This work is dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, faithful witness of the Truth.
NOTE: The purpose of this work is to seek the truth on the basis of solid arguments and thus prevent people of good will from being dragged away by deception and separated from Jesus Christ. To seek the truth one must begin by establishing what is essential and not allow oneself to be distracted by other topics or by passion. I have wanted to explain the fundamental errors of the doctrine of the Witnesses and not to make personal attacks. We pray for them and sincerely wish them the grace of God needed to see the light of the Truth.
GENERAL INDEX
Presentation
I. HISTORY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WITNESSES
III. A MUTILATED BIBLE
IV. DOCTRINAL ERRORS
V. TACTICS FOR THEIR VISITS
VI. HOW TO DEAL WITH THE WITNESSES
VII. WHY THE WITNESSES GROW
CONCLUSION
PRAYERS
PRESENTATION
Some may wonder why I write about the Witnesses. Would it not be a lack of charity to criticize their beliefs? We answer that it would rather be a lack of charity if pastors, faced with the mortal danger to which the sheep are exposed, did not do everything possible to save them.
“Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you guardians, to shepherd the Church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son” (Acts 20:28).
“…men will arise speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be vigilant, and remember that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish you with tears” (Acts 20:30-31)
Saint Paul was aware that we are in a battle for the salvation of souls. Error kills. But we must fight with the weapons of the Christian: not with hatred or personal attacks, but with love and truth.
Faced with the invasion of so many groups that claim to have the truth, we must remember that God does not contradict himself with opposing doctrines and divisions.
God has revealed all truth to us in His Son. Only He, with his divine authority, can found the authentic Church and make her guardian and transmitter of the truth.
God wants us to know the truth in all its splendor. We can know it if we seek it with all our heart, using reason and being open to grace.
Let us consider that error separates us from God and leads us to perdition. That is why the first three spiritual works of mercy are to teach the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, and admonish sinners.
In this small work we seek to illuminate with truth the numerous errors of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I wish to help so many brothers and sisters who feel unsettled by attacks against the Catholic faith.
One cannot judge a group by the behavior of some of its members. In every group there are those who distort the doctrines they profess. Therefore, what interests us is to know the doctrine itself and the credibility of the founders. This analysis is necessary in the search for truth.
We ask ourselves: What is the origin of the doctrine? Does it agree with the Word of God? What foundations are there to support it? With what authority does the founder speak in God’s name?
I do not doubt that some Witnesses are sincere and are unaware of much of what is presented here. God loves them as he loves all his little sheep. He does not despise the lost ones, but seeks them. For this reason I have wanted to avoid every spirit of mockery, cynicism, or contempt.
I ask God that the Witnesses soon return to the Catholic Church from which many left, perhaps because they did not know her. There they will find the forgiveness of the One who died for all on the cross. Our purpose is to instruct in order to:
1. Avoid the error that leads to apostasy
2. Help the confused and wayward.
3. Clarify the true Catholic doctrine that comes to us from Jesus Christ.
HISTORY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
Charles T. Russell: Founder
The nineteenth century’s fascination with prophetic speculation gave rise in the United States to many religious movements that have spread internationally. Among them are the Mormons, the Adventists, the Shakers, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Prophecies about imminent portents abounded. The Adventist leader William Miller, for example, prophesied the end of the world for 1843. Despite the failure, the Adventists continued announcing the end of the world.
In this environment, in 1852, the North American Charles Russell was born. Young Russell lost the Presbyterian faith he had received from his parents while arguing with an atheist. A little later he joined the Adventists after hearing their warnings about the end of the world.
His fascination with prophecies led him to believe himself a great prophet and to found, in 1879, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (The Watchtower Bible Society), today known as “Jehovah’s Witnesses”(1).
In the field of commerce he became famous for his false cancer cures and his “Miracle Wheat,” which he sold at exorbitant prices. This latter extortion was exposed in the newspaper The Brooklyn Eagle, where the falsity of his extraordinary claims was proven(2).
Sole interpreter of the Bible.
Russell, without finishing high school, without studying theology, and much less knowing Greek or Hebrew, called himself “pastor” and came to the conclusion that all Christians had interpreted the Bible wrongly. To remedy the situation he wrote 7 volumes called “Studies in the Scriptures.”
Of these “Studies” Russell himself says: “Whoever turns to the Bible alone, in two years returns to darkness. On the contrary, if he reads the ‘Studies’ with their citations, even if he has not read a single page of the Bible, at the end of two years he will be in the light” (“The Watchtower” (official magazine of the Witnesses), Sept. 15, 1910).
Failed prophet
In 1874 Russell announced the coming of Christ for the year 1914. In that year the 144,000 were to be taken to heaven and the millennium of Revelation (20:2) was to begin. Humanity would have another opportunity to live in the earthly paradise. But reality was very different. What actually began that year was World War I!
Not giving up, Russell postponed the date to 1915 and again to 1918. Later the Witnesses reinterpreted the year 1914 as the “beginning of the last days.”
His predictions did not agree with those of his wife, also a prophet, and they ended in divorce.
Rutherford, “The Judge”: Second president of the Witnesses.
Mr. Rutherford took over the presidency of the Witnesses at Russell’s death in 1916. He also continued the custom of imposing on his followers the most untenable doctrines under the pretext that they were “new light” on the Scriptures, coming from Jehovah, and added many prohibitions of which we shall speak later.
In 1918 he was imprisoned for a short time, long enough to emerge filled with anger against the Christian clergy, whom he blamed for his misfortunes. It was he who gave the Witnesses their aggressive character against Christianity, especially against the Catholic Church, which he regularly condemned in fiery diatribes.
In 1931, he changed the name of the sect to “Jehovah’s Witnesses”(3).
He made his members go from house to house with a portable record player to spread his speeches.
The patriarchs who do not rise
Rutherford also inherited from Russell the tendency to pronounce solemn prophecies and set dates for apocalyptic events… Armageddon(4) is about to arrive, the Witnesses have insisted ever since.
He prophesied the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other Old Testament patriarchs, which was to occur in the year 1925(5), just in time for Armageddon. Preparations for their arrival were lavish. They built a sumptuous mansion for the patriarchs in San Diego. They waited and waited… finally Mr. Rutherford moved into the mansion and ended his years there.
In another famous prophecy Rutherford assured, in 1914, that “millions now living will never die.” With this he wanted to show how close Armageddon was and the restoration of the world to its paradisiacal state.
Despite everything, and very probably thanks to all these fantasies, the Witnesses grew enormously during Rutherford’s presidency, whom they consider among the most enlightened men in history, no less than Jesus Christ.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WITNESSES
Organization
Their government is highly centralized. From their headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., the president of the Witnesses and seven life directors direct the worldwide organization with strict discipline. Each nation has its general director with subdivisions by provinces, cities, etc.
There are more than 66,000 congregations or “companies” of Witnesses, each generally with fewer than 200 members. They meet not in churches but in “The Kingdom Hall.”
By 1990 the Witnesses already had 4.2 million members in 212 countries(6). If we consider that only 50 years ago there were fewer than 100,000 Witnesses, we can realize their dizzying growth.
