What's the deal with Jehovah's Witness?!?!?

Question

Ok, I'm not Christian and I really dont understand who the followers of Jehovah's Witness are? I mean, how did they get such a name? What's the significance behind it? Who is "Jehovah" exactly? I dont get it! What are their beliefs?

Why is it that on TV, people make the joke of, when someone knocks on the door, they say, "Oh, it must be Jehovah's Witness!" Huhhhh?! :o\

I've heard that they dont celebrate ANY holidays or birthdays and that they dont believe in any "symbols".

Can someone explain all of this to me and tell me anything they know about Jehovah's Witness?

Answer 1

Who the followers of Jehovah's Witness are?

Christians that follow Christ instructions.

How did they get such a name?

The name "Jehovah’s Witnesses" is based on Isaiah 43:10, and was adopted in 1931.

Who is "Jehovah" exactly?

Jesus father and God. According to the bible, ONLY Jehovah should be worshipped.

Psa 83:18 That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.

Exd 34:14 for thou shalt worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

What are their beliefs?

The bible.

Why is it that on TV, people make the joke of, when someone knocks on the door?

People are very familiar with JWs over any other Christian group that goes house to house preaching about God's kingdom.

Act 20:20 – “and have taught you publicly, and from house to house”

Mat 10:7 – “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

I've heard that they don’t celebrate ANY holidays or birthdays and that they don’t believe in any "symbols".

JWs do not get involved with pagan celebrations or idolatry.

Can someone explain all of this to me and tell me anything they know about Jehovah's Witness?

Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international religious organization that rejects much of modern mainstream Christianity in favor of what they believe is a restored form of First Century Christianity.

Jehovah's Witnesses are governed by their understanding of Scriptural laws and principles based in the bible.

The religion was developed in response “to what they saw as compromise and corruption in mainstream Christianity.” They dispute doctrines such as the Trinity, hellfire, immortality of the soul, and clergy-laity divisions as illegitimate additions to the original Christian teachings.

Answer 2

I see several derogatory comments from ex-witnesses, but if you want to know the "truth" you need to get hear it from someone who is a Jehovah's Witness.

There are close to 7 million witnesses worldwide in 236 lands. We have a true brotherhood devoid of racial and national prejudice.

Any jokes about someone knocking on the door and saying it's a Jehovah's Witnesses, is because we are the ones known for going door to door in obedience to Jesus commanded at Matt. 24:14 "This good news of the kingdom will be preached to all the inhabited earth, for a witness, and then the end will come."

We do not celebrate holidays or birthdays due to the pagan backgrounds and practices. This is following the command at 2 Cor. 6: 14 & 15 "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? ....." 'Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves', says Jehovah, 'and quit touching the unclean thing.' " See also Gen 40: 20-22; Matt 14: 6-10

We do not use any symbols, images or idols in worship in accordance with Ex 20: 4 & 5 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven and on earth....you shall not bow down to them or serve them." Also see Lev. 26:1, 2 Cor. 6:16; 1 John 5:21

There are several doctrines taught that we feel are not taught in the bible. The Trinity Doctrine, The Hellfire Doctrine and the Immortality of the Soul Doctrine. We believe that Jehovah is the Almighty God as Ps 83:18 brings out and that Jesus is his only begotten Son and the Messiah. Some scriptural references John 14:28; John 10:30; John 17:21 & 22; John 6:38; John 7: 16; Col 1:15; 1 Johh 4:9; Acts 7: 55 & 56; John 17:3; Matt 3: 16 & 17; Heb 11:17; Matt 24: 36-39
We believe that Hell is just the common grave of mankind and that when you die, it is as you are asleep awaiting the resurrection. See Ecc 9:5 & 6:10; Ps 146:4; Ro. 6:23; John 5: 28 & 29; Acts 24: 15; 1 Cor. 15: 24-26 The bible shows that the soul can die...Ez 18: 4 "The soul that is sinning..it itself will die." Gen. 2: 7 speaking of Adam.."became a living soul" 1 Cor. 15:45

Jehovah's Witnesses strive to follow Jesus command to be no part of the world. John 17:14 "I have given your word to them, but the world has hated them, because they are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world." We do not get involve in politics or wars no matter what country we live in. Our hope is for God's Kingdom that we pray for in the lords prayer "Let your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.." Benefits of God's Kingdom Is 11:6-9; Is 65: 21-25; Is 35: 5-7; Is 33:24; Ps 72:16; Ps 37: 10, 11 & 29; Rev. 21: 3&4; Dan 2:44;

Answer 3

Jehovah's witnesses are a religion spawned by "Judge" Joseph Rutherford's hostile corporate takeover of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society after the death of Charles Taze Russell.

