Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
- Introduction
The first time I read the Watch
Tower booklet or magazine, I almost could not recognize that it is a cult. The
teaching looked familiar with us because they draw the principles from the bible.
It also appears as harmless, friendly, provide a beautiful pictures to
illustrate their teaching. But when we draw closer to their teaching we will
find some differences in their foundational teachings of Bible. Especially for
ordinary Christians who were not familiar with their bible, they will easy to
be confuse with the doctrines presented by Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I remember of the book of
Galatians where Paul remind Galatians church about some people who try to “turning you to a different gospel” (Gal
1:6), and “.. throwing you into confusion
and are trying to pervert the Gospel of Christ”. It is the same case with
Jehovah's witness. And as A Christian, we have to be ready to give our
apologetics to encounter the teaching of Jehovah’s Witness which will be come
to our door. And it is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters who
being in the trap of Jehovah's witness teaching.
It is one of the very active
religious movements in the world. They go from door to door to share their
“gospel” and invite people to believe to their teaching. In their website Jehovah’s
Witness presented the statistic facts that there are.239
lands where Jehovah’s Witnesses preach, 595 languages in which they publish
Bibles and Bible-based literature, 111,719
of Jehovah's Witness Congregations, 7,538,994 ministers who teach the
Bible, 19,000,000 people
who attend their meetings or conventions, 79,000,00 bibles published by Jehovah’s Witnesses in 116 languages and 20,000,000,000 pieces of Bible-based
literature published over the past ten years[1].
- History
of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's witnesses is the
modern counterpart of the Arians of the fourth century and has adopted almost
verbatim the Christological formula of Arian doctrine[2].
Arians affirmed that Jesus was merely the first and greatest of God's creature
created in time and elevated to the rank of “a god”. Proposition of Arian
proposition: (1) if God the Father gave birth to the Son, Jesus Christ who was
born, has origin of existence; (2) therefore, once the Son was not; (3) and
therefore He was created out of nothing[3].
Jehovah Witnesses came into
existence by Charles Taze Russel (1852-1916). His parents were Presbytherian of
Scotch-Irish descent[4].
Charles Taze Russel was the founder and the first president of The Watch Tower
Bible and Tract Society (1896)[5].
Charles brought to existence the organization which is known as Jehovah's
Witnesses in 1931[6]. When he
was 18 years old, he started a regular bible study of six members in Pittsburgh
for following four years. He died on October 31, 1916 and Judge J.F Rutherford
elected as the successor of Pastor Russel.
Why. Russell influenced by a
writing of a lady named Ellen White that the hell is grave. Russel troubled by
some doctrines taught in the church particularly to the doctrine of
predestination and eternal punishment[7].
Other two influential person on Jehovah's Witnesses development : Judge J.F
Rutherford.
The Source of Authority
The difficulties to deal with
Jehovah's witness are, they use almost the same bible with Christians but they
use a different translation which designed to support their teachings. They
change some part of the bible and the use passages only to support their views
and ignore passages that fail to provide their view. Anthony Hoekema stated
“The fact that their New World Translation of the Bible is by no means an
objective rendering of the sacred text into modern English, but it is a
biased translation in which many of the peculiar teachings of the Watch Tower
Society are smuggled into the text of the Bible itself”[8].
The adherents of Jehovah's
witnesses were prohibited to understand the bible without interpretation guide
of their leaders, without guidance from their leaders they will be walk into
spiritual darkness[9].
Jehovah's witnesses use many Scripture passages, torn out of the context, to
buttress the above overall statement[10].
The World View of Jehovah's Witnesses
The Creation. Jehovah Witnesses affirm that
God created everything that exist. They opposed all evolutionary Darwin’s
theories[11]. In
their belief, Jehovah wants the earth to be filled with happy, healthy people.
God’s purpose for humanity is that humans have children, extend the boundaries
of that garden home earth wide, and take care of the animals[12].
Men were created as a living soul which is combined of two things “dust of the
ground” and “the breath of life”.
The Fall. In the account of the fall of Jehovah’s
Witnesses teaching, the Devil[13]
through a serpent caused Adam and Eve to disobey God (Genesis
2:17;3:6). As a result, they eventually died, as God had
said they would if they disobeyed. All of human being have inherited a “dent”
of imperfection from Adam[14].
After the trouble started in heaven, trouble happened in human life. People get
sick and die; they even fight and kill one another. It is overrun with warring armies, dishonest
politicians, hypocritical religious leaders, and hardened criminals. In their
perspective, everything went wrong and now become more and more dangerous.
The Remedy. For
the remedy of the fallen world, Jehovah God selected Jesus Christ to be
Ruler of His heavenly Kingdom, or government[15].
The righteous “new earth” is a society of people who receive God’s approval. In Jehovah's witness teaching,
there are two kinds of people who benefit from the ransom of Christ. First is
the anointed class, which is applied to 144.000 people who will reign with
Christ. Other people are the other sheep, who dedicate themselves to do God's
will, being baptized and faithfully carry their dedication[16].
