I received a Watchtower from a nice couple yesterday at a Kingdom Hall, and now I'm wondering......?

Question

The title is "Do You Have a Immortal Soul".
I glanced through it and there is interesting topics inside. But because I just don't want to skip around I will get to one that is by far the most interesting in this magazine "Have You Sinned Against the Holy Spirit?" I guarantee I will be reading that article today.
Now my question, it is about the resurrection of the dead. It says "Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment." (John 5: 28,29)
What does that mean to a resurrection of judgment? Do they have a trial time or instant judgment?
Oh I should add, I went to the Kingdom Hall to see if I could get a Bible, but they had none. This very nice and polite woman told me she will order one for me. This other man said he had a extra one and loan it to me until mines come in. How nice! I will get to see them again soon.

Answer 1

You have some good answers from Witnesses and people who know them personally, so I am answering because I want to respond to the answer by "wally".

#1: Jehovah has had witnesses all throughout history...
(Isaiah 43:10-11) “10 “YOU are my witnesses,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “even my servant whom I have chosen, in order that YOU may know and have faith in me, and that YOU may understand that I am the same One. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there continued to be none. 11 I—I am Jehovah, and besides me there is no savior.””

#2: Jesus himself said:
(John 15:18-19) “. . .If the world hates YOU, YOU know that it has hated me before it hated YOU. 19 If YOU were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because YOU are no part of the world, but I have chosen YOU out of the world, on this account the world hates YOU.”

(John 17:13-19) “13 But now I am coming to you, and I am speaking these things in the world in order that they may have my joy in themselves to the full. 14 I have given your word to them, but the world has hated them, because they are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world. 15 “I request you, not to take them out of the world, but to watch over them because of the wicked one. 16 They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world. 17 Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me forth into the world, I also sent them forth into the world. 19 And I am sanctifying myself in their behalf, that they also may be sanctified by means of truth.”

(John 15:14) “. . .YOU are my friends if YOU do what I am commanding YOU.”

(Matthew 24:13-14) “. . .But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”

(Matthew 28:19-20) “. . .Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded YOU. And, look! I am with YOU all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.””

So, I don't know about "wally", but I do know that Jehovah's Witnesses do exactly what they are commanded to do by Jehovah, through Jesus, and through God's Word, the Bible, and they won't quit until the work is finished.

I hope you will continue to read the Bible and study with the Witnesses. I did, and it was the best choice I have ever made, and if you truly love God, and want to please him, it will be the best choice you will ever make. Remember, God calls those to him who truly love him.

Jesus said: (John 17:3-4) “. . .This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”

I want to add, that the Witnesses will help you learn what the Bible really teaches using any version of the Bible that you feel comfortable using. The truth of God's teaching has been preserved in the Holy Scriptures, not just one version of the Bible. We like the New World Translation because God's name, Jehovah, has been restored where other versions have omitted the name and replaced it with mere titles. We believe that God gave us his name so that we could use it and because it is a very special name with very deep meaning...

Jehovah said: (Ezekiel 38:23) “. . .And I shall certainly magnify myself and sanctify myself and make myself known before the eyes of many nations; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.’”

~wannaknow~

Answer 2

1 Cor.15:22-28,51-53; As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Rev.20:1-6,12,13;
No Satan 1000 years judgement day, the heavenly head of the body, for the new heavens, are with Jesus at his second coming, the earthly body for the new earth are resurrected along with all to be judged and all possible is saved, any lost has self to blame Rev.20:7-10;

Answer 3

The resurrection of judgment is condemnation. It is not a trial.

People should consider it a blessing that Armageddon has not come instead of calling the JWs false prophets. They never gave exact dates, because the bible says that no one knows but the Father. Remember Jonah, Nineveh was not destroyed as he prophesied. Did that make him a false prophet? JWs don't claim to be prophets anyway, they are only servants of the True God. They have to continue to warn their people when they see the handwriting on the wall. If Jehovah decides to delay, that is his option.

Edit:
Remember, a good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Look at the comments from the opposers. What kind of tree do you think they came from? Nit picking about sincere imperfect humans trying to do the will of God. Referencing articles from 1943. The truth was derived from reading the King James and other bibles, so if the theories are flawed, blame it on your bibles. The NWT did not come into existence until 1950.

Answer 4

According to the Scriptures, Jehovah purposes to resurrect virtually all of mankind, most of whom lived unrighteous lives. But not every resurrected person will automatically live forever. Jesus spoke about a "resurrection of judgment" for those who practiced vile things.

A resurrection of judgment refers to the ultimate outcome of adverse judgment for those who unappreciatively fail to respond to God's love even after their resurrection. So, back to death they must go! - Rev 20:14

That will literally be the second death for them—from which they will never recover. The second death, then, is permanent non-existence.

For some creatures though, like the Devil and his demons, and those who foolishly worship the image of the beast during the judgment, their first death will also be their second death—meaning they will receive no resurrection. So, the lake of fire, and the similar term "Gehenna" that Jesus used, merely symbolizes everlasting destruction.

Answer 5

Hey first of all, I'm glad you're reading the mag, many people already explained everything you asked, so I will not do it..
BUT, what I wanted to say is, all these people bashing on JW's when I bet they're religion is probably worse...
Go ahead, gimme thumbs down....
I mean, We know you don't like us, not many people liked Jesus himself, what can WE expect, nobody even listened to Noah all the time he preached...
I guess the prophecy is true (1 Tim 3:1-5)
so yeah, they're pretty much gonna hate you for finding God and the truth about him and the Bible, I sincerely hope that you keep going to the Meetings and associanting with fellow Christians...
I wish you the best!!

