I get junk mail. You get junk mail. I get cyber spam and you do, too. Sometimes I get those flyers left under my windshield wiper offering a pizza for half price. I am not complaining, just pointing out facts. Sometimes I get the leaflets attached to my mailbox or even stuck in my door. Recently, I got an invitation stuck through my front door to a big conference at the Gwinnett Center in July.
The invitation was to three full days of Jehovah Witness teachings. It is a special program called “The Watch” and would focus on end times teachings. Also, it let me know I could send off for a free book that would tell me “what the Bible really teaches.” Maybe you have received the same invitation or had a recent visit from the JW crowd. As I read it over a couple thoughts came to mind. First of all, their gathering is centered on the end of the world teaching. This is nothing new to them. They have been predicting dates and sounding the alarm for a hundred years. They will name a date; people will get scared, sell their possessions and wait. Then the date passes and a new revised date will be proclaimed. People will get scared, sell their possessions and wait. False alarm again, but the JW faithful hang in there. Then another prophecy comes along and a new date is set. Guess what happens? People get scared, sell their possessions and wait. I don’t know if this conference is set up to reveal the next big prediction, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
The other thing I thought about with the leaflet was the book offer. This sounds like a very gimmicky way to capture interest by offering something to really enlighten you. The issue isn’t their interpretation of the Bible, it’s the Bible itself. The JW Bible is a Bible only used by them. It is unlike your NIV, KJV NASB or any other one you might find at LifeWay. Sure, the books and chapters and stories sound almost identical. However, by changing a word per chapter or a few in a book they subvert what is meant to be communicated. It sounds like minor changes and in the whole volume of scripture it is. But what you end up with is a teaching that is blaspheming the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. Their specialized Bible translation is a dangerous invention that is carefully disguised. They teach their beliefs and convince their listeners based on it. They are blind leading the blind into the same ditch. Pray for them. But I would caution with advice from 2 John 1:10. “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.” If anyone wants to present another gospel to you, such as the JW, then it’s best not to even welcome them. Throw away the flyers, the invitations and whatever else they bring. And if you want a concise and authoritative presentation of what the Bible teaches, then get A Survey of Bible Doctrine by Charles Ryrie.
Your brother,
Jason
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