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Enoch2021 Paul did use the word "debate" and straightforwardly told true Christians not to do so, telling them to "carry on prayer, lifting up hands without anger and debates". ("debate", Greek dialogismos meaning "discussion, i.e. debate", Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible) Paul's use of the word "anger" ties directly in with debates, not "doubting" as the King James Bible says, for that is what happens when two or more people debate, whereby proper reasoning is thrown out the window and each is trying to prove their "point" and anger often gets the best of them. I will not argue with you, just as the apostle Paul finally tired of dealing with the obstinate Jews in Corinth, despite providing considerable evidence that "Jesus is the Christ", who "kept on opposing him and speaking abusively", so that "he shook out his garments and said: "Let your blood be on your own heads. I am clean".(Acts 18:5, 6) At John 9 concerning the man born blind, the Pharisees asked this man how he was healed, which he described. However, they contested his words, saying that Jesus was "not a man of God".(John 10:13-16) The Pharisees again asked the man born blind how he felt about Jesus, which he responded that he was a "prophet".(John 10:17) For the third time, the Pharisees asked the man born blind concerning Jesus "What did he do to you ? How did he open your eyes ?" The man born blind was by now becoming very irritated with their unwillingness to recognize what Jesus did, so that he told the Pharisees: "I told you already, and yet you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again ? You do not want to become his disciples also, do you ?"(John 10:26, 27) Despite the overwhelming evidence that Jesus is from God by his healing the man born blind, the obstinate Pharisees became enraged and threw the man born blind out from the synagogue.(John 10:34) But this did not deter either Jesus nor the man born blind, but rather this now healed man became obedient to Jesus.(John 10:38) On another occasion, when Jesus was walking in the temple colonnade of Solomon, the Jews pried him with the question: "How long are you going to keep us in suspense ? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly". Jesus responded: "I told you, and yet you do not believe".(John 10:22-25) So, this will be my last response to you. Any of your future retorts will simply be put in the "trash" folder. (read Prov 18:2)

Enoch2021, Paul did use the word "debate" at 2 Timothy 2:8, for the Greek word dialogismos that he used, contextually means "discussion i.e. (internal) consideration (by implication, purpose),or (external) debate"(Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says "disputing", pg 139) So, as a Christian, I will not debate or dispute Scripture with anyone, for that is a waste of time and energy and contrary to Scriptural guidelines. That the earth is billions of years can easily be seen from Genesis 1:1, that says: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". The distance light has traveled, calculated in many cases as billions of "light years" give evidence that the universe and the earth is billions of years old. So when scientists give the age of 13.8 billion years for the universe does not contradict the Bible's account.(Henrietta Leavitt discovered how to measure distances to the stars in 1912, based period-luminosity of cepheids or stars that varied in brightness) After Jesus exposed the Pharisees for their hypocrisy at Matthew 15:1-11, instead of these recognizing their wicked attitude, they were "stumbled", so that Jesus disciples wondered what Jesus was going to do. Jesus simply informed them: "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. Let them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into the pit".(Matt 15:12-14) Thus, just as Jesus saw no need to continue, trying to "convince them", he simply left them alone and so will I, no matter how you try to twist my words. I have already provided enough evidence for reasonable people, not for those who have "an axe to grind". Acts 13:48 describes the kind of people that a true Christian is looking for, one "rightly disposed for everlasting life".

