In Comparative Theology
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that all religions and all churches are the work of Satan, and they distort the word Church in their falsified translation of the Holy Bible.

They do not build churches for themselves, nor do they use that name. However, they may have a hall for Bible study. They distort the word Church or Churches in their translation known as The New World Translation of The Holy Scriptures.

In this article, we will mention examples of this distortion in their translation:

1. The Lord Jesus said in rebuke: “If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17).
   They translate this as: “If he does not listen to them speak to the congregation. If he does not listen even to the congregation, let him be to you just as a man of the nations and as a tax collector.”
   They replace the word Church with Congregation.

2. Likewise, in the saying of the Lord Jesus, “On this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18), they translate it as “On this rock-mass I will build my congregation.”

3. In the Book of Acts, it is written about the apostles and the people after Pentecost: “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
   They translate it as: “Jehovah continued to join to them daily those being saved,” completely omitting the word Church.

4. Also, after the story of Ananias and Sapphira: “So great fear came upon all the church” (Acts 5:11).
   They translate it as: “Great fear came over the whole congregation.”
   The same distortion occurs in Acts 8:1 and Acts 11:22.

5. In the above examples, the word Church refers to the ecclesiastical authority or the community of believers. But what about the Church as a building?
   In Acts 11:26, it is said of Barnabas and Saul: “They met with the church for a whole year.” They translate it as: “They gathered together with them in the congregation.”

6. Even regarding churches being built, as in Acts 9:31:
   “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified.”
   They translate it as: “The congregation throughout the whole of Judea and Galilee and Samaria… being built up.”

7. In Revelation, where the letters to the seven churches repeatedly say, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29),
   they translate it as: “Let the one who has an ear, hear what the spirit says to the congregations.”

8. In the same letters to the seven churches: “To the angel of the church of Ephesus… of Smyrna… of Pergamum…” (Revelation 2–3),
   they translate it as: “To the angel of the congregation in Ephesus… in Smyrna… in Pergamum…”
   By the way, they translate the Book of Revelation into Arabic as Kashf (meaning “Disclosure” or “Revelation”).

9. At the end of Revelation, the Lord says: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches” (Revelation 22:16).
   They translate it as: “I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you people of these things for the congregations.”

10. Regarding the churches in houses, their translation continues the same distortion.
    In Romans 16:5, Paul writes about Aquila and Priscilla: “The church that is in their house.” They translate it as: “Greet also the congregation that is in their house.”
    He also says of them: “Not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles” (Romans 16:4). They translate it as: “But also all the congregations of the nations.”
    The same phrase, “the church that is in their house,” occurs in 1 Corinthians 16:19 and is likewise translated as “the congregation that is in their house.”
    It is repeated for Nymphas: “and the church that is in his house” (Colossians 4:15), which they translate as “the congregation.”

11. Paul says in his letter to the Colossians: “Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans” (Colossians 4:16).
    They translate it as: “See that it is read also in the congregation of the Laodiceans.”

12. Saint Paul says about Phoebe: “I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea” (Romans 16:1).
    They translate it as: “Who is a minister of the congregation in Cenchrea.”

13. In his first epistle to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul writes: “To the church of the Thessalonians…” (1 Thessalonians 1:1).
    They translate it as: “To the congregation of the Thessalonians.”
    Clearly, the word loses all spiritual or religious meaning.
    The same distortion appears in 2 Thessalonians 1:1.

14. And we would need much time if we were to trace every occurrence of Churches that they translate as Congregations — inappropriately replacing phrases like “Churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16) with “Congregations of Christ,” or “Churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:16) with “Congregations of God.”
    When the word Churches refers to regions, as in “Churches of Galatia” (1 Corinthians 16:1), their translation “Congregations of Galatia” becomes meaningless. The same applies to “Congregations of Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 8:1) or when Paul speaks of “my concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11:28), which they render as “my concern for all the congregations.”

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