2006-12-05 05:57:14 · 25 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.)
If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org
2006-12-05 07:02:28 · answer #1 · answered by Jeremy Callahan 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Jehovahs Witnesses actually read the bible and try to live by what God asks of them. They are witnesses of Jehovah, which is God actual name. They believe that anything that does not have it's roots according to God, is pagan. Take Christmas, Jesus was not born on Dec. 25. He was born sometime in the fall. That was when the census was taken and the weather was not bad enough for the flocks of sheep to be brought inside. They also believe that there is no trinity, nor the "fire and brimstone" hell that everyones been taught. Think about it, if our souls are not mortal, how could they spend eternity anywhere.Check your bibles.
2006-12-05 14:15:53 · answer #2 · answered by supermomchicky 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
We are no longer a part of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion. We heeded the warning in Revelation and broke all ties with her. We do not worship the"wild beast" or it's image. We have the worship that is pure and undefiled in the eyes of the one true God, Jehovah and we acknowledge and give honor to our reigning King, Christ Jesus, the Son of the one true God.
We do not take up arms against anyone for we have a love and respect for life. We are peaceable with all mankind.
If everyone followed this as we do, the whole earth would be at peace, for wars would be no more.
2006-12-05 14:16:25 · answer #3 · answered by Micah 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Jehova's Witnesses don't believe in the Trinity. They believe that Jesus was God's son, but not entirely Deified.
2006-12-05 14:00:32 · answer #4 · answered by papadego 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well let's take a look:
Catholic and Sunday Churches
keep Sunday holy
believe in trinity
believe in rapture
believe going to heaven
believe in pagan days
Jehovah Witnesses however don't believe in the pagan days; they don't believe in the trinity, rapture, dead are asleep or even going to heaven which is good because they have proof to back up these claims. However I do know that they say that the Sabbath and Sabbath Feast Days are done away with, but a Jehovah Witness told me they do keep the Sabbath. How is it different from the Churches of God is that they say Jesus died Friday and Rose Sunday--a Catholic Doctrine while the Churches of God say he died Wednesday according to scripture and was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights and rose Saturday Evening. Jehovah Witness is different in their teaching too by saying the 144,000 will be in heaven from other churches too; I have never seen this in scripture.
2006-12-05 14:01:09 · answer #5 · answered by KNOWBIBLE 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Perhaps the most significant differences concern the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses recognize the Kingdom of God to be a real government which will step into mankind's affairs.
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
Learn more:
http://jw-media.org/beliefs/trueworship.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/
2006-12-05 16:22:35 · answer #6 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Let me answer this from a Unitarian-Universalist perspective. As our faith was a reaction to Catholicism, we do not agree with a strong religious authority or strict laws. While we have our roots in early Christianity and Judaism, we do not accept laws. We have guidelines, some rules and some beliefs. So the idea of being a Jehovah's Witness strikes at our hearts as a form of fundamentalism.
I believe that most Catholics want to reform their religion. The religious authority at the Vatican has always been the heart of the problem. From their refusal to let priests marry to covering up allegations of child abuse to the persecution of Muslims to hating rock music to being anti-choice, they have laid it all out for us. All this intolerance. I suggest the Vatican concentrate on letting Catholics have more freedom and help them to understand how to become a better Catholic.
With JW's, the problem is that they are absolutely convinced that they are right. They can end up living in a bubble. I am against persecution of anyone, though. They have faced persecution for being different and that is a dangerous idea. I do feel it is their right to refuse blood transfusions as we do not criticize Catholics for letting brain dead relatives stay on life support or Orthodox Jews for refusing autopsies and organ donations. We do not tell East Indians to not cremate the corpses of loved ones and dump the ashes in the Ganges River. I have a Sikh friend.
2006-12-05 14:05:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
There are many, many differences in the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses as compared to other Christian religions, but the fundamental difference is not in regard to their teachings, because their teachings have changed in the past and are subject to change in the future. (Example: Jesus returned in 1874 has been changed to Jesus returned in 1914).
The fundamental difference is that JW's look to a few "special" men - the leaders of the Watchtower Society - as their "ticket" to salvation. They may change their opinions on doctrines, but the one unchangeable teaching of the WT leaders is that a person must be 'associated' with them to be saved. Therefore they will accept as doctrine whatever is currently being taught by these men.
Their claim that they only follow the Bible is obviously not true, since they are willing to abandon what they formerly called "Bible truth" and adopt the latest teachings of the WT leaders.
2006-12-05 14:48:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
mainly their belief that only 144.000 people will go to heaven
their strong stanze on disfelowshipping people after a trial held by elders when they have committed certain sins.
They go to preach door to door
they believe that the earth will be made a paradise and all deserving people will live there after Armaggedon (where God destroys the evil ones).
They also believe in resurrection they don't believe in an immortal or hell
2006-12-05 14:04:24 · answer #9 · answered by Wild_Lilly 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
For the best, and honest answer please go to
www.watchtower.org
There are to many differences to go into here.
We believe Jehovah, when He said this is my son, the beloved.
We believe Jesus when he said his Father is greater than he is.
We believe Jesus when he said the dead are sleeping.
We believe Jesus when he said to worship Jehovah his God.
We avoid all teaching from Plato, who taught the immortallity of the soul, and who taught the trinity.
edit -- tamil, we do not believe in earning salvation, if someone told you that, they are either lying, or repeating a lie they heard.
Salvation only comes by putting faith in Jesus' ransom, and never by works.
2006-12-05 14:08:59 · answer #10 · answered by TeeM 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