Rev. David Holwick Cults & Sects: Jehovah's Witnesses
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 8, 2006 (revised)
John 1:1
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I. Brief history.
A. Founded in 1870 in Pittsburgh by Charles Taze Russell.
1) Began as a Bible study movement.
a) Emphasized massive literature distribution.
b) Today "The Watchtower" has 21 million copies a month.
c) "Awake" magazine has 16 million copies in 67 languages.
2) Was divorced by his wife on charge of adultery.
a) Sued for back alimony after it was proven he hid assets.
3) Russell sued a pastor for libel, but committed perjury; lost.
4) His influence is minimized by J.W.'s today, but his teachings
undergird 90% of the movement.
B. Led by "Judge" J.F. Rutherford from 1916 to 1942.
1) Movement expanded rapidly.
2) J.W.'s are very secretive, no authors listed in books.
II. Theology.
A. Teachings on Christ based on heresy of Arius (AD 300).
1) The Trinity denied.
2) The deity of Jesus denied. He is a super-angel.
3) The atonement by Jesus is limited to a renewed earthly life.
4) The resurrected Jesus is a spirit, not a physical being.
B. Prophecy is heavily emphasized.
1) At your door, they will probably hook you with comments on
how terrible the world is, and how God has a Kingdom coming.
2) They predicted the return of Christ to be in 1914.
a) This was modified to say he came spiritually, to heaven.
b) The millennium has been repeatedly (and incorrectly)
predicted to be just around the corner. Most recently,
it was going to happen in 1975. Hundreds of thousands
left the J.W.'s when this did not occur.
3) There will be no hell or eternal punishment, instead there
will be annihilation of the wicked, including Satan.
a) People do not have an eternal soul. "Soul" means our
personality. We are made of "dust" and "breath."
b) When we die we cease to exist until the resurrection.
4) Only 144,000 go to heaven, the rest of humanity will have a
perfect existence in the Millennial Kingdom on earth.
C. They have an anti-cultural stance toward society.
1) No pledge or saluting to flag, service in army or gov't.
a) Many governments oppose them, such as Nazi Germany.
2) No birthdays or holidays celebrated.
3) No eating of blood, or transfusions.
III. Witness wisely.
A. JW's know verses on the Trinity (and Bible?) better than you do.
B. Turn focus to Christ and his death for our sins.
1) (see handout, section "The Gentle Touch: My Sins Are On Christ"
2) Arguing about deity of Jesus can be counterproductive.
C. Be aware of tensions in their organization.
1) Failed prophecies of Second Coming.
2) Strange (and denied) controversies like "Miracle Wheat."
3) Scandal of pedophiles in positions of authority in 1990s.
4) United Nations controversy: in past they equated it with
the Beast of Babylon in book of Revelation, but recently
they registered with the U.N. as an "NGO" (non-government-org)
5) Examples of leading JW's who have left the movement.
http://www.exjws.net/ and http://www.freeminds.org/
IV. Verses that defend Evangelical doctrine.
A. The Trinity.
Gen 1:26; 11:7; 18:2,3; Isa 6:8; 48:16; Matt 28:19; John 14:16; 2 Cor 13:14
B. The deity of Christ
John 1:1; 5:18; 8:58; 10:28; 17:15; Phil 2:8-11; Col 2:9; Heb 1:1-4
C. The atonement
Lev 17:11; John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:20; Col 1:20; Heb 9:22; 1 Pet 2:24; Rev 18:8
D. The visible return of Christ
Zech 12:10; Matt 24:30; 1 Thess 4:16-17; Rev 1:7
E. The bodily resurrection of Christ
Mark 16:14; Luke 24:39-44; John 2:19-21; 1 Cor 15:15
F. Obedience to human government
Matt 22:21; Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14
G. Existence of hell and eternal punishment
Matt 5:22; 8:11-12; 13:42,50; 2 Pet 2:17; Jude 13
H. Satan
Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10
I. The existence of the soul
Gen 1:26; 5:1; Job 32:8; Acts 7:59; 1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 4:12
J. The Kingdom of Heaven
Luke 17:20-26; Revelation 22:1-5,14
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"THE DEITY OF JESUS"
I. Believing Jesus is divine is essential to being a true Christian.
A. 1 John 2:22.
An antichrist is one who denies Jesus is the Christ.
B. The deity of Jesus is brought out by the plain teaching of the
Bible.
II. The deity of Jesus is denied by many cults and sects.
A. In the early centuries of the church a heretic named Arius denied
the deity of Jesus. He said Jesus was just a creature.
B. Jehovah's Witnesses follow Arius completely.
C. Mormons believe Jesus is divine, but not one with the Father.
D. Modern liberalism stresses the humanity of Jesus and ignores his
deity.
III. Biblical evidence for the deity of Jesus.
A. Isaiah 7:14
The virgin's son is "Immanuel" (literally, "God with us"). God
is with us in a unique way in the person of Jesus.
B. John 1:1
The Word (=Jesus) was with God [Ton Theon] and was God [Theos].
1) Jehovah's Witnesses say the Word was "a god" since the
definite article [Ton, or "the"] does not come before the
final "God". Colwell's rule of Greek grammar states that a
definite predicate nominative (the last "God") never takes an
article when it comes before the verb ("was"), such as here
in John 1:1.
2) If "God" (Theos without the article) always means "a god", then
it should be translated this way in Matt 5:9; 6:24;
Luke 1:35,78; John 1:6,12,13,18; 3:2,21; 9:16,33; Romans 1:7,
17,18; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 15:10, etc.
3) This is the clearest New Testament verse for stating that
Jesus definitely is God.
C. John 5:18
Jesus makes himself equal with God.
D. John 8:58
Before Abraham was [born], I am.
1) Compare God's introduction of Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14.
E. John 20:28
Thomas says to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"
F. Romans 9:5
Christ is God over all.
1) This can be taken other ways, but the above is the most
natural translation.
G. Philippians 2:11
Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
1) In Isaiah 45:23, it is God who is confessed as Lord.
H. Colossians 1:12-20
Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
I. Colossians 2:9
All the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Jesus.
J. Hebrews 1:3
Christ is the reflection of God's glory.
K. Revelation 1:8 compared with Revelation 22:13
Jesus (and God) is the First and the Last.
There cannot be two firsts and two lasts.
IV. Why does Jesus have to be human and divine?
A. If he was not God, he cannot save us.
1) If he was not God, he is also a liar.
B. If Jesus was not human, he could not sympathize with our needs.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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