Where are their beliefs the same with the mainstream christian church and where does it differ?
2006-09-17 05:41:40 · 11 answers · asked by t_mundell 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Your question should be answered by a Witness and I have been baptized for many years--
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired word of God.They hold to the Bible as a standard for all their beliefs.
They worship Jehovah as the only true God(Psalms 83:18 Exodus 6:3)
They believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the first of all God's creations, that he sacrificed his life for imperfect humans so that we have the chance to receive everlasting life,something that our first parents Adam & Eve lost.
They believe that God's Kingdom is the only hope for mankind; that it is a real government; that it will soon put an end to all wickedness, including all human governments, and that it will produce a new government in which righteousness will prevail.
They believe that God's original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled; that the earth will be completely populated by worshipers of the true God and that these will be able to enjoy eternal life in human perfection; that even the dead will be brought back to life with an opportunity to also share in those blessings.
They believe that the dead are conscious of absolutely nothing; that they are experiencing neither pain nor pleasure, that they exist in God's memory, so hope for their future lies in a resurrection from the dead.
They believe that we are now living in the last days, that some living today will also see the destruction of the wicked; that lovers of righteousness will survive into a paradise earth.
They remain separate from the world just as Jesus commanded them to do.They remain neutral when it comes to politics or warfare against their fellowman.
They believe that blood is sacred and that life is in the blood and their lives rightly belong to God. (See Gen.9:4, Leviticus 7:27, Acts 15:20, Acts 15:29. )
They strive to apply Bible counsel in every aspect of life.
2006-09-17 06:55:38 · answer #1 · answered by Micah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. They don't believe in the Trinity, they believe Jesus died on a stake and not a cross. They don't believe in blood transfussons. They don't celebrate birthdays, holidays or even Christmas because it is considered to be self-glorifying. If you commit a sin and don't repent you are bansihed from the congregation and members can't talk to you anymore.
The don't believe in Hell, only that the wicked will die and just stay dead and never will be alive in any state. They believe Jesus was Michael the ark angel before he came down to earth as Jesus. They believe that the earth will become a paradise. Only 144,000 of them will get to go to heaven with God to become angels and all the rest will stay on the pradise earth.
That's enough for now, if you have anymore questions just ask.
2006-09-17 05:47:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian group which was created by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916 CE) in the late 19th Century. A basic doctrine of the group is that they should expect the immanent return of Jesus Christ, whose second coming has been fast approaching ever since the group started. Members are all ministers who engage in door-to-door evangelization but who also refuse to join the armed services, participate in politics, etc. Other characteristics of the denomination are a rejection of the Trinity, a completely literal reading of the Bible (in their own unique and not entirely accurate translation) and viewing Jesus' nature in a way similar to the early heresy of Arianism.
2006-09-17 11:13:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Jehovah's Witnesses understand the Scriptures to teach that God's Kingdom will soon replace all earthly governments.
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite
That Kingdom will rule over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Until that resurrection, there is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire
While a limitted number of humans will be resurrected to heaven to share in ruling over mankind, the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]
Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind
Jehovah's Witnesses' official website:
http://watchtower.org
http://watchtower.org/library/jt/index.htm
2006-09-20 04:30:07 · answer #4 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Trinity- They do not believe in the trinity but that Jehovah is God and Jesus use to be the archangel micheal.
Souls- They do not believe in the eternal soul but that believers will be given a new glorified body when they are resurrected.
hell- People who die cease to exist unless you are a Jw then you cease to exist then go to the new paradise when resurected.
144000 are Jw's who get to go to heaven and the rest repopulate the earth
2006-09-17 05:46:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jehova witnesses do not belive that Jesus is the son of God and is the messaiah. They are still waiting for Jesus first arrival. They are lost and will miss out on eternal life with God if they dont accept Jesus as their savior and become born again. They dont' even use the Holy bible in their teachings. I one attended their church,and it's pretty scary what they do teach. In my heart i knew they were teaching the opposit of what God teaches us and I got out of there.
This is the word of God and I will stand on His word, until the day He takes me home! Prasie the Lord!!
John 3:3, 36 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2006-09-17 05:52:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
the way I comprehend it Jehovah witnesses do have self belief that there'll be a Hell, yet no longer until eventually all the souls are Judged. until eventually then all souls sleep, there is not any dieing and happening to Heaven or Hell for them.
2016-10-15 02:27:07 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They believe in making people very angry by waking them up on their only off day of the week to talk about their invisible man.
2006-09-17 05:44:35 · answer #8 · answered by Wonder Weirdo 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When they knock at my door I put porn on the tv, answer the door in my underwear, and ask if they wanna come inside and talk about jesus. Usually once they see the porn on the tv they run away.
2014-08-15 14:45:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians do, however, differ on many important doctrines. In an attempt to keep this article to a reasonable length, let us not concentrate on ALL the differences. Rather...
...LET US INVESTIGATE THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE, THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST.
JW's believe that Jesus Christ was a perfect man, and that He is a person distinct from God the Father. However, they also teach that before His earthly life, Jesus was a spirit creature, Michael the archangel, who was created by God and became the Messiah at His baptism. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus is a mighty one, although not almighty as Jehovah God is. According to John 1:1 in their Bible, The New World Translation, Christ is "a god" but not "the God." They teach that Jesus "was and is and always will be beneath Jehovah" and that "Christ and God are not coequal".
