HOW CHRISTIANS CAN COUNSEL J. WITNESSES
This pamphlet is on the cult which calls itself Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are a deceptive counterfeit of Christianity. Those higher-up in the group are intentional in their deception; those at the bottom are merely confused. The pamphlet is designed to help these souls, instead of just shooing them away.
It is not productive to argue about all the differences between Witness theology and Christianity. They are trained to not look at your material, nor listen to you preach. The pamphlet focuses on the fundamental issues that block their salvation. It only uses their own material to refute them, and is designed to stand on its own. Fully brainwashed Witnesses may not read the pamphlet. However, it can still be a handy reference when they come to your door.
Consider that Satan sends his minions into our neighborhood to destroy whom he can. If he gets some of us, okay, and if he doesn’t, he hasn’t lost anything. Satan attacks us with impunity. We are not shooting back. Make him suffer a few ‘casualties’ and the whole dynamics of the battle will change. The pamphlet will achieve this.
Don’t beat Satan’s Witnesses over the head with TRUE Christianity. If you greet Witnesses by calling them a cult, or say their bible is altered, they will label you as an “evil slave” and go on to the next door. Satan trains them this way so they never really hear the gospel. He is so devious. Sidestep what he has done to them. Tell them you are a Christian and will be pleased to talk with them. Treat them with respect, and have open discussion. Remember, without God opening our eyes we would be as confused as them. How would we want someone to treat us?
Ask critical questions and let them try to defend their beliefs. Scrutinize words; when they say “Jesus”, “Christian”, or “salvation” they mean something quite different from what you mean. They are blind and cannot see. Gently show them where Witness theology is wrong. Be compassionate and genuine. You are no better than them; no smarter. You were given the gift of salvation because you were wholly unable to earn it. You have every reason to be humble. Share the Truth in love.
Witnesses are trained to not think for themselves. They will refer to their Book of Reasoning as their authority (and security). The more you batter them, the more they will cling to it. You must weaken their trust in it and their ‘bible’, so that they choose to turn loose. Though the Watchtower has methodically altered the Bible, their “New World Translation” of the Bible still has enough Truth to refute their own theology. Show them.
You may not feel you can adequately refute their twisted theology. Instead, you may choose to tell them what it is like to have a personal relation with Jesus. His love draws people to Him. Powerful, deep love from Jesus is foreign to Witnesses. They have a cold religion. This will be scary for them.
Confused people come to our doors, asking to talk about God. If we are not home, they will come back. Evangelism doesn’t get any easier. It is heartless to turn them away. It is not our job to convert them. It is our job to share Truth with them. After that, it’s between them and God. Satan has the power to deceive unless you cling to Jesus. If you are not firm in your faith, simply offer them the pamphlet. Unlike tax collectors and prostitutes, we are not to associate with conterfeit Christians like J. Witnesses, Catholics, Mormons, Christian Scientists, etc.; 1 Cor. 5:11, 2 John 10. We are not to have them in our home nor even greet them onthe street. We share the gospel with them and part ways, unless they want to learn more. Do not tolerate their counterfeit theology. It is a trap for you.
There is a prayer in the pamphlet which directly confronts the deceit of false theologies. It humbly asks Jehovah directly, to show us Truth. Set up the Witness by asking if we can ask Jehovah to show us Truth. Then show them the prayer and ask them if they see anything wrong with it. Ask them if they will pray it with you. If they won’t, why not? Witnesses, Catholics, Mormans, etc. will not lower their pride and sincerely seek the true God.
You may copy and distribute this pamphlet for free. Copies could be slipped into Watchtower publications that you see in laundromats or on doors. Pass them out to your friends, neighbors, etc.
(JEHOVAH’S) WITNESSES & WATCHTOWER
vs. CHRISTIANITY
All scripture quoted in this pamphlet is from the “New World Translation” (NWT) written by the Watchtower (1984). The Kingdom Interlinear is also cited (word for word direct Greek translation). Witness theology is herein examined to see if it matches what is written in the NWT Bible and to see if it is Christian. All counterfeit ‘Christian’ religions will misrepresent Jehovah and his Word, to lead people to destruction. Let’s examine.
IS JESUS ETERNAL OR CREATED?
The Watchtower “Should You Believe In The Trinity” (Trinity), states, “Jesus was a created spirit being, just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed before their creation.” (p.14). They say Jesus was created as Michael, an angel brother of Satan; not eternal and therefore not deity. However, the NWT says of Jesus, “All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.” (John 1:3, p.1327) This says Jesus existed before anything created! Jesus is “from time indefinite..” (Prov. 8:22, p. 845).
Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the *firstborn of all creation because by means of him all things were created in the heavens and upon the earth.. All things have been created through him and for him. (17) Also, he is before all things and by means of him all things were made to exist.” (19) (all the fullness of God dwells in Jesus) (p.1468). The NWT inserts “(other)” in these verses but admit they added this to God’s word to support their belief that Jesus was created. Adding words makes the verses contradict remaining scripture (e.g. Micah 5:2). It is never okay to alter Jehovah’s word! NEVER!
*FIRSTBORN- The words translated “firstborn” (e.g. prototokos) usually mean the first born male child (primogeniture), but the alternate meaning is lost in translation, i.e. mantle of preeminent status. See- Gen. 25:29 Esau traded his birthright of ‘firstborn‘ to Jacob for a bowl of lentil stew (p.37); Exo. 4:22 “.. Israel is my son, my firstborn.”(p.81) (God built the “firstborn” nation of Israel from a Chaldean named Abram); Psa 89:27 “..I myself shall place him as firstborn. The most high of the kings” (re: David, the lastborn child, p.788). (Also see- Job 18:13, Num.3:12, I Chron.5:1-2, Isa.14:30, & Jerem. 31:9.)
Col. 2:9 “Look out, perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men .. and not according to Christ; because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily” (p.1469). This clearly proclaims Jesus is Jehovah bodily, with nothing left out.
The terms “First and Last” or “Alpha and Omega” can only be used for God. They unequivocally denote infinity past to infinity future. There is no wiggle-room in these terms. Rev 1:17 “... I am the First and the Last, and the living one, and I became dead, but, look I am living forever and ever..” (p. 1525). The NWT says Jesus is eternal, sovereign, God. (Also see Rev. 2:8, 22:13, & Heb. 7:3).
Witnesses cite Rev. 3:14 “..the beginning of the creation by God” (p.1527) and interpret it to mean Jesus was made by God and not a part of God, but scripture does not contradict itself. The Greek word translated “beginning” is best understood as ‘origin’ or ‘maker’ and the “by God” is simply mistranslated. Their Interlinear translates it correctly as “of the God”.
SHOULD WE HAVE FAITH ON THE NAME
“JEHOVAH” OR “JESUS”?
The Hebrew name of God the Father is “YHWH” (Strong’s Concordance #3068). Vowels were not written in the Hebrew language, and the name was too sacred for them to speak. Today, most guess it should be pronounced ’Yahweh’; some like the German pronunciation ‘Yehovah’. It is found in the Bible four times (Exo. 6:3, Psa. 83:18, Isa. 12:2, 26:4). It means ‘I am that I am, without explanation or source’. Three variations are also found, each occurring once- Jehovah-jireh (Gen. 22:14); Jehovah-nissi (Exo. 17:15); & Jehovah-shalom (Judges. 6:24).
The words ‘Lord’ (kupios) and ‘God’ (qeós; theos) are titles, not names. Witnesses substitute the name “Jehovah” for the titles of “Lord” or “God”, except when they apply to Jesus. If they were consistent, they would translate ‘Kupios’ in Rev. 19:16 as “Jehovah of Jehovahs” to describe Jesus.
Jehovah commands us to put His Son’s name before all names; to “honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). Witnesses refuse! Imagine setting up a company through your only son. You put him in charge. He built it and he runs it. Now suppose an employee is polite to your son, but refuses to accept him as ‘boss’ or ‘owner’. He will only respect you, not your son. How quickly would you fire this disobedient, worthless fellow?
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life ... He that exercises faith in him is not to be judged. He that does not exercise faith has been judged already, because he has not exercised faith in the name of the only-begotten-Son of God.” (p. 1330). Even the demons ‘know’ Jesus (Acts 19:15), but do you truly believe in Him?
Have faith “..in the name of Jesus Christ ... there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.” (Acts 4:10, p. 1365). “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will get saved”, (Acts 16:31 p. 1385). Their Interlinear has “you will be saved” as a completed act, but the NWT mistranslation implies more is required to ‘get’ saved. Philip. 2:9 “.. the name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the ground, and every tongue should openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (p.1465). (Also Luke 9:48, Acts 3:16, & I Cor. 1:2).
Obey Jehovah and call on His only begotten Son, Jesus, for salvation. If you refuse Their arrangement, you will be fired.
IS JESUS GOD?
