A Letter to a Jehovah's Witness

Before you read this lengthy letter please understand I'm not attacking you. I love you and want God to be honored always. I've spent a lot of time on this letter and spent a lot of time praying for you. I'm not angry with Jehovah Witnesses, those whom I've met seem to have a genuine love for God. I am angry, however, with the Watchtower Society because they've led God fearing people astray. However, that being said, you must take accountability for your own actions and not be ignorant or deceived.

So this is where I want to challenge you. Do you think the New World Translation (the version of the Bible that JW's read) is the same as the King James or similar versions? I'm here to tell you they are very different. Please don't brush this letter off because it is healthy to challenge your beliefs by listening to opposing viewpoints in order to test and strengthen your own viewpoint. The New World Translation (NWT) is not just another version of the Bible, its an attempt to change and pervert truths that are foundational to the doctrine held within the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Here is another challenge for you my friend. Do you read the Watchtower magazines and the Awake more than the actual Bible? And do you regard these magazines as being as good/valid/authoritative as the Bible? I read a lot of commentary, devotions, and study aids to help me understand more thoroughly God's Word, but I would never regard them as the same; and if I did then I would be relying on man, not God, to understand Him and all that He calls me to do. You may or may not be aware that in the early days of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization C.T. Russel (the founder) regarded himself to be the only one who could interpret the Bible, then it was Rutherford, and today it is the Watchtower Society. In regards to the his scripture studies Russel is quoted saying:

 

"We might not improperly name the volumes 'The Bible in an Arranged Form.' That is to say, they are not mere comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself. Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the 'Scripture Studies' aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the 'Scripture Studies' with their references and had not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in the light at the end of two years, because he would have the light of the Scriptures" (The Watchtower September 15, 1910, p.298, cited in 'Reprints of the Original Watchtower and Herald of Christ's Presence, p.4685)  

This is wrong. If the headquarters of the Watchtower Society (WS) tells you to read the Awake and the Watchtower more than the Holy Bible then there is something very wrong. When I read, for instance, JW's belief that Jesus was and or is Michael the Archangel, I found that there is NO scriptural backing for this but if you don't read the Bible you could fall into the trap of believing that.

Reading the Bible in and of itself is the way to the truth! And you may agree with me in this. But therein lies the next problem. If you do read the Bible I'm assuming you read the New World Translation (NWT), but this translation of the Bible is biased to fit a created theology. It is in no way similar to the King James and versions like that; it is only 57 years old and has been changed and perverted to fit a created theology. The magazines teach that Jesus is Michael and that He isn't God, that there is no hell, that there is no bodily resurrection and that Jesus was not bodily resurrected, the Person of the Holy Spirit is only an active force, the number of people that enter into heaven are only 144,000, that Jesus has already returned invisibly in 1914, and so on and so forth.....And they have created a translation of the Bible that is altered to fit this theology.  

One of the biggest perversion of the scriptures is in regards to Jesus. I can prove to you up and down the scriptures that Jesus is God, a part of the three Persons of God but when you look at the NWT the truth of Jesus is harder to see. And that is because the NWT and the NKJ don't say the same thing. For instance an obvious scripture is John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God". But the NWT says the Word was "a" god. JW say something about an indefinite tense, and that is why there is an "a" there. But please, please do your own research and see that the "a" is not in the Greek, and no scholarly translator says there is an "a." The translators of the NWT say that because the definite article "the" isn't there before the last 'God' then they say they have the liberty to add an "a" instead. But there is no "a"!! And they cant take any liberty in adding an "a." And by that logic why didn't they feel at liberty to add another "the" before the second 'God'-and the Word was "the God." But that too would be inaccurate, because not only would this have made Christ God, which He is, but it would have declared that all of God could be summed up in Jesus, which would neglect God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, and all the Godhead would be in Christ entirely. (please see Daney & Mantey's Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament page 744.) 

Also please couple what I just said with this: a source sited by the Wtchtower to support this translation of John 1:1 is a man by the name of Johannes Greber. He was a priest who attended a seance and a spirit told him to add the "a." We all know that seeking medium spirits is against God and that they are actually seeking demons. And if a demon is telling Greber to add an "a" then the demons definitely do not want us to recognize Jesus for who He is. And the WS knew he was a divinest and still sourced him. 

