Charles Taze Russell

 Jehovah’s Witnesses

 

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

HISTORY

 

Charles Taze Russell was born February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

 

His parents were Presbyterians of Scotch/Irish descent.

 

He was exposed to many Adventist’s beliefs at the age of 18 and it is believed this influenced his formation of his beliefs.

 

At an early age Russell rejected doctrines such as eternal torment in hell.

 

In 1870 Russell organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh that in 1876 elected him Pastor of the group.

 

From 1876 to 1878 he was also an assistant editor of a small Rochester, New York newspaper until controversy arose over his religious beliefs being written in the paper.

 

In 1879 Russell founded “Zion’s Watch Tower”, today known as “The Watch Tower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom”.

 

In 1884 Russell incorporated “Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society”.

 

In 1886 the first of Russell’s books, Studies in the Scriptures was published. There were seven volumes, the last, published in 1917 after Russell’s death, causing a split in the organization. The larger group followed J. F. Rutherford while the smaller group remained by itself and formed the “Dawn Bible Student’s Association.” Under Rutherford the group became known as today’s “Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

 

In 1893 there were many internal and external attempts to wrest control of the organization from Russell but none were successful.

 

In 1897, Russell was divorced from his wife after many problems. Russell stated she wanted too large a voice in the religious organization but records of the divorce case show that it was proven he was unusually demanding to her and was unchristian? This was especially true in his relations with other women though he was not proven top be guilty of sexual immorality.

 

In 1908 Russell had a debate with L. S. White of the Disciples of Christ. Russell claims he won but records show otherwise.

 

In 1913 the Miracle Wheat Scandal occurred. Russell supposedly had wheat that was five times as hardy as normal wheat. He offered it for sale for one dollar a pound. It was found to be a falsehood; the wheat had nothing over normal wheat.

 

Russell rejected such teachings as the Trinity, deity of Christ, physical resurrection, physical return of Christ, hell, eternal punishment, eternal existence of the soul. Russell first predicted Christ’s return in 1874 but later changed it to 1914.

 

Russell died in 1916.

 

Joseph Franklin Rutherford (the judge was born November 8, 1869 in Morgan County, Missouri.

 

He was a public prosecutor and special judge in 1890.

 

In 1906 he became legal counselor of the Watch Tower and dedicated himself to it.

 

Rutherford was elected president of the Watch Tower in 1917.

 

In 1919 The Golden Age (Awake) was started as a publication at their International Convention.

 

When Rutherford took over he declared in effect that he was the mouthpiece of Jehovah for this age and that God had designated his words as the expression of divine mandate. He began to find loopholes in the organization and removed members and gradually began to gain control. He began to build uniformity in the group and to downplay much of Russell’s authority.

 

In 1918 the government took into custody eight prominent church officials, which, was probably a result of war hysteria at the time and prompted by the Watch Tower’s publications and beliefs.

 

In 1919 they were released.

 

In 1920 the indictments were dropped.

 

Rutherford began stressing the vindication of Jehovah’s name. The purpose of this was to cause the group to grow in spite of rejection. 

 

In 1923 Rutherford writes World Distress ? Why and the Remedy and quotes Russell 16 times, refers to Studies in the Scriptures 12 times and devotes 6 pages to advertising Russell’s volumes. 

 

In 1925 Rutherford writes Comfort for the People and quotes Russell’s prophetical chronology and recommends Russell’s writings. 

 

In 1927 The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society publishes Rutherford’s Creation, where Rutherford quotes Russell again. 

 

In his book of 1929, Prophecy Rutherford divided church history into two parts, the first era ended in 1918 (Elijah), the second began (Elisha). When the Elisha era began believers were divided into progressive heavenly classes, the first was Mordecai-Naomi (1918?1922), Ruth?Ester (1922?1929), then Jonadab (1931? ). 

 

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was the super class that would put all former classes under it. 

 

Under Rutherford open war was declared on religion, politics, and commerce. The visible enemies of God and man are religious organizations and practitioners of religion to mention a few. 

 

Rutherford died in 1942.

 

Nathan Knorr was born April 23, 1905 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. At an early age he became involved with the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

 

In 1932 he was factory production manager for the Watch Tower’s religious materials.

 

In 1934 he became director of the New York Corporation.

 

In 1935 he was elected vice president of this corporation.

 

In 1940 he became vice president of the Pennsylvania Corporation.

 

When Rutherford died he was elected president. Under his leadership the Witness movement forged ahead with youthful enthusiasm and vigorous expansion. Under his administration the average believer became well-trained.

 

The Theocratic ministry School was established in 1943 and also the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead.

 

In 1950 appeared the first volume of The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. The last volume of the Old Testament appeared in 1960 and the entire Bible together in one volume in 1961.

 

Jehovah Witnesses deny having taught Russell or Rutherford doctrine, but in July (15) of 1950 The Watch Tower quotes (p. 216) Russell. In 1953 a publication, Jehovah Witnesses Communists or Christians quotes Russell 5 times, refers to him with pride twice and list 2 of his works. 

 

CHURCH ORGANIZATION

 

Local Witnesses are a company not a congregation.

 

The place of meeting is the Kingdom Hall, not called a church.

 

Leaders are called Witnesses or possibly ministers.

 

Every Witness is a publisher. This means they publish, witness, the truth from house to house. It requires 60 hours per month of door-to-door witnessing.

 

A full-time publisher is called a pioneer. Minimum service requires 150 hours per month. They receive no stated salary. All contributions are sent to the Brooklyn headquarters and credited to his account where he has a meager drawing account for living expenses.

 

They schedule five hours of meetings each week:

 

1) Watchtower Study

2) Congregation Book Study

3) Service Meeting

4) Theocratic Ministry School

5) Public Talks.

 

It is recommended that they conduct at least one Home Bible Study.

 

There is a Seven Step Program for Evangelizing:

 

1) Get literature into a person’s home.

 

2) “Back-call” to induce interest in the literature.

 

3) Home Study is begun, with pressure to subscribe to the Watchtower and Awake.

 

4) Area Book Study. The start of an in-depth Bible study and forming new relationships.

 

5) Watchtower Study, study to prove the Watchtower Doctrine is true. It is taught now that to have salvation one must preach the one truth of God.

 

6) You must unite with Jehovah’s Witnesses to be able to preach the one truth of God.

 

7) Attendance is stressed to be consistent at all Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings.

 

Baptism is official recognition that you are joining their faith. This takes place within their church, of course.  

 

TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE

 THE EMPHATIC DIAGLOTT

 

This is an interlinear New Testament, the first publication of the Watch Tower, published in 1926.

 

It had great influences on their later publication of the New World Translation.

 

Benjamin Wilson, a newspaper editor in Geneva, Illinois, wrote it in 1864. He was a Christadelphian. These people believe in similar doctrine as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as the non?existence of hell that the Trinity is false, and the Holy Spirit is not a person. Benjamin Wilson was self-educated and was definitely not a language scholar.

 

THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION

 

In translating the Bible the Watch Tower claims a unique freedom from what they define as “The misleading influence of religious traditions which have their roots in paganism. This influence has colored the inspired word so only Jehovah’s Witnesses as theocratic representatives can correct this.”

 

In the forward of their 1950 New world Translation of Christian Greek Scriptures the Jehovah’s Witnesses state concerning translations, “But honesty compels us to remark that, while each of them has its points of merits, they have fallen victim to the power of human traditionalism in varying degrees. Consequently, religious traditions, hoary with age, have been taken for granted and gone unchallenged and uninvestigated. These have been interwoven into translations to color the thought. In support of a preferred religious view, an inconsistency and unreasonableness have been inseminated into the teachings of the inspired writing.”

 

The Jehovah’s Witnesses translation of the Bible is The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures and The New World Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. This was finished and combined into one Bible in 1961. They claim they have very competent scholars who are authors of their translations and remain anonymous for sake of their humility. No reputable scholars in these ancient languages recognize the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ translations as valid and true, be they Christian or non-Christian experts.

 

They often quote Greek and Hebrew scholars to support their translation, but many times out of context so it will support their doctrine. Here is a quote from one such scholar who was misquoted, a Professor Mantey, “… all their writings that I have read and certain interpretations that they have given are of this type. They have their set doctrines, definite beliefs, and they go through the Scriptures looking for some support for those particular beliefs. Beliefs that are not necessarily all of them Biblical, but they have put together these particular ideas for their viewpoint. When they do meet certain passages of Scripture that seem to be against their viewpoint, to my great disappointment, they mistranslate them deliberately and deceptively – deliberate deception – in some cases and, to me, that is unpardonable. It’s dishonest and, to a certain extent, it’s diabolical.” “…I am not accurately quoted, and in the context I am quoted only in part.”, “They use a good deal of psychology – throwing up a smoke screen, quoting different people as though what they were quoting was favorable to their viewpoint, whereas they are just quoting them”, “When Scripture runs counter to their particular set beliefs, they try to change the Scripture so they will appear to have divine authority for their viewpoint.” 

