Confronting the Cults – The Jehovah’s Witnesses

Confronting the Cults - The Jehovah's Witnesses

The Jehovah’s Witnesses,
also known as the "Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society", was founded by Charles Taze Russell
(1852–1916). It grew from small beginnings in 1876 to the
massive organization it is today.

Portrait of Charles T. Russell

Russell entered the well-worn path of many cultists by not
submitting himself to Godly leadership and the counsel of senior
men who had the wisdom that only comes by walking for years with
God. He rejected the doctrine of Eternal Torment (I wonder what
he thinks now?) and began to denounce organized religion, all at
the tender age of 18, which demonstrates how human pride and an
unteachable spirit has no age barrier.

At this time, Russell organized a small Bible class in
Pittsburgh in 1870. Six years later he was elected "Pastor" and
from that date, Russell was involved in editing a small magazine.
It was not long before Russell resigned after being challenged
concerning his unusual views on the atoning work of Christ. As a
result, he founded "Herald of the Morning" which we now know as
the "Watchtower" magazine.

Currently, 18 million copies of this magazine are printed per
month in 106 languages. The other Jehovah’s Witness
magazine, "Awake", has a monthly print run of 16 million in 34
languages. These are colossal volumes of output in
anybody’s language!

Charles Taze Russell’s lack of accountability not only
produced a cult, but his flawed character produced its own bad
fruit as well, as recorded below.

On making a world speaking tour in 1912, Russell printed in
his magazines enthusiastic accounts of greetings he received in
Hawaii, Japan and in many other places, but later, the truth came
out. He was exposed as never having delivered ANY sermons in the
places he claimed.
The Watchtower magazine advertised Wheat seed for sale at $1
per pound. This "miracle" wheat seed was claimed to yield 5 times
more than any other brand. A newspaper called "The Eagle"
challenged Russell and his spurious claims, who responded by
sueing the newspaper for libel, but when the case came to court,
Russell lost.
After his wife left him in 1897, a settlement in 1909 showed
Russell had control of a holding company which collected the
wealth of several subsidiary organizations. Russell held $990
worth of the shares of the $1000 capital.
Charles Taze Russell was a perjurer. A Reverend Ross
denounced him as "anti-rational", "anti-Christian",
"anti-scientific", "anti-biblical", and a man who knew nothing of
systematic or historical theology, or of dead languages such as
Greek. CT Russell then sued JJ Ross for "defamatory libel." Under
questioning in the above court case, Russell claimed to know the
Greek alphabet. Here is the transcript of the case

ATTORNEY STAUNTON – "Do you know the Greek
alphabet?"
RUSSELL – "Oh, yes."
ATTORNEY STAUNTON – "Can you tell me the correct letters if
you see them?"
RUSSELL – "Some of them, I might make a mistake on some of
them."
ATTORNEY STAUNTON – Would you tell me the names on the top
of the page, page 447 I have got here?" (Westcott & Hort
Greek NT)
RUSSELL – "Well I don’t know that I would be able
to."
ATTORNEY STAUNTON – "You can’t tell what those
letters are, look at them and see if you know?"
RUSSELL – My way …." (He was interrupted at this
point and not allowed to explain.)
ATTORNEY STAUNTON – Are you familiar with the Greek
language?"
RUSSELL – "NO!"

Russell's Tombstone
Note the Masonic "Knights Templar
Cross & Crown."

Russell perjured himself under oath, and this lie was quickly
exposed as seen above. The New World Translation, which Russell
produced and the Witnesses treat as primary holy writ, is now
shown to be a farce. All Russell did was rewrite the Authorised
Bible to suit his own ideas.

In fact Russell never had any formal training in Bible study
and interpretation. Yet his egotism brands him as a babbling
fool, for he simply went too far. Although he did he not know the
original languages of Scripture he taught that it was impossible
to understand the Bible by oneself unless one was guided by
Russell’s own interpretation.

FALSE DOCTRINE

Here are some of the twisted doctrines Russell taught, which
are still mainstream doctrine for the JW’s even though they
produced a "revised" list in 1997.

Trinity: There are 3 gods, equal in power,
substance and eternity. They say the obvious conclusion is that
satan is the author of the Trinity doctrine! They have altered
the Scripture in John 1:1 to accommodate their belief, saying the
Word was A God.

Jesus: Is a created being and is the
Archangel Michael. His birth was not an incarnation –
God’s spirit transferred his Son’s life to a
virgin’s womb, so Jesus was all flesh and only man.

Salvation By Grace: Only through the
Watchtower – "to receive everlasting life in the earthly
paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part
of it. "(Feb 1983)

Hell: Does not exist. Satan invented the
idea.

Second Adam: Russell taught that Jesus could
not be the 2nd Adam (1 Cor 15:45) because the man Jesus is dead,
forever dead.

