what do Jehovah Witnesses believe that differs than my Pentecostal Christian beliefs?

Question

why do Jehovah's call themselves Christians? why do JW's not believe in Heaven after death? what is the difference of beliefs between a JW and a Christian?

please...do not refrain from answering..i will read each answer even if it is the 100th one

Answer 1

I am pentecostal also and it's amazing that I looked this same stuff up the week before last. Here are a few things that I found that conflict with our beliefs.

1. They believe that the soul ceases to exist after death.
2. The Holy Spirit is a force, not alive.
3. Jesus was Michael the Archangel, who became a man.
4. Jesus was only a perfect man, not God in flesh.
5. Jesus did not rise from the dead in his physical body.
6. Jesus did not die on a cross but on a stake.
7. Only their church members will be saved.
8. Good works are necessary for salvation.
9. There is no hell of fire where the wicked are punished.
10. Only 144,000 Jehovah's witnesses can take communion.
11. Only 144,000 " " go to heaven.
12. Only 144,000 " " are born again.


If what they teach is true, then why can I find so many discrepencies? For instance, how can you be born again if you don't believe in the Holy Ghost. They Bible says that to be born again you must be baptized in water AND in the spirit. And if they say that the Holy Spirit is not alive, then they must be saying that God is not alive, which is not true by any means. I'm not judging. I'm just lining it up with the King James Bible. There are so many questions that can be drawn up from these beliefs. Kinda interesting. The source I got this information from is below. God bless you!!!!

Answer 2

You obviously have something against the JW.
We are the true Christians. You can't say that we're not Christians. we believe that Jesus was here on earth and that he is God's son, the first creation.
Why don't we believe in heaven or hell? Because the Bible says that after death there's nothing. Did you know that we are the only religion who don't believe in them? Even the pagans did. In fact the so called Christianity borrowed many things from the pagans (trinity, the celebration of Christmas etc.)
And yes, there is a big difference between us, the true Christians and the so called Christianity.

Answer 3

Disfellowshipped JW
1982 Corning, CA Congregation
For cause, but not the ones some ex-JWs who want to put themselves on a pedestal, want you to believe, and know you will without question.

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christian? Consider some non-Biblical things they believe in
They believe in obeying the law, even the inconvenient ones, such as speed limits when late for work.

They believe in paying taxes, even though there are many ways they could avoid them, as many religions do.

They believe in keeping their word, such as to the IRS that they will not promote politics in the church, and they actually mean it.

They teach their youth that waiting until marriage is preferable to using protection, and for the most part, the youths actually believe it. As a result, they have the lowest rates of out-of-wedlock births and STDs. Yes, there is the occasional ones who would rather have their fun now than wait, but there are far more who choose to wait.

They treat their youth with respect, not just "do what you're told!"

Youths are taught side by side with the adults, the Bible as a whole, and not just Bible stories. The very young may not understand what they are being taught, but by the time you reach the age of understanding, they have a good basic knowledge of the scriptures.

The congregations never get so large that the individual gets lost in the crowd. Since everyone is taught the same, it is easy to start a new congregation, with a set of elders.

Everyone knows everyone, whether in their congregation, or in their circuit. When Katrina happened, every Jehovah’s Witnesses living in New Orleans could be found in Texas, with every individual accounted for. How many other religions could say for certain they knew that none of those left behind belong to one of their churches?

They believe their Kingdom Halls should compliment a neighborhood, and not overwhelm it, so they are small and don’t include a lot of expensive decorative features. Each KH can hold up to four congregations.

They encourage all their members to read the Bible and submit their thoughts, over the last 100+ years, much of this before the NWT and when they were using the KJV, or Authorized Version. It should be noted that this version of the KJV was not the first, but the fifth. It took four revisions over a 150 year period, before it was approved by the Church of England.

JW may have their own Bible, but it came about as a result of reading the KJV by thousands of people and noting the contradictions as a result of errors in translation. A good example is the scripture that says “The Word” is a Mighty God. A Mighty God gets its power and existence from an Almighty God. As for revisions, to my knowledge the NWT has not been revised since it came out in the 50s. My mother still has her first JW Bible, though it is worn like all the others she has used since them. Witnesses generally wear out a Bible every few years, whereas those in Christendom may have the same Bible for generations.

The greatest difference between JWs and the rest of Christendom can be answered with just one question.

WHAT DAY DO YOU OBSERVE THE MEMORIAL ON?

Everyone else will falter around and perhaps come up with a day in May, but all JWs will say at sunset on Niacin 14, which falls on the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the Memorial of the Last Supper. This is the only day, aside from wedding anniversaries, that Christ said to continue keeping, yet Jehovah's Witnesses are the only Christian organization that does.

Whatever you may say about whether it is right or wrong to observe the man-made holidays created since the first congregations, the fact remains that Christendom does not observe the one day Christ said to keep. What does that say for the leaders of Christendom, that they ignore that one important day of the year, and don't even know what day it falls on?

The question of holidays gets asked a lot, yet the facts of why are clearly evident. Even the Churches of Christendom recognize that the holidays and observances are not in keeping with Bible teachings, yet they fear that doing anything about it will jeopardize their positions and power. Check any religious encyclopedia about the holidays and their history.

So the question is not why don't witnesses celebrate the holidays, but why does Christendom celebrate something not taught in the Bible? Further, why don't they know what day Christ said to observe and why don't you observe it on that day?

Whatever you may think of any of the other beliefs of JWs, you have to ask yourself is the need to observe these holidays more important than observing the day Christ said to keep?

Answer 4

We call ourselves Christians because like you we follow the teaching of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

We do beleive in Heaven after death, just not for all faithfull followers of Christ.

Rev. 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:

Rev.14:1 And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads

Psalms 37:10-11 And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more;
And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.

11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth,
And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.

So the Bible shows that some will go to heaven but most faithfull Christians will live on a peacefull earth under Christ rule as we pray for in the Lords Pray.

Matt. 6:9-10

9 “YOU must pray, then, this way:

“‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. 10 Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth.

And the differance of belief is really what is noted above. We beleive Christ Jesus begain his Kingdom Rule in Heaven in 1914 and will soon remove the wicked from the earth.

All of our beliefs can be reviewed when one of us call on your door, or go to our web site at

www.watchtower.org

Answer 5

Why do you people continue to answer these questions with the same answers every time. You are DEAD WRONG.

We believe that Jesus IS God's son. We believe he died for our sins. We believe he sits at God's right hand. Is being called your father's son the equivalent to being treated a second-class citizen in comparison to your father?!?!

We DO believe in heaven. We believe 144,000 men and women of all races and nationalities will be co-rulers with Jesus. We believe the rest of righteous mankind will reside forever in a perfect "heaven-like" earth.

The Bible says the dead are conscience of nothing at all. So hell is the common grave. From dust we were and dust we will return.

There is NO tithing.

We are neutral in all things political regardless of what country we reside in (we are in 235 lands). So we do not salute flags or anything else of that nature.

As for holidays, look up Christmas in any encyclopedia and look for origin. We didn't make it up. Most holidays are pagan. As for Easter. Instead of that pagan originated holiday, we commemorate Jesus death on the ACTUAL anniversary of his ACTUAL death: Nisan 14. This year that falls on April 2ND after sundown.

I think that covers the inaccuracies I have seen so far.

Answer 6

The Jehovah Witness religion adds to the bible. They believe they can earn their way into heaven, at least 144,000 of them. They don't believe the Jesus is the son of God and that He paid the full price for their sins. They don't serve in the military, salute the flag, celebrate holidays or take blood transfusions. That is quite a bit different that the Pentecostals.

Answer 7

JW's consider themselves christians, and believe that everybody else has got it wrong, (red flag everyone). But from what I could tell, they ain't. They were started in the 1800's by someone called Charles Taze Russell, if you do research you'll probably conclude that he was a questionable character. They have predicted the end of the world like a zillion times with a specific date, which of course failed to come to pass (another red flag everyone). With this track record, I'am respectfully but amazingly surprised that there is one. No disrespect to them but that's the truth. So if you ask me they don't have the slightest hint of what Christianity's all about. and so don't be surprised at their beliefs. hope that helps,

Answer 8

Major difference is that the JW's reject the idea of the tri-une God. They believe that Father God, Jehovah, is the only God, and not Jesus who gets second-class citizen treatment. In this, they are not Christians, though they believe and will preach the teachings of Jesus Christ, but will not acknowledge him as God.

The 144,000 refers to Jews chosen to be in God's presence. Revelation plainly identifies the 144,000 as Jews, but I have been unable to convince JW's that everybody who is born again will go to heaven. If these guys would just open the book and read for themselves. . .

Answer 9

Since they base their religion on the teachings of Jesus Christ they are Christians. They believe colossians 1:15 where it says that Jesus was the first of God's creations, by him and through him all other things were created. Read Rev 1:1 it says the revelation that Jesus christ had that god gave him.
Revelation 3:14 He was the beginning of the creations by God.
Showing two, also he said , "Let us make man" Indicateing two.
A father with a first creation son.
Also God told Adam in the garden of Eden for what you have done in sinning. "for dust you are and to dust you will return."
So they don't believe in a firey torment after death.
They believe what Jesus said, "the meek will inherit the earth."
He was quoting Psalms 37:9,10,11 where it says that the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will live forever on the earth. Just as Adam was meant to do. Adam was not put on the earth to die and go to some heavenly abode. He was put here to live and enjoy life.

Answer 10

sure, one could be a Trinitarian to be a Christian. it truly is the doctrine taught by way of the Apostles and exceeded down by way of the a lengthy time period. those who denied the doctrine were excommunicated. it really is basically lately that anti-Trinitarians have agin experienced a resurgence with the cults one of those the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. Even between Christians who disagree about a lot, one of those Catholics and Protestants, the doctrine of the Trinity is firmly conventional and agreed upon.