Jehovah's Witnesses: Christian Denomination, or Dangerous Heresy?

A Watchtower or a Guard Post?

May 06, 2025

Introduction: "The Truth" That Isn't

Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to their belief system simply as “the Truth.” Members are taught that salvation depends not only on faith in God, but also on obedience to the Governing Body—the small group of men who oversee doctrine and practice—and to the Watchtower Society, the publishing and administrative organization through which their teachings are disseminated. According to their doctrine, God has chosen only this organization to dispense spiritual truth, and everyone outside it—whether secular, religious, or even Christian—is living in darkness.

This is not just another denomination. It is a closed, insular, and tightly controlled system with doctrines that diverge sharply from biblical Christianity. And while many Jehovah’s Witnesses are sincere, kind, and morally upright people, the teachings they follow are not harmless misunderstandings. They are built on a foundation of demonstrably false predictions, deliberate mistranslations of Scripture, and a rigid authority structure that demands total allegiance and punishes dissent.

This article will examine the key errors of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and demonstrate why the Watchtower system fails the tests of truth, transparency, and biblical fidelity. We’ll look at:

False prophecies made in God’s name.
Doctrinal distortions—particularly about the identity of Jesus.
Manipulation of Scripture in their “New World Translation”.
High-control tactics that isolate and dominate members while presenting a Christian facade.

We do this not out of spite, but because truth matters—and because real people are being spiritually and often emotionally held hostage by a system that claims to speak for God but does not withstand scrutiny.

Failed Prophecy – The Watchtower’s Record of Error

One of the clearest and most devastating problems with the Jehovah’s Witnesses is their long, public history of predicting the end of the world—and getting it wrong. According to their own publications, the Watchtower leadership has repeatedly claimed that specific years—1874, 1914, 1925, 1975, and even the end of the 20th century—would mark decisive acts of God, most notably Armageddon and the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign.

This isn’t fringe speculation. These dates were taught as certainties, sometimes even said to come “from Jehovah.” Followers sold homes, postponed having children, and restructured their lives in response to these predictions. When the dates passed uneventfully, the Watchtower quietly rewrote the narrative, reinterpreting or spiritualizing the events, and moved on—with few followers daring to question the leadership.

Here are just a few examples:

1874: Charles Taze Russell, JW founder, taught that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874 and that the end was imminent. This was later revised to 1914.
1914: The Watchtower predicted the end of earthly governments and the start of Christ’s rule. When that didn’t happen visibly, they reinterpreted the date to mean Christ began ruling invisibly from heaven.
1925: In a 1920 publication titled Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the Watchtower claimed:

“Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old…”

This, of course, did not happen.

1975: The Kingdom Ministry (May 1968) said:

“There is only a short time left… The remaining months before Armageddon are few.”

When 1975 passed, the Watchtower blamed members for reading too much into the suggestion—despite their own publications fueling the expectation.

1914 “Generation” Prediction: For decades, Awake! magazine assured readers that “the generation that saw the events of 1914 will not pass away” before Armageddon. The May 22, 1969 issue told young readers:
“If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.”

This claim was repeated into the 1990s, until it became clear that those alive in 1914 were dying out. In 1995, the Watchtower quietly revised its interpretation, redefining “generation” to obscurely mean an overlap of “anointed ones,” rendering the prophecy so vague as to be unfalsifiable.

The Test of a Prophet

The Bible gives a straightforward test for any person or organization claiming to speak for God:

“When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken…”
—Deuteronomy 18:22 (NASB)

By that standard, the Watchtower Society disqualifies itself repeatedly. These aren’t minor errors. They are direct violations of God's own criteria for discernment.

Worse still, the organizational response has never involved public repentance or a relinquishing of authority. Instead, explanations are restructured, history is rewritten, and loyalty is still demanded. The Watchtower has made claims about the timing of divine events, in God’s name, that have proven false by the passage of time. That alone should be enough to call their authority into serious question.

The New World Translation and Doctrinal Distortion

Every major religion has its own preferred translation(s) of the Bible. But only one—the Watchtower Society—has produced a translation so tailored to its doctrine that even secular scholars and textual critics have called it manipulative and dishonest. That translation is the New World Translation (NWT) of the Holy Scriptures, the exclusive Bible used by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Unlike reputable translations produced by large teams of credentialed scholars from a variety of backgrounds (such as the ESV, NASB, or NIV), the NWT was created in secret by a small group of anonymous translators, all of whom were affiliated with the Watchtower leadership. It was eventually revealed that none of them had formal training in Hebrew or Greek. One, Frederick Franz, later admitted in court that he could not even translate a simple Hebrew verse.

Despite this, the NWT introduced a number of novel “translations”—changes that conveniently support the Watchtower’s theology, especially its denial of the Trinity and the full divinity of Christ. The most notorious example is John 1:1, which in nearly every translation reads:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The NWT, however, reads:

“...and the Word was a god.”

This is not a legitimate option in the original Greek. New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger called this translation “a serious distortion of the Greek.” Greek scholar Julius Mantey, co-author of a standard Greek grammar, wrote:

“It is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 ‘the Word was a god.’ But of all the scholars in the world, so far as we know, none have translated this verse as the Jehovah’s Witnesses have.”

Another example: Colossians 1:16-17 in the NWT inserts the word “other” four times, even though it does not appear in the original Greek. Here is how the NWT renders the passage:

“Because by means of him all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth… All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, he is before all other things, and by means of him all other things were made to exist.”

The Greek word for “other” is ἄλλος (allos), but it does not appear anywhere in this passage. Instead, the original Greek repeatedly uses the word πάντα (panta), meaning “all things.” The text affirms that all things—not all other things—were created through Christ, and that He existed before all things and holds them together.

This is not an interpretive liberty. It is a theological imposition on the text—an attempt to make Scripture say what it does not, in order to preserve a doctrine that denies Christ’s eternal nature as YHWH.

Likewise, in John 8:58, Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” This is a direct allusion to God’s name in Exodus 3:14 (“I AM who I AM”). The Jews immediately try to stone Him for blasphemy, recognizing the claim to divinity. The NWT renders this as: “Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” This deliberate softening avoids the force of the claim and obscures the biblical identity of Jesus.

The Verdict on the New World Translation

The Watchtower does not submit to Scripture—it rewrites Scripture to support its authority. Instead of building doctrine from the text, it retrofits the text to match doctrine. This is not a faithful reading of God’s Word but a theological bait-and-switch.

For a group that insists it alone has the “truth,” this should be a sobering realization: the Bible that Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught to trust has been deliberately altered to remove key doctrines that threaten the Watchtower’s control, chiefly among them, the full divinity of Jesus Christ.

Who Is Jesus? (And Why the Watchtower Gets It Wrong)

At the heart of Christianity is the person of Jesus Christ—eternally divine, the second Person of the Trinity, and the only name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). But for Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is not eternal, not divine in the full sense, and not equal with God. According to Watchtower doctrine, Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel—a created being who became the man Jesus, died, and was later resurrected as a glorified spirit.

This view is not just theologically flawed but demonstrably false, both biblically and historically.

1. Jesus Is Not Michael

There is no passage in Scripture that equates Jesus with Michael the Archangel. The Watchtower infers this identity from a combination of proof-texting and silence. For example, they cite 1 Thessalonians 4:16, which says that Jesus will return “with the voice of an archangel,” as evidence that He is an archangel. But this is like saying a king returning with the sound of trumpets must therefore be a trumpet.

In contrast, Hebrews 1 draws a sharp line between Jesus and all angels:

“To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you’? ...Let all God’s angels worship him.” (Hebrews 1:5-6, ESV)

The question is rhetorical, and the answer is obvious: none. Jesus is not just higher than the angels—He is their Creator.

