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101 Answers to 101 Questions to Ask Jehovah's Witnesses Using the NWT

Questions 81-90



81. If the soul dies when the body dies, how could the "souls" of Rev 6:9- 11, who were of those who had been "slaughtered" (i.e., killed), cry out "with a loud voice, saying: 'Until when Sovereign Lord ..."?

These are the questions that spring from a mind that is incapable of grasping metaphor. How should we understand Genesis 4:10, where God said to Cain after he killed his brother: "Listen! Your brother's blood is crying out to be from the ground?" Are we to suppose that the red blood cells possess some capacity we are not aware of that allows blood to silently communicate with God? More reasonably, isn't that simply a graphic way of saying that Abel's spilled blood demanded God to establish justice in his case by avenging his murder?

Since that is obviously the case, Revelation 6:9 uses that same sort of allusion to symbolize how Jehovah must eventually avenge the deaths of his anointed sons at the war of Armageddon.



82. In Mt 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples to baptize "people of all the nations ...in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit". Why would the disciples be instructed to baptize in the name of anybody or anything who was not God? Do Jehovah's Witnesses follow the command of Jesus and baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit"?

Some of Jesus' early followers were baptized in the baptism of John. Does that mean that John the Baptizer holds equal billing with the Father, Son and spirit? Obviously, those who are steeped in Trinitarian dogma see the words Father, Son and spirit in the same sentence and they reflexively think "Trinity." However, discerning persons realize that just because those words appear in the same verse, it in no way equates one with the other.

Jehovah's Witnesses baptize "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit" by acting under the authority and oversight of Jehovah, Jesus and the holy spirit.  



83. If the human soul IS the person, how could the soul go out of a person’s body (Gen 35:18) or come back into a person’s body (1 Kings 17:21)? Similarly, in Lk 12:4-5, what would be left of a person after they were killed that could be thrown into Gehenna?

"Soul" does not always mean the individual person. Depending on the context it can also mean the life that a person possesses. Hence, if a person's soul "goes out," they die. If it comes back into them, that is another way of saying that the person revived from near death. Strong's lexicon, which the questioner is fond of referring to, lists numerous meanings for the word commonly translated as soul. Among one of the primary meanings of the Hebrew word nephesh is a "breather." Hence, if a person stops breathing, his soul goes out of him.



84. Eph 4:4 says that there is ONE spirit. 1Cor 3:16 says for the people of God’s temple, this spirit of God dwells in them and Rom 8:9 states that those who are in harmony with the spirit have God’s spirit dwelling in them. If this is all true and there is only ONE sprit, then who or what is the spirit of Christ (Phil 1:19, Gal 4:6, Rom 8:9)? In Gal 4:6, how is it possible that the spirit of Christ could come into our hearts? How is it possible that the spirit of CHRIST could reside in someone? How could a person have God’s spirit dwelling in them (Rom 8:9) but also have Christ’s spirit (Rom 8:9), if there is only ONE spirit, unless God and Jesus are one and the same?

Again, the questioner apparently supposes that common words do not have various shades of meaning. When the Scripture says that there is only "one spirit" that means that there is a single unifying force that works among believers. Having Christ's spirit means that each believer reflects the attitude and personality of Christ. Obviously, Christ is not working at odds with Jehovah's holy spirit which operates through the congregations of God. In that respect there is only one spirit at work.



85. In Jn 6:51, Jesus says that a person must eat "of this bread" in order to "live forever", and that "the bread that I give IS my flesh". If Jesus was only speaking symbolically here, why did the Jews object to this teaching (Jn 6:52), and why didn’t Jesus explain to them that he was only speaking symbolically, instead of going on to repeat himself FIVE times saying essentially the same thing (Jn 6:53, 54, 56, 57, 58)? If Jesus was only speaking symbolically here, why does John use the Greek word “trogo” (Strong’s # 5176) in verses Jn 6:54, 56, 57, and 58, which means “to gnaw on; to chew” according to Strong’s Greek dictionary? Can “to gnaw on or chew” be taken symbolically in any way? If Jesus was only speaking symbolically in this passage, after his own disciples objected to this teaching (Jn 6:60), why did he allow “many disciples” to leave (Jn 6:66) instead of calling them back and straightening everything out like he had done on other occasions with other difficult teachings (see Jn 3:1-15, Mt 16:5-12, 19:23-26)? Finally, if Jesus was only speaking symbolically in this passage (Jn 6:51-58), and really meant that they only needed to believe, why did so many disciples leave him over this teaching, when they had already been told that they must “believe” (Jn 5:24), and we see absolutely no disciples leaving him after Jesus told them this? Do you eat the flesh of Christ, as Jesus commanded, in order to have life in yourself (Jn 6:54) and in order to live forever (Jn 6:58)? See Lk 22:19.

The questioner is very much mistaken. Jesus did very clearly state that he was speaking in symbolic, spiritual terms. In the 63rd verse, Jesus explained: The sayings that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you that do not believe."

Jesus allowed his disciples to leave because they were not his true disciples and they proved that by their stumbling over his teachings. The Bible is written in such a way so as to make it virtually impossible to understand it except on God's terms.



86. If Jesus is not God, then why would he have deceived the Jews by making himself “equal to God” in Jn 5:17-18?

Once again, the questioner is very much mistaken. Jesus never claimed to be equal to God. That was an accusation the murder-breathing Jews made against Christ. Jesus had already told them that they were liars and that they did the will of their spiritual father—the Devil. He also told them that they did not know him or his Father. Jesus set them straight by telling them that he was God's Son—not God's equal.

