JW Doctrines
23 Watchtower doctrines with counter-arguments from Scripture.
Blood Transfusions Are Forbidden by God
JWs teach that accepting a blood transfusion violates God's command to 'abstain from blood' (Acts 15:28–29). Witnesses c...
Practice 4 counter-args
Jesus Is a Created Being
The Watchtower teaches that Jesus (Michael the Archangel) is the first and greatest creation of Jehovah God, not eternal...
Deity of Christ 90 counter-args
Jesus Was Not Physically Resurrected
JWs teach that Jesus was not bodily raised from the dead. Instead, Jehovah disposed of (or dissolved) Jesus' physical bo...
Deity of Christ 5 counter-args
The Trinity Is a False Pagan Doctrine
JWs teach that the Trinity — one God in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) — is a lie from Satan, borrowed from Ba...
Deity of Christ 35 counter-args
Divorce and Remarriage Permitted Only for Sexual Immorality
JWs restrict biblical grounds for divorce and remarriage to porneia (sexual immorality) alone, based on a narrow reading...
Practice 3 counter-args
The Watchtower Has a Record of Failed Prophecies
The Watchtower has made specific, date-based predictions that failed: 1874 (Christ's invisible return — later moved to 1...
Epistemology 14 counter-args
The Governing Body Is God's Sole Channel of Communication
JWs teach that the Governing Body — a small group of men at the Watchtower's headquarters — is the 'faithful and discree...
Authority 52 counter-args
Christ Returned Invisibly in 1914
JWs teach that Jesus Christ returned invisibly in 1914, beginning his heavenly reign as King. This 'presence' (parousia)...
Eschatology 25 counter-args
God Must Be Called Jehovah
JWs teach that using God's personal name — rendered 'Jehovah' — is essential to true worship. They claim that Christendo...
Deity of Christ 8 counter-args
Jesus Is Mediator Only for the 144,000
JWs teach that Jesus Christ serves as mediator of the new covenant only for the 144,000 anointed class — not for the 'gr...
Salvation 6 counter-args
Truth Changes — 'The Light Gets Brighter'
JWs teach that doctrinal understanding progressively improves over time, based on Proverbs 4:18: 'the path of the righte...
Epistemology 13 counter-args
The New World Translation Is the Most Accurate Bible
JWs claim that the New World Translation (NWT) is the most accurate and faithful rendering of the original Hebrew and Gr...
NWT Translation 24 counter-args
Only Jehovah's Witnesses Have the True Religion
JWs teach that after the death of the apostles, a 'Great Apostasy' corrupted Christianity and true worship disappeared f...
Authority 11 counter-args
Holidays, Birthdays, and the Cross Are Pagan
JWs forbid celebrating birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and other holidays on the grounds that they have 'pagan origins.' T...
Practice 5 counter-args
Christians Must Be Politically Neutral
JWs teach that true Christians must not vote, hold political office, serve in the military, salute the flag, or sing nat...
Practice 5 counter-args
No Witness May Claim Present Possession of Eternal Life
The Watchtower teaches that no one can be certain of salvation until they have proved faithful to the end through field ...
Salvation 12 counter-args
The Number 144,000 Is Literal — Every Other Detail Is Symbolic
JWs take the number 144,000 in Revelation 7:4 and 14:1 as mathematically literal: exactly 144,000 anointed Christians wi...
Eschatology 4 counter-args
Disfellowshipped Members Must Be Completely Shunned
JWs practice mandatory shunning of anyone who is disfellowshipped (expelled) or who voluntarily disassociates. Family me...
Practice 16 counter-args
The Soul Ceases to Exist at Death
JWs teach that humans do not have an immortal soul. At death, the person ceases to exist entirely — there is no consciou...
Soul & Hell 11 counter-args
The Holy Spirit Is an Impersonal Force
JWs teach that the Holy Spirit is not a person but God's "active force" — like electricity or wind.
Holy Spirit 16 counter-args
Watchtower Rules Enforced as God's Commands
The Watchtower readily applies Matthew 15:3 and Colossians 2 to Christendom — arguing that Catholic and Protestant churc...
Practice 16 counter-args
Only 144,000 Go to Heaven — The Rest Live on Earth
JWs teach that God has two separate classes of saved people with two different destinies: exactly 144,000 'anointed' Chr...
Eschatology 23 counter-args
Salvation Requires Works and Organisation Membership
JWs teach that salvation is not by faith alone but requires four specific conditions: (1) acquiring accurate knowledge o...
Salvation 106 counter-args