Jehovah’s Witness Beliefs and Practices

THE BIBLE ANSWERS JEHOVAH’S WITNESS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

JW QUESTIONS: Answering Questions Your Jehovah’s Witness Friends Ask

  • Introduction: An Overview of Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Why Do People Say Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Not Christians? – Part 1 / Part 2
  • Do You Worship a “Pagan” Trinity?
  • Do You Believe in War, Hell and the Cross?
  • Does Your Bible Remove God’s Name?
  • Do You Preach Jehovah’s Kingdom?
  • Are You In the Truth?
  • Questions and Answers

CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS WITH JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES: Biblical Answers To Questions Jehovah’s Witnesses Ask

  • Examining the Authority of the Watchtower Society
  • Analyzing the Issues Relating to Eternal Life
  • Evaluating Jehovah’s Witness Conscience Issues

 

Are Hebrew Scripture Patriarchs in Heaven? - John 3:13

IF JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO ASCEND TO HEAVEN, WILL ELIJAH AND OTHER OLD TESTAMENT BELIEVERS BE IN HEAVEN?

“And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)

JEHOVAH'S WITNESS POSITION

The Watch Tower Society teaches that only 144,000 people will live eternally in heaven while the rest of faithful mankind will only have the prospect of living forever in “Paradise” earth. Believing that this heavenly group began at Pentecost (33 AD), Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that “there is nothing in the Scriptures to show that a heavenly hope was held out to God’s servants prior to the coming of Christ Jesus.”1. Thus, they assert that “David, Job and John the Baptizer” as well as “all faithful men and women who died before Jesus died … will be resurrected to become some of the earthly subjects of God’s kingdom.”2. In support of their belief that none of the Old Testament servants of God will be in heaven, Jehovah’s Witnesses reference John 3:13, Acts 2:34 and Matthew 11:11.

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Jehovah's Witness View of Bible Study

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.:ARE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ALLOWED TO STUDY THE BIBLE BY ITSELF?

“I am studying with Jehovah's Witnesses, and one thing I read on your website said that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to study the Bible on their own without Watchtower literature. However, the Jehovah’s Witness brothers I study with often encourage me to read and study the Bible whenever I get the chance, even if I’m by myself. So, why would they encourage me to read and study the Bible by myself if they had something to hide? Even at the meetings, we are not just told about the Scriptures, we are instructed to look them up with the brother who is teaching us, and he goes through the Scriptures in detail so that nothing is missed. We are all encouraged to read the Bible by ourselves, all the way through from Genesis to Revelation. I would like to know who told you the wrong information you have on your website about Jehovah's Witnesses?”

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Spying and Stalking in Jehovah's Witnesses

SpyingJEHOVAH’S WITNESSES ARE SPYING ON AND STALKING US! What Can We Do?

“I dated a Jehovah’s Witness for a while and got her pregnant.  I have broken off the relationship, but she continues to manipulate me by threatening that she won’t let me see the child if I seek custody."

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Jehovah's Witness View of Transgenders, Homosexuals, and Lesbians

Rainbow Flag

.:HOW DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES VIEW TRANSGENDERS, HOMOSEXUALS AND LESBIANS?

“Hello, I have a quick question. I am wondering what do the Jehovah’s Witnesses think of someone who is transgender? Do they reject them as they do homosexuals and lesbians?”

OUR RESPONSE

Dear friend,

Although your question is a quick one, it does not have simple answer. Whether you are a transgender yourself or are asking this question for a friend of yours, the issues surrounding this subject are complex. Jehovah’s Witnesses view a transgender as a homosexual. So, in spite of the sex change, a transgender would not be accepted into the Watchtower organization any more than a homosexual or lesbian would be accepted, because they would view a transgender in the original gender that they were born with. For justification of their position, Jehovah’s Witnesses would appeal to the Bible’s condemnation of this practice:

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What Jehovah’s Witnesses Need To Know About Christmas

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WHAT JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHRISTMAS

There is a historical basis for the December 25th date of Christ’s birth. Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.) wrote Marcus Aurelius that Jesus was born at Bethlehem ‘‘as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing.” (Apologia I, 34).  Tertullian (160-250) noted “the census of Augustus — that most faithful witness of the Lord’s nativity, kept in the archives of Rome” (Against Marcion, Bk. 4, 7). Cyril of Jerusalem (348-386) asked Julius to assign Christ’s birth date “from census documents brought by Titus to Rome” from which Julius assigned the date of December 25th. Likewise, John Chrysostom, who lived about 347-407, wrote that Christ’s December 25th birthday was supported by the tax or census records still existing in his day that showed their registration at Bethlehem.