Does the Bible confirm their beliefs or does it teach the orthodox Christian concept that Christ is God? This is an extremely important question. Consider the following points:
The Christ of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament.
Isaiah wrote about seeing Jehovah in Isaiah 6:1-10.
In John 12:31-42, we are told that Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke of Him
In Exodus 34:14 we are to worship no one but Jehovah.
In Hebrews 1:6 the angels worship Christ.
In Isaiah 44:6 Jehovah is called the first and the last (confirmed in Revelation 1:8),
but in Revelation 22:13 Christ is the first and the last.
These verses demonstrate that the name "Jehovah" is used for both God the Father and of God the Son. Although they are distinct persons they are each called "Jehovah" because they each possess deity.
The deity of Christ is taught in Scripture.
In Matthew 1:23, Christ is called "Immanuel," which means "God with us."
When Thomas touched Jesus' wounds, after the resurrection, he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). There is no basis whatsoever for saying, as some JW's say, that Thomas was referring to Christ when he said "my Lord" but was referring to God (Jehovah) when he said "my God." Instead, Thomas called Christ both his Lord and his God. And Christ did not correct him! Colossians 2:9 clearly confirms the deity of Christ when it states that in Him "all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily" (New World Translation). Stephen called Jesus "Lord" (Acts 7:59,60), and we are to confess Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9; I Cor. 12:3). "Lord" in these verses is Kurios, which is the Greek word for Jehovah in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. It is evident from this that Christ the Lord (kurios) is Jehovah God.
Attributes of Christ show that He is God.
Jesus Christ knows all things (John 1:48; 2:25; 6:64; 14:30; 21:17). He is all-powerful (Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3), sinless (John 8:46), eternal (Mic. 5:2), and unchanging (Heb. 13:8). Since only God possesses these attributes, Christ must be God.
Certain works of Christ show that He is God.
Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7; Eph. 1:7), give eternal life (John 10:28; 17:2), judge the world (John 5:22, 27), and control nature (Matt. 8:26). Since only God can do these things, Christ must be God.
Christ received worship as God.
Jesus is worshipped by the angels (Heb. 1:6) and by man (Matt. 14:33), and yet only God is to be worshipped (Ex. 34:14). Christ Himself said that worship is due to God alone (Matt. 4:10), and yet He accepted worship. If Jesus in His pre-existent state were the archangel Michael, how could He have received worship, since angels are not allowed to receive worship (Rev. 19:10)? If Christ were not God, then worshipping Him would be idolatrous.
Jesus Christ is called "the mighty God" in Isaiah 9:6.
JW's have a ready answer for this verse. They explain that Christ is "the mighty god" but not "the almighty." They say that Christ is the mighty, never the almighty and that Jehovah is the almighty God, never the mighty. However, Jeremiah 32:18 shows that Jehovah is the mighty One. Therefore, since Christ is the mighty God (Isaiah 9:6) and Jehovah is the mighty God (Jer. 32:18), they are both God. They both possess full deity.
Christ is God, the Creator of all things according to Colossians 1:15-17.
JW's refer to this passage to support their teaching that Christ was created by Jehovah (for example, Let God Be True, p.35). This is based primarily on the words, "the firstborn of all creation," in verse 15. However, if this verse was teaching that Jesus Christ is the first created being made by God, the word "first-created" would have been used of Christ, not the word "firstborn." These are two different words in the Greek, with two different meanings. "First-created" is protoktistos, and "firstborn" is prototokos. Colossians 1:15 does not use the protoktistos, "first-created." Instead it uses prototokos, which means an heir, a begotten one, the first in rank. The teaching of Colossians 1:15 is that Christ is first in rank above all creation; He is the Heir of all things. He is prior to all creation and superior over it.
The JW's New World Translation adds the word "other" four times in Colossians 1:15-17, so that the passage states that Christ created "all other things," everything except Himself. However, there is no basis for adding "other." It certainly does not occur in the Greek manuscripts. The translators of the New World Translation admit this by putting "other" in brackets. This "translation" attempts to comply with the assumption that firstborn means first-created. But, as shown, this is not the meaning of firstborn, and therefore it is also wrong to add the word "other." There is no verse in the entire Bible that states that Christ was created by Jehovah!
Christ claimed to be equal with God in John 10:30.
JW's believe that this verse, "I and the Father are one," means that Christ was one with God the Father in purpose and not in nature and essence. However, if that was all Christ was saying, why did the Jews want to stone Him? They themselves thought His purpose was the same as God's. Verse 33 of John 10 explains that they wanted to stone Him because of blasphemy, because He claimed to be God!
The deity of Christ is the central point of the Scriptures. It clearly teaches that Christ is God. The teachings of the Jehovah's Witness' concerning Jesus Christ clearly contradict the teachings of the Bible. Passages such as Philippians 2:5-11 tell us that Jesus Christ, who existed as God, took the bodily form of a humble servant so that He could die on the cross in our place. "Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (kurios), to the glory of God the Father."
Didnt see it in here maybe I missed it but they also dont believe in the cruifiction on the cross.
2006-09-17 06:01:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