The 13-year-old dinner guest gave some details of her Jehovah's
Witness faith: "I don't go to church;
I go to the Kingdom Hall," "Jehovah loves us and wants us to love one-another," "Jehovah is our
God and
Jesus is our master teacher," "Some people say that
Jesus died on a cross, but it wasn't; it was a torture stake."
A torture stake. Consider this verse from the King James Version:
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
(Galatians 6:14)
Rendered by the Jehovah's Witnesses New World Translation:
"Never may it occur that I should boast, except in the torture stake of
our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been impaled to me
and I to the world."
(Galatians 6:14)
For centuries the Cross of Jesus has been an icon of culture,
literature, and personal devotions, featured
in many masterpieces of art and architecture. For Bible translators in 1948 to
decide that the translation of
"cross" was incorrect and that it was
actually a "torture stake" deconstructs the major motif of Christianity. To
negate the Cross makes one wonder how much (or little) the
translators valued the store of Christian culture.
Certainly people can love Jehovah without the Cross -- the Jewish people
prove this every day. And,
apparently, the Jehovah's Witnesses can too. But, can a person be a Christian without the Cross? Will a
torture stake serve as
well? Imagine Catholic devotions:
The Stations of the Torture Stake or The Sign of
the Torture Stake.
In spite of these objections, I am trying to get into the torture stake
idea because everyone is always so
judgmental about every other denomination/sect/religion: "Baptism -- immersion vs. sprinkling,"
"Priesthood --
celibate males vs. married pastors," "Communion --
wine vs. grape juice," "God's Name -- Jehovah vs. Buddha
vs. Vishnu, etc.," "Diet -- beef vs. pork vs. vegetables," "The Holy Land --
Jerusalem vs. Mecca vs. Salt Lake City."
People are so judgmental because seeking the Truth (and saving souls) is a very
serious business. Once
someone has hammered-out the Truth in some
fashion, they get attached to their handiwork and fear some other
system will come along and compete with or spoil
what they've done. Even with a perfect God in a perfect universe,
so far He has not created perfect humans, so the Truth is subjected
to wide-ranging interpretation, colored by
culture, geography, language, mental
capacity, and imagination. God made it this way,
"because the LORD did
there confound the language of
all the earth: and from thence did the
LORD scatter them abroad upon the
face
of all the earth." (Genesis 11:9 KJV)
Joining a denomination/sect/religion is sort of like joining a club; whether
the Hells Angels, the Kiwanis Club,
or the Austin Racewalkers,
a person joins to socialize with a group of people who share a hobby or interest.
The common thread that could bind all believers together
is devotion (Love freely given).
The puzzle remains: Can a person be a Christian without the Cross?
"If anyone wants to come after me, let him disown himself and pick up
his
torture stake day after day and follow me continually." (Luke 9:23 NWT)
27-May-10