In their teachings concerning the resurrection of our Lord, the Jehovah’s Witnesses boldly proclaim God the Father and God the Son as two of the greatest tricksters of all time. This may seem a very strong accusation to make—almost bordering on blasphemy in the message such a statement conveys—but I am certain the reader will agree with its veracity by the time he has reached the end of this article. The blasphemy charge will then be leveled at those who are responsible for it!

The Word of God is so plain, so simple, so easy to understand, on this particular subject, that I am amazed at the number of followers of this cult who believe and teach a doctrine that is so utterly and hopelessly wrong. Obviously they have not read the Bible and allowed God the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth; instead they have turned to Russell and Rutherford for guidance, and a whole host of anonymous writers since!

In a Youth Forum at which I was the chair-person, a converted Jehovah’s Witness who was the guest-of-honour said this. “I left them when I realised that they were making the Word of God do the devil’s work.” The devil certainly has a free run with the doctrine of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Listen to this! “So the King Christ Jesus was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature; therefore the world will see him no more.” [1]

EITHER WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE OR WE BELIEVE THE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES—WE CANNOT BELIEVE BOTH! THEY ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPATIBLE!

The Bible says that, “He was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also.” [2]  So says Paul. Are we to suppose that the apostle Paul wrote a string of lies to the church at Corinth? The Bible promises that, when Jesus comes again, “every eye will see him.” [3] Perhaps John made a mistake there on the Island of Patmos! Or perhaps he just told a deliberate lie!

Notice the complete contrast between the teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the teaching of the Bible. Jesus Christ was resurrected an invisible spirit creature—how then could all those people described in the Bible have seen Him if this was so? And the world will see him no more—so why does the Bible say that every eye will see Him? The two groups of statements cannot in any way be reconciled.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the true Christian Church. Without the assurance of the resurrection there would be little point in being a Christian. Indeed, we could go further and say, without the resurrection there would be no Christianity! As Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” [4] It is not enough just to believe, in a vague sort of way, that Jesus rose from the dead three days after the crucifixion, but in what shape or form it doesn’t really matter. It does matter! It is essential that we believe and understand that the resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ was the same body which died, but that a great change had taken place—it was, in fact, now a glorified body.

If, as the Jehovah’s Witnesses state, “Christ was raised from the dead as an immortal spirit creature,” [5] this would not be resurrection, this would be creation. The actual word “resurrection” itself suggests identity; that the body which was raised was identical to the one which died. To bring a “spirit creature” out of the grave, it would have been necessary for God to create something new; especially as this “spirit creature” is supposed to be invisible.

Identity does not necessarily mean that Christ’s resurrected body consisted of the same particles of matter as the body placed in the tomb. This is not difficult to understand, nor is it contradictory to that outlined in the previous paragraph. Medical science teaches us that the whole human body changes every seven years. The actual particles of matter making up the body of a twenty-one-year-old man will be quite different by the time he reaches forty-five. There is a sense in which his body has been completely changed; but in spite of this, fundamentally we recognise him as having the same body in appearance.

Whilst this discourse has taken us into the realms of science, and I am sorry that we have been forced to do so, it does however help us to understand a little easier the doctrine of the resurrection. By the bodily resurrection of Jesus, not only was the divine seal of approval of God the Father as accepting the atoning work of His Son set upon His sacrifice, but the Lord also opened up a way to ultimately deliver our bodies from death. This would not have been the case if He had been resurrected an invisible spirit creature. “Since death came through a man” [Adam] “the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.” [Jesus]   [6]

So far we must have realised the weight of Bible truth piling up against the Jehovah’s Witnesses system of doctrine. We will have noticed, too, the blasphemy they teach. They have robbed the Lord Jesus Christ of His deity, reduced Him to the status of an archangel, miraculously turned Him into a perfect man, nothing more! Now they have killed Him off forever! “The man Jesus is dead, for ever dead.” [7] What is more, by producing Him as an invisible spirit creature, they have automatically branded Him as a cheat and a deceiver. As He is only “a god”, He would not be able to manage all this trickery on His own! So He must have been assisted by God, His Father!

