Expert: Father Dave Bechtel - 12/24/2011

Question
A Jehovah's witness friend of mine said that they are connected to the apostles throughout history. Is apostolic succession also their claim and how do they explain it? How can I refute it as a catholic? Thanks.. :)

Answer
The Jehovah's Witness organization (The Watchtower) is basically the fourth century Arian heresy recycled and repackaged in a modern day religion originating with Charles Taze Russell.  After his death there was a bit of a schism or split over the leadership of Joseph Rutherford his successor.  It is in this split that the Jehovah Witnesses were formed. The time period we are taking for Russell is the late 1800's, he died in 1916.

Apostolic Succession is a specific entity within the Roman Catholic Church.  The Church maintainers her connection to the Apostles through three means: Scripture, Tradition, and the Bishops. The role of Tradition is in handing on the Faith.  It is through Tradition that the Faith comes to us from the Apostles.  Scripture is the core of Tradition and it's role is that of formal inspired testimony in writing to the deeds and works of God in history.  The role of the bishops is to serve as teachers of the Faith and judge of what is and is not in conformity with the Apostolic Faith.

Apostolic Succession exists within the Protestant Church as well at least in material form through the Scriptures.  Protestants however lack Tradition which infuses context and meaning in the Scriptures, and they lack the teaching authority of the bishops who are the successors of the apostles. From Catholic stand point the Jehovah Witnesses do have Apostolic Succession in it's material form through the Scriptures, but they have distorted even the Scriptures with bad translations of the Scriptures, the most egregious being the Prologue in the Gospel of John "And the Word was like a God" or "And the Word was a God" rather then "And the Word was God."  

Refuting the claim of the Jehovah Witnesses to being "Apostolic" is more difficult then it appears.  If they were truly "Apostolic" they would teach what the Apostles taught. The Jehovah Witnesses do not teach what the Apostles taught, they teach a distortion of what the Apostles taught therefore they cannot be Apostolic.

Refuting the Jehovah Witnesses and for that matter the Mormon's (which is another modern day Arian sect) are really refuting the Arian heresy.  If you are interested in writings which refute the Arian Heresy you can consult the following at Newadvent.org:

The writings of Saint Athanasius (Eastern Father) and the writings of Hilary of Potiers (Western Father)  These writings are all available at New Advent.