Assessing Jehovah’s Witnesses

Fifty years ago next month, Joseph Franklin Rutherford became the second president of the Watchtower Society, succeeding Charles Taze Russell. It was during Rutherford’s presidency that the group assumed the name “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to be following Scripture alone in their teachings and practices, and they accuse all others of following human traditions instead of the Bible. Their glib way of quoting Scripture when they come to the door gives many people the impression that they know the Bible very well.

Do they? Are they faithful to Scripture in their teachings? Let us ask them ten questions, get answers from their own writings, and compare these answers with Scripture.

1. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses use the Bible properly? They claim to take the Bible and the Bible alone as the standard by which to judge religious truth. Let God Be True, the most widely circulated and perhaps best known of their doctrinal books, states clearly that “we shall let God be found true by turning our readers to his imperishable written Word” (1952 ed., p. 18). On another page the authors say, “In this book, our appeal is to the Bible for truth” (p. 9).

That the Witnesses use the Bible and continually appeal to it must be granted. In their publications and in their oral witnessing they constantly quote Scripture. Yet instead of listening to Scripture, they impose upon it their own bizarre theological notions.

a. Their New World Translation is not an objective rendering of the Bible into modern English but a biased translation into which many of the peculiar teachings of the Watchtower Society have been smuggled. An illustration is their well-known mistranslation of John 1:1, in which the clear testimony of this verse to the deity of Christ is nullified: “In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”

b. Their method of using Scripture is to find passages that seem to support their views, and ignore those that do not. An example is their attempt to disprove the doctrine of the Trinity in Let God Be True (pp. 102–107). They adduce four passages that trinitarians formerly used as “prooftexts” for the Trinity, two of which would no longer be appealed to by any trinitarian (1 Tim. 3:16 and 1 John 5:7). However, they ignore such crucial passages as the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19) and the Apostolic Benediction (2 Cor. 13:14).

c. They insist that their adherents can understand the Bible only as interpreted by their own leaders. The Watchtower Society, it is claimed, is “the instrument or channel being used by Jehovah to teach his people on earth” (Qualified to be Ministers, p. 318). Jehovah’s Witnesses must therefore accept without question the interpretations of Scripture given in the various Watchtower publications. All Christian groups outside the fold are said to be walking in darkness, no matter how diligently they may be studying the Bible. Can this possibly be said to be listening to God’s Word?

2. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm the Trinity? No, they claim that the doctrine of the Trinity originated with Satan (Let God Be True, p. 101). Jesus Christ is said to have been created by Jehovah, and the Holy Spirit is not a divine Person but “the invisible, active force of Almighty God which moves his servants to do his will” (ibid., p. 108). Their New World Translation never capitalizes the word “spirit” when it refers to the Holy Spirit, and always designates the Holy Spirit as “it” or “which” rather than “he” or “who.” The Witnesses are strict Unitarians: they believe Jehovah exists as a solitary Person.

The Scriptural teaching of the doctrine of the Trinity, however, is clear in specific passages like those previously mentioned (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14) as well as in the teaching of the New Testament as a whole. That the Holy Spirit is a Person and not just an impersonal force is evident from a passage like Ephesians 4:30, “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

3. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses affirm the deity of Christ? They deny it. Jesus Christ, they teach, was neither equal to Jehovah nor co-eternal with Jehovah but was the Father’s first creature. Although he is called the Logos or Word of the Father, this title merely implies that Christ was Jehovah’s spokesman. He is superior to all other creatures, therefore, but never equal to the Father. Indeed before coming to earth the Son was really an angel. He was known in heaven not as Jesus Christ but as Michael; when we read in Jude 9 about Michael the archangel, we are to understand this is a reference to Jesus Christ in his prehuman state (New Heavens and a New Earth, pp. 28–30). In line with their translation of John 1:1 (“and the Word was a god”), Jehovah’s Witnesses grant that the Son was some kind of god. But they emphatically deny his full deity.

It goes without saying, therefore, that they deny the incarnation. What is their view of the birth of Jesus from Mary? God took the “life,” “personality,” or “life pattern” of the Son and transferred it from heaven to the womb of Mary, of whom Jesus was born as a human creature (From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, p. 127). Since the Son of God before his birth from Mary was not equal to the Father but only a created angel, Jesus’ birth was clearly not the incarnation of God. While he lived upon earth, Jesus was only a man, nothing more (What Has Religion Done for Mankind?, p. 231). Actually, then, the birth of Jesus meant that Christ ceased existing as an angel (“he laid aside completely his spirit existence,” The Truth Shall Make You Free, p. 246) and began to exist as a man. We may well ask, What continuity is there between the Son’s existence as Michael, the created angel, and his existence as the man Jesus? Were these two not completely different beings?

