What Jehovah's Witnesses Believe
Armageddon:
God will soon wage war against mankind, destroying everyone on
earth except Jehovah's Witnesses. The churches of Christendom,
they say, will be the first to be destroyed.
Birthdays:
Celebrating a birthday in any manner is strictly forbidden. Even
sending a birthday card can bring swift action against the offender
by an official "judicial committee." The punishment is
"disfellowshiping."
Blood transfusions:
In actual practice, JW's view accepting a blood transfusion as a
sin more serious than theft or adultery. Thieves and adulterers
are more quickly forgiven by Watchtower judicial committees than
individuals found guilty of taking blood. A Witness must refuse
blood in all circumstances, even when this is certain to result in
death. The organization also requires adults to refuse
transfusions for their minor children.
Christianity:
Except for a few scattered individuals who kept the faith, true
Christianity vanished from the face of the earth shortly after the
death of the twelve apostles -- according to Jehovah's Witnesses.
It was not restored until Charles Taze Russell set up the
Watchtower organization in the late 1870s. When Christ returned
invisibly in 1914, he found Russell's group doing the work of the
"faithful and wise servant" (Matt. 24:45) and appointed them over
all his belongings. All other churches and professed Christians
are actually tools of the devil.
Christ's Return:
The Lord returned invisibly in the year 1914 and has been present
ever since, ruling as King on earth through the Watchtower Society.
References to the second "coming" are rendered as "presence" in the
New World Translation. The generation of people who witnessed
Christ's invisible return in 1914 will not pass away before
Armageddon comes (see Matt. 24:34).
Chronology:
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God has a precise timetable for
all past and future events, tied together by simple mathematical
formulae and revealed to mankind through the Watchtower Society.
The seven "days" of Genesis creation account were each seven
thousand years long, for a total "week" of 49,000 years. God
created Adam in the year 4026 B.C. His creation of Eve a short
time later marked the end of the Sixth Creative Day and the
beginning of the Seventh. Therefore, we are now approximately
6,000 years into the 7,000-year period -- which means that
Armageddon will soon put an end to 6,000 years of human toil,
making way for a Sabbath-like thousand-year reign of Christ. On
the basis of this chronology, the JW organization has promulgated
a number of specific end-times prophecies.
Cross:
According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the cross is a pagan religious
symbol adopted by the church when Satan, the devil, took control
of ecclesiastical authority. It had nothing to do with Christ's
death, since JW's maintain that he was nailed to a straight upright
pole without a crossbeam. Witnesses abhor the cross, and new
converts are expected to destroy any crosses they may have, rather
than simply dispose of them.
Deity:
The Father alone is God, and true worshipers must call him by the
name "Jehovah." Witnesses are taught that Jesus Christ was merely
a manifestation of Michael the archangel in human form -- not God,
but a mere created being. The Holy Spirit is presented as neither
God nor a person but, rather, as an "active force."
Disfellowshiping:
This is the punishment for any infraction of Watchtower
organizational regulations. It consists of a public decree,
announced to the audience at a Kingdom Hall meeting and prohibiting
all assocaition or fellowship with the offender. Other Witnesses
are forbidden even to say "Hello" if they encounter the offender
on the street. The only exceptions are that family members may
conduct "necessary business" with a disfellowshiped person, and
elders may speak to him if he approaches them repentantly to seek
reinstatement.
Heaven:
Only 144,000 individuals go to heaven. This "little flock" began
with the twelve apostles, and the number was filled by the year
1935. Approximately 9,000 elderly JW's are the only remaining ones
on earth today who will go to heaven, with the rest of the
Jehovah's Witnesses hoping to live on earth forever.
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.
Holidays:
Celebration of any "worldly holiday" is strictly forbidden for
Jehovah's Witnesses. This prohibition applies to U.S. presidents'
birthdays, Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, Easter, New
Year's Day, Thanksgiving, Good Friday, and so on -- even Mother's
Day and Father's Day! Even id a "pagan origin" canot be researched
as the basis for banning a particular observance, the simple fact
that "worldly people" celebrate it is sufficient reason for the
JW's not to celebrate it.
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.
Hope:
JW's believe that God stopped calling Christians to a heavenly hope
back in the year 1935. Since then he has been offering people the
opportunity to live forever in thsi earth. ("Millions now living
will never die!" is a familiar Jehovah's Witness slogan.) God will
destroy everyone else on the planet, leaving only Jehovah's
Witnesses, and he will restore a Garden-of-Eden paradise for them
worldwide.
Jesus Christ:
In Watchtower theology, Jesus Christ is a mere angel -- the first
one that God created when he started creating angels. 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!", p. 14). They also call him "a god," and
translate John 1:1 accordingly in their translation of the Bible.
Organization:
Witnesses believe that God set up the Watchtower organization as
his channel of communication to gather together those of mankind
who will be saved. As the visible agency of the kingdom of God on
earth, this organization exercises full governmental authority over
believers -- it promulgates laws, puts violaters on trial, operates
Kingdom schools, and so on -- parallel to the secular government.
If there is a conflict between the two, the organization is to be
obeyed, rather than the secular rulers. (In the Witnesses' minds,
they are "obeying God rather than men," Acts 5:29.)
Resurrection:
Concerning Christ, JW's believe that he became nonexistent when he
died and that he was raised three days later as a "spirit" -- an
angel. They deny his bodily resurrection. Going along with their
teaching that Christ returned invisibly in 1914, Witnesses believe
that he raised dead Christians to spirit life shortly thereafter,
and that the rest of the human dead will be raised bodily during
the thousand-year reign of God's kingdom and given a second chance
to accept the "Truth."
Salvation:
Although giving lip service to salvation through faith in Christ,
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 do make their way into the earthly
paradise must maintain good works throughout Christ's thousand-year
reign before they can be sealed for life.
These are but a few of the major doctrines of the Watchtower Bible
and Tract Society as taught to Jehovah's Witnesses in Kingdom Halls
throughout the world. They also accurately represent the doctrines
that I was taught by them during my association with the
organization. I share them here so that born-again Christians
might have a better understanding of the doctrines held by JW's,
and to aid born-again Christians prepare to witness to the JW's who
come knocking on their doors.
Prepared by:
Eugene W. Gross
523 Touchstone Drive
Durham, NC 27713
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