Reasoning from the Scriptures With the Jehovah's Witnesses

Rating:
Summary: Probably the Best book on the Watchtower Society Ever
Review: Before reviewing Dr. Rhodes' "Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses," you should know that I know New Testament Greek, and I've studied Old Testament Hebrew, the original languages of the Bible. I've studied Watchtower and orthodox Christian theology for over 15 years, and thus I feel somewhat qualified to judge whether or not Dr. Rhodes has written "the worst book" on the group ever written, as some would have us believe.

I offer some specific examples of what are actually proven and accurate statements by Dr. Rhodes. First, although Dr. Rhodes did argue on page 177 that Michael is "one among equals," he also supported that statement by a reference to Daniel 10:13, where Michael (the archangel) is called "one of" the chief princes, justifying the statement "one among equals." Jesus is called the "only unique" (Greek: "monogenes") Son according to the Greek of John 3:16, and thus Michael cannot be Jesus, Dr. Rhodes argues (p. 177).

Second, on page 123 Rhodes does use the Greek-English lexicon by Arndt and Gingrich/Bauer to define the Greek word "arche" as "first cause" in Revelation 3:14. However, the Watchtower's doctrine says Jesus is a created being, so they prefer to believe that the word must mean "first created." While it is true that the lexicon does go on to say that the meaning "first created" is "linguistically possible," it is also true that what is linguistically possible is not always theologically or contextually possible. But the main definition given for "arche" in the context of Rev. 3: 14 is under the heading "first cause," not "beginning" as if Jesus was the first to be created. That was Dr. Rhodes' point. However, I will admit that Dr. Rhodes should have also addressed the "possible" linguistic issue as well. But on page 124 he did show amble evidence that the Watchtower translation was incorrect. Even a Unitarian scholar who didn't believe Jesus was God (just like the Witnesses!), Joseph Thayer, defined "arche" as "...the active cause" in his Greek-English lexicon.

Third, on page 63 Dr. Rhodes claims that Jesus used the Greek expression "ego eimi" ("I am") in John 8:58 as a way of "identifying Himself as God." He also explained on page 116 that at one time the Watchtower taught that "ego eimi" was translated "I have been" because of the "perfect indefinite tense" (footnote in 1950 Watchtower Bible). However, as Dr. Rhodes showed, "...this claim proved very embarrassing when Greek scholars pointed out to the Jehovah's Witnesses that there is no such thing as a perfect indefinite tense in Greek grammar."

Yet it appears the Watchtower Society went from one mistake to another. No credible Greek grammar book will ever argue that "ego eimi" can be correctly translated "I have been." The verb "eimi" is in the PRESENT tense, not the aorist or imperfect or pluperfect (all past tense forms). But since the accurate translation of "ego eimi" is "I am" but doesn't fit Watchtower theology, the issue of how the Greek word is properly translated is clouded by faulty red herring arguments from John 9:9. But as any student of Greek knows, the man healed in John 9:9 did not contrast the created existence of Abraham ("genesthai" in Greek) with his own uncreated existence ("ego eimi") as Jesus did, and thus Rhodes was justified in not dealing with the passage.

Since "ego eimi" is translated correctly as "I am" in EVERY place in the Watchtower Bible except John 8:58, Dr. Rhodes truly was justified in asserting that this was "one of the clearest examples of the Jehovah's Witnesses mistranslating the Bible in order to support a doctrinal bias" (p. 113).

Fourth, Dr. Rhodes did contrast the Watchtower version of John 8:58 ("I have been") with what the NASB version which says "I am." It is true that the marginal note of the 60-73 editions does say "Or I have been." But it is also true that it is in the margin and not the main text for a good reason: the MAIN text indicates the most accurate translation. Thus the marginal note argument from the NASB doesn't change the fact that "ego" means "I" and "eimi" means "am, to be" and is the present tense of the verb and thus cannot be translated "I have been."

The only misstatement that Dr. Rhodes made was when he said, "Scholars agree that the Watchtower Society has no justification for translating "ego eimi" in John 8:58 as 'I have been.'" (p. 116). What he should have said was, "Most credible scholars agree that the Watchtower Society has no justification for translating ego eimi in John 8:58 as 'I have been.'" Using a lone wolf like K.L. McKay is only a spurious appeal to a questionable authority.

Finally, Dr. Rhodes explained on page 173 that the Watchtower Society sees Jesus as a "mere angel." There he was merely pointing out that in COMPARISON to the orthodox view that Jesus was God incarnate, the Watchtower doctrine that He was only a "ruler of angels" or "second only to Jehovah God Himself" denigrates Jesus to the status of a "mere angel." Dr. Rhodes researched his topic well and provided much primary source information from Watchtower material, so for people to take him out of context in such a manner is simply dishonest.

Despite critics to the contrary, Dr. Rhodes has done an excellent job of detailing the clear biblical errors of the Watchtower Society (in about 15 chapters), from mistranslations and faulty interpretations and false prophecies, to confusing the use of animal blood sacrifice in the Old Testament with modern human transfusions, so that its members must refuse life-saving blood transfusions and sacrifice their lives for a faulty view of the Bible. Dr. Rhodes is to be commended for being bold and scholarly enough to tell the truth in a loving way so that people can escape the trappings of the Watchtower Society. Buy the book, research behind it carefully, and know the truth.

