(NOTE: If you are a Jehovah Witness “JW”, nothing included here is meant to degrade you as a person or to imply that you aren’t sincere in your beliefs. But this article will address whether your beliefs are founded upon historic Christian doctrine)

All Scriptures in Green are taken from the Jehovah Witnesses New World Translation (NWT)

All Scripture emphasis is mine

(JW): “ Hello, would you like to study the Bible together?”

(Christian): “Well, I don’t know. Can I ask you a few questions?”

(JW): “You sure can.”

(Christian): “ First, do you believe in God?”

(JW): “Yes we do.”

(Christian): “Do you believe in Jesus?”

(JW): “We sure do.”

(Christian): “Do you believe that Jesus was crucified?”

(JW): “Yes”

(Christian): “Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected?”

(JW): “Of course.”

(Christian): “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?”

(JW): “Yes.”

(Christian): “Well then, come on in!”

(JW): “Great!”

As you can see by this hypothetical discussion, JW’s seem to have core beliefs just like the Christian beliefs. But unknowing to the Christian that allowed them into the home, the “Bible study” will quickly turn into a study of Watchtower books and literature, the JW’s organization. It is when this happens that the Christian discovers that the terms used by the JW have a much different meaning than those found in historic Christianity.

Before we go any further, we need to look at the meanings behind some of the “Christian” words the JW’s use:

Christianity: To the JW, they are the only “true” Christians. For the most part, they believe that true Christianity ended when the last of the Apostles died. To the JW’s, all church’s and people that claim to be Christians are actually satan’s tools to be used as he likes.

God: The Father alone is God, and will only hear you if you call Him "Jehovah". If you call God by any other name, you have the wrong God.

Jesus: To the JW, Jesus is really Michael the archangel, Gods first creation. Although they believe that Jesus was just an angel, they do say that He is “a” god.

Holy Spirit: The JW believes that the Holy Spirit is neither God nor “a” god. To them, the Holy Spirit is an “active force.” Jehovah uses this impersonal “active force” to do His will.

Jesus’ Resurrection: JW’s deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Instead, they believe that He totally ceased to exist when He was crucified, and then He was raised as a “spirit” with no physical body. In short, He was resurrected as an angel.

Holidays:  JW's cannot celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Memorial Day, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, etc. To the JW, these are “worldly celebrations” that are only celebrated by worldly people, not by Jehovah’s true Church.

Watchtower Organization: The JW’s believe that their organization is the true and only prophet of God. God uses the Watchtower to speak through and reach those people that will be saved. They have total control over the believers, including the ability to put its members on trial. Furthermore, they have their own laws and schools.

Disfellowshiping: This is the term used to describe what happens to a JW if they disobey the Watchtower and their “laws”.  If a JW does something as simple as send a Birthday card to someone, they will be “put on trial” in their Kingdom Hall and their punishment announced to everyone at the Kingdom Hall meeting. For anyone disfellowshiped, they will be shunned by all other JW’s, although JW family members are allowed to conduct business deemed totally necessary.

Founded by Charles Russell, the Watchtower Organization had its beginnings in the late 1800’s with Russell’s first magazine, Zion’s WatchTower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. Shortly after this first publication, the Zion’s Watchtower Tract Society was formed. Not until 1931 did they use the name Jehovah Witnesses, at which time the name became official. During this time the JW’s used the King James Version and the American Standard Version Bibles, with the American Standard Bible being put into use mainly because it uses the name “Jehovah” throughout the Old Testament. The JW’s were trained in how to “interpret” the scriptures to conform with their beliefs, which meant that when they used the King James Version, they had to twist scriptures totally out of context to make them fit their own doctrine. But after years of scripture twisting, they found that no matter what they did, they couldn’t completely twist the entire KJV. So to fix this problem they decided to re-write the Bible in the 1950’s to make the Bible conform to their beliefs. Hence, the beginning of the New World Translation(NWT).

