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"Top Ten Shocking Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses"

siti

Well-Known Member
I got as far as number 6 - but I stopped where the video objected that JWs refuse blood transfusions even if death is eminent (sic)...I was wondering if that implies that they would accept blood transfusions if death was inconspicuous or unremarkable? :D

I'm all for fair criticism, but if you want to publicly tear down someone's worldview you really ought to spellcheck your polemic before publishing I think.
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
I got as far as number 6 - but I stopped where the video objected that JWs refuse blood transfusions even if death is eminent (sic)...I was wondering if that implies that they would accept blood transfusions if death was inconspicuous or unremarkable? :D

I'm all for fair criticism, but if you want to publicly tear down someone's worldview you really ought to spellcheck your polemic before publishing I think.
That's it? Nit-picking a spelling error, and an accusation of "publicly tear down someone's worldview"? You seem a bit overly defensive about it all. A bit embarrassed perhaps?



That's just SHOCKING!

Yeah, that is pretty much over the top; however, if a person is totally unaware of JW beliefs, I can see where they'd come across as surprisingly odd, Christian-wise.


.
 
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Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Only shocking if you haven't studied religion enough to know where the juicy rituals and beliefs are.
 

siti

Well-Known Member
That's it? Nit-picking a spelling error, and an accusation of "publicly tear down someone's worldview"? You seem a bit overly defensive about it all. A bit embarrassed perhaps?
You're pretty sharp Skwim. I haven't been a JW for almost twenty years but I sometimes find it hard to believe I ever believed it sometimes. To be honest though, I was also mildly amused by the concept of an "eminent death" - I think I might try for that when the time comes.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
You're pretty sharp Skwim. I haven't been a JW for almost twenty years but I sometimes find it hard to believe I ever believed it sometimes. To be honest though, I was also mildly amused by the concept of an "eminent death" - I think I might try for that when the time comes.
I was expecting something really shocking like maybe they had nude fashion shows or painted their children gold, but there was nothing like that mentioned. He rattled off some things that were not standard mainstream but not anything 'Shocking'. Shocking is eating your friend's eyeball or showing up to a funeral dressed as a furry. That's shocking.
 

Dawnofhope

Non-Proselytizing Baha'i
Staff member
Premium Member
.


Thoughts?

.
I managed to watch it all. I have a longer concentration span than @siti

I like that the JWs are generally nice people and they live by some of the high standards set in the Bible.

I don’t know if the JWs believe in all the 10 beliefs listed. They are not for me but each to their own.:)
 

Woberts

The Perfumed Seneschal
1, 2, and 7 are usually par for the course with other religions.
Although I guess I should thank them for 8. I seem to remember some of them making a big deal about that a while back, leading the push to make the pledge of allegiance voluntary.
 

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
Thoughts?

.
OK....
Let's see why we might have arrived at our conclusions.....

1) there is only one true religion......there has always been only one true religion. What religion were Adam and Eve? What religion was Jesus before he came to the earth and when he returned? What religion is God?

2) The NWT is the most accurate Bible translation because it puts God's name back in his own book where it belongs. Why did humans take it out? Did they somehow have God's permission? If so, I'd like to see it.
What does the Lord's prayer mean..."hallowed by thy name"? How do you reverence a name you don't know or never use?

3) Christ returned in 1914? Yes, we believe so, because the sign Jesus gave to indicate that he was now ruling as King was to begin with unprecedented warfare...WW1 was the first war in history that involved all the nations of the world...a second such war was only a couple of decades later. Other features of the sign followed. (Matthew 24:3-14) This is an indication of the truthfulness of Psalm 110:1-2 ....

NASB with Jehovah's name missing...."The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”


or the NWT...

"Jehovah declared to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
Until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.”

2 Jehovah will extend the scepter of your power out of Zion, saying:
“Go subduing in the midst of your enemies."

At least with the NWT, you know who is talking to whom. This was prophetic of the time when David's "Lord" (the coming Messiah) would fulfill his role and return to sit at the right hand of his Father (Jehovah) waiting for his enemies to be dealt with by Him. Then he would begin his rulership "in the midst" of them. So Christ's rulership was to bring about troublesome times because his first act as King was to evict satan and his hordes out of heaven, down to the confines of the earth.


Revelation 12:7-12 tells us that satan did not go quietly...there was a war in heaven that satan lost.

"And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

But what is said next is significant......"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,

Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night......For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

It is when satan and his angels are hurled down to the earth that coincides with Christ receiving his authority as king of God's Kingdom. The King rules his subjects at present but he does not yet rule the whole earth...that is the next phase of the prophesy.

4) Jesus is Michael. There are only two people spoken of in scripture who have command over the angels....Jesus and Michael. As we don't believe that Jesus is God, there is no reason to reject the idea that Jesus and Michael may well be one and the same person. Michael ("the great Prince") being his name in heaven, and Jesus Christ when he was on earth. It is a belief however, not a doctrine because there is no actual statement that Jesus is Michael...it is inferred....just as the trinity is inferred. If people are going to criticize our inference with Michael, then they will have to criticize their own.