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Jehovah's Witnesses and Healing Miracles

Resurrection of Jesus

WHAT DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES BELIEVE ABOUT PHYSICAL HEALING?

I have a sister who I rarely see who has been a Jehovah’s Witness for over thirty-five years. Last week, I was visiting another sister and my Jehovah’s Witness sister showed up, much to my surprise and delight. In a conversation with about ten of our family members, I said something about how I had been healed of Multiple Sclerosis, but this was received with a quick glare from my Jehovah’s Witness sister.  My church family, my husband and I had been praying for a long time for my healing.  I had taken a shot every day to keep the symptoms at bay, until God miraculously healed me.  I stopped taking my shots, and not only have the daily symptoms gone away, but my physical abilities that the disease had robbed me of have now returned. I can now taste and smell, my short-term memory has improved, and I now have the ability to walk farther than ten feet without having to sit and rest.  Why did my sister react when she heard about my healing?  Someone told me that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that healing is from Satan.  Is this true?  Has the Watchtower ever addressed this issue?  I have plenty of Scripture from the Bible on healing, but what are they being told?

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Jehovah's Witness Ban on Blood Transfusions

jwgodsname.:WHY DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES REFUSE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS? Did they also prohibit vaccinations and organ transplants?

“I am interested in the Jehovah’s Witness religion. However, I am curious why Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions. I am aware of the verse in the Bible that talks about not eating blood, but can you explain how eating blood refers to blood transfusions? I have also heard that Jehovah’s Witnesses used to ban vaccinations and organ transplants. Is this true?”

OUR RESPONSE

Dear Friend,

Your question is a good one because there is a major inconsistency between the Jehovah’s Witness interpretation of the Biblical passages condemning the eating of blood and the actual act of transfusing blood into the body. Orthodox Jews are much more meticulous about following these Scriptures in the Law of Moses than the Jehovah’s Witnesses are. Yet, they have no problem accepting blood transfusions, and of all the Christian churches and denominations that claim to uphold the Bible’s principles, the Jehovah’s Witness religion is the ONLY religion that claims that these verses (Genesis 9:3-4; Leviticus 17:13-14; Acts 15:28-29) that speak of not physically eating blood also apply to the transfusion of human blood in the veins of the body.   

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Abuse in Jehovah’s Witnesses and How to Forgive

Mountain Flowers

.:HOW CAN I FORGIVE MY JEHOVAH’S WITNESS FATHER WHO ABUSED ME AND THE ELDERS WHO DID NOTHING ABOUT IT?

“I am emailing you because I have been very angry at the elders from the Jehovah’s Witness congregation I attended when I was growing up. My father was mentally sick, and beat and molested us. The elders in the Kingdom Hall did nothing. At fourteen years old, I confronted one of the leading elders and asked him why he didn’t do anything about my dad’s abusive behavior. He said: ‘What should I have done about it?’ It’s the same old thing: ‘Let Jehovah take care of it’ which basically means to ignore his behavior and pretend like it didn’t happen. I am now thirty-two years old, and have a hard time not emotionally exploding when the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to my door.  I tell them what happened in my family to let them know that something was horrible in their congregation and justice wasn’t served. I know that I need to ‘forgive’ as I am now a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, but I can’t help but become angry that they call me an ‘apostate.’ I have even had to threaten to call the police to get one elder to leave my doorstep after I told him my past and why I left. I am angry at the whole organization. They are sick! Anyway, that is what I am dealing with now.”

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Jehovah's Witness Bible Translation Examined

jwgodsname.:IS THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BIBLE, THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION, A GOOD TRANSLATION?

