Doctrinal Errors of the Jehovah's Witnesses

Today I'm going to cover some of the Principle beliefs of the Jehovah's witnesses that differ from traditional orthodox Christianity.

Beliefs about God

I will start by pointing out that Jehovah's witnesses have an Incorrect view of who God is, that is they deny the triune God of scripture. They reject  Jesus' divinity, thinking he is Micheal the archangel. They also believe the Holy Spirit is just God's force. I will cover these two flawed beliefs in other post so I won't be covering them here.

Beliefs about the Afterlife

Another belief they are well known for having is the view of the afterlife know as Annihilation, that is they don't believe the lost will burn forever in a literal fiery place of torment, see my post on hell to biblical refute that. Furthermore JW's believe that only 144,000 people are going to make it to heaven because they misinterpret Rev 7:4, all they have to do is look at the context to see that it is talking about the children of Israel. They believe that the rest of the saved will stay on a paradise on earth.

Beliefs about Salvation

The Watchtower Society teaches it's members that they are the light men must go to and serve in order to obtain eternal life, which is contrary to Joh 14:6. What did men do before the watchtower existed? Do they expect me to believe none of them were saved?

What's really sad about the JW's view of salvation is that they believe they have to work to get into heaven just like most other religions. They believe they have to do four things to be saved. The first one is get the necessary knowledge which according to them can only be acquired through their five 1 hour meetings a week.

Then they have to get baptized, JW's teach that it's necessary for salvation. The truth is water baptism doesn't save anyone, it is done as an act of obedience and to show that we are saved. Furthermore they don't baptize in the name of the Holy Ghost like Jesus commands (Mat 28:19) but in the name of the "spirit filled" organization aka the watchtower society.

Number 3 in the list of things one is required to do in order to be saved is have righteous conduct, in other words works. This includes not only keeping all of God's laws (which the bible says cannot justify us Rom 3:20, Gal 3:11), but also all of the watchtowers commands as well.

The last thing JW's must do to be saved is basically go out and evangelize others to become JW's. The bible on the other hand tells us that salvation is a free gift apart from works (Rom 6:23, Rom 11:6, Eph 2:8-10). Works are simply the result of and not a requirement for salvation. 

Concerning Failed Prophecies

Another problem with the Jehovah's witnesses that  I would like to cover is the failed prophecy predictions of several key men in the organization. Charles Russel predicted that the rapture would occur in 1878, when it didn't happen he moved it back to 1881. He later prophesied that Christ would return in 1914, It was later said by Rutherford that 1914 marked when the heavenly part of God's kingdom was established. Furthermore he predicted that the ancient patriarchs and prophets would be resurrected by 1925. Why do Jehovah's Witnesses stay with an organization founded on false prophets (Deut 18:20-22)?

Other Points

One way to tell that Jehovah witnesses is a cult is because they forbid their members from reading/studying any non watchtower approved materiel contrary to 2 Cor 13:5 and 1Th 5:21. If they do they are disfellowshipped meaning they are basically cut off from the organization which usually includes their entire or most of their family and friends. Reading non watchtower material is not a biblical reason to dis fellowship someone, see 1 Cor 5:11.

It's also worth noting that the Jehovah witnesses teach that Jesus didn't die on the cross but on a torture steak with one nail in his hand which can be easily refuted by citing Joh 20:25.

They also teach that Jesus didn't rise physically from the dead, instead he rose as a spirit creature named Micheal. Even though the bible is clear that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead (Luk 24:39-43, Joh 2:18-22, Act 2:31-32). The bible makes it clear that if Christ is not risen then our faith is in vain (1 Cor 15:14-18). 

They also believe that you need to read watchtower literature in order to understand the bible. This also can be refuted by reading 2 Pet 1:19-20, which tells us that no prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation. See also 1 Joh 2:27.

In Conclusion, if you thinking of joining or remaining as a JW please don't. It is evident that this organization is not of God by it's unbiblical teachings and false prophets.

References:
Concerning prophecy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Tower_Society_unfulfilled_predictions


Concerning Salvation, Bible Study, etc
https://www.creationliberty.com/articles/religionjwitness.php

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