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



NTO

THE LIGHT

OF CHRISTI NITY



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



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



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



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



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



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.



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



16

lNTO THE LIGHT OF

CHRISTIANITY

cried

out,

"Father,

if it is

thy will, I will write, publish

and

print

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



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



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.



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



36


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



38

INTO

THE


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.



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



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."



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



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



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



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

I

NTO

THE

LIGHT

OF CHRISTIANITY



?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



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

57



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

59



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

60

INTO

T l

1£

LIGllT OF

C

IJ RIS

TI AN

ITY

HOW

RUSSELLISM ST ARTED

61



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·

62

INTO THE LIGHT OF CIIRISTIANITY

HOW RUSSELLISM

STARTED

63



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.

64

INTO

THE LIGHT OF CHRISTfANITY

HOW RUSSELLISM

STARTED

65



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?



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

68

INTO THE LIGHT O CHRISTIANITY

HELL A PLACE

OF

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

69



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

70 INTO THE LICHT

OF

Cl I RJ S'l'JAN ITY

HELL A

PLA

CE

O f ETERNAL PUNISHM

ENT

71



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

72

INTO THE LIGHT OF CHR1ST1ANITY

HELL A PLACE

OF

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

73



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

I

NTO

THE LIGHT OF

CHRISTl/\NlTY

HELL A PLACE OF ETERNAL PUN ISHME T

75



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

76

INTO T I-1£ LIGHT OF CH RTSTJANITY

HELL A PLA CE

OF

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

77



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

78

INTO

THE

LJGHT OF HRISTIA ITY H ELL

A

PL

ACE

O

ETER AL

PU NISH J\IE

T

79



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).

80

INTO THE LIGHT Of C

HRl

TIANJTY

H ELL A PLACE OF ETERNAL PUN IS

HM

ENT

81



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



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



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."



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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


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



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



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



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?



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.



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) .



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.



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



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



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



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



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


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



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."



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?



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



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



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,



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


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.



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.



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.



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



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


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



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



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


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



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



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



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



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



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


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



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,



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



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.



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


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



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



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


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



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)



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?



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


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



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·



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



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


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



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



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-



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


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



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?



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


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.



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



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



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



, 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

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Into the Light of Christianity by William J. Schnell, 1959

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