Things They Do Not Teach You at Jehovah’s Witness’ Indoctrination School

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a religious cult founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Numerous failed prophecies and the mistiming of prophetic events has made the (JW.org) organization notoriously unreliable. Still, boasting a membership of over 8 million adherents, they continue to distribute their ideas through Watchtower Society literature. If you do not see them at the local farmer’s market on Saturday, they may be knocking on your door at home. Here are some things you can talk about with them, which they were not taught at their indoctrination school.

First, Jesus is God (Jn 1:1, 14; 10:30). They hate this fact revealed in the Bible, which is why Charles Taze Russell created his own version of the Bible called, “The New World Translation.” You will find this corrupt work planted in every thrift store book section, along with the planted works of Ellen G. White (Seventh Day Adventists) and the Book of Mormon.

Russell’s Bible carefully twists any passage that points the reader to the deity of Christ. The Christian must know that if Jesus is not God, then the cross is made of no effect because that Jesus who is just a man would be a sinner. This means Jesus would be of the progeny of Adam because He would be a blemished (sinful) sacrifice, unacceptable to God.

Second, Jesus is the second Person of the Trinitarian Godhead. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — one God in substance, but three Persons. The essence of each Person is equal (fully God), but their roles and functions do vary (e. g. only Jesus died on the Cross).

Because the Jehovah’s Witnesses only want Jehovah to be God, Jesus is just a man and the Holy Spirit is just a force, not a Person. To deny the Personhood of God the Spirit is blasphemy, and the Spirit’s witness to Christ, including His deity, leads each Jehovah’s Witness to commit the unforgiveable sin. It is calling the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth…a liar.

Third, most religious cults, today, copy the doctrine of previous false teachers. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, their heretic father was Arius, a denier of the deity of Christ in the early church at Egypt. Arius was rebuked by Athanasius and Nicolas. Arius’ false teaching has always been around, and it became quite pervasive during the Gothic period. Most Jehovah’s Witnesses are unaware of their cult history or the person responsible for the initial false teaching.

Fourth, because a Jehovah’s Witness is void of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9), he or she has no blessed assurance of salvation, which is why they labor so aggressively in winning new cult members, in order to win favor with Jehovah. This works-based salvation scheme places the Jehovah’s Witnesses alongside of every other cult and world religion, and against the grace of God in saving His elect people from their sins (Mt 1:21; Eph 2:8–9)

Grace is a talking point because it exalts the work of Jesus Christ and glorifies God for doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, by doing something for God. God alone must be willing, and He alone is able to accomplish what concerns His chosen people (Ps 57:2; 138:8).

Fifth, the false end-times teaching of the late 19th century, in general, was adopted and then promulgated by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. End-times prophecy and fanaticism play a central role in their theology. As noted, it has a long history of error, which begs the question, “Why don’t members leave the cult, considering the abundance of errors?

The devil blinds the minds of men and employs them as his army of deceivers sent out to the world (2 Cor 4:4; Titus 1:10–11; 2 Jn 1:7). The deceived believe the faulty doctrine, and then promote the false teaching. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not exclusive minions of the evil one, but they play their part in distorting Jesus and the Bible.

Sixth, in the judgment on the last day, the Jehovah’s Witnesses will stand before Jesus and boast of the work they did to further the work of Jehovah through denying His only begotten Son. Jesus will say the same thing to every cult and every religious adherent opposed to Him, “Depart from Me, I never knew you (Mt 7:21–23).”

Speaking truth in love to the enemies of Christ and His cross often feels futile to the Christian, but we are reminded that our labor unto the Lord, as Jesus’ witnesses, is never in vain (Acts 1:8). We must be light in the world (Mt 5:16), by not being ashamed of the Gospel (Rom 1:16) — always remembering that the same message that is foolishness to them is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe in the Jesus (1 Cor 1:18), revealed in the Scriptures, handed down to all the saints as the basis of our received faith (2 Pet 1:1).

Finally, a Jehovah’s Witness is never going to pray for you or anyone else to come to the knowledge of the truth because that would be the antithesis of what they believe or want. Therefore, whenever you have any encounter with them that is coming to an end, suggest that you will pray for them. They will snidely reply that they will do the same for you. That is your cue to then, with eyes wide open, break forth in supplication on their behalf and for their benefit.

It might resemble this, “Father God, in the name of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, we approach you in the power and wisdom of God the Holy Spirit…I am praying for my new acquaintances that they would know the truth…that they would have more light…and that you, O Lord, would destroy the work of the devil in their lives…that you would set them free from the darkness, deceit, and sin that encompasses them, today. O God, if it is your will to save these two people from the second death by your having mercy on them…then have mercy. If it is not your will to save them, then I pray that you will thwart them in every work and word that denies the Person and work of your Son and His Spirit at work in the world, today…in this be glorified I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Typically, they will not interrupt or walk away if you are making eye contact with them as you pray. These are things they have not been taught, nor do they believe or practice, but praise God that they will hear these things from you.

David Norczyk

Missoula, Montana

August 12, 2022