What exactly is a Jehovah Witness?

Question

I've never been informed & i'm just curious.

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses are relatively unique among self-described Christians in that they understand the Scriptures to teach that God's Kingdom by Christ Jesus is a real government which will soon replace all earthly governments.
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite

That Kingdom will rule over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Until that resurrection, there is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire

While a limitted number of humans will be resurrected to heaven to share in ruling over mankind, the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind

Learn more:
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/lmn/index.htm?article=article_10.htm
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/rq/index.htm?article=article_06.htm
http://jw-media.org/beliefs/trueworship.htm
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/jt/
http://watchtower.co.uk/e/dg/index.htm?article=article_11.htm

Answer 2

Although I don't believe any of the "out there" tenets of the Witnesses, I must commend their tenacity in witnessing. On the average, I would venture to say that a very, very low percentage of true Bible believing Christians would stomp on their spiritual pride long enough to go up to a strangers door to share the News of Jesus Christ. This makes me ask, is there something we should learn from the witnesses??????

It has also been said in this thread that the witnesses call their god Jehovah, as if that is a derogatory comment. I call my earthly father dad, daddy, big d, dadd-o, father, and lots of other things, but he know's I talking to him and not the dad down the street. Whether they call Him Jehovah, Yehovah, Yahweh, or any other combination of the tetragramaton. I believe God has all wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to figure out that these people are talking to Him.

Answer 3

You will be lucky to get a non bias answer here.
I was raised as one and they are good god loving people.
You would be better off to contact Jehovah's Witnesses in your local area. You don't know if the people who answer you here are really JW's or someone trying to mislead you.
If you have any questions for them get your bible out , they have all the answers from your own bible.

Answer 4

Some one who preaches about Jehovah God's kingdom.

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

Answer 5

Well, if you ask them, they're the only correct belief system in the world. If you look at what they believe, it's mainly different from other Christians by saying that there's no hell, only 144,000 people go the heaven, and all the good little witnesses live on a really happy earth with no disease or anything when they die. They insist on calling their god Jehova because of the Psalms verse that says somethng to that effect, they don't believe in fighting to defend their freedom to harass everyone at their doorstep, and they wear suits to the church they visit about 5 times a week so their god will look favorably upon them... (presumably the one true god only loves people who dress up?)
They'll be more than happy to yap at you for hours though if you really want to know what they're about. One thing I like about them, their literature has awesome pictures in it (with all smiling people of course).

Answer 6

They're a sect of Christianity that belives only an 'x' amount of Christians will reach heaven when the apocalypse comes. They believe the apocalypse is coming very soon.

JW's don't celebrate holidays (except wedding anniversaries) and are, as you might imagine, socially conservative.

Answer 7

There the annoying people who ommit details from the Bible and make it their own. They believe they will be here for all eternity on Earth...oh, and they don't celebrate any Holidays whatsoever.

Answer 8

A member of a certain church, like a Baptist or a Mormon. That particular church goes by several names, and is also called the Watchtower society.

Jehovah's Witnesses are supposed to evangelize, or 'witness', to whoever they can. This means they often go form door to door attempting to convert people. That is what they are most famous for. Also they do not accept blood in transfusions, as the Bible says 'Thou shalt abstain from blood', sometimes even if lives are in danger.

Answer 9

The worldwide Christian society of people who actively bear witness regarding Jehovah God and his purposes affecting mankind. They base their beliefs solely on the Bible.

What beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses set them apart as different from other religions?

(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

I've heard of a Jemima Witness, but Jehovah? Another cult!