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NAME: Jehovah's Witness/The Watchtower Society
FOUNDER: Charles T. Russell
Born: Feb. 16, 1852; DIED: Oct. 31, 1916
Birth Place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
MEMBERS: As of 2007 it is reported that the active members of the Watchtower society consists of 6.9 million people.
SACRED WRITINGS: The New World Translation of the Bible (Watchtower Society's own translation of the Holy Bible). All writings from the Watchtower Society's headquarters in Brooklynn.
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS VIEWS
GOD: They would claim that God the Father (Jehovah) is the one true God. Because of Him all things have come into existance. They would believe that God created Jesus Christ then through Jesus Christ created everything else.
THE TRINITY: The Jehovah's Witness believe that the Biblical Christian's view of the Trinity is pagan and not at all found in the Bible. One quote they have concerning the Trinity is:
"When the clergy are asked by their followers as to how such a combination of three in one can possibly exist, they are obliged to answer, 'That is a mystery.' Some will try to illustrate it by using traingles, trefoils, or images with three heads on one neck. Nevertheless, sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish looking, three-headed God. The clery who inject such ideas will contradict themselves in the very next breath by stating that God made man in his own image; for certainly no one has ever seen a three-headed human creature." (Let God Be True, pg. 102)
JESUS CHRIST: The Jehovah's Witness also hold a different view of Christ then that of Biblical Christians. They believe that Jesus Christ was created, and that is not equal with the Father:
...The Scriptures therefore show that Jesus is not God Almighty..." (Is Jesus God Almighty? article taken from www.watchtower.org)
They would also teach that before Christ left heaven and after He returned He was/is the Archangel Michael. They could say:
"Indeed, Michael the great prince' is none other than Jesus Christ Himself." (The Watchtower, p.29, Dec. 15,1984)
HOLY SPIRIT: The Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Holy Spirit is just a force from God, sent to do His will. Biblical Christians would believe that He is the third person of the Trinity, co-equal with the Father and Son. Below is a quote by the Jehovah's Witnesses:
No, the holy spirit is not a person and it is not part of a Trinity. The holy spirit is God's active force that he uses to accomplish his will. It is not equal to God but is always at his disposition and subordinate to him.( "Should You Believe in the Trinity, The Holy Spirit -- God's Active Force" taken from the Watchtower Website.)
VIRGIN BIRTH: Even though the Watchtower society has an improper view of the Godhead, they do in their own way hold to the Virgin Birth.
SALVATION: The Watchtower society will tell someone that they do believe in salvation by trusting Christ, but they very strongly believe in a works based Salvation.
"...To get one's name writen in theat Book of Life will dependupon one's works." (The Watchtower, pg. 204, April 1, 1947)
HEAVEN: The Watchtower Society also has a different view of heaven that that of Biblical Christians.
"Only a limited number from among mankind to be in heaven with the Lam Jesus Christ....144,000 are spiritual Israelities, include both Jews and Gentiles...Chosen by God for heavenly life...Other faithful servants of God to be rewarded with life on earth, not in heaven." (Make Sure of All Things, pg. 226-227)
HELL: The Watchtower society would deny the truth of an eternal Hell.
"The teaching about a fiery hell... can rightly be designated as a 'teaching of demons.'...Has not this doctrine...grossly misrepresented God? ... Those teaching the hellfire doctrine are therefore saying blasphemous things against God...That being the case, would you want to continue supporting any religious system that teaches a fiery hell? (Is This Life All There Is? pg. 96-97, 119)
"Biblical Evidence thus makes it plain that those whom God judges as undeserving of life will experience, not eternal torment in a literal fire, but 'everlasting destruction'. They will not be preserved alive anywhere. The fire of Gehenna is therefore not a symbol of the totality and thoroughness of that destruction." (Is This Life All There is? pg. 115-116, 120)
SIN: The Watchtower Society would acknowledge sin, but the fact that they do not properly understand topics such as who God really is and the seriousness of hell, indicates the lack of seriousness they actually have concerning the topic.
INSPIRATION/AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE: The Watchtower Society would hold the Bible to be the word of God, but only their translation of it (The New World Translation) which has been proven to hold many errors, and problems. Translations that aren't even part of the Greek manuscripts.
THE RAPTURE: N/A
THE SECOND COMING: The second coming view of the Watchtower Society is very complex. With a number of false prophecies of the end times within their history.
If anyone is familiar with the Watchtower society, you will know that they are currently on another campaign to set the end of time, warning all people. How serious can we take them though? Let's look at some quotes by the Watchtower society about their claims of "end times" in the past:
"In subsequent chapters we present proofs that the setting up of the kingdom of God is already begun....And that the 'battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:14), which will end in a.d. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." ( C.T. Russell, 1889, 'The Time Is at Hand, pg. 101)
"The stress of the great time of trouble will be on us soon, somewhere between 1910 and 1912 -- culminating with the end of the "Times of the Gentiles," October, 1914. (C.T. Russell, 1904 'The New Creation' pg. 579)
Some people will claim that this was only God's spiritual kingdom that would come down in 1914, and that it has happened and Christ is in the headquarters of the Watchtower Society in Brooklyn. They will try and say that Russell did not mean a Physical Kingdom but only a spritiual one. Russell in his own writings could say: "the full establishment of the Kingdom of God in the earth at A.D. 1914"* He also predicted the points below:**
1) The last of the members of the church of Christ would be glorified.
2) Israel would be restored (and Jerusalem) to divine favour.
3) That there would be a "worldwide reign of anarchy"
4) and that the Kingdom of the world would be destroyed.
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