CULTS : Part 2
Jehovah’s Witnesses A s fa r as the Christian is concerned the h e y to any reliyion is what that reliyion thinks o f Jesus Christ . I s Christ God or m e r e ly another crea ted beiny? T o this question Jehovah9s W itn es se s have a clear -cut answ er . And it9s an answ er that u tter ly condemns this oryanization .
By Louis T . Talbot
R ussell began by declaring that Jesus Christ was cre ated by God a Spirit Being as the- angels were (p. 188, Series I, Studies in the Scriptures). On page 84 of the same volume he also states: “ As he was the highest of all Jehovah’s creation, so also he was the first, the direct creation of God.” Then Russell claimed that Jesus Christ was not both human and di vine when He was upon earth. “ Nei ther was Jesus a combination of two natures, human and spiritual. The blending of two natures produces neither the one nor the other, but an imperfect hybrid thing, which is obnoxious to the divine arrangement. When Jesus was in the flesh, he was a perfect human being; previous to that time, he was a perfect spiritual being; and since his resurrection he is a perfect spiritual being” (p. 179, Series I, Studies in the Scriptures. Then he goes a step farther and tells us that Jesus Christ was none other than the archangel Michael. Many people do not believe that Je hovah’s Witnesses really teach this, but here is the exact quotation from page 84, Series I, of Studies in the Scriptures, in the very words of Pas tor Russell: “ (1) Our Redeemer existed as a spirit being before He was made flesh and dwelt amongst .men. “ (2) At that time, as well as sub sequently, he was properly known as ‘a god’—a mighty one. As chief of the angels, and next to the Father, he was known as the Archangel (highest angel or messenger) whose name Michael, signifies, ‘Who as God,’ or God’s representative.” This should surely turn any open- minded person away from Jehovah’s
Witnesses. Not only does the Word of God contain hundreds of passages proving that Christ was the Divine Son, very God of very God, who asked and received the same worship as the Father, but also that far from being an archangel Himself, He was the Creator of the angels. (See Hebrews 1.) If, as Jehovah’s Witnesses believe, Jesus Christ was only a re-created archangel, all Christians would be idolaters because the Word of God plainly states, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus Christ would be the greatest enemy the Father ever had, since He has turned the worship of millions to Himself. Jesus said, “ I and my Father are one” (John 10: 30), “ If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also” (John 14:7). Rutherford followed right along in the footsteps of Russell in his teach ings that Jesus was only a re-created archangel. “ One of his titles is ‘M i chael’ which means ‘like God.’ The title, however, especially belongs to the great and beloved Son of God” (p. 15, The Harp of God). He also blatantly rejected the deity of Christ: “ Some have earnestly be lieved that Jesus was God Himself. But such a conclusion is not war ranted by Scripture” (p. 99, The Harp of G od). A ll tracts and booklets of present- day writers merely re-echo these here sies. Now let us see what Jehovah’s W it nesses believe about the death of Christ. First, however, we will need to understand what they believe about death itself. On page 329 of Series V, Studies in the Scriptures,
Russell made this statement: “ Death . . . is a period of absolute unconsciousness—more than that, it is a period of absolute non-existence.” This is not what the Word of God says about death at all. When the prodigal returned from the far coun try, the Father said, “ For this my son was dead, and is alive again” (Luke 15:24). Did he mean the boy ceased to exist when he was in the pig sty? In the Word of God, physi cal death simply means separation of the spirit from the body, and eternal death is the separation of both spirit and body from God, forever. F or the Christian, death means reunited. Paul said, “ But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better” (Phil. 1:23, A.S.V.); “Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord . . . We . . . are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6, 8, A.S.V.). There is no state of unconsciousness after death. For the Christian it is a condition of conscious bliss, and for the unsaved a state of torment awaiting eternal judgment: “And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment” (Heb. 9:27, A.S.V.). Russell stated categorically: “The dead are dead, utterly destroyed” (p. 347, Series V, Studies in the Scrip tures). To Jehovah’s Witnesses death has but one meaning, the absolute sense, without qualification, without
that his spirit goes to be with Christ, and his body is laid in the grave until the resurrec tion when spirit and body will be
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