Hey guys! if by any chance you have
a bible lying around somewhere and it makes no difference if its a catholic or
protestant bible, open it and put it to good use, believe me there are some interesting
topics in it.
The following is for those who wish to know more about the
Holy Spirit and a man called Jesus!!!
You can check it out in that bible if
you wish....
Here
is an interesting topic for those who wish to know more about the Holy Spirit
and a man called Jesus!!!
more so now -
it will define the REAL meaning
of Easter
Who
Is Jesus Christ?
About 2,000 years ago in Israel a man named Jesus
of Nazareth was born. He was either the greatest fraud of history -- or God.
Some say He was just a good
man, or a great prophet or teacher. But, if He were a liar -- He certainly was
not any of those.
Jesus claimed to be the Almighty God. That is why the Jewish leaders condemned
Him to death -- for blasphemy (Mark 14:61-64). Jesus also claimed to exist even
before Abraham, who had died many years before. JOHN
8:58 NKJ
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before
Abraham was, I AM."
Jesus was killed -- but came back to life after three days -- and still lives
today. Jesus is unique -- no one else has overcome death and continued to live
for thousands of years. ROMANS
1:3-4 NKJ
3 . . . Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David
according to the flesh,
4 ... and declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,
Before being crucified Jesus said He would rise from death after three days. Because
He did rise, surely that means Jesus was all He claimed to be.
Is Jesus Christ of Nazareth really alive? Ask Him!
Jesus
Is Alive
LUKE 24:6-7 NKJ
6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember
how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 "saying, `The Son
of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the
third day rise again.' " MARK
16:19 NKJ
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up
into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. REVELATION
1:18 NKJ
18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore. . . . Jesus
Is Lord
ACTS 2:36 NKJ
36 ". . . God has made this Jesus, whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ." ACTS
10:36 NKJ
36 ". . . Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all -- PHILIPPIANS
2:10-11 NKJ
10 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,
11 and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus
Is God
ISAIAH 9:6 NKJ
6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son
is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. MATTHEW
1:23 NKJ
23 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
JOHN 1:1 NKJ
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. JOHN 10:33
NKJ
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone
You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
JOHN 20:28 NKJ
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" ROMANS
9:5 NKJ
5 . . . Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-6
NKJ
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being
in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, COLOSSIANS
2:9 New Jerusalem
9 In him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness,
2 PETER 1:1 NKJ
1 . . . our God and Savior Jesus Christ: HEBREWS
1:8 NKJ
8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and
ever . . . . Jesus
Is A Man
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 NKJ
5 Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking
the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found
in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of
death, even the death of the cross. 1
TIMOTHY 2:5 NKJ
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the Man Christ Jesus, HEBREWS
2:14,17 NKJ
14 . . . as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He
Himself likewise shared in the same . . .
17 Therefore, in all things He had
to be made like His brethren . . . . HEBREWS
4:15 NKJ
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Jesus
Is The Creator
EPHESIANS 3:9 NKJ
9 . . . God who created all things
through Jesus Christ; COLOSSIANS
1:16 NKJ
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that
are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. JOHN
1:1,3,10 NKJ
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made that was made.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through
Him, and the world did not know Him. Jesus
Is The Jewish Messiah
(The word Christ is from the Greek translation of
the Hebrew word we know as Messiah.) LUKE
2:11 NKJ
11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ACTS
2:36 NKJ
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." ACTS
18:28 NKJ
28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the
Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus
Is Mankind's Substitute
ROMANS 5:8 CEV
8 But God showed how much he
loved us, by having Christ die for us. . . . ROMANS
3:25 CEV
25 God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's
blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God . . . ISAIAH
53:5 NKJ
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we
are healed. GALATIANS
3:13 NKJ
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become
a curse for us . . . ROMANS
4:25 NKJ
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because
of our justification. 2
CORINTHIANS 5:14,21 NKJ
14 . . . if One died for all, then all died;
21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him.
Jesus
Is The Savior
PHILIPPIANS 3:20 NKJ
20 . . . we also eagerly wait for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, JOHN
3:17 NKJ
17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ACTS
4:10,12 NKJ
10 ". . . by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you
whole.
12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." ROMANS
10:9 NKJ
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus
Is The Only Way To God
1 JOHN 5:11-12 NKJ
11 And this is the testimony:
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who
has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
JOHN 14:6 NKJ
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me. GALATIANS
2:16 TEV
16 Yet we know that a man is put right with God only through faith
in Jesus Christ, never by doing what the Law requires. . . .
Jesus
Is The Healer
MATTHEW 4:23-24 NKJ
23 Now Jesus went about . . . healing
all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
24 . . .
and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases
and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics;
and He healed them. MATTHEW
8:16-17 NKJ
16 . . . they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And
He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,
17 that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He
Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." MATTHEW
14:14 NKJ
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was
moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. MATTHEW
12:15 NKJ
15 . . . great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.
HEBREWS 13:8
NKJ
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 1
PETER 2:24 NKJ
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by whose stripes you
were healed.
Jesus
Is The Provider
JOHN 6:35 NKJ
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am
the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes
in Me shall never thirst. 2
CORINTHIANS 8:9 NKJ
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty
might become rich. PHILIPPIANS
4:19 NKJ
19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. Jesus
Is The Coming King
ACTS 1:11 NKJ
11 . . . This same Jesus, who was
taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into
heaven." REVELATION
19:11,13-16 NKJ
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And
He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges
and makes war.
13 . . . and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And
the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on
white horses.
15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He
should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. .
. .
16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.
Jesus
Is The Judge
JOHN 5:22,27 NKJ
22 "For the Father judges no one,
but has committed all judgment to the Son,
27 "and has given Him authority
to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. ACTS
17:31 NKJ
31 "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the
world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance
of this to all by raising Him from the dead." 2
CORINTHIANS 5:10 NKJ
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what
he has done, whether good or bad.
Jesus
Is Central
COLOSSIANS 1:17-18 NKJ
17 And He is before all things, and
in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have
the preeminence. MATTHEW
28:18 NKJ
18 Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority
has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. EPHESIANS
1:10 20th Century
10 And it is also in accordance with the loving design which
God planned . . . when he would make everything, both in Heaven and on earth,
centre in the Christ. PHILIPPIANS
2:9-10 NKJ
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name
which is above every name,
10 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,
COLOSSIANS 2:9-10
NKJ
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and
you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Jesus
Is God's Message
JOHN 1:18 TEV
18 No one has ever seen God. The only
Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
HEBREWS 1:1-3
NKJ
1 God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to
the fathers by the prophets.
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His
Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things . . .
3 who being the brightness
of His glory and the express image of His person. . . JOHN
14:7 NKJ
7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also"
COLOSSIANS 1:15
NKJ
15 He is the image of the invisible God . . . . JOHN
1:1,14 NKJ
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. . . .
ADDED
BONUS
Who is the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit
takes the Word of God and says,
"Amen. It is written. It is truth." The following describes the Holy Spirit
He is intelligent -1 Corinthians
2:10-11
Has feelings -Ephisians 4:30
Has will -1Corinthians 12:11
He teaches John 14:26
He guides Romans 8:14
He commissions Acts 13:4
He restrains Genesis 6:3
He intercedes Romans 8:26
He speaks John 15:26
& Peter 1:21
He can be obeyed Acts 10:19-21
He can be lied to Acts
5:3
He can be resisted Acts 7:51
He can be reverenced Psalms 51:11
He can be blasphemed Matthew 12:31
He can be outraged Hebrews 10:29
He
can be grieved Ephesians 4:31
This really proves that the Holy Spirit
is not just some active force
but a person with feelings
I
thank God for his personal revelation of whom
He really is in the person of
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit If you wish to make it right with the
Lord
simply say
''Lord! Forgive me of all unrighteousness
I believe you died on the cross for me
Come into my life - Be my Lord and
Saviour
In Jesus name I pray...Amen''
This prayer will
change your life forever
You will become a brand new person and Jesus will
live in your heart.
Do
Humans Possess an Immortal Soul? Another
mistake made by JWs is their denial of the immortality of the soul.
The Bible
mentions the immortality of the soul approximately 200 times, and it can be seen to have very different
meanings according to the context of each passage.
This tract will simply demonstrate
that the soul is immortal according to Scripture.
Perhaps
the strongest contradiction of the WTS doctrine is seen in Christ’s descent
to Hades. In 1 Peter 3:19, the apostle tells his audience how Jesus "preached
to the spirits in prison.
If the dead were aware of nothing, then his
preaching would have been futile.
. In (Is.
14:9-11) of the OT, the prophet Isaiah speaks of
the condition of the dead, "Sheol underneath has become agitated at you
in order to meet you on coming in . . . all of them speak up and say.
. . . Those seeing you will gaze even at you, saying . . . ". These verses indicate clearly that the dead are
conscious
, and the NT in (2 Cor. 5:8, Phil. 1:23). tells the same story. To be absent from the body
is not to beunconscious, but rather is to be at home with
the Lord, according to Paul. (2 Cor. 5:1-4; 2 Pet. 1:13The body is just a tent,
or tabernacle that does not last .
In
(Matt. 10:28) it reads ...while man cannot
kill the soul. In fact, the souls live past the death of the bodies,
since John "saw . . . the souls of those slaughtered . . . and they cried
with a loud voice, saying . . . and they were told . . . " (Rev. 6:9-11).
