Trent Horn - 20 Answers- Jehovahs Witnesses

20 Answers

Jehovahs Witnesses

Trent Horn

20 Answers: Jehovahs Witnesses

Trent Horn

2015 Catholic Answers

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The doorbell rings, and you peer through the peephole. Standing on your doorstep is a man in a suit and a woman in a tasteful dress. They dont look like your average salespeople, so you open the door. It turns out they are here today to see if you hope for a better world or if you wonder if the Bible is still relevant. They want you to have some free magazines and are willing to study the Bible with you at your convenience. It turns out that the guests on your doorstep are Jehovahs Witnesses, a religious group founded in the 1870s that has nearly 8 million members worldwide.

Jehovahs Witnesses differ from Catholics or Evangelical Christians because they reject certain fundamental Christian teachings. In one of its magazine articles, the group distinguishes itself from Protestantism:

Protestant faiths reject certain features of Catholic worship, Reformation leaders retained certain Catholic dogmas, such as belief in the Trinity, hellfire, and the immortality of the human soul. Jehovahs Witnesses, however, believe that those doctrines not only contradict the Bible but also promote a distorted view of God.

In place of these doctrines, Jehovahs Witnesses believe that Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel, that the wicked are annihilated instead of being sent to hell, and that only 144,000 people will go to heaven, while all other believers will live forever on a paradise Earth. Jehovahs Witnesses also differ from other denominations in that they reject as evil things most Christians consider to be harmless. For example, Jehovah Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays, secular holidays like Mothers Day, or even religious holidays like Christmas and Easter. They also do not take oaths of office, salute flags, or accept blood transfusions. For those who are considering becoming a Jehovahs Witness, it is crucially important to know what this group believes, and this booklet has been written to provide you with that information.

This booklet has also been written to give Catholics the tools they need to engage Jehovahs Witnesses in gracious dialogue. While this booklet is written for a Catholic audience, I have taken care to be respectful of Jehovahs Witnesses as individuals and to be accurate in my assessment of their beliefs. If you are a Jehovahs Witness, I encourage you to have an open mind to what I have written here.

I am not a former Jehovahs Witness, but I know that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (the official leadership of the Jehovahs Witnesses) has told you not to read literature that is critical of your religion. I know they distribute magazine articles that say things like, What must we do to avoid false teachers? We do not speak to them or invite them into our houses. We also do not read their books, watch them on television, read what they write on the Internet.But the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society also encourages non-Jehovahs Witnesses like me to give you a fair hearing and to not simply dismiss the Watchtower as being a false prophet. If you expect other people to be willing to change their minds about Jehovahs Witnesses, then shouldnt you be willing to do the same?

1. What is the history of the Jehovahs Witnesses?

Jehovahs Witnesses emerged in the northeastern United States during the 1870s, though at the time they were known as Bible Students. Under the direction of founder Charles Taze Russell, the Bible Students believed they had restored the true doctrines of the Christian faith that were lost after the death of the apostles.In 1881, Russell founded a printing company that was moved to Brooklyn, New York, where it became known as The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society . The corporation still exists there and serves as the legal and ecclesial authority for the Jehovahs Witnesses.

After Russell died in 1916, Joseph Franklin Rutherford succeeded him as the president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. In a book he published through the Watchtower called Millions Now Living Will Never Die , Rutherford claimed that many who were alive in 1914 would live to see the end of the worldwhich would now take place in 1925. Rutherford also predicted that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be resurrected, and God would transform Earth into a paradise for the patriarchs as wellas for themajority of believers.

In order to accommodate the resurrected patriarchs, Rutherford had the WatchtowerSocietyconstruct a mansion in San Diego, California, that was later called Beth Sarim, or House of the Princes.

In 1931, Rutherford changed the groups name to Jehovahs Witnesses in order to distinguish it from other competing Bible Student sects, many of which still exist.Rutherford died at Beth Sarim in 1942 and was succeeded by the Watchtower Societys third president, Nathan Knorr.

Knorr was instrumental in creating programs that trained Jehovah Witnesses to deliver testimonies door-to-door. He also commissioned the publishing of a new translation of the Bible called the New World Translation (NWT). The NWT was published as a single volume in 1961, and the Watchtower claims this translation offer[s] no paraphrase of the Scriptures. Our endeavor all through has been to give as literal a translation as possible.However, several Greek scholars have criticized the NWT for translating certain passages in ways that sacrifice accuracy in order to promote Jehovahs Witness theology (see questions 8 and 14).

Beginning in the mid-1960s, the groups literature hinted strongly that the end of the world would come in 1975.Despite this failed prediction, Awake! continued through the 1980s to print at the top of the magazines first page the following text: [T]his magazine builds confidence in the Creators promise of a peaceful and secure world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.

The events of 1914 refer to Jesus invisible return, which the Watchtower claims was prophesied to happen 2,520 years after the fall of Jerusalem in 607 B.C., which would be A.D. 1914 (even though this contradicts mainstream historians, who agree Jerusalem fell in 587 B.C.).Since there are only a handful of people alive today who were alive in 1914, it seems all but certain that this prophecy too will be invalidated. Perhaps that is whyin 1995, after carrying the banner in the magazine for thirteen years, the reference to the generation of 1914 was replaced with dateless prediction of a world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things.

In response to these failed predictions, Jehovahs Witnesses claim that the Watchtower is not infallible and admit on their official website, [W]e have had some wrong expectations about the end. But we are more concerned with obeying Jesus and saving lives than with avoiding criticism.(see question 19).

Despite these setbacks, membership in the group has climbed steadily over the years, and today there are approximately 8 million Jehovahs Witnesses worldwide.The article attributes this steady growth to thegroups zeal for door-to-door evangelism.

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