Witnessing to Witnesses

There appear to be two basic approaches (though in reality it's not either/or):

1. Show their doctrinal errors, as exemplified by Patrick Zukeran's article on Witnessing to the Witnesses.

2. Show them love, as exemplified by Clint DeBoer's excerpt on Speaking the Truth in Love to Jehovah's Witnesses.

Sites about Jehovah's Witnesses

There's a great deal of information on the Net about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witness. Obviously, there is the official site of the Watchtower Society to hear from the source. But here are some other voices you might check out:

Watchtower Information Service ... the latest news and 263 articles on Jehovah's Witnesses.

Watchman Fellowship ... articles on Jehovah's Witnesses.

Through comments left on the site, I came across a couple of blogs on Jehovah's Witnesses:

Some Christian Thoughts on Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower.

Astonishing Realizations.

The Watchtower Prophecies

Many of the Watchtower's prophecies involve date-setting. This site has a helpful list of Watchtower dates. I can't speak to its accuracy, but the writer invites corrections. From my reading, I've learned that 1914 and 1935 are important. Here's what the site says about those years:

1914
Christ's invisible return, start of reign as King, end of last days. "Gentile times" ended, but this has no visible effect, except an (JW-imagined) increase in violence, wars, pestilence, earthquakes and other calamities since that year.

Current JW doctrine. From 1922 this was held to be start of Christ's *reign*, from 1930 also the start of invisible presence (earlier held to be 1874). [Note 2] Until recently, the WTS taught that some of those who experienced the events in 1914 would be alive to see the end of the world. This "1914 generation" doctrine was removed in November 1995. See WT 11/1 1995 p17. The "Creator's promise" about the end of the world before the 1914-generation died was removed from masthead (p4) of Awake! in 11/8 1995 issue. Whole idea of "generation" in Mt 24:34 being specific individuals is now abandoned.

1935
Close of "high calling" to be of the 144.000. From this date, JWs have taught that the "great Company/Crowd" in Rev 7 will live on Earth, not in heaven. The "Great Crowd", all JWs except ~8000 living now, is not considered anointed Christians, is not "born again," do not partake in communion and does not have Christ as mediator. They expect eternal life on Earth. See WT 6/15 1992 p23; Proclaimers (1993) p166. This date is justified only on the fact that the doctrine about earthly hope for "great crowd" was created in 1935.

This site lists other "prophecies" of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses and the Future

One of the central teachings of the Watchtower Society is the possibility of living forever on an earth that has been restored by God to its original Paradise condition. From Live Forever on a Paradise Earth:

What are your legitimate desires? Are they not for a happy life, worthwhile work, material abundance, beautiful surroundings, peace among all peoples, and freedom from injustice, sickness, suffering, and death? And what about a joyful spiritual outlook? All those things will be realized soon under the rulership of God's Kingdom.

Some of the features of their teaching about the future:

-At Armageddon, God will destroy all evil, abolish all the world's governments, and establish a new Paradise on earth.
- The living and resurrected Jehovah's Witnesses will inherit Paradise earth.
- The 144,000 (with spiritual bodies) will rule with Jesus from heaven.
- All unbelievers who have died will be raised (with some exceptions) and will study under the Witnesses during the Millennium.
- After the thousand years, their faith will be tested when God releases Satan from the abyss.
- All unbelievers will have to choose between Satan and Jehovah. Those who reject Jehovah will be annihilated.

Jason Barker examines some of this teaching in his article, Will Witnesses Live Forever? He concludes:

While there is diversity within Christianity over the meaning of the millennium, evangelicals are virtually unanimous on the meaning and ramifications of facing God's judgment.

The Society's teaching that those who are resurrected may be killed a second time is in direct contradiction to Scripture. The Bible teaches that humanity will die only once, and then face judgment.

Interestingly, the Society takes Romans 6:7, which says, "For he that is dead is freed from sin," to mean that Witnesses will be judged during the millennial Judgment Day for only those sins they commit after they died and were resurrected. When taken in context, however, the passage directly opposes the Society's teaching. Verse eight continues, "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:" those who have died to sin and been resurrected through the atonement of Christ will live with Christ. Christians who are in Christ can rest assured that they will live forever with Him, without fear of continued judgment.

What It Means to Love God

From John Piper's book Taste and See (pp. 203-204):

What is love to God? Some reduce it to doing things in obedience to God because John 14:15 says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." But that is not what the text says. It says that obedience will result from love. It does not say that obedience is love. Nor does 1 John 5:3 contradict this when it says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments," because the next phrase is to be taken with it: "and His commandments are not burdensome." In other words, love is not just the doing but the doing from a certain kind of heart that makes the doing "not burdensome."

