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SNIP!!!!!!
Highlights of the Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Watchtower Organization teaches that it is God's sole earthly
representative
Jehovah’s Witnesses are controlled by a "Governing Body" which they
claim is
the "faithful and discreet slave" spoken of at Mathew 24:45. This group
consists of 10 to 15 mature men that, Jehovah’s Witnesses are told, have
direct guidance from God. The Governing Body in turn instructs followers
with this guidance through the pages of the Watchtower and other
publications. Jehovah’s Witnesses are told by this "Governing Body" that
Scripture alone is insufficient to understand the things of God. One needs
the Watchtower Society and the literature it publishes to properly
understand the Bible. ("Jehovah God has also provided his visible
organization, his "faithful and discreet slave," made up of
spirit-anointed
ones... Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication that God
is using, we will not progress along the road to life, no matter how much
Bible reading we do. Watchtower, December 1, 1981 p.27) They are the
instruments God is using to teach the world the deeper things of the
scriptures. People are not to think for themselves but instead submit to
the
Watchtower Society teachings. (" But a spirit of independent thinking does
not prevail in God’s organization, and we have sound reasons for
confidence
in the men taking the lead among us. Watchtower September 15,1989 p. 23)
Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are the only people on earth that are
serving God and the only ones that will be saved. They dare not question
the
teachings of the Watchtower Society; one who questions the Watchtower
Society is considered to be weak in faith and could be disfellowshipped.
Disfellowshipping
Most Christian churches have a system of moral oversight, but their
systems
are set up to help individuals with problems. Only after extensive effort
over a period of time is action taken. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that
Disfellowshipping is a loving act but in fact it is their most important
control mechanism. It allows the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to
control its members with guilt and fear.
The Watchtower Society makes a lot of rules, based on their
interpretations
of various scriptures, that all Jehovah's Witnesses must follow. Members
are
taught that that they must turn each other in for any rule violations. If
they observe another Jehovah's Witness breaking a rule and do not report
him
or her to the elders they are as guilty as the offending party. Anyone
breaking any of the Watchtower Society rules is called before 3 elders in
a
private meeting that is conducted like a trial. The elders become judge
and
jury deciding whose is repentant and who is not.
Members who are found to be unrepentant of violations of Watchtower rules
by
these elders, are disfellowshipped. Jehovah’s Witnesses can be
disfellowshipped for a number of rule violations: premarital or
extramarital
sex, using alcohol excessively, using tobacco products, celebrating
Christmas, reciting the pledge of allegiance, lying, stealing, joining the
military, speaking to a disfellowshipped Witness, reading religious
material
not published by the governing body, or running for political office just
to
name a few. Fellow members are then required to shun him/her completely,
having no contact even if the disfellowshipped person is a family member.
(Some allowances are made if the family member is living in the same
household). Disfellowshipping has a devastating effect because the
individual's entire religious, family and social life are rooted in the
Society. Keep in mind Jehovah’s Witnesses who are disfellowshipped are
no
longer part of the Watchtower Society and have, therefore, lost all hope
of
salvation until they can prove themselves worthy of being accepted back
into
the Watchtower Organization by their works. Elders in the congregation are
the ones who decide when an individual has earned the right to come back
into the fold, and the Watchtower Organization instructs elders that it
would be very rare for one to earn their way back in less than a year. In
order to earn their way back they must attend meetings regularly, sit in
the
back of the church -Kingdom Hall- while everyone in the congregation
ignores
them, if anyone did dare to speak to them they could be disfellowshipped
themselves. They must do this with the knowledge that if Armageddon should
come before they have earned their way back they will be destroyed. Sad to
say Disfellowshipping has resulted in suicide. Those who leave on their
own
are treated just as a disfellowshipped one. Once you join their group
there
is no easy way out.
Marking
If a member is guilty of breaking a minor rule such as associating with a
worldly person (one who is not a Jehovah's Witness) that individual could
be
marked. This means that other Jehovah's witnesses may only speak to them
at
the Kingdom Hall (the name Jehovah's Witnesses use for their churches).
Jehovah's Witnesses are not allowed to associate with a marked individual
in
a social setting.
Blood
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to accept blood transfusions for
themselves or their children, believing that this is the same as eating
blood and is forbidden by the Bible. Many of Jehovah’s Witnesses have
died
because of this restriction the Watchtower Society has placed upon its
followers. In the past the Watchtower Society has forbidden its followers
to
get vaccinations or accept organ transplants, many people died needlessly
before the Watchtower Society changed its rules and allowed these
procedures. They still hold fast to the prohibition of receiving blood
transfusions. See the web site "New Light on Blood"
Nationalism
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to salute the flag of any nation,
recite
the pledge of allegiance, stand for or sing the national anthem, run for
public office, vote, or serve in the armed forces.
Holidays
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to celebrate Christmas, birthdays,
Easter, Thanksgiving, or any other holidays, claiming they all have pagan
roots.
Associates
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to associate with non-Witnesses
including family. Exceptions are made if the non-Witness family member is
living in the same household.
Trinity
They do not believe in the Trinity. Instead, they follow a strict
monotheism, in which: Jehovah is the Supreme Being. Jesus is the Son of
God,
a created being. Christ is believed to have originally existed in a
pre-human state as the Archangel Michael. He later took human form as a
man
like any other person, except that he was sinless at birth and remained so
throughout his earthly life. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the
bodily resurrection of Christ. They believe that after the crucifixion,
Christ died and was resurrected as an invisible, non-material, glorious,
spirit creature. They believe that Jesus appeared on earth after his
resurrection in a special body that Jehovah created for him.
The Holy Spirit they believe, is not a separate entity, but is simply a
force: the method by which God interacts with the world.
Man's Soul
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that a person is the soul the Bible speaks
of,
and when a person dies nothing lives on, the person is dead and is
conscious
of nothing. When the time comes for God to resurrect them from the dead He
will create a new body for them from His memory.
Hell
They totally deny the existence of the traditional Christian view of Hell.
Satan is regarded as having created the concept of Hellfire in order to
turn
people against God. They believe that hell is the "common grave of
mankind"
where people go when they die. They are not conscious there. Unbelievers
simply cease to exist at death. Believers remain in death until the
resurrection.
144,000
The Heavenly Kingdom took effect in 1914 with the invisible enthronement
of
Christ as King. A little flock or Anointed Class of about 135,300 people
currently occupies it. All were selected after Christ's ascension into
heaven at Pentecost (33 AD) and during subsequent centuries. The selection
of the full complement of 144,000 was completed in 1935. Some 8,700 are
still living on earth. They will spend eternity as spirit creatures in
heaven with God and Christ and will rule over the other Jehovah’s
Witnesses
who remain on earth. Those spending eternity on earth are what Jehovah’s
Witnesses call the Great Crowd or Other Sheep.
Salvation (Grace vs. Works)
Salvation requires that one accept Bible doctrines as interpreted by the
Governing Body, be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness and follow the program
of
works as laid out by the Governing Body.
Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that they believe in the grace of God and that
one
does not earn salvation by their works. While they give lip service to
God’s
grace, their actions indicate differently. Consider the policy of making a
disfellowshipped person earn their way back into the congregation.
Remember
you must be a Jehovah’s Witness "in good standing" to survive the end
times,
and to remain in good standing you must follow the rules and works set out
by the Watchtower Organization. If someone breaks a rule, the elders
decide
whether that person is repentant or not, if they decide they are not
repentant they are disfellowshipped. A disfellowshipped witness will not
survive the time of the end. Think about it, they are deciding who
deserves
God’s grace and who does not.
Wherever you find the word grace in most Bibles you will find the term
"undeserved kindness" in their Bible. While this may or may not be an
acceptable translation of the original Greek word, it gives them a great
deal of latitude in their teaching. In the December, 1993 issue of The
Kingdom Ministry (a publication for members only) in an article titled
"Sow
Bountifully but With Discernment" the Watchtower Organization printed this
thought "We want to give deserving ones the opportunity to learn of
Jehovah’s
undeserved kindness and the Kingdom hope". This brings to mind some
serious
questions: How can anyone deserve God's undeserved kindness if it's
undeserved? And just what methods would mortal man use to discern who
deserves God's undeserved kindness and who does not, are not God's
thoughts
higher than man's? This statement really shows the attitude of The
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society—not all people deserve God’s grace
and it
is the job of Jehovah's Witnesses to discern who does and who does not.
Jehovah's Witnesses constantly boast that they alone are "preaching the
good
news of the kingdom in all the inhabited earth". Are they preaching in all
the inhabited earth or just to the ones they deem deserving?
Jesus crucified on a stake not a cross
They reject the traditional symbol of Christianity, the cross, as being of
pagan origin. They translate the Greek word from the Christian Scriptures
"stauros" as "torture stake", and believe that Jesus was crucified on a
single upright wooden stake with no crossbeam. They view the cross as an
Idol and wearing or displaying one is considered idol worship.
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