Enoch2021, I have no need to prove anything to you as in a court case, starting a debate (see 1 Tim 2:8 whereby Paul said to avoid "anger and debates"), just as Jesus did not have to establish to the Jews (and the Jewish religious leaders) that he was the Messiah (of which despite overwhelming evidence, they murdered him anyway), for as he said: "Wisdom is proved righteous by its works".(Matt 11:19) I will touch on just a few points. It is known that uranium (named after the planet Uranus that was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel) is produced within a supernova as its mass is "crunched down" by means of gravity, till the star reaches its end of life and explodes, spewing out much of its created elements. According to the World Nuclear Association, "uranium was apparently formed in supernovas about 6.6 billion years ago" and "is the main source of heat inside the Earth, causing convection and continental drift" being "a mixture largely of two isotopes: uranium 238 (U-238), accounting for 99.3 % and uranium 235 (U-235) about 0.7 %" It furthers says that "U-238 decays very slowly, its half life being about the same as the age of the earth (4500 million years).....U-235 decays slightly faster" until it converts into the stable or non-radioactive metal of lead-206. According to www.radioactivity dot eu dot com, lead is the final product after uranium goes through "14 generations of the uranium 238 lineage". And concerning the word "day", this is determined by the context, such as "I hope to see you by the end of the day" that could mean 24 hours, or "we need to work while it is day, since we cannot see this at night", that means approximately 12 hours or ever how many daylight hours there is. Or as the apostle Paul wrote regarding "the day of Christ Jesus" that encompasses more than 100 years (Phil 1:6), in which Jesus paralleled it to the "days of Noah" (Matt 24:37-39), which is also called "the Lord's day".(Rev 1:10) Hence, each "creative" day is approximately 7,000 years long, not each regular day of 24 hours that Moses said concerning the Sabbath. It is interesting that the Sabbath day in Moses time was 24 hours, but the Sabbath that Jesus spoke of at Matthew 12:8 is 1,000 years long, also being called Judgment Day.(Matt 11:24) You seriously fail to grasp the various time lengths that the word "day" is assigned in the Bible. The word "day" in the Bible is a period of time that something is accomplished or happens, such as "Jehovah's day".(Isa 2:12; Joel 2:31) Since you are in the attack mode rather than willing to reason, I will follow Jehovah's words to the nation of rebellious Israel: "As surely as I am alive.....I will not respond to your inquiry".(Eze 20:31)

The belief that the earth is only several thousand years old has no sound basis. For example, lead, a common metal used to seal pipes and as a protective shielding for radioactive materials, is the decay result (or conversion) of uranium 238, that has a half-life of 4.77 billion years and uranium 235, that has a half-life of 700 million years.(German chemist Martin Klaproth discovered uranium 1789) Uranium is "manufactured" in a supernova (a star that explodes and is at least ten times the mass of our sun), not on the earth. Lead is produced only after uranium (235) has reached its full decay limit of at least 1.4 billion years on the earth. Uranium's "decay rate is among the slowest known to man", likening it to a water escaping from a pond through a pinprick.(website radioactivity dot eu dot com) Or of diamonds. These are crystals composed of pure carbon and are formed under intense pressure (some 50,000 bars, with each bar being equal to one atmospheric pressure of 14.7 lbs per square inch) and heat (1800-2200 degrees F.). These are created at depths in the earth greater than 93 miles and the greatest concentrations are usually found in the oldest continental regions called cratons, that are more than 2 billion years old. Diamonds are then pushed through the earth to the surface by magma flows from volcanoes. Scientists have determined the ages of some diamonds by dating mineral impurities trapped within diamonds, revealing that some are older than 3 billion years.(2005 Microsoft Reference Library) Thus, the earth obviously had to have been in existence before either lead or diamonds were formed. Creationism is a teaching that the earth is only 6 to 10 thousand years old and also that each "day" mentioned at Genesis 1 is only 24 hours long. Those who espouse it have seriously failed to make a thorough examination of the Bible, much less the scientific field. That the word "day" is not just 24 hours long can be seen at Genesis 1, whereby in preparing the earth for human habitation, Jehovah God calls "the light Day, but the darkness he called Night".(Gen 1:5) Here the word "day" is about 12 hours long. But over at Genesis 2, Jehovah lumps all the time for the creation of "earth and heaven" as one "day".(Gen 2:4) Each of the six "creative" days length of time that God scheduled for the completion of the earth for humans can be closely determined using the Bible. After having completed his final act of creation, man and then woman, declaring that all was "very good" (Gen 1:31), at Genesis 2: 3, it states that Jehovah "went on to bless the seventh day and to declare it sacred, for on it God has been resting from all the work that he has created, all that he purposed to make". Thence, we are are now living in the 7th "creative" day. Some 4,000 years after Adam's creation that was immediately followed by the 7th "creative" day, the apostle Paul explained that he, along with others who exercised faith could ' enter into God's rest ' day.(Heb 3:11; 4:1) Combine this with some 2,000 years since Paul's time and then add in Jesus millennial reign of "the thousand years", to bring to completion Jehovah's everlasting purpose for a paradise earth and for "meek" ones to reach human perfection (Matt 5:5; Rev 22:1.2), this allows us to calculate that each "creative" day is approximately 7,000 years.

In speaking to the Jews, Peter said that "there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get save".(Acts 4:12) Yes "under heaven that was given" which is Jesus, for he was the promised Messiah that the Hebrew Scriptures had so much spoken about as Jehovah's representative (John 7:29), but you fail in realizing that Jesus said to Satan of whom true Christians are to listen to in the final analysis, quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every word that comes from Jehovah's mouth".(Matt 4:4) Jesus "iced" whom we are to worship by telling Satan, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20: "It is written: ' It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service".(Matt 4:10) Jesus said succinctly: "For I have not spoken of my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment means everlasting life. So whatever I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me".(John 12:49, 50) As Jehovah told the rebellious nation of Israel who did not listen to him, so do I: "As surely as I am alive,' declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ' I will not respond to your inquiry' "(Eze 20:31) Hence, I will leave this topic and not return.

