Considering that all Christian denominations today practice things that would have been foreign to the 1st Century Christians, this is more a question of nit-picking and fault-finding in the way Jehovah's Witnesses operate on an organizational level than a search for truth or whether we carry out matters in a Bible-based manner. For example, 1st Century Christians didn't even possess personal copies of the Scriptures, which at that time were contained in dozens of unwieldy individual scrolls and letters that were copied and circulated among the congregations.  Also, the early Christians met in private homes and in public places. There were no churches, no cathedrals, and no kingdom halls. As proof of that, consider Paul's greeting at Colossians 4:15 to a woman named "Nympha and to the congregation at her house." Incidentally, besides meeting at our kingdom halls, Jehovah's Witnesses also regularly meet in small groups in private homes—like the early Christians.

As for the organizational structure of the early Christian church, at Ephesians 4:11 Paul wrote that God provided the congregations with various gifts in the form of men; "some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers." While all Christians are called upon to make a public declaration of their faith, some early Christians were outstanding preachers. Phillip, for example, was called "the evangelizer." The so-called pioneers among Jehovah's Witnesses are also referred to as full-time evangelizers because they spend a significant amount of time in their ministry.

Circuit overseers and district overseers today are following the pattern of the apostle Paul and Barnabas, in that the apostle and his companions traveled in a circuit, visiting and revisiting brothers and congregations and writing letters of encouragement and instruction. For that matter, Mark 6:6 reports that Jesus also "went round about to the villages in a circuit, teaching." One function of our modern CO (Circuit Overseer) is when he makes his semi-annual visit to each congregation; he not only teaches, but discusses the spiritual qualifications of any prospective elders in consideration of appointing them to an office. At Titus 1:5, Paul instructed Titus to do that very thing on the Island of Crete. It reads: "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might correct the things that were defective and might make appointments of older men in city after city, as I gave you orders."

Jehovah's Witnesses have in many respects copied the model and methods of the original Christians. The actual organizationally-assigned names of various positions of responsibility may not be found in the record preserved in the Greek Scriptures, but the positions of responsibility can be found therein. The naming is merely a convention, exercised by all denominations.

Concerning the recording of time spent in the ministry and there being kept a "card of activity," while there isn't an actual incident of this in the Bible, neither is there a prohibition of such; simply put: the Bible is silent on the matter, either way.

Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms, that the Jews and even his own apostles could not at first understand. Most people think of a temple in terms of a physical structure where some type of formal worship or sacrifice is carried out. In Jesus' day, the temple of God was the stone-and-mortar edifice located in Jerusalem. Jesus originally spoke those words to the Jews to give them pause to reconsider how God expected to be worshipped from that point on. Jesus foretold that the Jewish temple was going to be razed to the ground, with not a stone left upon a stone. The Christian congregation was going to replace the Jewish nation as God's organization. But, instead of having a physical temple, Christ and his anointed followers constitute a spiritual temple for God to inhabit by spirit, and Jesus, as the head of that organization, is called the chief cornerstone of the "building."

Furthermore, Jesus' fleshly body was going to be sacrificed to God, as if on a temple altar. And after his resurrection, Jesus became the high priest, ministering on the basis of his own sacrifice. That is why Jesus referred to the temple of his body. Here are a few relevant verses that indicate the spiritual nature of God's temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17: "Do you not know that you people are God's temple, and that the spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you people are."

1 Corinthians 6:19: "What! Do you not know that the body of you people is the temple of the holy spirit within you, which you have from God?"

2 Corinthians 6:16: "For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: "I shall reside among them and walk among them, and I shall be their God, and they will be my people."

Ephesians 2:20-22: "While Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone. In union with him the whole building, being harmoniously joined together, is growing into a holy temple for Jehovah. In union with him you, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit."

As God's Word will attest, Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth regarding the spiritual nature of God's temple.

The verse in question reads: As they were publicly ministering to Jehovah and fasting, the holy spirit said: "Of all persons set Bar´na·bas and Saul apart for me for the work to which I have called them."