 

They often insert words into their translation to support their doctrine. Be aware of verses they use such as Matt. 24:6, Luke 13:2,4 John 1:1, II Cor. 11:15, Phil. 1:23, Col. 1:16, Heb. 9:27, I Peter 4:7, Rev. 19:20. 

 

They often make up their own Greek grammar rules or use improperly the ones that are correct, not balancing rules with the context of scripture. Beware of verses such as Matt. 24:3,

 

23?27, 25:46, 27:50, 28:19, Luke 23:46, John 1:1, 14:26, Acts 1:9, II Cor. 13:14, Phil. 1:21-23, 3:11, Acts 8:29, Col. 1:45, 2:9, Rev. 3:14.

 

Some misapplied terms to be wary of are: 1) “only begotten”; John 1:18, Luke 7:11-18, 8:42, 9:38, Heb. 11:17, 2) “greater”; John 14:28, 3) “born again”; John 3, Eph. 5:26, I Peter 1:23,

 

4) “death”; Ecc. 9:5,6,10, Ps. 13:3, Dan. 12:2, 5) “first-born”; Col. 1:5, 6) “soul and spirit”; Gal. 6:8)

 

They paraphrase certain scripture to influence the meaning. (See John 15:1-11, 17:23, 26, 14:20, Col. 1:27-28, Gal. 1:16.

 

Several problems that Jehovah’s Witnesses have with their method of interpreting the Bible are:

 

1) Ridiculous literal interpretation

2) False symbolism

3) Cross referencing of verses out of context to prove a point

4) Hindsight prophesy, picking a recent event and finding a verse which appears to have predicted it.

 

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES’ BELIEFS VERSUS THE BIBLE

 

I have included below a listing of some of the major beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Under these beliefs I list Bible verses they use to support these doctrine. I do not go into great detail to show how they misuse these verses to support their beliefs but if you will study the context of the verses you can see how they err. You should have a good understanding of these verses and others to properly defend the faith when encountering Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell’s doctrine agrees with Jehovah’s Witnesses in areas of the Trinity, deity of Christ, resurrection of Christ, physical return of Christ, and hell. J.W. stands for Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs.

 

SALVATION

 

J.W.: Works play an important part in salvation; part of the responsibility of being saved rests on how much you serve God. In order to have any type of salvation, you must be a Jehovah’s Witness, study the Bible, and be a preacher to people of the gospel. There are two types of God’s people,

 

1) The anointed class or the congregation of God who are the 144,000. These go to heaven and can be born again.

2) The great crowd or other sheep gains eternal life on a restored paradise earth and does not need to be reborn. They do not need a sacrifice. Most people fall into this category since the 144,000 have already been chosen, since 1935. Salvation is something that is not fully realized until one’s earthly course is ended. Prov. 27:17, Matt. 28:19, John 17:3, Acts 2:42-47, II Tim. 2:15, 3:15, Heb. 10:7,24-25, James 2:17, Ii Peter 1:10.

 

BIBLE: Salvation does not depend on how good we are or how much we work for God, though obedience is desired by god and is an out?flowing of true commitment. Salvation is a free gift from God. We are saved by grace through faith. John 6:47, 10:28, Rom. 3:24-25, 4:5, 5:8-11, Eph. 2:8?10, Titus 3:4-8, Heb. 10:10, II Cor. 5:17, I Peter 1:23, II Tim. 1:9, I John 5:12-13. All who trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord will be allowed to go to heaven; there will be no restrictions by number only by faith.

 

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 

 

J.W.: Christ was raised a spiritual divine creature but not physically. Luke 24:13?35, John 20:1, 24?29, 21:1?14, Acts 1:9, I Cor. 15:44-45, 50?53, I Peter 3:18.

 

 

BIBLE: Christ rose in body and spirit, though he had a heavenly, glorified body when he did. Ps. 16:9-10, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:36-43, John 2:21, 20:19-26, Rom. 4:24, 6:4, 8:11, I Cor. 15:15, 50-53, Phil. 3:21.

 

RETURN OF CHRIST 

 

J.W.: Christ returned in spirit, invisibly, in 1914. They reject a physical return of Christ. In 1918 Jesus cleansed the temple in heaven. Luke 21:24, John 14:19, Matt. 24:26-28, Acts 1:9, I Thess. 4:16?17, I Cor. 15:51?53.

 

 

BIBLE: Christ will return visibly as He left. We will know the season, but not the exact date of His coming. Matt. 24:36, 42,44, 25:13, 28:20, 23:39, Acts 1:11, I Thess. 4:16-18, Heb. 13:5, Rev. 1:7, Zech. 12:10.

