Mormonism: Who Is Persecuting Whom?
Mormons say that Christians persecute them by saying Mormonism is a cult, not Christian, that is a false religion. If this is persecution then why … do Mormons persecute Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and all other Christian denominations by saying these churches are “all wrong” and their creeds are an “abomination” in the sight of God? (See the Pearl of Great Price [PGP], Joseph Smith – History, 1:9, 19)
Is Disfellowshipping Biblical?
To my fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses whom I have loved from my youth, to my family who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, to those with whom I served at Bethel for over four years, to those with whom I pioneered,
to all you publishers out there:
It is now the time to awaken. It’s time to heed the apostle Paul’s words in Eph. 5:14, “Therefore, it is said: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and the Christ will shine upon you.’”
The Battle for Truth: Defending the Christian Worldview in the Marketplace of Ideas
In The Battle for Truth, Mr. David A. Noebel takes a variety of subjects such as philosophy, biology, psychology, economics, law, history and more then explains the frame of reference of four world views: Secular Humanist, Marxist/Leninist, Cosmic Humanist and Biblical Christian.
Joseph Smith Said THAT?
So, we talked about some things like why she visited our church. She said she “just wanted to hear about Jesus rather than Joseph” (Smith). So, I mentioned her History of the Church books and asked if I could show her something from it. She said yes, so I got volume 6 and turned to pages 408 and 409. And I read her this statement by Joseph Smith:
God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil–all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet. …
History of the Church, Vol. 6, pp. 408-409
Christians in a Hostile Land
Besides the effect of secularization and moral relativism we also face the unprecedented growth of alternative religions competing with Christianity. Americans in the past held to a Christian consensus, or worldview. Even the non-Christians in America would agree that the God of Christianity was the God they would put their faith in if they were going to be religious. Even though there were cults and alternative religions from the early years of our nation, they were extremely small as a percentage of the population and had little influence.
Since immigration has become a wide-open door, both legal and illegal, we find ourselves in the company of immigrants who bring their native faith with them. Many of these immigrants come from countries that are non-Christian. They have added their numbers to the religious pluralism that has grown exponentially in just the last few decades.
Americans, on the other hand, have walked away from many of the basic tenets of Christianity as well as church attendance …
Did Jehovah Only Create One Thing, Jesus?
I wrote a tract decades ago with questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are completely unanswerable within the Watchtower’s doctrinal beliefs.
You can ask these questions of a Jehovah’s Witness and your conversation can end there. He will give you words back but those words will be a dodge, an answer that misses the point of the question or an offer to get back to you later.
It doesn’t matter at this point because now the question is planted in his mind and he will need an answer for himself.
Jehovah’s Throne in the Pleiades?
Did you know that the Watchtower used to teach that Jehovah’s throne was located in the star system Pleiades, and more specifically on the star Alcyone:
And if we go back to the date which the Pyramid [‘The Great Pyramid of Jeezeh’ in Egypt (found just prior to the title page in the book cited) which this writer understands is the great pyramid at Giza just outside of Cairo] gives itself, and look for what that finger pointed to at midnight, we find a far sublimer indication. Science has at last discovered that the sun is not a dead center, with planets wheeling about it, but itself stationary. It is now ascertained that the sun also is in motion, carrying with it its splendid retinue of comets, planets, its satellites and theirs, around some other and vastly mightier center.
In My Opinion: Divide and Conquer
Point / Counterpoint
POINT: I saw a Facebook post recently about some ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses who staged a “flash mob” at a Kingdom Hall, a protest really. They decided that the perfect time and place was right after the first song and prayer. I disagree. Rudeness, which I believe was the case here by the protestors, is never acceptable and will often result in conflict. [Click here to see the YouTube video of this event.]
Enoch Walked with God
There is little about Enoch in the Bible.
He was the great, great, great grandson of Adam and the great grandfather of Noah. He lived 365 years, a relatively short time in those days. He is listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke 3:37, and most remarkably, he did not experience death. There was only one other who escaped death, Elijah. No reason is given for Enoch being taken and avoiding death, but we do know that the days in which he was living were going from bad to worse which eventually led to judgment and destruction. Perhaps it was God’s grace.
Pamphlets by Christian Leaders Exposing Charles Taze Russell during His Lifetime, Part 2b
We will explore the libel suit Charles Taze Russell brought against Rev. Ross, plus more suits Russell brought against others, which will give us much insight into Russell the man from his contemporaries, including his wife, and from portions of the transcripts of his testimony during his lifetime. You will find a link at the end to download Ross’ later pamphlet which includes the information we’ll share below.