Building a mythology of faithful slave/evil slave, he painted anyone who left in disgust as evil slaves who had fallen away from "the truth."

Starting with Russell's Millerite and Masonic ponderings, he expanded the religion into a business, creating distribution strategies that drew innocent people into the mindset that distributing Watchtower literature was "serving God."

Part of the spiel involves subtle mind control techniques. Otherwise reasonable, intelligent people can be lured in and, once caught, remain for years.

To keep it all going, there had to be an "air of urgency" maintained so that the flock didn't lose interest. The "end of the system of things" is always "just around the corner," "within our generation," "before the end of this century," etc.

Now plagued by scandals and by members leaving in droves, the parent Watchtower Society is downsizing. Will it last much longer?

Hard to tell. Mind control is a frightening thing. People will put their lives at stake for what they've been convinced to believe. Read up on mind control.

Answer 4

Jehovah’s Witnesses? Yes, that is the way they refer to themselves. It is a descriptive name, indicating that they bear witness concerning Jehovah, his Godship, and his purposes. “God,” “Lord,” and “Creator”—like “President,” “King,” and “General”—are titles and may be applied to several different personages. But “Jehovah” is a personal name and refers to the almighty God and Creator of the universe. This is shown at Psalm 83:18, according to the "King James Version" of the Bible: “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”

The name Jehovah (or Yahweh, as the Roman Catholic Jerusalem Bible and some scholars prefer) appears almost 7,000 times in the original Hebrew Scriptures. Most Bibles do not show it as such but substitute “God” or “Lord” for it. However, even in these Bibles, a person can usually tell where the original Hebrew text uses Jehovah because in those places the substituted words are written in large and small capitals, thus: GOD, LORD. Several modern translations do use either the name Jehovah or the name Yahweh. Hence, the New World Translation reads at Isaiah 42:8, “I am Jehovah. That is my name.”

The Scriptural account that Jehovah’s Witnesses draw on for their name is in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah. There the world scene is viewed as a courtroom drama: The gods of the nations are invited to bring forth their witnesses to prove their claimed cases of righteousness or to hear the witnesses for Jehovah’s side and acknowledge the truth. Jehovah there declares to his people: “Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour.”—Isaiah 43:10, 11, "American Standard Version."

WHAT JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES BELIEVE -

Belief: Scriptural Reason:

God’s name is Jehovah. Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 26:4; 42:8.
Ex. 6:3.

Kingdom will bring ideal Psalms 72:1-4;
living conditions to earth. Revelation 7:9, 10, 13-17; 21:3, 4

People God approves will John 3:16; 10:27, 28; 17:3;
receive everlasting life - Mark 10:29, 30

There is only one road to Matthew 7:13, 14; Eph. 4:4, 5 -
life -

Hope for dead is 1 Cor. 15:20-22;
resurrection. John 5:28, 29; 11:25, 26.

Prayers are to be directed John 14:6, 13, 14; 1 Timothy 2:5 -
only to Jehovah through Christ

Images should not be used in Ex. 20:4, 5; Leviticus 26:1;
worship 1 Cor. 10:14; Psalms 115:4-8.

A Christian ought to have no 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 11:13-15 -
part in interfaith movements Gal. 5:9; Deuteronomy 7:1-5 -

Obey human laws that do not Matthew 22:20, 21;
conflict with God’s laws 1 Peter 2:12; 4:15 -

A clergy class and special Matthew 23:8-12; 20:25-27;
titles are improper. Job 32:21, 22

(The above list briefly states some outstanding beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses but by no means all the points on which their beliefs are different from those of other groups.)

