Are Jehovah's Witnesses Damned For Their Beliefs?

by Cold Steel 47 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  ProdigalSon

  Well Palimpsest, you must have missed what i said on page 1. The truth lies at the core of ALL the major religions, in the form of myth. Take the Catholic Church for example. They celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, and his resurrection, the most important holiday on their calendar, at the festival of the sex goddess of fertility. Both of these things have everything to do with the SUN, not the SON. The Watchtower is really good at pointing out how ALL the religions came from "Babylon". Could it be, that what's "pagan" is the truth, in the form of metaphor? And that the literalized, "Jesus is the ONLY Son of God" version of salvation is a lie? That the "Christ" is an energy, a consciousness that enters our solar system through the sun and hits us in the solar plexus every second of every minute of every day? Could it be, that we were never lost in the first place, and therefore don't need to be "saved"? That perhaps we each have inside of us all we need, and don't need any of these religions?

  Religions are what keep people in the dark. So in that sense, the Watchtower is dead-on about Babylon the Great being false religion. This is the harlot that prevents us from ever finding God inside of us, themselves included and given their highly egotistical version of kabbalistic truths, they are the Mother of the Harlots.

  But, it doesn't mean being damned. It's simply a do-over. In golf, they call it a Mulligan.

  ~PS
• 

  designs

  Amazing how all of the contradictions in the NT go right over the heads of some.

  Of course they have all of the Conditioning Answers we were spoon fed.

  Don't understand- Lack of Faith, Pray more.

  Find Contradictions- Lack of Holy spirit, only those led by Holy spirit can make sense of the contradictions.

  Second Coming- delayed and delayed see No.1 excuse.

  That's how it goes. And they have the Huevos to damn people.
• 

  warmasasunned

  no more than any other crappy religion
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  Cold Steel

  Asking a question like this tells me more about people and their beliefs than it does whether Witnesses are actually condemned for their beliefs.

  Mouthy, in my opinion, has the right idea. Jesus came to both save and to condemn, but Justice requires that he judge people by their hearts, not what is in their heads. Too many Christian faiths today are quick to condemn, believing that death is the cut-off period for judgment.

  When a Witness dies (if I'm correct), he or she immediately becomes teachable. The world they thought they knew immediately crumbles when they realize that their bodies have died, yet they are still consious of everything going on.

  This week I heard a story, recounted on television, of a woman who's daughter was saved by the spirit of a little girl. A year or two later, the woman gave birth to another daughter -- and as she aged, her older sister recognized her as the little girl who had saved her life. In many near death experiences, people see and recognize spirits they "knew" before they came to this earth. Still more report that we go through life with the help, or assistance, of those we knew or were related to in life.

  If God draws the line at death for the judgment, then what of those who never heard of Christ. And what of those who lived what they thought were obedient lives, but were simply mistaken? It's not a prevocative question, but it tells me how people interpret God and the scriptures. Kind of like, do animals have spirits?
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  Ding

  Cold Steel said, "When a Witness dies (if I'm correct), he or she immediately becomes teachable."

  Can you cite scripture that teaches this?

  If not, what is the basis for your belief?
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  carpediem

  I don't believe in God, but if I am wrong and there is one, then I don't believe JWs would be damned for their beliefs. I think any God worth his/her salt would damn people for their actions not their beliefs.
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  bob1999

  " I think any God worth his/her salt would damn people for their actions not their beliefs. "

  Then you don't think God has revealed himself through his word?

  God's word teaches us that all have sinned and that the wages of sin is the second death.

  Romans 9 teaches us that God saves those that He chooses to save and the rest have damned themselves.

  Peace
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  Cold Steel

  "When a Witness dies (if I'm correct), he or she immediately becomes teachable."

  Can you cite scripture that teaches this? If not, what is the basis for your belief?

  I'm not certain I understand what you mean.

  Once a Jehovah's Witness dies, I assume they will experience what everyone else experiences. In short, they will realize that they are still "alive" in the spirit. Many have had near death experiences where they see their own bodies and are greeted by dead relatives. At that point I would assume that they will now realize the doctrine that they "expire" at death is an erroneous doctrine.

  The Jehovah's Witnesses base their "death" doctrine mostly on the book of Ecclesiastes, which indicates that when you're dead, you're dead. The only problem is that we don't know who wrote Ecclesiastes, but whoever it was, it wasn't a prophet. If it was Solomon, he was writing at the end of his life and he had ruined that life by taking pagan wives who used his influence to erect pagan edifaces against the will of the Lord. He was bitter and dejected at that point and his writing was a philosophical one and not an eschatological one. In other words, it was not doctrinal.

  When Jesus healed the blind man, the disciples asked, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Jesus did not correct them or tell them they knew not the scriptures. He said, "Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents...." Thus, there was the implication that the man lived before he was born. Not reincarnation, but a spiritual existence.

  The Lord spoke unto Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5) And in Revelation, John twice falls to the ground to worship the angel speaking to him. Yet what did the angel say? "See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." (Rev. 22:9)

  This shows that the angel who spoke to John was once a prophet, like John. He was not dead in the grave, but was alive and acting as an angel. Thus, people live before they were born and after they die. Origen, one of the greatest Christian fathers, wrote: "After death, I think the saints go to Paradise, a place of teaching, a school of the spirits in which everything they saw on earth will be made clear to them. Those who were pure in heart will progress more rapidly, reaching the kingdom of heaven by definite steps or degrees."

  Based on scripture and near death experiences, Jehovah's Witnesses most likely will be more likely to learn the truth when they see their own bodies lying in the street or in hospital beds. Then they'll realize that what they've been taught was wrong, and then they'll be more willing to learn. In other words, it would take a very dedicated JW to still believe in the religion once they die and discover they haven't ceased to exist after all. I imagine, too, that most will be relieved.