Why is Jehovah's witness considered a cult?

Answer 1

Because they changed the Bible, deny the physical resurrection of Christ & deny His deity.

Jehovah's Witness give Christ a lower place than the Bible gives Him.

JEHOVAH'S WITNESS TEACH THAT Christ was once Michael the Archangel.

Jehovah's Witness deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.

THEY TEACH SALVATION BY WORKS.

THEY TEACH THAT THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN.

THEY TEACH THAT THEY WILL GAIN EVERLASTING LIFE ON EARTH.

Answer 2

Counterfeit Christianity is probably the best description I can give for a cult. Counterfeit Christianity is an imitation of real Christianity. Bible terms like "Jesus Christ, Resurrection, Salvation, and Atonement" are used by the Cult, but the various cult groups have assigned entirely different meanings to these terms.
Like counterfeit money which is sometimes difficult to detect, so it is difficult to detect counterfeit Christianity, since it looks like the real thing. Experts examining counterfeit money often hold it up to a strong light and look for identifying marks. Counterfeit Christianity also has identifying marks, which can be seen when, held up to an even stronger light, the light of God's word, the bible.
We are at an advantage if we know what to expect from a cult. Cultists are very well trained to appear "Christian", and indeed believe they are the true churches, and you need the deliverance! Therefore, be bold and ask the question, "do you believe the group you represent is the only true church on the face of the earth?"
If they reply that they are, or if they are evasive, making remarks like "Well, every church has a measure of truth but...", you have made an early detection of a Cultist.
Every true Christian, if asked the same question, regardless of his denomination, would reply that the true church is comprised of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and HE (not some organization) is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, (John 14:6). No legitimate denomination would claim that they alone and their members have salvation exclusively, but the cults (the counterfeits) do.

Answer 3

In considering whether Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult, consider that the same things were said about the first Christians of nearly 2000 years ago.

They were people who went door to door, telling their Jewish brethren that their rituals, beliefs, and holidays, dating back hundreds of years, were no longer valid. Highly educated individuals in the religious arts, such as Saul of Tarsus, could prove that this new Jewish Sect was a cult.

It was made up of lower (working) class individuals, like a Fisherman (Peter) and a Tax Collector (Matthew) who lacked any education, let alone one in religion. And worse, they were following the teachings of a lower class Carpenter (Jesus).

They were writing their own scriptures (Bible) and not sticking with the ones that had sustained the Jews for nearly 2000 years. It was a Bible that matched their beliefs and not those of their brethren Jews.

Any of this sound familiar?

With all his education, Saul could not see that the Truth was being taught house to house.

It took the appearance of Christ, blinding him, for him to see the light. We now know him as the Apostle Paul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_of_Tarsus

This is what Jehovah’s Witnesses represent.

Every witness becomes a legal minister and not just the elite who get paid to do it. A simple window washer can grow to become a Congregation Overseer, a Circuit or District Servant, or sit on the Governing Board. No, they will not have their names enshrined on building, a church, or in some book, nor will they get paid, but they will be do something to benefit all mankind.

The Churches of Christendom present a better argument for a cult than the Witnesses. A single individual gets paid to tell a large group what they are to believe. They don’t teach them to be ministers, as Christ instructed, and they ignore the admonishments against involvement in the affairs of the world and keeping the congregation clean.

Answer 4

Because most people don't know the meaning of the word "cult." One person says it, then others follow without first checking to see what a cult truly is.

It is true that Jehovah's Witnesses deny the trinity as a false doctrine. But does that qualify them as a cult? No. Show me one dictionary that says any religion is a cult for not accepting a certain belief.

Most people are misinformed about their own beliefs. For instance, most people who believe the trinity don't really know what it is. The trinity doctrine is very complex. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls the Trinity teaching “the central doctrine of the Christian religion,” defining it this way:

“In the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: ‘the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God.’ . . . The Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent.”

With this being said, does the Bible prove the trinity. Take a look at John 10:30 where it says: "I and the Father are one." Do you see a trinity here? Does it say that the Father and Son are co-equal, co-eternal, and omnipotent? No! And by the way--how can this verse prove a trinity when there are only 2 persons mentioned? Where is the holy spirit?

You can call Jehovah's Witnesses a cult all you like, but that changes nothing the truth. They are not a cult.

Answer 5

I think Fotoshop and Linedancer put it pretty well. I personally have not met many, if any, who felt we are cultists. I think Y!A is a pretty good answer as to why people get the impressions about us that they do. Case in point Whynotaskdon claims that we destroy our early literature to cover up times when we were wrong. This is TOTAL bunk. I personally love old books, in general, and have quite a few old publications of ours. Sure we have made large mistakes. We Even used to think Christmas was a Christian holiday. I love looking at our previous misunderstandings of the Bible. They are quite humerous and encouraging as it shows me how far we have come. People like Whynotaskdon enjoy spreading lies about us. I recently saw someone pose a question about Why we Burn our literature. See how things happen. A rumor starts and soon people start stating it as FACT. Sad ain't it.