Because the soul does not die with the flesh, those in heaven are able to offer
our prayers to God (Rev. 5:8), and live in happiness
(Rev. 14:13). Is Hell Real or Not? The
Jehovah's
Witness maintains that everlasting punishment is a myth and
a lie invented by Satan. Hell is merely mankind’s common grave, and is definitely
not a fiery torture, according to them. HOWEVER
according to Bible Scripture, if one is in hell, "he shall be tormented
with fire and sulfur . . . the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever,
and day and night they have no rest" (Rev. 14:11). This is an "everlasting
fire prepared for the devil and his fallen angels" (Matt. 25:41). Jesus tells
his listeners of Lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man dies, and is "existing
in torment . . . he sees . . . calls out . . . ‘I am in anguish in this blazing
fire’" (Luke 16:19-31). As a further illustration, Jesus stated that
hell is likened to Gehenna. This "Valley of Hinnom" was located southeast
of Jerusalem, and was used as a garbage dump where trash and waste were continuously
burned day and night in a large fire.Jesus informs the listeners that
hell is like this, "where the maggot does not die, and fire is not put out"
(Mark 9:42-48). It is the place where the wicked are sent, and from this "everlasting
fire" (Matt. 18:8) will come "weeping and the gnashing of teeth"
(Matt. 8:12). Now if hell were "a place of rest in hope" as the WTS
teaches, then it is odd that Jesus would choose such contradictory illustrations
to convey this. Lastly, Revelation 20 calls hell a "pool of fire . . . [where]
they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever"—all who are
not in the book of life. So, if one’s name is in the book of life, one enters
heaven (Rev. 21:27). If it not in the book, then a literal hell awaits.
__________
MICHAEL
THE ARCHANGEL IS JESUS?
NO. The
Devil and the body of Moses
Another passage we need to look at carefully which
speaks of this archangel is Jude chapter one. Jude 1:
"Yet
Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body
of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord
rebuke thee".
In one passage of scripture we see Michael and His army
at war with the Devil and his army, but here we see him in dispute about the body
of Moses, not wanting to judge him for his accusations. Is there a contradiction?
No, because God is painting spiritual pictures by using this language. There is
no angel which has the power to contend with Satan. Satan is ruler of this world
and of the fallen messengers and the only Messenger who could contend with him
is Christ! Once Satan was defeated by the death of Christ, we then rule over him
"through" Christ. Christ is the one who contended with the Devil and
not Michael the Archangel. The
"body of Moses" is signifying the body of the law under which the congregation
was burdened. Under the New Covenant with God, we are no longer burdened for Christ
keeps the law for us under which we all sat condemned. When God speaks of the
scriptures, He often uses the phrase or terms, "Moses and the Prophets"
or "the law of Moses" or the "commandments of Moses". Of course
we know that it's not Moses' law or his commands, it's God's law. But God uses
these terms as a synonym for the law of God under which we sit condemned.
According
to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Jesus is not God and never claimed to be”
(“Should You Believe…?,” 2000). Rather, Jesus can be understood
“from the scriptures to be Michael the Archangel” (The Watchtower, 1979,
p. 29). “Michael the great prince is none other than Jesus Christ himself,”
they allege (The Watchtower, 1984, p. 29). The May 15, 1969 issue of Jehovah’s
Witnesses’ Watchtower magazine suggested: “There is Scriptural evidence
for concluding that Michael was the name of Jesus Christ before he left heaven
and after his return” (p. 307). Where is the “scriptural evidence”
for such a doctrine? In an article titled “The Truth About Angels”
that appears on the official web site of Jehovah’s Witnesses (www.watchtower.org),
1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9 were the only two passages listed as proof that
“the foremost angel, both in power and authority, is the archangel, Jesus
Christ, also called Michael” (2001).Michael
the archangel is mentioned only five times in the Bible (Daniel 10:13,21; 12:1;
Jude 9; Revelation 12:7), and yet
never do these passages indicate that he
is to be equated with the pre-incarnate Christ, nor with the ascended Jesus.
First Thessalonians 4:16 also alludes to “an archangel,” and, although
the name Michael is not mentioned, this is the passage Jehovah’s Witnesses
frequently cite as proof of Jesus being the archangel. Concerning the Second Coming
of Christ, Paul wrote: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the
dead in Christ will rise first” (emp. added). Supposedly, since Jesus is
described as descending from heaven “with the voice of an archangel,”
then He must be the archangel Michael. However, this verse does not teach that
Jesus is an archangel, but that at His Second Coming He will be accompanied“with the voice of an archangel.” Just as He will be
attended “with a shout” and “with the trumpet of God,”so will He be accompanied “with the voice of an archangel.” Question:
If Jesus’ descension from heaven “with the voice of an archangel”
makes Him (as Jehovah’s Witnesses claim) the archangel Michael, then does
His descent “with the trumpet of God” not also make Him God? Jehovah’s
Witnesses reject this latter conclusion, yet they accept the first. Such inconsistency
is one proof of their erroneous teachings about Jesus.One
of the strongest arguments against Jesus being an angel is found in the book of
Hebrews. In chapter one, the writer of Hebrews showed the superiority of Jesus
over the angelic beings, and contrasted Him with them. For
to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten
You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a
Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let
all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says: “Who
makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son
He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your
companions.” And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of
the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You
remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold
them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not
fail.” But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right
hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool”? (1:5-13).Jesus’
superiority over the angels is seen in the fact that the Father spoke to Jesus
as His special begotten Son to Whom He gave the seat of honor at His right hand
(1:5,13). Furthermore, the writer of Hebrews indicated that God commanded all
angels to worship Jesus (1:6; cf. Revelation 5:11-13; Philippians 2:10). Yet,
if Jesus were an angel, how could He accept the worship of other “lesser”
angels when, according to Revelation 19:10 and 22:8-9, angels do not accept worship,
but rather preach the worship of God, and no other? Hebrews chapter one is a death
knell to the idea of Jesus, the Son of God, being Michael, the archangel. Interestingly,
Charles Taze Russell, the founder of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, admitted
such when he stated in The Watchtower magazine near the end of its inaugural year:
“Hence it is said, ‘let all the angels of God worship him’: (that
must include Michael, the chief angel, hence Michael is not the Son of God)…”
(1879, p. 4, emp. added). Sadly, even though Russell (the Society’s president
for over 30 years) rejected the idea of Jesus being Michael the archangel, Jehovah’s
Witnesses today hold firmly to this doctrine.The
writer of Hebrews returned to the subject of Jesus’ superiority over angels
in chapter two, saying, “He [God] has not put the world to come, of which
we speak, in subjection to angels” (2:5). To whom will the world be in subjection?
Scripture indicates that it would be Jesus, “the appointed heir of all things”
(Hebrews 1:2). “All authority” has been given, not to any angel, but
to Jesus (Matthew 28:18). All angels, authorities, and powers “have been
made subject to Him” (1 Peter 3:22). “In putting everything under him,
God left nothing that is not subject to him” (Hebrews 2:8, NIV, emp. added).
Jesus, therefore, is not Michael, the archangel, “for it was not to angels
that God subjected the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5, RSV).One
final proof that Jesus is not Michael the archangel actually comes from one of
the five passages in which Michael’s name is found in Scripture—Jude
9. According to Jude: “Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil,
when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling
accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ ” Whereas Michael
would not dare pronounce a railing judgment against the devil (cf. 2 Peter 2:11),
Jesus once declared about Satan: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks
a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it”
(John 8:44). Jesus did not approach the subject of rebuking Satan with the same
hesitation as godly angels like Michael. Jesus, as Lord of heaven and Earth (Matthew
28:18), boldly called the devil a murderer and liar, and even went so far as to
declare that “there is no truth in him.” The Son of God obviously is
not Michael the archangel.I
find it extremely puzzling how Jehovah’s Witnesses can conclude that there
is no biblical proof of Jesus being deity, and yet at the same time allege that
“[t]here is Scriptural evidence for concluding that Michael was the name
of Jesus Christ before he left heaven and after his return” (Watchtower,
1969, p. 307, emp. added). Where is the evidence? There is none. Jesus is not
Michael the archangel; rather, He is exactly Who the apostle John said He was
(John 1:1,14), Who Thomas said He was (John 20:28), and even Who His enemies accused
Him of making Himself (John 5:18; 10:33).
Jesus is GodTo
sum it up
here is a powerful bible scripture
that proves that God loves
us.
God made Himself in the form of a Spiritual Father,
also
in the form of a man with an image that is visible to every eye bearing the name
of Jesus (Word) and thirdly, He made Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit
1John
5:7 is read as follows: For there are three that bear witness in heaven:
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
________
THE
BIBLE AND WINE
The following study is by the late Bruce Lackey:
is
a revelation in itself
1. The word wine in the Bible is a generic term; sometimes
it means grape juice; sometimes it means alcoholic beverages. The following verses
prove that the word "wine" can mean fresh grape juice, the fruit of
the vine: De. 11:14; 2 Ch. 31:5; Ne. 13:15; Pr. 3:10; Is. 16:10; 65:8; 1 Ti. 5:23.
2.
The context will always show when "wine" refers to alcoholic beverages.
In such cases, God discusses the bad effects of it and warns against it. An example
would be Ge. 9, Noah's experience after the Flood. Verse 21, "and he drank
of the wine, and was drunken," clearly refers to alcoholic beverage. Pr.
20:1 speaks of the same thing when it warns us, "Wine is a mocker, strong
drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Alcoholic
wine is deceptive; but how? In the very way that people are advocating today,
by saying that drinking a little bit will not hurt. Everyone admits that drinking
too much is bad; even the liquor companies tell us not to drive and drink, but
they insist that a small amount is all right. However, that is the very thing
that is deceptive. Who knows how little to drink? Experts tell us that each person
is different. It takes an ounce to affect one, while more is necessary for another.
The same person will react to alcohol differently, depending on the amount of
food he has had, among other things. So, the idea that "a little bit won't
hurt" is deceptive, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise!
Pr.
23:30-31 refers to alcoholic wine, because it tells us in the previous verse that
those who drink it have woe, sorrow, contentions, babbling, wounds without cause,
and redness of eyes. What a graphic description of those who "tarry long"
at alcoholism. Verses 32-35 continue the same description; context always makes
it clear when alcohol is meant.
If "wine" may mean fresh grape juice
or alcohol, how can we know which is intended? The context determines the meaning.
We can tell when "wine" means fresh grape juice and when it means alcoholic
beverage by reading the context, just as we have done in the previous paragraphs.
3.
Scripture warns against the drinking of alcoholic wine. The Bible is consistent
on this, both in the Old and New Testaments. The two previously quoted passages,
Pr. 20:1 and 23:29-35, are good examples of scriptural warnings against consuming
alcohol. Pr. 23:32 says "at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth
like an adder." Verse 33 shows that it will cause one to look at strange
women (that is, not one's wife) and to say perverse things, or things which he
would not say if he were sober. Verse 34 predicts that it will cause death, such
as drowning, or loneliness, such as lying upon the top of a mast. Verse 35 warns
against numbness ("they have beaten me and I felt it not") and "addiction
("when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again").
Pr. 31:4-5 teaches,
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for
princes strong drink: lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment
of any of the afflicted." The danger is obvious.
By the way, Pr. 31:6,7
give us the only legitimate use of alcoholic wine in Scripture. "Give strong
drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more."
This would be using it as an anesthetic; a pain killer. But this is not for everyone;
he says in v. 6, "unto him that is ready to perish." Of course, they
did not have all the pain killers that we have today. In our time, it would not
be necessary to do this. We have many anesthetics available for those who are
dying. Then, about the only thing available to the average person would have been
some kind of alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant; it is not a stimulant, as some
think. After several drinks, one gets dizzy; then he will pass out. So this passage
teaches that alcoholic beverage would be only for the person who is ready to die;
there would be no hope for his life. All that would be possible would be to ease
his pain and help him forget his misery.
Another passage is Is. 5:11. "Woe
unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink;
that continue until night, till wine inflame them!" Obviously this is alcoholic,
because it inflames. Why does he say, "Woe unto them"? Verse 12 answers,
"...they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation
of his hands." Everyone knows that when one gives himself to the drinking
of alcoholic beverage, he will not be more spiritual, more desirous of learning
the Word of God. To the contrary, it causes a person to ignore the Lord. Verses
13-14 reveal two other serious results: people go into captivity (become slaves
to something or someone) and Hell enlarges itself! The drinking of alcoholic wine
has caused Hell to be enlarged! God does not want anyone to go to Hell; He has
given the greatest, dearest gift that He possibly could, to rescue sinners from
it. He never made Hell for people. The Lord Jesus Christ said that Hell was prepared
for the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41). However, because of evil alcohol, Hell
has had an enlargement campaign. Here, then, is a clear warning against drinking
alcohol, because God does not want anyone to go to Hell.
Is. 28:7,8 continues
the warning. "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink
are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink,
they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they
err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and
filthiness, so that there is no place clean."
What a tragic thing, that
even in the days of Isaiah, the priests and prophets were engaged in the drinking
of alcoholic wine! Thus we see that the problem of preachers recommending alcohol
is not new. Six hundred years before Christ, demon alcohol had worked its way
into religion.
4. The making of alcoholic beverages is not a strictly natural
process. Years ago I took for granted that if you took the juice of a grape and
let it alone, not refrigerating it, it would automatically, in time, turn into
alcoholic wine. There are several reasons why this is not true. It takes more
than time to make wine. Sometimes people try to defend its use by saying that
it must be good because God made it. But, the fact is, God did not make it. Man
has learned how to make alcoholic liquors through processes that he has invented.
Wine-makers know that one must have the correct amount of water, sugar, and temperature
to make wine. Keeping grape juice in a refrigerator would prevent if from fermenting,
because the temperature is not right. Likewise, hot, tropical temperature would
prevent fermentation.
In ancient days, before we had refrigeration and vacuum-sealing
ability, people learned to preserve the juice of the grape without turning it
into alcoholic wine. Many people boiled it down into a thick syrup. By doing so,
they could preserve it for long periods of time. When they got ready to drink
it, they would simply add the water to the consistency desired, in much the same
way that we take frozen concentrates and add water. In Bible days, contrary to
what many believe, it was not necessary for everyone to drink alcoholic wine as
a table beverage.
I recommend the book entitled Bible Wines and the Laws of
Fermentation by William Patton (Challenge Press, Little Rock, Arkansas). More
than a hundred years ago, this preacher was the only one in his town who believed
in total abstinence. He saw that it was necessary to make an extensive study to
see what scripture taught. This book is the result of that labor and is the very
best thing I have read on the subject.
[Editor: One point of Patton's book
is that the making of alcoholic wine requires input from man. It requires the
addition of certain additives (though it might be something as simple as sugar)
and the control of temperature, etc. The natural processes alone will produce
fermentation under certain conditions, but these natural processes, if unaided
by man, rapidly move to a vinegar state. The alcoholic beverages industry is very
much a man-made thing. Natural process are PERVERTED by man.]
Now we come to
the longest point in this entire study, but one which is most important, chiefly
because so many insist that Jesus made and drank alcoholic wine.
5. Jesus
did not drink or make alcoholic wine. Here are ten proofs from Scripture.
The
first reason is because of His holy nature. In He. 7:26, we read that the Lord
Jesus is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." No doubt,
the Saviour, being God in the flesh, had an air of holiness about Himself that
could be seen by even the most casual observer. For instance, the profane soldiers,
who were sent to arrest Him, gave as their reason for returning without Him, that
"never a man spake like this man." (John 7:46) The words of Jesus were
different; He, no doubt, had a very holy appearance, character, and speech.
Why
is this so important? Consider this illustration. The word "cider" may
mean an alcoholic beverage, or plain apple juice. Suppose we lived during the
1920s, prohibition days, and were approached by two people offering us a drink
of cider. One of the persons, we knew to be one of the holiest men in town, faithful
to the house of God, separated from the world, diligent in prayers, always witnessing
to others; the other was a known liquor dealer. If each one offered us a drink
of "his very own cider," we would assume that the holy person's was
no more than apple juice, but there would be no doubt about our opinion regarding
the liquor dealer's cider! Obviously, the character of a person influences what
that one does.
Since the Lord Jesus Christ was "holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners," we may safely assume that He would not make that
which is called in Scripture a mocker and deceiver of man, causing untold misery.
A
second reason: He would not contradict scripture. In Mt. 5:17- 18, Christ made
this clear, saying, "Think not that I am come to destroy, but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Therefore, Christ could
not have contradicted Hab. 2:15, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink,
that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest
look on their nakedness!"
Certainly, Jesus knew that this verse was in
the Bible; He was well-acquainted with Scripture, since it is His Word and was
written about Him. He did not come to violate Scripture, but to fulfill it. He
could not have done so, if He had made alcoholic wine and had given it to his
neighbor.
Some people object to the use of this verse by saying that it would
apply only to one who would give his neighbor drink for the purpose of looking
on his nakedness. But we must remember: when one gives his neighbor something
which will make him drunk, he is putting himself in the very class of those who
do so in order to look on their nakedness. And since the Scripture commands us
to "abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Th. 5:22), we can be sure
that the Lord Jesus would not have done something that would have been associated
with such an evil practice as that described in Hab. 2:15. For the same reason,
no Christian should be engaged in the selling of alcoholic beverage.
The third
reason is that Le. 10:9-11 commands the priest of God, "Do not drink wine
nor strong drink ... that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between
unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statues
which the Lord hath spoken..." Now, since He. 2:17 calls Christ "a merciful
and faithful high priest," we would expect Him to obey all Scriptures pertaining
to that office. If He had made or drunk alcoholic wine, He would have disobeyed
these verses and would have been disqualified from teaching the children of Israel
the statues of the Lord.
The fourth reason is found in a passage which we have
already considered: Pr. 31:4-5 prohibits kings and princes from drinking alcoholic
wine or any other strong drink. If they had done so, their judgment would have
been perverted. It was necessary for Christ to obey these verses also, since He
was Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6) and King of Kings (Re. 19:16). In Mt. 27:11, He
admitted to being the King of the Jews. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt,
to fulfill Zec. 9:9, which prophesied that Israel's king would enter the city
in just that way. Undoubtedly, He was king, and as such, would have had to obey
Pr. 31:4-5.
Reason five: Christ did not come to mock or deceive people, yet
Pr. 20:1 says that wine does both. Rather than coming to mock or deceive he came
to save!
Reason six: He did not come to send people to Hell. We have already
seen that Is. 5:11-14 teaches that Hell had to be enlarged because of the drinking
of alcoholic beverage. Christ did not come to send people to Hell; listen to Jn.
3:17: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the world through him might be saved."
Reason seven: Christ did not
come to cast a stumblingblock before anyone; yet, Ro. 14:21 teaches that a person
who gives another alcoholic wine does just that. "It is good neither to eat
flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended,
or is made weak." Everyone who has studied the problem of alcoholism has
learned that some people cannot handle any amount of alcohol, while others may
drink one or two "social" drinks and stop. Experts do not know why this
is true; various theories have been propounded, but nothing has been proved to
be true regarding every person. Some say it is chemical; others insist that it
must be psychological. The fact is, we do not know for certain. In any given group
of people, there would be several potential alcoholics. What a shame it would
be for a person, who is a potential slave to it, to get his first taste at the
Lord's table in church, then proceed down the road of misery to an alcoholic's
grave!
I certainly would not want my children to get their first taste of alcohol
at the family meal; nor would I want them to get it at church. One or more of
them could well be potential alcoholics. As evidence that this is possible, we
should consider that some denominations which serve alcoholic wine in their religious
services also operate homes for alcoholic priests!
But we can be absolutely
sure that Christ did not come to cause others to stumble!
The eighth reason:
John 2, the miracle of turning water into wine, does not require that it be alcoholic.
Many insist that it was, on the basis of verse 10, which says, "Every man
at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then
that which is worse; but thou hast kept the good wine until now." They would
say that, in those days, it was common to serve the best alcoholic wine at first,
saving the worst until later, when men's tastes have been dulled by much drinking.
But the point is just the opposite here! These people could definitely recognize
that the wine which Jesus made was much better than what they had been served
at first. This could not have been possible if they were already well on their
way to becoming intoxicated! The fact is, neither the wine which they had at first,
nor that which Christ made, was alcoholic.
Reason nine is found in the same
passage: the Lord Jesus Christ would not have gotten glory from making drunk people
drunker. Verse 11 is most important when it states that, by this miracle, Jesus
"manifested forth his glory." Verse 10 indicates that the people had
drunk quite a bit of whatever kind of wine they were drinking. If it had been
alcoholic, they would have been intoxicated, or nearly so. Had Christ made alcoholic
wine, He would have made drunk people drunker, or almost-drunk people completely
drunk! Such a deed would certainly not have manifested any glory to Him!
This
chapter also gives us the tenth reason: making drunk people drunker would not
have caused his disciples to believe more strongly on him, yet verse 11 says that,
as a result of what He did in turning the water into wine, "his disciples
believed on him." Jn. 1:41 shows that they had already believed on Him as
Messiah; this was a deepening of their faith and a proof that they had not been
wrong. Would making drunk people drunker inspire such faith? The opposite would
be likely! They were not looking for a Messiah who would pass out free booze!
Thus, because of the description of this miracle and its result, we can not conclude
otherwise than that this wine was non-alcoholic.
In closing, we must consider
two things. One passage, we have already seen. Ro. 14:21 clearly teaches that
Christians should totally abstain, the reason being that it is good "neither
to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth,
or is offended, or is made weak." We have already seen that people may be
potential alcoholics. By the social drinking of alcohol, one might encourage a
person to start drinking, who would not be able to stop. Missionaries and tourists
to foreign countries, where alcohol is a common table beverage, should remember
this. We should also wake up and realize that, in such countries, alcoholism is
also rampant. Let us totally abstain, so that we might not encourage someone to
drink and go down the road to alcoholism.
The last consideration is 1 Co. 6:9-10.
Here, the Bible teaches that drunkenness will send a person to hell. "Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
This does not mean
that a drunkard can never be saved, because the next verse says that some of the
Corinthians committed these very acts before they were converted. A person can
be gloriously set free from drunkenness, by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour and by following His teachings. Many people have experienced such a release!
But the tragedy is that if a person continues in drunkenness, refusing to let
Jesus be the Lord, preferring rather to let king alcohol rule, that one can look
for nothing but a drunkard's grave and eternity in the lake of fire. "Be
not deceived," the Bible says "the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God."
If you are having trouble with this sin, let me encourage
you to realize that you can ask Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life and Saviour
from all your sins, and to set you free. You can know what it means to be free
in Christ! The Bible says, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed" (Jn. 8:36). Realize that you are a sinner in God's sight, "For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Ro. 3:23). Repent of
your rebellion against God, surrendering to His authority. "Except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish" (Lk. 13:3). Receive Christ as your Lord and
Saviour. "As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the
sons of God" (Jn. 1:12).
WHAT ABOUT 1 TIMOTHY 5:23? "...drink no
longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
Many insist that here the Bible gives the privilege, if not a command, of using
alcoholic wine as a medicine. However, this cannot possibly be referring to alcoholic
wine, because he specifically says that it is to be taken for Timothy's stomach.
He obviously had some kind of stomach disease and any doctor will tell you that
such a person must abstain from alcoholic beverage. This author has had much stomach
trouble through the years and has consulted various doctors, observing various
dietary restrictions. In every case, they warned against drinking any alcoholic
beverage whatsoever. If we know that today, surely the Holy Spirit of God knew
that when He inspired this verse! We do not know what Timothy's specific infirmities
were, nor do we know what kind of healing properties there were in grape juice.
_____________________________________ ON ROMAN CATHOLICISMAll
Churches are searching for the truth
Most Protestants would agree with the
Vatican that their church is not perfect, but would claim that they accept the
truth of the Bible, even if they differ in some cases over what that truth is.
And
that means they would not agree with some of the dogma of the church of Rome when
it appears to go against or beyond the Bible, perhaps most notably on the infaillibility
of the pope in matters of faith and morals, the doctrine of purgatory,(by
the way they finally admit that there is no such place) unmarried priesthood
and the repeated sacrifice of Christ in the Eucharist, which is contrary
toHebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:1-10.
The Bible is clear that Christ's sacrifice
was once and for all.
There
are also problems for protestants with the views on Mary, such as those described
in the official catechism of 1992: Mary is a mediator between man and Christ,
A969, contrary to1st Timothy 2:5; Mary's prayers will deliver our
souls from death,A996, nowhere nowhere stated in either catholic or protestant
bible scriptures. Mary is sinless, A996, contrary to Luke 1:47; and
Mary ought to be prayed to A971, again nowhere stated in either catholic
or protestant bible scriptures.
There
are many more apparent departures from Scripture that are detailed in Loraine
Boettner's book Roman Catholicism.
Medic
Alert always
on call www.medicalert.ca
for more information 1-800-668-1507
What
is the difference between a Jehovah's
Witness and a Christian pertaining to FORGIVENESS OF ALL WRONGDOINGS
A
REAL SHOCKER!!!
The Spirit Watch
Watchtower Disfellowshipping:
A Biblical Perspective
By Rafael Martinez, Director, TV BSA
Consider
these actual situations:
A Jehovah's Witness pioneer with 23 years of loyal
membership whose son leaves their organization decided to move to the state where
he lives in an attempt to draw him back into it. The elders of her congregation
want her to stay to keep pioneering in her special ministry. She refuses and moves
anyway. Several other similar"incidents later,"
she is disfellowshipped.
She is disfellowshipped.
A lifelong Witness
couple are confronted with the prospect of the death of their infant daughter
unless she receives a blood transfusion Their Witness friends and elders insist
that she be kidnapped to prevent it, which would mean certain death for the child.
When the couple cannot bring themselves to do it, they find themselves disfellowshipped.
What is disfellowshipping?
It
is the deliberate expulsion of a Jehovah's Witness by their leadership from their
local congregation, and hence, from membership in the Watchtower Society's global
following. It is supposedly based upon Biblical principles of church discipline
mandated in the New Testament for leaders to follow. Witnesses who become prime
candidates for such drastic action are those who are alleged to have committed
some immoral act or rebellion against Biblical teachings as the Watchtower
interprets and dictates them.
The process of disfellowshipping is
initiated to supposedly keep the local congregation spiritually and morally pure,
and is usually done after a group of its elders have convened a judicial committee
to decide on whether or not to expel an errant member.
The Watchtower
report that "each year, about 40,000 individuals are disfellowshipped
from Jehovah's organization" (1).
Disfellowshipping is perhaps one of
the greatest fears that a Jehovah's Witness must grapple with. It is an unsettling
and terrifying prospect to be found guilty of an offense that could lead to their
disfellowshipping from the Watchtower's organization, or "Mother!!!"
as many Jehovah's Witnesses like to call it. This is for several reasons:
·
The Watchtower relentlessly teaches that eternal salvation is found only through being associated with their organization and that to be permanently expelled
from it is to be lost forever and cut off from eternal life and reunion with family
in the resurrection.
· Upon their disfellowshipping, a Witness' opportunity
to prove their worthiness of entrance into the new Paradise Earth will be effectively
suspended, with the threat of an eminent Armageddon hung perpetually over their
lives.
· The Society teaches that the disfellowshipped face the grim
prospect of being consigned to a bleak existence outside of the organization,
in a world that the organization has taught is filled with demons, evil and destruction.
· All their Witness friends and family will be required to virtually
shun them and to have as little to do with them as possible, to not even say hello
to them if they were to meet them in public, and to treat them as evildoers, regardless
of the former close ties they once had.
To lose one's entire social system
on top of the threat of eternal destruction is a fearful prospect no rational
individual can easily cope with. The threat of disfellowshipping is a punitive
sanction that the Society has used well in keeping the rank and file Witness constituency
around the world in line with the dictates of the organization, headquartered
in Brooklyn, New York. Other cults routinely use such measures to similarly control
and manipulate their own constituencies.
The actual disciplinary process, from
the perspective of the accused Witness involved, is extremely arduous and stressful.
An elder or group of elders from their local congregation will notify them that
they are to meet with them in regards to "conduct unbecoming a Christian,"
as they often like to phrase it. Judicial committees composed only of elders from
the local congregation of the offender may meet thereafter several times over
a period of time in closed session, to formally present to the accused charges
of misconduct and to submit the accused to them to the most thorough examination
of their personal life possible in an attempt to "get the facts." The
most minute details of the accused life, including their failings and shortcomings
are often examined, with no opportunity for rebuttals or defending testimony from
third parties, and the fact that several sessions may be used to obtain this information
prolongs the emotional and psychological trauma that the offender suffers simply
through being exposed.
Imagine being a young teenage girl being forced by a group of older men to confess
in excruciating detail her illicit sexual activity with a boy and you will get
an idea of what actually has and does transpire in a Jehovah's Witness judicial
committee meeting.
Should they be disfellowshipped, the accused' knowledge
of how drastically overturned their world will become is hard to understate. They
are aware that, in effect, Witnesses are to treat their disfellowshipped brethren
as if they were dead or spurn them as evil. Many have been so thoroughly indoctrinated
by the Watchtower on what to believe and how to live that they find being the
threat of being expelled from the organization's control and guidance - however
morally bankrupt - as ruinous as a death sentence. A lifetime of successes, relationships,
and sincere effort is swept away in an instant as the announcement is made in
public meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses that a local Witness has been disfellowshipped.
From henceforth, an invisible mark as burning as Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter"
is placed upon the disfellowshipped Witness that will forever isolate them from
their former comrades within the Watchtower fold. It is quite literally one of
the most soul-shattering experiences that a Witness can ever face - to be judged
worthy of eternal destruction by a group of mere men in one or two meetings of
judicial examination.
The Human Cost of Disfellowshipping
If you are a
Jehovah's Witness, you know that these vivid descriptions are not idle forms of
anti-Witness rhetoric, but that are true. The teachings of the Society on disfellowshipping
as stated can be found in Watchtower publications, but the practical and personal
impact of these teachings can only be seen within the closely veiled inner culture
of Witnesses in community. The testimonies of Witnesses we have personally known
who were expelled from the organization bear witness as well as to just how devastating
disfellowshipping is. Perhaps no greater pain is inflicted, however, than by the
most tragic and heartbreaking way that whole families are affected. Children are
cut off from parents, grandparents from grandchildren, husbands from wives, brothers
from sisters. This helps set the stage for domestic violence in many affected
households where the tensions and unresolved frustrations become unbearable and
are released in bursts of rage, abusive language, and physical abuse. One lady
we know who was disfellowshipped was forced to leave her dining room as her Witness
family prayed over their meals. Imagine the home life of a man who has just been
disfellowshipped from the Society and whose wife is now compelled to have as absolutely
little to do with him as possible, and to consider remarrying a Witness in good
standing. Think about the indescribable pain a disfellowshipped grandmother bears
when she realizes that she has several grandchildren (of her loyal Witness children)
who she has never seen.
Personal friendships between Witnesses are ended when
disfellowshipping is enforced, and the social life within the organization that
the Witness has been endlessly taught to seek and develop in an effort to keep
separate from the contamination of the non-Witness world is suddenly ripped out
from under them. The cultural shaking of the Witness who is compelled to leave
the Watchtower is hard to underestimate as these brief testimonials show:
I
find myself often muddled and confused, and always struggling. .. I will never
be able to rid myself of all the gut fears and confusion that I now feel whenever
I think about religion. I try to ignore the whole issue. I was never allowed to
mingle socially or date. I am now unable to function socially in groups of more
than four people. .. My life was oppressed from two forces which combined to narrow
my options to just about nothing. This religion forbids all but necessary contact
with the outside world. (2)
It is no wonder then that the trauma that disfellowshipping
brings to a Witness has been so severe that some plunge into depression or nervous
collapse. Many often become suicidal, bitter, angry and atheistic in their thinking.
Their pain plunges them deeper into the sinful behavior that they may have committed
in an attempt to ease their troubled mind with the consequential emergence of
addictive behaviors such as drug abuse, alcoholism and sexual promiscuity. Numerous
are the testimonies of Witnesses who have suffered complete mental breakdowns
and even institutionalization over impending disfellowshipping proceedings. Tragically,
several have followed through and committed suicide to escape their plight.
It is inconceivable that spiritual leaders in the Watchtower could deliberately
commit errant brethren of their community to such an ordeal, but one can only
stop and wonder at the mental state of those who emotionally and, in many cases,
physically abandon their own flesh and blood in loyal obedience to a religious
organization. What goes through the heart and mind of a parent who must walk,
in public and private, unresponsively past their own child who has been found
worthy of disfellowshipping? How can a Witness on one day intimately share with
a friend, and then, the next day, literally have nothing to do with them?
It
suggests one very tragic thing: the human cost of disfellowshipping is a two-edged
sword that cuts both ways. Any Witness reading this knows this to be true. Anyone
who has felt the weight of disfellowshipping settle upon their shoulders likely
has experienced the unique pain of believing that they are truly are a wicked
individual whom "Mother" has turned her back upon. And their friends
and family who are "being loyal" to God by deliberately disowning their
loved ones must daily reindoctrinate themselves with the notion that their disfellowshipped
loved one is truly beneath the attention and love of Jehovah God. They must now
engage on a lifelong course of self-deception and must assert that their loved
one is someone who really is as cursed as Watchtower authority says they are.
We know of one woman who nearly suffered a nervous breakdown as the day of her
baptism approached, the day in which she would formally join the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Why? Her daughter, who related this testimony to us, believed it was because of
the pressure and anguish that she was suffering knowing that, upon her baptism,
she was going to have to completely cut off all contact with her disfellowshipped
Witness son and his family. The inner conflict between her desire to please "Jehovah"
by obeying his "visible organization" and her deep felt maternal love
and desire to continue her relationship with her son simply drove her almost over
the edge. She is now a baptized Jehovah's Witness, but she secretly sees a therapist
and takes prescription tranquilizers to dull her unique burden of sorrow. She
does this enough so that she may continue to aggressively canvas door to door
to preach "the Good News of the Kingdom."
The Watchtower View Of
Disfellowshipping Vs. The Biblical View of Discipline
The Watchtower Society
takes the position that those who are disfellowshipped are individuals who "allow
love of the world to entice them into serious wrongdoing" (3). It is asserted
by the society that individual Witnesses who are disfellowshipped are Witnesses
who abandoned the Watchtower's teachings for "loose living" or to follow
"apostate doctrine" (4). These are two of the primary reasons that elders
in local Witness congregations are compelled to "take appropriate action
so as not to allow a demoralizing of the congregation" (5). A set of objectives
for disfellowshipping as given in this book note that keeping the organization
pure is the primary concern, and impress upon the wrongdoer the need for repentance
so as to be reinstated. The organizational concern seems more aimed at keeping
the corporate body politicaly "clean" (and hence a pristine public image),
with the actual spiritual restoration of the fallen Witness almost appearing an
afterthought. As we have noted, tens of thousands of Witnesses each year are confronted
with this painful reality, and that it is handled primarily by elders in leadership
among the local congregation who directly represent the Watchtower's interests
and position. Even "prominent elders" have been included among this
number, in keeping with the central concern that "Jehovah's Witnesses realize
that maintaining a morally clean organization is vital in order to continue to
have Jehovah's approval" (6). The Scriptures the Society use to justify disfellowshipping
are taken from Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 1 Timothy 5:20, and 2 Thessalonians
3:14. The December 15, 1984 Watchtower adds that "counsel such as 2 John
9-11 .. 2 Timothy 3:5"(SEE BELOW) instructs Witnesses to allow for "no room for
associating with those who turn away from the truth. Nor do we purchase or read
their writings." Such teaching as prescribed by the Watchtower Society well
illustrates the harsh and authoritarian nature of disfellowshipping among Jehovah's
Witnesses, revealing them to be practices that go far beyond mere correction of
moral lapses but actually tend towards outright abusive manipulation of individual
Witnesses who know no better than the tender mercies of the "Mother"
organization.
Moral lapses are not the only reasons disfellowshipping is
initiated. Individual Witnesses who have been found observing holiday celebrations
like Christmas and birthdays (evil aspects of a sinful world, according to the
Watchtower, that must be shunned)(see below re:birthdays), as well as those
who simply object to some of the Society's more cavalier mandates for lifestyle
choices have found themselves expelled from the organization without regard or
mercy. This level of punitive pressure can be seen for what it is, a heavy handed
attempt at establishing authoritarian legalism that has no bearing upon essentially
Christian moral principles whatsoever. The Society-sanctioned definition of what
constitutes immorality is effectively reinforced by the threat of disfellowshipping
when it is extended to encompass these matters which should be instead left to
the personal judgment of one's own conscience.
In a recent Internet e-mail
received by the author came word of a Witness who was a new convert and who was
forced to watch his young wife slip into a coma and die as a result of hemorrhaging
in childbirth. He had been compelled by Watchtower teaching to withhold a blood
transfusion from her, and in the midst of his grief and anguish after her tragic
death, he made a remark to the media who had heard of the situation that he wasn't
sure if the Witness religion was the truth or not, and that it possibly was a
fantasy. A few days later, over the phone, the widow was accused by elders of
his local congregation of being an "apostate" and was disfellowshipped
without any procedure. Doubting Watchtower teaching, this unfortunate man discovered,
is as evil a sin as adultery, and the congregation must not be "demoralized."
Sadly, he is only one of the thousands who will be disfellowshipped this year
(2006) through a draconian display of hard-line authority over matters of conscience.
Despite recent Watchtower efforts to soften their hard line, the process by and
large is still as traumatic as ever.
The Biblical Pattern Of Christian
Discipline In Community
In the sharpest contrast to the Watchtower position
on disfellowshipping, the Biblical view of church discipline is intended to compassionately,
and yet firmly correct errant Christians. It is not unreasonable nor "unchristian"
to expect and demand from the Christian Church the same sort of accountability
that would firmly discipline its own. The Scriptures cited above do indeed mandate
the Christian congregations to move decisively to confront those who have fallen
into openly sinful lifestyles. But the Biblical mandate for restoration of the
fallen Christian through sound church discipline is vastly more even-handed, civil
and humane than that suffered by Jehovah's Witnesses. For example, entire Witness
congregations, at the direction of elders after due process has run its course,
will obediently turn their backs upon their struggling brethren. They justify
this social isolation by claiming to be following the instruction of 2 Timothy
3:5 - "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such,
turn away" (KJV) and 2 Thessalonians 3:14: "if anyone is not obedient
to our word through this letter, keep this one marked, stop associating with him
that he may become ashamed" (NWT).
And yet, in keeping with their well-established
practice, the Watchtower fails to take entire portion of 2 Thessalonians 3 in
it's proper context. It does not quote the fifteenth verse where it reads: "and
yet, do not be considering him as an enemy, but continue admonishing him as a
brother"(NWT). This verse clearly
shows that the Watchtower's teaching that the faithful should completely cut themselves
off from the disfellowshipped is not only a shocking example of Biblical misinterpretation,
but organizationally sanctioned spiritual abuse having no biblical basis whatsoever.
It assumes that all candidates for disfellowshipping are totally depraved reprobates
who either blaspheme and/or wallow in sinful practice. Such a position makes it
easy for the Society to demonize it's "troublemakers" and to place a
powerful form of manipulative pressure upon them, the shock and trauma of shattered,
if not destroyed relationships.
As we have already seen in our study of
2 Thessalonians 3:14 -15, occasional (if not frequent) interpersonal contact by
Christians to admonish the errant believer is a Biblical mandate that is used
to bring them to their senses, and ultimately, to repent of their sins and to
turn again to holy living. This is how compassionate, responsible, and legitimate
care for the spiritual and moral being of a fellow believer is to be exercised.The passage introduces us to a sound principle of church discipline: all rebuke
and correction must be executed and adminstered within the context of godly familial
relationships. In the same chapter that the Society draws it's truncated view
of open rebuke of sinful believers, 1 Timothy 5, Paul commands that church
leaders "intreat" elder men and women as fathers and mothers, and younger
ones as brothers and sisters "with all purity" (v. 2, KJV). Rather than
viewing them as vile blasphemers - as the Watchtower implies in it's usage of
2 John 9-11 (7), erring Christians, as members of the family of God, are to be
treated as brothers and sisters who must be admonished lovingly, yet firmly. This
principle must be firmly held to throughout the entire process of discipline,
especially when the mandate of Matthew 18 is used. The example of the father of
the prodigal son as related in Jesus' parable of Luke 15:11-32 is a perfect illustration
of the quality of deeply passionate and heartfelt compassion that a family member
would have for another who fell on bad times. Christians who would see the sinful
members of any fellowship properly admonished, disciplined and restored would
do well to remember this passage. It is ironic that the example of the elder son
of the prodigal's family more clearly mirrors the mean-spirited sentiments of
those elders and congregations of Witnesses who choose to harden their hearts
against their struggling brethren.
Another principle of church discipline
being demonstrated here is that genuine love for the truth and purity of the faith
will also temper the punitive sanctions that may be resorted to in defense of
those ideals. Open rebuke and admonition of sinful Christians among the body of
Christ is tragically almost an alien practice among the church. Initiating the
practice as stated in 1 Timothy 5:20 seems, to carnal Christian attitudes of the
modern age almost barbaric (and certainly grounds for lawsuits initiated by litigious
Christians). While there is indeed dire need for communities of Christian faith
to exercise discipline among themselves, and while errant believers must be admonished
or rebuked from time to time, it is clear from Scripture that all discipline will
be done out of loving concern for the Christian individually: the good image and
"morale" of the congregation are actually secondary issues. The sinful
brother of 1 Corinthians 5 is seen again in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, apparently sorrowful
over the disciplinary process that Paul had exhorted the church to pursue with
him. The context suggests, but does not conclusively demonstrate, that this individual
had repented of his wrongdoing. Apparently all we know of this individual is that
he was all but overcome by a deep sorrow (v. 7) brought upon him through the punitive
process that Paul proscribed in 1 Corinthians 5. He could have been struggling
with either godly sorrow, which leads to true repentance, or "worldly"
sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9-11) The point is that Paul's counsel was for the church
to forgive and to comfort him. He intreated the Corinthian congregation to reach
out to him and to demonstrate their care for this man, who may have not repented
for his sin, but who desperately needed a visitation of Godly love and care for
him through the church - after a season of enforced excommunication.
Having
established close relationships in a fellowship of believers and to have them
drastically curtailed in Christian chastisment is not meant to be pleasant, but
it gets the job done by a necessary social emphasis that a breach in fellowship
with God also affects human relationships. This excommunication, however, is never
employed to disrupt and mute family relationships to the point of non-existence,
or worst of all, pseudo-existence. Not one single verse in the Scriptures anywhere
implies that Christian discipline demands that families be divided, grandparents
isolated from grandchildren, and husbands from wives. And yet this is what the
practice of disfellowshipping demands of all loyal Witnesses who may be unfortunate
enough to have loved ones subjected to it. Countless testimonies of families whose
relationship circles have been literally destroyed exist and are on file. The
examples cited in the beginning of this article are only a few of the well-documented
many. Surely the very notion of parents being compelled by religious teaching
to completely ignore their own children, at face value, will strike any objective
observer as inconceivably cruel. We heartily agree, but the Watchtower Society,
believing itself to be the only true religion on the earth today, continues to
demand just such a price from hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
To The Disfellowshipped Or Their Loved Ones
Many former Jehovah's
Witnesses, after months, even years of disfellowshipped life outside the Society,
are never the same after somehow finding relative personal stability from the
blow they've suffered from it. Although the Society may have physically cast them
out, they never quite spiritually left the Society altogether. The trauma of
having to reconstruct an entirely new worldview is devastating. Most of these,
retreat into lives of bitterness and emptiness, with an eventual progression into
unresolved anger, grief, and depression which often lead into destructive choices
in lifestyle. Some manage to put their lives back together through meaningful
vocations or careers. Not a few become atheistic or agnostic, either out of bitter
scorn or an exercise of unbelief motivated by the cruelty they have beheld. Many
others do eventually come to terms with matters of faith and adopt a form of spirituality
they find non-threatening and comfortable, if not entirely fulfilling - some even
turn to Christianity or some other world religion.
It is striking to realize
that many of these individuals, many find themselves vigorous boosters for the
Watchtower when they find it under attack. Startling as it may seem, at each annual
observance called the "Memorial" which is held world wide in Witness
Kingdom Halls, many disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witnesses will be found dutifully
attending them. As former Witness Randy Watters relates, it often comes as "a
surprise for many who encounter a person who defends the Jehovah's Witnesses both
in belief and practice, only to find out that they were disfellowshipped and no
longer associate with the Witnesses" (8). He goes on to describe three of
the many factors that many disfellowshipped Witnesses labor under which keep them
bound to a blind loyalty to the very organization that brought upon them such
woe. These factors are guilt, fear, and "the love affair."
Disfellowshipped
Witnesses live in a state of guilt, since redemption from their wrongdoings can
only be received from the Watchtower - thus self-condemnation is a never-ending
scourge in their lives. Fear of further wrongdoing, of impending judgment by Jehovah,
and being found in further rebellions against the Society (like speaking out against
it's injustices inflicted upon them, or reading material critical of the Watchtower)
amplifies their guilt, as well as drives them into frenzied defense of the Society
when it is criticized by others. The disfellowshipped Witness often has a strong
yearning for the comradeship and brotherhood aspects of life in the organization,
along with the sense of security by abiding in a well-ordered world where how
to think and live is dictated to them by "Jehovah's Clean Organization."
Not unlike a codependent woman mentally and emotionally shackled to an abusive
boyfriend, disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witnesses suffers from a traumatic bondage
to the spiritually abusive example of the Watchtower that is hard to overstate.
We'd
like to interject a word or two for those who have felt the iron fist of Watchtower
authority and have been disfellowshipped. Despite what elders, congregational
servants, or anyone else around you may say or think about you, and even despite
what you may have done, we'd think you'd like to know that Jehovah is a God of
love as well as that of justice. You have been led down a path of understanding
that didn't reveal the true God that the ancient peoples of God knew. The picture
of Him as depicted by the Society is a warped, distorted and empty shell that
cannot compare to the actual greatness of His undeserved kindness, His grace,
and the desire that he would extend to you today. The Scriptures reveal Him as
always seeking to demonstrate His desire to care for you, to bring healing and
new life to you (1 John 1:9)! That is what grace is really supposed to do.
Sadly,
what many zealous and sincere people who approach groups like the Watchtower quickly
discover is a religious system that metes out it's "divine love" (often
cited among themselves as "proof" of their divine favor) based upon
conformity to a code of conduct. Such legalistic worldviews that demand performance
inevitably compel an individual to rely upon their good works for approval from
God, an approval easily provided by men who claim to speak for God and uphold
"the truth." (Colossians 2:8, 20-22,). The deep frustration, anger,
resentment and fear that many come away with from their involvement with the organization
is then quite understandable. Who could not feel tempted to yield to despair,
bitterness, rage and even hatred after having been prodded onto an organizational
treadmill demanding your absolute loyalty, trust, and obedience. Who can find
themselves willing to continue to follow the dictates of an organization led by
a driving taskmaster diety demanding one's performance of lifestyle perfection?
No wonder they have little reason to trust in such a god!
Could we share a
word of encouragement to you, along with something to think about? If you have
your Bible, turn to Isaiah 49:15 and consider the truth made clear here:
Can
a wife forget her suckling so that she should not pity the child of her belly?
(NWT)
As hard as it is to believe, mothers can and do forget their children,
even to the extent of hardening their hearts against them. The sad examples of
abusive mothers are always around us. But the wonderful promise of the Scriptures
here tell us of the love of God for those who have been rejected and left defenseless
and helpless in a strange and unfriendly world.
Even these women can forget
yet I myself shall not forget you. (NWT)
Over and over in the Scriptures of
the Old Testament, we find fallen Israel, a nation filled with the deepest depravity,
being continually offered the divine love and forgiveness that Jehovah God always
held out to them. No matter how "beyond hope" they seemed to be, He
made it clear that His greater depths of gracious mercy and loving kindness were
extended to them. Just as the evil of the nation's very priests and kings turned
them away from the care and guidance of their people, so would there be women
who would ignore their infant children who relied upon them for life. In the midst
of such a calamity, Jehovah arises to serve notice upon Israel through this moving
word of prophetic illumination that He will not allow them to be cast away, forgotten,
in sin to never again receive of His care.
God even commanded the godly aged
prophet Hosea to marry a wild-living prostitute to serve as an open witness of
His unfailing love for Israel as it turned from true worship and godly leadership
into depraved idolatry and political intrigue. Hosea's faithful love and provision
for his adulterous and immoral wife was meant to serve as a powerful and living
witness to the nation that "O Israel, thou has destroyed thyself; but in
me is thine help" (Hosea 13:9) (KJV).
He could say to Israel in Jeremiah
29:11:
I myself well know the thoughts that I am thinking towards you .. thoughts
of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope (NWT)
Again,
God is speaking to a nation of people who had suffered as a result of their willful
rejection of him, and he again takes the initiative to reach out to the vile and
the sinful. Many more examples from Scripture can be cited, but the point is clear:
God loves, and He loves thoroughly. John 3:16 points out that he "so loved
the world" enough to send His Son to die redemptively for you and all men.
The same world that would hate the Christ and destroy his disciples in the years
to come was loved thoroughly by His Father. Isn't that something to consider when
you begin to brood over how worthless you are? He knew what we would all individually
fall to, what depths of ungodly evil all of us are capable of doing, and still
He loved the world!
Jesus Christ, the Son of God told his disciples "I
am the way, the truth and the life: no man can come to the Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth,
ye know him, and have seen him. .. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"
(John 14:6-7, 9b, KJV). After establishing his central role as the only One who
provides salvation and mediatory access to the Father for all mankind, Jesus explained
to their troubled minds that to know him meant that one could know his Father
as well. To know the love of God, one must know the love of Jesus. To know the
Father intimately would be to know the Son intimately as well. Instead of hoping
to some day fit back into the "good graces" of the Watchtower Society's
capricious and callous machinery, wouldn't it be much easier to turn to Jesus
for the way back to the Father, to the one in whom we have beheld the "express
image" and glory of God's graceful love for mankind (Hebrews 1:1-3, John
1:14) - including the disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witness or two? We must recall,
in closing our report, the invitation this wonderful Savior, the Truth, extends
to all who have been rejected by religious organizations as reprobates - words
scarcely believable, but which thousands of disfellowshipped people have found
to indeed to be true:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
*With
all this said and done I believe that my personal relationship with Our Lord Jesus
Christ is without a doubt my best ticket to heaven. Why?Because My God is a forgiving
God. All those that are disfellowshipped can find joy and happiness simply by
asking Jesus in their heart. Jesus loves each and everyone with no exceptions
and that includes you. God Bless You!