This is why I'm writing you, not to attack you, but to challenge you to read the scripture yourself. If the Watchtower Society added the "a" that, my friend is NO small deal. In Revelation 22:18-19 it says to not add or take away from God's word. Jesus also said in John 8:24 "if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." So, to not recognize that Jesus is who He says He is (God) is a sin and to "die in one's sins" would be to die without forgiveness and to die without forgiveness would result in hell. And later in verse 58 Jesus reveals who He is by saying "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (which the NWT changed to "I have been") This is why in verse 59 they took up stones to throw at Him, intending to kill Him, because Jesus was claiming to be God and the Pharisees considered that blasphemy. John 1:1 and John 8:58 is not the only place the NWT has altered the Holy scriptures, but for now I want you to see that the Watchtower Society claims to be God's mouthpiece and equates themselves as being divinely inspired and sees themselves as some kind of prophetic group but they are not trustworthy. If they are not trustworthy and are not, in fact, God's mouthpiece then how could one trust them to be credible in what they write and how they translate the Bible, and thereby the claims they make about Jesus and Holy Spirit and other things? 

In Deut. 18:20-22 God's word says,

 "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'- when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him."  

The end of the world was "prophesied" as coming in 1914 by the WS (The Watchtower reprints, vol. 4 p. 1677) and that didn't happen and then it was rescheduled for 1918-`1925. When that didn't occur they decided to stop setting dates. But then returned to declaring the end of the world again as coming in 1975 (Watchtower of Aug 15, 1968, p.494).  

The WS has repeatedly given false prophecies regarding the end of the world. And you might be saying well, these are just mere men, they have the right to error, like any other human. You would be right, however, these are the very people who claim to be God's prophets. In the "Watchtower" April 1, 1972 (please look it up) we read: 

"This would indicate that Jehovah's witnesses today make their declaration of the good news of the Kingdom under angelic direction and support. And since no word or work of Jehovah can fail, for he is God Almighty, the nations will see the fulfillment of what these witnesses say as directed from heaven" (p200)

  "The Watchtower" of July 1, 1973 states: 

"Jehovah's organization alone, in all the earth, is directed by God's holy spirit or active force...To it alone God's Sacred Word, the Bible, is not a sealed book." 

Well according to Deut. 18:20-22 the Watchtower Society is a false prophet, because the things they've prophesied have not come to pass! 

Here is another reason not to trust the WS: Why is it that the translation committee attempts to remain anonymous? They claim its to give the credit to God, and to maintain a modest, behind the scenes kind of persona. Or is it really because they are not scholarly or credible? The NWT was written 57 years ago. What was wrong with the translations that were already written? If you look up the New King James Bible you can easily find numerous scholars who translated it. You are able to investigate to see if they are educated. If you do a little digging you can find some of the translators of the NWT ie Fred Franz and Joan Cetnar. Cetnar was not familiar with Greek. Fred Franz only took 1 semester of Greek. Under oath in court in Scottland he reveals he did not know Greek or Hebrew.

There is really no basis for trusting the Watchtower Society's claim to properly interpret the Bible under divine guidance for many reasons which are to lengthy to list... from changing their own divine doctrine throughout the years, to the misuse of quoted sources, such as McClintock and Strong's "Cyclopeaedia of Biblical Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature" (1871) to support their idea of the Trinity, and Dana and Mantey's "Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament" to support the "a" in John 1:1. Both of these authors were outraged at the WS misquoting them to support their doctrine.

Here is a brief list of some of the scriptures that the WS has changed:

-Heb 1:6 NKJ says "let all the angels worship Him (Jesus)"

                NWT says "let all the angels do obeisance to him"

-Heb 1:8 NKJ says "But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever...'

                NWT says "But about the Son, he says, 'God is your throne forever and ever...'

(notice in the NKJ Father God is calling Jesus 'God')

-Col. 1:15-18 NKJ says "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." 

                        NWT says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him all other things were made to exist, and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might become the one who is first in all things." 

         ("other" is added in the NWT to try to make it look like Jesus was created)

-1 John 5:7-8 NKJ "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

                NWT says, "For there are three witness bearers: the spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement"

(the NWT completely leaves out the rest of verse 7 which says that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one; the Trinity!)

