What exactly do Jehova's Witness' believe in?

Question

This is a serious question by the way. I always here people talking about Jehova's Wtiness' coming to their door and stuff but what exactly do they believe in?

if you're not going to seriously answer this question dont bother

Answer 1

They believe that you have to earn your way to heaven by witnessing to others. However, they believe that only 144,000 people are going to heaven.

From what I've heard from my neighbor who is a JW, there are "levels" in their religion and depending on what you do and how long you've been a JW you get to go to higher levels.

They don't believe in being patriotic (they can't own American flags or vote), they can't celebrate Christmas or birthdays, and they can't participate in Boy/Girl Scouts or anything like that. And the list goes on and on of the "rules".

If you ask me, it's more of a cult than a religion. But that's just my opinion.

And don't let anyone tell you that they are Christians. They are far from it.

Answer 2

They don't believe in the Trinity - Jesus was created and was the archangel Michael in his prehuman existence. The Holy Spirit is Jehovah's 'active force', not a person.

They have their own Bible translation - the New World Translation, which many say has been suitably edited to support their own beliefs.

They believe that Jesus was hung on a stake, not a cross. They say that the cross is a pagan symbol whilst forgetting that an upright stake is too (check out Asherah poles) - and anyway should it matter what he died on as long as he did?!

Only 144,000 'anointed' go to heaven. Other JWs will be resurrected or survive armageddon to live on a paradise earth - everyone else will be eternally destroyed - they don't believe in a place of eternal torment.

Only those 'anointed' get to partake of the bread and wine at the annual memorial of Christ's death which happens on Nisan14.

They believe that Christ returned invisibly in 1914 and that Armageddon will happen 'soon' - they've stopped making actual predictions, but are currently hinting in their literature at 2034. Until November 1995 they said that Armageddon would come before 'the generation that saw 1914' had passed away - but they've had to change that as most of that generation is now dead.

They don't accept blood transfusions - to do so will result in 'disfellowshipping', however they may accept certain fractions - a bit like knowingly accepting the wheels off a stolen car and thinking its not as bad as accepting the whole car imho.

'Disfellowshipping' is where a member breaks the rules laid down by the organisation (eg smoking, fornication, accepting blood). Members are not allowed to have any association or even speak to disfellowshipped persons - even if its close family.

They don't take part in wars or do any alternative service where military service is mandatory. They don't show any acts of patriotism such as saluting the flag or singing the National anthem.

They are expected to go on door to door work and have to fill in time sheets each month recording how many hours they did, how many mags they placed etc.

They don't celebrate Birthdays, christmas or Easter as they say these have pagan origins (however they don't object to wearing wedding rings and other traditions associated with weddings!)

I reckon that's enough for now - and I was only skimming the surface!

Answer 3

Encounters between Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses typically revolve around a discussion of deity. This is the area where Watchtower theology deviates most dramatically from orthodox Christianity. In contrast to the Trinitarian concept of one God in three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the JWs have been taught to believe that God the Father alone is "Jehovah," the only true God; that Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel, the first angelic being created by God; and that the Holy Spirit is neither God nor a person, but rather God’s impersonal "active force."

Answer 4

Jehovah is the correct spelling. They believe in God and Jesus like other Christian belief systems. They interpret the bible differently. They are much stricter with how they live and who they associate with. They believe Armageddon is coming very soon. They believe 144,000 people will go to heaven to rule beside God and the rest will live in paradise on Earth.
They do not celebrate holidays since they are Pagan celebrations and nothing is to be put above God. They don't participate in politics since that is a concern of mankind and not where their focus should be.

Answer 5

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 6

I am being serious too ask a Jehovah witness because the answers I have just read is not even close.I am a XJW.

Answer 7

WHAT JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES BELIEVE

Belief: Scriptural Reason:

Bible is God’s Word and is truth. 2 Peter 1:20, 21; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17;

Bible is more reliable than tradition. Matthew 15:3; Col. 2:8.

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

Christ’s human life was paid as a ransom for obedient humans Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; 1 Pet. 2:2,3.

Kingdom under Christ will rule earth in righteousness and peace - Isaiah 9:6, 7; 11:1-5; Daniel 7:13, 14; Matthew 6:10.

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

Earth will never be destroyed or depopulated Eccl. 1:4; Isaiah 45:18; Psalms 78:69

God will eliminate present system of things in the battle at Har–Magedon. Revelation 16:14, 16; Zephaniah 3:8.
Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 34:2; 55:10, 11

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

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

Hell is mankind’s common Job 14:13, Dyer Version;
grave - Revelation 20:13, 14, American Version (margin)

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

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

A Christian ought to have no part in interfaith movements 2 Cor. 6:14-17; 11:13-15; 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 titles are improper.
Matthew 23:8-12; 20:25-27; Job 32:21, 22

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Almighty God, Jehovah, Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Jehovah made the earth for a purpose, as he stated to the first human pair: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth . . . , have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28.) Because they became disobedient, this couple failed to fill the earth with righteous families who would lovingly care for the earth and its plants and animals. But their failure does not make Jehovah’s purpose fail. Thousands of years later, it was written: “God, the Former of the earth . . . , did not create it simply for nothing.” He “formed it even to be inhabited.” It is not to be destroyed, but “the earth endures for ever.” (Isaiah 45:18; Ecclesiastes 1:4, 'The New English Bible') Jehovah’s purpose for the earth will be realized: “My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do.”—Isaiah 46:10.

Hence, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the earth will remain forever and that all people, living and dead, who will fit in with Jehovah’s purpose for a beautified, inhabited earth may live on it forever. We can live again to share in the earthly blessings only through the ransom sacrifice of Christ Jesus, for he said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life.”—John 5:28, 29; 11:25; Matthew 20:28.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are interested in you and your welfare.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in the Bible as the Word of God. They consider its 66 books to be inspired and historically accurate.

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."

Jehovah God had witnesses on earth during the thousands of years before Jesus was born. After Hebrews chapter 11 lists some of those men of faith, Hebrews 12:1 says: “So, then, because we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also put off every weight and the sin that easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Jesus said before Pontius Pilate: “For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” He is called “the faithful and true witness.” (John 18:37; Revelation 3:14) Jesus told his disciples: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8.

Hence, over 6,300,000 persons today who are telling the good news of Jehovah’s Kingdom by Christ Jesus in over 230 nations feel that they properly refer to themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

If you would like further information please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit their official web site -

Answer 8

They are Christians with really strict morals, and an "interesting" interpretation of the Bible.

Answer 9

Check it out for yourself:

http://waltermartin.org/jehwit.html#diety

Answer 10

They believe the way to god is through the doorbell.