What do Jehovah's witnesses believe?

Answer 1

www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

You could start by checking out some of the segments on You Tube taken from the PBS feature “Knocking” which gets shown in May. Here’s the web link:
http://www.knocking.org/

Check the link for previews. Some survivors from the German Holocaust will be speaking at them.

Aside from being the most Christ like people, if you set aside any Bible issues, my guess is that some of the irritating issues people have with them could be:

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 most 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, along with neighbors, living in New Orleans could be found in Texas, with every witness 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. This was 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, it had 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 Nasin 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 3

To clear up some misconceptions:

( 1 ) We do not believe that we will go to heaven if we go
door to door. Our hope is to live here on the earth
and be part of the "meek who inherit the earth" and
"reside forever upon it."

( 2 ) We do not knock on the same door every weekend.
In most case, unless you were not at home (or home
and didn't answer the door).....we do not call on the
same door but every six months to a year. We
are not trying to convert, but to share the good news
of God's Kingdom as Jesus commanded at Matt. 24: 14
To become a Witness takes a study of the bible for at
least six months to a year.

( 3 ) Witness also means to give testimony. We give
testimony about Jehovah. That he is the true God and
has a purpose for the earth and man.

( 4 ) We do not follow the 10 commandments. Those were
given to the Israelites. We are no longer under them as
Jesus fulfilled the law. We are now under the law to love
God with whole heart, soul, mind, strength and love our
neighbor. Luke 10: 27
So we do eat pork.
We do NOT celebrate Easter or any other holiday with
pagan origins.
We do celebrate Jesus death which he commanded us
to do at Luke 22:19. We will be celebrating this on
April 2nd. Everyone is well to attend at their local
Kingdom Hall.

To learn about our believes please go to www.watchtower.org for a list with scriptural references.

Answer 4

Jehovah's Witnesses understand the Scriptures to teach that God's Kingdom by Christ Jesus 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

Answer 5

The best thing you could do is talk with one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He or she can show you from the Bible what we believe as well as why we believe it.

Answer 6

the biggest things would be they believe Jesus was a created super angel, Michael, who in turn created the world This is somewhat a carry over from when they split off from a 7th day adventists Jesus and Michael are named twice side by side in Jude and Revelation and no such connection is drawn

they believe in conditionalism, which means people are only eternal on the condition they are saved and if not saved merely anhialated. Truthfully this is not an essential issue, but I think the arguments are stronger toward a more orthodox view... in Revelation it says 'the smoke of their torment goes up into the ages of the ages' and sounds like the orthodox view to me
It is no surprize that 7th day adventists also believe in conditionalism as the Jehovah Witnesses broke off of them, although most today dont know Russel was a 7th day adventist Bible study leader

they tend to be salvation by works oriented rrather than by grace and only the 144,000 are children of God and will be in heaven, the rest will live on earth In the last page of the Bible all the redeemed are in the New Jerusalem on Earth and they got there because they had their robes washed in the blood of the lamb and
those outside the city are the dogs, evildoers, sorcererrs.. basically the unsaved... I think a orthodox view of everyone who believes in Jesus who glorified God leaning on the work of Christ on the cross believing for eternal life are the saved and a better view

they have an anonymously translated Bible which claims to be the best version but I don't see any evidence it is a good translation to be honest I think a healthy amount of skepticism over an anonymously translated Bible is reasonable given the mountains of scholarship in many translations through the centuries

I do agree the BIble is inspired and worth studying and suffering reproach for if need be. And many godly people gave their lives so there would even be a Bible in English. I think they are very sincere, but don't agree with most of their major points where they differ from say orthodox protestant beliefs

Answer 7

Short answer: Everything the Bible teaches.
You might not want 2 buy into what these other people saying "they believe", b/c they're giving you the outsiders view looking in. (which is more like the outsider's view of the portrait someone else drew 4 them)

Next time you see one, ask about it. Look online @ www.watchtower.org.

BTW, I 4got who posted that comment, but the pork thing isn't true. I can eat sushi if I wanted to.

Answer 8

You are getting very misleading and incorrect answers from non-Jehovah's Witnesses. To clearly understand their beliefs, it would be a good idea to go directly to the source. I think there was a reference to their website: www.watchtower.org

Answer 9

You've read much of it from the JWs themselves. Now, compare what they are happy to tell you they believe with what non-JWs want to advise you they do NOT believe, and those beliefs that the JWs seem reluctant to admit to (e.g. that if they accept whole blood transfusions and don't 'repent', they almost certainly will have incured Jehovah's eternal wrath; that if you smoke cigarettes you cannot be baptised; that if you don't go door-to-door preaching, you cannot call yourself a Jehovah's Witness etc). Now, go away and think about it, then post us an informed question with a point.

Answer 10

They deny the doctrine of the trinity. -- Man does not have an immortal soul. They teach that the soul is not separate from the body. -- Christ was not God but God's first created creature. -- They deny Christ's deity. Christ's death provides the opportunity for man to work for his salvation: Christ returned to earth invisibly in 1914 and now rules earth from heaven. -- There is no hell or eternal punishment. Those who do not measure up to Jehovah's standards will be annihilated. meaning they will be or know no more.

Answer 11

The entire Bible, in full harmonious context with itself.

However, that is a lot of material to cover here, so to check out some of our basic beliefs along with the Scriptural support for these, please see the links below: