Jesus´ Witnesses

Talk to the author:
Eimaldo Vieira
Read also:
Marvellous City, Eve & Darwin, Ishmael & Isaac, Curious Bible, Gospel without Words

When I received Jesus as my Savior and Lord, I soon began to witness to the countrymen of my native village, a litle one in the State of Rio de Janeiro, talking to them how my life was transformed and how I was happy in my new friendship with Jesus.
            I did that talking to the people, preaching in public places and singing praises by the streets together with other young people. I was still a teenager.
            Being known by almost all the dwellers and son of a very traditional family, my testimony became quite interesting. After all, a 13 years boy to commit his life in matters of religion, was something to cause admiration.
            Later, reading the Scriptures, I learned that sharing with others was something natural. Didn´t  I follow a stilt  JokerI to announce the spectacle of the day and defend my ticket  to the circus or bullfighting? Didn´t my colleagues count their jokes spicy and defend their obscene gestures? How could I hide the secrets of my new life?
            Later also, I read when Jesus in the tenth and final meeting with his disciples after his death, at the time of his return to the Father, in Jerusalem, said, "... and you will be my witnesses ..."
           Later still, I learned that the word witnesses, mártures, brings 3 meanings, imitating,  defending or proclaming  and suffering for that someone.
           From what I have suffered with family, colleagues and friends, I realized that everything Jesus said about his witnesses was true.
           Much later still, I know the fans of "Jehovah's Witnesses." As Ialways have received them at my door and I have friends and relativesamong them, I became interested to know a little deeper their docrtines.
           As a matter of fact, I checked that this is a very dedicated group  that sincerely believe themselves to be the true witnesses of Jehovah.
           What follows now is a brief study in fictional form-interview about that  community´s beliefs and the teachings of the Bible, following the direction Genesis> Revelation.
GENESIS 1.1-2 - THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE WATER
DISCIPLE: Is it true that you do not consider the Holy Spirit as God and as a person?
WITNESS: In this text we read, the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist says that Jesus will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire. In Acts 2:4, Luke says, and they were all filled with the holy spirit. In the passages we have three forces of nature, water, fire and spirit.
Disciple: So, in Philippians 2:17, where Paul says, even though I am poured out, he was no longer a person?
           Read Isaiah 63.10 and Ephesias 4.30. Who feels grief, doesn´t have to be a person? Acts 13.2. Who separates and draws people, doesn´t have have to be a person? Romans 8:26. Who intercedes and pleads for a person doesn´t have to be a person? I. Corinthians 6.19. Who dwells in a person doesn´t have to be a person?
           See also this verse in John 14:16, I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever. Jesus said állos, another equal. Not héteros, another unlike . So he equaled the Holy Spirit in his essential nature.

GENESIS 9.4 - THE MEAT WITH ITS BLOOD,  DON´T EAT
DISCIPLE: Is it true that you do not receive or allow your children  receiving a blood transfusion?
WITNESS: Yes, that's right. As it is written in the text, the flesh with its soul, which is the blood , shall ye not eat.DISCIPLE: Don´t you think there is a big difference between diet and blood transfusion?
WITNESS: It's true. They should be two separate things. But the Watchtower teaches us otherwise and that's how we teach.
DISCIPLE: Blood transfusion has been allowed and repealed the Tower several times. It is written in the Watchtower of November 15,1967, p, 702-704 and Awake of June 8,1968, p. 21. (North American Editions). Moreover, the prohibition of transfusion was only established by the Watchtower in 1944. Vaccination was also prohibited for you from 1931 to 1952. It is in the magazine The Golden Age of April 2,1931, p. 293. (Editing also in English).
GENESIS 40.20-22 -  IN PHARAOH'S BIRTHDAY
DISCIPLE: Why Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays?
WITNESS: As you can read in the texts, birthdays narrated in the Bible are always accompanied by tragedies and executing people. So it was with Pharaoh in Egypt, Beltsazar in Babylon  and in the days of Herod and John the Baptist.
DISCIPLE: Naturally, the figures you quoted are not good examples. Most were not monotheists and acted as true tyrants, the ways of their times. In addition, they arrested and killed at any time, regardless of dates.
             When a mother and a father celebrate the birthday of their child with praise and thanksgiving to Jehovah,  they don´t  follow any bad example of those sovereign.
            See now something very interesting. See how are Christmas celebrations today. There is much of legendary persons and commercial affairs inside. But wonder how much we would lose if handed over this precious data entirely in the hands of those who do not know the true spirit of Christmas? And the wonderful celebrations that Heaven did by the arrival of the Lord? And the enchanting music produced through the centuries? And the sense of friendship between Christian families and friends?
EXODUS 3:14-15 - I AM SENT ME TO YOU
DISCIPLE: Why do you only use the name Yahveh when referring to him and addressing to him?
WITNESS:  Jehovah means I am, the One who is. It was with this name that Moses was able to convince the Israelis that he was authorized to take them out of Egypt. This name was suggested as a memorial in the great project of releasing them from 400 years s.lavery.
DISCIPLE: If Jehovah only accepts this as his true name, why did Moses continue to call him God, Elohim, and Adonai, Sovereign Lord, in the Pentateuch and in Psalm 90? The same happened with Ezra in the post Exile, in Job, the Judges, the Psalms and the Prophets.
           In Lord's Prayer, Jesus did not use the name Jehovah. When he sais, Hallowed be thy name, he is using the name in the sense of God's character, as in Salvo 23, John 17.6 and throughout the Bible.
           Do you think Jesus was wrong using Jehovah's name only once in his entire ministry? (John 8:58). Unfortunately, some have translate I AM as I have been! You know he always wore Father or God (Theós). It corresponds to the Hebrew El. Even in agony, on a tree, he used El, "Eli, Eli, lema sabaktaní? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

