Just had an interesting exchange with two very nice Jehovahs Witnesses. JWs deny the divinity of Christ. They started in Colossians 1:15 - see, they say, Jesus is the firstborn so how can he be God. Instead of taking them back to the OT and working through what the title firstborn means (authority rather than origin) I just pointed out that the text itself disallows their interpretation. The text goes on to say that he, Christ, is the creator of all things in heaven and on earth, invisivible and visible. But if the Son is merely one among all created things then he could not be the creator of all things. That would mean he would need to create himself. So, clearly, the word firstborn cannot point to an origin in time. It must mean having the authority of the firstborn. They then took me to John 17 where Jesus prays that his followers may be one as he and the Father are one. I pointed out the context in that text is fellowship but the context only a few chapters earlier (during the same discussion), in John 14:8-9 is identity. Philip asks to see the Father and Jesus says: Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? They then went on to suggest that the Trinity is a contradiction and that the word Trinity is not in the bible. I explained that if they really want to persuade Christians they need to understand the concept of the Trinity rather than working with a caricature. Then I asked them to come in and sit down so we could walk through one of the Gospels together and I could show them where the doctrine of the Trinity originates. I also wanted to take them to Hebrews 1 where the author applies two Psalms(45 and 102) about Jehovah (in their bibles) to Jesus. They said that they were in a hurry. The best part of the exchange came when I was able to say as they were leaving, the difference between us is not small. You are worshiping and serving an idol and not the true Lord Jesus Christ. But because of his sacrifice and his mercy, even this can and will be forgiven if you will take this opportunity and repent and surrender to the true Son of the Father who died for you and rose again. They said no of course but they might come back with one of their leaders. Praying that happens.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:23:25 +0000
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