By Patrick Zukeran
History of the Watch Tower
One of the most aggressive and fastest growing cults is the
Jehovah's Witnesses. Today they have a worldwide organization that
numbers about 3.5 million members operating in 205 countries.
Several factors account for this rapid growth. The first is their
zealous door-to-door evangelism. Second, we Christians have failed
to make a solid defense of our faith against their attacks when
they have come to our door. The result is the Witnesses continue
unchallenged in the propagation of their organization and deceive
many. Third, the rise of the cults are a fulfillment of the
prophetic warnings given by Jesus and the Apostles.
In this essay I want to look at the beliefs of the Witnesses and
then give the reader practical witnessing strategies. The history
of the Jehovah's Witnesses begins with the founder of the
organization Charles Taze Russell. He was a member of the
Congregational Church who came to reject the doctrine of hell and
eternal punishment. In 1870, with no formal education, he began a
Bible society which eventually named him pastor. In 1884, he
founded Zion's Watchtower and Tract Society in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, which is now the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Since then they have
mushroomed into an organization which produces more literature in
one year than the Christian and Catholic churches combined. And, of
all the cults, their missionary forces are the most well trained in
evangelism.
Witnesses deviate from biblical Christianity in several areas. I
will discuss some of their major doctrinal errors. First, like all
the cults, they deny the Trinity. They believe there is one God,
Jehovah. Jesus, is actually Michael the Archangel, the first of
God's creation, who became flesh at the incarnation. After the
resurrection, He returned to heaven as Michael the Archangel.(1)
The Holy Spirit is not God but an active force much like
electricity or fire.(2)
Second, Witnesses deny the bodily resurrection of Christ, but
instead believe He was raised as a spirit and manifested Himself
several times in different materialized bodies.(3)
Third, they deny the existence of hell and eternal punishment, but
believe in total annihilation after death. Only the elite ruling
class, the 144,000, are allowed to go to heaven. The faithful
Jehovah's Witnesses remain unconscious after death till they are
resurrected in the Millennium. Those who are not in the
organization are annihilated after death.(4)
Fourth, Witnesses have a works-oriented salvation. Salvation is not
based upon a relationship with Christ, but found in the
organization. One must serve the society, and depending on one's
faithfulness and absolute obedience, one
may be saved.(5)
Fifth, they believe that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and
established His throne in heaven. At Armageddon, God will destroy
all evil, and abolish all the world's governments, and establish a
new Paradise on earth. Then the living and resurrected Jehovah's
Witnesses will inherit Paradise earth. The 144,000 mentioned
earlier will rule with Jesus. At this time all unbelievers who have
died will be raised (with some exceptions) and will study under the
Witnesses during the Millennium, a period of a thousand years.
Studying with them will be the unbelievers who have survived
Armageddon. After the thousand years, their faith will be tested
because God will release Satan from the abyss. At that point all
unbelievers will have to choose between Satan or Jehovah. Those who
reject Jehovah will be annihilated.(6)
Clearly the doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses deviate in
critical ways from sound biblical principles. Next, I want to
discuss approaches to evangelizing Jehovah's Witnesses.
False Prophecies of the Watch Tower
One of the most effective ways to evangelize Jehovah's Witnesses is
to destroy their faith in the Society. Remember, salvation is found
only in this organization. The Watch Tower Society is seen as the
spokesman for God. If you can show Witnesses the serious errors of
the organization, they will begin to have doubts and questions.
This can sometimes lead them to leave the Society.
Attacking the Society's record of false prophecy can cause JWs to
to question the organization. This approach is effective because
they claim to have the true understanding of the end times. If we
can show them that the organization has been constantly wrong in
the area of prophecy, this will certainly make an impact. When the
Jehovah's Witnesses show up at your door again, begin first by
asking them, "Are you prophets of God?" Some will say, "Yes."
Others may say, "We are prophets in a sense." You must make it
clear there is no such thing as "a prophet in a sense." There are
only true prophets and false prophets. Some may deny being
prophets. If so, show them a copy of the April 1, 1972,
Watch
Tower article on page 297, which states clearly that they are
prophets.
Second, define clearly what makes a true prophet and a false
prophet using Deuteronomy 18:20-22. A true prophet speaks in the
name of Jehovah and predicts future things which come to pass. A
false prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and predicts future
things which do not come to pass. Make sure they understand this,
for this is the most critical step.
Third, ask them, "Is there an organization that fits the character
of a false prophet?" That's when you say, "Let's take a look at the
Watch Tower Organization." Have handy copies of the articles
mentioned here. The 1889 issue, "The Time is at Hand," page 101
states, "The battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14),
which will end in A.D. 1914, with the complete overthrow of earth's
present rulership, is already commenced." This 1914 prediction of
Christ's return never came true.
