by oppostate 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Believe it or not, I'd never even heard of these guys until I'd moved to the Vancouver area years ago, and ended up driving right past one of their churches (on the way to a meeting, no less)...
...and noticing just how much it eerily resembled a Kingdom Hall.
I asked around, and was basically told that they were - for all intents and purposes - the WTS's weird sort-of-apostate cousin.
'Course these days, I suspect it's actually the other way 'round. 
Oppostate - another religion that is worth researching if your interested in finding similar religions is “ iglasea ni Christo” they are a Phillipines based religion that heavily borrowed from the JWs / LDS. I was also attending their church services for a while as well.
The Christadelphian rejection of a personal devil is often cited as the main difference between JWs and Christadelphians.
What I’ve found interesting is that some of the apparent similarities between JWs and Christadelphians are not as clear cut when you look at the details.
For example both JWs and Christadelphians refuse to vote in elections. But when you look at the explanations for that stance, then clear differences emerge. JWs are essentially disinterested when it comes to politics. Many JWs are uncomfortable if the subject is discussed at all, even if no particular political views are promoted. They don’t vote in elections because they believe that Jehovah does not approve of any political leaders in this system and therefore Christians should not be interested in politics. Christadelphians on the other hand believe that God actively manoeuvres events in the world including elections and rulers and political developments. The reason Christadelphians don’t vote is because they worry they may vote for the wrong person “against the will of God”, so they abstain and stand aside to allow God to work out his plan. Christadelphians even believe that God uses the weather in order to shape world events including elections. One Christadelphian told me he believes that God sent poor weather during the EU referendum in order to get a Brexit result. As zionists Christadelphians are also intensely interested in events in Israel/Palestine and how they relate to prophecy and God’s plan. JWs on the other hand tend to ignore the details of political events, preferring to see the whole shape of the news as evidence the system of things is getting worse leading up to Armageddon.
Christadelphians and JWs also reject the Trinity and do not believe that Jesus is almighty God. But once again that is pretty much where the similarities end. Christadelphians believe that Jesus came into existence as a human on earth and did not have a prehuman life as an angel. They do not believe that Jesus is the archangel Michael. While JWs and Christadelphians both oppose the Trinity as a false post-biblical teaching, JWs are closer (although not identical, as they point out) to Arianism whereas Christadelphians are Socinians.
One area where JWs and Christadelphians appear to be in simple agreement is over rejection of the immortal soul in favour of soul sleep and awaiting resurrection to a paradise earth. They both reject hell as a literal place of torment.
And another difference, of course, is over the divine name. Christadelphian hymns sometimes use the name Jehovah, and individual Christadelphians will use the name Jehovah or Yahweh, but not to the extent as JWs or as the unique name of God.
Well said slim boy. You have nailed it again
- another religion that is worth researching if your interested in finding similar religions is “ iglasea ni Christo” they are a Phillipines based religion that heavily borrowed from the JWs / LDS
And I think they actually have more members world wide than Jehovah`s Witnesses do .
And if that is truly the case then Jehovah is blessing them more than the JW`s
The vast majority of members of the Iglesia ni Cristo Church live in the Philippines, and those congregations in other countries largely comprise migrants from the Philippines.
If you think JWs are controlling then Iglesia ni Cristo are even more so.
Other groups that are a bit similar to JWs worth checking out include the New Apostolic Church and Grace Communion International. Both these groups were sectarian in the past but have moved considerably more mainstream. In the case of Grace Communion Internarional they now accept the Trinity and they really emphasise this in their meetings. They often sing a song “we worship you God in Trinity” and they make frequent refenreces to the Trinity in sermons and prayers. In the case of the New Apostolic Church they are now at pains to emphasise that they do not regard their church as infallible or the only true church and state this often in their meetings.
Thanks for your more comprehensive comments, SBF. I forgot about finding these two a dividing point:
Christadelphians and JWs also reject the Trinity and do not believe that Jesus is almighty God. But once again that is pretty much where the similarities end. Christadelphians believe that Jesus came into existence as a human on earth and did not have a prehuman life as an angel. (I was once told by a Mormon-LDS that they did not believe in the trinity only that Jehovah was Jesus!! so only 2 not 3 involved, a bi-nity?)
As zionists Christadelphians are also intensely interested in events in Israel/Palestine and how they relate to prophecy and God’s plan (it seemed to me that until the 1930's the WTS seemed to believe this too)
I have downloaded from their webstie (Christadelphian) the following ebook : "The Devil the Great Deceiver" and then only once I have fully read it, I will tell you what I am thinking about it. It will take some time because English is not really my mother tongue (only French is) But English language is becoming every day more familiar to me. So it shoud not really be a problem, since I know some more Indian complicated language, as tamil for example
Ok I will tell you more about the above book next year. Till now be careful and enjoy real life. ! And take care. Your life is the most precious thing you have in your hands ! All the best for the next coming new and happy year !!!
There were some videos about the Iglesia ni Cristo church in a post on this site a few years ago. Scary
I agree when I was attending the iglasea ni Christo for a couple of months that I found them to be more controlling than the JWs. For example blanking out the windows and locking the doors when the service began. They keep a registration of those who aren’t at the services and a follow up call/visit is given, how much you tithe is also noted. I would quite believe that the inc could be bigger and more wealthy than the JWs. Off the top of my head 5% of the Philippine population claimed to be members of the inc, and there were questions been asked about their spending on a $250 million dollar arroplane been purchased to fly the leaders around the world. The problem been is that the majority of your membership are dirt poor and live in one geographic location, so the JWs are more we’ll known and recognised internationally. For example until I come on here I had never heard of the inc, and was even more surprised to find they were in my country just a short drive away. I also agree the spread of this religion is mainly due to migration from the Philippines. In their promotional videos the religion is portrayed as a white European religion but the reality (well by the church I was attending anyway) is about 98% of Philipino immigrants. I do recommend attending their services to see how it relates to the JWs.
