In their tract, “The Trinity – Divine Mystery or Pagan Myth?”, the Watchtower quotes a portion of a statement by Rev. Alexander Hislop. Under the subheading of “Pagan Origin” several pagan trinities are discussed and then this quote: “According to the historian Hislop: `The recognition of the trinity was universal in all the ancient nations of the world.'” The quote ends with a period, no ellipsis (…) is used to show there was more to the statement. One might easily imagine that Hislop believed these pagan trinities were evidence that the Trinity doctrine was false. In actual fact this tract by the Watch Tower has Hislop saying the opposite of what he intended. Please compare the Watch Tower quote with Rev. Hislop’s actual statement.
Below is a photo of the actual Watch Tower Tract, Printed in 1952 I believe, showing the above mentioned Misquote:
Below is a photo taken of page 18 in Hislop’s book ‘The Two Babylons’ showing his actual statement quoted by the Watch Tower.
Notice that the first part of Hislop’s sentence is cut off in the Watch Tower so called quote,the word ‘a’ in front of ‘Trinity’ is changed to ‘the’ and the end of the sentence is cut off. What they have done is changed Hislop’s statement making it say precisely the opposite of what he actually wrote:
“While over laid with idolartry, the recognition of a Trinity was universal in all the ancient nations of the world, proving how deep-rooted in the human race was the primeval doctrine on the subject, which comes out so distinctly in Genisis.”
It is obveous from his real statement that Hislop believed the exact opposite of what the Watch Tower had him saying by misquoting him.
I f you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, how does it feel to know that the Watch Tower used deception to cause you, and all of Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as every other reader, to believe that the Trinity is a false doctrine?
Keep in mind that this is only a sample of many misquotes made by the Watch Tower.
An entire book had to be written to uncover the error in the Watch Tower Booklet entitled ‘Should You Believe in the Trinity?’
Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses [Paperback]
Robert M., Jr. Bowman (Author)
I have included the full Watch Tower tract below as well as the remainder of
Rev. Hislop’s paragraph below it.
There is no date on the Watch Tower Tract “The Trinity – Divine Mystery or Pagan Myth?” but Wikipedia notes the date 1952.
In the booklet “Should you believe in the Trinity”, on page 11, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society quote Arthur Weigall in saying “The origin of the [Trinity] is entirely pagan.”
The booklet doesn’t tell you the page where you can find the quote in his book. So one would have to read the book to find the quote. The quote is found on page 197.
“The idea of a co-equal Trinity, however, offers a reasonable means of expressing the inexpressible; but it must not be forgotten that Jesus Christ never mentioned such a phenomenon, and nowhere in the New Testament does the word ‘Trinity’ appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord; and the origin of the conception is entirely pagan.”
By reading the book “The Paganism in our Christianity”, What does Arthur Weigall believe?
The virgin birth is of pagan origin: pages 58-60
The mother of Jesus was probably called Mary: page 54
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are both of pagan origin: page 142
Jewish Sabbath and the Sunday Lord’s Day both of pagan origin: page 145
The idea of “blood atonement for sins” is of pagan origin: page 163
Jesus “hung on a tree” is of pagan origin: Jesus was lodged in the truck of a tree: page 124
Jesus never actually died: page 97-98
The twelve disciples derived from Zodiac: page 20
Jesus’ 40 day temptation in wilderness is of pagan origin: page 61-62
Conclusion of entire book: Almost all of Christianity is of pagan origin! page 9
April 22, 2002 AWAKE
Should we view religion as a mere buffet,
picking and choosing beliefs that appeal to us?
The GODHEAD of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society.
Please watch.
http://youtu.be/qfT-Xv_aCAg?list=UUmzkA1UZeQiHzI39XXgRbDg