It is a well-known fact that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses denies the Deity of Jesus Christ. To this end, when they produced their own translation of the Bible (The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures), they went to great lengths to make it appear that the Scriptures do not support the idea that Jesus Christ is God (Jehovah). In an attempt to shift the emphasis off of Jesus Christ as God, they inserted the derivation “Jehovah” (an adaptation from the original Hebrew “YHWH” for God’s Name) in place of theos (God) and kurios (Lord) in multiple verses in the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament). Thus, they created a distinction between Jehovah God and Jesus Christ that is not warranted in the text. In addition to inserting God’s Name where it is not supported by the text, they have also mistranslated many verses that support the Deity of Jesus Christ to justify their own anti-Trinitarian dogma. The following list (prepared by Chris Stire of Life After Watchtower Support Ministries) provides a record of the verses where the Watchtower Society’s anti-Trinitarian bias can be seen in their New World Translation. We encourage readers to verify these errors with any Greek/English Interlinear, including the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures published by the Watchtower Society. NOTE: All references to brackets in the list below are from the 1984 edition of the New World Translation because in 2006, the Watchtower Society updated their version of the New World Translation Bible to remove the brackets that they used to have around words that they inserted that are not found in the Greek text. Thus, all editions of the New World Translation except the ones between 1984 and 2006 have words deceptively added without the brackets to make it seem as if these words are found in the original Greek text even though they are not in the text. Note: The examples in this article are based upon the 1984 edition of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures compared to the 1985 edition of the Kingdom Interlinear translation of the Greek Scriptures.

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Will the "Great Crowd" be on Earth When Armageddon Breaks Out?

heavenlysunset

WILL THE "GREAT CROWD" BE ON EARTH WHEN ARMAGEDDON BREAKS OUT?

Revelation 7:9, 15: “Look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb … That is why they are before the throne of God; and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple.” (New World Translation)

For years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have taught that the vast majority of their followers will resurrect to everlasting life upon an Earthly Paradise, and that only a select group of 144,000 followers will live and reign with Jesus Christ in Heaven. These two groups of followers are called “the Earthly Class” and “the Heavenly Class.” The “Earthly Class” is also called “the Other Sheep” of John 10:16 and “the Great Crowd” of Revelation 7:9, while the “Heavenly Class” is called “the Little Flock” of Luke 12:32, “the Anointed Class” of 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and “the 144,000” of Revelation chapters 7 and 14.  These terms are used frequently to reinforce this two-class structure of the Watchtower belief system.

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Jehovah's Witness History, Beliefs and Practices

Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall

WHO ARE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES? - Their History, Beliefs and Practices

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1.  History of The Watchtower Organization:

  • 1852 Founder Charles Taze Russell was born
  • 1870’s Russell studied the doctrines of Second Adventists: George Storrs, Jonas Wendell, George Stetson and Nelson Barbour
  • 1879: Russell began publishing Zion’s Watchtower And Herald of Christ’s Presence (Precursor to The Watchtower magazine)
  • 1881: Main Legal Entity Founded - Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
  • 1909: Headquarters Moved to Brooklyn, New York - Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.
  • 1916: Charles Taze Russell died
  • 1917-1942: Second Watchtower President “Judge” Joseph F. Rutherford
  • 1931: The name “Jehovah’s Witnesses” adopted
  • 1942-1977: Third Watchtower President Nathan H. Knorr
  • 1978-1992: Fourth Watchtower President: Frederick W. Franz
  • 1992-2000: Fifth Watchtower President: Milton George Henschel
  • 2000: Change in Organizational Structure:
    • Three Corporations Formed: Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Religious Order of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Kingdom Support Services
    • Watchtower “Governing Body” relinquished control of the organization to the Board of Directors, under Don A. Adam
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Facts the Watchtower Society doesn't want you to know

JW Facts Book
Fully documented with photocopies of statements from rare Watchtower publications, this book reveals many facts the Watchtower Society tries to hide from Jehovah’s Witnesses and investigators of this religion. Click HERE to purchase a hard copy of this book for $9.99 / or Kindle for $2.99

A BUSY RELIGION

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  As of 2010, there are over 7 million active Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, spending approximately one billion hours each year serving the Watchtower organization. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are active in over 230 countries, and are the fastest growing religion in the former USSR.

Claiming that people must “come to Jehovah’s organization for salvation,” 1. the Watchtower Society places great pressure on Jehovah’s Witnesses to perform according to their guidelines. In addition to attending several meetings each week, Jehovah’s Witnesses are required to spend many hours each month distributing Watchtower articles, conducting Watchtower “Bible studies,” and researching various topics in Watchtower literature for discussion during their meetings. Witnesses are forbidden to serve in the military, salute the flag, say the pledge of allegiance, vote in elections, take blood transfusions, celebrate birthdays and holidays including Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas, and are forbidden to read literature critical of the organization. Over the years, Jehovah’s Witnesses have also been discouraged from associating with non-Jehovah’s Witness friends, participating in after school activities such as sports, and furthering their education by going to college.2.

