As noted in part one of this essay, the Watchtower Society and its Jehovah's Witness membership lift themselves up as the lone true religion, the world's one and only religion that is truly Bible-based. This belief is at the foundation of the Jehovah's Witness faith. Every other religion – including Christianity, which is said to be "Christian" in name only – is deemed to be merely a spoke in the wheel that is the Devil's false religious enterprise – part of his multi-faceted rebellion against God.¹ As noted in part one, at issue is not the Watchtower Society's reliance on their own Bible translation, the New World Translation (NWT), to eliminate so many of the scriptural challenges the Jehovah's Witnesses face; rather the point is to consider those verses that even in the Watchtower's own sectarian translation are not accepted by Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society. Do Jehovah's Witnesses really believe the Bible? Is the Watchtower Society truly a Bible-based religion? It is these questions that are at the crux of this essay.

As with part one of this essay, this second part will treat three scriptures. Considered will be Revelation 1:7, John 1:3, and Isaiah 44:24, and the position of the Watchtower Society in relation to each. The Society's stance will in each case be measured against their unrelenting claims of complete acceptance of the Bible as being the inspired and accurate Word of God.²

Considered first will be Revelation 1:7. Quoting from the Witnesses own NWT, Revelation 1:7 reads:

Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen.

An obvious (and undisputed) reference to the second coming of Christ, this verse poses a significant problem for the Watchtower Society due to the fact that according to Watchtower dogma, the second coming of Christ has already occurred. In one of the more peculiar of Watchtower Society doctrines, Jehovah's Witnesses hold that Jesus Christ has already returned (viz. the second coming), but that He did so invisibly. This "invisible return" doctrine can be traced back to the Second Adventist movement of the late 19th century and a man by the name of Nelson Barbour. Barbour, an Adventist preacher, had predicted the Second Coming of Christ for the year 1874. However, when the predicted event failed to occur, Barbour eventually settled on the idea of an invisible second coming. Soon "Pastor" Russell was on board, himself already being associated with the Second Adventists and having also anticipated Christ's visible return for 1874 in harmony with Barbour's teaching. Barbour eventually abandoned the idea of an invisible second coming, but Russell, who would go on to found the Watchtower/Jehovah's Witness religion, kept to the notion. The date for this supposed invisible return was at some point changed from 1874 to 1914, but is still a core doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society.³

Of particular relevance, then, is the first part of Revelation 1:7: "Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him". It is obvious that "every eye" could not witness the Second Coming of Christ were it an invisible event as taught by the Watchtower Society. And clearly, "every eye" did not witness this momentous event in 1914.

The typical Watchtower response to such objections (and in fact a common practice of the Society when faced with plain statements of scripture that contradict their doctrines) is to "spiritualize" the verse. The problematic verse is in effect rewritten with obvious concepts supplanted with entirely new meanings. (Of course, the if and when to redefine a given passage of scripture is left wholly up to the discretion of Watchtower leaders.) In the case of Revelation 1:7, Watchtower leaders claim that "eye" refers not to the literal eye, but to the "eye of understanding".⁴ Despite the fact that the Greek word rendered "eye" at Revelation 1:7 is the same as that used at John 9:6, where Jesus touches the eyes of a blind man in order to heal him, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the return of Christ is not one that is seen, but rather discerned.⁵ Note:

How, then, are we to understand the words of Revelation 1:7? There the apostle John writes: "Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him." Here the Bible speaks of seeing, not with physical eyes, but in the sense of discerning or perceiving. –You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1989, page 146.

There is certainly a wealth of scriptural testimony to refute the Watchtower Society's "invisible second coming" interpretation of Revelation 1:7;⁶ however, this essay is not so much concerned with the Watchtower interpretation of scripture per se (viz. their doctrine) as it is with the Society's flagrant disregard for Biblical truth in the face of those doctrines. The critical falling down point for the Society's explanation of Revelation 1:7 is that even if the verse were to refer to an invisible second coming that would be discerned with "eyes of understanding" as the Society contends, the verse still says that every eye will see him. Whether it is the literal eye or the 'eye of understanding' – physical sight or intellectual discernment – "every eye will see him."

