By Les Kerr.
Jehovah’s Witnesses want all people to listen to what they have to say about Jesus Christ, whom the apostle Paul describes as “The last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Before doing this, we will take a close look at what they teach about “The first Adam”. Knowing they will agree with us that this subject is of vital importance, let us imagine a conversation between Thomas (A Jehovah’s Witness) and David (a Christian) ...
Thomas: Hello David. Have you seen our book* on creation? It shows the fallacy of thinking that evolution is the means of how God made everything.
The book shows what the Bible says about how everything came into existence. I'm sure you will find it very interesting, and you will see that we can really trust what the book of Genesis says about this very important subject.
David: Thanks, Thomas. I've already had a close look at the book, and I have a few questions. I know that Jehovah's Witnesses firmly reject evolution as an explanation of how all things came about, but there are some teachings from your organisation, expressed in this book which are certainly not in accord with the inerrant Scriptures.
Thomas: This surprises me, because we base all our beliefs on the Bible, which as you say i s without error.
David: Well, seeing we have an agreement on where we can turn with complete confidence to find the truth, my first question may sound rather simplistic. Here goes.
"How did death get into the world?"
Thomas: That's easy to answer. We just have to turn to passages like Romans 5:12 and 1 Corinthians 15:21 to see that Paul is emphasising the consequences of Adam's disobedience. It was Adam himself who brought death upon us, and all the created order, bring it into the bondage of corruption. So the whole of creation is groaning and labouring with birth pangs, just as described at Romans 8:21, 22.
This is what God warned would happen. There it is at Genesis 3:17-19. Surely you must agree that all this is in accordance with Scripture?
David: I agree that it was indeed Adam's disobedience which introduced death into the world. But my problem is not with what Genesis or any other parts of the Bible is teaching, but rather with what your Watchtower book is saying.
Thomas: You will need to be specific.
David: OK. Where did the fossils, mentioned on page 71 come from? In its book the Watchtower organisation is teaching that fossils * (hence death) were in the world long before man's arrival.
Thomas: Mmm, I've never thought about that, I must admit. But is this really so important? What does it matter, as long as we believe that Adam's disobedience brought death into the world?
David: But this is exactly my point. The Bible couldn't be clearer, as we've seen. The apostle Paul tells us at 1 Corinthians 15:21 that it was indeed Adam who brought death into the world, but the Watchtower book, by teaching that dead animals have been around "long before man" is saying what many evolutionary books would have us believe.
To put it another way, your Watchtower book is telling us that Adam wasn't responsible at all in bringing death into the world.
Thomas: But surely science has proved that many fossils are millions of years old!
David: But we are not taking our starting point from science, are we Thomas? Remember the Bible is not only true in matters of salvation, but its also accurate when it speaks of history. So whatever is said in the name of "science" needs to be tested in the light of Scripture. And we have obviously got a big problem if we accept your book's viewpoint, which clearly contradicts Paul.
Thomas: But the Watchtower teaches that Jesus is the last Adam. Isn't that clear enough? We want to tell people about the last Adam.
David: Are you seriously asking me to listen to what Jehovah's Witnesses want me to hear about the last Adam, when this book is in clear opposition as to what happened concerning the first Adam?
You see, Thomas, God's own verdict on His finished creative work was "very good" [Genesis 1:31]. Would He then have allowed the animals to kill and eat each other for millions of years?
Thomas: I see what you mean. And of course, according to Genesis 1:30 no animal was carnivorous at creation. So those fossils could only have go there AFTER the fall of man.
David: That's right. And as for those nice pictures on pages 237 and 243, are they hiding something?
Thomas: What do you mean?
David: If death didn't really get into the world because of Adam's sin, but had be occurring for millions of years (remember page 71?) there will be a fossil grave-yard under that nice green grass. Is this the future earthly conditions that Watchtower continually talks of?
By now Thomas, you should be able to see why the message the Watchtower wants me to listen to is not so good news after all. God's world points to a future far mor glorious than what any Watchtower book can say.
Thomas: You sound very sure about that.
David: It's God's word that is sure. You will have read for yourself at Acts 3:21 how Jesus will restore everything just as it was before Adam sinned. That means no death of any description. Jesus has all power to do this, because He came to rescue us from our sins. He took not only Adam's sins, but ours too, and paid for them by his blood.
Those who will inherit the new heaven and earth are those who have abandoned any hope in trying to earn their salvation by works, or associating with a particular religion.
This is the real victorious last Adam, who death has no more dominion over. In all honesty Thomas, can you really expect me to listen to your message if you are asking me to believe that Adam was in fact not responsible for the entrance of death into the world?
So why should I listen to what you want to tell me about the last Adam?
Thomas: I'm going to go and give it some serious thought about what we've been discussing.
The Watchtower, though it would vigorously deny it, has been influenced by ideas from outside the Bible.
Examples: "the earth could have existed for billions of years before the first Genesis "day" [Page 26]*; "the sun and moon were in outer space long before this first "day" [Page 27]*; "the creative process continued ....over many millenniums of time" [Page 34]*;
This is what we would expect to read from a typical book advocating evolution, the very idea the Watchtower book sets out to refute.
In our imaginary chat between Thomas and David we have seen that if our starting point is wrong (death before Adam) it ends with a complete failure to grasp why Jesus shed his most precious blood.
He died to atone for our sins. We have seen that there was no death before the entrance of sin, and it is on this crucial point that the Watchtower's "gospel" is exposed.
But even if the Watchtower Society began to honour the Son as much as the Father, even if the Society abandoned any pretense about Jesus rising only as a spirit creature and began to acknowledge that He really did rise bodily from the grave, even if they began to agree that salvation is found in Christ alone (not in an organisation), by grace alone (not relying on any works etc.).
We would still have to remind them that their "Gospel" is fatally flawed, because it allows death into the world apart from sin.
They need to be reminded that death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), and thus if Adam didn't bring it onto the world, it must have got their from God's hand. Does this sound like Good News to you?
*Life– How Did it Get Here? By Evolution or By Creation? Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (1985)
†The global flood (Genesis 7, 8) which occurred around 4,500 years ago is responsible for most of the billions of fossils found in every part of the world.
The Watchtower, though it would vigorously deny it, has been influenced by ideas from outside the Bible.
Examples: "the earth could have existed for billions of years before the first Genesis "day"[Page 26]; "the sun and moon were in outer space long before this first "day" [Page 27]; "the creative process continued ....over many millenniums of time" [Page 34];
This is what we would expect to read from a typical book advocating evolution, the very idea the Watchtower book sets out to refute.
In our imaginary chat between Thomas and David we have seen that if our starting point is wrong (death before Adam) it ends with a complete failure to grasp why Jesus shed his most precious blood.
He died to atone for our sins. We have seen that there was no death before the entrance of sin, and it is on this crucial point that the Watchtower's "gospel" is exposed.
But even if the Watchtower Society began to honour the Son as much as the Father, even if the Society abandoned any pretence about Jesus rising only as a spirit creature and began to acknowledge that He really did rise bodily from the grave, even if they began to agree that salvation is found in Christ alone (not in an organisation), by grace alone (not relying on any works etc.).
We would still have to remind them that their "Gospel" is fatally flawed, because it allows death into the world apart from sin.
They need to be reminded that death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), and thus if Adam didn't bring it into the world, it must have got there from God's hand. Does this sound like Good News to you?