Jehovah’s Witnesses are usually called a Christian cult, but I prefer to call them a cult of Christianity. To call them a Christian cult implies that they are Christian, and nothing could be further from the truth. Jehovah’s Witnesses are anything but Christian.

A cult may be properly defined as a group that borrows truths from a particular faith, but denies one or more of that particular faith’s cardinal doctrines. Cults are also characterized by hijacking a faith’s terminology, while ascribing different meanings to the terms than the understood meanings of the faith’s true adherents. For instance, when a Jehovah’s Witness speaks of the Holy Spirit, he does not mean the third person of the Trinity, as all true Christians believe. Instead, he merely means God’s impersonal, active force. 

In his classic book, The Kingdom of the Cults, Walter Martin teaches that the words of cultists do not always mean what they have always meant. Thus, one cannot take the cultist’s words at face value, but must always look for the false face the cultist has put on them. Our failure to do so will result in us being taken in by cultists and deceived into categorizing them as Christian, which is the very thing the cultist wants to trick us into believing with his or her tangled terminology.

HISTORY

Charles Taze Russell 

The Jehovah’s Witnesses cult was founded by a man named Charles Taze Russell. Russell was born on February 16, 1852. At an early age he rejected the doctrine of Hell and eternal damnation. He attributed this “false” doctrine to the teaching of organized religion, insisting that it was nowhere to be found in the Bible. Interestingly, Russell had no problem believing in Heaven and eternal bliss, even though the Bible speaks less of them than it does of Hell and eternal punishment. 

As a result of his rejection of the doctrine of eternal punishment, Russell began a lifelong crusade against organized religion. He denounced it for leading men away from the truth about Jehovah by popularizing false beliefs, such as the belief in eternal damnation. As part of his war on organized religion, Russell began a publication called “The Herald of the Morning.” 

First published in 1879, Russell’s “The Herald of the Morning” eventually developed into what we know today as “The Watchtower,” the premier publication of contemporary Jehovah’s Witnesses. Today’s “Watchtower” magazine has a circulation of 18.9 million and is translated into 125 languages. Another popular Jehovah’s Witnesses publication, “Awake,” has a circulation of 15.7 million and is translated into 85 languages.

Soon after launching his new magazine, Russell began using it to advertise miracle wheat seed for $1.00 a pound. According to the advertisement, Russell’s miracle wheat seed grew five times faster than any other kind of wheat. However, when the government investigated Russell’s claims, it discovered that his wheat seed was actually of poorer quality than ordinary wheat seed. 

Another scam that Russell attempted to perpetrate on the public concerned sermons he had printed in newspapers throughout the world. According to Russell, these sermons had been preached at various places throughout the world to enthusiastic crowds during a world tour. With each sermon, Russell included a printed appeal for donations to help finance his world tour. It was discovered in the end, however, that many of these printed sermons were never preached in the places Russell claimed.

When the Rev. J. J. Ross, pastor of James Street Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario—a man who claimed Russell’s “inspiration had its origin in the pit”—wrote a pamphlet denouncing Russell’s teaching and personal life, Russell sued Ross for libel. During the trial, Russell was found guilty of perjury. Under oath he claimed to know the Greek language, but when handed a copy of the Greek alphabet he was unable to identify any of the letters. Consequently, Russell’s libel case against Rev. Ross was dismissed.

The truth is; there is more than ample evidence to prove the immoral life and practices of Charles Taze Russell. Some of it was provided by Russell’s own wife, who divorced him in 1908.

In spite of his questionable practices and character, Charles Taze Russell audaciously claimed that his writings and teachings were absolutely essential for a clear understanding of the Scriptures. In fact, Russell once claimed that it would be better to read his books and leave the Bible unread than to read the Bible and leave his books unread. 

In the September 15, 1910 “Watchtower,” Russell wrote: “People cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself. If anyone lays [my writings aside]…and goes to the Bible alone…within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read [my writings]…and not read a page of the Bible…he would be in the light at the end of two years.” 

For obvious reasons, today’s Jehovah’s Witnesses attempt to disassociate themselves with Charles Taze Russell. Still, there is no denying of the fact that they are “Russellites,” people who continue to believe, practice and propagate the world with the teachings of Charles Taze Russell!

Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford

After Russell’s death, his lawyer, Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford, became the new leader of the Watchtower Society. Judge Rutherford declared himself to be “the mouthpiece of Jehovah.” He also designated his words as “divine mandates.” His reign over the “Russellites” was briefly interrupted in 1918 when he was found guilty of violating the United States “Espionage Act,” a conviction that resulted in a short prison term in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Afterward, the judge remained at the helm of the Watchtower Society until he died in his palatial mansion—named “Beth Sarim” or “House of Princes”—in San Diego, California on January 8, 1942.

Nathan Homer Knorr

After Judge Rutherford’s death, Nathan Homer Knorr was elected president of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was during Knorr’s presidency that the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation of the Bible came into being. Interestingly, the “New World Bible Translation Committee” had no known translator with recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis or translation. In other words, the Jehovah’s Witnesses translation of the Bible was done without translators. 

The New World Bible Translation is a perfect example of changing what the Bible says to fit into your beliefs, rather than changing your beliefs to fit into what the Bible says. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

1. In the King James Version of the Bible, Colossians 1:16 reads: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” This correct translation of Colossians 1:16 leaves no doubt as to the identity of Jesus Christ. He is the Creator, who created all things and for whom all things were created.  

On the other hand, the New World Translation alters Colossians 1:16 to read: “Because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.” Although there is no justification for this translation from the original language of the text, Jehovah’s Witnesses have fraudulently altered this verse in an attempt to fool others into believing that the Scripture substantiates their erroneous teaching that Jesus Christ is a created being rather than the Creator Himself.

2. John 1:1 is perhaps the best known example of Jehovah’s Witnesses twisting of the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). Whereas this verse clearly teaches that Jesus Christ—“the Word”—is “God,” the New World Translation alters this verse to say that Jesus Christ is merely “a god.” 

If confronted with this obvious twisting of the Scripture into conformity with their false teachings, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the vast majority of whom know absolutely nothing about Greek, will argue that the Greek grammatical construction of this verse necessitates their translation. Yet, everywhere else this exact Greek is found in the New Testament— Matthew 5:9; 6:24; Luke 1:35; John 1:6, 12, 13, 18; 3:2, 21; 9:16, 33; Romans 1:7, 17, 18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 15:10; Philippians 2:11, 13; Titus 1:1—their New World Translation translates it “God” rather than “a god,” proving the duplicity of these Scripture-twisting cultists.

Don Alden Adams

Since the death of Nathan Homer Knorr in June of 1977, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has had three additional presidents. Its current leader and sixth president is Don Alden Adams.

MODERN-DAY FACTS & FIGURES

Jehovah’s Witnesses boast of a worldwide membership of 6,117,666. According to them, their U.S. membership of 979,637 spends 178,831,678 hours annually in door-to-door preaching. Just imagine what might happen if God’s army ever got as motivated as the devil’s.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have five weekly meetings. Congregations meet in buildings called Kingdom Halls. Congregational leaders are called overseers or elders. An association of twenty congregations form what is known as a Circuit and geographical groupings of Circuits from Districts. There are currently twenty-one Districts in the U.S.

DOCTRINES

JEHOVAH

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to have restored the divine name of God. The divine name revealed by God to Moses at the burning bush and forbidden by God from being spoken in “vain” by the third commandment is a mystery to us today (Exodus 3:13-14; 20:7). 

To assure themselves of never speaking God’s name in vain, the ancient Hebrews removed the vowels from it. With nothing left but the consonants, the divine name was actually made unpronounceable.

If we translate the consonants from Hebrew to English they come out “YHWH.” Guessing at the vowels between the consonants, ancient translators proposed “Yahweh” as the possible pronunciation of the divine name. However, the Masoretes—Jewish scribes who worked to reproduce the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament between the 6th and 10th centuries—replaced the previously proposed vowels with those of the Hebrew words for “Lord” (Adonai) and “God” (Elohim). Consequently, the divine name was no longer presumed to be “Yahweh,” but “Jehovah.”

