Watchtower Investigation

I stopped to listen to a Dr. Phil program that my wife was watching on television. There was a woman being interviewed by Dr. Phil who had been scammed by a man whom she had fallen in love with on line but had never met in person. Her son was with her on the show.  He and Dr. Phil were trying to persuade her to look at some hard facts that proved the man was a fraud but she would not believe it.

Dr. Phil showed her photos of the man’s fake U.K. driver’s license and pass-port pointing out to her the obvious flaws because these were bad fakes, but she was not fazed.  Dr. Phil had hired a private investigator to look into this man’s claims about where he worked and a contract that he had for a large building project in Africa. The man had sent her photos of the job he was working on that included a large crane that she had given him money to make repairs on.  The photos were of a job site at another place and time that this man had nothing to do with.  He had never worked for the company that he said he worked for and he was not from the U.K.

On more than one occasion this man was supposed to come to the USA where this woman lives but each time there was some crisis that prevented him from coming.

This woman did not appear to be a stupid person but she had fallen in love with this man and had a long time relationship with him on the internet and telephone. She had also given him $187,000 which was before long to bring in six million dollars for them after he got things straightened away.

Everyone in the audience could plainly see that the man was a fraud and had simply taken this woman’s money but even after seeing all of the proof she still said that she did not believe he was a fraud.

So what is the analogy?  No surprise, I am comparing this situation with the Watch tower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn and Jehovah’s Witnesses who believe that the Watch Tower speaks for Jehovah God.  The governing body and they alone can interpret and understand God’s word and His plan.

The Watch Tower has said that where Jehovah is your Father, they are your mother.

If you say anything bad about someone’s mother you might get a poke in the nose, even if what you say is true, it doesn’t matter.

Well, I am still going to call a spade a spade.   If a child is being abused by his mother and does not realize it, he still needs to know.

I have been told that I am just a broken record when I mention false prophecies made by the Watch Tower organization.   Well, these false prophecies spoken by the Watch Tower are in print in their own literature for all to see; Christ came invisibly in 1874, Armageddon will be all over by the fall of 1914,   , Christ came invisibly in 1914,  The Great War, World War I,  is proof that the Watch Tower was right about 1914, the churches will all be destroyed in 1918, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be resurrected in 1925, the return of the Jews to Palestine is conclusive proof that the end is near, the return of the Jews to Palestine has nothing to do with Bible prophecy and I could go on and on.

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have died because of Watch Tower teaching on vaccinations, organ transplants and blood transfusions that have since been dropped or altered.

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses have been disfellowshipped (excommunicated) because they did not accept a certain Watch Tower teaching.  The Watch Tower has given at least three contradictory explanations of why John 8:58 must be translated ‘I have been’ rather than ‘I AM’ because the latter does not support their theology.  (If Jesus claimed to be the ‘I AM’ of Exodus 3:14 in John 8:58 then that would make Him God which the Watch Tower does not believe.   They have altered other Biblical texts to make it match their beliefs.  This is also in black and white and can be seen by anyone but many Jehovah’s Witnesses will not look into it because they are not to question their mother, they want to be obedient to their mother and they love their mother.  They have been taught that to question their mother is the same as questioning their Father, Jehovah God.  They will not do it.

Everyone who is in the audience can see it, but not the abused Jehovah’s Witness.

Ironically, Jehovah God warned them in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 about false prophets and gave them a test for a prophet but they will not listen to the God they claim to serve.  Jesus warned them again in Matthew 24: 24-27 that there would be false prophets and False Christs in the latter times but they do not believe that Jesus could be talking about their mother.  The Watch Tower has claimed to be Jehovah’s only true prophet today and they had also claimed to be the composite Christ!   Of course they are neither.

I know that many Jehovah’s Witnesses could read what I have written here and still not check out a single thing.  My hope and prayer is still that there are some Jehovah’s Witnesses that have not surrendered their intellect to the Watch Tower and may begin to do what Jehovah God commanded them to do and check the credentials of anyone who claims to be a prophet speaking for Almighty God.

