📖 Madhehebu Potofu & Dini za Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 3: Mashahidi wa Yehova📖 Cults & World Religions — Unit 3: Jehovah's Witnesses

Msingi: Wagalatia 1:6-9 — pamoja na Wagalatia 1:8; 2:16, 21; 5:4 (SUV)Anchor: Galatians 1:6-9 — with Galatians 1:8; 2:16, 21; 5:4 (NKJV)

Neno Kabla HatujaanzaA Word Before We Begin

Mashahidi wa Yehova huja mlangoni wakiwa na Biblia mkononi na jina la Yehova midomoni mwao, nao wanahubiri Yesu mwingine na injili nyingine. Hilo ndilo hitimisho la sehemu hii, na tutalithibitisha kutoka katika machapisho yao wenyewe na kutoka katika Maandiko. Watch Tower inaupa ulimwengu Kristo ambaye si Mungu bali ni kiumbe aliyeumbwa — malaika mkuu Mikaeli, kwa mafundisho yao — na wokovu unaopatikana kwa matendo na kwa uaminifu kwa shirika badala ya kupokelewa bure kwa neema. Haya si makosa ya pembeni; yanaukata mzizi. Tunayapima mafundisho yao, kama kawaida, kwa Neno la Mungu, na pale yanapoiacha injili tunasema hivyo waziwazi. Tunanena kweli katika upendo (Waefeso 4:15), kwa kuwa jambo la upendo kuliko yote tunaloweza kumwambia mtu ye yote ni kweli kuhusu Kristo — lakini upendo hauilainishi kweli ili kulihurumia kosa.Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door with a Bible in hand and the name of Jehovah on their lips, and they preach another Jesus and another gospel. That is the finding of this unit, and we will prove it from their own publications and from Scripture. The Watch Tower gives the world a Christ who is not God but a created being — the archangel Michael, in their teaching — and a salvation earned by works and by loyalty to the organization rather than received freely by grace. These are not errors at the margins; they cut the root. We test their teaching, as always, by the Word of God, and where it departs from the gospel we say so plainly. We speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), for the most loving thing we can tell anyone is the truth about Christ — but love does not soften the truth to spare the error.

Mashahidi wa Yehova Ni Akina Nani?Who Are Jehovah's Witnesses?

Mashahidi wa Yehova ni washiriki wa shirika linalojulikana kama Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, lililoibuka nchini Marekani mwishoni mwa karne ya kumi na tisa na ambalo leo linaongozwa na Baraza Linaloongoza. Wanatumia Biblia yao wenyewe, Tafsiri ya Ulimwengu Mpya, wanasisitiza matumizi ya jina la Mungu "Yehova," na wanajulikana sana kwa huduma yao ya nyumba kwa nyumba. Idadi yao ni milioni kadhaa ulimwenguni kote, nao ni wanafunzi wenye bidii wa maandiko yao. Mengi katika mwenendo wao yanastahili kusifiwa. Jambo linalotuhusu si bidii yao bali kile wanachofundisha hasa kuhusu Mungu, kuhusu Kristo, na kuhusu wokovu.Jehovah's Witnesses are members of an organization known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which arose in the United States in the late nineteenth century and is directed today by a Governing Body. They use their own Bible, the New World Translation, insist on the use of God's name "Jehovah," and are widely known for their door-to-door ministry. They number several million worldwide and are diligent students of their literature. Much in their conduct is admirable. Our concern is not with their diligence but with what they actually teach about God, about Christ, and about salvation.

Wanachofundisha, kwa Maneno Yao WenyeweWhat They Teach, in Their Own Terms

Kuhusu Mungu, Mashahidi wa Yehova wanakataa fundisho la Utatu. Wanashika kwamba Baba peke yake, Yehova, ndiye Mungu Mweza-Yote, na kwamba Roho Mtakatifu si nafsi bali ni nguvu ya utendaji ya Mungu.Concerning God, Jehovah's Witnesses reject the doctrine of the Trinity. They hold that only the Father, Jehovah, is Almighty God, and that the Holy Spirit is not a person but God's active force.