As one can clearly see, the correct translation and pronunciation of the divine name is uncertain. We’ve simply guessed at the vowels. No one, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, knows what they are. 

There is one thing that we do know for sure, however. The Bible clearly teaches us that there is a name that is above every name, even the name of Jehovah. In Philippians 2:9-11, the Apostle Paul declares: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

So much for the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to have restored the divine name of God. The truth is; they actually deny the name that God has exalted above every name, the name of Jesus, “the one name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

THE TRINITY

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the doctrine of the Trinity, teaching that Jehovah “is one being from all eternity” and that “Satan is the originator of the Trinity doctrine.” According to them, the reason for rejecting the biblical doctrine of the Trinity is because “it is an insult to God-given intelligence and reason.” Yet, the Bible instructs us to: “Trust in the LORD with all [our] heart; and lean not [on our] own understanding. In all [our] ways [to] acknowledge him, and he shall direct [our] paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Contrary to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Scripture teaches us that reason—our thinking—should never be substituted for divine revelation—the Bible’s teaching. We should believe what the Bible says, whether we can understand it or not; and the Bible definitely says that God is triune (Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isaiah 6:3, 8; Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 1 Peter 1:21-22; 1 John 5:7). 

Tertullian, the man credited with coining the term “Trinity,” once said, “He who tries to understand the Trinity will lose his mind, but he who denies it will lose his soul.” Jehovah’s Witnesses may be troubled over a God so big that they cannot understand Him. I, on the other hand, would be troubled over a God so small that I could understand Him. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny both the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit. They teach that the Holy Spirit is an “it” rather than a “He,” and nothing more than “the invisible active force of Almighty God.” The Bible, on the other hand, clearly teaches the deity of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 13:14; Hebrews 9:14; also compare 1 Peter 3:18 with Acts 2:24).

JESUS CHRIST

It is not just the deity of the Holy Spirit that Jehovah’s Witnesses deny, but also the deity of Jesus Christ. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is “the first and direct creation of Jehovah God.” According to the Bible, Jesus is the Creator (John 1:3, 10; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-3, 8-10; 2:10; Revelation 4:11). He is not only the one who created all things, but also the one in whom they consist and for whom they were created.

According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus, in His pre-incarnate existence, was none other than Michael the Archangel of God. According to the Bible, Jesus is not only superior to the angels, but the one the angels worship and are subjected to (Matthew 24:30-31; 25:31; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:9-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Hebrews 1:4-6, 13; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 5:11-14; 19:9-10; 22:8-9) 

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is “the Son of God” and a “mighty god,” the Bible indisputably declares Jesus to be God Almighty (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Colossians 1:16-17; 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:8).

Despite the clear and abundant Scriptural refutation of their denial of our Lord’s deity, the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Christ’s Lordship is made additionally untenable by the fact that Christ received worship (Matthew 8:2; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:51-52). If Jesus wasn’t God, then, why did He receive people’s worship? To do so would be an egregious sin against God, unless Jesus is God, which is what the Bible clearly teaches.

ANNIHILATION

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that sin has resulted in man’s “return to the dust” or to “nonexistence” at death. According to them, “the human soul ceases to exist at death” and the biblical “Hell” is to be simply understood as “mankind’s common grave.” Obviously, this teaching, known as the doctrine of Annihilation, denies both the immortality of the soul and the existence of a literal Hell.

The immortality of the soul is clearly taught by Christ in Mark 12:26-27, where our Lord speaks of Israel’s deceased patriarchs as still alive. The Apostle Paul assured us that “to be absent from the body” is for the Christian “to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Apart from these two clear refutations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine of Annihilation, there are a host of others to be found in the Scripture (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:1-11; Matthew 22:31-32; Luke 12:4-5; 16:19-31; Romans 8:38-39; Hebrews 11:5; 1 Peter 3:18-20; Revelation 6:9-11). 

I once met a lady who had left the Baptist church to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses. When I asked her why she had done so, she simply replied, “Because I didn’t want to believe in Hell.” Well, the truth is, I don’t either, but I have to if I’m going to believe the Bible. You see, the Bible speaks more of Hell than it does of Heaven, and no one in the Bible spoke more about Hell than Jesus Christ Himself. Thus, if I’m going to believe what the Word of God says and the Son of God taught, I have no choice but to believe in Hell, whether I want to or not.

SALVATION

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Christ, being “a perfect man,” not “a god-man” nor “an incarnation,” was only able to compensate on the cross for what Adam lost in the Fall; namely, the “right to perfect human life on earth.” Christ’s death on the cross was therefore insufficient for our salvation. It’s only benefit is found in the fact that it has balanced the scales of divine justice and given man an opportunity to work for his salvation.

According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christ death on the cross has given man an opportunity to “identify” their cult as the sole “organization” through which “everlasting life” may be obtained. Once one identifies them as the sole witnesses of Jehovah, then, to be saved, one must join with them and go to work for them. If one works hard enough, he can earn his own salvation. 

To the Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is not the work of Christ, but our own works that save us. All that Christ did was provide us with the opportunity to do for ourselves what He could have never done for us; namely, earn our own salvation. While salvation in the minds of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a smidgin of Christ and a ton of us, in the Bible, it is all of God and none of us (Mark 10:26-27; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Hebrews 12:2). It has nothing to do with our works, but is made possible by Christ’s work; His doing for us what we could never do for ourselves (Matthew 1:21; John 1:29; 10:28; Acts 4:12; 15:11; Romans 3:24; 5:8-10; 8:31-34; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:13-14; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:24-26; 1 John 1:7; 2:2). 

Nothing could be further from what the Bible teaches about salvation than the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Whereas Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that we must work for our salvation, the Bible teaches: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

As everyone knows, a gift cannot be earned. The moment it is, it ceases to be a gift. It is the fact that it is not earned that qualifies it as a gift. The Bible speaks of “eternal life” as “the gift of God” offered to the world “through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Thus, eternal life cannot be earned. If it could, it would cease to be a gift. It is the fact that we can never earn it that makes salvation God’s gift to us through Jesus Christ (John 6:27, 32-33, 51; 10:28; 17:2; Romans 5:15-17; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 5:11-12). 

The only thing you can do with a gift is receive or reject it. You can never earn it or pay for it. Contrary to the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the only way for you to be saved is to reach out in faith and receive from Christ’s nail-scarred hand the “gift of God” (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:9, 28; Acts 2:21; 16:30-31; Romans 10:9-10, 13; ). When you do, Christ will “give [you] the power to become a child of God” (John 1:12).

Rather than being insufficient for our salvation, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach, Christ’s atoning work on the cross is all-sufficient. He has done all that needs to be done for us to be saved. He did it all for us, because we couldn’t do any of it for ourselves. All that we can do is believe and receive it by faith. The day we trust Christ as our Savior; that is, the day we look to Him and what He has done as all-sufficient for our salvation, will prove to be the “day of salvation” for us (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). 

THE 144,000 

The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that they are the 144,000 Israelites sealed by God in Revelation 7:1-8. Although they originally taught that the 144,000 represented the totality of the saved, they’ve since revised their teaching. Undoubtedly, this revision was spawned by the fact that their own numbers now far exceed 144,000. 

Today’s Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the 144,000 actually represents “the little flock” among them that will “go to Heaven to rule with Christ.” This “little flock” will be comprised of the hardest working Jehovah’s Witnesses of all time. All other Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have worked hard enough to earn their salvation, but not hard enough to be numbered among the 144,000, will be resurrected to live a perfect human life on an Eden-like earth.

Now you know what motivates Jehovah’s Witnesses to do all of that door-to-door visitation. They’re trying to earn a spot among the 144,000 in Heaven, or at least a place in eternity on an Eden-like earth. How many doors a day would you be knocking on if you believed it would determine whether you spent eternity in Heaven, on an Eden-like earth or nonexistent in the grave?

