Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses

hear what you have to say. Former Jehovah’s Witness David Reed attests to the importance of taking a loving, disarming approach. He points out that “empathy is so very important when reaching out to these misled individuals. Try to think of how you would want others to speak to you, if you were the one who was misled. Then remember that ‘all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’ (Matt. 7:12).” 7 • Don’t approach a Jehovah’s Witness with a spiritual chip on your shoulder. Martin says that “a spiritual chip is the communication of the feeling that you are looking down on the cultist because you have something he or she doesn’t have. Such an attitude will turn them off as fast as anything you could imagine.” 8

For Christians who have thoroughly prepared themselves by learning hard- hitting scriptural answers to Watchtower errors (such as those contained in this book), the temptation may be to intellectually talk down at the Jehovah’s Witness instead of conversing with him or her. Do not let this happen. Be on your guard and make every effort, with God’s help, to remain humble during your witnessing encounter. Watch out for spiritual pride; it is deadly! • Don’t lose your patience, regardless of how dense you may think the Jehovah’s Witness is. This is an extremely important point. Dr. Martin advises, “Remember how dense you and I were—until the Lord managed to break through. Because cultists are bound in the chains of slavery to sin, you need to be patient. And being

patient means being willing to go over something ten times if necessary, believing that the Lord will bless your efforts.” 9 If you should lose your patience and raise your voice at the Jehovah’s Witness, the likelihood is that the Witness will not come to your house again. This would be regrettable. After all, it may take multiple exposures to the truth before the Jehovah’s Witness comes to see that the Watchtower Society has led him astray. You need to maintain a witnessing environment such that the Witness will feel free to stop by your house without fearing a verbal assault. I can personally attest that the above do’s and don’ts will help you as you seek to share the gospel with Jehovah’s Witnesses. But as important as these are, you must not

forget the Holy Spirit’s central role in effective evangelism—with Jehovah’s Witnesses and everyone else. After all, it is He who touches their souls; it is He who convinces them of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). And we become in His hands effective instruments for the Master’s use (see 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:11; Ephesians 5:18). 10 Remember, only God can lift the veil of darkness that Watchtower theology has cast over the hearts of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hence, your success in bringing a Jehovah’s Witness to Christ depends in a big way on God the Holy Spirit’s work in that person’s life. For this reason, be sure to pray fervently for the Holy Spirit’s involvement in all your witnessing encounters (1 Corinthians 7:5; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). I close with an invitation: If I can be of help in your work of witnessing for Christ,

please feel free to contact me at the address below: Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries P.O. Box 2526 Frisco, TX 75034 Phone: 214-618-0912 Email: [email protected] Web: www.ronrhodes.org

Bibliography 1. Critiques on the Jehovah’s Witnesses Ankerberg, John, and Weldon, John. The Facts on Jehovah’s Witnesses. Eugene: Harvest House, 1988. Bodine, Jerry and Marian. Witnessing to the Witnesses. Irvine: n.p., n.d. Bowman, Robert M. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989. Bowman, Robert M. Understanding Jehovah’s Witnesses. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991. Bowman, Robert M. Why You Should Believe in the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989. Chretien, Leonard and Marjorie. Witnesses of Jehovah. Eugene: Harvest House, 1988. Countess, Robert H. The Jehovah’s Witnesses’

New Testament. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1982. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978. Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience. Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1984. Geisler, Norman, and Rhodes, Ron. Correcting the Cults. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004. Grieshaber, Erich and Jean. Exposé of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Tyler: Jean Books, 1982. Grieshaber, Erich and Jean. Redi-Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine. Tyler: Jean Books, 1979. Gross, Edmond. We Left Jehovah’s Witnesses. Nutley: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1974. Hoekema, Anthony A. The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978. MacGregor, Lorri. Coping with the Cults. Eugene: Harvest House, 1992. MacGregor, Lorri. What You Need to Know About Jehovah’s Witnesses. Eugene: Harvest House, 1992. Magnani, Duane. The Watchtower Files.

Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985. Martin, Walter, and Klann, Norman. Jehovah of the Watchtower. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1974. Martin, Walter. The Kingdom of the Cults. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1982. Reed, David. How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watch Tower . Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989. Reed, David. Index of Watchtower Errors. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1990. Reed, David. Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992. Rhodes, Ron. Find It Quick Handbook on Cults and New Religions. Eugene: Harvest House, 2005. Rhodes, Ron. Jehovah’s Witnesses: What You Need to Know. Eugene: Harvest House, 1997. Rhodes, Ron. The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness. Eugene: Harvest House, 2001. Rhodes, Ron. The Challenge of the Cults and

New Religions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001. Sire, James W. Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1980. Thomas, F.W. Masters of Deception. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983. Tucker, Ruth. Another Gospel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989. Weathers, Paul G. “Answering the Arguments of Jehovah’s Witnesses Against the Trinity,” in Contend for the Faith. Ed. Eric Pement. Chicago: EMNR, 1992. 2. Primary Watchtower Publications Aid to Bible Understanding. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1971. Blood, Medicine and the Law of God. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1961. Creation. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1927.

God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1973. The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1991. The Harp of God. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1921. Holy Spirit—The Force Behind the Coming New Order! Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1976. Is This Life All There Is? Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1974. The Kingdom Is At Hand. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1944. Let God Be True. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946. Let Your Name Be Sanctified. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1961. Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1966. Light, vols. 1-2. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1930.

Make Sure of All Things. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1953. Man’s Salvation Out of World Distress At Hand! Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1975. Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1920. New World Translation. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1981. 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1975. Paradise Restored to Mankind—By Theocracy. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1972. Prophecy. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1929. Qualified to Be Ministers. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1955. Reasoning from the Scriptures. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989. Reconciliation. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1928.

Should You Believe in the Trinity? Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989. Studies in the Scriptures, vols. 1-7. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1886- 1917. Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1945. Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1965. The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1968. You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth . Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1982. Your Will Be Done on Earth. Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1958. 3. Books on Jesus Christ Ankerberg, John; Weldon, John; and Kaiser, Walter C. The Case for Jesus the Messiah.

Chattanooga: The John Ankerberg Evangelistic Association, 1989. Buell, Jon A., and Hyder, O. Quentin. Jesus: God, Ghost or Guru? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978. Erickson, Millard J. The Word Became Flesh: A Contemporary Incarnational Christology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991. Geisler, Norman. To Understand the Bible Look for Jesus. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1979. Gromacki, Robert G. The Virgin Birth: Doctrine of Deity. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984. MacArthur, John. The Superiority of Christ. Chicago: Moody, 1986. Machen, J. Gresham. The Virgin Birth of Christ. New York: Harper, 1930. McDowell, Josh, and Larson, Bart. Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity. San Bernardino: Here’s Life, 1983. Pentecost, J. Dwight. The Words and Works of Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982. Reymond, Robert L. Jesus Divine Messiah: The New Testament Witness. Phillipsburg:

Presbyterian and Reformed, 1990. Reymond, Robert L. Jesus Divine Messiah: The Old Testament Witness. Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus, 1990. Rhodes, Ron. Christ Before the Manger: The Life and Times of the Preincarnate Christ. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992. Shephard, J.W. The Christ of the Gospels. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975. Walvoord, John F. Jesus Christ Our Lord. Chicago: Moody, 1980. Warfield, Benjamin B. The Lord of Glory. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1974. Warfield, Benjamin B. The Person and Work of Christ. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1950. Wells, David F. The Person of Christ. Westchester: Crossway, 1984. 4. Books on General Theology Basic Christian Doctrines. Ed. Carl F. Henry.

Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983. Berkhof, Louis. Manual of Christian Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983. Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982. Buswell, James Oliver. A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979. Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Ed. John T. McNeill, Trans. Ford Lewis Battles. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960. Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Wheaton: Victor, 1988. Enns, Paul. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago: Moody, 1989. Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1987. Geisler, Norman, and Rhodes, Ron. Conviction without Compromise. Eugene: Harvest House, 2008. Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology (Abridged Edition). Ed. Edward N. Gross. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1988.

