Category Archives: Cults

False Beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

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The following is a short summary of the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses: source – https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/the-11-beliefs-you-should-know-about-jehovahs-witnesses-when-they-knock-at-the-door/

1. The divine name.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that God’s one true name—the name by which he must be identified—is Jehovah.

Biblically, however, God is identified by many names, including:

In NT times, Jesus referred to God as “Father” (Gk. Patēr; Matt. 6:9), as did the apostles (1 Cor. 1:3).

2. The Trinity.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Trinity is unbiblical because the word is not in the Bible and because the Bible emphasizes that there is one God.

Biblically, while it is true that there is only one God (Isa. 44:6; 45:18; 46:9; John 5:44; 1 Cor. 8:4; James 2:19), it is also true that three persons are called God in Scripture:

Each of these three possesses the attributes of deity—including

Still further, each of the three is involved in doing the works of deity—such as creating the universe:

The Bible indicates that there is three-in-oneness in the godhead (Matt. 28:19; cf. 2 Cor. 13:14).

Thus doctrinal support for the Trinity is compellingly strong.

3. Jesus Christ.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god.

Biblically, however, Jesus is eternally God (John 1:1; 8:58; cf. Ex. 3:14) and has the exact same divine nature as the Father (John 5:18; 10:30; Heb. 1:3).

Indeed, a comparison of the OT and NT equates Jesus with Jehovah (compare Isa. 43:11 with Titus 2:13; Isa. 44:24 with Col. 1:16; Isa. 6:1-5 with John 12:41).

Jesus himself created the angels (Col. 1:16; cf. John 1:3; Heb. 1:2, 10) and is worshiped by them (Heb. 1:6).

4. The incarnation.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that when Jesus was born on earth, he was a mere human and not God in human flesh.

This violates the biblical teaching that in the incarnate Jesus, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9; cf. Phil. 2:6-7).

The word for “fullness” (Gk. plērōma) carries the idea of the sum total. “Deity” (Gk. theotēs) refers to the nature, being, and attributes of God.

Therefore, the incarnate Jesus was the sum total of the nature, being, and attributes of God in bodily form.

Indeed, Jesus was Immanuel, or “God with us” (Matt. 1:23; cf. Isa. 7:14; John 1:1, 14, 18; 10:30; 14:9-10).

5. Resurrection.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was resurrected spiritually from the dead, but not physically.

Biblically, however, the resurrected Jesus asserted that he was not merely a spirit but had a flesh-and-bone body (Luke 24:39; cf. John 2:19-21).

He ate food on several occasions, thereby proving that he had a genuine physical body after the resurrection (Luke 24:30, 42-43; John 21:12-13).

This was confirmed by his followers who physically touched him (Matt. 28:9; John 20:17).

6. The second coming.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the second coming was an invisible, spiritual event that occurred in the year 1914.

Biblically, however, the yet-future second coming will be physical, visible (Acts 1:9-11; cf. Titus 2:13), and will be accompanied by visible cosmic disturbances (Matt. 24:29-30). Every eye will see him (Rev. 1:7).

7. The Holy Spirit.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force of God and not a distinct person.

Biblically, however, the Holy Spirit has the three primary attributes of personality:

Moreover, personal pronouns are used of him (Acts 13:2). Also, he does things that only a person can do, including:

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity (Matt. 28:19).

8. Salvation.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that salvation requires faith in Christ, association with God’s organization (i.e., their religion), and obedience to its rules.

Biblically, however, viewing obedience to rules as a requirement for salvation nullifies the gospel (Gal. 2:16-21; Col. 2:20-23). Salvation is based wholly on God’s unmerited favor (grace), not on the believer’s performance.

Good works are the fruit or result, not the basis, of salvation (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-8).

9. Two redeemed peoples.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe there are two peoples of God: (1) the Anointed Class (144,000) will live in heaven and rule with Christ; and (2) the “other sheep” (all other believers) will live forever on a paradise earth.

Biblically, however, a heavenly destiny awaits all who believe in Christ (John 14:1-3; 17:24; 2 Cor. 5:1; Phil. 3:20; Col. 1:5; 1 Thess. 4:17; Heb. 3:1), and these same people will also dwell on the new earth (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-4).

10. No immaterial soul.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that humans have an immaterial nature. The “soul” is simply the life-force within a person. At death, that life-force leaves the body.

Biblically, however, the word “soul” is multifaceted. One key meaning of the term is man’s immaterial self that consciously survives death (Gen. 35:18; Rev. 6:9-10). Unbelievers are in conscious woe (Matt. 13:42; 25:41, 46; Luke 16:22-24; Rev. 14:11) while believers are in conscious bliss in heaven (1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:21-23; Rev. 7:17; 21:4).

11. Hell.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe hell is not a place of eternal suffering but is rather the common grave of humankind. The wicked are annihilated—snuffed out of conscious existence forever.

Biblically, however, hell is a real place of conscious, eternal suffering (Matt. 5:22; 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev. 14:11; 20:10, 14).

Testimony: A Jehovah’s Witness trainer reached

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Dr. John MacArthur (transcript from a sermon):

The law of the Lord is perfect, comprehensive, sufficient for the total transformation of the whole inner person.

Whenever I preach this (Psalm 19:7), I always think of this one man named Tim Evalina. I was preaching in Sebring, Florida many years ago. And at the end of the message that I gave in this church, he came up to me, introduced himself. He said, “I have to tell you my story.” He said, “My entire family are Jehovah’s Witnesses. In fact, my family is responsible for the leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the state of Florida. My job” – he says – “is, has been for years, to train all the Jehovah’s Witness leaders. I go from location to location to location training them.” But he said, “I have to tell you what’s happened to me.”

He said, “I was driving across Florida listening to the radio in a rental car; and I turned on the radio, and you came on. I didn’t know who you were. And you made one statement. You said, ‘Jesus is God.’ And I said, ‘That’s a lie,’ and turned it off. And then I turned it right back on again because I was curious. And you went on to show from the Bible that Jesus is God. That was on a Monday.” And Grace To You happens to be all over Florida, so if you keep moving you can find us. He said, “I listened five days that week to your program, and all week you were showing that Jesus is God. By Friday I was seriously grappling with that issue, because Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that.

“Monday was the second week of the series, I listened five more days. Friday I knelt down beside a bed and I said, ‘O God, Jehovah, whom I thought I served, if indeed Jesus is God the Son, show me.’ That night my head was cleared, my heart was cleared, my soul was transformed, and I embraced Jesus Christ as my Savior.

“Now,” he said, “I had a problem, because I was going around training the Jehovah’s Witness leaders. So,” he said, “I had to do some retraining. So,” he said, “I started back trying to tell them all that Jesus is God. I was in odds with my wife, three sons, and my parents and extended family, and everybody in my whole world. I was called on the carpet, tried as a heretic, and excommunicated from the movement.” He said, “My life is transformed.”

You ask the question, “How do you reach a leader in the Jehovah’s Witness movement?” Just let the truth of Scripture do its mighty work. There’s no subtle way to do that. I can’t orchestrate that. He said, “Pray for my family. Please pray for my family.” This has only been a few weeks.

Got a letter from him some months later telling me his wife and all three sons were in Christ, they were redeemed. Serious dent in the JW system in Florida. This is only an anecdote, but it illustrates the amazing power of the truth to do its own work, energized by the Spirit in the heart. I always think of him when I think of that statement in verse 7.