The apostles were true witnesses of Christ. They saw His suffering. They heard him preach. They were in His company after His resurrection. Peter describes himself as, “a witness of the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 5:1).
John also says, “That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life: For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness” (1 John 1:1).
For one to be a witness of Jehovah as Peter, John and the other apostles were witnesses of Christ, it would be necessary for one to hear, see, look upon, and handle, as it were, God the Father, in order to bear true witness of Him. Therefore the term “Jehovah’s Witness” is used only to identify a people in their religious peculiarity and in no other way.
It is the purpose of this tract to examine some of the more obvious errors of Watchtower doctrine. I intend to point out some instances where Watchtower writers twist and abuse the scriptures in an attempt to offer some semblance of scriptural proof for their human ideas. Sometimes they will add a word, phrase or idea. It is not uncommon for them to remove a word and replace it with a term that changes the meaning altogether. Also, they will add ideas which are not in the original meaning of the word of God.
“We know Armageddon is near for another reason. Jesus said the generation of people living when the “time of the end” began would not pass away before Armageddon breaks out. When did Jesus say this? When he told us about the many parts of the sign of the “time of the end.” That sign is made up of different happenings. All these happenings must come upon one generation to make up the sign. Since 1914 they have come. What does this mean? Jesus answers: “When you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur, (Matthew 24:33, 34). Many are the people alive since 1914 who will still be living when it is time for Armageddon to begin.”
Some Jehovah’s Witnesses were asked, “When exactly do you expect the Lord to return and Armageddon to begin?” They were careful not give a specific day, month or year. However, in answer to the question, “How long is a generation?” They replied, “about 70 years.” According to this, Jesus should have returned in 1984! They say 1914 was the beginning of the last generation. Add seventy years (the length of a generation) to 1914 and this comes out to 1984.
The Witnesses are quick to point out that many people live to be well over 70. So, they claim that the last or final generation will not be over until every living soul born before or during 1914 has died. They claim that Jesus will appear before all of the generation of 1914 has been taken away by natural death. One Jehovah’s Witness told me he does not expect to die, because he was born after 1914.
It is now mid-summer, 1988.[now 2008!!! pdc] Jesus has not returned. Armageddon has not begun. Restoration has not started. If by 1994, nothing has happened, those born in 1914 will be 80 years of age. If by the year 2,004 A.D. nothing has happened, those born in 1914, will be 90 years old. By the year 2,034 those born m 1914, if still living, will be 120 years old! Whatever the year, if all those born during or before 1914 pass away and Jesus has not returned, time it- self will have proven the entire theory to be false.
If indeed the generation of 1914 passes and none of the predictions about Christ’s coming occur, one can only wonder what will become of Watchtower. Such an eventuality should serve to devastate the entire organization and prove that this religion is built on human ideas which has perverted the scriptures and deceived the people.
If this publication is still being read in the year 2,034 time will have moved well out of the reach of those born in 1914, and will have proven Watchtower doctrine to be nothing but fraud and falsehood.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.”
Psalms 104:5 “Who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be removed forever.”
Psalms 115:16 “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth He has given to the children of men.”
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
The word forever is used in the first three passages listed above. The word forever does not always convey the idea of eternity. It is sometimes used in the sense of fulfillment or to show something was to last until its usefulness was accomplished. Please notice some examples where the term is used in this way in the old testament.
- 1. The Passover was to be kept as an ordinance forever. Exodus 12:14, “ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.”
2. The Sabbath was to be kept forever. Exodus 31:16-17, “it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.”
3. The blowing of trumpets was an ordinance forever. Numbers 10:8, “And the sons of Aaron, the priest, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.”
The scriptures plainly declare the earth will burn up, be removed, will perish, and will pass away. Read 2 Peter 3:10, Hebrews 1:10-11, Hebrews 12:27, and Matthew
24:35.
It is apparent that Ecciesiastes 1:4, Psalms 104:5, Psalms 78:69, must be applied, as far as the word forever is concerned, in the same way the term applies to the Sabbath and the Passover. The earth will abide until its usefulness is accomplished or until the end of the last dispensation of time.
Neither Psalms 115:16 nor Matthew 5:5 support the eternal earth theory. In order for Matthew 5:5 to teach the earth is to last always it would need to say, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth as an eternal paradise.” There is a big difference in saying, “The meek shall inherit the earth,” as Jesus stated, and saying “the meek shall inherit the earth as an eternal paradise.”
There is a big difference in saying, “the earth hath been given to the children of men,” and saying, “the earth hath been given to the children of men for an eternal paradise.” This a clear example of how Watchtower philosophers tack on phrases to the scripture at their own pleasure.
The following scriptures prove the planet earth will not last eternally and that the paradise earth theory contradicts plain Bible teaching:
- Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
Matthew 5:18 “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Hebrews 1:10-11 “And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands; They shall perish; but thou remainest and they all shall wax old, as doth a garment.”
Hebrews 12:26-27 “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”
2 Peter 3:10-12 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass. away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.”
When confronted with Matthew 24:35 and Matthew 5:18, they will read from their New World Translation at Matthew 5:18, which says, “Sooner would heaven and earth pass away than for the smallest letter or particle of a letter to pass away from the law.” They have removed the word, “till” and replaced it with the word “sooner.” The word “till” is defined by Thayers Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, page 268, “as the conjunction signifying the temporal terminus adquem till, until.” The New World Translation rendering of “sooner would heaven and earth pass,” is completely inaccurate. Apparently, the substitution was made in order to avoid the true meaning of the passage.
Concerning Hebrews 12:26-27 and Hebrews 1:10-11, they claim that the earth as a planet will not perish, but that the wickedness of the earth will be removed. Only a casual reading of Hebrews 1:10-11, reveals that the created planet earth is what is going to be destroyed. The idea of wicked kingdoms or nations is not expressed in either passage. To say such is to try to make the scriptures say something which they do not say!
In 2 Peter 3:10, the Bible says (KJV), “the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” The New World Translation says, “and the earth and the works in it will be discovered.” Strong’s Greek Dictionary of New Testament Words, No. 2618, defines the word, “burned” from the Greek, katakaheeo, “to burn down (to the ground), i.e. consume wholly— burn (up utterly).” Thayer, page 331, defines the word, “to burn up, consume by fire.” To take out the words, burned up, and replace them with the word discovered, is pure wresting of the scriptures (Revelation 22:18-19).
The thief on the cross presents another problem for the paradise earth concept. When Jesus was crucified, two malefactors were crucified with him. One reviled Jesus, by saying, “if thou be Christ save thyself and us.” The other acknowledged him as Lord, and said, “Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” To this thief Jesus replied, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This statement, by Jesus, serves to completely obliterate the paradise earth doctrine. Jesus was about to die. His body would be placed in the tomb, but He was going to paradise. He was going to depart from this earth on the same thy of his death. Therefore, paradise to which Christ and the thief were going was not, is not, and will never be, on this earth.
God’s People Divided?
Watchtower teaches that God’s people are divided into two groups or classes. Class one is made up of the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-8. This, they say, is the little flock of Luke 12:32. They claim this is spiritual Israel, the church of Acts 2:47. In his book, the Harp of God, J. F. Rutherford states the following on page 279, “The church of Christ consists of Jesus Christ, the head, and the 144,000 members of his body. Colossians 1:18, Revelation 7:4. This group seeks eternal life in heaven. Class two consists of the great multitude of Revelation 7:9, which no man can number.” Rutherford goes on to say these are the “other sheep” of John 10:16. These anticipate eternal life on earth.
Revelation 14:1-4, also mentions the 144,000. This passage says the number is made up of male virgins, undefiled by women. If the 144,000 constitutes the church, it seems the church would be made up of male virgins only, excluding women from its membership. Acts 5:14, proves the church consists of both men and Women. “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”
To solve this problem, the Jehovah’s Witnesses say the male virgins is a figurative expression representing the purity and holiness of all believers both men and women. They are correct! If however, the male virgins are symbolic and figurative, why then must the number of 144,000 be taken literally? It too is a figure representing equality among the tribes of Israel.
