Every Jehovah’s Witnesses will tell you that they are Christians. But really, are they? In this lesson, we will explore the differences between Christianity and the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hopefully, you'll see the very important and distinct disparities. By the conclusion of this brief lesson, you should understand that the dangerous chasms of the Watch Tower theology are not only wide, but life threatening as well. Your unending life and everlasting location are at stake.
Although the doctrine of Christianity's roots reach back before all the universes were created by God, the implementation of Christianity, as we know it today began with Christ and the New Testament. Acts 2, records and reports that the Apostles received the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem at Pentecost. Many theologians point to that event as the time when the Catholic church was born. Other scholars say the Church was born a bit earlier with Christ's death and resurrection (Luke 24).
In any case, the true Protestant Reformation Day commenced with Martin Luther, the monk, posting his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. His courageous act triggered the Reformation, which is the foundation of all Protestant Churches today. The Protestant Reformation was the rediscovery of the doctrine of justification. That is, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. In the century before the Reformation, the Catholic church was marked by widespread corruption by its leaders and its false doctrines, biblical illiteracy, and superstition. Monks, priests, bishops, and popes in Rome taught unbiblical doctrines like the selling of indulgences, the treasury of merit, purgatory, and salvation through good works. You might ask, "Is the Catholic church any different today?"
Thus, as we know Christianity today, Acts 11, written about 63 AD, notes that followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians at Antioch.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses theologies were initiated by Charles Russell, who published his magazines, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, in 1879. By 1881, the Zion Watch Tower Tract Society was formalized. The followers of the Watch Tower Society adopted the name Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931. Today, they produce their own literature, including a Bible version called the New World Translation.
The early milestones of the Jehovah’s Witnesses centered around warnings of end-of-time predictions that failed to materialize. As an example, in 1920, the Watch Tower Tract Society predicted the earthly resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would occur in 1925. As 1925 came and went, this resurrection theory was debunked.
There are many other religious groups that deny the deity of Jesus Christ, such as the Black Hebrew Israelites, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, and Unitarians, among other non-Christian cults. To openly deny the Holy Trinity is damnable heresy.
Christianity, in contrast, has strong convictions that declare the deity of Jesus Christ as the true God and a principal element of the Trinity. This teaching proclaims "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... “revealed by John 1:14 and Isaiah 43:10, which, speaking of Jesus, states in the NKJV, “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.” Thus the Son of God became truly man while always continuing to be True God.
Have you ever struggled with the question, 'Is God real?'or 'Is Jesus God?' All serious people search for the answers to these questions until their faith supersedes their doubts. But if you have not faithfully reached the point of 'Blessed Assurance,' seek the evidence recorded in the Bible and many, many other historical documents. Because to accept the Bible's definition of Christianity as true, one must accept Jesus’ words, as well as the words of all the other biblical writers, as true. The Bible makes it clear that there is one God in three divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, on the other hand, explicitly deny the deity of Christ. Denying the divinity of Jesus makes Jehovah’s Witnesses out to be unchristian, even anti-Christs. But they say, "Such is not the case. In truth, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny the divinity of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus had a prehuman existence, and in that state he was divine. Although not Almighty God, the Word was and is a god. (Notice the small 'god.') He exists as the very image and likeness of the only true God.” Thus, while affirming the deity of God the Father, they specifically negate the deity of Jesus Christ.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god. Biblically, however, Jesus is eternally God (John 1:1; 8:58; and Exodus. 3:14). Christ has the exact same divine nature as the Father (John 5:18; 10:30; Hebrew 1:3)
Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, and a person or element of the Triune God. The personality of the Holy Spirit is referenced in the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 12:11 reveals the Holy Spirit has a will that causes us to do as He bides. "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."
We read in Romans 8:27 that the Spirit has a mind. "Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
Romans 15:30 ascribes the trait of love to the Spirit, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me."
Ephesians 4:30 reads, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” In this verse, 'grief' is attributed to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit speaks, searches, prays, teaches, and guide us. He imparts knowledge, comfort, and is one to turn to if you are feeling the depths of despair. While fully God, the Holy Spirit communicates and influences humans of every nationality.
Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that the Holy Spirit is a person and often refer to Him with the inanimate pronoun ‘it’. They believe the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force that God uses to accomplish His will, not an independent manifestation of the Trinity.
Christians believe that God, Jesus, and the Spirit are/is Triune. God is one being disclosed in three persons in order to make it easier for humans to understand His All Mightiness.
Jehovah’s Witnesses see this as a gross error. They believe the Trinity is a three-headed false god that was invented by the devil to deceive Christians. As noted above, they deny the full deity of Jesus Christ, along with the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit.
Evangelical Christians believe that salvation is by grace, through faith, and based entirely on the work of Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Most of us will pray to the Lord when we are in danger, but do we trust the Lord for the forgiveness of our individually accumulated sins? Are we confident that another has paid for our sins so that we do not have to pay a penalty which would be far beyond our capabilities?
We cannot achieve salvation by works (Galatians 2:16). We know that humankind is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. We believe in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the law; for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified.
Jehovah’s Witnesses take a very damning point of view. They profess a very convoluted, work-oriented, two- class system of salvation. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses strive to earn their way into the “New Order” or “the reward of eternal life.” More that just a few fear they will fall short. In their view, only a very limited number of people, 144,000, can enter the higher levels of paradise. This is a crucial teaching to the Witnesses and has been a significant part of their false theology since their inception. They divide people souls into two classes, the heavenly and earthly class.
According to the Watchtower publication, their belief is the rest of the saved will live on God’s glorified earth while being ruled by the 144,000 who will either ascend to heaven or also be on the glorified earth. Thus, the 144,000 becomes the foundation for the whole organization and how they relate to their members. Today the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only their people are going to make it to heaven. Does the Bible show that only 144,000 people will go to heaven? No!
Yes, the Bible does teach that some specific numbers of people go to heaven for special reasons, the 12 tribes of Israel for instance, times another 12 and then multiplied by a thousand. Scholars still debate whether the 'times 1,000' is a specified, specific number or just a representation of an immense quantity. Personally, I do not care. My salvation in not based on a mathematics test or that I must have a full understanding of every chapter and meaning of God's Word.
Paul is crystal clear relating his message in Galatians 1:6-8. “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him, who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
According to Paul, no Jehovah's Witness will go to heaven, not even the 144,000 because they do not have Jesus as their mediator, debt payer, or Savior in an accurate Biblical sense.
What does The Atonement, which is specially commemorated yearly through God's annual Feast Days, mean? To Christians vs. the members of the Jehovah Witness society?
To Christians, atonement is the spiritual process by which God provided the only means to satisfy the need for a penalty for human sin. His mercy is extended towards all people, though not every person will accept God's grace. Christ's willful sacrifice reconciled the need for righteousness, justice, and mercy.
Righteousness requires retribution for breaking not only God's law but, though for far less important reasons, moral laws as well. Justice says that sinners should be executed for violating the God's Holy Laws. Mercy says that sinners can be excused from the penalty of the law if they are to be reconciled to him. Atonement reconciles these characteristics of God's perfect nature.
Christ's sacrifice opens the only path that ensures that no man or woman has to die forever for his or her disobedience, since Jesus prepaid the penalty in his or her stead. Christ's atoning work commenced not only when he died but also when He resurrected Himself from the dead. This work is only effective in individual lives when people have faith in His sacrifice. Once salvation is assured, then Christians should repent and strive to do good works that reflect the lifestyle Jesus lived to show what was expected of us.
Remember and be ever so grateful that the atonement made possible by Jesus' death and resurrection back to life were both necessary so we could be made righteous in the eyes of God. The death of our Messiah was a required retribution to pay the penalty for our sin! His return to life from the grave assures that the faithful will be resurrected to join Him in life eternal and to have a continuing living relationship with the Father for all eternity. Romans, chapter five, states Christ had to die and come back to life in order to provide us a means of salvation and fully pay sin's penalties for those that live by faith in Jesus. His death was a substitute for our death and completely washes the stains of sin from our souls. For those living in faith by Jesus Christ, His suffering and death free us for our heavenly engagements.