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Is the Human Soul and Spirit Immortal?

Soul

Watchtower teaches that the soul and spirit of a person constitutes the life-force of the individual. the Society claims that this life-force (soul and spirit) ceases to exist at the point of death, but does the Bible teach that the human soul and spirit become annihilated at death? The following verses demonstrate the fallacy of such reasoning:

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Watchtower Doctrine Exposed

--Shining God's Light on Jehovah's Witness Beliefs

Reference Chart exposing the doctrinal errors of the Watchtower Society in parallel form by comparing Watchtower doctrine against the clear teachings of the Bible.

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Jehovah's Witness Magazines

 

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Will God Punish People In Hell Forever?

Mountain Fire Clouds

HELL - Why Believe in it?

Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and other religious groups deny the idea that a literal "hell" exists in which all who reject Jesus Christ will be eternally tormented with fire. They question how a "loving God" could send people to such a place with no hope of an end to the torment. In answer, we must examine what the Bible teaches in regard to "hell," God's love, justice and the sinfulness of man.

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WAR and NEUTRALITY - Should Christians Remain Neutral During War?

war

WAR and NEUTRALITY - Should Christians Remain Neutral during War?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that it is the Christian's duty to remain "neutral" during warfare. In countries throughout the world, many have faced imprisonment and even death for their conscientious objection to bearing arms in war.

Historically, the Watchtower organization permitted Jehovah's Witnesses to go to war as long as they did not kill anyone or they sought non-combative, civilian service in place of active duty. The August 1, 1898 issue of Zion's Watch Tower claimed on page 231:

"Notice that there is no command in the Scriptures against military service. Obedience to a draft would remind us of our Lord's words, 'If any man compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.' The government may compel marching or drilling, but cannot compel you to kill the foe. You need not be a good marksman. Question. You suggested in a recent WATCH TOWER that, if drafted and in the army, we need not shoot to kill. Would such a course be right? Would it not be fraudulent? Answer. No; it would be quite right to shoot, not to kill. You forget, perhaps, our provisos, which were that we explain our conscientious scruples against war, and seek to be excused; if not excused, that we seek non-combatant positions, as nurses, etc.; but if compelled to go a mile or many miles as a soldier, we still need not kill anybody."

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Did Elijah Send a Letter to King Jehoram After His Ascension into Heaven? (2 Chronicles 21:12)

Heaven

ARE HEBREW SCRIPTURE PATRIARCHS IN HEAVEN? Did Elijah send a letter to King Jehoram after his ascension into heaven?

2 CHRONICLES 21:12: "Then a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet."

JEHOVAH'S WITNESS ARGUMENT

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that no person who lived prior to the coming of Jesus Christ went to heaven. In order to support their ideology, they explain Elijah's ascension into heaven as a temporary removal from one place on earth to another and claim that Elijah reappeared on earth to send a letter to King Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:12) years after he went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11).1.

BIBLICAL RESPONSE

There is no indication that Elijah went up to heaven before he sent the letter to King Jehoram of Judah. We read at 1 Kings 22:50 and 2 Kings 1:17 that Jehoram became King of Judah two years before a different King Jehoram became king of Israel. It wasn't until the next chapter at 2 Kings 2:11 (during the reign of this other King Jehoram of Israel) that we read of Elijah's ascension into heaven.

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Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Shun Family Members Who Leave?

Jehovah's Witness Shunning and Support

DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES SHUN FAMILY MEMBERS WHO LEAVE? Does the Bible Support the Jehovah’s Witness practice of shunning?

A common trait among cults and destructive religious groups is the practice of “shunning” members who leave (disassociate) or get expelled (disfellowshipped or excommunicated) for wrongdoing. While these groups often assert that the practice of shunning (prohibiting all unnecessary communication with ex-members) is a “loving” form of spiritual punishment, many question the validity of this claim. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a long history of shunning family members and friends who leave their religion and the carnage this has practice has left behind in the lives of many broken families is irreconcilable as the following statement from an ex-Jehovah’s Witness testifies:

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