Just curious if anyone has had any family members who have a unique story to tell within this religion?
2007-04-09 06:55:02 · 12 answers · asked by karlee 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, Jehovah's Witnesses are not a cult. The term is an insult.
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
Learn more!
http://watchtower.org
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_14.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/pr/index.htm?article=article_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/dg/index.htm?article=article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/lmn/index.htm?article=article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_09.htm
2007-04-10 08:28:52 · answer #1 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Well I can tell you I don't think we are cultists:) I think many on here label things as Cult to make themselves feel better. One person on Y!A gave a list of known cults. He included Budism, Catholocism, Jehovah's Witnesses, I think the JEwish faith, and many others. According to him, ANY religion other than the one he was in was a cult.
In regards to the link Tony L has again mentioned, I do wish people would provide the link in question when using it as a reference point.
2007-04-10 02:27:24 · answer #2 · answered by Ish Var Lan Salinger 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I used to think any religion outside of Christianity was a cult until I left the Christian religion and found spirituality. In my journey to find peace, I discovered that we are all precious in the sight of our Creator.
Everyone has the right to attend and believe in the doctrine of their selected religion. Who are we to judge any religion as a cult? Besides, for those who still practice that ugly act, we cheat ourselves out of knowing some lovely people.
Have a wonderful day!! Annie
2007-04-09 14:15:57 · answer #3 · answered by Annie 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
A word in itself has no meaning. Only when we put a definition to that word and attach it to others does it become a meaningfull word. We have attached the word cult to Jehovahs Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists and others in the hope of downgrading their importance . One of the accepted deffinitions is " not in the mainstream of other religious denomination". It's the King of the Hill syndrome. "We are better than Them".
2007-04-09 14:13:13 · answer #4 · answered by reinformer 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, we are not a member of a cult. JWs are true Christians whether anti-JWs say otherwise. We are not perfect but we closely follow our leader, Jesus and our God, Jehovah.
Please send me an email if you want to know more. Thanks.
2007-04-09 18:56:02 · answer #5 · answered by trustdell1 3 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Yes. Why? Because one, they deny the deity of Christ. (the fact that He is God), two, they rely on more than just the bible itself for their beliefs, and three, their religion does absolutely nothing to change a person's life.
I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. Whenever the topic of religion came up, I was quick to defend the JW's beliefs. But then I was always asked, "Are you saved?" Not knowing what this meant, I was forced to keep quiet. When I would ask my Mom, she always replied, "don't worry about it." and so I didn't.
One day, through a series of events, I ended up in a Pentecostal church where the preacher was saying how good works couldn't get you into heaven. the Holy Spirit was dealing with me, and I asked within myself, "what do you have to do then?" The preacher replied with Acts 16:31, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be SAVED!" When I heard that word "saved" I said to myself, "you mean that's in the bible?" I looked and sure enough, it was. That was the start of a new life for me. since then, I have done extensive studies of the beliefs of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the more I study, the more error I find. Why? Because no religion or organization can take you to heaven. Only Jesus can. (John 14:6).
2007-04-09 14:05:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 7⤋
Welllllll the truth is they don't believe in the Deity of Christ...and they really don't realize that they need to accept Him as savior and then this will EMPOWER them to WANT to do works. They are doing works (such as preaching- which they seem to think they are the only ones that do so) only because they feel commanded to do so.... and then they BRAG about it to boot!
Consider 1 Corinthians 9:
16Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.
Rather than have regard for the bible, they accept the info which explains away the intended point being made...they trust the Watchtower MORE than the bible.
God Cannot Possibly Lead the Watchtower Society
In addition to claiming to know when the end of the world is happening, (how many times have they been wrong?) and proving to be a false prophet - they also have proved that they don't know how to interpret the Bible!!! Yet the Watchtower prevails among the followers!!
In I Cor. 14.33, Paul said that God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. When one begins to consider the mass of contradictory doctrines and scripture interpretations that have come from the Watchtower Society, he cannot possibly believe that God is the author of them. For instance, consider the nature of the book of Ruth in the Bible. In 1902 the position of the Watchtower Society about this book was:
While the book of Ruth is not prophetical, but merely historical, it is valuable to us in various ways. (Watch Tower Reprints, IV, Nov. 15, 1902, p. 3110, cited by Edmond Gruss, Jehovah's Witnesses-A Non-Prophet Organization, p. 156.)
Yet, in 1932 God's Organization took an entirely different view about Ruth:
Not only is the book historical, but it is prophetic, the fulfillment of which prophecy takes place in these present days . . . We must conclude that the book of Ruth was made part of God's Word or message as a prophecy for the special benefit of the remnant in the last days . . . The book is a prophecy. (J. F. Rutherford, Preservation, pp. 169, 175-176, cited Ibid., p. 156.)
Is God confused on the nature of the book of Ruth? No, nor is He the author of these contradictory statements. The Watchtower claims that they have been given "New Light" in these situations and thus claims that God can be wrong. Our Almighty Heavenly Father is NEVER wrong. Ever. One has to wonder if the Watchtower suddenly wrote about New Light that Jesus is God.... would they accept it because the Watchtower said?
There are oh so many reasons why JWs are wrong... so what exactly entices people to join them? hmmm must be the threats that they will perish on judgement day, the notification of the warning they have been given, and process of thoughts put into their heads....which brings us to mind control.
It has actually been found that the system of events that occur in a JW Kingdom Hall mirror EXACTLY Freud's method of hypnotism!!! No kidding...if you don't believe me, go google/ do a search for it.
They are forbidden to associate with people (most likely for fear they will discover the real truth) on holidays (claiming they are pagan and of the devil) and also forbidden to speak to family and friends that have been disfellowshipped.... mind you, they can be disfellowshipped for simply QUESTIONING their doctrine - even though they go around telling everyone else to examine their religion.
The sad part is that they are for the most part, good people, thinking they are doing the right thing. They have been scared, threatened, mind controlled or born into believing the lie.
The definition of a cult from American Heritage Dictionary states "A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader." Unfortunately this sounds like the JWs following the Watchtower.
A quick look at the JWs shows you on the exterior, people who seem to be very thorough in their religious studies and authorities on the bible... delve a little deeper and you see that they are seriously misled by articles from the Watchtower that they claim are absolutely necessary for bible understanding, yet they have incorrectly interpreted countless bible passages, and made false prophecies as well. Yeah, there's a magazine I'm going to trust to tell me the meaning of the Bible! (NOT)
It is seemingly becoming obvious to me, personally - this is my own opinion, and have not seen it written elsewhere... that the watchtower society is in fact, a PUBLISHING COMPANY, and NOT a religion. They are scaring people into believing them so that they will BUY MORE OF THEIR PUBLICATIONS. Did you know that active witnesses are literally called "Publishers"???
Have you seen the reports on the $$$$ made by the WTB&TS in NYC???
And their process of going out to recruit other people to recruit other people to recruit other people - who will also buy the publications..... seems shockingly simliar to those pyramid schemes we all run from.
WAIT - Did I say pyramid??? Charles Taze Russell... pyramids... the occult... things that make you go hmmmmm
2007-04-10 21:07:33 · answer #7 · answered by ~♥Anna♥~ 5 · 1⤊ 5⤋
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society boldly claims to be the only organization God is using today to teach His truth and speak for Him. According to the WTB&TS, all Non-Jehovah's Witnesses will be destroyed at Armageddon, an event of divine judgment it threatens is just around the corner.
Jehovah's Witnesses came up with prophetic interpretations and dramatic warnings that Armageddon would strike in 1914. When 1914 came and went, Charles T. Russell who founded the Jehovah's Witnesses movement. changed the date to 1915.
Russell died in 1916, leaving his followers doubting and disillusioned by his predictive failures.
2007-04-09 14:00:48 · answer #8 · answered by RR 4 · 4⤊ 7⤋
no not a cult, actually an organized religion.
2007-04-09 14:02:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 8⤊ 3⤋
i read some very disturbing things froma jw poster who provided a link. they are actually taught not to trust their own mind, they are taught thoughts that question jw beliefs and practices are from demons or satan, and to force these thoughts out as soon as possible, telling someone not to think ........is quite brainwashing in my opinion
2007-04-09 14:04:07 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 7⤋