Jehovah's Witness?

[Robin Hatcher]

An acquaintance that I assumed was a Christian recently told me that she didn't celebrate Christmas. When I asked why she said because she is a Jehovah's Witness. I don't know a whole lot about their beliefs? Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!

[Barbara Moulton]

Their summary of beliefs

http://www.watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm?article=article_01.htm

[Robin Hatcher]

Their summary of beliefs

http://www.watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm?article=article_01.htm

I've always been told that JW is a cult, but looking at that link it sounds like they are just another Christian denomination. From some other reading I did it sounded as if they thought their beliefs are the only true beliefs???

[Greg Farra]

They deny the trinity and the deity of Christ. Jesus is the archangel Michael, and is a creared being who created everything but himself. They believe they have a corner on the truth. They also teach that only 144,000 are going to heaven (to be the ruling class) while all of the other righteous will live in a paradise on earth. Those that are evil, God deniers, and opponents of the JW's will be judged and annihilated. They have continually set dates for Christ's return and they now say he returned in secret.

Go to the link and see what all they believe. Christ is inferior to God, he died on a torture stake and not a cross. Christ was sacrificed as a ransom for obedient humans, not for sinners in need of a savior. Christ is now a spirit without a physical body. The soul ceases to exist at death. No interfaith relations. No blood transfusions.

[Stan Self]

Robin,

I don't know how much of the web site ,to which Barbara referred, you read, but I would have to part company with their belief that includes: Christ is inferior to His Father, Jesus was a created being, and a denial of the Trinity. I could go on but that is sufficient for me.

[Jim Franklin]

The Jehovah Witnesses came out of the Seventh Day Adventists that is why I believe that the followers of one Ellen White is also a cult. She was hit on the head when she was about 7 years old and was delusional much of her life from the sources I have read. My Nazarene ordained pastor parents always warned me against listening to any of these cults.

[John Kennedy]

The Jehovah Witnesses came out of the Seventh Day Adventists that is why I believe that the followers of one Ellen White is also a cult. She was hit on the head when she was about 7 years old and was delusional much of her life from the sources I have read. My Nazarene ordained pastor parents always warned me against listening to any of these cults.

Jim - I really would like some sort of foundation for the asssertion that the JW's came out of the SDA's. Are you saying that JW beliefs were similar to SDA beliefs? What does it mean to 'come out'? Just the other day I had a conversation with someone who maintained the JW's came out of Mormonism.

If, for instance, the person/s who originated the Watchtower Society (JW) had, at one point, been SDA's, that would not necessarily suggest a direct relationship. For instance, a reasonably credible report is that Jim Jones (founder of People's Temple) attended a Nazarene Sunday School in Indiana when growing up. Does that mean that People's Temple came out of the Nazarene Church? Jones was, at one point, a Disciples of Christ minister. Would it thus be accurate to say that Peoples' Temple came out of the Christian Church?

[Robin Hatcher]

Robin,

I don't know how much of the web site ,to which Barbara referred, you read, but I would have to part company with their belief that includes: Christ is inferior to His Father, Jesus was a created being, and a denial of the Trinity. I could go on but that is sufficient for me.

I've checked out a few more sites now and found what you mentioned also. Now I guess I'm interested in learning about ways to witness to members of JW.

[Steven Martinez]

The Jehovah Witnesses came out of the Seventh Day Adventists that is why I believe that the followers of one Ellen White is also a cult. She was hit on the head when she was about 7 years old and was delusional much of her life from the sources I have read. My Nazarene ordained pastor parents always warned me against listening to any of these cults.

I do not see the logic here. Just because a "cult" comes from a sect of Christianity does not make the sect a cult as well. Adventist reject all of the previous stated doctrines of JWs. Besides, Charles Russell atended some early Adventist churches, he was never a part of it. Considering that people such as Billy Graham and Timothy Smith consider Seven Dayers as being Christians I think we must be careful in calling them a cult. In fact, very few Christian scholars believe that Adventist are a cult and those that do (or did) were primarily fundamentalist from Calvinist schools.

[Bob Evans]

They also look at the reign of the Emporer Constintine as the place where the church went wrong. He was the emperior who declared the entire Roman empire Christian without requireing them to desert their pagen religious practices. So they refuse to celebrate Christmas because they see that many of our modern practices of Christmas as the pagen festival of Winter Solstis as diverting us from the birth of Christ. The Christmas tree as well as celebrating Christs birth in he winter did not begin until the 2nd centry or the reign of Constintine. Its from this reasoning that they refuse to vote as well.




They deny the trinity and the deity of Christ. Jesus is the archangel Michael, and is a creared being who created everything but himself. They believe they have a corner on the truth. They also teach that only 144,000 are going to heaven (to be the ruling class) while all of the other righteous will live in a paradise on earth. Those that are evil, God deniers, and opponents of the JW's will be judged and annihilated. They have continually set dates for Christ's return and they now say he returned in secret.

Go to the link and see what all they believe. Christ is inferior to God, he died on a torture stake and not a cross. Christ was sacrificed as a ransom for obedient humans, not for sinners in need of a savior. Christ is now a spirit without a physical body. The soul ceases to exist at death. No interfaith relations. No blood transfusions.

[Jamie Wayne]

At their core, the Witnesses can be reduced (in a simplified way) to maintaining the Arian heresy - "there was once when he was not."

...that's certainly a problem big enough to exclude them from being considered "orthodox" by the historic standards of the "Christian" Church.