QUICK FACTS ABOUT
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

(Investigator 53, 1997 March)

God the Father

• The Father is Almighty God. He is not part of a Trinity.
• Jesus was his only direct creation.
• His personal narne is Jehovah and he should be addressed by that name.
• Prayer and worship should be directed to the Father.
• At one time they thought he lived on the star Alcyone in the Pleiades constellation.
• He limits his knowledge of the future.
• He reacts to circumstances as they occur.
• He is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent

• He is not God. He is not a person of the Trinity. He is not equal to God. He is "a god." He is a created being.
• God created everything else through Jesus.
• He was Michael the Archangel before coming to earth.
• His life force was transferred by holy spirit to Mary.
• When on earth he was a perfect sinless man, nothing more and nothing less.
• He was raised from the dead as Michael the Archangel without a physical body.
• His body was dissolved into gases in the tomb.
• He generated bodies to appear to the disciples after his resurrection. These bodies even included nail holes.
• His ransom consisted of giving up his fleshly body and the right to live forever on earth as a perfect human, which he had earned by living a sinless life.
• His ransom paid for Adam's sin alone. This gives people the opportunity to earn their salvation by believing in God and doing good works.
• You should not pray to or worship Jesus.
• Jesus and the devil are referred to as the "Morning Stars."
• At one time they taught that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874 to rule the earth. Now they believe he returned invisibly in 1914.
• He is the mediator only for the "anointed remnant." He is not mediator for all men.
• He died on a stake, not a cross.

• It is a force like the wind or electricity.
• At one time they taught that holy spirit was taken away from the remnant in 1918.
• The baptismal formula followed does not directly call on holy spirit but rather on "Jehovah's spirit-directed organization."

• It is the inspired Word of God.
• It is a closed book except to the "remnant."
• It can only be understood by studying it in combination with the books put out by the Watchtower Society.
• At one time they said that reading "Studies in the Scriptures" by the Society's first president was more profitable than reading the Bible alone.
• A similar claim was made by the Society's second president about his books.
• By reading the Bible only, you will believe what Christendom has taught in its creeds.

• Only 144,000 go there.
• Those who go to heaven will rule with Christ as kings over those who remain on paradise earth.
• At one time they taught that heaven was closed in 1881, now they believe it closed in the mid 1930s.

• Hell is the common grave of mankind.
• It is not a place of eternal torment.

• Death is annihilation.
• There is no conscious existence when you are dead.

• The "soul" is the entire living person or animal. It is not an immaterial part of you that continues on after death of the body.

• God "remembers" people exactly as they were when they died. (Note: this is not you. It is an exact copy of you. This is re-creation, not resurrection.)

• It will remain forever.
• The majority of JWs have the opportunity to live on earth forever, instead of going to heaven.

• You must be associated with the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to survive Armageddon.
• "come to Jehovah's organization for salvation."
• JWs are baptized in the name of "Jehovah's spirit-directed organization."
• You must follow the counsel of the organization and not openly question anything they say.
• The organization is not infallibly inspired.
• At the same time, you must be fully devoted to obeying the organization.
• The organization is known as "mother."
• Only the organization understands the Bible. No independent person can.
• It is called a theocracy, which means "rule from God."

• Those of the 144,000 that are still alive.
• They are in the new covenant with Jesus as their mediator.
• They must be born again.
• They will reign as associate kings with Jesus in heaven.
• They give up their physical bodies and are changed into spirit creatures when they die.
• They are anointed with holy spirit.
• Most of them were born in 1914 or earlier.
• There are only about 8,000 left.
• The remnant that have died and gone to heaven are somehow guiding the work of JWs here on earth.

• Twelve men who are the top leaders.
• They set doctrine and policy.
• Their judgement is binding on all JWs until "new light" is received that alters the understanding of a matter.
• Likened to the early church leaders in Jerusalem.

• They are not in the new covenant.
• They do not need to be born again.
• They are not justified by faith.
• Jesus is not their mediator.
• They will never see Heaven.
• They will never see Jesus.
• They are not anointed with holy spirit.
• Are not God's children until passing the final test at the end of the millennium.
• They are saved by placing faith in Jehovah and the ransom and then assisting the remnant to further the kingdom on earth.

