How to spot a heretic was birthed out of an event that occurred a few days ago. I had an interesting exchange with a gentleman from the Jehovah witness community who claimed that the Bible never taught that Jesus was God. And He based his claims on verses that he didn’t understand or pulled out of context. One of the verses that he quoted was colossians 1:15 in which the Scripture says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. According to the gentleman, Jesus was also created and therefore can’t be worshiped since He isn’t God. So I decided to create a section on my website called how to spot a heretic to give you quick tips to identify them. Most heretics like to attack the doctrine of the Trinity and the Deity of Christ. Most genuine believers in Christ know that Jehovah witnesses teach heresy but it is important that we understand the false teachings the promote in order to guard ourselves against it. In this first episode , I created a table to show you the differences between the Jehovah witnesses theology and what the Bible teaches. I also included two videos in which I refuted some of their claims.
| Topics | Jehovah witnesses | Scripture |
| Trinity ( God the Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit) | There is no Trinity according to their doctrine | The Trinity is implied in Scripture |
| The Holy Spirit | They believe the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force | The Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Godhead and the Scripture teaches it. |
| Deity of Jesus Christ | They believe that Jesus was Michael the archangel who became a man. Jehovah’s first creation was his ‘only-begotten Son’ and was used by Jehovah in creating all other things | The Scripture is very clear about the deity of Jesus Christ. |
| The Resurrection | They claim that Jesus didn’t die on a cross but a stake | The Scripture presents Jesus as being crucified on the cross |
| Salvation | They believe that only their church members will be exclusively saved | The Scripture teaches that all whom have been appointed for salvation will be saved |
| Hell | They don’t believe that the wicked will be resurrected and subjected to the unceasing wrath of God, they just believe that the wicked die and are no more and by no more, they mean vaporized. So in their belief system, there is no ultimate justice. They are so arrogant to the point of saying that God is love and therefore conclude that perpetual punishment for sin isn’t consistent with the character of God. | The Scripture warns us about the wrath of God and consistently exhorts us to preach the gospel to the world around us less they die in their sins and suffer eternal punishment for rejecting the Truth. The scripture preaches the resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 25:41, Mark 9:43-45, Rev 1:17-18, Rev 20:10, Rev 20:14-15, Acts 24:15 |
| Those who will enter Heaven | They believe that Only 144,000 Jehovah’s witnesses will be saved. This is actually ridiculous since I’m sure there are more than 144k JW worldwide, this is laughable. | Scripture teaches that all who have been appointed God will be saved. |
Where did they find their roots?
They find their roots in the teachings of the heretic Arius who promoted dynamic monarchism. According to Arius , Like human fathers, God the Father existed before God the Son. Arius claimed that the Father begat the Son in His first act of creation: the Son was created before all other creatures and maintains an exalted status as the agent through whom everything else was created. Nevertheless, as worthy as He is, the Son is, in the final analysis, just a creature, according to Arius.
And folks who abide by the teachings of Arius misinterpret Scriptures like Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:5, John 6:57, Exodus 33:20. We’ll look at each of these individually
1.Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
You cannot read col 1:15 without reading verses 16-18. Paul gives the reason why Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, and that gives us insight into the meaning of the “firstborn” in this verse. Let’s look at Col 1:16-17
16 For by[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
The reason why Jesus is the firstborn of all creation is because By him all things were created ( ALL MEANS ALL). The firstborn in this sentence means that He has the status of the firstborn, it doesn’t mean that HE was the first one created, but rather He has supremacy over all things as the firstborn of any family has supremacy over his father’s possessions. Firstborn in this case has to with the “status” and nothing to do with first creation.
2.Hebrews 1: 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
They take the word begotten in this verse to mean that Jesus was conceived by the Father. They don’t understand that this is a metaphor, and I’ll explain. JW believe that Jesus is an angel , they actually believe He is Michael. But the scripture clearly says “ for to which angels did God ever say” which means that Jesus is not an angel . I can stop here but I won’t. If you look at the following phrase” I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son”. God the Father is using another figure of speech to describe His relationship with God the Son. In terms of essence, they are the same being, but in terms of relationship, God the Father has the Honor of the Father while God the Son has the honor of the Son. But they are one in essence. But relationally they have the relationship of a Father and a Son.
3.John 1: 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me
They basically say that Jesus was dependent on the Father and the Father was His source of life. I agree with their explanation to some extent. As long as they are referring to Jesus as God the Man. We already talked about the dual nature of Christ, He is both God and man. When He makes statements such as I thirst, or I live because of the Father, that is touching His humanity. He had a beginning as a Man, and just like us, He was hungry, thirsty, experienced fatigue, needed sleep, basically the biological functions that we experience, He experienced in his human nature. Philippians 2:5-11 informs us about this.
4.Exodus 33:20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
Let me paste what the JW on youtube told me about this verse “HAS ANYONE SEEN GOD?
NO MAN HAS SEEN GOD and if they see GOD’s face THEY WILL DIE. Jesus was seen by many and they didn’t DIE so Jesus Is Not The Almighty God. Jesus is called SON even before coming to earth as human. Exo 33:20 states ““You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live.”” NO MAN CAN SEE ME, notice ME , you think ME IS NOT LITERAL? IT IS LITERAL “ME” WHO IS GOD.”
Exodus 33:20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
When God the Son became human , he concealed His true glory , that is why read this Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Emptying himself doesn’t mean that Jesus lost his divine attributes, but He concealed it when He became a Man, and therefore was approachable. John talks about this in 1 john 3:2-3
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
John and the other 12 saw Jesus but not in all His glory but we know that when we are transformed with our glorified bodies, we shall have a body like His and be able to see Him in all His glory, because we will be sinless.
Other interesting facts about Jehovah’s witnesses
- Blood transfusions are a sin.
- The soul ceases to exist after death.
- They refuse to vote.
- They will not salute the flag.
- They will not sing the “Star Spangled Banner.”
- They do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays.
- Their leadership will not allow them to serve in the armed forces.
- Those that leave the organization are known as apostates. Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot talk to them or even greet them on the street.
- For many years it was taught that Blacks were that color as a result of God’s curse on Canaan.
- Lying is part of “theocratic war strategy.” A Jehovah’s Witness can lie to someone if they are not entitled to know the truth.
- Periodically Jehovah’s Witness doctrine will change. This is known as “new light.”
This is courtesy of blueletterbible.org
Here are the two videos I shared on How To Spot A Heretic
PS: I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from.All the content generated on this website is thoroughly analyzed prior to being shared. And the site is run solely by myself, your generous support is very much appreciated
My name is Tayib Salami and I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. In 2017, I entered a very dark time in my life and it’s only by the grace of the Living God that I’m still alive today. It led me to really go deeper in my faith and consider a myriad of questions that I never thought about asking myself or others before. Welcome and enjoy the ride with me.