What You Need to Know When Jehovah’s Witnesses Come Knocking at Your Door

By: Joan Cetnar, Bill Cetnar; ©1991

What does the Bible say about Jehovah? When Jehovah’s Witnesses use the name Jehovah, do they mean the same thing? What about Jesus? What are JWs taught about blood transfusions?

What You Need to Know When Jehovah’s Witnesses Come Knocking at Your Door – Who Is Jehovah?

Introduction

Dr. John Ankerberg: The information in this program was taped live at the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute Apologetics Conference in Orlando, Florida. Each year we invite laymen, students and pastors to attend this conference and hear seven or eight of the best professors and apologists in Christianity teach on topics of vital interest to all of us.

Our two instructors for this session are Bill and Joan Cetnar. Bill and Joan were both once devout Jehovah’s Witnesses. Bill had a responsible position as a correspondent in the Watchtower Headquarters right in Brooklyn, NY. Joan was raised in the Watchtower Society and was an heir to the S. S. Kresge fortune. But Joan was disinherited when she put her trust in the real Jesus. They are now Christian authors and apologists. The Cetnars’ special interest is examining the Watchtower Society’s publications and witnessing to its followers.

Bill and Joan have been program guests on The John Ankerberg Show, and they have also sponsored apologetics conferences and written numerous books and tracts designed to win Jehovah’s Witnesses to Jesus Christ.

Bill and Joan Cetnar’s topic for this session is: “What You Need to Know When Jehovah’s Witnesses Come Knocking at Your Door.” As you listen to this information, it is my prayer that God will increase your faith and draw you closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.

---

Bill Cetnar: Jehovah’s Witnesses are genuine false prophets! Do you agree with that? Just raise your hand. Fine. Jehovah’s Witnesses have a peculiar name. It originated in the fifteenth century. That name is Jehovah. They call themselves “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Jehovah is a very bad name. It has no origin. Here is when they came up with it and they made a book entitled, Jehovah, and in it are many misquotations. In 1934 Judge Rutherford came up with this work and he entitled it Jehovah and no one knew what it meant. When this book came out in 1934, if you would go from house to house and start talking about Jehovah, no one would know what you’re talking about. I did. And no one knew what I was talking about. I had to explain to them what Jehovah meant.

Judge Rutherford liked the name Jehovah so much that he took the word Jehovah and put it into the Rotherham translation of the Bible. I personally refuse to use the Rotherham translation because they had “Jehovah” in it every time. And every time this book mentions a quote from the Rotherham translation–that’s a big Bible!–he uses Jehovah in that quote. And you look in the Rotherham translation and the Rotherham translation uses the correct word “Yahweh.” Yahweh is the correct translation. “Lo, unto Jehovah thy God belong the heavens and the earth”–Rotherham translation. Brothers, that’s diabolical! And sisters. Anytime I say “brothers,” that includes the sisters.

How many have ever had a Jehovah’s Witness knock on their door? How many ever had Mormons with their white shirts and holy underwear and they have white shirts and holy underwear and it’s holy and I don’t say anything to make you smile–I tell you the truth!

How many have ever gone to a doctor’s office and while sitting there see those blue books with golden letters entitled, Bible Stories? Seventh-day Adventists. That’s the beginning of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Seventh-day Adventists began Jehovah’s Witnesses with a false prophecy in 1840 and in 1844. Jesus was not a God to them. Jesus became a God to Seventh-day Adventists recently, but they still call him “Michael the Archangel.” So they’re false prophets yet. And they are thinking about turning back and having Jesus not God now.

Do you realize that you had a prophecy made by Jesus fulfilled on you? Let’s turn to Matthew 7:15. Look what it says. “Beware of false prophets!” If we “beware” of something, we’re afraid of it; we’re on the alert; we want to watch out that he doesn’t hurt us. And that’s exactly the way we should feel about Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the most dangerous people on earth! I better say that again because it didn’t shock anybody and no one fainted. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the most dangerous people on earth. They kill more people in this country that anyone else!

A few years ago there was a man, Jim Jones. He killed 701 or something. Jehovah’s Witnesses kill that many people every week! There are over seven million Jehovah’s Witnesses. Over a thousand of these need a blood transfusion every week. That means that potentially a thousand people a week have this killing instinct to let them die. That’s why this is the most important subject spoken of here and you folks are the ones that are to take it out. That’s really dangerous.

So look what it says, “Beware!” “Beware of false prophets.” Who is speaking here? It’s Jesus. That’s God. He is telling me to beware. He is the Creator, the Maker of this universe. I think I should listen. That’s an important warning.

Did He tell us to beware of those who make mistakes? No. I make so many. We all make mistakes. He said, “Beware of false prophets.” Why should we beware? Because false prophets are coming to you–at the front door, the back door, the side door, the doctor’s office, everywhere. Have you ever had anyone come to you and say, “Good morning. I’m a false prophet”? Never have I heard that expression from a Jehovah’s Witness.

For Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing.” Oh? They’re going to come like sheep. Every Jehovah’s Witness that you see will come to you as a sheep. What is a sheep? That’s a follower of the Great Shepherd Christ Jesus. He’s a Christian. Jehovah’s Witnesses try to talk like Christians and a Christian is a “Christ In,” one that looks to Christ for everything. So they [the Jehovah’s Witnesses] are not Christians because they don’t look to Christ for anything. They try to look like Christians. They try to talk like Christians. They even carry a Bible like Christians when they come to your door.

But what did Jesus say is under the sheepskin? “But inwardly are ravenous wolves.” They’re hungry; rib cage showing; fangs hanging out: wolves.

“Oh, not the Jehovah’s Witnesses I know. You’ve got the wrong idea of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Yes, I have the right idea of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I used to be one–from 1930 to 1962. My wife was a fourth generation Jehovah’s Witness. She was in the Kresge family. Kresge’s mother and father were Jehovah’s Witnesses; their daughters were Jehovah’s Witnesses; and she could have been a Jehovah’s Witness also.

They can take this life right now by teaching no blood transfusions. A thousand people a week put their life on the line because they need a blood transfusion but they can’t get it. They can take the life to come by teaching that Jesus is not the I AM.

In John 8:24 we get the answer from the Bible. I would like you to look at this first. In John 8:24 it says, “I told you”–that’s Jesus speaking–“I told you that you would die in your sins.” That’s horrifying when God says that to me. Today Christians, they don’t think of dying because of what they believe. And 500 years ago the man who translated the King James Version was killed. He was killed just for being a translator 500 years ago. And today, we read the Bible. We have it lying around. We pass it on to others, never thinking of killing that person. But to kill an individual who translates a Bible!

Well, here’s what it says: “I told you that you would die in your sins for you will die in your sins unless you believe”–what?–“that I Am.” Now, if there is a “he” in your Bible, blot it out. That’s an old-fashioned translation. “He” is not in the Greek. It’ll mess you up! We don’t need to be messed up. We have our lives to save for “we will die in our sins unless we believe that Jesus is the I Am”! Man, I don’t want to die for that reason. I believe that He is the “I Am.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is the I Am. Neither do they believe that He is God.

Back to Matthew 7 and this important prophecy made by Jesus. If they are so dangerous, how will we know them? Jesus said, “You will know them”–not maybe know them–“You will know them.” You can be sure. How? “By their fruit.” What are they going to do? Raise trees? Produce fruit? Be farmers? What kind of a fruit do we look for? Whose fruits? Not the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The false prophets try to change the tree on you by saying, “We have love, joy, peace,” and so forth, the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But we are not talking about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. We’re not talking about that. Whose fruits are we talking about when we say, “You will know them by their fruits”?

Let’s take this illustration. How many have ever walked up to a tree and there were apples hanging all over it? A few of you. What kind of a tree was it? An apple tree. Right. How many ever walked up to a tree and there were peaches all over it? That’s good. I’m glad a couple walked up to a tree. What kind of a tree was it? A peach tree. Apples produce apples. Peaches produce peaches. Jesus said we would recognize a false prophet by their fruit.

What is the fruit of a false prophet? False prophecies. What is the fruit of a false prophet? False prophecies. That’s important that we recognize and pick out the false prophecies.

God also gave us a golden touchstone in Deuteronomy 18:21. He said, “If you should say in your heart….” Now, how can you talk to your heart? You can do it silently or you can do it out loud in any way you want to do it, as long as you really mean what you say. That’s a very serious question.

How may we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken? That’s the question, isn’t it? “When a prophet speaks….” Walk up to any Jehovah’s Witness and ask him, “Are you a prophet?”

