3 Passages That Jehovah's Witnesses Can't Deal With

3 Passages That Jehovah's Witnesses Can't Deal With

Hey, this is Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and I'm going to show you three passages that Jehovah's Witnesses can't deal with. The third one, actually, I think, is evidence that they've corrupted the Holy Scriptures through their translation of the Bible, the New World Translation. I remember as a brand new believer having Jehovah's Witnesses knock on my door, inviting them in, you know, excited about having a conversation about the Bible. If you're not familiar with this group, they've been around since the 19th century. An individual named Charles Taze Russell was breaking off from different Christian churches and denominations for a while. He spent some time in atheism and agnosticism, came back to Christianity, quote unquote, through an interest in Bible prophecy, and started his own sect. The Jehovah's Witnesses are characterized by several doctrines that aren't in line with historic Christianity. For one, they reject historic Christian doctrines like the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of the deity of Christ.

They also reject the doctrine of hell. Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in hell, and part of the way they do this is through their understanding of the Bible. They claim that they believe the Bible but have their own translation of the scriptures. Over the years, as I've talked with Jehovah's Witnesses, this has been one of the challenges in conversation. They'll say, "Oh, well, that translation that you're using, the ESV or the NIV or the New King James, that's not totally accurate, not as accurate as our translation, the New World Translation." I want to show you three passages that I go to in their translation of the Bible, the New World Translation, to show them that Jesus is God and that they need him. One of the first passages that I like to go to if I'm having a conversation with a Jehovah's Witness is in the Book of Psalms. It's Psalm 102. I'll open it up with them in their translation of the Bible.

Jehovah's Witnesses Can’t Account for Psalm 102 and Hebrews 1

And here's how it reads in the Jehovah's Witness Bible, Psalm 102:1: "O Jehovah, hear my prayer. Let my cry for help reach you." So this is a prayer to God, a prayer to Jehovah. The psalmist continues, "Do not hide your face from me in my time of distress. Incline your ear to me. Do answer me quickly when I call." As the psalm continues, the psalmist is crying out to God in a time of need. Psalm 102 is a really beautiful psalm, but after some time, the psalmist begins to question his own spiritual life.

He says in verse 23, "He, that is God, prematurely robbed me of my strength. He cut short my days. I said, 'O my God, do not do away with me in the middle of my life, you whose years span all generations.'" He's asking for mercy. He recognizes his life is fleeting. And he's saying, "God, Jehovah, God, you're the one whose years span all generations." Then he says this in Psalm 102:25 in the New World Translation, the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible, verse 25: "Long ago, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands."

"They will perish, but you will remain just like a garment. They will all wear out just like clothing. You will replace them, and they will pass away. But you are the same, and your years will never end." Now, I like when I'm having a conversation with a Jehovah's Witness to ask the question, "Well, who is the psalmist talking about there?" Clearly, the psalmist is speaking to, praying to Jehovah God the Lord. He's talking about his need for God. He's talking about God's greatness. "Your years will know no end."

Now, what's amazing is when you go over to the New Testament, inspired also by God, and you look at the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter one, the author to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 102 but says the psalmist was talking about Jesus. Now, if you don't know much about the book of Hebrews, Hebrews is a book in the New Testament, a letter written to a group of Hebrew Christians emphasizing the superiority of Jesus. In chapter one, in particular, the focus is on how Jesus is better than the angels. All the angels are going to worship him. Hebrews 1:8, again, this is in the New World Translation of the Bible. It says this, "But about the son."

He says, this is God speaking about the son, "God is your throne forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness. You loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with the oil of exaltation more than your companions." And here's the quote at the beginning, "O Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. And just like a garment, they will all wear out, and you will wrap them up as a cloak, as a garment, they will all be changed, but you are the same, and your years will never come to an end."

Here's what's so wild about this. And again, you can show this to a Jehovah's Witness in their own Bible. Psalm 102 is all about Jehovah God. But when you get to the New Testament, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the author of the Hebrews says that psalm is about Jesus. Jesus is the one that the psalmist was praying to. Jesus is the one being spoken about. When we read, "They will perish, but you will remain. And just like a garment, they will wear out, and you will wrap them up as a cloak, and as a garment, they will all be changed."

I mean, it really is remarkable. The question you have to ask yourself is, if the psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, can refer to Jesus as Jehovah God, why can't you? And of course, this is what Christians have believed for 2,000 years, since the earliest days, on the basis of the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. It's not something the church invented later in time, as is sometimes reported to be the case. No. Based on what we find in the Gospels, based on what we find in the writings of the Apostle Paul, we recognize that Jesus isn't just a creature made by God, but that he is the creator of all things, that he is God himself. Now, how did Jehovah's Witnesses come to the conclusions that they do? Part of the way, as I've said, is by corrupting the scriptures. And I want to take you to one more passage, and this is another one that I brought up to them, and I've never gotten a good answer from them on one more passage that highlights how they've corrupted their translation of the Bible to make a case, their case for this idea that Jesus wasn't God. This passage is in Colossians chapter one.

Jehovah's Witness Can’t Account for Colossians 1

I want you to listen closely to how it reads in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. This is Colossians chapter one, verses 15 and following: "He, that is Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Because by means of him, all other things were created in the heavens and on the earth. The things visible and the things invisible, whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities, all other things have been created through him and for him." Now, if you're a Christian and you have a copy of the scriptures, maybe the New King James Version or the NIV or the ESV or the NASB, and you open up your Bible to Colossians 1:15-16, and you read it, you'll notice that there's a word that's inserted there in the New World Translation of the Bible that isn't in your English translation, and it's the word "other." Two times there in the New World Translation, it says very clearly, "by means of him, all other things were created." Now, why do they include that word "other"? Well, what they're trying to do is suggest that Jesus himself is in the category of creature. He was created first, and then by means of him, all other things were created.

Here's the problem. In the Greek New Testament, that word "other" just isn't there. They've included something that's not there to try to make a case for a doctrine that is false, namely that Jesus is a created being. It's one of the most ancient heresies in all of the church. And just to prove the point even further, what's really interesting is if you go to the Jehovah's Witness website and look at their Greek interlinear translation of the New Testament, an interlinear is when you just take the English text and line up the Greek text right by it, and you go to Colossians chapter one, verses 15 and following. Here's how it reads. It's going to sound a little bit wooden because they're just trying to translate directly from the Greek.

Here's what they say: "Because in him it was created the all things in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, whether thrones or lordships or governments or authorities, the all things through him and into him, and it has been created, and he is before all things, and the all things in him it has stood together." And one thing that's really interesting is there, they're looking at the Greek text, and you know what you don't find in the Greek text? The word "other." So in their interlinear on their website, they don't have the word "other." But if you have a Jehovah's Witness Bible and open it up to Colossians chapter one, verses 15 and following, verse 16 in particular, they put that word "other." Now, what this demonstrates to us is that they're twisting the scriptures to make a point. As followers of Jesus, we believe that the Word of God is the ultimate authority in our lives, that God has spoken to us so clearly.

And one of the reasons we believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the doctrine of the deity of Christ is because of what the Bible teaches. But if you mistranslate the Bible intentionally or don't handle the Bible correctly, you can begin to teach doctrines that lead people astray. And that's precisely what's happened here. So I encourage you as a Christian, if you get into a conversation with Jehovah's Witnesses, open up the scriptures and maybe even use their translation of the Bible to show them Psalm 102, Hebrews chapter one, Colossians chapter one. And make an appeal to them, saying, "You've misunderstood who Jesus is. Here's what the Bible says about Jesus. And unless you know Jesus as he's revealed in the scriptures, you don't know him truly."