Scripture v Jehovah's Witnesses

DOCTRINAL DIFFERENCES OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES¹
See the pdf (18 pages) for the entire paper.
Dr. Paul Manuel—2009

I. Differences in Bibliology

• Only their interpretation of scripture is correct.²

1. "...be it known that no other system of theology even claims, or has ever attempted, to harmonize in itself every statement of the Bible; yet nothing short of this can we claim." (Russell 1917 1:348)
2. "...Jehovah had chosen the publication we now call The Watchtower to be used as a channel through which to bring to the world of mankind a revelation of the divine will and, through the words revealed in its columns, to bring a division of the world's population into those who would do the divine will and those who would not." Watchtower 1959:22, quoted in Gruss 1980:218)

But...

2 Pet 1:20 ...no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation.³

II. Differences in Theology

A. God does not exist in three persons (trinity).⁴

1. "...such a doctrine is not of God." (Watchtower 1959:22, quoted in Gruss 1980:218)
2. "The obvious conclusion is, therefore, that Satan is the originator of the trinity doctrine." (Watchtower 1952:100)
3. "...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." (Watchtower 1952:101)
4. "The trinity doctrine was not conceived by Jesus or the early Christians. Nowhere in the Scriptures is even any mention made of a trinity.., the plain truth is that this is another of Satan's attempts to keep God-fearing persons from learning the truth of Jehovah and his Son, Christ Jesus. No, there is no trinity!" (Watchtower 1952:102)

But...

a. Matt 3:16-17 And Jesus, when he was baptized... saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove...and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved-Son —
b. Matt 28:19 ...baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
c. 2 Cor 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

B. The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force.⁵

• "...the holy spirit is the invisible active force of Almighty God which moves his servants to do his will." (Watchtower 1952:108)

But...

a. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you...
b. Acts 5:3-4 ...Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit...thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
c. Acts 13:2 ...the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
d. Rom 8:26 ...the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us.

III. Differences in Christology

A. Jesus is not God.⁶

1. "...he was a mighty one, although not almighty as Jehovah God is" (Watchtower 1952:32)
2. "Prior to coming to earth, this only-begotten Son of God did not think himself to be co-equal with Jehovah God." (Watchtower 1952:34)
3. "...Jesus came to earth to provide a corresponding ransom by his perfect human life. The ransom, therefore, must be equal to the thing lost, namely, perfect human life as Adam had it in Eden... God's justice would not let Jesus, as a ransom, be more than a perfect man." (Watchtower 1952:105-106)
4. "Who ran the universe during the three days that Jesus was dead and in the grave... If Jesus was God, then during Jesus' death God was dead and in the grave... Therefore, if Jesus was the immortal God, he could not have died." (Watchtower 1952:109)
5. "My Father is greater than I.' That means 'greater' not only as to office but also as to person." (Watchtower l952:110)

But...

a. John 1:1 ...the Word was God.
b. John 10:30 I and the Father are one.
c. Phil 2:6 ...existing in the form of God.
d. Col 2:9 ...in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
e. Heb 1:3 ...being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance.

B. Jesus was a created being, not eternal.

1. "...he was the first son that Jehovah God brought forth... Hence he is called 'the only begotten Son' of God... He was the first of Jehovah God's creations." (Watchtower 1952:32)
2. "Jehovah God alone has always been immortal, and he bestowed immortality on Jesus Christ at his resurrection." (Watchtower 1952:72)
3. "Christ Jesus was the first to receive immortality as a reward for his faithful course on earth." (Watchtower 1952:74)

But...

a. John 1:1-2 ...the Word...was in the beginning with God.
b. John 8:58 Before Abraham was born, I am.
c. John 17:5 ...Father, glorify thou me...with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
d. Col 1:17 ...he is before all things.

C. Jesus' primary mission was to defend God's name.⁷

1. "...the primary purpose for which he came to earth...to bear witness to God's kingdom which will vindicate the sovereignty and holy name of Jehovah God." (Watchtower 1952:37)
2. "...the secondary purpose for which the Son of God came to earth...to die as holy sacrifice to Jehovah God in order to cancel the sins of believing men." (Watchtower 1952:38)

But

a. Mark 10:45 ...the Son of man...came...to give his life a ransom for many.
b. Luke 19:10 For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
c. John 3:17 For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
d. 1 Tim 1:15 Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
e. Heb 9:26 ...now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

D. Jesus did not rise from the dead physically, only spiritually⁸ (1-2)...or did he (3-5)?

1. "on the third day of his being dead in the grave his immortal Father Jehovah God raised him from the dead, not as a human Son, but as a mighty immortal spirit Son...For forty days after that he materialized, as angels before him had done, to show himself alive to his disciples as witnesses...Jesus did not take his human body to heaven...God did not purpose for Jesus to be humiliated thus forever by being a fleshly man forever. No, but after he had sacrificed his perfect manhood, God raised him to deathless life as a glorious spirit creature." (Watchtower 1952:40-41)
2. Our Lord's human body was, however, supernaturally removed from the tomb; because had it remained there it would have been an insurmountable obstacle to the faith of the disciples, who were not yet instructed in spiritual things...We know nothing about what became of it, except that it did not decay or corrupt...Whether it was dissolved into gases or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grant memorial of God's love...no one knows." (Russell 1917 2:129)
3. "The resurrection of Jesus is no illusion or imagined thing, even though religious leaders of that day tried unsuccessfully...to thwart the Son of God's coming forth from the grave." (Watchtower 1952:273-274)
4. "Satan and the demons...sought to obscure the true meaning of this doctrine. They caused wrong beliefs...that the resurrection was only in a spiritual sense." (Watchtower 1952:274)
5. "Belief in the resurrection...fills the believer with a glorious hope that He knows the time will come when.., mankind's common grave, will be emptied." (Watchtower 1952:282)

But...

a. Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having.
b. John 20:27 ...Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
c. Phil 3:21 who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.

For the rest of the paper, an Appendix, the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf (18 pages) here.