There are many more alterations by the NWT committee that attempts to align the Bible with the Watchtower Society's own theology, but in order for them to do away with the fact that within the nature of the one God there are three Persons- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit they would have to change the entire Bible, and they did not do that. There is plenty of evidence even within the NWT to attest to the Godhead. The Watchtower Society (very aware of this), instead puts forth their effort to distract the Jehovah Witnesses (people with real love for Jehovah God!) away from the Bible by distribution of their own literature and emphasizing their magazines above the Bible.

So, here are some scriptures found in both the NWT and the NKJ that attest to the divinity of both Jesus and Holy Spirit:

    -John 20:28 "And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'"

    -Acts 7:59 "As they were stoning Stephen, he made this appeal: 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit'" (here Stephen prays to Jesus to receive his spirit!!

    -1 Cor. 6:19 and 1 Cor. 3:16-17 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?" .... "Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you?" 

    (If we are the temple of God and Holy Spirit because they are one... we can't be the temple of two separate Gods)

    Also please read Acts 5:1-11

We must pay attention to Jesus' words in Mark 3:28-29 when he warned that anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness.

    Also please read Rev. 5:11-14 where the same worship is attributed to the Father and the Lamb.

    

I can go on and on my friend but what it really boils down to is that the WS is not a reliable means for understanding the Bible or who God is. They want to bombard you with rules and regulations that they created and which isn't in the Bible and cause you to believe you have to do x,y, and z to earn salvation and God's blessings. Well I'm here to tell you that Jesus already paid the price! He fulfilled the law because no one could. His blood gives us forgiveness, not how many hours we attend Kingdom Hall, or how many hours you go door to door, or whether or not you attend Pioneer School, or how long your dress is. We can never be "good enough" to earn salvation or God's blessings. That's what Jesus' sacrifice was for! Now, we follow God's commands (biblical commands, not man's) in response to His amazing pardon, mercy, and grace. All He wants is a relationship with us and for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth and to serve Him not because we have to, but because we love Him because He first loved us. If you got to the end of this long letter, thank you for your time. Nothing is more important than the truth. Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and the Way, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

Please, I don't expect you to take all this in at once, but I encourage you to read the Bible for yourself by itself, apart from man's aides and commentary. Pray to Jehovah God, and ask Him, "Father, if this letter is true, soften my heart to receive the truth, for my heart is always to honor You."

Here is a story from a Christian: "When I first came into contact with Jehovah witnesses they came to my door and truly challenged me. They told me I was wrong for praying to Jesus and worshiping Him and that this was polytheism and that God the Father did not approve of this. Those sweet women left my home and I felt lost. I talked to my parents and to God and expressed my despair; I was sorry if I had been dishonoring the Father. So many questions filled my head. These women did come at an interesting and pivotal time in my life, however, because at that time I had just began to start to read the Bible. See I grew up a Christian and loved God. But, even though I had a relationship with the Lord, I never read His word! So, after meeting with those women I had feelings of fear, fear that I had been doing God wrong all this time by praying to Him and His Son and His Spirit. Was I not even supposed to thank the One who died for me, was I not supposed to tell Him that I love Him because that would qualify as me giving prayer to Him? I was determined to find truth and for some reason I went straight to the gospel of John. The beautiful gospel of John painted it clear for me. Jesus is God, and even though I don't understand completely with my finite mind how God can be one and three at the same time, by faith, I believed. See the job of Jesus is and was to glorify the Father, not Himself, and the job of the Father is to glorify His Son. Not giving His Son glory, His due glory is a great disaster and a terrible dishonor to the Father. And ever since those sweet women came to my home God has shown me over and over in His word who He is and I still don't know Him completely, of course not, but I'm seeking Him, because He is my treasure and my exceedingly great reward."

If you want to know Jesus personally, please repent (turn from your sins) and place your trust in Jesus. Please read the Bible by itself (not the NWT) because if its not rooted in the Bible then it's not true. If you have to use your imagination too much to make something true ( ie Jesus being Michael) then it's not true. Do no be deceived by the wolves in sheep's clothing. May the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth.