by nicolaou 114 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
they don't accept that Jesus is God.
That is the defining difference between JWs and mainstream Christianity - this is correct.
But nic's OP didn't state that JWs are mainstream Christians.
It simply stated that JWs are Christians. It's very difficult to successfully contest this without falling back on the No True Scotsman Fallacy ...
OrphanCrow,
But they don't accept that Jesus is God.
That is the defining difference between JWs and mainstream Christianity
Arians could be Christians regardless of their view that Christ is in submission to God.
Also, one can pick one unique teaching amongst some Christian religions, like Adventists, that is different from "mainstream Christianity". Does that make the unique religion non-Christian? Who gets to define?
Christian, misctian, blistian...
This is an old chestnut, with JWs complaining, "We too believe in Christ."
Oh puh-lease stop with the moaning already.
JWs deny that every other "Christian" on the face of the earth who is not obeying the "faithful and discreet slave" could be "true" Christians" and then arrogantly exclude the bulk of their own members from partaking of the emblems.
Come back to me when you grow up.
are the jews christian the jw org claim to be spiritual jews and since JC put them in charge you must put your faith in them and hate with a godly hatered any who reject their claim to authority
It seems the JWs tend to behave in beliefs a good bit more like the Jewish ( Pharisees actually) than those who follow the gospel. Jewish that believe Christ was an angel sent down to be called the Son, but not to be given the equal respect the gospel ( and even the Hebrew teachings) instructs.
I agree entirely with the OP.
Of course JWs are christian. They believe they are ransomed by Jesus' death. The way they explain that is bizarre but it is still the foundation of their religion.
They believe Jesus is the son of god - the trinity is post-biblical - and they claim to follow his teachings in the way they understand them.
Every denomination is on a cult spectrum. JWs are further along that line than many other denominations but not as far as many other groups.
The word "christian" is not a synonym for goodness, kindness or ethics.
I would say that JWs give public press release style lip service to Jesus but the majority actually deny him by their rules and regulations and every year at the memorial they literally deny the blood of Christ and the ones that partake arrogantly put themselves on the same level as him. IMO JW's acknowledgement of Jesus is a red herring, I prefer to look at their attitudes and behaviors rather than pay attention to their lying mouths.
I prefer to look at their attitudes and behaviors rather than pay attention to their lying mouths.
On that basis there are no christians denominations.
I thought the OP was a fairly open-and-shut case.
I expected ex-JWs who are now Christians of whatever denomination to offer some argument against, but I gotta say I'm a bit surprised from comments from posters I know are non-religious.
"Christians believe the trinity - JWs aren't Christians because they don't believe this"; "JWs aren't xtians because most don't take the bread and wine"; pointing out the fact that JWs themselves don't consider other denominations to be Christian; pointing out that JWs are big on following doctrine made by the GB - forget all this. It's mere detail.
Let's get a sense of perspective.
JWs believe the Bible to be the word of God, they believe Jesus died for their sins and they try to follow Christ within their world view. They obviously aren't mainstream but how can they not be a Christian group?
It's really simple. Lots of ex_JWs assume being a christian is a good thing. They are also sure that being a JW is a bad thing.
The only way to resolve this is to find tenuous reasons to label JWs as non-christian.
