The JWs feel like a judaic religion thinly disguised as Christianity, they are the organisation of Jehovah and not the Church of Christ, everything is Jehovah centred while Christ the head of the Church is relegated to the margins, virtually all JWs refuse to participate in the Christian New Covenent, their mindset is very works and not grace oriented, they really too heavily on the old testament and as if all that is not bad enough they claim to be the only true Christian religion and viciously denigrate Christian religions as apostate Christendom and Babylon.
I can see there a strong Jewish influence and not surprisingly since Russelll and Rutherford, at least early in his presidency, were closely allied with the Jews and supported by them.
Any comments? You only need to add an "E" to JW to turn it into JEW, is that a coincidence LOL?
JWs and the Judaic influence
by greendawn 27 Replies latest jw friends
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greendawn
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OHappyDay
Funny, last week some posters were accusing JWs of being antisemitic friends of Adolf....
Jesus was Jewish, Peter, Paul, and Mary (not the singing group) were Jewish, most of the first Christians were Jewish, Paul even boasted of being a Pharisee (in the present tense, no less), the essential early doctrines of Christianity were Jewish (leaning heavily toward Pharisee teachings). Christianity began as a Jewish sect.
So what's wrong about retaining a little Judaism?
Peter said that the Christians were called to be a people for God's name (Acts 15:14). Jesus came to do his Father's will and honored his Father by obedience unto death.
Like it or not, Christianity is bound up with Jehovah. Christ is the head of the Church, but God is the head of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:23)
A Jehovah-less Christianity is not the Christianity of Jesus Christ.
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aniron
Of course Christianity had it origins in the Jewish faith thats obvious.
What most cults and some churches, do is concentrate on the OT using its rules and regulations found in the Mosaic Law and imposing them on their followers. Forgetting that the Mosaic law was done away by Christ.
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greendawn
OHD, the JWS did at one stage appear antisemitic when Rutherford tried to court Hitler but Russell before him was certainly an ardent zionist and much favoured by the Jews.
No doubt Christianity came out from Judaism but it differs sustantially in certain aspects from it and it's here that the JWs fail to show that difference to an adequate degree. They refuse to call Jesus Lord and participate in the New Covenent, so where do they belong anyway? Is there a silent assumption that they should be referred back to the Mosaic Law?
Two verses that they ignore:
Acts 10: 43 Jesus is Lord over all
Romans 10: 9,13 Whoever believes in and calls upon the Lord Jesus will be saved.
After all the gentiles became seed of Abraham through Jesus. -
Narkissos
Greendawn,
What you call "Christianity" is actually Paulinism, as it appears through the lens of Protestantism.
By the same standards you should reject whole sections of the New Testament, especially the Gospel of Matthew and perhaps the epistle of James, as being "more Jewish than 'Christian'".
Moreover, the JW type of legalism has little to do with the "Jewish" Torah. Much less, for instance, than the related SDA theology (e.g. the "sabbath"). Even the blood issue is NT-based (Acts 15), and its extension to medical issues is clearly contrary to Jewish casuistics -- cf. the Pharisaic-rabbinical notion of pikuach nephesh which puts saving life over any commandment.
This type of mixture is what antisemitism thrives on.
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Rig Boy
You are a marked man now my friend. You have spoken about what is not allowed to be spoken of. Prepare for a mass of personal attacks, name calling, smears and other such unpleasantries. Better to stand in the truth and offend some people than kowtow to lies just to make people smile. The truth got Springmeier put in jail. The world hated Christ before it hated you and me. Stand firm in the testimony of Jesus Christ, and I will pray for your protection and safety!
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truth_about_the_truth
The Judaic influence on JW theology comes from their Masonic connections which in turn is influenced by the Talmud.
If you want more details regarding this, take a look at my "WT and the Masons" threads.
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greendawn
Narkissos, OK Paul had a revolutionary message in that he declared that the Mosaic law had become obsolete and that indeed it was like a curse to those under it. James the leader of the Christian Jews AKA Nazerenes wouldn't even consider this.
But when we think of it was it easy for them to abandon the Mosaic Law at a time that the Jews already hated them for accepting Jesus as the Massiah? I don't think they were ready for such an all out conflict, Paul understood it and basically wanted only the gentile Christians to be free of the law. He himself followed the law when with Jews eg when James ordered him to be ritually purified while on a visit to Jerusalem.
I am not anti semitic but I just want to expose what I see as an out of place Judaic influence in an org that claims to be Christian. Even the Nazarenes accepted the New Covenent and called Jesus "Lord" something that the JWs reject.
Rig Boy and TATT I know there is a strong masonic influence in the dubs but the point is to be able to prove it. Only the totally naive can't see that Russell himself was a free mason operating under cover. Any org supported and guided by the masons is very suspect. -
Narkissos
I am not anti semitic
Had I thought you were I wouldn't have bothered replying.
but I just want to expose what I see as an out of place Judaic influence in an org that claims to be Christian.
Again, I think you are wrong in equating "legalism" with "Judaic influence". There are enough Christian "dos" and "do nots" in the NT, even in the Pauline letters, to feed a legalistic mind without resorting to non-Christian Jewish influence. Most if not all JW rules are "based" on (or, rather, extrapolated from) the NT, not the OT.
Even the Nazarenes accepted the New Covenent and called Jesus "Lord" something that the JWs reject.
You must be kidding. Were you ever a JW? -
stillAwitness
Seeing the title for this thread: I thought nah, this is way off. But this statement:
What most cults and some churches, do is concentrate on the OT using its rules and regulations found in the Mosaic Law and imposing them on their followers. Forgetting that the Mosaic law was done away by Christ.
now has me thinking