Jehovah's Witness Doctrines
Jehovah's Witness Doctrines
One of the most active religious groups in existence call
themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. They are a very zealous and
active group of people. It is unlikely that anyone who hears
this program has not at one time or another been confronted with
this particular religious group. Along with the zeal and
activity of the Jehovah's Witness organization comes also blatant
and egregious doctrinal error. There are many things professed
Christians can tolerate in others with whom they differ, but the
doctrines taught by this particular group are diametrically
opposite the teaching of God's word. It is a duty of faithful
Christians to expose and oppose such erroneous doctrines. Stay
right where you are as we begin an examination of some of the
important doctrinal defections of the religious group known as
Jehovah's Witnesses. Please understand that this is done with
the fullest respect for the rights of anyone to teach anything
they believe is right. My friends, in a free society those who
teach their convictions publicly should welcome the examination
by those who oppose it. Everyone has the right to speak freely
for or against any proposition.
The West End church of Christ presents this program each
Sunday because we want you to know more about the greatest book
of all time, the Bible. We also want you to become acquainted
with us. We urge you to study the things we present in the light
of what you can understand in plain language from the Bible. If
you find us teaching anything contrary to Scripture, we will
count you a dear friend if you will call that to our attention.
We also invite you to visit our meetings today. At nine
this morning we have Bible classes for all ages. At ten, we meet
for congregational worship and again this evening at 6 p.m. we
assemble to worship. We won't embarrass anyone, or badger you
for contributions, or anything else. We just want you to visit
and see what the church of Christ is really like. Wednesday
evenings we meet at 7 p.m. for Bible study also. Our meeting
house is located at the corner of Parkside Drive and Old
Morgantown Road, just across from Lampkin Park and Tapp’s drive-
in restaurant.
The Jehovah's Witness organization is probably known
doctrinally best for their denial of the existence of a place of
eternal punishment that the Bible calls Hell. This error is
currently being spread here in our area, even over this very
radio station. The official Jehovah's Witness doctrinal position
is stated in clear terms by one of their founders, J.W.
Rutherford. He wrote: "For a long time men have been taught that
the punishment for the wicked, those who disobey God, is
everlasting torment or torture in a hell burning with
unquenchable fire and brimstone. Many have been frightened away
from studying the Bible because of this terrible doctrine. Many
have refused to believe in God and the Lord Jesus because of it.
It is another doctrine of Satan, used to blind the people.”
Rutherford rejected the doctrine of eternal torment because he
declared it to be entirely unscriptural. (The Harp of God,
International Bible Students Association Watch Tower Bible &
Tract Society, Brooklyn, New York, page 49). Rutherford also
wrote: "Hell is not a place, but a condition. Those who go into
the grave are not conscious there; but they have gone into the
death condition. Their bodies decay and return to the dust."
(The Harp of God, page 52). Again, "The doctrine of eternal
torment is a wicked defamation of Jehovah. It is a foul stain
upon his lovable name."(Ibid., page 55).
The denial of hell and eternal punishment by Jehovah’s
Witness scholars is based on nothing more than pure human bias.
Many of us would very much like to believe there is no place of
punishment reserved for the wicked, but the Bible clearly teaches
there is. Hell is not merely a grave where the body of a dead
person is buried. But to the Jehovah's Witnesses, the grave is
the only hell there is. They read the word hell in the Bible and
claim that it is translated from a Hebrew word sheol and a Greek
term hades. Both words refer to the place of departed spirits,
to the "unseen state." Both words could refer to a grave or a
pit, but when the death of a human is involved, the grave is
merely the resting place of the body. It is very important for
us to remember that the words translated Hell in the King James
Version do not express the status of any particular individual
who has gone into this unseen world. When the Jehovah's Witness
people use the term Hell as meaning only the grave where the body
is buried they are deceitfully handling the word of God.
Gehenna is another word in the original language translated
Hell. This New Testament term expressly signifies a place of
everlasting punishment for the wicked. One writer for the
Jehovah's Witnesses wrote: "In all places where hell is
translated from the Greek word Gehenna (geena) it means everlasting
destruction. ... It is a picture or symbol of complete
annihilation, and not of eternal torment." (Let God Be True,
pages 96,97). As a proof text they misuse Matthew 10:28 which
reads: "And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not
able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy
both body and soul in hell." They erroneously contend that when
something is destroyed it no longer exists. Thus hell, in their
view, is complete annihilation.
Destroy does not always mean complete extinction. We speak
of those who destroy their reputation, or their health, or their
influence. We do not mean that these are totally extinct. In
fact the word from which "destroy" comes is the Greek term
apollumi. W.E. Vine, one of the finest standards of authority on
word meanings said, "The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss,
not of being, but of well being." (Vine's Expository Dictionary
of Biblical Words, Volume II, page 164). Jesus spoke of a “lost”
sheep. The word lost is from apollumi - destroyed. The lost sheep
of Luke 15:4 was not annihilated or extinguished for it was
"found." The Jehovah's Witness application of the words destroy
in hell (Gehenna) is totally wrong.
Here are passages that establish there is an awful place of
torment called hell (Gehenna) and that it awaits all who are
wicked and rebellious to God Almighty. Listen carefully.
Paul said Christ would give those who were troubled “rest”
when Jesus returns with His mighty angels, “in flaming fire
taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who
do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of His power" (2 Thes. 1:7-9).
Destruction here is the loss of one's state of well being. It is
an eternal loss. There is no appeal from the final sentence of
one who is consigned to the infernal regions of torment.
Jesus said: "And these will go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46).
Here are two destinies -- eternal punishment and eternal life.
Here are only two classes of mankind -- the righteous and the
wicked. The righteous go to eternal life -- the wicked to
everlasting punishment. The word that is translated eternal is
the same word for everlasting. The truth is: eternal life
endures as long as everlasting punishment. Jehovah’s Witnesses
take the everlasting part out of punishment but keep the eternal
part in life. Such is neither possible nor honest. The Bible is
clear that there is an everlasting punishment for the wicked and
calls it Hell.
In the very graphic language of the Book of Revelation we
read: "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud
voice, If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives
his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full
strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their
torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or
night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives
the mark of his name" (Rev. 14:10-11). The smoke of torment the
unfortunate wicked suffer for their ungodliness ascends forever.
Jesus warned His disciples, "If your hand makes you sin, cut
it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never
be quenched - where their worm does not die and the fire is not
quenched. And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter life lame, than having two feet, to be
cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -
where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And
if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to
enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to
be cast into hell fire - where their worm does not die and the
fire is not quenched" (Mark 9:42-48). The Jehovah's Witnesses
deny there is any such torment for a human who has acted wickedly
and who has rebelled against Almighty God, yet Jesus said even
the worm does not die in this awful place. It is a place where
the fire is never quenched. It is the final and eternal destiny
of all the wicked, Jehovah's Witnesses to the contrary
notwithstanding.
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false
prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever" (Rev. 20:10). The punishment Jesus mentioned in Matthew
25:46 is the very same thing as being "tormented day and night
for ever and ever" in Rev. 20:10. The word for "tormented" here
comes from a word that means "to vex with grievous pains, to
torment."
Jesus spoke of two men who died and gave the following
description of what happened to them after death.
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and
fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a
certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his
gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
mans table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it
was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being
in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the
tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented
in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your
lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil
things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And
besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can
those from there pass to us. Then he said, I beg you therefore,
father, that you would send him to my fathers house, for I have
five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come
to this place of torment" (Luke 16:20-28).
Our Lord taught that when men die they do not cease to
exist. They are separated by a great gulf. One group is
tormened in the flame; the other is in complete happiness and
bliss. Jehovah’s Witnesses can not allegorize or explain away
the simple and straight forward teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus
said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go
in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way
which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matt. 7:12-
14).
These thoughts are presented in opposition to the Jehovah’s
Witnesses doctrinal error that is misleading and deceitful. My
friends, may you miss hell and may you enjoy eternal bliss in
heaven through all eternity. Jesus said "you believe in God,
believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also" (John 14:1-3). Belief that obeys Christ is the way of
everlasting life. “Though he was a Son, yet He learned obedience
by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He
became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Heb.
5:8-9).
Next Lord's day we will continue this study. If you have a
question about this study today, please let us hear from you.
Remember, we offer a free paper to those who ask for it. To get
it write West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling
Green, KY 42101 or call 842-7880. Thank you very much for being
with us this Sunday -- hope to have you in the same radio
audience next week. Till then, good bye and God bless you.
Radio Sermon No. 99
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