SURVEY OF RELIGIONS & CULTS
LECTURE 13
JEHOVAH WITNESSES
BEGINNINGS
Charles T. Russell (1852-1916) founded the Jehovah’s Witness movement. He left Presbyterianism, went to a Congregational church, and then borrowed odd unscriptural teachings from a variety of cults to lay the basis for the doctrine of this fast growing organization. Russell had a variety of problems: he perjured himself in court when he lied under oath about his knowledge of the Greek language; his wife successfully sued for divorce because of ‘his conceit, egotism, domination, and improper conduct in relation to other women’; exposed for his fraudulent attempts to sell ordinary wheat at the exorbitant price of $60 a bushel and claiming it to be ‘miracle wheat’; and several failed prophecies (Armageddon striking in 1914, 1915). There were other leaders after him that made false prophecies also: Rutherford in 1918, 1920, 1925; and Franz in 1975.
The name Jehovah’s Witnesses was adopted in 1931. Previously, they were known as International Bible Students.
STATISTICS
They now have 7 million followers worldwide.
Number of Witnesses in the US is just over 1 million
Total volunteer hours spent in public Bible educational work in 2003 = 1.2 billion
Average weekly home Bible courses taught = 5,726,509
Practicing members = 6,429,351
New members baptized in 2003 = 258,845
Congregations = 95,919
The worldwide organization of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is directed by an unpaid governing body serving at the international offices in Brooklyn, New York.
(from Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult)
WATCH OUT!
The Watchtower magazine (and Bible and Tract Society) are where all of Jehovah’s Witness (JW) doctrines/teachings originate from, and are further explained (not the Bible). It is published in more than 140 languages and is the world’s most widely circulated religious magazine. This magazine states that JW’s main intent is to usher in the Kingdom age of the Millennium and join Jehovah’s forces who will triumph at Armageddon. It states that only faithul Witnesses will survive the battle. All non JW’s will be anhilated (including the devils) and thus exist no more. There are 144,000 elite Witnesses known as the “annointed ones” and are “born again”. There are only an estimated 8,000 left alive to date (since they were chosen in 1914). These will reign with Christ in heaven, but the other faithful JW’s (the “other sheep” or “the great crowd”) will inhabit the earth. This “earthly class” will have a body, but the “spiritual class” will give up their bodies (as did Christ they teach) and will live as spirits.
The Watchtower Society prints over 14 million of its magazines every week and has over 4 million JW’s spreading its doctrines in over 200 countries. The average JW attends several meetings each week (sometimes 5) where he is repeatedly indoctrinated to ascribe to the Watchtower teachings. Each JW thinks alike and has the same teaching as every other JW (directly from their magazine). They declare that the Watchtower Organization is the only channel of communication from God currently, and that it is the only vehicle for understanding the Bible.
They originally used the King James Bible but later had to create their own due to the inumerable contradictions between the Bible and their Watchtower teachings. The New World Translation was completed by an “anonymous” group of translators.‘The NWT is described by the Witnesses as “a translation of the Holy Scriptures made directly from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek into modern day English by a committee of anointed witnesses of Jehovah”’ (Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult).
Later it is found out that none of these translators had any formal training in the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek except one, Franz, who only had 2 years of Greek and was self taught in Hebrew. This translation varies greatly from the King James text.
Since 1926, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has published more than 124 million
copies of the Bible in 45 languages.’ (Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult)
JW’s state that the Watchtower Organization is God's organization on earth.
"It should be expected that the Lord would have a means of communication to his people on the earth, and he has clearly shown that the magazine called The Watchtower is used for that purpose." (1939 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses,
p. 85.)
"Make haste to identify the visible theocratic organization of God that represents his king, Jesus Christ. It is essential for life. Doing so, be complete in accepting its every aspect." (The Watchtower, October 1, 1967, p. 591).
"We cannot claim to love God, yet deny his word and channel of communication." (The Watchtower, October 1, 1967,
p. 591).
“No matter where we may live on earth, God's Word continues to serve as a light to our path and a lamp to our roadway as to our conduct and beliefs. (Ps. 119:105) But Jehovah God has also provided his visible organization, his "faithful and discreet slave," made up of spirit anointed ones, to help Christians in all nations to understand and apply properly the Bible in their lives. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do.”(The Watchtower; 12/1/1981, p. 27).
"...people cannot see the Divine Plan in studying the Bible by itself...if he then lays them [Scripture Studies] aside and ignores them and goes to the bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the Scripture Studies with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the light at the end of the two years, because he would have the light of the Scriptures." (The Watchtower, Sept. 15, 1910, p. 298).
CULTISH
The Watchtower Society builds a wall of isolation between JW’s and the rest of the world through rigid control over all their teachings, prohibition of certain medical care (blood transfusions, etc), avoiding celebration of holidays, prohibiting voting, flag saluting, and military service. A lie that keeps them bound to this cult is that if a JW would leave the “organization” they will be destroyed at Armageddon.
