2006-10-04 05:57:20 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses set them apart as different from other religions?
(1) Bible: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible as the standard for all their beliefs.
(2) God: They worship Jehovah as the only true God and freely speak to others about him and his loving purposes toward mankind. Anyone who publicly witnesses about Jehovah is usually identified as belonging to the one group—“Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
(3) Jesus Christ: They believe, not that Jesus Christ is part of a Trinity, but that, as the Bible says, he is the Son of God, the first of God’s creations; that he had a prehuman existence and that his life was transferred from heaven to the womb of a virgin, Mary; that his perfect human life laid down in sacrifice makes possible salvation to eternal life for those who exercise faith; that Christ is actively ruling as King, with God-given authority over all the earth since 1914.
(4) God’s Kingdom: They believe that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for mankind; that it is a real government; that it will soon destroy the present wicked system of things, including all human governments, and that it will produce a new system in which righteousness will prevail.
(5) Heavenly life: They believe that 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians will share with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom, ruling as kings with him. They do not believe that heaven is the reward for everyone who is “good.”
(6) The earth: They believe that God’s original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled; that the earth will be completely populated by worshipers of Jehovah and that these will be able to enjoy eternal life in human perfection; that even the dead will be raised to an opportunity to share in these blessings.
(7) Death: They believe that the dead are conscious of absolutely nothing; that they are experiencing neither pain nor pleasure in some spirit realm; that they do not exist except in God’s memory, so hope for their future life lies in a resurrection from the dead.
(8) Last days: They believe that we are living now, since 1914, in the last days of this wicked system of things; that some who saw the events of 1914 will also see the complete destruction of the present wicked world; that lovers of righteousness will survive into a cleansed earth.
(9) Separate from the world: They earnestly endeavor to be no part of the world, as Jesus said would be true of his followers. They show genuine Christian love for their neighbors, but they do not share in the politics or the wars of any nation. They provide for the material needs of their families but shun the world’s avid pursuit of material things and personal fame and its excessive indulgence in pleasure.
(10) Apply Bible counsel: They believe that it is important to apply the counsel of God’s Word in everyday life now—at home, in school, in business, in their congregation. Regardless of a person’s past way of life, he may become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses if he abandons practices condemned by God’s Word and applies its godly counsel. But if anyone thereafter makes a practice of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drug abuse, drunkenness, lying, or stealing, he will be disfellowshipped from the organization.
(The above list briefly states some outstanding beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses but by no means all the points on which their beliefs are different from those of other groups.)
www.watchtower.org
If you need the scriptures that JW's use to back up any of these beliefs - please email me or visit the website above
2006-10-04 06:40:30 · answer #1 · answered by New ♥ System ♥ Lady 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I hate to disagree with Zero and Karlos, but Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of Jehovah.
Check out any english dictionary and find out what begotten means. (to come to life which is another way of saying created)
We believe salvation is a free gift from Jehovah.
That faith must be with actions.
(1 Cor 13:1-4, Faith without Love is valueless)
Once saved always saved isn't true, Jesus said you must endure to the end. (Matt 24)
Jesus said Eternal Life was based on Knowing the Only True God.
The bible is the source of all teachings.
“Immortality of the soul is a Greek notion formed in ancient mystery cults and elaborated by the philosopher Plato.” —Presbyterian Life, May 1, 1970, p. 35.
Ez. 18:4 says the soul dies.
Prov. 2:21 For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. 22 As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.
As to "our" bible: please read:
New Testament:
While critical of some of its translation choices, BeDuhn called the New World Translation a “remarkably good” translation, “better by far” and “consistently better” than some of the others considered. Overall, concluded BeDuhn, the New World Translation “is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available” and “the most accurate of the translations compared.”—Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament.
“Here at last is a comprehensive comparison of nine major translations of the Bible:
King James Version,
New American Standard Bible,
New International Version,
New Revised Standard Version,
New American Bible,
Amplified Bible,
Today's English Version (Good News Bible),
Living Bible,
and the New World Translation.
The book provides a general introduction to the history and methods of Bible translation, and gives background on each of these versions. Then it compares them on key passages of the New Testament to determine their accuracy and identify their bias. Passages looked at include:
John 1:1; John 8:58; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1
Jason BeDuhn
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair
Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion
Northern Arizona University
To learn more: go to:
http://www.watchtower.org
2006-10-04 06:42:31 · answer #2 · answered by TeeM 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Zero is correct!
They also teach that Jesus died on a stake not a cross (as the Holy Bible teaches)...and that the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is Satanic and not Biblical.
Matthew 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
They also have their own version of the Bible, it's the New World Translation. It is not taken from the original manuscripts. Somethings have been removed and other scripture has been changed to conform to their beliefs.
2006-10-04 06:08:20 · answer #3 · answered by Salvation is a gift, Eph 2:8-9 6 · 1⤊ 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
2006-10-04 07:49:52 · answer #4 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They believe that Jesus was created and not a part of the trinity and not the only begotton son of God. They believe that they are the only true relifgion and that if you are a part of conventional Chrisandom you will not be saved. The do not believe in hell. they believe that only 144,000 people will go to heaven and that all others will live forever on paradise earth. They believe that you can fall from grace and that works are the key to entry into Gods kingdom.
2006-10-04 06:01:45 · answer #5 · answered by zero 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I'm one of JWs. Pls see our beliefs below.
We believe in the Father (Jehovah), the Son (Jesus, the Christ, the Lamb of God and the only begotten Son of God) and the holy spirit (active force of God, which is a part of God (finger) and not a separate person of God (See Luke 11:20, Mat 12:28). They are not part of the Trinity where everybody is God. God is not composed of three persons but just one person. See Deut 6:4 and John 17:3 referred the Father as the ONLY true God. One (echad is just one – Ecc 4:9)
There’s only a few who will go to heaven who will rule as kings and priests of God (Rev 5:10) and others will live forever in the new earth
(Psalms 37:29 - The righteous themselves will possess the earth,
And they will reside forever upon it.)
Rev 5:10 - , 10 and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”
Salvation we owe to God and his son, the Lamb (Rev 7:10)
We have to do the work of God, which is to EXERCISE faith in Jesus. (John 6:28) Therefore they said to him: “What shall we do to work the works of God?” 29 In answer Jesus said to them: “This is the work of God, that YOU exercise faith in him whom that One sent forth.”
Salvation is a free gift of God, if you don’t take care of that gift, you will loose it.
We have faith in God and his Son (John 14:1)
To enter the kingdom of God, we believe that we need to do the “will of the Father” who is Jehovah (Matt 7:21)
For more information : visit www.watchtower.org
http://www.freewebs.com/dellf12345/
2006-10-04 06:57:01 · answer #6 · answered by trustdell1 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good Job TeeM an New sys Lady .. glad to see y'all are here an on the ball...
It ALWAYS amazes me how many people KNOW what we believe that have never studied with us, or spoken to us.. its what someone else that tells them abt us an they don't even know
2006-10-04 06:46:34 · answer #7 · answered by Tupperware Lady 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Everything the false prophet, Charles Taze Russell, and the watchtower society tells them to believe. Mind control is a part of every cult.
2006-10-04 07:24:49 · answer #8 · answered by Not perfect, just forgiven 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
good work Zero! hi 5.
2006-10-04 06:05:50 · answer #9 · answered by karlos_alvino 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