Most Witnesses are converts, largely apostates from the Catholic Church. It may be the fastest-growing sect in the world.
They have no ordained ministers. Instead, each Witness considers himself a minister. But they do have a body of “elders.”
Mission
The Witnesses identify themselves as a society of Christians dedicated to honoring Jehovah and promoting Bible study. Later we shall see how in both cases they are mistaken.
They live attentive to their principal belief: at any moment Armageddon, the “great tribulation,” will occur, eliminating all evil and suffering. Christ will come to establish a millennial kingdom, the kingdom of God on earth. The original paradisiacal state will be restored. These beliefs are the subject of constant writings.
They teach that only the Witnesses will be saved because only they obey Jehovah completely.
Characteristics of the sect.
Although it is true that they possess admirable qualities and condemn vices, it is also true that they are a sect in the full sense of the word:
Total obedience to the leaders.
Catholics firmly believe in total obedience to God. In fact, many Catholics are in grave sin for lack of obedience to the teachings of the Church. The problem of the Witnesses lies in confusing the doctrines of false prophets and pastors with the commands of God. In other words, they appropriate rights that belong only to the Church founded by Christ and end up obeying a lie.
Thus they demand absolute obedience to doctrines and practices produced by their own leaders and which at times are contrary to the Christian vocation. For example, married couples who work at the central headquarters are forbidden to have children while they work there(8).
One of their teachings exhorts obedience in this way:
“…We must work under the direction of the Governing Body and the elders of our congregations… And if one of those instructions were to jump, our only response should be ‘How high?’ and ‘How far?'”(7)
Progressive isolation from the outside world.
The aim is to isolate members from relationships with persons and institutions outside the sect (relatives, friends, reading, normal medical treatment) and from responsible participation in society.
Christmas is forbidden (9), as are birthdays, holidays, voting or participating in politics, serving in the army, saluting the flag, … They believe that all authority outside the Witnesses comes from Satan, including civil authority.
A Witness who is expelled may visit the Kingdom Hall but may not speak with the members and no one may speak with him. Everyone must act as if he no longer existed, even if they are members of his family.
Devaluing life before entry into the Witnesses because it is considered bad and displeasing to “Jehovah.”
Alteration of consciousness by means of bombardment with slogans and deceptions.
At first they hide from new adherents their rejection of the fundamental truths of Christianity.
I have known house-to-house visitors who showed great zeal for Jesus Christ. They could not believe me when I told them that their own doctrine denies the divinity of Christ.
On one occasion when we were discussing this subject a higher-ranking Witness approached and I confronted him directly about it. His response at first was affirmative toward the divinity. But when I pressed him further by referring to their own teachings, he said that Jesus is “god” in the sense that we are all god. To be god, he said, is to be a great man. He had to acknowledge that according to their doctrine Jesus is a created being and not God.
The poor woman with whom I had begun the conversation showed her astonishment and confusion. I told her: “get out of this trap while you still have time to save your soul.”
Another tactic is to keep the person as busy and accompanied as possible and not cease inculcating slogans and pressuring them to seek more adherents. They have five meetings a week for instruction and training.
False prophecies about the last times and teachings invented by their leaders without basis in Christianity or reason foster isolation and escape from reality.
The Witnesses do not reconsider in the face of the evidence of so many failed prophecies. After their initial disappointment they simply change dates, change the interpretation, or, if possible, replace them with others.
For many years their magazines announced that Armageddon would occur in 1975. That is the date when the 6000 years given to humanity since the creation of Adam would be fulfilled; Adam, they say, was created in 4026 B.C. (all dates invented by the Witnesses).
How did the Witnesses justify themselves after the failure of ’75? Their president, Mr. F. Franz, explained that in his calculations he had not counted the creation of Eve, which was some time after Adam’s. Therefore the 6000 years must be counted from Eve. According to the Witnesses, now Armageddon really will occur at any moment.
Aggressive proselytism
Every Witness has a quota of hours that he must devote to propagating the sect. Some take only part-time jobs in order to devote up to 150 hours a month to visits to homes and shopping centers.
Each month every group must send to the Brooklyn headquarters a report that includes names and information about each person visited 10
The Witnesses have no hospitals, schools, orphanages, or social agencies. All their effort is devoted to proselytism. For this they are indoctrinated in techniques for steering the conversation, how to capture attention, what not to say… The training resembles that of certain merchants. Seeking the truth is not what matters. That would require honest and reasonable dialogue. What matters is only to sell the product using any tactic. Thus they are capable of denying what is patently true: the alterations they have made to the Bible, the false prophecies, the fact that their sect did not exist until the last century…
They give great importance to propaganda. They have an enormous printing complex that produces millions and millions of distorted Bibles, books, magazines (Watchtower, Awake!) and pamphlets. The Watchtower has a circulation of 15,570,000 (11) in more than 100 languages. It is said to be the most widely distributed magazine in the world. They distribute it from house to house and in shopping centers throughout the world.
How do the Witnesses explain their absence from history?
How do the Witnesses justify that for 1879 years of Christian history they did not exist? Did Jesus perhaps abandon his Church to Satan’s total control and errors until that date? That is impossible, since Jesus promised: “I will be with you always until the consummation of the world” Mt 28:19s. The Witnesses simply ignore all historical reality. They assert that Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul, and even Jesus Christ himself were members of Jehovah’s Witnesses!(12)
A MUTILATED BIBLE
The doctrine of the Witnesses claims to be founded on three propositions:
1 -The Bible contains the Word of God
2 -We human beings must be guided only by the Bible
3 -The Bible is understood only by the Witnesses.
According to this way of thinking, no one understood anything of the Bible until the Witnesses were founded in the nineteenth century. Thus they feel authorized to condemn all Christian doctrines and replace them with their own interpretations. In other words, the Witnesses reject the authority that Jesus Christ gave to the apostles to guide the Church by guarding doctrine, teaching, and shepherding, and they take it for themselves.
In truth they are not guided by the Bible.
Reasons:
Their Bible is a false translation with many passages intentionally changed to justify false doctrines.
To adjust the Bible to the sect’s convenience, Mr. Knorr, third president of the Witnesses, ordered an anonymous committee to produce a new “translation.” The result was the New World Translation. This “Bible” is used only by the Witnesses and by those who have acquired it without knowing its aberrations (13).
From here on we shall see numerous errors coming from this “Bible” of the Witnesses. For example, to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Witnesses changed the passage of Jn 1:1. Where it proclaims “the Word was God,” the Witnesses instead put “the word was a god.” This “translation” is a patent aberration. The Greek original leaves no room for doubt and among biblical scholars there is no discussion. It is a clear manipulation to justify their denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Witnesses cling to some passages and ignore the rest of the Bible.(14) They contradict their own Bible, as we shall see when referring to it to refute the errors of the Witnesses.
They interpret their own Bible in their own way to justify the doctrines of their leaders. The Witnesses contradict the elementary norms of biblical interpretation, which require:
Attention to context.
To understand a passage it is necessary to understand the complete text. There are passages that by themselves seem to contradict one another. For example: “He (Jesus) has abolished the law and its commandments” (Eph 2:13-16) and “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets” (Mt.5:17)
Interpret the more difficult texts in the light of the clearer ones. The Bible has texts that reveal truths beyond our capacity to understand and, without the help of other texts, lend themselves to erroneous interpretations.
