Some Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door, and gave me a book of theirs, called “What Does the Bible Really Teach?” I agreed to look it over, and this article is the result of some of my findings.

My first observation is the title. A 223 page book can’t tell anyone what the Bible says, because the Bible is much longer than that. I don’t like the title, because it’s not accurate. To find out what the Bible really teaches – read the Bible. Read it without interpreting it through how you were raised, what your church teaches, what you’ve read in other books that it means, or from any other previous teaching. Read it ready to accept what the Bible itself says.

In opening the book, I dog eared pages and wrote notes, so that I could reference those in recording my findings. This article is not at all exhaustive. There were a lot more things I could have brought up, and delved into, but this is meant to be an article, not a book about a book about a book. Therefore, I have chosen to just get into some of my major observations.

First, however, I must say that I applaud the Jehovah’s Witnesses for not partaking of the pagan holidays, such as Easter and Christmas. That is wonderful. However, after reading this book, I fear for their salvation, and wonder if they know how to get saved, as their version of the bible seems to change or remove many of the major salvation verses. The book seemed to be very works-based.

The Holy Bible says:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. –Ephesians 2:8-10

We are saved through faith, not by works. Notice in the above, that the works come after salvation. We don’t do works to be saved, we do works because we are saved. This is an important distinction.

I noticed while the little JW book did mention Jesus Christ the Messiah, many times, it didn’t really get into why Jesus is the Messiah. Messiah/Christ means the “anointed one,” and Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.” The Bible often referred to God the Father as the redeemer and saviour in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, Christ is referred to as the redeemer and saviour.

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. -1 John 4:14

How is Jesus the Saviour of the world? According to the JW Bible – the “New World Translation:”

For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness, but with the mouth one makes public declaration for salvation. For the scripture says: “No one who rests his faith on him will be disappointed.” -NWT Romans 10:9-11

And the King James Version of the same verse:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. –KJV Romans 10:9-11

Notice the NWT has salvation being from works – “and exercise faith in your heart.” While the KJV says “and shalt believe in thine heart.” The KJV has belief, but the NWT has exercise. Further, the NWT says “with the heart one exercises faith for righteousness,” and the KJV says “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” This is a big deal. The Christian confesses Christ with their mouth, and believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord, and that He rose from the dead. After they believe and confess it with their mouth, then they are born again as a new creature in God, who is led by the Holy Spirit to do good works for and to further the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps the above NWT translation is just poor, and they really don’t mean that you work to be saved. Let’s look at the classic, and most famous salvation Scripture – John 3:16.

New World Translation:

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. –NWT John 3:16

King James Version

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. –KJV John 3:16

Notice they again removed belief, and replaced it with “exercise.” Hmmm. Salvation comes from faith in Christ, in that He spilt His blood at Calvary, to pay for our sins. You can’t exercise faith without belief. Belief seems to be missing from the JW Bible, which explains to me why the book they gave me doesn’t give the Gospel message, but instead a works message.

In order to be saved, Christ must know you. You can say you know Christ, and are doing good works for Him, but if He doesn’t know you, you are not saved, and your works will be viewed as iniquity:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. –Matthew 7:21-23

The JW book was right, in that we must keep Jesus’ Commandments, but it didn’t say what His commandments are. There are two, and they are:

1) Believe on the name of Jesus Christ
2) Love one another

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. –1 John 3:22-24

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. -John 13:34-36

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. -Mark 12:29-31

While the JW book didn’t much mention salvation through belief in Christ Jesus, it did say that one has to be baptized for salvation. This is wrong. The key verse they gave was the one about the Ethiopian Eunuch getting baptized. Here, I’ll quote it from their Bible:

Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he declared to him the good news about Jesus. Now as they were going along the road, they came to a body of water, and the eunuch said: “Look! Here is water; what prevents me from getting baptized?” With that he commanded the chariot to halt, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. –NWT Acts 8:35-38

Well, I don’t see the word “exercise” in the above, but I think their “exercising the faith” here, is the baptism itself. At least, that’s how it appears to me, after looking at the other above quoted passages from the New World Translation. However, the above bothers me. Do you want to know why? Because the most important part of the passage is missing from the NWT. Now I will show you the King James Version of the above passage, and you’ll see what I mean:

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. –KJV Acts 8:35-38

I underlined the part missing from the JW Bible. Again, where’s the belief? It seems to be missing from the NWT JW Bible.

When the above passage is read, without the underlined portion missing, then we see that baptism is to happen after one puts their faith and belief in Christ.

Baptism does not save us, faith in Christ does. Baptism is an ordinance, just as the Lord’s Supper is, etc.

One of the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the door told me the earth will never be destroyed. I said that it would be renovated by fire. He said that was just the people, and not the earth. That is incorrect. Not only the earth will be melted by fire, but the heavens will, as well:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. –2 Peter 3:10-13

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Revelation 21:1

In Luke 23:43, Jesus tells the man who professed faith in Him, while dying on the cross, that he will be in paradise:

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. –Luke 23:42-43

The JW book says that this is referring to a coming paradise on earth, and not heaven. However, Jesus said TODAY he would be with Him in paradise. This is because Jesus was referring to the paradise in the third heaven. Other Scriptures refer to the third heaven as paradise, such as:

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. –2 Corinthians 12:2-4

The JW book says that Jesus is not God, and that God the Father is greater than Jesus Christ. Here’s the problem with that. If God is greater than Christ, then men are greater than women, because:

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. –1 Corinthians 11:3

However, we know that man is not greater than woman. We read both in 1 Corinthians 11 and in the creation account in Genesis, that both men and women are created in God’s image. The order given in the above passage is authoritative order, not who is greater.

Men are not considered greater than women in God’s eyes:

Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. –1 Corinthians 11:11

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. –Galatians 3:28

Just as the man is not greater than the woman, God is not “greater” than Christ, as the JW book outright says. The Scriptures tell us this clearly:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men -Philippians 2:6-7

The above says that Jesus is equal with God, but took upon Himself to become a servant – Christ born in the flesh as a Human. Jesus and God are equal, because Jesus is God:

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. –Colossians 1:14-17

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. –Micah 5:2

Just a side note. Notice it says “in whom (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” THAT is salvation! The Bible says life is in the blood, and that Jesus Christ’s pure, sinless blood was spilt in our place, to pay the death penalty of sin for us. Look quickly at the below few Scriptures, and then we’ll get back on track:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God -Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. –Romans 6:23

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace -Ephesians 1:17

Back to the above Colossians 1:14-17 passage. Notice I underlined a portion. Below are more Scriptures proving Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Heavenly Father are the one, true God:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. –John 1:1

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. –1 John 5:7

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. –1 Timothy 3:16

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. –Micah 5:2

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. –Isaiah 7:14

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. –Matthew 1:23

Lord (capital ‘L’) is a title given for God. According to the Bible, you must confess Jesus as Lord:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. –Romans 10:9-11

The JW book claims that when a person dies, they don’t go to heaven or hell, but instead they know nothing, and sleep. This is incorrect. See the below:

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? -Ecclesiastes 3:21

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. –Ecclesiastes 12:7

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. –Luke 16:22-26

Because of some passage in Ecclesiastes, and many in the New Testament say that when a person dies they know nothing, and sleep, the JWs seem to think this means soul sleep, or some similar doctrine. However, as the above quoted Ecclesiastes 12:7 shows us, there is a distinction. The body sleeps in the ground, awaiting the resurrection, and since the fleshy brain is rotting, it knows nothing. However, we – our spirits, go elsewhere.

Keep this distinction in mind. The body sleeps, until it is reunited with the spirit. Now see the below:

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. –Ecclesiastes 12:7

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. –Daniel 12:2

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. –1 Corinthians 15:50-52

Obviously, our spirits are not just the breath of God, they are us, as is demonstrated in Luke 16:22-26, which is NOT a parable. Jesus was relating a true story. You can study this out for yourself, by comparing His true stories with His parables in the Gospels. He always let us know when He spoke a parable. In this case, He didn’t let us know He was speaking a parable, because He was not.

Further, we know we exist outside of our bodies, because:

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. –Revelation 4:2

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. –Revelation 17:3

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God -Revelation 21:10

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord -2 Corinthians 5:6

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. –2 Corinthians 5:8

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. –2 Corinthians 12:2

The JW book seems to indicate that hell isn’t real. It says “Satan wants us to believe that Jehovah tortures people in fire forever.” Let’s see if there is a fiery hell, shall we?

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels -Matthew 25:41

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. –Matthew 13:41-42

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. –Mark 9:43-48

The JW book says “God resurrected Jesus, but not as a human.” They then quote a Bible verse to try to back this up. I will quote it below, in their Bible version:

For Christ died once for all time for sins, a righteous person for unrighteous ones, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. –1 Peter 3:18 New World Translation

This verse is significantly different in the King James Version, and is more clear in the KJV. It shows that the above isn’t at all saying what the JW book says it is saying. Take a look for yourself:

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit -1 Peter 3:18 King James Version

Quickened means brought back to life. In the Greek, it is zōopoieō, which literally means “to produce alive.”

Notice the KJV passage above has “Spirit” capitalized, while the NWT version does not. This is because Christ was quickened – “zōopoieō, which literally means to produce alive,” by the Holy Spirit of God. This verse doesn’t at all say Jesus died a human, but was made alive a non-human. That is denying the resurrection. A resurrection involves the body coming back to life. Notice while the KJV says "by the Spirit," the NWT changes the Word of God, by saying "in the spirit." Clearly, Jesus Christ was resurrected in the flesh, by the Holy Spirit. He was not resurrected as a spirit.

This JW teaching fails the test of the spirits:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. -1 John 4:1-3

Jesus clearly resurrected in the flesh, and He will come again in the flesh:

And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. -Acts 1:9-11

However, when Jesus was resurrected, and when we resurrect, we will no longer have corrupted bodies, but spiritual bodies. Just as Jesus ate fish after His resurrection, we will be able to eat as well. We will be resurrected in the bodies we have now, but they will be transformed into incorruptible bodies.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. –1 Corinthians 15:53

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. –1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

The JW book touches a bit on the 144,000. It says “Those few remaining ones of the 144,000 who die in our day are instantly resurrected to life in heaven.” I don’t know where they got this, because it’s not in the Bible.

The 144,000 are only Jews, from certain specific tribes of Israel, and they aren’t appointed until during the 7-year tribulation.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. –Revelation 7:4-8

Further, this 144,000 will be raptured during the middle of the tribulation. They will be redeemed at that time:

And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. –Revelation 14:3

The JW book claims that “in 1914 Christ became King and God’s Heavenly Kingdom began to rule.” Does this look like the kingdom of heaven to you? No, because this is still Satan’s kingdom. Christ will begin taking the kingdom back in the middle of the 7-year tribulation:

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. –Revelation 11:15

The JW book says “angels no longer appear visibly to people on earth.” Wrong, see:

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. –Hebrews 13:2

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. –2 Corinthians 11:14

The JW book says “The rebellious angels, or demons, were forced to abandon their fleshly bodies and return to heaven.” WHAT?!!! The Bible says the exact opposite. See for yourself:

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. –Jude 1:6

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; -2 Peter 2:4

Friends, I could go on for pages and pages, and truly this long article will take on book form. However, I think I’ve given sufficient information above, for you to do your own research. What do I suggest you read, to know “What Does the Bible Really Teach?” Not the Jehovah’s Witness’ book by that name, or any other book of the sort.

Read the King James Bible itself. Push aside traditions and all man’s teachings, and dig for the truth for yourself. When you stop trying to make the Bible mean what you’ve been taught, but instead just read it and learn what it really says, it becomes very simple to understand, and clear cut.