2. Jesus Created All Things

As we discussed earlier, Colossians 1:16-17 teaches that Jesus created “all things in heaven and on earth… visible and invisible.” The Greek is unambiguous. If Christ is the Creator of all things, He cannot also be one of the things created. This directly contradicts the Watchtower’s claim that Jesus is the first created being through whom God made the rest.

3. Jesus Is Worshiped

Scripture reserves worship for God alone (Exodus 20:3–5; Isaiah 42:8). Yet Jesus receives worship repeatedly throughout the New Testament:

The wise men worship Him (Matthew 2:11).
His disciples worship Him after the resurrection (Matthew 28:9, 17).
The healed blind man worships Him (John 9:38).
The book of Revelation portrays every creature in heaven and on earth worshiping the Lamb (Revelation 5:13-14).

The Greek word used in all these cases is προσκυνέω (proskyneō), the standard term for divine worship. Jehovah’s Witnesses attempt to argue that this word can refer to mere reverence, but that breaks down in contexts like Revelation 5, where the Lamb is worshiped together with God by every creature in the universe.

4. The Early Church Never Believed Jesus Was an Angel

The belief that Jesus is a created being is simply not found in early Christianity. The early church fathers, the disciples of the apostles, consistently affirmed the eternal, divine nature of Christ:

Ignatius of Antioch (c. AD 110): “Jesus Christ our God…” (Letter to the Ephesians, 1)
Irenaeus (c. AD 180): “He is Himself in His own right… God, and Lord, and King eternal…” (Against Heresies, 3.19.2)

Not one early Christian writer equates Jesus with an angel. That idea first emerged centuries later in heretical movements like Arianism and was rejected by the global church as incompatible with Scripture.

Why This Is So Important

A false Jesus cannot save. If the Watchtower’s Christ is a creature and not the eternal Creator, not worthy of worship, not the fullness of God in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)—then He is not the Jesus of the Bible. And a gospel built on the wrong Jesus is not the Gospel at all.

Paul clearly admonishes in Galatians 1:6–9:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

This is not a peripheral issue. It is the core of Christianity itself.

Authority, Isolation, and High-Control Behavior

Jehovah’s Witnesses are often perceived as just another branch of Christianity with some unusual doctrines. But beneath the surface lies a system of rigid control, informational isolation, and fear-based loyalty that mirrors the behavioral patterns of high-control religious groups.

At the top of this structure sits the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses—a small group of men at Watchtower headquarters who claim to be the sole “faithful and discreet slave” of Matthew 24:45–47. They alone are said to dispense spiritual truth to the global JW community. Local congregations have elders, but there is no local theological autonomy. The Governing Body’s interpretations are binding, and dissent is equated with rebellion against God.

1. Exclusive Spiritual Authority

The Watchtower insists that the Bible cannot be properly understood apart from its guidance. In The Watchtower, October 1, 1967 (p. 587), it reads:

“Thus, the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization, not to individuals...”

This means a Jehovah’s Witness is not free to read the Bible and reach different conclusions. The official interpretation is already settled—and any deviation is considered spiritual danger, or worse, apostasy.

2. Isolation from Outside Voices

Jehovah’s Witnesses are strongly discouraged from reading any critical material, whether theological, historical, or testimonial. Former members are considered spiritually toxic. The term “apostate” is used not just for those who reject faith entirely, but even for those who leave the organization but still claim to follow Christ. Listening to such people, reading their words, or entertaining their arguments is seen as inviting demonic influence.

In many cases, Witnesses are told not to trust even their own reasoning if it contradicts the Governing Body. This creates a closed epistemic loop: truth is what the organization says it is.

3. Shunning and Social Leverage

Those who leave or are expelled from the organization face shunning—even by close family members. This is not merely a spiritual consequence. It is a relational and psychological weapon.

Parents have refused to speak to adult children. Lifelong friendships end overnight. The cost of leaving is often isolation, grief, and the loss of one’s entire social world.

A 1981 Watchtower article makes it plain:

“Really, what your beloved family member needs to see is your loyalty to Jehovah… by ceasing to associate with him.” (Watchtower, Sept. 15, 1981, p. 25)

4. Propaganda and Control of Information

The Watchtower produces a high volume of literature—books, magazines, videos, tracts—all designed to reinforce organizational doctrine and flood the intellectual space of the average JW. These materials frequently depict non-JWs in negative or caricatured ways, emphasize urgency and fear, and highlight loyalty to the organization over personal conviction.

Even the organization’s names are telling: The Watchtower evokes surveillance and guardianship. Awake! implies that others are asleep. These publications are not neutral teachings—they are instruments of identity formation, boundary enforcement, and loyalty reinforcement.

A Christianity That Denies the Teachings and Example of Paul

A system that demands allegiance, isolates dissenters, and discourages investigation is not seeking truth—it is seeking control. This is the opposite of biblical Christianity.

The apostle Paul did not demand blind obedience. In fact, he praised the Bereans for testing his own teaching against Scripture:

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
—Acts 17:11 (ESV)

Paul welcomed scrutiny—not just of others, but of his own message. That is how confident he was in the truth of the Gospel. And he warned churches repeatedly not to tolerate those who would twist the message of Christ or exercise domineering authority (Galatians 1:6-9 and 2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Christianity is meant to withstand intense scrutiny. It encourages the believer to test, reason, and engage with the truth. The Watchtower system, by contrast, discourages all of that.

When an organization places itself between the believer and Scripture, between the believer and their family, and even between the believer and Christ, it has not just gone wrong—it has become spiritually dangerous.

Blood, Medical Ethics, and the Human Cost

Few doctrines reveal the human toll of Watchtower theology as starkly as its long-standing prohibition against blood transfusions. Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that accepting a transfusion—even in a medical emergency—is a violation of God’s law, one that could cost them their spiritual standing, their relationships, and even their eternal life.

The roots of this teaching go back to the Watchtower’s interpretation of verses such as Acts 15:28-29, which instruct early Gentile believers to abstain from blood. But the context is dietary, not medical. The passage reflects Jewish ceremonial concerns about eating meat sacrificed to idols or improperly drained of blood—nothing in the text addresses the life-saving use of blood in a medical crisis.

Misapplied Scripture and Deadly Consequences

The Watchtower reads this prohibition as absolute, extending even to stored or transfused blood products. Members are permitted to undergo surgeries or medical procedures—as long as no blood is involved. This leads to difficult and often heartbreaking choices:

Parents refusing transfusions for injured or ill children.
Individuals dying from blood loss after trauma or childbirth.
Elderly or vulnerable members pressured into signing advance directives refusing blood-based treatments.

In 1994, 14-year-old Lia Lee, a Jehovah’s Witness, died from complications during surgery after refusing a transfusion, despite it being medically indicated and potentially life-saving. Stories like hers are tragically common—and they all flow from an interpretation that no major denomination in the history of Christianity has ever held.

I have seen this myself in my time as an Intensive Care Unit nurse and in my anesthesia practice. These beliefs can kill—and they are unnecessary and unbiblical.

Shifting Lines and Hidden Inconsistencies

Over the years, the Watchtower has made quiet concessions—allowing certain blood fractions or components—but the boundaries remain arbitrary. The same organization that forbids whole blood allows blood-derived treatments like albumin, clotting factors, and immune globulins in some cases. These changes, however, are rarely publicized in a way that clarifies moral consistency. The result is confusion, inconsistency, and in some cases, unnecessary death.

Meanwhile, ex-JWs have documented intense pressure to comply with the policy, regardless of conscience or individual understanding. Refusing to follow the Watchtower’s blood doctrine can lead to disfellowshipping, loss of community, and shunning by family and friends.