Witnesses adamantly state Jesus is not God, but this directly contradicts their NWT Bible. “..And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6, p. 898). “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28); “.. and they will call his name Immanuel,” which means ‘God with us’ (Matthew 1:23 p. 1217). Jesus said, “‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’ Thereupon the scribes and the Pharisees started to reason, saying .. ‘Who can forgive sins except God alone?’” (Luke 5:20 p.1291; also Luke 7:47 & Mark 2:4). “.. He was .. calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God” (John 5:18).
Jesus was not created by Jehovah; He came directly from the Being of Jehovah. This is why they are one (John 10:30, pg 1344). They are one God (Gal. 3:20), and will not share their glory with anyone (Isa. 42:8). Jesus is in Jehovah and Jehovah is in Him (John 14;10; their Interlinear and real Bibles are accurate on this but the NWT distorts it). Jesus defers completely to Yehovah.
“Jesus said to them: ..‘Before Abraham came into existence, I have been’ (59) Therefore they picked up stones to hurl at him.. ” (John 8:58, p.1341). Their Interlinear correctly translates the Greek ‘ego eimi’ as “I am”, but their NWT deceitfully substitutes “I have been”. Jesus boldly declares He is God; the same God that told Moses, “I AM” (YHWH). This is why the Jews were going to stone Him. Jesus warned, “if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins”; John 8:24 (also John 18:6).
John 10:24 “.. If you are the Christ, tell us outspokenly. Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and yet you do not believe .. (26) .. because you are none of my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (30) I and the Father are one.’ Once more the Jews lifted up stones to stone him.”
Witnesses deny they have secure salvation. Those who are not Jesus’ sheep do not have (secure) salvation; those who are, do (I John 5:13). All counterfeit ‘Christian’ religions deny our salvation is secure. This is a RED FLAG to identify them. Jesus paid the full price for you. Believers are sealed for the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30).
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me .. (9) .. He that has seen me has seen the Father.’” (p. 1350)
John 1:1 “In (the) beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” Jesus is the Word; the Word was God. The NWT added “a” before “god” to deny Jesus is truly God. Witnesses admit, “The Koine Greek language .. did not have an indefinite article (‘a’ or ‘an’)”, (Trinity, p. 27). The Greek word translated “a god” is theos, i.e. ultimate God. Inserting “a” results in polytheism.
The Bible sometimes speaks of false gods as an expression, but there is only one legitimate God in Christianity. A poignant example is, “the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through” (2Cor.4:4; also 2Thes.2:9). Confused, ‘blind’ Witnesses deny the plain meaning of words in their own Bible. Their semantic gymnastics are tragic. (Also see John 1:18, 5:39-40; Acts 2:32; 2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 1 & 2).
The ‘blind’ don’t sincerely ask God for truth; they tell Him. Find Truth in prayer right now:
Dear Jehovah, I am just a lump of clay, no smarter than sheep. I could deceive myself and never know it. I cannot know truth, except that you show me. I earnestly seek you Lord. I completely submit to Your will. Oh dear God I beg you, please show me your Truth, no matter what. If it is my current religion, fine; if you lead me to something else, I will follow. Just don’t leave me Lord. I humbly ask that You speak loud and let me know for sure. In the name of my God and Savior Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. (II Peter 1:1)
WORSHIP JESUS?
The NWT correctly translates “proskuneo” as “worship” towards Jehovah (John 4:23), but when this same word is used towards Jesus they substitute “obeisance” (Mat.2:2,11, 8:2, 28:9,17; John 9:38). All the angels worship Jesus (Heb. 1:6). They deceitfully deny Jesus was worshiped.
SAVED BY FAITH IN JESUS, NOT WORKS
It is a RED FLAG when a religion denies we are saved by faith, apart from works. Regardless of how they twist words, if we work for our salvation it is not God’s gift. Consider that flowers do not make a plant alive; it being alive is what produced the flowers. Good works will inevitably flow from this life we have been given, or we are deceiving ourselves (James 2). Acts 16:31 “.. believe on the Lord Jesus and you will (be) saved..”(p.1385). Gal.2:16 “..man is declared righteous, not due to works of the law, but only through faith toward Christ Jesus” (p.1453). (& Rom. 3:28, 10:9; John 6:40, 47).
Ephesians 2:8,9 “By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith, and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift. No, it is not owing to works, in order that no man should have ground for boasting” (p.1458). Works are an integral part of salvation but they are a result, not a cause (e.g. Gal.2:16). If earned, grace is no longer grace (Rom. 11:6).