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please get in touch with Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit their official web site - http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 5

Ok, well I will tell you that I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses and your best bet for information is to talk to one of us real world. For one thing, it can be more interactive, and also you have a better chance of actually talking with us in real world than on here, I have seen imposters, strange, but it happens. Also as the 5th answerer showed, at times those who answer do not know our beliefs, and so they copy and paste someone else's take on what we believe.

We as Christains strive to follow God, whose name according to Psalms 83:18 is Jehovah.

We call ourselves Jehovah's Witnesses as we strive to offer up a witness, IE, testimony, about him.

The reason this joke is often shown on TV is because we are firm believers in offering to share the Bible with others. To this end we go door to door. This is a global effort. Thus we have become well known for knocking on doors.

Do we celebrate Birth Days? No. The main reason being that no where in the Bible are these days supported, that in and of itself doesn't say much, the Bible doesn't support cars, however it does mention BirthDays celebrations 2 times. Both times B-Days involved pagan worship and murder. As for not celebrating/honoring Any day, this is a bit of a wide field. I will say that some do choose to celebrate their anniversery. Also once a year we honor the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, something he did tell us to do. Explain what you mean by "symbols"

We are all imperfect humans. As Witnesses we are simply striving to do what we believe is right. If you don't want to contact us in real world but are interested in learning more the best place on the web to go is http://www.watchtower.org our only official website.

Answer 6

They are known for going door-to-door to ask people to talk with them about religion in an effort to get people to join the Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization that publishes their material is called the Watchtower.

They don't believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Instead, they only believe in Jehovah. The Holy Spirit, they say, is Jehovah's impersonal active force.

They believe that Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel, and that he was a man on earth, and that he died on a stake (not a cross).

They believe Satan was in charge of overseeing the creation of the world.

They believe souls cease to exist after death.

They believe that only 144,000 people (all members of their church) will go to Heaven, and that those spots have already been filled. These 144,000 people are also the only ones allowed to take communion.

They believe that blood transfusions are the same as cannibalism, and members are not allowed to donate blood or receive blood (even for surgery).

They believe that it is sinful to vote, salute any flag, sing any national anthem, celebrate any birthdays, or observe any typical Christian holidays (including Christmas). They also believe that the cross is a pagan symbol and that it is sinful.


They have their own special version of the Bible which they'll tell you is the "correctly translated" version, but if you talk to scholars who've studied Greek (and yes, I have), they'll tell you that the Witnesses' Bible is blatantly mistranslated. Their Bibles often list the English and the Greek side-by-side to make them seem more authoritative, so it's easy for people who actually study Greek to tell if they're translated correctly or not.

Answer 7

"Jehovah" is an attempt to pronounce the name of The Lord of the Old Testament (aka God the Father of Christianity, The Lord of Judaism, Allah of Islam). His name, rendered in our alphabet, approximates to YHWH. You'll see other sources refer to The Lord as "Yahweh."

Answer 8

Why do people hate to see them coming? Are they suppose to be pushy? Do they have regular collections(passing around the tray) as in other church services? I think a lot of people don't understand their believes are at the stem of a lot of their problems. Why do they go out in the hall when the Pledge of Allegiance is being said ?

Answer 9

Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs and who are they?

The Watchtower is big money,being one of the top 40 New York City Corporations making nearly one billion dollars a year. That's just from one of their many corporations.

Unlike in the case of Christians who are persecuted in other lands for talking about Jesus Christ, Jehovah's Witnesses are largely persecuted for following the teachings begun during the second presidency of the Watchtower, when Joseph F. Rutherford took over in a corporate flap and began changing doctrines quickly in the Watchtower belief system. He claimed that angels directly conveyed truth to some of those in leadership. He coined the name Jehovah's Witnesses to make them stand out from being witnesses of Jesus, a typical evangelical expression (and a Biblical one).

Rutherford dumped holidays, birthdays and the 1874 date for the invisible return on Christ, and invented an earthly class of Witnesses, since only 144,000 can go to heaven in their teaching. The rest, meaning all 99.9% of Witnesses still alive, will live forever on a cleansed earth, under the rule of the Watchtower leaders in heaven, who will keep them in line by local elders known as 'Princes'.