You mustn´t say there have been any problem of copy or heresy. The soldiers themselves heard him claiming for Elijah.

PSALM 37.9,11,29 - THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
DISCIPLE: You say that the vast majority of the righteous will stay forever on earth?
WITNESS: It's true. Also in Psalm 115.16 is written,  To Jehovah The heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.DISCIPLE: Don y´t ou think that the science of a good interpretation  is that you can not extract a doctrine  not confirmed by all the work? Isaiah speaks of the destruction of all the host of heaven (Isaiah 34.4) and in Psalm 102.25 you read that the heavens and the earth shall perish. Peter says, all the elements of the earth will melt into the fire. (II Peter 3:7-11).
           The context of Psalm 37 teaches that the psalmist was showing how his fellow Israelites, being fair, would pass his days here on earth. He is predicting a future time when God will pass the earthly control to the righteous.
 PSALM 110:1 - THE LORD SAIS TO MY LORD
DISCIPLE: Do you believe there is only one Lord, is it not? But don´t you also believe that he exists and presents himself in 3 people? Like you, that are one, and you are a son or daughter, husband or wife, mother or father at the same time.
WITNESS: David is saying that the Jehovah is speaking to the Lord Jesus. Jehovah can not be talking to himself. He always presents himself as the only Lord, as you can read in Deuteronomy 6.4 and I Corinthians 8.6.
DISCIPLE: According to Genesis 18:19, Jehovah appears himself  to Abraham in 3 different people, as Jehovah, as 3 angels and as 3 men. That did not cause any surprise to the host of the Lord. Rather, Abraham received them and served them naturally the same Lord. In Judges 6, something similar happens with the brave Gideon.
           A triune Jehovah does not mean polytheism. It is a ethic triunity, not a metaphysic or mathematic one. The proof is that the 3 persons have the same attributes and powers. Only Jehovah can exist in such a perfec harmony.
Psalm 146.3-4 - YOUR THOUGHTS PERISH
DISCIPLE: Do you really believe that consciousness fades away with death?
WITNESS: Yes. Our belief is also based on Ecl. 9.5 and Ez. 18.4.
DISCIPLE: Then read Luke 12.4-5, 16.22-28 and 23:43, II Corinthians 5.1 and 8, Philippians 6:9-11 and Revelation 1.23-24.
WITNESS: But in Luke 23:43 it is written, Verily I say unto thee today, you will be with me in Paradise. DISCIPLE: The original text does not allow us to put a colon after today, as in your translation. Note that in that case, the adverb becomes a non  mandatory word in the sentence and that was not the way of Jesus, especially at a time of deep sorrow. Moreover, this translation contradicts the other texts above.
           The lesson of Psalm 146 is that we should not put our trust in man, because he soon perishes. It is the case of a good king. As good as he may be, he will soon pass.
WITNESS: But in John 3:13 and Acts 2:34, we see that only Jesus ascended to Heaven.
DISCIPLE: Yes, it's true. He was made the firstfruit of those that slept. Neither his father, David, is risen.
          Jesus was the one who also ascended to heaven after descending from heaven, as he always said. The other children go up without having come down and without having resurrected. (Rev. 6. 9 to 11)
ISAIAH 9.6 - WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD ...
DISCIPLE: Do you consider Jesus as Almighty?
WITNESS: No. We consider him just as a powerful god. Almighty , only Jehovah.
DISCIPLE: Then read Isaiah 9.6 and answer, who is the God Almighty described here by Isaiah?
WITNESS: It's Jesus.
DISCIPLE: Is Jesus the true God?
WITNESS: No. It's just a god.