The Kingdom of God. They look for salvation at some
future date in Armageddon. But to be confirmed for their salvation, they need
to work hard such as reporting hours of service to the Watch Tower, the placing
of their books, booklets and magazines to people, all the requirements will
secure and assure their place in Armageddon [17].
They believe only by being the member of Jehovah's society they can be save[18].
God will eliminate the wicked world during his war of Armageddon. There will be
a new world and no hell. Jehovah is a God of love and would never make people
suffer in hell.[19]
3. Some of the Different Teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses to
Christian Doctrines
The Trinity. Jehovah's witnesses believe that there is one God in one person, Jehova which
literally means “He Causes to Become.” [20].
They believe there is no Trinity. Jehovah's witnesses reject the doctrine of
trinity. They belief Jesus is not more than perfect man. Jesus is not equal
with God Almighty. As the conclusion, they stated that Satan is the originator
of Trinity doctrine[21].
They claimed that it is originated with the ancient Babilonians about 2200 BC[22]. see tentang Allah Tritunggal
The Deity of Jesus Christ. Jehovah Witnesses believe that
Jesus was created Heavenly creature. Jesus was Michael the archangel who became
a man[23].
Jesus had a beginning, whereas Jehovah God has no beginning or end. They
claimed that Christ never even considered trying to be equal to his Father.
Jehovah alone is “God Almighty.” (Genesis 17:1) and Jesus has no equal with
God-Jehovah [24].
Jehovah performed a miracle when he transferred the life of his firstborn Son
from heaven to the womb of a Jewish virgin named Mary.[25]
“Jesus is not God,” and thus should not be worshiped by Christians.
The Holy Spirit. For Jehovah's
witnesses, the Holy Spirit is not a person and is therefore not one of the Gods
of the Trinity. Holy Spirit is only a force which does not have any personal
character. Holy Spirit is God's impersonal active force, not alive.
The Resurrection of Christ and
the Atonement. Christ
rise from the dead was not raised out of the grave a human creature but he was
resurrected an invisible spirit[26].
For Jehovah's witness, the ransom by
the man “Jesus Christ” does not give the guarantee everlasting life or blessing
to any man[27].
The existence of hell and fate
of the wicked. For
Jehovah's Witnesses, hell is the grave, the tomb. The concept of Hell in
Christianity is originated from Hell is from Satan himself. They cannot accept
the doctrine about burning hell where the wicked will torture eternally. There
are four reasons why they reject the doctrine of hell: because it is
un-scriptural, unreasonable, contrary to God's love, and it is repugnant to
justice[28].
For them, God is love and it is contradict with the character of God about a
Creator who will torture His creation eternally.
III. Apologetic Approach
Philosophical Apologetics
The doctrine of Trinity. The doctrine of Trinity is
biblical and the evidence of this doctrine can be seen in the whole Bible.
There are various verses in the Bible which exposed about the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost as divine: eternal, Holy, creator of all things,
omnipotence, omnipresent, and omniscience. John's Gospel gives us description
about the Holy Trinity which Christ is subordinate to the Father (John
14:28; 5:26; 5:30; 7:16) and of the unity between the Father and Son (John
10:30;14:9-10)[29] . The
Son is sent by the Father and the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son
(John 3:17, 15:26).
Jesus is equal to God. Our faith in Christianity is to
confess the divinity of Jesus that Jesus is our Lord and God. We devote our
worship, praise and religious devotion to Jesus, equal as God. He is exist
before the creation of the world, He was eternally with God and
He is God (John 1:1). This verse in John 1:1 describes about equal
relationship between the Father and the Son. Another evidence is that the use
of words “I am” by Christ in the Gospel of John in Septuagint translated “I am
he”, which is often used by Yahweh Himself, related to Exo 3:14 in which God
describes Himself as “I am”[30]. Jesus knows human heart; He is
omniscience. He knew man's true identity, who we are, he knew
what was in a man. He is everywhere, he is omnipresence. Other verses that we can use for our
apologetic approach are John 5:18, Col 1:16-17, Phil 2:8-10; Heb 1:1-3, and
Titus 2:13.
We
worship Christ. In the Gospel we find that people
confessed His deity, worshipped Jesus and He accepted worship of people. Jesus
accepted worship from the healed blind-born man (John 9:38). John the Baptist said about Jesus: “the thongs of whose
sandals I am not worthy to untie”; “I testify that this is the Son of God”.
Andrew said “We have found the
Messiah” (1:41). Natanael said “Rabbi,
you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”. The Samaritans
confessed “we know that this man really is the Savior of the world”. Thomas,
the rationalist who needs proof to believe, finally confessed that Jesus is his
Lord and his God (John 20:28).
Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit also is equated
with God and has interrelation with the Son (John 14-16). Holy Spirit
is prescient and unveils futurity, He is absolutely free and independent. He is
omnipresent. Holy
Spirit descended from heaven on the baptism of Jesus (John 1:32). The
Spirit of truth dwelleth with the disciples, and shall be in the disciples
(John 14:7). He is eternal, He is Holy. God is a Spirit: and they that
worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
Cultural Apologetics
Blood transfusion. For Jehovah's Witness, they
reject blood transfusion. They prefer medical treatment which is bloodless
operation. Their reason based on religious reason rather than medical reason.
They claimed Old and New Testaments clearly command to abstain from blood (Gen
9:4; Lev 17:10; Deu 12:23; Acts 15:28-19). Blood is representing life (Leviticus
17:14), and to respect
for God who is the Giver of life, they refuse to take blood transfusion.
There was a case of a Jehovah's
witness boy who suffered from an aggressive cancer. He has an 80 per cent
chance of dying from anaemia if he does not have medical treatment including
blood transfusion[31].
He said that any attempt to perform the treatment while he is under anaesthetic
would be akin to rape and would violate his beliefs. Another case of Jehovah's
witness follower in 2010 a 15 year old British schoolboy refused blood
transfusion for religious reason and died at hospital.
The verses that they use Gen
9:4 Lev 17:10; Deu 12:23; Acts 15:28-19,
does not refer to human blood or blood transfusion. The contexts are speak
about prohibition to eat animal blood, and related to sacrifice and suffering.
There are no references from the texts above relating to prohibition human
blood transfusion. Blood transfusion could not be in comparative and parallel
with eating blood in the texts they used.
In Christianity, love will be
the basic foundation of our decision relating to blood transfusion in medical
treatment. John 15:3 stated that “Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends”. Jesus Christ is our model of
sacrificial offering to God through His blood to give life for us who has been
died because of our sin. We need to make a decision which is pro to life
because life is the highest priority of human being. We are created in the
image of God and to save life is part of our Christian duty.
Pastoral Apologetics
To deal with Jehovah's witness follower, we
need to realize that they are human being with real needs and real feelings.
Despite of make a frontal debate with them about Christian doctrines which can
caused a never ending heated debate, or end with their refusal to connect with
us, we need to develop a more friendly approach to them. They can feel anger,
fear, and confusion. We can start with seeing through their perspective and
understand their feeling. We can also agree to have bible study with them and
discuss about their doctrines in a warm way while explaining the truth in
Christianity so that it can be understood by them.
Disfellowshipping is a serious
act which the most fear by the follower of Jehovah's witnesses. The consequence of expelling from the JW
community can cost separation from husband, wife, parents, son or daughter and
all JW congregation. The love from community of Christians will be helpful for
ex-Jehovah’s Witnessess to growin a healthy understanding of the bible. The
love from true brothers and sisters in Christ will help them to walk out of
error and darkness into the light of Christianity.
- Conclusion
We can build our apologetic
approach to Jehovah's witness through philosophical approach, which based on
some basic doctrines in Christianity such as: The doctrine of Trinity, The
Deity of Jesus, Worship to Jesus, Holy Spirit and Salvation in Christianity,
and other basic doctrines needed. For cultural approach we can start talk about
the topic about blood transfusion, salute to national flag, etc.
The last but the most important
approach is the pastoral approach which deal with them as a human being and
aware of their human need, their feelings, their struggles, emotions, anger,
confusion, etc. Our daily life activities with them can also lead us to
conversation about what is life, what is the purpose of life, God's plan for
human life, etc. I think to build a healthy friendship will be helpful to build
an open conversation with them, and to treat them not like our enemy. We also
need to be open to hear about their teachings while attempt to discuss about
the truth of the bible and enter some basic doctrines to present the truth of
Jesus Christ.
[2] Walter Martin, Jehovah's Witnesses,
(Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1957), p.10
[3] Walter Martin, p. 6
[4] Anthony A. Hoekema, Jehovah's Witnesses,
(Grand Rapids: WB Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963), p.9
[5] Walter Martin, Jehovah's Witnesses,
(Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship Inc., 1957), p.11
[6] Walter Martin, p. 11
[7] Anthony A. Hoekema, p. 9
[8] Anthony A. Hoekema, p. 26
[9] Anthony A. Hoekema, p. 26
[10] William J. Schnell, Into the Light of
Christianity, (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974), p.91
[11] Hoekema, p.52
[13] For Jehovah's Witness, the devil is a spirit
son of God who rebelled against the Theocratic arrangement. The ultimate end of
Satan is complete annihilation (Walter Martin, p. 31)
[16] Hoekema, p.75
[17] William J. Schnell, p. 12
[18] William J. Schnell, p. 12
[21] Walter Martin, p. 18
[22] Hoekema, p.45
[26] Walter Martin, p. 29
[27] Walter Martin, p. 29
[28] Walter Martin, p. 30
[29] Arthur W. Wainwright, The Trinity in the
New Testament, (London: SPCK, 1962), p.192
[30] Arthur W. Wainwright, p. 90-91
