jehovah’s witnesses

A Concise Appraisal by Ecclesia Apostolica Jesu Christi

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Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) founded the movement that today describes itself as Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Russell was born in Allegheny (now a section of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, USA, and was raised as a Presbyterian. At fifteen he decided that Congregationalism suited him better. It was not long, however, that he had problems accepting this denomination and by seventeen Russell distanced himself from Christianity, declaring himself to be a sceptic. This scepticism remained with him till 1870 when he chanced on a meeting of Second Adventists, a remnant of the disbanded Millerite Movement that had predicted Christ’s return sometime between 1873-74. When the Adventists were shown to be wrong as 1874 came and went with no visible return, Russell became convinced that the Lord had returned, not visibly, but invisibly and spiritually. In 1879 Russell began the publication of a magazine titled Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. In 1881 Russell formed the unincorporated Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society. Twelve years later he dropped “Zion” from the name, leaving what is presently the official title of the movement.

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses a denomination of Christianity or not? They know their doctrinal system and many biblical prooftexts, but they usually do not know the Bible itself very well. Their theology is fatally flawed and it is this that reduces them to the status of an heretical cult outside of the Body of Christ for the following theological reasons:

Jehovah’s Witnesses state that there is only one true religious organisation administered by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Christianity refutes this because, though there is only one Faith, there can be many expressions of it.

“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit ~ just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” (1 John 2: 26 – 27)

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that “since there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords,’ the true God has a personal name to distinguish Him from all other gods and that this name is Jehovah. To those who really believe in the true God it is nothing short of blasphemy to choose one out of a whole lot of false gods and call Him the “true God,” as the Witnesses do. They are declaring their deity to be “Jehovah God,” the personal name distinguishing Him form other gods, but Christians are monotheists who do not accept the existence of other gods. Therefore a distinguishing name is unnecessary. The word “Jehovah” is simply a mistranslation found in Protestant Bibles. No such word occurs in the original text of Scripture. Never did any inspired writer of Holy Scripture use the word “Jehovah.” The Hebrew text said: “By My name Yahweh I was not known to them.” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had known God as “El Shaddai” which means “God Almighty.” To Moses the title “Yahweh” was revealed, not as a personal name in our modern sense of the word, but rather as a description of God’s nature; for it means “He who is.” Jesus never used, nor did His followers ever hear of, the word “Jehovah.” The word arose from a misreading of the Hebrew word “Yahweh” to which the vowel signs of the Hebrew word “Adonai,” which means “the Lord,” have been assigned by Jewish writers. In a spirit of profound reverence, whenever they met with the sacred word “Yahweh,” the Jews, rather than pronounce it, substituted for it the word “Adonai.” However, the vowel signs for the purpose of Hebrew writing were not invented until some six centuries after Christ and the misreading of them, leading to the mistaken “Jehovah” idea, was not possible before they existed. The word “Jehovah,” therefore, never came from the lips of Christ and was quite unknown to His immediate followers. Christ’s words, “I have made manifest your name,” have no reference to any specific “name,” but mean: “I have revealed to them your ‘nature’ as their Father as well as My Father.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny Christ’s divinity. They embrace the Arian heresy of the 4^th century which taught that the Person of Christ did not eternally pre-exist as God the Son, being equally God with the Eternal Father, but that He was a created spirit-being made by God and used as a created instrument in the work of producing other spirit creatures. Witnesses identify Christ as the Archangel Michael, and, moreover, mistranslate the opening to St John’s Gospel with the phrase “the Word was a god.” What St John actually states is “the Word was God.” Thus the deity of Christ, denied by Witnesses, is affirmed in Holy Scripture.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness …” (John 1: 1 – 5)

Jehovah’s Witnesses state that there is no Trinity, that Jesus is not Almighty God, and that there is no personal Holy Spirit. However, over sixty times in the New Testament the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are associated together in creation, salvation, the Christian life, and future judgement. This shows that a basic trinitarianism was already present in the New Testament and that the Bible teaches the fundamental elements of the Trinity. Scripture states: There is one God, the Father is God, the Son, Jesus Christ, is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Christ, moreover, in the Bible, possesses all of God’s essential characteristics. He is unchangeable, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, beyond human comprehension, He is to be feared, or revered, He is to be loved unconditionally, worshipped, called upon, and He is to receive divine honours. Whenever the word spirit is used in Scripture, the presumption is that it refers to a person unless context proves otherwise. He is sent in Jesus’ name. He is contrasted with unclean, unholy, or wicked spirits. He spoke to the disciples and guided them in their ministry. He has God’s attributes. He is eternal. He is all-knowing and all-present. He is God.