We must, therefore, assume that between them, Jesus Christ and His Father tricked the disciples, and the others who saw Jesus after the resurrection, by creating a bogus body for them to see and touch. As we have said, because Jesus was not God, only “a god”, one of many, it would have been necessary for Almighty God to assist Him in these tricks—I almost said “magic tricks!” Only Almighty God would have the power to create and dissolve this bogus body at will; certainly not an invisible spirit creature who was nothing more than a god, or archangel, or—what? His power would certainly be limited.

WHAT BLASPHEMOUS NONSENSE! Of course it is! Perhaps the reader is beginning to agree with the opening statement of this article. Our next thoughts will no doubt convince him of the truth of this statement.

Reason would tell us that if Jesus Christ was raised up an invisible spirit creature, and the man consisting of a body, a corpse, remained dead, then the body itself would have remained in the tomb. But the Word of God states, “On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb...The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” [8]

Notice especially the phrases—”He is not here”—”He has risen from the dead”—”there you will see him.” If Jesus was the invisible spirit creature the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim Him to be, His body would still be there in the tomb. But the Bible said He was not there. Strictly speaking, it would not be true to say that He had risen from the dead, for, again, the dead body would still be present; and the Bible statement that the two Mary’s, amongst others, would actually see Him in Galilee would be false. One cannot see something or someone invisible!

If I was deliberately setting out to invent a new system of religious doctrine as unlike the orthodox Christian teaching as possible, I would meet up with a serious difficulty at this point in my blasphemous invention. What could I do with the body? I would have to get rid of it somewhere if my doctrine was to stick! How, then, do Jehovah’s Witnesses manage it?

Referring to the actual body of Jesus Christ, they say, “We know nothing of what became of it, except that it did not decay or corrupt... whether it was dissolved into gasses or whether it is still preserved somewhere as the grand memorial of God’s love, and may be produced and exhibited to the world in the millennium, no one knows.” [9] That was Russell’s idea. Rutherford had similar thoughts. “Our Lord’s human body, the one crucified, was removed from the tomb by the power of God. Had it remained there it would have been an obstacle in the way of the faith of the disciples...The Scriptures do not reveal what became of that body, except that it did not decay or corrupt. We can only surmise that the Lord may have preserved it somewhere to exhibit to the people in the Millennial age.” [10]

Just for a moment think over these two statements very carefully. Think of the absolute stupidity of such statements. In the light of the Holy Scriptures, think of the falseness contained in them. Above all, think of the blasphemy. The body of Jesus has been dissolved into gasses, or maybe preserved somewhere as a corpse! “The Scriptures tell us that God miraculously hid the body of Moses; and Jehovah could just as easily have preserved and hid away the body of Jesus.” [11] WHAT UTTER RUBBISH!

We read in the Bible, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, His disciples  came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” [12] NEARLY TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO THE CHIEF PRIESTS CREATED THIS LIE TO DECEIVE THE PEOPLE—AND NOW, TODAY, JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES HAVE CREATED AN EVEN BIGGER LIE, STATING THAT GOD DID IT TO DECEIVE THE DISCIPLES. How can one describe this as anything but blasphemy? The statement—”utter rubbish”—is not too strong! In point of fact, it is not strong enough!

Jehovah’s Witnesses contradict the Word of God on every point. We do know what became of our Lord’s body—we do know where His body is now—the Scriptures do reveal what became of “that body”.

Doctrinally, the Bible never contradicts itself. It is true that on occasions it appears to do so, but on careful study, with a fuller understanding of the context, we realise the complete harmony or purpose in every one of its sixty-six books. If, on the other hand, we accept the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, then we continually come up against contradictions and conflicts.

An illustration of this can be found in a false statement made by Russell. He said, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that He “was put to death a man but was raised from the dead a spirit being of the highest order of the divine nature...The man Jesus is dead, dead for ever.” [13] Now, if the man Jesus is for ever dead, how is it possible for there to be “one mediator between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus…”? [14] JESUS IS OUR MEDIATOR NOW!

Here we have, then, one of many contradictions, one of several conflicts, created by this statement alone. We have already established from the Scriptures the bodily resurrection of Jesus as opposed to a spiritual creation—yet another contradiction of this statement.

