THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
History
The Jehovah's Witnesses are commonly referred to as "modern Arians." Their teachings are, in large part, a reiteration of the Arian heresies of the early Church.
Charles Taze Russell was the founder of this group around the year 1879. Russell began with a very small group which formed to have Bible studies. This was in 1870. By 1879 Russell had founded "Zion's Watch Tower." Today. it is more commonly known as "The Watch Tower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom."
The life of Russell was one of constant legal misfortune. On many occasions. Russsell was accused of perjury. In a well known episode. on March 17. 1913, Russell was found to have committed perjury twice white under oath in a Court of Law. This occurred in the case of Russell vs. Ross.
Upon the death of RusseIl, the leadership of the group fell to J. F. Rutherford. Rutherford, in one of his works. is quoted as having called clergymen "dumb dogs." Up to the point of Russells death, the group had been known as "Russellites>" Rutherford, seeing that such a title would forever bind the group to Russell, changed the name of the group to "Jehovah's Witnesses" in 1931.
In 1908, the movement established their headquarters In Brooklyn, New York, where they are to this day still located -The "Watch Tower" magazine of the Jehovah's Witnesses is circulated in almost every major language of the world. The members of the Jehovah's Witnesses often spend much of their free time going door - to -door "witnessing."
The Jehovah's Witnesses claim that the authority for all their teachings comes from the Bible (most cults make the same claim). On closer examination, it becomes evident that many of their teachings come directly from Russell and not the Bible.
Today it is the "Watch Tower" magazine that keeps Russell's teachings alive. Most faithful Jehovah's Witnesses cannot conceive of trying to read the Bible without the "Watch Tower" in hand.
In 1950, the Jehovah’s Witnesses published their "New World" translation of the Bible. As can be expected, this so-called "new World" Bible is a complete distortion of the original Greek. This book was composed by the Witnesses to bolster their heretical doctrines. Since the Bible did not teach the doctrine of their group, the Jehovah's Witnesses wrote their own Bible! Never has a reputable Greek scholar gone on record to endorse thIs scam of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Currrenty, the "Russellites", who calI themselves Jehovah's Withesses, are one the major cults In the world today. Their numbers continue to grow. People from every race, creed, and ethnic background make up this cult.
Theology
From his youth, Russell despised organized religion. Russell's teachings, which the Jehovah's Witnesses stilI hold to today, are based in large part on the renunciation of all the basic doctrinesof ChristIanity.
Russell, and all the current followers of Russell, are inclined to setting specific dates for the return of Jesus Christ. They have predicted the return of Christ no less than five times between 1914 and 1976. Obviously, they were wrong every time.
Among the doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the most common are the following:
As is plain to see, the faith of the Jehovah's Witnesses consists of denying Christian Truths. Their theology is steeped with this sort of negativism. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is one of "good news", it is a very positive message. This is in sharp contrast to the message of the Jehovah's Witnesses and their negative gospel.
Below, are listed their popular doctrines, as listed above, with the Orthodox teaching in a position for easy compasison:
The Holy Trinity
| Jehovah's Witnesses "Only the religious "trinitarians" are presumptious enough to claim, without Scriptual basis, that two other persons are equal with Jehovah God; but Jesus does not himself claim to be one of such persons." "The Kindgom Is At Hand", p. 507. | Orthodox Doctrine "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit..." Matthew 28:19. |
| Jehovah's Witnesses "The obvious conclusion, therfore, is that Satan is the originator of the "Trinity doctrine." "Let God Be True" p. 827. | Orthodox Doctrine "Let us make man in our image after our likeness." Genesis 1:26 |
Jehovah's Witnesses "So the early Christians who were taught directly by Jesus Christ did not believe that God is a 'Trinity'" " The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life" p. 22 |
Orthodox Doctrine "And One Holy Spirit, the Dispenser of Santification; in whom is manifested God the Father who is above all and in all, and God the Son who is through all. Perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignity neither divided nor estranged," St. Gregory the Great, 260-270 A.D. |
The Divinity Of Jesus Christ
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Jehovah's Witnesses |
Orthodox Doctrine |
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Jehovah's Witnesses |
Orthodox Doctrine "The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God.'" John 10:33 "One who denies that Christ is God cannot become His temple." St. Cyprian of Carthage, 254-256 A.D. "The Virgin Mary...being obedient to His word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God." St. Irenaeus, 180-199 A.D. "Indeed, He was true God, in the flesh." "St. Athanasious, 358-362 A.D. |
The Divinity Of The Holy Spirit | |
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Jehovah's Witnesses "The fact is that the truth about the holy spirit has been beclouded by Bible translators." "The Watch Tower, July 15th, 1957, p.432 "...God's holy spirit is not a God, not a member of a trinity, not coequal, and is not even a person....It is God's active force, not Jehovah's power residing within himself...It is not a blind, uncontrolled force, such as the forces of 'nature', lightening, hurricanes,and the like, but...is at all times under his control...and therefore may be likened to a radar beam." "The Watch Tower, July 15th, 1957, p.432, 433. |