By your words or conduct, you have not brought anything "to the table" that shows that "the Word of God speaks (to) us", just condemnation, like the Jews who attacked Jesus despite his words that showed him as one of Jehovah's loyal servants.(Mark 3:1-6) And yes, Jehovah's Witnesses "are not of us" as you have said, for we do not take part in the wars of the nations (Isa 2:4; John 13:35), do not smoke cigarettes or use drugs (2 Cor 7:1), do not take blood transfusions or allow sexual immorality (Acts 15:20; Lev 17:10, 11), put out of the congregation those who are immorally unrepentant, not even eating with this one (1 Cor 5:11-13), use clean, wholesome speech (Eph 5:3-5), ' call upon the name of Jehovah '(Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32) do the assigned work of preaching "the good news of the Kingdom" to all the nations (Matt 24:14), are politically neutral in imitation of Jesus (John 17:16), are a united brotherhood world wide (John 17:11), teaching sincere individuals that the earth will become a paradise for "meek" ones as their home forever (Luke 23:43; Matt 5:5; Ps 37:11, 29). Are you fulfilling all of these ? Are you fulfilling what Jehovah said through his prophet to Eli the high priest: "That is why the word of Jehovah the God of Israel is: "It is unthinkable, on my part, because those honoring me I will honor, but those despising me will be treated with contempt" ?(1 Sam 2:30) Most everyone is aware that only Jehovah's Witnesses carry God's wondrous name of Jehovah on them as Jesus also does (Ex 39:30; as high priest, Jesus wears the symbolic turban that bears the inscription "Holiness belongs to Jehovah"), realizing that by doing so, we will be hated even as Jesus was when he walked the land of Israel.(John 15:18) Hence, when we are spoken of deridingly, abused, hated for honoring Jehovah God, like both Jesus and the apostles, we rejoice "because (we have) been counted worthy to be dishonored in behalf of his (Jesus) name" who always ' did the things pleasing to Jehovah '.(John 8:29; Acts 5:41)

When Jesus offered his prayer to the Father at John 17:5, did he mean "before creation ever began" when speaking of the "world" ? No. His words to the Jewish religious leaders explains what is meant by the "world": "Woe to you, because you built the tombs of the prophets, but your forefathers killed them ! Certainly you are witnesses of the deeds of your forefather, and yet you approve of them, for they killed the prophets but you are building their tombs. That is why the wisdom of God also said: "I will send prophets and apostles to them, and they will kill and persecute some of them, so that the blood of all the prophets spilled from the founding ("founding", Greek katabole meaning "a throwing down of seed") of the world (Greek kosmos that means the world of mankind) may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel (as the first loyal one murdered) down to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house".(Luke 11:47-51) Hence, the "world" began when Adam and Eve had children, the starting point for the earth to be filled with mankind, and not "before creation ever began".

Jesus established only "one faith" that pleases Jehovah God.(Eph 4:5) Are any of 41,000 different denominations and sects of Christendom ' calling on the name of Jehovah ' ?(Rom 10:13) Are any of the churches of Christendom going from "house to house" (Matt 10:11-13; Acts 5:42; 20:20), making disciples of people of all the nations by teaching them through a home Bible study all that Jesus taught concerning "the good news of the Kingdom"? (Matt 24:14) Are the churches of Christendom "no part of the world" (John 17:14), having no involvement in the political arena, being politically neutral or removing such false religious doctrines as the "Holy Trinity", hellfire, immortality of the soul, purgatory, calling each other "brothers" and not by some religious title such as Reverend, Monsignor, Bishop, Cardinal, etc. ?(Matt 23:8-10) God told the ancient nation of Israel: "You are my witnesses", declares Jehovah, "yes, my servant who I have chosen, so that you may know and have faith in me".(Isa 43:10) The apostle Paul identified that it was only through this nation (or channel) that God's laws and guidelines were provided, saying: "What, then, is the advantage of the Jew ? A great deal in every way. First of all, that they were entrusted with the sacred pronouncements of God".(Rom 3:1, 2) Jehovah only uses one channel that he calls "my people", who take upon themselves to be called by God's name of Jehovah as the ancient nation of Israel was (Ex 19:5, 6), but proved unqualified.(Rom 10:3) The disloyal Israelites were therefore replaced with "new nation" (Isa 66:8) that would prove qualified, called "the Israel of God" (Gal 6:16) or spiritual Israel. Jesus said to the wicked Jewish religious leaders: "Did you never read in the Scriptures (at Isa 28:16), ' The stone (the Messiah who proved to be Jesus as the primary king of God's Kingdom) that the builders rejected (the Jewish religious leaders who were to be the "supports" of the nation), this has become the chief cornerstone. This has come from Jehovah, and it is marvelous in our eyes ? This is why I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you (the disloyal nation of natural Israel) and be given to a nation producing its fruits".