Ask about Jehovah's Witnesses (beliefs, choice, Satan, Adam and Eve)

[jewscout]

Hey WitnessofJah,
I'm curious what is the position of J.W.'s on Jews and Judaism?

[Ronald]

Originally Posted by WitnessofJah

Are you refering to what is said in Revelation 20:4-6?

Because if you are the verses say (5,6): "(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.)This is the first resurrection. Happy and holy is anyone having part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.

These scriptures refer to those who will reign with Christ, true believers, and will apparently precede the second, that of non-believers and disbelievers, in point of time.

WOW! That means that the "False" believers don't go til the second resurrection!
My grandson could have told me that!
Just what is your definition of "True Believers?"
I am afraid if that is the best you can come up with, then you will have too many chiefs and not enough Indians!
The description of those in the first resurrection makes them SUPER SPECIAL, almost like Many are Called, but few are Chosen! DIG Deeper!

[Mister Emu]

(Edit: From what I have read it seems that) The First ressurection is of the martyrs.

And I saw the thrones and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them: and I saw the the sould of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had recieved his mark upon their foreheads, or in ther hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Witness,

What are your views of Jesus? I had many talks with my JW neighbor, but can't remember what he said about Jesus.

[Ronald]

Originally Posted by Mister Emu

The First ressurection is of the martyrs.


Witness,

What are your views of Jesus? I had many talks with my JW neighbor, but can't remember what he said about Jesus.

And WHO are the Martyrs? You too, a bundle of information!

[huajiro]

Originally Posted by WitnessofJah

First of all, this is my first post and am greatful for the opportunity given to me by this site to express myself and answer questions.

Now this thread is directed to all those who have misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding what we believe in. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

The best way to benefit from this thread is to only ask questions if you sincerely want to know the answer. Please don't spam the thread simply to waste everyone's time.

With that out the way, feel free to fire away.

I am not much into quoting the "Bible" I prefer to find out about the person, more than what they know. What makes you a Jehovah's Witness? Did your family teach you, or did you discover it yourself? Have you studied other religions? What do you think of some of the other religions?

By the way, welcome WOJ!!

[Rex]

I don't know if it's a myth or not but I remember hearing something that J.W. didn't recognize that black people had a soul untill recently like in the past 30 years or so.

Again I'm not sure the merit of this question but I'm sure it could clear up some things for others that have heard this..

Thanks,
Rex

[WitnessofJah]

Originally Posted by Lintu

Is it correct to say that Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate most holidays and people's birthdays? If that is true, what is the reasoning?

Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from Birthdays and public celebrations for the following reasons. I will try to keep the answer as concise and as simple as possible:

Birthdays: The Bible mentions only two birthdays celebrations in the Bible. Each celebration included an execution, so that the guests could gloat over the death of one who had displeased the king. Matthew 14:6-8 says: :6 But when Herod’s birthday was being celebrated the daughter of He·ro´di·as danced at it and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Then she, under her mother’s coaching, said: "Give me here upon a platter the head of John the Baptist." I could go more into this and the pagan origins of birthdays, but this is just a quick summary. Ask yourself this: Why did God put these scriptures in the Bible if birthdays were an acceptable practice?

Christmas: We neither believe that Jesus was born on December 25th nor the origins behind it. A small history on Christmas:
"The first reported observance of Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ was more than 300 years after the event. In the 4th Century, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and, scholars believe, Christians set Jesus’ birthdate at Dec. 25 to coincide with existent celebrating by non-Christians. Rather than battle against the pagan holidays, they decided to join them and try to replace them." Additional to that, the Bible does not a back this celebration in the slightest and neither supports it. Today, if you look at Christmas, is has lost it's cause anyway if you look at how comercialized it has become.

Halloween: The many features of today’s Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations can be traced directly back to paganism. The ancients associated this time of the year (October 31st) with the supernatural and with the thronging of dead spirits, so it was right in line with Catholic church policy to adopt this date for their All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day. Not only is this not biblical teaching, but it goes against the Bibles' principles and teachings. The Bible says: "You must not walk in the statutes of the nations." "Do not learn the way of the nations at all." (Lev. 20:23; Jer. 10:2)

Easter: Easter is a-lot more than just rabbits and chocolate eggs. Infact, the word "Easter" actually means this: "Easter is a word of Saxon origin; and imports a goddess of the Saxons, or rather, of the East, Estera, in honor of whom sacrifices being annually offered about the passover time of the year (spring), the name became attached by association of ideas to the Christian festival of the resurrection which happened at the time of passover; hence we say Easter-Day or Easter Sunday, but very improperly; as we by no means refer to the festival then kept to the goddess of the ancient Saxons. As christians, we have to ask ourselves this: Do we think that God would condone these kind of actions and also the fact they go against his word?

In conclusion, I want to say that I have not gone through everything, because the subject is far to wide for me to go through every point and detail. However, if you want me to elaborate on a certain subject/point, I will do so. Lastly, ask yourself this: Would God or Jesus condone the meanings/actions behind these celebrations? If you look deep in your heart, the answer would be no.

[WitnessofJah]

Originally Posted by Rex_Admin

I don't know if it's a myth or not but I remember hearing something that J.W. didn't recognize that black people had a soul untill recently like in the past 30 years or so.

Again I'm not sure the merit of this question but I'm sure it could clear up some things for others that have heard this..

Thanks,
Rex

I think you're confusing this teaching with the Mormons. The Mormons believe something along those lines, but definitley not Jehovah's Witnesses. In fact, we welcome any person from any ethnic background to join us. Never in our history have we discriminated against anybody.

[WitnessofJah]

Originally Posted by huajiro

I am not much into quoting the "Bible" I prefer to find out about the person, more than what they know. What makes you a Jehovah's Witness? Did your family teach you, or did you discover it yourself? Have you studied other religions? What do you think of some of the other religions?

I was not always a Jehovah's Witness, but after extensive research I could deny no longer the evidence that was being shown to me. As Jehovah's Witnesses, we believe 100% everything that the Bible has to say, and we also don't believe in the Trinity, for the simple fact that there is no passage in the Bible that supports Trinitarianism, only scriptures that have been taken out of context. We also believe that one day, the righteous will live here on Earth in a paradise forever. Why do we believe this? Because the Bible says so.

What do I think of other religions? That question is too wide to answer. However, I know a significant amount about other religions through personal research.

[WitnessofJah]

Originally Posted by Mister Emu

What are your views of Jesus? I had many talks with my JW neighbor, but can't remember what he said about Jesus.

We believe that Jesus is the son of God (not part of the Trinity). We also believe that he had a pre-human existence before he came to Earth, and that he came to Earth as a ransom to sacrifice himself so that he could balance out the sins we inherited from Adam, so that we could be given a resurrection hope. He was also the Bible's greatest prophet and teacher, and that he will also come back at Armaggedon(Revelation 16:16) to rid the Earth of it's wickedness.