Pamphlets by Christian Leaders Exposing Charles Taze Russell during His Lifetime, Part 2a
Ross talks about Russell’s newly formed International Bible Students’ Association headquartered in London, England, and his subsequent “publishing establishment in Pittsburg” (Pennsylvania; p.4). When his divorce proceedings became known, and in a effort to thwart paying alimony, he changed the names of his publications and “transferred his head office to Brooklyn, N.Y.” (p. 5). There is then more discussion on name changes with the purpose of deceiving the public. (p. 5)
Pamphlets by Christian Leaders Exposing Charles Taze Russell During His Lifetime, Part 1
Two pamphlets were written during Charles Taze Russell’s lifetime (1852-1916) that were brought to my attention recently. The first one was written by Charles Cyrus Cook (b. 1861) and originally published in 1881 entitled “All about one Russell.” The edition I have was apparently updated and published shortly after 1912 because the following pamphlet is mentioned in a footnote. The second was written by Pastor John Jacob Ross (b. 1871) and published in 1912 entitled “Some Facts and More Facts about the Self-Styled ‘Pastor’ Charles T. Russell.”
The Man in the Well, How I Got Out, Part 8b
And now for the full conclusion of our series adapted from The Man in the Well, by Oswald Smith:
“I am Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son,” was His reply.
I fell at His feet and worshiped Him, for my love was such that I could have died for Him.
After a while I told Him about all the others, how they had come and offered help, what promises they had made, and my own conclusions regarding them.
“But you,” I said, “you never told me to ‘do’ anything—not a thing. You did everything. And I, I just let you.”
The Man in the Well, How I Got Out, Part 8a
Beset by many visitors, our guy is more stuck than ever in this well. He has had priests come by, a rabbi, founders of 19th century religions and Eastern thinkers. He remains discouraged, dumfounded and literally beat up by his own hand. He has been told he must “do” many things to get himself out of the well …
No sooner had I reached this conclusion than, once again, a shadow fell across the well’s opening. I glanced up, fully expecting to see another of earth’s teachers with some other form of manmade “do” advice. And I did.
At least I saw in dim outline the form of a man. Yet, somehow, He seemed different from all the others. Silently He stood there gazing down at me, while I, now utterly exhausted, lay flat on my back gazing up, far too weak even to sit, let alone stand.
The Man in the Well, Other Teachers, Part 7b
Most of the Eastern teachers told me to practice various forms of asceticism, and described how, in their countries, holy men, as they called them, sometimes spent days on beds of spikes, or in swinging between the five fires under a blazing hot sun. Others, they said, held an arm up until it withered and became stiff, so that they were unable to bring it down again. Many allowed themselves to be buried in the earth up to their necks and had to be fed by their friends.
The Man in the Well: Other Teachers, Part 7a
Most of the Eastern teachers told me to practice various forms of asceticism, and described how, in their countries, holy men, as they called them, sometimes spent days on beds of spikes, or in swinging between the five fires under a blazing hot sun. Others, they said, held an arm up until it withered and became stiff, so that they were unable to bring it down again. Many allowed themselves to be buried in the earth up to their necks and had to be fed by their friends.
The Man in the Well, Part 6: Joseph Smith
I pondered this and I recalled what I’d read from the Bible. I’d read that there is one God, and none would be formed after Him. And I read that if I break the least of God’s laws, it’s the same as breaking all of them. So I realized that this requirement was perhaps the most impossible of all.
When I explained this to him, he tossed down to me the Book of Mormon, entreated me to read it and pray about it and see whether I get the “burning in the bosom.” If I get this sensation, he explained, then that means that what he was telling me was true.
The Man in the Well, Part 5: Charles Taze Russell
“But when can I get out?” I cried.
“Not until some future time,” responded this instructor. “But do not worry, for even if you fail to get out now, you may still be delivered in the life hereafter. And if you should die in the well, you will remain in soul-sleep until the great awakening. Then if you are obedient, you will live forever. But in any case, should you never get out, you will simple be annihilated.”
The Man in the Well, Part 4: Mary Baker Eddy
“Petitioning a personal Deity is a misapprehension of the source and means of all good and blessedness; therefore it cannot be beneficial.
“There is no human soul that sins and is spiritually lost.
“Mortal mind alone gives drugs their effects, and if a person swallows arsenic by mistake, the belief of the vast majority of human beings that arsenic is poison causes death, even though he was unaware that he had swallowed it.”
The Man in the Well, Part 3b: Roman Catholic Priest
The more I thought of the mass, the more [troubled] I became. Christ, I knew, had been offered once for all, and on the cross He cried, “It is finished.” Why He should be offered again I could not understand. And yet in the sacrifice of the mass the priest claims to make a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the people.
My mind again reverted to God’s Word, and the following passages struck me most forcefully: “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb. 10:14).