Piper goes on to refute another expression of love for God which has only to do with acts of willpower. Then he writes:

So what then is love to God if not mere action or mere willpower? Here is the way St. Augustine defined it over sixteen hundred years ago: "I call [love to God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one's self and one's neighbor for the sake of God" (On Christian Doctrine, iii, x, 16). That, I think, is a very good definition. Unlike the other two definitions suggested above, delight in God is at the heart of the definition.

Friday Fun

Giveaway of the Day is a website that gives away free software.

Every day we offer licensed software you'd have to buy otherwise, for free! Yes, we are giving away software, and you can download it from our site, right now and right here and our goal is to give away every good piece of software, sooner or later.

Jehovah's Witnesses and Christ's Death

This is what Jehovah's Witnesses believe about the death of Jesus:

In this first prophecy of the Bible [referring to Genesis 3:15], Jehovah alluded to his purpose to have his heavenly spirit Son come to earth to live as the perfect man Jesus and then die—be bruised in the heel—in that sinless state.

Why did God require the death of a perfect man? Well, what was Jehovah God's penalty for Adam if he sinned? Was it not death? (Genesis 2:16, 17) "The wages sin pays is death," wrote the apostle Paul. (Romans 6:23) Adam paid for his sin with his own death. He was given life, he chose to sin, and he died as a penalty for his sin. (Genesis 3:19) What about the condemnation that the entire human race came under because of that sin? A death was needed to atone for their sins. But whose death could justly cover the transgressions of all mankind?

God's Law to the ancient nation of Israel required "soul for soul [or, life for life]." (Exodus 21:23) According to this legal principle, the death covering mankind's transgressions would have to be of a value equal to what Adam had lost. Only the death of another perfect man could pay the wages of sin. Jesus was such a man. Indeed, Jesus was "a corresponding ransom" for the saving of all redeemable mankind descended from Adam.—1 Timothy 2:6; Romans 5:16, 17.

For an examination of this doctrine see this article and this one by John Ankerberg and John Weldon.

Jehovah's Witnesses and the 144,000

This is from the Watchtower website and an article on The Hereafter — Where Will It Be?:

Many readers of the Bible, however, are aware of Jesus' words: "In the house of my Father there are many abodes.... I am going my way to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2, 3) Does this not contradict the idea of life everlasting on a paradise earth?

These teachings are not contradictory. In fact, one supports the other. To begin with, the Bible states that only a limited number of faithful Christians — namely, 144,000 of them — are raised as spirit creatures to live in heaven. Why are they given this wonderful reward? Because they make up the group that John saw in a vision who "came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for a thousand years." (Revelation 14:1, 3; 20:4-6) Compared with the billions on earth, the 144,000 truly are a "little flock." (Luke 12:32) Moreover, having experienced the problems common to humankind, like Jesus they will be able to "sympathize with our weaknesses" as they supervise the rehabilitation of mankind and of the earth. — Hebrews 4:15.

By providing the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God began gathering the 144,000 almost 2,000 years ago, and indications are that this group is now complete. (Acts 2:1-4; Galatians 4:4-7) However, Jesus' sacrifice was not for the sins of the 144,000 only, "but also for the whole world's." (1 John 2:2) Hence, all who exercise faith in Jesus have the prospect of eternal life. (John 3:16) Those asleep in the grave but who are in God's memory will be resurrected, not to heaven, but to life on a cleansed earth. (Ecclesiastes 9:5; John 11:11-13, 25; Acts 24:15)

Here's an article, 144,000 Mediators that examines this teaching.

Jehovah's Witness Hermeneutics

Jason Vaughn left a comment asking, "Have you found anything on JW Hermeneutics? The ones I have dealt with out here have a very interesting way of interpreting...." Here's an excerpt from an article that I came across:

With doctrine, the Witness expositors recognize that "on the surface" many Bible verses clearly contradict the teachings of the Society. These verses are therefore "spiritualized" and often interpreted to mean precisely the opposite of what they actually say! With prophecy, this "spiritualized" method enables Watchtower theologians to wrest the application of Biblical prophecies from the people to whom they were originally given (the nation Israel, for example) in order to apply them to "Jehovah's modern-day organization."

