Page 5: According to the Bible, the dead are unconscious, unable to feel pain. "The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all."
Note: The theme of Ecclesiastes is chasing after things of this material world is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Correction: There is consciousness after death.
Revelation 6:9-10 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Page 5: Lazarus' sister Martha expressed the hope taught in the Bible when she declared: "I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day." By raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus confirmed that hope for mankind.
Correction: True Christians place their hope in Jesus Christ.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
Page 5: Historians point out that the teaching that man possesses a separate, immortal soul did not originate with the Bible but with Greek philosophy. The New Catholic Encyclopedia observes that the ancient Hebrews did not think of man as being composed of a material body and an immaterial soul.
Note: God has a soul!
Psalm 11:5 The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Note: The Watchtower quotes from sources that do not believe the Bible for support!
Page 5: "Death was not regarded as a separation of two distinct elements in man, as in Greek philosophy; the breath of life departs and man is left a 'dead being' (Leviticus 21.11; Numbers 6.6; 19.13).
Correction: Man possesses a trinity of essence.
1 Thess. 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Page 5: That same encyclopedia notes that Catholic scholars recently "have maintained that the N(ew) T(estament) does not teach the immortality of the soul in the Hellenistic (Greek) sense."
Note: The Watchtower should stop using Catholic theology.
Luke 16:22-24 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'"
Page 5: Historically, churches have replaced Scriptural teachings with those based only on tradition. In fact, many churches now hold that the Bible's teachings are wrong.
Correction: The Watchtower practices slander as many churches hold the Bible as being true.
Page 6: There were some traditions or teachings, that Paul urged Christians to maintain, but these were based on the Scriptures and were totally in harmony with them.
Example: True Christians partake of communion.
1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
Page 7: The Encyclopedia Canadiana observes: "The work of Jehovah's Witnesses is the revival and re-establishment of the primitive Christianity practiced by Jesus and his disciples during the first and second centuries of our era." Referring to the Witnesses, the New Catholic Encyclopedia notes: "They regard the Bible as their only source of belief and rule of conduct."
Correction: The Jehovah's Witnesses do not proclaim Jesus Christ as their central message.
1 Corinthians 1:22-24 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Correction: Jehovah's Witnesses use magazines as their chief source for their beliefs.
Page 9: Attempts to unseat God's anointed one, King David, proved futile. Instead, enemy nations were subdued, and the borders of the Promised Land were extended to their God - designated extremity.
Correction: The nation of Israel will have possession of the land to the Euphrates some day.
Genesis 15:18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates;"
Page 10: The southern two-tribe kingdom of Judah continued to be centered in Jerusalem. But in time they too turned from pure worship, so God allowed the wayward city to be destroyed by the Babylonians in 607 B.C.E.
Correction: Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C.E.
In 588 BC Zedekiah led a revolt against Chaldea, and two years later (586 BC) Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed Judah and razed Jerusalem. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 15, page 57.
Page 10: For 70 years Jewish exiles languished as captives in Babylon. Then, by God's mercy, they were allowed to return to Jerusalem and restore true worship.
Note: The country was still lying waste from the havoc of the Chaldean wars, and the emigrants despaired at the enormous task confronting them. The resulting apathy of the returned Jews was alleviated by the work of two religious leaders, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who held out the rewards of spiritual life as the ultimate goal. The Jews turned their attention to rebuilding, and in 516 BC the Second Temple was completed. The latter date is regarded, in the Jewish tradition, as the true end of the exile in Babylon, which thus endured 70 years (586-516 BC). Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 15, page 58.
Page 12: Near the end of his earthly life, Jesus presented himself to Jerusalem's residents as their duly anointed King. In response to that thrilling event, many joyfully cried out: "Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah's name! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
Note: Jesus came to Jerusalem as was not received by the religious leaders.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Page 12: Nevertheless, Jehovah resurrected his Anointed One and glorified him with immortal spirit life in heavenly Zion, an accomplishment all of us can benefit from.
Note: The Father raised the body of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Acts 2:23-24 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it."
Note: The Son raised the body of Jesus Christ from the dead.
