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Hello everybody, my name is Jason. In this section of the website we are going to discuss JWs, what they believe and how to witness to them. I will be adding tons and tons of scripture that not only feed the spirit, but will also help the church body plant and water seeds. I would also like to answer any questions that might come up during your witnessing conversations. So if you have any questions with this topic, if you need any advice or if you don't know how to respond to a question that they have asked you, please email me using the form below. I would love to answer them. Most of the time their answers are all textbook. But some times they are not.
Before we begin, I would like to take a minute to say that its not about winning arguments. Its about spreading the truth and making disciples of all nations(matt 28:19). Sometimes when you want them to see the truth and they don't, it can get real frustrating. Most of the JWs want to just give away watchtower magazines and they are not used to meeting people who actually know the scriptures. They will memorize a few scriptures, twist them to their own destruction(2peter 3:16). They will most likely refuse to listen to reason and logic. They are blinded by the devil and are under threat of losing friends and family if they start questioning the watchtower doctrine. It is a cult. They have complete control over everything in their lives. All I can say is pray for guidance and wisdom when you are approached by them because usually you will run into them when you least expect it. Remember to just abide in Christ and trust him for the outcome.
The problem with the world is that Satan is doing all that he can to deceive people from the hope that is in Christ. He uses confusion and lies to turn people away from God. Since people are from different cultures and are easily led astray, they come up with ways that sound right to them but are far from the truth. Ask any non-believer what they believe and they will all be different from one another. My favorite thing is to get them to admit that they made it up. Other people get led astray by false teachers. Peter warned us about them in 2 Peter 2:1-2.
Truth is a fine line. Many false teachings sound close enough to the truth that it fools people to believe it actually is the truth. Jesus said that the truth shall set us free (john 8:32) and we are free indeed in Jesus Christ our LORD. The thing that people argue about the most is Who is Jesus? That was going on even in Jesus' day. Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say I am?". Check out Matt 16:13-17. Every false teaching makes him out to be less than God Almighty. It is absolutely critical to know who Jesus really is(john 8:24).
The watchtower teaches and therefore the JWs believe that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. He is Jehovah God's first creation and he created everything else through Jesus. They say that Jesus came back invisibly in 1914 and set up the watchtower as God's organization. They believe in soul sleep, Christ died on a straight post and not a cross, basically everything they believe is the opposite to the truth. They are as lost as anyone else who doesn't have the real Jesus in their heart.
What is GOD's name? Is it really Jehovah?
The JWs believe that God's name is Jehovah. No ifs ands or buts about it. They use it to distinguish Jehovah God from all of the other gods. Which their is no god other than him anyway. They also say that they must use his name all of the time because God's name is mentioned more than 7000 times in the bible.
In the old testament, our English bibles have the word LORD in all capitol letters. It actually is what is known as the tetragrammaton, YHWH. It is what has been written as GOD's name. The jews would never even try to speak his name for fear of a mispronunciation. I have seen the dead sea scrolls and when ever the name of GOD was written, it was actually just dots like this (....). Since there are no vowels in the ancient Hebrew language they were forced to add some for the sake of English. Most people believe that his name is pronounced YAHWEH. (YAH-WAY). Jehovah came from the Latin language pronunciation of YAHWEH. The reality is we don't know exactly what it is, nor do we know how to pronounce it. I think that the JWs try to use this as a smoke screen to get people to think that they are the real followers of God. Claiming that since GODs name is Holy, and used over 7000 times, that it is a sin to not use it. My opinion is that GOD's name is so wonderful, beyond our ability to understand it or pronounce it, so incredibly HOLY that all of us are unworthy to even speak it. If the Jews wont try and speak it, that's an indication to me that maybe it is to holy for me to speak it. But in reality, its all about Jesus. You can't focus on Jesus to much that you ignore the father. They are one.
When Moses was talking to God in the burning bush of Exodus 3, Moses said, "What is your name?" God responded, "I AM".
Who is Jesus? Is he really GOD in human flesh?
The JWs believe that Jesus is Jehovah God's first creation named Michael the Archangel.
Jesus not only claimed to be God, but that is why they crucified him. This is a huge subject which has been very controversial since Christ came to the earth. But the evidence is OVERWHELMING. JESUS IS GOD! So lets get into the scriptures.
John 5:18, John 8:58, 10:24-42. The Jews knew Jesus was claiming to be Equal to God. They tried to stone him.
John 5:23 Christ tells everyone to honor the Son just as you honor the Father.
John 1:1-14. Plainly says Jesus is God. JWs like to say that he is "a god" because there is no "a" in the Greek. Basically they will try and use spiritual gymnastics to get their point across. They might say, Well there are many Gods and many lords see 1 corithians 8:5. Point out that they should read the verse before it. It just said that there is only one GOD. And in the context the implication is that all of the other "so-called gods" are false. Which leaves me with my point. There is only one TRUE GOD. All other gods are FALSE. Ask them, So are you saying that Jesus is a false God? Gods are either true or false. They wont say that Jesus is a false God.
Jesus is called the True God in 1 John 5:20. It identifies Jesus Christ, then immediately afterwards it says THIS IS THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE.
Isaiah 44:6 calls Jesus the (YHWH) LORD of hosts. This is a huge scripture showing the deity of Jesus. "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God." This scripture obviously shows that the Father and the Son as being ONE GOD. Also point out the fact that Jesus calls himself the first and the last in Revelation 1:11, 21:6, 22:13. And to remove all doubt, Revelation 22:16 The bible says "I Jesus". Which means that he is the one talking.
In Revelation 1:8 Is a statement from God saying that he is the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, Who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty. I believe that this is a direct statement from Jesus himself. The JWs like to say that it cant be Jesus it has to be Jehovah. In their bible it has the Word Jehovah in there even though the tetragrammaton is never in any of the new testament manuscripts. In their minds, Jesus could never say a statement like that. I like to pick this statement out and point out that Jesus is obviously the FIRST and the LAST. Then I say Alpha is the FIRST letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the LAST letter. The beginning is another way of saying the FIRST and the end is another way of saying the LAST. There are not 2 firsts and 2 lasts. I was told that by a JW and I just shook my head. True blindness.
Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is called the mighty God.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15-19. When the bible uses the word image. It has a different meaning then a likeness. An image is the exact copy of something. A likeness is like something. A photocopy is an image. A drawing of that picture is a likeness. That is why In John 14:5-9, Phillip asks Jesus to show him the father. Jesus said, He who has seen me has seen the father. So how can you say show us the father? Jesus is the exact copy of who God the Father is. If you want to know God the Father, Look at God the Son because he is God in human flesh. John 1 & 1 Tim 3:16, ect....
Jesus is the firstborn over all creation.Colossians 1:15. This is the JWs favorite verse to try and prove Jesus was created. The greek word used for firstborn is prototokos. Used 10 times in the bible. It means first in order of importance. Not first born in a standard of time. In the jewish mind, the firstborn son of the family gets all the inheritance. Jesus is the heir and everything is his. He has priority. God said that Ephraim is his firstborn. Jer 31:9. Even though he was the second born after Manasseh. Read Gen 41:51-52. It shows who was born first between the two. So the word firstborn has a special meaning other than born first. Read the story about Ephraim being declared the firstborn in Genesis 48. Its a very clear description of the firstborn meaning. It means that they have the priority. Jesus has priority over all creation. Thats the idea. Not born first.
Revelation 19:10 and 22:8-9 John falls to the feet of the Angel and worships him and the Angel said Don’t do that worship God alone. In Hebrews 1:6 it says that all of the angels of God should worship Jesus. That only leaves one conclusion. Jesus Christ is God.
God the Father calls Jesus "God" in Hebrews 1:8. They will bring other translations that say it differently than the KJV. Most bibles say the same as the KJV but the fact that they will find another bible that says something different will give them the escape they are looking for. They will call the scripture ambiguous.
Romans 9:5 calls Jesus God but the JWs try and twist the meaning and say that God has blessed him forever not God blessed forever. It does say he is God then the verse ends with a amen.
Acts 20:28 says God purchased the Church with his own blood.
Matthew 18:20, Matthew 28:20 Jesus is omnipresent.
Matthew 1:23. Jesus name is Immanuel. God with us.
God is salvation. Isaiah 12:2, Jesus is salvation. Acts 4:10-12.