The Witness view of Christ is a modern revival of the ancient Arian heresy, with certain variations. The fourth-century Arians taught that the Son was a creature who had been called into existence by the Father, and who could therefore in no way be considered equal to the Father. This view was challenged by Athanasius, and many of his arguments against the Arians are applicable to Witness teaching today. The Church decisively rejected the Arian view of Christ at the Council of Nicaea (325), which affirmed that Christ was and is “of one substance with the Father” and anathematized those who asserted that the Son of God had been created. By once more assuming the Arian position on the person of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses have separated themselves from historic Christianity. What Athanasius said about the Arians holds true for the Witnesses today: Although they use scriptural language and frequently quote Scripture, their doctrine is thoroughly unscriptural (Discourses Against the Arians, I, 8).

4. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses teach the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ? All Christians agree that the resurrection of Christ is the keystone of Christianity. As Paul says, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17).

Therefore we must inquire into Watchtower teaching on this matter. Jehovah, it is said, raised Christ from the dead “not as a human Son but as a mighty immortal spirit” (Let God Be True, p. 40). The physical, bodily resurrection of Christ is therefore denied; God raised Christ as a spirit, and the body of Christ was disposed of in some way that is not wholly made clear. The reasoning behind this is as follows: To atone for Adam’s sin, Christ had to sacrifice his human body; this means that he had to renounce it permanently and could not get it back again; and therefore God raised him as a spirit Son (What Has Religion Done for Mankind?, p. 259).

As we reflect on this teaching, we again ask ourselves: What continuity is there in Witness doctrine between the Christ who was raised as a spirit and the Jesus who died on the cross (or on the “torture stake,” as Jehovah’s Witnesses prefer to say)? None. For though Christ was a man while he lived on earth, he is no longer in any sense human after his resurrection but is only a spirit or angel (it is even said that after the resurrection the Son resumed the name Michael). The Witnesses, therefore, cannot really speak of the exaltation of Christ, since the one who is exalted is not the same being as the one who was previously humiliated. Indeed, what Jehovah’s Witnesses really teach is the annihilation of Jesus Christ. When he died, Jesus as a human being was simply blotted out of existence.

The three states of Christ’s existence in Watchtower theology really amount to this: angel—man—angel, with no real continuity between the three. How utterly different this is from the Christology of Scripture! In the Book of Revelation the glorified Christ is heard to say, “… I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore …” (1:17, 18). According to Witness teaching, however, he who laid down his life at Calvary was not the one who had been the Father’s agent in creation, and is not the one who now rules over the heavenly Kingdom. Really the Witnesses have three Christs, none of whom is equal to Jehovah, and none of whom is the Christ of the Scriptures.

TREASURES OF DARKNESS*: AFTER CATASTROPHE

*Isaiah 45:3

And darkness, darkness, darkness for my heart.

Night-dark, starless, Blindfold-dark. Or blind.

I move in catacombs that stretch and wind,

Unendingly, through utter gloom … I start

Slow steps along a caverned street, where part

Unknown, unmarked, the alleys I must find …

And darkness, darkness, darkness.

Yet my mind

Laughs through layered shadows, for I hold a Chart

Braille-legible to finger touch of faith

And One has promised treasures of the dark.

His wealth is vast. When every shadowy wraith

Of this my Stygian hour is gone, what mark,

What treasure found in darkness shall I hold?

My awed and grateful hands shall clasp His gold.

ELVA McALLASTER

5. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses teach the visible return of Christ? No, for a visible return would, of course, be impossible for a being that has only an angelic existence. In fact, Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the return of Christ has already occurred, in 1914. No one saw the return, since it was invisible.

Let us look at this a bit more closely. By a fantastic method of computation, involving an assortment of figures derived with great ingenuity from Luke, Daniel, Revelation, and Ezekiel, the Watchtower leaders have arrived at 1914 as the year when the Kingdom of God was established (Russell had taught earlier that the year was 1874; apparently new light has been received since his day). Jehovah’s Witnesses identify this establishment of the Kingdom of God with the “return” of Jesus Christ, which therefore also occurred in 1914. But this return was not physical or visible, for Christ since his resurrection has had no physical body. In fact, this was not really a return at all, since Christ did not come back to earth at that time but simply began to rule over his Kingdom from heaven. It is granted that between Christ’s ascension and 1914 he was already sitting at God’s right hand (This Means Everlasting Life, p. 220). At the time the Kingdom of God was founded, however, Christ was elevated to the active kingship at God’s right hand (You May Survive Armageddon, p. 100). So the “return” or “second presence” (the Witnesses prefer the latter term) of Christ simply means that Christ exchanged an “ordinary” seat at the Father’s right hand for a throne.

What a far cry this is from the teaching of Scripture on the return of Christ. The Bible says, “Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7). But the “return” of Christ that the Witnesses claim, was seen by no one. It was not even a return, strictly speaking, but only the assumption of a throne in heaven!

6. Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose blood transfusions? Occasionally the papers tell about irate Witness fathers standing in doorways with shotguns to prevent doctors from giving blood transfusions to people within. Why do they do this? Because of their absurd literalism in interpreting certain scriptural passages that forbid the eating of blood, such as Leviticus 17:14, “… I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh.…” On the basis of texts of this sort Jehovah’s Witnesses assert that blood transfusion is a “feeding upon blood” and is therefore unscriptural (Make Sure of All Things, p. 47).