It now becomes necessary to ask the reader to forgive a certain amount of repetition as we digress slightly for the moment. We have mentioned contradiction and conflict. This is especially apparent in various Jehovah’s Witness books. Because of these contradictions certain complications are set up, and one is forced to ask the question:

DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES REALLY KNOW THEMSELVES WHAT THEY BELIEVE?

It is a good question, and prompts another one—do their beliefs change from year to year as other new and fantastic ideas come into their minds? Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves have already answered this question. “No other organisation has shown this flexibility” [to change Watchtower “truth” from time to time] “to alter its views, to keep up with changing times…” [15]

In view of these complications, coupled with the conflict of Bible truth caused by their erroneous theories, a certain amount of repetition sometimes cannot be avoided. It is better to repeat and leave no stone unturned, rather than be vague and leave doubts in the mind of the reader!

Over a period of time I have fortunately been able to acquire a large number of Jehovah’s Witness publications. Naturally, in my position, I also have a fairly extensive library of theological books written by reputable authors. Prior to writing these booklets I tried a little experiment which I thought would, if it worked, illustrate and hopefully prove a valid point. IT WORKED! The time has come for me to reveal my results.

From my shelves I selected six books, each one written by a member of a different orthodox Christian denomination; and each one treating his theological subject in a similar style to the expositions of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The six authors were members, respectively, of the Church of England [Anglican], the Methodist Church, the Pentecostal Church, the Salvation Army, the Baptist Church and a writer from a Brethren background—a good cross-section of the Christian Church as a whole.

And so the experiment commenced.

In a notebook, on the left-hand pages only, I made careful notes on points of doctrine as I read through the reputable books. This took several weeks. I repeated the process with the Jehovah’s Witness books, this time making notes on the right-hand pages of the notebook. In all, the experiment  took about three months of hard graft! Then came the comparison, not with left- and right-hand pages, but left and left, right and right. The results were extremely interesting.

The right-hand pages containing the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ theories on several occasions contradicted themselves; or, at least, gave several different interpretations of the same point of doctrine, irreconcilable with the other. Many times they so complicated the simple truth as recorded in the Bible that it became totally impossible to understand. My attention was then turned to the left-hand pages. What a difference!

In spite of the differences of denomination and denominational emphasis—it is this emphasis which often fosters the formation of a denomination, incidentally, not the fundamental doctrines, as Jehovah’s Witnesses would have us to believe—on the fundamental and most important doctrinal issues there was complete agreement. The reason? The truth cannot be altered, therefore the orthodox Christian writers were bound to agree—they could not help it.

When we start altering the truth, and introducing our own thoughts and ideas to replace the divine revelation of God, then we are in trouble. Complications and contradictions inevitably arise; we blunder; the result is evident in our writings, and we automatically condemn ourselves. This is so with the erroneous writings of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CONDEMN THEMSELVES BY THEIR OWN HANDS!

Illustrations of this can be given as part of our study of the resurrection. Compare these two Jehovah’s Witness statements. “When God raised Jesus from the dead he clothed Jesus with all power in heaven and in earth; that is to say, God made Jesus Christ his Executive Officer.” [16] “When he died as the man Christ Jesus and was resurrected and went back to heaven...he resumed his heavenly name Michael.” [17] The first statement was published in 1939, the second in 1958. The italics are mine to assist us in this illustration.

In 1939 it was Jesus who was clothed with all power in heaven; in 1958 the glorified one in heaven is not called Jesus, but Michael. In 1939 Jesus is an Executive Officer; in 1958 Jesus (or is it Michael?) is an archangel. Referring to Jesus, we are told by Jehovah’s Witnesses that, “Jude 9 calls him ‘Michael the archangel’,” [18] BUT THE BIBLE DOES NO SUCH THING. Jude is not referring to Jesus at all.

Already there appears contradictions and complication. Is Jesus an Executive Officer or is He an archangel? Is His name Michael or is it Jesus? Surely an Executive Officer cannot be an archangel as well? Just who is this Jesus Christ? Who is the one who takes such an important place in heaven?

MY BIBLE TELLS ME THAT IT IS JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, THE LORD OF ALL CREATION, GOD THE SON, WHO IS IN HEAVEN—there is no mention of these other titles and names being applied to Jesus.

