AS Christmas
approaches, so the Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on your door will no doubt
start to warn you of its pagan origins and how Christians should never
take part in celebrations.
In the Awake! magazine of March 22, 1986, 2 Corinthians is
cited by the Watch Tower as a warning to all those associated with pagan practices,
concluding;
"Surely that would
include customs that are clearly derived from - or unmistakably
resemble- false religious practices."
But,
according to an article on page 4 of the Watchtower, April 1 1993,
nearly one million Jehovah's Witnesses, in the last three years,
were guilty of carrying out a pagan practice. Their sin.... being
baptised.
Yes, the April 1, 1993 Watchtower tells us that baptism "predates
the Christian faith," and was used in ancient Egypt to bestow immortality.(see
below)
If
we were to apply the Jehovah's Witnesses own reasoning to this, all
JWs should stop being baptised immediately.
Obviously the Watch Tower Society isn't going to stop baptising
its members, yet why does it persist in criticising those who celebrate the Lord's
birth.
No doubt, when brought to the attention of a JW it could be
explained away as an April Fool's joke.
We leave the Jehovah's Witnesses with the same challenge as
the Watch Tower left celebrators of Easter, in the Awake!, March 22, 1986;
"The challenge
now to those who know the truth about baptism is whether they will
act upon what they know or not."