However, the blood prohibited in the Levitical laws was not human but animal, and what was forbidden was the eating of this blood with the mouth, since God had appointed the blood of animals as a means of making atonement. Scriptural prohibitions against the eating of blood have nothing to do with the infusing of blood into the veins for medicinal purposes. What a pity that people should have to lose their lives because of such a perversion of Scripture teaching.

7. Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses oppose saluting the flag? They believe that all governments are parts of the devil’s visible organization, and, in their opinion, to salute the flag is to ascribe salvation to the nation for which the flag stands, and is therefore an act of idolatry (Let God Be True, pp. 242, 243). Witnesses compare their unwillingness to salute the flag with the refusal of Daniel’s three friends to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s image. Their refusal to vote in national elections, to hold political office, or to serve in the armed forces is an extension of this view of the demonic nature of all human governments.

Romans 13:1 and similar passages make it clear, however, that governmental powers have been ordained by God and are therefore entitled to our respect, honor, and obedience—unless they command what is clearly contrary to God’s Word. To suggest that saluting a flag “is ascribing salvation” to the nation represented by the flag is so far-fetched that it hardly requires refutation.

8. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses have a biblical view of the Church? The attitude of the Watchtower Society toward the Christian Church is almost unbelievably bigoted. According to their claims, Jehovah’s Witnesses alone are God’s true people; all others are followers of the devil. The “great whore” of Revelation 17 is organized religion, Christian as well as heathen (What Has Religion Done for Mankind?, p. 328). The visible part of the devil’s organization includes not only all the governments of the world but also all its religious systems, particularly apostate Christendom: that is, all of Christendom except for the Watchtower Society and its members (ibid., p. 307). The clergy are said to be the direct visible link between mankind and the invisible demons (The Kingdom Is at Hand, p. 186).

Needless to say, claims like these flatly contradict scriptural teaching about the universality of the Church. Does not Paul speak of the body of Christ with many members? Is it not, in fact, blasphemous to ascribe to Satan the work that God’s Holy Spirit has accomplished in the hearts of his people across the centuries and throughout the world?

There is another respect in which Witness ecclesiology is unscriptural: the division of members into two classes. There is the “anointed class” or 144,000, and, on the other hand, there are the “other sheep” or “great crowd.” The 144,000, who are the spiritually elite, play a leading role in directing Watchtower activities and are destined to spend eternity in heaven without bodies. The “other sheep” will never get to heaven but will be raised with physical bodies and will, if they pass the various millennial tests, spend eternity on the Paradise of the new earth. The people of God are thus split into two diverse groups with two distinct destinies; how opposed this is to the scriptural teaching of the unity of the Church!

9. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses teach the annihilation of the wicked? Their teaching on the future lot of the impenitent is complicated. They deny the existence of hell and teach that “eternal punishment” means reduction to non-existence (Let God Be True, p. 97), but they believe there are various ways in which persons can enter the “state” of annihilation. Certain persons will never be raised from the dead but will remain in the non-existence into which death has plunged them: those who died at the time of the flood, those who will die in the Battle of Armageddon, and others. Individuals raised from the dead during the millennium who do not obey God’s Kingdom will be annihilated before the end of the millennium. Satan, the demons, and those of earth’s millennial inhabitants whom he succeeds in leading astray will be annihilated by fire from heaven. And the possibility always remains that some who are left on the new earth after Satan’s destruction may still have to be annihilated.

The denial of eternal punishment has an understandable appeal to people. But does the Bible teach the annihilation of the wicked? The Book of Revelation, in picturing the final torment of the wicked, tells us that the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever (14:11). Certainly this does not describe annihilation!

10. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses teach salvation by grace? Here again we must distinguish between the two classes. Members of the “anointed class” (the 144,000) are selected on the basis of their having met the requirements for membership—that is, for their worthiness. The anointed ones must continue to serve God, faithfully demonstrating their dedication until death (Let God Be True, p. 301). This dedication involves, particularly, faithfulness in witnessing and distributing literature.

The “other sheep” must also dedicate themselves to do God’s will and remain faithful to this dedication. Members of this group are taught that if they stay close to the Watchtower organization, listen attentively to its indoctrination, and go out regularly to distribute literature and make calls, they may be saved at Armageddon (William Schnell, Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave, p. 104). When a Christian asked a Jehovah’s Witness point-blank, “What must I do to be saved?,” he received the reply, “Go out two by two and preach the Gospel.”

Salvation in Witness teaching is not by grace but by works. A man is not saved because Jesus Christ has merited salvation for him; he is saved because of his worthiness, because he remains faithful to Jehovah throughout life and even during the millennium (since after his resurrection he must still continue to pass tests of obedience).

What a denial this is of the central truth of the Reformation: justification by faith! What a perversion of the teaching of Scripture: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8); “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us …” (Tit. 3:5).

On all ten of these questions, then, the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses are contrary to Scripture. Superficially these people may be impressive with their knowledge of Scripture. But their doctrines are actually a terrible perversion of Scripture. We should not be afraid to meet them on their own ground and to challenge their interpretations of the Scriptures they so glibly quote.

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