Beginning on Oct. 15th,1931, the Watchtower Society changed their stand, and began to teach that Jesus died on an upright stake, rather than upon a cross. They teach that the cross is a pagan symbol from Babylon and make this issue one of their central controversies with the Christian Church. In support of their viewpoint, we find in the KINGDOM INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK SCRIPTURES (KIT), some rather obscure sources have been quoted, making it difficult for their members to verify these facts. In the KIT article (pages 1155-1157) we find their reference to a book written by a 16th century, Catholic scholar, named Justus Lipsius. His book DE CRUCE LIBER PRIMUS, page 647, featured the picture of a man who had died on an upright stake. In their article, the Society implied that this is how Lipsius believed Jesus died with their statement, This is the manner in which Jesus died. However, one of the pages in this book has been translated and shows that Lipsius believed that Jesus died on a cross. Lipsius is quoted as writing on page 650 In the Lords cross there were four pieces of wood, the upright beam, the crossbar, a tree trunk (piece of wood) placed below, and the title (inscription) placed above.... they hand down (this account by) Irenaeus: The construction itself of the cross has five ends; two on the vertical and two on the horizontal, and one in the middle where the person attached with nails rested. In reviewing Justus Lipsius De Cruce Liber Primus, there are several different illustrations of methods of crucifixion noted. The Watchtower takes the liberty of specifically noting one of these methods showing a man on a stake, and writes This is the manner in which Jesus died. This would cause the reader to believe that Lipsius himself had quoted that Jesus was crucified on a stake. Lipsius never quoted the words This is the manner in which Jesus died with the picture of the man on the stake, clearly revealing another deceptive move by the Watchtower.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 19:09:04 +0000
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