Lightner, Robert P. Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1986. Lightner, Robert P. The God of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1978. Lightner, Robert P. The Savior and the Scriptures. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1966. Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1979. Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology. Wheaton: Victor, 1986. Ryrie, Charles C. The Holy Spirit. Chicago: Moody, 1965. Thiessen, Henry Clarence. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981. Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985. Walvoord, John F. The Holy Spirit. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1958. Warfield, Benjamin B. Biblical and Theological Studies. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1968. White, James. The Forgotten Trinity. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2004.

5. Commentaries Barnes, Albert. Barnes Notes on the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1977. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament. Eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Victor, 1985. Bruce, F.F. The Book of Acts. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986. Bruce, F.F. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979. Bruce, F.F. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984. Cole, R. Alan. Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1973. Eadie, John. A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1979. English, E. Schuyler. Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, 1976.

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Ed. Walter A. Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978. Gaebelein. Arno C. The Gospel of Matthew. Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, 1977. Hendriksen, William. Exposition of the Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1976. Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974. International Bible Commentary. Ed. F.F. Bruce. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A.R.; and Brown, David. A Commentary—Critical, Experimental, and Practical—on the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973. Keil, C.F., and Delitzsch, Franz. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1954. Kidner, Derek. Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1967.

Lenski, R.C.H. 1 Corinthians. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961. Lenski, R.C.H. 1 Peter. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961. Lenski, R.C.H. Hebrews. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961. Lenski, R.C.H. The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961. Leupold, H.C. Exposition of Genesis. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1968. Lightfoot, J.B. St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979. MacArthur, John. Hebrews. Chicago: Moody, 1983. Morris, Leon. The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976. Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971. Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to St. Luke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983. Moule, H.C.G. Studies in Colossians & Philemon.

Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1977. Newell, William R. Hebrews: Verse By Verse. Chicago: Moody, 1947. Pink, Arthur W. Exposition of the Gospel of John. Swengel: Bible Truth Depot, 1945. Robertson, A.T. Word Pictures. Nashville: Broadman, 1930. Shedd, William G.T. Romans. New York: Scribner, 1879. Toussaint. Stanley D. Behold the King: A Study of Matthew. Portland: Multnomah, 1980. Vincent, Marvin R. Word Studies in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973. Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: Moody, 1981. Walvoord, John F. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chicago: Moody, 1980. Westcott, Brooke Foss. The Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974. Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuest’s Word Studies. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953. Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Eds. Charles E. Pfeiffer and Everett E. Harrison. Chicago:

Moody, 1974. 6. Reference Works Archer, Gleason. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982. Arndt, William and Gingrich, Wilbur. A Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1957. Brown, Francis; Driver, S.R.; and Briggs, Charles A . A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon, 1980. Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992. Geisler, Norman, and Howe, Thomas. When Critics Ask. Wheaton: Victor, 1992. New Bible Dictionary. Ed. J.D. Douglas. Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1982. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Ed. Colin Brown. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979.

The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Ed. Jerome H. Smith. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992. Thayer, J.H. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament . Ed. R. Laird Harris, vol. 2. Chicago: Moody, 1981. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Eds. W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985. Zodhiates, Spiros. The Complete Word Study Dictionary. Chattanooga: AMG, 1992. Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.

Notes Introduction 1. Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1992), p. 628. 2. 2008 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Official Jehovah’s Witnesses website, watchtower.org. 3. 2008 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. 4. 2006 Service Year Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Official Jehovah’s Witnesses website, watchtower.org. 5. Awake!, November 2007, p. 30. 6. Don Nelson, “That Hideous Strength: The Watchtower Society,” Christian Research Newsletter, March/April 1991, p. 1. 7. Nelson, p. 1. 8. Nelson, p. 1.

9. Nelson, p. 1. 10. Nelson, pp. 1-2. 11. Nelson, p. 2. 12. “I Was an Elder with the Jehovah’s Witnesses: The Personal Testimony of Chuck Love,” interviewed by Dan Kistler, Christian Research Newsletter, 2:3, p. 1. 13. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), pp. 15-24. 14. David A. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989), p. 44. 15. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, p. 29. 16. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, pp. 43-44. 17. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, p. 37. 18. You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1982), pp. 22-23. 19. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One

from the Watchtower, pp. 23-24. 20. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, p. 33. 21. The Watchtower, 15 March 1986, p. 14. 22. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, p. 46. 23. The Watchtower, 15 July 1963, pp. 443- 44. 24. “I Was an Elder with the Jehovah’s Witnesses: The Personal Testimony of Chuck Love,” p. 2. 25. Nelson, p. 2. 26. The Watchtower, 15 August 1950, p. 263. 27. Awake!, 22 October 1973, p. 6. 28. David Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Answered Verse by Verse (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 116; see also Duane Magnani, The Watchtower Files: Dialogue with a Jehovah’s Witness (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985), p. 10. 29. Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Answered Verse by Verse, p. 116.

30. Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Answered Verse by Verse, p. 114. 31. Peter Barnes, The Truth About Jesus and the Trinity (San Diego: Equippers, 1989), p. 2. 32. Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Answered Verse by Verse, p. 115. 33. See Robert M. Bowman, “Is Jesus a True or a False God?” Christian Research Journal, Winter/Spring 1990, p. 7; see also Magnani, pp. 125-26. 34. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, pp. 29, 53. Chapter 1—The Watchtower Society: God’s Organization or Cultic Tyrant? 1. Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 629. 2. Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World, p. 629. 3. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn:

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 199. 4. The Watchtower, 15 January 1917, p. 6033. 5. The Watchtower, 1 April 1919, p. 6414. 6. The Watchtower, 1 May 1938, p. 169. 7. The Watchtower, 1 June 1985, p. 19. 8. The Watchtower, 1 July 1973, p. 402. 9. The Watchtower, 15 June 1957, p. 370. 10. The Watchtower, 1 March 1983, p. 25. 11. The Watchtower, 15 March 1969, p. 172. 12. The Watchtower, 1 May 1957, p. 274. 13. The Watchtower, 1 December 1981, p. 27. 14. Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 1: The Divine Plan of the Ages (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1927), p. 7. 15. The Harp of God (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1921), p. 239. 16. The Watchtower, 1 April 1920, p. 100. 17. The Watchtower, 1 April 1920, p. 101. 18. David Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses

Answered Verse by Verse (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 59. 19. Reed, p. 59. 20. God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1973), p. 346. 21. Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946), p. 200; Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 206. 22. Robert M. Bowman, Understanding Jehovah’s Witnesses (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991), p. 59. 23. The Watchtower, 15 January 1969, p. 51. 24. The Watchtower, 15 February 1981, p. 19. 25. The Watchtower, 1 May 1964, p. 277. 26. The Watchtower, 1 August 1972, p. 460. 27. The Watchtower, 1 October 1967, p. 590. 28. The Watchtower, 1 October 1967, p. 590. 29. The Watchtower, 1 December 1981, p. 14. 30. The Watchtower, 1 May 1957, p. 274. 31. The Watchtower, 15 January 1983, p. 22.

32. The Watchtower, 15 January 1983, p. 27. 33. The Watchtower, 15 September 1911, p. 4885. 34. The Watchtower, 1 October 1967, p. 587. 35. Qualified to be Ministers (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1955), p. 156. 36. The Watchtower, 1 July 1965, p. 391. 37. Reed, p. 121. 38. Man’s Salvation Out of World Distress At Hand! (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1975), p. 329; see also “Let Your Name Be Sanctified” (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1961), pp. 245, 361; “Let God Be True,” p. 200. 39. James W. Sire, Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1980). 40. Bowman, p. 61. 41. Reed, p. 45. 42. Your Will Be Done on Earth (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1958), p. 362, insert added.