The holy spirit, while not an individual person, is not really impersonal either. Seeing that it comes from God and speaks for him, it is appropriate to personify the spirit of God, which the Bible writers did at times. We should remember that the original Christian congregation was endowed with many gifts of the spirit that we do not possess today. One of the gifts of the spirit was that individuals would speak in tongues. When that phenomenon occurred, it was the spirit speaking to them for God. So, apparently the verse is intended to show that the holy spirit made some sort of obvious manifestation when it spoke to them on that occasion. Under those conditions, it is understandable why they would simply say, "the holy spirit said." However, it would be unwise to then make the leap to a conclusion that the holy spirit is an actual heavenly person like God and Christ. In the context of blaspheming the holy spirit, Jesus once referred to it as "God's finger." If the holy spirit were an equal part of God in the mysterious Trinity, it would not be appropriate to refer to him as God's finger, would it?

As God's Word will attest, Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth about the nature of God's holy spirit.

If we want to dissect and analyze prepositional phrases, we ought to also consider what it means that "all things were created through him." The dictionary definition of through in that context indicates that Christ was not the originator of the creative process, but that the Creator merely used the pre-human Jesus as the agency by which he accomplished his good purpose. Because Jehovah used his firstborn son in such a marvelous way, apparently saying to him: "Let us make man in our image," the creatively-empowered Word of God was the intended beneficiary of the joy of sharing in the very Creation. That God extended such an honor to his son does not mean that the Son has somehow robbed the Father of any glory. On the contrary, the fact that the Supreme Being of the universe shared the joy of creation with his son only brings more Glory to God because of his large-heartedness.

The simple truth is that Jehovah could have easily created all things without employing his heavenly son, but the Son could not have undertaken creation without the help of the Father. That's why Jesus never referred to himself as the Creator. Even when quoting the Genesis account of Creation, at Matthew 19:4, Jesus did not take any credit for creating Adam and Eve; even though he was no doubt the one to whom Jehovah was speaking to when he said, "Let us make man in our image." Instead of using that opportunity to reveal his part in Creation, Jesus humbly referred to God as the one who yoked Adam and Eve together.

Again, as confirmed by God's Word, Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth about Jesus Christ.

The human mind works in such a way, that it can best grasp complex and abstract ideas if it has a pattern to relate to. Without going into the intricacies of the prophecies themselves, it can be said that the prophecies directed towards ancient Israel establish examples and patterns for the Christian organization of spiritual Israel during the time of God's final judgment. Paul referred to that principle when he wrote to Christians saying: "Now these things went on befalling them as examples, and they were written for a warning to us upon whom the ends of the systems of things have arrived."

Paul was also inspired to explain how all the features of the primitive tabernacle worship and temple arrangement were merely "a typical representation and shadow of the heavenly things."

The 36th chapter of Ezekiel is one of many prophecies dealing with the regathering and restoration of the Jewish nation. Israel was in a covenant relationship with Jehovah and that relationship was nearly severed because of the Jews' idolatry and immorality. Jehovah punished them by throwing them out of the land he had given them; but later, he reclaimed them as his people.

Actually though, according to Paul, the real seed of Abraham is the anointed Christian congregation. And following the pattern of the prophecies pertaining to its ancient counterpart, the modern Israel of God is similarly disciplined by God; scattered during a time of tribulation. But as Jesus said, eventually God's chosen ones will be gathered from the four corners of the earth.

Even so, instead of inheriting a literal land of Canaan, Isaiah used the expression "new heavens" and "new earth" to describe the restored Jewish homeland. Bible students, of course, recognize that the apostles Peter and John also specifically referred to a new heavens and new earth, which faithful Christians are to inherit at the end of this present old heavens and old earthly system of things.

Your 65 questions were published a few years ago. But, since that time numerous scandals have come to light and have been highly publicized. Most notably, Jehovah's Witnesses have profaned God's name in the eyes of the public by covering over pedophilia in our congregations. Still, we should not expect Jehovah's Witnesses to readily accept responsibility for bringing reproach on the name of Jehovah. If we may take the prophets as a pattern, God must first convict his people using some rather harsh measures before they will humbly confess to having profaned God's name. Since Judgment Day is still in the future, our day of reckoning has not taken place yet.