(Matt 21:42, 43) And having just established that the nation of fleshly Israel was replaced as God's people with another "nation" for disloyalty, then where does this place them ? Jesus said of the nation of fleshly Israel, with physical Jerusalem as its capital: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her - how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings ! But you did not want it. Look ! Your house (the temple in Jerusalem) is abandoned to you. For I say to you, you will by no means see me from now until you say (quoting from Ps 118:26), "Blessed is the one who comes in Jehovah's name !"(Matt 23:37-39) Hence, fleshly Israel with its capital of Jerusalem was abandoned by God some 2,000 years ago and suffered almost complete annihilation at the hands of the Roman armies in 70 C.E., fulfilling Jesus words: "The days will come upon you (the nation of fleshly Israel) when your enemies will build around you a fortification of pointed stakes and will encircle you and besiege you from every side. They will dash you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you, because you did not discern the time of your being inspected".(Luke 19:43, 44) Thus, there are no pilgrimages to the "Holy Lands", for no physical land nor physical city is holy to Jehovah God. Have you not read that "Hagar means Sinai.....and she corresponds with the Jerusalem today (literal Jerusalem), for she is in slavery with her children (or fleshly Israelites). But the Jerusalem above (or spiritual Israel) is free, and she is our mother".(Gal 4:25, 26) The Crusades were not authorized by Jehovah God, for Jesus told his faithful followers that "by this all will know that you are my disciples - if you have love among yourselves".(John 13:35) Slaughtering others is at the opposite ends of love, for the apostle Paul wrote: "Love does not work evil to one's neighbor".(Rom 13:10) And the apostle John wrote: "If anyone says, "I love God", and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen".(1 John 4:20) So, the Crusades were diametrically opposed to Jesus words to "have love among themselves" as well any of the wars that the political nations have created or causing any physical harm to another person. Please tell me why the apostles, after having been taught both by example and words about humility (Matt 18:1-5), that on the night before Jesus death, they became upset and argued themselves as to who was the greatest ?(Luke 22:24) Learning to apply Bible principles take mediation, time, and lots of effort. Apparently you have yet to this day failed to understand what Jesus meant by being "no part of the world".(John 17:14) Jehovah's Witnesses have been able to "put the pieces together" (meaning of the Greek word synimei that Jesus used with regard the Kingdom at Matt 13) as to what it means to be "no part of the world". Can you assemble a 10,000 piece puzzle within minutes or even hours of taking the pieces out of the box ? No, for it takes time (sometimes a long time) to fit the pieces in their proper location for the picture to be the right one. Likewise, of knowing how to apply the various Bible "truths". The churches have not changed at all in their theological doctrines and practices over the centuries, but again apparently you failed to grasp that Jehovah said that his people would gradually refine themselves from "wood" to finally "gold" (Isa 60:17), that "the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, that grows brighter and brighter until full daylight".(Prov 4:18) The churches are blood guilty, having been participants in all the wars of the nations, having killed each other "in the name of Christ" or just displayed a murderous attitude in following the political leaders. They have went to "bed" with the political rulers, the "kings of the earth" like a prostitute, riding on the back (along with the rest of the religions of the world) of the "scarlet-colored wild beast", the United Nations.(Rev 17:1-3) For this prostitution, Jehovah has said: "For her (the religions of the world that includes Christendom that is called Babylon the Great [Rev 17:5], with ancient Babylon as its prototype) sins have massed clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind......Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth".(Rev 18:5, 24) So, Jehovah places "all those who have been slaughtered on the earth" at the feet of both the churches along with all the other religions of the world. But Jehovah's Witnesses are free of being blood guilty by not killing anyone, being "no part of the world", but rather are taught to "beat their swords into plowshares".(Micah 4:3) Can this be said of anyone else ?