The word church or churches occurs over 100 times in the New Testament. No where is the word church even remotely connected with the number 144,000. The word church doesn’t occur at all in Revelation 7 or 14.
The New Testament scriptures are written to and about the church. If the two class theory is correct, then all the epistles written to the churches would apply to the 144,000 only, and would have no application to the great, multitude. Upon what does the great multitude depend for religious direction? By what standard do they determine right from wrong or how to worship or what to do to be saved?
Watchtower directives are extremely inconsistent on this point. The society demands that some scriptures written to the church be applied to the 144,000 only. While on the other hand, they will apply another passage written to the church to both the 144,000 and the great multitude!
For example both Acts 15:29 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 are addressed to the church. Acts 15:29 was written to the church at Antioch. 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 was written to the church at Corinth. Watchtower teaches that Acts 15:29 forbids all Christians to undergo blood transfusion. The command to “abstain from blood” (which really forbids eating or drinking blood, and has nothing to do with blood transfusions), they say applies to both the church and to the great multitude.
1 Corinthians 11:23-30, contains the pattern for the Lord’s Supper. This passage, they say, is written to the church only and therefore only those who are a part of the 144,000 may partake of the Lord’s Supper. Members of the great multitude are forbidden to eat the Lord’s Supper with the elite group.
This proves that someone in Watchtower has assumed the authority to pass down rulings as to which scriptures apply to which class. Someone in the organization presumes the right to say that one scripture applies to only one class, while another scripture applies to the other class and some scriptures apply to both classes. Watchtower is no more than a human organization governed by man-made theories.
- “We know Armageddon is near for another reason. Jesus said that the generation of people living when the “time of the end” began would not pass away before Armageddon breaks out. When did Jesus say this? When he told us about the many parts of the sign of the “time of the end.” That sign is made up of different happenings. All these happenings must come upon one generation to make up the sign. Since 1914 they have come — Many are the people alive since 1914 who will still be living when it is time for Armageddon to begin."
The first flaw in this theory involves a misinterpretation of Matthew 24:3, where the disciples asked, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world.” Please see also Luke 21:7.
The term "world" is translated from the Greek word aion which is often used to mean age. The disciples were asking about the end of the Jewish age as the context demands according to another question, “When shall these things be?” We must ask, What things? The answer is obvious. The tearing down of the temple and the destruction of Jerusalem which would signify the end of the Jewish age. The coming of Christ in Matthew 23:39 and Matthew 24:3, refers to God’s visitation of wrath upon Israel in the destruction Jerusalem. The sign of this coming is given through out the chapter.
These signs have everything to do with the destruction of Jerusalem and nothing to do with the present generation in which we now live. These signs were fulfilled in the time of the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking.
See also Acts 2:19-21, where the apostle Peter warned the Jews on Pentecost to obey the gospel by giving the war signs of the impending destruction of their city which he called, “that great and notable day of the Lord come.” Here again the coming of the Lord refers to the coming of God’s wrath on Israel. Peter went on to promise that those who would call on the name of the Lord, could be saved and therefore avoid the calamities which were soon to come upon all Judea.
Luke 21:20, says, “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it's desolation is near.” This was one of the most visible signs given by Jesus of the impending destruction of that city. History shows that the Roman armies did in fact invade Judea in 67 A.D., and eventually surrounded the city of Jerusalem. Mothers breast feeding babies, going to the mountains of Judea, praying their flight be not in winter nor on the Sabbath day and standing in the holy place to read have nothing to do with Armageddon nor the end of time. These instructions to the disciples were given, by the Lord in order to prepare them for the war which was going to break out between the unbelieving Jews and the Romans.
The second flaw in this theory has to do with the signs and when they would be seen and by whom. Watchtower claims the signs of Matthew 24 have been seen since 1914. This is false! The signs occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century A.D. The signs were given as a warning to the unbelieving Jews and to prepare Christians for an escape from the city when the war broke out.
