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Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Jehovah's Witnesses use the cross-vs-stake argument to undermine Christian Bible translations

The Watchtower organization teaches that Jesus died on a "torture stake" (single upright pole), not a cross. They use the Greek word stauros, which in its classical roots means an upright pole, to argue the Christian Bible mistranslates the word as "cross."

New World Translation Bible translation cross
Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

JW argument: cross symbol is pagan; cross = apostasy for other Christians

The Watchtower extends the stake argument to claim that the cross symbol is a pagan symbol that infiltrated Christianity. Anyone using a cross is therefore practicing paganism. This becomes a recruitment device: become a JW to fix your corrupted Christianity.

New World Translation apostasy Jehovah's Witnesses
Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Gospel evidence: titulus (sign above head) requires a lowercase-T cross, not a stake

Two of the four Gospels record that a sign (the titulus) was placed above Jesus's head on the cross, naming his charge. This detail is evidence for a lowercase-T shaped cross rather than a torture stake.

Matthew 27 John 19 crucifixion cross Matthew 27
Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

The Watchtower did not always believe the torture-stake doctrine; the change occurred in 1931

Historical evidence shows the Watchtower itself used cross imagery and taught that Jesus died on a cross until 1931. The shift from cross to torture-stake was a doctrinal change introduced by Rutherford.

cross torture stake Watchtower
Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Rutherford praised the cross before reversing; the 1932 booklet What Is Truth introduced the stake

Rutherford — the same man who would later label the cross a pagan symbol — wrote glowingly of it in Harp of God: "The cross of Christ is the greatest pivotal truth of the divine arrangement from which radiates the hopes of men." The 1932 booklet What Is Truth introduced the torture-stake image.

cross torture stake Joseph Rutherford
Mike Winger idea 2019-09-04

Q&A: Does the Watchtower's New World Translation include a sign above Jesus's head on the stake?

A viewer asks whether the New World Translation includes the Gospel detail of a sign above Jesus's head, since that detail would complicate the torture-stake theory.

John 19:19 New World Translation cross torture stake