DISCIPLE: So you are saying that Jesus is a false god? But to confirm that Jesus is the same God Almighty, see John 20:28, Hebrews 1:3 and Revelation 1:7-8.
MATTHEW 24:14 - THEN, THE END WILL COME
DISCIPLE: The Watchtower magazine, American edition of  o October 1, 1980 states that Jesus has returned several times since 1914. (Page 28 and 29). Do you confirm?
WITNESS: We confirm.
Disciple: Can you explain where and how it happened?
WITNESS: Yes, I can. The magazine you quoted, North American editions of  October 1,1978, p. 31, and May 15,1984, p. 5, states that Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24.34, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled, was fulfilled in 1914.
In the book Let God Be True, it reads that nobody saw him, because his back was "spiritual." And in the book From the Lost Paradise  to the Regained Paradise , we read that he was crowned King of the New World.
DISCIPLE: So how do you explain Matthew 24.36 and Acts 1.7 and I Thess. 4.16 and  Rev. 1.7? Don´t you think the signs today are much more visible concerning the end. Don´t you think that all these things are much more similar to the present day?
       He himself,  says, all the tribes of the earth will see me coming on the clouds. (Mat.24.30)
MATTHEW 26.27 - ALL OF YOU, DRINK FROM THE CUP
DISCIPLE: Is it true that you do not offer the communion cup to all the faithful?
WITNESS: Yes, it's true. The matter is in our Watchtower magazine of February 15,1986. We learned from the Tower that the converted after 1935 are the other sheep which Jesus refers in John 10:16. They will not live in heaven with the 144,000 anointed and can not take part in the communion cup.
DISCIPLE: Don´t you think such so important discrimination for the kingdom of God lacks a straightforward word from the Lord Jesus? And this word is not anywhere!
LUKE 24.36-39 - LOOK AT MY HANDS AND MY FEET
DISCIPLE: Do you believe that Jesus rose in flesh and spirit?
WITNESS: No. We believe he was resurrected in spirit only.
DISCIPLE: Can you tell me where the Tower is based on this belief?
WITNESS: No. I can not. But that's how we learn.
DISCIPLE: But you support this thesis, even after reading John 2:19-21 and Luke 24.36-39?
JOHN 1.1 - THE WORD WAS GOD
DISCIPLE: Who is Jesus for the Jehovah´s Witnesses?
WITNESS: "He was a God, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah."
DISCIPLE: Do you know who translated God for god (a lesser god), before being incorporated into the New World Translation? It was the spiritist Johannes Greber, according to The Sentinel of February 15,1956, where it says, obviously the spirits in which ex-pastor Greber believed, helped him in his translations. Here I advise you to re-read our study of Isaiah 9:6.
JOHN 4.23 -WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH
DISCIPLE: Do you worship Jesus?
WITNESS: No. We just revere him. We worship the Father, as Christ himself says in this passage.
DISCIPLE: But Jesus did not exclude himself in this passage, as we read Matthew 28.09 and Hebrews 1.6. Note that in all these texts the verb is the same, proskunêin, worship.
           Gabriel and all the saints and angels never accepted worshiping, because in all the Bible is only allowed to worship God. Jesus never refused worship of the people. Did he disobeyed Jehovah?
JOHN 14:28 - THE FATHER IS GREATER THAN I
DISCIPLE: Again I ask. Jesus is God?
WITNESS: No. We learn that Jesus is not God. In this verse he says, the Father is greater than myself. In I Corinthians 11.3, we read, God is the head of Christ. In Colossians 1:15, the apostle Paul says, he is the firstborn of all creation.

DISCIPLE: When it says that Jesus is the head of every man, is the humanity of man being denied? And when it is said that man is the head of the wife is saying that women are inferior to men?