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” (John 8: 58) “In answer Thomas said to Him: ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20: 28) “All things came into existence through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into existence.” (John 1: 3) “However, when that one arrives, the spirit of the truth, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own impulse, but what things He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things coming. That one will glorify me, because He will receive from what is mine and will declare it to you.” (John 16: 13 – 14)

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that death ends personal existence. The Bible teaches that death is like sleep, but not the cessation of personal existence. Physical death separates people from one another, but it does not separate anyone from God’s presence. Moreover, there is eternal punishment for the wicked. How can that happen if death ends our existence?

“You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect.” (Hebrews 12: 23) “I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness work they used to have. And they cried with a loud voice, saying …” (Revelation 6: 9 – 10)

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ was raised as a spirit creature, that at the Resurrection His human body was not raised from the dead but was instead dissolved into gasses or otherwise annihilated. The fact that Jesus is spirit does not mean that he is mere spirit. If Jesus could walk on water before His Resurrection, he could perform other supernatural feats after His Resurrection in a human body. The biblical language of “resurrection” presupposes that it is physical in nature. Jesus explicity denied being a mere spirit and received His human life back after the Resurrection. The body that was killed was the body that was raised. Jesus’ resurrected body had scars from His crucifixion wounds in His hands, feet and side. Jesus pointed to His hands and feet to prove that “it is I myself.” Jesus ate food after His Resurrection. The angels pointed to the absence of the body from the tomb as proof that He was alive. He laid down His life and raised it again.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3: 23 - 24) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5: 6) “The blood of Jesus … cleanses us from all sine.” (1 John 1: 7) “But God resurrected Him by loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to continue to be held fast by it. For David says respecting Him … ‘On this account my heart became cheerful and my tongue rejoiced greatly. Moreover, even my flesh will reside in hope … ’” (Acts 2: 24 – 27)

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ position on salvation is that there are two classes of Christians: The “anointed” class who will go to heaven as spirit sons of God, and the “great crowd” who will be resurrected on earth and be given an opportunity to live on earth for ever. The “anointed” are 144,000 in number who are the only ones eligible to be born again in heaven, as a precondition of becoming spirits, not as a precondition of salvation. God requires both faith and works, but faith alone is the sole prerequisite to salvation. The condition on which God grants salvation is simply believing or trusting in Him. Scripture never conditions salvation on one’s associating with a particular organisation. Christians are not going to become immaterial spirits but glorified human beings. All Christians have the same status and future. All Christians will enjoy the same blessings of everlasting life. All Christians are part of what St Paul calls “the Body of Christ.” Salvation is by grace through faith, resulting in good works. It is a gift. All Christians are born again and therefore are children of God.

“For truly by one spirit we were all baptised into one body.” (1 Corinthians 12: 13) “You were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5: 9) “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3: 26) “Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God.” (1 John 5: 1)

Jehovah’s Witnesses’ position on the Second Coming of Christ is that He will never actually return to earth, that He is invisibly present and has been since 1914 when the Gentile times ended, and that Christ began ruling as king over the whole earth in 1914. Christ’s future coming will be personal, visible and bodily. His kingdom rule over the whole earth was inaugurated at His Resurrection and Ascension. Christ was enthroned as king over the whole earth and presented to the world as God’s Son. Christ’s exaltation to the right hand of the Father is explicit. Some of the terms used of Christ’s future Second Coming are also used in the New Testament of Christ’s literal coming in His Incarnation. Some of those terms are also used of Christ’s appearing to the disciples in Human form after His Resurrection. Since Christ was raised from the dead as a glorified human being, the presumption is that His future Second Coming will be visible and bodily.

“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16)