SALVATION
There are four requirements for a JW to be able to live forever on Paradise earth: 1) Knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ; 2) Obedience to God’s Laws; 3) Association with the God’s channel, the Watchtower Society; 4) Loyalty to advocating Watchtower doctrine to others. (Feb 14, 1983 issue of Watchtower)
“To get one’s name written in that Book of Life will depend upon one’s works.” (The Watchtower, July 1, 1947,
page 204)
They teach that the soul cannot exist apart from the body, and that death ends all conscious existence. Hell refers to the grave, and those who are judged by God will be annihilated and simply cease to exist.
JEHOVAH & JESUS
JW's believe that Jesus Christ was a perfect man, and that He is a person distinct from God the Father. However, they also teach that before His earthly life, Jesus was a spirit creature, Michael the archangel , who was created by God and became the Messiah at His baptism. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus is a mighty one, although not almighty as Jehovah God is. According to John 1:1 in their Bible, The New World Translation, Christ is "a god" but not "the God." They teach that Jesus "was and is and always will be beneath Jehovah" and that "Christ and God are not coequal".
This is the main doctrine to focus on with a Jehovah Witness member…i.e., the deity of Jesus Christ.
The Biblical term “LORD” is the same term as Jehovah. “Lord” is equal to ‘Adonai’, i.e. Messiah. And ‘lord’ is referring to a human deserving of respect. The JW’s state that Jesus is ‘Lord’, but not ‘LORD’.
Ex 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Heb 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
Mt 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him .
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Rv 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Rv 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Furthermore, Isaiah wrote about seeing Jehovah in Isaiah 6:1-10. In John 12:31-42, we are told that Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke of Him
In Matthew 1:23, Christ is called "Immanuel," which means "God with us." It doesn’t say ‘Messiah with us’ or ‘Adonai with us’, but ‘God with us’. Jesus was (and is) God.
When Thomas touched Jesus' wounds, after the resurrection, he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28 ). There is no basis whatsoever for saying, as some JW's say, that Thomas was referring to Christ when he said "my Lord" but was referring to God (Jehovah) when he said "my God." Instead, Thomas called Christ both his Lord and his God. And Christ did not correct him!
Jehovah is the Redeemer, as is Jesus Christ.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. 24 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Colossians 2:9 clearly confirms the deity of Christ when it states that in Him "all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily" (New World Translation); ‘For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily’ (KJV). .
Attributes of Christ show that He is God:
Jesus Christ knows all things (John 1:48; 2:25; 6:64; 14:30; 21:17). He is all-powerful (Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3), sinless (John 8:46), eternal (Mic. 5:2), and unchanging (Heb. 13:8). Since only Jehovah God possesses these attributes, Christ must be God.
Certain works of Christ show that He is God:
Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7; Eph. 1:7), give eternal life (John 10:28; 17:2), judge the world (John 5:22, 27), and control nature (Matt. 8:26), and the creator of all things (Col 1:15-17). Since only God can do these things, Christ must be God.
And, finally, He is The Saviour -
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.
Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus was crucified on a stake, and they reject the cross as a pagan symbol. No crosses are to be displayed in the worship hall, on a person, or in Jehovah’s Witnesses’ houses. The Jehovah’s Witness symbol is a watchtower. (from Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult)
JW’s teach that Jesus Christ did not physical resurrect from the dead and will not return physically either. They state that the man Jesus is dead, only His spirit arose. They also state that we must not expect to see Him visibly but only sense His presence.
They deny the Holy Spirit is a distinct person, but teach that He is merely God’s active “force”, similar to electricity.
EVANGELISM
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that every member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses must spend time regularly in the spreading the Christian gospel.Probably the most well-known practice is evangelism, which is most often done door-to-door. An official website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses explains the reason for this practice as follows: Jesus told his followers to “make disciples of people of all the nations,” and he set the example by “journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God.” The apostle Paul taught in public places, in the marketplace, and from house to house. We follow their example. Other religions have acknowledged the Christian obligation to preach in public places and from house to house, although this is often left to a limited group of missionaries or clergy to fulfill. [Office of Public Information of Jehovah’s Witnesses]
“Pioneer publishers” hold only part-time jobs and devote 100 hours each month to witnessing. “Special publishers,”
who are full-time salaried employees of the Watch Tower Society, are expected to spend about 150 hours
per month on evangelism. Each Kingdom Hall is responsible for evangelizing an assigned territory and each publisher has an assigned neighborhood. Statistics related to these efforts are tracked carefully. Each month, statistical data such as number of visits, hours spent preaching, Bible studies conducted and tracts distributed are reported to the society’s headquarters in Brooklyn. (from Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult)
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