A Letter for Jehovah's Witnesses

The following is a letter that is designed to be given to Jehovah's Witnesses when they call at your home. It simply challenges them to use scriptures to prove their doctrine that Jesus began ruling in heaven in 1914 and that they are not to come back until they can scripturally answer the questions. They will want to come back and that will motivate them to try to answer the questions. This is an effort based upon love that is designed to help them to see what is truly based upon scripture and what is not. The letter can be mailed to a local congregation with your address but giving the letter to them personally when they visit will have the greatest effect. I will provide a downloadable form in time but for now feel free to copy the information below and print it out - And please don't forget to tell your friends about this opportunity. More information about "1914" can be found on the "1914" page. You do not need to talk to the Witnesses - just give them the paper and close your door, politely please.

The letter in PDF format - You can save it to your computer too and share it easily with others

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A letter to Jehovah's Witnesses:

If you are a teacher of what the scriptures really say, please do not come back to this address until you can explain the following Bible based questions and statements by using the Bible itself. If you have the truth, you should not be afraid to explain or defend it. Please keep in mind the admonition at 2 Corinthians 13:5 where it admonishes true Christians to "Keep testing whether YOU are in the faith, keep proving what YOU yourselves are. Or do YOU not recognize that Jesus Christ is in union with YOU? Unless YOU are disapproved." Much of the following information is based upon your publications: WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? and the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Reference Edition). Further reference material can be found at www.jwjw.org.

In the publication WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? on page 215 under the heading "1914 - A Significant Year in Bible Prophesy" paragraph 2, it states; "As recorded at Luke 21:24, Jesus said: "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations,..."

1. When Jesus said this to his disciples, is it not true that it had not yet happened? Notice the words "will be". This "will be" is from the Greek word "esomai" which simply means "will be" or simply that something is yet to happen. Did not Jesus instruct his disciples on what to do once they saw "Jerusalem surrounded"? (Matthew 24:15,16; Luke 21:20,21) How could the "trampling" of Jerusalem have started in 607 BCE when Jesus said it had not yet started when he was speaking to his disciples?

2. Do you know that the words "time" or "times" are rendered in approximately 85 places in the book of Daniel alone? (According to the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)

3. Is it true that when Jesus stated the phrase "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24) he was quoting from Daniel 8:13; "...How long will the vision be of the constant [feature] and of the transgression causing desolation, to make both [the] holy place and [the] army things to trample on?" and possibly Daniel 9:27 (See Ref. footnote)? If not, where was he quoting from? Many link this passage in Luke 21:24 with Matthew 24:15 which states; "therefore, when YOU catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place.." (Consider the ref. bible footnote for Dan. 8:11 "the constant [feature]" could be translated "the continual [sacrifice]" - This term is used in Daniel 8:11,12,13 - compare the term with 1 Chron. 23:31; "..burnt sacrifices..constantly before Jehovah")

4. Is it not true that Daniel recorded how long this trampling along with the vision of the "transgression causing desolation" (Or, "causing astonishment (horror)." - Ref. footnote) as mentioned in Daniel 8:13 would be in verse 14; "..Until two thousand three hundred evenings [and] mornings; and [the] holy place will certainly be brought into its right condition."

5. Is it true that the horns mentioned in Daniel 8:5,8,9 are part of the "male of the goats" mentioned in Daniel 8?

6. Is it true that the "transgression" (Daniel 8:13) is the "male of the goats" mentioned in Daniel 8:5-8? (Compare Daniel 8:8-12 with Daniel 8:20-25) For was it not one of its horns that threw down the sanctuary mentioned in Daniel 8:11 and is described in Daniel 8:9-12 and Daniel 8:23-25?

7. Is it true that Daniel 8:21 shows that the "he-goat" represented Greece?

8. Is it agreed that where Daniel 8:5 describe the "male of the goats" "coming from the sunset upon the surface of the whole earth, and it was not touching the earth" started in 334 BCE? (Compare your publication Pay Attention to DANIEL'S PROPHESY! on page 169) - If so, then do you agree that this is the beginning of the vision time period mentioned in Daniel 8:13,14? If so, how could the "trampling" have started in 607 BCE? If not, how would you discern where in this vision of Daniel "the trampling" or the "transgression causing desolation" was to start? - Because this vision starts with the Media - Persia alliance which took its place after the fall of Babylon. (Daniel 8:2,3,20)

9. Do you agree with the Revised Standard Version (Second Edition) rendering of Daniel 8:19 as: "He said, 'Behold, I will make known to you what shall be at the latter end of the indignation; for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.' "?

