i have a co-worker who is a JW & i admire her very much. in fact she offered to study the King James Bible with me during lunch break. i am taking her up on her offer. i have many questions. i really don't understand why JW's get the rap, but i guess the Mormons do too? i do know this one thing, while the mormons ministry can last up to 2 years [because i let them come in one day & talked to them] Jehovah Witnesses keep on, keeping on with sincerity! And i finally got an answer to a question from the Bible that no one or any other religion was ever been able to anwser & there it was right there in front of my face in the Bible all along!
2007-03-01 14:26:15 · 31 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Jehovah's Witnesses preach "the good news" for many reasons, including their sincere belief that living by bible principles can improve the life of a bible student. Witnesses have more than mere "love of neighbor", however... their preaching and teaching also demonstrates love of God and Christ!
Jesus Christ specifically assigned the house-to-house ministry to the Christian congregation, with no regard for specific results.
(Luke 10:1,2) After these things the Lord designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come. 2 Then he began to say to them: “The harvest, indeed, is great, but the workers are few. Therefore beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
Jehovah's Witnesses are trained to direct attention to the bible, and move on when their message is unwanted. Since each congregation in the United States tries to call at every home in its territory at least twice each year, there is strong motivation for them to move on where little interest is shown. Also, the Scriptures help the Witnesses to expect little interest from most:
(2 Timothy 4:3-5) For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the healthful teaching ...and they will turn their ears away from the truth, whereas they will be turned aside to false stories. You, though, keep your senses in all things, suffer evil, do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.
Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/
http://jw-media.org/people/ministry.htm
2007-03-01 16:02:00 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I am one of the Jehovah's Witnesses. I see that many people say that we offer Bible studies "to get someone to join our group". This is not true. We study the Bible and we encourage others to do the same. We do it out of love for our neighbor. It is everyone's right to want to know more about Jehovah God and his purpose for us.
We do not have our own Bible. We believe that all Bibles are the same, just different wording. Some you may find easier to understand, but in the end it says the same thing. When someone has a question we reply using the Bible. This way they know it is not a made up teaching it is right there written. We help people understand the Bible more clearly.
If you have more questions visit our official website. watchtower.org. Or speak with one of the Jehovah's Witnesses locally.
The New World Translantion, that we use, states this in 1 John 4:1-3.
"Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world. 2 YOU gain the knowledge of the inspired expression from God by this: Every inspired expression that confesses Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh originates with God, 3 but every inspired expression that does not confess Jesus does not originate with God. Furthermore, this is the antichrist’s [inspired expression] which YOU have heard was coming, and now it is already in the world."
It is not distorted, simply different wording.
I encourage you to keep on the journey of finding the answers to your questions. Make your own decision on what is the religion you would like to follow. Read the bible and pray to Jehovah, God to lead you in the right direction. Find out for yourself.
2007-03-02 19:05:03 · answer #2 · answered by sassiness92 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's what happened with many of us who now are JW. We've been trying to find out answers and no one knew to answer our questions. But that was until we met a JW. We study the Bible daily. No other religion does that. We also study for free with those who are interested. Why's that? Because what we receive (the Bible knowledge) is a gift from God, so, we give it for free too.
And also Jesus said that his true disciples will manifest love. Isn't this a prove off love, helping others to understand the Bible better? Alone no one can do that. We have an example in the Bible about an Ethiopian eunuch which supports this idea: <
If you have any other questions ask that JW who works with you. I'm sure that you will receive an answer everytime you'll ask.
I want you to know that we're not forcing anyone to study the Bible with us. Anyone who started and changes his mind can say that he doesn't want that anymore. It's simple.
2007-03-01 19:00:39 · answer #3 · answered by Alex 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
JW's are well organized. Free home bible studies is one of the tools they use to begin the process of conversion. They aren't a cult (and some will say they are out of prejudice or ignorance), but the are a bit different than most other Christian faiths.
They don't have any special insight into the bible. All Christian religions feel they have a special understanding of the bible that makes them special in some way.
Also, just because they give you attention doesn't mean getting more invovled with them is right for you.
Addemdum: It's funny how some Christain faiths feel they have to right to judge other's by this or that group is "Christian". I often get a laugh when an ignorant person tries to make a distinction between "Catholics" and "Christians". OMG, do they not know that most of all the Protestant faiths are directly derived from Catholism?
2007-03-01 14:40:47 · answer #4 · answered by Pint 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Jesus freely gave his time to teach others, he taught his followers to do the same. All active JWs can be said to be ministers of the word of God.
As part of their worship to God the freely want to help others understand the Bible. It is part of their lives. It is because of their faith that they do this "preaching and teaching" work" They do not do it to gain slavation as no amount of works will lead one to salvation. Theirs is an active faith, faith moves them to works because as "faith without works is dead" see James 2:17 - 20.
There are a lot of Bibles out there today. NO bible is 100% accurate as ALL Bibles have some form of theological bias in them. (this includes the NWT that JWs use but it has by far less theological biases that nearly every other English Bible)
Some scholars consider the King James Bible to be the most accurate but most scholars consider it to be the most inaccurate English Bible. The KJV Bible is not only hard to understand because of the old type English it uses, it was also translated at a time when there was less information about the old Hebrew and Greek writings of the Bible. As more understanding has come to light from finding older manuscripts more accurate translations have been made, and there are several modern English Bibles that are easier to read and translated with more understanding that the KJV.
All the best in your studies.
PS To see some of the differences in the NWT and other Bibles go to
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/newworldtranslation/pageindex.htm
and
http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/hepburn
2007-03-03 15:35:22 · answer #5 · answered by gordo_burns 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Over the last 500 years, every Christian religion, the Jews, and now even the Muslims, have tried to do what the JWs do so easy. I have a brochure by the Islamic Comparative Religion Academy asking those of the Muslim belief to look to JWs as an example in how to distribute the "Universal Challenge" magazine. The want to achieve a 250,000 world wide distribution per year.
2007-03-01 21:26:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jehovah’s Witnesses offer help by conducting free home Bible studies with interested people. This educational program includes more than just learning Bible doctrines. It helps the student to develop an appreciation for what he is learning and for the organization that Jehovah is using.
In harmony with this‚ the Witness conducting the Bible study tries to make sure that the newfound truths reach not only the head but also the heart. And the teacher should not hold back from showing the student how Jehovah is using His organization to accomplish His purpose on earth.
2007-03-01 15:54:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
I am one of JW's and the reason why we offer home bible studies is to inform you what the bible really teaches, a lot of people have been mislead obviously beliveing in the trinity crosses idol worship etc things that are not even in the bible or Jehovah God hates. So we want to help you to understand who God is.
2007-03-04 15:33:44 · answer #8 · answered by PW 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hello, I am currently studying too.
I would like to point out to one of the commentators that JW's use the New World Translation, but are more then willing to study with people in the Bible of their choice. This seems to disprove the theory that their Bibles are in anyway different from others. Infact God's name Jehovah has been restored in the translation they use.
The free home studies and the kingdom ministry is an act of love towards mankind. What else could motivate a person to go out in rain, sleet and snow, often giving up their own precious time to reach out to others earnestly seeking knowledge. Jesus was our perfect human example on earth and he went door to door. He was also persecuted by the masses. This is a good question to ask your co-worker, she can tell you why it's personally important to her as well as provide scriptual basis for its need.
There is a lot of misconceptions about Jehovah's Witnesses. I was told they didn't believe in Jesus which is completely untrue. They do not believe in the Trinity doctrine as stated above.
You can find information on the trinity and why Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe it as doctrine. (Official JW's site)
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2005/4/22/article_02.htm
Take care!
2007-03-01 15:13:10 · answer #9 · answered by luvmybabies 3 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Jesus said "You received (the truth) free, give free" He also said "this good news of the kingdom will be preached and THEN the end will come." And He also said, "Go and make disicples..." No other religion does that. Mormons somehwat do, but VERY limited. They only allow men, and I don't think it's free, and to top it all of, they're spread up inot a bunch of little sects around the world...so it's pretty self-explanatory. Good to here that you're studying and remember no matter what anybody says about us...find out for yourself. THEY can't save you, only you can...with God's help.
2007-03-03 08:33:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