If anyone would like documentation of anything that I have mentioned here, please contact me and I will get it for you.  A lot of that information is on this website already, and most is likely available on other sites like this one.

A few months ago a man called me on the phone after he had been on  this website and was asking  some questions and was quite insistent that I tell him where in the Bible Jesus ever said that He was God.  He let me know that he had knowledge of Greek.  When he called I had a friend waiting for me and I had to let the man go without answering his question, at least to his satisfaction.

I did e-mail him a few days later and quoted John 8:58 where Jesus stated “Before Abraham was I AM” in response to his question about Jesus ever claiming to be God. Since he seemed quite comfortable telling me he had a knowledge of Greek I asked him a couple of questions.  He told me that it was obvious by my questions that I had no knowledge of Greek or something to that effect.  He did not make me feel much like taking my time to respond again and although I guess I should have, I didn’t.

This man’s response included sighting a number of Bible translations that translated the text ” I have been” or a similar meaning, not “I AM” at John 8:58.  The religious leaders asked Jesus how He had seen  Abraham when He was not fifty years old, and  Jesus replied “before Abraham was I AM.”  John 8:58.

While I can’t dispute how these translators arrived at their interpretation of the Greek, I can look at the context and have to wonder why the religious leaders that Jesus was speaking with would have reacted the way they did if Jesus had simply said that “before Abraham existed I have been”.

Jesus had already told them that He had seen Abraham and their response simply sounded like mockery to me.  So why then if  he simply  said he was alive before Abraham, did they suddenly want to stone Him?

Unless I am totally misunderstanding the entire text then this makes no sense.  On the other hand if Jesus  really did say “before Abraham was, I AM”  and the religious leaders, like the man I was speaking with on the phone, did not believe that Jesus was the Great I Am of Exodus and therefore wanted to kill Him for blasphemy!

I can simply quote other Bible translators who do say Jesus claimed to be God when He announced that before Abraham was “I AM”  because He was applying to Himself the title Jehovah God used for Himself in Exodus 3:14.

Since it appears that some translators say Jesus was not claiming to be God and that He  was only saying that He existed before Abraham, while other translators say Jesus was claiming to be God, where do we go from here?

Well, since I assume that the man I spoke with on the phone is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, why not see what the Watch Tower has had to say about the translation of these verses?

Let’s start with ‘The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures’ published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1950.

On page #312 explaining John 8:58 in foot note C.  “I have been…and hence rendered in the perfect indefinite tense.”

Later in 1969 in ‘The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures’ also published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society on page #467 in foot note 58a  “I have been … and hence rendered in the perfect tense.”

You can see  photos of the full footnotes below.

As I said, I do not know Greek but I know that these are opposing explanations of John 8:58, both made by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

My father was an English teacher and I had asked him one time years ago what he thought of the  Watch Tower’s 1950 explanation of the grammar for John 8;58.  My father does not know Greek either but said that it made no sense in English and would not make sense in any language.

For those of us who must trust others for Greek interpretation, I think it would be foolish to trust a group of men who together made a ‘mistake’ in such an important text that ‘coincidentally’ supported their theology.  I was informed by someone who does know Greek that the second Watch Tower explanation is equally as wrong as the first.

It should be noted that in the word for word translation under the Greek text in the ‘The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures’, used for both of these Watch Tower publications,  the Greek is simply translated ‘I am’.

New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures Page #312

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures Page # 467

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures John 8:58 Page# 467

The following  actually appears to be a third and different explanation again, by the Watch Tower, of the Greek in John 8:58.

‘New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures’ Page #1582 Appendix 6F ( A 1984 edition published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society)

 The man who called me on the phone insisting that I tell him where Jesus said He was God should consider Jesus’ words to the religious leaders in the same conversation  He was having with them in John 8:58.  When they asked Him “who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered ” If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.  It is my Father that glorifies me, He who you say is your God; and yet you have not known Him. …” John 8:53-55

So where does the Father glorify the Son? Here is an example in Hebrews 1:6 But when He brings his First-Born into the inhabited earth, He says: And let all God’s angels worship Him. …” ( The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society)

For the next quote in Hebrews I have to quote any one of the eight translations bound together in the  ‘Eight Translation New Testement’ that I believe many Jehovah’s Witnesses are familiar with.  I can’t quote the Watch Tower here because it makes no sense to me. (Hebrews 1:7 “God is your throne forever,…”)

Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son He saith, Thy throne O God, is for ever and ever: a septre  of righteousness is the septre of thy kingdom. …” (King James version)

I would like to at least try to give an answer that might satisfy the question asked by the man on the phone.  Where did Jesus ever say He was God?

