Understanding Your Jehovah's Witness Neighbor

A Brief History of the Jehovah’s Witness Movement

The Jehovah’s Witness belief system originated in the late 1800’s. A man named Charles Taze Russell taught that Jesus had returned to establish his kingdom in 1874, but only in an invisible form. He promoted this and other teachings through an extensive speaking circuit, a growing network of in-home study groups, and the publication of the Watchtower Magazine.This movement adopted the name “Jehovah’s Witnesses” in 1931, directed by Joseph Franklin Rutherford. He guided this movement to be a structured and active organization. He also expanded their influence with a radio broadcast and emphasized door-to-door visitation by members, distributing Watchtower literature and attempting to reach new followers.A governing board of eight men currently oversees the JW organization (called “The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania”), based in Warwick, New York. Followers gather worldwide for weekly worship and training on Saturdays at their many Kingdom Hall locations. They follow a strict code of behavior, engage in regular door-to-door outreach, and distribute a broad array or colorful and informative published material.Though this is a new historical sect, it promotes a variety of long-standing doctrinal errors. It also features a repeated, pattern of failed attempts at prophetic predictions, which may be traced in their own publications. Furthermore, they use a customized Bible translation, called The New World Translation, which alters a variety of words to support their beliefs. They discourage members from independent Bible study, training them always to consult Watchtower publications and never to question the decisions if the governing board.

Doctrinal Errors of the Jehovah’s Witness Movement

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach a variety of theological errors. Many of these deviations alter the gospel message itself and classify this organization as a false religion and a cult. These doctrinal errors include the following:

• The Divine Name: They teach that “Jehovah” is the only correct name for God and refuse to call him by any other name.
• The Trinity: They reject the three-in-one nature of God.
• The Holy Spirit: They teach that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force of God and not a distinct, divine person. As such, they deny that the Holy Spirit is God.
• Jesus Christ: They teach that God created the archangel Michael, who became Jesus through the incarnation. They also teach that he is not God, but that he is a lesser god who is superior to other human beings.
• Resurrection: They teach that Jesus resurrected in a spiritual form, but not in a physical one.
• The Second Coming: They teach that the second coming of Jesus already happened in 1914, in an invisible, spiritual way.
• Salvation: They teach a works-oriented salvation that requires faith in Jesus (but not as God), association with the Watchtower organization, and obedience to its strict rules of conduct, many of which are taught nowhere in Scripture.
• Two Redeemed Peoples: They teach that there are two classes of believers: the Anointed Class (144,000) who will live in heaven and rule with Christ, and the “other sheep” (all other believers) who will live forever in a paradise earth.
• Hell: They deny an actual and eternal hell for those who reject God, teaching instead that nonbelievers will be annihilated, removed from conscious existence.

