On the question of Hebrews 1:5, the Trinitarians would have us to believe that because the LORD never singled out one of his angelic sons, by saying to him: "You are my son; I, today, have become your father," that God must have therefore been talking to himself and conferring sonship upon the supposedly already existing other third of the eternal, triune godhead! Could anything be more absurd?

The answer to Paul's question, "to which one of the angels did God ever say You are my son?" is as simple as it is profound. The answer is that Jehovah never honored any angel as such. But he did confer sonship upon the man—Jesus Christ. That's the point Paul was making, and it is made clear in the context of Hebrews 1-2. For example in Hebrews 2:5, Paul goes on to say: "For it is not to angels that he has subjected the inhabited earth to come, about which we are speaking." (By the way, this is a good verse to show that God intends that people live forever on earth.) Paul then quotes the 8th Psalm, indicating that man was originally made a little lower than the angels. After pointing out the obvious fact that because of sin, mankind has not fulfilled the divine mandate given to Adam to have the earth in subjection, Paul then points out that Christ Jesus, as the Last Adam, also became a little lower then the angels, and that he was crowned with glory and honor for having suffered such an inglorious death. Thereby Jesus, by reason of his humanity, inherited the right to subjugate the earth to himself, as Adam's replacement. The point Paul was making was that God exalted a man above the angels!

So the question is, when did Jehovah ever say to Jesus: "You are my son"? The answer is: On the very day of Jesus' baptism, when the heavens were opened up and a voice was heard to say: "This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved." At that point Jesus was very much human. Philippians 2:7 makes it clear that in order for Jesus to become a man he completely divested himself of his heavenly nature. Jesus was no god-man; no demigod; no materialized archangel. Jesus was a mere man, albeit a perfect one. And as such Jehovah anointed him to become a spirit son again upon his death as a man.

As for your second question, again, after his baptism all authority was given to Jesus. That's why Jesus could order the demons around and even they recognized his power and position as the king of Jehovah's kingdom. What the Trinitarians fail to take into consideration is the obvious fact that Michael also gained a great amount of authority over Satan and his demons.

What accounts for the fact that before the Christian era Michael deferred to Jehovah and told the Devil, "May Jehovah rebuke you," and yet in the 12th chapter of Revelation we have Michael leading all of God's angels in a no-holds barred, knock-down, drag-out fight with Satan and all his demons, so that Michael is credited with a victory that rightly belongs to Christ? The obvious answer is that Michael only wields authority over Satan after Jesus' return to heaven. That being the case, it is yet another indication that Michael and Jesus are indeed one and the same.

Nevertheless, the preaching work of Jehovah's Witnesses has served God's purpose to gather persons out of a false religious system in preparation for the eventual arrival of Christ. And our preaching has laid the basis for an expanded witness in the future.

Please be reminded that Jesus also foretold that one aspect of the sign would be that Christians would be brought before governors and kings in order for a broader witness to be given under the power of the holy spirit. While Jehovah's Witnesses have been the object of countless court cases in connection with our preaching work, we should not suppose that we have seen the ultimate fulfillment of Christ's prophecy. For one thing, usually brothers and sisters have been represented by Watchtower-appointed lawyers. But, do you really think that follows the spirit of what Jesus was talking about when he specifically advised his followers not to rehearse beforehand their defense?

Isn't it obvious that Jesus had in mind a much more profound type of witness that would be given much more prominence, which is to be given by spirit-fired heirs of the kingdom without a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo? Remember, that when Christ stood before Pilate, he had no attorney by his side whispering legal counsel in his ear.

Also, Jesus said, during that phase of the witness that "you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death." Have we seen that aspect of Christ's prophecy come true? Definitely not. After all, all many witnesses have you heard of that have been betrayed into death by friends and brothers in the truth? It hasn't happened anywhere to speak of. But, Jesus definitely foretold that "many will betray one another." So, there are many aspects of Christ's prophecy that we simply have not seen.

In all likelihood, we will shortly witness the eruption of WWIII, which will serve as the actual fulfillment of the aspect of the sign that calls for nation to rise against nation. Then, more then likely, we will ditch the present format of the Watchtower and Awake and get down to some serious kingdom witnessing by whatever means Jehovah then provides.

The question raised is not ridiculing the evidence. It is actually following the apostolic counsel to "test every inspired expression," isn't it? While it is obvious that the world has changed in very profound ways since 1914, and there is no question that society in general has morally degenerated as the prophecies describe, still as regards the nations doing as they please, what evidence can anyone possibly present to negate the observation that "nothing has changed"? If anything, a person could make the case that the nations exert much more power and authority now then before the time when the Gentiles times are thought to have concluded back in 1914.