Jehovah's Witnesses do believe in the "deity of Christ", that he is a god, but not the God, for Jesus said that "the Father is greater than I am" (John 14:28) as well his saying that he is "the beginning of the creation by God".(Rev 3:14) And yes, I have read Galatians 1:8, 9 many times, that clearly explains the need to be sure of what we accept as "truth" and discard that which proves otherwise. And for a person to gain salvation, Jesus said: "Not everyone saying to me, ' Lord, Lord ', will enter the Kingdom of the heavens, but only the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will".(Matt 7:21) And what is God's will and who are doing it ? The apostle Paul wrote that "God, whose will is that all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth".(1 Tim 2:3, 4) And how is this accomplished ? Jesus said that his genuine disciples would "go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations......teaching them all the things I have commanded you".(Matt 28:19, 20) In selecting his 12 apostles, Jesus said that they and all who became true Christians were to go to people's homes and first preach to them about God's Kingdom.(Matt 10:7) Jesus said: "Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving. When you enter the house, greet the household. If the house (individuals within the home) is deserving (by listening), let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace that from you return upon you".(Matt 10:11-13) Are you and your religious organization going from "house to house" with "the good news of the Kingdom" (Matt 24:14; Acts 5:42), providing assistance to "people of all sorts" in order to be saved by conducting a free home Bible study with them that helps root out worldly thinking ? Are you and your religious organization helping "people of all sorts" to make the critical changes in their personality, ' stripping off the old personality with its (wrong and immoral) practices, and clothing themselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the One (Jehovah God) who created it' ?(Col 3:9, 10) Are you and your religious organization "no part of the world" that is comprised of three main components, politics, false religions of the world, and greedy commerce ?(John 15:19) True Christians avoid any such entanglements, for James wrote: "Adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God ? Whoever, therefore, wants to be friend of the world is making himself an enemy of God".(James 4:4) Who among the churches have separated themselves from the world, practicing and teaching only "the truth" about Jehovah God ? Rather, are not doctrines such as the "Holy Trinity" as well as hellfire as well as the immortality of the soul still being taught as well as their deep participation in the political arena and love for money ("dig deep into your pockets, for God loves a cheerful giver" says religious leaders). And Jesus did not say just to "believe", but rather he told Nicodemus: "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life".(John 3:16) Hence, as Jesus said, it is much more than just "believing" (see James 2:17 that shows "faith by itself, without works, is dead"), but rather "only the one doing the will of my Father". Just as exercising requires work, so likewise "exercising faith" requires changing one's personality to that like Christ Jesus in loving righteousness and hating lawlessness (Heb 1:9), in doing (not just talking about it) the preaching and teaching work, in abstaining from any involvement in politics, even mentally, in removing all religious ideologies and practices that conflict with the Bible, in carrying God's name of Jehovah on their shoulders, for the apostle Paul wrote: "For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation......For (quoting from Joel 2:32) "everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved".(Rom 10:10, 13) So is it "simple" being a true Christian ? No, for Jesus said to "exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able".(Luke 13:24) Jesus further emphasized the challenge of following in his footsteps by saying: "If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up his torture stake and keep following me".(Matt 16:24) Therefore, only a few are willing to transform their personality that Jehovah God is pleased with, making it part of their personality to make disciples, teaching others about Jehovah and be "no part of the world".(Matt 7:14)

Jesus words at Matthew 7:13-27 identifies those who would make a pretense of being his followers in contrast to those who are his genuine disciples. He uses the language of "fruits" to describe their conduct. And what is the conduct of the churches of Christendom ? Their hands are "filled with blood" like the ancient nation of Israel.