 

EXISTENCE OF HELL

 

J.W.: Hell is a God dishonoring doctrine. They say its:

 

1) Unscriptural

2) Unreasonable

3) Contrary to God’s love

4) Repugnant to justice.

 

They deny hell but substitute a fear of God to motivate people. Those rejecting God will be destroyed or annihilated. Matt. 10:28, Rev. 21:8.

 

 

BIBLE: Hell does exist. Those rejecting God will be conscious in hell. Ez. 32:21, Is. 14:4-17, Matt. 25:31-46, 13:41-43, II Peter 2:17, Jude 13, Rev. 19:20, 20:10, 21:8. It is a doctrine that expresses a necessary part of God’s character, that of justice, punishment for disobedience and rebellion.

 

MAN’S SOUL

 

J.W.: The dust of the ground and the breath of life make up the soul, therefore when a person dies so does his soul. Ez. 18:4. Man differs not from the beast in these respects. Satan originated the doctrine of the immortal soul. Ecc. 3:19, 20, 9:5, Gen. 1:20-21, 2:7.

 

 

BIBLE: The soul is a separate entity from the body and this distinguishes man from beast. Though it is separate, man is both body and soul and will exist in heaven as such though in a glorified body. The two are separate yet both together make up man. Is. 55:3, Matt. 10:28, Luke 8:55, I Thess. 5:23, Heb. 4:12, Rev. 16:3, Gen. 35:18, Matt. 17:3, Rev. 6:9-11, I Sam. 28:18-19, Acts 7:59, Is. 57:16, Zech. 12:1, Matt. 26:41, John 4:23, Phil. 3:3, Rom. 8:16, 26, I Cor. 2:11, 5:5, 6:20, Ez. 18:4, Is. 53:12.

 

THE ATONEMENT

 

J.W.: A human life was given; they seem to infer more physical salvation than spiritual salvation. They believe atonement is not wholly of God. Part of it is accomplished by God and part by man. The work is not complete until the survivors of Armageddon return to God through free will and become subject to the theocratic rule of Jehovah.

 

 

BIBLE: Christ died once for all and completed the salvation for all who receive him. Lev. 17:11, Heb. 9:22, John 1:29, Rev. 13:8, I Peter 2:24, Col. 1:20, Rom. 3:25, Col. 1:14, Heb. 9:22, I Peter 1:19, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9, 12:11. Christ’s perfect sacrifice served as atonement or payment for the debt due from our sins. It paid this debt totally, by accepting this sacrifice our debt is paid and out of love obey and serve our Christ as Christians.

 

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

 

J.W.: Only 144,000 enter heaven, into the presence of God, to reign with Christ in heaven. Matt. 25:31?46, Rev. 14:1,3, Micah 4:1?5. 

 

BIBLE: All who accept Christ as their savior will enter heaven. Matt. 25:31?46, 13:41?43, John 5:24, 3:36.

 

TRINITY

 

J.W.: They reject it as an unreasonable, satanic belief. 

 

BIBLE: A major doctrine of the Bible. Within the nature of the one God there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three share the same attributes; the three persons are the one God. Gen 1:26, Matt. 3:16-17, Is. 43:10-11, Matt. 28:19, Gen. 11:7, Is. 6:8. Reason should not dictate doctrine. It is involved often in understanding our faith, but cannot be relied on to serve as the final authority. This is where faith comes in. Is. 55:8-9, Rom. 11:34-36.

 

DEITY OF CHRIST

 

J.W.: They reject Christ’s deity, that He was God as well as man. Phil. 2:1-11, John 1:1. They say Christ is a created being, Michael the Archangel, John 1:1-4, Col. 1:15-18, Rev. 3:14. They say he was “a” god not the God. He became “a” god when He came to the earth in flesh. Now in heaven He is an angel again. 

 

BIBLE: Christ is the Son of God and coequal with Him in every aspect as far as his deity and divinity are concerned. John 1:1?4, 23, 5:18, 26, 6:57, Phil. 2:5?11, John 8:58, Ex. 3:14, Is. 9:6, Micah 5:2, Is. 7:14, John 17:5, Heb. 1:1?12, Col. 2:9, Rev. 1:8, 17, 18, 22:13, John 12:37?41.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT

J.W.: It is a force, not God. 

 

BIBLE: The Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity, fully God and due all deification as Christ and the Father are. He is a being not a thing. Acts 5:3, 4, 10:19?20, John 14:16, 17, 26, 16:7?14, 23, Matt. 28:19, I Cor. 12:11, Rom. 8:26?27.

