Customer Reviews

Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah's Witnesses

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Robert Bowman has presented us with a book that deals with the main issue that separates the WT from fundamental Christianity--the Trinity. No time was wasted in offering this rebuttal to the WT booklet, "Should You Believe in the Trinity?", since it was also published in 1989.

The book has 10 chapters:

1). Understanding the Trinity
2). The Bible and the Trinity
3). The Church and the Trinty
4). Will the Real Polytheists Please Stand Up?
5). Is Jesus a Creature?
6). Does the Bible Deny That Jesus Is God?
7). Jesus Christ Is God
8). Is the Holy Spirit a Force?
9). Trinitarianism in the New Testament
10). Worship God as He has Revealed Himself

Bowman demonstrates how the WT has dishonestly handled scholarly sources and misrepresented the early church fathers and their view of Christ. He also addresses the Watchtower's misunderstanding of this doctrine, which results in their typical "straw man" argumentation.

The book is not a difficult read, and it deals with many of the objections JWs have and offers answers for them.

There is a scripture index for easy reference and a recommended reading section for those interested in doing more research on the Trinity.

Unfortunately, most JWs will not take the time to do their own research in an attempt to understand all this doctrine really entails. They remain content to accept the "straw man" version set up by their organization.

Consider the following quotes from Bowman' book:

"As we shall see, nearly all of the arguments brought against the Trinity by JWs depend to some extent on misunderstanding the Trinity."(p.15)

"To say that the Trinity cannot be understood likewise is imprecise, or at least open to misinterpretation. Trinitarian theologians do not mean to imply that the Trinity is unintelligible nonsense. Rather, the point they are making is that the Trinity cannot be fully fathomed, or comprehended, by the finite mind of man. There is a difference between gaining a basically correct understanding of something and having a complete, comprehensive, all-embracing, perfect understanding of it. The way many other theologians would express this difference is to say that the Trinity can be understood, or 'apprehended,' but not 'comprehended.'

Some of the scholarly sources quoted in the JW booklet makes this very point. For example, the Encyclopedia Americana, which the booklet quotes as saying that the Trinity is 'beyond the grasp of human reason,' does make that statement, but in this context:

It is held[by trinitarians] that although the doctrine is beyond the grasp of human reason, it is, like many of the formulations of physical science, not contrary to reason, and may be apprehended(though it may not be comprehended) by the human mind." (pp.16,17)

I bought this book thinking that it will help me refute the claims made by Jehovah's witnesses and IT DID! This book was intended to refute the JW's booklet: "Should you believe in the Trinity?." I like the part where Mr. Bowman explains the verses that seem to make Jesus sub-serviant or lesser than the Father. He then goes on to prove the Deity of christ. Then, He goes on to refute the claims made by JW's about how the Early church father's denied the Trinity and the Deity of Christ. Mr. Bowman exposes the Watchtower society on there misquote's and misrepresentation's of the Early church Father's by putting the FULL and PROPER quotations in his book (And if you don't believe it, then look up the quotes for yourself on what the Early Church Father's really said and believed). After reading this book, you will know "Why You Should Believe In The Trinity." Thank you.

An excellent book on the Trinity and a thorough refutation of the JW doctrine. In and of itself this book will not convert anyone, as some of the other reviews have proven, but it has helped me in conversation with Jehovah's Witnesses to clearly explain a doctrine they do not understand. Furthermore, it has given me the ability to point them to other material to verify whether their own booklet is correct by giving plenty of references, which is something the booklet fails to do.

Use this book in conversation, but remember that rarely are people argued into any new belief. It generally comes from a loving relationship. Show them that you can be just as loving as they are, while being more honest with the facts.

This book is a good refutation of the Watchtower booklet "Should you believe in the Trinty." I like how Mr. Bowman proved, on page 49, that the JW's are truly polytheist even though they claim to be monotheist. If Jesus is "a god" then you are making another God plain and simple. This book also exposes there belief that there are two kinds of creatures they claim are honored as gods is scripture- angels and men. This book is not an exhaustive study of the doctrine of the Trinity but rather a simple written explanation of the Trinity! This book will strenghten your faith in the Trinity and expose the error of the watchtower's "should you believe in the Trinity" booklet! Worship God as he revealed Himself.

Christian scholar Robert Bowman in "Why You Should Believe in the Trinity" offers a precise and powerful refutation of the Jehovah's Witnesses' booklet, "Should You Believe in the Trinity?"
Chapters include:
- Understanding the Trinity
- The Bible and the Trinity
- The Church and the Trinity
- Will the Real Polytheists Please Stand Up?
- Is Jesus a Creature?
- Does the Bible Deny That Jesus Is God?
- Jesus Christ Is God
- Is the Holy Spirit a Force?
- and more.
There are numerous scriptures that reveal to man that God is three persons in one God. This is important since there are many cults and false religions that appeal to the Bible in their attempt to deny the Trinity.


