Behold, They Stand at the Door and Knock

For a Christian trying to navigate through life in a secular world, a brother or sister in Christ is a sight for sore eyes! Since all the baptized are members of the Holy Christian Church, finding a fellow Christian who is willing to speak of his or her faith can be encouraging and exciting. This was my thought when a friend from high school handed me a pamphlet about his church. The pamphlet was full of familiar images of Jesus: teaching His disciples, holding a lamb, greeting a group of children. I was thrilled to find a friend who believed what I did! Unfortunately, my excitement quickly faded when I saw in large print “JW,” which stands for Jehovah’s Witnesses. At that time, I wasn’t very familiar with all of their teachings, but I knew that they were not Christians.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses (also known as the “Watchtower Society”) are known for their door-to-door mission efforts. They use familiar Christian imagery and terminology in order to appeal to Christians, but behind their appeal lie dangerous and destructive teachings. Here is a quick rundown of a few Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs, how we can be aware of the differences between our beliefs and theirs, and how we can engage our Jehovah’s Witness friends with the true Gospel!

The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus

The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not follow the Christ of the Bible, but instead worship a false Jesus who is not God. They reject the God of the Bible and follow a false God who is not triune. They believe that Jesus was a man who lived a perfect life and that the man Jesus sacrificed His life for the people of the world, but they do not believe that Jesus is God. However, because they believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross, they speak in much the same way that Christians do about Jesus. They will say things like “Jesus came to earth from heaven” or even “We believe in Jesus,” but when it comes to who Jesus is, their confession falls flat. They do not believe that Jesus is God, so they do not pray to Him or worship Him. Their understanding of the key events in salvation history like creation, the incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection change because they believe in a different Jesus. What this boils down to is that they do not believe that Jesus accomplished salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. Again, they believe Jesus died and rose but they don’t acknowledge what the Scripture says He came to do. We should beware of the Jehovah’s Witnesses because the Jesus that they present is an imposter in whom there is no salvation.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Bible

The Jehovah’s Witnesses use a Bible that has some similarities to ours. They use their New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, which has the same 66 books as your Bible. Unfortunately, their Bible has also mistranslated key words and phrases that describe Jesus as God. For example, their translation of John 1:1 reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god,” instead of “the Word was God.” This is one of many examples of God’s Word being twisted in an attempt to leave out references to the divinity of Jesus. Their very flawed translation of Scripture fuels and rationalizes their false teaching.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Trinity

The Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that there is one God, Jehovah, but they do not believe that there are three persons of the Trinity. They believe that Jesus was a man who lived a perfect life and that the Holy Spirit is a “force,” but not a person. They speak of Jesus and the Spirit, but not as Persons of the Godhead. In doing so they reject the orthodox Christian belief in a triune God as an unbiblical teaching that compromises the “oneness” of God, claiming that the doctrine of the Trinity has pagan roots.

The Creeds remind us of what we believe!

Though the image of Jesus holding a lamb may be inviting, and the picture of Christ teaching others might be appealing, the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the same Jesus that we do. It might seem difficult to remember and look out for the errors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It seems as though you need to be a walking theological encyclopedia to be on guard against everything that isn’t pure and true. But the church has provided an answer: the Creeds. The simple words confessed on Sunday morning by the people of God—the words that you have been taught in confirmation—help guard against harmful teachings. The Creeds are short and easy-to-memorize statements of what we believe, but they are also a powerful check against those who would try to lead us astray. When it comes to discerning whether or not the Jehovah’s Witnesses speak the truth, the Creeds are a mighty help. On the one hand, the Creeds are organized into three articles, confessing the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Trinity, showing themselves to be outside the Creeds and the Christian faith. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus is not God. In contrast, the Nicene Creed says that Jesus is “God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God,” and that He is “of one substance with the Father.” These Scriptural truths remind us of who Jesus is when we are presented with a false picture that contradicts what we have been taught.

An Opportunity

While talking one-on-one with a JW friend is fine, it is very important that you not invite Jehovah’s Witnesses into your home for serious discussion without the support of a mature Christian. Your pastor is an important resource who can guide you through discussions with unbelievers and help answer any other questions you might have! If you have a friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness, the situation may seem discouraging. I was certainly saddened that my friend was not a fellow Christian. There is, at least, some basis on which to start a discussion. After all, they already know the name Jesus and have an understanding of the Bible, incomplete and flawed though it may be. And although we cannot trust the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, armed with the Creeds and the faithful preaching in our local congregation, we have a wonderful opportunity to share with them what we believe! If you have a friend who is wrapped up in these teachings, you can share with them the true Gospel of Christ!

Joshua Ulm, a seminarian at Concordia Seminary St. Lewis, is a vicar at Zion Lutheran Church in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. They Stand at the Door and Knock By Joshua Ulm