Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991

Articles on Jehovah's Witnesses

(Jehovah's Witnesses)

Founder: Charles Taze Russell

Organized: December 13, 1884

Current Membership: 4 million

Current Headquarters: Brooklyn, New York

Doctrine Of God

The Trinity: "The obvious conclusion is, therefore, that Satan is the originator of the trinity doctrine," (Let God Be True, p. 101).

"Nevertheless, sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God," (Ibid, p. 102).

The Father: "In answer to the question, `Who is Jehovah, so that all should worship him?' we can factually reply: Jehovah is the God of the Lord Jesus Christ...," (Watchtower, April 15, 1975, p. 238).

"There was, therefore, a time when Jehovah was all alone in universal space. ...Then the time came when Jehovah began to create," (Let God Be True, p. 25).

"Thus the Scriptures identify the Word (Jesus...) as God's first creation... Jehovah was truly the Father or Life-giver to this firstborn Son and, hence, that this Son was actually a creature of God...," (Aid To Bible Understanding, p. 918).

The Son: "It proves that Michael the archangel is no other than the only-begotten Son of God, now Jesus Christ. The very name Michael means `Who is like God?' and indicates that Jehovah God is without like or equal...," (New Heavens and A New Earth, pp. 30-31).

"The birth at Bethlehem was to mark, not the coming of the Messiah or Christ, but merely the bringing forth of the One destined to be the Messiah or Christ the Lord," (The Kingdom Is At Hand, p. 207; emphasis mine).

The Holy Spirit: "But the holy spirit has no personal name. The reason for this is that the holy spirit is not an intelligent person. It is the impersonal, invisible active force that finds its source and reservoir in Jehovah God..." (Let Your Name Be Sanctified, p. 269; emphasis mine).

"Jehovah's active force or spirit is subject to his control and always accomplishes his purpose. It is clean, pure, sacred and set apart for God's good use. Therefore it is called `holy spirit...' (Aid To Bible Understanding, p. 781; emphasis mine).

Doctrine Of Man

"Thus it is seen that the serpent is the one that originated the doctrine of the inherent immortality of human souls," (Let God Be True, pp. 74-75).

"...the reformation did not bring in a large number of reforms as to fundamental church doctrines, which continued to be heavily tainted with paganism ...various doctrines such as `trinity,' `immortality of the soul,' `hell-fire,' traditions of men and creature worship continued unchanged," (Qualified To Be Ministers, p. 292)

Doctrine Of Salvation

In the Watchtower there are two classes of people who will merit two different types of salvation.

"However, that (eternal) life will not be the same for all. The Bible plainly shows that some of these, that is, 144,000, will share in heavenly glory with Christ Jesus, while the others will enjoy the blessings of life down here on earth," (Let God Be True, p. 298; parenthesis mine).

View Of The Bible

The Jehovah's Witnesses have produced their own version of the Bible entitled, the New World Translation. Problems in this version included, but are not confined to, the Nature of Jesus and the Nature of the Holy Ghost.

The Watchtower also produces two bi-weekly periodicals which carry their unique brand of theology. These are the Watchtower and the Awake!.

Witnessing Tips

As in all cults, the Jehovah's Witnesses ascribe all authority to the leaders or their organization. To undermine that authority is to demonstrate the fallaciousness of the groups right to call itself God's Organization.

One of the most effective ways to do this is examine the early prophecies of Charles Taze Russell and Joseph Rutherford, the first two presidents of the Watchtower.