Columnist Contrasts Jehovah’s Witnesses’ 144,000 Teaching With All Saints’ Day

An opinion column published by Vanguard in November 2026 takes up the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the context of a Catholic All Saints’ Day observance. The columnist writes that he has often praised *Awake!*, a Watch Tower publication he describes as one of the best-researched he has read. His objection, he says, is to the organisation’s tendency to bend certain passages of Scripture to fit its doctrinal convictions.

The columnist says that as an undergraduate in Lagos he hosted members of the group in weekly theological discussions, and that these exchanges shaped his study of the Bible. He cites several passages where he says the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible translation differs from traditional Christian translations. In John 1:1, he writes, the translation reads “the Word was a god” rather than “the Word was God.” In Colossians 1:15-17, he says, the word “other” is inserted several times, and in Philippians 2:6 the rendering differs from the traditional understanding of Christ’s equality with God. He describes these differences as touching the foundations of Christian theology.

The column also addresses the group’s teaching on the number of the redeemed. Jehovah’s Witnesses, the columnist states, believe that exactly 144,000 people are destined for heaven, to reign with Christ as kings and priests, and they interpret that number literally. The larger crowd described in Revelation 7:9, which they associate with most faithful Christians, will instead enjoy everlasting life on a restored paradise earth. The columnist contrasts this with the traditional Catholic understanding that all the redeemed are called to eternal communion with God.

According to the column, the group also rejects the doctrine of the Trinity and teaches that Jesus is not God Almighty but a separate being, whom they identify with Michael the Archangel before his earthly existence. They regard the Holy Spirit as God’s active force rather than a divine person, and teach that Jesus died on an upright stake rather than a cross. The columnist notes that they reject Christmas, Easter and birthday celebrations, and that they prohibit blood transfusions based on their interpretation of biblical injunctions against consuming blood.

On the afterlife and public life, the column reports that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in eternal torment in hell. They teach instead that the dead are unconscious until the resurrection and that the irredeemably wicked will be permanently destroyed. The group also maintains strict political neutrality and rejects military service. The columnist writes that he finds some of these positions amusing, though he does not say what he means by the word beyond his own remarks.

The columnist argues that the group’s doctrines should be tested against the wider Christian reading of Scripture, and he says he prefers honest dealing with the text to selective interpretation (Ephesians 4:15). The column itself carries a note stating that its comments do not reflect the opinions of Vanguard newspapers or any employee of the paper.

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