Although Jehovah has much to teach us, Jehovah's Witnesses at least seem to have been entrusted with the key to unlock future knowledge concerning the tightly- held sacred secrets of prophecy.

First, God's prohibition against eating blood, at Genesis 9:4, predates Jewish law by many centuries. Since all mankind are descendents from Noah, we should not lightly dismiss the law that God gave our forefather.

Secondly, in the 15th chapter of Acts the apostles were trying to come to terms with the divisive issue of whether non-Jewish Christians were obligated to observe Jewish law. Their conclusion was that that burden should not be put on them—"except these necessary things," one of which was to "keep abstaining from blood."

Obviously, the apostles had no concept of blood transfusions, but they did recognize that, as the Creator and Life-giver, Jehovah specifically claimed the blood of each earthly creature as exclusively belonging to him. So, God-fearing Christians today are faced with the challenge of holding true to the principle embodied in the apostolic injunction to abstain from blood as a necessary requirement.

But, today it is not so clear-cut just what constitutes "abstaining from blood." New products and technologies involving blood, blood fractions, and miniscule derivatives of blood, are constantly being developed. As a consequence of the ever-changing challenges presented to us, it has been necessary for the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses to make similar apostolic-like rulings on the issue. The bottom line, though, as they say in accounting, is that, individually, we will each have an accounting with God. So, each of us are responsible before God to educate ourselves on the issues and do what our conscience then dictates to be the right thing in the sight of God.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth regarding our obligation before God to abstain from blood.

We are critical of other religions for not changing their erroneous teachings!

If a particular teaching is recognized to be false, then isn't changing it a good thing?

In all fairness, part of the problem is that the early Bible Students were saddled with a lot of falsehoods inherited from Christendom. For example, we used to celebrate Christmas and Easter. But we eventually recognized that those holidays were not Christian at all, but were actually pagan festivities that the Catholic Church dressed up as Christian celebrations. So, we discarded the holidays as unchristian.

We also made certain assumptions regarding prophecy. As one example, we up until the 1920's used to think that the many prophecies regarding Israel being reclaimed had some application to the modern Jewish people—instead of spiritual Israel. We thought in physical terms instead of spiritual. Christian fundamentalists and others are still laboring under the falsehood that the Zionist political movement today is somehow fulfilling Bible prophecy. But, we have long since discarded such an absurd notion. The true test of discipleship is, as one old-time Bible Student worded it, whether we are willing to 'let go of our long-cherished errors.'

Although Jehovah's Witnesses may not boast of being perfectly enlightened, and admittedly we have made many foolish errors, still, we are on a general upward incline toward God. In that respect, we can say that the light of day is becoming brighter and brighter.

A common mistake that Christians often make is thinking in physical terms. The apostles of Christ fell into the trap of assuming that Christ's kingdom was literally going to rule from tiny little Jerusalem. Paul wrote at 1st Corinthians 2:14, bluntly describing the nature of the problem, saying: "But a physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know them, because they are examined spiritually."

The prophecy in the 14th chapter of Zechariah is a product of the mind of God and cannot be examined, except spiritually. Regardless of our present attachment to 1914, Zechariah is describing the events involving God's people that lead up to the war of Armageddon. The 11th chapter of Revelation is a parallel prophecy that shows that the holy city actually represents the kingdom of God upon the earth—not literal Jerusalem. That can be deduced from the fact that verse 15 makes reference to Christ's kingdom. But, Revelation confirms for us that when that holy city, representing Christ's kingdom, is attacked by the wild beast-like political king, that that is what provokes God's wrath.

When Moses received the Law from Jehovah up on top of Mount Sinai, Jehovah is described as literally coming down to the mountain top, causing it to visibly quake and smoke like a volcano. But, obviously God was not visible to the Israelites watching the spectacle from a distance. Zechariah portrays the very same scenario of Jehovah coming down in symbolism associated with Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth regarding Zechariah 14:4.

You are mistaken. The Watchtower does not claim to have received any such grant of authority by means of apostolic succession. That is a Catholic doctrine, and an unscriptural one at that.

