Jehovah’s Witness or A False Witness: What do Jehovah’s Witnesses stand or fall for?
Trinity Adams, News and Feature Editor
It’s the perfect Saturday afternoon. You’re at home on a sunny spring day with nothing to do. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and you have finally relaxed into your favorite spot on the couch. As soon as you start to doze off, there is a knock at the door. It sounds friendly enough, so you take your time to the door and are greeted with, “Would you like to learn more about our lord and savior, Jesus Christ?”
Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for their door-to-door “evangelism,” but many people who invite Witnesses into their house do not fully understand what they are trying to convince them of. The “religion” of Jehovah’s Witnesses is founded on lies and has been changed countless times since its formation to better accommodate growing membership and the whims of its founder and leaders.
Charles Taze Russell began the Jehovah’s Witnesses as a Bible study in 1872. He began studying the Bible after his father, who was an unbeliever, passed because he couldn’t believe that God would create a place for non-believers to be punished for eternity.
“This really set him on a path to try to disprove the concept of hell, which led to the doctrine of annihilation. [ Meaning that] when I die, I’m dead, and there is no eternal part of me that lives on. The only way I get into earthly paradise is if Jehovah remembers me,” Jeff Rankin, acting dean of the College of Christian Studies, explained.
Rankin explained that Witnesses believe that when Jesus died, he was resurrected as a living spirit. They believe that God took his body and placed him in a new one. When Rankin was faced with this during an encounter with a Witness, he asked them about the passage in John 20: 20-29. In this passage, Jesus appears to the disciples and shows them the nail marks in his palms from the crucifixion, as well as the spear marks in his side.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses respond with, ‘Well, God gave him a new body.’ So basically, it is whatever answer that will counter scripture. They don’t have a clear understanding of all of their doctrines because they are indoctrinated. They just know that what they believe is the right thing,” said Rankin.
During the creation of his religion, Russell was also selling miracle wheat seed that he claimed grew five times faster and produced five times the results. Many people bought this product and were not seeing the promised results, so Russell was sued and brought to court in the hopes of incriminating himself.
While on trial, Russell was asked if he knew Greek, since that is what he claimed to have studied to interpret the Bible. They presented him with Greek letters at the top of a page and asked him to read them. Russell admitted that he could not read the text.
“He claimed to be an ordained minister, so they asked him on the stand, ‘Who ordained you? What was the denomination?’ and things of that nature. They got to the end of the questioning and he [Russell] admitted that he was not really ordained,” Rankin said.
In an article, Christian evangelist Matt Slick explains what makes a cult. Slick mentions that cults alter the biblical text to fit their needs, insert their own theological beliefs and claim that biblical doctrines are figurative if they do not align with their beliefs or teachings. These elements are the core foundations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell also believed that the Bible could only be understood through his interpretations.
“The bottom line is they do not hold to the deity of Christ. You can’t be a Christian if you don’t hold to the deity of Christ,“ explained Christian studies professor, Bill Murray.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not God. They believe that Jesus was actually Michael the Archangel and not God in perfect human form. Their argument for this is that in John 1:1, there is no definite article “the” in Greek, meaning that the text can be translated as “In the beginning was the word, and the word was a God.”
Murray said that it can be translated that way, but it would be wrong and completely taken out of context. He went on to explain that the whole first chapter of the book of John talks about the deity of Jesus, and if they don’t believe who Jesus really is, then their whole religion is built on a faulty foundation.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are founded on many doctrines that have changed since its creation. In addition to its ever-changing doctrines, the current leaders have tried to suppress the background of their founder, Charles Taze Russell.
Many Christians believe that to be great apologists, they have be ready to defend the Gospel and answer any questions that someone might ask regarding their faith. Murray, on the other hand, has a different approach when it comes to interacting with a Jehovah’s Witness.
“You may make your argument so well that they can’t even answer it. They’ll just say, ‘Well, I don’t believe that and walk off.’ My solution is to always just preach the Gospel to them. Tell them the truth, don’t argue with them and just proclaim the truth,” Murray encouraged.
It is easy in today’s age to argue with someone to the point of hatred, but that is not the way of Christianity. Believers are called to share the Good News with those who will listen. If their heart is hardened to the point of disbelief, then we pray that God will soften their heart so they can hear the message of the one true God who sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for their sins so that we may have a relationship with him.