Armageddon, the year 1914, nor the “accomplished end of the world,” so called, are not so much as mentioned in Matthew 24. In Matthew 24:34, Jesus said, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” We might ask, what generation? The answer: the generation to whom Jesus was speaking.
If the signs of Matthew 24 were to be seen by the generation of 1914, so called, then we who make up this present generation should flee to the mountains of Judea, stand in the holy place and read, pray that the flight be not in winter nor on the Sabbath day. How foolish! Trying to apply the signs of Matthew 24 to the present time is the height of human imagination and mis-application of scripture.
Peter said the last days began on the day of Pentecost. Peter in Acts 2:16-17, told how the prophet Joel had predicted the out pouring of the spirit by God in the last days: and Peter said, in so many words, “This is it.” Joel said the spirit would be poured out in the last days The spirit was poured out on Pentecost, so it must have been the beginning of the last days
John writes in 1 John 2 18, “Little children, it is the last time — whereby we know that it is the last time.” The last days or the last time was already underway during the lifetime of both Peter and John, who were of the generation to which Jesus referred in Matthew 24.
Paul warned Timothy of the perilous times in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:1-4. This is a favorite passage of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who claim it describes world conditions from 1914 to the present. Was Timothy going to live in 1914? Why did Paul bother to warn Timothy, if the last days were not going to begin until 1914? It is plain to see. The last days had already begun when Paul wrote to Timothy.
If the generation of Matthew 24:35 really started in 1914, then the end of time should have come in 1984. A generation, so the Jehovah’s Witnesses say, is about 70 years. Add seventy years to 1914, and you arrive at 1984. What if all born in 1914 and before die and the Lord still hasn’t returned? When the generation of 1914 is gone, if the Lord has not returned by then, will the leaders and members of the Jehovah’s Witness religion abandon the New World Society and the Watchtower Society or will the plan be revised?
Watchtower leaders have missed their predictions of the “coming of the end” once already. In his book Millions Now Living Will Never Die, J. F. Rutherford, a noted Watchtower writer, wrote the following:
- “That period of time beginning 1575 A.D. 1 of necessity would end in the fall of the year 1925, — What then should we expect to take place? In the type there must be a full restoration; therefore the great antitype must mark the beginning of restoration of all things.
Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter eleven, to the condition of human perfection.
Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925.
Then based upon the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die.”
Nothing taught by the movement is more unreasonable than the invisible resurrection that was supposed to have occurred in 1918. No one saw or heard anything! How convenient, indeed! The passage offered as a proof text is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16.
“For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
This passage actually disproves an invisible resurrection. The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout!
Why would Paul mention a shout if it was to be unheard or if Jesus was to be unseen? The angels of Acts 1:10-11 told the disciples at Jesus’ ascension, “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.” To come in like manner would demand that since he was seen in ascension, he will also be seen in descension.
Those who are alive and remain are to be “caught up together” with those resurrected. If there was a resurrection in 1918, then some living at that time should have been caught up with the resurrected to meet the Lord. Since there is no record of anyone who was alive in 1918 being swept away to meet the Lord one can only conclude there was no invisible resurrection.
Through the Watchtower
“It is to be expected that some of God’s anointed ones while on the earth would be favored with an understanding thereof....The remnant now ‘see visions’ that is to say, are given an understanding of things not heretofore understood.. ..The time for the fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation seems to be from about 1879 forward, until the kingdom is in full sway. It is about that date that the second presence of the Lord began to be observed, and that and other truths began to appear in the Watchtower which since then until now has been the means of communicating truth to those who love the Lord. All those who love God supremely believe that the Watchtower was started and has been maintained by His power and grace.”
A similar statement is found in, From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, page 72, “As the witnesses kept on expanding their preaching work, God gave them a clearer understanding of the Bible.”
