Jehovah's Witnesses

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Jehovah's Witnesses
RELATED TOPICS	Beliefs - Jehovah's Witnesses: Jesus, Blood
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS	* What do Jehovah's Witness teach? (carm) Jehovah's Witness in a nutshell (carm) Jehovah's Witness history (carm)
CONTENTS

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 of sincere people led by Charles T. Russell started a Bible study group. As they were studying the Bible they read things that were in conflict with accepted Christian doctrines including the Trinity and Hell.

Upon finding this, the group sought to find the truth in the Bible. They found what they believed were many things that were commonly taught that had no Biblical proof to back the information up.

Based off this study and with help from God's spirit, they were able to begin to find the truth's contained in God's Word.

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)
• Christ was raised from the dead as a spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18)
• We are living in the Last Days (Matthew 24:3-14; 2 Timothy 3:1-5)
• There is only one true Christian religion and sects are completely forbidden (Matthew 7:13, 14; Ephesians 4:4, 5; 1 Corinthians 1:10)
• The soul ceases to exist at death (Ecclesiastes 9:5; Ezekiel 18:4)
• The hope for the dead is a resurrection back to Earth (John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15)
• Only 144,000 go to heaven (Luke 12:32; Revelation 14:1-3)
• The Earth will never be destroyed (Ecclesiastes 1:4; Isaiah 45:18)
• The righteous who survive Armageddon and the resurrected ones will live on Earth forever (Psalm 37:11, 29; Matthew 5:5)
• Satan is the ruler of the world and is blinding people from the truth (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19; 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4)
• An apostasy made the true Biblical teachings be done away with for a period of time (Matthew 13:24-30; Matthew 24:11; Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Timothy 4:3, 4)

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

The Jehovah's Witnesses are well known for their refusal to receive blood transfusions. This is based on their interpretation on a number of passages in the Bible. These include Genesis 9:3-4 where God commanded Noah and his family to not eat blood. Again in Leviticus 7:26 and Deuteronomy 12:16 this command is re-iterated. This command is reiterated again in the New Testament. 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 from blood.-Acts 15:28, 29

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that this decleration applies to all forms of taking blood into the body because the Scripture in Acts does not say that you cannot eat blood but that you must completely abstain from blood. They claim that taking a blood transfusion would not be abstaining from blood.

Jehovah's Witnesses Today

There are around 7,000,000 Jehovah's Witnesses today. They spend billions of hours preaching every year and hold millions of Bible studies in an effort to teach people what they believe 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.

Links

• Wikipedia - Jehovah's Witnesses
• Official website - www.watchtower.org

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