Talking withJehovah’s Witnesses

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). If He made everything that was made, He is not one of the things made. Scripture never calls the Son “created”; it calls Him the “only begotten” and says “I was brought forth” (Proverbs 8:24). Lucifer was “created” (Ezekiel 28:15) — but “unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” (Hebrews 1:5). A son is not a product; he comes out of his father and shares his nature. Heresies sheet, C1 →

Ask the simple question: how many true gods are there? Scripture knows the one true God and false gods — “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:8). A second, lesser, created “god” whom angels serve fits neither category. John means the Word was God in nature, of the same divine kind as the Father He was with — as a son is the same kind as his father.

The NWT’s own study note offers “the Word was divine,” and its note on Hebrews 1:8 grants that “The Greek text allows for the rendering found in many translations: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever.’” That is the Father speaking to the Son (Hebrews 1:8). Heresies sheet, C5 →

The word “other” is not in the Greek. The 1984 NWT put it in brackets; the 2013 edition prints it as plain text four times. Its own study note says why:

A literal rendering of the Greek text would be “all things.” However, such a rendering could give the impression that Jesus was not created but was the Creator himself.

That is exactly the impression Paul gives: “For by him were all things created … all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things” (Colossians 1:16-17). Ask kindly: should a translation remove an impression the inspired text gives?

Firstborn is birth language, and in Scripture it is also rank: “I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:27). Paul explains it in the next verses — He is before all things, and all things were made by Him. In Revelation 3:14, archē means beginning as source and head, the same word as “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). And Proverbs 8 says it in birth language: “I was brought forth” (vv. 24-25) — the NWT’s own footnote reads “Or ‘brought forth as with labor pains.’” Born, not made. Heresies sheet, C2–C4 →

Even on their rendering the point stands: Jesus claimed to exist before Abraham. But the Jews heard more than a claim to be old; they “took … up stones to cast at him” (v. 59). Men are not stoned for saying they are older than Abraham. Jesus spoke as the One whose “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2) — the Son who carries His Father’s name, the same Son who spoke from the bush (Exodus 3:14). From the Days of Eternity →

Here we agree on the identity and differ on the nature. Jesus is Michael — jw.org says Michael is “evidently a name given to Jesus” — and Adventists have taught the same from the beginning. But archangel means chief of the angels, their Prince and Commander, not one of their number. Hebrews 1 sets the Son above the angels and says they all worship Him. They worship their Prince. Michael the Archangel →

The very next chapter uses the same title of the Father: “The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God” (Isaiah 10:21) — the same Hebrew, El gibbor. If “Mighty God” is a title of Jehovah in 10:21, it is not a title for a creature in 9:6. Scripture does not have two kinds of true God; it has a Father and His Son, who shares His Father’s nature.

We agree the Word is a distinct Person from the Father — He was with Him. That is why the trinity fails. But a son can be with his father and still be of his father’s nature. The Son is “the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3), the “only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18). Two Beings, one divine nature, Father and Son — not two Gods of different rank, and not one God in three persons.

The Greek verb is proskyneō — the same word Jesus used when He said, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). And when John fell before an angel with that verb, the angel stopped him: “See thou do it not … worship God” (Revelation 22:9). Peter stopped Cornelius the same way (Acts 10:26). Yet God commands every angel to give it to His Son.

The 1984 NWT footnote on this verse read, “Or, ‘let . . . worship.’” The 2013 study note admits, “Many Bible translators use the term ‘worship’ here.” Early editions of the NWT are reported to have read “worship him” in the text itself.

So we do not worship Jesus, as we do not believe that he is Almighty God.

Read Revelation 5 together. The elders fall before the Lamb (v. 8); every creature cries, “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (v. 13) — the same praise, to both. Jesus said “all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father” (John 5:23). He accepted worship from the disciples, the women at the tomb, and the man born blind, and never once said “See thou do it not.” We worship the Father as the one true God, and the Son because the Father has commanded it — to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). Who Do We Truly Worship? →

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, died praying: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59) — the NWT itself reads “he made this appeal: ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’” The first Christians were those who “call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul asked the Lord three times about his thorn, and the answer came, “My grace is sufficient for thee … my strength is made perfect in weakness” — and he goes on, “that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). We ordinarily pray to the Father in Jesus’ name, as Jesus taught; but Scripture never forbids calling on the Son.

On John 14:14 (“If ye shall ask any thing in my name”), the NWT study note admits that “Other ancient manuscripts read: ‘ask me.’”

“And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). He was speaking to Jesus. No devout Jew would blurt out “my God” as an oath — it would break the third commandment — and Jesus did not rebuke him; He blessed those who would believe the same (v. 29). The NWT’s own study note says it is “Lit., ‘The Lord of me and the God [ho the·osʹ] of me!’” Heresies sheet, U8 →

Jesus’ own words showed that he would not be resurrected with his flesh-and-blood body.

But His own words were these: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). He told Thomas to put his finger into the nail prints (John 20:27). He had promised, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” … he spake of the temple of his body (John 2:19, 21) — not another body, but this one. And the angels said “this same Jesus” would come again (Acts 1:11).

That is jw.org’s own argument. But Scripture never says the resurrection takes the ransom back; it says the resurrection proves it was accepted: He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25), and “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:17). He gave His life in death; death could not keep it. He took our flesh to redeem it (Hebrews 2:14), and He keeps it, glorified, as our Brother and High Priest.

A “spiritual body” is still a body — raised incorruptible and glorious, but real. Paul is contrasting the body as it is now with the body as God will make it, not body with no body. And He “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21) — our bodies, changed, not discarded. 1 Peter 3:18 says He was “put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit”: raised by the power of God’s Spirit, not turned into one.

jw.org itself admits “no one can know its shape with absolute certainty.” Still, the Gospels give two clues. Thomas spoke of “the print of the nails” — plural — in His hands (John 20:25; the NWT also reads “nails”). And the accusation was “set up over his head” (Matthew 27:37), not over His hands, as on a single upright stake with hands above. But this is not the hill to stand on. The shape matters far less than Who died on it and why: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).

God’s Kingdom started ruling in heaven in the year 1914.

Jesus warned in advance against an unseen coming: “if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:26-27). His return is as visible as lightning: “every eye shall see him” (Revelation 1:7).

Parousia can mean presence or arrival — but in Matthew 24:27 Jesus Himself defines His parousia by lightning shining from east to west. The NWT itself translates that verse, “so the presence of the Son of man will be.” Paul describes it with a shout, a voice, a trumpet, the dead rising, and the living caught up (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Nothing about it is hidden.

Daniel 4 is fulfilled in the chapter itself: “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar” (v. 33). Nothing in the text applies the seven times to a second, 2,520-year period. And the starting date is a problem. A Watchtower article on the question concedes, “Secular historians usually say that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C.E.” (Oct. 1, 2011, p. 31). The 1914 calculation rests on 607, a date almost no historian accepts. See side note 6 →

Proverbs 4:18 describes the path of the just person, not permission to announce dates and revise them. Russell pointed to 1914 as “the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men”; Rutherford said “we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob”; and 1975 followed. Jesus foresaw exactly this: “many shall come in my name … and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them” (Luke 21:8). Scripture’s test is simple: “if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken” (Deuteronomy 18:22). 1874, 1914, 1925, 1975 →

Fairness: Adventists came out of a mistaken date too. The difference is that they confessed it, found the error in the event, and have set no date since 1844.

The teaching has been redefined more than once. In 1995 The Watchtower wrote that “Jehovah’s people have at times speculated about the time when the ‘great tribulation’ would break out, even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914” (Nov. 1, 1995). Jesus closed the subject two verses later: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

Only one group is promised everlasting life in heaven—the 144,000.

Look where John sees the great multitude: “before the throne, and before the Lamb” — “before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple” (Revelation 7:9, 15). In 19:1 the same “great multitude” is “much people in heaven.” Jesus promised all His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3). The Bible’s hope is one hope: the redeemed with Christ in heaven during the thousand years, and then on the earth made new — all of them together (Revelation 5:10; 21:1-3).

Read the end of the verse: “and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus was speaking to Jews; the other sheep are the Gentiles He would bring in — and He brings them into one fold, not a second class. “There is neither Jew nor Greek … for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Jesus said, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53), and of the cup, “Drink ye all of it” (Matthew 26:27). Paul told the whole church at Corinth, “as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Nowhere is the Lord’s Supper reserved for a small class who only watch the others.

So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the ‘mediator’ only for anointed Christians.

Paul wrote, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6) — between God and men, for all. “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Ask gently: if Jesus is not your Mediator, who is?

…that slave is made up of a small group of anointed brothers who are directly involved in preparing and dispensing spiritual food during Christ’s presence. … In recent decades, that slave has been closely identified with the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Matthew 24:45 is a parable about every servant’s faithfulness while the Master is away — followed by the evil servant and the ten virgins, which no one reads as a committee. And the teaching itself was redefined in 2013. Jesus said, “one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren” (Matthew 23:8). The Bereans were praised for checking even an apostle against the Scriptures (Acts 17:11).

…the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.

Scripture never asks for that kind of trust in men. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). Paul said even an apostle or an angel must be tested by the gospel already given (Galatians 1:8). The Word judges every organization — ours too.

We share the love of God’s name. The KJV prints it in the Old Testament (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18), and Adventists honor it. But no surviving Greek manuscript of the New Testament contains the divine name; the NWT inserts “Jehovah” there by its translators’ judgment. And the New Testament’s own emphasis is plain: God “hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:9-10).

Isaiah 43:10 was spoken to Israel. The risen Christ gave His church its commission in different words: “ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:8). John was exiled “for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:9), and the remnant “have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (12:17). A Christian witnesses to God by witnessing to His Son.

The holy spirit is God’s power in action, his active force.

We agree the Spirit is not a third person beside the Father and the Son. But Scripture says more than “force.” The Spirit is God’s own presence and life: “what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). The Spirit of God is also “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9) — and through it, “my Father … and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). It can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) because it is the Father and the Son Themselves present with us — not an impersonal power.

The texts forbid eating blood: “whatsoever man … that eateth any manner of blood” (Leviticus 17:10), alongside meats offered to idols and things strangled (Acts 15:29). A transfusion is not a meal; it is a gift of life from one person to another. Note the current policy accurately: since September 2026 the Witnesses still refuse whole blood, but now leave red cells, white cells, plasma, platelets, and fractions to personal conscience. See side note 7 →

That is jw.org’s wording, and it says the Sabbath was taken away with the Law covenant. But the Sabbath began at creation, before there was an Israelite (Genesis 2:2-3), and the commandment points back there (Exodus 20:11). Jesus said “The sabbath was made for man” — not for Jews only — and called Himself its Lord (Mark 2:27-28). It will be kept in the new earth (Isaiah 66:23), the very earth Witnesses hope to inherit. Ask: if the Sabbath is kept in Paradise, why not now? Sabbath Cheat Sheet →