Christian Answer
Introduction
No, Jehovah’s Witnesses, also known as members of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, are not Christian. Understandably, this answer may trouble some people. After all, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe the Bible is God’s Word, worship only one God, and believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. How could such a group not be Christian? The reason why is that the Watch Tower Society rejects key biblical teachings of Christianity, teachings which Christians have held since the time of the apostles.
Central Biblical Teachings
There are certain biblical doctrines that one must believe in order to be a Christian; they focus primarily on Christology (who Jesus is) and soteriology (how one is saved or gets to Heaven). In order to be a Christian, one has to believe in the biblical Jesus; he is the Second Person of the Trinity, of one being with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; John 10:27–33), and the only God in all existence (Isaiah 44:8), who created all things from nothing and was never himself created (John 1:1–3, 14). A Jesus who was created, or who is an archangel rather than truly God and truly human (Colossians 2:9), is not the Jesus of the Bible and, therefore, such a Jesus cannot save.
Furthermore, one has to believe in the biblical gospel (that is, the message of salvation). The biblical gospel is that Jesus died for all our sins and rose again bodily (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). He did this so that whoever believes in this and accepts him as their only Saviour (Acts 4:12) will inherit life in Heaven forever. We are saved by his grace and works alone, without us having to do a single thing to earn it (Ephesians 2:8–10). A gospel which requires one to join a church or group to be saved, or which teaches that one must do good works in order to be saved, is not the gospel of the Bible and, therefore, such a gospel cannot save anyone. As we will see in this article, the Watch Tower Society rejects central biblical teachings in both the areas of Christology and soteriology, as well as other important doctrines.
Are All Christian Churches Apostate?
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that a mass apostasy (that is, a falling away from Christian truth) took place in the church soon after the deaths of Jesus’ apostles1 and that, during this time, the Christian church “was held captive by Babylon the Great” (that is, Satan).2 Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that God (whom they call Jehovah) used Charles Taze Russell—who founded the Watch Tower Society in 18743—and his associates, known as the Millennial Dawnists, to restore biblical truths that were lost in the apostasy.4 They claim that Russell and his associates were “the only body of genuine Christians in a vast field of imitations.”5 To this day, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that salvation cannot be found outside the Watch Tower Society6 and claim that every Christian outside of it “is wholly a part of Satan’s system of things.”7
In contrast, Jesus promised Christians this: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESVUK). If the situation really were so bad that the church was held captive by Satan, so bad that Russell and his small group alone restored lost biblical truths in the late 1800s, then the gates of Hell would indeed have prevailed against the church for almost two millennia. The Bible declares that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will be saved (Acts 16:30–31) by his precious blood alone (1 Peter 1:18–19), not by our good works or anything we do (Acts 16:30–31; Ephesians 2:8–9).
Salvation, therefore, has nothing to do with joining an organisation; rather, it has to do with believing in biblical doctrine. Because Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that their group is “the only body of genuine Christians” and that, before Russell restored them, biblical truths were lost for 1,900 years, Christians—who have been worshipping God faithfully for two millennia before Russell founded the Watch Tower Society—have rightfully never considered Jehovah’s Witnesses to be another Christian denomination. Rather, they consider it to be a cult.8
Can We Only Understand the Bible through the Watch Tower Society?
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that, in 1919, Jesus appointed the Governing Body of the Watch Tower Society (WTS)—the “faithful and discreet slave” organisation—over Jehovah’s Witnesses to give them spiritual food.9 Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that, today, God directly teaches the Bible to humankind through this organisation alone;10 unless we “keep in touch” with it, “we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much Bible reading we do”11 (note that Jehovah’s Witnesses use a fraudulent translation of the Bible called the New World Translation).12 The punishment for Jehovah’s Witnesses who disobey the WTS’s instructions—even on minor matters—is being disfellowshipped and shunned.13
There is a major problem with the above claims, though: if Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot “progress along the road to life” by reading the Bible without WTS literature, and if all those who disagree with the WTS’s instructions are disfellowshipped, how can Jehovah’s Witnesses verify whether or not the society’s literature is, in fact, biblical? In this way, the Watch Tower Society destroys all trust in the Bible and places it entirely on its own literature. The Bible’s main message is simple enough for a child to understand and, by believing in it, receive salvation. Paul taught that the sacred writings (that is, Scripture) “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). Furthermore, God does not teach humanity through one earthly organisation, but rather, he teaches through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10–14), who indwells every true Christian (Ephesians 1:13–14). Rather than unquestioningly believing in everything a human organisation says, the Bible encourages Spirit-filled Christians to test all teachings by Scripture alone (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21; Acts 17:10–11).
Is God a Trinity?
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Michael the Archangel is the Son of God (that is, Jesus) in his pre-existence, who became “Jesus Christ” while on Earth and resumed service as Michael after Jesus’ resurrection14 (by “resurrection,” they mean God recreated Michael15). They teach that Michael is God’s first created being and that, through Michael, God created all other things in existence.16 Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the Trinity doctrine and teach that, while Jesus is “inferior” to the Father and the Holy Spirit is God’s “active force,” not a person, the Father alone is the true God.17
Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that the only true God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three Persons of the one Being. The biblical justification for this is that the Bible calls the Father, Jesus (Romans 10:9–13), and Holy Spirit God18 (Hebrews 10:15–18), and it says that there is only one God (Isaiah 44:8). Thus, just as the Trinity teaches, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must be the one God. But what about Jesus being Michael and God’s first creation, or the Holy Spirit being God’s active force? The Bible teaches that God never said to the angels: “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; he said this only to Jesus (Hebrews 1:5). Therefore, because Michael is an angel, he cannot be the Son of God. Also, because Jesus created “all things,” he himself could never have been created (John 1:1–3). Furthermore, Jesus denied that the Holy Spirit is only God’s active force when he said that the Father “will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him” (John 14:16–17). If the Holy Spirit were just a force, he could not be “another Helper” like Jesus, nor would Jesus have called him a “he” rather than an “it.” How can Jehovah’s Witnesses be considered Christian when they do not worship the Triune God of the Bible?
Was Jesus’ Body Raised from Death?
Charles Taze Russel said: “It could not be that the man Jesus is the Second Adam, the new father of the race instead of Adam; for the man Jesus is dead, forever dead.”19 The Watch Tower Society denies that Jesus’ body was raised on the third day after his death (which, they believe, happened on a stake rather than a cross20). Instead, they teach that he was raised as “a spirit creature” (that is, Michael the Archangel).21 One Watchtower publication says that Jesus’ body was “disposed of by Jehovah God, dissolved into its constituent elements or atoms.”22 The society teaches that, as a spirit creature, “the resurrected Jesus materialized different bodies to suit the occasion,” including ones which looked like the body in which he was nailed to the “stake.”23 Accordingly, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is “[n]o longer a human”24 and that he surrendered his human nature to offer “the required sacrifice.”25
The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that Jesus’ body was raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. Jesus himself taught that he would raise up “the temple of his body” in three days, which demonstrates his omnipotence (John 2:19–21). Furthermore, the Bible teaches that Jesus appeared to his disciples in the same body in which he died, not as “a spirit”:
As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (Luke 24:36–39)
Finally, the Bible rejects the notion that Jesus had to “surrender his human nature” to make the ultimate sacrifice for humanity. Decades after Jesus died, rose, and ascended to Heaven, Paul wrote: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5–6). According to Paul, Jesus was still a man after his ascension to Heaven, and he is still a man today—only his body is now glorified26 (1 Corinthians 15:42–44). The Bible declares that if Jesus were not resurrected, we would still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). How can Jehovah’s Witnesses be considered Christian when they deny that Jesus’ body was resurrected from death?
Did Jesus Return to the Earth Invisibly in 1914?
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in a “spiritual” second coming of Jesus27 and teach that he has already returned to Earth invisibly28 and is currently “invisibly present.”29 Their logic is that, since Jesus was raised from death as an invisible spirit creature (which was refuted above), Jesus will return as one rather than as a human.30 Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus’ second advent happened in the year 1914, when they believe Jesus “was installed as God’s heavenly King”31 and began “ruling from his heavenly throne.”32 They teach that Jesus’ return is not literal33 and that it just means “he has turned his attention to the affairs of the earth at God’s due time,” for he is still in Heaven.34 They also teach that Jesus’ invisible presence in 1914 marks the beginning of the last days and acts as a sign that the day of judgement is close at hand.35
Christianity, on the other hand, teaches that Jesus Christ will come again visibly, on a day and at an hour no one knows or will expect (Matthew 24:44). Jesus said: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30; italics added). Furthermore, Jesus’ second coming will be the final day of judgement (2 Timothy 4:1). On that day, he will raise the dead (John 5:28–29) and “come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:27). In addition, The Bible rejects the notion that Jesus only began to reign as King in 1914, for as early as the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Nathaniel declared to Jesus: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Jesus has always been reigning as King, and he is not just confined to Heaven, but he is omnipresent (Matthew 28:20). Finally, the Bible declares that Jesus’ first coming initiated “the end of the ages,” which means that the last days began 2,000 years ago, not in 1914 (Hebrews 9:26). The day of judgement has been close at hand ever since Jesus’ first coming. Jesus taught that those who claim that he has returned before his second coming are false prophets (Matthew 24:23–27), which means that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christian; they are false prophets.
What Is the Gospel?
One Watchtower publication defines the gospel (that is, the “good news”) this way: “This ‘good news’ is primarily the message that salvation or everlasting life is possible on the basis of genuine faith in the atoning benefits of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, and that God’s kingdom by Christ will bring all things on earth into perfect unity with the holy heavens” (italics added).36 Therefore, the gospel for Jehovah’s Witnesses is not that faith in Christ gives people salvation; rather, it is that faith in Christ makes salvation possible. Another Watchtower publication says that faith in Christ is not enough for salvation: when a person believes in Jesus, “he can consider himself as being on the way to salvation. It would be a mistake for him to think that he is now saved and cannot fall. He must show by his endurance in the Christian faith that he is worthy of salvation” (italics added).37 Yet another says that “those who are saved do not steal from another person, do not live immoral lives, do not lie or defraud one another. Our eternal salvation depends on obedience to God in such things” (italics added).38
It is clear that Jehovah’s Witnesses have a works-based gospel. Christianity, however, teaches a gospel of grace. The Apostle Paul defines the gospel this way:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, … (1 Corinthians 15:1–4)
In other words, according to the biblical gospel, Jesus’ atonement on the cross accomplished everything that is necessary for our salvation. Therefore, Paul could say: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith in Jesus is, in fact, sufficient for salvation. True, in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul mentioned that Christians are “being saved” by holding fast to the gospel. However, in this context, “being saved” just refers to us coming closer to entering our heavenly home (2 Corinthians 5:1–3), whereas in Ephesians 2, “have been saved” refers to us being guaranteed God’s inheritance of eternal life by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14).
If God’s grace alone were not sufficient for salvation and works were required, as the Watch Tower Society teaches, then “grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6), for grace is undeserved and unmerited favour and kindness. The Apostle John declared that all those who believe in Jesus “may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13; italics added). Christians can be assured of their salvation the moment they believe. Of course, while faith alone saves (Romans 3:28), genuine faith always produces the fruits of the Spirit (James 2:26), for the Holy Spirit indwells all true Christians (1 Corinthians 3:16–17). However, these good works are never done to achieve salvation, but rather, they come as a result of being saved (1 John 4:19). Because the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ gospel is that Jesus only opened the way to salvation for those who believe, whereas Paul’s gospel is that Jesus has saved those who believe in him, what can we conclude other than that the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ gospel is not Paul’s gospel? Paul warned that those who promote a different gospel to the one he preached are “accursed” (Galatians 1:8–9).
Conclusion
In conclusion, although Jehovah’s Witnesses appear to be Christian on the outside, they are actually not Christian, because of their unbiblical teachings. Not only does every Christian denomination consider Jehovah’s Witnesses to be a non-Christian cult, but the Watch Tower Society also denies central biblical doctrines of the Christian faith, doctrines so fundamental to Christianity that they cannot be considered Christian.
Notes
1. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Called Out of Darkness,” The Watchtower—Study Edition, November 2016, 23, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-november-2016/called-out-of-darkness/.
2. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower—Study Edition, March 2016, 30, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-march-2016/questions-from-readers/.
3. Wilbur Lingle, What the Watchtower Society Doesn’t Want You to Know: A Glimpse Behind the Walls of the Kingdom Halls (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2009), 20.
4. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Kingdom Is Born in Heaven,” God’s Kingdom Rules!, 2014, 14, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/gods-kingdom/the-kingdom-is-born-in-heaven/.
5. Ibid.
6. Wilbur Lingle, What the Watchtower Society Doesn’t Want You to Know, 181.
7. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Hour of God’s Judgment Has Arrived,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1989, April 1, 1989, 17, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1989245.
8. According to Dr. Charles Braden, a cult is “any religious group which differs significantly in one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religion in our total culture” (Martin 2019, 13). Moreover, Dr. Walter Martin says that a cult can be defined as “a group of people gathered about a specific person or person’s misinterpretation of the Bible. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses are, for the most part, followers of the interpretations of Charles T. Russel and J. F. Rutherford” (Martin 2019, 13–14).
9. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower—Study Edition, March 2016, 29, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-march-2016/questions-from-readers/; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Who Really Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?” The Watchtower—Study Edition, July 2013, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/w20130715/who-is-faithful-discreet-slave/.
10. Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, eds., World Religions and Cults: Counterfeits of Christianity (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2015), 205.
11. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1981, December 1, 1981, 27, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1981889#h=6; Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness (Irvine, CA: Harvest House, 2001), 11.
12. The Watch Tower Society (WTS) produced a fraudulent translation of the Bible in 1961, titled “The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures” (NWT). The NWT is fraudulent because the people who produced it did not speak or know the original biblical languages, nor did they have any university-level education, hence the reason why it cannot be found in any public bookstore (Martin 2019, 99–100).
The authors of the NWT even intentionally mistranslated certain passages to conform to WTS doctrine; they have therefore invoked upon themselves God’s curses of Revelation 22:18–19. For example, the Hebrew word YHWH, Yahweh (which the WTS incorrectly transliterates as Jehovah (Lingle 2009, 150–51)), is not found anywhere in the New Testament, which was written in Greek. However, the authors of the NWT inserted that word 237 times into the New Testament because of their belief that Jehovah is God’s true name (Hodge and Patterson 2015, 207).
13. Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness, 12; Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, World Religions and Cults, 197; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Penssylvania, “Maintain Your Faith and Spiritual Health,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1989, October 1, 1989, 19, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1989725?q=w99+3%2F1&p=doc#h=19.
14. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Michael,” Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2, 1988, 393–94, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003035#h=4; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Is Jesus the Archangel Michael?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—2010, April 1, 2010, 19, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2010250#h=10; Hodge and Patterson, eds., World Religions and Cults, 200.
15. Wilbur Lingle, What the Watchtower Society Doesn’t Want You to Know, 154–55.
16. Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness, 41; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Creation,” Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1, 1988, 527, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001061#h=7.
17. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Accurate Knowledge Leads to Life,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1964, March 1, 1964, 136, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1964161#h=28.
18. Notice how in Romans 10:9–13 and Hebrews 10:15–18, the Bible attributes God’s divine name, Yahweh, to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, by applying Old Testament prophecies to them.
19. Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults: the Definitive Work on the Subject, 6th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Bethany House Publishers, 2019), 83.
20. Trevor R. Allin, “Did Christ die on a cross or a stake?” bethinking.org, updated July 17, 2014, https://www.bethinking.org/jehovahs-witnesses/did-christ-die-on-a-cross-or-a-stake; The historical record shows that the Romans actually crucified their victims, which involved nailing their hands and feet to wooden vertical and horizontal beams and raising the cross up, eventually killing the victims who are no longer able to hold their body up by asphyxiation.
Dr. Trevor R. Allin wrote that in addition to linguistic and textual evidence, there is also archaeological evidence to show that the Romans crucified their victims. He said: “For instance, nails have been found that not only attached the condemned person to the cross, but also fixed the horizontal beam to the upper part of the vertical one” (Allin 2014). Jehovah’s Witnesses prove that they are an unscholarly group by denying this historical fact.
21. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1953, July 15, 1953, 447, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1953529; Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness, 42.
22. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Fleshly Body of Jesus,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1953, September 1, 1953, 518, https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1953641&srctype=wol&srcid=share&par=11.
23. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Identifying the Resurrected,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1963, April 15, 1963, 236, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1963282.
24. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Who Is Michael the Archangel?,” Awake!—2002, February 8, 2002, 17, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102002085.
25. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1975, August 1, 1975, 479, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1975571.
26. Note that nowhere in the Bible does it teach that “glorified” bodies are “non-physical” bodies. A glorified or spiritual body, according to the biblical testimony, is a restored and perfected body (1 Corinthians 15:42–44).
27. Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness, 42; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—Will You See It?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1966, January 1, 1966, 3, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1966000#h=5.
28. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—How Seen?,” You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, 146, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989107#h=16; Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, 133–34.
29. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—What Does It Mean for You?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1969, August 15, 1969, 484, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1969600#h=12.
30. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—How Seen?,” You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, 146, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989107#h=16.
31. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “1914—A Significant Year in Bible Prophecy,” What Does the Bible Really Teach?, 2005, 217, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/1914-significant-year-bible-prophecy/.
32. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Meaning of Christ’s Return,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1966, February 1, 1966, 70, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1966081#h=13.
33. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “The Meaning of Christ’s Return,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1966, February 1, 1966, 70, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1966081#h=11.
34. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—What Does It Mean for You?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1969, August 15, 1969, 485, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1969600#h=24.
35. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “1914—A Significant Year in Bible Prophecy,” What Does the Bible Really Teach?, 2005, 217, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/1914-significant-year-bible-prophecy/; Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Christ’s Return—Will You See It?,” Awake!—1973, July 22, 1973, 5, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101973520#h=22.
36. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “How Powerful Is The Good News?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1979, December 15, 1979, 5–6, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1979922#h=2.
37. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “What Is God’s Way to Salvation?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1960, March 1, 1960, 134, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1960161#h=21.
38. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “Jesus Saves the World—How?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1983, August 15, 1983, 8, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1983601#h=19.
Bibliography
Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, eds., World Religions and Cults: Counterfeits of Christianity (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2015).
Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah’s Witness (Irvine, CA: Harvest House, 2001).
Trevor R. Allin, “Did Christ die on a cross or a stake?” bethinking.org, updated July 17, 2014, https://www.bethinking.org/jehovahs-witnesses/did-christ-die-on-a-cross-or-a-stake.
Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults: the Definitive Work on the Subject, 6th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Bethany House Publishers, 2019).
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, “1914—A Significant Year in Bible Prophecy,” What Does the Bible Really Teach?, 2005, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/1914-significant-year-bible-prophecy/.
———, “Accurate Knowledge Leads to Life,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1964, March 1, 1964, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1964161#h=28.
———, “Called Out of Darkness,” The Watchtower—Study Edition, November 2016, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-november-2016/called-out-of-darkness/.
———, “Christ’s Return—How Seen?,” You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989107#h=16.
———, “Christ’s Return—What Does It Mean for You?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1969, August 15, 1969, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1969600#h=12.
———, “Christ’s Return—Will You See It?,” Awake!—1973, July 22, 1973, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101973520#h=22.
———, “Christ’s Return—Will You See It?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1966, January 1, 1966, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1966000#h=5.
———, “Creation,” Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1, 1988, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001061#h=7.
———, “How Powerful Is The Good News?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1979, December 15, 1979, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1979922#h=2.
———, “Identifying the Resurrected,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1963, April 15, 1963, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1963282.
———, “Is Jesus the Archangel Michael?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—2010, April 1, 2010, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2010250#h=10.
———, “Jesus Saves the World—How?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1983, August 15, 1983, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1983601#h=19.
———, “Maintain Your Faith and Spiritual Health,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1989, October 1, 1989, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1989725?q=w99+3%2F1&p=doc#h=19.
———, “Michael,” Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2, 1988, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003035#h=4.
——— “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1953, July 15, 1953, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1953529.
———, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1975, August 1, 1975, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1975571.
———, “Questions From Readers,” The Watchtower—Study Edition, March 2016, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-march-2016/questions-from-readers/.
———, “The Fleshly Body of Jesus,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1953, September 1, 1953, https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=1953641&srctype=wol&srcid=share&par=11.
———, “The Hour of God’s Judgment Has Arrived,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1989, April 1, 1989, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1989245.
———, “The Kingdom Is Born in Heaven,” God’s Kingdom Rules!, 2014, https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/gods-kingdom/the-kingdom-is-born-in-heaven/.
———, “The Meaning of Christ’s Return,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1966, February 1, 1966, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1966081#h=13.
———, “The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1981, December 1, 1981, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1981889#h=6.
———, “What Is God’s Way to Salvation?,” The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom—1960, March 1, 1960, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1960161#h=21.
———, “Who Is Michael the Archangel?,” Awake!—2002, February 8, 2002, https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102002085.
———, “Who Really Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?” The Watchtower—Study Edition, July 2013, https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/w20130715/who-is-faithful-discreet-slave/.
Wilbur Lingle, What the Watchtower Society Doesn’t Want You to Know: A Glimpse Behind the Walls of the Kingdom Halls (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2009).