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Our discussion will take the form of a simulated conversation between a Jehovah's Witness named Joe and a Christian named Chris.
Joe: Chris last week we talked about God's omnipresence. I still don't understand that teaching. How can God be at all places at once and still said to have a location?
Chris: Joe, the question we need to ask first is "How big is God?"
Joe: What do you mean, "How big is God?"
Chris: I mean, is God 6 feet tall? Or is he 18 feet tall? Or how about a 1,000 miles tall?
Joe: Oh, I see what you mean. I don't know. I guess he must be about normal size, maybe 6 feet tall.
Chris: Where do you get the idea that God is about 6 feet tall?
Joe: The Watchtower always depicts God as sitting on his throne in heaven. And since He is shown to be about the same size as angels and they are about the same size as men, I suppose that means that God is about the same size as men.
Chris: Do you know that the Bible talks about how big God is?
Joe: No. I've never seen that.
Chris: Joe, can you read 2 Chronicles 6:18 in your Bible?
Joe: Sure it says "But will God truly dwell with mankind upon the earth? Look! Heaven, yes, the heaven of the heavens themselves, cannot contain you; how much less, then, this house that I have built?"
Chris: Could the house that Solomon built contain God?
Joe: I have never seen that verse before.
Chris: So God is bigger than the temple that Solomon built. Can heaven contain God?
Joe: 2 Chronicles 6:18 says that not even the heaven of heavens can contain God. This must be talking about his power not Jehovah himself.
Chris: Let's have a look at God's own testimony about himself. Joe, can you read Jeremiah 23:24 in your New World Translation?
Joe: It says "Or can any man be concealed in places of concealment and I myself not see him?" is the utterance of Jehovah. "Is it not the heavens and the earth that I myself actually fill?" is the utterance of Jehovah."
Chris: Does Jehovah say that he fills the heavens and the earth personally?
Joe: This has to be talking about holy spirit. Holy spirit is everywhere and fills the heavens and the earth.
Chris: Have another look at the verse. It says "Is it not the heavens and the earth that I myself actually fill?" What does "I myself" mean?
Joe: I'll have to do some research on that.
Chris: You see, Joe, although Jehovah's throne is in heaven, but heaven cannot contain Jehovah. Jehovah God is in heaven, but he is also everywhere else as well. Jehovah the Father has the attribute of being omnipresent. Both Jesus and the Father have the attribute of omnipresence. Both of them are everywhere at the same time.
Joe: But the Watchtower teaches that it is God's power that is everywhere not Jehovah himself.
Chris: The Watchtower has made God out to be a very small God by teaching that his power is not a part of God himself.
Joe: I'm not sure of what you mean.
Chris: Let me show you. I am going to knock down that coffee cup on the table with my power. Did you see that I pushed it with my power which is my hand? Now, Joe, take my power and knock down that cup.
Joe: I can't just take your power unless I take your hand and knock down the cup. Your power is not something that is outside of your person.
Chris: That's right Joe. Now what if I got into my car and drove over to a brick wall and using the car, I pushed the brick wall over. Would the car be my power?
Joe: No. The car's power is the car's power. It is not yours.
Chris: That's right, Joe. Only the power that resides in you is yours. The power that comes from a machine that you use is not yours but the machine's power. Jehovah's power is in his person. It is his power. Omnipotent or all powerful means possessing all power within yourself. Historic Christianity teaches that God is omnipotent. Omnipotence is not having control of a power outside of God's person. It is God's power that he personally has. If God's power was outside of his person, then that power would become God, and Jehovah would only be the one using the power. Anyone that could take that power and use it would have the power to become God. Doesn't your own Watchtower say that Jesus used Jehovah's power to create all things? Did Jesus then become God because he had control of all the power? And what would have happened if Jesus would have refused to give the power back?
Joe: Chris, you seem to be saying that the Watchtower has made God to be a small God. I will have to do some research on what you have told me, but tell me, how could Jesus be God when he didn't know things here on earth?
Chris: That's a good subject to talk about next week.
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Go to Part Four: How can Jesus be God when he didn't know everything? |