_____________________
and
now regarding...
BIRTHDAYS
Is
it proper to celebrate birthdays?
In a blameless fashion it is quite proper
to celebrate one's own special day.
In
Bible scriptures
Job's Family Celebrated Their Birthdays Job was
a blameless and upright man (see Job 1:1) and, therefore, raised his children
properly and there is much evidence that Job and his sons celebrated their birthdays.
"And his sons went and rested in their houses, everyone his day(yowm)Hebrew
words to mean birthday); and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and
drink with them. (Job 1:4, KJV)
The Hebrew interpretation of the
Bible indicates that the word "day" (yowm) in this scripture is definitely
used as a space of time and can be rendered, with other Hebrew words
(such
as "his") to mean birthday.
The Revised Standard Versionreads it this way: His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of
each on his day;
and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat
and drink with them.
The
Living Bible reads the following: Every year when each of Job's sons
had a birthday, he invited his brothers and sisters to his house for a celebration.
On these occasions they would eat and drink with great merriment.
Needless
to say, today, birthdays are important in our culture and a yearly celebration
is quite proper for friends and family.
BLOOD
TRANSFUSION
Recent developments in medical care of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by:Osamu
Muramoto
Introduction
Since 1945, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
(WTS), the controlling religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), has
promulgated to all its followers a doctrine to refuse blood and certain blood
products for their medical treatment. They teach that the biblical command, "you
must not eat blood" (Leviticus 17:12) and "abstain from blood"
(Acts 15:29), means "not taking it into our bodies at all," including
prohibition of the medical use of blood.
1 For the past half century, this
doctrine has brought numerous challenges in medical care of JW patients, and quite
often tragic premature deaths. Although the doctrine is said to be an "everlasting
law" of God, it has recently undergone major revisions. In this review, I
will discuss some of these developments, which impact on the medical care of approximately
ten-million adherents world-wide for whom blood treatment may be an issue.
Summary Points
Despite progress in bloodless medicine, the care
of Jehovah's Witness patients who refuse blood-based treatments is difficult .
An agreement signed by the organization at the European Commission of Human
Rights states that Jehovah's Witnesses should have free choice to receive blood
transfusions without any control or sanction from the organization.
The recent
emergence of reform Jehovah's Witnesses, who petition for a right to freedom of
personal choice to accept or refuse blood transfusions, indicates a growing diversity
among the followers in their attitudes toward the blood policy.
An individualized
approach to each patient, respecting their diversity of beliefs and values, has
become increasingly important.
Abbreviations used in text: JW=Jehovah's
Witness, WTS=Watchtower Bible and Tract Society; HIS=Hospital Information Service;
HLC=Hospital Liaison Committee; AJWRB=Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform
on Blood
Distinction
between acceptable and unacceptable treatments
For physicians who treat JWs,
one of the most puzzling aspects is that they are, in fact, accepting many blood-based
treatments despite their belief in absolute abstinence from blood.Since
this biblical law is said to be absolute, it is unclear why the WTS does not teach
its members to simply refuse all medical use of blood. On
one hand, they teach that God prohibits any intake of blood into the body regardless
of the methods, whether eating it in the biblical era, or infusing it in modern
medicine. On the other hand, they have meticulously
sorted out various methods of blood intake in medical settings, and classified
them either as acceptable or unacceptable, depending on the method. As new blood-based
treatments become available, such classification has become a daunting task.
Table 1 summarizes
the current policy and practice of prohibited and acceptable treatments.
Table
2 shows the complex conditions under which the same or similar material or procedure
may become acceptable or unacceptable. Information in these tables is a composite
from WTS publications, including their advance directive form, as well as articles
by JW physicians.2,6 Many JWs do not understand or remember such complicated regulations.
Table 1 Current policy and practice of WTS on prohibited and acceptable
treatments
Prohibited Blood Components and Procedures Acceptable Blood Components
and Procedures
Whole blood
Plasma proteins (albumin, globulin, fibrin)
Blood donation
Use of donated blood (to take acceptable components)
Table 2 Complex
conditions that make similar components/procedures acceptable or unacceptable
JWs May Not Accept .... JWs May Accept ....
Whole blood2 IF taken as
"blood transfusion" # IF taken as contained in bone marrow transplants3
Plasma proteins2 IF taken together as "plasma" # IF taken separately
as individual blood component (albumin, globulin, clotting factors, fibrin)
White
blood cells2 IF taken as "white blood cells" # IF taken as "peripheral
stem cells"4,5
Autologous blood2 IF tube connection to the patient's
body is interrupted # IF tube connection to the patient's body is maintained (hemodilution,
cell saver)
IF it is stored # IF taken as "peripheral stem cells"
(even if it is stored)4
Stem cells6 IF taken from umbilical cord blood7 IF
taken from peripheral blood or bone marrow3,4
Major protein from prohibited
component IF taken from red blood cells (hemoglobin)6 # IF taken from plasma (albumin)2
Heart-lung machine2 IF patient's blood is used to prime the machine # IF patient's
blood is used to circulate in the machine
Epidural blood patch8 IF blood is
removed from vein and injected IF injecting syringe is connected to vein via tube
Blood donation9 IF donated by JWs for use of JWs and others # IF donated by
non-JWs for use of JWs and others
Conditions marked by # are observed by JWs
without exception. Other conditions are observed by many JWs but with exceptions.
For example, JWs never accept a heart-lung machine primed with blood, but most,
if not all, JWs accept the machine as long as it is circulated with own blood.
These facts
have prompted the WTS to form the "Hospital Information Service" (HIS)
in its headquarters, a public relations office for the blood policy. It answers
inquiries regarding "no-blood" treatment, and interprets the rules and
conditions for patients and doctors. The HIS researches medical literature, recommends
various no-blood treatments, and provides references to cooperative physicians.
In addition, more than 1200 "Hospital Liaison Committees"(HLCs), which
consist of selected elders who received special training from HIS, are established
worldwide. Its members visit hospitals to present the policy. They provide the
same service as HIS locally, and can intervene between JW patients and physicians
as needed.
Reform
movement inside JWs
Since 1996, a growing number of JWs, including some members
of HLCs, have expressed anonymously their dissent to the blood policy.10 They
formed a group called the Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood (AJWRB).11,12
They call for a reform of the blood policy which, according to them, is plagued
by a complicated web of contradictory rules and conditions strictly enforced without
biblical basis. Some members of HLCs have resigned because of what they call "Pharisaic"
rules. The WTS has dismissed them as "disaffected ones" and discredited
them because of AJWRB's anonymity.13,14 However, according to AJWRB, it is not
possible, other than anonymously, for a JW to voice any criticism of the WTS or
propose any reform from within the organization, because such public expression
almost certainly results in expulsion of the members.12
The
significance of this reform movement for physicians is awareness of a growing
diversity of values and beliefs among individual JWs, who have long been viewed
as a uniform religious group. Such diversity requires physicians to scrutinize
the patient's premolded medical directive more closely and take a more individualized
approach.
Freedom
of choice in JWs' medical care
Although it is well known that the WTS has
fought many years for freedom of choice to refuse blood transfusions vis-á-vis
legal authorities and medical professions - members within the WTS are not accorded
the same freedom of choice to receive blood transfusions without penalty. The
fact that the very freedom that the WTS has demanded outside the organization
has been denied inside the organization is another major point of reform called
for by the AJWRB. Any JW who openly and willfully receives a prohibited blood-based
treatment and does not repent of the action before a "judicial committee"
will receive the harshest sanction of the religion, excommunication or "disfellowshipping."
This is considered equal to betraying God and involves shunning, or isolation
from normal association or fellowship with family and life-long friends who are
members. Many former JWs testify to the psychological trauma associated with leaving
the religion.
This
punitive measure may soon change. One of the most important developments of the blood policy of JWs in recent years
is the public agreement established in 1998 between the WTS and the government
of Bulgaria at the European Commission of Human Rights. The WTS agreed that
JWs in Bulgaria "should have free choice" to receive blood transfusions
"without any control or sanction on the part of the association."15,16
This apparent compromise was made in exchange for registration of JWs as a religion
in that country. The WTS has been reticent with their members about their promise
of "free choice" in Bulgaria, and only issued a letter and a press release
stating that there has been no change in the blood policy.16a Nevertheless, a
WTS representative, quoting the charter accepted by the Bulgarian government,
now states that the WTS "may not exercise control over free will of believers
but allows them to exercise their conscience consistent with godly Bible principles."
He also states that the WTS does not "arbitrarily apply sanctions in connection
with the medical care that Jehovah's Witnesses conscientiously seek for themselves
and children," and this, according to him, is the established beliefs of
JWs internationally.14
These
statements appear to conflict with the enforced policy of expelling and ostracizing
those who conscientiously receive blood transfusions and do not repent. According
to AJWRB, these WTS statements could be interpreted to mean that each member may
exercise personal conscience to choose which blood components are acceptable in
medical treatment, since the "godly Bible principles" are silent over
what is or is not acceptable in blood components. On the other hand, the statements
allow the WTS to "non-arbitrarily apply sanctions" and to continue to
"exercise control over free will." We should expect further clarification
from the WTS to explain this discrepancy. In the meantime, it is an indication
that JWs may soon be given the right to choose their own medical care, including
acceptance or refusal of blood, without organizational control.
Ethical
and legal issues of the blood card and informed refusal The use of the
"blood card," a wallet-sized advance directive created by the WTS and
carried by JWs, has been controversial. The card is intended to document the
JW's informed refusal of blood in the event of an emergency. Yet, the validity
of the card has been questioned, particularly when a JW patient presents to the
emergency room unconscious and exsanguinating, with the blood card being the only
expression of will.17 There are two main reasons to challenge the validity of
such cards.