If you have been witnessed to by Jehovah's Witnesses and you reject their message, you will likely die shortly at Armageddon with all the other non-Witnesses, since theirs is the only true religion, and (if they can live up to all the rules) they are the only ones to inhabit this new earth. If you believe Witnesses seem rigid now, any non-conformist during the future cleansed earth will be directly destroyed by Jehovah. Even now a Witness will be disfellowshipped for any one of many gaffs, such as smoking, taking a blood transfusion, or even voting.

To even vocally question the teachings of the Watchtower will result in complete cutting off, with family and friends usually being forbidden to talk to them. The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world.

My hope is that there will be a day in each of their lives when the Watchtower magazine is no longer needed, and they can go to college, vote for office, and contribute money and time to other, more vital causes in their community. More than likely they will then cease to be persecuted, except in a few societies more authoritarian than their own.

* * * *
Incredible Creed of the Jehovah's Witnesses IS 1914

1914 (from adventist William Miller) is to a JW what Mary and/or the Trinity is to Catholics or what Joseph Smith and the golden plates are to Mormons.

1914 is the Watchtower's #1 foundation dogma and it is false,and so is all the rest of it,that only 144,000 go to heaven,the blood transfusion ban and the "commandment" to go door to door

Learn more about the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses http://www.freeminds.org

Answer 10

Jehovah's Witnesses believe only in the Bible's directives. We follow Jesus Christ and obey his orders found in the Bible. His reason for coming to be a man was mainly to bring glory to his Father's name, Jehovah. In the model prayer he gave us, the first priority was let Jehovah's name be praised. All else was secondary.

We take our name from Isaiah 43:10 where it says, "You are my witnesses is the utterance of Jehovah." This is as Jesus was. Everything he did was in his Father's name.

We are the only ones who obey Jesus command at Matt. 24:14 and 28:19,20. So good he said it twice. We were to preach and teach all the things Jesus had taught to all the people of earth. They went door to door and village to village. We follow their example. Mormons do this as teens for two years like military duty. We do it for life. All of us, men, women, and children do this. We are an easy target for jokes, much as Noah and his family probably were building a boat on dry land.

We study as families just as in the 1st century. We do not have children's Sunday school, segregating children to not have to deal with them. We learn to speak with authority because we learn more about the Bible's truths than most anyone we meet. So when we do or don't do something, there is a Biblical reason for it.

We celebrate, have parties and laugh a lot. But, we don't celebrate holidays or birthdays that mix Christian with pagan things. Holidays most of the world celebrates honors pagan symbols. Like Christmas honors the Roman feast of Saturnila on Dec. 25th, gave presents, and Druids which had a tree, yule log and lots of colors. Remind you of anything? Neither Jesus nor any of his apostles celebrated his birthday. Would they not be the ones who should? The origin of other holidays are similar. The Bible warns of mixing holy things with pagan. The God of the Bible, Jehovah, demands exclusive devotion from true Christians. He does not approve of false Christian efforts to blend the two.

We don't use symbols like crosses either. You said you were in California. If a relative was killed in a drive by, would you go out to buy a necklace with a AK-47? I strongly doubt it. We obey the Bible order of not using graven images or idols such as a cross or statue.

We take our beliefs seriously because the Bible takes it seriously. Most people ridicule us for our faith as they have so little faith and too lazy to attempt to learn. Families are falling apart because of no structure. They fail to attempt to build one. It is one thing to try and fail, but to never even attempt!! JWs have strong families for the most part. Being human, we have just as much trouble as anyone, but we try and succeed. We study as a family. Have fun as a family. We practice and live our lives as the Bible directs.

That is why at our conventions cops and stadium staff are glad to see us come. They know their work load will be less. As we live as we preach, we do not fight among ourselves but show love based on Godly principles. We show concern for others by picking up after ourselves, making the staff happy they don't have to spend all night and part of the next day cleaning up as after sporting events or other conventions.

Most of the criticism I see on R&S, Yahoo is from people who do not have a clue what we believe and do not wish to learn. It is laughable. Thank you for asking a good question.