Disclaimer: Since Jehovah's Witness falls under mainstream Christianity, I am not going to spend very much time at this point, but I reserve the right to return to the Witnesses at a later date.
Witnesses are much like Christians in many aspects of their beliefs. They believe, as Christians, that the Bible is the authoritative word of God. They worship only one God, and they believe that Jesus Christ came to die to atone for our sins. They believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and logically approach its teachings, investigating in depth each portion of the Bible. I admire the willingness to read, study and learn that the Witnesses encourage. They do have their own translation of the Bible, the New World Translation, but it is not much different from the regular Bible so far as I can tell. They believe the Bible has the answers to problems, direction for life, etc, much like mainstream Christians.
The Witnesses worship only one God, God the Father. They differ from Christians on doctrine here because they believe that there is one God and reject the notion of the Trinity. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not, therefore, equal with God and not actually GOD, but are helpers to God. God created the universe and they emphasize that God has given his personal name to us - “Jehovah.”
Jesus Christ is NOT "fully God, fully man" in Witness theology. They believe that Jesus was God's first creation and is God's spokesperson, then was born of a virgin and took human form with the purpose of teaching the truth about God, providing a model for people to follow in relationship with God, and to sacrifice his life as atonement for sins. ((The resurrection of Jesus occurred as Christians teach, however, Jesus was not made king until 1914... I couldn't find a lot of information about why 1914 – but they believe that the events predicted in Revelation began around that time and God gave Jesus his kingdom and threw Satan out of heaven around that time.))
Regarding the Holy Spirit, Jehovah's witnesses believe in his existence, but not his deity status – he is below God, as is Jesus.
Original Sin: Witnesses believe that humanity's evil is traced back to Adam and Eve in the garden who sinned and messed up God's plan for this entire earth to be a paradise. They believe firmly in free will, and purity, and encourage their members to be as pure as possible and try to please God. They believe that the earthly paradise will be restored in the end of days.
Heaven and Hell don't exist in the same way mainstream Christians believe it does. For one thing, Hell doesn't exist at all. There is only oblivion. Heaven is an actual place, but not everyone (not even all the believers) will go there. They believe, from my understanding, that everyone will die here on earth until the return of Jesus (for which some will be presently alive) - in other words, Jesus could come back tomorrow, and everyone here would be still alive, but President Lincoln would be dead. At the point of his return, Jesus will resurrect all of the people who ever lived (President Lincoln included) to come back to earth (not just witnesses) and live for 1000 years without having to worry about Satan. They will live for 1000 years on earth (restored and perfect earth) until the time is up and the Tribulation comes. Now, during this time on earth, it will be easy to not sin because Satan won't be around tempting us, but since we are human, if we choose to sin repeatedly, we will be kicked off the island, so to speak, eliminated like contestants on survivor until the bad ones are pretty much all gone. After the 1000 years, a Tribulation period will come of an undisclosed amount of time. That is where Satan will be unleashed and able to go ahead and tempt everyone and people will fall away during this time too. After all that is over, whoever survives gets to live on eternally on earth. The rest get sent into oblivion – they just don't exist anymore.
:: Regarding heaven, most people won't get there. The only people who will get to heaven to rule (as Jesus does), are 144,000 of the most faithful, perfect Witnesses there are. No one who isn't a Witness can be one of the 144,000, but anyone can come back during the thousand years.
Other differences from mainstream Christianity is that they don't believe in celebrating birthdays or holidays, and they don't believe in blood transfusions. Check in tomorrow for an interview with a lovely Jehovah's Witness!
Sources
Watchtower.org
Religion Facts - Belief of Jehovah's Witnesses
Witnesses are much like Christians in many aspects of their beliefs. They believe, as Christians, that the Bible is the authoritative word of God. They worship only one God, and they believe that Jesus Christ came to die to atone for our sins. They believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and logically approach its teachings, investigating in depth each portion of the Bible. I admire the willingness to read, study and learn that the Witnesses encourage. They do have their own translation of the Bible, the New World Translation, but it is not much different from the regular Bible so far as I can tell. They believe the Bible has the answers to problems, direction for life, etc, much like mainstream Christians.
The Witnesses worship only one God, God the Father. They differ from Christians on doctrine here because they believe that there is one God and reject the notion of the Trinity. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not, therefore, equal with God and not actually GOD, but are helpers to God. God created the universe and they emphasize that God has given his personal name to us - “Jehovah.”
Jesus Christ is NOT "fully God, fully man" in Witness theology. They believe that Jesus was God's first creation and is God's spokesperson, then was born of a virgin and took human form with the purpose of teaching the truth about God, providing a model for people to follow in relationship with God, and to sacrifice his life as atonement for sins. ((The resurrection of Jesus occurred as Christians teach, however, Jesus was not made king until 1914... I couldn't find a lot of information about why 1914 – but they believe that the events predicted in Revelation began around that time and God gave Jesus his kingdom and threw Satan out of heaven around that time.))
Regarding the Holy Spirit, Jehovah's witnesses believe in his existence, but not his deity status – he is below God, as is Jesus.
Original Sin: Witnesses believe that humanity's evil is traced back to Adam and Eve in the garden who sinned and messed up God's plan for this entire earth to be a paradise. They believe firmly in free will, and purity, and encourage their members to be as pure as possible and try to please God. They believe that the earthly paradise will be restored in the end of days.
Heaven and Hell don't exist in the same way mainstream Christians believe it does. For one thing, Hell doesn't exist at all. There is only oblivion. Heaven is an actual place, but not everyone (not even all the believers) will go there. They believe, from my understanding, that everyone will die here on earth until the return of Jesus (for which some will be presently alive) - in other words, Jesus could come back tomorrow, and everyone here would be still alive, but President Lincoln would be dead. At the point of his return, Jesus will resurrect all of the people who ever lived (President Lincoln included) to come back to earth (not just witnesses) and live for 1000 years without having to worry about Satan. They will live for 1000 years on earth (restored and perfect earth) until the time is up and the Tribulation comes. Now, during this time on earth, it will be easy to not sin because Satan won't be around tempting us, but since we are human, if we choose to sin repeatedly, we will be kicked off the island, so to speak, eliminated like contestants on survivor until the bad ones are pretty much all gone. After the 1000 years, a Tribulation period will come of an undisclosed amount of time. That is where Satan will be unleashed and able to go ahead and tempt everyone and people will fall away during this time too. After all that is over, whoever survives gets to live on eternally on earth. The rest get sent into oblivion – they just don't exist anymore.
:: Regarding heaven, most people won't get there. The only people who will get to heaven to rule (as Jesus does), are 144,000 of the most faithful, perfect Witnesses there are. No one who isn't a Witness can be one of the 144,000, but anyone can come back during the thousand years.
Other differences from mainstream Christianity is that they don't believe in celebrating birthdays or holidays, and they don't believe in blood transfusions. Check in tomorrow for an interview with a lovely Jehovah's Witness!
Sources
Watchtower.org
Religion Facts - Belief of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pretty succinct! I am a reformed JW and would willingly donate an organ now. :) Before my reformation, I had to memorize the books of the Bible in the event some mean old doctor type was trying to save my life and I was refusing blood. It was supposed to prove my love for God and unwillingness to take blood was FOR REALS. Seriously though, I can't see me dying when a little bit o' blood would save me...Not anymore. Man, religions are screwed up.
ReplyDeletenothing wrong with organ donation. blood is holy and sacred and rightly belongs to the one who set it as specifically His.
ReplyDeleteI've never been made to memorize any of the books of the Bible - only learn to love my Creator and hold him in highest regard as the one who deserves exclusive devotion. Sorry your short term in learning about Jehovah and his organization was clouded by misunderstandings.
I agree that "religions" are screwed up. Learning the truth isn't.
I love the way you put that, Brenda. "religions are screwed up. learning the truth isn't." :) Regarding blood... well... I don't really have an opinion on that, except I reckon I would have an opinion if my child were in mortal danger and it would take a blood transfusion to save her... I was made to memorize the books of the Bible (in a handy little song) as well when I was a child in evangelical Christianity, Mir. I think thats an across-the-board requirement. I also had to memorize chapters and books of the Bible, the 10 Commandments, you know, the usual. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah I figured that was standard God-fearing fare. :) I bet I love God, the Universe and all that as much as anyone that can recite bible verses all day, though. And I didn't learn that in church. Or with the help of religion. Although learning about Big J did help me see what religions were supposedly trying to sell: unconditional love and compassion. Thank you for that, Jesus!
ReplyDeleteAs for learning "the truth," I have learned mine and it's more wonderful than anything anyone else could tell me to know, because it comes from inside my own divine heart. And it is perfect in every way.