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach the false doctrine that Jesus was resurrected as an invisible spirit creature. His fleshly body remained in the tomb until dissolved into gasses or spirited away miraculously by God the Father. We are now left with a disembodied spirit or invisible spirit creature.

There now follows four statements which not only contradict themselves but contradict the Jehovah’s Witness teachings and beliefs already presented in this booklet. Again, the italics are mine for sake of clarity, and the statements were published in 1921, 1943, 1958 and 1975 respectively.

“He had the power to create a fleshly body and appear in it and dissolve it at any time; and without doubt when he appeared to his disciples behind locked doors he created the body immediately in their presence and dissolved it when he disappeared. To prove to them he was a real body of flesh and bones he said to them: ‘Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.’ (Luke 24:39) This was not a spirit body, but a body of flesh.” [19]

“Beginning with his resurrection day Jesus showed himself alive to his faithful disciples at intervals during forty days...How did Jesus appear or make himself visible to them? By materialising fleshly bodies on the occasions of his appearances.. Jesus miraculously permitted Saul to see some of his heavenly glory as a divine spirit...The vision cost Saul his eye-sight for three days. Hence for the forty days after his resurrection Jesus did not appear in this way to his disciples, but in fleshly form.” [20]

“He appeared to his followers again and again during the next forty days... Usually they could not at first tell it was Jesus, for he appeared in different bodies. He appeared and disappeared just as angels had done, because he was resurrected a spirit creature. Only because Thomas would not believe did Jesus appear in a body like that in which he had died.” [21]

“It is of no use for us today, almost two thousand years later, to quibble about whether this Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day. We have Jewish witnesses to that fact...before he ascended to God’s right hand forty days after his resurrection...The fact of the matter is that the twenty-seven books of those inspired Greek Scriptures would never have been written if Jesus Christ had not been raised from the dead and thereafter glorified with Jehovah God in the heavens. Furthermore, the inspired Hebrew Scriptures...would have fallen flat to this day if Jesus Christ had not been resurrected from the dead by the almighty power of Jehovah God. The eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus Christ were willing to stake their lives upon the actuality of his resurrection.” [22]

The 1921 and 1943 statements contradict the “invisible spirit creature” theory; and these two contradict the statement published in 1958. The 1975 statement seems almost to accept the Bible version of the resurrection. It is all very confusing! What are Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to do? We have already been told that this invisible spirit creature will never be seen by the world again, and this dates from the Lord’s resurrection. We are now told, to prove to the disciples that “he was a real body of flesh and bones he said to them: ‘Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.’ This was not a spirit body, but a body of flesh.”

Now, was Jesus an invisible spirit, or was He a visible body? Come on, Jehovah’s Witnesses, make up your mind! Jesus Himself said He was flesh and bones, that He was not a spirit. Jehovah’s Witnesses, in effect, are either saying Jesus is a liar, or that He is a cheat and a deceiver. Who are we to believe? The obvious answer is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice, too, on the occasions of His appearances He appeared in fleshly bodies—an invisible spirit creature—and for the forty days after His resurrection He appeared in fleshly form. The latest statement refers to “the actuality of his resurrection.” Contradiction upon contradiction; complete disagreement with the Word of God.

Not content with contradicting the Bible, they seemingly contradict themselves, too. In 1958 they state that the Lord appeared in different bodies, yet they were all fleshly ones before, and that He only appeared in a fleshly body—”a body like that in which he had died”—when Thomas doubted. Do they really know themselves what they believe? The Word of God is very plain on the subject, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses actually quote it, almost approaching the truth. But their own false theories creep in and complications arise.

As we have mentioned before, this is what makes the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult so dangerous—they mix a little Bible truth with a lot of cultist error, and the resulting “mix” appears plausible and acceptable. But it is not! It is dangerous! It is false propaganda!

WHY ARE THESE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES SO BLIND TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD?

The simplicity of Bible truth is so stupidly complicated by their theories, so clouded by their false doctrine, that the Bible becomes impossible to understand. In just fifty-five years (1921-1975) their teachings have appeared to undergo a subtle change. (I know for a certain fact that from 1975 to the present date in the early years of the 21st Century several of their so-called major doctrines have undergone several not-so-subtle changes—but that is outside the scope of these booklets, so the reader will have to take that statement on face value!) We have had the truths of the New Testament for nearly two thousand years, but they have remained the same.

Here we have yet another proof of the falsity of the Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrinal system. Remember what we have already said, a truth which keeps changing cannot be a truth!

These poor misguided souls blandly say that “it is of no use for us today...to quibble about whether Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day…” and then go on to argue the “actuality of his resurrection”. But who is quibbling about Christ’s resurrection, not the true Christian Church, but the Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves?

They are the ones who are complicating—contradicting—quibbling!

Look again at some of their statements. They say that Jesus miraculously permitted Saul to see some of His heavenly glory as a divine spirit—the spirit that was an invisible creature, remember! Two contradictions are set up by this statement.

CONTRADICTION NUMBER ONE

Following His resurrection, especially after His ascension, Jesus was not only supposed to be invisible, but “the world will see him no more.” It would, therefore, be absolutely impossible for Saul to see even some of His heavenly glory as a divine spirit—an invisible spirit creature.

CONTRADICTION NUMBER TWO

We are told here that it was Jesus who permitted Saul to see His heavenly glory, yet Jehovah’s Witnesses have stated that in heaven He was not called Jesus, but Michael.

All very complicated! If we try to reason it all out, we arrive at only one conclusion, which is even more complicated! Try and work this out! When Jesus, who is not Jesus, but Michael, allows Saul to see Him, he does not actually see Him, because He is an invisible spirit creature, and the world will see Him no more, so Saul could not have seen Michael, who is called Jesus. We are now so complicated, so confused, as to make it necessary to either give up, or turn to the Bible.

The Bible, obviously the only right course to take, will immediately put things right, but in so doing will completely condemn the Jehovah’s Witnesses whole system of doctrine.

One of the proofs given in the fourth article of this short series of articles for our believing in the humanity of Jesus was the similarity of natural sensations common only to a physical being; such sensations experienced by God the Son are identical with our own. Take, for instance, the natural sensation of hunger. Jesus satisfied this in exactly the same way as we would appease hunger. This was before the resurrection; but what about afterwards?

We would not expect a spirit (especially an invisible one!) to hunger—not even a glorious spirit creature! The need for a spirit to eat, therefore, would be non-existent. But if Jesus rose from the dead, not a spirit as we are encouraged to believe by Jehovah’s Witnesses, but as a human body, then natural physical sensations would still come to Him after the resurrection. With this thought in mind let us turn to the Bible.

After His resurrection, then, Jesus showed Himself to His disciples, told them plainly that He was not a spirit but flesh and bones, then continued this incident by asking them, “Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.” [23] THE CROWNING PROOF IS YET TO COME. In the meantime we accept this as yet another contradiction of Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, and pray to God that it will prove and convince them of their erroneous and blasphemous teachings.

The reader will, I am sure, agree with the opening statement of this booklet—in their teachings concerning the resurrection of our Lord, the Jehovah’s Witnesses boldly proclaim God the Father and God the Son as two of the greatest religious tricksters of all time. To this we might add, following our discoveries in this article—they also brand Jesus as a cheat, a deceiver and a liar, aided and abetted by Almighty God Himself.

My sincere prayer is that God the Holy Spirit, whom Jehovah’s Witnesses deny, incidentally, will continue to strive with them, and equip us who know the truth so that we may be enabled to lead them out of darkness into light—or to be more precise, to lead them out of the darkness of their sinful doctrines into the glorious light of the true gospel. To quote the title of one of their books, The Truth Shall Make You Free!  That is, the truth as taught in the Bible, not the so-called “truth” promulgated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The crowning proof of the resurrection earlier promised should convince all Jehovah’s Witnesses of their false doctrine, and if they face the issue honestly, will give them an opportunity of knowing something different—OF LEARNING THE TRUTH WHICH IS THEIR ONLY HOPE OF SALVATION. Perhaps the greatest contradiction of their false doctrine of Christ’s resurrection, and the CROWNING PROOF, can be found in the words of Jesus Himself.    

Speaking to the Jews, He said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. The Jews replied, It has taken forty- six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” [24]