JW vs Jehovah's Witnesses

Da.Furious

Apologies if this was discussed earlier. I tried to search for a similar topic but couldnt find one.

Anyway, i am an active JW or is it Jehovah's Witness?

Recently i noticed a trend, mainly found between teenagers and older techie brothers, of referring to themselves as JWs. What happened to the identity that we used to pride ourselves of holding, i quote from WT: We pride ourselves for being the only relegious organisation hat holds God's true name Jehovah.....

So now what i am seeing is that brothers refer to themselves as JWs. So are they shy of using the full name? Is it the new generation naming convention?

Is this a repeat of the Jewish history where they removed Jehovah’s name and substitute it with Lord/God/etc. Is the WTS encouraging this by replacing Jehovah with a J (only initials)?

Interested to see other friends comments.

Da Furious

AFRIKANMAN

Sarcastically speaking...........[in jest with you of course] Yes it would appear that the more distance they can give to the name the better - hence this drive to market and brand "JW.ORG" on every occasion now.

We were once counselled quite strongly that "JW" is not to be used ...it is slang...thats how the "world" refers to us etc etc

AlphaMan

So now what i am seeing is that brothers refer to themselves as JWs. So are they shy of using the full name? Is it the new generation naming convention?

Interesting questions. If it's just refer to themselves as JW's between each other, then it's probably just slang. It front of outsiders it could be because of embarrassment. On this forum it's because JW is quicker to type. There was a time when they would have been called down by hardcore ones for saying JW instead of Jehovah's Witness.

Welcome to the board. You will also see Jehovah's Witnesses referred to here as "dubs".

Da.Furious

@AlphaMan: thanks for your comments. I am actually referring to JWs using the term verbally between each other and with outsiders. I have now colleagues at work that they refer to a JW. So I think it is picking up.

The Searcher

WELCOME da.furious

In reality, both designations are corruptions and false, invented by J.F.R.

No one was appointed as a witness of Jehovah except Christ himself. (Rev. 3:14)

Verify what the Bible REALLY teaches on this fundamental matter. Be like the Beroeans - be noble minded and question what you are told is the truth.

Isaiah 62:2 - "... be called by a new name, which the very mouth of Jehovah will designate.

Acts 11:26 - "the disciples were by divine providence called Christians."

Matthew 10:18 - ".....for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations.

Mark 13:9 - "......before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them."

Acts 1:8 - "You will be witnesses of me...."

John 1:15 - "John bore witness about him..." [JESUS]

John 5:37 - "the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me."

John 8:18 - "the Father who sent me bears witness about me."

John 15:26,27 - "..will bear witness about me; and YOU in turn, are to bear witness."

Acts 4:17,18 - ...upon the basis of this (Jesus') .... upon the basis of the name of Jesus.

Acts 10:39 - "And we are witnesses of all the things he [Jesus] did..."

Acts 10:43 - "To him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness....."

Acts 13:31 - "who are now his (Jesus') witnesses to the people.

Acts 22:15 - "because you are to be a witness for him [Jesus] to all men......"

Acts 22:20 - "......the blood of Stephen your [Jesus'] witness was being spilled..."

Acts 23:11 - "..... a thorough witness on the things about me in Jerusalem..."

Acts 26:16 -"I [Jesus]..choose you as an attendant and a witness.......respecting me"

1 Corinthians 1:6 - "even as the witness about the Christ..........."

1 Tim. 2:6 - "......what is to be witnessed to at its own particular times."

2 Timothy 1:8 - "............of the witness about our Lord.. [Christ]"

1 John 5:9 - "the witness God gives...the fact that he has borne witness concerning his Son."

Revelation 1:9 - "....for speaking about God and bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 3:8 - ...."and you kept my word and did not prove false to my name."

Revelation 12:17 - ".......and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 17:6 - "........and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus."

Revelation 19:10 -".....the work of witnessing to Jesus.... bearing witness to Jesus."

Revelation 20:4 - "............ for the witness they bore to Jesus."

sir82

Probably kids are embarrassed by the use of the name "Jehovah" - it's less conspicuous, and a bit more "cool insider" to refer to "JWs" instead. Other non-JW (woops!) kids who overhear will think they are talking about something more interesting.

Coincidentally, I am reminded of parallels to "re-branding" that US corporations often make.

The governing body apparently wants people to associate Jehovah's Witnesses with the "JW" in "JW.org". Not unlike "Kentucky Fried Chicken" rebranding itself as "KFC".

mynameislame

Very interesting. They even seem to be promoting it with jw.org. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the tech world as you mentioned. Lots of companies are doing this, IBM, KFC, GNC... These are known as a TLA (three letter acronym). But it isn't unusual to see two letters as well, HP comes to mind. So it looks like the JWs are just jumping on the bandwagon. Seems a bit odd from a religion who's main purpose is to promote the name of God

punkofnice

Never noticed it myself.

jimbojones

Growing up it was disrespectful to say JW.

Jeffro

mynameislame:

They even seem to be promoting it with jw.org.

Well... not really. It's not that they "even" seem to doing that. They are especially doing that. They've been very far behind the technological age for some time, and obviously their marketing team (probably hired externally) have told them to get 'on brand'.

JW vs Jehovah's Witnesses

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