(Isa 1:15) From the Crusades (11th-13th centuries) to the Inquisitions (14th-16th centuries) down till our day, the churches have been immersed in the political arena that has shed the blood of massive numbers of people. For example, during the Spanish Inquisition, Pope Sixtus IV appointed Dominican monk Tomas de Torquemada (1483-98 C.E.). Peter de Rosa, in his 1988 book Vicars of Christ - The Dark Side of the Papacy, wrote that "in the pope’s name, [the inquisitors] were responsible for the most savage and sustained onslaught on human decency in the history of the race.” Of Dominican inquisitor Torquemada in Spain, he says: “Appointed in 1483, he ruled tyrannically for fifteen years. His victims numbered over 114,000 of whom 10,220 were burned.” In contrast, what is the conduct of Jehovah's Witnesses ? They have remained politically neutral, though in World War I, it was unclear what Jesus meant for them to do, so some were in the military, but refused to harm anyone, just shooting in the air. But within the next 20 years, it became clear what Jesus meant when he said that his genuine disciples would be "no part of the world".(John 15:19) While the churches continued to slaughter one another, Catholic killing Catholic, Presbyterian killing Presbyterian, Mormon killing Mormon (some 600 Mormons were part of Adolf Hitler's Nazi army, under command from their headquarters to do so), Protestant killing Protestant, Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned and killed for not joining the armies on both sides, applying Isaiah 2:4 to "beat their swords into plowshares", Jesus words "to love one another".(John 13:35) So, who are the ones on the "cramped road", willing to die in order to follow in Jesus "footsteps" ?(1 Pet 2:21-23)

Yes, we admit that we have erred in understanding many of the prophecies of the Bible, but have you not read Isaiah 60 concerning "the woman" that pictures Jehovah's organization both in heaven and on the earth. And what does it say ? It says that God's people would begin with "wood", and then end up with "gold", denoting that in the beginning, the understanding would be inferior (or wrong), but at the end, their understanding would have reached to "gold", being able to finally grasp what the Bible really teaches. Apparently you have never considered this prophecy that Jehovah said would occur. Jehovah knew that at the reestablishment of his people near the end of the "last days" (2 Tim 3:1), that as with any understanding, there would be mistakes. Remember Jehovah wrote this down, not me, so he knew that his genuine people would continue to refine their grasp of the Bible. Have you not read in the Bible book of Proverbs: "For the righteous one may fall seven times, and he will get up again".(Prov 24:16) We have "fallen" many times in our understanding of the Bible, but each time we get up and see where we were wrong or off in our understanding of the Bible, making needed adjustments. Have you done any refining work on understanding the Bible on your part or is it the same as always ? In the fields of science, medicine, computers, etc, mistakes were made in the past or were crude, but refinements are continuously being made and yet nobody complains about this, but rather are happy to have latest invention. And about ' getting it right the first time ' regarding prophecy, please explain Daniel 11 and 12 exactly as Jehovah meant it. I will wait for you to do that on that one "prophecy" alone. Have you not read Proverbs 4 which says: "But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light that grows brighter and brighter until the full day-light".(Prov 4:18) Now you tell me that God was wrong when he inspired Solomon to write this down, that righteous ones would only gradually come to a full understanding of God's word and not the "first time". Tell him to his face that he was mistaken when he said that his people would over time start crudely to unravel the "mysteries of the Kingdom" (Matt 13:11), until "full day-light" of gaining a deep understanding of the Bible. And have you not read what the Psalmist said about his righteous ones: "Light has flashed up for the righteous and rejoicing for those upright in heart".(Ps 97:11) The churches have never had "light flash up" concerning Bible truth, but have stayed ' in the rut" where they began some 1,700 years ago. And have you not read whom Jesus appointed to provide spiritual food in our time frame, in which Jesus said: "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master (Jesus Christ) appointed (Greek katestesen meaning "to designate, to constitute") over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time ?"(Matt 24:45) Jesus was not talking about a single individual but a body of men that is patterned after the first century "governing body" (Acts 15:2) who took the lead in providing for "his body of attendants".(Luke 12:42) Yes, the churches encourages "independent thinking" and that is why there some 41,000 different denominations and sects of Christendom with their own "interpretations" of the Bible and its prophecies. Yet Jesus established only "one faith" that would measure up to being like him (Eph 4:5, 13, 14), being united as "one".(John 17:11) Are you going to argue with Jesus that it is okay to interpret the Bible as each person wishes, despite his laying out the foundation that "the truth" would only come through "mountain of the house of Jehovah" that "all nations will stream" to be instructed by him?(Isa 2:2, 3) Have you not read where Jesus quoted from Isaiah 54:13, saying concerning the "woman's sons" that "they will all be taught by Jehovah".(John 6:45) Jehovah's Witnesses are being "taught by Jehovah". Are you ?

