Research & questions pondered by William Barnett III
NOTE: Scripture quotes are intentionally taken from the New World Translation.
It is my intention to understand how can a question be answered "Yes" then "No", then change back to "Yes", and back to "No" several times. How can this be? Does Jehovah God change His mind, repeatedly? How does this compare with the Bible, where God said the following:
Malachi 3:6 "For I am Jehovah; I have not changed."
Proverbs 24:21 "My son, fear Jehovah and the king. With those who are for a change, do not intermeddle."
I also found this passage interesting:
Hebrews 6:17-19
(17) "In this manner, God, when He purposed to demonstrate more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His counsel, stepped in with an oath,
(18) in order that, through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to the refuge may have strong encouragement to lay hold on the hope set before us.
(19) This [hope] we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and firm, and it enters in within the curtain"
(Emphasis mine)
Although the ACTUAL QUESTION, itself, "Will the Sodomites be resurrected?" is not the main focus of my concern, the repeated changes to the answer ARE. The answer given via the Watchtower publications, as indicated below, has repeatedly changed:
Notice items 4, 6, and 7 – all printed or released in the SAME YEAR!
In my research, I found this VERY interesting, where the Watchtower says the following:
"TO SUCCEED IN THE RACE FOR LIFE" "not on a zigzag course"
(The Watchtower, August 1, 1992, p. 17) it says:
"Seeing the strenuous efforts needed to succeed in the race for life, Paul went on to say: "Therefore, the way I am running is not uncertainly" (1 Corinthians 9:26) ...Hence, to run "not uncertainly" means that to every observer it should be very evident where the runner is heading. The Anchor Bible renders it "not on a zigzag course." If you saw a set of footprints that meanders up and down the beach, circles around now and then, and even goes backward at times, you would hardly think the person was running at all, let alone that he had any idea where he was heading. But if you saw a set of footprints that form a long, straight line, each footprint ahead of the previous one and all evenly spaced, you would conclude that the footprints belong to one who knows exactly where he is going"
When I look at the Watchtower organization's own footprints, I can’t help but see the very thing the Bible condemns: a zigzag course! This is not at all like a ship "tacking into the wind", since in so doing, one continues in a general FORWARD direction. This is clearly indicating not a "side-side and forward" motion, this is a series of back and forth, 180 degree reversals.