Kuhusu Yesu, wanafundisha kwamba Yeye ni kiumbe wa kwanza na mkuu kuliko wote wa Mungu. Kabla ya maisha yake duniani aliishi kama Mikaeli malaika mkuu, na baadaye akarudi kwenye utambulisho huo. Yeye ni, kwa maneno yao, "mungu" — mwenye nguvu, lakini si Mungu Mweza-Yote, na si wa milele. Aliutoa uhai wake mkamilifu wa kibinadamu kama fidia, na akafufuliwa, wanasema, si katika mwili wake wa nyama bali kama roho.Concerning Jesus, they teach that He is God's first and greatest creation. Before His earthly life He existed as Michael the archangel, and He returned to that identity afterward. He is, in their words, "a god" — mighty, but not Almighty God, and not eternal. He laid down His perfect human life as a ransom, and was raised, they say, not in His fleshly body but as a spirit.

Kuhusu wokovu, wanafundisha kwamba ni zawadi ya fadhili zisizostahiliwa za Mungu, inayopokelewa kwa imani katika fidia ya Kristo. Lakini imani hiyo, wanasema, ni lazima ionyeshwe kwa toba, kwa ubatizo kama mmoja wa Mashahidi wa Yehova, kwa mwenendo wa haki, kwa kuhubiri kwa bidii nyumba kwa nyumba, na kwa kushirikiana kwa uaminifu na shirika la Mungu, ambalo wanaliita "mtumwa mwaminifu na mwenye busara." Shahidi anafundishwa kwamba hawezi kuwa na hakika ya wokovu wake katika maisha haya.Concerning salvation, they teach that it is a gift of God's undeserved kindness, received through faith in Christ's ransom. But that faith, they say, must be shown by repentance, by baptism as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, by righteous conduct, by zealous preaching from door to door, and by loyal association with God's organization, which they call "the faithful and discreet slave." A Witness is taught that he cannot be certain of his salvation in this life.

Kuhusu wakati ujao, wanafundisha matumaini mawili: "kundi dogo" la watiwa-mafuta 144,000 watatawala pamoja na Kristo mbinguni, wakati "umati mkubwa" wa waaminifu wengine wote wataishi milele katika dunia iliyorudishwa kuwa paradiso. Wanafundisha kwamba waovu hawateswi milele bali wanakoma tu kuwako, kwamba wafu hawana fahamu, na kwamba Kristo alianza kutawala bila kuonekana mwaka 1914, hivi kwamba vita vya Har–Magedoni viko karibu.Concerning the future, they teach two hopes: a "little flock" of 144,000 anointed ones will reign with Christ in heaven, while the "great crowd" of all other faithful will live forever on a restored paradise earth. They teach that the wicked are not tormented forever but simply cease to exist, that the dead are unconscious, and that Christ began to rule invisibly in the year 1914, so that the battle of Armageddon is near.

Tumeeleza mambo haya kwa haki kadiri tuwezavyo, kwa maneno ambayo Mashahidi wenyewe wanayatumia. Sasa ni lazima tuyapime kwa Maandiko.We have stated these things as fairly as we can, in the terms the Witnesses themselves use. Now we must test them by Scripture.

Kuupima Mzizi (1): Kristo TofautiTesting the Root (1): A Different Christ

Katika Sehemu ya 1 tulijifunza kwamba injili ni mti, na kwamba kwenye mzizi wake yuko Kristo peke yake. Basi kila kitu kinategemea Kristo huyo ni nani. Ikiwa mzizi si Mwana wa Mungu wa kweli na wa milele, ni mzizi tofauti, na mzizi tofauti huzaa mti tofauti. Hapa mafundisho ya Mashahidi yanashindwa katika jambo lenyewe lililo muhimu kuliko yote. Maandiko hayamwonyeshi Yesu kama malaika aliyeumbwa bali kama Mungu Mwenyewe. Yohana anaandika, "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:1) — si "mungu," kama Tafsiri ya Ulimwengu Mpya inavyotafsiri, kwa kuwa Injili ya Yohana iliyobaki hairuhusu hivyo. Yesu alisema, "Kabla Ibrahimu hajakuwako, mimi niko" (Yohana 8:58), akijitwalia jina lenyewe la Mungu. Paulo anatangaza kwamba "katika yeye vitu vyote viliumbwa" na kwamba "amekuwako kabla ya vitu vyote" (Wakolosai 1:16-17): Yule aliyeumba vitu vyote hawezi Yeye Mwenyewe kuwa kiumbe. "Katika yeye unakaa utimilifu wote wa Mungu, kwa jinsi ya kimwili" (Wakolosai 2:9). Badala ya kuwa malaika mkuu Mikaeli, Mwana anaabudiwa na malaika: "Na wamsujudu malaika wote wa Mungu" (Waebrania 1:6); na kuhusu Mwana, Baba anasema, "Kiti chako cha enzi, Ee Mungu, ni cha milele na milele" (Waebrania 1:8). Tomaso alipomwona Bwana aliyefufuka — aliyefufuka, Bwana alisisitiza, katika mwili wenye "mwili na mifupa," si kama roho tu (Luka 24:39) — alianguka akasema, "Bwana wangu na Mungu wangu!" (Yohana 20:28), na Yesu akaipokea ibada hiyo. Kristo wa Mashahidi si Kristo wa Maandiko.In Unit 1 we learned that the gospel is a tree, and that at its root is Christ alone. Everything depends, then, on who that Christ is. If the root is not the true and eternal Son of God, it is a different root, and a different root makes a different tree. Here the teaching of the Witnesses fails at the very point where it matters most. Scripture does not present Jesus as a created angel but as God Himself. John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1) — not "a god," as the New World Translation renders it, for the rest of John's Gospel will not allow it. Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58), taking to Himself the very name of God. Paul declares that "by Him all things were created" and that "He is before all things" (Colossians 1:16-17): the One who created all things cannot Himself be a creature. "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Far from being the archangel Michael, the Son is worshiped by the angels: "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6); and of the Son the Father says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8). When Thomas saw the risen Lord — risen, the Lord insisted, in a body of "flesh and bones," not as a mere spirit (Luke 24:39) — he fell down and said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), and Jesus received the worship. The Christ of the Witnesses is not the Christ of the Scriptures.

Kuupima Mzizi (2): Injili Tofauti ya WokovuTesting the Root (2): A Different Gospel of Salvation

