Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Bible

2012-08-18

According to their website, Jehovah’s Witnesses state that “It is of vital importance to them that their beliefs be based on the Bible and not on mere human speculations or religious creeds.” Today, we want to see if that is true or not. I will go through some of their doctrinal list and cite my objections.

They Believe That Jesus is Not God

One of the main signs that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have problems is that they deny the deity of Christ, saying that Jesus is inferior to God (compare with John 5:18 and Philippians 2:6) and that Jesus was God’s first creation (compare with Micah 5:2). I will not defend the deity of Christ here; for I do that elsewhere. In that work I go through the case for Christ’s deity, but also deal with some of the harder passages.

They Believe That Jesus is Michael the Archangel

Jehovah’s Witnesses, on the other hand, believe that Jesus is Michael the Archangel (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7). If you only read Daniel 12:1, you might rather suspect they are on to something. However, there are a few problems with this.

First, Jude’s epistle mentions the name of Jesus four times (Jude 1:1, 4, 17, 21). He also refers to Michael the archangel, but makes no mention of his connection to Jesus Christ. If they were the same, you would think that he would have said that Christ disputed with the devil about Moses’ body (Jude 1:9).

Second, there was an account of the birth of Christ in Revelation 12:5. Two verses later, we see another reference to Michael and his angels (Revelation 12:7), making no connection between him and Christ.

Third, Michael is designated as an archangel, and the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is not, and never was and angel. Jesus is better than the angels (Hebrews 1:4), the angels worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6), and Jesus was given the prominence of sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews 1:13). As a human being, He was made “a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7), yet God placed “all things in subjection under his feet” (Hebrews 2:8). There is no mention of Christ being an angel, but rather being the Lord over all angels.

There Was No Bodily Resurrection

Their denial of a physical resurrection indicates that the Jehovah’s Witness’ doctrine is some sort of revived Gnosticism. However, we know that Jesus physically rose from the dead; he literally had a body.

John 20:24-28: “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”

Thomas literally touched where Jesus was wounded; spirits do not have a body, unless they take on a body (Genesis 18:8, where angels ate food). But if Jesus showed forth his hands to prove he was risen from the dead, but did not have a body, then Jesus was being deceitful, and this is clearly not the case.

1 Corinthians 15:44: “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” This is the evidence I have seen offered to present their case. But consider this: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). We who are saved “have the mind of Christ,” but the “natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” Obviously, we who are saved still have bodies, but by definition here we are not “natural.” And to state the obvious about 15:44, a body is a body; by definition a body is material, not immaterial.

The Holy Spirit is God’s Active Force

The Holy Spirit is a person, and not some impersonal force. Acts 13:2 reads, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Impersonal forces do not speak; the Holy Spirit here speaks to five men, and commands them about what they are to do.

No Eternal Suffering for the Lost

Revelation 14:10-11: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Even their New World Translation does not deny it, if you want to look it up.

A whole study on the reality of hell can be found here.

Only 144,000 Go To Heaven

Only an elite 144,000 go to heaven, while the rest will have eternal life on earth. Let us discuss this teaching.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8: “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” Those who die in Christ go to be with him. Paul did not mention anything about any limited 144,000.

Philippians 1:21-24: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.” If Paul died, he knew he would be with Christ, who is in heaven.

Revelation 7:4-8: “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”

Yes, I made sure I listed the breakdown of who all these 144,000 are. They are descendents of the twelve tribes of Israel! If you are a Jehovah’s Witness and not a Jew, you struck out. But let us keep reading...

Revelation 7:9-10: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

A multitude that could not be numbered (yes 144,000 could be numbered because it just was in the previous verses, line by line for each tribe) appeared in heaven at the rapture. They were in heaven!

Revelation 14:1, 4: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads... These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.”

Finally, these people were all men, and all virgins. Sorry, ladies. And all those married people, like the Apostles, must not have been in this elite group: “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?” (1 Corinthians 9:5).

Failed Prophecies

Jehovah’s Witnesses have made several predictions of Christ’s return that were obviously false. For a list, proceed to the following article:

http://carm.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-their-many-false-prophecies

Any Google search will yield a lengthy list of things they have predicted over the last century and more. If the link above is broken, let me know, and I will fix it, for it quotes the Jehovah’s Witness prophecies from their own literature.

Deuteronomy 18:22: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

Worldwide Organization

They are a “worldwide organization,” which in our terminology means they do not believe in the local church. They have leaders in Brooklyn, New York that decides all of their doctrine, just like the Pope of the Vatican does for the Catholics.

The Bible teaches there is a local church, which is a congregation. If you are meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri, you are not a part of a congregation of Brooklyn, New York at the same time. Compare the following verses:

Psalm 22:22: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.”

Hebrews 2:12: “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”

Christ is not the head of their “church” (or whatever term they use); a council in Brooklyn is.

Miscellaneous Quirky Doctrines

Birthdays: Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays, citing that only Pharaoh (Genesis 40:20) and Herod (Matthew 14:6) celebrated birthdays, and then use non-Biblical examples as to why Christians should not either. However, it does appear that birthdays were significant to people who did fear God (Job 3). When Job said, “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived,” was he talking about a day that already happened (Job 3:3, and please read the following verses)? No, rather, he was referring to the annual day, that normally was cause for celebration, as he said, “let it not come into the number of the months” (Job 3:6). Nonetheless, I do not see anything spiritual about birthdays from the Bible. So we could throw a party for a person any day of the year, except on the day they were born?

Religious Holidays: Now they also do not celebrate Christmas or Easter, which is different altogether. These are religious holidays, unlike birthdays. Christmas as a holiday is not found at all in the Bible (though the event it is attributed to obviously is), and Easter is found once (Acts 12:4), and it is either a pagan holiday or the Jewish Passover which was fulfilled in Christ already. In a way, I wish they did not exist, but any church I have found that teaches the Bible celebrates these things. This is the one place where they very well may be right. Nonetheless, the good news is that these two holidays are an occasion to share the Gospel with people who are familiar with the holidays, as they are associated with Biblical events.

The Cross: Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross, but some kind of torture stake. Since the Bible uses the word cross, the traditional concept of crossbeams is likely close to the way it was. My question is, who cares? Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. I do not see the significance of this except they may be trying to take a jab at all of the churches, legitimate or otherwise, that put up the crossbeams as some kind of sacred symbol. It is not wise to use any religious symbols of any kind, except perhaps for illustration purposes. If you want to see the cross, pick up your cross and follow Christ. Nonetheless, I find it strange that they are picking on the concept of a cross in favor of some kind of single beam stake. My question remains: who cares?

Blood: Jehovah’s Witnesses do not eat blood or do blood transfusions. The former is clearly defined in the Bible (e.g. Genesis 9:4). But the issue of transfusions is interesting, because the concept is foreign to the Bible. So what is with the concept of blood in the Bible?

“And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.” (Leviticus 17:10-12)

According to this passage:

The life of the flesh is in the blood of a creature.
The blood was given to be an atonement for the children of Israel (and all humankind, cf. Genesis 9:4)

But now, it is Christ’s blood that has given us the atonement (Romans 5:11). We are no longer offering animal sacrifices anymore; the old shadows that point to Christ are finished (Hebrews 9:10). Blood and sacrifice were things to teach us about Christ, and it is now done away with, because Christ has already come. “We have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:11). We have the atonement now according to this verse. So if we have received the atonement now, do we need to worry about the blood of other creatures? Does any of that make atonement for us? It is not about rare steaks and medical procedures; it is about the completed work of Christ’s shed blood on the cross.

Therefore, it seems that there is no Scriptural reason why to abstain from blood transfusions, though we should consider prayer before any medical procedure we do. God is our real healer.

Final Thoughts

Jehovah’s Witnesses depart from many major Biblical teachings. They can do this because they have created their own Bible translation, the New World Translation based off of the minority of Greek manuscripts. When you supplant the Bible with human authority, in their case, the Watchtower in Brooklyn, you can basically make your own belief system. But, in short, there may be a place to convince them to get saved, but that time is not when they come to your home:

2 John 1:9-10: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.”