THE THREE-PERSON GOD
Witnesses correctly assert the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, and say they do not understand the concept anyway, so it is not true. Atheists make a similar argument. However, the NWT clearly denotes a three-person God. Genesis 1:26 “And God went on to say, ‘Let us make man in our image” (p.8). This word translated “God” is Elohiym (el-o-heem) in the original Hebrew text (Codex Vaticanus). Elohiym is plural for Elowahh (el-o-ah). Elohiym is used throughout the Old Testament with a singular verb. Though plural, God acts as one. Consider the sun: it is simultaneously a ball of nuclear fire, the light that travels to earth, and the warmth on our skin. Are all three the sun? Yes they are. Jehovah is in the heavens, His Son came to earth, and the Holy Spirit is what we feel.
Witnesses admit there is a ‘holy spirit’ of some sort, but say, “.. it can be likened to electricity, a force that can be adapted to perform a great variety of operations.” (Trinity, pg. 20). “..Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mat. 28:19, p.1256). Witnesses essentially contend they are to baptize in the name of Jehovah, and of the created angel Michael, and of electricity; SHOCKING NONSENSE! (See Psa. 45:7; John 16:7; Acts 1:8; I Cor. 3:16, 12:4-7; & II Cor. 13:14).
I John 5:7 “For there are three witness bearers, the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. .. He that has the Son has this life, he that does not have the Son of God does not have this life. I write you these things that you may know that you have life everlasting, you who put your faith in the name of the Son of God.
PROPHECY
The Watchtower censors members from reading their church’s history. RED FLAG It’s a cover-up. Does your church censor its own history? The Watch-tower founder, Charles Taze Russell, sold “Miracle Wheat” for $1./pound. Russell sued the Brooklyn Daily Eagle for ridiculing his scam, but lost. He had other snake-oil, such as a cure for skin cancer (The Watchtower, 7-1-1913, p. 200). They drum up business by prophesying the end of the world and change the date as needed; eg. 1874, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, etc. In 1908, they wrote, “within the coming twenty-six years all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved” (The Watchtower Studies in the Scriptures, Series II, p.98). In 1917, they wrote “Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions ...”, (The Finished Mystery, p. 485).
Their latest scam is that in 1975, Christ’s millennial reign began; we just don‘t see it. They did the same con in 1879. Jesus said of this stuff, “do not believe it. For just as the lightening comes out of eastern parts and shines over to western parts, so the presence of the Son of man will be” (Mat. 24:23-31; 2Thes. 2:1-4, Rev. 1:7). The Bible is complete, with no prophets after Jesus (Heb. 1:1, Mar 12:1-9). Jesus is the only mediator between us and Jehovah (I Tim. 2:5).
COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIANITY
When Paul preached in Beroea “they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so”, (Acts 17:11, p. 1386; also 1Thess. 5:21). Why don’t you measure what you hear by the same standard?
Anyone who adds one single word to the Bible or takes one away, is an evil slave and will not be in the Lamb’s book of Life. (Deut. 4:2, 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18; 2Pet. 3:16). The NWT methodically alters God’s Word (e.g. Luke 9:48; John 1:1, 8:58, 14:10; Phili. 2:9, 3:8; Col. 1:15; Tit.2:13, etc.).
All evil slaves obfuscate the plain Truth in scripture. Each one claims God Himself gave them authority (to contradict God’s Word). RED FLAG They all say they are merely explaining scripture with their Book of Reasoning, Book of Mormon, church officials, traditions, etc. (Mat. 6:24 & Mat. 7:15 “Wolves in sheep’s clothing”). Satan pushes the cowardly, and foolish to hold the words of men above the Holy Bible; God will not accept these souls in heaven (Rev. 21:8). Come out from among them (2Cor. 6:17, Rev. 18:4). Have the courage to ask God to show you Truth, no matter what it is! He loves you very much! Scripture (with the real Jesus) is able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). Get a real Bible and read it (e.g. King James, New Am. Standard, NIV). It is a love story from Jesus. His Spirit fills true Christians with a profound, indescribable love.
Many will proclaim they worked diligently for Jesus but He will tell them, “I never knew you. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness”, Mat. 7:21. Will Witnesses tell Jehovah they don’t believe in eternal fire when He throws them in it? (Mark 9:48; Rev. 20:15 & 21:8)
(You may copy and distribute this pamphlet for free. Please send donations to SALT Ministries, P.O. Box 7512, Colorado Springs, CO 80933; www.GoodSalt.Homestead.org). (For help contact- Witnesses for Jesus, www.witforjesus.org.)