Although this will not be an in-depth study of the Watchtower, I will include a few subjects that will help you when speaking with a Jehovah Witness.

The JW’s teach that a true believer will always call God by His name, Jehovah. If you call Him by any other name, He will not hear you. I won’t spend much time on this one, other than to suggest you point the JW to where Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray. Jesus said to pray...”Our Father..” The JW might point out that Jesus was called the Son of God so that gave Him the right to call Jehovah by the name Father. But, Jesus wasn’t teaching Himself how to pray, He was teaching believers how to pray. Jesus told the disciples to address God by the name Father. If God must be called by the name Jehovah only, this would imply that Jesus was lying to His own disciples.

Two main texts that the NWT has completely changed are (Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58). First, we will look at the actual Hebrew and Greek translations for these two texts. I will be using the New King James Version. (Exodus 3:14..NKJV) “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” And now (John 8:58..NKJV) Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Because JW’s teach that Jesus was just an angel, they saw in the two above scriptures just what Christians see--that Jesus was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament. When Jesus declared I AM, He was declaring His deity. Just as with many other scriptures. the Jews knew that Jesus was claiming to be God, hence the reason they were always accusing Him of blasphemy and trying to kill Him. So to conform the Bible to their doctrine, the Watchtower changed these verses. (Exodus 3:14..NWT) “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent you.’” And then (John 8:58..NWT) “Most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”

Another verse that the JW’s have changed is John 1:1. First the correct reading from the NKJV: (John 1:1..NKJV) ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And now from the Watchtowers NWT. (John 1:1..NWT) ”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.” It’s not hard to see what the Watchtower has done to change John 1:1. Just by adding the letter “a” they have totally changed the meaning of the text, and in doing so have taken away the fact that Jesus is the Almighty God. As with many other scriptures that declare the deity of Jesus, the Watchtower couldn’t twist John 1:1 in the King James and American Standard Bibles, so they just re-wrote it in their New World Translation. As stated earlier, although the JW’s teach that Jesus was Michael the archangel, they also teach that Jesus is “a” god.

I have had JW’s attempt to use that verse to prove to me that Jesus isn’t God. But, the questions that I asked the JW allowed him to see just how flawed his logic of using “a” god really is. One thing the JW’s and Christians do have in common is the belief that there is only one true God. The difference is that Christianity believes the Scriptures convey that this one God exists in three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The JW’s deny the Trinity but still teach that there is only one true God. Following is the questions I asked a JW concerning Jesus being “a” God in John 1:1.

(Me): “You said that Jehovah is the only true God, and yet Jesus is also a true god, so you believe there are two Gods, that’s polytheism.”

Another main verse that JW’s use to deny the deity of Jesus is Colossians 1:15. Concerning this verse, the Watchtower will happily use the Christians Bible version to point out that Jesus is just an angel, the first creation of Jehovah. As stated in the New King James Version, (Colossians 1:15) reads, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” So does this verse teach that Jesus is the first creation of God? Not at all. First, have the JW turn to (Psalm 89:27). In the NKJV, the verse reads, “Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” In the Watchtowers own NWT, the word firstborn is also used in Psalm 89:27. This verse in Psalms is talking about King David. Here God is speaking about how David would be lifted in rank and raised to the preeminent position. Because David was the youngest son of his father Jesse, it is clear that the term firstborn is not referring to actual birth order. This same definition for the term firstborn is applied to Jesus in Colossians 1:15. In fact, have the JW read the entire context of the Colossians passage. If you read down to verse 18, it talks about Jesus being the head of the church, and that in all things He may have preeminence. As you see, the term firstborn in Colossians 1:15 is referring to the rank and preeminence of Jesus. Furthermore, you might also point out to the JW that verse 16 talks about how by Jesus, all things were created.

The above Scriptures are only a few examples of the numerous verses that the JW’s have changed concerning who Jesus is. Just from these examples, it is clear that the JW’s have a different Jesus than the historic Jesus of Christianity.

Holy Spirit

The JW’s teach that the Holy Spirit isn’t God, and isn’t a person, but instead an “active force” that God uses. They have changed many verses in their NWT to conform to their teaching that the Holy Spirit can’t be God, hence, we will now look at a few of their main texts that they use.

One main argument put forth by the JW’s is the Spirit cannot have any personality because the Bible talks about the Spirit being “poured out” and people being “filled” with the Spirit. Their argument is that it is impossible that a “person” could be “poured out”, and that a person cannot be “filled” by another person. But, their argument fails on several points. First, you can use the JW’s own NWT and have them turn to (Phil 2:17). In this verse the apostle Paul wrote that he was being “poured out”. Next, have the JW turn to (2 Timothy 4:6) in their own NWT. In this verse, Paul states, “I am already being poured out.” Using the logic of the JW that the Holy Spirit cannot be a person because of being referred to as “poured out”, do the above two verse’s imply that the apostle Paul wasn’t a real person? Was Paul just an “active force”?

Another verse you could bring up is (Acts 5:3-4). But Peter said, “Ananias, why has satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? You have lied not to men but to God.”  By using this verse, ask the JW how someone could lie to an “active force”?

One more verse to use to show the clear personality of the Holy Spirit is (John 16:13 NKJV) “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” Ask the JW if an impersonal “active force” would be referred to as a He? Furthermore, can an “active force” guide, speak, hear, and tell someone things to come?

First, have the JW use their own NWT and turn to (John 2:19-21 NWT). In this passage Jesus is talking about what will happen to His body. “In answer Jesus said to them, ’Break down this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’ Therefore the Jews said, ’This temple was built in forty six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But He was talking about the temple of His own body”. As you can see, this is one verse that the Watchtower has yet to change in their NWT. This is why their “Bible” is re-written every few years. They will find verses such as this one, and realize it goes against what they believe and teach, so the next time their NWT is wrote they will change the verse at that time. This verse, even in their own NWT, states that Jesus was teaching that His body would be resurrected as a real physical body, not just a Spirit being.

Another verse that you can use is (Luke 24:36-39). Once again, this is a verse that goes against what their Watchtower teaches. This is another verse that they will have to eventually change in their “Bible” to conform to what they teach. This passage in Luke from their own NWT says: While they were speaking of these things he himself stood in their midst. But because they were terrified, and had become frightened, they were imagining they beheld a spirit. So he said to them: “Why are you troubled, and why is it doubts come up in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; feel me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you behold that I have.”

As you can see, even their own “Bible” has Jesus as having flesh and bones in His resurrected body, the exact opposite of what the Watchtower teaches the JW’s. If the Watchtower were correct that Jesus was raised only as a Spirit being, that would mean they are calling Jesus Himself a liar.

The JW’s believe that Jesus returned to earth in 1914 to establish Jehovah’s kingdom in heaven. Did anyone actually see Jesus return in 1914? No. Hence, the JW’s teach that Jesus returned invisibly. The reason for His invisible return was to set up Jehovah’s salvation program on earth. This salvation program is the JW’s Watchtower Society. So, for anyone to receive salvation they must come to and follow all the rules of the Watchtower Organization.

The JW’s freely admit that salvation comes only through their Watchtower Society and their preaching of the “good news” that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914. This is clearly not the “good news” that the apostle Paul taught in the New Testament. The JW’s don’t seem to have a problem with this fact and they will freely admit that the apostle Paul never taught the “good news” that Jesus would invisibly return in A.D. 1914. Because the JW’s admit their “gospel” is different than historic Christianity, have them open their own NWT and turn to (Gal. 1:8-9).

In their own NWT, (Gal. 1:8-9) states: “However, even if we or an angel out of heaven were to declare to you as good news something beyond what we declare to you as good news, let him be accursed. As we have said above, I also now say again, Whoever it is that is declaring to you as good news something beyond what you accepted, let him be accursed.”