YHWH is my shepherd. Psalm 23:1. Jesus said I am the good shepherd. John 10:11.
God is the rock. Psalm 18:31. Jesus is the rock. 1 Corinthians 10:4.
Every knee will bow to God. Isaiah 45:22-23. Every knee will bow to Jesus. Philippians 2:10-11.
The Lord (YHWH) does not change. Malachi 3:6. Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever. Hebrews 13:8.
In Mark 2. Jesus forgave the sins of a sick man with palsy. The people then said who can forgive sins but God alone.
Psalm 27:1. YHWH is my light and salvation. Jesus said,” I am the light of the world.” John 8:12
John 20:28. Jesus appears to Thomas after the resurrection and he says to Jesus, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus did not rebuke him for calling him God.
Did Jesus die and rise again in the same body? Or did his body just vanish?
The JWs believe that Jesus rose in a different body and the old one just vanished.
Jesus said himself that he was going to destroy his body and raise it up on the 3rdday as a sign for the jews. John clarified what Jesus meant. John 2:18-22
Pilate set guards at the TOMB because he was afraid the disciples would steal the body. He was aware of Jesus’ claim that he would rise from the dead. Matt 27:62-66
The Stone that sealed the grave was rolled away. Matt 28:2, Mark 16:4, Luke 24:2, John 20:1
The angel was waiting at the EMPTY TOMB telling everybody that he is risen. Matt 28:6, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6.
His resurrected body still had the holes in his hands and feet from the being nailed to the cross, as well as the hole in the side where he was pierced. John 20:19-28
He said that he was flesh and bones, not a spirit, was hungry and ate. Luke 24:39-43
40 days after his resurrection, Jesus was carried to heaven by the angels. Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9.
Lets summarize! Jesus said that it was his body, the stone was rolled away, the angels invited everybody to look in the empty tomb, his body still bore the holes from the crucifixion, he said he was flesh and bones then ate. Now ask yourself this. Where did the body go? Why make a big deal about the empty tomb? Why did his body still have the holes after the resurrection? Was Jesus lying when he said that he was flesh and bones? These are all questions that they cannot answer.
Did Jesus die on a cross or on a straight pole?
The JWs believe that Jesus was crucified on a straight pole not a cross. They refer to it as a torture stake.
In John 20:25 Thomas said he needed to see the Lord's hands where the "nails" (Plural) were. Signifying that the arms had to be stretched out apart. Not over his head.
While Jesus was bearing his cross on the way to the spot where he was crucified, a man helped him carry it. He was obviously carrying a crossbeam. Acts 5:30, 10:39,13:29 all say that he was hung on a tree. Most likely Jesus carried the crossbeam which usually weighed around 80 pounds and then they put him on a tree.
There is an interesting section of scripture in Exodus 12. God is instituting the Passover meal for the Jews and when you read it the Jews were to take a lamb without blemish, kill it, and put the blood of the lamb on the lintel (top of the door way) and the doorposts (the sides of the door). Since we know that the old testament points to Jesus, I see the cross painted on the doorway. A beautiful picture of the Messiah saving them from death.
What does God's word say about the HOLY SPIRIT? Is he God or just an inactive force?
The JWs believe that the Holy Spirit is a thing or an it and is not God. Just an impersonal force.
In Acts 5:1-4. GOD's word calls the Holy Spirit God.
Acts 2:38 says when you are baptized in the name of Jesus you receive the gift of the holy spirit.
Acts 10:44 The Holy Spirit is for everybody.
The Holy Spirit teaches us, John 14:26,
prays for us, Romans 8:27,
knows the future, Acts 21:11
loves us. Romans 15:30.
1 corinth 2:12‑16 the holy spirit teaches us spiritual things
Eph 3:4‑5 the mystery of christ is revealed by the spirit
What happens to us when we die? Is it soul sleep or do we actually go to heaven?
The JWs believe that only the 144,000 go to heaven. Which are the apostles and the first JWs until around 1935 when all of them were born. And the rest of us just go to sleep without dream or soul sleep. They have no hope of heaven. They don't even think that there is a possibility of them going there. They say that they have a earthly hope. They use the scripture of Matthew 5:5. The meek shall inherit the earth.