Kushindwa kwa pili kuko katika kiini chenyewe cha Wagalatia. Mashahidi wanaongeza kwa Kristo orodha ndefu ya matendo kama masharti ya wokovu — ubatizo ndani ya shirika lao, rekodi ya mwenendo wa haki, saa za kuhubiri, na uaminifu usiokatika kwa Watch Tower — na wanakana kwamba mtu ye yote anaweza kuwa na hakika ya kuokolewa. Lakini hili ndilo hasa kosa ambalo Paulo alilipiga vita huko Galatia. "Mwanadamu hahesabiwi haki kwa matendo ya sheria, bali kwa imani ya Kristo Yesu" (Wagalatia 2:16). "Siibatili neema ya Mungu; maana ikiwa haki hupatikana kwa njia ya torati, basi Kristo alikufa bure" (Wagalatia 2:21). Kwa wale ambao wangetaka kuhesabiwa haki kwa utendaji wao wenyewe Paulo anasema maneno haya mazito: "Mmetengwa na Kristo, ninyi mnaotaka kuhesabiwa haki kwa sheria; mmeanguka na kutoka katika neema" (Wagalatia 5:4). Wokovu ni "kwa neema, kwa njia ya imani... si kwa matendo, mtu awaye yote asije akajisifu" (Waefeso 2:8-9); ni "si kwa sababu ya matendo ya haki tuliyoyatenda sisi, bali kwa rehema yake" (Tito 3:5). Na ni wa hakika: yeye aaminiye "amepita kutoka mautini kuingia uzimani" (Yohana 5:24), na mambo haya yameandikwa "mpate kujua ya kuwa mna uzima wa milele" (1 Yohana 5:13). Wala wokovu haupitishwi kupitia shirika lo lote, "kwa sababu Mungu ni mmoja, na mpatanishi kati ya Mungu na wanadamu ni mmoja, mwanadamu Kristo Yesu" (1 Timotheo 2:5). Kufanya wokovu utegemee matendo na shirika, na kuondoa uhakikisho wote, ni kuubadilisha mzizi.The second failure lies at the very heart of Galatians. The Witnesses add to Christ a long list of works as the condition of salvation — baptism into their organization, a record of righteous conduct, hours of preaching, and unbroken loyalty to the Watch Tower — and they deny that anyone can be sure of being saved. But this is exactly the error Paul fought in Galatia. "A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16). "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21). To those who would be justified by their own performance Paul says these sobering words: "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4). Salvation is "by grace... through faith... not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9); it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). And it is sure: the one who believes "has passed from death into life" (John 5:24), and these things are written "that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Nor is salvation channeled through any organization, "for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). To make salvation rest on works and on an organization, and to strip away all assurance, is to change the root.

Kwa Nini Hii Ni "Injili Nyingine"Why This Is "Another Gospel"

Weka kushindwa huku kuwili pamoja na hukumu haiepukiki. Ujumbe unaotupa Kristo aliyeumbwa na wokovu unaopatikana kwa matendo si toleo lenye tofauti ndogo la injili ileile; ni, kwa maneno ya Paulo, "injili ya namna nyingine; wala si nyingine" (Wagalatia 1:6-7). Onyo la Paulo haliwezi kuwa zito zaidi, nalo linatua hapa kwa nguvu ya pekee: "ijapokuwa sisi, au malaika wa mbinguni, atawahubiri ninyi injili yo yote isipokuwa ile tuliyowahubiri, na alaaniwe" (Wagalatia 1:8). Mashahidi wanamfanya Kristo Mwenyewe kuwa malaika; lakini Paulo anasema kwamba hakuna malaika, hata wa cheo cha juu kabisa, wala mwalimu wa kibinadamu, hata akiwa mwaminifu kiasi gani, anayeweza kuiweka kando injili ya Mwana wa kweli na wa milele. Suala si bidii, unyofu, wala maadili, ambamo Mashahidi wanaweza kuwazidi Wakristo wengi. Suala ni kama Yesu ni Mungu na kama wenye dhambi wanaokolewa kwa neema. Katika mambo yote mawili, hii ni injili nyingine, na kuigeuza injili kwenye mzizi wake si jambo dogo.Put these two failures together and the verdict is unavoidable. A message that gives us a created Christ and a salvation earned by works is not a slightly different version of the same gospel; it is, in Paul's words, "a different gospel, which is not another" (Galatians 1:6-7). Paul's warning could not be more solemn, and it lands here with peculiar force: "even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). The Witnesses make Christ Himself an angel; but Paul says that no angel, not even the highest, and no human teacher, however sincere, may set aside the gospel of the true and eternal Son. The issue is not zeal, sincerity, or morality, in all of which the Witnesses may excel many Christians. The issue is whether Jesus is God and whether sinners are saved by grace. On both counts, this is another gospel, and to pervert the gospel at the root is no small thing.