Revelation 1:7 Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of Him. Yes Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says Jehovah God, the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty.”

I know that Jehovah’s witnesses are told that this is Jehovah the Father in this text and that the Father is also coming in some capacity.  Please consider verses 17-18 where you know that it is Jesus speaking. “Do not be fearful.  I am the First and the Last, 18 and the living one; and I became dead, but look! I am living for ever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

Jesus is the First and the Last and is coming.   Almighty God is coming and is the Alpha and the Omega.  You know that Alpha and Omega means the First and the Last and vise verse.   

OK, we agree that the Almighty God is coming and we agree that Jesus is coming. Verse 7 says He is coming with the clouds.  The scripture also says He will be visible.

In Acts 1:8 while standing on the Mount of Olives Jesus tells the apostles that they will be witnesses of Him to the most distant part of the earth. In verse 9 “And after He had said these things, while they were looking on, He was lifted up and a cloud caught Him up from there vision.

Let’s take a look at Zechariah’s prophecy of the same event.  Zechariah 14:3 “And Jehovah will certainly go forth and war against those nations as in the day of His warring, in the day of fight. 4 And His feet will actually stand in that day upon the mountain of the olive trees, which is in front of Jerusalem, on the east…”

Who’s feet left the Mount of Olives in Acts 1:9?  In Acts 10 when the disciples were gazing up into the sky where Jesus was caught out of their sight two men in white garments stood beside them. Verse 11 and they said “men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus who was received up from you into  the sky will come thus in the same manner as you beheld Him going into the sky.”     

Jesus is returning to the Mount of Olives, He was seen leaving and He will be seen coming back.   

If this seems confusing, Jesus leaving, Jehovah coming back, Jesus and Jehovah both coming in Revelation, then let’s ask the question; what event was Jesus speaking about to the religious leaders when He told them in John 8: 56 “Abraham your father rejoiced greatly in the prospect of seeing my day and he saw it and rejoiced.”?  When did Abraham see Jesus? 

Genesis 18: 1 Afterward Jehovah appeared to him among the big trees of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance of the tent about the heat of the day. When he raised up his eyes, then he looked and there three men were standing some distance from him. When he caught sight of them he began running to meet them from the entrance of the tent and proceeded to bow down to the earth. 3 Then he said: “Jehovah, if, now, I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. ”  I would suggest reading until you come to Genesis 19:24  Then Jehovah made it rain down sulphur and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens, upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah.

It is the Watch Tower that says that they have ‘restored’ the name Jehovah where it belongs in the text of the Bible.  In keeping with the use of the name ‘Jehovah’ as Almighty God’s name, please consider this: Jehovah the Father, who is in Heaven in the above scripture, is in nature not man, not angel but in nature is God.  Another of like kind, One who is also not man , not angel but also in nature God, is also referred to in the Old Testament by the same name as the Father.  In the New Testament at Matthew 1:21  an angel tells Joseph that He will be called ‘Emmanuel’, meaning  ‘God with us’ and that he is to call His name Jesus after being begotten of God and taking on the nature of man.   Mary is also told that He is to be given the name Jesus. 

The man on the phone asked where in the Bible did Jesus ever say that He was God?

I would ask where in the Bible did Jesus ever say that He was the archangel Michael?

God asks the rhetorical question at Hebrews 1:13: But with reference to which one of the angles has He ever said: “Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.”  The answer to God’s rhetorical question is not one!

Please do not think to sight  I Thessalonians 4:16 as proof that Jesus is an archangel, especially after just reading what Jehovah God says about that in Hebrews.