5) There are two classes of Christians.....yes, there are clearly two separate groups mentioned in Revelation 7.
In verse 4, there are a limited number chosen from the tribes of Israel (we believe that these are from spiritual Israel, not fleshly Israel.)
Then in verses 13-14 we see another group...unnumbered, but still attributing salvation to God and the Lamb. These are said to come out of the Great Tribulation mentioned in Matthew 24:21.
 

Deeje

Avid Bible Student
Premium Member
6) No blood transfusions? No, because blood is sacred to God and not to be consumed in any way. It is the only law of God to be restated in three different eras. It was first stated to Noah after the flood when he was given permission to consume animal flesh. (Genesis 9:3-4) It then became part of Israel's law. (Leviticus 17:14) and stated again to the Christians. (Acts 15:28-29) This is entirely a religious issue for us, but time and again it has been proven that blood is not the life saving medicine it was once thought to be. Hospitals dedicated to non-blood medical techniques have now sprung up all over the world as the dangers and costs associated with blood transfusion medicine became more widely acknowledged.

7) Salvation. We don't believe that only Jehovah's Witnesses will be saved.......only those "doing the will of the Father" as Jesus said. (Matthew 7:21-23) It isn't about the label we wear, but whether we have a love for the truth of God's word in our hearts. If we love the truth rather than just our religious organization we will not be found doing things that Jesus preached against.....like participating in bloodshed or political issues. We are to be NO part of this world (John 18:36) and obeying Jesus in everything he taught, not just the convenient things. (Matthew 28:19-20; Matthew 5:43-45)
There will be a host of those resurrected who are not Jehovah's Witnesses and their salvation is also paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ...a man, the majority of them have probably never known.

8) Governments tools of satan. In 1 John 5:19 it says..."We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." There is nothing more encompassing than saying "the whole world" is under the devil's power. He is the ruler of this world b y his own admission. In Luke 4:6-8 when satan tempted Jesus, he offered Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" in exchange for one act of worship saying...." I will give you all this authority and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 If you, therefore, do an act of worship before me, it will all be yours.” If they were not his to give, then it would not have been a temptation...and Jesus did not refute his claim. Only one person could have "delivered " those kingdoms over into his hands.....God himself. The apostle Paul also identified satan as the "god of this world" who is capable of blinding people to the truth about Jesus. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

We will not vote or pledge allegiance to any government but the the heavenly one, nor will we salute any flag of any nations because we see that as an act of idolatry.

9) Jesus did not die on a cross. We see in the Greek that the instrument used to execute Jesus was called a "stauros", "xylon" or "crux". Concerning the terms stauros and crux we are told that ‘stauros properly means merely a stake' and even "xylon" and "crux" means a mere stake. The Hebrews have no word for Cross more definite than ‘wood.’ So because the details of this instrument are so meager, there is no need to assume that Jesus died on a cross. The Roman had various configurations of timbers upon which to impale their victims....all equally cruel.

Interestingly, Mons Perret, who spent fourteen years doing research in the catacombs of Rome, counted in all a total of 11,000 inscriptions among the millions of tombs. According to him, “not until the latter years of the fourth century does the sign of the cross appear.”.....an adoption by Emperor Constantine when instituting Roman Catholicism.

The apostle Paul states that Christ became a curse to those under the law by being fastened to a xylon, since “Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake [xylon].” Paul was there quoting from the law of Moses, which required that the bodies of executed criminals be fastened to a tree or stake as a warning and which meant that they were cursed by God. (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

As a religious symbol, the cross pre-dates Christianity by centuries. It is another one of the many paganisms that the early apostate Christians adopted so as to appeal to the pagans and to be more like them.

10) Holidays....Christmas and Easter are not found in the Bible at all, and even though these celebrations are claimed to be Christian, their origins are anything but. Again this was an attempt to encourage the pagans to become Christians by renaming their celebrations and giving them a thin veneer of Christianity. Both of those celebrations were held in honor of false gods.

According to the apostle Paul we are not supposed to mix pagan religion in with God's worship. It does not "Christianize" the paganism...but "paganizes" the Christianity.

He said...
"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? [the devil] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV)


So there you have all those "shocking" beliefs explained as simply as I could......
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
A religion has shocking beliefs.
Criminy....which religion doesn't?

I'd read a list, but I skipped the video.
(It didn't offer Dr Zoidberg, Homer Simpson or even Betty Boop.)
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
When my brother and his family was members of this cult they didn't celebrate Christmas (we could give the kids presents but they had to be unwrapped) but they could celebrate birthdays and "tax day", April 15th. Never understood the thinking but whatever greases their gears. BTW, I can't swear to it but I think I bumped into the Invisible Jesus once back in the 70's.
 
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