a
ham had
two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
fr
ee woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after
IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD
127
We live in Paul's hope: Therefore we are always confident,
kn
owing that, whilst we are
at
home
in
the body, we are absent
from
th
e Lord (2 Cor. 5:6) .
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the
fl
esh [body]; but he of the free woman was y promise.
This brings imme
diat
ely to
mind
two kinds of
human
beings.
Th
ere are on the one hand those who cater exclusively to
their fleshly bodies.
When
ey die , the opportunity for eir
souls ever to become vessels o f glory fades forever, as they fall
in l
o hell awaiting resurrection of their bodies in immortal
ity.
Th ose who live after the spirit, being
mindful
as had been
Abraham of the promise of God to furnish salvation (as early
as Gen. 3:15) when they d ie they rest and repose in Paradise
awa
i i
ng the glorious day
of
resurrection. This day
is
now no
long
er
a mere
hop
e. t
is un conditi
onally guaranteed by the
death and resurrection
of
our Saviour God, Jesus Christ.
Abel and Cain, J acob and Esau, Isaac a nd Ishmael, the
fleshly Jew
and
the
Chr
istian, the man in Christ
and
the heretic,
come to view in successive generations as classic examples
of
this struggle of flesh a
n<l
spirit for s
up r
emacy in the soul.
But
after all is said and done, there comes the seal to all of this in
the stateme
nt
of Paul in Phil. 2: 1
0. That at th
e name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of thin
gs
in heaven, and thin
gs
on
earth, and things under the earth.
Are those who are placed under the earth, in graves, at
Lh
eir
death, really dead? Their bodies, yes, but not their souls. f
th
ey were really dead when put in to the grave, that is, if their
souls are unconscious or have been annihilated, how can they
bow the knees to Christ? How can they worship,
i£
they are
dead? Yet, those und
er
th e
eart
h shall bow the
ir
knees
in
worship to Christ,
or
be
thr
ow n into
th
e lake of fire (Rev. 20:4) .
Body
of
in
an
Impedimen t
of
the
oul
In Ps. 6:5 David cries out, For in death there is no re-
membran ce of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Wh y does David say thi s? David knew that he who lives a
wicked life by way of death and
th
e grave winds up in hell
(Luke 16:22,23), where no one praises the Lord.
Th i
s vexed
and puzzled him.
Kn
owing this, he cried out for us to read
in
the 4th verse, Return,
0
Lord, deliver my soul:
0
save me for
thy mercies' sake. He ac tua
ll
y prays to be rid of his s
inful bod
y,
To
those
souls who live after the spirit (this was a lready
tru
e at the time of Abel) the body becomes an encumbran
ce.
They have often prayed for its dissolution in death. f they
po
ssessed no immortal soul, wherein they could be totally God-
conscious forever, they would have been very foo lish indeed to
wa
nt
to be rid of e body.
All godly men, along with such particular examples of fact
as Enoch, Moses, Elijah, etc., never saw death. God ca lled him-
self
th
eir God; an<l God is
not
a God of the dead, for
He
condemns these to hell;
but
He is a God of the living.
By
sta ting concerning such men that He is their God, the Lord
testifies eloquently
that
these men do have imm
or
tal so uls.
Viewed from this side of the veil, we may look
up
on them as
dead, but
God
proclaims them to be in the la nd of the living.
What is the la
nd
of the living? What part of man is in it?
The
body? No, for these
are
awaiting a body of glory in the
resurrection. Th eir soul
s?
Yes, for having Jived after e ways of
the Spirit, this has
qu
ickened their souls. In their souls, they
arc alive to God.
In
Matt. 17:1 -9 we observe Moses, Elijah and J esus
in
earnest conversation. Vllere Moses and Elijah real? It is a fact
th at J esus was rea l. H he was real,
so
were Moses and Elijah.
H e was
not
shadow boxing
They
were all real enough lo
Peter
who saw them, for be wanted to
build
a tabernacle for each of
them. God spoke in the 5th verse too. They were alive to him,
to the Lord, a
nd
to Peter. Why not to u s?
Where did they come from? Were they co
njured up
by
witchcr
af
t, as was Samuel by the witch of E
nd
or? No,
ch
e ve
il
was drawn aside for a while. T he discipl es saw Moses and
Elijah alive, not dead. Elijah and Moses were ali
ve
This being
the case, they
mu
st have resided in the
land
of the living.
n thi s
tran
sfiguration scene we have
another
factual behind-
the-scenes look afforded us by the Lord J esus. Graphicall
y,
H e
shows what has happened to the
so
uls of
ju
st men made perfect,
to the men of old who sought a heavenly co
un
try. Th is sce ne is
every
bit
as
authentic
as
s
the description oE the rich man
and
28
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
story of Dives
and
Lazarus, in Luke 16, incidentally, we see
Abraham
alive too.
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What
force these revelations give to
the
words
of
Jehovah,
"I
am
the God
of
Abraham, Isaac
and
Jacob" He is indeed the
God of
all
the
living
souls
From
the highest
authority
then, we have incontrovertible
proof
that
the
soul within man is immortal.
Chapter 10
"MAN IS A SOUL," SAY THE
JEHOVAH
'S
WITNESSES
Natural octrine Because of
Unbelief
Once Charles
T.
Russell
had
left
behind
in unbelief, the
Bible doctrine
of Hell as a place
of eternal
punishment in tor
ment he laid
himself wide open for soul-washing.
But
this came
as
an anti
-climax to his rebellion from historic Christianity.
Once
you
deny
Hell, then the
doctrine of the immortality of the
soul must go, and soon
the doctrine
of God and
the deity
of
Christ likewise become
untenable
in your thinking.
How clear
that
came
to
me
now
It
caused
within
me a firm
resolve
never
to play down the
doctrine
of Hell as taught by
the
Lord
Jesus, the apostles
and
prophets. Those who do
not
fully
understand
the sad
and
eternal lot of lost souls will never
appreciate the magnitude of God's love for
them
in Christ.
This
great love
of
God, in sending His Son, will draw lost souls
into
letting Christ come
in
to their hearts as a new strongman,
whose
brilliant
presence will drive ou t the spirit of fear
and
condemnation, and the way of flesh, sin and death. Only a
knowledge of the full
exten
t of the condemnation from which a
Christian has escaped,
ma k
es
th
e believer cry
out
jubilantly,
"Now there is no condemnation to them
which
are in Christ
Jesus " Thus the
strongman Christ
J esus takes ascendancy in
our
h earts
in
a new life "who walk
not
after the flesh but after
the
spirit" (Rom. 8: I).
That man
was created with an immortal soul is a spiritual
doctriIJe coming from God.
That man
is a
mortal
soul, as is
the
peast, is a natural doctrine.
One
is of "spirit
and
truth,"
and
the other
of "hearsay
and
reasonings."
How
does a
natural
doctrine gain credence?
At
first you
may
not
pay much attention to wha t the Jehovah 's Witnesses
130
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
not
know exactly
wh
at they m
ea
n by thi s, a
nd
you begin to
tolerate it. By con
si:ant
repeti
ti
on their lie becomes
plau
sible.
Ne
xt they begin to refer to their books
as
authoritative helps.
MAN IS A
SOUL
131
I now have no feeling of nearness to Watchtower men.
t
used to mean so
much
to me. Now, in its place, I have a sense
of nearness
to
God
- to God
Him
self,
in
whose image
and
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In these b
oo
ks they slow ly teach yo u bow to misuse
God'
s word
to prove the
ir
conclusions a
nd
their
natur
al doctrine. To
the
ex
tent
that you accept their books
as
interpretations to tl1at
extent you are weaned away from rightly us
ing
God's word.
T he moment you learn to misuse God's word to prove some
doctrine men have reason
ed
out,
from th
at
mome
nt
on
yo
u
cannot
accept the facts 0£ the Bible by
itse
lf, or
it
s spiritual
doctrines, or i
ts
fundamental theme
and
center. You begin to
cling desperately to what the Watchtower says. You will only
use such
portion
s a
nd
co
mbin
ations of Bible text
s,
as do the
Wat
c
ht
ower Society. You will no long
er
absorb the
spiritua
l
s
id
e of God 's word. The letter, the verse,
the
torn
out pass J.ge
fr
om
context, are all you can absorb
of th
e
Word
of God
(2 Car.
3:6).
Make
Sur
e of All
Things
, Furnishes T echniques for
Wrongly
D
ividing
God s Word
For a million J ehovah's
Witne
sses, a
nd
in a degree more or
less according to the stage of their indoctrination for ten million
others unde
rg
oing J ehovah's Witness
brainw
ashing, their text
book M
ake
Sure of
ll Th
ings is their doctrine Bibl
e. In
this
book th e Watchtower Society has condensed man's natural doc
trines, and has glibly sub
ordina
ted the spirit of Scri
pture
to the
letter. Thi s is done
de
li berately
(2
Car. 3:3,4) ,
and
to put
in
its place
in
the hearts of these converts a ministry
of the
letter
(2 Cor. 3:6) . The method is here for yo u to see.
To pr
ove co nclusively
th
a t this tech
nique
exists I will show
by u
si
ng
th
e
ir
very own texts. I will
un
cover for you to
se
e
the
deceit
and
carnal malpractice. Simply read
the
verses of the
co
nt
ext which they
om
i
t. These
usually
point up
the spir
itual
side of the text which the J ehovah's Witnesses are misusing.
f you do so, doctrines of men will fade away as the
sp
iritual
vista opens. H armony in yo
ur
t
hin
king will usher
in
peace.
This will
be
incompar
ab
ly satisfying a
nd
right.
It
will not lead
to frustr
atio
n as do J
eho
vah's Witness doctrines. T
hat
is wha t
had
h
appe
ned to me. Once I was steeped in their doctrinal
errors. Now, no longer using the
ir li terat
ure, but solely using
God 's
word, the word of
truth ha
s was
hed
away all J
eh
ovah's
likeness I was made. This image I lost but now, being in Christ,
I recognize it within me once again. Now knowing of my soul
within
me, which is
in
creasingly becoming enlightened by the
s
piritu
al s
id
e of God's word, I
kn
ow I am being led on the
pathway of seeking
lif in
glory an<l immortality (Rom.
2:7).
In
th
e place of a sense of being
ad
rift, I have found
in
Christ
an
anchor for my soul, -and practicably, I
am
now learning how
to put
on
divine
natur
e. Thus I am consciously movi
ng
towards
my heavenly
hom
e on high . I
kn
ow n ow I can always
be
there
in
Christ. Death and the grave have truly lost their sting.
J ehovah
's
Witn
esses
, on
th
e otb er hand, are still totally occupied
with death a
nd
the
grave, beli eving their
fles
h
and
bl
ood are
the so ul. (This they express by saying that man is a soul.) In
bri
ef, you can see the vastness of change which came to me, as I
left Watchtower men
an
d their teachings
behind an
d Christ
came
into
my heart.
The Devil s First Lie (John 8:44)
The
doctrine that man is a soul is the devil's first lie. n
Genesis 3:4 we read, And the Serpent said
unto
the woman,
Ye shall not s
ur
ely die .
As Eve stood before him , having an immortal soul, Satan
tricked her to believe th
at
she w
ould
never be dissolved or die.
He i
gno
red the
point
of m
an
's s
tru
cture, body a
nd
sou
l.
Satan
kn ew that
man
had 'iln i
mmortal so
ul. He led
her
to believe
that her
body too was immortal - that the
bod
y of Eve would
not
dissolve and die. From th
at
day on, idol worshippers, sup
porting
this, the devi l's first
li
e, have always tried to preserve
bodies.
Back ther
e,
Satan went even one step farther
in
his lie by
saying,
For
God knoweth that in the day
ye eat
thereof, your
eyes shaJl be opened, a
nd
ye
shall be as God, know
in
g good
and evil (Gen.
3:5).
Of
co
urse,
Satan's li
e, that
man would not die, was soon
exposed.
I t
is true that on the day of s
in
and sentencing, Adam
and
Eve were n
ot
executed.
It is
this which has brought about
credence to Satan's lie.
But
Eve
did
die.
The
body
and
th
e
132 IN
T O T
HE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
Satan Improvises on H is First L ie
As
tu t
ely Sa tan soon latc
hed
on to the fact
th
at man
di
ed.
Wanting to
di
scredi t God, Satan began to bring
into
question
' 'MAN IS A SOUL
33
i
s,
some
thin
g
th
at is not visible
bu
t neve
rth
ele
ss
produces
vis ible or perceptible resul ts. Bo
th
are drawn from root verbs
meaning 'to
br
eat
h'
or
'to
blow.' 'Spirit' as us
ed in the
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the immo
rt
ality of
th
e soul. He put forth
th
e view th
at
man
himse
lf
is
th
e soul, a
nd
th
a t when man
di
es,
th
e
so
ul al
so
di
es.
Soon
th
e idea of na
tu r
al
ma
n
pr
evailed and the conclus ion
became general th
at
man
in
this respect is
lik
e a beas
t. Man
was
thu
s enco
ur
aged to li
ve
to
grat
i
fy
his
fl
esh.
n
that way he
would get th e full measure o
ut
of
hi
s li fe. Satan moved viciously
in
to eradicate the Sc
riptura
l con
ce
p t
of
the image of Go
d in
man, hoping to accelerate
it
s l
os
s.
Soul Washing Begins
How was this done? By soul-was
hi n
g humans. On ce
th
e idea
of
an
immortal
so
ul was was hed away, men co
uld
be taug
ht
to
reas
on
o
ut
Sata
n'
s new doc trin
e,
that man
is a
sou
l. That
done,
men
s reasoning
pro
cess co
uld
be brainwas
hed
to a narrow
chann
el of revelation and indoc trina tion. Long afterwards came
th
e Watc
ht
ower Societ
y. Th
ey
ha
ve become p
as
t
ma
sters
and
teachers of the above age-old natural doctrine abo
ut
man.
How narrow a channel did
th
e
Wa t
chtower Society create?
L
et
me show you by quoting from eir official textbook,
M ake
Sure of A ll Th ings
page 349 on the
soul
:
A soul, heav
en
ly or earthly, is a living (or sense-possessing
conscious
int
ellige
nt
) crea
tur
e or per
so
n. A
so
ul, heavenly
or
ear thl
y,
consists of a body together with the Life principle,
or
life
fo
r
ce
actuating it. An e
arthl
y soul is a living, breath
ing, sentine
nt
crea
tu r
e, animal or
hum
an. Earthly souls,
human and animal, have an organism of flesh kept
li
ving by
means of blood circulating
in
the
ir
system (
Hebr
ew:
N e
ph
esh;
Greek:
psyche .
Spirit
T o explain away the s
pi
r
itu
al doctrine of
th
e immortality
of the soul, the
Je
hovah's Witnesses re
nd
er their own definition
s.
R u-ahh
which means brea th of lives,
in wh
ich creative act
God created the
soul
in
Hi
s image, as I have shown in
Chap
t
er
9,
is ex
pl
ained
lik
e this on page 357 of
M ake Sure of A ll Th ings
und
er
th
e s
ubh
eading of Spirit:
'Spirit' is transl
ated
from
ru-ahh
in
th
e He
br
ew a
nd
Bible h
as
at least seven
se
n
ses
or a
ppli
cations of me
anin
g to
describe
so
mething
windlik
e, viz., as appl y
ing
to (1) Jehovah
God, (2)
Chris
t J esu
s,
(3) Angel
s,
(4) Life force, (5) mental
di
sposition, (6) ins
pi r
ed ex
press
ion a
nd
(
7)
active force of
God.
Thi
s va
riet
y of
ap
plications is p
oss
ible
in
that all are
windlike, all are invisible to the
hum
an e
ye
a
nd ye
t all effects
th
at are visible, as
th
e eleme
nt
ary mea
ning
of the
or
iginal
w
or
ds indicate.
Animal Souls an d Hu.
man
So
ul
s A lik
e?
Under
th
e s
ubh
ead ing soul, on page 349, Numbers
31
:28
is qu
oted,
And
a levy of
tribut
e u
nt
o th e L
or
d of the
men
of
war which we
nt
to battl e:
one
soul of
five hundr
ed, bo
th
of the
persons, a
nd
of
th
e beeves, a
nd
of the asses, and of
th
e sheep.
Thi
s passage is used to prove that a
nim
al souls
and hum
an
souls are alik
e.
Th
e c
on t
ext of c
hapt
er 31
of Numb
er
s,
however, shows that
a war levy o f 1000
pe
rsons
pe
r tribe was taken.
From th
e 2
5th
ver
se
on, a division of the spoils is
pro
jected. Amo
ng
o
ther
thin
gs, the spoils included living thing
s. Thi
s description
ha
s
nothing
wh
atev
er
to do
with
the
qu
a
li t
y
of
animal
or human
soul
s.
It only mak
es di
stinction betw
ee
n a
nim
ate and inanimate
things for division
purposes.
Does the Sou l
Di
e?
Re
v. 8:
9
and
16:3 are
qu
oted
in M ahe Sure of ll Th in
gs,
to prove
th
at th e so ul
di
es, or better, is
mo
r tal. Note the
Scr
iptur
e in b
ot
h pl
aq
:
s.
T hese passages desc
rib
e creatures
that
live
in I.b
e sea.
No
significance sho
uld
be
pl
aced on the word
soul in the
tr
anslation of this text, since it means merely a
living
thin
g.
Is L ikeness W ith dam the Soul?
Th
ey
th
en quote 1 Cor. 15:45,
And
so it is
wr
itt
en,
Th
e
first
Ad
am was made a living
so
ul, the las t
Adam
was made a
qu i
cke
nin
g s
pirit
. Here is an o
ld
Jehovah
s Witness
trick d
e-
signed to co
nfu
se the
so
ul
with
the body.
We can eas
il
y show the mea
ni n
g of this passage by reading
134
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
The
first
man is
of the earth, earthy;
the
second ma n is the
Lord from heaven. As
is
the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy;
and
as is the heavenly, such are
th
ey also
that
are
"
MAN IS
A
SOUL
"
135
Is
th
e
Soul
in the Grave?
On page 351 , column 2, the Jehovah's
Witn
esses
quo
te Isa.
14:9,1 5, 19 -2
0.
I will now demonstrate to you to the full a
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heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall
al
so
bear the image
of
the heavenly" (1 Cor. 15 :46-49) .
Passage 45 quoted thus proves in context the very opposite
of what
the Jehovah
s
'i\fimesses claim for iL t tells us
that
the
human race is patterned in appearance, in its body in the
image of Adam. But even in
that
structu re (note Gen. 2:7; Isa.
43:7) the body was formed first,
then
the soul was created
in
"the breath of lives ." Even here the earthly came first, then the
spiritual.
The
second Adam
is
the Lord from Heaven, or God,
come to impress His image anew on men . This is a heavenly
image, and not an earthly one, as
is Ad-am
's in sin and death
which now reigns
in our
race of flesh and blood. As a
qu i
ck
en
ing
sp irit H e leads us fully into his image
and
in the day of
res
urr
ec
tion we who are so quickened will receive a body of
glory. This body will be a heavenly one, and not
th
e old earthly
one which those will
inherit
in the resurrection who remained
lost.
Paul says, "Now this I say, brethren,
that flesh and blood
cannot inherit th
e Kingdom
of
God." Wh
y?
"Neither does cor
ruption inherit inco
rruption
" (1 Cor. 15:50).
f
one then, as
the Jehovah
Witn
esses here aver, was resurrected in the image
of
Adam, in a body which is earthy, such a one would not then
have
put on
incorruption.
For
corruption or conde
mnati
on
would still characterize
that
body, even though resurrected
Qohn 5:28,29) and reunited with the soul.
H erein lies proof of another sort. The body of flesh and
blood c
annot
inh
e
rit
the
in
co
rruptibl
e, no more th
an
can
the
soul receive a body of glory in immortality if while in this body
of corruption
it
became lost to things
of
the spirit.
But
the
soul living aft
er
the spirit, or in Christ J esus, can a
nd
does
inherit a heavenly tabernacle (2 Cor. 5:1-4) .
God
lone
H ath
Immorta
lity
In order to confuse the above truth, the Jehovah s Witnesses
cite 1 Tim. 1:17
in
Make Sure of
ll Th ings: Unto th
e King
Et
ernal, immortal, invisible,
th
e only wise God, be
honor
and
glory forever, Amen " With the torn-out passage they wish to
favorite Watchtower trick. Verse 9 rea ds "Sheol (hell] from
b
eneath
is moved for thee to meet thee
at
thy coming.·· ."
That is a ll they quote of verse
9.
Still, verse 9 contains more, .as
follows, ''. . . it stirreth up the dead for
th
ee, even all the clue£
ones
of the ear
th
;
it hath
rai
se
d up fr
om
their thron
es
all
the
kings of the nations "
Why have they omitted this second
portion
of .verse ?? Be
cause it shows that the dead were stirred up
at
his commg to
Sheol.
They
were moving about.
But
that
is
as nothing in this deception. Why, in their
quotation do they omit verses. and then jump to. the
15th verse? It is because these
mt
e
nm
verses show conclusively
that
the d
ea
d in Sheol are very
much
alive, the very
thing
they
endeavor to disprove in the hacked-up quotation of a part of
verse
9.
Let us
read
the 10th verse, which Jehovah's
Witn
esses
want
us to overlook. "All they shall speak and say
unto th
ee,
Art
thou
a lso become weak as we? Art thou become like un to
us?
Thy
po
mp
is
br
ought down to
the
Sheol (grave]
and
the noise of
thy viols: the worm is spread
under
thee,
and
the worms cover
thee."
n these verses we are
met
by those already dead: and
th
ey
talk, ask ques tions, evaluate their fate, etc.
f verses 19,20, which they
quot
e
in Make Sure of All Things
are
read in conj unction wi
th
the 9th to 18th verses, most of
which they delete, we see that th e lot.of one in H ell _s here
described
in
full.
It
is obviousl
y,
a
nd irr
evocably descnbed as
conscious everlasting punishment of such
so
ul
s,
beyond the
grave and beyond dea th of the body. Obviously, death and
grave are only the gates that lead to H ell.
Th e Soul That Sinneth t shall
Die
On
page 352, column 1, we come across another gem of
Watchtower trickery. Here Ezek. 18:4 and verse 20 are quoted:
"Behold all
soul
s are
min
e; as
th
e
so
ul of the father, so also
th
e
so
ul'
of
the son is mine; the soul
that
sinneth, it shall die."
136
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
which
re
ads
Th
e
so
ul that sinn eth,
it
shall di
e. Th
e s
on
shall
not bear
th
e in iq
ui t
y of the father, neither shall
th
e father bear
the iniquity of
th
e son : the righteousness of the righteous s
hall
MAN IS A SOUL
137
this life in the
fles
h, and whether his soul shall be co
ntinu
ously
separat
ed
in
the same ma
nn
er as his body, ~ y i n g ~ o u
die
fin
ally to be r
esur r
ected in the old body
wllh
the ingredient of
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be upon him, a nd
th
e wickedness of
th
e wi cked shall be upon
him.
Why do
th
ey o
mit
and completely ignore ver
ses
5 to 19? It is
because there
in
are given the wonderful co
nd i
tions
und
er
which each and every soul ca n
Ji
ve a
ft
er
th
e Spirit in the flesh,
and
then c
an
go to rest
at
the time of death and the grave to
await resurrection of life in immortalit
y
and will not see d th
in a body of sframe and co
nt
e
mpt
in immortality, when it
comes forth. n
th
ose ver
ses
is set forth the case of a just father,
who walks with Go
,
wh
o begets a son
wh
o becomes
unjust
and
is a sinner, who
in
turn begets a son
wh
o is a
djudg
ed just.
Thre
e generations a re here po
rt r
ayed.
Th
e one who was wicked
dies in
hi
s q u i t y the other two, who al
so
di
e
shall live.
Yet all die - one
dies
in
iniquit
y - the other two
in
right
eousn
ess.
What is
th
eir des tin
y?
The 20th ver se misused and mis
qu
oted o
ut
of c
ontext
by
the Wa tchtower Society in order to hide this revelation of salva
tion to come, giv
es th
e answer.
Th
e
so
ul
th
at s
in n
eth, it shall
die .
A total pictu
re
of what is here port rayed emerges in verses
21-24. The J ehovah's Witnesses deftly ignore this.
Th
e Lord asks in the 23rd verse, Have I any
pl
easure
at
all
that th
e wicked should die? Why does the Lo
rd
ask this? Even
then there were many in Israel who ignored their future state
after death. We read in the
25
th verse Yet ye say, The way of
th
e Lo
rd
is not equal. Such who then, and who now, raise this
qu
es
tion of complaint, sho
ut
Th
e L
or
d ca
nn
ot
puni
sh a
nd
torture a soul fo rever, becau se that would be unjust.
Is
th
e Lo
rd
really unequ al or
unju
st in
Hi
s de
cr
ee of death
for
th
e wicked? The Lord answers in the 25 th verse. Hear now,
house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not yo
ur
ways
unequal?
Wh o l s R esponsible for the Destiny of the oul1
Who
is responsible for
th
e des tiny of the soul of
th
e
wicked,
or
of the r ighteous? T o show conclusively who is re
sponsible
th
e Lord por trays the case of the wicked who turns to
righteousness and the righteous who
turn
s to wickedness. Each
immorta
li ty.