Answer 6

I'm happy for you. Learning God's word is not an over night thing. I think, you think, s/he thinks, we think things will not get anyone anywhere or will ever help anyone to come to accurate knowledge of God's word the Bible.

Matt 5:3 says: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need..." And today's text says: "The world (current society, ways of living) is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever."—1 John 2:17.

"As Christians, we allow our love for God and neighbor to motivate us to share in the Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work. In so doing, we please Jehovah God, “whose will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3, 4) Really, to help others to come to know God is the most precious gift we can give them. Those who accept Jehovah’s friendship can enjoy it throughout eternity. We live in a world where material things are greatly valued, even loved. Yet, material things are not everlasting. They can be stolen or consumed by decay. (Matt. 6:19) On the other hand, Jehovah will remain forever, and so will those who love and serve him. Consequently, does it not make more sense to cultivate love for God and for people than it does to pursue the things of the world?"

Answer 7

What Jesus said here must be understood in the light of the later revelation that he gave to John. (See Revelation 20:12, 13.) Both those who formerly did good things and those who formerly practiced bad things will be “judged individually according to their deeds.” What deeds? If we were to take the view that people were going to be condemned on the basis of deeds in their past life, that would be inconsistent with Romans 6:7: “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin.” It would also be unreasonable to resurrect people simply for them to be destroyed. So, at John 5:28, 29, Jesus was pointing ahead to the resurrection; then, in the remainder of verse 29, he was expressing the outcome after they had been uplifted to human perfection and been put on judgment. ---"Resurrection." Reasoning book - p. 338.

Answer 8

Excellent question.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bible to teach that nearly everyone who has ever died will be resurrected to paradise earth restored after Armageddon. Humankind will continue to be resurrected until the collective "grave" has been emptied. As resurrectees are educated about true worship in an environment without Satanic influence, their personalities should increasingly reflect Christlike qualities. By the end of the thousand years, each human will have reached perfection and will have the capability of passing a test such as Adam failed.

(Revelation 20:2-3) He seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not mislead the nations


The bible teaches that at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be loosed for a limitted time. Sadly, many humans will follow Satan at that time. Those who follow Satan will have proven that their resurrection centuries earlier turned out to be a resurrection of judgment in that their rebellion with Satan means their eternal death.

(Revelation 20:7-8) Now as soon as the thousand years have been ended, Satan will be let loose out of his prison, 8 and he will go out to mislead those nations

Learn more:
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/dg/index.htm?article=article_10.htm

Answer 9

I want to commend you for your interest in learning more about the bible.

John 17: 3 "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you the only true God, and the one whom you sent forth Jesus Christ."

You will get a lot of negetive comments about Jehovah's Witnesses, mostly from disgruntle ex-witnesses. However,
don't let it stop you from studying the bible and seeing for yourself. Jehovah's Witnesses are not out to convert, but to teach the bible and if a person feels it is true, they will want to serve Jehovah on their own.

I hope you continue with your search for Bible truths.

We actually just studied the article "Have you sinned against the Holy Spirit." yesterday. It is a good article and really shows how merciful Jehovah is with those who are repentant, but at the same time, it's not so much what we have done, but our attitude about the wrong.

Regarding the resurrection to judgement, that would be a good question to ask one of the Witnesses you already spoke with. But I will share one scripture. Romans 6:7 "He who has died has been acquitted from his sin." So with their death, they have paid for past sins. Would it be reasonable for God to resurrect people, just to turn around and destroy them? So the judgement would be speaking of their deeds from that point of their resurrection. Those who died faithful have already proved themselves faithful and would of a resurrection of life, those who did vile things would still have to prove themselves faithful from that point on to have the chance for everlasting life.

edit: To gen c: Jehovah has been the accepted English pronouncation of the tetegrammaton for centuries. Jehovah's Witnesses did not come up with the name Jehovah. Even Steven Speilberg in his movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" used Jehovah and he's Jewish.

Answer 10

The scriptures speak of a 1,000 reign of Christ during which humans will be raised to perfection on earth and after which there will be one final period of testing before Satan's complete destruction.

During that 1,000 year reign we will see the resurrection Jesus promised there in John 5:28,29. Notice he said there will be a resurrection of BOTH the righteous and the unrighteous. That means that even unrighteous ones would have an opportunity to come to an accurate knowlede of God and make a choice to serve him, or not. Those that choose not to would then suffer that resurrection of judgment .. everlasting destruction. Not eternal damnation in hell... Simply they will cease to exist.

PS: I'm glad you found that particular issue interesting.

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PSSST: Bli? Respectfully, you might want to rethink your statement. Are you aware that our summer conventions this year were based on the theme "Follow the Christ". And that the publication released this year is entitled "Come be my follower" Also, speaking of the ministry of Christ... if we are neglecting it, why are we pretty much the only ones known to be following his command to GO and make disciples found at Matthew 28:19,20

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Gen C: With equal respect to you, and apologies for the lengthy but important response, if Jehovah's Witnesses came up with the word or name Jehovah, please explain

KJV - Psa 83:18 - That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.
King James Version 1611, 1769
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ASV 0 Osa 73L18 -That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, Art the Most High over all the earth.
American Standard Version 1901 Info
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Young - Psa 83:18 - And they know that Thou -- (Thy name [is] Jehovah -- by Thyself,) [Art] the Most High over all the earth!
Robert Young Literal Translation 1862, 1887, 1898 Info
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Darby - Psa 83:18 - That they may know that thou alone, whose name is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.
J.N.Darby Translation 1890 Info
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Webster - Psa 83:18 - That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.
Noah Webster Version 1833 Info