Approximately one-third of the New Testament is written against error, either to warn believers about false teachers, or to answer their false doctrines.  The reason is simple, it really does matter what a person believes.

Two of the warnings given are found in Matthew 7:15 and 2 Corinthians 11:4 where the Holy Spirit tells us there will be those who will claim to be true prophets of God with a message from Him when in truth they are teaching “another Jesus,” “another spirit,” and “another gospel.” In numerous places throughout the Bible we are told how to test those who claim to speak for God. (Matthew 24:23-26; 1 John 4:1; Jude 3). We must not blindly accept everything, even if it sounds so logical.

What follows are five reasons why the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, or, Jehovah’s Witnesses, as they are known, should be tried by the Biblical tests of truth. The results of this test will demonstrate why it would be unwise to become a Jehovah’s Witness.

A Falsified Bible

The New World Translation is a mistranslation of the scriptures. It has been changed in key places to promote the doctrines of the Watchtower Society. Revelation 22:18,19 condemns such adding to, or, taking away from what God has said to us. The following are some examples of tampering:

At Matthew 25:46 the words ‘cutting off’ are substituted for ‘punishment’ in order to support their doctrine of annihilation.

In John 1:1 they call Jesus ‘a god.’ There is neither grammatical nor contextual support for such a rendering.

Colossians 1:16,17, and 20, have the word ‘other’ inserted five times to make the text say Jesus is one of the things created rather than being the Creator of ‘all things.’

At Philippians 2:9 they also have the word ‘other’ added to the text. Without it Jesus has the name above every name.

Greek and Hebrew scholars have been very outspoken about the New World Translation. Dr. Bruce Metzger of Princeton called it “a frightful mistranslation.” Dr. Julius Mantey, co-author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, said it was “a shocking mistranslation.”

Dr. William Barclay of the University of Glasgow said, “The deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translations… It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.”

Dr. Eugene A. Nida, head of the Translation Department of the American Bible Society said, “… the New World Translation was apparently done by persons who did not take seriously the syntax of the Greek.”

For a more complete demonstration of the errors in the New World Translation we suggest our witnessing manual and tape Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation; Is It The Word of God?

False Doctrines

The doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses are in diametric opposition to historic biblical Christianity. There is no significant area of agreement.

Among the doctrines denied by them are the deity of Christ, the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, his visible second coming, hell, the nature of man, the gospel, and many more.

The most important doctrines of scripture include the nature of God (the Trinity), and the person and work of Jesus (His deity and bodily resurrection). To teach a doctrine of a lesser god and a lesser savior is to teach an inadequate salvation which is no salvation at all.

The following is a brief outline of scriptures relating to these doctrines. For a more detailed discussion request our tracts on the topics of the Trinity and Resurrection.

The Trinity teaches that one God exists – Deuteronomy 6:4. It also teaches that three Persons are this one God so that the Father is called God (2 Peter 1:17), the Son is called God (John 20:28), and the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3,4). Thus the three Persons are the one God.

In the incarnation of Jesus one of these three Persons of the Godhead came to live among men. Jesus, while remaining fully God took upon His divine nature a human nature for the suffering of death, thus He was both God and man (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1, 14; and Philippians 2:5-11).

Scripture is also very clear about the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Clear statements on this are found in John 2:19-21, Luke 24:36-39, and Acts 2:24-26.

False Authority

The Governing Body of the Watchtower Society claims they are “The Faithful and Discreet Slave” of Matthew 24:45 who alone can give spiritual meat in due season to the household of faith” (Watchtower, Feb. 1, 1952, page 80). Then, in the October 1, 1967 Watchtower (page 590), they said, “Those who recognize Jehovah’s visible theocratic organization, therefore, must recognize and accept this appointment of the ‘faithful and discreet slave’ and be submissive to it.”

So, to disagree with the organization is to disagree with God (Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1976, page 124), and risks disfellowshipping, thus loosing one’s opportunity for salvation.

If the Watchtower is going to demand total obedience then it must necessarily have a flawless record. A record of doctrinal changes and false prophecies would remove from them all moral authority and show them to be what the Bible calls “false apostles and deceitful workers” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). To claim they are just men who make mistakes too cancels any authority to demand complete obedience.

For documentation of the Watchtower’s wishy-washy doctrinal history see our witnessing manual and tape The Changing Doctrines of the Watchtower.

False Prophecies

The Watchtower is an Armageddon oriented religion. On numerous occasions in the past they have fixed dates for the end of the world. To demonstrate that they fulfill the biblical definition of a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) it is a simple matter to show that they have claimed to be prophets and that they have clearly fixed dates for Armageddon. The following are a few quotes from Watchtower sources establishing these facts.

“So does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?… This ‘prophet’ was not one man, but was a body of men and women… known as Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses” (Watchtower, April 1, 1972, page 197).

“As we have heretofore stated, the great jubilee cycle is due to begin in 1925. At that time the earthly phase of the kingdom shall be recognized… Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter eleven, to the condition of human perfection” (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, pages 89, 90).

This is but one example of many. The Watchtower also predicted the return of Christ for 1874, Armageddon for 1914, destruction of the churches in 1918, worldwide anarchy in 1920, World War 2 culminating in Armageddon, and 1975 being the end of 6000 years of human history and thus implying the date for Armageddon. The Watchtower has a 100% failure rate for their prophecies. However, it is only necessary that they fail once to qualify as false prophets.

For complete documentation on this topic see our witnessing manual and tape Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Dating Game.

 A False Christ

The Watchtower teaches that Jesus is the mediator only for the 144,000, not for the Great Crowd. The 144,000 are all believers from the time of the Apostles until 1935. They comprise the “Church”, the spirit-begotten believers who will go to heaven. There are only 9,000 of these people alive today.

The vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses today are of the Great Crowd class who do not have a “heavenly hope” but rather hope to live on a paradise earth. These are not born again, or spirit-begotten. Neither do they have a mediator! (Watchtower, April 1, 1979, page 31, and Nov. 15, 1979, page 24-27).

The Bible is very clear when it says there is “… one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

In addition the Watchtower teaches that Jesus is not all there is to “Christ.” They say the “Christ” is composed of Jesus (the Head) and the 144,000 (the Body, or Church). This was clearly taught early in their history but today it is handled in a much more subtle fashion. The following quote will demonstrate this view.

“It is thus seen that the Church in the flesh (the Christ in the flesh, Head and body) is the Elijah or forerunner of the Church in glory, Jehovah’s Anointed. Not the nominal church, but the really consecrated Church, which on the other side of the tomb will be the great Anointed Deliverer, – these constitute the Elijah… Our Lord Jesus and the Apostles, and all the faithful in Christ Jesus since, are of this great antitypical Elijah, prophet or teacher – the same class (Head and body) which shall shortly compose the King of Glory.”

Our Lord was the Head and Forerunner of the Church in the flesh (the Elijah), as truly as he is Head of the Church triumphant – the Christ” (The Time Is At Hand, pages 252, 255).

One page 101 of this same book, The Time Is At Hand, they predict Armageddon will end in 1914. See Luke 21:8 for what God says about those who say, “I am Christ and the time is at hand.”

Conclusion

The Watchtower has said it is wise to examine one’s religion to see if it meets the test of truth (The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, page 13). They have also said, “Error always seeks the dark, while truth is always enhanced by the light. Error never desires to be investigated. Light always courts a thorough and complete investigation” (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, page 13). And finally, they said, “Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a ‘prophet’ of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?” (Watchtower, April 1, 1972, page 197). Though the Watchtower Society has said these things they hypocritically refuse to follow their own counsel. This fact is commentary enough on their claims.

Finally, the simple message of the gospel is this, God loves you enough to pay the penalty for your sins in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16). If you will confess your sin to God and acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and trust in him to save you he will keep His promise and do so (Romans 10:9, 10, 13).

Anyone with a humble and obedient heart who seeks God in His Word, the Bible, will find Him there. He will also find Him to be rich in mercy unto all who call upon Him in faith.

By David Henke