The individual is responsible whether he shall
co
ntinu
e in dea th in a body of s
ham
e
and
contempt,
or
whe
th
er
hi
s
so
ul shall
ha ve
impressed
up
on
it
on
ce
a
gain th
e image of
God, o
ur
Lord J
es
us, and receive in r
esur
rection a body ?£
glory in immo
rt
a li ty to live. 0£ such who choose the Lord m
thi s life, the Lord says in the 27th verse,
h
e shall save his
so
ul.
Fr
om what shall he save his soul? From dying, says verse
28 . The full burden of soul-death, eternal punishment in hell,
li
es upon
each individual, says ver
se 29
.
f
an
un
e
qu
al l
ot
results
in
one's living in h
ea
ven, a
nd
a
nother
's in H ell,
wh
o
is
Is
it th
e Lord? He says No in verse 29. You a re responsible.
In the 30th verse the Lord promi
ses
to
jud
ge everyone. This
will take place in the day o f
ju
dgment. E
ve
n though all Israelites
addressed here were dying, and long since have r
et
urned to
th
e
dust, they
ar
e neve rtheless admoni shed to turn and repen t
away the
ir
transgr
ess
ions, a
nd
make over their he
art
and
s
pm t
.
The Lord has no pleas
ur
e in
th
eir death as is, and much less
as it will be i f
th
ey die in their iniquity
unr
epentant , with their
so ul continuing on to a d
es
tin y of Dying thou shalt die''
forever.
Th
e
so
ul that s
inn
e
th
it shall die.
Th i
s was
not
spoken of
the bod
y
bu t of the
so
ul. The body is already conde
mn
ed to
re
turn
to
du
st. Bod
y-
death ends in de
ath
and
th
e grave. But ~ h e
soul of the sinner co
ntinues
dying in hell in eternal separation
from life with God. Thi s fate becomes
fin
ally sealed when the
wicked in
th
e res
ur r
ection r
ec
eives back his own bod
y
vouch
sa
fing for the process of
d
ying
th
ot
L shalt die
forever.
God has sentenced all mankind after Adam to dying thou
shalt di e fo r dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.
Ezekiel 18 shows clearly that whereas dea th
ca
me to all who
are in the
fl
esh, fo r a
ll
fl
es
h is included in
th
e sin of Adam a
nd
his co nde
mn
ation, death upon their soul s comes only in accord
ance
with
each individu a
l'
s own life while
in
the
fle
sh .
Wh y?
Because J esus Christ
di
ed fo r us
and
has
thu
s become the
anchor for all
so
uls who acce
pt
him and who already before
hi
s co
mi n
g accepted him by
fa ith
.
Wh
o, then, is unequal?
Surely
it
is not God. I t is men who will not repent.
138
INTO THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
But
the
soul does not die if the
image
of
God
J esus Christ, is
once again impres
se
d upon it. Each soul lives or dies, thus,
according to its own life in the body. This discussion of Ezekiel
MAN IS A
SOUL
139
described in this second chapter
as
unstable souls.
Their
characteristics are: they speak great swe
lling
words o( vanity,
they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wanton
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very obviously proves the very opposite of what the Watchtower
intends to· show.
For they, the Jehovah's Witnesses, in accepting the dev
il '
s
lie Lhat man l ~ l l not die, had to wash away
the
image of the
soul, and convmce men that the soul is non ·ex.istent in death
and
in t
he
grave.
This
is done to hide
the
fact
that man
died
spiritually, in the soul, falling away from
God
in continuous
a_nd eternal separation. Satan will have been proved a liar as
sinful souls dothed once again with
their
sinful bodies of
shame and contempt see death
in
immortality in Hell. Trans-
gressors will die forever
and
ever, thus disproving the devil s lie.
The
Lord verifies
it: For I
have no pleasure in the death
of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn your-
selves,
and liv
e ye (Ezek.
18:32) . Those
who come
forth
in
death soul and a body of dishonor reunited in the resurrection
certainly do
not
give God pleasure. Upon them is His wrath. '
Ma n a Brute Beast Soul?
On page 352
in
the first column of
Make
Sure of
ll
Things
the Watchtower Society quotes
Peter
2: 12, But these, as
n t u ~ l brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil
of thmgs they
understand
not; and shall utterly perish
in
their
own corruption.
This
verse is s
upp
osed to prove
that
Peter
teaches that the creat
ure
soul is mortal, destructible and cor
ruptible.
ar
e watching another Watchtower conjured up red
herring streak across a great spiritual truth. It is deliberately
drawn across the second chapter of second Peter.
This
is done
in
order to hide the fact that
Peter
here speaks of false proph
ets, heretics, and of the fate of wicked and corrupt souls. Peter
says
in
verse 3, And through covetousness shall they with
feigned words make merchandise of you; who
se
judgment now
of a long time lingereth not, and their da
mnation
slumbereth
not.
First of a ll Peter says, such are already judged since they
embrace
not
Christ; condem
nation
of old abides
on
them.
Peter even states that their damnation is a reality, not even
deferred. Jn fact, they are on their way to Hell.
ness, those that were clean escaped from those who live in error
(2
Peter 2: 18).
The Watchtower Society early embraced such errors, or
heresi
es.
Now they uphold them
in
Make
Su r
e
of
ll
Th ing
s
IE you fo llow their
main
thrust, HELL IS THE GRAVE, and
you agree
that
you have
no
immortal soul, they
will
say you
have come free. To what have you become free? You have
become free to become a Kingdom Publisher of the authoritarian
New World society. You are thus overcome by a
corruption
of
truths, and
made to
join
their error. Once you have been so
overcome, you are in bondage to
their
teachings in the Watch
tower. n performance, you become mercha ndise to them.
Out
of
the
books of
the
image come forth great swelling words
and
works of men,
in
place of the word of God.
Peter pu ngently describes such in this second c
hapter
,
in
verses l 9-22, While they promise them liberty, they themselves
are
the
servants of corruption: for of whom
a
man is overcome,
of the same he is brought in bondage. For if after they have
escaped the pollutions of
the
world through the knowledge £
the L,grd and Saviour Jesus Christ, they
ar
e entangled agam
therein,
and
overcome,
the
l
atter
end is worse with them
than
the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have
known
the
way of righteousness, than, after they have known
it, to turn from the holy commandmen t delivered unto them.
Artfully bandying about the name o( Jesus Christ,
mouthing
terms of salvation or being saved, they lay themselves open to
condemnation in Hell, as shown in verses
4·6.
Verse 22 shows they act like dogs or swine towards salvation
- or
like brute
beasts. Such still say, wallowing in errors of old,
that they
are
beasts, die
lik
e beasts, go to the same pl-ace as
beasts. This 22nd verse shows, s
in
ce they act like beasts, they
are treated as such, in that they are taken, chained and delivered
in t
o darkness, being reserved for the coming judgment.
Then,
appearing in their old bodies
with the
ingre<lient of immort-al_ity
quit
e evident, which they denied in t h ~ s li fe, they will be
pr isoned
in
the
pri
so n house of
the
Universe, the Lake of Fire,
to roam under restraint like beasts, forever and ever.
140
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
very opposite the Watchtow
er
intends it to show.
It
shows the
lot of the souls who are lost.
"
MAN
IS A
SOUL"
141
borne the image
of
the earthy (Adam] we shall also · bear the
image
of
the heaven
ly.
Now
this I say,
brethren,
flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; neither corrup
tion inherit incorruption."
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Soul
s the eed
When
the body dies and is buried, the soul
either
goes
to
Paradise
or
to Hell.
In
Hell
it keeps on dying eternally; in
Paradise it rests
in
the a nchor
of
Jesus Christ.
Luke
21: 19, In
your
patience possess ye
your so
uls "
1 Peter 4: 19, "Wherefore, l
et
them that suffer according
to
the
will
of
God
commit the kee
ping of their
souls to
him in
welldoing, as unto a faithful Creator."
Rev.
20:4,
"And I saw thrones, and they
sat
upon them, and
judgment was given
unto
them:
and
I saw the souls of them
that were beheaded for the witness
of
Jesus,
and
for the Word
of
God,
and
which
had not
worshipped the beast and th
ey
lived and reigned
with
Christ a thousand years."
How did these souls get to Paradi
se in
heaven?
In
what way
do they become the seed for a new glorious body?
1
Cor
.
15:35-38,
"But
some man will say,
How are
the dead
raised up?
and
with what body do they come? Thou fool; that
which
thou
sowest is not quickened, except it die;
and that
which
thou
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but
bare grain, it may chance
of
wheat, or some other grain [perhaps
ta res]; But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, to every
seed [soul] his own body."
From
the 39th verse on, in l
Cor
. 15, the illustration of the
soul as the seed or grain,
is
elucidated.
Adam, the first
man,
was made a living soul. The
whol
e
sou l dwelt
in
a body formed out
of
the dust of the
ground.
By
sinning
,
Adam
lost
the
image
and
likeness
of
God
.
Hi
s offspr
ing
all
now came forth
in
Adam's condition, although created of
God
as immortal souls.
Then
came the last Adam, the very image of God Himself,
the express image of
Him
,
Heb
. 3, who was made a quickening
spiri
t
his soul living in full harmony
with God the
Father.
He
died,
but
He was not left in the grave. He
brought
about
atonement. This same body, since His soul had not sinned,
came forth the third day. His body was a body of flesh and bone
when
he
died.
It
was,
what
Paul here so wonderfully shows, in
resurrection, to become a glorified body.
He
concludes this
to
f a soul dies clothed with Christ's righteousness upon it, or
with His image impressed
up
on it,
it
carries with
it
the
li f
e of
Jesus Christ, and
in
the day
of
resurrection inherits a body of
glory in immortality to life.
But
i f a soul dies
in the
image
of
Adam,
in di
ssolution,
sans
the image
of
God, il
ca
nnot
inherit in
the resurrection the
image
of
Jesus
Christ in
His body. t
depend
s exactly on the
kind
of
seed that
is
planted. f it is the old body whose
features the image
of
God was long marred, it comes forth to a
resurrection of damnation
Uohn 5:28,29).
Thus, i f the soul
dies wicked, it is corrupted as we
read
in 2
Peter
2:2, which is
what Jehovah's Witnesses hid e.
It
cannot theref?re, an
incorruptible or
untarnished
body
of
glory.
In
its case, 1t sees
death, where the "worm ceaseth not to gnaw and the fire re
mains
unquenched
."
The
soul
of man
is
immortal.
Apart
from God, His
im
age
and
likeness become marred and lost. The soul then because
of this, remains
in torment
and tor ture. f it has once
again
been impressed with God's
IMAGE AND
LIKENESS, by put
ting
on Christ, it lives forever
unto
God.
The
soul then is apart from the body.
It
was not formed
from exis
ting
material as
was
its body. This soul is immortal.
God delights
in
those sou ls who live unto His glory (Isa.
42: I;
Heb.
10 :38; Lev. 26:11; Isa. 1:14).
What kind
of soul do you have?
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Chapter
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL BROUGHT TO
LIGHT BY
JES
US CHRIST
Immortality Comes to L ight Again
Dea
th
and
th
e grave, man's exit gates from
earth
from Abel
on, long shrouded the destiny of the soul in darkn
ess. In
fact,
because
of
this darkness in to which souls vanish,
i t
has been
easy for heretics and false teachers to wash i t entirely. out
of
existence.
All of that, however, need no longer be true. Matters have
changed. Listen to Paul's
statement of
that change. Who
brought immortality to light 'as far as souls are concerned? Was
it some phi losopher like Plato? Or Socrates? No, nothing like
that.
Who hath
saved u
s,
a
nd
called us
with an hol
y calling,
n
ot
according to o
ur
works,
but
according to
hi
s own
purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began" 2 Tim . 1 9 .
What pu rp
ose a
nd
grace is
thi
s, which h
ad
its an tecedence
before this world of
man
began? As Paul says in Romans,
i t
is
to be vessels of mer
cy
(Rom. 9:23). What aga
in is
the glory of
God
in
Christ J
es
u
s?
t is
hi
s immortality, his "dwelling in the
lig
ht
which no man can approach un to, whom no m
an
h a
th
seen, nor can see:
to
whom be honor and power ever
la
sting,
Amen" (1 Ti m. 6:16) . Man made in this image who was in
this
manner
to be a vessel of mer
cy
(Rom. 9:23) alas, sub
sequently became a vessel of dishonor
Disobedience changed ma n. Because
of
this, man's body
disintegrated at his death in the grave
and
his sp
ir i
t returned
to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7). S
in
ce revelation was incom
pl
ete his soul disappeared in a shroud of darkness
in
the
Old
T estament Sheol-Hades.
What appened
to the Soul
Jus
t what hap p
ened
to this immortal Many a writer
and seer
of
the Old Testament wrote about the mystery of the
144
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
whereabouts
of the
soul. This we have already discussed in
Chapters 9 and 10 in this book.
It
becomes obvious to
us
in
this
account that the
souls
of
many, because wicked
and
im
penitent, went
to hell. However,
others
because
of
their seeking
IMMORTALITY
BROUGHT TO LIGHT
145
doctrine of
heresy
that
"man is a soul
,"
as
the
Jehovah's
Wit-
nesses say.
The Drama
of
a Soul in
Life and
Death
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God in
this life,
though
under wrath and
thus
afar
off,
in
death
resting
in Paradise were
and are
held
in
escrow, so to speak, in
Heaven
(Rev. 6:9,10) .
They
rest against
the day of resurrection
in which such souls will receive a new glorious body.
In
God's
thinking,
and that
is
all
important, though once under
wrath,
they have become vessels
of
mercy
(Rom. 9:22).
But what has changed their
status
from being under wrath
to vessels
of
mercy?
Better
still,
when did
this
event
transp
ir
e?
What event would end
death
and bring
life
and immortality
of
soul to
light again
-
something
so
long
shrouded
in
utter
darkness?
Re a
d "But is now
made
manifest
by
the appearing of our
Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death,
and hath
brought life and
immortality
to light
through
the gospel
(2 Tim. 1: 10) .
n uthentic Revelation
on
the Whereabouts
of
the Soul
The
appearance of
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ on earth,
as
the
Son of
man,
brought to light this authentic revelation of the
destiny
of
man's
soul.
He had
come
from behind the
veil. Life
and immorta
li ty in both facets are revealed to us in
the
second
chapter of
2
Timothy. The
20th verse speaks of vessels
of
honor
and
vessels
of
dishonor. Our
Lord
thus reveals
that
life
and immortality of the
soul
are prevalent in the great
beyond
either
in a destiny
of
dishonor,
or one
of honor
This
,
of
course, is
in harmony with Daniel's
prophecy
of
so
long
ago,
when the end
of
all
is
di
scussed.
"And
many of them
that sleep
in the du
st
of the earth
shall awake, some to ever
lasting
life, and some to everlasting
shame and contempt"
(Dan
. 12:2) .
Let
us
examine the
course
of the appearance of
our Lord
Jesus
Chri
st as
man. We
will see depicted
for
us in this life
of
the
Son of
Man,
from the
cradle
to
the
grave, how Jesus revea
led
and brought
life and
immortality
to light.
f
this is
so, and
our
examination
proves this,
then there never again
will
be
a
question
in our
mind
s
as to what and where the soul
is.
Once
A
great drama
is
depicted
for
us
in Phil.
2:5-8:
"Let
this
mind
be
in
you,
which
was also in
Christ
Jesus; Who
being
in
the
form
of
God,
thought
it not robbery to be
equal
with God: But
made
himself
of no reputation and
took upon him
the
form
of
a servant,
and
was
made in
the
likeness
of
men and being found
in
fashi
on
as a
ma n
,
he humbled
himself,
and
became
obedient
unto
death,
even
the death of the
cross.
What
constituted the man
Jesus?
Was it
body
and soul
?
That can
best be
evaluated
by
what
happened
to
him
when
he
died on
the
cross.
1) He
poured
out his soul unto
death
by shedding his
blood
(Isa. 53: 12) . Before
he
died,
he
asked his
father
to receive
his
spirit (Luke
23:46) (Ps. 31:5) .
2) When
the
Lord
died
on the cross,
what did he
give up
and
lay down?
He Himself
said
in
John
10: 15,
"I
lay down
niy
life
for
my sheep,
or,
my
t o ~ l
humanity
.
The
apost
le
John
describes the totality
of
this sacrifice in 1 John 3: 16, where he
says,
"Hereby
perceive
we the
love
of
God, because
he laid
down
his life
for
us . .. The
Son of
God, John says,
laid
down
his
total
l ife as man.
Jesus actually
partook of
our human
nature. He died
for us
as a man. We live
in
him again, by
partaking of
his divine
nature.
Although he
was
of
divine
nature,
he
took
unto
him,
in
this act of
appearing
on
earth, human nature.
As God,
or
of
divine
nature, he eventually sacrificed his human
nature.
Paul
explains
thi
s
further in Heb.
2: 14
for
us
wh
en
he
says, Foras
much then
as
the
children
are partaker
s
of
flesh
and
blood,
he
also himself likewise took part
of
the same;
that
through death
he might
destroy
him that hath the
power
of death,
that
is,
the devil.
How Could He Partake of Our Nature
However, since he also
had
divine
nature, he could
say
of
this
great
event of sacrifice,
"Therefore
doth the
Father
love
me, because I lay
down
my
li
fe,
that
I
might take it
again.
No
man
taketh it from
me, but I lay it
down of
myself. I have
have
146
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
How
could
that be? Let us look for an ilJustration which
at
once
co
ul
d clarify this for us. We have such
an illustration
in Melchesidec,
King of
Salem, to whom our Lord is compared.
He
also was "wiLhout father,
without
mother,
without
de
IMMORTALITY
BROUGHT TO LIGHT
147
the Prince
of Peace" (Isa.
9:6). Could
this
be said
of anyone
who
was less
than
divine?
The
H istory of the
ord
Jesus as Man
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scent, having neither eginning
o days,
nor end
of
life; but
made
like unto
the
Son
of God"
(
Heb.
7:3) . Now that
s
an
interesting proof offered as to the deity of Christ, in
conjunction
with his appearance
as Son
of Mani
All
throughout the
7th
chapter of
Hebrews,
we
see
Paul
make
this vital point. This point
cu
lminates electrifyingly
"By
so
much
was Jesus
made
surety
for
a
better
testament. And
th ey truly were
many
priests, because they were not suffered to
continue
y
reason of death; but this man, because he con
tinueth ever [Son of God], hath an
un
changeable priesthood.
Wherefore he
is
ab
le to save
them
to
the uttermost
that come
unto
God
by him, seeing H e ever liveth to
make
intercession
for them
.
For
such a
High
Priest became us,
who
is
holy,
harmless, undefiled,
separate
Crom sinners
and made high
er
than the heavens" (Heb. 7:22-26).
Here now we
have Lhe
Son
of God
, come in the Aesh ,
who
took
upon him the
form
of
a
se rvant
, and was
made in the
li keness
of
men.
Here
was God What a drama
How did
the
Lord
take
unto
himself the form
of
a
servant
and the likeness
of
man?
Was
it by materializing in human
form
just as he
often did
in Old Testament times? Isaiah gives
the
answer
in
Isa.
9:6, "For unto
us
[I]
a child
is born,
[2] unto
us a son is given. Two
natures
come
here
to view.
Jesus was miraculously conceived and born, as a child . Why
as a child? Because it is as
children
that
hu m
an
li f
e begins.
That
is
what Paul
means
in Heb.
2:
14
"For as
much
as
the
children are partakers
of the A
es
h and blood, he also took part
of the same .
" The human nature of the Son
of
God, was
born.
But
divine
nature
was
not born here
; it
cannot
be.
Neither
was it begotten
in
Jesus
thirty
years
later when
the Father
acknowledged J esus as
His
Son, as Lhe Jehovah's Witnesses
te
ach.
t is
"
un t
o us a son is
given,
not begotten,
begun or
born. n
the Son "given," here is divine nature
fullblown
as
the Son of
God.
Note
the description: '' and
the government
Let
us trace the Lord's history as a
man.
s a
man,
he began
to grow from chi ldhood in his human
nature. How
was that
growth
conditioned?
"And the
child grew
and
waxed
strong
in
spirit, filled with wisdom; a
nd
the grace
of
God was upon him"
(Luke 2:40) . He was
directing
his life to
wax
strong in the
spirit, in his Goel-consciousness. Consequently, he was filled
with
wisdom, instead
of
with fleshly
lu
s
t. And,
as a result, "the
grace of God was
upon him
." That is exactly
what would
have
h
appened
to
Adam and
to Eve,
had
they not
turned
their
sou
ls
towards gratifying
their
bodies
of
flesh .
This would
have re
sulted
in eternal li f
e to
Adam and
Eve,
in their
bodies, as
implied in Gen
. 2:
16,l
7.
Luke 2:46-47 records another
remarkable incident
in the
growing-up proce
ss of Je
sus as a
man
.
Note
that in this
incident
th
e complete
spiritual unity and
fusion
of
his two
natures
comes into play- and that at the age
of
twelve His
divine
nature,
of course, was showing
through
here.
(How
wrong the
Jehovah
's Witnesses
are
to teach that his
divine nature
was
begott
en when he was thirty years old ) Also his human
nature
was a
lready at
th e
age of
twelve,
attuned
to his
divine nature
.
Whal
does
Lhis
event
emphas
ize? It shows the
remarkable
growth of
his soul toward total God-consciousness at this stage.
Poor parents
of Jesus, who lived
more in the
flesh,
"And
they
understood not
the saying which
he spake
unto
them" (Luke
2:50).
Still,
at
the age
of
twelve his time
had not
yet
come to
fulfill
his divine
mi
ss
ion.
For
that reason "he went down
with
them, and came to
Nazareth,
and was
subject
unto them; but
his mother kept all his sayings
in
her heart" (verse 51). Thus
Jesus grew fr
om
a child to a
man. It
took all of thirty years.
Of
this entire
peri
od the Holy Spirit says, "And J esus increased
in
wisdom
and
stature,
and
in favor
with God and man"
(verse 52) .
Luke
3:21 -38 records
the next report on th
e man Jesus.
Jesus was baptized when thirty years old.
God the Father
publicly acknowledged
Him then
as
His
Son,
or God the
Son,
148 INTO THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
and
the Son of Man. We see the two
nature
s divine and
human, in myst
er
ious harmony
and inter
play. They are here
in
full view. Let us keep them in full view throughout this dis
cussion. Let us not lose sight of them for one mom ent. For the
IMMORTALITY BROUGHT TO LIGHT
49
And J onah w
as
in the belly of the fish tluee days and three
nights."
Was Jo
nah
dead?
His
body may have been to all intents
and purposes.
But
he cried out during that time and prayed,
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deity of Christ is
the
key to salvation
Th e
God
- Man -
or
Creator - Soul
The
Lord, as Son
of
man, was
thirt
y years old when his
remarkable ministry began.
From
then on we see a gradual
revelation of his coming death. Like all men since Adam, the
Son of
man
was born to die.
Slowly, we begin to see a life unfold of a man pleasing to
God.
In
this process the Lord will have to lay down his life,
and then he will take
it up
again. How could
th
at be? Can a
soul take up a new life pleasing to God, after his body has
dis
in t
egrated in the dust? That will be answered for us, at last,
in this forthcoming drama
Here actuall y is mention of resurrection of the body. Except
in mira
cles
, of temporary duration, that had never happened
before. The force of such miracles was blunted, because even
tually the one involved died again. Something else, an
enduring
res
ur r
ection here came
into
view.
Here is
some
thing
stupendous
Note the first concrete development
of
things in tha t direc
tion
in whal transpired at
the
temple, as reco
rd
ed by
John
2: 13-18. The events portrayed there culminated in a startling
revel ation. "Jesus answered
and
said unto them, Destroy this
t
emp
le,
and in
three days I will raise
it up
. Then said the
Jews, Forty
and
six ye ars was this temple in building,
and
wilt
thou rear it up in three days? But
he
spake
of
th e temple
of
his body" (verse 19-21).
n t
he
22nd verse it is said tha t his disciples remembered
this
when
he
was risen,
and th
ey
believed the word which
J
es
us sa id. Do we believe it? It was a sign of coming events.
Immortality
of
a Soul Proved by a Sign
The
Lord's disciples were not looking for a sign, for they
believed his words. However,
the unbelieving
Ph
ari
sees
kept
looking for one, and thus the Lord gave them one.
Th i
s is an
evil generation: they seek a sign: and there shall
no
sign be
given
it
, but the sign
of Jonas
the
proph
e
t
(Luke 11 :29) .
"And the
Lord
spoke
unto
the fish,
and
it vomited out Jonah
on dry land.
In what way was this experien
ce
of Jonah to become a sign
to the Pharisees? Only
i f
we tie it
in with
what Jesus said
in
John
2:19-21, does
it
become
th
at.
Th
e sign would be
the
bodily resurrection
of
the Lord, after being three days
and
thr
ee nights
in
the grave. Th is the Pharisees failed to
under
stand
and
se
e.