Even earthly Kings or Queens and presidents have an official announce in a loud voice their presence as they arrive at an event.  There are often trumpets sounded as well.   When Jesus arrived as a baby, as the lamb of God, there were choirs of angels announcing His birth.   When He arrives as King of Kings would He not be announced by an official, by an archangel’s call and with the trumpet of God?  Jesus is no more the archangel announcing Him than He is God’s trumpet.  Picture it; the King of Kings with no one to announce Him so He calls out Himself, “I am here!” That is disturbing to say the least. 

Revelation 22:12 -“Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end. ( Jehovah is the Alpha and the  Omega in Rev. 1:8, Jesus is the First and the Last in Rev. 1:17, who is speaking here?)

           Revelation 22:16- “I Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you people of these things for the congregations.  I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright  and the morning star.

Revelation 22:20 “He that bears witness of these things says, ‘yes; I am coming quickly.’ “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.”

Another sample of the Watch Tower misquoting authors is printed in the Watchtower –July 15, 1990 on page 23 in an article entitled ‘AGAINST KNOWLEDGE- FALSELY SO CALLED’ which begins on page 21.

Under the subheading ‘Against Heresies’  they state  “Irenaeus  repeatedly re-affirms belief in “one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus, the son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation.” These facts the Gnostics denied!”

While this statement is true, the Watch Tower then misquotes Irenaeus so that it would appear that he is in agreement with them, believing that Jesus is not Himself deity, when Irenaeus actually states that Christ is divine in the real quote.

Watchtower –July 15, 1990 page #23 below

They got this quote from ‘Biblical Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature’-Volume 4, page # 649 Prepared by Rev. John M’Clintock, D.D., and James Strong, S.T.D.

 Since the Watch Tower does not believe that Christ is divine as Irenaeus does, they simply remove the part of Irenaeus’ statement that says Christ is divine.  It is that easy, now Irenaeus is stating that Christ while on earth is simply human, in perfect agreement with the Watch Tower.

If you are one on Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is what you are calling ‘truth’.

While you may think that you are ‘in the truth’ while abiding in this sort of deception, common sense and thinking in the realm of reality should bring you to a different conclusion.  Holding on to an organization like this one that intentionally deceives you while claiming to speak for Jehovah God, is to ignore reality and embrace fantasy.

The full page of the real quote is copied below.

The full page of the Watchtower article is copied below.

In their tract, “The Trinity – Divine Mystery or Pagan Myth?”, the Watchtower quotes a portion of a statement by Rev. Alexander Hislop. Under the subheading of “Pagan Origin” several pagan trinities are discussed and then this quote: “According to the historian Hislop: `The recognition of the trinity was universal in all the ancient nations of the world.'”  The quote ends with a period, no ellipsis (…)  is used to show there was more to the statement.   One might easily imagine that Hislop believed these pagan trinities were evidence that the Trinity doctrine was false.  In actual fact this tract by the Watch Tower has Hislop saying the opposite of what he intended. Please compare the Watch Tower quote with Rev. Hislop’s actual statement.

Below is a photo of the actual Watch Tower Tract, Printed in 1952 I believe, showing the above mentioned Misquote:

Below is a photo taken of page 18 in Hislop’s book ‘The Two Babylons’ showing his actual statement quoted by the Watch Tower.

Notice that the first part of Hislop’s sentence is cut off in the Watch Tower so called quote,the word ‘a’ in front of ‘Trinity’ is changed to ‘the’ and the end of the sentence is cut off.  What they have done is changed Hislop’s statement making it say precisely the opposite of what he actually wrote:

“While over laid with idolartry, the recognition of a Trinity was universal in all the ancient nations of the world, proving how deep-rooted in the human race was the primeval doctrine on the subject, which comes out so distinctly in Genisis.”

It is obveous from his real statement that Hislop believed the exact opposite of what the Watch Tower had him saying by misquoting him.

 I f you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, how does it feel to know that the Watch Tower used deception to cause you, and all of Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as every other reader, to believe that the Trinity is a false doctrine?

 Keep in mind that this is only a sample of many misquotes made by the Watch Tower.