The apostles taught that they would not have any sort of successor. Paul stated at Acts 20:29: "I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves."

Paul also was inspired to reveal what some of the twisted teachings would be. At 1ST Timothy 4:1-3, the apostle wrote: "However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, marked in their conscience as with a branding iron; forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth."

This prophecy points an accusing finger directly at the Vatican, who has as its fundamental yet demonically-inspired commands such doctrines as priestly celibacy and various dietary prohibitions, such as the sanction against eating meat on Friday, and other similar restrictions associated with Lent.

Rather than receiving authority through apostolic succession, Jehovah's Witnesses derive our authority directly from Christ by virtue of the fact that the core of the organization is composed of anointed Christians who are in a covenant with Jehovah through Christ, as were the original apostles and first Century Christians. Also, Christ foretold that he would directly appoint certain of his slaves over his household of servants and that they would eventually be judged as men put in charge.

When Jehovah revealed himself to the Israelites, through Moses, it was a revelation to them that there were no other gods. Their former Egyptian masters, and all nations and peoples back then, were polytheistic; worshipping hundreds of gods and goddesses. The Hebrews were unique in their worship of the single Deity—Jehovah.

However, Moses told the Hebrews that Jehovah would eventually send them another prophet, similar in authority to himself. That prophet proved to be Jesus. And just as Moses revealed otherwise hidden truths exclusively to the Hebrews, so too, Jesus would make further revelations of previously unknown truths concerning God and his purposes. Concerning the role of Christ, Colossians 2:3 says: "Carefully concealed in him are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge."

Before Christ came to earth, it was impossible to know the special relationship that God had with his firstborn son. Proverbs 30:4, written approximately one millennium before Christ, hinted at the existence of a son of God, but it was not possible to determine his name, as the Proverb rhetorically asked, where it says: "Who has ascended to heaven that he may descend? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of both hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in a mantle? Who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? What is his name and what the name of his son, in case you know?"

With the coming of Christ it was revealed to man that someone was with God in the beginning—that someone being Jehovah's Only-begotten son. But, rather than the Word being a competing rival, like all of the false gods of the nations, God's son who eventually became the man Jesus, is a god of God's own making. And after Jesus was resurrected back into heaven, Jehovah installed Jesus as his absolute representative, so that God commands all creation to honor the Son the same as they honor the Father.

Some Trinitarians have accused Jehovah's Witnesses of promoting polytheism because we make a distinction between Jehovah and Jesus, even while recognizing Jesus as a mighty god. But, according to Jesus' own words at John 17:3, Jehovah is the only true God. Rather than jumping to the erroneous conclusion that Jesus must either be God himself or one of the false gods, the Scriptures reveal that Jesus has played a subordinate role next to God since the beginning.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth about the special relationship between Jehovah and Jesus.

Those verses describe the 144,000 as being composed of 12,000 members of each of the 12 tribes of Israel. If you are assuming, as many do, that that is a literal reference to the Jewish nation, that is simply wrong. Such an interpretation does not take into consideration the existence of spiritual Israel.

Revelation 14:3 also refers to the 144,000, and says of them that no one was able to master God's new song except them. But, Revelation 5:8-10 refers to the holy ones singing a new song to God and it says of them that Christ "bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth."

Besides, at Matthew 21:43, Jesus told the Jews: "This is why I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits." If the kingdom of God was taken from the nation of Israel and given to another "nation," we ought to ask, What nation was the kingdom of God given to? It was given to the nation of spiritual Israel. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul completely demolished the idea that God's promises still applied to the fleshly Jewish nation. In fact, at Galatians 6:16, Paul referred to Christ's congregation as the "Israel of God."

Furthermore, James opened his letter by extending greetings "to the twelve tribes scattered about." He was not referring to the literal 12 tribes of Israel, but to Christians. Let the reader be reminded that Christ built his congregation on the 12 apostles, who replaced the 12 tribes of Israel as Jehovah's nation. With these vital Bible truths in mind, then, and using our powers of reason, it is evident that the 144,000 are actually chosen from all peoples and nations and not merely Israel. But, they are also appropriately symbolized as an organization made up of 12 tribes of Israel.

