HEY JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES! WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY TEACH?

On September 20, 2013 by Bobby Blakey

false bookThis week I ran into three college students from our church at Starbucks.  They all had their Bibles open.  They were talking excitedly.  They had such electricity to them I immediately asked what had happened…

THEY HAD JUST TALKED TO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES FOR THE FIRST TIME!

While walking through the campus of their community college, they had been stopped by two Jehovah’s Witness ladies who educated them on a few things they did not know.  They were told they had been reading the Bible all wrong.  They were told there was no hell.  And most importantly, they were told Jesus was not God, but simply a god.

Then they were handed a book entitled, “What Does The Bible Really Teach?”  A quick Google search on this question will show you the number one response takes you straight to JW.org.  (That’s right!  The number one response on Google for “What Does The Bible Really Teach?” belongs to the Jehovah’s Witnesses!) At JW.org you can read this entire book online.  It is written by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in New York in 2005.  The copy our students received was published in January 2013.  In the introduction it says,

“The fact that you are reading this book shows that you would like to find out what the Bible teaches.  This book will help you…”

This is a lie.

One of the goals of this website is to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).”

Let us look at some of the Jehovah’s Witnesses claims about what the Bible really teaches and see how their claims to provide the truth of Scripture are actually false:

what does the bible really teach?-Chapter Three is “What is God’s Purpose for the Earth?”  This chapter rightly quotes the Bible there will be a new heavens and a new earth.  (One example of this is Revelation 21:1)  However, it immediately goes on to read, “Sometimes when the Bible speaks of “the earth,” it means the people who live on the earth.  So the righteous “new earth” is a society of people who receive God’s approval.”   This is a good example of how Jehovah’s Witnesses twist the Scripture to say what they want.  In Revelation 21:1 it is clearly talking about the physical heavens and earth when it adds details like “and the sea was no more.”  It is not talking about people but our planet.  As you can see from the picture the Jehovah’s Witnesses are claiming a new heavens and a new earth promise from Revelation 21:4 for our earth now.  This is the just one aspect of their misinterpretation.

-Chapter Four is “Who Is Jesus Christ?”  This chapter contains the Jehovah’s Witnesses lie that Jesus is not God.  They say he was God’s first creation by misquoting Colossians 1:15.  They claim Jesus was the only one directly created by God and then Jesus created all other things.  But read Colossians 1:15-16 for yourself, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all thing were created through him and for him.”  These two verses are actually one of Scripture’s clearest claims to the deity of Jesus.  Jehovah’s Witnesses say “firstborn of all creation” means Jesus must have been created first himself.  But the word “firstborn” in Scripture is often used to refer to a position or rank and does not mean Jesus was created!  Jesus wasn’t created in the image of God like us, he is the image of God!  Jehovah’s Witnesses make the damning error of not confessing that Jesus is Lord!  As Jesus himself said, he and the Father are one!

-Chapter Six is “Where are the dead?”  In this chapter I read about myself, “As noted earlier, some religions teach that if a person lives a bad life, after death he will go to a place of fiery torment to suffer forever.  This teaching dishonors God.”  This chapter goes on to say that we are making God look mean and cruel when we say there is a hell where he will punish forever.  The problem with this is God said there is a hell where he will punish forever! In Matthew 18:8 Jesus warns about being “thrown into the eternal fire.”  Matthew 25:41 reads: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”  2 Thessalonians 1:9 says that all who do not obey the gospel, “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might.”  When we warn people about hell we are not saying God is mean and cruel, we are saying he is just and holy.  We are saying he can have nothing to do with our sin.  We are saying what God said!

One night I talked to two Jehovah’s Witnesses who were running a table at the Irvine Spectrum here in Orange County.  They told me there was no hell.  I asked them why Jesus told about the rich man who died in Luke 16:19-31.  In this account from Jesus a rich man dies and goes to “Hades” where he is in “torment.”  He cries out that he is “in anguish in this flame.”  The men assured me that this was just a place Jesus made up for his story.  But why would Jesus make up a fake place to tell a story about it?  It made absolutely no sense!  In all of his parables he uses real life situations.  The point of this particular account is that the rich man’s brothers would also go to this place of torment unless they listened to what God said through Moses and the Prophets in the Scriptures.  If you talk to those two Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Irvine Spectrum tell them I say “Hello.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses are often known by their door-to-door witnessing.  One day a young man came to our house.  After a long conversation he turned to go and assured me I would be all right because after I died I would only be annihilated.  I assured him our conversation was not over because hell was a real place and I had a genuine concern for his soul!