Unabii UnaposhindwaWhen Prophecy Fails

Kuna kipimo kimoja zaidi ambacho Maandiko yanakisisitiza kwa kundi lo lote linalodai kusema kwa niaba ya Mungu, na shirika la Watch Tower limeshindwa kipimo hicho kwa namna iliyo wazi kabisa. Musa alitoa kanuni: "nabii atakaponena kwa jina la BWANA, likiwa neno lile halikufuata wala halikutimizwa, neno lile ndilo asilolinena BWANA; nabii amenena kwa kujivuna" (Kumbukumbu la Torati 18:22). Utabiri uliotolewa kwa jina la Mungu usiotimia haukutoka kwa Mungu. Lakini kupitia machapisho yake rasmi shirika hili limetangaza tena na tena tarehe za mwisho wa mfumo wa sasa, na kila moja imepita. Maandiko yake yalielekeza kwenye mwaka 1914 kama mwaka ambao ulimwengu wa sasa ungekoma katika Har–Magedoni; jambo hilo lisipotokea, tarehe ilibakizwa lakini ikafafanuliwa upya kuwa mwanzo wa utawala wa Kristo usioonekana mbinguni. Kijitabu cha mwaka 1920 Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Mamilioni Wanaoishi Sasa Hawatakufa Kamwe) kilifundisha kwamba mwaka 1925 ungeleta ufufuo wa Ibrahimu, Isaka, na Yakobo kwa uhai duniani; haikutokea. Katika miaka ya 1960 kitabu Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God (Uzima wa Milele—katika Uhuru wa Wana wa Mungu) kilielekeza kwenye mwaka 1975 kama mwisho unaowezekana wa miaka elfu sita ya historia ya wanadamu na mapambazuko ya Milenia, na washiriki wengi waliuza nyumba na biashara zao wakitarajia hilo; mwaka huo pia ulikuja na kupita, na baadaye shirika lilikiri masikitiko liliyoyasababisha. Hili si jambo dogo. Baraza Linaloongoza linadai kuwa njia pekee ya Mungu ya kweli duniani, "mtumwa mwaminifu na mwenye busara" ambaye kupitia kwake Mungu huwalisha watu wake; lakini njia ambayo imesema kwa jina la Mungu yale ambayo Mungu hakuyatimiza, kwa kipimo cha Maandiko yenyewe, imesema kwa kujivuna. Sauti inayodai kuwa ya Mungu inaposhindwa kipimo cha Mungu Mwenyewe, nafsi iliyoiamini ni lazima itazame mahali pengine — kwa neno la hakika la Maandiko, na kwa Kristo linayemfunua.There is one more test that Scripture presses upon any body claiming to speak for God, and the Watch Tower organization has failed it in the plainest way. Moses gave the rule: "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously" (Deuteronomy 18:22). A prediction made in God's name that does not come true did not come from God. Yet through its official publications the organization has repeatedly announced dates for the end of the present order, and each has passed away. Its literature pointed to 1914 as the year the present world would end in Armageddon; when that did not occur, the date was kept but redefined as the beginning of Christ's invisible heavenly reign. The 1920 booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die taught that 1925 would bring the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to life on earth; it did not. In the 1960s the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God pointed to 1975 as the likely close of six thousand years of human history and the dawn of the Millennium, and many members sold homes and businesses in expectation; that year too came and went, and the organization afterward acknowledged the disappointment it had raised. This is no small thing. The Governing Body claims to be God's one channel of truth on earth, "the faithful and discreet slave" through whom He feeds His people; but a channel that has spoken in God's name what God did not bring to pass has, by Scripture's own measure, spoken presumptuously. When the voice claiming to be God's fails God's own test, the soul that has trusted it must look elsewhere — to the sure word of Scripture, and to the Christ it reveals.