To fail to make these crucial Bible connections is an indication of gross spiritual blindness.  Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth regarding Christ and his 144,000 associate kings and priests.

The "spirits in prison" are not the disembodied souls of dead humans, as you may be assuming. The spirits that Christ served notice upon were the disobedient sons of God who materialized as men to engage in sexual relations with women before the Flood. As a matter of fact, their act of rebellion was the reason God caused the global deluge in the first place.

At 2 Peter 2:4-5, the apostle makes it clear that the imprisoned spirits are the so-called fallen angels. It reads: "Certainly if God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment; and he did not hold back from punishing an ancient world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people."

The angels that became the demons are not imprisoned in the sense of being incarcerated—not yet anyway. Jehovah threw "them into pits of dense darkness" in the sense that he put them out of his family of enlightened heavenly sons. Jehovah would have no more dealings with them, and apparently after the Deluge God confined them by taking away their power to materialize as humans again. Furthermore, the demons are in a state "reserved for judgment," in that they are as if on death row waiting to be executed.

Even though in Eden God decreed the final judgment that the serpent and his vile seed would be crushed out of existence by the messianic seed of the woman, it still remained to be seen whether Christ would remain faithful to God under trial—thus qualifying as Jehovah's Chief vindicator. If the Devil and his desperate demons would have somehow gotten Christ to compromise his integrity while he was on earth, then they would have proven their contention that no creature can remain true to God under test. The demons were fighting for their very lives. But, when Jesus was faithful and obedient to God to the very end; enduring the cruelest death imaginable, his last words were: "It has been accomplished."

Jesus' faithfulness to God clear to the end proved that the Devil was a liar. That's why right before his death Jesus made the statement that he had conquered the world. He conquered the satanic god of this world too. The death and subsequent resurrection of Christ sealed the Devil's doom and that of his demons as well.

Christ's preaching to the spirits in prison has to do with his serving notice on the demons that his victory over death meant that the demons who caused Jesus' death, would themselves be put to death by Christ and his victorious 144,000. That's why Paul wrote to his fellow anointed Christians in the last chapter of Romans, telling them that God "will crush Satan under your feet shortly."

The Bible teaches very simply that the dead are unconscious in the grave. However, the Bible sometimes refers to people who do not have a relationship with God as being dead—spiritually dead that is. For example, Jesus once said: "Let the dead bury their dead." Christ said that to indicate that unless we have a living relationship with him and his Father we are as good as dead in their eyes, even though we may be living according to all outward appearances.

So it is that the other verse in question is referring to people of the world, those whom in the context are described as fleshly-minded, who are dead in God's sight, but who were nevertheless given an opportunity to hear God's message preached to them.

It is interesting that 2 Peter 3:16 says that there are some things in the Bible that are hard to understand; and because of that the untaught and unsteady twist the Scriptures to their own destruction.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth about the condition of the dead and the nature of the demons. There is really no excuse for any professed Christians to be ignorant regarding these fundamental Bible teachings.

I have never heard of anyone being disfellowshipped over such a trivial matter as that—although it is possible that some were disfellowshipped over related issues.

Leading up to the closing years of the last millennium, it was assumed that the generation that would not pass away could not exceed the biblically delineated 80 years, which is mentioned in the Bible as the days of our years and fits into the present 75-year average lifespan. 1994 was the end of 80 years from 1914, so the Watchtower was forced by circumstances to make some sort of accounting. Until those 80 years elapsed no one could say with any certainty that the generation was not what the Watchtower assumed it was.

Of course, the last chapter remains to be written.

Paul was speaking specifically about the body of Christ, which is the 144,000. The complete verse says: "One body there is, and one spirit, even as you were called in the one hope to which you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all persons, who is over all and through all and in all."

However, at Ephesians 1:10 Paul made reference to God gathering the things on the earth as well as the things in heaven and making both groups subject to Christ. That speaks to those who are not part of the body of Christ but who have the hope of everlasting life on earth.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach the truth regarding some of mankind having a heavenly hope and others having the hope of living forever in paradise on earth.

Jesus' original apostles and disciples had all sorts of misconceptions that were not cleared up until after Jesus was resurrected. That's why at Luke 24:25, Christ said to them: "O senseless ones and slow in heart to believe on all the things the prophets spoke!" Yet, even though Christ described his beloved apostles as senseless and slow to believe God's word, he previously entrusted them with the responsibility to represent him as they went through the land declaring that the kingdom of God had drawn near. That is extraordinary when we consider that at that time the apostles were sent forth they did not even know that the kingdom was going to be in heaven.

Jehovah's Witnesses are in the same position relative to Christ's arrival, as were the apostles before Christ death and resurrection. Malachi 3:1-2 foretells that the arrival of God's Messianic messenger will result in a refining and cleansing of God's servants. It reads: "Look! I am sending my messenger, and he must clear up a way before me. And suddenly there will come to His temple the true Lord, whom you people are seeking, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you are delighting. Look! He will certainly come," Jehovah of armies has said. But who will be putting up with the day of his coming, and who will be the one standing when he appears? For he will be like the fire of a refiner and like the lye of laundrymen."

If there is a final accounting and cleansing for the true people of God, as the Scriptures say, then, it stands to reason that there are unclean teachings and attitudes that need to be purged. Therefore the errors of Jehovah's Witnesses, past and present, do not of themselves disqualify us from representing God's kingdom, as the apostles were not disqualified in their unenlightened state. The qualifying factor is our willingness to allow ourselves to be disciplined and taught by Christ.

The reason Jesus did not correct Thomas is because Jesus did not understand Thomas to mean what you suppose he meant. A few verses down, it says: "But these have been written down that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that, because of believing, you may have life by means of his name."

Obviously, when the apostle John wrote down the account years later he was not in confusion either. The apostles recognized Jesus as the Son of God. They were under no Trinitarian delusion back then. However, many modern readers see the expression "Son of God," and their minds, after years of being conditioned by Trinitarian theology; reflexively transpose that expression into "God the Son."

It is interesting that Jesus used the same Greek expression as Thomas did when he said with his last dying breath: "The God of me, the God of me, with what left you down in me"? (Translated: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?) The question is: If Thomas was referring to Jesus when he said "The God of me," who was Jesus referring to as his God? The Trinitarian will likely offer the nonsensical answer that the "God the Son" third of the triad was talking to the other two-thirds of the supposed Trinity Godhead.

The more reasonable explanation is that Thomas, overwhelmed by his astonishment at the reality of Christ's resurrection, which he had previously denied, was moved to make a declaration to reaffirm that he recognized Jesus as his Lord and representative of Jehovah God.

When Jesus was on earth most of the Jews ultimately rejected him as God's Messiah. Even though they saw with their own eyes Jesus performing all sorts of powerful works and miracles, they were blind as to what these signified. When Jesus was on trial before the Jewish High court, after confessing to them that he was the son of God, he said to them: "You yourself said it. Yet I say to you men, From henceforth you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven." But, did the Pharisees literally see the Son of man sitting at God's right hand? No, they were not given that privilege. But, a few hours later they saw the miraculous phenomenon that occurred at Jesus' death. For example, the sun went dark at high noon until three in the afternoon.

However, some time later, immediately before he was stoned to death by an enraged God-hating mob of Jews, Stephen became filled with holy spirit and gazed into heaven and declared that he saw the Son of man sitting at God's right hand. That account is in the 8th chapter of Acts.

We may conclude then that at Christ's return, his chosen ones will literally see the Son of man, but God's enemies will not literally see him.

People today, regardless of the religious profession, are similarly blind to spiritual truth. Jesus said that leading up to his arrival for judgment the people of the world would take no note of the signs in evidence. That being the case, the prophecies foretell that the disbelieving world will be forced to reckon with the reality of Christ's return in a most unpleasant encounter. But, rather than the world seeing Christ personally, Matthew 24:30 says that they will merely see the "sign of the Son of man" that will appear in heaven, causing the nations to beat themselves in grief.