by Jefferson David Tant<\/p>\n
According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine, Christ was put to death on a pole, rather than a cross. Notice a quote from their literature.<\/p>\n
“Jesus did not die on a cross. He died on a pole, or a stake. The Greek word translated ‘cross’ in many Bible verses meant just one piece of timber” [What Does God Require of Us<\/em>, 1996, p. 230.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Witnesses’ contention is that the cross was a sign of pagan worship, and thus God would have had no part in any connection to pagan worship. But there are various things that do identify that Christ was actually nailed to a cross rather than just a stake or pole.<\/p>\n
For one thing, consider the Greek word “stauros<\/em>” for “cross,” and its definition. “Stauros in the NT… was a pole sunk into the ground with a cross-bar fastened to it giving it a ‘T’ shape. Often the word ‘cross’ referred only to the cross-bar.” [The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible<\/em>, vol. 1, 1976, pp. 1037-1038].<\/p>\n
To avoid this obvious definition of the word, the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation changes the definition to “stake” every time “stauros”<\/em> appears in the New Testament. This is not the only time they have changed the original Greek text. Note Christ’s conversation with the Jews in John 8:56-59: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.<\/em>“<\/p>\n
Jesus was referring His eternity, as the Greek for “I am” is from “eimi<\/em>,” which is defined as “the first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist” [Strongs Greek Dictionary]. This is a reference to Christ’s eternal existence. But since the Witnesses claim that Christ is an angel, and not eternal, they change the wording to read, “Before Abraham was, I was.” The same thing could be said concerning Christ and Noah. I have a concern about any denomination that has to have its own translation of the Bible.<\/p>\n
But back to the crucifixion. Where did the soldiers place the inscription? Above his head, or above his hands? If his hands had been nailed to the post, the inscription would have been above his hands,” but the text says it was “above his head.”<\/p>\n
“And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, ‘THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS<\/em>” (Matthew 27:37).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The next time the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door, you might ask them about this.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jefferson David Tant According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine, Christ was put to death on a pole, rather than a cross. Notice a quote from their literature. “Jesus did not die on a cross. He died on a pole, or a stake. The Greek word translated ‘cross’ in many Bible verses meant just one…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[831,228,355],"class_list":["post-60503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-cross","tag-crucifixion","tag-jehovahs-witnesses"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-die-on-a-cross-or-a-stake\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":0},"title":"Did Jesus die on a cross or a stake?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Jehovah's Witnesses make the claim that Jesus did not die on a cross, they say he died on a torture stake. They make note that the word the King James translators rendered as \"cross\" is the Greek word \"stauros\", meaning an upright post or stake. The research I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16165,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-should-yhwh-be-pronounced-correctly-and-not-yeshua\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":1},"title":"Why should YHWH be pronounced correctly and not Yeshua?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have just read your web page:\u00a0\u00a0Understanding the Tetragrammaton: Pronouncing YHWH. If your conclusion is accurate, then we should not be using the name Jesus, correct?\u00a0 To apply your conclusion or principle to YHWH, consistency, and accuracy being paramount with me, means that the use of Jesus it wrong\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-new-world-translation-accurate\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":2},"title":"Is the New World Translation Accurate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 8:19-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Members of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses have become excited in recent times. An author with a Ph.D. after his name has written a book saying the New World Translation and the New American Bible (a Catholic translation) are the most accurate translations. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/john-jesus-and-jehovahs-witnesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":3},"title":"John, Jesus, and Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Those who are familiar with the Jehovah's Witnesses' teaching about Jesus Christ are aware that they believe that Christ is not the Son of God, but that he is Michael the Archangel, a created being. Note the following quote from their writings: \"the evidence indicates that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-new-world-translation-an-accurate-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":4},"title":"Is the New World Translation an accurate translation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you think about The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures? Is it an accurate translation? Answer: The New World Translation is the product of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the publishing arm of the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination. Though it claims to be a literal translation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-more-than-one-translation-says-the-word-was-a-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":60503,"position":5},"title":"Doesn’t more than one translation says “‘the Word was a god?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding your statement on in \"Jesus is God\": \"To get what Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses wish to claim, that Jesus was just a god in the sense that some men are \u201cgods\u201d in that they are God\u2019s representatives you would need \u201cand the Word was God\u201d (\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2 ?\u03bd \u1f41 \u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2)\u00a0in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}