Is JW just another denomination?

by John Vogel 50 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

John Vogel

Hello :) I suppose this is my introduction to the forum, though I am not sure if I will actually post and read much here. I did go through several posts, and didn't find anything helpful, though I did find many posts interesting... anyway, I am not a Jehovahs Witness. I hope this doesn't immediatly diqualify me from posting this question here... but basically, I was wondering just what IS JW? I know WHO Jehovah (or Yahweh) is, and I understand that we are HIS witnesses, if we have accepted His Word and followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, but... what i don't understand is... is JW just another denomination? Is there anything that sets the Jehovah Witnesses apart? Is it another case of one body of believers claiming that theirs is the only truth, and that they are better then another body of believers? Personally, I am against denominationalism entirely, I believe that Christianity has been perverted by the various religions, and I wonder why we should have so many different bodies? Aren't we supposed to be one body, with Christ as the head? So what is JW? Is this yet another division, or is there something more going on here then I can see? See, I went to the WatchTower site, and I spent hours going over the information there, and I don't see anything that would set the JW apart from any other flavour of Christianity, other then the blood transfusion thing (which I personally believe is taking the Word out of context, but that's just me)...
The reason I am looking into the JW is that the other day a fellow came by our store (I own a computer store in a small town) who does windows... we got to talking and before too long we were on the subject of the bible and of Jehovah and many other things. I spend anywhere from 4 to 8 hours a day studying the scripture, pretty much anytime I am not working I am in the book... and it pleased me to find this gentleman was well versed in the bible as well. Not only did he know the bible, but he knew where the preachers of today's churches have gone astray in things like hell, the trinity, etc. The only thing I think we didn't really agree on was the pronunciation of His Name, which really isn't that important (IMHO) as he realized (as I have come to realize) that his name isn't LORD or God...
Anyway, to make a long letter shorter, I found out after chatting with the gentleman for about an hour (possibly more) that he was a Jehovah's Witness. I have read some of the Watchtower tracks, and found I agreed with what they said for the most part, but I never really gave any thought to who or what the JW's are or what they represent. So, if someone could explain to me a bit more about the Jehovah's Witnesses, I'd greatly appreciate it.
May Yahweh bless and keep you eternally in Yeshoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ)
StinkyPantz

is JW just another denomination?
Yes
Is there anything that sets the Jehovah Witnesses apart?
No blood, no saluting the flag/patriotism, no celebrating holidays, no voting, no oral sex, no marrying non-jws, etc
Is it another case of one body of believers claiming that theirs is the only truth, and that they are better then another body of believers?
Yes, they believe that theirs is the only truth and that they are better than everyone else.
Aren't we supposed to be one body, with Christ as the head?
Well I suppose if you believe in Jesus as a supernatural entity yes, but I don't, so. .
So what is JW?
Jehovah's Witness
Is this yet another division, or is there something more going on here then I can see?
Yes another division. I believe the founder of this religion was from an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists, but don't quote me on that.
Welcome to the board btw.
John Vogel

Aren't we supposed to be one body, with Christ as the head?
Well I suppose if you believe in Jesus as a supernatural entity yes, but I don't, so. .
Why would you have to believe in Jesus as a supernatural entity in order for him to be the head of our church/body? Unless you mean you don't believe he is alive, but even then, if we take his teachings and build our church around this, would this not also make him the head of our church? Anyway, thanks for your answers, but not exactly what I was looking for... I take it you are also not a JW?
starScream

Hi John Vogel, welcome aboard.
The JWs are not a denomination of Christianty. They are a non-Christian cult like Mormonism. They have invented numerous non-biblical dogmas to lead people away from the truth in the bible. They have gone so far as to change what the bible says so that it doesn't seem to contradict their teachings.
I'm sorry to inform you John but the JWs claims to have exposed the errors of "Christendom" are false. The JWs teach that Jesus was just an angel that came to earth as a man. The Mormons and a number of other cults teach this as well.
The bible teaches that Jesus IS NOT AN ANGEL. Jesus said that "I and my Father are One." Jesus being the True Son of God is Equal with God and in his very Nature is God. Yes, Jesus is Almighty God, the eternal Son of the Father. The JWs constantly confuse the trinity and just erroneously claim it to be a Pagan Doctrine. Well allow me to clear it up for you.
THE TRINITY IS NOT GOD. It is a biblical concept that explains the Unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is God. He has a Son from eternity. God begets God. A second God? The JWs say yes a second God. They are polytheists. Christians say no, not a second God. Jesus said he and his Father (God) are one. The JWs claim the bible says Jesus was created though. The bible does not say that at all. There is no account of a creation of the Son. The bible teaches that ALL things that came into existence were by the Son, several times.
The JWs also go to great lengths to convince people that the bible was only written for 144,000 Christians and that you must go to them to get salvation, not Jesus. Many times the JWs will claim that something you show them in the bible only applies to the 144,000.
The Founder of WTS CT Russel was raised Presbysterian. He left Christianity because he couldn't believe in Hell. He hooked up with some SECOND Adventists (not 7th Day) because they told him they don't believe in Hell. Their theology is similar to 7th Day. He later went to work for a Newsletter that taught Adventist theology. From their he took it over and the Watchtower was born.
You don't have to believe in "Hell" or eternal conciuos punishment for the wicked to be a Christian, but that is what is taught in the bible so if someone wants to say we aren't Christians for just making it up they ought to go take that up with God for putting it in the book. Hell is not a place of literal fire but it is a place, Jesus said it was a place that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
The bulk of Russel's preaching revolved around predicting when Armaggedon would come and uses occult methods of determining such.
The JW doctrines go directly against the bible. They have been changing their doctrines since they came into existence. They have had false prophecies go bad as recent as 2001. They predicted that armageddon would come in the 20th century.
They claim that you must be a member of the WTS to survive armageddon and that if you aren't you will never be resurrected or recieve salvation.
They also teach that you can pay for your own sins by dying and then be resurrected and recieve salvation even if you died in your sin. So there is really no urgency to become Christian other than dying at armaggedon if you are alive when it happens.
I'm not surprised that you agree with them on some things they talked about. The cults have been very successful at accusing "Christendom" of straying from the truth and perpetuating false ideas about the bible in pop culture.
Their errors go on and on. Their deciet and covering up the past does also.
starScream

BTW John,
This is an anti-JW site. Most of us here are ex-JWs.
I was raised JW myself. A few years ago I was born again and found Jesus. I quickly discovered from the bible that the JWs were totally filled with error and false prophecies from there literature.
Much of my family is JW. Only my father and I have left to find Jesus.
StinkyPantz

JV-
Unless you mean you don't believe he is alive

Of course I don't believe Jesus is alive. He died 2000 years ago. As far as his teachings. . well he never wrote anything down, so everything we "know" about him is hearsay. So if you really mean that we should follow the Bible, well I don't agree with it either.
Am I a JW? Nope! There are very few on this site. This site is primarily EX-JW's.
thanks for your answers, but not exactly what I was looking for
Sorry. What exactly were you looking for?
SScream-
He asked what JW's believe, not what you believe. You mixed your beliefs in w/JWs and it might be confusing.
ThiChi

I believe the rebuke of the Trinity is one area the Jws got right.....StarScream does not speak for all of us.....
starScream

ty stinky pantz,
I guess i did.
sorry, John
I will say that all these things the JW do teach and are very wrong.
They teach Jesus is Michael the Archangel. So do Mormons. It is wrong and not found in the bible.
They teach that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will not go to heaven. That is wrong matt 8:11
They teach that Jesus is Abaddon, the fallen angel king of the smokey firey abyss in Rev 9. That is wrong. They used to teach that person was SATAN. Interesting change.
They teach that only a few christians are to eat the bread and wine of the "communion". That is wrong.
They teach that Jesus died on a pole, not a cross. They officially and quietly altered that recently and say that it is inconlusive if he died on a cross. That is wrong, crosses were you to execute people.
They deny salvation by grace but when you challenge them on it they will say they can't earn their salvation. It is very hard to tell what they teach on salvation when you talk to them but in their literature they say you have to become a member of their organization.
They deny that God can see the future. This is wrong.
They say the soul dies when the body dies. This is wrong.
They say that all those that have died in their sins will get a chance to get saved during the millenial reign. This is wrong.
If a JW takes a blood transfusion or allows their child to take a transfusion under any circumstance even to save their life they are kicked out of the Org and condemned. This is wrong.
They claim you must condemn Christians for being in the military. This is wrong.
That is just a few things they teach.
starScream

ThiChi apparently believes that either,
Jesus is not the True Son of God, or in a second God and denies that Jesus said, "I and my Father are one."
People reject the CONCEPT and TRUTH of the unity of the Father and Son for various reasons, however it is directly biblical.
JeffT

I am a Christian who attends an independent non-denominational chuch. Most Christians today regard all other Christians as brothers in Christ, no matter what chuch they go to. We are all part of one world wide body of believers. Jehovah's Witnesses are not regarded as part of this body. Many of their teachings are in direct disagreement with what we believe the Bible to say. They are also are very tightly organized, controlling group. You MUST believe exactly as the Watchtower teaches you. Disagreement will bring you up in front of a Judicial Committee, that is a secret chruch court. You can be disfellowshiped (excommunicated) for a myriad of infractions of the rules. Disfellowshipped people must be shunned by all other witnesses. They'll chat you up nicely, but they don't reveal the inner workings of their organization until after they've sucked you in.

Is JW just another denomination?

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