Believing in resurrection, as they professed, they
failed to recognize in Jesus the sole "way the truth, and the
life,"
of
all who are embraced in Christ, the redeemed of all
ages from Abel on, and all who remain condemned. Jehovah's
Witn
esses are like the Pharisees
in
prof
ess
ing to believe in the
r
es
urrection while they do
not
recognize Jesus
th
e sole way,
truth and life. They foolishly expect today, salvation by
being
in
the so-called New
World
Society.
Th
e sign of J onah is thus
lo
st
on
them.
Ottr L ord was here prophesying His bod ily resurrection
There came the fateful day when
Je
sus the son of man,
died on the cross in agony. He had shown bow to live the life
of
man, from the cradle to the grave. His death on the cross
was a humiliating one (Phil. 2:4-9).
Wh
at was to happen to
him now that he
hung
on the cross? IL is important for us to
know. For this will tell us what happens to the soul of man
when he dies.
n
the life
and death
of Jes us is the first full
revelation of this long shrouded secret.
B eclo
uding
a ct
We read, And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he
sa id, Father, in to Thy hands I commend my spirit, and having
said th
at
, he gave up the ghost" (
Luke
23:46) .
Here is a very important revelation. Watchtower distortion
creeps in here, to
blind
the Jehovah's
Wi
tnesses to the
purport
of
this last sta tement of
our
Lord.
In
the
ir
New W o
rld Tr
ansla
tion of the Greek Scriptures, the translation committee
tr
ans
la tes Ma tt. 27:50, "Again Jesus called with a
loud
voice,
and
ceaseth to breath e." The Greek word here translated breathe
150
INTO THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Matt.
27:50 as they do? It is because they want
the Jehovah's
Witnesses
to
believe
that man's spirit
is nothing
more
than
the
breath of his body and that
it
does not survive
after
his death.
Thus
they say Jesus simply ceased breathing.
IMMORTALITY BROUGHT TO
LIGHT
151.
So
that is what
happens to the
soul. "
The
souls
of just
me n
,
where
are
they? They obviously are
not
visible to our view, be
cause they have no
body which
we
can
see. But now we
do
know what
happens to their
soul
n
Paradise.
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However, and
they
hope
the
Jehovah's
Witnesses
will
not
notice
this, they
are caught
in
their own arbitrary
ways.
Turn-
ing
upon
the parallel
passage
of Luke
23:46 they
translate the
same
Greek word
pneuma
spirit.
Why
this
inconsistency,
particularly
since
the
same
event
is recorded?
They do
this
because
it
would
have
glaringly exposed
their error
for
the
Lord to
say, Into your
hands
I
commend my breath.
They
had to render
it
spirit,
to cover
their deceitful
use
of God's
word.
What
does
pneuma
(Greek) and
ru ahh
(Hebrew)
mean?
Is
it spirit, or breath, which? Ru-ahh is a plural word, and
literally means breath of lives." As we have seen in Gen. 2:7,
God created the soul in
man,
by giving him the breath of
lives."
This
breath
of
lives,
brought
sense-consciousness
to the
body God had formed out of
the
existing
material
of
the earth.
There
was also the other facet. This breath of lives was in
man's
case God-breathed. For man it made God-consciousness
possible. It endowed man with an
immortal
soul. Also
when
Jesus gave up his
spirit to
God, he gave up his
li f
e in his body.
A
little later
a
man
by
the
name
of Joseph, from Arimathea,
came to Pilate and begged
for
the body
of
Jesus. He laid
the
body
in a sepulchre
hewn
out
of
stone, obviously
to return to
the dust from which it had
come
(Luke
23: 50-55) .
From the
above we
now know what happened to the body
of
Jesus. What
about
his soul?
This
is
important. Was His
soul
dissolved
when
his
blood poured
out
of
his body?
Or
was
it
dissolved
when He
gave up
His Spirit
to God?
The soul of Jesus was quickened by the spirit
in
death.
The
inspired apostle gives us
the
.nswer.
He
says, For
Christ
also hath
once
suffered
for
sins, t
he
just
for the unjust,
that he might
bring us
to
God,
being
?Ut to death in
the
flesh,
but
quickened
by the spirit 1
Peter
3:18).
Here we
have it
The Lord's
soul,
without
body, was quick
ened
by the spirit.
It
was alive Read for yourself
what
hap
pened
to
Jesus:
By which
he also
went
and
preached
unto
the
Shall
his
soul
remain
in Sheol, a
common
grave
of mankind
?
This
drama
goes on. As we
wait bre
a thlessly, our
mind's
eye
is
drawn
to a
prophetic utterance of
David,
made
so
long
ago,
which we
find in
Ps
. 16:10. It reads provocatively,
For thou
wilt
not
leave my soul
in
hell [Sheol], neither wil t thou suffer
thine
Holy
One to see
corruption.
Hell, here
of
course, in
Hebrew
is Sheol,
the Old Testament
term referring
to the place of
the
unseen dead. But what about
the Holy
One not suffering corruption? Upon the s
eparation of
soul and body,
the
body soon disintegrates.
But
we
know
that
a
soul
do
es not
dissolve.
Here
was a so
ul which
was
not
cor
rupted,
which
was
innocent
of
wrong-do
ing
. Yet
it had
died,
in
this,
that
its life in
the body had been
snuffed
out.
Ho
w
could
such
a body,
though
dead,
remain uncorrupted?
Only i
it
were
immediately
resurrected
That
is
the
crux
of
Ps. 16:
10.
Resurrection
Is the
Clue to Understanding of I
mmortal
ity
of Soul
As we
linger on
the threshold'
of resurr
ection, we
are
re
minded
of
an event
w
hich
is recorded in John 11:34-44. Of the
many
facets of truth
here recorded
,
note
this
outstanding
one,
Said
I
not
unto thee, that
if thou
wouldest believe,
thou
shouldest see
the
glory of
God
(verse 40) . What was
the
glory
of God?
It
was
the
creative
act
of God in
man, creating
man a
composite of body-soul. He re J
es
us, as Son
of
God, was
to
show
the
glory
of
God,
when
as a
whole
man,
body
and soul, H e
came
back
from the
dead.
When
Jesu
s asked
them
to remove
the
stone
of
the tomb,
Martha
made
a very important statement, Lord by
th i
s time
he stinketh: for he hath been
dead
these
four
days" (verse 39) .
The resurrection
of
Lazarus concerns us and o
ur
ancestors,
whose bodies suffer
corruption
in
the
grave. It promises
that
,
even
after the body
is
corrupted, we shall
have a
bodily
resurrec
tion in God's
time,
to
reveal
the
glory of God, h is
creation
of a
whole
man: bod
y and soul,
even though
it has
been marred by
death
and it
s
inevitable
results.
That
is what Jesus
mean
t in
152
INTO
T H E
LI
G
HT
OF C
HRISTIANITY
put man toge
th
er ag a
in
as a vessel of glory: body and soul.
nd when he had spoken, he cried out with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come fo
rt h
. An d he tha t was d ead came fo
rt h
, bound
hand and foot with
gra
ve clo
th
es: and his face was bound about
IM
M
OR
T
ALITY
B
RO
UG
HT
T O
LIG
HT
153
ti
on of J esu s? Why do they say
he
arose
in th
e
Spirit
and
manu-
factured the various bo
di
es used by materializing?
T hey had no way of
go
in
g farther with the
ir
na tural doc
trin
e than this.
f
they believed in
th
e deity of
Chri
st, as I do
now,
th
ey could have walked the second m ile with Christiani ty.
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with a na pkin. J esus sa
id
unto them, loose hi m, a nd let him
go" (4344).
H
ow
a
Soul
P
ene
trat
s
From Death to
Life
Let us
go
back now, after
th i
s
in
fo
rm
ative
d ig
re
ssio
n,
to
our
drama.
Th
e t
im
e has come. I t is
ear
ly
in th
e mo
rning
of
th
e
first day. Wo men who loved J esus came and the b
od
y of Jesus
was gone G
ri
ef-stricken, they w
er
e interrupted by two men
with a strange ques
ti
on,
Why
seek ye the
li
v
in
g among
the
dead? H e is no t here, but is risen : remem
be
r how he spoke
un to you
wh
en he was
yet
in Ga lilee, saying, the Son of man
mu
st be d eliv
ere
d in to the hands of s
inful
men, and be
crucified, and the third day rise aga
in
(Lu
ke
24: 1-8 .
Pro
dd
ed like th is
th
ey remembered the words quoted by the
an
gels, for that is who these two yo
un
g men wer
e.
Still it was
hard for them to fully realize
th
at the Lord had been raised in
his body. As we follow
th
e events in
th
e narra tion of Luke 24
we can a
ppr
ecia te the experiences of the disciples.
In
the G
ospe
l of J oho we
are
shown a specific
inst a
nce in
the case of T homas. He simply could not believe
it
. Thomas
wen t so
far
as to say, Except I shall see in his
hands
the print
of na
il
s, and put my finger
in
th e print of
the
nails, and
thrust
my
ha nd in
hi
s s
id
e, I will not beli eve" (John 20:25 .
Eight
days la ter Thomas was present
with
the a
ssembled
discip les. J esus came
throu
gh the wall, say
in
g, "
Pea
ce be
unto
you
. Lo
oki
ng
a t
Thom
as he sa
id
to
him,
R
each
hith
er
th
y
finger, a nd behold my hands; a nd reach hither
th
y hand, and
thrust
it
in to my side; and be no t fa
ithl
ess but believing
(John 20:26,27 .
In abject submiss ion Thomas
ex
claimed, " My Lord
and
my
Go d."
Th
e
lory of od
t
is in the resur rect
ion
of J esus
th
at we see t
he
glory
of
God
up
on man aga
in
,
whi
ch is:
body
and soul ,
cre
a tively
put
together aga
in
.
Bu t they deny it. Unless you believe the
doctr
in e of God, that
J es us is
bo
th the Son of God
-an
d
th
e Son of
Man,
and tha t he
di ed, a
ncl
was resurrected, you cann ot
ap pr
eciate the extent of
th
e sa l
va
tion w
hi
ch has come our way.
A M
an oing
to H eaven
J esus long ago promised that he would go to heaven as a
man, in toto: body
and
soul. That hoad never before been done.
Soul s have
go
ne to heaven (R e
v.
6:9-10) .
T he whole process of this ph enomenon is e
xp
la
ined
by the
ap os
tl
e Paul in Eph . 4:9-10, Now that he ascende d, wha t is
it
bu t that he also descen
ded
fi
rst
into the lower
pa r
ts of
th
e eart h?
H e tha t descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that he m ight fill a ll things."
O
ur High
Priest
l s
the
Son
o
od
Wha t a
rebuke
this inspired statement is to
th
e J ehovah's
Witnesses W e a
ll
kn
ow tha
t J esus
di
ed ; and here
we are
told
he
was resur rected
to
be the same as he was, -and ascend ed to
heaven th e same as he was: body and soul. We are to
ld
he will
return exactly like th is (Acts I :9
-11
) .
Foll
owin
g the descri
pt i
on of Jesus as the Son of Man in
J ohn 3: 13 we are told
in
t
he
17th verse, that a t the
sa
me time
J esus also was the Son of
Go
d.
T o -app recia te th is
full
y let us read once aga
in
H eb. 7:26-28.
"F
or
such a
hi
gh priest became u
s
who is holy, ha
rm
less,
un
defiled, separate from s
inn
ers, and made higher than the
heaven
s;
who needed n
ot
da il
y as
those
ot
her h igh priests to
offer up sacrifice, rst for his own sins, and then for the people's:
for this he did once, when he offered up h imself, for the law
make
th
men high pr iests w
hi
ch
have
infirm
it
y; bu t
th
e w
or
d of
the oa
th
, which was s
in
ce the law, ma keth the
Son who
is
consecra ted forever."
T here we have it.
Th
e S
on
of God in
hi
s divine na ture was
to become the h igh pr i
est
who offered up himself,
as
the
Son
of man ; or
wh
o gave bis co
mp l
ete h
um
an na tu re as a sacrifice,
154
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
and
death to
an
end for all time
n
those
who
believed in
Him,
and
brought
life and
immorta
lity to light.
By denying the deity of Christ the Jehovah's Witnesses have
again lost sight of life and immortality.
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Jesus Christ the Glory of
God
As we look now upon Christ, we see the Son of God and
the Son of man mysteriously one.
As
this Christ is the center
of
the Bible.
As
we look fully upon Christ, and believe, death vanishes,
and everlasting life begins. The flesh fades, and we are born
again, or, as was
He
, quickened in the spirit. And like Him,
we busy ourselves by preaching to the prisoners
in
the flesh.
Let us say, Come, look upon Christ, our Saviour
and
God:
repent
, believe, be born again, live in Christ.
Chapter 2
J ESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD
Wha t Proves Jesus
to Be
the Son of God?
Great emphasis is laid by the Jehovah's Witnesses who
deny the deity of Christ, on the Father's declaration in Matt.
3:17. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This
is
my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. They say I.hat this declaration
proves that Jesus Christ was,
at
the stage of this declaration,
spirit begotten to become the Son of God;
and
as
an
embryo
Hi
s New Creation would grow to maturi ty while He lived on
earth as man. Then, so they say, upon his death as a man his
body was annihilated,
and
He
was resurrected
in
the Spirit as
possessor of divine nature,
or
a new Creation.
It was not only the declaration by
th
e Father, which was
heard when Jesus stepped out of Jordan's waters, which proved
Jesus to be tbe Son of God. It was His subsequent resurrection
from the dead which demonstrated beyond a shadow of
doubt
that Jesus is the Son of God, equal to God. The Apostle
P-:iul
in
troduces him to us
in
Rom . :3,4 as fo llows Concerning his
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh;
and
declared (determined] to be
the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holine
ss
,
by
the resurrecti
on
from the dead.
The
power
of
God made
manifest in His resurrection presents Jesus to
us
as our Saviour-
God.
Few men recognized Jesus as the Son of God while he was
in the flesh. Paul says
n
l Cor. 2:8, Which none of the
princes of this world knew: for
had
th
ey
known they would not
have
cr
ucified the
Lord
of glory. But many men, after His
resurrection, recognized
Him as
the Lord of Glory. By the
Lord's grace, I am one of the millions.
The
real proof
of
the deity
of
Chri
st
was not given by word,
156
INTO THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
s
ub
sequ
ent
resurrection by
the
power of God. This power car
ri
es it right in to the heart of the believer, l
end
ing to the
believer power to live and die with Christ. Tha t power changes
things.
We
read, "For to this
end
Christ
both
died, and rose,
J ESUS
CHRIST
IS THE
SON
OF
COD
157
height, nor depth,
nor
any
other
creature, shall be ab le to
separate us from the love of
God
, which is
in
Christ Jesus
our
L
ord
[Greek: Kurios] (
Ro m
. 8:38,39).
. is also pressed .in on
both
the dead
and
the living in a
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and revived, that He
might
be
Lord
both of
the
dead
and
the
livin
g
(Rom. 1
4:9).
What
Is
the Extent
of
Th is
Pow
er
Peter
clarifies
th
e
ex tent
of
this power
in
Acts
0:
36
b
y.
saying,
T
he word which God sent
unto
the c
hildr
en of Israel,
pre
ac
hing
peace by
Je
s
us
Chri
st (he is L
or
d of all) ."
Thi
s
means that he was not only
Lord
of
the
living, but also the
dead. You find this
word
spoken
to
Israel
in
Isa.
57:19.
Th
e
preaching of the peace, predicting
it
b
ot
h for the Hving and
the dead, is found in nu merous places, such as Dan. 7:14; Matt.
28:18; Rev.
17:1
4; Rev.
19:16. Thi
s is really the gospel,
made
so
by the power of God in the resurrection of J esus Chr ist.
As shown
in chapter
11 it was by the Lo rd
's
life, his subse
quent
death and
his triumphant resur rection, that the state of
bo
th
the living
and
the d
ea
d was for the first time
illuminatin
gly
revealed. Having b
ot
h lived a
nd di
ed, which e
mb
races
both
the
liv
in
g a
nd the
dead, Christ
triumph
ed in coming forth to li fe
again in his resurrection. n th is way H e revealed Himself to
be
not
o
nl
y
God of the livin
g, as
had
been
Hi
s ti tle as a result
of the act of creation,
but
now, God of the living and the dead,
becoming so by his power of resurrection.
That by his resur rection He b ecame God of the dead and
the l
iv
ing,
is
proved
in
its
ultimo ratio
by
Hi
s beco
ming th
e
Ju dge of both the living a
nd
the dead in the last day. W e read
th is confident declaration in
Ro m
. 14:10. But why dost thou
ju dge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at naught thy brother?
For
we shall all sta
nd
before
th
e ju
dgment
seat
of
Christ."
l ife, dea th
and
rise of J esus Christ
brought
to li
ght
that
He is the
Lord
of glory. By the power of His resurrection He
stands brilliantly reveal
ed
as
God
of the liv i
ng and
the dead.
That
is
indeed
good news. That is
the
gospel
Th is la tent power of
th
e gospel,
ex
te
nding over th
e living
and
the dead,
is
expressed
in
a s
pirit
of love, a
nd
a
spirit
of
power (2
Tim.
:7). We see its positive charact
er
for the living
believers we ll described by
Paul
in the spirit of love, "For I
am
sp1:1t o( power, for
1t
makes certain the appearing of all the
lt
vmg
and
the dead
before t
he judgm
ent seat of Christ o
ur
L
ord
(Greek:
Kurios).
T he Dual Nature
of
Jesus hrist
An au thori tat ive sta tement is found in Isa . 45:23. There
Jehovah, the covenant
God
of Israel, says of Himse
lf
, "I have
sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in
right
eous
ness, and shall not rf t urn,
Th
at unto me every kn ee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear."
Paul quotes
from this positive state
ment
in
Rom. 14:10-12,
apply
i
ng it as
co
min
g from the L
ord
J esus Christ.
It
is n
ot limi
ted to the living only as was in Isa.
45:23,
but
to
both
the
living and the
dead, as
fo
llows,
For
it
is
written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
a
nd
every tongue shall confess to God. So then every
one
of us
shall g
iv
e acco
unt
of
himse
lf
to
God.
This .is the spirit of power inherent in
death
a
nd
resurrection.
It
de
t
ermin
es, beyond refute,
that
Jesus Christ is the Son of
God in the divine trinity:
Fath
er, Son. and Holy Spirit.
In
the
-accoun
t
of
Phil.
2:6-9,
which the Jehovah's Witnesses
must twist out of sh
ape
to
uph
old
their unitar
ia
ni
sm, as we
sha
ll
see
in
the next chapter, we come face to face with the
du
al
natures of .Jesus Christ. More than that, we see the miracle of
two
na tu r
es fused
into
one personal
it
y.
On l
y
God
can
do
tha
t,
for
God
is one
in th r
ee person
s:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Here
He
is one persona
li t
y in two na
tu r
es
In
verse 6 J
es
us is
depi
cted as very God. Note, He does
not
gi
ve
up His being God. No, He " took upon him the form of
servant," says
the 7th
verse.
n other words, He added
this
na
ture
of
man to His divine
n
atu
re. H e
bl
en
ded
them
into one
personality.
How could that be? Let us look once more at Isa. 9:6. For
unto us a c
hild
is born , un to us a son is given
What
a
wea
lth
of insi
ght
li
es
reveal
ed in thi
s Scripture
It
reveals to us
the
mind
of
the
L
ord in the matt
er.
Can
you
understand it
?
Ple
ase reme
mber
we are
not
dis
158
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
f
it were
about man,
we would
not
have too
much
difficulty.
For what
man
knoweth
the
things
of
a man, save the spirit
which is in him?" (1 Cor. 2: II ) .
But Phil. 2:6-9 and Isa. 9:6 are
not about
a man. They
JESUS
CHRIST
IS
THE
SON
OF GOD
159
All
of
this becomes clearer
and
gl
ows with greater
luster in
the mystic fusion
of
two natures, as radiated in Christ's life,
death and
resurrection riveting for all time their transcendent,
external
union.
This, Paul
describes as the Son
being the
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were
written
a
bout and
reveal to us, God.
To
understand
them
at all, we m ust have the
Spirit of
God. Paul says, "Even so
the
things o{ God knoweth no
ma n
, but
the Spirit of God
1 Cor.
2:
11).
Let us face it.
f
we cannot understand the doctrine
of
God,
which is a s
piritual
doctrine,
i f
we
cannot
discern Jesus Christ
as
Lord
(Greek:
Christos Kurian), then read what Paul
writes,
showing why we
cannot
discern it.
He
says in 1 Cor. 12:3,
" . . . and
that
no man can say that Jesus is Lord Christos
Ku r
ian)
but
by the
Holy
Spirit." There we have it. Only the
H oly Spirit, the
third
person of God, can reveal
that
to you
(John 16: 13, 14).
The
Watchtower
Society knows
the
power
of that
statement.
They came face to face
with
it
in
the
Greek
manuscr
ip t
s, when
they discovered
it
in
I
Cor
. 12:3b, "a
nd
that
no
man
can say
Christos K
rion
.
They had declared in the foreword
of
their
New
World
Tr
anslation,
that
"wherever the Greek
word Kitrios
and Theos appeared
they would translate
th
em J ehovah."
Notic
e, in this case, as
in many others, th
ey
broke
their
own
rule
and did not
translate
Christos Ku rion
as "Christ is
Jeho-
vah
, but
left
"Lord stand. The
Unitarian
lie
had
to be
covered up. Those who
do
not have the Holy Spirit not only
fail to
understand
that Jesus is God. They also deny it.
A Child Is Born
But now enough
of
the
headquarters
o{ natural man's
re
li
gion.
We
go back to this fascinating revelation
of
Isa. 9:6,
A
child is
born.
By birth as a
child Jesu
s
Chri
st became
th
e Son
of man,
the Son
of David
, the son
of
Abraham, etc. See how
many prophecies
abo
ut
the
Messiah already in line? It is,
however, al
so
said in Isa. 9:6,
a
Son
is
given."
As
you
read on
in
Isa. 9, look
at
the God-like ti tl
es
there
His
deity leaps to
view in
them
in this
manner:
Son
of
God, the Mighty God,
Lord,
Jehov
ah, El,
Elohim
, etc.I These are different from the
titles used in referring to Hirn as being born a child How
the
brightness
of
the Father's glory (Heb. I: 3) in
the
same way as
brightness
is
related to the sun .
Note more
of
the
pregnant meaning
put by
Paul into
Phil.
2:8-9,
And
being found in fashion as a
man
, he humbled
himself,
ana
became
obedient
un t
o death, even
th
e
death of
the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and
g
iv
en
Him
a
name
which
is
above every name."
By
His death and
resurrection Jesus is revealed as God, as
the Son of God.
Paul
shows this in Rom. 1
4:
10-12 .
Jeho
vah the
Hidden
God
-
Jesus
the
Revealed God
Jehovah
hid His face from sinful man. There was the barrier
of
sin.
Yet,
Jehovah's
purpose
for man
remained
und1anged, as
Isaiah says in Isa. 45:23, That unto me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear." The
limitation of
this divine purpose
reaches
it
s climax
in the
all-embracing statement: That at the
n
ame of
Jesus every knee should bow,
of
things in heaven,
and
things in earth,
and
things under the earth, and
that
every
tongue s
hall
confess
that
Jesus Clu;ist is Lord .[Greek:
Kurios]
to
th
e glory
of
God the Father (Phil. 2:10,
11 .
Here
again in Phil. 2:
11 the
Unitarian
minded Watchtower
Society had to
do
some twisting
and
juggling in their New
World
Translation. Although
they
had ruled
that
wherever
Ku r ios or
Theos
appeared
in the Greek, they
would
translate it
Jehovah, they left
Lord stand
here too. They did this because
lik
e all sinful men,
th
ey
like the
hidden God
"
better than
the
revealed Saviour f they had followed their
intentions it would
have
re
ad "-and that every t
ongue
shall confess
th
at Jesus Christ
is J ehova
h. That
wou ld have proved
right the
historic doctrine
of
God
of
Christianity,
and would
have proved wrong
their
Unit
ar ian
do
ctrine
that
Jesus is a created being. So
th
ey chose
to be inconsistent.
A
Name Above That of Jehovah
Would
this name even be above
th
e name
of
Jehovah?
It
certainly was above every
name
ever given to
both of
His
160
INTO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
In
Isa. 45:23 Jehovah says, And
unto
me every
knee
shall
bow Note the context.
Israel
and her surrounding neigh
bors
are
discussed. I t is therefore in the
present and
future
tense that Jehovah tells these
nations,
who were in existence
JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD 161
Testament to Isa.
9:6 and forward
into
the
New Testament to
1 Tim. 3: 16, And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifest in
the
flesh, justified in the Spirit,
seen
of
angels,
preached unto the
Gentiles, believed
on in the
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then, and would be
for
some time in the future, that "every
knee shall bow" to him. But, he does not reveal all to them.
He hides
the
most
important part
to them, as to
how
"every
knee shall bow." Jehovah hides Himself
from
these nations
from
afar.
The
Holy Spirit
causes
Isaiah
in
the
15th verse to
write
of Jehovah,
"Verily thou art a God that
hidest
thyself, 0
God
of Israel, the Saviour."
Jehovah
had
not fully revealed Himself. This
He
would do
in the
Saviour,
who
is
the
Son
of
God. He
would
reveal
Himself
as
the
Father in the Son, in the sense that a Son
inherits
His
father's name, estate, glory, etc., and continuing
would
add
new
luster
to
His
Father. In what way
would
this
be
done?
John
reveals that to us in a striking portrayal of the Trinity in
John 1:18. No man hath seen God at any time; the only be
gotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him.
Thus
the
hidden God, who
withdrew from
sinful man when
he transgressed His
law
,
who
hid
from
man
from
the days
of
Adam to John the Baptist, now revealed Himself in the
only
begotten Son of God.
The Lo
rd
of Glory Is Jesus
Forgetting those amidst the Jehovah's Witnesses who simply
will not Let God be True, let us look
at the
revealed
Lord
of
Glory It is
particularly
in
Hi
s
death
and
resurrection that
Jesus is revealed as
the Lord of Glor
or God
1
Cor.
2:8).
Emmanuel, or as th e Holy Spirit translated it in
Matt.
I :23,
God with us," is his
name. They sha
ll call his
name
Em
manuel,
which bei
ng interpreted is God with us."
That
is also
what
the Lord is called in Isa.
7:
14. In Matt. 1:21 his name is
given
as Jesus, which in Hebrew is
Yashua or as
the 21st verse
of Matt.
1 says, for he shall save his people
from
their sins."
He, then, is the hidden God," hidden in the bosom of the
Father
Tohn
I:
18)
to come forth as
the Saviour
(Isa. 45 i15) ,
prophesied
long ago. s Saviour, then,
Jesu
s
Christ
is identified
as the Son
of
God -
or
God.
world, received up in glory."
The significance of
the
name Jesus over against that of
Jehovah,
as exemplified
in
meaning
of
Saviour-God over
against
Creator-God, is further brought to light by the statement made
in
I
Ti m
. 3: 16,
Preached
unto
the
Gentiles." Note,
Jehovah
of
Isa. 45:23 speaks
only
of
Israel as being
saved; and
of Egypt
and Ethiopia,
and the Sabians
or
Gentiles,
being
enslaved.
How that was all changed
after the resurrection
of Jesus
Christ
Then
we read of Him, In his name shall the Gentiles
hope (Matt. 12:21). Peter could add,
Neither
is there salva
tion in any other: for there is none
other name
under heaven
given among men, whereby we must
be
saved" (Acts 4:
12)
.
That
is the reason why his name is above every other name
(Phil. 2:9) .
Jesus
and
the
Father
re One
f Jehovah was the
God
of Israel
and
the were His peculiar
people,
then
Jesus is revealed as
Yashuah
meaning Jehovah
Saviour, because He
is He who
fills all in all," as we read in
Eph. I: 23.
Who
then is
the
God of oi.lr Lord Jesus,
who
is called
the Father
of Glor
y (Eph. 1:17)
when
Jesus is
dying
and
being
resurrected becomes again the Lord of Glory? 1 Car. 2:8) .
The God of our Lord Jesus is a triune God: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit (Matt
. 28: 18,19;
Heb
. 9:
14)
.
Coming out of
the
bosom of
God
(John 1:18) everything
in
heaven and
earth
becomes subject to Him. As this subject ion is achieved (Phil.
2:10,11) over
all
who either find sal
va
tion,
or
eternal damnation
in Judgment,
ther
e comes the time when
the
Son
Himself
be
comes subject to God. Why? So that
God
(the
triune God:
Father, Son
and
Holy Spirit) may be all in a
ll
(I Cor.
15:27,28).
How wo
nderfully
here in 1 Cor. 15:27,28 is
elucidated the
doctrine of
God -
Father,
Son
and
Holy Spirit H aving co
me
out of the bosom of God in the first
pla
ce as the Son of God,
the
Lord of Glory returns to
the
bosom of God when He has
accomplished His mission as Saviour-God. Once again
we
see
162
INTO THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Creation it is sa id, For of
him
, and through him, ·and to
him
are all
things:
to whom be glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11:36).
R ecall that the act
of
creation being all these lo
ng
ages an
accomplished fact, is r
epor
ted as hav
in
g been
ac
hieved
by God
:
JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF
GOD
163
From
everlasting to everlast
in
g thou
art
God. 0£ Jesus we
read
in
Micah
5:2,
But
thou
, Bethlehem Ephratah, out of
thee shall
He
come forth
unto
me
that
is
to be
whose going
forth
ha
ve been from o old, from everlasti
ng
. Is this not the
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Father, Son a
nd
H oly Spirit. Note the triune aspect accom
pl i
shed by creation becomes in Pa
ul '
s distinctive: ( I) F
or of
Him
,
(2)
and thr
ough
Him
, (3) a
nd
to
Him
are all things.·
Th i
s
is
a present aspect; always
present,
as shown in the last
clause
re
all
th in
gs.
Jesus, God s
Heir
Th i
s continuity of creat ion in being is brought out in Col.
1:15-16. He
re
J esus as the h eir
r the begotten one, is credited
with having
built
a
Jl
things. 0 £ the Father He is eternally
begotten,
and He
created
or built a
ll things
. Who
now built
all things ? Note, Paul in Heb. 3:4 says,
For
every house
is
builded by some man, but He that built all things is God ;
this
is
the God of the Bible: Father, Son
and
Holy Spirit.
How
is explained this subj ection of the Son
unto the
Father, wh
en
it
has s
ubje
cted a
ll in
heaven,
in
ea
rth
,
and under
the ea
rt h
, either in salvation
or
conde
mn
a tio
n?
In Dan. 7:9 we
read : I beheld
till
the
th r
ones were cast down, a
nd th
e Ancient
of
days did s
it
, whose
garment
was white as snow,
and the hair
of
Hi
s head like the pu re wool:
Hi
s
thr
one was like the fiery
flame,
and Hi
s wheels as
burning
fire.
He r
e
is
a wonderful
descr
ipti
on of the
An
cient
o{
days.
Now looking
at
the Son
of
God in heaven, we locate,
and
we identify him in Rev. l : 13-15 as the Son of man. Let us read
the description of him : And in the midst
of
the seven candle
sticks one like
unto th
e Son
of
man, clothed with a
garment
down to the foot, and gird abo ut the paps with a golden girdle.
His head
and
his hair were white like wool as white as snow;
and his eyes were
as
a flame of fire; and his feet like un to fine
brass, as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as many
waters. Note the similar
it
y in description.
Th
e Son returned
to the bosom o( the Father? Of the God of Jesus Christ
it
is
said in Isa. 44:6, Th us sa
ith
the Lord I
am
the first, and I
am the last, and beside me there is no God. J esus speaking in
Rev
. l :17 says, Fear
not
, l am the first and the last. Is this
no t the same God?
same God?
All-embracing, in every aspect, note the following compari
sons between
God and
Christ:
God
Ps. 106:21
Isa. 43:
l l
De
ut
. 10:17
Ps. 18:2
2 Sam. 22:2
Deut. 32:4
Isa. 26:4
J
er
. 23:24
Ps. 139:7-10
Zeeb.
12
:
10
Exod. 3:14
Jer. 17:10
2 Chron.
6:
30
As Saviour
As
Cr
eator
As Lord
of
Lords
As the Rock
As
Our
Stre
ngth
As
Omnipre
sent
As Pierced
As m
As Our
R edeem
er
Ps.
130:7,8
Christ
Luke 2:11
Acts 4:12
Col. 1:16
John
1:3
Heb. 1:2
Rev. 19:16
l Cor
.
10:4
Phil. 4:13
Matt. 28:20
Matt. 18:20
Rev.
1:7
John 8:58
Rev. 2:23
Titus
2:13,14
As a Rock
of
Offense and Stumbling Block
Isa. 8:13,14
Ro
m. 9:32-33
l Peter 2:8
164
God
P
s.
23: 1
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
As Shepherd
Christ
John
10 :14
Heb. 13:20
JESUS CHRIST IS
THE
SON
OF
GOD
God
P
s.
29:1
Ps. 29:3
s Glory
165
Christ
John
17:24
Luke 9:26
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Isa. 60: 19
Ze
ch. 14 :5
Exod. 6:3
J oel 2:32
Isa. 40:3
J er. 17:7,13
P
s
10
2:25
Ps. 102:27
Exod . 34 :7
Ps.
71
:22
Isa. 41:
14
Ps. 27: I
Ps.
24:7-10
Ps. 32:7
Isa.
32
:2
As
Light
in New Jerusalem
As Coming with ll Saints
As Jehovah (the name)
As
Our
Hope
As
Builder
of All Things
As Unchangeable
In Forgivene
ss
As the Holy
One
of Israel
As the
Light
As Lord of Glory
King of Glory
As
Hiding Pl
ace
As Livil1g Waters
J
Pet. 5
:4
John 10:16
R ev. 21:23
Thess. 3: 13
Rom. 10 :11,13
Acts
16
:
31
Matt. 3
:1-3
John 1:23
1 Tim. J: 1
Heb. 1:10
Col. 1:16
Heb. 3:4
Heb. 1:12 (8)
Heb. 13:8
Mark 2:5-
12
Acts 3:
14
J ohn 8:
12
Cor. 2:8
Col. 3:3
J er. 13:16
Ps. 115: 1
Isa. 42:8
Isa. 40:9,10
Ps. 47:7,8
Ps. 45:6
Is
a. 6: 1
-3
Isa. 8:13
Isa. 43: 10
P
s.
11
0:
1
As
El
Elohim
As Jehovah of Hosts
The Great I m
Adonai
Jam
es 2:1
2 Peter 3: 18
R e
v.
1:6
Rev. Il :15
Rev. 19:16
1 Cor. 15 :24,25
J ohn 12:41
I Peter 2:5-8
John 8:24
Jo
hn
13:9
John
4:36
Mark 13:
19
Acts 2:34-36
Matt. 22:41-45
These above comparisons are only a fraction of what can be
quoted from
Ho l
y
Writ
in parallel passages showing that Christ
is God. Cumulatively they show conclusively tha t God and
Christ are one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Th
e Jehovah s W itnesses Embrace the
Un
itarian View of
od
Notwithstanding this overwhelming evidence, the Unitarian
mind
ed Jehovah's
Witn
esses insist
that
Jesus was n
ot
"
th
e Son
of God" in its true mea
nin
g, namely of His God: F
ather
) Son
and Ho l
y Spirit.
Th
ey insis
t,
(I)
that
he was the Son of God
by creation,
2)
and then by human birth,
3)
and then by
spirit bege
ttin
g
in
a resurrection
in
the ·spirit,
or thr
ough three
lives.
They embrace the old Socinian fall acy that Jesus died for
Ad
am as
an
exact replica of Adam, as they put it.
They
try to
prove this by misapplying, A tooth for a tooth,
an
eye for an
eye, a life for a life."
Tbis
bas absolutely nothing to do with
166
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
our Lord Himself gives us che true
picture
and setting in John
12:23,24, "
The
ho
ur
is come, that the Son of
man
should be
glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it a
bideth
alone: but
if
it d ie,
it
bring
et
h forth much fruit."
JESUS
CHRIST
IS
THE
SON OF GOD
167
brilliant ly illuminates Christ's assertion in the 30th verse, "I
and th
e
Father
are one."
T he Jehovah's Witnesses Prove
To
o M uch
No
di
stortion by the J ehova
h'
s Witnesses
of
the allusi
on
to
"gods" can
dim
the luster of Jo
hn 10:
30 and 38. Twist it they
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Atonement
Is E
vidence of
Deity
of
Christ
H
ere then
is the true evaluation
of
the atonement It is the
death and
res
ur r
ec
tion
of the Son
of
man, which
brin
gs
to
view
th
e glory of God, namely of the Son of God -
of
our God :
Father
, Son a
nd
Holy Spiri t. I t is here where
be
com
es
a rea
li t
y
the statement of the Lord in J
ohn
10:30, I
and
my Father are
one.
Here we see the Saviour-God. In other words, in the act
of
procuring salvation, Jehovah and Christ,
or
F
at
her and Son,
are seen as one, every bit as much as they were in the act
of
creating
all thjngs. Again they will be seen as one when all
things pertaining to the res
ul t
s
of
salvation
and ju d
gme
nt
have
been brought in to subjection to God:
Fath
er,
Son
and
Holy
Spirit (1 Cor. 15:27,28).
As
th
e Son
of
God, Jesus lays
down
Hi
s
hum
an
nature
as
the Son
of
man .
s
the Son of God in His resurrection H e takes
this li fe back again,
to
pe
rp
etua te the mystic un ion
of th
e two
natures, the divine and the human, until the end
wh
en all
things shall
ag
ain be subject to God, as all in all, when the
mys ti.c union
of
both na tures comes in to the fulln
ess
of
God in
eterna l glory (1 Cor. 15:2
8).
This
whole act
of atonement
is wonderfully desc
rib
ed for
us by the
Lord
Himself in John 10:17,18: T
her
efore cloth my
Father
love me,
be
cause I lay down my life, that I mig
ht
take
it
again. No man taketh
it
from me, but I lay it down myself.
I have po
wer
to lay
it
down,
and
I have
power
to take
it
again.
Thi s co
mm
a
ndm
ent have I receiv
ed of
my Father.
Th
e Jews Deny the Deity of Chr t
The
Jehovah's Witnesses deny that J esus ever claimed
that
H e was God. Keenly aware of wha t
the
Lord was saying,
th
e
Jews understood
Him
well enough.
Th
ey knew
He
was telling
th em that He was God. Just
read
John 10: 33-39. Jesus c
hided
the J ews by saying in effect, I f your fallible
and
sinful judges
were called gods, much
mor
e I, who am one
with
the Father
and free from sin,
claim
the title,
The
Son
of God.
Th is entire
may, bu t only
to their
un<loing- because in using
it
in this
distorted
mann
er, they prove too
much Th
ey run up against
the fact
that
worship of servants, angels or other creat
ur
es is
wrong.
Th
e
ter
m
God
e
licit
s ho
nor
and
worship; even th
oug
h
it may (in the plural sense only have conveyed the idea of
mig
hty one.
All such gods," on the con trary,
are
commanded to worship
him (Ps. 97:6). This same advice was given to the dev il by the
Lor
d (Matt. 4:
I 0
.
I f
these
jud
ges were Gods
in
the same way
J esus was the Son of God, which is what the Jehovah's Witnesses
attemp t to prove, then worship was due them. For J esus, as the
Son
of God,
did receive worship (
Heb.
1:6; John 20:28; R ev.
5: 13; R ev. 5:8;
Ph
il. 2:10, 1 ;
Lu k
e 24:52; Matt. 28:9) . Thu s in
going overboard in making the Son of God t ) be like the judges
and prophets
wh
om th
e J ews called "gods," the Jehova h's
Wit
nesses come close Lo agreeing th at creatures should be wor
s
hi
pped. P
eter
refused wo
rship him
se
lf
(Acts 10:26). The angel
refused worship (Rev. 22:9).
On th
e o ther hand, if Christ is a
created being, which is what
th
e J ehovah's
Witnesses
are trying
to prove in
their
twisting of J o
hn
10: 33-39, then
worshipping
J
es
us
is
creature worship (Rom. 1 25) .
But
Christians, true
Christians everywhere, worship Christ as God the So n
(I
Cor.
1:2; R ev. 1:1
7).
Looh
at the C
en
t
er of
Salvation
Looking away from this sad confusion, le t us again look
squ
are
ly at the center
of
our salvation. I t is, we find , in Lhe
atonement
and
s
hines
brilliantly as
th
e br igh tn
ess
of the sun.
Christ dies,
but
by the power of God, rises aga in . Truly, here
is proved the dei
ty
of Christ. " I have power to lay down my
life, I have power to take it up aga in."
Is this
just
a m
an
laying
clo
wn
his life?
No, for
None
of
th
em can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him (Ps. 49:7,8).
Wh
o, then, can redeem man's soul?
On l
y God can
do
this.
The Psalmist says, "But
God
will redeem my soul from the
168
IN
T O THE LIG
HT OF
CHRISTIANITY
We
read in Acts 20:28,
Take
heed therefore un to your
selves, and to all the flock, over the which
th
e Holy Spirit has
mad
e
yo
u overseer, to feed the church
of
God,
which H e
hath
purchased
with
H s own blood. That this blood s
that
of our
Lord
Jesus is proved
by Ep
h. 1:7, Col. 1:14,
eter
1:19
and
JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD
169
plished redemption of the race. No sinful man, not even a
perfect
man
, could redeem a whole race of sinners. A finite
sacrifice of one perfect man, could never accomplish
it
. It took
an infinite sacrifice of the Son of God to bring atonement to all
mankind. T his is put in verse 3
W
hen he had by himself
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Rev. 5:9.
Thus ll make-shift and t
orturo
us rende
rin
g of Watchtower
men
in their New World Translation, their clever scheme of
putting
several suggested renderin
gs
alongside each
ot
h
er
on
Acts 20:28, come to n
aught
.
T hus, effectuall
y
in this mystic union of His two natures,
as
the Son of man and the Son of God, Jesus Christ makes
atonement.
No man
could
do
it. Not even a perfect
man
could
do
it. It had to be God, as the Psalmist said in Ps. 49:15.
Melchisedec
Lik en
ed
unto Melchisedec in Heb. 5-7
no t
e in
Heb
. 7:28,
that
it
is the Son of God who
is
made high-priest forever. This
Melchisedec is likened to the Son of God in He b. 7:3: "Without
father, with
out
mother
, wit h
out
descent,
having
nei
th
er begin-
ning of days, nor end of life; bu t
made
like unto
th
e
Son
of
God. As
the Son of God J esus is our God. And effectively as
Son of God, He is the seco
nd
person of the Trinity. Here we
see once more the Triune God : Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This is declared of Him in
Heb.
9: 14, "
How much
more shall
th
e blood of Christ, who tluough the eternal Spirit offered
Himself
with
out spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God?"
Beyond the sh adow of
doubt
the Son of God is foreshadowed
in Melchisedec. Then in Tim. 3:16 Christ is revealed as God
a
pp
earing
in
the
fl
esh, or made manifest,
and
in
such a way
that th
e Godhead dwelled in
him
bodily (Col.
2:9).
The Masterpiece
This is s
up
erb, culminacive proof, you say? Not
at
all
These are
on
ly avenues of proof leading to the maste
rp i
ece
of
the New Test'ame
nt
. Look at Heb. 1. Here is the quintessence
of proof. In the very first six verses
of
Hebrews we see ten facts
offered in quick, breathtaking succession, presented about Christ,
which co
ul
d never be postul
ated abou
t a mere
man
-
not
even
about a perfect one.
pu r
ged
our
sins."
Only as the Son of God, or God, could J esus occupy the
highesL
position
next
to
the
Father; sharing with God the
Father th
e eternal throne of God:
Fath
er, Son
and
Hol
y Spirit.
n Rev. 22: l we read, The throne of God [not thrones] and
the La
mb
." Th ere is o
nl
y one throne.
Thi
s transcend
ent
fact is
stated
with
finality, "
He sat
down
at
the right ha
nd
of
the
Majesty
on
high (Heb. 1:3).
J esus Himself said to the devil in Matt. 4:10 that
on
ly God
is to be wors
hip
ped.
God
says of the Son
in Heb.
1:5,
Th o
u
art my Son,''
and
in colloquy, I will be to
Him
a Father, and
H e shall be to
me
a son." Because of this
intimate
Father.Son
relations
hi
p verse 6 commands, "Let all the angels of God
worship H im."
Why
sh
ou
ld
lh
e angels worship Him? Verse 4 gives us the
reason : "Being made so much better than the angels." Note,
J ehovah's Witnesses, here
fa
lls flat the statement of Watchtower
men made on page 85 of Make Sure of ll Things, namely
"J esus is to be worshipped as a glorious s
pirit
." As a
Jehovah
's
Witness you will come back and say
that
secondary worship is
on ly mean t. Let me then
quote
page 177 of Make Sure of ll
Th
ings,
which conde
mn
s seco
nd
ary worship, and
on
page
178
,
your W atc
ht
ower men aver
that
even bow
ing
before
men
and
angels is forbidden.
Jehovah's Witnesses note, the do uble standard of your
Watchtow
er
ru
lers
Jn
th e cha
rt
er
of
the Watch tower Society
they say th ey are organized to give public C
hr i
stian worship to
Almighty God and Christ J esus - in other words, identical wor
s
hip
. Yet they te
ll
you, Jehova
h'
s Witnesses,
that
Jesus is a
creature. f He really is a creature then they are enticing you to
creature worship. T hey are making you worship C
hr i
st as God's
first creation. Christians worship J esus Christ because He is
God.
That, Jehovah's Witnesses is a fact stated in Heb. 1 6.
Men in the past,
par
licularly th e theocratic J ews and now
the theocratic Jehovah's Witnesses, called
men
"gods" to dis
prove that J esus is God
Qohn
10:35).
Bu
t God, in verses 1 a
nd
170
INTO T HE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
times
pa
st spoke
un t
o
th
e fathers
for him and wh
o were servants.
God s y ~ th
at
in
th
e last days H e spoke by the Son .
That
is why
J esus
Hi m
self postulates
Hi
s difference
of position and nature
in
John 10 :36. '
As Son of
God
He died. J esus is called
His
heir. How can
JESUS
CHRIST
IS THE SON OF GOD
171
the u lt
imo
ratio
of proof th
at
J esus as
the
Son of God, is very
God.
Anoth
er Tmpressive ct -
His Name
Bu t there is morel In He b. 1:8-12 we discover another im
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H e be the heir?
Onl
y because H e is uniquely the Son of God,
th
erefo re H e is the heir. Conclusively we re
ad
this in
Heb
. l :2,
Christ is the heir of all things.
Thi
s proves that He died as
God-man.
Look
at th e Aspect of Creation
Leaving be
hind hi
s position of Saviour,
and
of God,
and of
H e
ir and an
object of
wor
s
hip
in whi ch He is here
in Heb.
depi
cte
d as God, let us look
at
the aspect of creation. Imme
di
a tely we note this startling state
ment
in verse
2:
By whom
also h e made the worlds. This is in exact h
ar
mo ny with
John
1: 1-3, All things were made by Him.
But
there is more to His pow
er of
creation.
Not
on ly was
He a master-craftsman, to which the J ehovah's Witnesses limit
the rang
e
of
Hi
s
pow
er,
but
mor
e ex
ten
sivel
y.
In
John
I
:3
we
read, And without im was no t anything made that was
made, a
nd
in H eb. 1 3, Upholding all things by the word of
His power.
Thi
s is exactly in harmony with Col. 1:16,17, For
by Him [Christ] were all things created and by Hirn all
things consist. In the Greek
thi
s reads are held together.
Now shines forth a transcendent fact
in
He b. 1:3,
Who
being the
br i
g
htn
ess [effulgence] of His glory. Note, the bright
n
ess of
the sun is the same essence of
th
e s
un. He
is
thu
s identi
fied with
the
glory
of
God by be
ing
called the brightness of His
glory. That is a
bout th
e most convincing way
of
saying
He
is God.
To
erase forever the dim view J ehovah's Wjtne
sses
have of
the glory
of Jesus,
by say
ing thi
s is merely a n outward manifesta
tion of glory - lik e the glory reflected upon
Mo
ses' face
when
he
came
down
from
being with J ehovah - l
et
us quo te verse 3,
The
e
xp r
ess image of His person (verse 3) .
In
toto,
not
alone
in ou
tward
appearance, is reproduced in
Him
the character of
God. He is indeed Son of God - Father, Son and Holy
Spirit
-
and
not
ju
st a
re fl
ection
of Him.
. He b.
I:
1-6, in ten strident fac t
s,
we have the Lord J es us
pr essive fact. Jesus
is
called
by
the th ree primary names of God
used
in
the New Testament. I f thi s is so,
then
we have conclu
sive
proof
that Jesus is God.
In
verse
8,
God
the
F
at
her, speaking to
God the
Son
[Messiah] calls
Him
God (Greek: Theos .
This
eighth verse
is
a quotation of Ps. 45:6
whi
ch reads, Thy
throne,
0
God
[H
ebrew:
Eloh im]
is forever a
nd
ever.
Now l
et
us look at Heb .
1: 10.
God the Father, who is still
spea
king
about
God the Son Uesus]
ca
lls
Him Lord
(Greek :
Kuri
os . This
is
a quota tion from
P
s. 10
2:25-27.
Let us see how
thi
s passage
is
quoted in Heb. I 10-12 . Thou, Lord
(Gree
k:
Kurios ,
in
the beginning hast laid the
foundation
s of
the earth; -and the heavens are the work of thine hands: They
shall perish,
but
thou remainest: and they. sha
ll
all wax old as
do
th
a
garment; And
as a vest
ur
e
shalt thou
fold
them
,
and
they shall be changed; bu t thou art the same , and
th
y years
shall not fail .
What
is outstanding in these verses 10-12? Still, as in verse 8,
th
e
Fath
er co
ntinues
to speak to
the
Son.
Th
e
Father
actually
says here that the Son is the Crea tor
of
the universe: The
h eavens a
re
the work of
Thy
hands (verse
10).
More than that,
and all-conclusive, the Fath er sa
ys
of
th
e Son that He is eternal -
unchangeable. The
univer
se , as
an
old garment, will get old,
but
of the Son the
Fath
er says,
Thy
years shall not fail
(verse
12)
.
This
is overwhe
lm
ing
pr
oo
f,
you say?
The Hol
y
Spirit
th r
ough Paul dds still
mor
e e
mp h
atic proof
in
verse 13:
But
to which of the angels sa id H e
at
any time,
Sit
on my right
ha
nd
? And one mor
e,
Until I make
thin
e enemies thy
footstool
.
This assures Jesus,
the
Son of God,
et
ernal vic tory,
wh
en Cor. 15 :28 becomes fulfill ed and God - Fa
th
er, Son a
nd
Hol
y
Spirit
- becomes all in all.
H
ere
is e
mphatic
testimony from God the Father Himself,
of the dei ty
of
Christ, as the Son
of
God and the Son
of
man.
Fifteen
sta teme
nt
s of fact in Heb. 1:1-13, each more conv
incing
172
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Jehovah's Witness textbook, Make Sure of ll
Th
ings Therein
the y actually deny
the
deity
of
Christ.
0 ,
Je h
ovah's Witness, ignore this book
of
false doctrines
~ l l ~ d Make Sure of
ll
Things Come
into the
light
of
Chris
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uamtyl Your future destiny, your salvation, depends on your
accepting the deity of Christ.
Jesus says, I f you believe not that I am He [the Lord
Jehov
ah],
ye
shall die
in
your
sins
Qohn
8:24).
Chapter 13
DENIAL OF
THE
DEITY OF CHRIST BRANDS
JEHOVAH
'S WITNESSES
AS
UN-CHRISTIAN
n n
cient
Query
What
think. ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? These were
questions our Lord J esus asked the
Phari
sees (Mall. 22:42).
Th
e
proper
response to these questions, outlined by
the
Lord
Jesus in Matt. 22:43-45 so long ago, is still
the
touchstone of
histo
ri
c Christianity.
We often tolerate a sect with peculiar aberrations in Bible
in t
erpretation
as being Christian, only because they have a
relatively correct view
of
Christ o
ur
Lord
.
This
we
do becau
se
•
we know that doctrine of God and Christ are the center
of
salvation. However, if a sect accepts a vie °' of Jesus Christ
which denies His deity,
it cannot
be consider
ed
Christian.
Th
e predecessors of J ehovah's Witnesses were (1) The
Millennial Dawnists,
(2)
then the nicknamed Russellites,
(3)
then the
In t
ernationa l Bible Students.
The
name changes were
superficial.
In
all three instan
ces
they were
and
remained
adherent
s
and
partisans
of
their founder, Chas.
T.
Ru
sse
ll.
Th
ey believed his say
on what
is
truth, and be
came
and
are
to
thi
s day followers of a hearsay
or h
eresy religion.
This is in contrast to historic Christianity which is a re·
vealed religion. In other words, historic Christianity and its
doctrines were revealed from heaven, and recorded in the Bible.
The Watchtower religion of the Millennial Dawnists, Ru sse llites
and
I
nternational
Bible Students was based on hearsay
of
Chas.
T. Ru
ssell, and can
be
labeled
Made
in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
USA. This new doctrine among many other
aberrat
ions, de·
nied
the
deity of our Lord Jes us Christ.
Modern
y
Jehovah's Witnesses
174
IN
TO
THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
of the Millen nia l Dawnists,
Ru
sse Jilcs and In ternational Bible
Slude
nt
s to follow his pronouncements of truth in the W
atc
h
tower, Rutherford caused approxim
ate
ly 40,000 to be pu rged or
disfellows
hipp
ed. He called his par tisans "J ehovah's Wi tnesses."
Thus began a sect which fo llows Lhe hearsay of Rutherford,
DENIAL OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST
175
ened form of the He
br
ew J ehosh ua, mean
in
g 'J ehovah is
th
e
Saviour. '
The earlier ve rsion of this mode
rn
Arian heresy was con
trived by Chas.
T.
Ru
sse
ll (see
Divine Plan of Ages,
ed.
1881,
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ra lher
th
an th
at
of R ussell. Since the Co
lumbu
s, Ohio, conven
tion of I93 L this sect is known as Jehovah's Witnesses. This
sect certa
inl
y differs ma terially from J ehovah's witnesses of okl
(Isa.
43
: IO
) who were Israel. I t stole this name
in
J93
1.
n
order to hid e its recent beginnings it lalcbed onto the long line
o(
witn
esses from Abel to John the Bap tist.
In what way a re the Ru ssellites different from the sect
k
now
n as the J ehovah's Witn
esses?
Largely it is that the fo
rm
er
are adheren ts of Ru
sse
ll and are his partisans o r followers, whi le
the lat ter are the adherents and parl isans of Rutherford and
his Wa tchtow
er
Society successors. They also differ in their
in terpretation of the Bible. However, both factions agree that
our Lord J esus Christ is not God. T hus they both deny the
deity of Christ.
Doctrine Before They Became the Jehovah s Wi tness S t
Let us look at the
doctrin
es of the J ehovah s Witnesses. From
the
ir
pre-sect beginning, when they were still followers of Chas.
T . Russell, a
nd
to this day, they press a modern-day version
of
the
Ari
an heresy. Russell stated his
ve
rsion of Un itaria
ni
sm or
heresy
in
hi
s 1886 edi tion of T he Divine Plan of Ages, pp. J73-
184, early in this pre-sect history.
Th
e a
uthori
zed doctrinal
tex tbook of the J ehovah 's
Witn
esses, Make Sure of A
ll
T hings,
wh
ich today
is
exclusively used by their
Kin
gdom
Publi
shers to
argue
th
eir heres
ir
• in
winnin
g new conve
rt
s a
nd
then to b
ra
in
wash them
in t
o their "s
ys
tem of things, st
ate
s the following on
page 2
07
, under the s
ubh
eading "J esus Christ."
"Jesus, the C
hr
ist, a creat
ed
individual, is the second great
es t perso nage of the Universe. J ehovah Goel and
Je
sus Christ
tog
ether
constit
ul
e the
Sup
erior
Author
ities (Rom.
13: 1
NW T
) toward all Cr
eat
ion. H e was formed co
untl
ess
mil
lenniums ago as the first a
nd
only direct creation of
Hi
s
Father, J ehovah, a nd because of
hi
s proved, faultless
in t
egri ty,
was appointed by J ehovah as
Hi
s Vindicator
and
the Chief
Agent of li fe toward
mankind
.
Ch
rist, one of
hi
s titles, means
pp. 173-184). The gist of it is thi
s:
. .
Christ in
Hi
s pre-existence was
lh
e archangel Michael, lhe
first Creatio n of
God
, who was the Master o{. a
ll
ot
h
er
cr
eat
ion.
Hi
s com
in
g to
ear
h
was
not
an mcarnallon.
Because He .was begotten of God, as a child, He became a
perfect human, the equal of Adam before h
is fa
ll.
J es us
di
ed his human na ture was annihila ted as
_a
Hi
s obedience u
nto
d
eath
was rewar
ded
by God m rev1vm_
Him in the s
piri
t in d ivine nature. T hus
th r
ougho
ut
Ht
s
entire existence J esus was never co-e
qu
al with God. There
was a time when He was not. Thus H e is not eternal.
On
ea
rth
He was n
oth
ing more than a man, although a perfect
ma n. T he
ato
n
ing
effect of His
deat
h could never be
more
than that of oue perfect ma n, for Adam another perfect man.
Thu
s from
1881
on, to this prese
nt
time, they deny the
deity of
Our
L
or
d J esus
Chri
st.
What T
hink
Ye, Jehovah s Witnesses, of Christ?
Whose Son l s He '
n lhe light of the above we ask the J ehovah's Wi tn
esses
the
sa
me
qu
estions our Lord Jesus asked t e r ~ a r t s
"
What think
y
ou
of C
hri
st? Whose
so
n ts he? (Ma
tt
.
22.42) ·
Th
eir texlbook, Mahe Sure of ll T hings,
an
d New
Wo
rld T ransla tion, give their answer to e ~ e
qu
estions. In
do
ing so they
ar
raign
th
emselves
as
non-Cb
nstta
n
s.
.
In Make Sure of A ll T hings, page 207 , they a
pp
eal to th1rt
y
eight S
crip
tures, all of which they_ have torn out of context,
to
prove
the
ir definition of Jesus C hnst.
You have already read chapter 12. And yo u chapter
14
it will become very evident to yolJ that m usmg thirty-e ight
Sc
riptur
es, they willfully
neg
lect to take acco
un
_ the m:rn_y
important passages which bear on the de1ty of That is
bad enough. Worse still is their bold attempt to twist the c l e ~
me
aning
of the thirty
-e
igh t Scrip
tu r
es they u
se
to s
upp
ort
th
e
ir
view on Christ under the subh
eadin
g Jesus
Chr
ist
, on
p
ag
es
176
INTO THE LIGHT
OF
CHRISTIANITY
these passages into forms which will support their Unitarian,
Arian views.
We
are astounded at Lhe audacity of
modem
-day heresies.
So hardened they have become
that
they
ac
tually
put
these
aberrations into print
They sp
read these errors by word
of
DENIAL
OF
THE
DEITY
OF CH R
IST
177
Then
He is called the expre
ss
image. Th is makes Him of the
same essence of God's c
har
acter, an exact
impress
of God's
character. H e is
thu
s declared by
th
e
Father
here to be
of
the
same substance and of the sa me esse nce - of
th
e nature of God.
The term " firstborn in Hebrew usage means
h
eir . In
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mouth
in going from door to door and by means
of
the printed
page. n this way
th
ey have become a challenge to
hi
storic
Christianity. Th ey can only be defeated by
the
word
of mouth
of
Christians going from door to door, witnessing to what J esus
has done for them (2 Cor. 3: 1-6).
Now let us look a t some
of
the Scriptures which the
Jeho
vah 's
Witnesses list as proving that Jesus is a created being.
Th e Begi
nning of th
e Cre
ation of
God
First
on
the list is Rev. 3: 14. "
These
are the things the
Amen says, the faithful and true witness, the beginning
of
the
creation of God (New
World
Translation) .
Obviously, this version
of
Re
v.
3: 14 is used to prove
that
Jesus was
the
beginning
of
God's creation. Yet in
He b
. 7:3
w
see Melchisedec compared to tbe Lord, the Son of God , as
follows, "
Without
father, without mother, without descent,
having
neither
be
ginning
of days, nor end of life; but made
like
unto the
Son of God.
.
Th
e Son.
of
.God, our Lord J esus, s
her
e depicted as being
witho
ut
begmnmg
of
days. In fact, Rev . 3: 14 says He is the
beginning
of
the creation of God. God, the
Cr
eator, is always
th
e beginning
of
creation. He begins
or
starts it.
In
Zech. 13:7
our Lord Jesus
is
called "God's fellow"; in J
oh
n 10:30 He says,
I and my Fa ther are one" ; and Paul refers to Him as being
equ
al
with God
in Phil. 2:6.
He
is
th
e Creator.
Thu
s
He
is
the one who began to create, or is the beginning of creation.
The Firs
tborn
of Crea ti
on
Watchtower men next cite Col. 1: 15-17, quoting the text
from
their
New
World
Translation,
He
is the image of the
in
visible God,
th
e firs
tb
orn
of
all creation .
.''
In Heb. 1:3 our Lord Jesus is
ca
lled by God, the Son
of
God:
Who being the brightness of his [God's] glory, and the express
image [impress] of his person." Th is denotes
that
he is
one
with Him in substance.
Th
e brig
htness
of the
sun
is
the
very
time, Esau was born a few minutes
ahead
of Jacob. Yet even
tually, Jacob was considered the firstborn. Wh
y?
This was be
cause he became the heir. As a former
Ph
ar isee tra ined in all
the lore of Jewry, Paul used thi s term in this sense elsewhere to
denote that our Lord Jesus was the heir. Since God , in the
person of
our
L
ord Je
sus wo
uld di
e,
and
then
be
resurrected,
he would become the
heir
of the whole creation of Adam
which was
thu
s becoming subject to
Him
by God, l Cor. 15:1-
27.
H e would subsequently either lead them to salvat ion, saving
them, or in judgment seal in elernal damnation
th
ose who
abide in the wrath of God by refusing to accept Him . Then He
would
turn
them all und
er
subjection of his God:
Father
, Son
and
Ho
ly
Spirit (1 Cor. 15 :28) .
That
He
is G
od
is
pr
ov
ed
by His beco
min
g
heir
o f
God
to
the
whole creation. This is s
upported y
Heb. l :2, "
Hath
in
these last days spoken
unt
o us by His Son, whpm
He
hath
appoi.nted heir to all things."
Because He is heir of God He must have pre·eminen
ce
in all
things. Look
at
the wealth
of
Scripture revealing this poi
nt
.
Compare Exod. 20:3 wilh Col. 1:18; compa
re
Phil. 2:10 with
Isa. 45:23 and you will see
wh
at I mean.
Coming now to Col.
1:
16, 17, quoting verbatim from
th
e
New World Translation:
"Because by m
ea
ns
o[
him
all (other) things were cr
ea
t
ed
in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and
the things invis
ib l
e, no
matt
er whether they be thrones
or
lord
ships or gove
rnmen
ts or
authorit ies.
All (other) things
have been created through him and for him. Also he is before
all (other) things a
nd
by means
of him
all (o
th
er) things
were made to exist."
I have
quoted from the New World Translation
u ~ e it
is so lely used
in
the
publi
ca tion,
Make
Sure of ll Things.
Adding to God 's Word is a very serious offense. You ca n see that
just by reading
Dan
. 4:2; 12:32 a
nd
Prov. 30:5,6 and Rev. 22:13.
178
INTO THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
It
is
not in the
Greek. The co
nt
e
xt
does
not requir
e it. Why
have they
added
it?
Th ey try
to
justify its addition in the
margin
by referring to
Luk
e 13:2-4.
This
is e
ntir
ely arbitrary. The true para llel is not
found in
Luke 13, bat in
Heb.
2: 10 ,
where
the reference is so
DENIAL OF
THE
DEITY OF CHRIST
179
ma kes r
ead
unto the hands of the living God." Altho
ugh
not
actually there,
it
expressed
th
e definite article twice. John I: 1
is exactly in the same composition in the Greek. W_e see f r o ~
this
that
they
do know th
e ru les, but deliberately twist them m
John 1: I to suit
th
eir purpose.
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distinctly to God,
that the
New
World
translators
did not
insert "o
ther.
In adding "o ther to Col. 1:16,17,
four
times,
the J ehovah's Witnesses deliberately attempt to place J esus
Chri
st on par
with
crea tion as though
he
were
one
o{
the
created things of whi ch there
are
others. This is blasphemy
t
is
accomplished by fa lsifying the
Word
of God.
To shock the Jehovah 's Witnesses out of the above
her
esy, it
is well to ask
th
em, once yo u have read Col. l:
16
,
17
to them,
"Do yo u agree
that
J es us crea ted 'all things'?"
They
will agree.
Make them agree first. Only after they agree, take them to
H eb. 3:4
and
read, "For every house
is
builded by some man;
but
he
that
built all things is
God.
That should end
th
e point.
Make
anot
her salie
nt
point here. Point out tha t
not on
ly
did
H e create
all thin
gs,
but th
at He
also created
th
em
for
Him
self, as it says in Col. l :
16. f
H e is
not God
how co
uld
H e
create all things
for
Him
se lE? Compare this for
th
em with
Neh. 9:6.
L ogos A God
T he next Scripture they
qu
ote
in Make Su
re of
All Th ings
is J ohn 1:1-2.
We quot
e th is text Erom their New World Trans-
la tion:
Originally the Word was, and
the
Word was
with
God,
and
the
Word
was a god.
This
one was originally w
ith
God. All
things ca
me into
existence
th r
ough
him
,
and apart
from
him
not even one thing came
in t
o existence."
The New
World Tr
anslalion creates here
it
s own
Gr
eek
grammar,
suitable for J ohn I: I, to
make
it yield a rendering
denying the deity of Christ. In a footnote which
is
a
dd
ed to the
first word, originally," th
ey
explain : Literally in (at) a be
ginning.
In thus
co
njuring up the indefinite ar ticle an they
convenie
nt l
y overlook
th
e various reasons for which Greek
grammar nouns may he definite, even though a Greek definite
article
is not there. For example: A
preposition
al ph rase, as in
Even the lengthy appendix to s
upport thi
s m i s t r a ~ s l a t i o n
of John 1:1 cannot prove.
th
at
~ ~ s e
n c e of the article n oh?,
1:
l required
that theos
wllhout Jt , . must be translated a god.
All
thirty-five
in
stan
ces
they use
m .
s
upport
are. p
aral
le
l.
_
In
every si ngle
on
e of these thirty-five rnstanc
es
whtch they ate,
the
predicate nouns
stand
a f
ter the
verb
.
Thu
s they properly
have the ·article according to Caldwell's rule.
Th
erefore, none
of
thi s conjured
up
evidence can be used a g a i n ~ t the.
translation of John 1:I
The
W a
tcht
ower committee is
beating the air in order to d s
tr
act
~ t t e n t i o n
from
it JS
tr
ying to
do with
God's word
m
makmg 1t
sa-y that
om Lo
r?
J
es
us
is
just
a
god ." Do not let them do
it
. R eme
mb
er,
that is
sleight of
hand
, or trickery (Eph. 4: 14 .
Example
o f a
Te
chni
q
ue
In
fact, when the J ehovah's Witnesses
pr
ese
nt
th is kind
of
nonsense, do
not
argue Greek grammar with
th
em .
There
are
only a few Jehovah's
Witn
esses who understand some Greek,
and these are usually of Greek descent,
or
just Greeks. R ather
than arg
ue
this, make them come to y
ou
.
This
way:
You ask them, "Do yo u believe in one God?"
J .W. "Yes," they will reply.
You
J.W.
You
J W
You
J W
You
A
ll ri
ght, now let us
se
e how you under
stand John 1:1. You say, 'In
th
e beginning
was
h
e
Word,
a
nd the Wo r
d was
with th
e
God.'
"Yes,'' they will reply.
Who
is the God?" you ask.
They
will reply, "
He
is J ehovah.
Continue,
s he Almighty or Mighty?"
H
e is Almighty,"
the
y will reply.
"All right, you will
continue,
"and who is
a
god'?"
180
You
J W
You
J W
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
l s
He Almighty?
Oh no, H e is
the mighty
one.
Where
did He
come from?
He was created by J e
hovah
.
DENIAL OF
THE
DEITY
OF
CHRIST
181
he r
e, right in this passage, he is spoken
of
as the first begotten
of
all
crea
tion
.
Adam
was
created-
his Son
Abel
was
begott
en .
This is
quite
different. f Paul wanted to say that Jesus was
created
, he could have used
the
proper
Greek word for
first
created. It was available. Actually, Paul passes by this
word
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Now yo u
ha
ve their interpretation thinned out to where it
becomes absurd. Make them see
the absurdity
of
their Watch
tower Society in
spired interpretation.
. Continue by saying, Now you believe that J
eho
vah is
l·
mighty and
that
Jesus is a
mighty
God . You believe in a big
God and a
little
God, and the big God created
the little
God.
. You made
your
point by showing
the
absurdity of their
mterpretat10n of John 1:1. Continue by summing it up
with
such word
s as, But yo u said
you
believed in one God;
but th i
s
makes two, a big one and a little one.
Now turn the tables on them by asking them to read Isaiah
43: 10 . Especially ask them to
read the
last clause
of
it,
after
you have first allowed
them
to
read th
e first clause, Before me
there was
no God
formed,
neith
er shall
ther
e
be after
me.
Then ask,
Does
not this conclusively show that J e
hovah
never c
reated
another God? Where
then
did
the
Word,
your
so-called little God, come from?
The Achilles Heel
In
the
third
verse, even in their garbled version, we come
upon
the
Achilles heel
in their citation
in Make
Sure
of
ll
Things. For in using
the
first three,
instead
of two verses, to
prove Jesus is not
God,
they prove too much.
They assert tha t Col. 1: 15 proves Christ was the first and
only direct creation
of
God. Here, it
must
be
noted,
that the
adjective first
ref
ers not
only
to time,
but most
importantly,
also rank.
Paul
not only alludes to Christ's priority to all
creation., but far
more
revealingly also to his sovereignty over
all
Creation.
For in Col. 2:9, Paul declares, I t is in
him
Ues us Christ] th
at
all
the
fulln ess
of
the
Godhea
d dwells b
od i
ly.
This
declaration is the quintessence of Col. 1: 15 .
More cunning craftiness (Eph. 4: 14)
of Watchtow
er
men
is evident in the statement
the
y put into the mouths of Jeho
vah's Witnesses -
th
at Col. 1:15-
17
teaches that God created
the
and uses t
he Greek
word m
eaning
first
begotten
.
When
you create yo u produce something different from
yourself. When you beget, you beget
something
like yourself.
A
man
begets
human
beings; a fox begets foxes.
Bu
t
when
you
make, you
make something of a
kind
different from yourself.
Therefore wh
at
God bege ts is God.
What
God creates is not
God;
it
is creation .
n connection with Col. 1:15-17,
John
1:1-3 and Rev. 3:14,
let me say emphatically that they have reference
not
to
the
time when Jesus was born
on
earth as a
man,
when H e was
born
the
son of a virgin. These
Scripture
s have nothing to do
with the virgin birth.
Christ
was begotten before all creation
beg
an, or before worlds came forth.
It
is
in
a bold twisting
maneuver of
John
l : l-3, Col. 1:15-17
and Rev. 3: 14, that
the
Jeho
vah'
s Witnesses make
Christ
say of
Himself that he is the beginning
of
the creation of God. No
matter
how they twist this in English,
the
Greek s
top
s them.
The Greek verse does not say Christ was created y God .
Th
e
genitive case means of God,
not y
God.
The word beginning
si
gn
ifies that Christ is the origin, the first cause of God's creation.
Even the
mistranslation
of
John 1:3
of the
New World
Trans
lation, the way they have put it, proves that.
Compare
John
1:
3 Apart from
him
not even
one
thing came into existence.
This
mean
s that He created all, He began and completed all
existing things.
That
is why we stated that n adding verse 3, they proved
too much for their
own
purpose.
They
themselves prove their
rendering of verses
1-2
grossly erroneous, for they show He was
not created,
but
begotten. As
John
1:18 says, No man hath
seen God
at any
time;
the only begotten
Son, which is in
the
bosom
of
the
Father
, hath declared him. Then we continue in
this context to John l :23, where
we
read, H e said, I am the
voice
of
one crying
in
the wilderness, Make straight the way
of
th
e Lord, as said the prophet Elias.
182
INTO
THE LIGHT OF
CH RI
STIANITY
quoLes Th e .voice
of
him that in. the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way
of
the Lord, Ma ke straight
n
th e dese ·t a highway
for our God ? All of Isaiah 40, including verse 3, speaks of
J ehovah. John the Baptist
announc
es the Lord J esus, who is
God.
DENlAL OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST
183
disprove Jeh
ova1
1's Witnesses errors, and for Christians to make
sttre of all things.
Turning the Tables
on
Them
Again the J eho
va
h's Witnesses a ttempt to prove more than
they should, and in so doing lay themselves open to having the
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Th
e F
ive
Favorites
There
are fi
ve favorite tex ts r.he J ehova
h'
s W
itn
esses like to
use to co
ntend
that o
ur
Lo rd Jesus was created.
It
is
110
s
urpri
se
me to
fin
d these five texts in a 1,
2,
3, 4, 5
or
der on page 207
m :fake Sure of All
Th
in gs, un der th e s
ubh
ead ing Jesus
Chrnt.
T
he
Wisdom
of
God
"We have already dealt w
ith th r
ee of these
fiv
e texts. Now
come to the
fourth
one. t is Prov. 8:22, 27-30. Again we
~ t l l
use
t?
e
quotation
from the New World
Translalion
om
it
tmg
th e
importa
nt vers
es
23-25, which the Watchtower
men
o?v
iously want to hide.
We
will go along with their game of
hid
e a
nd
seek, spring 23-25 on them at the r ight
?1oment. H ere ts how it reads
in
N
ew
W
or
ld
Translation
m terpretation:
' 'Jeh?vah formed me as the beginning of his way, the first
of his works of old. When he established the heavens, I was
there: when he set circle
upon
the face of the deep, When
he made the firm skies above, when the fountains of the deep
became strong, when he gave to the sea
it
s bound, that the
waters sho
uld
not transgress his commandment, when he
marked out the foundat ions of the ear th: then I was
with
him as a master wo
rkm
an ."
The J ehovah's Witnesses
in
their H ebrew version
tran
slate
the v
er
b
to
create."
One
of
the
most e
minent
Semitic scholars,
F . C. Burney, re
nd
ers it, "The Lord begat me as the beginning
of
his way''
(Christ
as the APXH of
Creation,
1926) .
Now, let us loo
at
verses 23-25 which they have bypassed.
