##To believe or not

I’ve done a lot of research seeking the truth, there seems to be a lot of Abrahamic religions and Pagan religions a like, but first I had to look within myself and back to my upbringing. The earliest memory of god and religion I remember was attending a Jehovah Witness kingdom hall. I will always be thankful for my family and the people inside the organization for teaching me that the universe has a creator and a son named Jesus Christ. I'm thankful I learned how to be a better person and how to treat others with respect, and also thankful for all those bible studies I took part in.

As a human I have the option to believe everything I've been told or use the gift that god gave me and learn more about our inception as christians, to come to a conclusion that truly satisfies my heart. In the Verse Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” When I first heard of the verse years ago it really resonated with me, and so I decided to start my journey and find what my heart and mind had been yearning for that the Jehovah witness simply failed to give me. I brought my questions of theology and inconsistencies within JW to the elders of the organization and all they would tell me is that Satan is planting these thoughts in my head and that I just needed to forget about them and, sometimes they would even get upset at me for questioning their doctrine. For a member of the organization it’s looked down upon to question the doctrine of the JW and that everything outside of the official Jehovah witness websites is regarded as corrupted or false information. To me that is not a Church that represents what Jesus taught us in the Bible.

I know that eventually one of my family members will read this, but I am not accusing or making fun of what you believe in. This is simply how I view things and what I’ve learned along the way. I always believed that Jesus is God, but it's always best to truly find things out for yourself. Logically If I want to worship Jesus Christ in the closest manner that he taught us we have to look back and know how our first Church started. We all know how Jesus was born here on earth as a human and he had 12 apostles that lived with him and Jesus gave them the wisdom of how to worship him and abide by his teachings. Jesus gave the keys of his Church to Apostle Peter, and over the years it became the Catholic Church. The catholic church has direct apostolic succession so every elected Pope comes directly from Jesus to Peter and so on, and today there is Pope Leo XIV the current successor of Peter meaning that the first and truest church that has survived for more than 2000 years is The Holy Roman Catholic Church lead by the Pope Leo XIV and Guided by the Holy Spirit.

Now, I know you probably don’t really care to know about the Catholic Church's history but it is crucial to know our history as christians. Most of my family members are Jehovah Witnesses which I think is better than pagan religions but, as I found out more about the inception and inconsistencies in the JW doctrine I simply could not turn a blind eye and made my decision not to become a member of the organization. I believe it is not sufficient to only worship God but, we need to make sure we worship him how he taught us. Understanding our tradition and heritage is still important today, just like it was for early christians before modern time.

##History of JW

Most members of the organization today don't even know how the religion started. It began in 1870 in Pittsburgh, USA, It was originally a study group led by Charles T. Russell all the early members rejected the concept of the "Trinity" and “Hell”. In 1879 Charles created his own monthly magazine called “Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence” throughout the 1880s he gained followers from US, Canada, and Europe and he officially created “Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society” along with seven directors in total on the Watch Tower Society’s Board in 1884. Later in 1896 the name changed to “Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society”. Charles' last publication was a Six volume book series called “Millennial Dawn” which are still used in Jehovah witness doctrine. Charles Russell died in October 1916, and his will left specific instructions to prevent any single person from holding absolute authority over the Watch Tower Society and its publications.

After Charles’s Death the society needed a new president, it being Joseph F. Rutherford.
He was a practicing lawyer/former judge and joined the society in 1906. He became the society's official adviser in 1907, his role was to manage the organization's legal affairs. Joseph officially became the second president of the society in late 1916 after quickly taking control of the society against Charles Will. A year later Joseph decided to add a 7th volume to Charles books which made four directors object against it and Joseph simply removed them from the board. The reaction led thousands of followers to leave the society because of Joseph’s executive decisions. By 1928 Joseph had radically changed the society from Charles' original vision. He abolished local members voting for their own elders, instead he changed elections so that only the Watch Tower had power to elect a “Service Director”. He believed that in 1925 the earth would become paradise from a "prophecy". Rutherford later admitted at a convention that he had "made an ass of himself" over the 1925 prediction, leading to the mass exit of disillusioned members. After most of the members of the original Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society” had left Joseph had no option but to rebrand the society to “Jehovah’s Witnesses”.

From 1950-1961 the Watch Tower published its own version of the bible “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures” altering key verses to reflect unitarian Watchtower theology and introduced the ban of blood transfusions. After rebranding the society it started to attract members again. Starting in 1966 The Watch Tower pushed intense publications of the end of the world (Armageddon), the year they chose as the end of the world was 1975 and evidently it did not occur. This led another massive wave of members to leave due to false prophecies told by the Watch Tower. By 1995 the society decided to abandon their predictions due to false hope and promises made to the fellowship. They believed if they had another incorrect prophecy it could lead to the end of the Watch Tower along with the Jehovah Witness congregations under it. Today there are around 9 million active members and it is considered in many countries as an official religious denomination. Out of the 9 million members today I have a feeling that only a few know the history of their own religion. Children grow up inside the organization and are taught to believe everything and question little, if you question their authority or doctrine excommunication will be their solution.

##Truth vs Heresy

My goal is to make my stance on JW perfectly clear, to do that I had to do a lot of research but, I am thankful that I did. I want to make sure my reasoning does not have reasonable doubt. There are multiple heretical alterations to their own version of the bible: heretical stand on the divinity of Christ, and heretical practices along with exclusion of traditional worship of God. First I will use JW websites to prove their stance on the matter of God.

