Watchtower teaching:

"Actually, by teaching that God is omnipresent Christendom has confused matters and made it more difficult for God to be real to his worshipers." (Watchtower 2/15 1981 page 6)

"..do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah" (Jer23:24) "Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? [in whatever places a person may go] even there shall Your hand lead me..." (Ps139:5-10) "I am Jehovah who makes all things..." (Is44:24-28)

Watchtower Teaching:

1. Jesus is a created being: "Thus, Jesus had an existence in heaven before coming to the earth. But was it as one of the persons in an almighty, eternal triune Godhead? No, for the Bible plainly states that in his prehuman existence, Jesus was a created spirit being, just as angels were spirit beings created by God. Neither the angels nor Jesus had existed before their creation." (Trinity Brochure page 14)

2. Jesus is Michael the Archangel: "Reasonably, then, the archangel Michael is Jesus Christ" (Reasoning from the Scriptures page 218)

3. The JW "bible" states: "In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." (Jn1:1) Notice the article "a" and lower-case "god". With this wording they proclaim that Jesus was -one- of 'many' gods.

1. Jesus created all things that were created, therefore it is impossible that he is a created being, unless he created himself. John1:3; Col1:16

2. Jesus is King of the kingdom. If Heb2:5 is true then it is impossible that Jesus is an angel, even an archangel. "..His Son...by Whom also He made the worlds...Who being...the express image of His essence..having made purification of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels...for to which of the angels did He say at any time, 'You are My Son, this day I have begotten Thee?' ... "You, Lord, have laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands...but to which of the angels did He say at any time, 'Sit on My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool?' Are they [the angels] not all ministering spirits...?" (~Heb-ch1)

3. "Hear, O, Israel. Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." (Deu6:4) "I and the Father are One." (Jn10:30) "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Ex20:3)

Watchtower Teaching:

"Having given up his flesh for the life of the world, Christ could never take it again and become a man once more." (Live forever page 143)

"Illustration: If a man pays a debt for a friend but then promptly takes back the payment, obviously the debt continues. Likewise, if, when he was resurrected, Jesus had taken back his human body of flesh and blood, which had been given in sacrifice to pay the ransom price, what effect would that have had on the provision he was making to relieve faithful persons of the debt of sin?" (Reasoning from the Scriptures page 217)

Jesus would lay down the "temple of his body" and raise it up on the third day. Jn2:19-21

The word resurrection means that what died was raised up. If Jesus's body was not raised after it died then there was no resurrection. If there was no resurrection then our faith is in vain. 1Cor15:14 "But now Christ has risen from the dead" (vs20)

Watchtower Teaching:

If Christ was not raised physically then his return is invisible. They must reinterpret all references to Christ physical second advent.

Christ return to be physical and will be seen by all. Mt24:30; Mk14:62; Lk17:24; Rev 1:7; Tit2:13; 1Th4:16; Zech14:5

Watchtower Teaching:

"So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the "mediator" only for anointed Christians. The new covenant will terminate with the glorification of the remnant who are today in that covenant mediated by Christ. The "great crowd" of "other sheep" that is forming today is not in that new covenant. However, by their associating with the "little flock" of those yet in that covenant they come under benefits that flow from that new covenant." (Watchtower 4/1/79 page 31)

The "anointed Christians" (144,000) obviously have set themselves up as intermediate mediators for the rest of their membership.

Only Christ mediates for man. "For God is one, and there is one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus." (1Tm2:5) "It is Christ...Who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." (Rom8:34)

Watchtower Teaching:

A comparison of Bible texts that refer to the holy spirit shows that it is spoken of as 'filling' people; they can be 'baptized' with it; and they can be "anointed" with it. (Luke1:41; Mt3:11; Acts10:38) None of these expressions would be appropriate if the holy spirit were a person.....

The correct identification of the holy spirit must fit all the scriptures that refer to that spirit. With this viewpoint, it is logical to conclude that the holy spirit is the active force of God. It is not a person but is a powerful force that God causes to emanate from himself to accomplish his holy will.-Ps104:30; 2Pt1:21; Acts4:31. (Reasoning from the Scriptures page 381)

"However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all Truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak." (Jn16:13) Notice all the personal pronouns, "He".

The fact that they don't acknowledge the 'Person' of the Holy Spirit means they are not of God. For them to speak of Him in such an abstract sense means they have not received the "witness" which He bears. (Rom8:16) They do not -know- Him. And anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit "dwelling" in them "is not of [Christ]." (Rom8:9)

This list was compiled by Carl Yarbrough, an ex-JW, and adapted by VW. You can read his testimony about his time in service to the Watchtower organization, and how the Lord led him out, along with his communications/testimony to the JW Body of Elders at the time of his departure. You can also e-mail him at cybrough@teleport.com

This "checklist" is provided to help you know what the Watchtower really teaches on a few basic, essential doctrines, to be both armed against those who come to your door, and to help you as you might find yourself witnessing to them.

Watchers of the Watchtower World -a website with a lot of useful information about JW, how to witness to them, along with testimonials by people who came out of it, and some of the tactics used by the members to either keep fellow-members in line, or to form a basis to disfellowship them.

Comments from Friends -another JW information source for people coming out of it.

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