Ask this of any one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and you’ll get this answer:
The entire Bible has but one theme: The Kingdom under Jesus Christ is the means by which the vindication of God’s sovereignty and the sanctification of His name will be accomplished. (w07 9/1 p. 7 “Written for Our Instruction”)
When forced to acknowledge that we’ve made some serious doctrinal mistakes, I’ve had friends grasp hold of this security blanket saying that ‘whatever errors we’ve made are just due to human imperfection, but what’s really important is that only we are preaching the kingdom good news and the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty. To our minds, this preaching work excuses all past blunders. It sets us up as the one true religion, above all the rest. It is a source of great pride as evinced by this WT reference;
With all of their learning, have such scholars really found “the very knowledge of God”? Well, do they clearly understand the theme of the Bible—the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty by means of his heavenly Kingdom? (w02 12/15 p. 14 par. 7 “He Will Draw Close to You”)
This might be a valid viewpoint if it were true, but the fact is, this is not the Bible’s theme. It is not even a minor theme. In fact, the Bible says nothing about Jehovah vindicating his sovereignty. That will sound like blasphemy to Jehovah's Witnesses, but consider this: If the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty is truly the theme of the Bible, wouldn't you expect to see that theme emphasized repeatedly? For example, the Bible book of Hebrews speaks about faith. The word appears 39 times in that book. It's theme is not love, though love is important, that quality is not what the writer of Hebrews was writing about, so that word only appears 4 times in that book. On the other hand, the theme of the short letter of 1 John is love. The word "love" appears 28 times in those five chapters of 1 John. So if the Bible's theme is the vindication of God's sovereignty, then that's what God wants to emphasize. That's the message he wants to get across. So, how many times is that concept expressed in the Bible, specifically in the New World Translation?
Let's use the Watchtower Library to find out, shall we?
I'm using the wildcard character, the asterisk or star, to find every variation of the verb "vindicate" or the noun "vindication". Here are the results of a search:
As you can see, there are hundreds of hits in our publications, but not a single mention in the Bible. In fact, even the word “sovereignty” by itself does not appear in the Bible.
What about just the word "sovereignty"?
Thousands of hits in the publications of the Watchtower Society, but not a single occurrence, not even one, in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
The Bible doesn't contain the key word which is supposedly its theme. How remarkable!
Here's something interesting. If you type the word "sovereign" into the search field of the Watchtower Library, you get 333 hits in the New World Translation 1987 Reference Bible. Now if you type "Sovereign Lord Jehovah" in quotes, you'll see that 310 of those 333 hits are for that specific phrase. Ah, maybe they're right about it being the theme? Hmm, let's not jump to a trusting conclusion. Instead, we'll check out those occurrences using the interlinear on biblehub.com, and guess what? The word "sovereign" is added. The Hebrew is Yahweh Adonay, which most versions translate as Lord God, but which literally means "Yahweh God" or "Jehovah God".
Of course, Jehovah God is the supreme ruler, the ultimate sovereign of the universe. No one would deny that. That is so obvious a truth that it need not be stated. Yet Jehovah's Witnesses claim that God's sovereignty is in question. That his right to rule is being challenged and need to be vindicated. By the way, I did a search on "vindication" as well as all forms of the verb "to vindicate" in the New World Translation and didn''t come up with a single occurrence. That word doesn't appear. Do you know what words do appear a lot? "Love, faith, and salvation". Each occurs hundreds of times.
It is the love of God that has put in place a means for the salvation of the human race, a salvation that is obtained by faith.
So why would the Governing Body focus on "vindicating Jehovah's sovereignty" when Jehovah is focusing on helping us to be saved by teaching us to imitate his love and to put faith in Him and in His Son?
Making the Sovereignty Issue Central
It is a position of Jehovah’s Witnesses that, while the Bible makes no explicit mention of vindicating Jehovah’s sovereignty, the theme is implicit in the events that precipitated the fall of man.