It does not require much intellectual discernment to recognize that "every eye" – physical or otherwise – neither witnessed nor discerned the Second Coming of Christ in the year 1914. This is true even if we do not take the word "every" in the strictest sense, if we assume that the intended meaning is virtually everyone, or some persons from every aspect of humanity. At best, a Jehovah's Witness might argue that those scant few Jehovah's Witnesses (or Bible Students, as they were known at the time) "discerned" Christ's Second Coming in 1914. While such a paltry sum would constitute an insignificant portion of the world's population, the facts show that even this tiny group was in 1914 wholly ignorant of the momentous event supposedly taking place. Jehovah's Witnesses of the era were in fact convinced "beyond a doubt"  that Jesus Christ had already returned in the year 1874:

Bible prophecy shows that the Lord was due to appear for the second time in the year 1874. Fulfilled prophecy shows beyond a doubt that he did appear in 1874. Fulfilled prophecy is otherwise designated the physical facts; and these facts are indisputable. –The Watch Tower, November 1, 1922, page 333.^view

The "facts" of Christ's return in 1874 remained "indisputable" until the 1930's when it was decided that this supposed event had actually occurred in the year 1914.

Whether it was in 1874 or in 1914 that Christ supposedly returned is of little consequence, for at neither time was such an event discerned by even a minuscule portion of the population, let alone seen by "every eye". Watchtower leaders recognize the gaping hole in their doctrine, but rather than abandon the obscure idea that Christ has already returned (and in turn, the notion that upon his return Christ selected the Watchtower religion as His one and only "channel of communication") in favor of the plain teaching of scripture, the Society is left defending the awkward conclusion that Revelation 1:7 must refer not to one single event, but two events stretching over a 90+ year period! Since the supposed return of Christ was neither seen nor otherwise discerned at the time Watchtower doctrine dictates that He must have returned, it is therefore deemed by Watchtower leaders that while Christ did return invisibly in 1914, the reference to "every eye" seeing Him must apply to some as yet unknown time in the future. Consider:

The Revelation account states that "every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him." This means that opposers on earth will discern in the destruction that Jesus rains down on them [at some future point in time] that he has come with power and great glory as Jehovah's Executioner. –The Watchtower, May 1, 1993, page 22.

Of critical import is that nothing in the verse suggests such a prolongation of Christ's return. Rather, it is the conflict of scripture with pre-existing Watchtower doctrine that forces such an unfounded interpretation of the verse and in this is seen (once again) the patent disregard for inspired scripture that one does not expect from a Bible-based religion.

John 1:3 is another verse that even in the Witnesses' own NWT is at variance with Watchtower doctrine. Unlike Revelation 1:7, John 1:3 is not 'spiritualized' by the Society, nor is it the focus of a disinformation campaign as is the case with John 20:28, for example. On the contrary, John 1:3 is for all intents and purposes simply ignored by the Society,⁷ being to a large degree overshadowed in Watchtower Christology by the John 1:1 debate.

In the Watchtower Society's own Bible translation, in reference to the pre-incarnate Christ, John 1:3 is rendered:

All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. (NWT)

Despite their claim to "offer no paraphrase of scripture",⁸ the NWT "Translation Committee" does indeed stray from the literal Greek and paraphrase the latter part of John 1:3. The NASB rendering, which stays true to the Greek text (being virtually a word for word rendering), is offered as a literal translation of the verse:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

In spite of the NWT paraphrase, which appears to be an attempt to reduce the magnitude (and thereby, the implications) of John's statement about Christ, the truth of John 1:3 is still clearly discerned: Apart from Christ, not even one thing came into being. Truly one of the most profound testaments to the Deity of Christ – and herein lies the problem for the Society – John 1:3 completely precludes the possibility that Jesus Christ is a created being – a mere "thing" that came into being. It bears repeating: Of every single thing that has come into being, not even one of these things came into being without Christ. This is just the plain doctrine of scripture; Jesus Christ, the Son, created "all things". For the Watchtower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses who teach and believe that Jesus is himself a created being, a "thing [that] came into existence", there is no harmonizing John 1:3.