Some of the tri-unity scripture verses:


Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:6; Psalms 45:6-7;
Isaiah 6:8, 48:11-17; Hosea 1:7;
Zechariah 10:12, 12:10;
Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians. 13:14.


Bible verses that reveal that God is one:

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 45:5-6, 48:3-16.


The scriptures that reveal that the Father is God:

Matt. 6:8; John 4:23, 17:3; 1 John 2:23.



The verses of Holy Writ that teach that Jesus is God:

John 1:1, 8:58, 10:30; Hebrews 1; Isaiah 9:6, 7:14; Colossians 1:15;
Acts 20:28.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16).

And Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:7-8).
Bowman proves with great care the weakness and dishonesty of the JW's anti-Trinitarian booklet and how fallacious it's doctrine of Jehovah remains.
This volume is one of the best and most erudite works on the Trinity even though it's written in very accessible style and is easy to understand. Bowmen's "Trinity" is an outstanding resource for Christians who desire to understand the true God or those who desire to share the truth with JW's.
--------------------
I will attach the following: The unitarian god the WT promulgates does not possess the eternal diversity in his unified nature to account for diverse and necessary laws (the Law of Non-contradiction distinct from the Law of Identity, and the particulars within the unified moral law). Additionally it is deficient in its ontic (being, what exists, substances, nature, essence, nature of a being) features to account for the particulars in the cosmos (people, forces, dynamics, concepts, and things). The WT's theology cannot account for nor explain the problem of unity in diversity (the one and many). A uni-personal being lacks the capacity to account for eternal and temporal particulars. Additionally one cannot provide that which one does not possess, ergo the WT doctrine of god is not a god of eternal love, truth, and relationship.

He (Yahweh) is all-determining and irresistible power, but also a caring parent. He is not contingent (that is, dependent) on the world, but neither is he `removed from the contingencies of the world,' for He is very much involved in the world he has made. He ... abounds in love and responsiveness, generosity, and sensitivity. He is a person, not merely a metaphysical principle (John Frame: No Other God, p. 16).

A strict unitarian god cannot be the indispensable foundation for the unity of human experience and knowledge. The triune God must be the ultimate source of unity in human experience, as the Trinity alone furnishes the truth conditions required for laws and universals. Deny the Trinity and one's foundation has a unity rests in a void. Every object of knowledge must, therefore, be thought of as being surrounded by ultimate irrationality. If one disallows the inexorableness of the triune God, the world must be encircled by irrationality, but that is not possible. The WT's doctrine of god leaves room neither for diversity, diversity in unity, nor a person grounding creation. A unitarian god is a solitary monad with strict unity, accordingly it is short of the vital ontic features to ground diversity and unity as ultimate coequals. WT clearly and completely denies the Trinity and so it falls into self-contradiction on its own ground as it is unsuccessful in accounting for the diverse immutable universals required for predication, knowledge, and intelligibility. Even its fallacious assertions and false notions presuppose the truth of the triune God. If predication, no god of the WT; predication, ergo no god of the WT.

The Impossibility of the WT god


* WT's god/gods fail to supply transcendental necessities (laws, changeless truths, etc.).
* Without transcendental necessities the WT cannot account for knowledge.

* There must be knowledge.

* The WT is false.

"Come now, and let us reason together," says Yahweh (Isaiah 1:18).

A single-person god cannot make available the necessary presuppositions for knowledge. This unitarian god cannot supply universals, besides he cannot even make sense of the particulars in human experience; consequently this includes a singular god who lacks ontic diversity cannot exist.

The unembellished biblically based argument is: Without the trinity, one cannot account for anything, including the claims of various religionists. Yahweh, the tri-personal God, is the precondition for the laws of reason, moral law, mathematics, and everything else in the cosmos. All rational equipment, concepts, dynamics, and laws necessarily make use of changeless universals with particular apprehension and application whilst only the God with equal ultimacy of unity and diversity can account for such. This is an irrefutable and certain argument that is unavoidably true. There is nothing that a disbeliever can avouch without ultimately relying on Christian triune theism, since the multi-person God alone provides the preconditions for the unchanging universals and their expression in real world particulars. Thus, the WT's anti-Trinitarian arguments will always presuppose the true God, the very one whom the WT rejects, because the WT cannot supply the a priori environment for the unified diverse laws of logic, and perpetual universal truths. The triune God is the preexisting foundation for all debate in view of the fact that debate must by necessity mount its position presupposing immutable universals. Deny the Trinity and one cannot account for a debate concerning anything, including religion.

