Who does the Watchtower believe will be resurrected?

In Chapter 7 of its study book, What Does the Bible Really Teach? , the Watchtower states (paragraph 17): “Who will be resurrected? Jesus said that “all those in the memorial tombs will hear his [Jesus’] voice and come out.”

But just three paragraphs later, it says some won’t be resurrected after all: “Does this mean that every human who ever lived will be resurrected? No… Jehovah…will never resurrect those whom he judges to be wicked and unwilling to change.”

This gives us an opportunity to show the Witnesses the unreliability of the Watchtower.

You don’t have to argue with the Witnesses.

Just show them the conflicting statements and ask the Witnesses to clarify.

Ask the stone-in-the-shoe question:

  • In one paragraph, the Watchtower says everyone will be resurrected, and three paragraphs later it says that some people won’t be. Which is it? I’m confused.

Whichever one they choose, ask:

  • So why did they say the opposite?

The “Bible Teach” book isn’t the only Watchtower publication which makes these contradictory statements.

In an online article entitled “What is the Resurrection?”, the Watchtower says:

Jesus will restore “all those in the memorial tombs” to life, each one with his unique identity, personality, and memories.

But then one paragraph later it states:

The Bible says that “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) The righteous include faithful people, such as Noah, Sarah, and Abraham. (Genesis 6:9; Hebrews 11:11; James 2:21) The unrighteous include those who failed to meet God’s standards but did not have the opportunity to learn and follow them.

However, those who become so wicked that they are beyond reform will not be resurrected. When such ones die, they suffer permanent destruction with no hope of a return to life.—Matthew 23:33; Hebrews 10:26, 27.

You can say:

  • I’m confused by this as well. Will Jesus restore all those in the memorial tombs to life or won’t he?

Since the two statements are contradictory, they won’t be able to give you a satisfactory answer.

Ask them to read aloud the two scriptures that are cited.

In the Watchtower Bible, Matthew 23:33 reads as follows: “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of Gehenna?”

And Hebrews 10:26-27 says: “For if we practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left, but there is a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a burning indignation that is going to consume those in opposition.”

You can say:

  • I don’t understand. Neither of those passages says that the person won’t be resurrected before judgment is pronounced, do they?

You can also go back and draw their attention to the statement about the unrighteous who will be resurrected: “The unrighteous include those who failed to meet God’s standards but did not have the opportunity to learn and follow them.”

You can say:

  • Wait a minute. It says that the unrighteous will be resurrected IF they didn’t have the opportunity to learn and follow God’s standards. Where does that qualification come from? No scripture is cited.

Summary

The Witnesses won’t admit that the Watchtower is wrong, so they will try to give you some sort of explanation.

When they do, you can sum up by saying:

  • I’m sorry. I still don’t get that. It still seems confusing and contradictory to me.

Pray that despite their attempts to explain, your questions will be stones in their shoes and that they will eventually see that the Watchtower is wrong.

 

 

Comment Policy