Resurrection: Jesus rose as a spirit, not a
man.

Holy Spirit: Not a person, but a "force."
Judge Rutherford taught that the Holy Spirit was replaced in
1918.

THE 144,000

The Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that there is a superior
class of Christians, numbering 144,000. Unfortunately, when that
number was filled from Watchtower membership a few years ago, it
meant no other person could be redeemed, even if they were
faithful Watchtower believers. Solution? Change the rules. Guess
what? They did! Now those outside the 144,000 will experience
heaven on Earth, if they faithfully serve the Watchtower,
according to their hierarchy.

Watchtower headquarters in
New York City

FALSE PROPHECIES

One thing the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not like talking
about, or being reminded of, is their abysmal record of false
prophecies concerning the second coming of Christ. Russell
himself made a number of false prophecies which continued with
his successors. Here is an incomplete list.

The Watchtower said that Christ would come in 1874.
The Church would be caught up to heaven in 1878.
The Battle of Armageddon ends in 1914 (Russell, from
‘The Time is at Hand’.)
In the book ‘The Finished Mystery’, Russell again
prophesied that in the year following its publication, (1918) God
would destroy all of Christendom except the Jehovah’s
Witnesses in a revisitation of the Battle of Armageddon fiasco
from 4 years earlier.
The world would fall into global anarchy in 1920.
The Battle of Armageddon will come in 1925. (If you ignore
the stupidity, you must admire the persistence!)
God’s Kingdom would be established on earth in
1931.
1914 starting date for last generation BEFORE Battle of
Armageddon. (Watchtower Nov. 1950)
People who lived in 1914 will live to see Armaggeddon
(Watchtower Oct. 1978)

Most of these prophecies came as a result of a revision after
the previous date had passed. This is a bit like shuffling the
deck chairs on the Titanic – when God isn’t in it,
it’s all doomed to failure.

This list in itself is proof of how powerful spiritual
deception can be, when millions are sucked in to a lie, and seem
to have no desire to move, even if truth is held up before
them.

OLD LIGHT- NEW LIGHT

This is the terminology that the lying false prophets in the
JW’s use to explain why their prophecies fail. The concept
comes from Proverbs 4:18 - "But the path of the righteous is like
the light of dawn, that shines brighter until the full day."
Their abject lack of Bible knowledge is here for all to see, as
this verse is speaking about a righteous man’s ability to
live a progressively holier life. This verse has nothing to do
with prophecy or direct revelation from God.

Watchtower Magazine with
Cross and Crown

New light cannot contradict old light. That’s why the
Old Testament is in complete harmony with the New Testament. Yet
new and old light often contradict each other in the Kingdom Hall
of Jehovah’s Witnesses. If any Witness reads this article,
I ask that friendships, circumstances and all past teaching be
put aside for just a moment of honesty and reality to weigh these
facts in the heart. The Watchtower has answered on many occasions
the question "Whether the men of Sodom be resurrected." Here are
the answers –

YES Watchtower 18/07/79 Pg 8
NO Watchtower 01/06/52 Pg 338
YES Watchtower 01/08/65 Pg 47
NO Watchtower 01/06/88 Pg 31
YES Live Forever (old edition) Pg 179
NO Live Forever (new edition) Pg 179
YES Revelation Book Pg 273

After reading this, the obvious question is – "Would you
trust Charles Taze Russell with your salvation and eternal
destiny?

BIZARRE TEACHINGS

Blood transfusions are forbidden. Because they believe man is
wholly physical in nature, they fear sin being transmitted by the
blood of an unbeliever. The Pyramid at Giza in Egypt seems to
hold an attraction for the JW’s. They use it’s
measurements to show timelines of End Time prophecy. Then
there’s weird things like Angelic channeling, God living on
the star Alcyone, man wearing anti-gravity boots in the new
earth, and a whole lot more.

OTHER ISSUES

If you leave the Watchtower you are shunned. Your family will
not be permitted to talk to you. They believe Jesus died on a
stake, not a Cross, believing that a cross is a pagan symbol of
sex worship. Saluting the flag is an act of idolatry.
Participation in any Civil holiday, Mother’s day,
birthdays, etc., brings God’s condemnation

QUESTIONS TO ASK THEM

Q Can individuals discuss openly with other Witnesses, views
that differ from Watchtower doctrine?
Q Why is the name Jehovah’s Witness not found in the New
Testament if that is God’s Divine name for His people? Why
did He wait nearly 2000 years?
Q When the end failed to come in 1925 and 1975 how come so many
Witnesses left between 1925-28 and huge losses occurred again in
1975?
Q How do you prove from the Bible that 1935 was the year that
the selection to heaven stopped due to being filled?
Q What kind of confidence could one have in an organization that
rejected its Founder and first two Presidents for the first 63
years of its existence?