.: I WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BIBLE SO I STARTED STUDYING WITH JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES. HAVE I BEEN DECEIVED?
“I just read Tammie’s story about her experiences in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I couldn’t help but think that I might be blinded. I have been studying with a Jehovah’s Witness for a few months and reading their books. Before this, I was never religious at all. I am very naïve concerning religion and everything I know has been what I have learned through my studies with them. What I’m learning seems to make a lot of sense, but I want to be sure I am doing the right thing. Have I been deceived or are the Jehovah’s Witnesses accurately teaching me the Bible? Are your beliefs based entirely around the Bible? If so, what are your beliefs now and how do they differ from Jehovah’s Witnesses?”
RESPONSE FROM TAMMIE:
Dear friend,
Thank you for writing us. It is good that you are investigating the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses and we commend you for this. The Jehovah’s Witness religion sounds good on the surface. They make you think that you are learning the Bible because they have you repeat back to them the answers that their Watchtower literature gives for the questions they ask you about the Bible. Since you don’t know much about the Bible, they will take advantage of this and make you think they know a lot. But in comparison to true Bible teachers, they do not know much about the Scriptures. Their arguments can sound very impressive and convincing if you’re new at learning how to study the Bible, but when you research what they are not telling you, you’ll see how their arguments cannot stand up to the evidence.
They will tell you not to believe everything they say, but to look at what the Bible says before you believe something they teach. However, when you show them verses in the Bible that disagree with what they are trying to teach you, they get a very antagonistic attitude toward you. They are not open to any reasoning on the Scriptures that disagree with anything that they have been taught by the Watchtower Society.
Many of the Scriptures they will have you look up in their Bible are often taken out of context and they will try to get you to use their New World Translation (NWT) Bible. But we caution you not to use their Bible. It is full of errors, additions and deletions. If you want proof, get a good Bible translation like the New American Standard Bible, the King James Version, or New King James Version, or even a more modern translation like the New International Version, English Standard Version, or the New Living Translation and do a comparison between these Bibles and the Jehovah’s Witness NWT. We also have a list of mistranslated verses in their Bible on our website at:
IS THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESS BIBLE, THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION, A GOOD TRANSLATION?
Even most Christians have a hard time talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses because Witnesses are prepared for the “common” arguments Christians bring up against their beliefs. Jehovah’s Witnesses spend two hours a week practicing how to convert people to their religion and how to overcome the objections people raise against their religion. But the fact that they know how to counter objections is a big difference from true Bible knowledge. Here are a few biblical doctrines that Jehovah’s Witnesses distort:
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At 1 Timothy 2:5, the Bible says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (KJV) But the Watchtower says that Jesus is only the mediator for 144,000 people. (See Watchtower publication, Worldwide Security Under the Prince of Peace, 1986, p. 10) Since they teach that most people living today cannot become part of that 144,000 group, according to the Watchtower, most people today are without a mediator. So, if you become a Jehovah’s Witness, you will not be able to go to God because Jesus said that all must go “through” Jesus alone to get to God (John 14:6).
- At John 3:5, Jesus said you must be “born again” (born of the Spirit of God) in order to see God’s Kingdom. But Jehovah’s Witnesses say that only 144,000 people are “born again.” Since most people living today cannot become part of that 144,000 group of “born again” followers of Jesus, if you accept Jehovah’s Witness teachings, you will not be able to see God’s Kingdom.
- At Romans 8:14-16, the Bible says that “ALL” Christians must be adopted into God’s family as spiritual “children of God,” before they can be “led by the Spirit of God,” but Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only 144,000 people are “adopted” into God’s family. So, if you become a Jehovah’s Witness, you will not be allowed to be “adopted” into God’s spiritual family. Thus, you will not be able to be “led by the Spirit of God.” Romans 8:8-9 also explains that those who do not have God’s Spirit (which Christians receive by adoption into God’s family), they “cannot please God” and do not “belong” to Christ.
- At Revelation 7:9-15, 19:1, the Bible says that a “great crowd” of people who are too numerous to count will be in heaven, but Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only 144,000 will be in Heaven. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that only 144,000 will be in heaven. So, if you become a Jehovah’s Witness you will not obey the commandment of Scripture at Colossians 3:1-2 to: “…seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (KJV)
These are a few examples of the many teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses that do not agree with the Bible. For more examples of the problems in their teachings, please see the following articles on our website:
You will notice that when Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot answer these kinds or concerns and questions from the Bible, they will “spiritualize” the verses in question by saying that either that these verses “do not apply” or that these verses do not mean what they say. Either way, this type of Scripture twisting that Jehovah’s Witnesses do to try to make their beliefs “fit” the Bible, is dishonoring to God and His Holy Word. For Scripture warns, “Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:6, NKJV)
We praise God that you are being led to study the Bible more. The most rewarding activity you can ever do is to search for your Creator! But only God Himself can reveal Himself to you. I cannot do it; nor can the Jehovah’s Witnesses do it. In Matthew 16:15-18, Jesus asked His followers, “ ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’ ” (NKJV)
So no matter what anyone tells you, you must ask God to reveal Himself to you, because He is the only one who can. Even if we show you an hundred verses to prove who God is that would profit you nothing unless God Himself reveals Himself to you. He promises He is not far away from each one of us. Psalm 14:2 and 53:2 are very interesting in this respect. They tell us that God is looking down from heaven to see if anyone is looking for him. I know He sees you, because you are looking for Him. Ask him to make it plain to you what is right and what is wrong.
You asked about what we believe because you want to know the truth. You also realize that you need to hear both sides of the story in order to come to a proper decision. We can tell you a lot and share Scriptures with you, but it is the job of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to bear witness to Christ and to guide you into all truth. In other words, there is NO truth apart from that which is revealed by the Spirit of Truth Himself. John 14:17, John 15:26 and John 16:13 all testify to the power of the Spirit to do this in your life.
At John 14:17, Jesus explains that the Spirit of truth can be “in” you. This happens when you repent of your sins, come to Jesus and give your life to Him. In my own experience, I (Tammie) was very limited in what I could understand from the Bible until I gave my life to Jesus. When you turn your heart over to Him, He will send you His Spirit of truth so that you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). You will recognize Him when you hear His Truth, because His sheep know His voice (John 10:3-7).
I hope some of this helps. May Jehovah God bless and reward your diligence to find and serve Him.
Tammie
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