First, it is unclear whether such a directive was signed as a
spontaneous and personal decision, or as an obligation to comply with the organizational
rules as a member. Every year in January, new cards are handed out to all JWs
to sign. Group leaders are instructed to ensure that every member sign the card
during a private group meeting. Such a signing procedure could be coercive due
to strong peer pressure.
Second, there is a serious concern whether JWs were
adequately informed of the risk versus benefit analysis of blood-based treatments
when they signed the card. In their official magazines, horrifying stories about
tragic cases of blood-based treatments collected from medical journals and news
media have been presented, yet there has never been any article that objectively
weighs the benefit of blood transfusions against the risk. Such biased information
raises serious concern about the validity of the informed refusal expressed in
the blood card.
As
Migden and Braen stated,17 it appears that the real purpose of the blood card
is not to ensure that JWs make an informed decision regarding blood-based treatment,
but rather to prevent JWs from receiving blood. Under such strict organizational
directives imposed by the WTS, autonomy of JW patients, which is a prerequisite
of informed consent, may be suppressed. Considering these factors, Migden and
Braen concluded that a good faith decision to transfuse an unconscious adult JW
in emergent need of blood is justified if the patient does not have a blood refusal
advance directive that is informed and can survive a high level of scrutiny.
Catheryn Proctor, right, mother of Jadine Russell, a pedestrian who died after
being hit by a drunk driver, wipes away a tear outside the courtroom after the
driver's trial. The victim, a Jehovah's Witness, refused a blood transfusion,
which the defense argued actually caused her death.
Victoria Arocho/Associated
Press.
In
view of such potential problems of the blood card, the WTS in recent years has
put more emphasis on filling out a full advance directive form for refusal of
blood, in conjunction with a health-care power of attorney (proxy) form prepared
by the WTS for each state. JWs are encouraged to fill out these forms and submit
them for their health care providers to have on record. The forms include legal
references for judges and hospital lawyers who may question or challenge the legality
of the blood policy. The forms detail WTS-approved alternatives for blood treatment,
and instruct as to what treatments JWs must not accept under any circumstances,
even to save their lives. The forms also list which blood components and procedures
may be allowed and under what circumstances, subject to an individual's conscience
(see Table 1 and 2). The WTS now encourages JWs to indicate on the blood card
that they have executed the advance directive forms of their state.
Clinical
management of JW patients
When no life-threatening condition exists, and alternative
bloodless treatment is readily available without excessive cost or risk, treatment
of JWs should be no different from other patients. They do not refuse other medical
treatment and are generally conscientious about their own health and respectful
of physicians.
Major
ethical controversy arises when there are limited or no alternatives to blood-based
treatment. Until the WTS publishes more simplified rules, and allows all medical
treatment decisions to be based on individual conscience, the care of such JW
cases will remain complicated. It is not sufficent to either blindly comply with
the pre-molded directive, or flatly refuse treatment and refer to another hospital
or doctor.
The
patient's personal beliefs and understanding of the risk versus benefit should
be carefully discussed in private conference. Religious discussion need not be
avoided since organizational control of patients' choices are inseparable from
their religious conviction.18 Only a small number of JWs understand the complex
rules and conditions of blood policy of their own organization. For this reason,
I recommend that any medical professionals dealing with JW patients obtain a small
brochure Do Jehovah's Witnesses Really Abstain From Blood? published by AJWRB
19 for reference in such discussions. It is written by JWs themselves and concisely
discusses the questions of the blood policy. It is also important to seek ethics
consultation in complicated cases.
What
is acceptable or unacceptable treatment should ultimately be determined by the
individual patient, in concert with advice from treating physicians. Some JW patients
may delegate their decision to the WTS and ask the HLC to intervene on their behalf.
Others may be autonomous enough to make individualized decisions based on new
perspectives.
Whatever
decision the patient makes, extra precaution must be taken to ensure the privacy
and confidentiality of those decisions. The WTS once published an article in its
official magazine that encouraged JWs who work in the medical field to divulge
confidential medical information of fellow JW patients who secretly receive medical
treatment prohibited by the WTS.20
Life-threatening
emergency treatment of exsanguinating JW patients continues to be problematic.
There is no time to obtain informed consent to transfuse blood. Every effort should
be made to stabilize the patient so that valid and contemporaneous informed consent
can be obtained. If the patient is unable to express a contemporaneous decision
and there is no valid advance directive, or there is reasonable doubt about the
validity of the blood card, emergency blood transfusions may be given until the
patient is relieved from imminent danger of death.17
There
are several reasons to support this course of action. First, emergency exception
to consent has been an established medicolegal principle. The Pennsylvania Supreme
Court held that "...where there is an emergency calling for an immediate
decision, nothing less than a fully conscious contemporaneous decision by the
patient will be sufficient to override evidence of medical necessity."21
Second, JWs who were unconsciously transfused are not subject to the religion's
judicial process or sanctions. Third, as reviewed here, since there is an indication
of change in the policy on the horizon, premature death at the present time due
to blood loss must be averted.
Treatment
of children
Children of JW parents should be given treatment independently
from their parents' religion. As the Committee of Bioethics of the American Academy
of Pediatrics stated, "constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion do
not permit children to be harmed through religious practices."22 In emergency
situations where there is risk of harm to the child by withholding blood-based
treatment, immediate danger should be relieved, including, if necessary, giving
blood-based treatment. Decisions regarding "mature minors" or adolescent
children are more problematic. The maturity of each child is different, and so
is the child's understanding and commitment to the blood policy. If there is any
unsolved ethical or legal issue regarding JW children, it is most appropriate
to obtain a court order before proceeding further.
Disclaimer/Disclosure
Views and opinions expressed herein are the author's and do not necessarily reflect
those of Kaiser Permanente and Northwest Permanente P.C. The author has served
as a medical consultant to the AJWRB since 1997 without compensation. He has never
been a Jehovah's Witness.
SEE ABOVE re Disfellowshipping
Matthew 18:15-17, When Someone Hurts You
15 “If your brother or sister in God’s family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to you, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again.
16 But if they refuse to listen, go to them again and take one or two people with you. Then there will be two or three people who will be able to tell all that happened.[a]
17 If they refuse to listen to them, tell the church. And if they refuse to listen to the church, treat them as you would treat someone who does not know God or who is a tax collector.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13, has to do with incest
1 I don’t want to believe what I am hearing—that there is sexual sin among you. And it is such a bad kind of sexual sin that even those who have never known God don’t allow it. People say that a man there has his father’s wife.
2 And still you are proud of yourselves! You should have been filled with sadness. And the man who committed that sin should be put out of your group.
3 I cannot be there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already judged the man who did this. I judged him the same as I would if I were really there.
4 Come together in the name of our Lord Jesus. I will be with you in spirit, and you will have the power of our Lord Jesus with you.
5 Then turn this man over to Satan. His sinful self[a] has to be destroyed so that his spirit will be saved on the day when the Lord comes again.6 Your proud talk is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.”
7 Take out all the old yeast, so that you will be a new batch of dough. You really are bread without yeast—Passover bread.[b] Yes, Christ our Passover Lamb[c] has already been killed.
8 So let us eat our Passover meal, but not with the bread that has the old yeast, the yeast of sin and wrongdoing. But let us eat the bread that has no yeast. This is the bread of goodness and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter that you should not associate with people who sin sexually.
10 But I did not mean the people of this world. You would have to leave the world to get away from all the people who sin sexually, or who are greedy and cheat each other, or who worship idols.
11 I meant you must not associate with people who claim to be believers but continue to live in sin. Don’t even eat with a brother or sister who sins sexually, is greedy, worships idols, abuses others with insults, gets drunk, or cheats people.
12-13 It is not my business to judge those who are not part of the group of believers. God will judge them, but you must judge those who are part of your group. The Scriptures say, “Make the evil person leave your group.
1 Timothy 5:20, has to do with elders sinning
20 Tell those who sin that they are wrong. Do this in front of the whole church so that the others will have a warning.
2 Thessalonians 3:14.
14 Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.
2 John 1:9-11 has to do with changing the teachings of the word
9 Everyone must continue to follow only the teaching about Christ. Whoever changes that teaching does not have God. But whoever continues to follow the teaching about Christ has both the Father and his Son.
10 Don’t accept those who come to you but do not bring this teaching. Don’t invite them into your house. Don’t welcome them in any way.
11 If you do, you are helping them with their evil work.
2 Timothy 3:5has to do with leading a double life
5 They will go on pretending to be devoted to God, but they will refuse to let that “devotion” change the way they live. Stay away from these people!
After study, a Witness of 20 years finds herself no longer able to accept the
Watchtower's teaching that Jesus is Michael the archangel and tries to dialogue
with her elders about it. She said
Jesus is not Michael the archangel. The Bible nowhere identifies Jesus as Michael (or any other angel, for that matter).
6 And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, H says,
“Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
7 Of the angels He says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son, God says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
The hierarchy of heavenly beings is made clear in this passage—angels worship Jesus who, as God, is alone worthy of worship. No angel is ever worshipped in Scripture; therefore, Jesus (worthy of worship) cannot be Michael..
in
(Genesis 6:2-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7), the angels are called sons of God
in (Hebrews 1:8; Matthew 4:3-6). Jesus is THE SON OF GOD
Michael the archangel is perhaps the highest of all the angels. Michael is the only angel in the Bible who is designated “the archangel” (Jude verse 9). Michael the archangel, though, is only an angel. He is not God. The clear distinction in the power and authority of Michael and Jesus can be seen in comparing Matthew 4:10 where Jesus rebukes Satan, and
Jude verse 9, where Michael the archangel “dared not bring a judgment of blasphemy” against Satan and calls on the Lord to rebuke him. (Michael does not have the authority to rebuke satan but the Lord has. (p.s. ``Lord`` is applicable to both God and Jesus because they are one and the same) Jesus is God incarnate (John 1:1, 14).
The conclusion remains that: Michael the archangel is a powerful angel, but still only an angel.
by the way she is disfellowshiped for simply speaking the truth.................