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

The Apostle Paul taught that the whole of the Christian faith hinges on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:14-19, he declares that without Christ’s resurrection: “our preaching is useless and so is [our] faith…we are then found to be false witnesses about God…[our] faith is futile; [we] are still in [our] sins…those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost…[and] we are to be pitied more than all men.” Despite this clear scriptural declaration of the absolute necessity of Christ’s bodily resurrection to the Christian faith, the Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christ was not bodily resurrected, but spiritually resurrected. He was resurrected as an “immortal spirit being,” not as a “man.” Furthermore, Christ’s body, rather than being glorified, as the Scripture plainly teaches, has either been dissolved into gases or is being preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses do confess not to know for sure what happened to the body of Christ, they’ve at least come up with a couple of flimsy explanations for its disappearance.

By denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses strike at the heart of orthodox Christianity. They put themselves far outside the parameters of the doctrine of Christ and join league with those “decievers” and “antichrists” whom the Apostle John admonishes us not to “receive into our homes” nor to “bid God’s speed,” lest we become a “partaker of their evil deeds” (John 7-11). While we should not be rude to these cultists and feed their martyr complex, we should never invite them into our homes or do anything to encourage them in their antichrist activities.

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

If you’re looking for “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), then, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have a message for you. You needn’t bother. According to them, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ has already occurred. Christ invisibly returned to the earth in 1914. Ever since, He has been invisibly present in the world sending them out as the true heralds of Jehovah.

Once again, the Scripture offers us voluminous refutations of Jehovah’s Witnesses heretical teaching. According to the Bible, Christ will return: [1] Visibly (Matthew 24:27, 30; Acts 1:9-11; Colossians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 2:13; 1 John 2:28; 3:2;  Revelation 1:7; 6:12-17) [2] On the clouds of Heaven (Matthew 24:30-31; 26:64; Acts 1:9-11) [3] In great power and glory with His holy angels (Matthew 16:27; 24:30-31; 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 21:27; Colossians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Jude 14-15) [4] To resurrect the dead (1 Corinthians 15:5-57; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 John 3:2), and [5] To judge the world (Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8; Hebrews 9:28; James 5:7-9; 2 Peter 3:3-10; Jude 14-15; Revelation 6:12-17; 19:11-21). 

In case you didn’t notice, none of the above happened in 1914. Still, Scripture has never been an obstacle to the Scripture-twisting Jehovah’s Witnesses. They can twist the Bible to say whatever they want it to, even that the personal, visible, glorious return of Christ to resurrect the dead and judge the world slipped by undetected by everyone but themselves almost a hundred years ago.

ARMAGEDDON

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that the next event on God’s prophetic calendar is “the Battle of Armageddon.” Contrary to the biblical Armageddon, where the enemies of Christ are destroyed, it is the enemies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who are destroyed at their Armageddon. And who are the enemies of the Jehovah’s Witnesses? According to them, their enemies are the Christian church and the nations of the world. 

When it comes to the Christian church, Jehovah’s Witnesses profess to harbor a “pure hatred” toward both the laity and the clergy. Christians are deemed by them to be “haters of God and His people.” As a consequence, Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught the impossibility of loving these “hateful enemies” who “are fit only for destruction.” Furthermore, they are taught to “hate in the truest sense,” as well as consider “loathsome, odious, filthy and detestable,” the Christian clergy, who are denounced as “the instruments of Satan.” 

When it comes to the nations of the world, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they are all of the devil. Therefore, none are to be paid homage to or given allegiance. To salute the flag or to say the Pledge of Allegiance is tantamount to committing idolatry in the minds of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Thus, all Jehovah’s Witnesses are forbidden from “saluting any national emblem,” lest they violate “Jehovah’s command against idolatry.”

In view of the above, one can easily understand why Stanley High once wrote the following in Readers Digest: “Jehovah’s Witnesses hate everybody and try to make it mutual…[They] make hate a religion.” Well, I say we don’t hate them, but love and pray for them, because if there ever was a group of folks who need our prayers it’s the Jehovah’s Witnesses.