When they are confronted with the following scriptures, they will say that they only apply to the 144,000.
2 corinth 5:6-8 says it pretty simple. When we die or are absent from our body. We are present with the Lord.
Luke 23:43 Jesus says to the thief who was crucified next to him after he repented said " Today you will be with me in paradise." Not after the resurrection or sometime in the future. Today. In the JW bible they moved the comma after the word today. COMPLETELY changing the passage.
Philippians 1:20-24. Paul talked about having something to gain by dying because he wanted to go be with Jesus.
They will probably ask things like, Where are the people that have died before the coming of Jesus? If this question comes up, show them the story of Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. It describes exactly what happened to the pre-Christ believers and non-believers.
A few scriptures to remember are:
When Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin it says in Genesis 35:18 that her soul was in departing for she died.
2 Kings 2:1 Elijah was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. I like to say when they deny this, well did God just take him really high into the sky then drop him to his death? Of course not. They will say that his death was not recorded. What a coincidence?
Read Matthew 17. Peter, James, and John all saw Moses and Elijah. It was really them, but the JWs will just say that it was just a vision. They are all in soul sleep waiting for the resurrection.
Matthew 10:28 Jesus says don't fear him who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Making a clear distinction between the two. They don't believe in a soul. They think that the body and the soul are the same thing.
What about hell? Is it a real place?
The JWs will fight you tooth and nail about this subject. They absolutely will not believe that a loving God will send a person to hell for all eternity. And by the way, that is a favorite argument of non-believers as well.
There are tons of scriptures about hell and the reality of it. They will spiritualize this subject like they do with everything else. I believe the bible says what it means and we are to take it literal unless figurative language is used. Like whenever the scriptures say that it is like something. They believe that when you die, you enter soul sleep. They will use Ecclesiastes 9:5 in their translation which says the dead are conscious of nothing at all. Its a gross mistranslation and the only one they have. On a side note. Ecclesiastes is definitely scripture and the word of God, but you have to read the book in its context. Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon and is about life without God. Most bible teachers will agree that you need to be really careful to try and pull doctrine from that book as well as the book of Job due to its context. I believe all scripture is God breathed (2 Tim 3:16). When statements are made in the bible, its true that it was said but it doesn't mean that the statement is true. Like when Satan lied to Eve in the garden and said, "You will not die"(Genesis 3:4). That is one of many examples.
Its important to remember and remind the JW that God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are past us even finding out. (Isaiah 55:8-9) So when they try and say that they cant understand why a loving God would send a person to hell. Just tell them to keep that in mind when trying to understanding this doctrine.
There are 2 greek words translated hell in the Bible. Gehenna and hades. Hades is the temporary hell where the unsaved people are tormented until the White throne judgement. Gehenna is the final place of torment after the white throne judgement. The bible calls it the second death and the lake of fire. Revelation 20:13-14. Jesus spoke of hell often. Warning us about the dangers of going there. Matthew 5:22, 5:29, 5:30, 18:9. He said it is a place where the fire lasts forever. Matthew 25:41, 25:46, Mark 9:43-48, Revelation 14:11, 20:10.
Turn your bible to Luke 16 and read the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Clearly this is an actual story that has happened not a parable because this story has a name in it. The JWs will say that it is a parable. If that were true, ask them what is the point of the story? It describes the rich man being fully aware of his surroundings, being in tormented in a flame, and super thirsty. Not just in some sort of soul sleep where he is in sleep without dream. He then begs for a chance to tell his brothers about this place of torment. Notice that there is a great gulf fixed between the two. One side being a place of paradise and comfort called Abraham's bosom where the believers went before thet time of Christ.
Jesus said that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 8:12, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30. Doesn't sound like a peaceful sleep to me or total destruction. Sounds like people are very much aware of their surroundings. These scriptures are straight and to the point.
Revelation 20:10 states that the Lake of Fire is a place where they are tormented day and night forever and ever. Also Revelation 20:15 states that anyone whos name was not written in the Book of Life was thrown into the Lake of Fire.
Who are the 144,000?
They JWs believe that they are the 144,000 not including the first apostles. When the JWs first came to be, they said that they were the 144,000 until their numbers started to grow over that. Now they say that they are the other sheep.