10. Do you agree that if one was to take the length of time of the vision of the "transgression" along with actions against the "holy place" and the "army" (2,300 "evenings[and] mornings) and apply the principle of "a day for a year" (see page 217 of WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH?: "On the basis of Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, which speak of 'a day for a year' ") and include the "zero year", the time period would start with 334 BCE and end with 1967 AD? If you disagree, when do you think it started?

11. Did you know of the "six day war" of Israel in June 1967 that set it "above" its neighbors in a military way so that it was not "kicked around" or "trampled upon" anymore by its neighbors as it was in the past plus Israel captured all of the city of Jerusalem?

12. Is it possible to see a similarity in thought between Daniel 8:25; "..it will be without hand that he will be broken" and Daniel 11:20; "..he will be broken, but not in anger nor in warfare"? If so, what would it be?

13. Is the "disgusting thing that causes desolation" or anything that resembles the wording "appointed times of the nations" mentioned anywhere in Daniel chapter 4? (The phrase "seven times" is not the phrase "appointed times of the nations" otherwise they would have the same wording - compare Daniel 4:25 with Daniel 8:19)

14. Is it recorded anywhere that Jesus or any of his disciples quoted from Daniel chapter 4 where it speaks of the tall tree that is chopped down or of the "seven times"? (Concerning prophesy, the word "appointed" only occurs in the book of Daniel in chapters 8,11,12)

15. Is it true that neither Daniel or Jesus prophesied of the "trampling" of God's people any earlier then the time of Rome? (Depicted as the "small one" at Daniel 8:9 (ref. jwjw.org) that came from Greece (Daniel 8:8) or Rome as mentioned in Daniel 11:15-20)

16. Is it true that both Daniel and Jesus mentioned that "the disgusting thing that causes desolation" would be the one to capture / destroy Jerusalem? (Daniel 8:13; 9:27 (NIV); Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20-24) Was the king Nebuchadnezzar, who captured Jerusalem, ever mentioned as being "the disgusting thing" (NWT) or "the abomination that causes desolation" (KJV)?

17. If neither Jesus or Daniel referred to the time of 607 BCE, who did?

18. In the WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? book, page 217, it is stated; "the 'trampling' would end when Jesus became king". Referring to that time, paragraph 4 on page 217 claims; "that period ended in October 1914." If Jesus became king in 1914, when does the scripture happen that states: "And as soon as there will have been a finishing of the dashing of the power of the holy people to pieces, all these things will come to their finish." (Daniel 12:7)? Also:

    1. How could it be that some nations are still "trampling" God's people?

    2. Does this mean that God's people will have their power "dashed" just before Michael stands up in Daniel 12:1 and the resurrection mentioned in Daniel 12:2? What does the term "as soon" mean?

    3. Could this "dashing of the power to pieces" be related to Daniel 11:32-35? Or could it be related to Revelation 6:11; "..and their brothers who were about to be killed.." or Revelation 11:7; "..will make war with them and conquer them and kill them" or Revelation 12:17; "..and went of to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed.." or Revelation 13:5,7; "And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given it, and authority to act forty-two months was given it. (vs.7) "And there was granted it to wage war with the holy ones and conquer them.."?

19. In paragraph 1 on page 217 in WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? it is stated; "The account in Daniel chapter 4 holds the key to knowing how long that period would last."

    1. Please show the scriptures that support this statement. Because it is not written anywhere in the scriptures that Jesus or any of his disciples or any of the prophets referred to this account (in Daniel 4) concerning the "appointed time of the nations".

20. In paragraph 2 on page 217 in WHAT DOES THE BIBLE Really TEACH? it is stated; "So the chopping down of the symbolic tree represents how God's rulership, as expressed through kings at Jerusalem would be interrupted."

    1. Please show the scriptures that support the thought that the symbolic tree in Daniel chapter 4 represents God's rulership. Did not the prophet Daniel interpret the tree to represent the king Nebuchadnezzar? - Not God's rulership.

    2. Is it not true that just because a tree is high in stature, it does not necessarily represent God's rulership or favor? Ezekiel 31:2-6 states of Pharaoh as a tree to be cut down (Ez.31:12); "among the clouds its treetop proved to be...it grew higher in its stature than all the [other] trees...On its boughs all the flying creatures of the heavens made their nests, and under its branches all the wild beasts of the field gave birth, and in its shade all the populous nations would dwell.."

    3. Is this "chopping down" the beginning of the "appointed times of the nations" that Jesus referred to? If you think so, what is the scriptural proof? (Please consider the above questions)