The "good news of the Kingdom" (Matt 24:14) is that this heavenly government (Matt 13:11), composed of 144,000 individuals selected from the earth (Rev 14:1-4 with Jesus as the primary king of it) who have proven their loyalty till death (Rev 2:10) and serve as "kings and priests" (Rev 5:9, 10), will rid the earth of wickedness (Ps 37:10), bring to perfection all those who are its loyal subjects (Rev 22:1, 2) and transform the earth into a paradise (Luke 23:43) as Jehovah God originally purposed from the beginning (Gen 1), in which then there will be an "abundance of peace......forever".(Ps 37:11, 29)

Jesus established that true Christianity would be "the one doing the will of the Father" as opposed to those who just call Jesus "Lord" (Matt 7:21, 22), and produce only "worthless fruit".(Matt 7:17) And what "fruit" or conduct has Jehovah's Witnesses produced ? While the churches of Christendom have totally immersed themselves in the political arena and its bloody wars, Jehovah's Witnesses have been politically neutral like Jesus taught his genuine disciples to be.(John 17:16) You can call us "filthy rags", but Jesus calls us "my disciples" because we ' remain in Jesus words '.(John 8:31) Who are the ones obeying Jesus words: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of people of all the nations........teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded ?"(Matt 28:19, 20) Who are the ones obeying the command by Jesus to be "no part of the world" (John 15:19), being politically neutral and removing any religious doctrines and practices that conflicts with "the truth", such as Christmas (Ecc 7:1), Easter (Luke 22:19, 20), as well as the "Holy Trinity" (John 14:28), hellfire (Jer 32:35), immortality of the soul (Eze 18:4, 20), purgatory (Ecc 9:5), calling men and women by religious titles (Matt 23:8-10) Who are the ones obeying Jesus words to "have love among themselves" (John 13:35), unwilling to participate in the deadly wars of the nations ? Who are the ones obeying Jesus words to make known "the good news of the Kingdom.....in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations" ?(Matt 24:14) Who are the ones that are following the apostle Paul's words: "For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation......For "everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved" ?(Rom 10:10, 13) Jesus said it succinctly concerning true and counterfeit Christians: "Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door (which true Christians do), because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able.......Then you (counterfeit Christians) will start saying, ' We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our main streets'. But he will say to you, I do not where you are from. Get away from me (for posing as genuine but are fake), all you workers of unrighteousness !"(Luke 13: 23, 26, 27) Are you ' entering a city, searching out who in it is deserving ' (Matt 10:11-13), going from "house to house" as Jesus and the apostles did ?(Acts 5:42) Are you doing all these things, plus much more that is required of being a true Christian ? Jesus words fit here: "Why, then, do you call me ' Lord ! Lord ! ' but do not do the things I say ?"(Luke 6:46)

Over the years, we have admitted that there were mistaken views concerning "battle of the great day of God Almighty" as well as when the Kingdom would begin operation. Being mistaken does not mean that God has rejected that organization. It brings to the fore the need for refinements in their understanding of Bible prophecies, which is true of anyone, for what person in their right mind would allow medical knowledge of 1889 to be practiced on them today ? How about a "car repair manual" from 1889 ? Would anyone use this to repair a 2017 car ? Knowledge and understanding is exponential and reasonable people will realize that what has real merit is not what happened in 1889 but what knowledge, understanding and conduct is available now. For example, the apostles of Jesus were mistaken in their belief that "the Kingdom of God was going to appear instantly" as they and Jesus approached Jerusalem just before his execution.(Luke 19:11) But by an illustration, Jesus provided insight to the fact that Kingdom's appearance was yet a long way into the future. Did their misbelief cause Jesus to throw them away ? No, just a refinement in their thinking which continued from then on. Or even on the night before his death, after having taught his apostles for some three years, focusing on humility as critical for God's favor, one betrayed Jesus while the others began arguing who was the greatest.(Luke 22:25; John 13:21, 29, 30) Did Jesus cast all of them off ?(Judas was called "the son of destruction" and will never again live, John 17:12) Even though Peter impetuously took an ear off a man with a sword (Luke 22:49), denied knowing Jesus three times (22:34, 54-60), put on a pretense many years later (Gal 2:11-14), Jesus continued to use Peter as one of his apostles, being privileged to write two letters of the Bible. And why ? Because these accepted their "medicine" or reproof and displayed agape love. Apparently you have not read the prophecy at Isaiah 60 about the "woman" on which Jehovah God would "shed light" while "darkness will cover the earth".(Isa 60:1, 2) To the symbolic "woman", it further says that "nations will go to your light and kings to your shining splendor".(Isa 60:3) Over a few verses, it says that "instead of copper I will bring in gold, and instead of the iron I will bring in silver, instead of the wood, copper, and instead of the stones, iron; And I will appoint peace as your overseers and righteousness as your task assigners".