These statements show why the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that no Bible student can, with the Bible alone, and without the aid of a Jehovah’s Witness, study by himself and arrive at the truth of God’s will: In other words, the Bible alone is not sufficient, without some “better learning or clearer understanding” of the remnant of the 144,000. This is illustrated by another statement (ibid p.192),
“One of the many enlightening truths that God now gave his witnesses was about the members of God’s spiritual nation who had died physically. This was in 1927. In that year, the witnesses understood that the dead spiritual Israelites had been raised in 1918 to life in heaven with Christ Jesus.”
In the September 1, 1983 issue of the Watchtower Magazine, in an article entitled, Remember Those Taking the Lead Among You, it is pointed out that changes have occurred in the way elders are appointed in the local congregations. First they were elected by a voting process, indicated by a show of hands. In 1919, a first step was taken to restore theocratic control of appointments. In 1932, the Bible term, "elder", was dropped in favor of "company servant". A complete break with elections took, place in 1938. All these changes are justified on the basis of a clearer understanding.
The progressive enlightenment theory is nothing but an attempt to justify changes in doctrine and to cover up blunders of the past. What is the difference in a remnant justifying changes by a claim to clearer understanding and Joseph Smith claiming to bring new light and revelation as a latter day prophet, or the pope in Rome changing various rules of Catholicism from time to time.
and the Age of the Earth
It was near the end of the sixth creative day. This means that nearly 42,000 years had passed from when God said: “Let light come to be.” Five creative days of 7,000 each had gone by and now the sixth day was almost finished.
This is proof positive that Watchtower is without conscience when it comes to promoting human ideas. The Bible gives not so much as a hint that the first six days of creation lasted 42,000 years. To say the creative days were 7,000 years long is to say something the Bible does not say.
Please notice Genesis 1:5, “And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day.” Does not evening refer to darkness and the morning to the light? Did the evening last 3,500 years and the morning 3,500 years’?
The consequences of such a position proves the premise absolutely absurd. If there was 3,500 years of darkness in the evenings of the first week, then the plants created on the third day would have had to survive 7,000 years of darkness during the fourth and fifth evenings. How ridiculous! All life would have vanished from the earth if the daylight lasted for 3,500 years or the darkness lasted equally as long. Neither plants nor animals could have survived the unceasing heat of 3,500 years of steady sunlight or the continual darkness with the earth’s temperature growing steadily colder and colder.
The first man Adam lived 930 years according to Genesis 5:5. If the sixth day of creation was 7,000 years long, then it either took God 7,000 years to make Adam or Adam lived much longer than the Bible says he did! This is the kind of dilemma that develops when people attach their own ideas to the scriptures and teach them as if they are inspired truth.
- 1. Hear the gospel. (Romans 1:16, James 1:21, 1 Peter 1:23, Romans 10:17)
2. Believe the Gospel. (John 3:16, John 8:24, Hebrews 11:6)
3. Repent of Past Sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 17:30, 2 Peter 3:9)
4. Confess Christ. (Matthew 10:32-33, Romans 10:9-10)
5. Be Baptized For the Forgiveness of Your Sins. (Acts 2:38; Colossians 2:12, Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, Romans 6:3-4)
Baptism, the final step in gospel obedience puts one into Christ (Galatians 3:27). Salvation and eternal life are found in Christ, 2 Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” 1 John 5:11, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son.”
Philippians 3:20, “For our conversation is IN HEAVEN; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 10:34, “For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have IN HEAVEN a better and an enduring substance.”
Colossians 3:1, “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection things above, not on things on the earth.”
First Peter 1:4, “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved IN HEAVEN for you.”
A friendly welcome awaits you. We do not wish to embarrass you in any way. You will not be asked for contributions. We assemble for Bible study and worship each Sunday morning and we welcome you to meet with us. We would be happy to talk to you about your questions and we want to be of encouragement.
If you have any comments or questions --- or would like the location and contact names of a congregation of the church belonging to Jesus Christ near you, please e-mail me at BibleTruths@hotmail.com or call 253-396-0290. Thanks Dennis Crawford, editor