“Yes.”

The wife, she says, “I’m a prophet.”

A little boy or a little girl, “I am a prophet.”

And some of them are ashamed to say it. Tell me, are you a prophet?

When a prophet speaks, he must claim to be a prophet. What is a prophet? A prophet is one who speaks for another. That’s what it means. A prophet is one who speaks for another.

In Exodus 7:1 Aaron is spoken of as a prophet of Moses. He spoke for Moses. Also, a prophet is not necessarily one who predicts, although his message may be about the future. When a prophet speaks “in the name.” Now, we frequently see that word name in the Bible and we say, “In the name of Jesus.” That seems so foolish. What does it mean?

Well, we look at Acts 4:7 to get a definition for the word name. In Acts 4:7 it says, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” So “power” is synonymous with the word “name.” And when you come across the word “name” you substitute the word “power,” that’s the meaning of it.

When a prophet speaks in the power, in the authority, what does it mean? Name? Acts 4:7 definitely tells us “power or authority.” So a prophet must take on the authority of speaking for God.

“If the word does not come to pass” or “come true,” that is a word which Yahweh has not spoken.” The prophet has spoken it. How? “Presumptuously.” That’s not authoritative. He spoke it presumptuously. When a prophet has spoken it presumptuously, “you need not be afraid of him.” And brothers and sisters, if you think I and my wife–we were so happy when we read this verse that we cried because that lifted the authority of the Watchtower off of our shoulders!

“You need not be afraid of him.” He is a false prophet. He has no connection with God and therefore has no authority from God. And that was such a wonderful revelation given to us. He has no connection with God and therefore has no authority.

Now, going back to Jesus at Matthew 7. How many prophecies does it take to become a false prophet? Just one. Absolutely right. As soon as a prophet speaks one false prophecy, he’s a false prophet and you never look to them again. Jesus said, “Are grapes gathered from thorns?” Anybody ever get any grapes from a thorn bush? I never did. I couldn’t imagine grapes growing on thorns. Obviously no. Grapes are good food. They come from the true vine that produces true prophecies. “Every sound tree bears good fruit.” Every good prophet bears true prophecies. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Boy, this is just what I needed. A prophet of God must have a thousand percent batting average. He cannot have one false prophecy. If he has one false prophecy, he is a false prophet. And a false prophet cannot come up with a true prophecy. Jesus made it so simple. It’s wonderful to understand it. Jesus made it simple for me.

How about Jehovah’s Witnesses? Did they ever claim to be a prophet? Well, you were given a sheet on your way in and on this sheet are the false prophecies of Jehovah’s Witnesses. These are their authoritative claims, they said, identifying the prophet. So does Jehovah have a prophet to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come. These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? This prophet was not one man–well–but was a body of men and women. It was a small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ known at that time as International Bible Students. That’s a lot of men and women. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses. See how they always try to stick that word Christian in? That’s the last time they did it–here. But anyway, they did it here.

Of course, it’s easy to say this group acts as a prophet of God–it’s another thing to prove it! Amen! That’s from the April 1 Watchtower in 1972. In 1986 they said, “You’ll be interested to learn that God has on earth a people all of whom are prophets.” Well? “Or witnesses for God in that they are known throughout the world as Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Is there any doubt that they claim to be God’s prophets?

Well, let’s see what they say as a prophet. 1889 Edition. Here is the book, The Time Is at Hand. Have you ever heard of this expression before? Have you ever heard this expression before, “The time is at hand”? It’s on the cover, on this side; it’s on this side; it’s printed on every page of this book: “The time is at hand.” Now, I hope you will remember it because I’ll show you to whom it belongs.

On page 101 they said, “The Battle of Armageddon of the great day of God Almighty which will end in A.D. 1914 with complete overthrow is already commenced.” That’s it. 1914. I wasn’t even here. I don’t imagine some of you were here. But Charles Taze Russell was here, on both sides of 1914, and he became a false prophet.

And he says in 1914, “The present great war in Europe is the beginning of Armageddon in the Scriptures.” That’s in Pastor Russell’s sermons.

In 1916 it says, “The Bible chronology herein presented shows the six great thousand day years beginning with Adam are ended” and that the “great seventh day of the thousand years of Christ’s reign began in 1873.”

In 1918 they said–they were getting ready for another thrust–“Therefore, we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham”–that’s wonderful. Has anyone ever seen Abraham?–“Isaac,”–Oh, his son, too–“and Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the apostles in Hebrews 11 to the condition of human perfection.” This is in writing to this day in the book, Billions Now Living Will Never Die.

In 1922, “The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated in the Scriptures than 1914.” That’s a good thing . “Our thought is that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures as to know the Christian has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in the coming deluge.” That already happened. Noah already had the Flood. And they’re surer of 1925 than Noah was of the Flood!

And 1925 came, January 1, right on the dot. “The year 1925 is here.” Now, that’s a good way to begin an article. “With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected the members of the body of Christ to be changed into heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished.” After all, it’s only January 1. “This may not be.” It may NOT be! “In his own due time God will accomplish his purpose concerning this. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year.”

Most Jehovah’s Witnesses were looking forward. They sold their cars, sold their houses, ready for a new world–and it didn’t come!

In September 1925, now, brothers, these are not just sentences, these are actual happenings. We can find the sentences today, but they really believed them. There were thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1925 that read this. Thousands of them. In September of that same year they said, “It is to be expected that Satan will try to inject into the minds contrary to the thought that 1925 you would see the end of the world.” What do you expect me to think? What will end in 1925 if I’m going to live forever?

In 1926, “Some anticipated the work would end in 1925 but the Lord did not state so.”

“The difficulty was that the friends inflated their imaginations beyond reason and that when their imaginations burstin’ they were inclined to throw everything away.” They were the smart ones.

In 1931 they said, “There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1914, 1918 and 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time.” Just a short time. And they also learned to quit fixing dates.

I’m glad that they learned to quit fixing dates, but they didn’t remember it because they said 1975 once again. “There was a measure of disappointment among Jehovah’s faithful ones.” They had preached that in an early time God would overthrow Christendom. Many had emphasized the year 1925 as that date and then when that date did not materialize, that date was moved up to 1932. Again, 1932 came and Christendom was not destroyed. And now, it is discovered that Christendom would be spared for a while longer for the sake of the Jonadabs Class. Now, how did they get in here? And who are they? Who are the Jonadab Class? Well, whoever it is. And this made the proud elective elders very mad. The crowd was very mad.

In 1941 I was a little boy and this was the first Watchtower and I was there. “Receiving the Gift, the Marching Children.” I was one of them and so was my wife. “The marching children clasped unto them not a toy or play thing.” Of course not. Idle pleasure. “But the Lord’s provided instrument for the most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon, The Children Book.”

Now, this is a 1968 quote that I think I know who wrote it. We’re never sure because when the Watchtower writes an article, they’re not allowed to put their name on it. But this man seemed so honest. Well, I won’t say it.

“True,” he said. “There have been those in times past who predicted the end of the world.”

I wonder who can that be?

“Even announcing a specific date.”

I wonder who can that be?

“Yet nothing happened.”

I wonder who that could be?

“The end did not come.”

They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?

“Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that He was using and guiding them.”

He got that written in the Awake! Magazine and then left.

1968. “Why are you looking forward to 1975?”

Now, 1975 was built up since 1968 and the people were just looking forward to 1975. Many of them sold their homes, their cars. They went to other towns and places to preach to the local people that the world was going to end in 1975. How about 1975? Did you all live through 1975? Made it all right. Did Jehovah’s Witnesses predict what would happen?

In the May 1, 1968 Watchtower magazine they finally decided that they knew when Eve was created. Therefore, they calculated that in the autumn of 1975 they would see the end of all wickedness with the Battle of Armageddon. They knew when Eve was created. Hum. And they just added on a few years and that’s when the world was going to end. That’s according to the book, God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached.

In 1975 the Millennium or Thousand-Year Reign of Christ would immediately follow. Now, Jehovah’s Witnesses were saying that the organization never said anything about 1975. And yet there are magazines–and I have them with me–that have 1975 written all over them.

What should the wise person do when he realizes when he has been following a false prophet? Brothers, when you pull these things out, it’s really heartrending. It makes you want to cry. It doesn’t make you want to laugh. It makes you want to cry. Men gave up their homes; they gave up marriage. They gave up their work in order to live by these things and the minute they don’t happen, it just destroys them and they leave all productive work.

Let’s look at what Jesus’ words were in Matthew 7:19: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” That’s what’s going to happen to the Watchtower, to their presidents. That is definitely what’s going to happen to them. We must heed Jesus’ words and get rid of everything we have ever learned from a false prophet. That doesn’t mean we keep the word “Jehovah.” That’s a false translation of God’s name.

Here I have a publication. It’s called Questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses. I put it together myself and on page 39 it says, “Jehovah”–and I grabbed hold of Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. That’s the closest one I had and I read it. Do you know what it said? “It is a false reading of the Hebrew Yahweh.” Is that so? Jehovah is a false reading of anything?

Let’s go to a Jewish encyclopedia. If anybody should know, the Jews should know. I mean, when Christians scholars first began to study Hebrew, they did not understand what this really meant. And so they introduced a hybrid name, “Jehovah.” The true pronunciation of the name “Yahweh” was never lost. Today we hear all kinds of stories about you just add a few words or subtract a few syllables and somehow Jehovah is used there. The whole word doesn’t mean a thing!

“Several early Greek writers in the Christian church testified that the name was pronounced Yahweh. This is confirmed at least for the vowel of the first syllable of the name by the shorter form Yah which is sometimes used in poetry. The personal name of God of Israel is written in Hebrew Bible with the four consonants YHWH and is referred to as a tetragrammaton. At least until the destruction of the first temple in 586 B.C.E. this name was regularly pronounced with the proper vowels as is clear from the Lachish letters.”

We’ve heard that before this week here…written shortly before that date. That’s the Jewish Bible. If anybody should know about Yahweh, the Jewish encyclopedia should know. It has Jehovah God written there. And you know what it says? Who Jehovah God really is? “Jehovah God is a supreme deity recognized and the only deity worshiped by Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. Brothers, it’s up to them to worship their God and it was found in the fifteenth century. That’s only 500 years ago. Only 500 years old. Before that it wasn’t even written.

Well, that takes care of “Jehovah,” I think. We must heed Jesus’ words and get rid of everything we ever learned from a false prophet. If we don’t, we become candidates for the psychiatrist’s office. Jehovah’s Witnesses supply so many psychiatrists with employment that it’s a sad thing. So many Jehovah’s Witnesses commit suicide. They really do, brothers. Because this is the important thing for anyone to know about. It’s really an integral part of our being. If we don’t, we become candidates for a psychiatrist’s office. According to the American and British Journals of Psychiatry, Jehovah’s Witnesses have a higher incidence of mental illness and suicide than the average public. Of all the wickedness and killing in the world, Jehovah’s Witnesses are number one.

We should take Jesus’ counsel and get rid of all the teachings of a false prophet. Jesus is the true Prophet and He gave us another warning in Luke 21:8. I’d like you to look at Luke 21:8. It says there, “Take heed that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name.” What does that mean? Authority. They will come because God said so. “Saying,” now, this is a touchstone, “Saying, I am.” The “he” is not written in the Greek. You cannot find a “he” in the Greek translation. They say, “I am.” They call them “Jehovah.” And they say “the time is at hand.” Did I tell you to remember that expression? “The time is at hand. The time is at hand. The time is at hand.” Every page of this book it says “the time is at hand” right on top. And I believe it is there to fulfill what Jesus said. And what did He say? “Do not go after them.” That’s what the Bible says. DO NOT GO AFTER THEM. I wonder if we should? I wonder if we should go against God’s law? That to me is a fantastic fulfillment of what God said.

What did Jesus say then? “Do not go after them.” I wonder if we should. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses false prophets? Yes. I love Jehovah’s Witnesses. I don’t hate Jehovah’s Witnesses. My father and mother were Jehovah’s Witnesses. My father-in-law and mother-in-law haven’t spoken to us since 1962. They are Jehovah’s Witnesses. All of our relatives are Jehovah’s Witnesses. We want them to live. We want them to learn these things but they have a binding in their heart and mind against it. And if they made the claim that they are God’s prophet in their magazine–and they did; and they made all the false predictions for Jesus’ Second Coming and Jesus said that one false prophecy makes them false prophets, there can only be one answer: Yes, Jehovah’s Witnesses are genuine false prophets.

