“The Trial” — Section 6
Who is Jehovah?
Representative of a Christian church:
Elders, I have a question that will require a detailed explanation. If I am not mistaken, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claim that Jesus of the New Testament was Jehovah of the Old Testament. If this is the case, I have two scriptures that contradict your belief in this matter. We find in Psalms 110:1-2 “THE LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. THE LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.” Now, elders, who sat at the right hand of the Lord Jehovah? Acts 7:55-56 tells us it was Christ and that the capital letters in the scripture refer to Jehovah. Acts 3:13 establishes that Jehovah is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It reads. “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus whom ye delivered up.” I refer you to Exodus 6:3 which also verifies that God the Father is Jehovah.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
We do believe that Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament. In answer to your use of Psalms 110:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 shows that THE LORD in capital letters is Christ. It reads, “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom of God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” So it was Christ who was to put all enemies under his feet, and since THE LORD in capital letters refers to Jehovah, and Jehovah was to reign until all enemies were under his feet, then Jehovah must be Christ. Acts 3:19-21 shows that God the Father can also be represented by the non-capitalized form of ‘The Lord’. We would like to share some other scriptures that establish that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. Isaiah 12:1-2 informs us that the God of our Salvation, the LORD JEHOVAH was Isaiah’s strength and his song, and it also says, “He also is become my salvation.” Acts 4:12 informs us that speaking of Christ, there is salvation in none other “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby men could be saved.” Therefore, Jehovah was Isaiah’s salvation and Jesus was Peter’s salvation, and since Jesus was the only name given under heaven whereby man could be saved, Jesus is Jehovah. In Zechariah 12:10, the Lord Jehovah was speaking, and said, “…and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced…”. In John 19:37 we find out who it was speaking of, when we read, “They shall look on him whom they pierced”, referring to Christ on the cross. In your own New World Translation of the Bible, we read in Revelations 22:12-13, “Look, I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Verse 16 tells us who was coming quickly – Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the scripture pointed out, Christ was the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. We then turn to Revelation 1:8 in the New World Translation, and it reads “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says Jehovah God, the one who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty”. Here it proves that the Alpha and Omega was Jehovah, and who in Chapter 22 was Christ. Thus, using the New World Translation of the Bible, it points out Jehovah as Christ. We can also turn to Revelation chapter one, and read carefully until we come to verses 17 and 18, which read: “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last (Alpha and Omega) and the living one; and I became dead, but look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Now we have established Christ as Jehovah from both translations. We then read in Genesis 1:1 “… in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” and Paul points out in Colossians 1:16 that “…by him [Christ] were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth.” In Acts 3:13, Peter was faced with a difficult situation, because he had to testify of Christ and still make the point that though he was Jehovah, it was God the Father who had raised him from the dead. The people understood clearly that man had a spirit, and Peter then spoke of their Spiritual Creator – who was the creator of the spirits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and therefore could be called the “Father of their spirits”, or Christ’s Father. He then would not confuse them with the creator of all physical bodies. In Colossians it points out that Christ “…created all things that are in heaven and that are on earth…” Making this distinction, he points out that the God of Abraham’s, Isaac’s, and Jacob’s spirits had glorified his Son (who was the physical creator and therefore the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also) whom they delivered up and crucified. Hebrews 12:9 speaks of the “Father of our Spirits” which would be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, both God and Christ were the “Gods of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. One was the creator of spirits, and the other was creator of bodies.
Representative of a Christian church:
You should notice that Jehovah breathed into man the “…breath (spirit) of life…”, therefore, Christ would have been the creator of their spirits. Your previous explanations do not address this point.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The fact that Christ placed the spirit in man doesn’t make Him the Creator of that spirit. We have established that breath and spirit were not the same thing, therefore, the previously-mentioned scriptures place the correct interpretation . Notice in Ecclesiastes 12:7 when the body dies and returns to the earth, the spirit of man returns to the God who gave it.
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