Who are the Jehovah's witnesses

1. Who are theJehovah's Witnesses – 26th
April 2016
The sect knownas the Jehovah'sWitnessesstartedoutinPennsylvaniain1870 as a Bible classledby
CharlesTaze Russell.Russell namedhisgroupthe “Millennial DawnBible Study.”CharlesT.Russell
beganwritinga seriesof bookshe called“The Millennial Dawn,”whichstretchedtosix volumesbefore
hisdeathand containedmuchof the theologyJehovah’sWitnesses now hold.AfterRussell'sdeathin
1916, Judge J.F. Rutherford,Russell'sfriendandsuccessor,wrote the seventhandfinal volume of the
“Millennial Dawn”series,“The FinishedMystery,”in1917. The WatchtowerBible andTract Societywas
foundedin1886 and quicklybecame the vehicle throughwhichthe “Millennial Dawn”movementbegan
distributingtheirviewstoothers.The groupwasknownas the “Russellites”until 1931 when,due toa
splitinthe organization,itwasrenamedthe “Jehovah’sWitnesses.”The groupfromwhichit split
became knownasthe “Bible students.”
What do Jehovah’sWitnessesbelieve?Close scrutinyof theirdoctrinal positiononsuchsubjectsasthe
deityof Christ,salvation,the Trinity,the HolySpirit,andthe atonementshowsbeyondadoubtthatthey
do notholdto orthodox Christianpositionsonthese subjects.Jehovah’sWitnessesbelieve Jesusis
Michael the archangel,the highestcreatedbeing.ThiscontradictsmanyScriptureswhichclearlydeclare
Jesustobe God as repeatedlystatedinJohn1:1,14, 8:58, 10:30. . Jehovah’sWitnessesbelieve salvation
isobtainedbya combinationof faith,goodworks,andobedience.Thiscontradictscountlessscriptures
whichdeclare salvationtobe receivedbygrace throughfaithassyayedin John3:16; Ephesians2:8-9;
Titus 3:5. Jehovah’sWitnessesrejectthe Trinity,believingJesustobe a createdbeingandthe HolySpirit
to essentiallybe the inanimate powerof God.Jehovah’sWitnessesrejectthe conceptof Christ’s
substitutionaryatonementandinsteadholdtoaransom theory,thatJesus’deathwasa ransom
paymentforAdam’ssin.
How dothe Jehovah’sWitnessesjustifytheseunbiblical doctrines?First,theyclaimthatthe churchhas
corruptedthe Bible overthe centuries;thus,theyhave re-translatedthe Bibleintowhat theycall the
NewWorldTranslation.The WatchtowerBible andTract Societyalteredthe textof the Bible tomake it
fittheirfalse doctrine,ratherthanbasingtheirdoctrine onwhatthe Bible actuallyteaches.The New
WorldTranslationhasgone through numerouseditions,asthe Jehovah’sWitnessesdiscovermore and
more Scripturesthatcontradict theirdoctrines.
The Watchtowerbasesitsbeliefsanddoctrinesonthe original andexpandedteachingsof CharlesTaze
Russell,Judge JosephFranklinRutherford,andtheirsuccessors.The governingbodyof the Watchtower
Bible andTract Societyisthe onlybodyinthe cultthat claimsauthorityto interpretScripture.Inother
words,whatthe governingbodysaysconcerninganyscriptural passage isviewedasthe lastword,and
independentthinkingisstronglydiscouraged.ThisisindirectoppositiontoPaul'sadmonitionto
Timothy(andto us as well) tostudytobe approvedbyGod, so thatwe neednotbe ashamedas we
correctlyhandle the Wordof God. Thisadmonition,foundin 2 Timothy2:15, “Do your best to present
yourselfto Godas one approved,a worker who doesnot need to be ashamedand whocorrectly
handlesthe word of truth”.It isa clearinstructionforeachof Hischildrentobe like the Berean

2. Christians,whosearchedthe Scripturesdailytosee if the thingstheywere beingtaughtlinedupwith
the Word.
There isprobablynoreligiousgroupthatismore faithful thanthe Jehovah’sWitnessesatgettingtheir
message out.Unfortunately,the message isfullof distortions,deceptions,andfalse doctrine.MayGod
openthe eyesof the Jehovah’sWitnessestothe truthof the gospel andthe true teachingof God’s
Word.