The fact is that ridiculers will always ridicule the truth. Christ had his ridiculers. The message of the apostles was ridiculed. Jehovah's Witnesses have also been confronted with those who would ridicule the truth. No doubt even during the actual conclusion of the system there will be those who stubbornly refuse to accept the truth and who ridicule the evidence of Jesus' presence. On the other hand, we don't want to bring ridicule upon the truth by teaching untenable, unreasonable and unscriptural interpretations, do we?

In the case of the anointing, Jehovah speaks to such ones very subtly, over time, but in ways that they eventually realize that Jehovah is communicating with them, calling them into a special relationship. They do not hear any sort of audible words, but they are simply brought to an awareness, a realization. Paul explained it, saying that "the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children." So, by means of God's spirit, he creates within each born-again anointed person an awareness of a special father-son relationship that the Father initiates.

As for the actual number of anointed persons, Revelation the 7th chapter and 14th chapter both mention that number of 144,000 as applying only to those who are to be joined with Christ in heaven.

Interestingly, the whole issue of identifying child molesters is a front page issue in the United States and Canada these days. States and local communities are trying to pass tougher laws and ordinances that require pedophiles to be registered so that their whereabouts might be monitored and local communities can be put on notice when known sex offenders move into a neighborhood. What a reproach for the Watchtower, that many people who do not even claim to live by a higher law display a greater sense of responsibility in protecting their children from the depredations of sexual deviants.

The Watchtower is playing with fire by engaging in a legal shell-game with the welfare of our children. Unfortunately, it is probably only a matter of time until one of the many thousands of sexual predators in the Watchtower's criminal file becomes a child-killing psycho. Perhaps, then, they might reconsider the way child abusers are dealt with in the congregations. Of, course, if such a horrific tragedy ever does occur, more tinkering with organizational policy is going to be a moot point anyway, because, then, we will have to have to answer to the Supreme Court of heaven for having allowed this evil to fester in our midst in the first place.

Thus, after the apostles were scattered, Peter wound up in far away Babylon. John found himself exiled on an island in the Aegean Sea. Yet, they both carried on in Jehovah's service even in their isolated condition. That is probably what we may expect to happen to the Christian organization of today.

The Watchtower presently interprets the holy place that is destined to become desolated by a disgusting thing, as being Christendom. In a special assembly talk, one GB member recently even referred to the holy place as being Babylon the Great. How unreasonable that is. In the 1st Century the Jewish Christians still viewed Jerusalem and the temple as being holy. Recall that in the 21st chapter of Acts, the apostles even requested that Paul, the so-called apostle to the nations, should go to the Jewish temple to make a sacrifice to God. So, even though the Jews were no longer the centerpiece of God's purpose, as they formerly had been before Christ, nonetheless, Christians still viewed the temple as something holy to God. Therefore, the holy place of Jesus' prophecy did not represent a pagan "holy place."

What we may expect in the future is that the centralized headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses will become desolate when our faith comes under intense persecution. That will create a massive disruption of the entire organization. Look at the 60th Psalm, for example. Verses 1-5 read:

O God, you have cast us off, you have broken through us,

You have become incensed. You should restore us.

You have caused the earth to rock, you have split it open.

Heal its breaches, for it has tottered.

You have caused your people to see hardship.

You have made us drink wine sending us reeling.

You have given to those fearing you a signal to flee zigzag on account of the bow.

In order that your beloved ones may be rescued.

The good purpose the coming collapse of the Watchtower Society will serve is that it will permanently sweep aside the ingrained worship of the Watchtower institution and fully establish the spiritual nature of the true Christian congregation. So, while certain undesirable aspects of our worship will go by the wayside during the purge, the Truth will eventually shine through in brilliance never before seen; and those worshipping Jehovah in spirit and truth at that time will never abandon that arrangement.

You are quite right in your observation that the express term of "peace and security" is becoming a common catch phrase. For example, Australia, a prominent part of the British Commonwealth, just announced the creation of a fund to fight terrorism called the peace and security fund. President Bush has recently unveiled his so-called Roadmap to peace to bring peace and security in the Middle-East. And, of course, the UN is more and more specifically geared toward establishing and maintaining global peace and security.  Here is a link to the United Kingdom and United Nation's website related to the most recent efforts and declarations related to peace and security.

It should be fairly evident, then, that those who are saying "peace and security" are the Anglo-American dual world power and the UN Organization. The United States, Great Britain, and the United Nations, despite their differences, are seemingly inseparably yoked together politically. It may well be we are now hearing the initial demonic croakings of the "three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet," that lead the nations down the road to Armageddon.