“At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”” (Ge 3:4, 5)
This one brief deception spoken by the devil through the medium of the serpent is the primary basis for our doctrinal interpretation. We have this explanation from The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, page 66, paragraph 4:
THE ISSUES AT STAKE
4 A number of issues or vital questions were raised. First, Satan called into question the truthfulness of God. In effect, he called God a liar, and that with regard to a matter of life and death. Second, he questioned man’s dependence on his Creator for continued life and happiness. He claimed that neither man’s life nor his ability to govern his affairs with success depended upon obedience to Jehovah. He argued that man could act independently of his Creator and be like God, deciding for himself what is right or wrong, good or bad. Third, by arguing against God’s stated law, he in effect claimed that God’s way of ruling is wrong and not for the good of his creatures and in this way he even challenged God’s right to rule. (tr chap. 8 p. 66 par. 4, emphasis in the original.)
On the first point: If I were to call you a liar, would I be questioning your right to rule or your good character? Satan was defaming Jehovah’s name by implying that he had lied. So this goes to the heart of the issue involving the sanctification of Jehovah’s name. It has nothing to do with the issue of sovereignty. On the second and third points, Satan was indeed implying that the first humans would be better off on their own. To explain why this created a need for Jehovah to vindicate his sovereignty, the Truth book goes on to provide an illustration often used by Jehovah’s Witnesses:
7 Satan’s false charges against God may be illustrated, to a certain extent, in a human way. Suppose a man having a large family is accused by one of his neighbors of many false things about the way he manages his household. Suppose the neighbor also says that the family members have no real love for their father but only stay with him to obtain the food and material things he gives them. How might the father of the family answer such charges? If he simply used violence against the accuser, this would not answer the charges. Instead, it might suggest that they were true. But what a fine answer it would be if he permitted his own family to be his witnesses to show that their father was indeed a just and loving family head and that they were happy to live with him because they loved him! Thus he would be completely vindicated.—Proverbs 27:11; Isaiah 43:10. (tr chap. 8 pp. 67-68 par. 7)
This makes sense if you don’t think too deeply about it. However, it falls apart completely when one considers all the facts. First of all, Satan is making a completely unsubstantiated allegation. The time honored rule of law is that one is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, it did not fall to Jehovah God to disprove Satan’s accusations. The onus was completely upon Satan to prove his case. Jehovah has given him over 6,000 years to do so, and to date, he has failed utterly.
In addition, there is another serious flaw with this illustration. It ignores totally the vast heavenly family that Jehovah could call upon to bear witness to the righteousness of his rulership. Billions of angels had already been benefiting for billions of years under God’s rule when Adam and Eve rebelled.
Based on Merriam-Webster, “to vindicate” means
- to show that (someone) should not be blamed for a crime, mistake, etc. : to show that (someone) is not guilty
- to show that (someone or something that has been criticized or doubted) is correct, true, or reasonable
The heavenly host could have provided the exculpatory evidence necessary to completely vindicate Jehovah’s sovereignty at the time of the rebellion in Eden, were he to call on them to do so. There would be no further need for vindication. The only thing the devil had in his bag of tricks was the idea that humans were somehow different. Since they comprised a new creation, albeit still made in the image of God as were the angels, he could reason that they should be given the chance to try government independent from Jehovah.
Even if we accept this line of reasoning, all it means is that it was up to humans to vindicate – prove correct, true, reasonable – their idea of sovereignty. Our failure at self-rule has only served to further vindicate the sovereignty of God without him having to lift a finger.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jehovah will vindicate his sovereignty by destroying the wicked.
Above all, we rejoice because at Armageddon, Jehovah will vindicate his sovereignty and he will sanctify his holy name. (w13 7/15 p. 6 par. 9)
We say that this is a moral issue. Yet, we claim it will be settled by force when Jehovah destroys everyone on the opposing side.[1] This is worldly thinking. It is the idea that the last man standing must be right. It is not how Jehovah works. He does not destroy people to prove his point.
The Loyalty of God’s Servants
Our belief that the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty is central to the Bible’s theme is based on one additional passage. Some 2,000 years after the events in Eden, Satan alleged that the man, Job, was faithful to God only because God gave him everything he wanted. In essence, he was saying that Job only loved Jehovah for material gain. This was an attack on Jehovah’s character. Imagine telling a father that his children don’t love him; that they only make believe they love him for what they can get out of him. Since most children love their fathers, warts and all, you are implying that this father is not lovable.
Satan was slinging mud on God’s good name, and Job, by his faithful course and unwavering loyal love for Jehovah, cleaned it off. He sanctified God’s good name.
Jehovah’s Witnesses might argue that since God’s rule is based on love, this was also an attack on God’s way of ruling, on his sovereignty. Thus, they would say that Job both sanctified God’s name and vindicated His sovereignty. If that is valid, one must ask why the vindication of God’s sovereignty is never brought up in the Bible. If every time Christians sanctify God’s name by their conduct, they also vindicate his sovereignty, then why doesn’t the Bible mention that aspect? Why does it only focus on name sanctification?
Again, a witness will point to Proverbs 27:11 as proof:
“Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, So that I can make a reply to him who taunts me.” (Pr 27:11)
“To taunt” means to ridicule, mock, insult, deride. These are all things one does when one is slandering another. Devil means “slanderer”. This verse has to do with acting in a way that sanctifies God’s name by giving him cause to reply to the slanderer. Again, there is no reason to include vindicating his sovereignty in this application.
Why Do We Teach the Sovereignty Issue?
Teaching a doctrine not found in the Bible and claiming that it is the most important of all doctrines seems like a dangerous step to take. Is this simply a misstep by servants overeager to please their God? Or were there reasons that were outside the search for Bible truth? We all know that when starting off on a journey, a slight change of direction at the onset can lead to major deviation down the road. We can get so far off track that we become hopelessly lost.
So then, to what has this doctrinal teaching brought us? How does this teaching reflect on God’s good name? How has it affected the structure and leadership of the Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Are we seeing rulership the way men do? Some have suggested that the best rulership is that of benign dictator. Is that essentially our view? Is it God's? Do we view this topic as spiritual persons or as physical beings? God is love. Where does God's love factor into all this.
The issue is not quite so simple as we paint it.
We will attempt to answer these questions, and to identify the Bible’s real theme in the next article.
______________________________________________
[1] So it was a moral issue that had to be settled. (tr chap. 8 p. 67 par. 6)
Archived Comments
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Comment by poetryofprovidence on 2015-04-19 16:40:04
find myself looking forward to your "sunday talks"
Comment by Meleti Vivlon on 2015-04-19 17:00:18
And I, your poetry
Comment by menrov on 2015-04-20 05:16:45
For years I have been struggling with the JW view on the theme of the bible: Vindicating Jehovah's Sovereignty". Like you indicated, there is not one shred of proof to be found in the scriptures to support this. And yes, I did accept this view at first too. Mostly because I did not bother to really read and form my own views first.
Anyway, Satan is not challenging the sovereignty of the Father. Referring to the events described in Job, you can read that Satan asked permission and God allowed Satan to act but with a limitation. If Satan would e challenging the sovereignty, why would Satan ask and also respect the limits set by God? Job 1 and 2.
My view has been for some time now that Satan is not the theme. And I do not see Satan is after sovereignty but he is jealous of Jesus. He was after a more superior position in Gods family, but still under God. As such, he went after those that God favoured, which is a way of Satan to show that these did not deserve to be favoured (either). He therefore went after Adam and Eve, He went after Job, he went after Gods people, he went after Jesus and His followers. He went after all who he believed were favoured by God, a favor he wants to receive.
But that is still not the theme.
In my view, the theme has nothing to do with God himself but with those who God loves and the promise that He will save them. He loves His Son, He loves those that show faith (Moses, Abraham, Job, Noah etc), He loves the world (John 3:16).
Our faith in HIm is not fruitless but will be rewarded via the kingdom.
God has nothing to prove to Satan or his demons. He does not have to vindicate HIs sovereignty. He is above ALL. You could say that God want to sanctify His Name, meaning not literally but by realizing what HIs name stands for: for all who love Him and whom He loves (compare what Abraham said to God regarding Sodom and Gomorrah: Gen. 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?”
In other words, His Name or reputation was at stake here. Will God do what He stands for.
In my views, that is the theme of the bible: God will always save those He loves and those who love Him. The solution: Kingdom under His Son. It is a message of hope, a hope we believe in and is a reality to us.
Comment by katrina on 2015-04-20 07:21:02
"My view has been for some time now that Satan is not the theme. And I do not see Satan is after sovereignty but he is jealous of Jesus."
This has been my view also for awhile now, their is so much sibling revelry in the OT, I have also noticed that that heirs the oldest sons have usually always failed.
There is a lot more I could say about this but will leave it for now.
Comment by kev on 2015-04-20 13:07:26
Thanks for that meleti..I am starting to see why they would make a big issue of the point of god vindicating his soveriegnty . looking forward to part 2 and its going to be interesting to see if we have the same theory . Im sure we have . Kev
Comment by Skye on 2015-04-20 17:56:20
So if Satan wasn't challenging God's sovereignty, then when he told Eve they would be like God knowing good and evil and they would not die, did his statement have more meaning? Perhaps he was showing that being human just wasn't good enough. If so then that lie has resulted in the fear of children being rejected by their Father/Creator, never being able to measure up, producing sibling rivalry and all the bad traits we see in people resulting the dysfunctional human family which has brought man to the brink of extinction. But, of course, as has been said, the way out is the Kingdom of God.
Comment by qspf on 2015-04-20 18:59:35
I find in this issue a staggering contradiction in the matter of "sovereignty" which you have alluded to but not spelled out explicitly.
First, the quotation from the Truth book:
"Suppose the neighbor also says that the family members have no real love for their father but only stay with him to obtain the food and material things he gives them. How might the father of the family answer such charges? If he simply used violence against the accuser, this would not answer the charges. Instead, it might suggest that they were true."
Yet consider this passage further on in your essay:
"Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jehovah will vindicate his sovereignty by destroying the wicked.
Above all, we rejoice because at Armageddon, Jehovah will vindicate his sovereignty and he will sanctify his holy name. (w13 7/15 p. 6 par. 9)
We say that this is a moral issue. Yet, we claim it will be settled by force when Jehovah destroys everyone on the opposing side."
So, could someone explain why it is, in the challenge to God in Eden, the violent destruction of a few disobedient and slandering persons there "would not answer the charges" because it would fail to address the moral issues - but today, an even more violent destruction of many billions of disobedient and slandering humans and of (presumably) very large numbers of disobedient angels WOULD answer those very same charges, AND would completely address the moral issues involved, simply because (1) 6,000 years have gone by during which time human rule has proven to be lousy, and (2) a tiny percentage of the world's population have had literature given to them by Jehovah's Witnesses ?
If someone really believes this, perhaps you could explain it, because I don't see how the case has been made.
By the way, I believe that the issue of jealousy on the part of Satan seems quite plausible. Consider that Jehovah created Jesus, and in turn Jesus created the remainder of the universe, including the spirit creatures.
Of all the vast number of them he has made, ONE OF THEM had to be FIRST. Who what it? Beats me, but here is my suspicion: it was the creature destined to become Satan.
Consider how often in the Bible the topic of "firstborn" comes up. Over and over, the importance of the firstborn is set before us. Surely, this must be an important issue to God. After all, Jesus is HIS firstborn. So, when Jesus was tasked with the creation of the rest of the universe, who was HIS firstborn? Satan?
Suppose Satan observed in the heavens the way in which Jesus was treated by his father - and since Jehovah is so fond of his firstborn, He must have treated him with great honor, even at the beginning of things. And, in view of his own position as firstborn of the angels, Satan may have been jealous of that attention.
Look what the Bible shows as the first criminal act, that of murder. In a dispute over religion (the right way to sacrifice, and whose sacrifice God approved), Cain killed his firstborn brother. It is notable that at that instance of time in man's history, seeing that Adam and Eve were created and not born (and humorous to imagine, perhaps the only people without belly buttons!) the man Cain was the only firstborn human being in the entire world. And Cain was murdered. Did Satan influence Cain to carry out this murder to "send a message" to Jesus? A message like, "Hey, Jesus, you know, I don't really like being slighted in comparison to you. I really hate it when YOUR being the firstborn of God is 'rubbed in my face' all the time." I wonder ...
We also have the story of Jacob and Esau, where Esau the firstborn lost out on the privileges that being firstborn should have fallen to him. Why? Because Esau treated that privilege as trivial and sold it for a bowl of stew. Esau was basically disloyal and unappreciative of his father - bad traits that overrode any merit that being firstborn should have gained him.
In this drama, it is not hard to imagine this as being a symbolic answer by God and Jesus to Satan, as if to tell Satan that he needlessly lost any privileges he had prior to the revolt in Eden - not primarily because Jesus was "better" due to being the firstborn of God while Satan was "just" the firstborn of Jesus - but that by Satan's conduct in Eden, he showed that he didn't deserve any privileges he might have had up to that point.
This smoldering jealousy and hatred on Satan's part seems pretty clear. He keeps saying "IF you are a son of God ...". It's as though the underlying message was, "IF you deserve the honor of being the firstborn of God MORE THAN ME ...". The anger, the rage, the jealousy were seemingly oozing from Satan's pores, figuratively speaking.
After tempting Jesus during his 40 day fast, Satan is said to have retired until a more convenient time later. Then, while Jesus was being put to death, the "more convenient time" arrived, as persons came up to him and mocked him, using the very same cynical and abusive tone used by Satan when tempting Jesus, and the same tone used to accuse Job.
It is as though Satan is so jealous that, if jealousy alone could kill a spirit creature, he's be dead by now.Reply by qspf on 2015-04-20 19:02:18
just a typo ... the only firstborn in the Cain/Abel story was Abel, not Cain.
Comment by agapeheartvisions on 2015-04-20 19:02:15
According to the "Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th edition", the word, Vindicate: Clear of blame or suspicion, show to be right or justified.
I simply don't see how or why Yahweh would have to clear his name, or justify Himself in any way to beings, (including humans) that He created. Yahweh is ABOVE all. He is Almighty God. To be sure, the Most High's word, the Bible shows his dealings with mankind and show Him to be loving, merciful and ALWAYS have our best interest in mind. I also do not believe that most rank and file witnesses really understand that many of the beliefs, doctrines and practices they are required to adhere to are simply a reflection of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society leadership's need and desire to micro-manage their lives, and to maintain the "different-ness" of Jehovah's Witnesses from main stream religion. To be sure, they have taught many people, including myself the real truth about many doctrines which are false, such as the trinity, verneration of the cross, hellfire, etc, and for that I am grateful...however, I'd say that over the last 25 years, perhaps longer, the leadership has just gone off into left field. Is it just my imagination or if the Governing Body attempting to remove Jesus from his right place as head of the congregation. Although I no longer attend meetings, (haven't been now in about 2 years,and feel better for it, I might add) I have a relative who is still quite gung-ho, the magazines only mention Jesus it seems as an afterthought, or when they do focus on him it is only to show how he was the definitive witness, not the reigning King and Head of the Congregations. It is going to be very interesting to see what changes the next several years will bring to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Agape!
LaRhonda
Comment by agapeheartvisions on 2015-04-20 19:02:33
Reblogged this on agapeheartvisions.
Comment by kev on 2015-04-21 02:54:58
It seems to me that satan has slandered gods character hence let your name be sanctified . However the battle for rulership seems to be between jesus and satan and in a lot of ways seems to be mostly about control of this world we live in . It seems satan does not want to be subject to god hence he is the resister . We have one son that wants to do the will of his father and one that does not .hence the prayer let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven . The bible does say though that the devil is ruler of this world. But one day jesus will wrestle that power from him And at the end when humankind are ready will then subject both himself and this world back to his father . So it seems there is an issue of rulership of this world and its inhabitants but god is soveriegn of the entire universe and the heavens . However the reason why the witnesses make such a big thing of gods soveriegnty is another issue again . Kev .
Comment by Skye on 2015-04-21 04:17:06
And if the tree of knowledge of good and evil wasn't about God's rulership in the way JWs have been taught; but rather by making the choice to disobey God resulted in Adam and Eve "knowing" evil in the sense that they would now know sin, sickness, suffering and death. If that is the case, then it certainly shows us the ability and power that Satan has to "deceive" people, and salvation therefore depends on our obedience to God otherwise we too will be deceived.
Comment by katrina on 2015-04-21 08:43:40
Satan wanted what belonged to Christ his inheritance.
Reply by Wild Olive on 2015-04-21 19:20:10
Yes this sovreignty thing is another GB stuff up,it has forced them to say contradictory things such as Jehovah has always been sovreign but has had to step aside and let man run his futile race and then take up sovreignty again in a more complete way and say I told you so. Quite childish really.
When I really studied Jobs account the question that kept coming into my mind was that if the whole incident involving Job was a precedent,then why doesn't Jehovah deal with us the same way he dealt with Job? Why don't we get to have indepth conversations with Jehovah ? And why don't those who have suffered abuses get compensated as Job was? And why don't any NT writers make a reference to the importance of Jobs vindication of Jehovah's sovreignty if it is so important? That's when I realised sovreignty is not the overriding theme of the Bible,Ime guessing that I also know why it's been pushed,can't wait for the next instalment.
Comment by BN on 2015-04-22 02:27:30
That's always been the battle : truth vs lies (die or not die) ; the final battle in this ongoing war is Armageddon .. IF we think of the weapons Paul mentioned, it is obvious that this war is a spiritual one .. NOT against the world and it's lies but against the lies against THE TRUTH : 'I'm the road, the truth and the life. In the Scriptures there is no other truth or no other life: TRUE mankind is a healed one!
Just now, it's about whom the firstborn is going to be generated from: the Anointed One OR His slandering brother: ROM 8:19 tells us WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR , not that of YHWH proving His sovereignty BY LETTING MANKIND SUFFER while they are trying it all on the road to destruction.. It so stupid (can't quite see why I went for it) because even Adam and Eve recognised it was a struggle outside the garden, so that was proven for mankind in the beginning and YHWH has no need for proving anything! What He needed to do was to give mankind a new father (Adam ) AND a new 'mother' (bride of the new Adam), because our first parent failed. But the Opposer demanded to test not only the new father, but also the new mother Luke 22:31. So if one want anybody to 'blame'; we have the sleeping called ones ..If they do not wake up, they'll find themselves in the same situation as the jews in the first century; 'twice dead'. Jude 1:12, 13. So, we are really waiting for the full number to be sealed! To discern their place in the body! To come through their tribulation! To have washed their robes white in the blood of the Anointed One.
THEN the tent of God can come down to earth, out of heavens and offer life to rest of mankind (even those sleeping in the earth) Rom 8:21
JWs preaches that most people are going too be killed : Are that 'good news' for most people? What does it say about YHWH?
Isn't it those IN COVENANT with Him YHWH sends prophets to, takes care of, wants to be faithful and judge the unfaithful? The Bible is NOT about the world it is about those who believe in God
We have to think spiritually ...
The nations is obviously not the nations we usually think of, but God's people. And the war between them about spiritual truth ..the woman's (new covenant - Gal 4:24) seed and the Serpent's seed (Gen 3:15) battle for truth : Can you see that happening now?
'..when He intends to bring everything in heavens and earth under the headship of the Anointed One'
Comment by Skye on 2015-04-23 04:44:44
Meleti, Thank you for this article which has got us all thinking. For those who have already exited the Organisation and those in the process of leaving, being able to "think" for ourselves rather than being controlled by the WT is vital in order to be able to see all the falsehoods we have been programmed to believe. It is possible to break the spell of the WT.
Comment by ¿Wheresenoch? on 2015-04-23 13:59:46
A couple of weeks before this post, i ran this illustration past a friend of mine: If a teacher had 100 students in a class, told them all such rules as raise your hand before you speak, study for tests, & stay seated till the bell rings. Then a third of those students led by a rebellious 1, chooses 2 walk out because they dont like the rules. The teacher wouldnt waste the rest of the school yr trying 2 get the remaining students 2 vouch 4 the teacher having the right/authority or credentials 2 set up & enforce those rules. Gods sovereignty, name & sanctity are synonymous with his existance. Its a given. Whether we pray 4 it or not, his name IS sanctified. Jw theology would have it as us ( a handful of frail humans) coming 2 the aid of the All Powerful God 2 bail him out of a universal 'bind'. Throwing around Isa. 43:10 as a badge of honour. In actuallity, Gods personal testimony carries far more weight than any human witnesses according to 1 John 5:9...
Reply by Wild Olive on 2015-04-24 21:46:07
@whereisenoch, yes how can Jehovah be the almighty sovreign when one of his rebel sons was able to manipulate him with a legal technicality? Hardly sovreignty ?
And really what is the difference of God sitting back watching all his creation suffer at the hands of satan and not step in for the sake of sovreignty? How is that different from suffering in hell? It still makes God out to be a manaichal over lord who is obsessed with his reputation at the expense of his creation suffering? Yes once you think a bit the universal sovreignty is another misrepresentation of Jehovah .Reply by Wild Olive on 2015-04-25 20:17:28
Something else on the sovreignty issue.
If the overriding theme of scripture is not Jehovah's sovreignty, then prophetic books like Ezekiel,Daniel and Revelation take on a completely new meaning ,if collecting and assisting heirs of the kingdom is the real theme of the bible,it all changes.Reply by Skye on 2015-04-26 05:03:15
Mark1:14,15 "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the goods news of God. The time has come he said, The Kingdom of God has come near, Repent and believe the good news!"
Luke 4:43 "But he said, I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."
Acts 28:31 "He proclaimed the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ - with all boldness and without hindrance!"
John 3:3 "Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
Comment by ¿Wheresenoch? on 2015-04-26 02:30:35
Correct wild O! The whole schematics of the way the Bible is read & interconnected would be comprimised 2 say the least. From the Genesis 3 prophecy forward. Theoretically, because only 2 entities ( the serpent & woman) are directly being addressed by God, notwithstanding the fact that only 1 woman was in existance @ the time, it becomes quite plausible that those 2 short verses of Gen 3:15, 16 takes on a whole new, more literal meaning.*Disclaimer* (Just a possible outcome, not a patented speculation ...):)
Comment by Why Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach the Vindication of Jehovah’s Sovereignty? | Beroean Pickets on 2015-04-26 07:41:42
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Comment by God Is Love | Beroean Pickets on 2015-06-06 09:44:16
[…] the first article in this series, we examined the JW doctrine that the Bible’s theme is the “vindication of […]
Comment by Young Ones — Are You Ready to Get Baptized? | Beroean Pickets - JW.org Reviewer on 2016-05-01 08:08:06
[…] sovereign and the theme of the Bible is the vindication of that sovereignty. As we’ve seen here, the vindication of God’s sovereignty is not a Bible theme and the word “sovereignty” […]
Comment by Richard Alden on 2016-07-26 07:10:10
I see God's dealings in the garden of Eden from a parent's viewpoint. It's like the time when the children wish to 'fly the coop' because they can't stand living with their parents any more. While all parents have made mistakes, the parents may be 'vindicated' in some instances because the children have realized how hard life is and, in certain cases, may handle a given situation just like their parents would have. The parents are thereby 'vindicated'.
God is not a dictator. He gives mankind enough rope with which he can hang himself and almost has.Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2016-07-26 08:03:47
A good point, Richard.
Comment by Young Ones, Strengthen Your Faith | Beroean Pickets - JW.org Reviewer on 2016-11-12 12:33:18
[…] [i] To learn more about this topic, see “Vindicating Jehovah’s Sovereignty”. […]
Comment by Organized in Harmony With God’s Own Book | Beroean Pickets - JW.org Reviewer on 2017-01-01 18:03:29
[…] For more on this topic, see the articles Vindicating Jehovah’s Sovereignty and Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach the Vindication of Jehovah’s […]