Jehovah's Witnesses Christian or Cult?

Jehovah's Witnesses, also known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (with headquarters in Brooklyn, New York), was officially founded in 1884 [as the Zion's Watch Tower and Tract Society (originally the Zion's Watch Tower in 1879), officially adopting the name of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931], by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916). In 1870, Russell was exposed to the teachings of William Miller, one of the founders of the Second Adventist Movement and acquired an interest in end time prophecies. Russell originally denied the doctrine of Hell, and would go on to reject nearly every other Christian doctrine, as well as add many physically and spiritually dangerous doctrines of his own making. Many of these unique and bizarre teachings were to be found in his six volume series titled, Studies in the Scriptures.

For the year 2000, the Watchtower Society claims a worldwide membership of over six million (about one million U.S.) in more than 91,000 congregations in 235 countries speaking 340 languages, and takes in approximately 300,000 new members each year (288,907 in 2000). According to JW statistics, yearly proselytizing is accomplished via 4.8 million home Bible studies and 1.2 billion hours of witnessing. The JWs field over 500,000 full and part-time missionaries. Instruction and training are provided for all JWs at five meetings a week, held primarily in "Kingdom Halls." Every week, an average of 45 new JW congregations are formed. [In the year 2000 in the United States alone, it was reported that 988,000 Jehovah's Witnesses spent more than 181 million hours in field service (i.e., door-to-door witnessing and Bible studies).]

JW leadership claims its victims by asserting itself to be the sole Christian religion and authority on the earth today, as well as God's mouthpiece or prophet. The Watchtower further disrupts families through its harsh and unbiblical interpretation of "disfellowshipping" and the practice of "shunning." Family members who are former JWs are labeled by Watchtower adherents as "apostates" and prevented from even social contact. Disfellowshipped or disassociated children, parents, and grandparents are kept from any type of communication with active members of the organization. Divorces are common within the sect when one member becomes disillusioned with Watchtower teaching and mind-control.

Not only has the name of this cult been changed time and again, but they also change their doctrines regularly -- between 1917 and 1928, they changed their doctrines 148 times! (Prior to 1931, Jehovah's Witnesses had also gone by the names of Millennial Dawn, People's Pulpit Association, The Brooklyn Tabernacle, and the International Bible Students Association.) Russell died in 1916 and was replaced by the second president, Joseph F. Rutherford. "A process of replacing Russell's writings with Rutherford's began in 1921 with the publication of Rutherford's Harp of God. Between 1921 and 1941, Rutherford was to write twenty books and numerous pamphlets, which would slowly revise the doctrine and structure left him by Russell" (Encyclopedia of American Religions, G. Melton, Vol. 1, p. 485). One of Rutherford's books that caused a great amount of controversy was the seventh volume of the Studies in the Scriptures.

Russell adopted many of his doctrines from the Seventh-Day Adventists, but the JWs began to emphasize door-to-door evangelism and literature distribution after Russell's death and subsequent leadership assumption by Joseph Franklin Rutherford. The JWs have published over ten billion pieces of literature since 1928. Its main periodicals are The Watchtower magazine (circulation of over 20 million in more than 130 languages) and Awake! (about 16 million copies in more than 80 languages), both published semi-monthly.

Historically, the JWs are best known for their practices of refusing: (1) to serve in the military; (2) to salute the flag; (3) to celebrate Christmas, birthdays, or other holidays; and (4) to give or to accept blood transfusions. [Rejecting the medical practices of vaccinations, organ transplants, and blood transfusions, the Watchtower has caused the deaths of many of its members throughout its history. Interestingly, vaccinations and organ transplants have now been acknowledged by the Watchtower as acceptable practices, contradicting their previous doctrinal position.] (Although some of these practices are neither Biblical nor unbiblical in and of themselves, depending upon one's motives and the exact nature of the practice, the reasons the JWs give for them often are unbiblical.)

Below are the highlights of what JWs believe concerning their source of authority, the Godhead, Christ, sin, salvation, heaven and hell, etc.:

1. Source of Authority. JWs claim the Bible as their final authority, but Russell's writings, especially Studies in the Scriptures, are considered "the light of the Scriptures." JWs have their own translation of the Scriptures (New World Translation, published in 1961), which reflects the binding interpretations of the group's leaders. The JWs' New World Translation greatly perverts the Scriptures to avoid placing themselves under the judgment of God (cf. Jn. 1:1; 8:58; I Tim. 2:6; Ac. 10:36; Col. 1:16-17; 2:9-10; etc.). Hence, the leader's interpretation of the Bible, not the Bible itself, is the final authority of JWs. The Watchtower magazine is one of the JWs main sources of doctrine, and is considered authoritative by its members.

2. Trinity. JWs believe that God is not a triune God, but only "Jehovah God" (Let God Be True, pp. 100-101); they teach that Trinitarianism is a belief in three gods, and thereby, Satan-inspired polytheism. Rutherford wrote: "... sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God. The clergy who inject such ideas will contradict themselves in the very next breath by stating that God made man in his own image; for certainly no one has ever seen a three-headed human creature" (Let God Be True, 2nd ed., pp. 101-102).

3. God the Father. Known as Jehovah, the Watchtower considers Him to be the only true eternal God, the Almighty. They write, "There was, therefore, a time when Jehovah was all alone in universal space" (Let God Be True, p. 25). Being alone, the first creative act of Jehovah was to create His Son.

4. Jesus Christ. Since JWs do not believe in the Trinity, they also do not believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. They add the word "other" four times to Colossians 1:16,17, teaching that Christ was God's first creation, i.e., the reincarnation of Michael the archangel created by Jehovah, rather than the Creator. [The "Watchtower" teaches that Jehovah God created Michael the Archangel before the foundation of the world; Michael was His only begotten son by virtue of the fact that he was the only creature directly created by Jehovah. It was this created Michael who became the JW Jesus (i.e., a denial of the eternality of Christ). JWs say that "Since actual conception took place, it appears that Jehovah God caused an ovum or egg in Mary's womb to become fertile, accomplishing this by the transfer of the life of his first born son (Michael) from the spirit realm to the earth" (Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 920). "Marvelously, Jehovah transferred the life-force and the personality pattern of his first born heavenly son (Michael) to the womb of Mary. God's own active force, his holy spirit, safeguarded the development of the child in Mary's womb so that what was born was a perfect human" (Reasoning, p. 255).] JWs also add an "a" in John 1:1, making the verse read, "the Word was a god" (which in essence, makes the JWs guilty of the same polytheism of which they accuse Trinitarians).

5. Use of Name Jehovah. JWs use the name "Jehovah" only for God (in order to distinguish between God and Jesus Christ), while failing to recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of "Jehovah" in Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3. [HJB]

6. Resurrection of Christ . JWs deny the bodily resurrection of Christ through their teaching that the body of Christ was annihilated by God -- not risen -- but rather a new one was created three days after His death. This they call the "resurrection" of Christ. Thus, Jesus was "resurrected" as a "glorious spirit creature" and does not now have a glorified physical body. Instead, they claim Jesus arose spiritually and only "materialized" at various times after His resurrection so He could be seen alive. (Awake!, 7/22/73, p. 4)

7. The Holy Spirit. JWs deny the deity of the third person of the Trinity, as either God or as a person; they claim that the Holy Spirit is only an impersonal "active force of Almighty God which moves His servants to do His will" (Reasoning From the Scriptures, pp. 406-407; The Watchtower, 6/1/54, p. 24). They have written, "But the holy spirit has no personal name. The reason for this is that the holy spirit is not an intelligent person. It is the impersonal, invisible active force that finds its source and reservoir in Jehovah God and that he uses to accomplish his will even at great distances, over light years of space" (Let Your Name Be Sanctified, p. 269).

8. Sin. JWs believe that the first man, Adam, disobeyed Jehovah when tempted by the angel Lucifer, who was jealous of man. As a result of disobedience, Adam and all his descendants lost the right to life and so became liable to death. This liability is applied to temporal death only.

9. Salvation . JWs claim everlasting life is a reward for doing the will of God and carrying out one's dedication -- in other words, salvation is a reward for good works. (JWs are expected to spend five hours per week in door-to-door visitation and witnessing, are responsible for selling twelve subscriptions to The Watchtower magazine each month, and are responsible for conducting a "Bible study" each month in the homes of their converts.) According to JW theology, a person has one of three possible destinies. The Anointed (144,000) will be in heaven to reign with Jehovah God. The rest of the faithful Jehovah's Witnesses (not of the 144,000) will live forever on a paradise Earth. Both of these classifications are determined to a great extent on membership in the Watchtower organization as well as going door-to-door spreading the message of the Watchtower. Those people who are not members of the Watchtower organization will be destroyed by Jehovah God and cease to exist. There is no concept of eternal punishment or hell in Watchtower theology (Let God Be True, pp. 90-95, 289). They also believe that men will have a second chance, after death, to be saved.

10. The Body of Christ. JWs believe that the members of the spiritual Body of Christ, or "Christian Congregation," number only 144,000 (Rev. 7:4-8). Most of those members of Christ's Body are now deceased and are reigning with Jesus in heaven since 1918. (Anybody born after 1936 cannot be in that number.) The remaining members still on earth, approximately 8,000 (out of whom are selected the "Governing Body"), are known as the "Remnant." They are collectively known as Jehovah God's "channel of communication" to men. They are the only ones "born again" and are the only ones who have a hope of going to Heaven. The rest of Jehovah's faithful witnesses only hope to be worthy enough to inherit the Earth, and will never see "Jesus/Michael," nor will they ever go to Heaven. All "so called Christendom" will be destroyed at Armageddon.

11. Soul Sleep. JWs deny the immortality of the soul. They do not believe the soul can exist apart from the body, but that a corpse remains in an unconscious state in the grave waiting for the resurrection. [HJB]

12. Annihilation of the Wicked. JWs teach that the "second death" is annihilation and extinction -- the wicked will cease to exist and will not suffer everlasting torment. They claim that a "doctrine of a burning hell" is "wholly unscriptural," "unreasonable," "contrary to God's love," and "repugnant to justice." [HJB] They claim that "hell" is the grave.

13. Prophecy . The Bible lists six identifying marks of false prophets, any one of which is sufficient for identification: (1) through signs and wonders they lead astray after false gods (Dt. 13:1-4); (2) their prophecies don't come to pass (Dt. 18:20-22); (3) they contradict God's Word (Isa. 8:20); (4) they bear bad fruit (Mt. 7:18-20); (5) men speak well of them (Lk. 6:26); and (6) they deny that Jesus, the one and only Christ, has come once and for all in the flesh (1 Jn. 4:3), thereby denying His sufficiency in all matters of life and godliness (2 Pe. 1:3). Most cults are founded upon false prophecies, which, if pointed out, offer an effective way to open blind eyes and rescue cultists. Russell's false prophecies formed the basis for what became The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and the Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell declared that the Second Coming had taken place invisibly in October 1874, and the Lord was truly present, and that in 1914 the faithful (the 144,000) would be translated to heaven and the wicked destroyed. Armageddon (which began in 1874) would culminate in 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's rulers and the end of the world. C.T. Russell, still on earth, died in 1916.

In the early 1920s, JWs zealously distributed on the streets and from door to door a book titled Millions Now Living Will Never Die. It was prophesied, "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914 ... we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old ... to the condition of human perfection" ("Millions Now Living Will Never Die," The Watchtower, 7/15/24, p. 89). The JWs even built a house in San Diego where the patriarchs were to live and tried to deed it to King David. (The house was quietly sold in 1954.) In the early 1940s, JWs were declaring that Armageddon, only months away, would end World War II and the defeat of the Nazis would usher in God's rule on earth (The Watchtower, 12/41). Their book, Children, suggested that plans to marry and have children be postponed until after Armageddon. It's been a long wait! Not giving up, they later prophesied that God's millennial kingdom would commence in 1975. Again JWs were told not to engage in any plans for this world, including marriage and having children. Many quit their jobs, sold their homes, and dedicated themselves to going door to door. (Source: 3/97, The Berean Call.) All in all, the Watchtower has predicted the end of the world for 1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, and 1989.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3WIKI

[edit on 14-5-2009 by dthwraith]

[edit on 14-5-2009 by dthwraith]

FALSE AUTHORITY: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the leaders of their Watchtower organization are appointed by God to act as His supreme representatives on earth. In order to maintain good standing with the organization, they are required to accept, without question, all beliefs and policies presented by their leaders. So, when the plain reading of a Scripture passage contracts a doctrinal belief held by their leaders, they will question their own ability to understand the meaning of that Scripture passage before they will question the belief itself. We must undercut their trust in their leaders before they will be free to accept the plain and simple interpretation of Scripture passages that differ from what they have been taught.

reply to post by dthwraith


JW's are just doing what they think is best. Same as certain people suicide bomb, cause they are brainwashed to think that is for their God. Some Christian Churches bad mouth homosexuality cause they think that is best. So much of what we read and hear is based on some form of interpretation. Sometimes its like the blind leading the blind. There are some wonderful faiths like Buddism, and yet some people think they are doomed along with well meaning JW, and well meaning catholic... Jesus is a wonderful teacher, and one thing I try to remember is that we are in no position to judge any ones faith, and unconditional love really helps us all get along.

Interestingly, Christians zealously believe that the bible is completely true, Moslims zealously believe in the Koran, Hindus believe in The Bagavad Gita... if a Christian continuously quotes from his bible to validate his believe then of course he will always be right according to his source and his faith. Religious zealots are always so correct because their source is always right. If I quoted from the Bagavad Gita to validate the belief of reincarnation, a Christian would counter my quote with the bible, and in the Christians mind he would be 100% more right than me, even though we are both quoting away merrily from our spiritual reference sources.

Take care



[edit on 14-5-2009 by flashesofblue]

Dear OP,
I think you need to have a pretty thorough understanding of your victim before you attack them and be able to actually get into a debate over it. Just throwing up inflammatory pasts from another web site is derogatory spam.
Seriously, how long did you belong to the JW organization? If the answer is zero, you need to not make complaints about it. What harm did they do to you? With all the threats to our lives and liberty in this world I would have to say that the JW organization should be at the bottom of the list, behind wars, government tyranny famine and disease, drug traffickers and kidnappers and slave traders and all sorts of other problems. After you are done addressing all those problems, you might have time to worry about some peaceful religion.

reply to post by jmdewey60

Jehovah's Witnesses Christian or Cult?

See the question mark?????????? It's not attack its a question.

reply to post by dthwraith


Many religions are a cult, depending on the country. A cult is generally defined as

"..refer to a cohesive social group and their devotional beliefs or practices, which the surrounding population considers to be outside of mainstream cultures"...The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists five different definitions of the word "cult."[16]

1. Formal religious veneration
2. A system of religious beliefs and ritual; also: its body of adherents;
3. A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents;
4. A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator;
5. Great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book).

ref source: en.wikipedia.org...

Therefore Christianity may be a cult in a predominately muslim/hindu/buddist country and population.

JW's are doing the best the can with what they have. When reading the scriptures word for word, Christ makes it very clear he is the Fathers son, he prays to his Father he obeys the commandments set out by his Father. When he says "the Father and I are one" he also says just as you and are one, making us all one with God the Father/Mother. So when the JWs say the Trinity concept is made up by churches they have a strong scriptual base to discuss this belief. Most religions are cults, however according to the wonderful source of wikipedia, destructive, abusive groups are more identified as cultish.

So according to point 5 from above, Christian Churches are a cult...devotion to person (Jesus) and movement/ book Bible... its a huge debate that you have opened up.

Any ways, hope you have a great day.

Originally posted by flashesofblue
reply to post by dthwraith

 

JW's are just doing what they think is best. Same as certain people suicide bomb, cause they are brainwashed to think that is for their God. Some Christian Churches bad mouth homosexuality cause they think that is best. So much of what we read and hear is based on some form of interpretation. Sometimes its like the blind leading the blind. There are some wonderful faiths like Buddism, and yet some people think they are doomed along with well meaning JW, and well meaning catholic... Jesus is a wonderful teacher, and one thing I try to remember is that we are in no position to judge any ones faith, and unconditional love really helps us all get along.

Interestingly, Christians zealously believe that the bible is completely true, Moslims zealously believe in the Koran, Hindus believe in The Bagavad Gita... if a Christian continuously quotes from his bible to validate his believe then of course he will always be right according to his source and his faith. Religious zealots are always so correct because their source is always right. If I quoted from the Bagavad Gita to validate the belief of reincarnation, a Christian would counter my quote with the bible, and in the Christians mind he would be 100% more right than me, even though we are both quoting away merrily from our spiritual reference sources.

Take care

[edit on 14-5-2009 by flashesofblue]

That is a great responce. I was gonna add my own feelings to this but got scared. This could be a heated topic and I dont want cought in the cross hairs.

reply to post by dthwraith


I play with fire...

reply to post by dthwraith

See the question mark?????????? It's not attack its a question.

Nice question but you do not leave it at that. If you just are asking for your own information, you could ask something like, "Do you have any personal experience with this organization which would indicate to you that this is a cult?" You went ahead and posted a bunch of stuff that seems to make a claim that it is.
Why poison the water?



[edit on 14-5-2009 by jmdewey60]

I know JW theology very well, they view Jesus Christ as the head of their congregations. Not any men.
See Ephesians 5 23&24 There it is said Christ is the head of (congregation, assembly, church, Greek-ecclesia)

Sure they have those that take the lead in trying to organize the command given by Christ in Matthew 28 verses 19&20. But you need that to get that assignment from Jesus done.
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The very last command Christ gave his followers, would be extremely important, yet many within Christendom have minimized it. I challenge anybody to say who in the 21 century takes that command more seriously than JW's.

They know the bible very well, and adhere to it very closely, it is very strange that the deviation from what other Christians are doing get them labeled a cult because they follow Jesus teachings more closely, compared to those that discard clear bible teachings. :bnghd:

reply to post by Blue_Jay33

it is very strange that the deviation from what other Christians are doing get them labeled a cult

Hence the whole reason behind this post. Well said Blue_Jay. Wish I could post my ongoing email debate over this subject but I can't as its private. Only thing I can do is post the sources they are using. Thanks again Blue_Jay.

reply to post by jmdewey60

Why poison the water?

Good question. Ever think that alot of people already see the water as poisoned? By posting a hard hitting question maybe the posion can be removed. Even deeper, who poisoned the water and why?

reply to post by dthwraith


dthwraith
I am concerned with your intent of this thread...Next time a JW is at your door, ask them who the head of their congregation is...you won't get a name of a man, or a group. They will tell you themselves Jesus is the head of the congregation, and that he is placed in that position by his Father the One True God.
So, they are Christian and are at the same time veiwed as a cult by many.
I do not believe answering the question is the intent of your thread...as you pose your question-and you finish with the statement:
"We must undercut their trust in their leaders before they will be free to accept the plain and simple interpretation of Scripture passages that differ from what they have been taught"

reply to post by Xcouncil=wisdom

"We must undercut their trust in their leaders before they will be free to accept the plain and simple interpretation of Scripture passages that differ from what they have been taught"

When you comment on a post do you normaly skip over the responces? Cause clearly I said in plain English.

Wish I could post my ongoing email debate over this subject but I can't as its private. Only thing I can do is post the sources they are using. Thanks again Blue_Jay.

With that very plain to read responce I'm saying that I'm using others sources on the net.

Next time a JW is at your door, ask them who the head of their congregation is...you won't get a name of a man, or a group. They will tell you themselves Jesus is the head of the congregation, and that he is placed in that position by his Father the One True God.

I should hope so, who would even bother to listen to them if they didn't??

[edit on 14-5-2009 by dthwraith]

I did read, however I didn't recognize that last bit was a quote, it looked like a statement.
Now I ask the similar question that BluJay asked, who is doing what Jesus comanded? Who is preaching the good news of his Fathers Kingdome in all the Earth, who is making Jehovah's name made known so that when his kindome does come none will doubt who he is?
Just a couple of thoughts.

reply to post by dthwraith


From personal experience, I absolutely believe they are a Cult. It's embarassing to admit but one of my family members is a full fledged JW. This person was *recruited* as a young woman. She was going through a painful divorce and mentally unstable (groups like the JW's tend to prey on the weak and suffering).
I do not wish to offend or attack anyone who may be a practitioner of this 'faith' but my experiences have been less than favorable. What went on in my family is far more personal than than I care to get into at this time but let me just say that abuse and irrational delusions just scratch the surface of the behaviors. I am not a fan of this group. Sorry.

reply to post by dthwraith


Talk about taking something out of context.

JW's try to model themselves after the first century Christians, the problem is, many 21st century Christians have deviated so far from that model that those that have gone back to that seem strange.

Yet this type of bible based theology is the purest form of Christianity today, based primarily on the New Testament.

[edit on 14-5-2009 by Blue_Jay33]

reply to post by Xcouncil=wisdom

Now I ask the similar question that BluJay asked, who is doing what Jesus comanded? Who is preaching the good news of his Fathers Kingdome in all the Earth, who is making Jehovah's name made known so that when his kindome does come none will doubt who he is?

Great question, in responce if "IF" they are teaching a false doctrine is it really good news?? If its false as points 1-14 claim it is they are leading people astray. I personaly wouldnt think that was good news.

Now me personal and speaking for the christians I know, we give fellowship at the persons request. IE I'll drop a few lines about Jesus, they will either ask for more info or ask that I not do that.