Given that the Watchtower Society professes Christ to be a creature and yet promotes itself as a Bible-based religion, it is not difficult to understand why Watchtower leaders shy away from John 1:3. When the verse does come up in Watchtower literature (which is infrequently, and almost always in the context of a discussion of John 1:1-3), the Society relies upon a doctored NWT rendering of Colossians 1:16,17 to refute the verse:

because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist.

In a blatant promotion of its 'Christ as a creature' doctrine, the Watchtower Society inserts the word "other" four times into these two verses. Compare the NWT rendering shown above with the same passage as it is found in an accepted translation:

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (NIV)

By inserting "other" into Colossians 1:16,17, the Society would have it appear as though Christ is himself merely a "thing" who after being created went on to create all the "other things". In short, the Society has altered the Greek text to make it support their doctrine. It is noteworthy that while early editions of the New World Translation added the word "other" without brackets, later editions do bracket the insertion as an admission that translators did indeed add a word that does not appear in the Greek text.

Having sufficiently doctored Colossians 1:16,17 in the NWT to support their position on the nature of Christ, the Watchtower Society then relies upon these verses in dealing with John 1:3. When John 1:3 is presented in Watchtower literature, it is routinely lumped together with Colossians 1:16,17. The two scriptures are treated as one by the Society and said to be evidence only of Christ having created all other things. The fact that John 1:3 even in the Society's own NWT is in direct opposition to Watchtower doctrine is overlooked completely. The fact that the verse actually says that Christ created "all things", thereby refuting the Society's 'Christ as a creature' doctrine is simply not discussed. And individual Jehovah's Witnesses who are taught to "meekly go along" with the Watchtower Society rather than question or doubt⁹ do exactly that.

The following quotations from Watchtower literature demonstrate the typical method employed by the Society to handle John 1:3.

John 1:3 states: "All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence." Colossians 1:16 says that "by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth." ... So by means of the Word, all other forms of life were created; –The Watchtower, April 1, 1993 page 11.¹⁰

We read: "By means of [the Son of God] all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible . . . All other things have been created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:16, 17) Other texts confirm the Son's role in creating the universe. (John 1:3, 10; Hebrews 1:1, 2) –The Watchtower, May 1, 1990, page 30.¹¹

Colossians 1:16, 17, says concerning God's firstborn Son: "By means of him all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible . . . All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things and by means of him all other things were made to exist." John 1:1-3 makes a similar point, but we also learn that this Son was the Word, or Logos. –The Watchtower, November 1, 1986, page 31.¹²

God's chief spokesman was his only-begotten Son, called "the Word." ... Through him God created all other things. (John 1:3; Col. 1:16) –The Watchtower, November 11, 1978, page 31.

In that prehuman existence he worked with Jehovah in creating all other things. John 1:3 says about this one: "All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence."-Compare Colossians 1:15, 16. –The Watchtower, August 15, 1975, page 512.

Jesus Christ had a prehuman existence as Jehovah's only-begotten Son, having been involved in the creating of all other things. (John 1:3; Col. 1:15, 16) –The Watchtower, March 1, 1974, page 157.

By means of him as an agent God made all other things, as stated in John 1:3. –The Watchtower, October 1, 1962, page 595.¹³

Again and again in Watchtower literature, John 1:3 is cited as support that God used Christ to create all other things. The fact that such a concept is found nowhere in the verse is irrelevant to Jehovah's Witnesses who accept as gospel the words of their religious leaders, but speaks volumes not only about the Watchtower Society's status as a Bible-based religion, but also about the honesty of the leaders of this religion.

