Although Christians believe that people have souls that survive physical death, this is not the resurrection.

The resurrection will be a reuniting of soul and body that will take place in the end times.

So far as we know, no one other than Jesus Christ has been resurrected yet.

But the Watchtower disagrees.

The Watchtower teaches that a resurrection in spirit form began in 1918[1] or 1919[2] for an “anointed”, heaven-bound group of 144,000 witnesses of Jehovah.

Now, whenever one of the “anointed” class dies after proving worthy, he or she is immediately resurrected in spirit form and taken to heaven.

There are many stone-in-the-shoe questions to challenge these teachings.

As usual, don’t tell Jehovah’s Witnesses the Watchtower is wrong.

Instead, ask them to teach you.

Ask:

  • Where do these 1918 or 1919 dates appear in the Bible?

Of course, they don’t.

Then ask:

  • What evidence do you have that such a resurrection began in 1918 or 1919?
  • How does the Watchtower know it is true, given that the dates are not in the Bible and given that such a resurrection by its very nature would have occurred invisibly?

Sometimes, they will quote 2 Corinthians 5:1: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, should be torn down, we are to have a building from God, a house not made with hands, everlasting in the heavens.”

Ask:

  • Okay, where does it say anything regarding 1918 or 1919?

You can add:

  • Actually that is one of the verses that leads me believe that whenever a Christian dies—before or after 1918—he or she immediately goes to heaven in spirit form. This is not the resurrection, however. It is an intermediate state between death and the resurrection of the body.

In its online article, “What is the Resurrection?”

Some people are resurrected to life in heaven to rule as kings with Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 5:9, 10) The Bible calls this “the first resurrection” and “the earlier resurrection,” both expressions implying that there is another resurrection to follow. (Revelation 20:6; Philippians 3:11) This later resurrection will be to life on earth, which the vast majority of those brought back to life will enjoy.—Psalm 37:29.

According to this article, everyone other than Jesus and the 144,000 who will be resurrected will be resurrected in physical form suited for life on the earth.

This resurrection has not yet begun.

Rather, “The resurrection to life on earth will occur during the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, when the earth will be transformed into a paradise.—Luke 23:43; Revelation 20: 6, 12, 13.” They believe that these people will be resurrected at various stages during the thousand years.[3]

You can say:

  • It’s true that Revelation 20 speaks of two resurrections, but it seems to me that it is talking about the resurrection of believers to life and the resurrection of unbelievers to judgment, not the resurrection of 144,000 and the resurrection of a “great crowd” of “other sheep.”

Ask one of the Witnesses to read aloud Revelation 20:5: “…(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.)

You can say:

  • Based on this, I believe the resurrection of believers will occur before the millennium and the resurrection of unbelievers at the end of it.

The Watchtower has a totally different interpretation.

It teaches that the resurrection of the “other sheep” will occur at various times during the millennium for the purpose of giving people a chance to learn God’s ways and progress to moral perfection.

They will not “fully come alive” in a spiritual sense until the end of the 1,000 years.

 Summary

You are unlikely to persuade Witnesses that the Watchtower is wrong on these points, but four facts should serve as stones in their shoes:

  1. They will be unable to show you any evidence that the first resurrection is that of the 144,000 and the second resurrection is of the “other sheep.”
  2. They will be unable to show you any evidence that the first resurrection began in 1918-1919.
  3. They will be unable to show you why the statement in Revelation 20:5 that “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended” should be taken spiritually rather than literally.
  4. You have alternative interpretations of the “two resurrections” which they will be unable to refute.

 

[1] Revelation: It’s Grand Climax at Hand! (1988), p. 103

[2] Revelation: It’s Grand Climax at Hand! (1988), p. 209

[3] Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy, p. 316

 

 

 

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