THE Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that the Bible is not written to everyone, not even to all Christians.
The Watchtower teaches that the New Testament is only written to a select class and, for the rest of us, there is no chance to become a child of God in this lifetime.
But did the apostles recognise this class distinction. No. The apostles knew nothing of any such class distinction.
Not one epistle was written to the exclusion of any believer.
For example
1. Romans is addressed "to all who are beloved to God in Rome."
2. 1st Corinthians is to "all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3. Galatians is "to the churches of Galatia."
4. 2nd Peter is addressed "to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours."
If you are a Jehovah's Witness, you have received a faith, but not "the same kind" as that of the apostles. This is the only real reason the promises of life and Sonship are not addressed to you.
One of the hallmarks of a cult is its placing of its own writings over God's inspired Scriptures.
Here the Jehovah's Witnesses are no different, with the Bible being described as "a dark book" and only unders
tandable if read along with Watch Tower material. Watch Tower first President Charles Taze Russell (pictured below left), in The Watchtower of September 15, 1910, on page 298, says:
"Not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the "Scripture Studies" (his books) aside, even after he has used them, after he has become familiar with
them, after he has read them for ten years - if he then lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the "Scripture Studies" with their references and had not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in the light at the end of two years, because he would have the light of the scriptures."
In fact the Watch Tower Society goes so far as to say that studying the Bible on its own is dangerous to your spiritual health.
The Watchtower of August 15, 1981 on pages 28 and 29 says:
"They say that it is sufficient to read the Bible exclusive, either alone, or in small groups at home. But strangely, through such Bible reading, they have reverted right back to the apostate doctrines that commentaries by Christendom's clergy were teaching 100 years ago."
So, there you have it from the Watch Tower's own mouth, if you read the Bible on it's own you start to believe the same as Christians. Praise God!
From this brief article we can see that the real authority over the spiritual lives of Jehovah's Witnesses is not the Bible, but an organisation called the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.