The other side of the coin, though, is: Who is it that meets up with sudden destruction?—"whenever it is they are saying: "peace and security.""

According to the Watchtower, Babylon the Great is scheduled to meet up with destruction first. However, there is no real scriptural justification for that view. In spite of the fact that, for at least over a half decade now, it has been pointed out to numerous responsible brothers at Bethel, that neither Revelation, nor any other Bible book, supports any such timeline for that particular ordering of events.

Nevertheless, the Watchtower persists in dogmatically clinging to the teaching that Babylon the Great goes down at the beginning of the tribulation. Usually, when discussing that topic the Watchtower doesn't even bother to even offer any supportive scriptures. It merely expects all of Jehovah's Witnesses to accept it. And we do. It is definitely a case where we have failed to "test the inspired expression" to see if it really originates with God.

I challenge any knowledgeable Jehovah's Witnesses, at Bethel, or serving elsewhere, to present the biblical proof that supports the Watchtower's interpretation for the future ordering of events.

Besides having no support in the Scriptures, the notion that the UN is suddenly going to turn on world religion is preposterous. Ask yourself: What would happen if the UN outlawed religion tomorrow? The answer you ought to arrive at is: Nothing, absolutely nothing would happen for the simple reason that the UN has no real power yet. It would in fact be political suicide for the United Nations to become overtly hostile towards religion.

Since, according to Revelation 17:17, Babylon the Great is not destroyed until first all the kings of the earth give their authority to the wild beast, and it should be obvious that all the nations are not going to simply forfeit their national sovereignty to world government under normal circumstances. We may therefore anticipate that some calamity beyond the vision of our imagination is going to have to take place to coerce the nations of the world into relinquishing their national independence. A drastic change in the present political landscape will have to occur to bring about the situation, whereby, the United Nations becomes such a formidable institution that no nation would dare defy its authority. But, that such will eventually become the case, why else do you suppose that when Babylon is finally destroyed all the kings of the earth are described as standing off at a distance "because of their fear of her torment"? Obviously, any nation that dares to challenge the authority of the 8th king may expect to be swiftly annihilated too! More than likely terrorists using nuclear weapons will bring down the present system and terrorize the world into doing what is presently political unthinkable.

So, we may anticipate that the "them" who meet up with sudden destruction are the Anglo-American kings themselves who are saying "peace and security." Not that they are destroyed at Armageddon, but by natural earthly forces we may expect that the currently ruling head of Satan's wild beast will receive a symbolic sword stroke of sudden destruction. Few people realize just how vulnerable to collapse the present system is.

Paul's prophecy in the letter to the Thessalonians indicates that that sudden destruction is really just the pangs of distress such as a pregnant woman experiences during childbirth. So, after that initial sudden destruction occurs, we may then expect to see the Anglo kings become subservient, and the United Nations catapulted into the position of the 8th king. This, of course, likely requires that the United States take the lead in relinquishing control of its military and nuclear arsenal to the United Nations. Then, and only then, will Babylon the Great be thrown off her beastly mount and devoured during the ongoing tribulation.

As the Watchtower has explained over the years, in Eden the Devil slandered God by making the sly accusation that Jehovah was withholding freedom from his creation because God was supposedly insecure about his own position. The Devil further accused God in the book of Job of bribing his creatures to worship him, presumably because God was not worthy of being worshipped on his own merit.

Remember, now, that up to that point no creature in all of God's creation was endowed with incorruptibility and immortality. Only Jehovah possessed immortality. Jesus was the first creature to receive that gift after his resurrection, and the 144,000 will too.  So, perhaps it could have been argued that the Devil had a point that God couldn't really trust his creatures and so he has to keep them in check by withholding certain things from them.

But by God granting Jesus and the 144,000 to have life in themselves, life in themselves meaning that they will not even be dependent on Jehovah to continually supply them with life, they being completely indestructible beings as similar to Jehovah God as a creature can be made, they demonstrate that their loyalty to God is completely, 100%, motivated by pure love of God.

In other words, Jehovah God grants Jesus and the 144,000 the right to decide for themselves what is good and bad with no consequences for making the wrong choice. That's what the Devil told Eve that God was holding back from her by threat of death. But, the fact that they are depicted in prophecy as willingly choosing to throw their crowns down off of their heads and worship Jehovah as their God, will settle the issues with finality. In the end Jehovah is proven to be the most magnanimous, benevolent, creature-trusting God imaginable.

No wonder Paul exclaimed: "O the depth of God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are! For who has come to know Jehovah's mind, or who has become his counselor?"

When we fully understand the issues of universal importance that the Devil raised, we can better appreciate the steps Jehovah has taken to demonstrate that the Devil truly is a mere lying reptile.