The Consequences of False Doctrine

When a religious organization teaches its members to refuse life-saving medical care based on a misreading of Scripture, it crosses the line from theological error into physical endangerment. The issue is not simply about conscience or personal choice—it’s about whether an authority structure is demanding obedience that results in unnecessary death.

Jesus said, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9:13). Yet the Watchtower’s blood policy demands sacrifice—often of life itself—based on legalism, not grace, and a twisted interpretation, not Scripture.

The True Gospel vs. Watchtower Works-Based Righteousness

At the foundation of almost every religious system is an answer to the question: How can a person be made right with God? Christianity answers this with the Gospel. Salvation is a free gift, purchased by Christ, received by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). But Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught something very different—something that looks like devotion, but functions as bondage.

Conditional Salvation and Organizational Loyalty

According to Watchtower theology, salvation is conditional upon obedience to the organization. Witnesses must attend meetings, report field service, study Watchtower materials, submit to elders, avoid secular influences, and adhere to all doctrinal and behavioral standards.

The 1983 Watchtower put it this way:

“Jehovah is using only one organization today… To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it.”
(The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1983, p. 12)

This is not simply an emphasis on holy living—it is a works-based system of salvation, where loyalty to an institution stands in for saving faith in Christ. The “good news” becomes: You may be saved, if you remain faithful enough to the organization that claims to speak for God.

Jesus as Mediator—for Only a Few

In another startling departure from biblical teaching, the Watchtower has historically taught that Jesus is not the mediator for all believers, but only for the “anointed class”—the 144,000. Most Jehovah’s Witnesses are considered part of the “great crowd” who hope to live on a paradise earth, not in heaven, and who do not partake of the bread and wine during communion.

In a 1979 Watchtower, it stated:

“The 'great crowd' of Revelation 7:9-17 is not in the new covenant… Christ does not act as Mediator of the new covenant toward them.”
(The Watchtower, April 1, 1979, pp. 30–31)

This effectively places the vast majority of Witnesses outside the covenant of grace, without direct access to Christ as their Mediator.

The Gospel They Missed

The true Gospel is not about membership in an organization or proving yourself worthy. It is about trusting in the finished work of Christ, the eternal Son of God who became man, died for sin, rose again, and offers salvation to all who believe in Him.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

This is the Gospel that saves—not by works, not by organizations, but by grace through faith in Jesus alone.

Conclusion: Truth Demands a Response

Jehovah’s Witnesses are not the enemy. They are people—most of them sincere—who have been drawn into a system built on false prophecy, twisted Scripture, authoritarian control, and a false gospel. The organization demands loyalty to itself, rewrites the Bible to protect its doctrines, and offers salvation only to those who stay inside the lines.

But Jesus offers something better. He offers truth that can be tested, grace that cannot be earned, and freedom that no organization can give or take away.

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

—John 8:36

Indeed.

Unlike my article on Joseph Smith, the Book of Abraham, and LDS beliefs, this article will absolutely NOT get into the hands of those who need it most. A Mormon will argue with you. A Jehovah’s Witness will flee from your heresy. Their culture actively prohibits them from engaging with anything that might undermine their beliefs.

My wife told me a story about her roommate from college who became a JW. My wife, a Christian, tried to get her to read some books to help her understand some things about Christianity and the Bible and how they did not comport with JW views. Her friend told her that, not only would she never read them, but she could not even live in the same house with such things. Demons could enter their home through such works of literary evil. This is what we are dealing with here.

So, if you know someone who needs this information—someone who is afraid, deceived, or led astray by this organization—please drop them a link or tell them what you’ve learned. Plant a seed. Jesus loves us all.

“[He] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

—1 Timothy 2:4

Be that source of knowledge. Share the real Truth.

Please consider leaving a “like” if you read this far. I do this because I see a need, but seeing that people got something out of what I've written really helps keep me motivated and helps get articles like this out to more readers. Thank you.

—The AI Apologist