I’m wondering how many here have a question they would like to ask about Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Q.1: I asked a Witness, “What about the Holy Spirit and Jehovah’s Witnesses and is everybody assured of salvation?” She was telling me that there are a few people that they just know that they have the filling of the Holy Spirit and will go to Heaven and everybody else will live on earth. And I said, “Don’t you want to get to Heaven, too?” She said, “We’re not jealous. We’re happy for them because they’re God’s elect.” And I said, “Well, what makes that person better than you since the Bible says there is neither Jew nor Gentile. How many people are going to Heaven?

Bill Cetnar: No Jehovah’s Witness has the Holy Spirit. They don’t believe in having the Holy Spirit and they don’t believe in…we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They don’t believe…they believe there is a Father, there is a Son, and the Holy Spirit is God’s power. Wait, I’m not finished. I forgot what I was going to say. Now, the 144,000 are not assured of everlasting life. They’re not assured that they’re going to live in Heaven forever. The 144,000 lived before 1935 and they had to be in the organization before 1935. Now they don’t argue about it. The others have no life either. No Jehovah’s Witness, even on his deathbed, can say that God is going to let him live. They have no assurance of any life. And the Bible tells us in John that we do.

Q.2: I had a conversation with two Jehovah’s Witnesses and we spoke about the Holy Spirit and if I understood them right, their concept of the Holy Spirit is like a power or agency.

Bill Cetnar: It’s God’s power.

Q.2: Are there any other New Testament references you can use besides Ananias and Sapphira where it says, “You have not lied to men but to God…that you’ve lied to the Holy Spirit.” Are there any others to use?

Bill Cetnar: Yes, there are quite a few Holy Spirit expressions where the Holy Spirit says thus and so. He is giving direction as God. Okay?

Q.3: If we only have a short time to answer Jehovah’s Witnesses, what key thing should we say?

Bill Cetnar: I’m going to pretend you’re a Jehovah’s Witness and you came up to my door. “Oh, Mr. Jehovah’s Witness, am I happy that you came by! I’m excited that you came by because I have a question to ask you.” I take over all the conversation. “I want to know, Do Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to be God’s prophets?” I go exactly for that touchstone. That’s what God said. “Beware of false prophets.” Here is someone who is a prophet. I have to find out first if he is a prophet. And about 60 percent will say, “Yes, we’re prophets. You can depend on us.” All right, for the 40 percent I have on the first page of my book, “that they shall know a prophet is among them.” It says that they are prophets. And here it says on the Awake! June 8, 1986, “You will be interested to learn that God has on earth a prophet.” You’re genuine prophets? “Yes, my daughter is. She’s a little prophet and my wife. They’re prophets.”

“Prophets? Did you ever preach any false prophecies?”

“Oh, no. We wouldn’t do that. We wouldn’t preach false prophecies.”

And in the back of the book, the last page, I turn to them and I begin the page that I have passed out that you have. “I would like you to tell me if this is a true or false statement: ‘The battle of the great day of God Almighty which will end in 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership is already commenced.’ Is that true or is that false?” That has to be false. And they say, “Well, that’s not really false.”

“I would like to repeat that sentence and you tell me again if it’s true or if it is false. I want to know if that sentence is true because when it was written in 1889 until 1914, they didn’t change it and that’s enough time to change a sentence if it’s not stated properly.”

You insist that they come and tell you whether it’s true or it’s false.

“Thank you, Mr. Jehovah’s Witness. That’s all I wanted to say to you. You get off of my porch. I’m not allowed to have any false prophets on my porch. I don’t want to talk to you until, if you want to, say that you are a false prophet and leave that organization.”

Now, some will back off the porch. They have been shocked. They should be. And the way you present it is the way that God wants you to do it. Then, the others, they say, “Oh, we never read that! I never saw that in this book, The Time Is at Hand that we said those things.”

Then they start showing them the other things they did wrong. They didn’t do just one thing wrong. They did thousands of things wrong.

And for instance, Mr. Jehovah’s Witness, in 1956 you told us very plainly the spirits in which ex-priest Greber believes helps him in his translation. That’s Greber. Here’s his translation. It said, “Have nothing to do with that Greber translation.” And then in 1962 they started to quote him. They started to quote Greber. The Watchtower started to publish him. In the book, Aid to Bible Understanding. It’s a big, thick book, page 196, they quoted Greber again. Why did the Watchtower resort to a false prophet?

“Late in the summer of 1923 God’s Holy Spirits contacted Pastor Greber. In his spare time he started to work on his communications with the spirit world. Later he translated a New Testament with help of God’s spirit world.” Not God’s spirits, His spirit world. “At times he was given the correct answers in large illuminated letters and words passing before his eyes.”

There is a man who was a Catholic priest and he became demon possessed and translated a Bible with his eyes closed!

And then I found where Greber was in the United States and I went to a demonized place and we started to write to the Watchtower and in many letters I got from him–here’s two of them–that they say, “We’re sorry; we never had anything to do with it.” And then in the Watchtower they said, “Why in recent years has the Watchtower not made use of the translation by the former Catholic priest Johannes Greber?” That’s not the real question. But they said that from now on, “we’re never going to quote Greber again.” But in Spanish they still quote him. It’s not wrong to quote him in Spanish, it’s just in English. That’s the kind of outfit we’re working with.

Does anybody else have any questions?

Q.4: Would you tell us a little bit about Beth-Sarim?

Bill Cetnar: Well, Beth-Sarim–that’s where Judge Rutherford built a home in 1929. It’s a beautiful place. I just visited there last February. I like to travel like that. And he gave it to David and to all the faithful men of old. And they’re going to be sorry when they come in it because he sold it to a Jewish man. It’s not a Christian thing. He didn’t do a Christian thing there. All right?

Q.5: Should we even bother to get involved with a Jehovah’s Witness?

Bill Cetnar: I would at the first time prove to a Witness that he is a false prophet, that’s he’s representing a false prophet. Make that perfectly clear. I don’t care what they believe about the Trinity–they’re false prophets! And then, after that, if he gives you…he’ll come with a different spirit and then explaining the Trinity will be a lot easier. I would really recommend that.

Q.6: Don’t they answer, “Jesus was a Spirit”?

Bill Cetnar: They have all kinds of goofy sentences that it would take a long–I’d have to study all afternoon and part of tomorrow to answer. I wouldn’t even have the answers for some of them. Like John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.” And they say, “He was a God.” There is no way you can put an “a” there. But you can’t explain it to them. There is no need. He’s a false prophet and I think that’s essential. Before that, nothing.

Q.7: The Jehovah’s Witnesses go on Saturdays from home to home. What is their Gospel?

Bill Cetnar: Yes. They go every day of the week. They do not have the Gospel. The Witnesses preach one thing: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.” And they preach they were going to take over in 1975 and that they’re going to rule and everybody else is going to be destroyed just because you’re not a Jehovah’s Witness. And the Kingdom was established in 1914. That’s their Gospel.

Q.7: Well, what’s the good news about that?

Bill Cetnar: It’s not very good news? I am certainly happy I left the Watchtower.

Q.8: How do you explain certain Scriptures to a Jehovah’s Witness?

Bill Cetnar: I don’t see why a person would want to explain to a Jehovah’s Witness–Romans–whatever until he has realized that he is a false prophet! I would first see that. “You’re a false prophet. Your Watchtower is a false prophet. I can’t have anything to do with false prophets.” I don’t see any reason why.

Q.9: How can you obtain articles that you have that are in your book. Because if we come back with these things, they’re going to say, “Well, we never learned about that stuff.” How can you find the actual articles?

Bill Cetnar: Tell him that he should get the April 1, 1972 Watchtower and read it for himself if he doesn’t believe this material. Everything here is documented. The Awake! June 8, 1986. It’s right there. All the dates are documented in the book and if he can’t believe a photostatic copy, I can’t help him. He’ll have to dig it up himself. That’s as reasonable as I can get.

Q.10: What first alerted you that they were not God’s prophet?

Bill Cetnar: Well, I had many experiences, such as vaccinations. After all the years of telling how people are going to die by having a small pox vaccination and then the small pox vaccination doesn’t even have blood in it, what am I to think? After explaining to the people the Bible in Leviticus and in Acts tells us that we’re not supposed to drink blood. It doesn’t say anything about putting it in our veins. And they’re trying to tell me….there is not a Scripture…the word “transfusion” isn’t even in the Bible. And I left the Watchtower Society on the basis of the blood transfusion. That was the first thing I learned.

Brothers, Jehovah’s Witnesses are genuine false prophets. This book is available to you. It’s entitled, Questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I hope that every one of you get a copy and have it by your door so that when they come, you’ll be ready for them. Thank you very much.

Go Deeper

• Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses Convention