We admire your great love for Jehovah, who is also known as God, Yahweh, and the Great I AM. Like you, we are very zealous for Him and passionate to defend the truth of the Bible. However, there are some things that we feel we must warn you about, beginning with your governing organization, The Watch Tower Bible and Tracts Society.
The Watch Tower holds to the teachings of Charles T. Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. His authority and credentials to teach, though, were widely known to be inadequate. Russell did not know Greek or Hebrew. In a courtroom cross-examination in 1913, Russell perjured himself, on the stand, first claiming that he knew Greek and then when pressed to demonstrate his knowledge admitted he did not. Also, during the same court case, Russell answered that he was an ordained pastor then later when pressed on the issue, admitted that he had never been ordained. (Based on copies of court record transcripts found in the Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn (Walter Martin, KOTC, Bethany House Publishers, p. 55).
The Bible says we should not tell lies: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." - Exodus 20:16. Yet, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Russell lied twice in front of a courtroom judge! Certainly there is no requirement that one be educated in the Greek language and ordained as a pastor in order to teach. However, given Russell's well known contradictions of historical Biblical Christianity, one would expect him to have been both Greek educated and formally schooled in order to be taken seriously. Yet, Russell was neither.
In addition, the Watch Tower Society has had has a long history of making predictions identifying the date for the end of the world. Predictions for the end of the world were made for the years, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, and 1975.
Awake! Magazine, the written voice of The Watch Tower, has made many of these predictions in print. One of the most recent unfulfilled predictions, in 1975, led many to leave the organization. Awake! Magazine - 1975
Clearly, false predictions are the mark of a false prophet. The failed prophecies should alarm you and give you an indication that the organization does not have a handle on the truth.
Deuteronomy 18:21 - 22 says: You may say to yourselves, 'How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Should you trust an organization that has repeatedly been wrong and has acted as a False Prophet?
In addition, there are certain beliefs that the governing body of the WatchTower has promoted which are in direct contradiction with the nature of God as revealed in the Bible. Clearly, from reading the Bible, we can understand that Jehovah has a triune Nature.
You say: "The Bible does not mention the word 'Trinity' anywhere."
We say: "The Bible also doesn't mention the word 'Theology' either, but we all believe that it is real."
And In fact, we find in Matthew 28:19 when Jesus commanded the Disciples to go out and spread the Gospel message He said: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." - i.e. the "Trinity."
In the Bible, there is presented one God who exists and who has manifested Himself in three persons. We know as well as you do that there is only one God. And we worship Him only. But He has clearly revealed Himself as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
You say: "God cannot become a man."
The Bible says: "Not only did He reveal Himself as a man as Jesus in the New Testament, but He also manifested Himself as a man in the Hebrew Bible as well."
In Genesis chapter 18 we read the account of the three visitors who appear before Abraham. Two of the visitors are angels. But, Abraham refers to the third visitor as Jehovah God fourteen times! The third visitor stays on to speak with Abraham before finally departing for Sodom, saying, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." - Genesis 18:21. So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place. - Genesis 18:33. It is obvious that these passages show that God has revealed Himself in the form of man In addition, Genesis 19:24 clearly reveals God's composite nature: "Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. This event clearly showed that God can be present in two distinctly different forms at the exact same time.
God has revealed Himself in Three persons in the Sacred Scriptures:
God has clearly revealed Himself as the Eternal Lord of all creation. And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' "- Exodus 3:14. He is the One and only God. And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. - Exodus 20:1-3.
God has also revealed Himself in the form of a man, the Son who is fully God and fully human. Jesus identified Himself as the Eternal Lord of all creation when he said in John 8:58: Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
Hebrews 1:6 clearly affirms Jesus' deity in stating that Jesus is worshipped by angels.
But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."
He cannot be merely an angel because angels will not receive worship from others as shown in Revelation 19:10: And I fell at his feet to worship him.(an angel) But he said to me, "See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Hebrews 2:5 also says that angels will not rule the Earth: For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.
Yet, Jesus is Lord of all Heaven and Earth: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Philippians 2:10-11
Revelation chapters 21 and 22 provide further affirmation that God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) are one in the same.
God the Father says in Revelation 21:6 - 7: "It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."
God the Son says in Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
Clearly, only God, can be the Alpha and the Omega. He has revealed Himself as both the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit is not is not just an active force but is a manifestation of God. God has revealed Himself through His Spirit. Jesus said: God is Spirit - John 4:24.
In Acts 5:3 - 4 Ananias tries to make people believe that he has sold his land and donated the entire proceeds from the sale for the Lord's work. However, He is judged by God Himself manifested in the form of the Holy Spirit. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." - Acts 5:3-4. God, the Holy Spirit, then struck down Ananias where he stood.
To prove the union of the Trinity, one can simply examine the Scripture references that refer to Jesus' raising from the dead after He was crucified on the cross at Calvary. God in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was at work in raising Jesus from the tomb.
The Father - This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. - Acts 2:32.
The Son (Jesus),- being fully God, had the power to raise His body from the dead. "No one takes 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 command I have received from My Father." - John 10:18.
The Holy Spirit - But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. - Romans 8:11.
You say: "Hell is not a real place, it only refers to death or the common grave where all who die go."
The Bible says: "Hell IS a real place. It is an eternal destination where all who have not trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins are headed."
The following passage is clear on this: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son (Jesus Christ) shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." - John 3:36 The wrath of God referred to in this passage is Hell.
In the Bible, Jesus warned us passionately about Hell. He preached more about Hell than He did Heaven. Jesus warned, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28.
He warned of those who rejected him, "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age." - Matthew 13:40.
The story that Jesus shares in Luke chapter 16 reveals the torment that the unbeliever experiences in Hell. being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." - Luke 16:23-24.
This story is NOT a parable. It is a story told by Jesus that mentions specific people by name. Lazarus, the beggar, may even have even been a contemporary of the audience that Jesus was addressing. We don't know for sure. But from the Scripture we do know that Hell is a real place of eternal torment, where people who have not put their personal trust in Jesus Christ will go.
"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Revelation 21:8
Please, I beg you. Examine the Scripture, today, before it's too late! Hell is real! You cannot get to Heaven based on your good works. We have all sinned and fallen short of Jehovah's standards. You have to be forgiven. The only way that you can be forgiven is to accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for your sins on the cross. Repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ, the only Eternal Lord our God, Jehovah, Who is, and was, and is to come.
For more information on Jehovah's Witnesses please refer to Walter Martin's works on the subject. Also, go to: Walter Martin's Info Net