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2.    Their Prophet

Rather than hold to the Word of God as inerrant, infallible, and authoritative in everything it teaches, Jehovah’s Witnesses place the Watchtower Society in this position, as their prophet.  Their publications take precedence over Holy Scripture. The issue of authority is the second reason to reject Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Watchtower is the Jehovah’s Witnesses Pope. In July 15, 1960 on page 439 the Watchtower said it “is God’s sole collective channel for the flow of biblical truth to men on earth.” In The Watchtower April 1, 1972, on page 197 they claimed to be the prophet of God and it was not an April Fools joke either.

As the prophetic voice of God they claim that their writings and prophecies must be infallible. Yet, even their own literature (Awake 23) says that to prove it one must examine the prophecies made by the Society, (a method that they have used to refute other groups). The Watchtower, 1964 page 601 even alludes to false prophecies saying, “They (WTS) have corrected themselves when prophecy revealed their own shortcomings.” Now Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says a false prophecy equals a false prophet. If you claim your organization is prophetic and yet you make numerous false prophecies that is more than just a short coming. Some Jehovah’s Witnesses say that the organization is still learning and that is why there were false prophecies. If that is the case than how can anyone trust what they are taught by the Watchtower? A true prophet of God won’t err in prophesying. The Watchtower claims to be a prophet of God, but is really a false prophet.

It is a fact that Charles Taze Russell has made countless bizarre claims. In the late 1870s he taught that 1874 was the beginning of Christ’s invisible presence. Supposedly Jesus began his invisible reign in 1878, and 1881 was the last chance to be part of the “anointed” class of Christians. In 1889 he said “the battle of Armageddon would end in 1914″ (Studies in the Scriptures 101).   When 1914 failed, they pushed the date for Armageddon to 1915. Why and how would he come up with these dates? Russell, like many other mystics and religious mavericks in his day were fascinated with the Great Pyramid in Egypt. It was the measurements of the internal passageways of the Great Pyramid that led him to the year 1914 (Thy Kingdom Come 313).  He was involved in divination.

As a matter of fact, Jehovah’s Witnesses believed that the pyramid was inspired on the same level as the Bible. If you look at old Watchtower magazines and Russell’s books they had pyramids and winged disks on them just like other occult literature. The Watchtower called the pyramid “God’s Stone Witness” and “prophet” (Studies Vol.3 1903 ed. P.313; Thy kingdom Come 1891 and 1905 ed. p.17) and claimed: “Its wonderful correspondencies with the Bible leave no room for doubt that the same divine inspirer of the prophets and apostles inspired this ‘Witness’ also” (ibid p.362).

The Watchtower Society was also involved in astrology as well. In a 1903 magazine it read, “when Uranus and Jupiter meet in the humane sign of Aquarius in 1914, the long-promised era will have made a fair start in the work of setting man free to work out his own salvation,” (3148).

Even when Russell died in 1916, the Watchtower through their second president Joseph Rutherford continued this practice of divination. They began predicting that 1918 was when God would destroy “the churches wholesale and the church members by millions…any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of ‘Christianity’ (The Finished Mystery 485). After that date came and went the Watchtower said that Armageddon would come around 1925 “because it is fixed by the law God gave to Israel” (Watchtower 211) and “we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…” (Millions Now Living Will Never Die 89).

In a June, 15, 1922 Watchtower magazine they wrote, “In the passages of the great pyramid of Gizeh the agreement of one or two measurements with present truth chronology might be accidental, but the correspondency of dozens of measurements proves the same God designed both pyramid and plan…” (WatchTower p.187) They also wrote, “The great pyramid of Egypt, standing as a silent and inanimate witness of the Lord, is a messenger; and its testimony speaks with great eloquence concerning the divine plan” (WT 5/15/1925 p.148). They were hooked on this occult Pyramid thing and only in 1928 did the Watchtower stop using the Great Pyramid. Rutherford denounced the Pyramid and all who follow the pyramid as “false science and not following after Christ” (The Watchtower, November 15, 1928, p. 341). They could have taken responsibility for the false teachings, but instead they blamed the witnesses for believing it. The Society declared, “Those who have devoted themselves to the pyramid… the mind of such were turned away from Jehovah and his word” (WT 11/15/1928 p.344). If they believe that those who devote themselves to the pyramid had minds turned away from Jehovah than why do they follow many of the teachings of Pastor Russell? Was not he a pagan?

Around 1930 they quietly dropped all mention of Christ’s invisible presence in 1874 and began to teach that 1914 was the date of Christ’s invisible presence and enthronement. In 1935 Rutherford began teaching that he had received “new light” from God and that 1935 (not 1881 as Russell taught) marked the last chance to be part of the elect class of “anointed” Christians. After 1935 one could only become part of the “Great Crowd” (which was an inferior group of Christians).

In 1968 they began getting their followers hyped up again and said 1975 was when Armageddon would occur (499). In May 1974, as people were selling all their property expecting 1975 to be the end, the Watchtower praised them for doing so (How Are You Using Your Life? 3).

Russell said that “new light does not contradict old light” (Watchtower Reprints 188). However, in numerous articles dating from 1879 to 1989 they have flip-flopped regarding whether or not the men of Sodom would be resurrected. The Watchtower of July 1879 says, “the Sodomites will be resurrected” (8). The Watchtower of June 1952 says, “the men of Sodom will not be resurrected” (338).  The Watchtower of August 1965 says, “the men of Sodom will be resurrected” (479). The Watchtower of June 1988 says, “men of Sodom will not be resurrected” (31). Which is it?

The Watchtower said the book of Ruth was “not prophetical” in 1902 (Watchtower Reprints IV 3110). However, in 1932 they changed their minds and said it was “prophetic” (Preservation 169). There are tons of embarrassing prophecies and date settings of the Watchtower. They even wrote that “”Man cannot by airplane or rockets or other means get above the air envelope which is about our earthly globe….” (The Truth Shall Make You Free, page 285, 1943 edition.)

Going back to their own writings, A Prophet was Among Them, it is easy to say that the Watchtower acts as a prophet. However when we use their own criteria to validate their claims, and review their record as they say we ought to, we find that the Watchtower organization is a false prophet. There is no way that this so called prophetic organization can be directed by God’s Holy Spirit as they say (Watchtower 402). Jesus warned us by saying, “For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible” (Matt. 24:24). This is common with cults and is a reason why they won’t even look at literature that does not come from the Watchtower. If they were true to their own teachings they would reject Russell’s teachings and admit they were founded by a pagan. This cultic organization is infamous for numerous false prophecies and does not meet the Biblical criteria of a prophet and therefore cannot be “God’s true witnesses.”