Who watches the Watchtower?

There’s a knock on the door and you open it to two fresh-faced young people in nice outfits. They’re from the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and want to talk to you about God. It sounds noble up front, but can we talk about the God they’re promoting?

My Holman Christian Standard Bible outlines many of the major world religions and how they compare to Christianity. The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to regard the Bible as the absolute Word of God and base all their beliefs on it. But as you look deeper, some pretty stark differences might surprise you.

Jehovah's Witnesses meet in the Kingdom Hall (Photo from the Religion News Service)

Let’s do a quick history recap. Gotquestions.org says the JWs started in Pennsylvania in 1870 as a Bible class led by Charles Taze Russell. Russell wrote a series of books called the “Millennial Dawn,” a total of six volumes that contain much of the theology that Jehovah’s Witnesses hold too yet today.

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, a name you may be more familiar with, was founded in 1886 and quickly became the vehicle through which the “Millennial Dawn” movement began to spread. After Russell died in 1916, he was succeeded by Judge J.F. Rutherford, who wrote the final volume of the Millennial Dawn series called The Finished Mystery in 1917.

That was an important year in the formation of the JWs because it was the year the organization split. The people who followed Rutherford began calling themselves “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

So, what do they believe? Let’s start with the Word of God. They use a version of the Bible called the New World Translation. The leaders who produced the NWT weren’t Biblical scholars, and it shows.

The first thing that jumped out at me is JWs believe Jesus is Michael the archangel, the highest created being. But many passages in the Bible say that Jesus is God. John 10:30 says, “I and the Father are One.” John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The difference seems pretty clear.

They also teach that the Holy Spirit is nothing but an impersonal force that emanates from God. The Bible says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Again, some stark differences in theology.

The Bible also teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One and are God. Here’s John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:3-4? After they tried to cheat the disciples with their offering, Peter says, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Going door-to-door is part of "earning salvation" (photo is from Oil City News)

Here's a pretty big contrast in theology when it comes to death and the afterlife. JWs believe that when the unsaved die, they cease to exist (annihilation). There is no eternal punishment for the wicked. “No punishment” seems to me like something a human being that doesn’t know the one true God would say.

They also believe salvation is obtained by a combination of faith, good works, and obedience. Let me offer Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Stories abound on the internet about folks who’ve left the JW church and the damage it does. “I wish I could describe the fear associated with coming out of a cult. It is a painful effort to begin thinking for oneself.”

That’s a quote from Tammie, who was incredibly dedicated to the JW cause. But that’s what cults do. They control their members through the fear of being kicked out of the group. A small group of people trying to control the masses. It’s not about God, it’s always about controlling people.

Do you doubt that they’re controlling people with the fear of being shunned by other JWs? “My mother and father and sister have all forsaken me, but Jesus has never abandoned me.” Could you live with being completely abandoned by your family? Tammie does, with the power and love found only in Jesus.

BTW: Tammie has a website dedicated to helping others get out of the JWs. Her story is also available on another website, 4Jehovah.org, which also details the stories of countless other ex-JW members and their challenges in leaving the group.

I say it a lot and I’ll do so again: Christians are saved by God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus. Our works are not a prerequisite for saving faith. They are a sign that your faith is genuine. Religion is man’s attempt to be good enough to get to Heaven, something God already made possible. Jesus and His sacrifice are what make us accepted by God. We cannot earn it and don’t have to! That is Good News!

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