Jehovah's Witnesses and False Resurrection

Having dealt with the Jehovah's Witness doctrine of Christ's resurrection, their second president claimed that a limited one would happen but it never did.

Joseph Rutherford claimed that the Old Testament people, mentioned in Hebrews 11:1-40, would be resurrected before Armageddon. According to two articles from the Christian Research Institute, Beth-Sarim and Beth-Shan and the Return of the Princes, These ancient saints would need lodging in southern California.

The Watchtower Society purchased land and two houses were built upon it. Beth-Sarim, meaning house of the princes, and Beth-Shan, house of security, were constructed during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The articles also stated that Joseph Rutherford lost the use of one lung due to severe pneumonia. His doctor urged him to move to a dryer and warmer climate. This was the Watchtower Society's justification for him to move to Beth-Sarim and live there as his winter residence.

But the Bible says nothing about any sort of pre-Armageddon resurrection. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV), "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"

Some folks might object that Matthew 27:52 (KJV) is a pre-Armageddon resurrection. The Verse says, "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose," In the context of the chapter, this was at Christ's crucifixion, not two-thousand years later.

And as we see in Hebrews chapter eleven, the Old Testament saints are considered as being saved by their faith in the Messiah. Romans 4:9 (KJV) says, "Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness."

The Bible is clear about there only being one resurrection for humanity. As Jesus said in John 5:29 (KJV), "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

Some Christians assume that this means two resurrections but Matthew 25:32 (KJV) disproves that. "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:" Both the righteous and wicked have to be resurrected in order for them to be sorted out.

So much more needs to be written on this topic but I'll save it for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Just like entering the correct password in a web site's text box, we can only be saved by repenting of our sins and placing our wholehearted trust in Jesus. God provides us no other method of being saved.