Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses by Rhodes Ron

Author:Rhodes, Ron [Rhodes, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780736936453
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2009-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

After sharing the above with the Jehovah’s Witness:

Ask…

* * *

• How do you explain that the early Jewish Christians—who were clearly committed to the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4—had no scruple about applying to Jesus many Old Testament texts that were originally written in reference to Yahweh?

• How do you explain that the early Jewish Christians called Jesus “Lord” and “God” in the same sense that Jehovah is called “Lord” and “God”?

* * *

While speaking to the Jehovah’s Witness about Deuteronomy 6:4, it is important to emphasize that in the course of God’s self-disclosure to humankind, He revealed His nature to man in progressive stages. First, God revealed His essential unity and uniqueness—that is, He revealed that He is one and that He is the only true God. This was a necessary starting point, for throughout history Israel was surrounded by nations deeply engulfed in polytheism (the belief in many gods). Through the prophets, God communicated and affirmed to Israel the truth of monotheism (the belief that there is only one true God).

While God’s unity and oneness—as affirmed in the Shema—is the clear emphasis in Old Testament revelation, this is not to say that there are no hints or shadows of the doctrine of the Trinity there, for indeed there are (Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Proverbs 30:4; Isaiah 6:8; 48:16). But God did not reveal the fullness of this doctrine until New Testament times (see Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14). It is by reading the Old Testament under the illumination of the New Testament that we find supporting evidences for the Trinity there. Indeed, as theologian Benjamin Warfield notes,

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