John 2:19-21 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Note: The Holy Spirit raised the body of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Page 12: From that time on, most unfulfilled prophecies about Zion, or Jerusalem, can be understood as applying to heavenly arrangements or to Jesus' anointed followers.
Correction: Jesus Christ was not crucified in heaven.
Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Page 12: A number of references to "Jerusalem" or "Zion" written after Jesus' death clearly have a figurative sense and do not apply to the literal city or location.
Correction: During the reign of the Messiah, Jerusalem will be safely inhabited.
Zechariah 14:11 The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
Page 12: Neither Bible writers nor Jesus himself foretold a later restoration of earthly Jerusalem tot he special favor of Jehovah God that it had once enjoyed.
Correction: Jerusalem will be restored to the Jews at the end of the age.
Luke 21:24 "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."
Correction: Jerusalem will be the capital city for the reigning Messiah.
Zech. 14:16-17 And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
Page 13: Nearly seven decades had passed since the first Jewish exiles had returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. God's temple had been rebuilt, but the city still lay in ruins.
Correction: The temple was finished in 516 B.C.E.
The Jews turned their attention to rebuilding, and in 516 BC the Second Temple was completed. The latter date is regarded, in the Jewish tradition, as the true end of the exile in Babylon, which thus endured 70 years (586-516 BC). Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 15, page 58.
Page 14: What an encouragement such individuals are for all today who view Jehovah, his worship, and his spirit-directed organization in the same way! Is that true of you?
Correction: True Christians look to Jesus for encouragement.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Pages 16-17: In 455 B.C.E., Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem with a military escort. He had been appointed governor of Judah and had brought letters from the Persian king authorizing him to rebuild the city.
Note: The Watchtower writers must have flunked their history classes.
Correction: Nehemiah was not commanded to rebuild Jerusalem until March 14, 445 B.C.E.
He held a position of honor in the court of the Persian king Araxerxes I (r. 464-424 BC) and in 444 BC was appointed by the king to the governorship of Judea, with authorization to rebuild Jerusalem. Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Volume 18, page 354.
Page 17: Opposers try to hinder this work by mocking. Sometimes, individuals interested in the Kingdom message give up because they cannot endure the ridicule.
Note: Cult members sometimes need shock treatment since they are in a spiritual stupor.
Page 22: Today, Jehovah's people long for the time when God will triumph over all his enemies. This will start with the destruction of "Babylon the Great" - a figurative city that embraces all forms of false religion. (Revelation 18:2, 8) The destruction of false religion will mark the first phase of the coming great tribulation. (Matthew 24:21, 22)
Correction: Wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes will be the first phase.
Matthew 24:7-8 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
Page 22: Ahead of us too is a truly momentous event - the heavenly marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ to his bride of 144,000 citizens of "New Jerusalem."
Correction: The "great multitude" is in heaven.
Revelation 19:6-7 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
Page 24: Consider what will happen when New Jerusalem turns its attention to humans who exercise faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. "Look!" wrote the apostle John. "The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:2-4) Furthermore, God will use this citylike arrangement to lift mankind to human perfection. (Revelation 22:1, 2)
Correction: Jesus Christ will restore believing mankind to perfection.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Page 24: In the year 1919, Jehovah started to gather the final members of the 144,000 into a spiritual paradise, where the fruits of God's spirit - such as love, joy, and peace - abound.
Correction: The 144,000 will be numbered after worldwide geological disasters.
Revelation 6:14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
Revelation 7:1-4 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
Page 24: An outstanding feature of this spiritual paradise has been the faith of its anointed inhabitants, who have been wonderfully productive in spearheading the preaching of the good news of God's Kingdom in all the inhabited earth.
Correction: True Christians will be preaching Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Page 24: As a result, nearly six million "other sheep," who have an earthly hope, have also been allowed to enter the spiritual paradise and enjoy productive work.
Correction: The "other sheep" are Gentiles who are part of the "one flock" of believers.
John 10:16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. " (Psalm 23)
Page 24: The peaceful conditions now enjoyed by Jehovah's people in their spiritual paradise will soon be experienced in a physical paradise on earth. That will happen when New Jerusalem descends out of heaven to bless mankind.
Correction: Jesus Christ will usher in paradise earth.
Matthew 13:41-43 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"