upon the false premise that the penalty which God imposed upon the race for the disobedience of Adam was death in the absolute sense, end of existence, cessation of being, whereas God’s Word shows physical death to be but one of the results of man’s fall and sin. The ransom price that was required, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses, was not only the death of the perfect man, Christ Jesus, but the blotting out of His existence. This grue some and terrifying view of Christ led to the denial of the resurrection. Russell wrote of Christ: “The Man Jesus is dead, forever dead” ( Studies in the Scriptures, V. 5, p. 454) ; and had this explanation for the empty tomb on that first Easter: “Our Lord’s human body was, however, supernaturally removed from the tomb; because had it remained there, it would have been an insurmountable obstacle to the faith of the disciples. We know nothing about what became of it. Whether it was dissolved into gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love . . . no one knows” (V. 4, p. 129); “Our Lord Jesus . . . is no longer a man but a spirit being, whom no man hath seen nor can see” (p. 131). The resurrection of Christ, being one of the best established teachings of the Word of God, we need only to turn to I Corinthians 15:5-8 or Luke 24:38-43 to know exactly what became of His body! JEHOVAH ’S W ITNESSES AND THE TR IN ITY -Jehovah’s Witnesses express a bitter hatred of the doctrine of the Trinity. Russell wrote: “This view suited well the Dark Ages it helped to pro duce. If it were not for the fact that this trini tarian nonsense was drilled into us from earliest infancy . . . nobody would give it a moment’s seri ous consideration” ( Studies in the Scriptures, V. 1, p. 166), which Rutherford dutifully repeated: “There are no three persons Jehovah; only one” (Riches , p. 188). In a tract circulated on street corners by present-day Jehovah’s Witnesses, The Trinity, Divine Mystery or Pagan M y th ? our Tri une God is likened to the triads of the vile heathen gods of Persia, Egypt, Rome, India in a blasphem ous fashion. Of hundreds of verses in the Word, two only are needed to show the Triune God to be a reality: John 14:16 and Mark 1:10-11; Three Persons are JEHOVAH ’S W ITNESSES AND HELL Russell had a tongue-in-cheek lecture which he delighted to deliver, “To Hell and Back Again.” Rutherford insisted that everlasting punishment in hell was “unreasonable, repugnant to justice, contrary to love and unscriptural” ( Harp of God, JEHOVAH ’S W ITNESSES AND THE RESURRECTION
equal, and of the same substance with the Father. Russell wrote of Christ: “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 Arch angel (highest angel or messenger), whose name, Michael, signifies, ‘Who as God,’ or ‘God’s repre sentative.’ . . . He was the first, the direct creation of God . . .” (Studies in the Scriptures, Series 5, 1926, p. 84). Rutherford, in all of his writings, echoed Rus sell’s views: “The work of Jehovah, however, had a beginning. . . . The Logos was the first and only direct creation of Jehovah. . . . Some insist that Jesus when on earth was both God and man in completeness. This theory is wrong. The record concerning Jesus’ prehuman existence, his being begotten and his birth, entirely disproves the theory that he was incarnated. The Scriptures show that he was begotten in the womb of a woman, Mary, by the holy spirit, the power, en ergy or influence of Jehovah; that therefore he was bom in the same general manner that other children are bom” ( Harp of God, pp. 100-102). Thus this cult reduces the Lord Jesus Christ to the status of an angel, a god, a created being, in complete denial of the Word of God. Hebrews 1 reveals Him as Creator of the angels, acknowl edged by the Father as God: “But unto the Son he (the Father) saith, Thy throne, 0 God (Jesus Christ) is forever and ever; a sceptre of right eousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. . . . And, Thou, Lord (Jesus Christ), in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands. . . . But to which of the angels said he (God the Father) at any time, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” (w . 8, 10, 13). Jesus was crucified on one count because He declared Himself to be God. The Pharisees said: “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; that be cause thou, being a man, makest thyself God” (John 10:32). This He is: very God of very God. JEHOVAH ’S W ITNESSES AND THE ATONEMENT It is but a step from the denial of Christ’s deity to the rejection of His redemptive work on the cross. The ransom teaching of this cult bears not the slightest resemblance to the Bible doctrine of the atonement. As their Jehovah is but a coun terfeit God, not the holy, eternal God taught in the Scriptures, and their Christ a false Michael- Man-Redeemer, so their ransom too is spurious. Wrote Russell: “The ‘ransom for all' given by Christ Jesus does not give or guarantee everlast ing life or blessing to any man; but it does guaran tee to every man another opportunity or trial for life everlasting” ( Studies in the Scriptures, V. 1, p. 140). The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ teaching is based
21
THE KIN G 'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs