Jehovah's Witnesses pride themselves on being the only true Christians and accuse all other religions of being pagan or occultic and under control of the Devil. Most pagan practices involve the occult and the roots of the Watchtower organization are steeped in both.
Most modern Jehovah's Witnesses go about their religious round of works believing that they are pure and free from any pagan contamination. Although their organization carefully conceals these things, the individual Witness needs to closely examine their history up to the present day.
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL
Charles Russell was the organization's founder and first president. The Watchtower of July 15, 1950, p.212 makes the following revealing statement about him:
"In his teens Charles Taze Russell, the editor, had been a member of the Congregational Church and a strong believer in the eternal torture of damned human souls in a hell of literal fire and brimstone. But when trying to reclaim an acquaintance, an infidel, to Christianity, he himself was routed from his sectarian position and driven into skepticism."
"Hungrily he began investigating the heathen religions in search of the truth of God's purpose and man's destiny. Proving all these unsatisfactory and before giving up religious investigation altogether, he took up the search of the Holy Scriptures from a skeptic's viewpoint, now untrammeled by the false religious doctrines of the sectarian systems of Christendom."
What an admission! He knew so little of the Christian faith and what the Bible taught, that an "infidel" drove him into skepticism. Notice that his approach to the Holy Scriptures was as a "skeptic" and not a believer, feeling that he was free from the influence of "Christendom." His mind was not protected by sound doctrine, and his head was full of the pagan occultic teaching he had so eagerly sought. This will become more apparent as we pursue the pagan roots of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell retained that pagan influence, all the while professing to be an unspotted Christian.
PAGAN SYMBOLS ON
Examining the very first issue of "Zion's Watch Tower" Russell's followers should have been alerted to his intentions to fuse the occult with Christianity when he stated:
WATCHTOWER PUBLICATIONS
"A truth presented by Satan himself is just as true as a truth stated by God" ...and..."accept truth wherever you find it."
Also, one should take note of the symbols on the top corners of the cover page of an early Watchtower magazine (Zion's Watchtower, 10-15-14. The cross and the crown are the exact symbols of the Knights Templar degree of the Freemasons. The other symbol is of the Knights and Crusaders. Perhaps this tie to the Masons explains why early Watchtower adherents met in Masonic Halls, and offshoot groups continue to do so down to this day - all devotees of Charles Russell.
In his personal life Russell was greatly influenced by a prevailing health treatment. Various psychics professed to give "readings" by examining the bumps of one's head. This is certainly not a Christian practice and, in fact, leaves one open to spiritistic influence. He was already supposed to be dispensing Bible truth when he was, at the same time, obviously concerned with the shape of one's skull. During this time he taught in the Watchtower , March 15, 1913, p.84 that one's desire to worship God was due to the shape of their brain. During his divorce proceedings, he had his skull examined for moral character and humility (PA Superior Court Reports, 1908). In the Watchtower, January 15, 1912 he stated that he also felt that if a dog's head was shaped like a man's, the dog would think as a man. Phrenology is not Christianity, yet he attempted to fuse the two beliefs.
If one examines Russell's theology in his series of books called Studies in the Scriptures, he will notice a blatantly occult symbol adorning the covers. The winged solar disk is a symbol of ancient Egypt representing the sun god. Throughout the centuries it came to represent various other pagan deities. It was, in fact, the symbol for the Baal gods during Jezebel's time. Russell attempted to fuse paganism and Christianity and pass it off as untainted Christianity.
CHARLES RUSSELL AND SORCERY
Sorcerers are usually into astrology as well, looking for patterns and meanings in the stars. Charles Russell was no exception. In the May 1st 1903 issue of Zion's Watchtower, he wrote a section devoted to his favorable support of astrology.
In the discourse called "The Divine Plan of the Ages with Stellar Correspondencies" by Grant Jolly, a contemporary of Russell, we find the Society trying to foist the pagan zodiac on its followers. In this discourse, under the heading "The Heavens Declare the Glory of God" we find the statement:
"...From this we may suppose that the signs (the constellations) of the Zodiac are approximately as old as the human race and perhaps of Divine origin. Indeed the same Bible which points to the Great Pyramid points also to the Heavens as declaring the wonderful plan of salvation....in them (that is, the stars) there is written the hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie promised before the world began." (Titus 1:2) This promise was indeed recorded in the stars before this world began. In considering the Zodiac, it will be necessary to carefully avoid the many errors that have attached themselves in connection with the various heathen religions."
What double-talk! The Society takes a completely pagan concept, embraces it, adopts it, goes so far as to compare Jesus with Pisces, even saying:
"...Pisces shall have completely bruised the serpent's head."
"The connection between the top of the Grand Gallery and the spaces above the King's Chamber still represents the spiritual presence of our Lord in the Harvest of this Age, beginning with 1874." Thy Kingdom Come, 1891, 1916 edition, ii-iii and p. 333
Consider another example: The Watchtower of June 15, 1922, p.187 supported their "absolute date" of 539 BC by allowing "an inch for a year" in the Great Pyramid. All their other dates are based on their so-called "absolute year" date down until this day, and it is false!
This fact sets off a whole string of equally false dates. The year 607 BC for the destruction of Jerusalem and used by the Jehovah's Witnesses is therefore likewise false. The "seven times" or "Gentile Times" used by the Witnesses and calculated as 2,520 years is also incorrect and without Biblical basis. Their keystone year of 1914, originally set by pyramid calculations, is likewise in error. It will soon be evident to all Jehovah's Witnesses when the generation of 1914 passes on and no fulfillment of their hope for a new order to be ushered in.
Every Jehovah's Witness should take himself to a public library and read up on Pyramidology. They will discover the occult roots of their group and also be surprised to learn how many blatantly occult, pagan groups also name 1914 due to pyramid studies.
Modern Jehovah's Witnesses may be surprised to know that Charles Taze Russell wrapped himself in a toga (a pagan Roman garment) prior to his death, and was buried under a pyramid displaying the Masonic cross and crown, and an open Bible! Even in his death he left a memorial of his attempt to fuse paganism, Masonic symbols, and Christianity.
THE USE OF OCCULT SOURCES
Some Jehovah's Witnesses will try to excuse their founder, Charles Russell, by admitting that he did have some strange doctrines in the beginning, but that the light has grown "brighter and brighter." However, history proves that the Society has consistently used pagan occult sources to support their doctrines and teachings.
THROUGHOUT WATCHTOWER HISTORY
To support their heresy that Jesus is only "a god," they resorted to quoting a spirit medium for support, with the full knowledge that he was one. The New world Translation, the JWS' Bible, John 1:1 is translated:
"In (the) beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god."
For support of this distortion, they turned to the "expertise" of a known spirit medium named Johannes Greber. He was a defrocked Catholic priest who received his so-called "translation" of the Bible through spiritistic means - usually in trances. The Watchtower Society exposed him in the February 15, 1956, p.110 Watchtower warning that his sources were demonic.
However, in 1961, just 5 years later, the Society was quoting him as an authority for their New World Translation, since he was a supporter of their doctrine on the person of Jesus Christ and all 3 sources: Greber, the demons, and the Watchtower Society all agreed that Jesus was merely "a god." While knowingly agreeing with and quoting a spirit medium, they nevertheless spoke out against spiritistic practices. In the October 15, 1977 Watchtower, p.624, they said:
"Since spiritism is condemned by God, it becomes obvious that a person appealing to spiritism for knowledge or help is not appealing to God. He is looking to a source opposed to God..."
Not a single reputable Christian or non-Christian scholar would agree with the Society's distortion of John 1:1 where they claim that Jesus (the Word) was "a god." The Watchtower has for their support only other Christ-denying cults, the pagans, and the occult for their view of Christ.
In 1983, only after being cornered with their deception, on page 31 of the April 1st, 1983 Watchtower they denied that they knew what they were doing! They promised not to quote him anymore but they left intact his demonic, pagan doctrines on Christ; not only concerning Christ's person, but also regarding His resurrection.
ANGELS GIVE LIGHT TO THE SOCIETY
Why have the Jehovah's Witnesses deliberately covered over their false dates and also intentionally altered their Bible, claiming that they are accurate when all evidence is to the contrary? The reason is because they assert that they receive their "light" from "angels."
Their writings from the 1930's are rampant with references to "angelic direction" to guide their activities. The Society gives their own meaning to the Biblical term "remnant" who they consider to be their special "Governing Body" chosen from those 144,000 members who also have a heavenly hope. This "remnant" rules from Brooklyn, NY. Vindication, Vol. III, 1932, p.250 reads:
"...the heavenly messengers or angels of the Lord now used by the Lord in behalf of the remnant. These angels are invisible to human eyes and are there to carry out the orders of the Lord. No doubt they first hear the instruction which the Lord issues to his remnant and then these invisible messengers pass such instruction on to the remnant."
What an admission! The Governing Body of the Jehovah's Witnesses consisting of several very elderly men claiming to be the "remnant" form all doctrine for the Jehovah's Witnesses. "How?" you may ask. According to a book by a former member of the Governing Body, it wasn't by prayer or study of the Bible. ("Crisis of Conscience" by Raymond Franz) It was supposed to be under "angelic direction," but Raymond Franz left because he felt it was just a man-made organization.
Since the "remnant" doesn't actually see their angels, by their own admission, what is going on? One can only assume that they "hear voices" or perhaps receive truth by "automatic handwriting," or some such procedure. This "remnant" also admits that they have things "put in their minds." Consider this statement from their publication, "Light", Vol. I, 1930, p.120:
"Again God put in the minds of his people, by his angel, to act and to carry out his purposes."
There isn't a single Bible precedent for angels putting things in the minds of believers. The Holy Spirit can motivate us, perhaps at times through our minds....but angels? This scriptural warning on angels and men preaching a false gospel has direct application to the Watchtower Society:
"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed." Galatians 1:8,9
What kind of angels are directing the Society and its "gospel?" They are not presenting the same gospel as the apostles; but a contrary one.
Even more disturbing is the claim that angels direct the writing of The Watchtower magazine - the prime channel for Jehovah's Witnesses:
"The Lord used the Watchtower to announce these truths. Doubtless he used his invisible deputies to have much to do with it." "Light", Vol. I, 1930, p.64
Did God really send his angels to the Watchtower organization with these false dates for the end of the world?: 1874, 1879, 1914,1915, 1918, 1925, 1941 and 1975? Of course not! If these false dates did not come from God, can we just then excuse them as "honest mistakes?" No, not on the basis of Jeremiah 23:16-
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD."
and in Jeremiah 28:9 -
"The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him."
Jehovah's Witnesses down through the years have adopted pagan practices such as numerology, stargazing, the zodiac, false predictions, demonic sources, and deliberate mistranslation of the Scriptures to bolster up their organization's teachings, but their records stands for themselves. They are consistently false.
We join with Jeremiah, a true prophet, who chastised the false prophet Hananiah:
"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie." (Jeremiah 28:15)