My Long Journey of Faith

Rich and Suzanne

"For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39 (Ignatius Study Bible)
The purpose of this website is to compare the Scriptural and historical worldview of the Catholic Church with that of Jehovah's Witnesses and that of materialistic atheism, and to show that the Catholic worldview best comports with the reality of our world and the Church Jesus Christ founded.
This website is intended for Jehovah's Witnesses, former Jehovah's Witnesses, and those who may be considering becoming Jehovah's Witnesses. The arguments presented herein for the Catholic faith will be of interest to Protestant and so-called 'non-denominational' faiths as well. The arguments for Christian theism will be of interest to those with no religious faith at all and hopefully to those dear souls among former Jehovah's Witnesses for whom the Watchtower organization effectively 'poisoned the well' with respect to the Catholic Church and Christian faith.
My observation is that many (most in the case of children who were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses) who leave the Watchtower organization drift almost immediately into agnosticism or atheism. Their faith was in an organization, not in Jesus Christ and in effect they are left 'inoculated' to faith. I hope to encourage them to reevaluate Christian faith in the Church founded by Jesus Christ — the Catholic Church.
  • Which worldview better comports with reality as we encounter it: atheism or Christianity?
  • Which religion comports better with the beliefs and practices of authentic early Christianity: Jehovah's Witnesses or the Catholic Church?
I invite your engagement with me on these questions. Please bear in mind that I do not have the perfect answer for every question — my memory is sadly lacking. In some cases I may have an answer but not the best wording for the answer. And even if I don't have a particular answer, that doesn't mean that answer doesn't exist, any more than a person's refusal to accept an answer means the answer is inadequate. I offer these observations simply as the fruits of my own twenty years of investigation in the hope that it may help others journeying along this path. An honest intellect and an open mind without self-deceit can only lead to a better outcome.
You may leave comments or questions below, but be sure to read our policy on commenting before doing so.

The Watchtower vs The Catholic Church

Which one is closer to authentic first-century Christianity? Are Jehovah's Witnesses a man-made religion (as they would say Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists are) or are they the restoration of First Century apostolic Christianity? Is the Catholic Church (which historians agree is the earliest identifiable expression of organized Christianity) an apostate Church that polluted authentic Christianity by adopting innumerable pagan practices and beliefs as soon as the apostles had all died?
I believe an honest investigation leads inevitably to the conclusion that Jehovah's Witnesses are a man-made religion born of fallible human interpretation and a superficial understanding of Scriptural and historical context, a natural product of its time and human reasoning similar to other 'restorationist' sects such as Latter Day Saints ("Mormons") and Seventh Day Adventists. I intend to show in these pages that Jehovah's Witnesses can be likened to your local postal carrier. Just as a postal carrier knows the addresses and associated names along a route, but knows little about the people living at those addresses, so Jehovah's Witnesses know all the Bible verses they can 'cherry-pick' to support their beliefs (as these inevitably change), but they are ignorant of the Scriptural and historical context of those verses. The postal carrier may believe that Mrs. Jones of 1547 Main Street is a senior because she receives mail from AARP, but he knows little else: he does not know, for example, that Mrs. Jones has been a widow for five years, has three adult children living in other states, and her late husband's name was Arthur. He does not know Mrs. Jones' actual age or her interests in life. (Okay, he may know she likes quilting because she receives monthly issues of "Quilting Today" magazine.) But you get the point: he knows only superficial things about the people to whom he delivers mail. He does not know them intimately, as if he were family. This is analogous to the understanding The Watchtower and the "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses have with respect to Scriptural and historical Christianity. In other words — and as I can testify, having worked at Bethel in the Service Department and in contact with the Writing Department during those years — the only correct understanding Jehovah's Witnesses have of Christianity are those beliefs that align with mainstream Christian doctrines, while those beliefs that are unique to Jehovah's Witnesses are contrary to Scriptural and historical truth.
Most Witnesses who have been to Bethel (Brooklyn) know of the Bethel Library and the Gilead Library. But few are aware that there was a third library, located near the Writing Department that was 'off-limits' to the Bethel Family and Gilead Students. This was a library containing hundreds of Christendom's commentaries, which were only to be read and used by the Writing Department. The Watchtower writing staff have always used Christendom's Biblical commentaries, simply picking and choosing those findings that align with the organization's current beliefs and practices. They have little to no genuine scholarship of their own.

Atheism vs Christianity

Which worldview better explains the world we see?

Summary

Some will immediately accuse me here of begging the question, since I have already made the assumption that God exists and created the world (not to mention the exclusive adoption of Christianity as the true and proper relationship to God). But that is what I believe can be shown from the facts.

What I cannot show from the facts — but hope and pray — is that the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses will repent of their unwarranted arrogation of the authority given by Christ only to His Church in the First Century, and release those precious souls of Jehovah's Witnesses from a man-made religion to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit and the Bride of Christ, the Catholic Church. (Rev. 22:17)