 An entire book had to be written to uncover the error in the Watch Tower Booklet entitled ‘Should You Believe in the Trinity?’

Why You Should Believe in the Trinity: An Answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses [Paperback]

Robert M., Jr. Bowman (Author)

I have included the full Watch Tower tract below as well as the remainder of

Rev. Hislop’s paragraph below it.

There is no date on the Watch Tower Tract “The Trinity – Divine Mystery or Pagan Myth?” but  Wikipedia notes the date 1952.

If you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses you very well may be OK with it, I don’t know.

Before we honestly answer that question let’s look at some Watchtower dates and consider their significance because this question has a lot to do with dates.

1799, 1844, 1874, 1878, 1881, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1919, 1925, 1975.  All of these dates were taught by the Watch Tower to have significance and originated either from some of the same calculations derived from the Bible or from measurements inside the Great Pyramid of Giza or both according to the Watch Tower.

All have been dropped except 1914 and 1919 so far as I know.  Why is that?

Is it that a lot of today’s Watch Tower teaching is based on 1914?   Take away 1914 and what do you have?

Of course 1914 is significant for a number of reasons, the end of the gentile times, Christ’s invisible presence began in 1914, and World War I began in 1914 which proves that the Watch Tower was right about 1914!  Jehovah’s Witnesses today can be very confident in the Watch Tower and the significance of 1914 because of World War I beginning that year!

Let’s assume that a good number of Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t know the significance of most of these other dates so we will only touch on them and let’s mainly pay attention to 1914 and 1919.

I am thinking that most Jehovah’s Witnesses know something of the changes in the meaning of a generation as per the Watchtower over the past few decades. ‘The generation of 1914 will by no means pass away before the conclusion of this system of things’.  The Watch Tower is really hanging on to 1914!

Some Witnesses may not know that the Watch Tower taught for about 50 years that Christ returned invisibly in 1874.  They taught that He began His kingly rule in 1878.

Their 1929 book entitled ‘Prophecy’ states: “The Scriptural proof is that the second presence of the Lord Jesus Christ began in 1874 A.D.” Prophecy 1929 pp.65, 66

“The year A.D. 1878, … clearly marks the time for the actual assuming of power as King of kings, by our present, spiritual, invisible Lord….” Thy Kingdom Come (1911 ed) p.239

Now that you know that it was taught up until at least 1929 that Jesus returned invisibly in 1874 let’s consider this statement made in the September 15^th, 1998 Watchtower:

“a prophecy providentially caused sincere 19th-century Bible students to be in expectation. By linking the “seven times” of Daniel 4:25 with “the times of the Gentiles”, they anticipated that Christ would receive Kingdom power in 1914. “Watchtower 1998 September 15 p.15

Are you OK with the Watchtower telling you that the early Jehovah’s Witnesses, then known as Bible Students, anticipated that Christ would receive Kingdom power in 1914 when in reality they believed he had already received kingdom power in 1878?

Ok, let’s move on.  We know that the time of trouble began in 1914 as the Watch Tower taught all along and the proof is that World War I began right on time! Right?

What did the January 22, 1973 Awake tell us about this?

“Of all men used by God to prophesy, Jesus is outstanding. Based on what he said, along with the words of Daniel and John, Jehovah’s witnesses pointed to the year 1914, decades in advance, as marking the start of “the conclusion of the system of things.” Awake! 1973 Jan 22 p.8

But what did the July 15, 1894 Zion’s Watch Tower warn the readers about 1914?

“But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble. Zion’s Watch Tower 1894 July 15 p.226

Are you OK with the Watchtower letting you believe that they knew decades in advance that 1914 would be the start of the conclusion of things when in actual fact they warned that 1914 would be the end of the time of trouble?

If you are Ok with the Watch Tower misleading you in this way, then there is likely little point in you reading any more here.  On the other hand, if it does bother you a bit, then you might want to consider hundreds of other misleading statements that the Watch Tower has made. You will find a few of them on this website along with some of their other contradictory teachings and countless others are available on the web to anyone who has the courage to look.

You might start by looking at some of the links listed at the bottom of this page.

Take care.

Ted Brown