Critics of the Watchtower Society (WTS) claim its literature misquotes and otherwise misrepresents secular sources, in an apparent attempt to support its doctrines.  Here are some apparent misquotes that have been submitted by website visitors.  They are provided here to provide you with a direction in your personal research—not as the final word, but to stimulate further examination.  Please verify this information for yourself by checking original source materials.

Definitions:

Misquotes are citations of other authors' work that is inaccurate in content or which changes the essential meaning of the author's writings.

Misrepresentations are statements about subject matter that are disproven by objective scientific data.  Examples of misrepresentations can be seen in the topic of blood transfusions.  The WTS repeatedly makes statements regarding supposed medical risks of transfusions and claims transfusions are medically unnecessary, while medical science widely disagrees.

 

Topic:  The Fall of Jerusalem

 

Significance:  Impacts the Watchtower’s calculation of Armageddon’s time frame; calculations being off by a few years radically deflate this major WT teaching.

 

  1. Watchtower says:  Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem & appointed a new king in 617 B.C.E., quoting Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles by A. K. Grayson, as a supporting source.—Insight from the Scriptures  Source says:  No date is given.
  2. Watchtower says:  The battle of Carchemish took place in 625 (pg. 480 Insight Book, Vol. #2), quoting A.K. Grayson’s book as a supporting resource.  Source says:  The battle took place in 605.
  3. Watchtower says:  "In 624 BCE he took the vast booty to Babylon," quoting from the book by A.K. Grayson on pg. 100.  Source says:  The year was 605.
  4. Watchtower says:  Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year of reign was 617 BCE, listing ??? as a source.  Source says:  The cuneiform tablet shown as the original source does not provide a date.  However, the secular book sourced says 616-609 BCE was Nabopolassar’s 10th – 17th year, meaning 617 could not have been Nebuchadnezzar’s seventh year of reign because he had not come into power yet.

 

Topic:  Blood Transfusions

 

Significance:  Jehovah’s Witnesses must follow the Watchtower Society’s rules about blood transfusions in order to remain in good standing and be eligible for the afterlife.  They are thoroughly and methodically taught that medical facts prove the religious rules against acceptance of blood and blood products is better from a medical point of view.  (Journal of Church and State, Fall 2005)

 