43. Bowman, p. 62. 44. Bowman, p. 62. 45. Let God Be True, p. 43. 46. Edmond Gruss, We Left Jehovah’s Witnesses (Nutley: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1974), p. 41. 47. Studies in the Scriptures, cited by Leonard and Marjorie Chretien, Witnesses of Jehovah (Eugene: Harvest House, 1988), p. 33. 48. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983), p. 757. 49. Bowman, p. 62; F.W. Thomas, Masters of Deception (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), p. 146. 50. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, eds. W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985), p. 330. 51. Michael Green, The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1979), p. 91. 52. The Watchtower, 15 August 1950, p. 263. 53. Reed, pp. 92-93. 54. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 327. 55. The Watchtower, 1 November 1961, p. 668. 56. The Watchtower, 1 August 1960, p. 474. 57. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 283. 58. Bowman, p. 55. 59. Bowman, p. 56. 60. The International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), p. 1351. 61. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison (Chicago: Moody, 1974), p. 1231. 62. Reed, p. 93. 63. Reed, p. 81. 64. The Watchtower, 15 November 1981, p. 21. 65. Bowman, p. 81. 66. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, p.

331. 67. Reed, p. 81. 68. Let God Be True, p. 222. 69. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, p. 413. 70. Robert L. Saucy, The Church in God’s Program (Chicago: Moody, 1972), p. 175. Chapter 2—Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Divine Name 1. Marian Bodine, Christian Research Newsletter, “Bible Answer Man” column, May/June 1992, p. 3. 2. Bodine, p. 3. 3. Robert M. Bowman, Understanding Jehovah’s Witnesses (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991), p. 114. 4. This is not to deny that the Jehovah’s Witnesses point to some manuscripts that contain the name “Jehovah” (a few copies of the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament—use “Jehovah”). But

such manuscripts are not held to be reliable. The majority of the manuscripts know nothing of this name. 5. Bowman, p. 110. 6. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 195. 7. David Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 34. 8. Bowman, p. 110. 9. The Watchtower, 15 May 1969, p. 307. 10. The Watchtower, 15 December 1984, p. 29. 11. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 150. 12. The Watchtower, 15 March 1975, p. 174. 13. Let Your Name Be Sanctified (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1961), p. 88. 14. Bowman, p. 113. 15. Reed, pp. 28-29. 16. Bowman, p. 117. 17. Reed, p. 29.

18. Reed, p. 52. 19. Ron Rhodes, Christ Before the Manger: The Life and Times of the Preincarnate Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992). 20. Let God Be True” (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946), p. 28. 21. Let Your Name Be Sanctified, pp. 374ff. 22. Let Your Name Be Sanctified, p. 12. 23. Let Your Name Be Sanctified, pp. 374-75. 24. Bowman, p. 118. 25. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 64. 26. Bodine, p. 3. 27. Bodine, p. 3. 28. Bowman, p. 119. 29. Bowman, p. 119. 30. Bowman, p. 119. 31. David F. Wells, The Person of Christ (Westchester: Crossway, 1984), pp. 64-65. 32. This chart is adapted from Josh McDowell and Bart Larson, Jesus: A Biblical Defense of His Deity (San Bernardino: Here’s Life, 1983), pp. 62-64.

Chapter 3—The Christ of the New World Translation 1. Bruce M. Metzger, cited by Erich and Jean Grieshaber, Redi-Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine (Tyler: n.p., 1979), p. 30. 2. The Watchtower, 15 May 1969, p. 307. 3. The Watchtower, 15 December 1984, p. 29. 4. Aid to Bible Understanding (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1971), p. 391. 5. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 150. 6. The Watchtower, 15 March 1975, p. 174. 7. The Watchtower, 1 November 1964, p. 671. 8. Awake!, 8 November 1972, p. 28. 9. The Watchtower, 15 August 1987, p. 29. 10. Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 7 (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1917), p. 57.