The JW believe that Jesus Christ is Archangel Michael and that God transferred MIchael's spirit into the womb of Mary giving birth to human Jesus, after Jesus resurrected he turned back into spirit form being Archangel Michael. These are quotes directly from JW.ORG “The name Michael applied to God’s Son before he left heaven to become Jesus Christ and also after his return.” | “So Michael the archangel is Jesus in his prehuman existence. After his resurrection and return to heaven, Jesus resumed his service as Michael.” | “Michael, referred to by some religions as Saint Michael, is evidently a name given to Jesus before and after his life on earth.” This is the JW belief and they seem to have a lot of “evidence” to back up their claims, all it comes from their elders writings and their Holy Scripture Bible which is vastly altered from Catholic or Orthodox bibles that have been the same since the bible was created.

Jesus Christ was never an Archangel, Jesus has always been the second person in the trinity and always will. Archangel Michael is the leader of God's army, and the protector of the elect. God the Father eternally loves the Son and the Son eternally loves the Father. That love manifests as the Holy Spirit: the third divine person in the trinity. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” & “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” They are quotes from a Catholic standard bible.
Using critical thinking and following the Apostolic Churches, it is very obvious that Jesus has the same divine nature as God the Father.

Absolutely nothing can be created without the son, so if the son is Archangel Michael then you strip his equal divinity to the Father. Now, how can an angel make everything through him if he does not share his father's divinity? It makes a lot more sense that Jesus had always existed with the Father and was as divine as him. If all creation is made through Jesus it means Jesus created all the Angels like Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. JW willingly chose to undermine Jesus' equality to the Father and they alter bible verses to promote their very obvious heretic doctrine. God did not “make” the Son like he made all the angels and the rest of creation, rather the Father and the Son have always existed before any creation was made.
The concept of Jesus being equal to the Father has been accepted for more than a thousand years, for a new “Christian” religion to change Jesus divinity to a mere angel is simply baffling.

JW also states very clearly that Jesus did not resurrect to heaven with his human body, and that Jesus only resurrected purely as Spirit. This is a complete lie, Jesus Christ resurrected with his human body and Jesus has his body to this day. Luke 24:39-43 “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” In JW bible all the verses that state Jesus resurrected with a body were changed.
Another heresy from the JW is the denial that Jesus died on a cross and instead teach that he was crucified on a wooden stake. Philippians 2:8 “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” They’re many other verses that state Jesus died on a cross but the JW bible changed them all to fit their doctrine. The last heresy I will comment on is the denial of the apostolic church that Jesus founded. JW stance on the matter is that after the apostles died the Church fell into corruption called “The Great Apostasy” and believe all the successors after the apostles were not divinely guided. For 1800 years the world was in spiritual darkness and the Watchtower restored “true” christianity and gave themselves the title of the only true church. If this logic is true then the bible that was composed from catholic writers 400 years after Jesus died is false, the obvious conclusion would be that the JW version of the bible which is predominantly modeled after the catholic bible is also inherently false.

Jesus gave the keys of his church to Peter and his successors guided by the holy spirit, preserving divine revelation through scripture and tradition. Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.. to him be glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”. Matthew 28:20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. The bible clearly states that Jesus will always be united with his church and that Satan will never overcome it. The JW doctrine simply contradicts everything that Jesus said about his church, there never was any “spiritual darkness” after the apostles died. As a Christian what would I rather believe? Jesus' word or the word of the Watchtower.. I think the answer is obvious.

##Conclusion

I willingly choose to step away from the JW organization. It was not a decision made out of rebellion or spite but, rather a decision in search for the truth. I am deeply grateful for the foundational values my family and upbringing gave me and most importantly, the belief in a loving God. However, in Hosea 4:6 warns us that a lack of knowledge can lead us astray. When I brought my genuine theological questions to the elders, I was met with deflection and fear rather than answers. That response forced me to look beyond organizational control and examine the actual history and scripture of the faith I was raised in.

The contrast between the Watchtower organization and the Catholic Church could not be more different. The movement was founded in 1870 by Charles Taze Russell, marked by executive power struggles, radical shifts in doctrine, broken prophecies in 1925 and 1975, and an altered translation of the Bible designed to fit 1900 century Unitarian ideas. To accept Watchtower theology, one must believe that Jesus Christ the eternal Word through whom all creation was made is merely a created angel, that He failed to physically rise from the dead, and that his promise to protect his Church over Satan failed for over eighteen centuries during a supposedly "Great Apostasy."

The Catholic Church founded directly by Jesus Christ upon Apostle Peter. For over two thousand years, through continuous apostolic succession and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church has preserved the full presence of Christ. The truth of his physical resurrection, and the unchanged Holy Bible inspired by God and preserved by the Catholic Church. I write this not to condemn my family or mock what they hold dear, but to deeply consider everything I have said, I’ve provided proof of everything. We are all called to worship God not merely as human leaders dictate, but in spirit and in truth. In rejecting JW doctrine, I did not abandon God, I walked toward the fullness of the faith Jesus established. I choose to place my faith in the Church Jesus Christ promised to always protect, rather than reject all historical evidence for a religious doctrine of a modern organization.

Jesus loves you and wants to save all who are led astray, just like he’s saved me.