Another One For The WatchTower
One of the most prominent heresies advanced by the Watch Tower cult (Jehovah's Witnesses for the uninitiated), is the denial of the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have worked hard to conjure up apparently scholarly objections to most of the standard or 'common' texts that teach this doctrine (e.g. Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1 etc.), and are always ready when challenged on this doctrine with their well practised answers. But here is another series of texts that they may not have come across:
John 2: 19 -
Jesus answered and said unto them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up".
Acts 2: 32 -
"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses."
I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this, but I'll explain anyway (otherwise this post will be extremely short).
In John 2: 19 Jesus is answering a company of Jews who questioned Him about who's authority He assumed in order to drive the tradesmen out of the temple. His answer was that after His death at the hands of the Jews, He would prove His authority by raising himself from the dead (the Jews typically interpreted what He said literally and failed to understand what He was saying).
In Acts 2: 32 Peter is preaching after the miraculous events on the day of Pentecost, and referring to the resurrection of Jesus three days after His death, tells all his listeners that God raised Jesus from the dead, an event to which they were all witnesses.
So what's the point? The point is this: Who is it that Jesus tells the Jews will raise Him from the dead three days after his death in John 2:19?
I quote "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". Jesus tells them that He will raise Himself from the dead.
Who is it that Peter tells his listeners raised Jesus from the dead after three days?
I quote again "This Jesus hath God raised up,...". Peter tells them that God raised Jesus from the dead.
So Jesus tells his listeners that He will raise Himself from the dead, whilst Peter tells his listeners that God raised Jesus from the dead.
This seems to present something of a problem. Is Jesus right and Peter wrong, or is Peter right and Jesus wrong? How are we to answer this? There are a number of possibilities:
Peter is right and Jesus is wrong. God raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus' statement was either a slip of the tongue or He was suffering from serious delusions of grandeur.
Jesus is right and Peter is wrong. Jesus raised Himself from the dead (an act impossible by any ordinary human), and Peter is sadly confused.
Jesus is right and Peter is right. This is the clear answer given in a multitude of other locations throughout the whole Word of God.
Jesus never suffered from slips of the tongue, and Peter was perfectly clear in his thinking. They were both right because Jesus is God. He says so Himself in John 2:19.
Jesus both raised Himself from the dead and God raised Him from the dead because, as He says, "I and MyFather are one...".
What's that noise? Oh it's the sound of JW's jumping through hoops.
One of the most prominent heresies advanced by the Watch Tower cult (Jehovah's Witnesses for the uninitiated), is the denial of the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. They have worked hard to conjure up apparently scholarly objections to most of the standard or 'common' texts that teach this doctrine (e.g. Isaiah 9:6, John 1:1 etc.), and are always ready when challenged on this doctrine with their well practised answers. But here is another series of texts that they may not have come across:
John 2: 19 -
Jesus answered and said unto them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up".
Acts 2: 32 -
"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses."
I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this, but I'll explain anyway (otherwise this post will be extremely short).
In John 2: 19 Jesus is answering a company of Jews who questioned Him about who's authority He assumed in order to drive the tradesmen out of the temple. His answer was that after His death at the hands of the Jews, He would prove His authority by raising himself from the dead (the Jews typically interpreted what He said literally and failed to understand what He was saying).
In Acts 2: 32 Peter is preaching after the miraculous events on the day of Pentecost, and referring to the resurrection of Jesus three days after His death, tells all his listeners that God raised Jesus from the dead, an event to which they were all witnesses.
So what's the point? The point is this: Who is it that Jesus tells the Jews will raise Him from the dead three days after his death in John 2:19?
I quote "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". Jesus tells them that He will raise Himself from the dead.
Who is it that Peter tells his listeners raised Jesus from the dead after three days?
I quote again "This Jesus hath God raised up,...". Peter tells them that God raised Jesus from the dead.
So Jesus tells his listeners that He will raise Himself from the dead, whilst Peter tells his listeners that God raised Jesus from the dead.
This seems to present something of a problem. Is Jesus right and Peter wrong, or is Peter right and Jesus wrong? How are we to answer this? There are a number of possibilities:
Peter is right and Jesus is wrong. God raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus' statement was either a slip of the tongue or He was suffering from serious delusions of grandeur.
Jesus is right and Peter is wrong. Jesus raised Himself from the dead (an act impossible by any ordinary human), and Peter is sadly confused.
Jesus is right and Peter is right. This is the clear answer given in a multitude of other locations throughout the whole Word of God.
Jesus never suffered from slips of the tongue, and Peter was perfectly clear in his thinking. They were both right because Jesus is God. He says so Himself in John 2:19.
Jesus both raised Himself from the dead and God raised Him from the dead because, as He says, "I and MyFather are one...".
What's that noise? Oh it's the sound of JW's jumping through hoops.
posted by Ephemeral Mortal at 7:30 pm
2 comments
