Question:
Main differences between Christianity and Jehovah’s Witnesses?
Answer:
The main difference is that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God. They believe that He is “a god.” They do not believe that Jesus is “Jehovah God,” or “Almighty God,” but a “lesser god.”
The best way to show them wrong, is from the very verse where they coin their name “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” It is from Isaiah 43:10, which says, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” They use that verse to claim that Jesus is not God, but the very context proves them wrong. Look at verse 11, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
Let’s put both verses together now, and see what they say. “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Notice carefully how the King James Bible puts the word “LORD” in small capitals in your Bible. The translators did this to show you the Hebrew word behind that English word, which is “Jehovah.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses try and argue very forcefully that Jesus is not “God,” that is, that Jesus is not “Jehovah God.” But the very passage where they get their name clearly says that Jesus is “God;” that Jesus is “Jehovah God” (Almighty God.)
Read the two verses again. “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD (Jehovah), and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD (Jehovah); and beside me there is no saviour.”
Ask a Jehovah’s Witness who the Savior is, and they will respond, “Jesus.” Now ask them if Jesus is “Jehovah God,” and they will very strongly say, “No!” Then read them the two above verses. Those verses say that there is only one true and living God, and He is the Savior! These verses clearly say that Jesus is “Jehovah God” (Almighty God).”
There are many verses in the Bible to confirm that truth. Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us A CHILD IS BORN, unto us A SON IS GIVEN: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, The Prince of Peace.” This verse very clearly is talking about the birth of Jesus, and it refers to Him as “THE MIGHTY GOD,” — not “a god.” It also calls Him “THE EVERLASTING FATHER,” showing that Jesus is one with the Father (the doctrine of the Trinity, which the Jehovah’s Witnesses reject). John 10:30 says, “I and my Father are one.”
There is only one person who has always existed, and that is God. That attribute is given to Jesus. In the verse above it calls Him “the EVERLASTING FATHER.” Another verse, Micah 5:2, shows the same truth, that Jesus is “everlasting,” and thus “God Almighty.” That verse says, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been FROM OF OLD, FROM EVERLASTING.”
How important is it that a person believe that Jesus is God? It is the difference between heaven and hell (they also do not believe in an eternal lake of fire). Jesus said in John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for IF YE BELIEVE NOT THAT I AM HE, YE SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS.” Even the Jews said in Luke 5:21, “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? WHO CAN FORGIVE SINS, BUT GOD ALONE?” They did not believe that Jesus was God, so they said that He was blaspheming by claiming to forgive people’s sins, because even the Jews knew that only God can forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins, and Jesus did forgive people’s sins, because Jesus is God.
There are many other differences between the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the true Christian faith, but it does no good to argue anything else with them. If they will not receive the Lord Jesus Christ (Almighty God in the flesh) as their personal Savior, then they will not understand the rest of the Bible, either. I Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Hope this information helps you. Have you trusted Jesus Christ (God Almighty in the flesh) as your personal Savior?