Frequent use of this allegorical or "spiritualized" method of interpretation also creates another convenient situation for the Society. If much of Scripture is to be applied "spiritually," or "symbolically," then how are we to know how to interpret the Bible at all? How are we to know which passages are to be understood "spiritually" and which are to be taken literally? Hence arises the need for a special class of Bible interpreters, the "faithful and discreet slave class." The average Witness himself is very careful not to accept the Bible's teachings at face value. He will instead look to the "slave class" to provide all necessary interpretation for him.

Is this a fair assessment? In my experience, I've had Jehovah's Witnesses challenge my interpretation of a passage by saying that it's from Revelation and therefore has to be interpreted symbolically. At that point I question them on why they take the 1000 year reign, the 144,000, and the imprisonment of Satan (which are found only in Revelation) "literally."

Update: Jehovah's Witnesses and Luke 23:43: A Case Study in Watchtower Interpretation by Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

The Deity of Jesus

David Sherrill compiles scriptural evidence of Christ's Deity as it exists in the Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation (NWT). Among many, many verses:

Is 6:1-5 with John 12:37-41 Isaiah's vision of Jehovah's glory is applied by John to Jesus in verse 41. He says Isaiah saw his glory. Who did John mean by [his] and who did Isaiah see?

Jehovah's Witnesses: Who Is Jesus?

Here are a few things that Jehovah's Witnesses teach about Jesus:

• While on earth, Jesus was a human, although a perfect one.
• Jesus had an existence in heaven before coming to the earth.
• In his prehuman existence, Jesus was a created spirit being.
• Jesus is the foremost angel, both in power and authority, and is also called Michael.
• Jesus was created by God as the beginning of God's invisible creations.
• At his baptism, Jesus became the Messiah, or Christ.

I'm not going to respond to all these beliefs in this post. But here is one question that has been raised concerning Jesus' identity as an angel:

Since the Watchtower Society speaks of "Jesus Christ, whom we understand from the Scriptures to be Michael the archangel" (The Watchtower, February 15, 1979, p. 31) ... ask [a Jehovah's Witness] to show you "the Scriptures" that say Jesus is Michael. There are none. The Watchtower Society New World Translation (NWT) mentions Michael five times as: 1) "one of the foremost princes" (Dan. 10:13); 2) "the prince of [Daniels] people" (Dan. 10:21); 3) "the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of [Daniels] people" (Dan. 12:1); 4) "the archangel" who "had a difference with the devil and was disputing about Moses body" but "did not dare to bring a judgment against him in abusive terms" (Jude 9); and 5) a participant in heavenly conflict when "Michael and his angels battled with the dragon" (Rev. 12:7).

Ask the Jehovah's Witness which one of these verses says that Michael is Jesus Christ. Help him to see that it is necessary to read Scripture plus a complicated Watchtower argument to reach that conclusion. Rather than being merely "one of the foremost princes," Jesus Christ is "Lord of lords and King of kings" (Rev. 17:14, NWT) and is "far above every government and authority and power and lordship and every name named, not only in this system of things, but also in that to come" (Ephesians 1:21, NWT). And, unlike "Michael who did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, The Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 9, Todays English Version), Jesus Christ displayed His authority over the devil when He freely commanded him, "Go away, Satan!" (Matthew 4:10, NWT).

My Blog Collection: Conversational Preaching

Mike Gilbert-Smith has five criticisms of conversational or dialogical preaching:

"As soon as we say that preaching is merely a peripheral voice in the ongoing conversation– rather than the center, fuel, and compass for its conversation– we have forgotten the source and foundation of Christian community."

"Adopting a conversational tone then means that preachers should not so much declare the will of God as that they should suggest a possible understanding of what the Word of God might be."

"The Holy Spirit lovingly gives pastors and teachers for the edification of the congregation (Eph 4:11). Advocates of conversational preaching seem to have no category for someone who would lovingly exercise that God-given authority on behalf of others."

"Those who advocate a conversational format misconstrue the relationship between preaching and the gospel. The gospel is news to be heralded, not an opinion to be discussed. When we come together as God’s people, we need to hear that news proclaimed as a royal edict and brought to bear upon us."

"If every exposition of Scripture is interrupted by a number of 'opinions' as to what the Scriptures might really mean, the text itself will lose its voice. We will be left with no more than the individual voices and personal perspectives."

The writer is interacting with books by Allen and Pagitt. I haven't read the books and so I can't comment on them. But whether or not this article has correctly understood what Allen or Pagitt are saying, I agree with every one of the concerns. Having said that, I'm not prepared to throw out conversational preaching. Instead I would advocate dialogical/interactive messages that ...