On the surface, many of the statements made by the Jehovah’s Witnesses about the atonement sound very similar to what a Christian would say. However, the primary difference is connected with their perspective of Jesus Christ not as a person of the Trinity. They insist on a parity between the “first Adam” and his sin, and the “second Adam” and his sacrifice. They espouse that as it was a man who plunged the human condition into ruin, it is also a man who would ransom mankind from that ruin. These misdirected atonement arguments are not evidenced in the Scriptures.
Yes, these are confusing matters as both Christian doctrine and the Watchtower society believes in atonement and the Resurrection of Jesus. Christians support the biblical description that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, physically was crucified and raised from the dead by God on the third day following His undeserved suffering and death. The Watchtower's doctrine is that Jesus, while dying at the cross for our sin, was not True God.
Unarguably, this translation is crucial for Jehovah’s Witnesses to “Biblically” support their unorthodox views. So the believers of the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine cannot be called Christians? They explicitly deny the gospel by grace alone through faith alone apart from works. They deny that a person is justified by faith in Christ alone. They deny the nature of Christ and the atonement.
Therefore, it is impossible to affirm that a Jehovah’s Witness, who believes as the Watch Tower instructs, as a genuine Christian. Christians are persons who, by God’s grace, have been born again through the work of the Spirit (John 3). We believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Romans 3:23-24). God justifies all those who trust in Christ (Romans 5:1). True Christians have been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) and indwelt by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).
The most soul-saving news in the universe is that you can be saved in spite of your sin. By believing in Jesus Christ, you are shielded from God’s wrath. Chapter 15 of First Corinthians tells us that the Apostle Paul saw this as an irrefutable position of the Christian faith.
However, in this regard, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe very differently. The Watch Tower insists that “God disposed of Jesus’ body, not allowing it to see corruption and thus preventing its becoming a stumbling block to faith.” (The Watchtower, November 15, 1991, page 31). Explicitly, they deny that Jesus Christ was physically raised in the flesh and believe that all statements to that effect are non-scriptural.
The Watch Tower teaches that Jesus passed out of existence at death, that God disposed of his body and that on the third day God created him once again as the archangel Michael.
As a Christian, I profess that all individuals who believe and call upon the name of Lord Jesus Christ for salvation make up the true universal church—no matter whatever their denomination is named. Even groups of believers who just voluntarily meet together to study and worship are true Christians.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses' Watch Tower insists they exclusively represent the one true church, and that all other churches are impostors created by Satan. As proof, the Jehovah's Witnesses point to the many tenets of belief among the differing Protestant denominations.
Christianity asserts the existence of hell as a place of eternal punishment for all sinners who die outside of God’s grace in Christ because hell is the righteous punishment for sin. (Luke 12:4-5). Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the idea of hell, insisting that a soul passes out of existence upon death. This is a particular form of the error often referred to as annihilationism. Proponents of annihilationism agree that the Bible teaches that the wicked are punished eternally, but they believe that punishment is complete destruction for eternity as opposed to eternal life in torment.
Christians hold that a person is both body and soul. The Jehovah’s Witnesses insist that there is no actual difference between body and soul in the Scriptures. And that, further, there is no immaterial part of man that survives physical death.
There are substantial differences between any or the many Christian Bible versions and the Jehovah’s Witnesses' bible named–New World Translation
Certainly, there are numerous English language Bible translations to choose from. Christians prefer different translations for a variety of reasons, including accuracy, beauty, flow of language, readability, and the translation philosophy behind a particular translation.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses assert that there is one translation that is faithful to the Word of God. i.e., Their own New World Translation, of the New Testament was first published in 1950, and now both the New and Old testament are translated into over one hundred different languages.
Their translation is full of alternate readings that do not have textual surety in either the Greek or the Hebrew. Most of these alternate readings were changed to support the particular views of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Let's use NWT's John 1:1-5 compared to the text in the NKJV.
NWT. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 2 This one was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. What has come into existence 4 by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light is shining in the darkness, but the darkness has not overpowered it.
NKJV: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Lastly, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and birthdays are pagan and constitute celebrations of false religion. This includes putting up a Christmas tree, saying cheers, making a toast, and even saying “bless you” when someone sneezes! Offenders not following their rules will be dropped from fellowship and are to be shunned, even if they are relatives.
The End, Amen!
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