Lesson 4: Jehovah’s Witnesses

They knocked on Sam’s door and offered him a copy of Awake magazine. The visitors were a woman with two of her children. They were well-dressed and friendly. The magazine’s cover article was about how to help children do better in school. The woman read a verse of Scripture, made a comment on it, and then asked Sam if he would be interested in being visited for a Bible study. Sam said he would think about it.

Read Hebrews 1 aloud together. Write a paragraph that summarizes this scripture passage. What does this passage tell us about Jesus? Write a list of statements.

History

Charles Russell started Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881 to publish his distinctive teachings. The organization changed its name to Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931.

Russell wrote a six-volume set of Scripture studies. He said that people would be better off to read his books without the Bible than to read the Bible without his books. He said that if a person stopped reading his books and read only the Bible, he would be in darkness within two years, but if he would read only his books without the Bible, he would be in the light.[1]

Doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been changed many times.

Leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have made many prophecies that did not come true. For example, the second leader, Rutherford, predicted that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be resurrected in 1925 and live in a luxurious house that he prepared for them. They did not come, but he lived in the house himself.[2]

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that all other churches are Satanic, and that there is no salvation except through their organization.[3]

► What are some things you can see already that indicate that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not scriptural Christianity?

Present Influence

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that that they work in 239 countries, and publish in 595 languages. In the last 10 years they have printed 20 billion pieces of literature. They have 111 thousand congregations, and a membership of more than 7 million active members.[4]

Headquarters for the Jehovah’s Witnesses are in Brooklyn, New York.

Difficult Doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not participate in government elections or hold any government office, because they believe they are separate from the kingdoms of this world.[5]

They do not serve in the military and do not believe that war is ever right.

They do not celebrate any holidays, whether national holidays, Christian holidays, or birthdays, because they believe that all the celebrations follow pagan customs.

They do not accept blood transfusions, even to save life, because of the Scriptures that forbid the eating of blood.

They do not pay tithe, and their pastors do not get salaries.

Any member who does not turn in reports of witnessing is taken from the list of active members and is not considered saved.[6]

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that a person gets saved quickly. He must join the organization and begin studying their doctrines. Salvation is a process, and the moment when one can know he is saved is not definite.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept the cross as a Christian symbol, and believe that Jesus died on a stake.

► Why should these doctrines be called “difficult doctrines”?

The most serious doctrinal error of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is denying the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to be real Christianity. They claim that all other churches are false. But if a person understands and believes all the doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, he does not believe the scriptural gospel and is not a Christian.[7]

Tactics of Jehovah’s Witnesses

A person who is interested in joining the Witnesses goes through a Bible study for several months. He has to make changes in his life to follow what he is learning. Then he is baptized and becomes a “publisher,” and is supposed to distribute literature from the organization.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe a person becomes a Christian immediately by putting his faith in Christ. They believe he must first learn their doctrines and begin practicing the requirements.[8]

Every member is required to turn in monthly reports of witnessing activity. A member who does not turn in reports is taken from the list of active members and is not considered saved.

► According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, how is a person saved?

On average, the Witnesses spend 8,000 hours of witnessing to gain one new member.

Each member buys printed materials from the organization to distribute.

They do not call their congregations churches. They believe all churches are Satanic. They call their buildings “Kingdom Halls.”[9]

They say that the doctrine of the Trinity should be rejected because it is illogical and impossible to understand, as if there should not be anything in God’s nature that is beyond our understanding.

They try to prove their doctrines by Scripture to people who trust the Bible without knowing much about it. They have published their own version of the Bible, called The New World Translation, with changes that support their doctrine. They changed many verses that imply the deity of Christ. This version was not produced by real biblical language scholars.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force that comes from God, comparable to the power of electricity.

They claim to believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but they believe that only his spirit rose, not his body.[10]

They say Jesus is Son of God and Savior of the world, and that he made salvation possible. They do not believe that He is God. They believe he is the first thing God created.

► In Colossians 1:16-17, the New World Translation added the word other, so that the verses say that Jesus created all other things, is before all other things, and for him all other things exist. Why do you think the Jehovah’s Witnesses added that word?

Now go back and read the footnotes for the entire section on Jehovah's Witnesses. Look up the referenced Scripture verses read them.

[1] The Bible says that God’s Word is a light that guides us (Psalm 119:105). The Holy Spirit teaches us even if we have no human teacher (1 John 2:27).

[2] The Bible says that if a person’s prophecy does not come true, he is not to be trusted as a prophet. See Deuteronomy 18:22.

[3] Jesus told the disciples that not all servants of God would be in the same organization (Luke 9:50).

[4] Reported in 2014

[5] Men like Nehemiah, Mordecai, and Daniel served God but also worked for heathen nations (Nehemiah 2:7-8, Esther 2:21, Daniel 6:2).

[6] The Bible says that God has a list in heaven of those who are saved. That list does not belong to an earthly organization (Luke 10:20, Revelation 21:27).

[7] “I believe in... one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God; begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of light, Very God of very God, begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father.... And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified.”
- The Nicene Creed (written by the church in AD 325)

[8] In the New Testament, people became Christians in the moment when they repented and put their faith in Christ (Acts 2:41, 8:26-39). This is possible because we are saved by grace and not by works.

[9] The New Testament is written to churches (Revelation 1:4, 1 Corinthians 14:33).

[10] “The Resurrection was and is the vindication of Jesus. By it the identity of Jesus and the truth of his mission were forever established.”
- Willard Taylor, God, Man, and Salvation, 361

The doctrines in the list below are all denied by Jehovah's Witnesses. Look at the Handbook of Doctrine to see the importance of each doctrine and the evidence for it. Make sure you understand how the verses referenced prove the doctrine.

(5) Jesus is God.

(6) Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

(7) The Holy Spirit is God.

(8) God is a Trinity.

(9) Salvation is only by the atonement of Christ.

(11) We receive salvation by faith.

(12) We can have personal assurance of salvation.

(13) The unsaved will suffer eternal punishment.

Do not treat Jehovah’s Witnesses rudely. Because they believe they are persecuted for the truth, they expect evangelical Christians to treat them badly. Instead, show the love of Christ and a genuine concern for them.

Don’t argue about smaller issues, like celebration of holidays or serving in the military. It is much more important to talk about the basics of the gospel and assurance of salvation.

The priority is to share the gospel. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have assurance of salvation and a personal relationship with God.

Robert was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, and many of his relatives are still in the cult. As an adult he drifted away from the organization, but still believed they were right. His wife became a Christian, and he decided to prove to her that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were right. In his study he found that they had made many false prophecies. He began to read the Bible and realized that Jesus is God, and not an angel like he had been taught. He read the verse where Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and realized that what he needed was not just religious beliefs, but a relationship with Jesus.

Now read Hebrews 1 again. Wite a paragraph explaining the message this passage has for a Jehovah's Witness.