It is noteworthy that Trinitarians use the very same reasoning as the Jews to try and make Jesus out to be Jehovah. Could that be because the Devil's truth-twisting influence is just as prevalent today as it was in Jesus' day?



87. If only 144,000 spirit anointed people are “born again”, why does the Bible, in 1Jn 5:1, say that, “EVERYONE believing that Jesus is the Christ has been BORN FROM GOD…”? What does the word “everyone” mean to you? Conversely, where in the Bible does it say that only 144,000 people will be “born again”? Similarly, if only 144,000 spirit anointed people are “born from God”, why does the Bible say that “EVERYONE who loves has been BORN FROM GOD” (1Jn 4:7)? Don’t all Christians love and believe that Jesus is the Christ? Again, what does the word “everyone” mean to you? Similarly, if only 144,000 spirit anointed people are “sealed with the holy spirit”, why does the Bible say in Eph 1:13, that after a Christian “believed”, he was “sealed with the promised holy spirit.” Shouldn’t this apply to all Christians since all Christians “believe” that Jesus is the Christ? In addition, Rom 8:14 says that, “ALL who are led by God’s spirit, these are God’s sons.” Do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are led by God’s spirit? If so, then according top Rom 8:14, aren’t they also “God’s sons”?

Here is the dictionary definition of the word every as used in "everyone": Constituting each and all members of a group without exception.

Everyone, in the context of 1 John 5:1, means all of God's born again sons, without exception. The preceding verse makes it plain that everyone who merely claims to love God but who hates their brother is a liar. Clearly, then, everyone does not always mean everyone. At Matthew 7:21 Jesus said "Not everyone saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of the heavens."

What does the expression "not everyone" mean to you?



88. In Jn 5:39-40 Jesus says, “You are SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES, because you think that by means of them you will have everlasting life…And yet you do not want to COME TO ME that you may have life.” Jehovah’s Witnesses are constantly “searching the scriptures”, but do they come directly to Jesus as he says they should (Mt 11:28, Jn 5:40)? Do Witnesses “come” to Jesus by praying directly to him? If not, then aren’t Witnesses exactly like the people Jesus was talking about in Jn 5:39-40?

That is very poor reasoning. Jesus said that no one can come to him unless the Father who sent him draws them. Obviously, Jehovah would not draw someone to his Son who was so blind so as to confuse Jesus with Jehovah. On the other hand, those who teach the truth about Jehovah and Jesus are those who have come to Christ and have been taught by him about his Father.



89. In Mt 4:10, Jesus clearly has the authority to rebuke Satan and does so. Jude 9 says, “But when Michael the archangel had a difference with the Devil…he did not dare to bring a judgment against him…but said, “May Jehovah rebuke you.” If Jesus is Michael the Archangel, why did Michael, refuse to rebuke Satan in Jude 9, when he clearly did so in Mt 4:10?

We might suspect that the questioner is being deliberately deceptive. By only partially quoting Jude 9, the reader might be led to the erroneous conclusion that Michael did not rebuke the Devil on that occasion. That is not the case. The verse says that Michael "did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms." Michael did in fact rebuke the Devil by his saying "May Jehovah rebuke you." The point is that Michael did not bitterly accuse the Devil out of respect for Jehovah. It is not just the NWT that translates Jude 9 that way. The NIV says: But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"



90. In Lk 4:12, the NWT translates the Greek word “kyrios” (Gr-lord) as “Jehovah”, which makes this verse read, “You must not put Jehovah your God to the test”. See Greek-English Interlinear. Why is “kyrios” translated as “Jehovah” in this verse? Was the devil, in Lk 4:9-11, putting Jehovah to the test or Jesus to the test? Similarly, in Mt 3:3, Mk 1:3, and Jn 1:23, the Greek word “kyrios” is translated as “Jehovah”. Was John the Baptist preparing the way for Jehovah, or preparing the way for Jesus (compare Isa 40:3)? See Jn 1:25-31. Since the Greek word “kyrios” (Strong’s # 2962) in these verses are clearly referring to Jesus, if this word was correctly translated as “lord” in these verses, what would these verses say about the nature of Christ?

Jesus Christ was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:16, which reads in the Darby translation as follows: "Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him in Massah." Of course, modern translations have removed the Divine name and have substituted the generic "LORD" instead of using God's distinctive personal name. But, it is unthinkable that Jesus would have not used his Father's personal name when he quoted directly from the Hebrew text where it was written. So, the NWT uses the Divine name where it seems appropriate.

The questioner apparently does not even understand the text in question. Jesus was not saying that the Devil was putting God to the test. The Devil was trying to tempt Jesus into tempting God. The Devil knew Jesus was not God. He said to him: "If you are a son of God, hurl yourself down from here." The Devil went on to quote the Psalm that says God would send his angels to rescue him. So, Jesus was saying that he was under the Law that forbids the Jews from putting Jehovah to the test. Rather than supporting the lie that Jesus is God, the text in fact proves that Jesus was a God-fearing man who did not want to displease his God—Jehovah.


Foreword - Questions 1-10 - Questions 11-20 - Questions 21-30
Questions 31-40 - Questions 41-50 - Questions 51-60 - Questions 61-70
Questions 71-80 - Questions 81-90 - Questions 91-101
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