Transcript Slide 1

The Watchtower
AKA Jehovah’s Witnesses
Which Jesus and Which Gospel
• Knowing the Biblical and historical Jesus
is essential
– II Corinthians 11:3-4
– Matthew 24:24
– Matthew 7:21-23
• The wrong Jesus is always accompanied
with the wrong message or Gospel, which
has eternal consequences
– Galatians 1:1-9
Watchtower History
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Charles Taze Russell
From Allegheny, PA
At 25 he managed men's clothing stores
Congregationalist-Disappointed with them
Rejected Hell fire
Became associated with Second Day Adventist
– William Miller-Great Disappointment-1844
• Worked as an assistant editor with Nelson
Barbour
– Herald of the Morning
Watchtower History
• Russell leaves Barbour
• Begins his own and new magazine
– Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence
– First printing July 1879 – 6,000 issues
• Russell Dies October 31, 1916
• Joseph “Judge” Rutherford takes charge
• The “Judge” dies January 1942 at Beth Sarim
Beth Sarim
Watchtower History
• President Nathan Homer Norr
– Introverted, but demonstrates organizational
competence
• President Fred Franz
– Lives until he is 99
– Invents the 1975 false prophecy
– The WT proclaimed him a genius – Rhode Scholar
• Milton Henschel
– Last President
• Don Adams Current President
– Watchtower split
– Now several separate corporations
The Watchtower
• Roughly 6 million JW’s world wide
• Just over 1 million active in the US
• Publishers and Pioneers “place” the Watchtower and
Awake magazines
• March 2012 Watchtower statistics
– Each issue – 42,182,000
– 194 Languages
• Awake April 2012 statistics
– Issue – 41,042,000
– 84 Languages
– Ceased issuing two magazines in 2005
• Plus numerous books, booklets, tracts, etc.
• There are over 120M magazines published a month for 6
million JW’s. Where are the other 114M going?
Jehovah Witness Doctrine
• The Trinity
– The Father is called Jehovah and his son Jesus is a god
(John 1:1 NWT). The Trinity is a pagan belief carried
forward into today
• Jesus
– Pre-existed as spirit person until Jehovah created his
“first born of creation.” The Master worker who created
all “other” things. Also known as Michael the Arch Angel
and “a god.” Jesus returned “invisibly” in 1914 (1874).
• Resurrection
– Jesus was raised a spirit creature. The body on the
torture sake was not the body the Apostles saw later
• Hell
– Hell is Sheol or the grave. Hell does not exist
Jehovah Witness Doctrine
Continued
• Birthdays
– Only two instances of birthdays (Gen. 40:20-22 &
Mat. 14:6-10) in both cases these pagans killed
someone
• The Cross
– A Pagan religious symbol. The torture stake is the
correct description
• The name Jehovah
– God’s name that is to be used by true Christians
• New World Translation
– A more correct and modern version
– Version/Edition changes
Jehovah Witness Doctrine
Continued
• There is only one True religion
– True Worshipers of the Father (John 4:23)
– Show true love among themselves (John
13:34)
• “Respect” for life and blood
– Abstain from transfusions (Acts 4:21-25)
• A Heaven which is limited to 144,000
• The soul of man is mortal. There is no
need for a Hell.
The Watchtower Web site
New World Translation
Errors and Changes
From 1961 to 1984
Hebrews 1:6; NWT, 1961 Edition
Hebrews 1:6; NWT, 1984 Edition
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Jesus is Creator
Colossians
1:16-17
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Colossians 1:16-17; Diaglott
No [other] in the Greek!
Colossians 1:16-17; NWT
[other] inserted 4 times
despite absence in the
Greek manuscripts!
The God and Savior
The Watchtower understood, as should we, that if the
‘the’ were not present, then Peter would be calling
Jesus God. The Watchtower had added the ‘the’ despite
the lack of Greek text support.
They have added to God’s words and have changed the
teaching of scripture. Even the Watchtower admits the
lack of the definite article ‘the’ in the Greek. That is why
they have added [the] and placed it in brackets.