Take into account the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church. They lived near the time of the Apostles and received their teachings. They knew the author’s intention.
Who has divine authority to interpret the Bible?
The Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ and visibly guided by the pope as successor of Peter, or Jehovah’s Witnesses, founded in 1879 by Mr. Russell? Jesus Christ gives us the answer in Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
Examples of literal biblical interpretation according to the Witnesses
Only 144,000 will go to heaven.
They rely on Revelation 7:4-8. They say these are the chosen ones who will go to heaven as spirits without bodies. The rest of the faithful will remain on earth with resurrected bodies, while the condemned will not go to hell but will be annihilated (will cease to exist).
Response:
The same Revelation immediately clarifies: “…I saw a multitude that no one could count…from every nation and tribe.” The 144 thousand symbolize the 12 Jewish tribes, 12 times and 1000 times. They are a great multitude and not an exact number. Moreover chapter 14, v. 4 says literally that the 144,000 are virgins. Are the Witnesses who claim to be counted in that number virgins?
Mary had more children
a) Argument from the brothers of Jesus.
According to the Witnesses, Jesus had blood brothers. They base this on the passage: “are not his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” (Mt 13:59) and other passages.
Response:
They called the extended family “brothers.” In Hebrew and Aramaic (the languages of the Jews in Jesus’ time) there is no word that designates relatives outside the immediate family. They called cousins, uncles, and nephews “brothers.” When it was translated into Greek the word “adelphos” (brothers) was used to indicate relatives and those closely related to Jesus.
Let us see in the Bible itself how “brother” is used instead of “nephew”: Lot was the son of Abram’s brother, that is, his nephew: “Terah begot Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran begot Lot” (Gen 11:27). But Abram says to him “we are brothers” (Gen 13:8) and then the author of Genesis says: Abram “recovered all his goods, and also his brother Lot” (Gen. 14:16).
Likewise there are biblical examples of the use of “brother” to designate an “uncle”: Compare Gen. 28:1-2 with 29:15. Laban is Jacob’s uncle and calls him brother (in some translations “relative,” but in the original language “brother”).
And instead of “cousin”: 1 Chronicles 23:22: “The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. Eleazar died without having sons, only daughters, whom the sons of Kish, their brothers, took as wives.”
Mary is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, to whom she was always faithful. Another reason that leads us to understand that Mary is ever virgin is her espousal with the Holy Spirit, by whom she conceived Jesus Christ. A relationship with a man would have constituted infidelity to God himself.
Mary does not “know” man
Her response to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know man?” (Lk 1:34), indicates her intention of perpetual virginity. It is evident that she already knew Joseph, who would be her husband. Mary refers to her intention not to “know” him in the Hebrew sense that implies the union of man and woman. It would be a very singular mutual commitment, certainly. But necessary in the plan of God, who gives the grace for it.
Jesus gives his mother to John
If Mary had other children, the Bible would identify them as children of Mary. But it does not. The neighbors of Nazareth refer to Jesus as “the son of Mary” (Mk 6:3), not as “a son of Mary.” The Greek expression implies that he is the only son. The only time we are told of another son of Mary is from the lips of Jesus on the cross. He unites his mother and Saint John, making them mother and son. No one can think that John is Mary’s carnal son.
If there were other brothers, why this silence? In truth, Mary has many children who, like St. John, joyfully accept her as Mother by Jesus’ commission. These are Mary’s children and Jesus’ brothers. The poor Witnesses do not understand this.
b) Argument from primogeniture
They allege that Jesus was the first but not the only son, based on the literal interpretation of “Mary gave birth to her firstborn” (Lk 2:17)
Response:
The Jews called the one born first the firstborn even if no others followed him:
· “Consecrate to me every firstborn,” says God (Ex 13:2).
· “Sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the firstborn. Eliezer had no other sons” (Chr 23:17).
We can see that there is no reason, based on the Bible, to say that Mary had other children. The reason is that, as the Catholic Church has taught from the first centuries, Mary was ever Virgin.
DOCTRINAL ERRORS
“…guard the deposit. Avoid profane babblings, and also the objections of falsely called knowledge; by professing it some have wandered from the faith.” I Timothy 6:20-21.
The Witnesses are a compendium of the most serious heresies of all centuries. It is not possible here either to present all their errors or to refute them with all the biblical passages and other arguments. Let us see here some examples.
ERROR #1: THEY DENY THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
From this error all the others follow. The Witnesses do not recognize the principal mystery of the Christian faith: the Most Holy Trinity. They do recognize, as we do, that there is only one God (they are monotheists). But they do not recognize the three divine Persons. For that reason they are not Christians no matter how much they claim to be.
Response: God reveals himself (makes himself known) in the Bible as Trinity:
Bible:
· “When Jesus was baptized, he went up at once from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice from the heavens said: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'” (Matthew 3:16-17)
· Jesus: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Catechism:
· The Trinity is one. We do not confess three gods, but one God in three persons: “the consubstantial Trinity” (15)
· The divine Unity is Triune.(16)
ERROR #2: THEY DENY THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
They write “holy spirit” without capital letters because they do not hold Him to be a person but only a “force” of God.
Response:
We saw biblical quotations in error #1 where the Trinity is spoken of, of which the Holy Spirit is the third Person.
In addition, the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as a person:
· “Peter said to him: ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the field?'” (Acts 5:3). One cannot lie to a force, only to a person.
· “For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (II Cor 3:17)
ERROR # 3: “THEY DENY THE DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST
Without doubt the Witnesses say many beautiful things about Jesus Christ. But they deny the essential point of the Christian faith: they do not accept His divinity. Perhaps this is the error they hide the most. Do not let yourselves be bogged down in other secondary topics.
In their own magazine “Awake!” (December 8, ’98, p. 8) the Witnesses say: “(Jesus) was the first and only direct creation of the Almighty, who formed him in heaven countless centuries ago, before the angels and the physical world. He is therefore called God’s ‘only-begotten.'”
The Witnesses recognize that Jesus is the “only-begotten” but they invent for this word an interpretation lacking any foundation.
Correct definition of “only-begotten”: “only son.” (see any dictionary)
Definition of “only-begotten” invented by the Witnesses: “first and only direct creation.”
Why do the Witnesses make this invention?
Because they want at all costs to deny the divinity of Jesus, which is deduced from the fact that He is the only Son of God. Every son is always of the nature of his parents. Jesus too is of the nature of God His Father. That is, by nature he is divine. Jesus, we say in the creed, was “begotten, not made, of the same nature as the Father.” Jesus is God.
The Word (the second person of the Trinity) willed to assume human nature and for that reason willed to be born and have a human mother: the Most Holy Virgin Mary. In Jesus there are therefore two natures: divine and human.
Jesus is also the “firstborn” because he is the first of all those who in Him are children of God (us). We are, however, adopted in Christ. Therefore we do not have a divine nature of our own, but participate in it through Christ, with Him and in Him.
Divinity is also clearly deduced in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.“
BUT, sadly, the Witnesses mutilated their Bibles so that they read instead: “and the word was a god.” This translation clearly contradicts the original Greek text.
Thus they want to interpret that Jesus, being a “god” (lowercase), is certainly very powerful, having received many favors from God, but is his creature and not God.
They say that Jesus is the Archangel Michael:
But they do not stop there. They say that Jesus Christ, before coming into the world and after the resurrection, is the Archangel Michael (17). While he was on earth he was not an archangel but an eminent member of the Witnesses (although these did not exist until 1879!).
To identify Jesus as an archangel they rely on 1 Thess 4:16, where it says that Jesus will come “at the command, with the voice of an archangel.” They say that if Jesus comes by the voice of an archangel, he is that archangel.
They identify him with Saint Michael because they say this is the only archangel that exists.(18) The reader can see that this argument is absurd. It is clear that neither in this passage nor anywhere else does Scripture say that Jesus is an archangel or an angel.
Furthermore, Hebrews 1:5 says: “For to which of the angels did he ever say: You are my Son; today I have begotten you; and again: I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”
But to Jesus God does say “Son”(19). Therefore Jesus is not an angel. He is the Lord who owns them.
In Hebrews 1:6 it says, “And again, when he brings the Firstborn into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God adore him.”
Angels cannot adore another angel but only God.
How do the Witnesses solve this problem? In 1970 they brought out a new “translation” of their “Bible”(20) in which the word adore conveniently disappeared from Hebrews 1:6.
They say that Jesus Christ is not God because he is obedient
To deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Witnesses point to His obedience and humility, manifested throughout His life from His birth to His death. If Jesus obeys the Father, the Witnesses reason, he cannot be God but must be a creature.
They rely on the Bible:
· John 5:19 “Jesus therefore answered them, saying: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.’
· John 7:18 “He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
· John 8:28 “So Jesus said to them: ‘…and that I do nothing on my own authority; but speak thus as the Father taught me.'”
· Matthew 26:39 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.'”
· Mark 14:36 “And he said: ‘Abba, Father! all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.'”
Response:
Our fallen mentality makes us think that the one who obeys is inferior. In the world the stronger one is the one who commands. Jesus, being God, wanted to reveal another way to us:
Jesus Christ, being God, willed to humble himself.
“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in human form; he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8).
The obedience and love of Jesus Christ toward the Father repairs our disobedience and lack of love and thus redeems us and saves us from the punishment we deserve.
The Witnesses, like many others, resist the image of a God as loving as Jesus Christ reveals him to be. They see God only from the angle of his omnipotence and transcendence over man. They do not accept the Incarnation despite so many passages that indicate it.
The humble and suffering Christ of the Bible is the same one who manifests his divine power and glory. Once again we see the need to take the whole Bible into account and not interpret some passages in isolation.
Jesus wanted the disciples to follow him on the path of obedience and humility.
Matthew 20:25-28: “But Jesus called them to him and said: ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'”
The Bible teaches us the divinity of Jesus Christ
In addition to the passages already examined….
· “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I Am.” I Am is the name of God and the Jews understood it that way; that is why they wanted to kill him. (Jn 8:28)
· “…through his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn 5:20)
· “…our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).
· Thomas says: “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28). If these words were an error Jesus certainly would have corrected him, but Jesus says to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
· “the patriarchs; and from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen.” (Rom 9:5)
· Peter confesses Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). Jesus answers him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17) (21)
· Jesus Christ says: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30). The Witnesses object, saying that this passage refers only to unity of intentions. But those who heard Jesus knew that he was proclaiming himself one in being with the Father and therefore wanted to kill him: “the Jews sought all the more to stone him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his Father, making himself equal to God” (Jn 10:33)
· “Jesus said to him: ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also; from now on you know him and have seen him.’
· Philip said to him: ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him: ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. At least, believe because of the works.'” (Jn 14:6-9)
· Before the Sanhedrin, to the question of his accusers: “Then are you the Son of God?” Jesus answered: “You say that I am” (Lk 22:70; Cf. Mt 26:64; Mk 14:61)”
· Long before, He designated himself as the “Son” who knows the Father (Cf. Mt 11:27; 21:37-38), who is distinct from the “servants” whom God had sent before to his people (Cf. Mt 21:34-36), superior to the angels themselves (Cf. Mt 24:36). He distinguished his filiation from that of his disciples… and emphasized this distinction: “My Father and your Father” (Jn 20:17)(22).
What the Catechism says
God the Father has revealed his omnipotence in the most mysterious way in the voluntary abasement and in the Resurrection of his Son, by which he has conquered evil. Thus, Christ crucified is “the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 2:24-25)(23)
Jesus Christ is true God and true man in the unity of his divine Person; for this reason He is the one Mediator between God and men.
Jesus Christ possesses two natures, divine and human, not confused, but united in the one Person of the Son of God.(24)
Conclusion
Jesus reveals himself as God. The Word of God affirms it. Therefore there is no alternative: either Jesus is God as He says, or he would be a liar. His life, his works, his resurrection, and the power of the Holy Spirit acting in the Church and in believers confirm that Jesus tells the truth: Jesus Christ is Lord, the living God. This is the faith of the true Church from the beginning(25)
We must conclude that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christians because they deny the divinity of Christ. The Catechism tells us: “Faith in the true incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: ‘By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God’ (1 Jn 4:2)”(26)
ERROR # 4: THEY DENY THAT JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS
They oppose the veneration of the cross (27) alleging that:
· Jesus did not die on the cross but on a “stake.”
· The cross is a pagan symbol that was used before Christ and introduced into Christianity in the middle of the third century A.D.
Response:
No one doubts (except the Witnesses) that the cross was used by the Romans to sentence people to death. It is a widely documented historical fact.
The reason we venerate the cross is that Christ chose to die on it to save us. For that reason it is the sign of Christianity, not from the third century as the Witnesses allege, but from the time of the Apostles. Both St. Peter and St. Paul give clear testimony of their love for the cross, as explained below.
The word “wood” (Acts 5:30) refers to the material and not to the form of the instrument. Therefore one can say that Jesus died on a cross as well as that he died on wood(28). The error of the Witnesses is that they confuse things and end up rejecting the cross.
The New Testament explicitly mentions the cross 29 times and refers to the cross more than 48 times. For the Christian the cross is central because it is the sacrifice by which Christ saves us. St. Paul says: “I decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (I Cor 2:2); “Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14); “My love is nailed to the cross” (Rom 7:2 Cf. 1 Cor 1:8; Phil 3:18; Gal 6:14…).
We have the irrefutable testimony of the faith of the Church from the beginning and of the historians of the time. The Witnesses ignore all this in order to bury the cross and true Christianity.
The Witnesses strive to eradicate every vestige of authentic Christianity because they do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That is why they consider veneration of the cross idolatry. They resent Jesus Christ being adored because they do not recognize him as God.
They consider the cross a sign of shame; in this they agree with those who thought they had triumphed when they crucified him.
Behind this hatred of the cross is Satan, who was defeated by it and flees from its power.
ERROR # 5: THEY DENY THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
They say that Jesus rose as a spirit without a body. The body, according to them, rotted in the tomb. What rose, they say, was an angelic spirit.
Response:
What the Bible says:
· The angel says: “he is not here, he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:6) It is evident that the angel announces that no body remained in the tomb.
· The risen Jesus Christ says: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Lk 24:39).
· The risen Jesus says to Thomas: “Put your hand and place it in my side…” (Jn 20:27).
The disciples after the Passion of the Lord were not inclined to believe in the Resurrection. At first they did not believe the women returning from the tomb and “their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Lk 24:11). When Jesus manifests himself, “he reproached them for their unbelief” (Mk 16:14). When they see him risen, at first they think he is a spirit (Cf. Lk 24:39). At an appearance of Jesus “some, however, doubted” (Mt 28:17). But the direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus leads them to faith and to rule out that he was a ghost or a spirit without a body.(29)
The Catechism:
The risen Jesus establishes direct relations with his disciples through touch (Cf. Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27) and the sharing of food (Cf. Lk 24:30. 41-43; Jn 21:9. 13-15). He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a spirit (Cf. Lk 24:39), but above all to verify that the risen body with which he appears before them is the same one that was tortured and crucified, since it still bears the marks of his passion (Cf. Lk 24:40; Jn 20:20. 27). This authentic and real body nevertheless possesses at the same time the new properties of a glorious body… for this reason the risen Jesus is also sovereignly free to appear as he wishes…(30)
ERROR # 6: THEY REJECT ALL THE SACRAMENTS
Response
The sacraments are founded on Christ and have their origin in his actions and words that we find in the New Testament.
Let us take Baptism and the Eucharist as examples.
Baptism
They consider baptism only a symbol and do not baptize children.
Response:
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
We see that baptism is not only a symbol. In it we receive God’s grace to die to sin and be born to new life in Christ.
The Eucharist
The Witnesses deny that Christ is really present in the Eucharist. It is not difficult to understand that they fall into this heresy since they deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Response:
To deny the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, the Witnesses recklessly change the biblical text.
The true Bible, translated from the original Greek, says “This is my body” (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:23). The Witnesses’ Bible says instead “this means my body.”
The Greek word “estin” (is) means identity, never representation.
The Church’s teaching on the seven sacraments is explained with its biblical foundations in the second part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The Celebration of the Christian Mystery.” This catechism should not be missing from a Christian home. There you will find more explanation and biblical foundations.
ERROR # 7: THEY DENY MARY’S VIRGINITY AND DIVINE MATERNITY
How can the Witnesses, without believing in the Holy Spirit or the divinity of Jesus Christ, interpret the miraculous virginal birth of Jesus? Finding no other way to solve the problem, the Witnesses invent the most absurd argument. Trying to deny the miracle, they teach that Jesus was conceived by a process similar to artificial insemination!
In the same magazine “Awake!“, official organ of the sect, December 8, ’98, p. 8: |
“Two thousand years ago, God transferred the life of Jesus to the womb of a Jewish virgin so that he would be born as a man. Even today, artificial insemination allows human beings to obtain similar results in certain respects”
Response:
The position of the Witnesses lacks any foundation. To deny the miracle they invent another miracle that has nothing to do with the Sacred Scriptures. They have no purpose other than to deny the divinity of Jesus in this invention that denies what is deduced from the passage, namely, that being born of a Virgin mother, he has no human father and God is his Father.
The Gospels present the virginal conception as a divine work that surpasses all understanding and every human possibility (Cf. Lk 1:34). It is evident that Saint Joseph is not the father, since he is surprised by the news and plans to leave her. “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,” the angel says to Joseph regarding Mary, his betrothed (Mt 1:20). The Church sees in this the fulfillment of the divine promise made through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son” (Is 7:14 according to the Greek translation of Mt 1:23).(31)
The deepening of faith in virginal motherhood has led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity (Cf. DS 427), even in the birth of the Son of God made man (Cf. DS 291; 294; 442; 503; 571; 1880)(32).
See above: “brothers of Jesus.”
ERROR # 8: THEY DENY THE EXISTENCE OF HELL
According to the Witnesses, the condemned will be annihilated (will cease to exist).
Response:
The Bible says: “Fear rather him who can cast both body and soul into hell” (Mt 10:28; Cf. Lk 16:23-28, Mt 25:41.46). Jesus, speaking of hell, says that there it is “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48).
ERROR #9 THEY DENY THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
Response:
If the soul were not immortal there would be no eternal life or salvation. The Bible speaks to us of eternal life and of the salvation of the soul (Hebrews 10:39, James 5:20)
I Peter 3:4 “…in the incorruptibility of a gentle and quiet soul: this is precious before God.”
ERROR #10: THEY ACCUSE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF BEING THE BABYLON OF REVELATION (33)
Response:
Their virulent attacks against the Catholic Church are one of the sect’s characteristics. Hatred of the Church leads them to defamation and calumny. They irrationally identify the Church with everything worst.
According to the Witnesses, “the Church grants the titles ‘divine’ and even ‘vice-god’ to the Pope.”(34) This is absolutely false. The Church has never given these titles to the Pope. The fact that the Witnesses continue with this calumny demonstrates how impossible it is to dialogue with them.
According to them, priests are the “personification of disobedience to Jehovah God. “They (the priests) form a man of iniquity”(35). No comment…
The Witnesses accuse Catholics of being sinners. Certainly we are. So are they. St. Paul says: “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
It is possible to belong to the true Church and not live in the truth, just as it is possible to go to a good doctor and not take his medicine. What good would that do? What interests us in discovering which is the good doctor is not the conduct of his bad patients. Rather, what is his medicine?
Who offers us the medicine of Christ and who the poison of Satan? Who gives us the good doctrine to lead us to heaven and who the error that enslaves us?
The New Testament mentions the Church 94 times(36). It does not refer to the Witnesses, who were founded, as we saw, in 1879, but to the Catholic Church. The same one John calls the Spouse and Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7; 21:9), the same one the Witnesses persecute and calumniate.
ERROR #11: THEY FORBID GIVING TITLES OF HONOR
They base themselves on texts such as Luke 11:43:
“Woe to you Pharisees, who love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces!”
Response:
It is true that no one should seek honors. Jesus Christ teaches us and gives us an example of humility. We should rather take the last places, like Jesus, Mary, and the saints.
But we must give honor to whom it is due. The Church is a body with a variety of members and functions. We all have the same dignity by baptism, but not the same place in the body.
The Bible teaches us to honor:
Parents and elders:
· “Honor your father and your mother; this is the first commandment” (Ephesians 6:2; Cf. Deut 5:16, Ex 20:12)
· “Honor widows” (I Timothy 5:3)
· “The elder and honorable man is the head” (Isaiah 9:14)
· “Stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man” (Leviticus 19:32)
· “Whoever honors his father atones for sins” (Sirach 3:3)
Those who exercise civil responsibility:
· “Among his brothers the chief is honorable” (Sirach 10:20)
· “Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great riches and honors” (II Chronicles 17:5
· “Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent to the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem paid him honors at his death” (II Chronicles 32:33)
Those who practice their profession worthily:
· “Give the physician, for his services, the honors he deserves, for the Lord also created him.” (Sirach 38:1)
Those who are examples of holiness:
· “The humble in spirit will obtain honors” (Proverbs 29:23)
· “The great man, the judge, and the powerful receive honors, but none is greater among them than the one who fears the Lord” (Sirach 10:24)
· “But honors those who fear Yahweh” (Psalms 15:4)
· Luke, at the beginning of his Gospel, honors “most excellent Theophilus” (Lk 1:3).