  1. Watchtower says:  Joseph Priestly says early Christians were not allowed to eat blood, as per The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley. –How Can Blood Save Your Life? Source says:   Early Christians were allowed to eat blood.— The Theological and Miscellaneous Works of Joseph Priestley
  2. Watchtower says:  Eusebius said that early Christians did not eat blood under any circumstances.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Eusebius never made the claim that there was absolutely no circumstance in which early Christians did not eat blood.
  3. Watchtower says:  Tertullian said that early Christians did not eat blood under any circumstances.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Tertullian did not make that statement.  He spoke only of disdain for drinking blood of murder victims.
  4. Watchtower says:  The Journal Cancer says that blood transfusions hinder the immune system.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  The journal article does not claim there is a cause and effect relationship between transfusions and immune suppression.—Cancer, 2/15/1987
  5. Watchtower says:  The Annals of Otology, Rhinology, & Laryngology  says that blood transfusions increase the likelihood of cancer recurring.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  The journal article specifically states that the study did not prove a cause and effect relationship. —Annals of Otology, Rhinology, & Laryngology, March 1989
  6. Watchtower says:  The Annals of Otology, Rhinology, & Laryngology  recommends that surgeons “become bloodless surgeons”.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  The journal article does make a statement in this regard; however, it is clear that its meaning of “bloodless surgeon” is different than that of the lay reader and that of the Watchtower Society.  The article goes on to recommend use of safer blood products, not elimination of blood products altogether.  The WT’s quote omits this piece of information, resulting in an implication that the journal supports its anti-blood teaching on medical grounds. —Annals of Otology, Rhinology, & Laryngology, March 1989
  7. Watchtower says:  Tarter says blood transfusions have a high risk of dangerous infections.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Patients in the study were ill and more prone to complications. Patients in the study’s control group were not patients who refused blood transfusions because of their beliefs.  The WT does not mention the positive prognosis of the patients in the study, even those who were infected.—Blood Transfusion and Infectious Complication Following Colorectal Cancer Surgery, Tarter
  8. Watchtower says:  According to the New York Times, contracting Lyme Disease from a blood transfusion is a significant risk and health officials are not taking action to safeguard the blood supply.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  The WT brochure omits the source’s discussion of the safeguards already in place, the medical reasons why the safeguards are considered sufficient, the extreme unlikelihood of contracting Lyme Disease via a transfusion, and the fact that there were no cases of transmission of Lyme Disease via blood transfusions.— Lawrence K. Altman, MD, “Lyme Disease from a Transfusion?  It’s Unlikely, but Experts are Wary,” New York Times, 7/18/1989 
  9. Watchtower says:  The New York Times says that transmission of Chagas Disease via blood transfusions is a significant risk.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Transmission of this disease via transmission is remote, there are only 2 known cases in history, and available sanitation procedures are effective. —“Scientists Fear that a Parasite Will Spread in Transfusion,” New York Times, 5/23/1989 
  10. Watchtower says:  8-17% of transfused patients in certain countries contracted Hepatitis C from their transfusions.  Source says:  The WT does not quote a source for this statistic, so it cannot be verified.  However, the per-transfusion transmission rate of Hepatitis C was less than 1% at that time. —New York Times 2/13/1990; American Red Cross.  (There have been no known transmission of Hepatitis C in pasteurized blood products since technology became available to safeguard those products.)  The WT failed to mention that a test for Hepatitis C was to be available soon. 
  11. Watchtower says:  The New York Times says testing done on the blood supply cannot detect all strains of HIV.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Old medical information from 1989 is being presented in the current guide about blood without mention that it is outdated.  The WT fails to mention that improvements in tests will soon be available, and until then, questionable blood will be discarded. — New York Times, 6/271989
  12. Watchtower says:  According to the American Association of Blood Banks, people with significant blood loss survive and are healthy. —How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Significant blood loss carries with it significant risk of shock, organ failure, heart attack, and death. It is imperative to restore blood volume quickly.—Contemporary Transfusion Practice, published by the American Association of Blood Banks
  13. Watchtower says:  According to the American Association of Blood Banks, nonblood volume expanders are safe and effective in cases of extreme blood loss.—How Can Blood Save Your Life?  Source says:  Nonblood volume expanders are unsafe and ineffective in cases of extreme blood loss.; red blood cells are the most effective method to carry essential oxygen through the body. — Contemporary Transfusion Practice, published by the American Association of Blood Banks

 

Note:  There are many more misrepresentations on this topic discussed in the Fall 2005 Journal of Church and State.

 

TOPIC:  Sex During Menstruation

 

18.  Watchtower says:  According to The Bible and Modern Medicine, having sex during menstruation causes disease and cancer.—June 2006 Watchtower  Source says:  The quoted source was published in 1953.  Responsible authors do not represent 53 year old medical publications as current and accurate.  Medical science has long debunked the myth that sex during menstruation causes disease and cancer.

 

TOPIC:  Creationism & Evolution

 

19.  Watchtower says:  According to Carl Sagan, fossils could prove there is a Creator.-- Creation Book: Ch5 p.70  Source says:  The quote in context states fossils prove the unlikelihood of a competent Creator.  (Note:  Carl Sagan does not speak highly of the WTS; in Broca’s Brain, he discussed the false apocalyptic predictions it made and how it reinvented its past statements when its predictions didn’t come true.  He refers to this as “shamelessly dishonest”.)

 

TOPIC:  False Religion

 

20.  Watchtower says:  According to historian Paul Johnson, some destructive sects of Christianity began in a state of confusion.  Source says:  Christianity as a whole, apostolic Christianity, began in a state of confusion.  By adding the word “apostate” to the quote, the WTS has changed the essential meaning.