Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Door - Part II

Today we'll finish what we started yesterday with a couple of historical questions. [LINK]  

[*As a bonus, due to their shared belief in the Great Apostasy, these two arguments work with Mormons as well.]

The Necessary Event:

All of the claims of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, indeed their very existence, rests upon the belief that the entire Church abandoned the practice of the true religion established by Jesus and the Apostles.  This event, known as the Great Apostasy, was when all Christendom suddenly began proclaiming that Jesus of Nazareth was actually the uncreated God become incarnate.

Things brings us to the second question: When did that occur?  Who caused it?  What evidence exists for this cataclysm?

You’re unlikely to get a straight answer to this question.  Because the troublesome thing with massive worldwide events that never occurred … is that it is hard to put a precise date on them.  

Vain Attempts:

You’ll likely be pointed to a few Bible passages, such as 2 Thes 2:3, Acts 20:28-30, and 2 Tim 3:1-5.  These speak of deceivers coming into the Christian flock and even of large groups of people leaving the faith. 

But there is nothing about those passages that specifies when some kind of mass apostasy will.  More importantly, it does not say this event will completely annihilate the Church. 

On the other hand, we have very direct promises from Jesus which state the Church will continue to exist in perpetuity until the end of human history:

“Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.’” – Matthew 16:17-18

“Then Jesus approached and said to them, ‘All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20

Pushing Back the Date:

Likewise, we can also show that the historical evidence points to early Christian belief in the full divinity of Jesus as God. Testimonies of this belief appear in the earliest Christian writings.  

Gregory of Neocæsarea: Bishop of Neocæsarea in the middle of the third century. (Now Niksar, Turkey)

“Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abides ever." - Declaration of Faith, 265 AD.

Origen of Alexandria: Early third century Christian teacher and philosopher.  (Western Nile region)

"Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made man, he remained what he was: God" - De Principis, Preface, Section 4, 225 AD.

Justin Martyr: Christian apologist, born about 100 AD, converted to Christianity about 130 AD, taught and defended the faith in Asia Minor and at Rome, where he suffered martyrdom about the year 165 AD.

“The Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times of your reign, having become Man by a virgin for the salvation of those who believe in Him.” – First Apology 63, 157AD

“Therefore these words testify explicitly that He is witnessed to by Him who established these things, as deserving to be worshipped, as God and as Christ.” – Dialogue with Trypho, 63, 150 AD

Aristides of Athens: A Christian philosopher living in Athens during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian:   

"Christians are they who, above every people of the earth, have found the truth.  For they acknowledge God, the Creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit" - Apology of Aristides, 16, 140 AD. 

Ignatius of Antioch: Bishop of Antioch in the early 2nd century and disciple of Saint John the Apostle.  He wrote seven letters on his way to Rome to face his execution:

“There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; first passible and then impassible— even Jesus Christ our Lord.” - Letter to the Ephesians, 115AD

With all this in mind, the folks at your door would have to push back the date of the Great Apostasy all the way back to the original Apostles.  They would have to believe that the same John who wrote the fourth Gospel somehow failed to pass along the true faith to Ignatius.

Further, one would have to believe this same tragic error also happened to the other Apostles, because belief in the full divinity of Jesus Christ was ubiquitous by the end of the second generation of Christians.

Most importantly, they would have to suppose that the promise of continuity which Jesus gave the Church didn't take effect - making Him either a liar or a false prophet.

The Forgotten Page:

Now for my favorite one.

The Jehovah's Witnesses hold that the doctrine of the Trinity, which was authoritatively defined at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD, is a heresy.  Thus, the Great Apostasy must have occurred prior to 325AD or immediately afterward.  So it follows that anything declared by the Church after 325AD should be disregarded by Jehovah’s Witnesses.  

After all, why would you trust a heretical apostate Church?  

Here's the issue: They may think they've separated themselves from Trinitarians by using their New World Translation of the Bible.  But they forgot the one critical page of that Bible upon which the whole thing rests.... the Table of Contents.  The New Testament they carry is the same 27 book collection used by the rest of Christendom. 

So let’s ask an often overlooked question:  Who put that collection together?  

The Bible didn’t just fall out of the sky bound up in a bow.  What human agency was responsible for discerning that those 27 books and only those 27 books are the inspired content of the New Testament?  Whoever it was, how can we trust that person?

Historically, the answer is … Pope Damasus.  The 37th Pope of the Catholic Church.

Damasus' Revenge:

In 382AD, Pope Damasus held the Synod of Rome to address the worldwide question concerning the proper content of the Biblical canon.  This result, called the “Damasine List”, was then sent out into the world and approved by other local synods, like the Third Council of Carthage in 397AD.

Now, there were people - such as Saint Athenasius - who used those 27 books prior to the Synod of Rome.  But his was just one opinion among many.  The question here is how the universal consent to the current New Testament canon came about, and who had the ability to settle that dispute.  And that was Damasus.

Thus, every time someone picks up the New Testament and says it is the Word of God, that person is implicitly saying -(whether they realize it or not )-, "Pope Damasus got is right and had the authority to say so."  That's true for Catholics, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Methodists, Baptists, Evangelicals, and.... Jehovah's Witnesses.  

So the question can be posed:  If the Church went apostate prior to 325AD, why are you using the collection it published half a century later?  If you trust the Catholic Church to tell you the content of the Bible in 382AD, why not trust it to tell you about the Trinity in 325AD?

In my personal experience, this was the question that caught them off guard and had them silently looking at one each other for help.  Hopefully planted that seed of doubt into their minds.  At the very least, it ensured my home would never again be visited by the Witnesses.   

I hope this has been helpful.  Thank you for joining me.