Witnesses were the first of the pseudo-Christian sects that realized a proprietary translation of the Bible could be used to further their theological agenda. Previously known as the Dawn Bible Students, the group was founded on the teachings of a man named Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916). The Russellites (as they became known in the early days) taught that because the Christian denominations of the world had moved away from the "original" gospel, their group was to be the last days religious vehicle for God, and the sole voice of Jehovah in the world. Muslim's, in a desperate effort to locate any scrap that says the Bible contained errors, frequently quote from an article written by Jehovah's witnesses with the title, "50,000 errors in a Bible" (Awake magazine, September 8, 1957). The Watchtower organization however was not the most credible of references since the cult had just released their own Bible called "the New World translation" which distorted many Christian doctrines. It is more a sectarian paraphrase of the Bible, than a true translation, it has been universally condemned as a perversion of the original Greek and Hebrew by everyone who is not a member of this cult. The group formally predicted the end of the world in 1874, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1941, and 1975. This is a powerful indicator of the true nature of this religion. The JWs have long taught that the 144,000 of Revelation is solely comprised of their members.  They had to drop the dogmatism surrounding this belief though when there numbers exceeded 144 thousand.  Also the Biblical 144 thousand mentioned in Revelation were all virgin male Jews, 12 thousand from each of the tribes of Judah chosen during the Tribulation. Like the Seventh Day Adventists the Jehovah Witnesses (sometimes referred to as “JWs”) confuse the rapture of the church with the second coming of Christ, making them one event, and like the Mormons they believe their eternal reward will be on this earth. Revelation is written chronologically, the rapture takes place in chapter 4. If we keep this in mind we will won’t misinterpret the order of these events. Click here for an illustration.

If you want to get a Jehovah Witness out of their element get them out of prophesy.  They cling to prophesy because much of it is symbolic and they can apply any interpretation they wish. They can sound scholarly and be entertaining with their teaching, but they know very little about the rest of the Bible. The key issue to confront a JW with is the deity of Christ.  Like all cults they have to deny it, that’s why God said you could tell a true religion from a false one by this one litmus test (I John 4:1-3). This is why they have to deny the trinity too. They deny it on two points, they say there is no Biblical proof for the triune God (3 in 1) and they site a Catholic priest who denied the trinity (a straw-man argument). First of all a Catholic priest does not speak for Christianity, he speaks for Catholics. In all likelyhood the priest was lost anyway, he’s trusting Mary, sacraments, and His beads to get him to heaven. The other argument doesn’t hold water either because there is plenty of proof in the Bible for the trinity. The Bible teaches that there is only one God. (Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6-8, Isaiah 45:22) The Bibles teaches that there is one who is called the Father and is identified as being God. (1 Peter 1:2) The Bible teaches that there is one who is called Jesus and is identified as being God. (John 1:1-3&14-18, John 20:28-29, 1 John 1:1-4&5:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Revelation 1:17-18, Revelation 22:12-20). The Bible teaches that there is one who is called the Holy Spirit and is identified as being God. (John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:7-15, Acts 5:3-4, Acts 13:2, 1 Corinthians 12:4-18, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 10:15-18). We cannot look at what the Bible says about Jesus being the son of God the same way we would look at our son being our son in the flesh.  God is deity, but He needed to be our judge and he manifested Himself to us as the father.  We also needed to trust Him as our Saviour so He manifested Himself to us as Jesus our Saviour, the son (only heir and offspring of God the Father incarnate), and God knew sometimes we would need to feel His very presence and He could not do that unless He manifested Himself to us as a Spirit.  The three are one and the same, yet distinct personalities of God. The verses above would be a good Bible study to have with a Witness. You could also take them to Genesis and explain in the creation God said let “us” make man in “our” image.  Plural pronouns were used, but the singular name for God “Elohim” in the Hebrew was used there (Genesis 1:26-27). The trinity is in Genesis one, we know the Holy Spirit was there too because the Bible says the Spirit moved across the face of the waters (Gensis 1:2). The Bible says in Colossians 1:16-18 For by him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Then show them the trinity clearly spelled out in 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. The “Word” with a capital “W” is the Greek word “logos” used in John 1 and it means Christ (John 1:14).  Then show them that Christ is called the “Everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9:6. In John 5:18,23 the Bible says Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him [Jesus], because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.  Remember what our Lord was charged with when He was crucified, it was blasphemy (claiming to be deity), He wasn’t working His way up the Mormon ladder to get there either, He claimed to have been eternally equal with and even God Himself. He told His disciples in confidence when you have seen me you have seen the Father. John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 5:23  says That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. There is an incredible amount of evidence for the trinity and for the deity of Christ in the Scripture in spite of everything the cults say they cannot deny these clear passages.  All of the miracles Christ did He claimed he did to prove His deity or His relationship to the Father.  It is evident from the conversations He had with His disciples, especially toward the end of His earthly ministry that He was claiming not only a son relationship, but to being equal with God the Father and ultimately to being the Creator/God Himself. If He had just come down and said I am the God of the Universe, did miracles, etc. people would have worshipped Him but by fear and not by faith.  That’s why He had to present Himself to us as the “son” of God first. There is no denying who He was though unless you don’t accept the Bible as your authority.  If you don’t accept the Bible you have no right to pass yourself off as a Christian faith.

One thing most of the cults agree on including the JWs is that the King James Version of the Bible is the most accurate or most say the only accurate English translation of the Scriptures. It would be nice if Christian churches had as much discernment sometimes.  This is common ground, about the only common ground so use it. Ask them to set aside their New World Translation and use the KJV with you. If you do this you have them because you can’t prove a cult is right with the KJV.

For additional information on Jehovah’s Witnesses we recommend the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CHARM) website at http://www.carm.org/witnesses.htm and Watchman Fellowship at http://www.watchman.org/jwtools.htm