Rating:
Summary: The Scripture Twisting of The Watchtower Exposed
Review: Dr. Rhodes' book is a fantastic witnessing tool. If you are a Christian and want to "bone up" on effective witnesing arguments to use for discussing the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses, this book is for you. It is probably the best book on the market in this subject area, and in my opinion is Ron's greatest written achievement.

The research is immpeccable and I say that after dialoging with many Witnesses for many years. The first 11 chapters are great. Topics discussed are the Deity of Christ, The Holy Spirit, and doctrine of Salvation. These items are essential to the faith of Christianity and his reasoning is valid and true.

The only flaw is that chapter 14 should have been avoided all together. I believe focusing on such non-issues such as birthdays and blood transfusions can become red herrings in a heated discussion on more essential issues. Further, if the person leaves the Watch Tower, these docrtines willl be quickly dismissed. The doctrines should off only been discussed to show the frame work of Watch Tower thinking.

All in All, a superb book!

Rating:
Summary: great witnessing tool
Review: I believe that any Christian library should contain this book. It is very common for Jehovah's Witnesses to come to the door. This book is a great tool to show them the TRUE Jesus Christ of the Bible. I appreciate the advice that he has in the beginning of his book. This advice stresses to talk WITH the Jehovah's Witness and NOT at them. It is also stressed that you should get to know them as people. With those attitudes and the information contained in this book, you should be able to have a fruitful witness opportunity. If they are sincerely honest about knowing God, the material contained in this volume will help you with providing information on the TRUE Jesus Christ of the Bible. The majority of the book shows the Watchtower doctrine and the Scriptures that they use to support them. Mr. Rhodes then goes through the texts that they use. He supplies not only the word(s) in the original language with documented defintions, he also supplies supporting text. This is done on the principal that Scripture should interpret Scripture. I would recommend that this book be in your library and the information on the tip of your tongue. This will help to supply a ready defense for the faith.

Rating:
Summary: Great Witnessing Tool
Review: I found this book to be very helpful when discussing the bible and doctrine with Jehovah's Witnesses. It may not be the only book you need if you want to witness to the Witnesses but it's a great place to start. There are some verses, like John 17:3, which I wish Ron Rhodes had discussed in greater detail and I didn't see anything on 1 Corinthians 15:45 although he did write about some verses in 1 Corinthians 15.

On the other hand this book has a wealth of information and, using what I learned, I did some research and found more information that helped me while discussing issues with Jehovah's Witnesses.

As one reviewer said "The bias of the reviewers who are obviously JWs should be taken with a grain of salt." One reviewer
pointed out that there are other translations which have some verses that are translated in such a way that they don't affirm the deity of Jesus Christ. The difference is that the NWT has many verses that are translated in such a way to support the Watchtower's doctrine and it is, by far, the most bias translation of the bible I have ever seen.

The same reviewer mentioned The Bible in Living English. Recently, I learned that the rights to this translation were purchased by the Watchtower in the early 1970's and they printed about three hundred thousand copies but, according to the terms of the agreement, could not change anything. The man who translated it wrote in the preface that the name Jehovah was the result of a blunder and he translated John 1:1 and John 8:58 in a manner that contradicts the Watchtower's teaching.

As for Reasoning From the Scriptures with Jehovah's Witnesses I highly recommend it and am glad I bought it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Witnessing Tool
Review: I have read and when the Witnesses have knock on my door, used some of the material from this book. Overall, it is well researched and documented. I have many Watch Tower publications and books, as well as, their Watchtower Library on CD. I have compared much of the research in this book with the aformentioned materials and have found it to be very accurate.

The books strength is the way,in chapters 2-8, he deals with the deity of Jesus Christ and the Witnesses distortion of same. One reviewer of this book has missed the point when he confuses Christ useing the divine name "ego eimi." In context, Jesus is claimimng divinity. This is why the Jews wanted to stone him (Jesus)(John 8:59). Therefore, I hope that all who read this review will give the book a fair hearing.

The book does have one real flaw and I believe Mr. Rhodes should have left out chapter 12 (Uderstanding The Soul and Soul Sleep). The nature of the soul, soul sleep, and the state of hell, are not essetential issues to the faith and further detract from discussing the important subjects with Jehovah's Witnesses.

Lastly, he concludes his book well by reminding Christians who want to engage in a dialouge with Witnesses that they are people. He trys to end this book reminding us that these are people for whom we should show great love. I do wish he had made the chapter a little longer by telling Christians of the hard work most Witnesses put into the ministry of their religion. Even though many do it because of a social manipulation, I have found many serve the "Kingdom Hall" out of a desire to serve God; probably with more zeal than most us - "Evangelical Christians."

For anyone interested in witnessing to Jehovah's Witnesses, this book is a must to own in your counter cult library. The first 11 chapters make up for any disappointments.

Rating:
Summary: Just So You Know....
Review: Just so those of you who are worried or con