... keep God's word central;
... declare the will of God passionately;
... recognize the leadership of elders;
... proclaim the gospel; and
... honor the authority of God's word.

The NWT and John 1:1

Because it's arguably the most discussed verse in the New World Translation, here are some links concerning John 1:1:

For an Answers' Bible commentary on John 1

A Grossly Misleading Translation (John 1:1) by Julius Mantey

The New World Translation and John 1:1 - What the Scholars Really Said

More on the New World Translation

One of the major problems with the New World Translation has to do with its use of "Jehovah" for "Lord" in the New Testament. It's interesting that in a few instances the translators don't follow their own principle and thus do not translate "Lord" as "Jehovah." Consider for example the NWT's translation of 1 Peter 3:15: "But sanctify the Christ as Lord in YOUR hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of YOU a reason for the hope in YOU, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect" (emphasis added).

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry gives some other examples of what they consider Bad Translations of the Jehovah's Witness Bible, the New World Translation (NWT).

In response to the charges that the New World Translation is a bad translation, many Jehovah's Witnesses have turned to Jason David BeDuhn's book Truth in Translation, which examines various translations and has many favorable things to say about the NWT.

Here is a comprehensive review of BeDuhn's book.

And here are some interactions between Robert Hommel and Jason Beduhn.

Jehovah's Witnesses and the New World Translation

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is the Bible used worldwide by the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watchtower Society state that this work was made by "a committee of anointed witnesses of Jehovah." The NWT was originally released in six volumes starting in 1950. In 1961 the entire Bible was released in a one volume publication. You can read it for yourself here.

The New World Translation is claimed by the Watchtower Society to be the most accurate Bible translation produced to date. Others are not so enamored with the Watchtower's translation. Daniel Wallace writes:

Finally, a word should be said about the New World Translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Due to the sectarian bias of the group, as well as to the lack of genuine biblical scholarship, I believe that the New World Translation is by far the worst translation in English dress. It purports to be word-for-word, and in most cases is slavishly literal to the point of being terrible English. But, ironically, whenever a sacred cow is demolished by the biblical writers themselves, the Jehovah's Witnesses twist the text and resort to an interpretive type of translation. In short, it combines the cons of both worlds, with none of the pros.

Tomorrow I'll look at some examples of their translation being made to fit their theology.

Update: I noticed that some people found this post when they searched for "Jeopardy most accurate translation." Apparently there is a story going around that there was a "question" on a Jeopardy show about the most accurate translation of the Bible, and the "answer" was the NWT. I'll post here what I said in the comments: The Jeopardy thing sounds like one of those urban myths ... go check out the Sony Pictures forum.

Friday Fun

MyPetPeeves.com is a website devoted to people's pet peeves. Here's a sample of what people are annoyed about:

Maureen from Canada says:
- people who leave the coffee pot empty;
Pauline from UT says:
- leaving your shopping cart in the middle of the aisle;
Laura from NJ says:
- using the last of the toilet paper and not replacing it;
Scarlett from TX says:
- people who think they have to be cool
Sharon from Canada says:
- not enough time in a day to accomplish everything
Teresa from GA says:
- waiting anxiously to play a game that has just been released only to find it is no good;
Bonnie from FL says:
- nurses that are mean;
Elizabeth from NY says:
- landscapers who come at 7:30 am & use leafblowers;
Lisa from PA says:
- people who complain about what they don't have;
Marsha from MA says:
- when people call me 'dude.'

Sidenote: Can you really trademark "pet peeves"?

Jehovah's Witnesses: An Overview

A website called Religious Tolerance has an introduction to the Jehovah's Witnesses or Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. From the overview:

Jehovah's Witnesses derive their name from:
- Jehovah, an English translation of the name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures.
- Witnesses which is taken from the passage in Isaiah 43:10 (and similar passages): "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord..."

They are a high intensity faith group which expects a major commitment from its membership.

As of mid-2004, they have about 6.5 million publishers and pioneers in over 97,000 congregations in more than 200 countries. In excess of 16 million people (pioneers, publishers, adherents and potential members) attended the "Lord's Evening Meal" service at the time of Passover in 2004. There are slightly over 1 million witnesses in the U.S., about 111,000 in Canada.

Next week I'll get into their beliefs.

May Topic: Jehovah's Witness

It's been another light blogging week, and it may continue like that for a while.

I hope to start a Bible study next week with a Jehovah's Witness. So I thought I'd focus on Jehovah's Witnesses in the month of May. Hopefully, I'll post more than once a week.