Then the
Watch Tower predicted that Christ would return in
1925. The 1918 issue of, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," p.
89 states, "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 11 to the
condition of human perfection." This proved to be another false
prophecy.
The
Watch Tower made a third prophecy of the return of
Christ; this one was to occur in 1975. The August 15, 1968, issue
of,
Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?, p. 494, predicted
the return of Christ in 1975. Once again the Witnesses were shown
to be false prophets. If the Witnesses don't believe these articles
are real, tell them to look them up in their church's library.
Another interesting prophecy is found on page 154 of their book
You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth. Here they state,
"Some of the generation living in 1914 will see the end of the
system of things and survive it." Most of the 1914 generation are
dead, and the few remaining are very old. In just a few years, the
Watch Tower will again have another false prophecy. When
presented clearly, the record of the
Watch Tower's false
prophecies is a very effective tool in witnessing to JWs.
The Name of God
Another effective avenue of witnessing to the Witnesses is in the
name of God. Jehovah's Witnesses state that God's true name is
"Jehovah." They say the term "God," is merely a title, and that the
real name for God is "Jehovah." In fact they go so far as to say
that unless one calls on the true name of God, "Jehovah," one
cannot be saved.(7)
Let's take a real close look at the name "Jehovah" and see if it is
in fact the true name of God. The term "Jehovah" is actually a
false reading of the Hebrew pronunciation of God, or YAHWEH. Allow
me to explain where the word "Jehovah" comes from. The words in the
Hebrew Old Testament contained no vowels. The words were
constructed of consonant letters only. The Scribes knew what vowels
to use in the pronunciation of the words by the construction of the
consonants, the context, and memory. It was written this way until
the fifth century when the Masoretes added the vowels under the
consonants in their version of the Old Testament known as the
Masoretic Text.
The name of God in the Old Testament spelled YHWH, was considered
holy, and was not to be read aloud. Instead, when the Hebrews came
upon YHWH, they would say ADONAY, which means "Lord." In order to
indicate this substitution, the Massoretes placed the vowels of
ADONAY or the English equivalent of e, o, and a underneath the
consonants of YHWH. Later some Christian translators mistakenly
combined the vowels of ADONAY with the consonants of YHWH producing
the word "Jehovah." Now the term is recognized to be a late hybrid
form never used by the Jews. That's the origin of the word
"Jehovah." Let's now look at what other scholars say about the name
"Jehovah."
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "Jehovah" -- False reading
of the Hebrew YAHWEH.(8)
Encyclopedia Americana: "Jehovah" -- erroneous form of the
name of the God of Israel.(9)
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Masoretes who from the 6th to
the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the
Hebrew Bible replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel
signs of Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah came
into being.(10)
The Jewish Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" -- a mispronunciation of
the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is
grammatically impossible.(11)
The New Jewish Encyclopedia: It is clear that the word
Jehovah is an artificial composite.(12)
According to the
Encyclopedia Judaica, p. 680, vol. 7, "the
true pronunciation of the tetragrammaton YHWH was never lost. The
name was pronounced Yahweh. It was regularly pronounced this way at
least until 586 B.C., as is clear from the Lachish Letters written
shortly before this date."
Therefore, for Jehovah's Witnesses to insist Jehovah is the true
name of God and that one is saved only if he calls on that name, is
an error. When Witnesses appear at your door explain to them the
name "Jehovah" and read what the scholars say about Jehovah. Also
remember, God uses many names for Himself such as, King of Kings,
the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and the Omega, and others. When JWs
realize what the authoritative sources have to say, especially the
encyclopedia references, they will begin to realize the need to
take a serious look at this error in the organization.
The Bodily Resurrection of Christ
A third subject area for effective witnessing to Witnesses is the
bodily resurrection of Christ. Witnesses believe that Christ's
crucified body was disintegrated by Jehovah never to exist again.
Accordingly, Jesus was raised as a spirit who then materialized and
appeared in several different fleshly bodies as the angels had
done. Indeed, it was in this form that He appeared to His
disciples; i.e., He wasn't in a human body; He just appeared to be
human. He ascended into heaven as a spirit and once again became
Michael the Archangel.(13) This doctrine can be easily disproved.
First, in Luke 24:36-43, Jesus clearly states in verse 39 that He
is not a spirit but a man of flesh and bone. He even ate food to
prove that He was not a spirit but had a physical body. In John
20:24-27, Jesus shows Thomas His wounds. Jesus is clearly
demonstrating to His disciples that the body previously on the
cross had been resurrected. If Jesus had a different body than the
one on the cross, He would have been deliberately deceiving the
disciples. Ask the Witness, "Would Jesus deliberately deceive His
disciples into believing something that was not true?"
Next, turn to some passages where Jesus predicts the resurrection
of His body. In John 2:19-21 Jesus says, "Destroy this temple and
in three days I will raise it up." See Acts 2:26-27, another
prophecy of the Messiah's bodily resurrection. Clearly the
prophecies and Jesus' appearances prove a bodily resurrection.
Witnesses cite 1 Peter 3:18 and 1 Cor. 15:44-50 to back up their
belief. In 1 Peter 3:18 we read, "Christ died once and for all...
he being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the spirit."
This verse does not prove Jesus is a spirit. This verse says that
Jesus was raised in the Spirit and by the Spirit of God who gives
life. Romans 8:11 states that the Holy Spirit was involved in
raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus was not raised
as a
spirit but
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
According to 1 Cor. 15:50, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God." Since Jesus is in heaven, Witnesses say He must be
a spirit.(14) They are correct in saying that the earthly body
cannot enter heaven. However, when Jesus rose, He had a glorified
body (Luke 24:39). Therefore, He can dwell in heaven because of
His glorified state. According to 1 Cor 15:39, "All flesh is not
the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another....
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies."
Christ's glorified body allows Him to travel in the earthly and
heavenly dimensions. Some verses indicate that Christ exists in
heaven in bodily form. "For in him all the fullness of Deity dwells
in bodily form" Colossians 2:9. The verb "dwells" in the Greek is
katoikei, and is in the present tense. In other words, Jesus
has a glorified body in heaven, the one that was resurrected. Note
also 1 Timothy 2:5, "There is one God and one mediator, the man
Christ Jesus." The verb "is," is a present tense verb also. How can
Jesus be a man if He is Michael the Archangel? Seeing these errors
may prompt them to seek the truth.
The Holy Spirit
A fourth avenue of effective evangelism with Jehovah's Witnesses is
the subject of the deity of the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned
earlier, the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is
not a person because they see the Holy Spirit as a force--much like
electricity or fire. Here is what Jehovah's Witnesses say about the
Holy Spirit.
In their book
You Can Live Forever In Paradise on Earth,
they state, "As for the `Holy Spirit,' the so-called third person
of the Trinity, we have already seen that this is not a person but
God's active force."(15)
In their magazine
Why Should You Believe in the Trinity?
they state, "To a certain extent it (Holy Spirit) can be likened to
electricity, a force that can be adapted to perform a great variety
of operations."(16)
Here are some verses that are effective in proving the deity of the
Holy Spirit. In Acts 5 Ananaias and Sapphira lied to the church
about the amount they sold their land for and the amount they gave
to the church. Peter confronts them on this issue and states in
5:3, "Ananaias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that
you have lied to the Holy Spirit...?" Peter later states in the
next verse, "You have not lied to men but to God." Here the Holy
Spirit is called "God" with a capital G both in our Bibles and in
the Witnesses' Bible. Another interesting question to ask Witnesses
is, "Can you lie to a force like fire or electricity?" The answer
is "No." You can only lie to an intelligence, a person.
In Acts 13:2 the Holy Spirit speaks, "While they were worshipping
the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, `Set apart for me
Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" Ask
the Witness, "When was the last time electricity or fire spoke to
you?" It is obvious only an intelligent person can communicate in
language.
Ephesians 4:30 states, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God."
Any logical person should realize you can only grieve a living
being. Ask a Jehovah's Witness, "How can you grieve or bring sorrow
to an impersonal force like electricity?"
When you put all these facts together, the fact that the Holy
Spirit is called God, He can be lied to, He speaks, and He can be
grieved, the evidence shows that the Holy Spirit is a person, not
an inanimate force. When presented clearly, I have not met any
Jehovah's Witness who have been able to refute these verses.
God bless and good Witnessing!
© 1994 Probe Ministries
Notes
1.
You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Brooklyn:
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1982), p. 39.
2. Ibid., p. 40.
3.
Reasoning From the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watch Tower
Bible and Tract Society, 1985), pp.333-36.
4. Ibid., pp. 76-80.
5.
Live Forever, pp. 350-55.
6. Ibid., pp. 170-84.
7. Ibid., pp. 41-44.
8. "Jehovah,"
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973 ed.
9.
Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 16., 1972 ed.
10. "Yahweh,"
The New Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 12, 1993
ed.
11. "Jehovah,"
The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 7, 1904 ed.
12. "Jehovah,"
The New Jewish Encyclopedia, 1962 ed.
13.
Live Forever, pp. 143-45.
14. Ibid., pp. 143-46.
15. Ibid., p. 40.
16.
Should You Believe in the Trinity? (Brooklyn: Watch
Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1989), p. 20.
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