 

VIRGIN BIRTH

 

J.W.: The Father God conceived Christ. He was not incarnation. He was flesh only.

 

BIBLE: Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was God incarnate, which is God in human flesh. Matt. 1:18, John 1:1, 8:58?59.

 

WITNESSING

 

When one thinks of witnessing, the first question that arises is why do it? For one, it is commanded. Matt. 28:19-20, Jude 3, I Peter 3:15-16, and this means every believer is called to this ministry. Witnessing should occur from your spirit filled life as a believer. You, having salvation and eternal abundant life, should realize there are those who are spiritually dead and missing the fulfillment only Christ can give.

 

Over 86% of the average local Body of believers comes in contact with a Jehovah’s Witness at one time or another. This provides a frequent chance for Christians to contend for the faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not hateful or strange people. They are simply misled as to what real spiritual truth is. They want to serve God and are driven by the belief that their salvation depends on their works and witnessing. They are dominated by doctrines that demand unity and conformity. Dissent within the organization is met with threat of destruction by God and loss of standing with Him. Persecution or unloving words used in your conversation are taken as evidence of Satan control they consider Christians to be under. They expect to be persecuted. Don’t oblige them, love them and lovingly explain how their beliefs differ from yours. Jehovah’s Witnesses are a more formidable opponent than most false religions as they are heavily indoctrinated and have Bible verses to back up their false beliefs. They often use incorrect and Hebrew interpretation rules to support these false doctrine. The Jehovah’s Witnesses will usually come to your door in pairs, a student and a teacher. Center your discussion on the student. Agree at the start to remain on one issue (salvation for example) until you agree on where each of you stands. This will avoid the jumping tactics they use (jumping from Bible verse to verse that is) to avoid difficult situations. Even though they know their doctrine well, they are weak in understanding the true gospel. Utilize this weakness in your witnessing with the Holy Spirit’s guidance. They greatly respect the Word of God, so use your Bible and the truth it contains. Lead in prayer, addressing God as Jehovah. Jehovah’s Witnesses use John 10 and Revelation 7 to say they are not and no one can be born again as yet. Discuss John 3:3 as it relates to this. Also discuss John 18:36?37 to emphasize that to know truth one must be born again. This is due to the fact that Jesus is the King of truth and to know Him is to know truth. Share John 17:3 and the fact that anyone can experience new life in Christ, not just 144,000. Further establish this with II Cor. 13:5, which says Christ can live in us. They may say this means “in union with”, but have them look this up in their Kingdom Interlinear. Stay within the context of the scriptures shared and be aware and sensitive to what they may try to insert between the lines to support their doctrine. They are not doing this to deceive you. They have already been deceived and are simply repeating their indoctrination. You should discuss Christ’s deity and his coming in human form; share Genesis 18 and Is. 9:6. If they say there is “a” god and “the” God, challenge them in fact that this implies they worship 2 gods. Share the fact that we can know God personally and share John 17:3, 15:13-16 and Is. 41:8-10. If they bring up the resurrection and share their false beliefs on this, have them look up I Cor. 15 and John 20:27 as well as the verse they use: I Peter 3:18. Jehovah’s Witnesses begin to doubt their false denominational beliefs when they begin to question their church’s claim to absolute religious authority. Discuss this in regards to their leader’s prophecies as it related to Deut. 18:20-22. They are guilty of many false prophecies as it relates to Deut. 18:20-22. They are guilty of many false prophecies over many years.

 

Witnessing requires nothing more than a dedicated loving heart. Preparation by studying the Bible and prayer are also great helps to make you an effective witness: II Tim. 2:15. When witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses as with any deceived person, it must be done with a spirit of love: Phil. 2:3?5. Do not come from a judgmental attitude. You are not being called to judge them you are called to witness the truth to the. You are called bring them closer to a true understanding of the Bible and basic Christian beliefs. Because you are a Christian, a member of the Royal Priesthood, John 1:12, I Peter 2:9, be sure to take the initiative and lead the discussion. Don’t be rude just simply a leader. Remember II John 10; you are not to let them into your house to teach you. You are to teach them. 

In whatever degree you decide to witness, please witness in the Spirit. If all you do is declare your beliefs at the door and bid them good?day the Spirit can use this to further the gospel. 

The Holy Spirit is really the one who witnesses and moves men’s hearts. If you decline to witness at all, you have probably quenched the Spirit’s will, I Thess. 5:19. I pray that God will use you to the best of your ability and that you will remain open to be used by Him for great things.