What kind of religion twists the Scriptures, says Jesus is not God and then tells people not to worry because there is no place of torment like hell?  Suddenly this trip to Starbucks did not smell like pumpkin spice.  It smelled like the lies of Satan! What Does The Bible REALLY Teach?  It says hell is real and all of us who have sinned will go there unless we confess Jesus is Lord! We must put our trust in his death on the cross as the only way to be forgiven for our sins and his resurrection from the dead as our only hope for eternal life!

In the fourth part of the Appendix, on page 204, this little book finally says something biblically accurate:

The Truth About the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

PEOPLE who believe the Trinity teaching say that God consists of three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Each of these three persons is said to be equal to the others, almighty and without beginning.  According to the Trinity doctrine, therefore, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one true God.

Yes!  Unfortunately this refreshing paragraph of reality is followed by an attempt to disprove the trinity with the classic Jehovah’s Witnesses misinterpretation of John 1:1.  They claim the Greek should be translated “the Word was a god,” while at the same time acting like no one can really know what the Greek language says here.  (If you want an hour long explanation on the Greek of John 1:1 and how it proves “The Word was God” here is an excellent teaching from my pastor Mike Fabarez: http://www.focalpointministries.org/sermon/christology-part-5-10-55/) The only way to really know what the Greek says, Jehovah’s Witnesses go on to say, is to read what else John wrote. They quote John 1:18 where he writes that no one has seen God.  They claim that because Jesus has been seen this means he can’t be God.  But let us read John 1:18 in its entirety:

“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

This verse does not say Jesus can’t be God because we have seen him.  This verse says Jesus is God and the Son has now shown us who the Father is!  My heart goes out to the Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been blinded and cannot see the glory of Jesus, that he is God.  I pray the eyes of their hearts will be opened to see the true gospel that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.

If you ever have the chance to talk with Jehovah’s Witnesses they may try to give you a book entitled, “What Does The Bible Really Teach?”  If so, I would politely refuse this publication of lies and encourage them that the best book to find out what the Bible teaches is actually, the Bible.

Note: Please link to this blog, share it with your friends on social media and click on it a lot of times so this post will be ranked higher on Google search.  If so, maybe someone seeking to find out about this book will not end up on JW.org but here instead.

6 Responses to “HEY JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES! WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY TEACH?”

  • Megan Okada

    Praising God that he has given us the source of truth we need to fully comprehend what he intended! The Bible is sufficient! Praying with you, Pastor Bobby!

  • Elise Mason

    Read this last night, then went to the laundry room this morning only to find a stack of JW brochures with this same info. on it. Praying for these LOST people!

  • Jake Wade

    This is a fantastic blog on defending the faith against the false religion of JW. Thank you so much for writing this! It really pumped me up to praise Jesus Christ for being my Lord and Savior!

    “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” – Hebrews 1:3

  • anonymous

    Thank you so much for putting this up. I had begun reading this book- found it lying around somewhere- and I found it a bit fishy. I looked for the commentary to this book online and found your website… Thank God I did! I didn’t even know it was written by Jehovah witness

  • Steve Wilcox

    Eternal does not mean burning forever. Checkout Jude on Sodom. Is it still buning and yet it was destroyed by eternal fire? Malachi 4 says “Behold the day is coming burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evil doer will be srubble, the day is coming when I will set them ablazw,” says the Lord of Hosts. Not a root or branch will be left to them.” Eternally dead!!! Dead. Dead. Not burning in some isolated place. Scripture says sin will never arise again. Why? Sin and sinners are zippo. God says He has appointed a day when the wicked will receive their reward-a oneway trip to the lake of fire. And then He will create a new heaven and new earth in which only will dwell righteousness.

  • Steve Wilcox

    Why do you worship on Sunday when scripture says that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God? There are only 8 texts in the New Testament that reference the first day of the week. None of them indicate a change. I recommend you study the change from Sabbath to Sunday. You will be instantly aware that it was man and not God who made the change to His engraved in stone Commandments. AS to the Lord’s Day, Jesus Himself said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of God is Lord over the Sabbath day. Mark 2:27. And Exodus 20:8-11-the only Commandment we are told to remember-was in place at Creation when God created the 7th day-and long before a Jew was around. This Commandment applies to everyone. And Jesus said that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. Pastor Steve

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