Similarities between Roman Catholics and Jehovah`s Witnesses

by smiddy 85 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • smiddy
    smiddy

    Both claim to be the sole path to God (or did at some point )

    Both claim to reach back to first century christians ,( though JW`s are a bit ambiguous about this)

    The R.C Church has a Pope , the J.W.`s have a governing body ,both providing spiritual food to the faithful

    Both accept the name" Jehovah" as the personal name of God , with the R.C.church also accepting the much widely accepted name of" Yahweh" a more correct pronunciation

    The R.C. church first giving that name" Jehovah" by Raymundus Martinus in about the thirteenth century. That name was derived from the four letters of the tetragrammaton translated in english as YHWH or JHVH and the catholic monk inserting the vowel letters to either read JeHoVaH or YaWeH

    The Roman Catholic church holds sacrement the confessional ,whats divulged to a preist in the confessional is between only the preist and God,nobody else.

    The Jehovah`s Witnesses say that what is divulged in a judicial enquiry (confessional ) is the same as the R.C .confessional , privelegded information, penitent priveledge. However the difference here is the WTB&TS eg: Jehovah`s Witnesses pass on that information to the Governing Body , the members that make up that body.So it is not just between the three elders on a judicial committee and God it now becomes common knowledge to a much wider audience , the governing body .

    Of course their are doctrinal differences between the R.C.Church and Jehovah`s Witnesses as their are with the thousands of faiths claiming to be christian ,however the JW`s in their 130+ years of existence have never demonized any other religion like they have with the Roman Catholic Church , and yet they are so similar.

    I would welcome any other similarities you can come up with / or correct me where I am wrong

    smiddy

  • ÁrbolesdeArabia
    ÁrbolesdeArabia

    Roman Catholics have the Pope and Arch Bishops, JWs had four popes and now Arch Bishops and a Cardinal.

    Roman Catholics are willing to talk to their friends and family if they live the Church, JWs are not!

    Roman Catholics promote attending College and getting a higher education, JWs do not!

    Roman Catholics will spend money on Charity, JWs do not spend money on anyone other than JWs mostly.

    Roman Catholics Priest don't repeat your confessions to the flock, JWs Elders are not as confidential.

  • zeb
    zeb

    spot on

  • ziddina
    ziddina

    Hah! Funny you should mention this...

    I've been observing parallels ever since I got the heck out...

  • Kojack57
    Kojack57

    The difference between the too equates to sibling rivalry. Little brother ( WB&TS) trying to outdo big brother ( R.C. Church)

    Kojack

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    I see as many similarities between Pharisaic Judaism and the witlesses as I do with the Roman Cat Licks. They are structured similar to a ripoff of the Cat Lick church, but many of the policies and attitudes would be much more expected in a Jewish cult than a Christian one.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Both work out their salvation through works, and it never seems to be enough. They think Catholic Guilt is bad; they should see the Witnesses slinking from the theatre.

  • AuntBee
    AuntBee

    I had an interesting convo with a Witness this week, and i found some of the parallels useful to challenge her trust in the WT. For example, saying that Jesus is not Mediator for all men. Thus, you need to stay "connected" to the Annointed, who are connected to Jesus directly. Thus, making the org the Mediator between you and the Mediator Jesus. I told her it reminds me somewhat of traditional Catholicism, as you need what they provide, to get to Jesus. She was insisting it is not like that at all...

    On the other hand, Catholicism is not as monolithic as it used to be - wow, the beliefs of individual Catholics vary widely! I think there is overall a more ecumenical attitude these days.

  • apostatethunder
    apostatethunder

    Jws are are a reaction to Catholicism, that despite its shortcomings, stands for something far greater than they will ever even understand.

    The only similarity is that they want to usurp the central role Catholicism, for historical reasons, always had in defining Christianity and what it means to be a Christian.

    Catholicism was the cradle of Christianity, (its culture, its values, its heritage), and its guardian for centuries. Jws would like to reinvent Christianity in their own image, and substitute everything the Catholic Church has built for 2000 years for whatever it is (New World Order stuff), of which a lot of us in this site had already a taste.

  • unstopableravens
    unstopableravens

    i will say one possitive thing they both have in commen and trust me its hard to do at least they both are anti-abortion. the rest is prob negative

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