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Part 3 or 4.
What Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe
First of all, I am not writing this to point the finger in judgment, or trying to convert you to joining their cult or beliefs. This has been written to those few who are interested knowing the difference between what Christians believes and what the Jehovah Witnesses believe. So that when witnessing or generally chatting to the JW’s, you will have some scriptural armour and head’s up in what they believe and have the right scripture from your own Bible with the right meanings against their claims.
In some little areas, the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe much the same as orthodox Christians—for example, their rejection, as sin, of sex outside marriage; their acceptance of the Bible’s creation account, as opposed to evolution theory; and their belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
But, in much other areas, their doctrines set them apart and mark them as what you may call a pseudo-Christian cult—especially their strict sect’s teachings on the following matters listed below: I have listed just a few below of what they believe, though there are too much to listed in one go.
1 Hell: Following the lead of its founder, Charles T Russell, the Watchtower Society still teaches that Hades is merely the grave, that the fire of Gehenna instantly disintegrates its victims into nothingness, and that there is no conscious existence for the dead until the time of their bodily resurrection..
2 Holy Spirit: The Holy spirit is neither God nor a person, according to the Watchtower teaching. “It” is simply an impersonal “active force” that God uses in doing his will.
3 Jesus Christ: In the Watchtower theology, Jesus Christ is merely an angel –the first one that God created when he started creating angels. The witnesses identify Christ as Michael the archangel, although they call Jesus “the son of God” –because “the first spirit person God made was like a firstborn son to him” (1982 Watchtower booklet, Enjoy Life on Earth Forever!, on Page 14) They also call him “ a god,” and translate John 1: 1 according in their bible.
4 Salvation: Although giving lip service to salvation through faith in Christ, the witnesses actually believe that salvation is impossible apart from full obedience to the Watchtower Society and vigorous participation in its prescribed works program. Even individual JW’s who are not sufficiently zealous for the organization may not survive Armageddon, and those who does make their way into the earthly paradise must maintain good works throughout Christ’s thousand year reign before they can be sealed for life.
(John 1: 1)
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”
Until around 1950, JW’s carried with them a copy of the American Standard Version of the Bible, (because it features the name Jehovah throughout the Old Testament) But they faced the embarrassing problem of trying to deny the deity of Christ, while the very Bible they held in their hands said plainly that “the Word was God.” This problem was solved when the Watchtower Society published its own NWT (New World Translation) of the Holy Scriptures.
Now, when Christians refer JW’s to John 1: 1, the JW’s can answer, “that’s not in my Bible!” They can turn to John 1: 1 in their own translation that read “the word was a god”
Now by reducing Jesus Christ to a “god” the Watchtower places him among the many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’” of 1 Corinthians 8: 5 – on the same level as Satan, “the god of this system of things” (2 Corinthians 4: 4, NWT)
By now you can see how Charles T Russell had found his new religion by taking certain verses from different Bibles and twisted them to his own belief. Hence the saying man made religion. Although the JW’s own Bible was widely supported mostly by Johannes Greber translations who was a spiritist who claimed that spirits showed him what words to use in his translation. Though Greber didn’t say who were these spirits were, but you don’t have to guess who they were
What Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe
First of all, I am not writing this to point the finger in judgment, or trying to convert you to joining their cult or beliefs. This has been written to those few who are interested knowing the difference between what Christians believes and what the Jehovah Witnesses believe. So that when witnessing or generally chatting to the JW’s, you will have some scriptural armour and head’s up in what they believe and have the right scripture from your own Bible with the right meanings against their claims.
In some little areas, the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe much the same as orthodox Christians—for example, their rejection, as sin, of sex outside marriage; their acceptance of the Bible’s creation account, as opposed to evolution theory; and their belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
But, in much other areas, their doctrines set them apart and mark them as what you may call a pseudo-Christian cult—especially their strict sect’s teachings on the following matters listed below: I have listed just a few below of what they believe, though there are too much to listed in one go.
1 Hell: Following the lead of its founder, Charles T Russell, the Watchtower Society still teaches that Hades is merely the grave, that the fire of Gehenna instantly disintegrates its victims into nothingness, and that there is no conscious existence for the dead until the time of their bodily resurrection..
2 Holy Spirit: The Holy spirit is neither God nor a person, according to the Watchtower teaching. “It” is simply an impersonal “active force” that God uses in doing his will.
3 Jesus Christ: In the Watchtower theology, Jesus Christ is merely an angel –the first one that God created when he started creating angels. The witnesses identify Christ as Michael the archangel, although they call Jesus “the son of God” –because “the first spirit person God made was like a firstborn son to him” (1982 Watchtower booklet, Enjoy Life on Earth Forever!, on Page 14) They also call him “ a god,” and translate John 1: 1 according in their bible.
4 Salvation: Although giving lip service to salvation through faith in Christ, the witnesses actually believe that salvation is impossible apart from full obedience to the Watchtower Society and vigorous participation in its prescribed works program. Even individual JW’s who are not sufficiently zealous for the organization may not survive Armageddon, and those who does make their way into the earthly paradise must maintain good works throughout Christ’s thousand year reign before they can be sealed for life.
(John 1: 1)
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”
Until around 1950, JW’s carried with them a copy of the American Standard Version of the Bible, (because it features the name Jehovah throughout the Old Testament) But they faced the embarrassing problem of trying to deny the deity of Christ, while the very Bible they held in their hands said plainly that “the Word was God.” This problem was solved when the Watchtower Society published its own NWT (New World Translation) of the Holy Scriptures.
Now, when Christians refer JW’s to John 1: 1, the JW’s can answer, “that’s not in my Bible!” They can turn to John 1: 1 in their own translation that read “the word was a god”
Now by reducing Jesus Christ to a “god” the Watchtower places him among the many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’” of 1 Corinthians 8: 5 – on the same level as Satan, “the god of this system of things” (2 Corinthians 4: 4, NWT)
By now you can see how Charles T Russell had found his new religion by taking certain verses from different Bibles and twisted them to his own belief. Hence the saying man made religion. Although the JW’s own Bible was widely supported mostly by Johannes Greber translations who was a spiritist who claimed that spirits showed him what words to use in his translation. Though Greber didn’t say who were these spirits were, but you don’t have to guess who they were