The false beliefs of JWs
The Jehovah witnesses do not have correct understanding about the Bible and they believe that there is no hell, only annihilation. Their common argument would be that it’s our interpretation and for that reason, one must be prepared to present compelling arguments against their cherished belief as well as their corrupted form of Bible.
No hell, only annihilation
Jehovah’s Witness does not believe that hell is eternal hellfire, they believe in annihilation. They believe that the lake of fire is annihilation and hell is considered to be the grave, so they like to use the word ‘Hades’. Whenever we bring up the word ‘hell’ in our King James Bible, their New World Translation is going to read differently, it’s going to show ‘Hades’ or ‘Gehenna’.
Mark 9:43-44 “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
In these verses, their New World Translation ‘hell’ was replaced with ‘Gehenna’. Gehenna is a trash heap on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Does this interpretation make sense? That it’s better for us to lose our hands than having two hands to go into the trash heap on the outskirts of the city? It sounds ridiculous.
Gehenna is a Greek word, but it has several interpretations/definitions. Gehenna is known to be a trash heap on the outskirts of the city but it also means hell or fire. They can say Gehenna all they want but they’re actually saying hell and fire. Show them how ridiculous it sounds like in Mark 9:43 and Matthew 23:33.
Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
It doesn’t make any sense for Jesus trying to scare them that they’re going to the garbage heap. It makes more sense that this is referring to a scary place called hellfire.
What is this worm that dieth not?
Going back to Mark 9, Jehovah’s Witness may get around the passage that in v44 it says worm, this shows that it is not a human body. Because it is a worm, this must be referring to some trash heap outside the city.
The reason why this sounds ridiculous is that we just read v44 where their worm dieth not, this isn’t an ordinary worm. Also, the fire is not quenched, it doesn’t change the fact that this is talking about eternal fire. This is not some normal garbage bin.
If we look up the word ‘worm’ in our Bible, it’ll refer to us to Isaiah, Job, and Psalms where these three individuals mention that they are a worm. It’s referring to ‘humans in depravity’. Isn’t it true that we’re in such a depraved state when we’re burning in hell as a sinner? This makes more sense referring to humans in a depraved bodily form.
Remember this key tool concerning any verse on hell: whenever we show a verse on hell, Jehovah’s Witness will always slide their way around it, so what we need to do is show a verse that not only talks about eternal damnation but eternal life. That way we can prove to Jehovah’s Witness with their interpretation that they just like the eternal life part but they don’t like the eternal damnation part. Notice how they’re reinterpreting for the eternal damnation part but they don’t do that with the eternal life part. That shows biased interpretation.
Mark 9:47 “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:”
Here in this verse, they believe that paradise is eternal but not hellfire. So you need to show Jehovah’s Witness that they don’t want to make hellfire eternal but they want to make paradise kingdom on earth to be eternal.
This is effective against Seventh Day Adventists as well, they do not believe in eternal torment and they believe in annihilation.
The second death
Revelation 20:14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
Hell isn’t the grace, it’s fire. This verse proves that hell has fire and it debunks the notion about hell being the grave.
Jehovah’s Witness is going to interpret their way around this and say that the verse is metaphorical because it doesn’t make sense that death is cast into the lake of fire so this got to make hell metaphorical as well.
How we can catch them is this: they believe in literal annihilation, then won’t this support their text that they’re annihilated in the lake of fire?
The second thing concerning this death is that this is the second death, this is not the same kind of death that we go through on this earth, that’s the first death. The second death is our soul and that soul is eternal. Look at Revelation 20:12-13, this is not referring to fleshy bodies, this is referring to the soulish, spiritual state.
Here’s another thing, if this is the second death, what is the second death like? It is eternal.
Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
‘The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire’: that’s the second death.
‘Shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever’: they’re not annihilated, they suffer eternal torment.
This passage debunks the notion about Revelation 20:14 being a metaphorical interpretation and that this second death is an eternal tormented state.
If they say that this is metaphorical, then ask them: ‘what does metaphorically mean? What does death mean? What does hell mean? Why would the Bible use those two words for this figurative explanation?’
A soul winner’s tools for Jehovah’s Witness:
- Remember that they’re always going to reinterpret the passages or accuse us, ‘that’s just your interpretation’.
When they accuse us, tell them ‘notice I’m reading the text as it says’. That’s why when we use a verse against Jehovah’s Witness, we better prepare because when we explain that verse, we got to make sure that we can read/interpret the verse exactly as it says or it needs to match up with every word in the book. Then when they’re interpreting the verse, we tell them ‘That’s just your interpretation’. We’re going to prove whose interpretation works. How do we know that? Because it goes by the literal format whereas theirs is biased. Whenever they use a verse on us, don’t let them scare us just because they use one or three words from a verse that seems to match up, remember this: we got to look at everything the verse says. - Jehovah’s Witness always changes the subject whenever they are caught vulnerable.
When they do that, insert them these kinds of questions:
‘Aren’t you interested in what we were talking about?’
‘Why did you change the subject all of a sudden?’
‘This is a very important topic, why did you change it all of a sudden?’
‘Don’t you want to know the truth?’
When we ask them the question and they change the subject, then we say ‘Is my question forcing you to avoid the truth of the whole matter?’ - Regardless of what Jehovah’s Witness uses to defend what he was taught, we got to remind Jehovah’s Witness that what they believe in was founded upon the writings of an organization that was filled with errors.
Even though they say ‘this is what the Bible says’, but we need to attack their organization because that’s their final authority. If they had the Bible and the Watchtower, they would go by the Watchtower, not the Bible.
Point out to them the errors of their organization and this is actually more effective than showing verses with them because their final authority is Watchtower, not the Bible. This is not because the Bible is weak but that Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘ human nature is so wicked that they’re going to ignore the Bible verses that we use and reinterpret it. So we need to attack what’s in their heart first, and that’s not the Bible. What’s in their heart is an idol called the Watchtower Society.
God’s words cannot show light into a person’s heart unless they’re willing to get rid of some idol in their heart according to the book of Ezekiel.
Debunking the Watchtower Society
Let’s cover the Watchtower Society:
“We acknowledge as the visible organization of Jehovah on earth, the Watchtower and Tract Society and recognize the society as the channel or instrument through which Jehovah and Christ Jesus give instruction and meet in due season to the household of faith”
– Watchtower Magazine, 15 Apr 1939, page 125
“In order to receive everlasting life in the earthly paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it.”
– Watchtower Magazine, 15 Feb 1983, page 12
Notice that their salvation is dependent on the Watchtower and we can point it out in their magazine, their final authority is their Watchtower, not the Bible.
“Rather we should seek for dependent Bible study rather than for independent Bible study”
– Watchtower Magazine, 15 Sept 1911, page 485
They’re tied to their organization, they refuse to look at the Bible themselves.
“For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah’s visible organization in mind.”
– Watchtower magazine, 1 Oct 1967, page 587
Charles Russel is the founder of Jehovah’s Witness.
The best way to debunk a Jehovah’s Witness is to use their false prophecies.
Charles Russel quoted this:
“Jehovah the God of the true prophets will put all false prophets to shame either by not fulfilling the false prediction of such self assuming prophets or by having his own prophecies fulfilled in a way opposite to that predicted by the false prophets. False prophets will try to hide their reason for feeling shame by denying who they really are.”
– Paradise Restored to Mankind by Theocracy, 1972, page 353-354
We want to use this quote because when we point out false prophecies of their Watchtower organization, the Jehovah’s Witness will try to reason their way around it and we can use this quote from Charles Russel. Tell them, ‘your founder was talking about you!’.
Watchtower’s false prophecies
1. 1872
“In this chapter we present the Bible evidence which indicates that 6000 years from the creation of Adam were complete with AD1872 and hence that since 1872 AD we are chronologically entered upon the 7000th or the Millenium, the four part of which the day of the Lord, the day of trouble, is to witness the breaking into pieces of the kingdoms of this world and the establishment of the kingdom of God under the whole heavens.”
– Thy Kingdom Come, 1905, page 127
2. 1874
“The second coming of the Lord therefore began in 1874 and that date and the years 1914 to 1918 are specially marked dates with reference to his second coming”
– Creation, 1929, page 310
3. 1914
“In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world and the full establishment of the kingdom of God will be accomplished at the end of AD1914”
– Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2: The Time is At Hand, 1889/1909 edition, page 99
4. 1915
“In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world and the full establishment of the kingdom of God will be accomplished at the end of AD1915”
– Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2: The Time is At Hand, 1919 reprint of the 1915 edition, page 99
5. 1918
“However suddenly there came to an end to world war I, it did not lead on as Bible students expected into world revolution and anarchy or the Battle of Armageddon and the sincere worshippers of Jehovah who were in the new covenant with him through his mediator Jesus Christ found themselves still in the flesh on the earth.”
– Man’s Salvation Out of World Distress At Hand, 1975, page 98
6. 1920
“And the mountains were not found, even the Republic’s will disappear in the fall of 1920 and the mountains were not found. Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy.”
– Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery, 1917 edition, page 258
7. 1925
“Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old. There will be no slip-up, Abraham should enter upon the actual possession of his promised inheritance in the year 1925.”
– Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1918, page 89. Watchtower Magazine, 15 Oct 1917
8. 1929
“At San Diego California there is a small piece of land on which in the year 1929 there was built a house which is called and known as Beth Sarim. The Hebrew word Beth Sarim means house of the princes and the purpose of acquiring that property and building the house was that there might be some tangible proof that there are those on earth today who fully believed God and Christ Jesus and in his kingdom and who believed that the faithful men of old will soon be resurrected by the Lord, be back on earth and take charge of the visible affairs of earth. The occupation of the house by the princes was to be a confirmation of the faith and hope that induced the building of Beth Sarim.”
– Salvation, 1939, page 311-312
Tell them to go to San Diego and look at the house, that’s why their organization is wrong.
9. 1932
“They had preached that in an early time God would overthrow Christendom. Many had emphasized the year 1925 as a date and then when that date did not materialize, the date was moved up to 1932. And 1932 came and Christendom was not destroyed.”
– Watchtower Magazine, 15 Feb 1939, page 54
10. 1975
“According to the trustworthy Bible chronology 6000 years from man’s creation will end in 1975 and the seventh period of a thousand-year of human history will begin in the fall of 1975 Common Era.”
– Life Everlasting In The Freedom of the Sons of God, 1966, page 29
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ was crucified on a stake, not on a cross.
If Jesus was crucified on a stake with one nail going through both hands, but the Bible says they were nails. That means each hand had to be crucified separately.
John 20:25 “The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Notice that it says nails.
If Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross, the sign would be above His head. But if He was crucified on a stake, the sign would be above His hands.
Matthew 27:37 “And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
The sign was set up above His head.
These 2 verses are found in the New World Translation, so we can use them to prove that it was an old rugged cross that Jesus Christ was crucified, not on a stake.