Not only is the tri-unity of God not a contradiction and not a problem, but it is the solution to the intelligibility of our world. Without the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God, we cannot account for love, motion, communication, relationships, mathematics, and every atom in the universe. God's triune glory is reflected in His creation. A lonely monad god cannot be the solution for the problem of the one and the many, and this false god is not reflected in the creation. Gregory Nazianzus mused in sweet transport, "I cannot think of the One without immediately being surrounded by the radiance of the Three; nor can I discern the Three without once being carried back to the One."


For my unique book that refutes the Jehovah's Witnesses using Christian philosophy and scriptural truths go to my site: Mike A Robinson. This new volume employs a very distinctive approach that JWs aren't ready for.
and
For a book that refutes atheism, skepticism, and agnosticism utilizing the doctrine of the Trinity see:
Presuppositional Apologetics Examines Mormonism: How Van Til's Apologetic Refutes Mormon Theology

Christian scholar Robert Bowman in "Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to the Jehovah's Witnesses" offers a precise and powerful refutation of the Jehovah's Witnesses' booklet, "Should You Believe in the Trinity?"

Chapters include:

- Understanding the Trinity
- The Bible and the Trinity
- The Church and the Trinity
- Will the Real Polytheists Please Stand Up?
- Is Jesus a Creature?
- Does the Bible Deny That Jesus Is God?
- Jesus Christ Is God
- Is the Holy Spirit a Force?
- and more.

There are numerous scriptures that reveal to man that God is three persons in one God. This is important since there are many cults and false religions that appeal to the Bible in their attempt to deny the Trinity.

Some of the tri-unity scripture verses:

Genesis 1:26, 3:22, 11:6; Psalms 45:6-7;
Isaiah 6:8, 48:11-17; Hosea 1:7;
Zechariah 10:12, 12:10;
Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians. 13:14.


Bible verses that reveal that God is one:

Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10, 44:6, 45:5-6, 48:3-16.


The scriptures that reveal that the Father is God:

Matt. 6:8; John 4:23, 17:3; 1 John 2:23.

The verses of Holy Writ that teach that Jesus is God:

John 1:1, 8:58, 10:30; Hebrews 1; Isaiah 9:6, 7:14; Colossians 1:15;
Acts 20:28.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16).

And Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:7-8).
Bowman proves with great care the weakness and dishonesty of the JW's anti-Trinitarian booklet and how fallacious it's doctrine of Jehovah remains.
This volume is one of the best and most erudite works on the Trinity even though it's written in very accessible style and is easy to understand. Bowmen's "Trinity" is an outstanding resource for Christians who desire to understand the true God or those who desire to share the truth with JW's.
--------------------
I will attach the following: The unitarian god the WT promulgates does not possess the eternal diversity in his unified nature to account for diverse and necessary laws (the Law of Non-contradiction distinct from the Law of Identity, and the particulars within the unified moral law). Additionally it is deficient in its ontic (being, what exists, substances, nature, essence, nature of a being) features to account for the particulars in the cosmos (people, forces, dynamics, concepts, and things). The WT's theology cannot account for nor explain the problem of unity in diversity (the one and many). A uni-personal being lacks the capacity to account for eternal and temporal particulars. Additionally one cannot provide that which one does not possess, ergo the WT doctrine of god is not a god of eternal love, truth, and relationship.

He (Yahweh) is all-determining and irresistible power, but also a caring parent. He is not contingent (that is, dependent) on the world, but neither is he `removed from the contingencies of the world,' for He is very much involved in the world he has made. He ... abounds in love and responsiveness, generosity, and sensitivity. He is a person, not merely a metaphysical principle (John Frame: No Other God, p. 16).

A strict unitarian god cannot be the indispensable foundation for the unity of human experience and knowledge. The triune God must be the ultimate source of unity in human experience, as the Trinity alone furnishes the truth conditions required for laws and universals. Deny the Trinity and one's foundation has a unity rests in a void. Every object of knowledge must, therefore, be thought of as being surrounded by ultimate irrationality. If one disallows the inexorableness of the triune God, the world must be encircled by irrationality, but that is not possible. The WT's doctrine of god leaves room neither for diversity, diversity in unity, nor a person grounding creation. A unitarian god is a solitary monad with strict unity, accordingly it is short of the vital ontic features to ground diversity and unity as ultimate coequals. WT clearly and completely denies the Trinity and so it falls into self-contradiction on its own ground as it is unsuccessful in accounting for the diverse immutable universals required for predication, knowledge, and intelligibility. Even its fallacious assertions and false notions presuppose the truth of the triune God. If predication, no god of the WT; predication, ergo no god of the WT.