11. You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1982), p. 143. 12. The Kingdom Is at Hand (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1944), p. 259. 13. You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, p. 145. 14. The Watchtower, 1 September 1953, p. 518. 15. Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1965), p. 354. 16. Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1952), p. 33. 17. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 1669. 18. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 918. 19. Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 408- 9. 20. New World Translation (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1981), p. 6. 21. Robert M. Bowman, Understanding

Jehovah’s Witnesses (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991), p. 66. 22. Robert L. Reymond, Jesus, Divine Messiah: The New Testament Witness (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1990), p. 248. 23. Jerry and Marian Bodine, Witnessing to the Witnesses (Irvine: n.p., n.d.), pp. 39-40. 24. Bodine, p. 40. 25. Bruce M. Metzger, “The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus Christ,” Theology Today, 10 (April 1953), p. 70. 26. Metzger, p. 70. 27. Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), p. 434. 28. James White, The Forgotten Trinity (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1998), p. 117. 29. John Eadie, A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1979), p. 51. 30. Curtis Vaughan, “Colossians,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 11, ed.

Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), p. 182. 31. Norman Geisler, Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1976), p. 338. 32. Eadie, p. 56. 33. Rhodes, p. 71. 34. Cited by Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), p. 471. 35. John F. Walvoord, Jesus Christ Our Lord (Chicago: Moody, 1980), p. 50. 36. Eadie, p. 57. 37. Walvoord, p. 50. 38. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 421. 39. J.B. Lightfoot, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), p. 181. 40. Karl Grimm, in J.H. Thayer, A Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1963), p. 288. 41. R.C. Trench, cited in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992), p. 1401.

42. John A. Bengel, cited in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, p. 1401. 43. H.C.G. Moule, Studies in Colossians and Philemon (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1977), p. 102. 44. Reymond, p. 250. 45. Benjamin B. Warfield, The Person and Work of Christ (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1950), p. 46. 46. R.C. Trench, cited in Kenneth S. Wuest, “Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament,” Wuest’s Word Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953), p. 203. 47. David Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 98. 48. This is not to deny that there are a few other translations that opt for “the One” rendering—such as the Good News Bible and the Modern Language Bible. But these do not have the track record of theological bias like the New World Translation has. 49. Reymond, p. 80.

50. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 418. 51. A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 3 (Nashville: Broadman, 1930), p. 353. 52. Warfield, p. 63. 53. Warfield, p. 80. 54. Robert G. Gromacki, The Virgin Birth: Doctrine of Deity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), p. 113. 55. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary (Chattanooga: AMG, 1992), p. 94. 56. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 421. 57. Bruce Metzger, cited by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Facts on Jehovah’s Witnesses (Eugene: Harvest House, 1988), p. 24. 58. H.E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, cited in Ankerberg and Weldon, p. 24. 59. This definition is derived from information based on Wuest, vol. 3, p. 31 and Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), pp. 270-

90. 60. Robert M. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989), p. 105. 61. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 105. 62. Reymond, p. 276. 63. The International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), p. 1495. 64. See, for example, Bruce M. Metzger, “The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus Christ,” Theology Today, 10 (April 1953). 65. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 105. 66. Reymond, p. 276. 67. The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, p. 1440. 68. Reymond, p. 121. 69. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 1597. 70. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 422. 71. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 107.

72. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 107. 73. Millard J. Erickson, The Word Became Flesh: A Contemporary Incarnational Christology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1991), p. 459. 74. Ruth Tucker, Another Gospel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), p. 142. 75. Countess, p. 91. 76. Countess, p. 91. 77. Countess, p. 91. 78. Julius R. Mantey, cited in Grieshaber, Redi-Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine, p. 30. 79. Bruce Metzger, cited in Grieshaber, Redi- Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine, p. 30. 80. William Barclay, cited in Grieshaber, Redi- Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine, p. 31. 81. Reed, p. 71. 82. See Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 2002).