Swali la UshirikaThe Question of Fellowship

Hili linatuleta kwenye hitimisho gumu lakini la lazima. Kwa sababu Mashahidi wa Yehova wanakiri Kristo tofauti na injili tofauti, hatuwezi kuyatambua mafundisho yao kuwa imani ya Kikristo, wala kuungana nayo katika ushirika na kazi ya injili. Huu si uadui binafsi, wala si ruhusa ya kutokuwa wema. Tunawaheshimu kama majirani, tunakuwa na adabu na neema, na tunawatendea mema kwa furaha. Lakini upendo haujifanyi. Maandiko hayaturuhusu kulichukulia kukana Uungu wa Kristo na wokovu kwa neema kuwa mapokeo mengine tu ya Kikristo: "Kila mtu apitaye kiasi, wala asidumu katika mafundisho ya Kristo, hana Mungu... Mtu akija kwenu, naye hailetei mafundisho hayo, msimkaribishe nyumbani, wala msimsalimu" (2 Yohana 9-10) — yaani, msimkaribishe kama mtendakazi mwenzenu wala msiukubali ujumbe wake. Hatupaswi "kufungiwa nira pamoja na wasioamini," kwa kuwa hakuna ushirika wa kweli wa kiroho kati ya nuru na giza (2 Wakorintho 6:14). Kwa hiyo hatushiriki katika ibada yao wala katika utume wao, kwa sababu unasimama juu ya msingi mwingine. Tunaweza kuketi mlangoni pao na kuhojiana nao kutoka katika Maandiko; hatuwezi kusimama kando yao kama watangazaji wenzao wa injili ileile.This brings us to a hard but necessary conclusion. Because Jehovah's Witnesses confess a different Christ and a different gospel, we cannot recognize their teaching as the Christian faith, nor join with it in the fellowship and work of the gospel. This is not personal hostility, and it is not permission to be unkind. We honor them as neighbors, we are courteous and gracious, and we gladly do them good. But love does not pretend. Scripture will not let us treat the denial of Christ's deity and of salvation by grace as merely another Christian tradition: "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God... If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him" (2 John 9-10) — that is, do not welcome him as a fellow worker or lend approval to his message. We are not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers," for there is no true spiritual partnership between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). So we do not share in their worship or their mission, because it rests upon another foundation. We may sit at their door and reason with them from the Scriptures; we may not stand beside them as fellow heralds of the same gospel.

Lengo la UkomboziA Redemptive Aim

Lakini yote haya ni kwa ajili ya lengo la ukombozi. Hatuichori mistari hii ili kuwafungia watu nje, bali kwa sababu tunatamani Mashahidi wa Yehova waingie ndani — kwa Kristo wa kweli. Ujumbe wetu kwao ni habari njema: Yesu halisi ni mkuu sana kuliko walivyofundishwa. Yeye si malaika bali ni Mwana wa milele, Mungu katika mwili, ambaye hatoi tu fidia kwa sharti la matendo yetu, bali anatoa wokovu kamili, wa bure, na wa hakika kwa kila mtu anayemtumaini. Mashahidi wengi tayari wanayapenda Maandiko na kulicha jina la Mungu; tunaomba kwamba Mungu awafumbue macho yao waone, katika Maandiko hayohayo, Kristo aliye "Bwana na Mungu," na hatimaye wapumzike katika kazi yake iliyokamilika. Tunamtendea kila mmoja kama mtu ambaye Kristo alikufa ili amwokoe — kwa uvumilivu, kwa maombi, na kwa Biblia iliyo wazi.Yet all of this is for a redemptive end. We do not draw these lines to shut people out, but because we long for Jehovah's Witnesses to come in — to the true Christ. Our message to them is good news: the real Jesus is far greater than they have been taught. He is not an angel but the eternal Son, God in the flesh, who does not merely offer a ransom on condition of our works, but gives full, free, and certain salvation to everyone who trusts in Him. Many Witnesses already love the Scriptures and reverence the name of God; we pray that God will open their eyes to see, in those same Scriptures, the Christ who is "Lord and God," and to rest at last in His finished work. We treat each one as a person Christ died to save — with patience, with prayer, and with an open Bible.

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