Orthodox Doctrine "But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit,...you have not lied to men, but to God!'" Act 5:3,4. "We believe...in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life...Who with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified..." Council of Nicea, 325 A.D. "The Holy Spirit is God...the Holy Spirit is good...the Holy Spirit is Almighty..." St. Augustine, 401-403 A.D. "And if the Spirit is called Image of the Son, then He is God and not something else." St Cyril of Alexandria 414-442 A.D. "Surely the Spirit is God." St Cyril of Alexandria 414-442 A.D. "If the Spirit is not God by nature...,but is something other than God...how are we, who are born through Him said to be born of God?...then the Spirit must be God and from God by nature." St Cyril of Alexandria 414-442 A.D. "I believe also in the Divine Holy Spirit." St Basil the Great, 376 A.D. "What then? Is the Spirit God? Absolutely!" St Gregory Nazianzus, 380 A.D. "God the Father, God the Son, God - I hope it does not choke you- the Holy Spirit, One Nature in Three Personalities." St Gregory Nazianzus, 380 A.D. |
The Virgin Birth | |
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Jehovah's Witnesses "At the time of the beginning of his life he was created by the everlasting God, Jehovah, without the aid or instrumentality of any mother." "The Kingdom Is At Hand" p. 46,47,49. "Jesus was conceived by a sinless, perfect Father, Jehovah God... The perfect child Jesus did not get human life from the sinner Adam, but received only a human body through Adam's descendant, Mary." From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, p.126. |
Orthodox Doctrine "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son..." Matthew 1:23. "...we confess that the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God..." St. Cryil of Alexandria, 429 A.D. "And that what the Virgin brought forth would be called not simply flesh and blood...but rather Lord and God clothed in our likeness." St. Cryil of Alexandria, 429 A.D. "But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her is the Son of God." St Justin the Martyr, 155 A.D. |
The Physical Resurrection Of Jesus Christ | |
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Jehovah's Witnesses "This firstborn from the dead was raised from the grave, not a human creature, but a spirit." Let God Be True, p. 276. "Therefore the bodies in which Jesus manifested himself to his disciples after his return were not the body in which he was nailed to the tree. They were merely materialized for the occasion, resembling on one or tow occasions the body in which he died." The Kingdom Is At Hand, p.259. |
Orthodox Doctrine "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life..." John 11:25. "But now Christ has been raised from the dead." I Corinthians 15:20. "...Christ died for our sins... He was buried...He was raised on the third day...He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren..." I Corinthians 15:3, 4.. "...He truly raised Himself, not as some unbelievers contend, when they say that His passion was merely in appearance." St. Ignatius of Antioch, 110 A.D. "He truly rose, and having risen He was seen again by the disciples. Twelve disciples were witnesses to His resurrection, and...insisted upon thetruth of the resurrection even in the face of torture and death." St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 350 A.D. |
The Existence Of Hell | |
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Jehovah's Witnesses "It is so plain that the Bible Hell is the tomb, the grave, that even an honest little child can understand it, but not the religious theologians." Let God Be True, p. 72,73. "Imperfect man does not torture even a mad dog, but kills it; and yet clergymen attribute to God, who is love, the Wicked Crime of torturing human creatures merely because they had the misfortune to be born sinners." Let God Be True, p. 79. |
Orthodox Doctrine "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?" Matthew 23:33. "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell..." Luke 12:5. "...for it is better to be punished and cleasned now than to be sent to the torment to come, when it will be time for punishing only, and not for cleansing" St. Gregory Nazianzus, 373 A.D. "...that every man will receive the eternal punishment or reward which his actions deserve" St. Justin the Martyr 148-155 A.D |
The Immortal Soul | |
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Jehovah's Witnesses "Thus we see that the claim of religionists that man has an immortal soul, and therefore differs from the beast, is not Scriptural" Let God Be True, p. 59, 60. "It is clearly seen that even the man Christ Jesus was mortal. He did not have an immortal soul; Jesus, the human soul, died." Let God Be True, p. 63. |
Orthodox Doctrine "And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God...and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer." Revelation 6:9,11. "The soul, then is a living being, simple and incorporeal,...immortal, rational, and intelligent,..." St John Damascene, 743 A.D. "But souls, as compared to mortal bodies are incorporeal...it is simple spirit and not a composite, and cannot be decomposed..." St. Irenaeus, 180-199 A.D. |
The preceding quotes which have been used to set forth the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses are considered to he authoritative by members of that group.
As the Orthodox reader was able to clearly perceive the errors of this sect stand in stark contrast to the Truth of Orthodoxy. The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach doctrines which are a distortion of Gods Word. Their teachings come from one man Charles Taze Russell. It is to this man that the members of this group are entrusting their eternity.
It is evident that the leadership and membership of this group have no concern for what Christianity stands for. They care not at all about early Christianity and what the Church has always taught down through the ages. They are concerned only with interpreting the Bible as they wish with no guidelines whatsoever.
They claim to be Christians yet they resort to behavior which can be seen as the total opposite of what Christ stands for. For example, it is common practice for these cultists to refuse blood transfusions. . This is totally within their right to do, however when such distorted teachings lead to the undue harm and death of innocent children, then such behavior is hardly Christian. To give blood to someone in order that they may live is completely within the sphere of Christian love. Perhaps the Jehovah's Witnesses have forgotten that our Lord Himself gave His own blood for us that we might not die, but have life. Such are the predicaments in which their own mistranslation of the Bible puts them.
They would do well to heed the words of Jesus; "Blessed are the merciful." May the members of this misled sect find the Truth which exists in God's Church.