Jehovah's Witness

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've recently been learning a lot about one of the great American cults known as Jehovah's Witness. Here is a summary of the history of the group:

The Jehovah's Witness religion is based on the teachings of a Bible-defined false prophet from their first president, C. T. Russell. In spite of his lack of formal training in theology or biblical languages, Russell claimed to be the only one with the truth, and he vigorously condemned all other Christian religions. There are sooo many wacky story of this guy out there...for example, in 1913, Russell unsuccessfully sued The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for libel when that paper exposed his fraudulent attempts to sell ordinary wheat at the exorbitant price of $60 a bushel, claiming it was "Miracle Wheat".

I mention that he is a Bible-defined false profit because Jehovah's Witness consistently puts out one false prophecy after another, after another (for example, predictions for Armageddon were made in 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1931, 1941, 1975 and 1995). Russell attracted a ton of followers in 1914 by prophesying Armageddon. When 1914 came and went, he changed the date to 1915...he died in 1916. The other years I mentioned were the other years it was changed to. However, a true prophet does not make false prophecies (Jeremiah 28:9). Jesus warned that false prophets would arise and would "deceive" many people (Matthew 24:11,24). In the great depression Jehovah's Witness used to sell those tract pamphlets, basically by scaring people by telling them that they would "cease to exist if they didn't join their group" (they don't believe in hell - I picture them sitting around in a circle with sharpies crossing out lines of their bibles that they don't want to accept as true.)

What God has stated in 2 Tim. 3:16,17? He says that HIS word is sufficient. However, Jehovah's Witness claims that one cannot find or know the truth by reading the Bible alone. Does that make sense?

I had to disregard a lot of the passages that I presented to the guy that I was talking to when discussing the trinity. Why? Because our Bibles say different things. Why? The NWT has many changes that are not in agreement with the original Greek and Hebrew text, but was made to be in agreement with Russell's unique beliefs. Try out that e-sword program and look at verses like John 1:1. What does God will happen to those who add, subtract and change words from the Bible? Check out Rev 22 (in short - they go to hell). The translation committee responsible for the NWT was kept anonymous, undoubtedly to cover up their complete lack of scholarly qualifications. None of the men who worked on this project had any formal training in the biblical languages, except for Frederick Franz. He was chairman of the committee and had studied Greek for a mere two years at the University of Cincinnati without graduating, and was only self-taught in Hebrew.

Jehovah's Witness uses false Armageddon predictions to intimidate its followers. If you look back at doctrinal positions, the organization has also repeatedly changed its doctrines and contradicted previously held beliefs, all while claiming that it alone has the truth. Is this consistent with God's perfection and holiness?

But here is the ultimate reason for cult status: Jehovah's Witnesses truly believe that if they leave the Watchtower Society they will be destroyed at Armageddon. If you actually study the history of the organization and leave, your family and friends are expected to shun you and to sever all ties from you. They are actually not permitted to read material about God not written by the watchtower society. That's got to be tough. But is this the way that Jesus treated even the people who rebel against him?