The deceased
· “Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent to the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem paid him honors at his death.” (II Chronicles 32:33)
Catholics honor their priests and bishops because God has anointed them as shepherds over the flock. In this they imitate Saint Paul, who states: “I was appointed a herald and apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (I Tim 2:7).
By honoring the Lord’s anointed we recognize the consecration by which God ordains them to be shepherds. The honor does not seek to exalt the person but to recognize the dignity of the ministry. When there is respect, the mission is facilitated. Moreover, by honoring our superiors and elders we grow in humility.
It is true that there is no lack of those who abuse their positions and are filled with pride. Judgment over these belongs to God. We must abide by Saint Paul’s recommendation:
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is honorable, if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” -Philippians 4:8
ERROR #12: THEY FORBID CALLING ANYONE “FATHER”
They base themselves on Matthew 23:9.
Response:
Jesus rejects the pride with which some cling to titles. To be a father is a vocation received from the Father in heaven and before Him it must be lived responsibly. We see in the Bible that in the Church there must exist a family relationship that gives validity to calling the priest father. Some examples:
· Paul calls Titus and Timothy by the appellation son (Titus 1:4), and refers to his judges as fathers (Acts 22:1).
· Paul calls himself father (1 Cor 4:15). In the next verse he exhorts us to be “his imitators.”
Since the Witnesses are so legalistic, we ask ourselves: Do they imitate Paul? What do they call their biological fathers? Do they allow their own children to call them dad?
ERROR #13 THEY FORBID THE PRACTICE OF ALL RELIGION
Response:
The word religion comes from the Latin “religio” (to re-bind or bind). To be religious is to be bound to God, to be faithful to the covenant. God took the initiative to establish a covenant with his people. To be part of his people it is necessary to fulfill the requirements of the covenant. Christ did not abolish the law but brought it to full fulfillment. To be religious is to have beliefs and practices that express our relationship with God. Religion generally has a social, cultural, or institutional form, but it is also a private practice.
What matters, then, is that our religion be as God wants and not according to our whim. It is evident that the Jews practiced their religion. Jesus also practiced religion whenever he prayed, participated in Passover and other Jewish feasts, attended the synagogue and the Temple. The first Christians were very religious. Their love for God moved them to live in community and follow the instructions of the apostles (Cf. Acts 2:42).
It is evident that the Witnesses are also religious, since they have their commitments and way of life. The problem is that they are not founded on the truth.
We read in the Bible:
· “We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is religious and does his will, God listens to him.” (John 9:31)
· “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)
ERROR #14: THEY FORBID BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
They base themselves on the Bible:
· “Only you shall not eat flesh with its soul, that is, with its blood” (Genesis 9:4).
· “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your lives, for atonement is made by the blood, with the life.” (Lev 17:11)
Response:
Christ taught us that the old prohibitions concerning foods no longer have meaning in the New Covenant. “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm14:17). In any case, it is difficult to understand how the Witnesses deduce from the prohibition against eating animal blood in the O.T. a prohibition against blood transfusions, which precisely seek to save human life.
If we had to die out of fidelity to God, it would be something praiseworthy. But the Witnesses go so far as the fanaticism of letting a loved one die on the basis of a false biblical interpretation.
ERROR #15: JEHOVAH IS THE NAME OF GOD
Jehovah’s Witnesses take their name from Isaiah 43:10: “You are my Witnesses – oracle of Jehovah.” We shall see that they are mistaken even in their name, since the word “Jehovah” does not appear in the Bible, but only the consonantal letters. The best rendering would be “Yahweh” and not “Jehovah.”
According to the Witnesses, the correct pronunciation of God’s name is necessary for salvation (more important than faith in Jesus Christ). It is therefore of capital importance to them that God be called according to what they believe to be the correct form: Jehovah.
According to them, God’s name “has been hidden from readers who need to know the name for their own salvation”(37) and “…Those who do not use it (the correct name) could not be identified with those whom God takes out to be a people for his name”(38). They accuse the Church of conspiring to hide the true name of God.
What is the correct pronunciation of God’s name, “Jehovah” (as the Witnesses say) or “Yahweh” (as it appears in Catholic Bibles)?
Response (39):
The problem raised has to do with the pronunciation of God’s name and not with translation.
The Israelites, out of respect, did not write or pronounce God’s name. Instead, they said “Adonai” (Lord) or “Elohim” (God). (The name “Jehovah” does not exist in the Hebrew language)
In writing, instead of God’s name they put a tetragram of only four consonants and no vowels: Y-H-W-H, which has no translation. In the thirteenth century A.D., that is, more than 2000 years after the Israelites began referring to God, some Scripture scholar added the vowels of Adonai “a-o-a” to the tetragram Y-H-W-H. This would give, according to a failed interpretation, a pronunciation translated as “Jehovah.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves acknowledge that “Many modern Hebrew scholars prefer to give the name the pronunciation Yahweh”(40) Yet the Witnesses not only insist on the error, but make it indispensable for salvation!
Let us now look at the New Testament.
In the original Greek text of the New Testament the words Yahweh or Jehovah do not appear. It seems strange that if the name Jehovah were indispensable to pronounce in order to be saved, it is not mentioned in the Bible.
In the New Testament God is called “Kyrios” (Lord). The Witnesses, however, instead of “Lord,” translate it as “Jehovah.” They make this mutilation of the New Testament 237 times(41) with the purpose of “honoring” God!
But on the many occasions when the N.T. uses “Kyrios” to refer to Jesus Christ, the Witnesses do not translate it as “Jehovah” but as “Lord.” (some citations: Jn 11:39; Jn 13:25; Jn 21:7; 1Cor. 12:3).
What does Jesus teach us about the name of God? He does not teach us to say either “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” (names that, as we saw, do not appear in the N.T.). Jesus clearly reveals to us a new name by which we should refer to God: “Father”. “Righteous Father… I have made known to them your Name and will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them.”(42) (Jn 17:25-26.. Cf. Jn 17:1s, Mt 11:27).
By teaching us to say Father and to pray Our Father, Jesus reveals to us the depth of the New Covenant in which we become children of God.
Because the Witnesses do not understand the New Testament, where Jesus reveals the Father to us, they do not understand that “Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 Jn 2:23). They do not acknowledge the Son because they deny his divinity.
But the Witnesses do not understand the O.T. either, since, as we saw, the Jews did not have the word “Jehovah.”
“Beloved, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 Jn 4:1)
TACTICS FOR THE VISITS
The Witnesses in their visits are persistent to the extreme. They are prepared not to become discouraged when doors are closed to them. They will return when they have the opportunity. If they are not received, they appeal to charity and courtesy, virtues they themselves refuse to practice when a Catholic speaks to them of the true faith.(43)
They generally begin the conversation directed toward common concerns: crime, the economy, vice, hurricanes, earthquakes… They conclude that the world is about to end. Then they ask:
· “Would you like to live in a happy world without wars, without diseases, without problems of any kind?”
· “Are you prepared for the imminent battle of Armageddon and the coming of Christ?”
The Witnesses offer a “biblical” answer to personal problems. Once they have managed to impress, the Witnesses make it seem that only they know the answers to all problems according to the Bible. Therefore only they will be saved from the imminent cosmic destruction.
We respond:
Certainly the world is full of sin and problems. Certainly we must prepare for the coming of Christ. The signs of the times remind us how passing this world is and of our responsibility to work diligently to propagate the kingdom of the Lord.
The Church prays in the Eucharist that we may remain in Christ until his glorious coming. The Pope insists on the importance of conversion and of evangelizing all people. But we do not seek false prophecies and answers.
In their eagerness to announce Armageddon and the end of the world, the Witnesses not only offend reason, they also forget the words of Jesus:
Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Mt 24:36).
Any prophecy that promises a world full of peace and a life without problems is from the devil, who is preparing the coming of the Antichrist. He is the one who will seduce humanity with those false promises. Jesus, on the other hand, taught us that in this world we will always be in struggle, sharing his sufferings.
When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden ruin will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they will not escape. (Thess 5:3)
“Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I lost all things and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which comes from the Law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith, and that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Phil 3:8-10)
Our peace is not in a world without problems but in living life in the Holy Spirit, who gives us a share in the life of God. A peace that prevails in the storms of the world.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart!:
I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33)
At first they are careful not to reveal their most anti-Christian doctrines. They know that this would close doors to them. They prefer to sow confusion against the Church by asking why we “worship images,” “worship the Pope,” “do not read the Bible”… Lies and defamations to which, sadly, many do not know how to respond. Anyone who believed their allegations out of ignorance would be scandalized and ashamed of his Church. This is what the Witnesses seek in order to cause a break with her.
When one knows how to answer them on one topic, the Witnesses jump to another topic. They do this for several reasons. First, because they are not trained to use reason; they only memorize passages. Rather, they try to keep jumping from topic to topic until they find one that the person does not know how to answer. In this way they come to dominate the situation completely. The Catholic then finds himself on the defensive. And how many Catholics (or witnesses) are prepared to defend themselves under those conditions? One would have to be extremely well prepared, as if to take an advanced exam on the Bible, to be able to answer point after point skillfully.
With this tactic they sow confusion and rejection toward many teachings of the Church.
If they have convinced the person, often rightly, that he knows nothing of the Bible, the blame, according to the Witnesses, lies with the priests who did not teach him and with the Catholic Church in which “the Bible is not read.” Then they invite him to “study” the Bible with them. An ex-Catholic witness once told me that in the Catholic Church he had never heard the Bible. I asked him: Where were you when in every Mass several biblical passages are read and the Gospel is proclaimed?
In Bible study the witnesses will concentrate on selected passages that seem to corroborate their religious vision. They say they are Christians and that the Bible is the same for everyone… Later they will speak less of Christ and more of the anti-Christ; less of the virtues and more of the end of the world; less of the Bible and more of their magazines full of errors, which they call “the new truths.”
Through this process they reach the conclusion that all religions are of Satan. The solution they offer is that one must abandon the Church to become a Witness and thus be saved from imminent annihilation.
If the person progresses well, he may participate in other Bible groups and will come to visit the Kingdom Hall. To become a Witness they will require him to be baptized again and to begin proselytizing by visiting homes under supervision.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THE WITNESSES
· Prayer. When we see them coming, let us begin to pray for the conversion of these poor souls and for the protection of all those who are going to be visited. Let us ask the Lord for wisdom in dealing with them.
· Go to what is essential. Christ is our Lord and Savior, God from God, Light from Light, true God. There is no sense in discussing secondary matters when the fundamental is not clarified.
· Charity. Remember the respect due to each individual and that our attitude toward sincere believers must be one of openness and understanding, not condemnation. (44)
· Firmness. They should not be allowed to dominate the conversation or our time. If it is not the moment to speak with them or the attitude is not one of sincere dialogue, do not let yourself be forced to continue. It must also be remembered that many passages of the Bible require other passages for correct interpretation.
Cardinal Arinze explains how our encounter should be:
It should not be an attack. It should not be negative against their members, although the Church may need to defend herself … against unjust attacks. Rather it should be based on light and love.
The Church sees persons belonging to the New Religious Movements not as enemies to be attacked, but as persons redeemed by Christ who are now in error and with whom the Church wants to share the light and love of Christ.(45)
Let us proclaim the true kingdom of God. The one the Catholic Church has announced for 2000 years. Let us not be ashamed of Jesus Christ, of his cross, of his Most Holy Mother Mary ever Virgin, nor of holy mother Church… (Cf. 1 P. 3:15-16). The Witnesses often let their beginners speak first in order to train them. They need our testimony of faith.
WHY THE WITNESSES GROW
The Vatican Report, Sects or New Religious Movements: A Pastoral Challenge, May 3, 1986, presents many reasons why sects grow alarmingly in our culture. It says that “few enter the new religions for perverse reasons.” Rather, they are people seeking an answer to some emptiness in their lives. Let us see the reasons for entering sects that apply most to the Witnesses.
Sense of purpose and mission
The need to feel that our life has a transcendent purpose for which it is worth fighting. They make people believe that the Catholic Church allows one to live an easy life of sin.
Quick answers, specific commitments
Many people feel lost and want an imposed specific order of life about which they do not have to think much. The Church demands discernment, the use of reason guided by faith. Many feel guilty when the Witnesses visit them because they cannot answer their questions and challenges. They then blame the Church for not having taught them.
The obsession with apocalyptic prophecies attracts people in crisis, under pressure, disoriented, disillusioned, who have lost their reason for living. The present moral situation leads many to these conditions.
Need to belong, participate, have support, security, direction.
The Witnesses more easily imprison people who feel wounded and rejected, alienated or excluded. This may be due to a problem with a member of the Church or a family crisis through divorce, etc. The Witnesses seek to replace old bonds by offering a new environment in their group. In the new environment they make the person feel important and of great spiritual ascendancy.
We can see why they are so successful in a society of immigrants, broken families, lack of secure values, and instability.
Frequently the witnesses capitalize on resentments among relatives. A resentful person will find in the Witnesses religious justification for his feelings of alienation. The Witnesses will reinforce his attitude by making him see that his relatives are “lost” and that the blame for everything in the end is theirs for being Catholic.
The same can occur if the person is resentful against the Church or society in general. Before entering the Witnesses they felt guilty for harboring those resentments; now, with the Witnesses, those same resentments seem to be proof of good religion, especially if they are directed against Catholics.
Finding salvation assured in the group
The Witnesses assure that only the Witnesses will be saved while all others will be annihilated in the end that is already imminent. This frightens some, while in others it inflames their desire to be part of a small group of chosen ones.
Search for knowledge
They make it seem that Catholics never open the Bible. This is true for many who did not live as good Catholics. Instead of understanding that the solution is to open the Bible within the Church, they come to believe that only the Witnesses study it. They do not know, of course, about the mutilation of the Witnesses’ Bible.
Spiritual guidance
Millions of people have no spiritual guidance. There is no one to help them find the way. Many have support from no one. The Witnesses come to fill the void.
Economic need, family pressures, curiosity
In a society so battered by paganism, personal problems are increasing, as is desperation. People seek a way out, something that fills us. Some begin just to try it and then become entangled.
It is evident that man does well to seek answers to many of the human needs mentioned above. For this reason Cardinal Arinze estimates that the sects are more successful when the Church has failed to touch the good motivation of people(46). Personal responsibility to choose well also cannot be ignored.
We are in times of doctrinal disorientation and confusion in the Church. According to Cardinal Arinze, “This confusion occurs in part because of doubts sown by some Catholic theologians and others who challenge the teachings of the magisterium, or because of poor religious education”(47). A mind confused about the faith is weakened and has no recourse to the solid food that Christ offers us in his Church. The sects take advantage of these weaknesses to offer false solutions.
In Catholic environments where there is confusion and lack of zeal for the true faith, the false prophets show formidable zeal in promulgating their doctrines and in addressing the questions of modern man.
We are all responsible. The growth of the sects is due, says H.H. John Paul II, to the “lukewarmness and indifference of the sons and daughters of the Church who are not at the level of the evangelizing mission, with the weak witness they give of a consistent Christian life”(48)
CONCLUSION
The Bible warns us: “many false prophets will arise, and lead many astray. And because wickedness will increasingly grow, the charity of most will grow cold. But he who perseveres to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:11-13; Cf.24-25). We are witnessing a great apostasy. Each year millions abandon the sound doctrine of the Catholic Church to enter the Witnesses and other sects.
The evil one steals away those who are spiritually sick or dead. He traps them in nets of confusion to distance them from the doctrine of Christ, which is light and guide for our intelligence. They are lost through lack of knowledge or through lukewarm faith. The Witnesses will fill the void with false doctrines and with misdirected zeal.
The challenge of the Witnesses and other sects must awaken us. The best defense is to set our eyes on Christ and deepen our knowledge of the true faith. Where there is light, darkness is dispelled.
Jesus promised us: “I am with you always, to the end of the world” (Mt 28:19).
Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty; men will be selfish, lovers of money, boasters, proud, slanderers,… having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
For among them are those who make their way into households… always learning and never able to arrive at the full knowledge of the truth…
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and that from childhood you have known the Sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. -II Timothy 3:1-7;14-15
PRAYERS
Let us constantly raise our prayers before the Lord for the renewal of faith among Catholics and the conversion of Jehovah’s Witnesses and all who are separated from the Church. Many may be saved through your intercession united to Jesus Christ.
May your Holy Spirit assist us, -so that we may be witnesses of your truth and your goodness before the wavering and mistaken.
Grant us to live more deeply the mystery of Christ, -so that we may bear witness to him with greater strength and clarity.
-(Liturgy of the Hours, Tuesday of the fourth week of Lent)
Marian Consecration of Saint Louis de Montfort
I, N., a faithless sinner – renew and ratify today in your hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross before him all the days of my life and to be faithful to him more than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose you this day as mother and mistress. I give and consecrate to you, as your slave, my body and my soul, my possessions, both internal and external, and even the value of all my good actions past, present, and future; leaving to you the full and complete right to dispose of me, and of all that belongs to me, without exception, according to your will, for the greater glory of God, now and forever. Amen.
Author: Father Jordi Rivero
NOTES
1. There is no agreement about the event and the date that constitutes the exact founding of the Witnesses. Other dates presented are 1870, 1874. What is certain is that it dates from the decade 1870-1880.
2. Cathleen A Koenig, “Charles Taze Russell, A Short biography of Charles Taze Russell, second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses)”, in This Rock (April, 1992).
3. Erroneously translated from Isaiah 43:10. Cf. Jehovah is the name of God, p. 35.
4. Rev 16:16.
5. Rutheford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
6. Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). Inside front cover.
7. Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention, District “Integrity Keepers”, summer 1985.
8. At the same time, the Witnesses attack Catholic celibacy.
9. For many years the Witnesses celebrated Christmas, until Mr. Rutheford decided to abolish this feast, alleging that it was not biblical. Cf. “This Rock” (Dec. 1993). On the cover of this issue appears a photo of Mr. Rutheford and the Witnesses celebrating Christmas in grand style in 1926.
10. If the Witnesses have knocked on your door, your name and all the information they were able to compile during the visit are already in the Brooklyn files.
11. “Jehova’s Witnesses”, (Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1993).
12. Let God be True (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., 1946), p. 213.
13. If this is the Bible you read, throw it in the trash and acquire an authentic Bible.
14. Cf. p. 19
15. Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Spain: Coeditores Litúrgicos et all- Librería Editrice Vaticana, 1992). #253.
16. Ibid, #254, Cf.232s
17. Charles T. Russell, Studies in the Scriptures (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
18. If Michael were the only archangel, the text would not say “with the voice of an archangel” but “of the archangel.”
19. Matthew 3:17: “And a voice from the heavens said: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'”
20. New World Translation, 1970.
21. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church #442.
22. Ibid, #443.
23. Ibid #272.
24. Ibid, #480-481.
25. Cf. Mt 16:18; 1 Thess 1:10; Acts 9:20; Jn 20:31
26. Catechism of the Catholic Church, #463, Cf. I Tim 3:16).
27. The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), pp. 141-143.
28. Cf. Ten Years in Dialogue, Msgr. Enrique San Pedro S. J. (Miami, Fl: Laurenty Publishing, 1988). pp. 74s.
29. Cf. Ibid, #643-644.
30. Ibid, #645.
31. Catechism of the Catholic Church, #497.
32. Ibid, #499.
33. Charles T. Russell, Studies in the Scriptures (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
34. What Has Religion Done for Mankind? (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society), p 347.
35. Ibid, pp. 345-47.
36. Church: The universal Church in her unity; Churches: The local expressions of the one Church.
37. Let Your Name be Sanctified. (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1962) p. 12.
38. The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life. (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1968), p. 18.
39. Cf. Ten Years in Dialogue, Msgr. Enrique San Pedro S. J., pp 87-121.
40. God’s Eternal Purpose Now Triumphing for Man’s Good. (Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, ed. 1975), p. 16.
41. Cf. Ten Years in Dialogue, Msgr. Enrique San Pedro S. J., p 112.
42. This is the literal translation from the Greek; see the Jerusalem Bible.
43. The Second Vatican Council: “in spreading religious faith and introducing religious practices everyone ought at all times to refrain from any manner of action which might seem to carry a hint of coercion or of a kind of persuasion that would be dishonorable or unworthy, especially when dealing with poor or uneducated people. Such conduct must be considered an abuse of one’s own right and an injury to the rights of others” -Declaration on Religious Freedom, #4).
44. Vatican Report, Sects or New Religious Movements: A Pastoral Challenge, (Vatican: 3, May, 1986), #1.6.
45. Cardinal Arinze, The Challenge of New Religious Movements (Vatican: 5, April, 1991), Presented at the meeting of cardinals of the consistory of April 4-7 in the Vatican.
46. ibid
47. Ibid.
48. John Paul II: address to the Mexican bishops (May 12, 1990).