• Held once a year.
• Only the surviving "remnant" may partake. This is about 8,000 out of current membership of 4,500,000.

• This was the year that Christ began to rule invisibly as king towards the earth.
• The generation alive in 1914 will live to see Armageddon.

• Early on they taught that it would happen in Oct. 1914.
• They changed their prediction to 1915.
• Then they taught it would occur in 1918.
• They changed it again to 1925.
• They changed it again to 1940's.
• They did it again in 1975.
• Only loyal JWs will survive Armageddon.

• Angels are used by God to communicate "new light" to the remnant here on earth.
• They help guide the preaching work of JWs here on earth by leading them to call on people who are seeking God.
• Before the Flood, angels materialized bodies and married human women, producing giant, hybrid offspring spoken of as "Nephilim" in the Old Testament.

• No birthdays, Christmas, etc.

• They cannot accept blood transfusions but they can accept certain blood factors.
• 1930's – 1950's they taught vaccination was wrong.
• 1968 – 1980 they taught that transplants were cannibalism.
• Minor children will be kidnapped from a hospital in order to prevent them from receiving blood.

• Part of Babylon the Great
• Apostasy set into Christianity shortly after the deaths of the apostles.
• All of Christendom will be destroyed at Armageddon.
• It teaches "God-dishonoring doctrines."

• People who have voluntarily left the group or who were kicked out cannot be spoken to except as necessary.

• They cannot salute the flag.
• They cannot say the pledge of allegiance.
• They are pacifists.
• They cannot run for political office or vote in elections.

• Worldly association is considered to be dangerous.

• People who have left the group are known as apostates.
• JWs cannot talk to them or even greet them on the street.
• JWs cannot read anything former members have written about the organization. It is called "spiritual pornography" and "dining at the table of demons."
• JWs are told that they must hate apostates.

• Outsiders who ask penetrating questions or try to reveal the history of the organization are known as opposers.
• JWs are not to have extended contact with opposers because it is seen as a waste of time that could be spent in reaching others.

• It is the message of the kingdom which was established in the heavens in 1914.
• By their own admission, it is not the same gospel preached by the early church.

• For many years it was taught that Blacks were that color as a result of God's curse on Canaan.
• The organization taught that Whites were superior in mental capability to Blacks because God had influenced White society to bring this about.

• Several times in the history of the organization, it has counseled its followers to wait until after Armageddon to marry or have children.
• Those following this advice have long since passed child-bearing age.

• It is currently taught that justification is earned by the "great crowd" by putting faith in God and assisting the "remnant" still on the earth. By doing this, the King [Michael, Jesus] will judge them favorably for assisting his "brothers."

• Lying is part of "theocratic war strategy." A JW can he to someone if they are not entitled to know the truth.

• Jws are taught that they must hate God's enemies, meaning apostate JWs.

• For many years the Society taught that the Great Pyramid was the "Bible in stone". They drew parallels between lengths of pyramid passages and their own end-times chronology.
• Later, they rejected the Great Pyramid and said that it originates with the devil.

• Periodically JW doctrine will change. This is known as "new light."
• This adjusting of doctrine is "the result of gaining a better understanding of the Bible or fulfilment of prophecy."
• This is seen as proof that Jehovah is leading the organization into more accurate knowledge of him
• There are many of these changes resulting in a complete reversal on a specific teaching. JWs must accept the new viewpoint without questioning.
• Since the leaders are not infallibly inspired, "new light" may not be right.

• The February 15, 1983 Watchtower identifies four requirements for salvation.
• You must take in accurate knowledge of Jehovah and his son Jesus.
• You must obey God's laws.
• You must be associated with God's channel, his visible earthly organization.
• You must loyally advocate his kingdom rule to others, primarily through door-to-door witnessing.

• For many years JW youths were encouraged to forego college in order to spend more time going door-to-door.
• New light was received on this in 1994 and now it is up to the young person to decide if they will attend college.