83. Erich and Jean Grieshaber, Exposé of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Tyler: Jean Books, 1982), p. 100. 84. Grieshaber, Exposé of Jehovah’s Witnesses, p. 100. Chapter 4—Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Gospel of John 1. Charles L. Feinberg, cited by Erich and Jean Grieshaber, Redi-Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrine (Tyler: n.p., 1979), p. 31. 2. Aid to Bible Understanding (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1971), p. 919. 3. The Watchtower, 1 July 1986, p. 31. 4. Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 212. 5. Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 416- 17. 6. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 919. 7. Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower

Bible and Tract Society, 1952), p. 33. 8. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 919. 9. Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 919. 10. Walter Martin, “The New World Translation,” Christian Research Newsletter, 3:3, p. 5. 11. Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 416- 17. 12. Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 417. 13. Aid to Bible Understanding, pp. 1134, 1669; The Watchtower, 15 September 1962, p. 554; The Watchtower, 15 October 1975, p. 640; The Watchtower, 15 April 1976, p. 231. 14. David Reed, Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), p. 72. 15. The Watchtower, 15 February 1956, p. 111. 16. Lorri MacGregor, Coping with the Cults (Eugene: Harvest House, 1992), p. 21. 17. The Watchtower, 1 April 1983, p. 31; see also Reed, p. 72. 18. Lorri MacGregor, What You Need to

Know About Jehovah’s Witnesses (Eugene: Harvest House, 1992), p. 63. 19. The Watchtower, 15 February 1956, pp. 110-11; see also Reed, p. 73. 20. Julius Mantey, cited by Walter Martin, “The New World Translation,” Christian Research Newsletter, 3:3, p. 5. 21. Mantey, cited in Martin, p. 5. 22. Mantey, cited in Martin, p. 5. 23. Mantey, cited in Martin, p. 5. 24. Mantey, cited in Martin, p. 5. 25. Mantey, cited in Martin, p. 5. 26. Robert M. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989), pp. 70-73. 27. Robert M. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989), p. 95. 28. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 95. 29. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John, pp. 80-81. 30. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus

Christ, and the Gospel of John, pp. 80-81. 31. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 95. 32. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1957), p. 357. 33. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 93. 34. Walter Martin and Norman Klann, Jehovah of the Watchtower (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1974), p. 49. 35. Martin and Klann, p. 50. 36. Robert Countess, cited in Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), p. 267. 37. James W. Sire, Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1980), p. 163. 38. Wallace, p. 267. 39. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John, p. 32. 40. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus

Christ, and the Gospel of John, p. 42. 41. James White, The Forgotten Trinity (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1998), p. 55. 42. F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), p. 31. 43. Wallace, p. 269. 44. White, pp. 54-55. 45. Kenneth Wuest, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), vol. 3., “Golden Nuggets,” p. 52. 46. Wuest, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, vol. 4, p. 209. 47. Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), p. 73; Bruce, p. 33; see also Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John, pp. 21-22. 48. R.C.H. Lenski, Hebrews (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961), p. 36. 49. F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), p. 4. 50. Harold B. Kuhn, “Creation,” in Basic

Christian Doctrines, ed. Carl F. Henry (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1983), p. 61. 51. Louis Berkhof, Manual of Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983), p. 96. 52. R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1961), p. 27. 53. Morris, p. 73. 54. Benjamin B. Warfield, The Person and Work of Christ (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1950), p. 53. 55. David J. Ellis, “John,” in The International Bible Commentary, ed. F.F. Bruce (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), p. 1232. 56. Morris, p. 79. 57. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel, p. 33. 58. Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 417- 18. 59. The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1991), preface.

60. Ron Rhodes, Christ Before the Manger: The Life and Times of the Preincarnate Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1992), pp. 160- 65. 61. Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1989), p. 43. 62. John J. Davis, Moses and Gods of Egypt (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1986), p. 72. 63. Cambridge Bible, cited in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison (Chicago: Moody, 1974), p. 55. 64. Carl F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch, cited in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 55. 65. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 55. 66. White, p. 99. 67. Bruce, The Gospel of John, 1983), p. 193. 68. Morris, p. 473. 69. White, p. 100. 70. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John, p. 120.

71. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 100. 72. Bowman, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of John, p. 99. 73. William Barclay, The Gospel of John, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1956), pp. 42- 43. 74. Erickson, p. 434. Chapter 5—Is Christ Inferior to the Father? —Part 1 1. Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946), p. 200. 2. Let God Be True, p. 107. 3. Should You Believe in the Trinity? (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 14. 4. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary (Chattanooga: AMG, 1992), p. 260. 5. William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament