Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians?
I want to be very fair in my answer, so I will let the Jehovah’s Witnesses speak for themselves on this matter. In the book, “Religions of America” Milton Henschaw, an ordained minister of the JW’s and a director of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract society was interviewed about some of the beliefs of the JW’s. I will share some of the things he stated in the book. When asked if JW’s believe in the trinity, he responded, “Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jehovah God and Christ Jesus are two distinct persons and are not combined with a so-called ‘Holy Ghost’ in one godhead called a Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not a person.” So we see that the JW’s deny the truth of the person of the Holy Spirit. While we readily admit that the word ‘trinity’ is not found in the scriptures, the truth of the trinity is certainly taught. I’ll cite just a couple of examples. At the baptism of the Lord Jesus, we read in Matthew 3:16-17, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” In this one incident, we have the presence of Jesus, the Spirit of God descending upon Him and the Father speaking from Heaven declaring His pleaure in His Son. We read in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” The fact that the Holy Spirit can be grieved teaches us that He is a person, not just an influence or just a force.
When asked about the existence of Hell, Mr. Henschaw said, “Hell is the grave; it is not a place of fiery, eternal torment. Hell is a place of rest, in hope of resurrection, not a place of torture from which one can never escape.” Listen to the words of the rich man in Hell in Luke 16:24, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” The Bible clearly states that Hell is, indeed, a place of torment, and that the torment is forever. Matthew 25:46 says, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment…”
In William Irvine’s book, Heresies Exposed, he quotes from the writings of Charles Russell, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell wrote of the Lord Jesus, “When Jesus was in the flesh, he was a perfect human being; previous to that time he was a perfect spiritual being. Since his resurrection he is a perfect spiritual being of the highest or Divine Order. It was not until the time of his consecration, even unto death, as typified in baptism at thirty years of age, that he received the earnest of his inheritance of the divine nature.” In other words, Jesus became divine while He was on the earth. This clearly denies the eternal sonship and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, saying that He became God by his works on the earth. Let’s read an announcement of the birth of the Lord Jesus in Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” This strongly asserts the truth of the eternal person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly God. Writing of him, King David writes in Psalms 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
Russell also wrote concerning the Lord Jesus, “Our Lord’s human body, however, was supernaturally removed from the tomb. We know nothing about what became of it except that it did not decay or corrupt. Whether it was dissolved into gases, or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love, of Christ’s obedience, and our redemption, no one knows.” How terrible this teaching that the Lord Jesus’ body was not resurrected from the dead. We read of the complete necessity of the resurrection of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” I don’t use such harsh language very often, but Russell’s teachings that deny the physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is a damnable heresy.
There are many more examples we could look at to show the false teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I will give just one more, and it’s the worst. Ron Rhodes in his book, Reasoning From the Scriptures With the Jehovah’s Witnesses, quotes the Watchtower, the magazine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It says, “There is scriptural evidence for concluding that Michael was the name of Jesus Christ before he left heaven and after his return. Michael the great prince is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.” What blasphemy. They teach that Jesus is the physical embodiment of Michael the Archangel, and that since returning to Heaven, he is once again Michael. This completely denies that Jesus is God. While the JW’s will acknowledge that Jesus is mighty, they deny that He is the Almighty. Their belief is that Jesus is merely an angel. Listen to the testimony of the Apostle Peter in John 6:69, “And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” Even demons know that Jesus is truly God the Son and the Son of God. Let’s look at the testimony of a demon in Mark 5:6-7, “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”
I do want to say that as a whole, the JW’s are very moral people. They teach that abortion, adultery, and homosexuality are sin. However, good morality does not make one a Christian. The JW’s teach against the truth of the Holy Spirit. They teach that there is no Hell. They teach that the Lord Jesus Christ is not eternally divine. They deny the resurrection of the Lord and they teach that Jesus is just an angel and not God the son. All these things are critical to the Christian faith. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Christians. It’s possible that there are Christians among them, but the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses are false.
How should we react if the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to our doors, wanting to teach us their beliefs? 2 John 1:9-11 tells us, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”