Re: Is Jesus Jehovah? Please answer the following #4

grandpa len

Continued from my "Re: Is Jesus Jehovah? Please answer the following #3" with this, the fourth and last part of my four-part

[Above (click to enlarge): Shamash ... the sun god and god of justice in Babylonia ...":

"Together with Nannar-Sin and Ishtar, Shamash completes another triad by the side of Anu, Enlil and Ea. The three powers Sin, Shamash and Ishtar symbolized three great forces of nature: the moon, the sun, and the life-giving force of the earth, respectively. At times instead of Ishtar we find Adad, the storm-god, associated with Sin and Shamash, and it may be that these two sets of triads represent the doctrines of two different schools of theological thought in Babylonia which were subsequently harmonized by the recognition of a group consisting of all four deities. The consort of Shamash was known as Aya. She is, however, rarely mentioned in the inscriptions except in combination with Shamash." ("Shamash," Wikipedia, 20 February 2009).]

response to your series of questions in a comment under my post, "Watchtower Errors by Bible verse: Index." Again, your words are bold to distinguish them from mine.

----- Original Message -----
From: grandpa len
To: Stephen E. Jones
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 10:29 AM
Subject: [Jesus is Jehovah!] New comment on Watchtower Errors by Bible verse: Index.

>in 1 cor 15, who is given a task, and from whom did it originate?

I assume you are referring to 1Cor 15:23-28 where Paul teaches that Jesus "must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet":

23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. 28 When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

I am currently in my morning `quiet time' studying 1 Corinthians as part of my Jesus is Jehovah in the New Testament series, and even I was amazed at how many times the Apostle Paul called Jesus "Lord" (Gk. kurios) in the sense of Jehovah:

"Confessing One Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians) Paul frequently refers to Jesus as `Lord' in 1 Corinthians in such a way as to identify him as, or equate him with, the Lord Jehovah of the Old Testament ... Christians, according to Paul, are `all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 1:2). The Old Testament, of course, taught that one should call on the name of the Lord YHWH (e.g., Joel 2:32 ... Paul says that Christians hope to be found `blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1:8; see also 5:5), whereas the Old Testament spoke of that judgment day as `the day of YHWH' (e.g., Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31) ... Paul then exhorts his readers `by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1:10), again placing the focus on the name of the Lord Jesus that Judaism placed on the name of the Lord YHWH." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, "Putting Jesus In His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ," pp.162-163).

"... After quoting the words of Jeremiah about boasting only in the Lord [YHWH] (Jer. 9:23-24) ... Paul is applying the words of Jeremiah about boasting in the Lord [YHWH] to the Lord Jesus, as he probably does also in 2 Corinthians 10:17 (see also Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:3)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.163).

"... Paul states, `The one who examines me is the Lord' (4:4 NASB). This `Lord' must be Jesus because Paul ... regards the Lord Jesus as the one who will sit in judgment (recall 1:8; see also 11:32; 2 Cor. 5:10). It is Jesus who is the `Lord' who will `come' and `bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts' (4:5 NASB) ... this is what the Old Testament taught that the Lord (YHWH) would do (1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 96:13; 139:23-24; Prov. 16:2; 17:3; Jer. 17:10)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164a).

"Paul says that the members of the Christian church assemble `in the name of our Lord Jesus' (5:4 NASB). The `assembly' or `congregation' in the Old Testament was the congregation of YHWH; it gathered in his name ..." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164b).

"... Christians confess that they are `justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ' (6:11), even though the Old Testament summons all people to be justified `in the Lord' YHWH (Isa. 45:25 NASB)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164c).

"Paul wants a Christian to be `anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,' with the ideal being `unhindered devotion to the Lord' (7:32-35). The purpose of life according to the Old Testament is, of course, to please the Lord YHWH (Exod. 15:26; Deut. 6:18; etc.). ... Thus, Paul makes religious devotion or service to the Lord Jesus the ideal and purpose of the Christian life." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164d).

"Paul warns, `You cannot ... partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons' (1 Cor. 10:21). Here the ... table of the Lord refer to the rite of the `Lord's Supper' (cf. 10:16; 11:20) that the Lord Jesus established. The expression `table of the LORD' is an Old Testament expression for the altar ... (Mal. 1:7, 12). Paul contrasts the observance of the Lord's Supper with pagan observances ... (10:20; echoing Deut. 32:21). Such a contrast ... treats the Lord Jesus as the divine object of the religious observance. Paul then asks, `Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy?' (10:22). This ... alludes again to Deuteronomy 32:21, where Moses warned against provoking the Lord YHWH to jealousy ... In short, Paul here assumes that the Lord Jesus is in fact the Lord YHWH." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.164-165).