The final verse to be considered is Isaiah 44:24. In the Society's NWT, the verse appears as follows:

This is what Jehovah has said, your Repurchaser and the former of you from the belly: "I, Jehovah, am doing everything, stretching out the heavens by myself, laying out the earth. Who was with me?

In the NIV, the same verse reads:

"This is what the LORD says- your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

The verse is without ambiguity: the LORD ("Jehovah") "made all things"; He created heaven and earth, and He did so ALONE and BY HIMSELF. To quote from the Witnesses own NWT, "Who was with me?"

Despite the rhetorical nature of the question in their own Bible translation, Jehovah's Witnesses are forced to answer that there was in fact another god with the LORD during creation, aiding Him in the creation of "all things". The LORD God Himself tells us that He ALONE created the earth, that BY HIMSELF  He created the heavens. "No you did not!" respond Jehovah's Witnesses. WHO WAS WITH ME?  asks the LORD God, rhetorically. "Why, there was another god there with you!" replies the Watchtower Society.

As with other such verses that so blatantly contradict Watchtower doctrine, it seems that the Society is content to simply ignore Isaiah 44:24 rather than attempt a refutation of it.¹⁴ A search through Watchtower literature in preparation of this essay revealed not a single mention of the LORD's claim to be the lone "agent" in creation. "Who was with me?"  asks the LORD. The Watchtower Society would just as soon not have to answer this question in print.

As is so often the case when the Society rejects scripture, the root of the matter for the Watchtower Society and Jehovah's Witnesses when it comes to Isaiah 44:24 is none other than the Deity of Christ. The central doctrine of the Jehovah's Witness faith, that of the non-Deity of Jesus, is again refuted by a plain reading of scripture. The LORD God Almighty created "all things" – heaven and earth. And He did so ALONE, BY HIMSELF. Yet John 1:3 reveals Jesus as being responsible for the creation of "all things". To claim that Jesus is NOT the LORD God Almighty (as does the Society) forces one to conclude that the LORD was NOT alone during creation, and that He did NOT create "all things" by Himself. This, of course, is a position in DIRECT OPPOSITION to Isaiah 44:24, and so again is seen the Watchtower Society's blatant disregard for scripture in favor of their own doctrinal views. For one who truly believes in the truth of scripture, the only logical course is to accept that Jesus is Himself the LORD God.

That the New Testament writers themselves interpreted correctly and accepted the logical conclusion that Jesus is the LORD is affirmed by Hebrews 1:10. Written in reference to the Son, Hebrews 1:10 says:

He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. (NIV)

Compare Psalm 102:25, written of the LORD God:

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. (NIV)

Just who laid the foundations of the earth? And just whose hands are the heavens the work of? The Watchtower Society is again at a loss to answer. On the other hand, well familiar with Psalm 102:25, which attributes the act of creation of heaven and earth to the LORD God Almighty, the writer of Hebrews assigns this very same act to Jesus. In fact, the writer of Hebrews goes so far as to apply the verse in the Psalms directly to Jesus. Even though Psalm 102:25 was addressed to the LORD God,¹⁵ the writer of Hebrews writes that these words were actually spoken to Jesus Christ!¹⁶ The conclusion would seem to be inescapable to all but the most prejudiced of persons.

For all of their feigned reverence for and acceptance of the Bible, it is Watchtower doctrine that is the trump card for Jehovah's Witnesses. Again and again, the "white" of scripture is ignored or outright rejected in favor of the "black" of Watchtower doctrine. Despite Watchtower leaders' claims to the contrary, they clearly head up a religion that cannot be considered truly Bible-based. Called into question as well is the honesty of the Society that despite its obvious disregard for the plain teaching of numerous scriptures continues to promote itself as a Bible-based, Bible-believing religion.