How do I witness
to Jehovah Witnesses?
There are an estimated 8.7 Million Jehovah Witnesses around the world and there is a fairly strong representation of them in South Africa. It is therefore very possible that at one point or another you will get a knock on your door from two of them.
1. What are their main teachings?
The Jehovah Witnesses mostly known
for their rejection of: the Trinity, the Deity of Jesus, the Person of the Holy
Spirit, and the concept of eternal punishment.
I will briefly expand on their teaching here:
a.They reject the Trinity's teaching
i. Only the Father is God
Their name 'Jehovah witnesses'
developed from the transliteration of the Hebrew covenant name of God into
English and they recognize God (the Father) as the only Person who is God. They therefore reject the Christian doctrine
of the Trinity and accuse Christians of worshiping three gods.
ii. Jesus is a created being
They call Jesus 'the
only-begotten of God', but to them He was the first being that God created, and
they see Him as the archangel Michael.
According to their teaching, Jesus agreed to be born from the womb of
the Virgin Mary to be a sin offering for people, but they do not recognize that
He averted the eternal wrath of God.
iii. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is not a unique
Person or God, but rather an emanating and active power of God.
b.They reject eternal punishment and hell
Because they believe that the body and soul of man are inextricably linked, they teach that the punishment that Adam (and his descendants) received for sin is only physical death, not an eternal punishment. They do not believe that there is eternal torment for the unbelievers in the afterlife.
According to their teaching, the
144,000 in Revelation is the literal number of those who will be taken up to
heaven. All other Jehovah Witnesses will
be resurrected to live here on earth.
All other people will be resurrected at the 'resurrection of the unjust'
where they will receive a second chance to believe the teachings of the Jehovah
Witnesses and be obedient to God in order to receive an eternal inheritance
here on earth. If they do not believe and
obey it, they will be brought to nothing (Annihilation). They thus reject any belief in an eternal
hell and eternal punishment.
2. Biblical Christianity
The teaching of the Jehovah
witnesses differs from the teaching of the Bible. While they have their own highly inaccurate
version of the Bible (New World Translation), we must weigh their teaching
against the true teaching of Scripture as found in conservative Bible
Translations. The following are the
correct Christian teachings as found in Scripture.
a.The Trinity
It is impossible to read the Bible
without realizing that the God of the Bible is a Triune God. It is clear that the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit are seen in Scripture as God.
i. God as three Persons
Scripture clearly teaches that
the three Persons are not three gods, but one God existing in three
Persons. Matt. 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit." 2 Cor. 13:14
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
ii. The Son of God is God
Jesus declares that He is the 'I am' of Exodus 3:14, which is the covenant name (Jehovah) of God in John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’”
Jesus declares that He is equal to the Father and is therefore God himself. John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."
Jesus is defined as God in the same way as the Father. Rom. 9:5 "To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Phil. 2:5-6 "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped."
The Son is the Creator of all
things (how then can He himself then be created?) John 1:3 "All things were made through him, and
without him was not any thing made that was made." Col. 1:16 "For by him all things were created, in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him."
iii. The Holy Spirit is God
The Holy Spirit is seen by David, Jesus (who quotes Ps. 110) and the Hebrew writer (who quotes Ps. 95) as a communicating divine Person through whom the supernatural revelation of God comes. 2 Sam. 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me" Matt. 22:43 "He said to them, ‘How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,’’ Heb. 3:7 "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear his voice.’”
Peter calls the Holy Spirit God
when he confronts Ananias in Acts 5:3-4 “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to
the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to man but to God.’”
iv. The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed was written in
325 AD and then already the Deity of Christ and the doctrine of the Trinity was
recognized as the true doctrine of the Christian faith.
b.Eternal death is the destiny of the evil
one
i. Man has an eternal soul
Man is made in the image of God. Gen. 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”
Ecclesiastes clearly teachers
that man has an eternal soul that will never die. Eccl. 12:5-7 “they are afraid also of what is high, and
terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself
along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the
mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the
golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the
wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and
the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
ii. God's judgment is eternal death
In Rom. 5:12-21 teaches us that God's judgment against man's sin in the garden was eternal death. Through his disobedience, Adam brought physical, spiritual and eternal death upon himself and all his descendants.
The Scriptures continually use
the word 'eternal' to describe the nature of the punishment of sin upon man.
The thought that God will annihilate all unbelievers is contrary to the
teaching of Scripture. The Son of God came as a man to propitiate the 'eternal'
punishment of God and instead gave 'eternal' life to everyone who believes in
Him (John 3:15-18). Jer. 20:11 "But the LORD is with me as a dread
warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They
will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonour will
never be forgotten." Matt. 18:8 "And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with
two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.” 2 Thess. 1:9
"They will suffer the punishment of
eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
his might" Jud. 1:6-7 "And
the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left
their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness
until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the
surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural
desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."
3. Share the gospel with Jehovah Witnesses
a.Focus on the Deity of Christ
While they reject the doctrine of the trinity and the Deity of the Holy Spirit, this falsehood arises from their denial of the Deity of Christ. It is therefore essential to focus in your conversation with them on the Deity of Christ.
The Jehovah Witnesses' 'New World
Translation' removes many of the references to the Deity of Christ. However, there are some texts, in their own
translation, which attribute divinity to the Son.
i. Isaiah
9:6 in their own translation calls the promised Messiah 'Mighty God'
ii. While
Hebrews 1 has been changed in their translation, the Father calls the Son
Jehovah in Hebrews 1:8. This is a quote
from Psalm 102:26-27.
iii. In
their translation, all references to worship of Jesus were removed. However, in Luke 24:52 it is impossible to
leave it out and that is why they translated it as 'they did obeisance to him'
rather than the correct translation which is "they worshiped Him". Since only God is worthy of worship they must
mistranslate it here.
b.Focus on the just punishment for sin
i.
Physical death leads to eternal death for those
under God's curse. Jesus and the
Apostles teaches that the deserved punishment for sin is an 'eternal
punishment' (Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Jud. 1:7).
ii. God
is infinite and eternal and therefore every sin against Him deserves an
infinite and eternal punishment.
Understanding the deserved punishment of our sin is fundamental to
leading them to realize that the eternal God-man, Jesus Christ's atoning death
was essential.
iii.
If there is no eternal punishment, it only makes
sense that man, rather than seeking God, should desire to live for his desires
and pleasures because then there are no eternal consequences for his sin. This is the argument that Paul makes in 1
Corinthians 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die." Without eternal punishment in hell, there is nothing for
the unbeliever to fear, all that will eventually happen is that he will cease
to exist.
In summary:
The false teaching of the Jehovah Witnesses can be grouped under two main falsehoods: They reject the doctrine of the Trinity and they reject the doctrine of eternal punishment for the unrighteous. In these two areas they are not only contrary to the entire Christian faith, but also contrary to the Bible, God's Word. Their twisted translation is not an accurate version of the original text and their translators intentionally twisted and omitted texts to justify their false religion.
The Jehovah Witnesses should in no way be seen as a
Christian 'sect' or one of numerous 'versions' of the Christian faith. They do not worship the true God who exists
in three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).
Therefore, we must strive to preach the true gospel to them and point
out the falseness of their teaching.
ds. Leon Harmse
Pastor of Sunward Park Baptist Church