The governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses appears to be ramping up its instructions to be ready to obey any direction coming from them even though it doesn’t make sense. Just recently in a morning worship talk, Jonathan Smith, helper to the service committee, recounted the many times in the past Witnesses were reminded in the […]
Category: Examining Doctrines
Overview The proposal under review is that the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4 are symbolic of Jewish Christians preserved from Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70, that the great multitude in Revelation 7:9–17 are Gentiles added to them, and that together they become the one flock of John 10:16. This reading belongs broadly to a preterist framework, […]
Jonathan Smith’s 2026 talk Faithfully Obey in What Is Least (Luke 16:10) presents a message that has appeared with increasing frequency in recent Jehovah’s Witness publications: Christians should cultivate obedience now—even in matters that seem small, unusual, impractical, or difficult—because future survival during the great tribulation may depend on following direction from Jehovah’s organization. The […]
In recent years, some statements published by Jehovah’s Witnesses have drawn attention because of the strong emphasis they place on trusting organizational direction even when that direction may not appear reasonable.How does this model of authority compare with what we see in the Bible and especially in the first-century Christian congregation?
In recent years, some statements published by Jehovah’s Witnesses have drawn attention because of the strong emphasis they place on trusting organizational direction even when that direction may not appear reasonable. For example: “At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint… All of […]
When it comes to the great white throne judgment scene in Revelation 20:11-15 a moral question arises: Will God resurrect wicked persons merely to condemn them to death based on deeds done prior to their death? Does Scripture teach a universal resurrection and condemnation of all the unrighteous dead, or a more qualified resurrection that […]
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John 1:14 NIV) This question touches one of the central tensions in Christian theology: if the issue raised in Scripture is whether humans […]
Stuff May 17, 2026 • 2:56pm A High Court judge has ruled a Royal Commission report into the Jehovah’s Witnesses was unlawful, finding the inquiry strayed beyond its legal remit and into wider criticism of the faith’s practices and beliefs. In a newly released judgment, Justice Boldt found the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care exceeded the […]
Few passages in the Bible have raised more theological and philosophical questions than the Great White Throne judgment in the Book of Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15. The scene is dramatic. The dead stand before God. Books are opened. Every person is judged according to their works. Death and Hades give up the […]
For nearly two thousand years, Christians have debated the meaning of one of the most mysterious chapters in the Bible: Revelation chapter 20. What is the “thousand years”? When is Satan bound? What is the “first resurrection”? And what exactly is the great white throne judgment? Long before denominational traditions, the earliest Christians were already […]