Definitely NOT the JWs. In the book of Revelation chapters 7 & 14, The 144,000 are identified as Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel. They are not lost tribes, God is all knowing and he knows who they are. As a matter of fact the tribes are listed in the bible which makes no sense if they are JWs. They can't explain to you why they are listed. They try and spiritualize everything and twist it to their own destruction.
What about Israel? Is God done with them?
The JWs' love to say that God is done with Israel. They misquote Matt 23:38 and will say "Jesus said to the Jews, your house is desolate. They rejected Jesus and killed him so Jehovah says I am done with you." They will say that the church has replaced Israel in the scriptures. Its called replacement theology.
This is another classic example where the JWs fail to read the whole bible before jumping to conclusions. If you read the whole bible, the scriptures shout out that Gods promises to the Jews are everlasting.
First of all, Paul asks the question in Romans 11:1 which was written after the ministry of Jesus by the way. "Has God cast away his people? Certainly not!" Seems pretty conclusive. But again they will make their argument and ignore this scripture.
To get to the scripture mentioned above in Matthew 23, Jesus did indeed prophesy the destruction of Jerusalem. If they read all of the scriptures they would come across Luke 21:24 where Jesus again talked about the destruction of Jerusalem and then added, "Until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled." Meaning that God will scatter them out of their land which he has done several times in history. But promises that he will once again bring them back into their land again.
Turn over to Ezekiel and read chapters 36-37. Clearly God scattered the Jews out of their land but is going to bring the Jews back into their promised land in the latter days which is happening before our very eyes. When Israel became a nation again in 1948 this was a huge event in bible prophesy.
Finally, remind them that in Genesis 17, God promised the land to Abraham and his descendants for an everlasting covenant.
What does God's word say about the second coming of Jesus? Did he in fact come back in 1914 and set up the watchtower as his organization?
The JWs believe that they are Gods organization. That Jesus himself came back invisibly in 1914 and set up the watchtower as his organization. They say that it is just the way it was when God chose Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt.
The watchtower is NOT God's organization. That is a typical lie from the pit of hell and a classic line from cult groups. Jesus' coming back is literal and still future. Lets look at the scriptures.
Jesus will return similar to how he left. Acts 1:11
He will appear in the sky above the earth on a white horse. Revelation 19:11. He is not the rider of the horse in Revelation 6:2. Which is what they believe. That is the anti-christ during the tribulation.
What about the New World Translation? Is it the most accurate translation available?
They believe that they have the most accurate bible translation on earth.
The New World Translation is the worst translation in the whole world. Horrible translation that they exclusively wrote with people who didn't have ANY training in Hebrew or Greek.
They used to use the American Standard Version but they were having a hard time with explaining their view of everything so they came out with their own version.
There are thousands of errors in that translation. Twisting the words and changing the meanings to fit their doctrine. Of course they accuse us of doing the same thing.
They use the name Jehovah over 200 times in the new testament where it is not. They make alot of assumptions by doing that. Since God is the author of the cannon of scriptures and he didn't use the tetragrammaton, neither should we.
They move commas around to fit their doctrine. Compare translations in Luke 23:43.
When the bible says that Jesus received worship. The NWT changed it to obesience, which means just show respect. The greek word used is proskuneo. It means worship. By lowering the meaning of the word, they claim that Jesus was never worshipped. I like to say to the JWs. Proskuneo the Father, Proskuneo the Son, Proskuneo the Holy Spirit, but don't proskuneo the angels. If Jesus is Michael the Archangel he would have never received proskuneo when it was given to him like when John fell at the foot of the angel in Revelation 22:8 and the angel stopped him right away.
My final thought.
In the beginning, during the fall of man. Satan was doing the same thing he does today. Satan questioned Eve (Genesis 3:1). Did GOD really say you would die? I see Satan working through the Watchtower asking the same questions. Does the Bible really say that Jesus is God? Does the bible really say that believers go to heaven when they die? ETC....... In order to deceive he still twists and misquotes the scripture like he tried with Jesus during the temptation in Matthew 4. So please be careful. Matthew 7:15 Jesus warns us to beware of false prophets in sheeps clothing.
