Earlier this year, clergy opposition resulted in a Crete court’s denying the Witnesses legal status.

In the court brief, the Orthodox Church claimed that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a “well-known and recognized religion,” and they “cannot be rightfully called Christians.” So the Church asserts that the Witnesses should have no right to their own buildings for worship or any right to talk about religion with others. But such a mentality is medieval. It reflects the spirit of the Inquisition, not that of ‘the cradle of democracy.’

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not try to deny the Orthodox Church the right to have its churches and to preach what it wants. But in this modern age, should that Church impose its religious views on everyone else? And especially in a democratic society where there is great variety of opinion? In no other Western democracy is this done.

All over the world, Jehovah’s Witnesses are legally recognized as a Christian religion. Governments of differing political viewpoints have granted them the legal right to build places of worship and to hold to their beliefs. That they are a well-known international Christian religion can be seen from the fact that they have more than three million active ministers, with five million others attending their meetings. And they are organized into 50,000 congregations in over 200 lands.

So for the clergy to claim that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a ‘known Christian religion’ is absurd. The clergy’s attitude is an embarrassment to the reputation of the democratic government of Greece. It is also an insult to the millions of Witnesses worldwide who are devout Christians and who know that many of their fellow believers have been martyred for their faith.

“Clandestine”?

Equally absurd is the Church’s claim in the Crete court that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a “clandestine” organization. The Church said: “The very beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses are neither fully known nor are they openly revealed . . . They do not have ‘houses of prayer’ nor other public places for worship where anyone may freely enter. Neither have their rituals of worship ever been fully revealed.”

Anyone even remotely familiar with Jehovah’s Witnesses knows that such charges are utterly false. Their teachings are in print for anyone to examine, and their meetings are open to all orderly persons, free of charge. In fact, the Witnesses teach the Bible to millions of people in their homes all over the world to acquaint them with those beliefs! And the Watch Tower branch offices worldwide welcome thousands of visitors each week.

But here is a paradox. Why are the Witnesses in Greece unable to meet in “houses of prayer”? Because they have been denied the right to build them! Since they are denied these halls, they must meet in private homes. And then the Church says that they are having secret meetings! Yet, throughout the world Jehovah’s Witnesses have constructed thousands of large buildings for worship. But they cannot do that in Greece.

Thus, you may better understand why the claims of the Church are, as John Manoledakis, Professor of Penal Law at the University of Thessalonica in Greece, put it, “not at all flattering to both the intended purpose of the [Greek Orthodox] Church or the intelligence of its flock.”

Are They “Antichrists”?

The Greek Orthodox Church also claimed: “Jehovah’s Witnesses not only cannot be rightfully called Christians, that is to say, disciples of Christ, but on the contrary, they are . . . the antichrists.”

What does the Bible say of “antichrist”? At 1 John 2:22 it states: “Who is the liar if it is not the one that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one that denies the Father and the Son.”

Thus, the plain fact of God’s inspired Word is that an antichrist does not accept Jesus. But Jehovah’s Witnesses do! They most fervently believe in Jesus and follow his teachings! In fact, no one can become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses without accepting Jesus as the divine Son of God, who came down from heaven, was impaled and resurrected, and who returned to heaven.

So anyone who says that Jehovah’s Witnesses are “antichrist” either is badly misinformed, is blinded by prejudice, or has evil motives.

‘Promoting Earthly Jewish Rule’?

Another assertion by the Orthodox Church is that Jehovah’s Witnesses are promoting Jewish rule on earth. The Church declares: “Their actual camouflaged purpose, which is a completely kept secret to the great majority of its adherents, is the establishment of a ‘Worldwide Theocratic Jewish Kingdom’ with its main center of operations in Jerusalem.”

Ask the millions of Witnesses if they believe that! Not one of them does. While at one time some thought that certain prophecies may have applied to literal Palestine in this century, that view was abandoned more than 50 years ago!

Proverbs 4:18 states that ‘the path of the righteous is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter.’ This increasing enlightenment, strengthened by the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, clearly shows that the modern Republic of Israel will never accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Thus, to say that the Christian Witnesses are promoting an earthly Jewish kingdom centered in Jerusalem is another absurdity. Instead, they promote the heavenly rulership of God’s Kingdom, as Jesus taught.​—Matthew 4:17; 6:10.

Unbiblical Teachings

Among the things used by the clergy to incite others against Jehovah’s Witnesses is the fact that the Witnesses do not accept certain Church doctrines. Foremost of these is the Trinity. But why should that have any bearing on the exercise of democracy in Greece? Why must everyone believe the Trinity in order to enjoy civil liberties there?

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny Jesus’ godship, or divinity. They accept what John 1:1 says of him, that he is “a god.” However, the Church says that Jesus is not just “a god” but that he is the almighty God, part of three coeternal persons, coequal in power.

The Bible, God’s inspired Word, does not teach that. Instead, it plainly states: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son.” (John 3:16) At no time did Jesus claim to be almighty God. He said he was “the only-begotten Son of God.” Any impartial reading of the Scriptures will verify that.​—John 3:18; 10:34-36.

Time and again Jesus said: “The Son cannot do a single thing of his own initiative, but only what he beholds the Father doing.” “I have come down from heaven to do, not my will, but the will of him that sent me.” “What I teach is not mine, but belongs to him that sent me.” “The Father is greater than I am.” And God’s Word adds: “The Son himself will also subject himself to [God].”​—John 5:19; 6:38; 7:16; 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:28.

Thus the Trinity is unscriptural. From where, then, did it originate? It was adopted at the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. when apostates incorporated a pagan idea that had originated in ancient Egypt and Babylon. As historian Will Durant observed in The Story of Civilization: Part III: “Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. . . . From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity.” And The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament . . . The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies.”

However, if the Orthodox Church wants to believe the Trinity, that is its right. But it has no right in a democratic land to persecute, incite mobs and arrests, and deny Jehovah’s Witnesses their liberties because they do not believe the Trinity.

Uphold Democracy in Greece

The Constitution of Greece is clear: “Freedom of religious conscience is inviolable. . . . All known religions shall be free and their rites of worship shall be performed unhindered and under the protection of law.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses, well known and granted legal recognition internationally, uphold those democratic principles. They want Greece to uphold them, too, and not let any church impose its Inquisition mentality on others by persecuting those who do not agree with its views.