".. Paul writes, `If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. ... The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you' (1 Cor. 16:22-23 NASB) ... The importance attached to loving the Lord (Jesus) here is especially striking in view of the Old Testament commandment to `love the LORD [YHWH] your God' with all your heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5 ...)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.165).

"... what may be the most striking reference to Jesus as Lord [YHWH], in 1 Corinthians. Paul states that Christians know that `there is no God but one' (1 Cor. 8:4 NIV) ... and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live' (vv. 5-6 NIV) ... If Judaism has a creed, it is the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, known as the Shema ..`Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one ... In first-century Judaism, the affirmations of `one God' and `one Lord' were synonymous and referred to the same divine being, YHWH ... Jews ... would just as surely have understood Paul's affirmation of `one Lord' ... as an echo of the Shema-yet with one potentially shocking twist: he identifies this `one Lord' as Jesus Christ." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.165-166)

>and, when the task is complete, authority is returned, handed back to whom?

As the passage above says, "when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father." Note that it does not say to "Jehovah" (Gk. kurios) because, as Paul says or indicates hundreds of times in his writings (and especially in 1 Corinthians -as I will show in my future post, "Jesus is Jehovah in 1 Corinthians"), Jesus is Jehovah come in the flesh!

And as I pointed out in part #3, the submission of the Son to the Father is in no way inconsistent with the Trinity:

"The Submission of Jesus to God Perhaps the most frequently heard argument against Jesus being God by nature and equal in deity to the Father is the biblical teaching regarding Jesus' submission to the Father. ... For instance, they note that ... 1 Corinthians 15:28 says that the Son will subject himself to God the Father after sin and death have been eliminated ... they conclude that Jesus was not simply lower than the Father temporarily while on earth, but will always be in submission to God. Two points may be made that will show that none of these Scriptures contradicts the Bible's teaching that Jesus Christ is God. First ... If Jesus' body was raised from the dead ... as trinitarians believe, then as a man Jesus would still naturally be in some sense required to submit to the Father as his God." (Bowman, 1989, pp.78-79).

"... second ... the submission of the Son to the Father after his resurrection and ascension is ... in no way inconsistent with the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity maintains that the three persons are equal to one another in essence or nature, and it leaves open the question of how the three persons relate to one another within the Trinity. Thus, while trinitarians insist that Christ is just as much God as the Father, they do not deny that the Son is in some sense submissive to the Father even after his ascension." (Bowman, 1989, p.80).

"[1Cor 15:27-28] The statement that the Son also himself shall be subject to God has been thought by some to lower the dignity of the Son of God, as well as, possibly, to cast a reflection on his deity. The subjection, however, is not that of the Son as Son, but as the incarnate Son. This, of course, does not involve inequality of essence. The son of a king may be officially subordinate and yet equal in nature to his father ... Paul's point is this: The Son as incarnate Son has all power now (cf. Mt 28:18). When he delivers up the administration of 'the earthly kingdom to the Father, then the triune God will reign as God and no longer through the incarnate Son ..." (Johnson, 1962, "The Wycliffe Bible Commentary," p.1257).

>if jesus is jehovah, there is no father/son relationship. it is one. there are not two [not to mention three].

No. The Bible teaches both that Jesus is Jehovah and there is a Father/Son relationship.

>such a belief repudiates the almighty father / obedient son relationship.

No. The Bible teaches both that Jesus is almighty (Gk. pantokrator = pas "all" + kratos "rule"):

Mt 28:18. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jn 17:1-2. 1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

Acts 10:36. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

1Cor 15:25-27. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.

Eph 1:20-22. 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

Rev 1:7-8 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

and he is in an "obedient son relationship" with the Father:

Mt 26:39. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Rom 5:19. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Php 2:8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross!

Heb 5:7-8. 7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Heb 10:5-7. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am-it is written about me in the scroll-I have come to do your will, O God.' "

>therefore, it is the teaching of the antichrist, no father, no son, just one.

No. It is the teaching of the Bible. The Bible teaches that Jesus is Jehovah, and God is the Father and Jesus is God the Son.

>so the bible says i am correct.

No. It is not the Bible that says you are correct. It is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, a proven false prophet, that says you are correct. The Watchtower Society has actually admitted that if "Jehovah's people" read "the Bible exclusively" they will revert back to "the doctrines that Christendom's clergy" teach (which includes the Trinity"):

"From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah's people those who ... say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively ... But, strangely, through such `Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the ... doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching ..." (The Watchtower, August 15, 1981, p.29) .

That is, the Watchtower admits that Christianity's doctrines (including the Trinity) are based on the Bible but the Watchtower's doctrines are not!

>it also says, your teaching of the triad god, modeled after the babylonians, is wrong.

No. The Christian Trinity is based on the Bible and is, as the word implies, a tri-unity, i.e. three-in-one. That is one Triune God, not a "triad" of three separate gods, like the Babylonian triads of Nannar-Sin, Ishtar and Shamash, and Anu, Enlil and Ea (see above). That these Babylonian triads were groupings of three separate gods is evident from the above, in that: 1) the Babylonians had at least two different triads of three completely different gods; 2) at least one of those gods, Shamash, had a female consort, Aya; 3) one of those three gods, Ishtar could be replaced by another god, Adad; and 4) these two Babylonian triads were eventually amalgamated into a `quad-ad' of four gods.

So the Watchtower Society is deceiving itself and then deceiving its followers, i.e. "deceiving and being deceived" (2Tim 3:13), by not making clear to its followers the major differerences between the Babylonian (and other pagan) triads and Christian doctrine of the Trinity which explicitly states, that: 1) "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God"; 2) "And yet they are not three Gods, but one God":

"So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; And yet they are not three Gods, but one God." ("Athanasian Creed," Christian Classics Ethereal Library).

Also, the Babylonian Empire ceased to exist in 529 BC. So it is simply absurd for the Watchtower to claim, and gullible for JWs like you to believe it, that Christianity, which demonstrably gets its doctrine of the Trinity from the Bible, would somehow be influenced by the religion of a long-dead empire, which even when it existed, could not agree what its three gods were!

>back to you, chet!
>
>grandpa len

Len (or any JW, indeed any non-Christian, who reads this), Jesus warned the Jews (who already worshipped Jehovah) that now that He had come, that was no longer enough. Unless they believed that Jesus was I AM (i.e. Jehovah Ex 3:14; Dt 32:39; Isa 41:4; 43:10; 46:4; 52:6), they would die in their sins:

Jn 8:24 LITV Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM [i.e. YHWH], you will die in your sins.

The same applies to Jehovah's Witnesses (like yourself) today. If you continue to believe what that proven false prophet, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society says, over against what the Bible says, namely that Jesus is Jehovah, who came in the flesh, then Jesus Himself has stated that you will die in your sins.

Stephen E. Jones.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & TheShroudofTurin

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"The Submission of Jesus to God Perhaps the most frequently heard argument against Jesus being God by nature and equal in deity to the Father is the biblical teaching regarding Jesus' submission to the Father. The JWs realize that trinitarians believe that in his human nature Christ was in a position of submission to the Father. However, the Witnesses argue that this cannot account for Jesus submitting to God after his resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Thus, JWs, although they do quote Scriptures that speak of Christ's humble position relative to the Father while a man on earth (especially John 14:28), rely even more so on Scriptures that speak of Christ's submission after his resurrection. For instance, they note that 1 Corinthians 11:3 says that `God is the head of Christ'; 1 Corinthians 15:28 says that the Son will subject himself to God the Father after sin and death have been eliminated; and various Scriptures say that even now, after Christ's ascension, the Father is Christ's God (e.g., John 20:17; Rom. 15:6; 1 Cor. 15:24; 2 Cor. 1:3; Rev. 1:6; 3:12). On the basis of these Scriptures, they conclude that Jesus was not simply lower than the Father temporarily while on earth, but will always be in submission to God. Two points may be made that will show that none of these Scriptures contradicts the Bible's teaching that Jesus Christ is God. First, the JWs' argument assumes that Jesus is no longer a man. The Witnesses believe that the physical body of Jesus was never raised to life, but was `raised' ('recreated' might be more accurate) as a mere spirit. If Jesus' body was raised from the dead, though, as trinitarians believe, then as a man Jesus would still naturally be in some sense required to submit to the Father as his God." (Bowman, R.M., Jr., 1989, "Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah's Witnesses," Baker: Grand Rapids MI, Third printing, 1990, pp.78-79. Emphasis original).

"The second point that ought to be made about the submission of the Son to the Father after his resurrection and ascension is that such submission is in no way inconsistent with the Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity maintains that the three persons are equal to one another in essence or nature, and it leaves open the question of how the three persons relate to one another within the Trinity. Thus, while trinitarians insist that Christ is just as much God as the Father, they do not deny that the Son is in some sense submissive to the Father even after his ascension." (Bowman, 1989, p.80).

"Confessing One Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians) Paul frequently refers to Jesus as `Lord' in 1 Corinthians in such a way as to identify him as, or equate him with, the Lord Jehovah of the Old Testament. Three instances appear in the opening ten verses alone. Christians, according to Paul, are `all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Cor. 1:2). The Old Testament, of course, taught that one should call on the name of the Lord YHWH (e.g., Joel 2:32, which, as we have seen, Paul also applied to Jesus in Romans 10:13). A few verses later, Paul says that Christians hope to be found `blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1:8; see also 5:5), whereas the Old Testament spoke of that judgment day as `the day of YHWH' (e.g., Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31). The allusion to `the day of the Lord' (cf. Joel 2:31) in the same context as `calling on the name of the Lord' (cf. Joel 2:32) makes it all the more likely that Paul's language alludes directly to Joel. He refers to this future day of the Lord Jesus in several other epistles (2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:18). Paul then exhorts his readers `by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1:10), again placing the focus on the name of the Lord Jesus that Judaism placed on the name of the Lord YHWH." (Bowman, R.M., Jr. & Komoszewski, J.E., 2007, "Putting Jesus In His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ," Kregel: Grand Rapids MI, pp.162-163. Emphasis original).

")Paul continues to refer to Jesus as Lord in similar ways throughout the epistle: After quoting the words of Jeremiah about boasting only in the Lord [YHWH] (Jer. 9:23-24), Paul says that his whole message to the Corinthians could be summed up as `Jesus Christ, and him crucified' (1:31; 2:2). This Jesus who was crucified, Paul says, was `the Lord of glory' (2:8). In context, then, Paul is applying the words of Jeremiah about boasting in the Lord [YHWH]to the Lord Jesus, as he probably does also in 2 Corinthians 10:17 (see also Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:3)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.163).

"In answer to his critics, Paul states, `The one who examines me is the Lord' (4:4 NASB). This `Lord' must be Jesus because Paul, like the rest of the New Testament writers, regards the Lord Jesus as the one who will sit in judgment (recall 1:8; see also 11:32; 2 Cor. 5:10). It is Jesus who is the `Lord' who will `come' and `bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts' (4:5 NASB). Again, this is what the Old Testament taught that the Lord (YHWH) would do (1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 96:13; 139:23-24; Prov. 16:2; 17:3; Jer. 17:10)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164a).

"Paul says that the members of the Christian church assemble `in the name of our Lord Jesus' (5:4 NASB). The `assembly' or `congregation' in the Old Testament was the congregation of YHWH; it gathered in his name. In Paul's thought, the congregations of believers are the congregations (or churches, ekklesiai) of Christ (see Rom. 16:16)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164b).

"According to Paul, Christians confess that they are `justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ' (6:11), even though the Old Testament summons all people to be justified `in the Lord' YHWH (Isa. 45:25 NASB)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164c).

"Paul wants a Christian to be `anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord,' with the ideal being `unhindered devotion to the Lord' (7:32-35). The purpose of life according to the Old Testament is, of course, to please the Lord YHWH (Exod. 15:26; Deut. 6:18; etc.). The only other use in the New Testament of any form of the verb translated in 1 Corinthians 7:35 as `devotion' (euparedron, also translated `service') is just a couple of chapters later in the same epistle, where Paul says that those who `serve' (paredreuontes) at the altar share in what is offered at the altar (9:13). Thus, Paul makes religious devotion or service to the Lord Jesus the ideal and purpose of the Christian life." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.164d).

"Paul warns, `You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons' (1 Cor. 10:21). Here the cup and table of the Lord refer to the rite of the `Lord's Supper' (cf. 10:16; 11:20) that the Lord Jesus established. The expression `table of the LORD' is an Old Testament expression for the altar, which the prophet Malachi warned against defiling (Mal. 1:7, 12). Paul contrasts the observance of the Lord's Supper with pagan observances that honor the false gods of demonically inspired pagan religion (10:20; echoing Deut. 32:21). Such a contrast implicitly treats the Lord Jesus as the divine object of the religious observance. Paul then asks, `Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy?' (10:22). This rhetorical question clearly alludes again to Deuteronomy 32:21, where Moses warned against provoking the Lord YHWH to jealousy. Paul's train of thought here makes no sense unless the `Lord' whom we should avoid provoking to jealousy (10:22) is the same `Lord' to whom belong the cup and the table (10:21). In short, Paul here assumes that the Lord Jesus is in fact the Lord YHWH." ( Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.164-165).

"At the end of the epistle, Paul writes, `If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you' (1 Cor. 16:22-23 NASB). In this short space, Paul calls for those who do not love the Lord to be cursed, prays to the Lord to come ... and attributes divine grace or favor to the Lord Jesus. The importance attached to loving the Lord (Jesus) here is especially striking in view of the Old Testament commandment to `love the LORD [YHWH] your God' with all your heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5 ...)." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, p.165).

"It is in this broader context that we should read what may be the most striking reference to Jesus as Lord [YHWH], in 1 Corinthians. Paul states that Christians know that `there is no God but one' (1 Cor. 8:4 NIV). `For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many `gods' and many `lords'), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live' (vv. 5-6 NIV). Verse 6 may well be a creed or confession of faith that Paul is quoting or that he composed himself ... If Judaism has a creed, it is the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-5, known as the Shema (meaning `hear,' the first word of the verse): `Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might' (ESV). The Septuagint translated the last part of verse 4, `The Lord our God is one Lord' (kurios heis). In first-century Judaism, the affirmations of `one God' and `one Lord' were synonymous and referred to the same divine being, YHWH, the God of the patriarchs, of Moses, and of the prophets. Jesus affirmed the Shema as the first and greatest commandment (Matt. 22:36-38; Mark 12:28-30; cf Luke 10:25-28), and in that regard his view was in the mainstream of Judaism. Paul and other New Testament writers echo the Shema when they affirm that God is one or that there is one God (Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 12:6; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19). Jews, however, would just as surely have understood Paul's affirmation of `one Lord' (particularly in the same breath as affirming `one God') as an echo of the Shema-yet with one potentially shocking twist: he identifies this `one Lord' as Jesus Christ." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.165-166).

"[1Cor 15:27-28] The statement that the Son also himself shall be subject to God has been thought by some to lower the dignity of the Son of God, as well as, possibly, to cast a reflection on his deity. The subjection, however, is not that of the Son as Son, but as the incarnate Son. This, of course, does not involve inequality of essence. The son of a king may be officially subordinate and yet equal in nature to his father (cf. Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, pp. 333-335). Paul's point is this: The Son as incarnate Son has all power now (cf. Mt 28:18). When he delivers up the administration of 'the earthly kingdom to the Father, then the triune God will reign as God and no longer through the incarnate Son. Messiahship is a phase of the Son's eternal Sonship (cf. Moffatt, MNT, p. 249)." (Johnson, S.L, "I Corinthians," in Pfeiffer, C.F. & Harrison, E.F., eds.., 1962, "The Wycliffe Bible Commentary," Oliphants: London, Reprinted, 1963, p.1257).

"From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah's people those who, like the original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude. They do not want to serve `shoulder to shoulder' with the worldwide brotherhood. (Compare Ephesians 2:19-22.) Rather, they present a `stubborn shoulder' to Jehovah's words. (Zech. 7:11, 12) Reviling the pattern of the `pure language' that Jehovah has so graciously taught his people over the past century, these haughty ones try to draw the `sheep' away from the one international `flock' that Jesus has gathered in the earth. (John 10:7-10, 16) They try to sow doubts and to separate unsuspecting ones from the bounteous `table' of spiritual food spread at the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses, where truly there is `nothing lacking.' (Ps. 23:1-6) They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But, strangely, through such `Bible reading,' they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching 100 years ago, and some have even returned to celebrating Christendom's festivals again, such as the Roman Saturnalia of December 25!" ("Serving Jehovah `Shoulder to Shoulder'," The Watchtower, August 15, 1981, pp.28-29, p.29).