Jehovah’s Witnesses

CULT #1: JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

When checking out any teaching there are two essential things to consider:

1. The character/fruits of the main proponents of the teaching;
2. The biblical witness

History

• Charles Taize Russel (1852-1916) was a member of the Congregational Church.
• He had a strong fear of hell and abandoned the idea of eternal punishment and joined the SDA’s;
• He taught Bible classes and began to call himself “pastor”;
• When he disagreed with the SDA’s he launched his own magazine, “Zion’s Watchtower and herald of Christ’s Presence”;
• With time this developed into the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society;
• He claimed to be on a level with the apostle Paul, Wycliffe and Luther;
• He said that if you had to choose between reading Scripture and his books you’d be better off reading his books;
• His wife divorced him in 1913 for adultery, conceit, egotism and domination;
• When charged with fraud by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle he testified under oath that he knew the Greek alphabet, but when shown the letters he was unable to indentify them.
• Jehovah Witnesses understandably try to deny any connection to Russell, but the facts are that they still hold to his doctrines and the Watchtower Bible and tract Society is still their source of teaching and organization.
• Currently the JW’s have over 4 million members world-wide. Nearly 200 000 new members join each year and studies show that an average of 740 house calls are made per new member.

False Prophecies

The JW’s claim that the Watchtower is God’s prophet … having the only correct teaching and being the only true announcers of Jehovah’s coming Kingdom.

Deuteronomy 18:22 tells us that the true test of a prophet is to check out whether things they have predicted for the future came true!

Now check out these JW prophecies:

Mistaken prophecies

1897 “Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874,” (Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 4, p. 621).

1899 “…the ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty’ , which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership, is already commenced,” (The Time Is at Hand, 1908 edition, p. 101).

1922 “The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914,” (Watchtower, Sept. 1, 1922, p. 262).

1925 “The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his people. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year,” (Watchtower, Jan. 1, 1925, p. 3).

1931 “There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1917, 1918, and 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time…and they also learned to quit fixing dates,” (Vindication, p. 338).

1941 “Receiving the gift, the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord’s provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon,” (Watchtower, Sept. 15, 1941, p. 288).

1968 “True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end to the world’, even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?.. Missing from such people were God’s truths and evidence that he was using and guiding them,” (Awake, Oct. 8, 1968).

Approach to the Bible

• The teachings of the Jehovah Witnesses are to be found in the Watchtower.
• New converts will indoctrinated at the local “Kingdom Hall” through “book studies”;
• Here the JW receives new Watchtower publications, studies with the help of Watchtower aids, and discusses doctrines;
• The JW is expected to accept and believe what is being taught via the Watchtower and is discouraged from independent thinking.
• Whereas Christians are allowed to differ on non-essential doctrines and practices (Romans 14:1-7) this is not so for the JW’s – they must all believe and proclaim exactly the same details as presented by the Watchtower;
• If you want to know what they believe you don’t need a Bible, all you need is a Watchtower magazine.
• The Watchtower is seen as the “infallible interpreter of Scripture”;
• The JW’s have also published their own “translation” of the Bible, the New World Translation. It is produced by anonymous translators therefore no-one can check their credentials to be translating the Bible from its original languages.
• New converts attend five meetings a week to study the Watchtower. You cannot be baptised until you have studied for 6 months and have answered a series of questions before a panel of elders.
• One baptised, if you ever leave, you are considered apostate and are to be shunned.

Check out these quotes from the Watchtower which show their approach to the Watchtower v the Bible:

“From time to time, there have arisen from among the ranks of Jehovah’s people those, who, like the original Satan, have adopted an independent, faultfinding attitude…They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusively, either alone or in small groups at home. But, strangely, through such ‘Bible reading,’ they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom’s clergy were teaching 100 years ago…“ (Aug, 15, 1981)

“We should eat and digest and assimilate what is set before us, without shying away from parts of the food because it may not suit the fancy of our mental taste … We should meekly go along with the Lord’s theocratic organization and wait for further clarification.” (Feb, 1, 1952)

Essential Teachings

The essential teachings are:

1. God is a single person who does not know all things and is not everywhere;
2. His first creation was Michael the archangel through whom he created “all other things”, including the universe, the earth, people, etc.
3. This took God 42 000 years (each biblical day was 7000 years);
4. At one point the Watchtower proclaimed that God ruled the universe from somewhere in the Pleiades. Later they modified this to say that the Pleiades can no longer be considered the centre of the Universe and it is unclear where exactly God’s throne is.
5. After Adam sinned paradise was ruined;
6. God needed a visible, theocratic organization on earth to accurately represent Him. This organization has been a remnant of faithful jehovah’s Witnesses (e.g. Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc.) But it was only in the late 1800’s that Charles Russell formally began the Watchtower  Society to be the true channel of God’s truth on earth today – it is the angel-directed prophet of God on earth today.
7. When it came time for a Saviour to be born, Michael the archangel became a human in the form of Jesus; Jesus never sinned and he died on a torture stake to bear the sins of mankind.
8. Jesus rose from the dead as a spirit (His body was dissolved and taken by God). This began the true Christian Church of Jehovah’s followers;
9. They refer to mainline Christainity as “Christendom” and believe that it is filled with pastors who are anti-christs, in churches run by satan, supporting earthly governments which are all of the devil. In other words all of Christianity is fake and only the JW’s are right.
10. They believe that in 1914, Jesus returned invisibly and is now reigning in heaven … and when he returns physically at the time of the battle of Armageddon, he will set up a 1000 year kingdom on earth.
11. During this 1000 year reign people will be resurrected and have a second chance to receive eternal salvation by following the Watchtower;
12. After the millennium all those who rejected the Watchtower will be annihilated (they will cease to exist). The faithful JW’s will be saved from annihilation and will live forever on Paradise Earth;
13. Heaven is a place for a special group of 144 000 JW’s – the only ones who are born again and who alone may take communion in their annual communion services. These alone have “immortal life” … all other JW’s have “eternal life”;
14. Those with immortal life will have “spirit bodies” and those on paradise earth will have resurrected bodies.

A Brief Expose of the New World Translation

In spite of the claims made for the new World translation by the JW’s, it is clearly not a competent piece of work. Rather it distorts passages and words in order to make them conform to the erroneous doctrines of the JW’s.

A few examples:

1. John 1:1 “the Word was a god”: This is altered from, “the Word was God” in order to deny the deity of Jesus. This is contrary to Greek grammar. There are no indefinite articles in Greek corresponding to our “a” / “an”. So when John writes, “The Word was God” there is no need to insert an “a”. The only reason would be if the Bible indicated the existence of more than one God … then “a god” would be a valid translation. But the Bible nowhere suggests the existence of more than on true God.

 2. The NWT uses the name “Jehovah” for God. While they believe that Jehovah is the only true name for God, this word is never used in the original Scriptures. When Moses asks God His name He responds “I am who I am” and the consonants of this phrase in Hebrew are YHWH. The name Yahweh / Jehovah (anglicised form) is formed by combining these consonants with the vowels from the other ancient word for God “Adonai” to form “YAHWEH”. But this word does not occur in any of the NT manuscripts. So to use it is incorrect translation.

 3. The NWT adds words that are not there in the Greek, e.g. “By means of Him all other things were created.” It also distorts and deletes other words. All of this in order to support its own doctrines. Very importantly they also distort all the Greek pronouns which clearly refer to the Holy Spirit as “He” in order to refer to Him as “It”.

Reasons to reject the Jehovah’s Witnesses

This week we’ll touch on two issues and will add to them in next week’s teaching.

1. THE DEITY OF CHRIST

THE LIE

“Jesus’ birth was not an incarnation” (What religion has done for mankind)

“Jesus was not God the Son” (Reconciliation)

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with the God and the Word was a god.” (NWT)

THE TRUTH

• Jesus is Immanuel (God with us) – Matt 1:23, Luke 1:32, etc.
• Jesus is the Word and the Word WAS GOD (John 1:1)
• Jesus called Himself “I AM” – John 8:58

2. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

THE LIE

“The King Christ Jesus was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature; therefore the world will see Him no more.” (Let God be true)

“Almighty God raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead an immortal spirit-person”

THE TRUTH

• Jesus predicted a physical resurrection – John 2:19-21
• After His resurrection Jesus declared that He was not a spirit-being / ghost – Luke 24:39-44
• The disciples saw Jesus – Matthew 28:17
• We can ask the JW’s the same question Jesus asked the disciples: “Does a spirit have flesh and bones as you see I have?” – Luke 24:39

3. The Deity of the Holy Spirit

THE LIE

“The Holy Spirit is not a person but an influence. The Holy Spirit is not a person in the Godhead. There is not a personal Holy Spirit.” (Studies in the Scriptures)

THE TRUTH

• The Holy Spirit is called God – Acts 5:3-4
• The Holy Spirit is Omnipresent – Psalm 139:7, 10-12; 1 Cor. 6:19
• The Holy Spirit is Omnipotent – Luke 1:35
• The Holy Spirit is Omniscient – 1 Cor. 2:9-11
• He is a person not a force as He can be:
  • Resisted – Acts 7:51
  • Grieved – Eph 4:30
  • Quenched – 1 Thess. 5:19

4. Hell and eternal Punishment

THE LIE

“There is no thought expressed in the Bible anywhere that God purposes to put any of His creatures into a place of endless torture.” (Reconciliation)

“Hell is not a place, it is a condition. It is a condition of death, which means non-existence”

THE TRUTH

• The thought is perfectly clearly stated in the Bible in such passages as 2 Thess. 1:8-9 and Matthew 10:28. Here “destroy” = “apolesai” = “to give over to eternal misery”
• “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death.” – Rev. 21:8. See also Rev. 20:14-15
• Is this an eternal condition? Jesus said so in Matt 18:8-9, 8:11-12. See also Jude 13

5. The Second Chance

THE LIE

“All men will enjoy a full opportunity to gain everlasting life after death.”

Firstly of course this is contradictory to their own belief that at death a person ceases to exist (annihilation)

THE TRUTH

• “He who does not believe stands condemned already” – John 3:18
• “It is appointed to man once to die and then the judgment.” – Heb. 10:28

6. THE TRINITY

THE LIE

“The Trinity could have originated only in one mind, and that the mind of Satan, the Devil.” (Reconciliation)

“There is no authority in the Word of God for the doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead.” (Studies in the Scriptures)

THE TRUTH

• There is one God “consisting” of three persons, all of the same substance  -co-equal, co-existent, immutable forever.
• God is One God in three Persons

THE SCRIPTURAL FOUNDATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

Truth #1: There is only One True God.

Deut 6:4 – “Hear oh Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One.”

Isa 43:10  “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

Isa 44:8  Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

 

Truth #2: This God refers to Himself in the plural

Gen. 1:26 – “Let us create man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.”

Gen 11:7 – “Let US go down …”

Isaiah 6:8 – “Who will go for US …”

The Trinity

Truth #3: This God is our Creator and Father

Gen. 1:26 – “Let us create man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.”

John 20:17 – “I am returning to My Father and your Father; to My God and your God.”

Php 4:20  “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever.”

Php 1:2  “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Truth #4: This God is our Saviour, Jesus – Jesus is God!

Jesus is prayed to – Acts 7:59

Jesus was worshipped – Matthew 14:33, Matthew 28:9

God calls Jesus God – Hebrews 1:8

 

Truth #5: This God is the Holy Spirit – the Spirit is God!

Luk 1:35  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Acts 5:3-4 – to lie to the Spirit is to lie to God

1Co 12:3  Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

 

Truth #6: God is Three distinct Persons!

John 12:28 – the Father refers to Himself as I

John 17:4 – Jesus refers to Himself as I

Also remember Jesus’ prayer: “Not My will but Your will be done”

Acts 13:2 – the Spirit refers to Himself as “me” and He expresses His will.

 

Truth #1: There is only One God

“When we say they are distinct persons we do not mean that one is separate from the other as one human person is from another. They are but One God.” Stuart Ollyott

“I and the Father are One” – John  10:30

“Father … You are in Me and I am in You” John 17:31

 

 

The doctrine of the Trinity is our human attempt to capture all of the above truths in one truth.

“God is One-in-Three and Three-in-One”

“God is one indivisible essence who exists eternally as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit … We believe it … Not because we can grasp it … But because this is what God has revealed about Himself in His Word.”

The Trinity – possible errors

• Tritheism – Emphasizing the three persons without holding onto the Unity of God.
• Monarchianism – Seeing the Son and the Spirit as less God than the Father (Gnostics, Ebionites, Arianism and Socinians in the past and Unitarians today)
• Modalism – God is One Person who simply plays three different parts. He was the Father, then he was the Son, and now He is the Spirit.

7. The Greatest Act of Love

THE LIE

Jesus is not God. Therefore the greatest act of love was Jehovah sending Jesus to die.

THE TRUTH

• “Greater love has no man than this, that He lay down His life for His friends.” Jesus – John 15:13
• If Jesus is not God then someone other than God has performed the greatest act of love ever … And is thus clearly better than God and God is not truly God.