Cults- Jehovah Witnesses
Critique Sheet
INCORPORATED NAME: Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society of Pennsylvania
COMMON DESCRIPTORS: Jehovah's Witnesses, Witnesses,
Russellites, JW's
FOUNDER: Charles Taze Russell
CURRENT PRESIDENT: Fredrick W. Franz
MEMBERSHIP: Just over two million
DISTRIBUTION: North America, Europe, Africa
HEADQUARTERS: Brooklyn, New York, USA
PERIODICALS: Watchtower, Awake
PUBLISHER: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New
York
HISTORY
The Jehovah's Witnesses were founded by Charles Taze
Russell in the 1870s. Russell, born in 1852 in Allegany,
Pennsylvania, was raised a congregationalist. At an early age
Russell rejected orthodox Christian doctrines such as the
Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, eternal punishment and the
personality of the Holy Spirit. In 1884 he organized Zion's
Watchtower Tract Society in Pittsburgh and began to publish
material by 1886. After Russell died in 1916 the organization
split. Joseph Franklin Rutherford succeeded Russell as
President of the larger group. Nathan H. Knorr, under whom
the Witnesses produced their New World Translation,
succeeded Rutherford, who in turn, has been succeeded by
the current president, Frederick W. Franz.
BELIEF SYSTEM
REVELATION: Studies in Scripture(seven volume series),
The New World Translation of the Scriptures. Weekly
magazines called Awake! and The Watchtower. Jehovah,
Himself, is considered the editor of the Watchtower. The
publishers, The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, is
believed to be the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24.
The society is supposed to be God's prophet on earth today in
both senses of the word (forth-telling and foretelling). Not
only do they supposedly proclaim God's truths but also have
predicted specific dates for the return of Jesus, the battle of
Armageddon, the resurrection and the "overthrow" of earth's
present system.
GODHEAD: The Christian doctrine of the trinity is denied
by the students of the Watchtower. It is perceived as a gross
invention on the part of Satan. The Watch Tower Society
teaches there are two gods; Jehovah, the "all mighty God"
and another god, Jesus, who is merely "a mighty god." JW's
refuse to believe that the Holy Spirit is a real person. Instead,
the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal active force of God, like
lightening.
CHRISTOLOGY: The JW's renounce the Christian belief
that Jesus is true God. Instead of being the creator, they teach
Jesus was a mere creature. In fact, they believe that before
his incarnation, Jesus was only an angel, Michael the
archangel. He is now designated as "a god" to distinguish
him from Jehovah, a separate and different God.
ATONEMENT: The atonement, according to JW's, is a
ransom that was paid by Jehovah through the Jesus . The
death of Jesus only removed the effects of Adams sin. To be
justified though, the JW's demand that you must work to earn
it. In addition to repenting, you must declare the kingdom,
worship exclusively with Jehovah's Witnesses and do good
works by imitating Jesus. Then and only then will you
become a member of the kingdom of God.
CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
REVELATION: The Watch Tower's translation of the bible
(New World Translation), considered by them as the only
reliable translation, was produced by translators who had no
qualifications in the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek
languages - the languages in which the original manuscripts
were written. They took it upon themselves to change, delete
and add to those portions of scripture which did not agree
with their preconceived theology.
It is also interesting to note that originally Charles Taze
Russell was regarded as the "faithful and wise servant" of
Matthew 24. After Russell died the society (Jehovah's
kingdom on earth) was left without the required leader during
the last days. Consequently, the JWs, who have supposedly
been receiving their doctrines straight from Jehovah,
changed their doctrine. Now they teach that the leadership of
the Watch Tower Society is the "faithful and wise servant"
of Matthew 24.
Believing that "Jehovah's Christian Witnessess" are God's
prophets for today, they have prophesied specific events to
occur at specific times. For instance, they have prophesied:
1.Jesus returned in 1873.
2.Jesus returned in 1874.
3.Jesus returned in 1914.
4.The resurrection would occur in 1925.
5.Armageddon would end in 1914.
6.Armageddon would end in 1915.
7.Christianity would be destroyed by the Fall of 1920.
8.The "earthquake" of Rev 11 would occur in early 1918
9.The "fire" of Rev. 11 would take place in the Spring of
1920
10.God's "theocratic Kingdom .. civil and religious" would be
established by 1925.
By applying the test of a prophet we may conclude that the
Jehovah's Witnesses are false prophets and therefore, we do
not need to recognize them as either authoritative or
trustworthy. When a prophet speaketh in the name of the
LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the
thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath
spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him.
(Deut. 18:22)
It is also obvious that Jehovah is not the editor of the
Watch Tower magazine as the current Watch Tower Society
president, Fredrick W. Franz, proclaimed in court, under oath,
in Scotland (1954).
GODHEAD: The Christian church, contrary to the views of
Charles Taze Russell, has always taught that within the nature
of the one God there are three persons, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. This view of God is derived from the Christian
scriptures. The foremost message of the Bible is that there is
one and only one God (Is. 44:6). But three are recognized in
scripture as God:
Father (I Pet. 1:2), Son (John 1:1-18) and Holy Spirit (Acts
5:3-4). This apparent contradiction, this mystery of the
Godhead,is reconciled in Deut. 6:4 - "Hear O Israel, the
LORD our God is one LORD." The Hebrew word (Yahid),
from which the English "one" is translated, is not a solitary
one, but rather, denotes a composite one. God's word uses
"yahid" to describe one flesh in the marriage of two people
(Gen. 2:24), one family, one tribe and one nation.
CHRISTOLOGY: The historic Christian position on the
nature of Jesus Christ is that He is God almighty, who is the
creator and savior of the universe. In John 8:58, Jesus refers
to Himself as the "I AM;" the exact name God institutes for
Himself in Exodus 3:14. Upon hearing Jesus apply God's
name to himself, the Jews tried to stone Him for blasphemy,
demonstrating that they understood Jesus was claiming to be
God.
ATONEMENT: The Witnesses do not believe salvation by
the grace of God alone (Eph. 2:8-9), but by good works as a
way to obtain eternal life. The Christian church has always
taught that salvation is obtained only through the finished
work of Christ. Paul utterly rejects the idea that people are
justified or made right with God by good works (Gal.3). The
Bible teaches that Jesus entered earth and lived a sinless life.
After dying on the cross for the sins of the multitudes and
finally raising from the dead, He obtained eternal life for us.
Just as Abraham's belief was counted as righteousness before
God, so our belief also is counted as our righteousness before
God (Rom.4).
APPEAL
People are draw to the Watch Tower Society primarily for
three reasons. First, people instinctively crave friendship and
the Jehovah's witnesses are more than willing to supply this
void. In fact, they will come to your house and conduct a
personal Bible/book study. Second, our complicated lifestyle
is an easy target for simplistic, pre-packaged answers to our
problems. This is where the Witnesses shine. They believe
they have the answers to all our problems, and further, these
answers come straight from Jehovah to the Watch Tower
Society. Third, the Witnesses draw people who are
fascinated by an apocalyptic message. From day one their
view of the end times has been their primary distinctive
doctrine.
