JWS

Jehovah’s Witnesses

2 Timothy 2:17–18 LEB

and their message will spread like gangrene, among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have deviated concerning the truth by saying the resurrection has already taken place, and they are upsetting the faith of some.

Much can be said about the details of Jehovah’s Witness doctrines and practices, but it can be helpful to have a concise summary of the most important points. So here is Jehovah’s Witnesses in a nutshell.

Concise Summary

According to Jehovah’s Witness’ theology, God is a single person, not a Trinity, who does not know all things and is not everywhere. He first created Michael the Archangel through whom He created all “other things,” including the universe, the earth, Adam and Eve, etc. This creative work took God 42,000 years. At one point, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society taught that God ruled the universe from somewhere in the Pleiades star system. They have since modified this to say that the “Pleiades can no longer be considered the center of the universe and it would be unwise for us to try to fix God’s throne as being at a particular spot in the universe.” Such changes and even contradictions are frequent in the Watchtower organization. When a doctrine changes, they tell their followers that the light of truth is getting brighter.

Watchtower Heirohistory

After Adam sinned, the paradise which God had created for them was ruined. So, God instituted a system of redemption which was revealed in the Bible and would ultimately lead to the crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah. But, in the meantime, God needed to have a visible, theocratic organization on earth to accurately represent Him. Throughout history, this true organization had a remnant of faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses (Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, etc.); but it wasn’t until the late 1800s that Charles Taze Russell formally began what is now known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society which is run out of Brooklyn, New York. This organization claims to be the only true channel of God’s truth on earth today and that it alone can properly interpret God’s word since it is the angel directed prophet of God on earth.

When it came time for the savior to be born, Michael the Archangel became a human in the form of Jesus. Jesus grew and kept all the laws of God and never sinned. Finally, when Jesus died, it was not on a cross but on a torture stake where he bore the sins of mankind–but this did not include Adam’s sins. Jesus rose from the dead as a spirit, not physically (his body was dissolved and taken by God); and during his visitations to people on earth, he manifested a temporary physical body for them to see and touch. Thus began the true Christian church of Jehovah’s followers.

Throughout history, there have been faithful Jehovah’s witnesses who have managed to keep The Truth in spite of the “demonic” doctrine of Trinitarianism that has permeated the Christian church in “Christendom.” Christendom is filled with pastors who are antichrists in churches run by Satan and who support the earthly governments which are all of the devil. In other words, all of Christianity is false; and only the Jehovah’s Witness “theocratic” organization led by several men in Brooklyn, New York, is true.

JWS history

In the late 1800s, a young man of 18 years by the name of Charles Taze Russell organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he sought to popularize his ideas on doctrine, so he co-published The Herald of the Morning magazine with its founder, N. H. Barbour. By 1884, Russell controlled the publication and renamed it The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom and founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society (now known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society). Russell served as the teacher and guide for the organization which taught that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and is now reigning in heaven. When Jesus finally returns physically to earth, which will happen at the time of the Battle of Armageddon, He will set up His earthly 1000-year kingdom.

During this 1000-year period, people will be resurrected and have a second chance to receive eternal salvation by following the principles of Jehovah’s Organization on earth known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. After the millennium, those who reject God and His organization will be annihilated; that is, they will cease to exist. The rest of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who has faithfully followed God’s organization on earth will be saved from eternal annihilation and reside forever on Paradise earth. Heaven, however, is a place for a special group of 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses–the only ones who are “born again” and who alone are allowed to take communion in their annual communion service. These are the ones who have “immortal life”; all other Witnesses have “everlasting life.” Those with immortal life do not have resurrected bodies. They have “spirit bodies.” Those on Paradise Earth have everlasting life and consist of resurrected bodies that must be maintained through eating, rest, etc.

JWS

When you study with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, you agree to attend five meetings a week where you are taught from Watchtower literature. You cannot be baptized until you have studied their material for at least six months and have answered numerous questions before a panel of elders. Men are not supposed to have long hair or wear beards, and women are to dress in modest apparel. They refuse to vote, salute the flag, sing the “Star Spangled Banner,” celebrate birthdays or Christmas, won’t take blood transfusions; and they can’t join the armed forces. A schedule of door-to-door canvassing is required where you distribute the Watchtower literature, acquire donations, and forward all monies to the headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

If you ever leave the Jehovah’s Witness organization, you are considered an apostate and are to be shunned.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses were begun by Charles Taze Russell in 1872. He was born on February 16, 1852, the son of Joseph L. and Anna Eliza Russell. He had great difficulty in dealing with the doctrine of eternal hellfire, and in his studies came to deny not only eternal punishment but also the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. When Russell was 18, he organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he sought to popularize his aberrant ideas on doctrine. He co-published The Herald of the Morning magazine with its founder, N. H. Barbour; and by 1884 Russell controlled the publication and renamed it The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom and founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society (now known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society). The first edition of The Watchtower magazine was only 6,000 copies each month. Today the Witnesses’ publishing complex in Brooklyn, New York, churns out 100,000 books and 800,000 copies of its two magazines – daily!