Wh
at
do
we find ? No te the growth of th e embryo, as
in
verse 23,
and the birth of
Wi
sdom, as
in 24
-25. Because the context
of
verse
22,
and verses
23-25,
prove the verb of verse
22
to be "got
or
"begot,"
in
stead
of to
create"
or
"m
ade
me " those who
Mak
e Sure of All T hings have taken
~ e t
pa
in
s to
t. So
they only
quote
verse
22
,
om
itting 23-26, a
nd
then
tab les turned on them.
Wha t
do
es Prov. 8:22-30 prove? Compare i t with J ohn 1:1-2.
t proves the pre-existence
of
Je sus
Chr
ist, the Messia
no
more, no less. T o say it proves more is to lay oneself open to
be asked, l f Christ is the Wisdom of Prov. 8:22-30, and was
created by God, then there must have been a tim e when he
was not?"
Th
e J ehovah's Witnesses are now forced to answer, "Y
es,
there was a time when
our Lord
J
es
us was n
ot.
Th
en you ask, "
Th
en there was a time when God was
witho
ut
wisdom?"
That is bo th ridiculous
and
absurd . n proving too much,
the ehovah's Witne
sses
lay themselves open to this .Just make
lh
em
think
it
th
ro
ugh.
Then
in verses 27-30 we see them get
in t
o even greater
difficu
lty. Jehov
ah is here
depi
cted
in
their New
World Transla-
tion as
the Cr
ea t
or of
Jesus
and of
all
ph
ases
of
heaven
and
ea
rt h
.
f
so, which is what the Jehovah's Witn
esses
want to prove,
th
en
how can they ap ply H eb. 1:2, Hath in these last days
spoken un to us by His Son, whom He
hath
ap pointed heir to
all things, by whom he
mad
e the wo
rld
s"; and in quoting Ps.
102 :25 conce rning the Son, Heb. I: l 0 says, "And thou, Lord
(Greek:
Kurios ,
in the beg
inning
hast laid the fo
undat
ion of
the earth ; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands." n
Ps. 102:25 from which this is quoted, Ps. 102: 16,19,21 ,22-25,
reference is
de
finitely made to Jehovah.
T
hu
s Jehovah created the world.
]
esus cr eated the world.
T h e Holy Spirit created the world
as
we read
in
Ps. 102:15,19,21,
22-25; H eb. 1: 10; J ob 33:4; Gen. 1:2. What is the conclusion?
I t
is God who created the wor
ld
s, the God of the Bible: Father,
Son
an
d Ho ly Spirit T
hat
obvious answer escapes the J e
ho
vah s
Witnesses becau
se
they deny the Trinity of God .
184
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
cunning craftiness the Jehovah's
Witnesses
lie in wa
it
to de
ceive" (Eph . 4: 14) in Make S
ur
e of ll
Th
ings.
Again I quote this text,
Phil.
2:5-8, from their New World
Translation:
C
hri
st J esus, who,
although he
was existing in God's form,
DENJAL
OF
THE DEITY
OF CHRlS
T
185
and
four-footed beasts
and
cree
pin
g things"
(Rom. 1:23).
In-
stead
of Christ
being the image
o
God, or as He
b.
l :3 says,
the express image
of
the person
of
God, he becom
es
to them a
crea ti
()n
of God, an ange
l, then
a man,
then
a spirit.
Thus
the
light of Lh
e gospel, who is Christ, and
of
whom
Heb.
I: 3 says
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gave no considera
tion to a seizure (scorn
ed
a thing to be
sei
ze
d
) ,
na mely, that he should be equal to God.
No
,
but
he
e
mpti
ed
him
se
lf and
took a slave's form a
nd
came to be
in
the liken
ess of
men.
More than
that, when he formed himself
n fashion as a ma n, he humbled himself and became obedient
as
far
as death,
yes
death on a torture stake."
Why do
the J ehovah's Witnes
ses
give Phil. 2:5-8 such a
unique twist?
Under
deep
do
c
trin
al impulsion, inherited from
bo
th
Ru ssell and Rutherford, they cannot allow this exa lted
description of
th
e pre-existence of Christ to stand. You see, their
~ i a t
pr
edecessors, already eighty years ago depar ted from
the
faith
, when Chas.
T.
Russell, in his book The Divine
Plan
of the Ages pp. 173-184, . 1886,
adopted
a view
of Christ
h e
ld
by the
her
etic erroris
ts
.
Ru
ssell based his
doctrine on
the her
esy of
Arius-
He
said
Christ w
as
an archangel in his pre-existence. Then he became a
man, and he is a s
pirit
.
Th
e constant l
ooking
upon this
three-stage
ex
istence of
Christ
has given them
triple-v
ision seeing
t h ~ n g in .with everything
out
of focus. This has totally
blinded their mmcls
so that
they cannot believe the light of
the glorious gospel
of
Christ, who is the image of God, (which)
shou
ld shine unto them (2 Cor. 4:4) .
Wh
o does this blinding?
The
dev il blinded Arius, and again was able to
blind
Chas. T.
Ru ssell, and now finds
i t
easy to
blind
the leaders of the New
Wo
rld
Society, a
nd their
followers who walk in
th
e
ir
footsteps
as
in
a hypnotic trance.
Wh erein does
th
e blindness,
di
scussed in 2 Cor. 4:4, occur?
It
re
sul ts in denying ' 'the light of the glor ious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God." Christ is the center of the gospel. f
H e is a mere c
re
a ture, then He cannot save at all.
T he
ir
blindness thus came about when they allowed the
devil, the God of this world, to lead chem to attack
the
deity
of Christ. When
th
e central idea of the deity of Christ had been
destroyed in their minds,
th
ey did what Paul accused the
" is the brightness of God's glory" cannot shine unto
th
em; and
so th
ey rem
ain in darkness.
Thi s should not surprise us a bout
th
e Jehovah's Witnesses
How
can they
think
highly
of
Chri
st, as the
im
age of God,
whe
n
th
ey have for so long been thinking so lit tle of themse lves, that
th
ey
declare themsel
ves
to be
on
par with birds, beas
ts
a
nd
creep
ing
things, going to the same place, having the same
destin y? (cf. R om. 1:23) .
But these men, who today promote
th
e teac
hin
g, t
one
and
gospel
of
the
New
World Society are to be pitied. I know I
am
of
the same age as most
of
the leaders in the organization. We,
all of us, who came into the Watchtower movement when
Ru
sse
llism still held sway, and
then
became part i
sa
ns
of Ruther-
ford, became thoroughly trained by
Ru
therford , directly or i
n
di r
ectl
y.
We
became thoroughly
brainw
ashed.
We
believed these
heresies whole-heartedly. They were seared
in t
o our conscience.
We fo
ught hard
to get rid
of th
e Ru ssellite faction,
th
en
fought hard ro
get
all followers to believe and accept this
sta
nd
y changing light.
We
forced
th
e
Theo
cracy across
th
e lives
of
all J ehovah
's
Witn
esses
from 1938 on. All of this gradually
created a deep backdrop of her
esy
in our
mind
s because we
fough t so hard for t because it cost us so mu ch.
I t cost all
of us
the major portion of our
adult
liv
es
. Can
you understand this? Paul being a J ew, could under
stan
d the
reason fo r the Jew's blindness to Christ So l
ong
had
th
e Jews
t
old th
emselves a
nd
fought for
th
e
hop
e,
that
th
ey believ
ed
they were the people of God just because I.hey were
the
J ews
They were the people
Thes
e present Watch tower leaders
are
like that.
They
have
fought a
nd
bled for the New World Society and its
fa
lse doc
trines. So today
thi
s background co
nditions
the
ir
thinking. Only
the power
of
the gospel
of Chri
st can save them from it. I know
it . From my own life comes the
pr
ayer that Christ o
ur
shepherd,
will
ca
use
Hi
s voice
to
penetrate their hearts.
f
it ever
do
es,
wht1t a witness for Him they will be - with their supe
rb
train
186
INTO
T H E LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
Apart from being blind,
or
blinded,
these leaders
of the
New World
Society
are
also very stubborn.
Their
heresy
li
es
pa rticu lar ly
in
their
de
nia l of
the
deity of
Chri
st in
Hi
s pre
existence. This
denial
came to them
in the
days
of
the
ir
yout h ,
as
it did
to
me
,
who
was
one
of them. In everything we
were
tau
ght and
in our
co
nt
i
nu
al warfare
from
door
to door
in
r e·
DENIAL
OF
THE
DE ITY OF
C
HRIST
1
87
Witn
esses,
Chri
st was a m
ere spiri
t c
reature
, a
nd
was
thu
s
not
of the nature of
Goel, and
the
equ al
of Go d
, how
then ca
n they
cope
with
the fo
llow
i
ng
Scrip
tu r
es?
(1) How
can
all
th
e
fulln
ess of
the
Godhead
bodily
dwe ll
in
hi m
? (Col. 2:9)
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s
tating and arguing
for this
here
sy,
it was in
delibly
im
pressed
on o
ur ow
n sub-consc iousness.
t
became seared i
nt
o o
ur
con
sc ience by a
thou
sa
nd batt
les . A
ll of
us, by
the tim
e
we
were
tl1irty years old were veterans
in
this
sor
t of thing. I know. By
1950 I had put in twenty-one years of full-time service. T his is
typical of all present-day leaders
o
th e New World Society.
What did we procla im?
We proclaimed Clu
-ist to
hav
e been
created -
an
d
thu
s failed to see the g lory of God.
We
succumbed
10 gnos ticism and
made
Chri
st out
to be the
Log
os, a
nd
at one
Lime
to ]).ave
been in compa
ny with Lucifer.
Using
Isa. 14
and
Ezek.
28
we
blam
ed
Lu
cifer to have defe
cted
because
he
h
ad
a
desire to be
Go d
. H e want
ed
to sei
ze
God
's
thron
e.
B\1 t the
Logos, so we explained, never wa
nt
ed to seize God's th rone. On
th
e
cont
1ary,
He humbl
ed
Him
self
by
e
mpt
y
in
g
Hi m
self
of
th
e
form of
God to th
e
form of
a slave.
This
co
nfu
sed
kind of
t
hinkin
g
permeated
our
minds. We
repea ted it over and over.
It
filled a
nd controll
ed o
ur
h earts.
B
ea
r
their
background
and
resulta
nt condition in min
d
when
the J e
hovah
's
Witne
sses prese
nt their
twisted descr
ipti
on
of C
hr i
st's pre-existence (
Phil.
2:6).
B
lindn
ess has come
to
those
Watchtower
men.
Do not arg
ue
with them;
pray for them . L ike
Paul
prayed for
hi
s be
lov
ed
Israel ,
pray
that the
li
ght of the
glo
rious gospel may sh
in
e
into
th
e
ir
h earts .
Th eir
vers
ion
is
at
best a
misunderstanding
of
th
e
Gre
ek.
Th
is is evide
nt from
th e Creek lex icon
of th
e
New
T estament
by
T.
H.
Thayer
, page
4 18,
col.
b:
(
Chri
st J
es
u
s) who,
al
though
he
bore
the form
[in which
he
appeared
to
th
e
inhab
i
tant
s of h
eaven
] of
God
,
yet did not think that hi
s
equali t
y
with
God
was
co be eager
ly cl
un
g to or r eta
ined.
J. B. Phillips'
trans
la tion
renders
it, For H e, who had
always been
God
by n
ature, did
n
ot
cling
to Hi
s
preroga
tiv
es
as
God: Equa
l, but
stripped Himself
of a
ll
privilege by consent·
ing
to
be
a slave by n
ature
a
nd being
bo
rn of mortal
man.
(2) Wh
y
mu
st
Chri
st
have
pre
-emin
e
nce in
a
ll
things? (Exod.
20:3 with
Col.
1:18;
Phil.
2:10 with
Isa.
45:23)
(3) W h
y is H e
the Creator?
(Col.
1:16 and
J o
hn 1:3;
com-
pare these with N eh. 9:6 and Isa. 45:23)
(4)
H
ow
could
H e
create
a
ll
things for
Hi mseH?
(Col.
1:16)
(5) Why will
H e
subdue all
things
unto
Hi m
self?
(Phil. 3:21)
(6)
Why doe
s H e
draw
a
ll men unto
H imself, and the F
at
h
er
draw men un t
o
lh
e Son?
Qohn
12:32; 6:43,44)
7) Why
will
He pr
ese
nt Hi
s
purchased unto
Him
self?
Eph.
5:27)
8)
How can
believers be complete (made full) in
Him
?
(Col. 2: 10)
(9)
Why th
e
comma
nd
to
be
li
evers
to
grow
in
grace and
in
knowledge
of
o
ur Lord
and
Saviour
J esus C
hri
st?
2
Peter
3: 18)
(10)
(1 I)
(1
2)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
H
ow can
H e be everywhere -
know
everyt
hin
foretell
the
future - have all au thor ity? (M
att.
18:20; I P
ete
r
; John 16:30; 14:29;
Matt.
28:18; R ev. 2:23)
H
ow can
be
li
evers count all things as Joss for the ex
ce
llenc
y
o
th
e
kn
owledge
of
Chri
st J esu s the Lord?
(Phil. 3:8)
How
ul His r iches be
un
searc
habl
e? (Eph. 3:8)
H
ow
could
Hi
s be a love
that
s
ur p
asseth knowledge?
(Ep
h . 3:19)
H
ow
can
God and
C
hri
st
jointly
receive
the
same honor,
glory and praise?
(R
e
v.
5:12,13; with Isa·. 42:8; J ohn 5:23)
H ow
could
the Son 's person
be
equal to the Father s?
(John
14 :9,23; Matt. l 1
2
7)
How
co
uld
He
baptize
believers
with
the
Holy
S
piri t?
(Matt. 3:
11)
H
ow
could
H e have
power
to forgive s
in
s? (Mark 2: 10)
188
JN T O
THE LJGHT
OF CHRJSTIANITY
(19) How would H e have power to do
mi r
acles? (Mark 2: 11 ,12;
3:5; 3
:10,ll
)
(
20
)
How could He have a sinless character? (H eb.
7:26;
1
J ohn
3:5
compa re with Luke 18:19, whe re o
ur
Lord
ta
ught
, indirectly, tha t none should caU him good unless
DENIAL
OF
TH E
DElTY OF
CHRlST
189
this b
oo
n?
Will yo
u accept it? n
an
y case, you a re the
one
to
decide Will you choose the gospel of the spirit of love, of
the s
pirit
of power - a gospel
ch
a t makes fo r a rrund?
(2 Ti m . 1:
1-14
) ; or "
anoth
er gospel," in Chr ist is but a
creatu re, which com
es
into
th
e h
ea
r t by a spm t of fear?
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they
admit
th at H e is God, for there is none good but
God. All they wo
uld
do was call
Him
Master.
Th
at
is
all
J
ehova
h 's Witnesses do today eit her.)
(
21
) H
ow
could H e give these
pr
o
mi
ses: Ma
tt
.
11
:28,29; John
14:23?
(22) Wh y should men tru st
Him
even as they do the Fa ther?
Oohn
14 : l -3)
(23) Wh y
wo
uld we read of Him in L
uk
e l :68, "Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel: for he ha th visi ted and red
ee
med His
people"?
(24)
Wh
y would we r
ea
d of Him as deity
in
R omans 9:5; John
20:28; l Cor. 2:8; l Tim. 6:
14-16;
Titus 2:
13;
Heb.
1
2?
. In order to
su
pport their erra m con tention tha t in His pre
eXJstence J
es
us was a creature, the Jehovah 's Witnesses can find
t list in
M
ake
S
ure
of
ll
Th ings
only th ir ty-eight Scriptures
in
the
Bibl
e which le
nd
themselves to be twisted to agree with
th
eir Unitari anism that J
es
us is not equal
with
God.
In
fact, it
is their cla
im
th
at
H e sco
rned
such equality. Against the
br
il
li
ant light which shi nes in Christ Jes us, illumina ting
His
person
in th e b
ri
ght ness of Go
d'
s glory, the J ehovah 's Wi tnesses h
ave
great d ifficul ty with their adopted view of Christ.
Chr
ist
ian
D
oc
t
rine
M ore E
xcell
ent
But
l oo ho
w mu ch more excellen t is
the
historic doctrine
of Christ rev
ea
led in the Bible and be
li
eved in by Christia
ni ty
Christ is and always was equal wi th God, of the nature of G
od
l
In mys tic union of lwo na
tures,
divine and
human
, H e lived on
earth ; He
di
ed on the cross; He was resurrected a
nd
became
the heir of a
ll
things and H e now proceeds to subject every
kn
ee in heaven, earth and un der the earth to bow in subjection.
All are s
ubj
ect to
Him
in one way or the o ther.
Et
ernal salva·
tion
is
lh
e gif t of God to a
ll
who receive Him
in
faith a
nd
find
forgiveness.
Th
eirs is a new life in
Him and
salva tion at once.
They are free to the uttermost. Con
de
mna tion remains on
Once the deity of
Chri
st
in
His pre-existence is then
the Biblical conce
pt
of the fusion of the di vine n
atur
e wi th th e
hum
an na tu re of J
es
us becomes lhe soul-satisfy
in
g. do
ub t
·
dest roy
in
g, co
mpl
ete
-assur
ance th
at
o
ur
Savio
ur
-God
_ca_n
save
to the ut term
os t
. Then all f
ea
r is forever cast away. This is good
news fo
r all of us - to a
ll lo
st souls. Do you see th is? Have you
expe
ri
enced it? Y
es?
I f so, you will be so full of it, tha t you wHI
want to tell others of the L
ord
J esus, our Saviour God. And
wonder of wo
nd
ers, the more you tell this to lost ones, the
sweeter and sur
er
will the Lord Jesus become to you. H e thus
lives in you - and talks with you - and H is image grows within
you
until He
fills you.
Wh
en H e does, you will have so
mu
ch
mo re to tell abou t
Him
to lost so
ul
s. Look to Jesus the
author
and
fini
sh
er
of our sal
va
tion. Believe in Him; fo
ll
ow Him in
un
selfish
sharin
g with all ma
nk
ind
Christ O
ur
ll Who H um
ble
d H imse
lf
as a Man
As Chr ist J es us looms thus lar
ge
- ov
er
all - in our hear ts,
we will app reciate Isa. 9:6, "For un to us a child is born, unto us
a son is given. " Born as a chi ld, our Lord
Jes
us grows to
manhood and from the cradle to the cross plays the roan. T his
is
wh
y
He
sa
id in
Jo
hn
14:28, "My is greater than
in Acts l: 7, "It is not for y
ou
to
kn
ow um es and season
s,
wh1ch
the Fa th
er
had put in His own power
;
and in another crucial
m ome
nt
of His
li
fe as son of ma n, I f it is thy will , Fa ther, let
t
hi
s
cup
pass" (M
at
t.
26:39);
a
nd
fina
ll
y, as H e was dying, "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken roe?" (Mark. 15:34) . As
partaker of
fl
esh a
nd
blood, because
0£
us, the c
hild
ren even of
that na lu re he was made lower than the angeJs. But at the
same time H e was the Son - whose div
in
e na tu re was
in
extr
i
cab
ly
in t
erwoven with
Hi
s hu man na
tu r
e. How wonder ful ly
this is described
for
us
in
H eb. 2:9, "
But
we see J
es
us, who was
made a
littl
e lower th an the a ngels for the suffer
in
g of dea th,
crowned with glory a
nd
honor; that he by the
gr
ace of God
should taste d
ea
th for every man."
190
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the
cap tain of their salvation perfect through suffering" (H eb.
2: 10) .
Here
the secret o[ Phil . 2:6-8 i out in t.he open The Lord
Hi mself said, "I have power to lay down my life,
and
have
power to ta ke it up again" Qohn IO: 18). Still , H e endured to
hapter 4
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th e end on
t.h
e cr
oss the
life of a man. He pla
ye
d the
man,
fai led to ca
ll
on His superior power as God, refused to ca ll
it
quit
s.
n
all things, H e was found a man. Because H e fully
su bjected Hi mself in the form of serva
nt
, is why in
that
low
position H e sairl, My Father is gr eater than I" (John
11:28).
It
is
why H e made all those statements which Arians have liked
to use to imply His inferiority and
inequa
li ty with God What
a subjection What a humiliation H ow blind have become
eyes when beho
lding
rhis
strength
of the Son of God, Lb
ey
see
in it a display
of
humility a sign
that He
is
not
God.
Onl
y as
God, could H e have endured th'llt ord eal, could He have died
freeing us
from
our sins co
uld
He have been resur rected, could
He have become our High Priest)
Indeed
, H e spoke
truth
wh
en H e said, "I
and
th
e
Fath
er
are one" (John 10:30), and so did Paul when he jubilant ly
says, "
In
Him dwelleth
all the
fulness of
the Godhead
bod ily"
(Col. 2:9).
What do Phil. 2:5-8, Col. 2:9 a
nd
Jsa. 9:6 so life
like
por
tr
ay? He re we l
ea
rn this great truth: that Christ was equal to
the Fath
er
as touching Hi s Godhead
and
i
nferior
to the
Fath
er
as touching His manhood. f you
co
me to see this wonderful
truth, a
nd
be liev
e yo
u
hav
e everlast ing lifel You will then
know, Thi s is li fe eternal,
th
a t th
ey
might know thee th e only
true
God, and
J s us
Christ, whom thou has se
nt
" Qohn 17:3) .
The Lord J
es
us had become the glory of God on earth ia
nd
now
Hi
s task was soon over. Wha t does H e say to the Fat her?
R ead on in J o
hn
17:4 5, "I have glori fi ed thee on
the
earth: I
have finished the wo
rk which
thou gavest me to do . And now,
0 Father, glori
fy
thou roe with
thine own
s lf with th e glory
which I h ad with thee before the wo
rld
was."
With this ring ing testimony o[ the Lord that H e is God
c
om
e to
earth
to do His Father 's will, returning to become
'3gain what H e had been before
the
wor ld began,
clothed
wi
th
God s own self, is it any wonder that believing on Him and
THE
SECOND MAN IS T
HE LORD
FROM
HEAVEN
Creation
of
the F
rs
t
Man
"Let us make man
in our
image;
after
our
lik
eness" (Gen.
l :26). This presaged
the
creation of the first man.
This body
of
the ea rth, or the fl
es
h, was
form
ed of th.e
du
st of the
gr
o
und
" (Gen. 2:
7a), and
God b r e a t h into
no
s
tril
s the
br
ea th o(
li f
e; and man became a living .so
ul
(Gen. 2:7b) . Thus man became the
ea
rthly vesse
l.
of the a ~ e
and
lik
ene
ss
of God or the
quint
essence of all His Crea tion r
a
caps
ul
e (
Heb.
2:7 ,
8).
Th
e execution or this fia t of crealion is elsewhere wonder
£ully describ ed: Even everyone tha t is called by my for
I have created
him for my glory, have formed
him
, yes
have
mad
e him (Isa.
43:7).
I n
the
I mage of od
Man was to keep his body alive by eating thou s h a ~ t eat"
(Gen. 2:16) . The H ebrew te
xt
shows to
be
a n t r n u o ~
process.
Th
e sp iritual man's God-con saousness was to in
sim
il
ar
fashion, by
co
ns
tantl
y me
di t
ating
up
on, a
nd
associ
at
ing
with His Maker, whi
ch
activity was climaxed at the end o( each
day in the cool of the evening, when God came clow.n to
verse with man.
The
hallmark of God's image
and
likeness m
man then, w
as
the co
mp l
ete harmony
of
both body and soul,
making for one harmoniou s whole: man.
Thus
man he lc l within his body of flesh
th
e e s ~ e of a ~ l
ma terial creation on earth (Gen. 2: 15-20), and withm h is p 1 r ~ t
the
possibility of being and remaining a son of God, who is
the Father of s
pirit
s" (Heb. 12 :9) ·
192
JNTO
THE
LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
the mouth of His Father, the Father of
sp
irits, would he live
(Heb. 12:9).
Death
or Separation
f man
w s
thus created in
the
image and
lik
eness o
God
could he die? Was he mortal, or immortal?
THE
LORD
FROM
HEAVEN
193
Eternal death, or eternal separation of the soul from fellowship
with God, comes to the soul n the day of Judgment. Such a
soul can never agt1.
in
receive a body of glory . (as do the souls of
just
men
made perfect, Heb. 12:22-24), as will
Abraham
(Luke
16:19-31
) , as wi
ll the
tribulation saints (Rev.
6:9-11), but
is
not
annihilated. A man's body being of the earth, may be de·
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This question is emphatically answered for us
in
Gen. 2: 17,
where the po
ss
ibility
of
death is mentioned.
f to li
ve
means to live unto the
Father
of Spirits, then to
die, which is the opposite, would mean to
die
unto the Father
of spirits. "Eating
thou
sha
lt
eat then is t
he
modus operand11s
of living, both for the body and
the
spi.
rit (or
soul). How then,
in the light of this, could man die?
The answer comes to
us
clear in the projected
punishment
up
on Adam if he
should
become disobedient: "For
in
the day
th
at
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Did Adam die the
day
he
ate
of th
at
tree?
f so,
how? Before
the day ended in which Adam transgressed God's command
ment, did he die as a soul? But, you say, he lived on for almost
a thousand years?
The Hebrew text for Gen. 2: 17 gives us the clue. It says,
Dying
thou
shalt die:· It would be a cont
inuing
death of
torme
nt and tonure,
as decay came step by step. How Jong
would this take?
lt
would continue
un
til
the
body
and
soul
would be separated. For separate they must. We read in Eccl.
12:7, "Then shall the
dust
return to the earth as it was: and
the
spirit
shall return
un t
o God who gave it.
But also
at
the very
moment
man s
inned
came the most
devastating blow: spiritual death: which is
man's
separation
from
God because of sin (Gen. 3:
17,1
8).
H
life
for
man
is
living
unto
the
Father
of spirits
death
then is
an
end of living unto
the
Father of spirits.
Death Is
Separation
Eternal life means thus "ete
rnal
fellowship with God.
Those who cared for this fellowship of the spiri t,
or living with
God, commended their spirit to God. Acts
5:59,60;
Gen.
35: 17.18; Luke 23:46; 2 Cor. 5: 1-8; Phil. l :21-23. Eternal death
means to be ber
e(t
of all ability ever "to fellowship with God.
Of such a
one
who lived only to the flesh, and not to the
spirit, the Psalmist in Ps. 146:4 says, "His breath goeth forth,
stroyed. A man's property may be destroyed.
But
a ~ a n s spirit
cannot be destroyed; it returns to God who
made
1t, and God
is eternal. Eternal death
then
means to be eternally banished
from fellowship
with
God
(Jude
12,
13
;
Matt
.
10:28;
Rev.
20:
10-15).
Can Man Be Saved?
Dying thou shalt die, the sentence of death upon man,
a sentence of separation of
th
e soul and body, as well . as mans
separation from fellowship
with
God. ~ o u l d I?an, since God
had withdrawn from him, follow God 111to {is heaven?
The
Lord Jesus shows the impossibility o( this when He said, And
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he
that came from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven
(John
3: 1
3
·
This
was man's dilemma and God's opportunit
y.
Was man's
fate to become sealed as ete
rnal
separation from God? Or wou
ld
God
reclaim man who had lost "the image and likeness of God
in which
he had
been created?
f man was created in "the image and likeness of God and
had lo
st it, then obviously only
God
Himself could restore the
image and likeness.
As Jesus so revealingly states
in
John 3:13, only the Son of
Man
which is in heaven could
do
it, a
nd
to become the Son of
Man, he
had
to come as "Lord from heaven
(l
Cor.
15:47) ·
How Can Man e Saved?
The Psalmist says,
"But
God will redeem my soul from the
power of
th
e grave; for
he
shall receive me (Ps. 49: 15).
Since
man
was created by God, he can be saved only by God.
Such salvation would have to come as new creation. This
is
completely tied in wi
th
o
ur .L
ord J esus
~ h r i s t It is w o n d e r ~ ~ l l y
described for us by the inspired apostle m I Cor. 15:454.7, the
first Adam was made a living soul;
the
last Adam was made a
quickening spirit.
Howbeit
that was
not
first wh i.ch s p ~ r ~ t u a
94
JNTO
THE LIGHT
OF CHRISTIANITY
Th
e first man is of th e eart11,
ea r
thy; the sec
ond
man is
the
Lord from heaven. "
H ow was th is salva tio n to be
imp
lemented?
For
God so
loved the world, that he ga
ve
his onl y begot ten Son, that who
soever believeth in him shou ld not perish, but have everlasting
THE LORD H EAVEN
95
He
brough t this peop le
in t
o a desert.
Th
ere.
He
caused t.h_em to
bui
ld a tabernacle.
In
the Most Holy
of
this
t a b e n ~ a c l e
m the
shabby surrou
ndin
gs of fleshly works, in the
shekmah
on the
Ark of the Covenant, there dwelled Jehovah visibly I n
most humble circumsta n
ces
of a p
eop
le
addicted
to wandering
over the earth
He clwelled wiLh His people as their God, as a
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life" (John
3:
16). I t is
th
e com ing of the Lord from heaven
w
hi
ch ushered in everl asting li
fe,
and "
br
ought life a
nd
im
mortalit
y to light.
The weakest
link
of Adam, created in the begi nning, was
his bod
y,
which could return
Lo earth. t
came first in order.
But
now,
with
the seco
nd
Ad am who is a quickening s
pirit,
the
Spirit comes first in order, and since
it
is
immorta
l,
it
if saved,
will become th e seed (or immortali ty in the body, in the day of
resurrect ion. Such is the glorious argument of I Cor. 15:50.
The
Hidden
God
The day Adam sinned, that day he also
<l
ied. On that day,
God left man and disfellowsh
ipp
ed him . God hid from man,
for
man
h
ad
become like a beast,
li
ving
un t
o the fl
es
h.
God then
revealed to man the need for a
tonem
e
nt
through
blood. Men began LO look for
t
he seed of the woman who
would des troy the "seed of the serpent." Man's gathering around
altars sacr
ifi
cing t
he
blood o[ an imals W'aS no mere rite, or
emp ty dream. It was based upon
the
proph
ecy of
the
Lord to
Eve in
Gen.
3:15. From Ab el on men began to p ut blood b
e
tween Lh em a
nd
their God, as a propitiation. Wh
en
Noah came
o
ut of
the
Ark
into a new world, he
put
the blood
of
his
sacri
fice
between tha t wicked wo rld and himself, indicaLing how
this evil wou ld be take n from man.
Is
it
any wo nder then that
when
Goel came down
w
man
H e
appeare
d be
hind th
e b l
ood
of sacrifices?
God became th e personal God
of men
who sought him. Such
men were Abraham, Jacob a nd Jsaac. God was known as God
the Almighty,
as Abraham's
God, as Isaac's God, as J acob's God.
Coming nigh to man,
God
appeared to Moses n a fie ry bush.
H e appeared as fire, the symbol of
Hi
s
pr
esence, the Shekinah
H e
had
not come lo torture ma n. God had
ano
th er purpose.
His p urpose was to save the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and
J acob. H e revealed Himself as Lb e
ir
God. Their pligh t exc ited
Hi s love. He came down, and He revealed Himself by a new
name, His personal
name
J
ehovah.
voice, in a light.
Deliverer or Saviour?
When
God
revea led
Hi
mself as J
ehovah
unto
Israel, was
1 ~ e
come to be the promised aviou r? No, He came Lo be their
deliverer from Egyptian slavery,
and
to set rhem apart for the
time when H e wou ld come as their
aviou
r. T h
at
J ehovah h
ad
not yet come as th eir
Saviour
is evidenced in
the
fact t h a ~ they
were com manded
to
cont inu e to sacrifice the bloorl of amn:al
s,
to cel
ebra
te
the Passover
continually,
until the true
Sacnlice
would
appear.
ll ow beauliCully
t h ~ t
is
~ i c t m - e d
for us in
~ e 1 : ;
22: 1· 8, revealing in verses 16- 18
Hi
s co
mmg purp
ose as Sa
v10111
.
More T han On e Jeho
va
h?
Is
there then
mo
re
tl1an one Jehovah?
f
th
e Jeh
ovah
reveal
ing HimseH to Israel and co
ndu
ct ing .th em in to the desert was
not
the
promised Saviour, th
en
who ts?
Always
rem
ember, that man
can
not u r s u ~ Go?
into
heaven
in order to re·establish the broken fellowslup with God. God
had to come Lo man (Jo h n 3:
13) .
J ehovah of the " thorn-bush" and of the "She_kinah " e s t a ~ ·
lished
the way i11 which men were to come to um - by _saa 1·
fi
ci
ng
in
obedie
nce to
Hi
s com m
andm
en ts, the blood of
am
mals,
and
living
under the law. Man had to learn that he was a
sinner, separated from God, ancl on the road toward eternal
eparation from Go<l. Then
he
had .to l
earn
that
he
could
not
save himself, that he
needed
a Saviour-God.
f
Jehovah appearing to Moses in the fi ery b ush was not the
Sa
viour-God then who was H
e?
H e was the King of Israel,
come from heaven to save
them from ffesh
ly slavery ~ o . an·
other nation,
so
that within their new national and spmtua l
en tity, over which he was King, h could keep them from
scattering
all over the earth, to rem arn together, for
H is
Coming
Appearance as Jehovah
the
Sav iour
In Isa.
44
:6 we read, "Thu s sa
ith the
Lord (Jehovah) the
96
INTO THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Hosts]; I am the first, and I am
lh
e last; and besides me there
is no God.
There
are lwo aspects of J e
hovah
here.
Wh
ich one
is. the first? It is as J ehovah who ap peared unto Israel as thefr
Kmg and delivered them from Egyptian bondage.
In l sa. 48: 12-15 we read ,
Hearken
unto me, O J acob and
Is rael, my called; I am he, I am the first, I also am the las
t.
THE
LORD FROM HEAVEN
97
of them six wings
about him;
a
nd
they were full of eyes within;
and they rest
not
day
and
nigh t, saying, H oly,
hol
y, hol
y,
L
or
d
God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
The L
or
d
of
H osts, or
Jehovah,
is the tr
iun
e God.
Who
was, when in His moves to save man H e was present as
Jehovah
in
the fiery bush and was
the
King of Israel.
Who
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Min
e ha
nd
also
hath
la id lhe fou ndation of
the
earth
and
m y
rig
ht
hand ha th spanned the heavens: when I call them,
they sta
nd
up
toge
th
er. All ye, assem
bl
e yourselves, a
nd
hear ;
which among them bath declared these things? The Lord h
ath
loved him : he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm
shall be .on the
Chald
eans. I, e ven I, have spoken; yea. I have
called
l11m
: I have b
rought
him and he shall make his way
pr
osperous.''
Let us pause here fo r a moment. Notice, up to now, the
work of J eho
vah is
descr
ib
ed
in bringing out
Israel, in defend-
ing
it
again
st
its e
ar t
hly ene
mi
es;
the
Babylonians, the Chal-
leans, etc.
But now
propheti
call y
we
have described for us the work of
th
e co
ming Jehovah
R edeemer, to whom J
ehova
h.
ac t
ually
~ p e a k s ''
Co
me
ye
near un
to me,
hear
ye this; I have not spoken
m secret
from
the beginning; from the time that it was, there
am I: a
nd
now the Lord God and
Hi
s Spirit
hath
se
nt
me
(Isa. 48: 16) .
Check passage closel
y:
t is necessary to do thus, for
J esus says t cou ld on ly be discerned with the spirit, not wi lh
the
fl es
h, ~ o r there still are
many
today,
as then
in Isaiah's day,
and l
ater
m the Lord 's day, who have eyes but do not observe,
have ea.rs but do not hear the vo ice of the Lord.
Well
, see a
nd
observe, h
ear 3nd
listen, as I
qu
ote Isa. 48: l7,
T
hu
s sa
ith the
Lord, thy R edeemer a
nd
the
Ho
ly
One
of
Israe l.
Here
J ehovah appettrs in
Hi
s role of R edeemer.
In
the opening verses of the 6
th chapter of
Isaiah
we are
given by H oly Spiri t a vision of how God is worshipped in
heaven. A des
cription
of the thro ne is afforded
unto
us, a
nd
then verse 3 reveals the act
of
worship.
And
one c
ri
ed
unto
another, 3
nd
said, Ho ly, holy, holy is the Lord of
Ho
sts: th e
whole earth
is
full of his glory.
Who
is
the Lord
of H ost
s? He
is
Jehovah of Ho
sts.
Another
vision of such worship
in
heaven is given us in Rev. 4, and
is,
when
He came as J esus Lhe Saviour, the same yesterday,
today and forever . Who is to come, as we read in
l
Thess.
4: 1
3-
18,
them
also which sl
ee
p
in
J esus will God
brin
g
wit
h
him , and the dead in Christ shall rise first and t
he
living at
His
coming.
The l·ast book of the .Bible, speaking as it does of the con-
summation of all thirygs, describes J ehovah as the first a
nd
the
last,
thu
sl
y, John
to
th
e seven churches which
are
in Asia:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from
Him
which is and which
was, a
nd which
is to come; a
nd
from
the
seven Spirits whi ch
are
before his th rone; a
nd
from J esus
Christ
who
is the
fa ithful
witness, the first bego tten of
the
dead, an d
the
pri nce of the
kings of
the earth
.
Unto
him tha t loved us,
and
washed us from
our sins
in
his own blood (Rev. :4,5) .
First
we ha
ve a descr
ipti
on of the triune God here. The is
phase of Jehovah is focused
up
on Jesus
Chri
st: Because H e
washed us from
our
s
in
s in
Hi
s own blood.
But n
ot
only has
He
saved us, but
He
comes again : Beho
ld
he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they
also which pierced
him
: a
nd
all kindreds of the ear th sh all wail
because of h
im
. Even so,
Ame
n (Rev. 1:7) .
Who
is described here in all
th r
ee phases of
Hi
s appearan
ce
on earth? Who is it who is described in His presence with
Israe l
in
the Shekinah, His appearance
in
the flesh of man
a
nd Hi
s
apo
calypse in
Hi
s Seco
nd
Coming? R ea d
and
l
earn
:
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end ing, sai th
the
Lord
,
which
is,
which
w
as,
a
nd
which is to co
me the
Almighty (Rev. 1 8) .
The
ap
pearance and revelalion of God
in
three aspects a ffects the salvation of man's soul.
.J
esus Is Jehovah
n
Isa. 6 a discussion of God's purpose ensues. Wh om shall
I
send
a
nd
who will go
fo
r
tts. The
pronou n here, observe,
aga in is plural. Who ut tered this statement? T o whom was it
198
INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
The
Holy Spirit
leads us to
John
12:36-41
where
we
read
,
'
'While
ye have light, believe
in
the
li
ght, that ye may be the
children of light
.
These thin
gs spake J esus,
and
departed, and
did
hide
himse
lf
from
th
em.
Why did th
e L
ord
do
that?
That
the
saying
of
Esaias
the
prophet
might
be fu lfilled, which he spake, Lord, w
ho hath
THE
LORD FROM HEAVEN
199
fiat (Josh.
6: 14-20)
. The s
undi
al
turned
back ten
degr
ees
(2 Kings 20:11). The
s
un
st
ood
s
li11
(Josh. 10:12,
13
.
Ha i
l fell
from heaven
(]
osh.
l 0: IJ)
.
Egypt
was destroyed by
ha i
l (Exod.
9:19-26).
Twenty-four
thousan d Israeli tes were b ehead
ed
(Num.
25:
1-9
) . Thousands died, whose d eat h was caused by
th
e Ark
of
th
e
Covenant
(I Sam. 5) ,
5070
rae
li t
es were st
ru
ck
dead
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be lieved our report? and to whom hath
th
e arm of che
Lord
been
revea
l ed? (Isa. 53:
1) . Therefore
the y could
not
believe,
be
cause
that
Esaias sa id again,
He
hath blinded their
eyes,
and
hardened their
h
eart; that
they
should not see
[observe]
with
their
eyes,
nor under
stand with the
ir
hearts,
and
be converted,
and should heal
th
em (John
12:40) .
Th
us
John
12: 36·4-l
id
entifies
Je
sus as the
God set forth in
Isaiah 6, as
God, high
and lofty in the heavens.
How R evealed?
In
the
beginning
was the
Word, and
the Word was
with
God,
and th
e Word was
God
(John 1: 1) - so begins the
revelation
of
the
appea1·
nce
(or Epiphania) in human form
of
f
ehovah Saviour.
J ehovah had bee
11 present
in the sh
ek
inah a
nd
in the temple.
Now Jehovah came down in the
fl
esh,
hiding
in a body of
ma n
.
He
is described as the very essence
of Go d
, for
He
is
said
to
be
the Wi sdom
of
God, the ·word, or Logos.
As His eternal an tecedents are related we co
me
with star
tling
clarity
upon the
14th verse,
And th
e W
ord
was m
ade
flesh,
and
dwelt
among
us,
(and
we beheld his glory, the glory as
of
the
only begotten
of th
e Father,) full
of
grace and
truth
.
How
diffe
rent
was
His appearance
on
earth fr
om
the an
nouncement
of the
f1resen ce of
J ehovah in the ery
thorn
bush.
Jehovah announced His
presence to Israel
in
one of the
mo
st
terrifying
sights
eyer
seen. Six full days th
ere
was
pitch
darkn
ess, a how
ling
wind, shrill blas ts fr
om
God's
trumpet, and
the
alarming
voice
of th
e Lord. Three million I
srae
lites were
sick
with
fear (Ex.
19: I6·1
9).
Paul
said centuries
later of
Moses saying, I exceedingly fear and quake (Heb. 12:2 1) .
On l
y
one nati
on
of
a
ll
the
wor
ld, Israel, ever
heard
the voice
of
Jehovah
.
Why?
So
that ye might
know
th
a t
the
Lord
He
is
God
, th
ere
is
non
e else beside
Him
(Deut. 4).
The
fire
of the shekinah, in
which
Jehovah dwelt amidst
.
1 Sam . 6:
19
) , 14,700 <lied in a pl-ague (N umbers), 185,000
were s
lain
by
th
e Angel of D
eath (2
Kings 19:35).
Hundreds
died
in
Egypt in
one
night
(Exocl. 12:21 -3
0).
The
she
kinah
fire, which
is
not a
natural
fire,
but
th e fire
of
the
Lord,
in
whi
ch
Jehovah
a
nnoun
ced
His
presence to
Mo ses in the
fiery
thornbush, is
m
en tioned
seven
hundreJ
times
in connection
with
J ehova
h'
s presence.
The fire
of
the L
or
d, or th e shekinah in which H e was
present,
cast a Cloud over Israel for forty years.
It
slew
Nadab
and Abihu
(Lev.
10
:1-5).
lt burned
up aml
actua
lly consumed
rebels (Nuro. 1
6:
35) .
One hundr
ed two
of
the King's m
en
were
consumed by this fire
2
Kings
I:
1-1
2). The
Sodomites were
destroyed by this fire (Gen. 19 :
I-16) .
But
Jesus,
the
Saviour-Jehovah,
was
annou
nc
ed as follows,
John bare
witness
unto hi m
,
and
cry
in
g, saying, this was
he of
whom
I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me:
for
he was before
me (John I:
15) .
Wh
y was the
Lord annou
nced in this manner?
He had
come to save, not to destroy. When Moses saw
Jehovah
he
quaked
. From
that
day on men knew they could
not
see God
and
live.
That pointed up th
e
ir grea
t disability of
separa
tion.
Only
by see
in
g
God,
a
nd
havin
g
direct
fellowship
with Him,
can man
ever
hope
to
live. This
was
in d
eed a great dis'3.bilityl
Now not
e h
ow
God, in
His apfJearance or
epiph
an ia, over
came
thi
s d ilemma. '
'N
o
man
hath
seen
God at
any
time; the
only begotten Son, which
is
in
the
bosom
of th
e Father,
he
hath
declared
him. First
l
et
us
note
,
that th
e Son s in the
bosom
of
Lh
e
Father.
H e still
is.
T
hen noti
ce
that
the Son
de
clar
es the
Father. He
is
Jehovah
th
Saviour.
How
is
that
proved?
Let
us go down to
th
e 23rd verse
and
read
, H e sa
id,
I am the voice
of one
cry
ing in the
wilderness,
Make
stra ight
the
way of
the Lord,
as said
th
e
prophet
Isai:ili.
·what did
the
propheL I
saiah
say
abo
ut this?
John
gets h is
very words from Isa. 40:3,
The
voice
of
him
that
crieth
in
the
200 INTO THE LIGHT OF
CHRISTIANITY
Jesus then, our Lord
God,
came to
dw
ell
with
us in the
fl
es
h, so
tha
t we could feel
him
,
touch him
,
J1
andle
him
. He
came as the
beginner
of a New Creation, to restore Hi s image
a
nd
lik eness
in man
.
In John
12:41
we read
th
a t Isaiah saw
th
e glory
of
J ehovah,
which in J ohn
I 2
is described as the glory of Je sus. Is
rael
tempt
THE LORD FROM
HEAVEN
201
the same I
AM
of
Exod
.
3:14.
The Jews
full
well
un d
erstood it,
and were ready to stone the Lord for
bla
sphemy.
Th
is is ca
pped
off in Rev.
l : 17,18,
where Jesus says,
I
am he tha t Live th, and
was dead; and, beho
ld
I
AM
alive for
evermo
re
In
their
definition of
the
1
44
,000
which alone are to be
saved to heaven,
and
the Grea t
Multitud
e
of
J ehova
h'
s
Wit-
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ed
J
ehovah in the
deser t (Exod.
17:2,7;
Nu m
.
: 5 ~ 7 and
died
for it.
P.a u l warn
s
Chri
sti ans n
ot
to do the same
. . .
for they
drank
of
that Spiritual
R ock tha t followed
th
em:
a
nd th
a t rock
was Christ ; and
ag
a
in
, Neither l
et
us
tempt Chri
st, as some
of th
em
al so
tempted
, and were des troyed by serpents
1
Cor.
10:4,
9). H ere Paul shows Christ to
be Jehovah.
Jehovah
laid
the fo
un da
tions of the
earth
, says Ps. 10
2:25.
n Heb.
1:8
-12,
it is shown tha t the one who laid the founda
tions
of the earth
is J
es
us
Chri
st, which is
furth
er e
mpha
sized
in J ohn 1:3, He b. 1:10 and
Co
l.
1:17 .
T itrning the T ables on the Unitarianism
of
J ehovah s Witnesses
Th
e
Jehovah's
Witn
esses tra nslate
the
title Lo
rd
by
the
name
of
J e
hovah
some two
hundr
ed
thirt
y-seven tim es
in
thei r
N ew W orld Transl
atio
n. As you look up M
att.
3:3 in this
vers ion
and yo
u r
ead P
repare ye
the
way of Jehovah, m ake
hi s roads stra ight, you
are
aware
th
a t this is a di rect
quotation
from Isa.
40:3,
and m
ore imp
ort antly that it is a
ppli
ed to J esus
Christ by all
four Evang
elists. U nmistake
nl
y,
th
e Jehovah of
th
e prophecy of Isaiah is Lhe J es us
Chri
st
in
the
Go
spel (Matt .
3:3; Mark 1:3
-8
;
Lu ke
3:2-17;
Jo
hn 1:6-8, 15-29; 3:
26
-31 .
The
full
equ
ivale
nt of Jehovah
is acco
rded
by
th
e Evangelists to
the
title LORD.
The
Jehovah of Joel 3:32 is perfec
tl
y
blended
with
th
e
Lord
of Romans
10.
That
becomes even
mo r
e cl
ea
r
in
th
e New
World
Tr anslat ion of the Jehova h's
Witnes
ses
wher
e we read, For if
you
publicl
y declare
th
a t word
in your mouth,
that J esus
Chri
st
is
Lord,
an d exercise faith in your hea
rt
that God raised him
up from
th
e dead, yo u will be saved
. . .
The ku
rios
transla ted
Jehovah in the
Se
ptuagint
Book of Joel, is
the
kurios
given
in
R omans
10,
and shows the iden tity and
oneness
of J ehovah
J esus.
Th
e Jehovah's Witnesses say
th
e
re
is
only one
Jehovah.
Th
e
name
allows no
limit
atio
n
s.
T he name is I
AM
,
and
is from
nesses to
be
saved now on
ear th
, the
Jehovah'
s Witnesses like to
use John
10.
The r
emarkab
le sta tement
of
J ohn
10: 16,
There
shall be o
ne
fold a
nd
one she
ph
e
rd,
is totally overlooked.
Who
is
thi
s one
Shep
herd?
It
is
Jesu
s Hi mse
lf
. Ezek.
34:23
and P
s. 23
show J eh
ovah
to
be
this
one
she
ph
erd .
Thi
s sh
ep
·
herd will be
th
e Lord
God wh
o will come to feed His flock
(Isa. •O: 11
)
and
which is app lied by Peter to J esus
(1
Peter
2:2
1
,25). Jehovah-Jesus is the
one
shepherd.
ffecting Salvation
Becau
se
Jes
us was
the
Saviour,
Hi
s
death
is to us
of
para
mount
importance.
Th
e image
and
likeness
of
G
od
was
upon Ad
am who b
ore
it
in
an
ea rthl
y tabernacle.
Of
h
im it wa
s said,
What
is man,
that thou ar t mincl(ul
of him
? and the son
of
man that thou
vi
s
it
est him? F
or thou
hast made
him
a l
ittl
e lowe r
than
the
ange
ls; a
nd
hast crown
ed
him
with
glory a nd
hon
or. Thou
madcs t him to have do
minion
over
the
works
of th
y hands;
th
ou hast
put
all
thing
s under
hi
s fe et
. . .
(Ps. 8:4-
6)
.
Yes, because man was th us made, and tl1en s
in n
ed, and
became se
parat
ed from Cotl, and b
ecam
e l
ost
,
God in Hi
s Jove
sen t J
es us Chri
st, who s in the bosom
of
God.
And what do
we see? But
we
see J esus,
who
was
mad
e a
littl
e lower than
th
e
an g
els for
th
e suffe
ri n
g of dea
th
,
crown
ed with glory a
nd
honor; th
at
he
by tbe grace o(
God
s
hould tast
e death for every
roan
(Heb.
2:9) .
Those who disho
nor
J
es
us
Christ
by
de
nyi ng
Hi
s deit
y,
can
not
trul
y app reci
ate
the m
agnitude
of man's need
0£
sa lv
atio
n.
U nl
ess
we
ri ght l
y un dersta nd our co
ndition of
sin a
nd
d
ea th
,
and
the
absolu te sep
ara
tion these
brought abou
t in o
ur
hopes
of
living in fellowship
with
Go d, we will not
apprec
i
ate th
at
Jesus is
Jeho
vah-Saviour ,
wh
o has a
ppeared
in th ese las t days.
H
ow shall we escape,
if
we negle
ct
so
great
a salva tion .
. .
?
(H eb.
2)
.
202
INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
and
b lood,
he
also hi mself lik ewise took part of
the
same;
th 3.t
through
death he might
destroy him
that
had the power of
death,
that is,
the
devil (Heb. 2: 14).
Thus aga
in
we
read th
e
drama
depicted
in
J Cor.
15:45-50,
And
so
it
is
written
,
The
first
man Adam
was
made
a
living
soul;
the
l
as
t Adam was
mad
e a qu icke
ning spirit.
H owbe
it
that was
not
first which is sp irilUal, but
that
which is natural;
THE
LORD FROM HEAVEN
203
He who has seen me has seen
the Father Uohn
14:9) . He,
Je sus Christ, is the
image
and
liheness of God.
Coming down
and part
ak i
ng of
our flesh a
nd blood condition, and
bearing
our
image
of
the earth,
He has identified
Himself
with us.
But much
more
, H e restores
the image and liheness of od in man,
as we
in faith identi fy ourse
lv
es with
Him.
Thu
s
if
we
bear th
e
imag
e
of the earthy,
which
He bore for us, we shall also
bear the
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and
af
t
erward
that which
is
spiritua
l. T he first
man is of
the
earth,
ear
th
y;
the
second
man
is
the
Lord
from heaven.
As is
the
eart
hy,
suc
h are they also that are earthy; and as is the
heaven
l
y, such are
they also
that are
heavenly
Now
this
say, brethren, that flesh and blood ca
nnot
in her it
the
Kingdom
of
God;
n either
doth
corruption inherit
incorruption
.
e s ~ s the God
-
man,
died
for
us
(cf. Phil.
2:6-11;
Eph.
4:8-10). He not on ly
di
ed for us,
and shed hi
s
blood
for us
(Acts
20:28), which God ca ll
s ' '
hi
s
own blood, but
He also
arose
the
third
da
y, a
nd
ascended to
heaven
forty days
later.
At Pentecost
he
sent the earnest, the
Holy Spirit,
to
his
di s-
c
ip l
es as a
token of the
new li f
e in the Spirit
, in to
whic
h they
had
en
tered.
A
new
crea ti
on
was
in th
e
making, once
aga
in
,
in
th
e image
and
likeness of God one which would
put on
imm
ortality in th
e
place
of mortality, when the Lord would
come with their
spirits from h
ea
ven
in His
apocalypse, and
the
resurrection would begin (1 Thess. 4: 13-18).
For
this
Lord from Heaven, Je
sus
Christ, ha
s
the
same
power as has the Father.
For
as the
Father
ra iseth up
the
dead, and qu i
ck
enet
h
them; even
so
the
Son
quickeneth whom
he will (John 5:21).
J ehovah gave bread
from
h
eaven
lo keep the bodies of
hi
s
select
nation al
ive
in
the desert. Yet they
died
because
of
dis
obedience.
But
this
Lord from Heaven,
J ehovah-Sav
iour,
says
of
FUmself
in John
6:33,
For the bread of
God
is
he
which
cometh down from
h
ea
ven, and giveth life
unto the world.
Only God can
give
li f
e lo
the world, for be
has t
aken it.
The
Lord
from
Heaven
Is
th
e
Image
of
od
and the L ikeness
of
od
in Us
Because man s
inn
ed,
and
the
image
and
lik
eness of God was
destroyed in
hi m
, it required a crea tive
ac
t
of
God to
restore
that
image
and
likeness.
How
was i t done?
image of the h eavenl
y,
to
where
He has
gone
.
f
we accept Him
crucified,
and die with Him, He
sh a
ll
become
the
mag
net
to
draw
us
up
to
Hirn,
to sit
with
Him
in Heavenly
places.
hapter 5
CHRISTIANITY OR CUL
T S: WHICH?
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hristianity l s a
e ven
ly Society
How blessed is the lot of Christi a
ni t
y.
Co
min
g home to the
L
or
d, as
it
were, as a
prodig
al Son, I have
be
en l
ed in t
o
her
mid
st and find
her
filled with pleasant places .
Like our
Father
s house, which has many mansions, Chris
tianity has many won
derful
facets. She has diversity
of
"man
sions" or denominations enabling even the m
os
t unique of
hum
ans to find a suitable place for worship and fe llowship.
Cogniza nt of the diversities of nat ions, kin dreds
an
d tongues,
the Lord graciously allowed
her
to develop in a manner, which
makes for a free evolvement of structures on earth, which at
tbe same
tim
e
re
mains fluid
an
d
stab
le.
Think
of
the "seven
Churches of Asia."
In
deed, Chr istianity has diversi ty of gifts. T he cults atta ck
her for having this diversity. They wish to create a
pl
a tfo rm of
unity of structu re, to be
ruled
rigidly, top down, (rom some
eanhl
y headquarters.
How
I rejoice th
at
Chri
st
ia
ni ty is no t so constructed Its
head is in heaven, and its saved ones all sit in heavenly places.
From the
un
saved ones of Noah's lay cf. l Peter 3: 19) to
Abraham who is in heaven (
Luk
e
16:
19-23), to Moses and
Elij ah (Ma tt. 17: 1
-3)
who
ap p
eared long after
their
death, to
'' the spiri ts of just men made perfect" (Heb. 12:22-24), across
the whole age of sa l
v-at
ion a
nd
up to the tr ibulation "where the
spiri ts of martyrs cry out for vengeance," Ch ristianity's places
or mansions
are
filled wi
th
the s
pirit
s
of ju
st men made per
fect." Soon, in great triumph, will her Sa
vi
our-God appear
in
the clouds and
he
will
brin
g with him the spirits of all these
saved ones, and will give them a resurrection body. That will
be the hour of
triumph
for Christianity
Blessed
is
Christianity's lot, and thrice bl
esse
d
are
we to sit
206 INTO
THE
LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
Enemies Behind Clouds
of
Dar/mess A llach Christianity
As the twentieth ce
ntury
dawned, histori c Christianity began
to
fa
ce its darkest period. Maj
or
cults emerged from
the
19th
century rebellion of l
ay
men (Rev.
6).
Th
ese
appeared in the
ga
rb
of
ri
ghteousness, "conqu
erin
g and to co
nqu
er."
In
their
wake "tbe s
un
became black with sackcloth" (their organiza
CHRISTIANITY OR CULTS: v\THICH?
207
says
is pure white. Upon this
Whit
e Horse it a ims to go
forth
and es tablish a New ·world Society.
Jehovah 's Witnesses are the leading organization of modern
cults, a
nd
set the tone
and pattern
for a
tt
ack aga
in
st historic
Christiani ty. Th eir way is not the way of J
es
us who said: I
am
the way, the truth
and
the life. The ir way is the way of the
Watchtower.
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tional sackcloth cover blotting out personal sa lvation coming
alone from the
tru
e sun of
right
eousness, J
es
us Christ.) As time
wore on, " the moon became as blood" (as they
turned
the
word
of truth
into
the lie of Armageddon wrath)
and the
stars of
heaven fell unto the ear th" (as they once again proj
ec
ted salva
tion at Armageddon to be wrought in the
fles
h on earth,
and
not in heavenly places) .
The
y began to come in a
march
of the millions" across the
earth. Th
es
e ma
jor
cults were followed by an endless train of
lesser ones. A veritable "Babel of confusion" began, and "every
uncl
ean spi
rit
and t
hin
g"
is
now
in
evidence in the Babylon of
the cults.
They
''a re performing great signs
and
wonders." As
th
ey
parade
in
their "
mar
ch of the millions" over the earth,
ba
ck
and
forth, they bid fair to rai se
so
big a cloud as to
blot
out our
Savio
ur God
J esus Christ
and Hi
s great salvation,
and
to
turn
to blood (or destruction) the spiritual promises of the
word of God. n the hearts of many these enemies are wreaking
a bloody carnage
in
our midst, Christian brethren
Who
are
they? Why are they so successful?
Wh y Cults
For
more
than
thirty years, all of my
matur
e life, I lived
the Watchtower way. I was truly a modern Gnostic. I was a
Ru
sse
llit
e, became a Kingdom PubHsher, then as a partisan of
Ru herford called m
yse
lf a J ehovah's
Witn
ess,
and
finally
became a " theocratic slave" of the New World Society.
For years I studied the structu re of the maj
or
cul ts in order
to dev ise methods of co
mb
at.
From
this long exp
er
ience I know
that
of the four major c
ul t
s plaguing Christianity toda
y,
al
ong
with
the l
ong lin
e of c
ultl
et
s, th
a t the Watchtower movement
of J ehovah's Witnesses is the most effective way of error today.
I t ha s enshrouded itself self-righ teously
as
" the clean organi
zation, and banks for sa lvation on its own works.
It
has
ncient Gnosticism
Looking at
Jeh
ovah's Witnesses in a retrospective way, from
within the precincts of historic Christianity, I can see how
co
mplet
ely the Watchtower Society has succeeded
in
weaving
the threads of all former heresi
es
and cults into the make-up
for a N ew
World
Soc iety. 1n my coming book, Th e New World
Socie ty o Jehovah s Witnesses ,
I will trace for you the all
comprehensiven
ess
of this coming great s
ub
version.
Th
e
promot
ers of the New Vlo
rld
Society are confident that
it will l
as
t a thousand years. Yet, ancient Gnosticism lasted but
a generation, or at the m
os
t, o. Arianism las ted a bit longer.
Mont
anists, Manicheans -ancl many others fo llowed
one
another.
Whal
is
and
was Gnosticism? t was the result of soul
washing. That
wa
s its streng th,
and
also its weakness. Because
of the soul
-was
hing aspect, Gnosticism did not have
the
faith
once delivered to the saints," for
it
had washed these out of the
thinking of its ad herents.
While
this made fo r departure "from the faith," it also made
for a sca
ttering
of its thrnst. I
ts
way of
prop
agation was to
tell
it
by word of mouth. No longer hav
in
g " the fo rm of
sound
words" to go by, soon fantastic "old wives tales" emerged, until
a heresy sank into absurdity by its many versions extant. That
w
as
it
s weakness.
The strong
point
of Gnosticism was
it
s misuse of the New
Testament
way of preaching.
It
s damage to historic Clu·istianity
was in no longer bringing the gospel of J esus Christ,
and
its
failure to declare the faith once deli
ve
red to the sain ts."
Th i
s weakness of Gnosticism, its Babel-lik e confusion of
pr
eaching, made for its ear ly demise. t was blotted out by the
Roman
Catho
lic
Church
in a public sense, a
nd
s
ubm
erged in a
private way by the force of a total organization.
Modern
Gnostics ppear
2
08
I N
TO TH
E LIGHT
OF
CHRIST
IA
N
ITY
remained inarl icula te a nd
imm
obil e. With the Refo rmation
the sh ackles o( this authoritari anism were b
ro
ken.
Wonde
rf
ul things c
am
e to view. A new a tmos
ph
ere ozonized
by th
e doc trine of free grace, was created. The tr ue pa
tt
ern of
Lh e two aspects
of
historic emerged. T hey crysta llized
on the one side the pos
it i
on
of pa
stors, teachers a
nd
evangel ists
and the doctr i
ne
"once delivered to the sa in ts." On the o
th
er
C
HR
IS TI
AN
ITY
OR
CU
LT
S: v\T
HI
CH?
209
Th
ey obeyed no a
uthori ty
.
Th
ey were aga
in
st the politic
al
powers of
th
e earth. They refused to fulfill their obliga tions
towa
rd
s
th
ese, cla iming that
th
ese were of Satan.
H ow
did they
wo
rk
?
They
appeared from house to house.
Th
ey shied away from the p
ubli
c and accredi ted
mini
stry of
the pastors, teachers and evangelists of historic Christian
it
y.
T hey proceeded to cause division by crea
tin
g sects a nd
cult s
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si
de
was
"the
si u
in
g
in
heave
nl
y
pl
aces''
of
a ll
Chr
isti
ans
in a
pe
rsonal
relat
ions
hip
w
ith
J esus C
hr i
st and the
du
ty
and
privi
lege to personally share so great a salvation, by p reaching it to
lost ones. While the H oly Sp
irit
wo rked a
wor
k w
ithin
each
ndividual, He also worked for doc
trin
al uni ty and
preac
hing
the pastors, teachers and evange
li
sts.
As Christia
ni ty
emerged aga
in
into full view in this two-fold
aspect, the Gnostics
of
old a lso were once m
ore
released from
their restrain
t.
Aga in they levelled
th
eir a tt
ac
k aga inst
th
e
foun ta
inh
ead
of Chri
stia
ni t
y a
nd
aga
inst
"
th
e form of sound
words," and vilifie<l the posit ion of p as tors, teachers a nd evan
of. hist
or
c Christiani ty. The corning of the light of
C
hn
sua
mt
y obv1ously was acco
mp
a
ni
ed
with
th
e emer
ge
nce of
er ror and darkn
ess
a
nd
th
e enemies of historic Christiani ty.
he Fata l Move
n Mart
in
Luth
er's times, historic Christi
an
i ty h:id once
more come in to free play. T he Word of God was be
in
g un
as translat ions of
it
occurred in to
modern
languages.
So
vit
al for
pe
rsonal s
tud
y, a nd for
th
e new b
irth
of a
Ch
r istian,
th
e Word of
Go
d was aga
in
be
in
g read and st
ud i
ed dail
y.
It
was becomi
ng
once aga in
"t
he liv
in
g
wo rd
of
God" in
th
e
hearts and liv
es
oC man
y.
Unl
ess
tudy
of the
word
of
G
od
leads to drawing
unto
J esus Chris t, a conviction of s
in
, a
re
pe
nt
ance, a new
bi rt
h in
th
e s
pirit
, thus beco
min
g the living word , such s
tu
dy may be
"a
savour oC death unto dea
th
" (2 Cor. 2: 16) . This nega tive
r
esult prod
uces "
mini
sters of the letter, not the sp
irit
"
(2 Co
r.
3:6) - grea t arguers of Scripture passages, deft jugglers of cita
tions. There were many such failures to allow the wo
rd
of God
to transform
th
em from th e Resh
in t
o the spirit.
Everywhe re in Germa ny and in Centra l Europe, as
if
coming
o
ut of
the d
ark
caves of
th
e pas t,
the
re sudden ly
appea
red a
drawing
per
·ona l followers af ter themselves.
In sly, underhanded ways, tl1ey proceeded Lo draw Cluistians
i
nto
new ~ a y s of
t h i n g
t.heir ways. T hey believed only in
those por t ions o f the
Bibl
e which they co
ul
d j uggle in to position
to
support
th
eir
pe
c
ulia
r aberra tions. T hey wo
ul
d say "w.e
pr
eac
h by an in ner
li
g
ht
" th
ro
ugh which the "L
ord
teach
es
us
what to say."
Th
ey still lacked the pr
in
ted word coming from a
Watc
ht
ower Society in Brooklyn.
T heir ap pearance resu
lt
ed
in
a great tragedy to histo
ri
c
Chr istiani ty. H aving just come o ut from under au thor i tarianism,
leaders did not wish a co
nditi
on to again
ob
tai n which made
s
up
pression
of
l ig
ht
necessar
y. Th
ese neo-G iostics
of Refor
ma
tio n
tim
e m
ade
grea t
in r
oads
up
on Ch
rw
ianit
y a
nd
often
caused Rom
an Cat
ho
li
cs cau
st
ically to say, "See what happens
to you when you leave
th
e a
ut h
ori ty o the church behind?"
Jn fact, it is
rum
ored in
th
e corridors
of
his tory that these
Gnostics were largely responsi
bl
e for the Peasa
nt
Revoll which
ravaged Eu
rope in Lh
e 16th cen tury.
Fina l y the Reformation sup pressed preach ing by
itin
er ant
laymen m or
de
r to stop Gnosticism
and
sc
hi
sms. T hat was a
Cat
at
blund
er. For ye
ar
s, the
Ark
of the Covena
nt
had been he
ld
in
cap
tivity
by th
e Philistin es.
It
br
o ught
pl
-ague upon plague
on Lhem. Fi
na
ll
y, th
e
Phili
st ines
thru
st it out of their m idst and
can:1e
in to
~ e a .
Th
e Sp
irit of
the L
ord
gu i
ded
tl1e whole
s1Lua 110 . L
ater
111 tra nsport, i t
appeared
il wo uld
fa
ll. T hose
Wll
ntin
g to prevent it from fa
llin
g were killed.
Such
exam
ples were le
ft
for us in
Lh
e wo
rd
of God, so we
may app recia te
th
a t the Lord takes care
of Hi
s own. T he mere
p r e ~ e o.
r cultist
s and
hereti
cs
from ma
kin
g inroads on
Ch
n s
tiamt
y
1s
no va
lid
way
of
comi
ng
to the rescue of C
hris
tiani ty.
f
it is
of Go
d, H e will allow its way to emerge as the
m? re e:'ccllen t
w:iy,
"
th
e way of
li
fe." By
th
e sup
pr
ession
of
w
itn
essing by laymen, and frowD ing u
po
n this New T est'amen t
210
I N
TO
TH E LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
on
e of th e major asp ects
0£ hi
sto
ri
c C
hri
s
tianit
y,
na m
ely
the
sitting in h eavenl y places of every single
Chri
stian,
and the
perfo
rm
ance
of
his
dut
y to go o
ut
a nd disc iple the
nation
s for
Christ by sharing so gr
eat
a salvation with them.
Th
e
Lord
's
bl essing
did
no t rest u
po
n th is move.
Abrogation of Persona l W
itnessi g Le
a
ds
to D
is
aster
CHRISTIANITY O R CULTS: WHICH?
211
and lik
eness of
Chri
st in th em, such fo
und th
e
ms
elves com-
pletely burned ou t, with only the ir clothes, or outward
pro-
fess ion rema ining. They were buried as members of a Church.
L et me give you one pe
rtin
e
nt
exa m ple:
And Na dab and
Abihu
, the sons of Aa ron, t
oo
k eit her of them his censor , a
nd
put fire there in , and put in cense thereon, a
nd
offered st
range
fire
before the Lord which he co
mm
a nded them not. And there
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G nosticism has many outcroppings to day. These h ave fed
upon th
e fa
ilur
e of
th
e C
hri
s
ti
an c
hur
ch to p
romu l
ga
te pers
on
al
witness
in
g of it s laymen. IC Manin Luther a nd o ther Reformers
bad found
Gn
osticism in
it
s misuse of the N ew T estament way
of preaching •a great nuisance with h armful effects to Christian
freedom, it h as become today a thunde
ring
a
va
lanche of mass
bodies. The Reformers back there were
mi
sled to wrong con-
clusions.
Th
e
fr
ow
nin
g
up
on a
nd th
e
di
sco
urag
ing
of
l aymen witness-
in
g has created a condi tion which le
d
to the tragic loss of the
N ew T es tament way of p reac
hin
g
in
all major Protesta
nt
Chur
ches, as well as in the Ca
th
olic
Chur
ch . It is
proving a
t
rag
ic loss to
hi
sto
ri
c C
hri
stia
ni t
y, a
nd
a gr
ea
t
bo
on
to
the cult
s.
Woe Is Me
f
Do N ot Preach
Paul s
ta t
ed he could no t ex ist if he clid not co
nf
ess what
the
Lord
had done
fo
r him . More so, he sa id
iL
would be woeful
to
him
.
Millions
of laymen now bega n Lo se ll le
in
an atmosphere of
s
ub j
ec
tion
of expr ession aboul th eir salva tion, limited to fellow-
ship
in
th eir chu rch
es,
in charitable works,
and
in catechiz
ing
their beliefs.
Thin
gs went (rom bad to worse
in
this ma
nner
as
new chu rch bodies kept
i
ghl reign up on schisma tics, gnostics
a
nd ot h
ers wi t
hin th
e
ir mid
st Gra
du
a
ll
y,
th
e need for s
tu d
y
of
the Bible became per (un cLory, the kno
win
g of the creed was
enough. Since laymen no longe r gave tln account of the fai th
tha t was w
ilhin
them, they soon no longer needed a complete
kn owledge of Scriptu re, lo ri gh tly
divid
e th e wo
rd
of truth
.
Within the c
hu r
ch many laymen chafed a t th e
bi t
.
The
uncarin g lulled themselves in to a false p
ea
ce.
Th
e evidence of
being
born
aga
in
faded with the abstinence
fr
om confess
ing
it
un to o th ers; a
nd
soon many bega n to play with stra
ng
e fire .
All sor ts of isms, pet doc
trin
es, bega n to oc
cu p
y
th
e
mind
s of
went fire out
fr
om the Lord, a
nd
devo
ur
ed them,
and
they died
before the Lo
rd
.
Th
en Moses sa
id
unto
Aa
ron
,
Thi
s is
that
the
Lo
rd
spake, say ing, will be sanctifiecl
in
them tha t come nigh
un
to me, and befor e all
the
p eo
ple
I will be glorified.
And
Aa
ron
h e
ld
hi s peace. And Moses call ed
Mi
shael a nd
Elzaphan,
the son s of
Uz
ziel th e
uncl
e of Aarnn,
and
said unto them,
Come n
ea
r, carr y your
br
e th ren
fr
om before th e sa
nctuar
y out
of the camp: So they we
nt
n
ea
r, and carr ied them in their coa
ts
out
o( lhe camp; as Moses had said (Lev. 10:1-5) .
Thi
s is a striking simile. N ada b and Ab ihu were burned to
dea th inside their clo thes, and th ese were left
in tac
t. How tragic-
all y true
th
a t has become of many, who h av ing
a
c
onf
ess
ion of
sa
lvati
on
O
make, to
th
e glory of
th
e L o
rd
, fail to do so.
Sub
se -
quently they are led to
pl
ay
with
strange fire and soon,
no
thin
g of the ir former
fa
ith rema ins but the coat.
H aving come in to the ligh t of C
hri
stia
nit
y
in
a wonderful
way, as yo u h ave read in the ope
nin
g cba
pL
ers of m y s tory, I '3.ffi
blessed beyond measure. I have gr
ea
t
fr
ee
dom not
only to con-
fe
ss
wha t the Lord has lone for me, but to call ou t to historic
Christi
ani t
y,
L et us once aga in e
mb r
ace the New
Testament
way of
pr
eac
hin
g. W e h ave th e
fa
ith, we have
th
e doctrines, we
have the
pa
stors, teachers a nd eva nge lis t
s.
W e have
th
e tes
timon
y
of wha t th e Lo
rd
h as done for us.
$2
.50
It
was in
t
he
year 1954 that
Will iam
J.
Schnell wrestled
with
God
in prayer for
an entire night
.
As
morning l ight
broke
he arose
with
peace in his soul and a song in his
heart
For
the first time in thirty years Schnell w
as
a free man For three
decodes
he
hod
been e
nslaved in one of
the
most
total i tarian sys-
tems o the twentieth century That morning he stood up with the
firm
determination
that
wi th
the
help
of
God he would revea l to
the
world
the inner w orkings of the Watch Towe r Society
INTO
THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY
The Basic oOctrines of the Jehovah's
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, Witnesses in
the
Light of Scripture
This is a sequel to
th
e a
uthor's
book, Thirty
Years
a Watch
Tower
Slave. This
book
constitutes a s tep by step r efutation of
th
e ba
sic
doctrines
of the Jehovah's
Witnesses
in the
li
ght
of th
e
Scriptures.
Paperback - $2.SO
THIRTY YEARS WATCH TOWER SLAVE
The Confessions
of
a
Converted Jehovah's Witness
Th
e simple, impelling and powerful story of a Ch ris tian caught in
the
m
eshes
of this
mov
emen t, his r ise to positions of authority, the
hope lessness of his sit uat ion, and remarkable conversion after an
en
ti
re
night
of prayer.
CHRISTIANS AWAKE
Restoring the Art of Witnessing,
Evangelizing,
and
Soul Winning
Cloth -
$3.50
Paperback -
$2.50
"'Christians,
Awake '
is a last call The cults, as well as atheism
and agnosticism arc
closing in. Will the s l
eep in
g giant, Chr istianity,
awaken in
tim
e? I believe he will. May
this
book help in th is direction "
So writes
th
e a
uthor
in the Preface of th
is
book.
This
is a guide and handbook for
th
ose who wish
to
recapture
th
e
ar
t of
witnessing whic
h
was practiced by the
early Chri
stia
ns with
emphasis on
witnessing
to the Jehovah's Witnesses. '
Paperback -
$1.50
BAKER BOOK HOUSE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
In Australia and New Zealand:
S
John Bacon Publishing Co., Melbourne
In Canada: G. R.
Welch
Co., Ltd., Toronto
In South Africa: Word of Life Publishers, Joharu1csburg
The Basic Doctrines
of
the Jehovah's Witnesses
in the Light of
Scripture