Answer 6

MyPreshus has it right. My immediate family are ex-Jehovah's Witnesses. The JW's are cult, and it has taken many painful years to get over the damage this organization inflicts on their members. She summed it up very nicely; the only thing I would add is that a cult uses control to keep its members; true religion teaches love. This is a good rule to keep in mind when looking at cults that claim to be religion and religions that are legitimate. I suggest you give the ten points to her.

Answer 7

Cult: the object of such devotion.

They do not pray to the statue of Mary (Mother-Son Babylon practice) or toward a rock (symbolism of a goddess daughter of Allah) in Mecca.

I do not see the cult reference you speak of.

Answer 8

Many christians would consider them a cult as them seem to follow the teachings of the Watchtower. Also some of their teaching would conflict greatly with that of traditional christianity.

Answer 9

It is only anti-Witness bigots who insist that Jehovah's Witnesses are cultists.

In particular, Trinitarians try to use the term "cult" like a sledgehammer to obliterate any thinking analysis of what the supposed "cultist" actually believes. Trinitarians embrace a bizarre, non-etymological, quite arbitrary definition of the term "cult" which includes anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God Himself, rather than the Son of God. Interestingly, pagans in the first century slandered Christ's followers with the insulting term "Atheist" (!) because the Christians had a somewhat different idea from the pagans about the nature of God.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that no salvation occurs without Christ, that accepting Christ's sacrifice is a requirement for true worship, that every prayer must acknowledge Christ, that Christ is the King of God's Kingdom, that Christ is the head of the Christian congregation, that Christ is immortal and above every creature, even that Christ was the 'master worker' in creating the universe! Secular authorities in academia and government routinely acknowledge that Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian religion. With more than 16 million associating with Jehovah's Witnesses, the term "cult" seems very out of place in a fair discussion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians.

Sadly, Trinitarians seem more interested in perpetuating their human traditions, Greek philosophy, and Babylonish fetishes rather than reasonably examining the Scriptural definition of "Christian". In fact, the bible most closely associates being "Christian" with preaching about Christ and Christ's teachings. Review all the times the bible uses the term "Christian" and note that the context connects the term with:
"declaring the good news"
'teaching quite a crowd'
'open eyes, turn from dark to light'
"uttering sayings of truth"
"persuade"
"keep on glorifying"

(Acts 11:20-26) [The early disciples of Jesus] began talking to the Greek-speaking people, declaring the good news of the Lord Jesus... and taught quite a crowd, and it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians.

(Acts 26:17-28) [Jesus said to Paul] I am sending you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God... Paul said: “I am not going mad, Your Excellency Festus, but I am uttering sayings of truth and of soundness of mind. ...Do you, King Agrippa, believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” But Agrippa said to Paul: “In a short time you would persuade me to become a Christian.”

(1 Peter 4:14-16) If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy... But if he suffers as a Christian, let him not feel shame, but let him keep on glorifying God in this name


So why do anti-Witnesses try to hijack the term "Christian" and hide its Scriptural implications? Because anti-Witnesses recognize that it is the preaching work that makes it clear that the relatively small religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are by far the most prominent followers of Christ:

(Matthew 28:19,20) Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded

Answer 10

Tthere is much about the organization that remains hidden from the public eye. Most outsiders have no idea of the extent to which the Watchtower Society controls its members - punishing them if they vote in elections, or hang an evergreen wreath on their door, or read forbidden literature (such as this info you are now reading!). Even most relatives and neighbors are unaware that JWs can be put on trial behind closed doors, without right to representation by an attorney, and that they can be commanded to shun a life-long friend without even being informed of the friend's alleged offense against the organization.

Jehovah's Witnesses deny any form of "brainwashing" , however, because it is implemented much more slowly than in many other cults, the Watchtower Society's program of mind control often goes unrecognized, except by experts. But it shares basic elements with other 'brainwashing' programs: (1) repetitive instruction, with books, magazines, and meetings all hammering home the same information, (2) new members told to break ties with outside friends and limit fellowship with non-member relatives, (3) a ban on reading critical works, (4) denunciation and shunning of ex-members, (5) verbal attacks undermining the authority of all outside institutions - religious, educational, medical, governmental, (6) a unique vocabulary with "loaded" language reinforcing the sect's rules, and (7) an orchestrated superiority/inferiority-guilt complex. Former members who have not been deprogrammed commonly report problems with anxiety, fear, and disorientation, as well as difficulty reintegrating in society at large.

The Watchtower organization states publicly, "'They are people who are absorbed in humanity.' And they do not live in communes, isolating themselves from relatives and others."

Aside from the roughly 13,000 volunteers who live and work at Bethel office/factory/farm facilities, most JWs are not physically isolated. But they are socially isolated from outsiders. And when contact with "worldly" (non-member) relatives or neighbors does take place, Witnesses are taught to view this as an opportunity for witnessing rather than a time for fellowship. The statement quoted here denying that JWs isolate themselves is propaganda for public consumption; on page 24 of this same Watchtower, Witnesses themselves are told, "We must also be on guard against extended association with worldly people. Perhaps it is a neighbor, a school friend, a workmate, or a business associate. ...What are some of the dangers of such a friendship?..."

So, not only do JWs in fact isolate themselves, but their leaders are deliberately concealing this fact and falsifying information to defend themselves against the charge of being a "cult."

For more info, see the link below ..