Jehovah's Witnesses
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Jehovah's Witnesses are members of a religious movement who, although identifying themselves as Christian, are not generally considered as Christians by mainstream Christianity because they are non-trinitarian. They number around seven million. Their headquarters are in New York, USA. It is an international organization known for its extensive preaching and publishing activities. They are well known for their rejection of blood transfusions and their specific version of the Bible with a number of crucial differences from mainstream translations.
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
The Jehovah's Witnesses had their beginnings in the late 1870's when a small group under the leadership of Charles T. Russell began to question a number of accepted Christian doctrines including the Trinity and Hell.
Beliefs
The Jehovah's Witnesses teach the following as core doctrine, basing them certain passages. Some of these interpretations, in particular, Jesus as a created being, are in direct conflict with orthodox Christianity
- There is only one true God (Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:6; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:5-6)
- God is named Jehovah (or Yahweh) (Exodus 3:15-16; Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18)
- Jesus is God's son (John 10:36; John 20:17)
- Jesus was created by God (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14)
- Bible is God's Word and true (2 Timothy 3:16; John 17:17)
- Christ lived a perfect life (1 Peter 2:22)
- Christ died for all mankind (Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; 1 Peter 2:24)
- Christ only had to die once for all mankind (Hebrews 9:25-28)
Jehovah's Witnesses: Jesus
According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus was created by God and came to earth and lived a sinless life that ultimately ended in his death. His death is seen as a sacrifice for all sinful humans.
View on Blood Transfusions
God told Noah and his family that "...blood, you shall not eat." (Genesis 9:3-4) He then reiterated this in the Law of Moses, or the Mosaic Law. (Leviticus 7:26; 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:16) Many believe that after the Mosiac Law was abolished by Christ's death that the Law against blood does not apply. However, in a list of things that Christians were forbidden to do, since there was confusion because the Law had been abolished, the disciples said that Christians were supposed to abstain completely from blood. (Acts 15:28, 29) To illustrate: If a doctor told a man that he was to drink no more alcohol, would it be okay for the man to insert the alcohol into his veins? Hardly. Since God told man to abstain from blood, inserting it into your veins would not be abstaining from blood.
Jehovah's Witnesses Today
There are around 7,000,000 Jehovah's Witnesses on Earth today. They spend billions of hours preaching every year and hold millions of Bible studies in an effort to teach people what the Bible really says. They have the most extensive publishing operations in an effort to print Bibles and Bible aids in every language to reach all people with the Gospel. Many find their international operations to be surprisingly impressive.
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