2 Peter 1:1; NWT
God Will Appear-Titus 2:13
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Titus 2:13; Diaglott; no [the] in the Greek!
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Titus 2:13; NWT, 1961
no [the]
Titus 2:13; NWT, 1984
[the] has been inserted
False Prophecies
• 1 John 4:1
– 1874
– 1914
– 1915
– 1918
– 1925
– 1975
– 2000
Practical Exercise
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True God vs. the false god
Quick and easy
You can do this on the fly on you door step
Simple and easy to recall
Ready?
First, ask the JW to read John 1:1 in their bible
Ask them who is the God represented by the big
“G” and who is the god of the little “g”
– Their answer should be:
– Big G=Jehovah
– Little g=Jesus
TRUE GOD
ASK: How many true
Jehovah
God’s are in existence?
There are two likely retorts
to this:
1. Jesus is a mighty god,
not Almighty.
 Isaiah 10:20-21
Jehovah is called the
Mighty God.
2. There is a third option
and you are tricking me.
FALSE GOD
ASK: How
many false
Satan
god’s areBaal
in existence?
Money
Idols
Go back to John 1:1 and
point to little “g” and ask on
which side do we put
Jesus?
2nd Practical Exercise
• Ask the JW to define their Gospel message i.e. what is
the message they are spreading from door to door
– They should answer to the effect that they “preach the gospel
of the kingdom” (Mat. 24:14)
– Have them explain and define the “Gospel of the Kingdom”
• You can let the JW know that as a Christian you have a
different Gospel message (I Cor. 15:1-4)
– Show them these verses
– “Oh! We also teach that”
• Now take them to Galatians 1:1-8
– Stress that the gospel of the WT is not the Gospel of the
Bible
– Stress the consequences of a different gospel
– Let them know that they do not have to remain in the WT
preaching a gospel contrary to the Bible
Recommended Reading
Introduction:
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Behind the Watchtower Curtain, David A Reed
Witnesses of Jehovah, Leonard & Marjorie Chretien
What you need to know about Jehovah Witnesses, Lorri Macgregor
Jehovah Witnesses answered Verse by Verse, David A Reed
Jehovah of the Watchtower by Walter Martin and Norman Klann
Intermediate:
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Reasoning From the Scriptures with Jehovah Witnesses, Ron Rhodes
Index to Watch Tower Errors, David A. Reed
Jehovah Witness Literature, David A Reed
Jehovah's Witnesses 7 the Hour of Darkness, Darek Barefoot
Advanced:
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The Jehovah Witness’s New Testament, Robert H. Countess
Thirty Years a Watch Tower Slave, William J. Schnell
Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz
Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, Robert M Bowman
The Sign of the Last Days, Carl Olof Jonsson
MY E-Mail: [email protected]
The Torture Stake
John 20:25-Nails
If the torture stake is correct, why
does the scripture speak of a plurality of
nails in his hands
Mat. 27:37-Sign above his head
The sign is actually above his hands
in this picture.
There is only one correct solution for
NAILS and ABOVE HIS HEAD; the
cross.
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II Corinthians 11:3-4
Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
and the purity that is toward Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another
Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive
a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a
different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do
well to bear with him
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Galatians 1:1-9
Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle (not from men, nor through man, but
through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from
the dead),
Gal 1:2 and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia.
Gal 1:3 Grace be to you, and peace from God the Father and from
our Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father,
Gal 1:5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Gal 1:6 I marvel that you so soon are being moved away from Him
who called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel,
Gal 1:7 which is not another, but some are troubling you, and
desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from Heaven preach a gospel to
you beside what we preached to you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, and now I say again, If anyone preaches
a gospel to you beside what you have received, let him be
accursed.
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1 John 4:1
• 1Jn 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but
try the spirits to see if they are of God, because
many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
• R.C.H. Lenski Commentary
– “This testing John wants all his readers to apply to all
who come to them as prophets in order to teach
them.”
• Commentary volume: 1-2 Peter; 1-3 John & Jude. P. 485
– Jehovah Witnesses are prophets who come to teach
you spiritual teachings. (WT-April 1, 1972, p. 197)
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