What is the difference??

Question

What is the difference between Jehovah witnesses and Christianity??? What do they believe in that christains don't? How are they cults?

Jesus' existence, as the prophecy says, "has been of OLD, from EVERLASTING". Jesus said, "Before Abraham was (around 2,000 B.C.), I AM."--John 8:58. He was here referring to Himself as the eternal God Who revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush as: "I AM THAT I AM"(Exodus 3:14), the eternal Son of God! (See also John 1:13,14.)

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government shall be upon His shoulder: And His NAME shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the MIGHTY GOD, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace!"--Isaiah 9:6. (Prophecy given 740 B.C.)

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).

Explain this!

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t002.html

http://www.deeptruths.com/articles/jesus_is_messiah.html

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses follow the scriptures more closely than do members of Christianity, They earnestly try to search for the truth of the Bible, and when they find a teaching that has been corrupted over time by men, they correct the error whether it be by them or by others. They find no shame in repenting and making right any wrongs. If they are considered a cult by professed Christianity or the world of people then its because they follow the teachings of Jesus to the best of their imperfect ability's.
In the world to be considered a cult means that you follow the teachings of one leader, such as Jim Jones, David koresh, or any human act'sat thinks he is God like. So any religious group that follows a human leader other than Jesus is a Cult.
Jehovah's Witnesses are more scriptural than any other group or religious organization on earth. They serve the God of the Bible who's name man has tried to hide over the century's In th authorized King |James Bible it appears few times Psalms 83:18, Exodus 6:2,3, Isa 12:2, Isa 26:4.
How important is a name? Try writing a check for $100 to some one and don't sign it? See what happens?
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Answer 2

Christians believe the bible is the inerrant word of God.
Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) have created their own bible (The New World Translation), making revisions where needed to back-up their beliefs, as in John 1:1. The bible says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The JWs New World Translation says: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was a god."

Christianity is the belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the one and only Son of God and is in fact God incarnate (God in human form).

JWs believe that Jesus is a created being, an angel called Michael the Archangel.

Christians believe, as the bible teaches, that heaven is the final home for ALL who believe.

JWs believe that only 144,000 will get into heaven and the rest will live in a paradise on earth.

Christians believe in the FINISHED work of Jesus (Ephesians 2: 8&9).

JWs must earn their way into paradise on earth (because the 144,000 person limit for heaven has been filled), by going door-to-door passing out Watchtower materials and remaining faithful to the Watchtower organization.

Christians believe there is a literal hell.

JWs believe in annihilation.

Finally, the old testament bible was originally written in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages. This where the JWs say they get the name Jehovah. They say that they are the only ones who call God by his real name (everyone else is in error). However, these languages do not contain vowels. The word that they translated Jehovah from is YHWH. This is what most recognize as the word YAHWEH. Hebrew and Aramaic languages do not have a "JA" sound, but they do have a "YA" sound.

It is well known that the Watchtower Organization refuses to reveal who their "scholars" were who translated their NWT bible, because they in fact were NOT scholars at all.

The Watchtower teaches its adherants that Jesus returned to earth invisibly in 1914 and that he personally presides over the Watchtower Organization, but what does the bible say? "Behold He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him." Revelation 1:7a

Answer 3

We are not a cult. Cult is someone who follows a man and usually live together, extremists. Jehovah's Witnesses follow the whole bible and believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
Is following Jesus teachings concerned following a man? There are over 6.6 million witnesses worldwide in 236 lands.

We do not believe that the Trinity, Hellfire and Immortality of the soul doctrines are told in the bible. We do not get involved in politics, as Jesus told us to be "no part of the world". So we do not get involved in wars, no matter what nation we live in. We do not celebrate holidays due to their pagan origins.

We believe that Jehovah is the Almighty God as brought out at Ps 83:18, that Jesus is his only begotten son whom his father sent ot earth to die for mankind. John 17: 3 "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you the only true God, and the one whom you sent forth Jesus Christ."

We believe that by means of God's Kingdom that we pray for in the Lord's Prayer at Matt. 6: 9 & 10 "let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..", God will fulfill his purpose for mankind. Which as not changed. It is still his purpose for man to live forever on the earth as Ps 37: 10, 11 & 29 brings out..."meek will possess the earth...reside for ever upon it." The conditions on the earth will be brought back to how they were originally..see Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 55:11; Isaiah 65: 21-25 Isaiah 45: 18; Ps 104:5; Rev. 11:18; Rev. 21: 3 & 4; Dan 2: 44

We believe that when someone dies, they are dead, as if asleep awaiting the resurrection as Ecc. 9: 5, 6 & 10 "..dead are conscious of nothing..." John 5: 28 & 29 "Do not marvel at this, the hour is coming when all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out..."

We do not use any type of idol (i.e. crosses, statues, rosaries, etc..) in our worship of Jehovah. We follow the example of the early Christian Congregations. We set high moral standards for ourselves and expect the same of all in the congregation. We truly believe that the whole bible is the inspired word of God and use it as our kind in everyday life.
2 Tim. 3: 16 "All scripture is inspired of God and beneficial..."

You'll hear a lot of negative comments, "old wives tales", about us. If you want the truth about us, you need to hear it from Jehovah's Witnesses.

We do not have our "own bible". We do use the New World Translation primarily, but any bible will do. See Jason David BeDuhn "Truth in Translation" where he review several different translations of the New Testatment. See his comments on the New World Translation. Especially, concerning the verses that some feel were changed to fit our believes. You need to realize, this translation did not come out until the 50's. It is from other translations back in the late 1800's that it was realized that the Trinity, Hellfire and Immortality of the soul were not taught in the bible. Look up their orgins and see where they came from and when they began to be taught as Christian doctrine. It was not by Jesus or his disciples or the early Christians.

Answer 4

Scorpion, First of all, may I very respectfully suggest that if you have questions about Jehovah's Witnesses you are better off asking one of them, rather than people who only have tangential knowledge about them.

Now... JW's are not a cult. A cult is generally, tho not totally, defined as a group of adherents to another human. Think David Koresh. We do believe in Jesus Christ and his divinity. The difference is that we do not believe he is God Almighty. That title belongs only to his father... Jehovah.

Secondly, about the Jehovah's Witnesses creating their own bible. That is a terrible misconception. Are you aware that modern day Jehovah's Witnesses have been around since the late 1800's? The teachings they culled from a study of the scriptures were based on usage of Bible translations available to them at the time... that would include, for instance, the King James Bible. The New World Translation of the Holy scriptures was published in the early 50's. I think the first portion was published in 1951. Are you aware that the NWTW has been praised for it's quality? The fact of the matter is for instance that many bible translations other than the NWT have been altered to accomodate other dogma that is unscriptural. Let's take for instance John 1:1 as referenced. I'm not a Greek scholar so I don't recall all the details. I can, however, tell you that there are reasons for it to be translated as "and the word was A god" rather than "and the word WAS God." If you take the entire Gospel collection and study it with an open mind, you will see that in no way shape or form does Jesus claim to be God. He always places himself in an inferior position to his father. "The father is greater than I am" "I do the will of him that SENT me" "I do nothing of my own initiative". He prays before each miracle he performs. Who was he praying to? Was he talking to himself? Jesus worst enemies accused him (John chapter 10 (verse forgotten)) of blasphemy. Why? Because he claimed to be God? NO! Because he claimed to be God's SON. Does that not give you pause? Deleting the little letter "A" changes the entire context of one verse but can't disguise the truth contained in the gospels in their entirety. It also doesn't change the fact that the trinity dotrine... that includes the belief that Jesus and his father are ONE... was not taught by the early disciples but was introduced about 200 years after Jesus death. That fact can be found by looking up the origin of the Trinity doctrine in the New Catholic Encyclopedia.

Another example of altering the bible is the elimination of God's name, Jehovah. Prime example: The King James version... The 1611 and 1767(I think) translations have Jehovah's name at Psalm 83:18. The more modern day translation eliminates it. If you don't believe me, go to blueletterbible.org, a non-witness website, and enter that scripture in Psalm. Then hit the V next to it and you'll find confirmation of what I'm saying. It also lists additional older translations that used his name.

I've forgotten other comments I wanted to respond to but that's it for now.

I hope you find that helpful. :)

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Papa Bear, I'd like to thank you for your even-handed response. I would tho like to respectfully correct at least one misconception. Not all of Jesus' followers were what the Pharisees called "unlettered and ordinary". Luke was a Physician. The modern day witnesses also are comprised of individuals from all social and educational levels. Rutherford was a Judge. By the way, you ARE aware the Saul of Tarsus later became the Apostle Paul, right, thereby become another highly educated follow of Jesus?

I would also question your reference to Jesus' lawful execution since his arrest and trial were all conducted on the sabbath which in itself was a violation of his accusers' own law and therefore made the trial itself illegal. In addition, if you read the gospels, the witnesses brought forth against Jesus both were coached and contradicted themselves. It was the equivalent of what today is known as a 'kangaroo court' with the judgment having already been determined. They wanted Jesus dead and needed some form of cover to do so.

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Explaining Isaiah 9:6 - Part of it... "unto us a child is given." Think about it, a child is GIVEN. WHO did the giving?

The Alpha & the Omega? That refers to God Almighty.

The reference Jesus made to having existed before Abraham is indeed accurate but simply explained. Jesus was the firstborn of God's creation. Of course he was around before Abraham. That however does not mean he was from "everlanting"

I again, encourage all to read the gospels in their entirety and look at the relationship between Jesus Christ and his Father. We are either 'looking" at two individuals or Jesus had disassociative personality disorder among other mental problems since he often spoke to himself.

Answer 5

This so-called "question" shamefully and mistakenly suggests that Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christians.

Sadly, trinitarians dishonestly pretend that Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christian. Trinitarians use an artificial, trinity-specific definition of the term "Christian" which excludes anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God Himself, rather than the Son of God. Interestingly, pagans in the first century pretended that Christ's followers were Atheists(!) 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! Both secular dictionaries and disinterested theologians acknowledge that Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian religion.

The Trinitarian arguments are intended to insult and demean Jehovah's Witnesses, rather than to give a Scripturally accurate understanding of the term "Christian".

In fact, the bible most closely associates being "Christian" with preaching about Christ and Christ's teachings. Review all three 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/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20050422/article_02.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/pr/index.htm?article=article_04.htm

Answer 6

The main problem with JW's is that the reject the deity of Christ, which constitutes them as a cult. Furthermore, they promote salvation by works. According to the Bible, Jesus is God Almighty, and salvation is by grace. That's the main difference. Being part of an organization can't save you. Believing in Jesus can.

Answer 7

They are a copy of the Jewish Cult that separated themselves some 1900 years ago

Talking to one of my regular passengers, whose a Rabbi, I would say most Christians have much the same problem with JWs that ancient Jews had with the first Christians who they viewed as having been started by an uneducated ex-carpenter of the Jewish Lower Class who was executed for cause by the governing authority. The only education he had was by Mary and Joseph, in the view of the Jews, he made up most of what he said.

He recruited other uneducated, lower class individuals, such as a failed fisherman (Peter) and a hated tax collector (Matthew).

Lacking any formal education, they were easy to manipulate into believing he was the Messiah, something that was impossible, as he did not bring about the destruction (Armageddon) of the enemies of the Truly Blessed People of God, the Israelites, as was prophesied.

After his lawful execution, these clearly brainwashed followers began going door to door telling their brethren that the traditional beliefs, rituals, and observances (holidays), dating back hundreds of years, were no longer valid.

They began creating their own scriptures, to support their false beliefs, instead of relying on the Holy Torah, which had sustained God’s People for hundreds of years.

Finally, there were highly educated individuals, especially in the religious arts, such as Saul of Tarsus, who could clearly prove that they were a false cult, bent on leading God’s People down a false path to destruction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_of_Tarsus

What happened to them, as a result of their false teachings, and their door to door work, was only to be expected of people who have lost their way.

Clearly, what you may or may not think of JWs is reliant on your point of view, just as it was in those first years. Having an advanced education in religion does not mean that you are right, only that you sound that way.

JWs may have come from a simple, and some times, erratic beginnings, but at least they are making a valid effort to do better. You cannot say that for other religions who:

Continue to get involved in politics;

Lie to the IRS about not doing so in order to get their non-profit status;

Avoids paying taxes on retail sales within the church;

Allows immorality to creep into the church;

Immortalizes their founders through the observance of a birthday, death, and/or anniversary of the founding of the church;

Places a pictures of the founders in all their churches, so that all can see and pay obeisance;

Gives tacit approval to the Theory of Evolution; and

Doesn’t teach their followers to preach and teach the Bible, as Christ instructed.

Answer 8

JW's for one have their own copy of the bible - which differs in translation to all other Christian bibles out there. Compare a copy of a Watchtower bible John 1:1 to a KJV/NIV etc bible. In these first few verses of John the JW version negates Jesus as the same as God. It merely names him as a god - and also denies the unity of God. Which would be enough right there.

They also follow the Law - which many Christians don't believe you should do. They believe Jesus meant it when he said that he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. They believe that one should not eat pork and reside by all the dietary restrictions.

They also have a skewed vision on who gets to heaven. They believe that when you die you fall asleep in the ground until Jesus comes for you. I believe that they are the ones with the 144,000. They base this number on Revelation (the number of the sealed preachers) but insist that this number is for true followers. They believe that those who die but are saved are asleep. Those that die that are not saved merely vanish into dust. Which makes it hard to explain all the bones that scientists keep finding.

Answer 9

This is what Jehovah's Witness believe that is different to other denominations
*Christ died on a stake, not a cross
*Christ died for "obedient humans"- not sinners
*Christ was raised from the dead as an immortal spirit person
*The human soul ceases to exist at death

Answer 10

JW's don't acknowledge Jesus as God. They are not allowed to visit other churches. If a family member leaves the JW's, the rest of the family is not allowed to have anything to do with the one that left. There are other difference but that's the main ones.