What do Jehova's witnesses believe?

Question

Now I dont want to know your history. Christians I understand I am one. But I want to know what your practices are birthdays why not? celebratory traditions if not why not? Not here to mock I work at a day care and a family there are Jehova's witnesses and I would just like to understand why you dont celebrate pretty much anything? Please

Answer 1

Look Here:
http://towerwatch.com
http://silentlambs.org

Keep an eye on those children.....


Adams Rib...Name calling and labeling makes you look ignorant and scared....I have never seen an apostate in this forum...We were JW's..we were saved out of it, and you guys can do nothing but label us and call us evil names....Not one of you has been able to defend your beliefs to our postings with anything but what the WBTS tells you to say...I have a challange for your: Take back your mind and get to proving that you are in the right place with God....May god Bless and bring you true light, Amen

Answer 2

Why not ask the family, they would be more than happy to explain their beliefs and then you will understand first hand. As an ex-JW myself (I left for personal reasons, not because I didn't believe anymore, I was not disfellowshipped for any reason, I have never been apostate and I did not commit any adultery/fornication) I can honestly tell you there is a lot of untrue things on the Internet about JW's, a lot of people that distort the truth about what they believe so rather ask them to explain to you, straight from the horse's mouth. I can tell you that a lot of the holidays celebrated such as Christmas and birthdays have their roots in pagan religions, Christianity adopted the "fun" holidays to make the religion more appealing to the masses, so even Christians that are not JW did not celebrate birthdays and Christmas til this was introduced. As Christians they would not celebrate anything to do with pagan religions.

Answer 3

I'm not a JW, but I have talked with them when they come to my door. This is a few things they believe as I understand it.

One of the things they believe is that Jesus is not God. They think that John 1:1 is slightly mis-translated where it is talking about Jesus.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

They would modify it to say, "was a god". It's my understanding that the original Greek could go either way, so I won't argue there. I'm not sure what kind of a god they think Jesus is though. He accepted worship, forgave sins, and was killed for claiming to be God, but they don't seem to think that counts from what I can tell. Anyway, the bottom line is that they don't believe in the trinity.

They do not worship anything but God. It's my understanding they consider Christmas, birthday parties, saying the pledge of allegiance and such an act of worship, so they don't do those.

They believe 144 thousand will go to Heaven. The rest will go to live on a new earth. They think a lot about prophecy.

Answer 4

I do thank you for not being crass about it. That is few and far between. Seldom do we see such respect so thank you for it.

We don't do birthdays as Jesus didn't. Back in his day birthdays were not celebrated by the Jews or the Christians. They were a pagan thing. This is also why we don't do Christmas. If it's false and based on pagan religions, then we don't do it. We follow the Christ very closely. When it comes to Godly things, if Jesus didn't do it, we don't.

We do celebrate the date he died. That is done every year on the actual date according to the old Jewish calendar. At the last super he said to "do this in remembrance of me". Witnesses believe that means to remember his death and we also thank God for our food every time we eat, even in restaurants.

All Kingdom Halls world wide have a Memorial Service at sunset every year on the date of Christ Jesus' death. Anyone is welcome and it is interesting to note that there are 6.7 million Jehovah's Witnesses world wide. At the Memorial for his death there are over 16 million so that says that more then those baptized Witnesses are willing to celebrate Jesus' death.

As Jesus came to die for our sins and Jehovah makes sure we know the date he died and didn't tell us in the Bible when His Son was born, we take that to mean that the importance is Jesus came to die for us, not to be born for us.

Time of his death. The death of Jesus Christ took place in the spring, on the Passover Day, Nisan (or Abib) 14, according to the Jewish calendar. (Mt 26:2; Joh 13:1-3; Ex 12:1-6; 13:4) That year the Passover occurred on the sixth day of the week (counted by the Jews as from sundown on Thursday to sundown on Friday). This is evident from John 19:31, which shows that the following day was “a great” sabbath. The day after Passover was always a sabbath, no matter on what day of the week it came. (Le 23:5-7) But when this special Sabbath coincided with the regular Sabbath (the seventh day of the week), it became “a great one.” So Jesus’ death took place on Friday, Nisan 14, by about 3:00 p.m.—Lu 23:44-46.

Answer 5

JWs are strict Bible believers with a notable emphasis on the Book of Revelation, particularly that line about the 144,000 people.

They do not celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and other holidays because they realize that these traditions and their associated aesthetics are all pagan in origin, and not based on any information found in the Bible. They also do not wear crosses, realizing that the shape was an artist's interpretation; Romans didn't use crucifixion devices in that shape.

Here's a more objectively-written page about JWs:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witness.htm

Answer 6

Can you name very many celebrations in the bible. Not many. And the only birthdays mention are of unbelievers like Pharaoh and King Herald. Jesus, lived on this earth for how many years and did you hear though the scriptures of him having one birthday party. It is not that they are against celebrations. It is that instead of celebrating Christ birth one day a year why not give glory to Christ everyday. Instead of appreciating someone for father's day, mother's day, and children's day one day a year, why not cherish them everyday. I am not saying that people do not do this daily but that is the primary attitude that JW's take. They believe in being humble and not taking a me first attitude, they believe that all sovereignty goes to Jehovah and not to man no matter what the occasion.

Answer 7

Jehovah's Witnesses believe strongly in God Jehovah and in his Son Jesus Christ. They respect the bible's teachings more highly than any human tradition.

Regarding birthday celebrations, bible students are encouraged to consider:
: 0% of faithful biblical Jews celebrated birthdays
: 0% of first century Christians celebrated birthdays
: 100% of birthdays celebrated in the bible were by debauched enemies of God (See Mark 6:17-29; Gen 40:19-22)

Bible historians (M'Clintock, Strong, and others) have noted that faithful Jews of the bible did not celebrate birthdays, and that ancient pagan birthday celebrations were at least partially intended to honor the patron gods of the particular day.

By comparison with such paganisms, the bible does not even tell us the birthdates of Jesus or ANY of his apostles!


Jehovah's Witnesses practice strict political and nationalistic neutrality, so they do not celebrate nationalistic holidays such as Independence Day and Memorial Day.

Other holidays derive from false religion, and so are incompatible with pure worship as adulterating interfaith. For example, Easter derives from the pagan god Oestre and celebrates "rebirth" and "fertility" instead of commemorating Christ's Last Supper and death as Jesus commanded:
(Luke 22:1-22) [Jesus] dispatched Peter and John, saying: “Go and get the passover ready for us to eat.” ...14 At length when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them: “I have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I tell you, I will not eat it again until it becomes fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ... Keep doing this in remembrance of me.”

Seemingly innocuous holidays may have only a tangential connection with false worship, such as Mother's Day and Father's Day (although arguably derived from ancestor worship). Understated observance of these is not generally considered interfaith by Jehovah's Witnesses, but it is too easily misunderstood in some cultures.

Since such celebrations are not required in true worship, and can easily become a distraction, so Jehovah's Witnesses focus their attention elsewhere. In particular, they are focussed on the preaching work which *IS* a requirement for Christians:

(Luke 10:1-17) [Jesus] 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.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20050101a/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_11.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20001215/article_01.htm

Answer 8

I have not been a JW for over 25 years.
what they believe is strictly what the bible teaches.
If you really want to know arrange a bible study with them.
Don't use the Internet it's full of pretend JWs twisting their beliefs to deceive you.

By the way if you do study with them ask them to prove everything they teach you with the bible and use your own bible.
You will be surprised

Answer 9

1) Bible: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible as the standard for all their beliefs.

(2) God: They worship Jehovah as the only true God and freely speak to others about him and his loving purposes toward mankind. Anyone who publicly witnesses about Jehovah is usually identified as belonging to the one group—“Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

(3) Jesus Christ: They believe, not that Jesus Christ is part of a Trinity, but that, as the Bible says, he is the Son of God, the first of God’s creations; that he had a prehuman existence and that his life was transferred from heaven to the womb of a virgin, Mary; that his perfect human life laid down in sacrifice makes possible salvation to eternal life for those who exercise faith; that Christ is actively ruling as King, with God-given authority over all the earth since 1914.

(4) God’s Kingdom: They believe that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for mankind; that it is a real government; that it will soon destroy the present wicked system of things, including all human governments, and that it will produce a new system in which righteousness will prevail.

(5) Heavenly life: They believe that 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians will share with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom, ruling as kings with him. They do not believe that heaven is the reward for everyone who is “good.”

(6) The earth: They believe that God’s original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled; that the earth will be completely populated by worshipers of Jehovah and that these will be able to enjoy eternal life in human perfection; that even the dead will be raised to an opportunity to share in these blessings.

(7) Death: They believe that the dead are conscious of absolutely nothing; that they are experiencing neither pain nor pleasure in some spirit realm; that they do not exist except in God’s memory, so hope for their future life lies in a resurrection from the dead.

(8) Last days: They believe that we are living now, since 1914, in the last days of this wicked system of things; that some who saw the events of 1914 will also see the complete destruction of the present wicked world; that lovers of righteousness will survive into a cleansed earth.

(9) Separate from the world: They earnestly endeavor to be no part of the world, as Jesus said would be true of his followers. They show genuine Christian love for their neighbors, but they do not share in the politics or the wars of any nation. They provide for the material needs of their families but shun the world’s avid pursuit of material things and personal fame and its excessive indulgence in pleasure.

(10) Apply Bible counsel: They believe that it is important to apply the counsel of God’s Word in everyday life now—at home, in school, in business, in their congregation. Regardless of a person’s past way of life, he may become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses if he abandons practices condemned by God’s Word and applies its godly counsel. But if anyone thereafter makes a practice of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drug abuse, drunkenness, lying, or stealing, he will be disfellowshipped from the organization.

Answer 10

In grade school, I always thought Jimmy Walker was lucky becuase he didnt have to stand and say the plege. I told my mom when i got hom for school that i wanted to be a jehova's witness .. she about flipped

just read one of those pamplets you get when they go door to door...

Answer 11

they believe the same as other Christian's does but they don't think that the ones going to hell will burn in everlasting fire and they don't believe in celebrating no birthdays nor holidays