Re: I am a young Jehovah Witness who by chance came across your site #3

Melissa

Continued from part #2 with my multi-part reply to your comment on my post "`What Does the Bible Really Teach?' pp.7-14." Your words are bold to distinguish them from mine.

[Above (click to enlarge): John 14:14 in "The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures," Watchtower Bible & Tract Society: Brooklyn NY, Second edition, 1985, p.483). As can be seen, the Watchtower's own Kingdom Interlinear Translation's interlinear English literal rendering of the Greek text shows Jesus teaching His disciples:

"if ever anything you should ask ME in the name of ME this I shall do" (my emphasis).

But the accompanying New World Translation on the right:

Jn 14:14 NWT. "If YOU ask anything in my name, I will do it."

omits the "me" between "ask" and "anything" even though the Watchtower's knows it is there in the Greek. So this is yet another of many deliberate mistranslations by the Watchtower in the NWT.]

>So to answer your question-Yes I do everything in the name of Jesus Christ, "thanking God the Father through him."

Your claim that you "do everything in the name of Jesus Christ" is simply false (see part #1 on "theocratic warfare," i.e. "for the purpose of protecting the interests of God's cause [i.e. the Watchtower], it is proper to hide the truth from God's enemies [i.e. non-JWs]").

For starters, you call yourselves Jehovah's Witnesses, not Jesus' Witnesses (as Jesus commanded - even in the NWT):

Acts 1:8 NWT. but YOU will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon YOU, and YOU will be witnesses of me [Jesus] both in Jerusalem and in all Ju-de-a and Sa-mar-i-a and to the most distant part of the earth."

But then why would JWs do everything (or even anything) in the name of Michael the Archangel?:

"Who Is Michael the Archangel? THE spirit creature called Michael ... is another name for Jesus Christ, before and after his life on earth." (WB&TS, 2005, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?," Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York: Brooklyn NY, p.218. Emphasis original).

The key word of yours above is "through." JWs are told by the Watchtower that they must only pray through (not to) Jesus:

"Jehovah requires us to recognize the position of his Son in His purpose and to offer all our prayers in his name. ... For our prayers to be acceptable to God, then, we must pray to Jehovah God through his Son ..." (WB&TS, 1968, "The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life," Watchtower Bible & Tract Society: Brooklyn NY, pp.152-153).

"To whom should we pray? ... the Scriptures direct us to offer our prayers through Jesus. ... For our prayers to be heard, we must pray only to Jehovah through his Son." (WB&TS, 2005, "What Does the Bible Really Teach?," Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York: Brooklyn NY, pp.167-168. Emphasis original).

Thus JWs are by their own (including your) admission, "thanking God the Father through" an angel, namely Michael the Archangel"!

JWs do not pray TO Jesus, as He commanded (see above) and as Christians in the New Testament did:

• "[T]here are [at least] five New Testament examples where prayer is offered to Jesus in heaven as Lord (or the Son of God)":

  "In response, there are five New Testament examples where prayer is offered to Jesus in heaven as Lord (or the Son of God). 1. In Acts 7:59, 60 Stephen called on Jesus as Lord. As he was being stoned, he prayed, `Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' That indicated his belief that Jesus was more than a man, powerful enough to receive his spirit. `Falling on his knees he cried out with a loud voice, `Lord, do not hold this sin against them!' A pious Hellenistic Jew would not pray to anyone less than God. 2. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul wrote to the `saints ... who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.' 3. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 as Paul spoke of his `thorn in the flesh,' he said, `Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, `My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.' 4. In 1 John 5:13-15 we read: `These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him.' The pronouns He and Him refer to the Son of God (v.13). 5. In Acts 8:24 Simon said, `Pray to the Lord... ` (in Verse 16 Jesus is the `Lord.')" (McDowell, J. & Larson, B., 1975, "Jesus: A Biblical Defense of his Deity," Here's Life Publishers: San Bernardino CA, pp.35-36. Emphasis original).

• "Jesus also receives the honors due to Jehovah God alone. ... He receives prayer":

  "Jesus also receives the honors due to Jehovah God alone. He is to receive the same honor given to the Father (John 5:23). He is to be feared (Eph. 5:21), to receive absolute love (Matt. 10:37), and to be the object of the same faith we have in God (John 3:16; 14:1). He receives prayer (John 14:14; Acts 7:59-60 compared with Luke 23:34, 46; Rom. 10:12-13; 1 Cor. 1:2; etc.), worship (Matt. 28:17; Heb. 1:6), and sacred service (Rev. 22:3)." (Bowman, R.M., 1989, "Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah's Witnesses," Baker: Grand Rapids MI, Third printing, 1990, p.109).

• "Yet the earliest disciples, Jews to a man, directed worship to Jesus ... Prayers are addressed to Christ":

  "To offer worship to any other being than the LORD God (Yahweh) was for the Jew unthinkably offensive, the most fundamental of all sins (Ex. 20:3-6; Dt. 6:4f.,13-15). Yet the earliest disciples, Jews to a man, directed worship to Jesus. .... Doxologies are ascribed to Christ (Rom. 9:5; 2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 3:18; Rev. 1:5f.); two are addressed to both Father and Son (Rev. 5:13; 7:10). Prayers are addressed to Christ (Acts 7:59f.; 9:13f.; 1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:20)." (Milne, B., 1982, "Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief," Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester UK, 1988, Fifth printing, p.130).

• "Jesus himself encouraged his earliest followers to pray to him: `Whatever you ask me in my name, I will do' (John 14:14 ...)":

  "According to the Gospel of John, Jesus himself encouraged his earliest followers to pray to him: `Whatever you ask me in my name, I will do' (John 14:14 , authors' translation). ... some Greek manuscripts ... omit the word `me' ... in John 14:14. There is not much question that the original wording of the passage included the word me, because the manuscripts supporting that wording are generally older, are from a broader range of manuscripts, and are from more diverse geographical origins than those manuscripts that omit the word. Even if the word `me' were not in the text, John 14:14 would still be speaking about praying to Jesus. Suppose Jesus said, `Whatever you ask in my name I will do:' The natural inference is that the person who does what we ask is the person whom we ask. ... with or without `me,' Jesus in John 14:14 is inviting us to pray to him." (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.51-52. Emphasis original).

• "Two of the books of the New Testament close with a prayer to Jesus as Lord, asking him to come back soon":

  "Maranatha! We will mention just one more New Testament example of prayer addressed to Jesus. Two of the books of the New Testament close with a prayer to Jesus as Lord, asking him to come back soon. This is easily seen in the book of Revelation, which closes as follows: The one who testifies to these things says, `Surely I am coming soon:' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen. (22:20-21) ... That John addresses the petition to the Lord Jesus shows just how `Christ-centered' the Christian hope really is. The same prayer was a regular part of Christian public devotion to Jesus in the early Jewish church. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians closes as follows: If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be anathema. Maranatha! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. (16:22-24, authors' translation) In these closing comments, Paul uses two Aramaic expressions. The first, anathema means `accursed.' The second, maranatha which is really two words, means, `Our Lord, come!' (or possibly `O Lord, come!')" (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.52-53. Emphasis original).

• The Book of "Acts makes it clear that the early church prayed to Jesus and addressed him as the `Lord' spoken of in the Old Testament":

  "The book of Acts opens with Jesus' final appearance to his disciples and his ascension into heaven (Acts 1:1-11). As the disciples waited for the Holy Spirit to come, they prayed the first recorded prayer to Jesus, addressing him as `Lord' and acknowledging that he knows the hearts of all people (Acts 1:24). ... From the first prayer to Jesus and the first sermon about Jesus, we move to the first martyr for Jesus. As Stephen was being stoned to death, he twice `called upon' Jesus as `Lord,' asking him to receive his spirit and to forgive his killers (Acts 7:59-60). As we saw when we discussed praying to Jesus, the idea of `calling upon' Jesus as Lord clearly recalls Joel 2:32, which Peter quoted in his sermon in Acts 2. Thus, simply reading these statements in the context of the whole narrative in Acts makes it clear that the early church prayed to Jesus and addressed him as the `Lord' spoken of in the Old Testament." (Bowman & Komoszewski, 2007, pp.160-161).

• "Jesus not only asked people to believe in him ... but he asked them to pray in his name ... the disciples not only prayed in Jesus' name ... but prayed to Christ":

  "Jesus Claimed to Be God by Requesting Prayer in His Name. Jesus not only asked people to believe in him and obey his commandments, but he asked them to pray in his name. `And I will do whatever you ask in my name.... You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it' (John 14:13-14) ... In response to this, the disciples not only prayed in Jesus' name (1 Cor. 5:4), but prayed to Christ (Acts 7:59). Jesus certainly intended that his name be invoked both before God and as God in prayer." (Geisler, N.L., 1999, "Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics," Baker Books: Grand Rapids MI, p.130. Emphasis original).

• "[T]he disciples are told that they must not only pray in the name of Christ but to Christ ... Christ here represents himself as: ... The Object of prayer":

  "[Jn 14:13-14]. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask me anything in my name, I will do it. ... Because of the far-reaching character of the promise contained in verse 13 it is repeated in the next verse. However, there is a difference, for now the disciples are told that they must not only pray in the name of Christ but to Christ, `If you will ask me anything in my name,' etc. Hence, by taking the two verses together we see that Christ here represents himself as: a. The One in whose name prayer must be offered. b. The Object of prayer. c. The Hearer of prayer." (Hendriksen, W., 1964, "A Commentary on the Gospel of John," Banner of Truth: London, Third edition, Vol. 2, pp.273-274. Emphasis original).

So the Watchtower's prohibition of JWs directing their prayers TO Jesus, shows that JWs are NOT Christians in the New Testament sense, and that the Watchtower is just a Johnny-come-lately wolf in sheep's clothing, whom Jesus warned us would come:

Mt 7:15 NWT. "Be on the watch for the false prophets that come to YOU in sheep’s covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves.

Continued in part #4.

Stephen E. Jones.
My other blogs: CreationEvolutionDesign & The Shroud of Turin