Russell claimed that the Bible could be only understood according to his interpretations–a dangerous arrangement since he controlled what was written in the Watchtower magazine. This kind of assertion is typical among leaders of cult religions.

After the death of Russell on Oct. 31, 1916, a Missouri lawyer named Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over the presidency of the Watch Tower Society which was known then as the International Bible Students Association. In 1931 he changed the name of the organization to “The Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

After Rutherford’s death, Nathan Knorr took over. After Knorr, Frederick William Franz became president.

The Society was led by Mr. Henschel who died in 2003. The group has over 4 million members worldwide. The Watchtower Society statistics indicate that 740 house calls are required to recruit each of the nearly 200,000 new members who join every year.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have several ‘book studies’ each week. The members are not required to attend, but there is a level of expectation that gently urges converts to participate. It is during these ‘book studies’ that the Jehovah’s Witness is constantly exposed to counter Christian teachings. The average Jehovah’s Witness with his constant Watchtower indoctrination could easily pummel the average Christian when it comes to defending his beliefs.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses vehemently portray the doctrine of the Trinity as pagan in origin and that Christendom, as a whole, has bought the lie of the devil. Along with denying the Trinity is an equally strong denial of the deity of Christ, the deity of the Holy Spirit, the belief in hell, and eternal conscious punishment in hell.

Non-Christian

The Jehovah’s Witness (aka Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) religion is not Christian.” Like all non-Christian cults, it distorts the essential doctrines of Christianity. It denies the deity of Christ, His physical resurrection, and salvation by grace. These make it non-Christian. In addition, to support its erring doctrines, the Watchtower organization (which is the author and teacher of all official Jehovah’s Witness’ theology) has altered the Bible to make it agree with its changing and non-Christian teachings.

Typical with cults that use the Bible to support its position is a host of interpretive errors:

Taking verses out of their immediate context.Refusing to read verses in the entire biblical context.Inserting their theological presuppositions into the text.Altering the Biblical text to suit their needs.Latching onto one verse to interpret a host of others.Changing the meanings of words.Proclaiming some passages to be figurative when they contradict their doctrines.Adding to the Word of God.

Additionally, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organization requires of its member’s regular weekly attendance at their “Bible Study” meetings where they are repeatedly indoctrinated with anti-Christian teachings. This is done by reading the Watchtower magazine, following along with what it says, reading the questions it asks, and reciting the answers it gives. In other words, the Watchtower Organization carefully trains its members to let the Organization do their thinking for them. For confirmation of this, please read Does the Watchtower organization control the JW’s thinking?

The Witnesses are told they will be persecuted when they go door-to-door teaching their doctrines. They are further told that this is simply the enemy fighting against God’s organization because they are in “the truth.” So, when someone disagrees with them, they are conditioned to reflect on what the Watchtower has told them. They then feel confirmed in being in God’s true organization on earth (like all cults claim). They are strongly encouraged to have friends and acquaintances that are only JW’s, thereby keeping outside examination to a minimum. They are told to shun those who leave their group, for in this way there is no way to see why someone has left and no way to find out that they are in error from those who have found the truth in Christ. They are conditioned to shy away from any real biblically knowledgeable person. An example of this is frequently found on the Internet. I was once banned from a Jehovah’s Witness’ chat room after I not only answered their objections to the Trinity and deity of Christ but also challenged them in return. Subsequently, my name was passed around to all other Jehovah’s Witness’ rooms where I was banned from them as well. This is a frequent occurrence on the Internet where the Jehovah’s Witnesses are alive and well. It is obvious that a critical examination of their doctrines is not encouraged by the Watchtower Organization.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses consider themselves to be Christians because they believe they are serving the true and living God. Like many cults, they think they are the only true church on earth. Yet, they deny the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ physical resurrection, and salvation by grace through faith.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are discouraged from looking into Jehovah’s Witness history or old Watchtower literature which is replete with contradictions, altered doctrines, and false prophecies. Instead, they are indoctrinated repeatedly against basic Christian doctrines (Trinity, deity of Christ, etc.,) and into the notion that they alone are the true servants of God and that all others are either in “Christendom” or simply unbelievers.

Primarily, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organization is a mind-control organization that uses its people to pass out literature and send in “donations” to the headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

“Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization and not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible.”(The Watchtower, Oct. 1, 1967, p. 587.)

Conclusion: Jehovah’s Witness doctrine is not Christian