(Isa 60:17) Thus, starting from "wood" or inferior compared to the metals that would come later, copper, silver and finally gold, this "woman" would grow in understanding. Over the years, this "woman" has been refining its grasp of the Bible, but which the churches of Christendom are still where they were some 1,700 years ago, teaching falsehoods and never recognizing that doctrines as the "Holy Trinity", hellfire, immortality of the soul, having religious titles, that "all good people go to heaven", are not in the Bible and in conjunction that the churches have rejected Jesus words to be "no part of the world" (John 15:19), mixing and mingling with the political arena as well as greedy commerce.(Rev 17:1, 2) This "woman" has "offspring" that "observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness concerning Jesus".(Rev 12:17) Who are the ones who the brunt of persecution from Satan, that he is enraged at ?(Rev 12:15, 16) Jehovah's Witnesses, as can be seen from the recent forced closure of the branch in Russia as well in Kazakhstan as well as all around the world. They are hated as Jesus said.(John 15:19) And who are the ones "bearing witness concerning Jesus", who are proclaiming "the good news of the Kingdom" throughout the earth from "house to house" as Jesus commanded ?(Acts 5:42; 20:20; Matt 24:14) And what did Jesus say would be the main identifying mark of his followers ? Always right in explaining prophecy ? At John 13, Jesus told his eleven faithful apostles: "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this all will know you are my disciples - if you have love among yourselves".(John 13:34, 35) What record has the churches of Christendom acquired over its history ? The shedding of much blood, having no love among themselves, Catholic killing Catholic, Protestant killing Protestant, and in which of the religions of the "world" that includes Christendom, God lays the blame for "all those who have been slaughtered on the earth".(Rev 18:24) Are Jehovah's Witnesses among these ? No. Rather, thousands were imprisoned and many lost their lives for resisting being part of the military, especially during World War II in Nazi Germany and down to this day, many are imprisoned for taking a neutral stand towards the political field and its military. Only Jehovah's Witnesses are fulfilling Isaiah 2, that says that "in the final part of the days" (our time frame), that "they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears", whereby individuals of a "nation will not lift sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore". Which is a far weightier wrong in Jehovah God's eyes, mistaken understanding of Bible prophecy, or fighting in (or supporting) a political war whereby innocent people are slaughtered, being blood guilty ?

The development of the Trinity doctrine came over a period of several hundred years. Prominent men, such as the Apostolic Fathers, as well as the Early Church Fathers, were enamored with the philosophies of Greek writers and philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, and over time introduced false religious ideas, gradually replacing the pure teachings of God's Word. Though Tertullian (c. 160-230 C.E.) used the Latin word trinitas, the Trinity did not start to come into focus until 325 C.E. at the Council of Nicaea, in which Roman Emperor Constantine, who was not Christian, summoned all the "bishops" of Nicaea (that amounted to about 1,800, but of which only 300 attended). He felt that his empire was being threatened because of the controversy surrounding who Jesus and God were (a dispute between with two Alexandrian (Egypt) priests, Arius who believed that Jesus was inferior to the Father and Athanasius who believed that they were equal), with the holy playing no role in the controversy at this time. After 2 months of furious religious debate, Constantine decided that in order to end this "fracas”, he personally would settle the issue and “proposed.....the crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued by the council, ‘ of one substance with the Father’ “.(Encyclopedia Britannica) Yet the Trinity doctrine was far from being the formula of “three persons in one Godhead”. Some 56 years later, at the Council of Constantinople in 381 C.E., the final pieces were put together to form the Trinity doctrine, that included the holy spirit and whereby Roman Emperor Theodosius I (reigned 379-395 C.E. of the East and of the West from 394-395 C.E., the last Roman emperor to rule a united Roman Empire) banned paganism and imposed so-called “Christianity” as the State religion of the Roman Empire. In so doing, he persecuted the Arians (those who sided with Arius that Jesus was inferior to the Father). Leading French historian Henri Marrou (1904-1977 C.E.) wrote: “By the end of the reign of Theodosius, Christianity, or to be more precise, orthodox Catholicism, became the official religion of the entire Roman world”. Hence, orthodox Catholicism, not true Christianity, now set the tone for what to believe rather than Scripture, that now included the Trinity. The word Catholic is defined as :”all-inclusive.....all-embracing”.(2005 Microsoft Encarta Dictionary) Roman Emperor Constantine wanted unity for his empire more than anything else rather teach “the truth”, so he devised the “Catholic” religion that came to view the Trinity as official doctrine. The Romans were notoriously known for their worship of triads of gods, such as Jupiter (supreme god), Juno (consort of Jupiter) and Minerva (goddess presiding over handicrafts) that corresponded to the Etruscan (these people lived in northwest Italy who were in turn influenced by Greek culture and initially ruled Rome in 6th century B.C.E.) triad of Tinia, Uni, and Menerva. So, is it little wonder that Roman Emperors incorporated a triad or trinity of gods into so-called “Christianity” or Catholicism that later was the foundation for Christendom, so as to be “all-inclusive”, allowing pagan doctrine and teachings to dictate their directions instead of Bible truth, so that “one size fits all”, pleasing the pagan populace as well as so-called “Christians”. Both parties could now be happy and “join hands”.