First of all, I began reading these with more interest when I read an article a while back about the criminal on the cross beside Jesus. As far as I remember, the JW perspective on this criminal was that he was not truly saved, for that wouldn't be fair to those who had actually lived good lives before they died. This criminal repented at the last minute, and so was not actually good enough to enter heaven with Jesus. To me, this is no longer gospel, but a works-based, self-righteousness religion, and denies the grace and mercy of God.
However, this latest magazine caught my attention with the articles entitled "The Lie that Made God Nameless," "The Lie That Made God a Mystery," and "The Lie That Made God Cruel" (these can be found here). The first article is fairly straight-forward, saying that we do know the name of God (they say it is Jehovah, most Old Testament scholars I have read pronounce it Yahweh), even though some people say we can't say it (like orthodox Jews), or don't know it any ways. This is nothing new to Bible-reading Christians.
The remaining two articles show, as I read them, that instead of protecting and magnifying the glory and greatness of God, the JWs actually make God smaller by demanding that he be understandable by our reason, and that God, to be the Judge of sinners, must therefore be cruel.
The first of these articles deals with the doctrine of the Trinity--which JWs disagree with (to them, Jesus was not the eternal Son of God, but became the Son of God at his ascension (or resurrection, I can't remember which right now)). They argue against the Trinity in this short article by saying that Jesus never claimed to be equal with the Father, and so is not God. They also argue that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but is God's "active force." Without getting into the issue of how we received and understand the doctrine of the Trinity, the JW objection is that we could not know this doctrine, and this makes God unknowable. I quote:
"Can you really love someone who is impossible to know or understand? The doctrine of the Trinity, therefore, is a barrier to knowing and loving God."The question I have in return, however, is: How can finite, limited minds understand the God who created them? Do we not learn from Job that God is beyond us? That God is far greater and more mysterious than we could ever imagine? That a God who can be understood by us is a God who is not that great?
Of course we know of God through revelation alone--we are limited, sinful people! This does not make God unlovable, it makes God even greater and more lovable since he chose to reveal himself to us. It makes our thankful response of obedience even more important, because knowledge of this great and 'unknowable' God is all that much more precious.
The second article tries to make God less cruel by denying the doctrine of a place of eternal torment after this life for those whom God has not elected. In an interesting use and misreading of Ezekiel 18:4, the JWs argue that this place does not exist, but that unchosen souls will be destroyed and no longer exist. But their misquote does not take into consideration the context of the passage in which 'soul' is then identified as the people who sin, not just their souls (read Ezekiel 18, you'll get what I mean). Their other 'proof text' is Job 14:13, and they use an old translation to make their point that the OT does not refer to 'hell' but 'the grave.' Most modern translations have "Sheol," the OT reference to what happens after this life (usually understood as 'grave'). But most poetic references are from the viewpoint of the living, otherwise when David says, in Psalm 88:10
"Do you show your wonders to the dead?Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?"does he mean that once we are no longer living, we cannot praise God? That denies the essence of John's vision in Revelation where the citizens of heaven are praising God, including those who have been killed for their obedience to Christ!
It is interesting that the JWs do not quote any New Testament passages about eternal punishment or Hell. They pick and choose their texts to suit their purposes.
In the end, I would not become a JW because their God is too small! They try to make God fit our understanding, our reasoning, and our ideas of what God should be like. Give me the untamable, mysterious, Judge of the Bible over the watered-down lesser God of the JWs! Give me Yahweh over this Jehovah, because here I can see the greatness, the unimaginable holiness, power, and majesty of the God of the Bible.
When confronted by a Jehovah's Witness, next time just tell them that their God is too small, and then point them to the true God of the Bible.