I am a Protestant Christian, a believer in reformed theology (most commonly called Calvinism), a pastor and theologian. Keep in mind that my responses are always going to be from this perspective.
A few years back, a JW elder making his rounds in the area stopped by my home to try to convert my wife and I to his religion. We allowed him to come in and had several interesting discussions and debates on theology before he finally gave up and quit coming over altogether. The following is a summary of points we debated and things that I researched as a result of these encounters.
The main theological debate points were the Trinity and hell, as well as his fixation on the JW interpretation of scripture and of the Tetragrammaton.
JWs deny the trinity. This alone removes them from the religion of Christianity. The reasoning behind it is a bit strange, however. His main point was that the word trinity is never used in the Bible, as if that settled the matter. I pointed out that some favorite JW terms are not found in the Bible either, most notably 'theocracy'. So he conceded the point and simply argued that the concept of God as three in person and one in essence was difficult to comprehend and confused some people. I must say that if we disregard anything potentially confusing, we would soon have a very small Bible indeed! He at that point simply changed the subject.
JWs deny the existence of hell, instead believing in annialtionism - the notion that the unsaved simply cease to exist upon death. Of course one must ignore many of Jesus' teachings to come to this conclusion, and certain Old Testament passages as well, particularly in Isaiah. In particular at one point Jesus says that it would be better for him (referring to Judas Iscariot) on the day of judgement if he had never been born. This is a clear teaching that one does not simply cease to exist upon death as an unbeliever. Again, he simply changed the subject!
I read their pamphlets the man left at my home, and quickly discovered that they amount to little more than watchtower propaganda. One in particular spent nearly ten pages trying to persuade me that God should only be refered to as Jehovah. This comes from an incorrect rendering of the Tetragrammaton - JHVH, which was rendered thus due to a superstition early translators had with writing the name of God. The correct rendering is YHWH, or Yahweh rather than Jehovah. Knowing that something that is absolutely foundational to the JW religion is based on falsehood does no favors for the watchtower. Their New World Bible is essentially a King James Bible with the Tetragrammaton (replaced by LORD in the KJV, note all caps) replaced by Jehovah, and some minor changes to certain passages. It's not that special or different than any other Bible, and in fact less accurate than the English Standard or New King James Bibles since its base text comes from less accurate manuscripts that were available in 1611. Since then we have discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, and have been able to make translations such as the two I mentioned above far more accurate with respect to the original signature.
Upon doing a bit more research, I discovered the final nail in the coffin for JW being a genuine cult. It seems that back in the 1950s (or near there I didn't memorize the exact date) their prophet had set a date for the return of Christ in final judgement. When this did not come to pass, over half of the membership left and the JW religion was left in serious decline for decades. But now most people have forgotten about that and it is starting to grow once again.
My conclusion: the Jehovah's Witnesses religion is not Christian, and furthermore is a cult. In my opinion and in my understanding.
-Valentine
A few years back, a JW elder making his rounds in the area stopped by my home to try to convert my wife and I to his religion. We allowed him to come in and had several interesting discussions and debates on theology before he finally gave up and quit coming over altogether. The following is a summary of points we debated and things that I researched as a result of these encounters.
The main theological debate points were the Trinity and hell, as well as his fixation on the JW interpretation of scripture and of the Tetragrammaton.
JWs deny the trinity. This alone removes them from the religion of Christianity. The reasoning behind it is a bit strange, however. His main point was that the word trinity is never used in the Bible, as if that settled the matter. I pointed out that some favorite JW terms are not found in the Bible either, most notably 'theocracy'. So he conceded the point and simply argued that the concept of God as three in person and one in essence was difficult to comprehend and confused some people. I must say that if we disregard anything potentially confusing, we would soon have a very small Bible indeed! He at that point simply changed the subject.
JWs deny the existence of hell, instead believing in annialtionism - the notion that the unsaved simply cease to exist upon death. Of course one must ignore many of Jesus' teachings to come to this conclusion, and certain Old Testament passages as well, particularly in Isaiah. In particular at one point Jesus says that it would be better for him (referring to Judas Iscariot) on the day of judgement if he had never been born. This is a clear teaching that one does not simply cease to exist upon death as an unbeliever. Again, he simply changed the subject!
I read their pamphlets the man left at my home, and quickly discovered that they amount to little more than watchtower propaganda. One in particular spent nearly ten pages trying to persuade me that God should only be refered to as Jehovah. This comes from an incorrect rendering of the Tetragrammaton - JHVH, which was rendered thus due to a superstition early translators had with writing the name of God. The correct rendering is YHWH, or Yahweh rather than Jehovah. Knowing that something that is absolutely foundational to the JW religion is based on falsehood does no favors for the watchtower. Their New World Bible is essentially a King James Bible with the Tetragrammaton (replaced by LORD in the KJV, note all caps) replaced by Jehovah, and some minor changes to certain passages. It's not that special or different than any other Bible, and in fact less accurate than the English Standard or New King James Bibles since its base text comes from less accurate manuscripts that were available in 1611. Since then we have discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, and have been able to make translations such as the two I mentioned above far more accurate with respect to the original signature.
Upon doing a bit more research, I discovered the final nail in the coffin for JW being a genuine cult. It seems that back in the 1950s (or near there I didn't memorize the exact date) their prophet had set a date for the return of Christ in final judgement. When this did not come to pass, over half of the membership left and the JW religion was left in serious decline for decades. But now most people have forgotten about that and it is starting to grow once again.
My conclusion: the Jehovah's Witnesses religion is not Christian, and furthermore is a cult. In my opinion and in my understanding.
-Valentine