           When Jehovah says he would put David as the firstborn of the kings of the earth, did he  mean that David was the oldest king on Earth? (Psalm 89:27)
           If you look well to John 10:30 and 14.9-11, Jude 4 and many other texts, you will conclude as he said, I and the Father are one. In John 14:28, Jesus is speaking in the sense of Philippians 2.6 and 7. In 6, Paul acknowledges Jesus as God. In 7, he presents him as a man, humbled and obedient unto death.
WITNESS: In John 17:3 Jesus prays to the Father, that my disciples recognize Jehovah as the only true God. In I Corinthians 8.6, Paul says that there is one God ...
DISCIPLE: But we must read the second part of this verse, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. So you think when Jesus is called the only Lord, the apostle is saying that Jehovah is not the Lord?
           When Thomas saw the resurrected Jesus for the first time, he exclaimed, My Lord and my God! Why, then, Jesus did not rebuke him?
JOHN 20:25 - ... IF I DO NOT SEE THE SIGNALS OF NAILS ON YOUR HANDS  ...
DISCIPLE: Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross?
WITNESS: No. To us, he died on a stake.
DISCIPLE:  Can you submit any documented proof on this?
WITNESS: No, I can´t. But the Tower says that he did not die on a cross. In the desert,  Moses lifted up a rod with a snake in its tip. Jesus himself said that the serpent prefigured himself in the Old Testament and his sacrifice on the tree.
DISCIPLE: On what principle of interpretation your organization relies to claim that this figure would have to be fulfilled at Calvary in all its details? Then you also expect that the serpent has received a crown of thorns, and was nailed to the pole! Besides, can you say Moses didn´t use a platter across the rod?
            Do You, personally think this is a key thing in God's plan to save man through the sacrifice of Christ?
WITNESS: Honestly, I do not think this is fundamental.
DISCIPLE: Though satisfied with his response, I only remember that Thomas, being absent in the first appearance of Jesus to the group of apostles after his death, he said to his companions, Unless I see the signs of the nails in his hands and put my finger in place of the nails, I will not believe it. Hard to imagine Thomas in the briefest space of two days, forgetting that he  saw the two studs nailed into the hands of his Lord!
APOCALYPSE 7.4 - 144000 SEALED
DISCIPLE: Is it true that only 144,000 people will go to Heaven?
WITNESS: Yes, that's how we interpret this text and others related.
DISCIPLE: But is it not written that 144 000 are all the tribes of Israel?
WITNESS: We learn here that Israel is symbolic of the Christian family.
DISCIPLE: So the number 144 000 is also symbolic. Isn´t the logical conclusion?
WITNESS: That is logical,  but that's how we learn from our teachers.
DISCIPLE: See also Biblical that this biblical number is highly symbolic. Thousand stands for a crowd and 12, perfection. A thousand times 12 times 12 represent  countless people and plenty of perfection in all plans and promises of the Lord.
          Now,  read Rev. 7.9 and 19.1. You see that John is in heaven, as he says, he see 14400, and,  in addition, a multitude which no man could number.
          Don´t you think the revelation can only be showing a special highlight for the children of Israel or the thousands of martyrs converted who gave their lives for Christ through the centuries?
          Any of these two interpretations is enough to explain why only they could learn the song they sang in Ap.14.3, don´t you agree?
JOHN 3.16 - NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
DISCIPLE: I left this issue to the end, considering it the most important.
           Are you absolute shure of your salvation?
WITNESS: I can not say I have that certainty. First, because I'm still doing the work that Jesus has entrusted to me. Second, because I don´t know tomorrow, if I will be good before God.
DISCIPLE: Consider these three things. First, the Word never speaks of a possibility, but a certainty. (John 3:36, John 10.27-30, Luc. 19.9-10 and 23.43, etc, etc ...) Second, Salvation comes by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. Not by works or merit. (Eph. 2:8-9). Third, the works were created for us to walk by them. Are the red carpet for the saints of God. (Ephesians 2:10). They will be part of their ward   from the Last Judgement. (Revelation 20:11 to 15).
             Therefore, the salvation of the believer is eternally and absolutely guaranteed.
WITNESS: I will consider all the matters we deal with during this blessed dialogue. As the Word says, We can nothing against the truth, but for the truth. (Paul). And, You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. (Jesus). I never want to be caught fighting against the truth!
Niterói, July 21, 2011 EIMALDO VIEIRA
NOTE: Besides several interviews with supporters of the "Jehovah's Witnesses", the author has consulted the following works: Jehovah's Witnesses, David Reed, JW, Gaspar Figueiredo, What "Jehovah's Witnesses" Need to Know, Jamil Nassar, Let God Be True, From the Lost Paradise to the Regained Paradise, various numbers of The Sentinel and Awake!

Copyright Eimaldo A. Vieira. Free use of portions, once the author´s name is quoted.
Read also: Marvellous City and Ishmael and Isaac