Witnessing to a Jehovah’s Witness

When speaking with a Jehovah’s Witness, don’t debate doctrinal errors. Debates harden their resistance to the gospel. Also avoid making outright accusations against their beliefs or the Watchtower organization. They are trained to believe that anyone who does these things is an instrument of Satan whom they should avoid. Therefore, you will lose any opportunity to expose them to the gospel. Furthermore, avoid quoting Bible verses from memory, since they will assume that you are misquoting the Bible. Witnessing to a Jehovah’s Witness requires patience, compassion, and a personal commitment to study your Bible. An impatient, combative approach will not succeed.Many Jehovah’s Witnesses convert from churches that claim to be Christian, but preach a false gospel and feature insincere, materialistic, and hypocritical behavior. For this reason, it is helpful to ask the question, “When did you become a Jehovah’s Witness and why did you change?” This will show personal interest and care. It will also give helpful perspective. Perhaps they will answer like this: “I grew up in a Baptist church, but I saw a lot of hypocrisy and no one was serious about the Bible.” Be prepared to empathize with them by saying something like this: “I know what you mean. Though I am thankful to be in a good church that wants to study the Bible and obey God, I have seen many churches exactly like what you experienced.”Then you can ask, “Do your leaders teach you to study the Bible?” They will say ‘yes’ (even though they never study the Bible without consulting Watchtower publications). Show enthusiasm for this and let them know that your pastor(s) also teach you to study the Bible. You can mention that you want to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 by listening to good Bible teaching and studying the Bible for yourself afterwards.This is a good time to ask if they have any literature. You may also ask if they will exchange phone numbers. Let them know that you might be interested in meeting with them to ask questions about the Bible. If neither you nor they will be able to have further conversations, then offer a gospel tract since you will have no future opportunity. If they are seeking the truth, then you can trust God to use the tract. However, it is common for a Jehovah’s Witness to refuse printed literature. To overcome this, offer to take some of their literature in exchange.In summary, the key to witnessing to a Jehovah’s Witness is to ask sincere questions that show a desire to know the truth. With this approach, you can seek to begin a Bible study.When you meet for Bible study, be willing to follow the standard Watchtower study material. Before each session, read ahead. Be sure to recognize where their material departs from clear Bible teaching. As you listen to the presentation, be prepared to ask genuine questions along the way about what you are hearing.When you ask a question, avoid asking general theological questions or questions about a printed statement in the Watchtower curriculum. Instead, ask questions about specific verses of Scripture. Open your Bible and ask the Jehovah’s Witness to read the verses aloud. Then ask questions about what the context, words, and phrases of the verses mean. This discretely emphasizes the importance of Scripture and requires the Jehovah’s Witness to provide biblical explanations directly from Scripture, which they are not accustomed to doing.As you progress through the Bible study series, also be prepared to ask questions unrelated to the series. These questions should demonstrate that you study the Bible in a personal way and that you are interested to learn more about the Watchtower organization.Ask questions about verses of Scripture that address areas of doctrinal error; but ask in a way that shows a sincere desire to know the truth, and not in a “gotcha” manner. For instance, you could say, “I was reading in the Gospel of John this week and came across John 20:28. Can you read that in your Bible and tell me what it means?” The Witness may say that Thomas was merely saying, “Oh, my God!” because he was surprised to see Jesus. You can respond by saying, “Hmm. I thought about that. But what about the next verse when Jesus says that Thomas believed something? What did he believe? And it seemed to me that if Thomas was using God’s name in a flippant manner that Jesus would have corrected him, but he congratulated him instead. Does that make sense?” The purpose of questions like these is twofold. First, they help the Witness to see what the Bible says in context instead of in a Watchtower guide or magazine. Second, they help him realize firsthand that the Bible may actually teach something different from the standard Watchtower explanation.As you ask questions from your personal Bible study, also be prepared to ask questions about the Watchtower organization. To do this, you need to do refer directly to Watchtower materials. If you refer to a generic website, “something that your pastor told you,” or a Christian book that exposes the errors of Jehovah’s Witnessism, then your question will be discarded. But when you show copies of genuine Watchtower publications, you will show serious interest and will require the Witness to give serious attention to Watchtower discrepancies.For instance, you could say, “I was doing some research into the history of the Watchtower organization this week. I learned that the Watchtower has a mission of giving reliable predictions about important future events. This captured my attention, and then I came across what seemed to be a contradiction. I read that the Watchtower prophesied that God would destroy all human governments in 1914, but this never happened. Perhaps you could help me understand this better?” After they give an explanation, you can then ask them to compare this imperfect prediction with Deuteronomy 18:20-22. Be sure to thank them for taking the time to hear your question and then allow the clear contradiction to speak for itself. Avoid making any “gotcha” comments and being drawn into a debate.Throughout this process, be patient, compassionate, and sincere. Pray for those with whom you are studying. Pray before each study in your personal prayers and pray silently throughout the study session. Ask God to use his Word to open their eyes to the truth and to continue to reveal the love of Jesus to them. You can also tell them that if they have any questions about the Bible, to feel free to ask you – just as you feel free to ask them. You would be glad to hear their questions and study them out as well.Always be prepared for an opportune moment to share the gospel. Also, be prepared to share your testimony of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Eventually, the person(s) with whom you are studying will recognize that though you are seeking the truth, you are not a prospective Jehovah’s Witness. When they realize this, they may bring the series to a close. Other times they may believe on Jesus, or God may use your genuine Christlike influence over time cause doubts and to seek out another Christian, months or years later, to eventually be saved.Throughout this process, do what you can to show Christian love beyond Bible study meetings. Find ways to be a blessing to them in personal ways, meeting needs and being a friend in a way that proves your faith to be genuine, not hypocritical. The longer a person follows the Jehovah’s Witness way, the more they will recognize hypocrisy, legalism, and contradictions within their own organization. If they have experienced genuine love and friendship from a born-again Christin like yourself, they will know where to turn.

Assignment

• Memorize Acts 17:11
• Short Answer Question: Suppose a Jehovah’s Witness knocks on your door. For the quiz, be prepared to write a brief paragraph (3-5 sentences) explaining what you would say in that moment and what step(s) you might take in the future to reach this person for Christ. (The statements in bold throughout this lesson will help you to prepare your answer.)

Additional Resources

• David A. Reed, How to Rescue Your Loved One from the Watchtower, 2010
• David A. Reed, Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse, 1987.
• Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses, 2009.

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