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Summary
- Jehovah’s Witnesses say they are Christians but not Protestants, because they reject the Trinity and hellfire and do not seek to reform any church.
- Protestant confessions such as the Augsburg and Westminster Confessions teach that the Son is eternal God, of one substance with the Father; Witnesses teach that Jesus is God’s first creation, and their Bible ends John 1:1 “and the Word was a god.”
- The Witness movement began in 1870 with a Bible study group from Pittsburgh and Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and took the name Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931.
- Witnesses teach that 144,000 will rule with Jesus in heaven and a great crowd will live forever on earth, so only those with the heavenly hope eat the bread and drink the wine at their once-a-year Lord’s Supper. Protestant confessions give every believer the same heavenly hope.
- Since 18 September 2026, Witnesses may accept the main blood components as a matter of conscience, but they still refuse whole-blood transfusions.
- Russia’s Supreme Court banned the Witnesses’ organization as extremist on 20 April 2017; in Japan, 214,118 Witnesses were counted at the 2025 peak.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, via BibleGateway: John 1:1; John 14:28; Revelation 7:4 and 7:9; Luke 22:19; Matthew 24:45; Acts 15:29. The New World Translation is quoted only for its reading of John 1:1. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1&version=KJV
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Protestants?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/are-jehovahs-witnesses-protestants/
- “Are Jehovah’s Witnesses a Protestant Religion?” The Watchtower, 1 November 2009. https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/wp20091101/Are-Jehovahs-Witnesses-a-Protestant-Religion/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovah-witness-beliefs/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Why Is Jesus Called God’s Son?”, “Who Is the Archangel Michael?” and “What Is the Holy Spirit?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/archangel-michael/ ; https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/what-is-the-holy-spirit/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Who Was the Founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses?” and “Why Are You Called Jehovah’s Witnesses?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/founder/
- “Noteworthy Events in the Modern-day History of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Jehovah’s Witnesses: Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom (1993). https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Proclaimers-of-Gods-Kingdom/Noteworthy-Events-in-the-Modern-day-History-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses/
- New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), John 1:1 and study note; and “Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Have Their Own Bible?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/john/1/
- “Great Crowd.” Insight on the Scriptures. jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Insight-on-the-Scriptures/Great-Crowd/
- “The Lord’s Evening Meal—An Observance That Honors God.” What Does the Bible Really Teach? jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/the-lords-evening-meal/
- “The Role of ‘the Faithful and Discreet Slave’.” Enjoy Life Forever!, lesson 54. https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/enjoy-life-forever/section-4/lesson-54/
- “Who Is Leading God’s People Today?” The Watchtower (Study Edition), February 2017. https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-study-february-2017/who-is-leading-gods-people-today/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Accept Blood Transfusions?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovahs-witnesses-why-no-blood-transfusions/
- “Jehovah’s Witnesses: Each Witness Now Decides Whether to Accept or Donate Main Blood Components.” Press release, 18 September 2026. https://www.jw.org/en/global-communications/country/global-news/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Each-Witness-Now-Decides-Whether-to-Accept-or-Donate-Main-Blood-Components/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Certain Holidays?” and “Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Birthdays?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jw-celebrate-holidays/ ; https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/birthdays/
- Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Why Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Maintain Political Neutrality?” and “Why Don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses Go to War?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/political-neutrality/ ; https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/why-dont-jw-go-to-war/
- “2025 Country and Territory Reports.” 2025 Service Year Report of Jehovah’s Witnesses Worldwide; and “How Many of Jehovah’s Witnesses Are There Worldwide?” jw.org. https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/2025-Service-Year-Report-of-Jehovahs-Witnesses-Worldwide/2025-Country-and-Territory-Reports/
- “Jehovah’s Witnesses Imprisoned for Their Faith—By Location.” jw.org news, read 19 October 2026. https://www.jw.org/en/news/region/global/jehovahs-witnesses-in-prison/
- Vladimir Soldatkin. “Russian court bans ‘extremist’ Jehovah’s Witnesses.” 20 April 2017, republished by Religion News Service. https://religionnews.com/2017/04/20/russian-court-bans-jehovahs-witnesses-as-extremist-agencies/
- “Russia wins court bid to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses over ‘extremism’.” 20 April 2017, Yahoo News UK. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/russia-wins-court-bid-ban-151400830.html
- BBC News. “Russia Jehovah’s Witnesses banned after they lose appeal.” 17 July 2017 (catalogued by ecoi.net). https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/343796
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Articles I, IV, XII, XV, XVI and XVII. BookOfConcord.org. https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 1.10, 8.2, 17.1, 23.2, 32.1 and 33.2. Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- Church of England. Articles of Religion (the Thirty-nine Articles), Articles V and VIII. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Articles II, IV and X. https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Use of the Means of Grace (1997). https://cdn.elca.org/cdn/wp-content/uploads/The_Use_Of_The_Means_Of_Grace.pdf
- Seventh-day Adventist Church. Fundamental Beliefs 2 (The Trinity) and 26 (Death and Resurrection). Adventist.org. https://adventist.org/beliefs/official/trinity ; https://adventist.org/beliefs/official/death-and-resurrection
- Mennonite Church USA. Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), Article 22: Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance. https://www.mennoniteusa.org/who-are-mennonites/what-we-believe/confession-of-faith/peace-justice-and-nonresistance/
- National Association of Evangelicals. “What is an Evangelical?” https://www.nae.org/what-is-an-evangelical/
- Fred Sanders. “Barnes and His Notes.” The Scriptorium Daily, Biola University. https://scriptoriumdaily.com/barnes-and-his-notes/
- Albert Barnes. Notes on the Bible, John 14 and Revelation 7. BibleHub. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/john/14.htm ; https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/revelation/7.htm
- John F. Walvoord. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 7, “The Saints of the Great Tribulation.” walvoord.com. https://walvoord.com/article/265
- Pew Research Center. “Appendix B: Classification of Protestant denominations” and “Religious Landscape Study: Religious Identity.” 26 February 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/appendix-b-classification-of-protestant-denominations/
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