Jehovah's Witnesses, Christians or cult?

Question

i don't mean to offend anyone...

Answer 1

No Jehovah’s witnesses are not a "cult" We are Christians, and we follow what the bible says not what men tell us to do. Acts 5:29 “We must obey God as ruler rather than men”

This is the definition of a cult

Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders. 1
"A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of [consequences of] leaving it, etc) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community."


Nothing that was in this definition is what we do or practice. I am not financially exploited. I am not psychologically exploited, no one demands me to do anything, no even Jehovah. I don’t devote to any Man or person. There is neither Pressure nor Fear of any kind. I enjoy spending time with my former friends and family!!!!

Nothing that was defined here is something that Jehovah’s witnesses do or follow. I Love spending time at the kingdom halls and my meetings because I learn about our great Father Jehovah, Jesus christ and Jehovah's wonderfull works, i also go because I forget my outside problems. I go to my meetings to refresh my mind and because there is LOVE in the congregation.

Answer 2

Christians

Answer 3

Christians

Answer 4

Christians

Answer 5

howdy. no offense taken.

the vast majority of those who call us a 'cult' do not understand the term. they know it is a pejorative and believe in one form or another that our 'different' background is wrong.

in short, here are the 'reasons' they call us a cult:
1- we believe jesus is the SON of God, and not part of a triad;
2- we actively encourage bible study by visiting our neighbours as did jesus and his disciples;
3- we encourage all to gain a fuller and sustainable understanding of the bible and its history;
4- we believe killing our neighbours is wrong, whether the governments accept that or not;
5- we believe immorality in all its forms is wrong, whether it is homosex, sodomy, fornication, adultery, child porn or any of the other manifest forms of moral degradation;
6- we dont care what race a person is in regards to marriage.
7- we do not support patriotism, whether in nazi germany, communist china, the usa, the uk, or anything in between;
8- we dont engage in ecumentical movements;
9- we dont celebrate halloween, easter or xmas.

those are the biggest 'issues' i have faced in the past 43 yrs or so as a witness. some isolated things come up, but these cover about 90% of what i have seen. .

cult is related to occult, referring to hidden or secret.

one thing even detractors begrudgingly admit is that jehovah's witnesses have open meetings, open magazines, open district conventions and lots of information available on the internet. we invite any and all to attend. no collections are ever taken. you will not be embarrassed by someone insisting you 'come forward' or engage in some activity with which you are not comfortable.

write me privately if you want more info

grandpa len

Answer 6

Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians.

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/e/20000622/
http://watchtower.org/e/ti/index.htm?article=article_04.htm

Answer 7

a cult worships man and live together. we are christians. we worship Jehovah God and follow Jesus Christ commanded at Matthew 28 verse 19 and 20. we live in 236 lands worldwide. a cult does not work. we live with our own families and may be your next door neighbor.

Answer 8

We're Christians.

Answer 9

I do not know if Jehovah's Witnesses can be considered Christians in the basic context of the word, as Jesus is not considered to be divine or an incarnation of God. They are actually more similar to Islam, in the fact that they follow God the Father alone and feel that salvation is very much dependent on works.

I would not call them a cult in the "demeaning" sense of the word. Most of the Jehovah's Witnesses I know are very nice people and very knowledgeable regarding their faith. However, a cult can be defined as a small group of followers whose beliefs vary from accepted orthodox doctrine, and this IS true of JW's.

I see I got a thumbs-down. If I am incorrect about any part of Jehovah's Witness doctrine that I discussed here, please feel free to let me know. None of the statements I made were intended to be derogatory. I was trying to approach the question from a non-biased viewpoint.

Answer 10

Your question isn't really an "either/or" in spite of what you may think.

Defining a cult is not really about doctrine but about behavior. If you disagree with one segment or another of Christianity or any other major division, you can't automatically call them a cult, nor can they you. That, of course, won't stop any of you.

HOWEVER... if Jehovah's witnesses display the following cult characteristics, you may classify them as such:

1) Environment control. Are they physically or emotionally separated from general society? Are they warned under threat of punishment to stay away from certain types of reading material, from the internet, from former members?

2) Fear of divine intervention. Are they made to believe bad things will happen to them if they leave their organization? (The converse of this is if they are made to believe that God is working "through" their organization.)

3) Demand for purity. Many religions have rules of conduct. Some are conspicuously rigid, as in styles of dress and grooming. But this illustrates cultish promises of the avoidance of impurity by association with their particular group.

4) Stern requirements for confession. Are even "wrong thoughts" to be immediately confessed to the hierarchy? And observed questionable behavior of others must be reported. Are there jibes about carrying on "secret sin" or "leading a double life?" Is the conscience of the individual subservient to the conscience of the group?

5) Absolute wisdom. Does the group claim "the truth?" Are they the ultimate arbiters of "true science" and the "pure language?" Is it only their logic that determines reality?

6) Loaded language. Is there a special set of terminology that "insiders" use and which "identifies" them as members? Expressions packed with pre-judgements eliminate the need for further discussion. If "everyone" knows what theses things mean on the inside of the group, they predefine insiders and outsiders... "The truth", the "mother organization", the "new system", "apostates" and "worldly"

7) Doctrine over reason. Does the group interweave its own origins with the larger doctrine of the Bible, for example? Did God reach down and choose one person to be his servant? Or did He choose one humble little group to glorify from among mankind?

8) Ultimate choice of destiny for all. Does the group say who will live or die in the final test of mankind? Is survival defined as group membership? Is there a mechanism to isolate those who choose not to conform?

Those are the basic characteristics you should look for in asking whether some particular group is a cult. ALL groups claim they themselves are not cults.