The Impossibility of the WT god

* WT's god/gods fail to supply transcendental necessities (laws, changeless truths, etc.).
* Without transcendental necessities the WT cannot account for knowledge.

* There must be knowledge.

* The WT is false.

"Come now, and let us reason together," says Yahweh (Isaiah 1:18).

A single-person god cannot make available the necessary presuppositions for knowledge. This unitarian god cannot supply universals, besides he cannot even make sense of the particulars in human experience; consequently this includes a singular god who lacks ontic diversity cannot exist.

The unembellished biblically based argument is: Without the trinity, one cannot account for anything, including the claims of various religionists. Yahweh, the tri-personal God, is the precondition for the laws of reason, moral law, mathematics, and everything else in the cosmos. All rational equipment, concepts, dynamics, and laws necessarily make use of changeless universals with particular apprehension and application whilst only the God with equal ultimacy of unity and diversity can account for such. This is an irrefutable and certain argument that is unavoidably true. There is nothing that a disbeliever can avouch without ultimately relying on Christian triune theism, since the multi-person God alone provides the preconditions for the unchanging universals and their expression in real world particulars. Thus, the WT's anti-Trinitarian arguments will always presuppose the true God, the very one whom the WT rejects, because the WT cannot supply the a priori environment for the unified diverse laws of logic, and perpetual universal truths. The triune God is the preexisting foundation for all debate in view of the fact that debate must by necessity mount its position presupposing immutable universals. Deny the Trinity and one cannot account for a debate concerning anything, including religion.

Not only is the tri-unity of God not a contradiction and not a problem, but it is the solution to the intelligibility of our world. Without the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God, we cannot account for love, motion, communication, relationships, mathematics, and every atom in the universe. God's triune glory is reflected in His creation. A lonely monad god cannot be the solution for the problem of the one and the many, and this false god is not reflected in the creation. Gregory Nazianzus mused in sweet transport, "I cannot think of the One without immediately being surrounded by the radiance of the Three; nor can I discern the Three without once being carried back to the One."

For my unique book that refutes the Jehovah's Witnesses using Christian philosophy and scriptural truths. This new volume employs a very distinctive approach that JWs aren't ready for.
and
For a book that refutes atheism, skepticism, and agnosticism utilizing the doctrine of the Trinity see:
One Way to God: Christian Philosophy and Presuppositional Apologetics Examine World Religions
Presuppositional Apologetics Examines Mormonism: How Van Til's Apologetic Refutes Mormon Theology

This book was written in response to the Jehovah's Witnesses booklet about the Trinity. This book give clear explanations about the Churches view of the Trinity. It is a must read book.

Rob Bowman does an excellent job exposing the Watchtower's ignorance of scripture. The Watchtower claims to believe in only one true God, but in reality, they are Henotheists. They believe in one supreme God "Jehovah" among many little gods, which includes Jesus. The apostle Paul describes their dilemma perfectly when he talks about "another Jesus" in 2 Corinthians 11:3-4. The Jesus of the Watchtower is not the Jesus of scripture. Rob Bowman is not only a great theologian, but is also very personable. I've corresponded with him a few times via email, and he was prompt in his response to my questions and was quite helpful. This book would make a great tool for anyone wishing to learn more about the Watchtower and how one might witness to anyone bound in this false system

I became interested in the JW cult after debating with a friend at work. I was able to recieve their booklet "Should you believe in the Trinity" before I knew about this book. I happened to see this book in a christian book store and bought it to help me defend my belief in the Trinity. I am still currently reading it and have found it very useful. The reading may be deep in some parts but the author does a good job in pointing out the errors in the JW booklet. The more I read this book, the more I like it. And the more I like it, the more angery I am with the Watchtower. JW's need to know that the Watchtower DOES LIE by taking versus and quatations out of context. It's amazing how the Watchtower booklet doesn't have referance notes in ther booklet for you to check with what they say but Mr. Bowman's book does. Thank you for Mr. Bowman in your time in writing this. I truly appreciate it!

True to the command of 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Mr. Bowman respectfully answers and refutes all the arguments presented by the Jehovah Witness booklet "Should You Believe In The Trinity?". This is simply one of the best books I have ever read. All Christians should read it as it will strenghten their knowledge of an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. The reader will find it to be an invaluable addition to their Christian book collection. The scholarly approach and the fair, respectful treatment it gives to the JW position, make it a book you will want to share with all who come to your door.