Heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses
A Historical Idea About Them:
They are a group that appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century. Their founder is Charles Russell, who was born in 1854 in Pennsylvania, USA.
Russell was a Christian, but in his youth, he was influenced by Arian teachings, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and by some atheistic ideas. From a mixture of all this, he formed his own doctrine around 1872 and spread it among Americans who were always eager for anything new. He managed to gather a fortune estimated at about five million dollars, which he invested in industrial and commercial projects.
His wife filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of marital infidelity, and he appeared before the Hamilton court, which fined him and granted her a divorce. Some farmers also sued him for fraud because he sold them, at a very high price, wheat seeds he called “miracle wheat,” claiming they came from the Holy Land and produced several times the normal yield. Naturally, nothing of this happened because they were just ordinary American wheat seeds.
In 1878, he rejected all Christian doctrines, and in 1879, he published the magazine The Watchtower, a name that later came to distinguish the publications and organizations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 1884, he registered the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
Russell died in 1916 and was succeeded by a judge named Joseph Rutherford.
The founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Egypt was a Greek man named Panayiotis Spiro Poulo, who worked as a café waiter. Later, a new Egyptian leader named Anis Fayek—an employee at Crédit Lyonnais Bank—was appointed to head the group.
Their False Prophecies:
Among the strangest beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses are those concerning the Second Coming. They claimed that the Lord Jesus would come again in 1914. When this did not happen, they adjusted their teaching as follows:
Russell said that the world would end in 1914 with the Second Coming of Christ and that the Jews would gather and possess the land. When the prophecy failed, he was deeply affected and died shortly afterward in 1916.
Jehovah’s Witnesses then modified their interpretation, claiming that Christ had actually come to the world in 1874—but spiritually, as a spirit—and that He began the harvest in 1878, gathering the elect. In 1914, they said, the Father (Jehovah) seated Him on the throne, and judgment began.
Because of this, many wrote their wills and left their money to Jehovah’s Witnesses in preparation for the world’s end and the Day of Judgment.
His successor, Rutherford, claimed that Abraham, the father of the prophets, would return to the world along with a group of prophets in 1925. He even prepared a mansion in California to welcome them, costing $75,000. He lived there with his wife, waiting for these prophetic guests—who, of course, never came.
Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Not Christians:
Although they believe in the New Testament, they are not Christians, do not accept this title, and do not associate themselves with Christ but with “Jehovah,” a name for God in the Old Testament. They are against Christianity, do not believe in it, and fight it as they do all other religions without exception.
Their version of the New Testament is a special translation they produced, altering and removing passages as they wish, and they refuse to accept any other translation.
Therefore, discussions with them are often fruitless—it is easy to quote a verse, and they will deny its existence, claim it reads differently in their version, or twist its meaning.
Jehovah’s Witnesses Are a Dangerous Group:
They are politically dangerous. They believe all governments are the work of Satan. They do not acknowledge armies, consider them Satanic, and refuse to perform military service.
Some people view them as Zionist or Communist groups.
The Egyptian government banned their organization about fifteen years ago, but they continue their activities today through personal contact and house visits.
Their Publications:
They have many books, tracts, the magazine The Watchtower, and pamphlets. Among their most famous books are: Let God Be True, The Bible Speaks, The Harp of God, and Preparation, etc.
Their Doctrines:
It can be said that they are a collection of all old and new heresies. We hope, God willing, to discuss these heresies in detail in future issues.
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