Compromise With Secular Authority
In 1962 the Witnesses revised their attitude to secular authority and re-adopted an earlier interpretation of Romans 13 that allowed them to obey all civil laws that did not directly clash with God’s laws. This had limited practical effect in comparison with the previous understanding, as most secular laws were already viewed as in accordance with God’s laws.
Jehovah’s Witnesses Arrested Under Sedition Act
The Witnesses ran afoul of the law as early as World War I because of their pacifist stance and their refusal to take oaths. Some were arrested under the Sedition Act of 1918, the only time in American history when almost all the leaders of a denomination were in jail .
The Witnesses also went to court to defend their right under the free exercise clause to refuse blood transfusions based on their religious beliefs. They have won legal victories protecting the rights of adults in this regard, but the courts have sided with compelling state interests where children are involved.
A Jehovahs Witness provided the occasion for the Supreme Courts fighting words ruling in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire , in which the Court unanimously decided that Walter Chaplinskys abusive, face-to-face name-calling, aimed at a city marshal, would likely cause the average person to retaliate, were not essential to reasonable discourse, and thus were not protected speech.
Because Witnesses were instructed to remain courteous in their encounters with the police, however, this case seems somewhat of an aberration and not truly a defining part of the Witnesses struggle for their free exercise rights.
Things You Should Know About Jehovahs Witnesses
When he died last week at the age of 57, pop singer Prince was arguably the most famous Jehovahs Witness in the world. Here are nine things you should know about the obscure religious group that emerged from the Bible Student movement in the late 1870s:
1. Jehovahs Witnessestheir name is intended to designate them as a group of Christians who proclaim the truth about Jehovahcompose;less than 1 percent of U.S. adults, yet are among the most;racially and ethnically diverse;religious groups in America. According to Pew Research, no more than 4 in 10 members of the group belong to any one racial and ethnic background: 36 percent are white, 32 percent are Hispanic, 27 percent are black, and 6 percent are another race or mixed race. Roughly two-thirds are women, while only 35 percent are men. They also tend to be less educated, with a solid majority of adult Jehovahs;Witnesses; having no more than a high school diploma .
6. JWs do not celebrate either Christmas or Easter, because they believe the Bible teaches that its Jesus deathnot his birth or resurrectionthat should be celebrated. They also believe that Christmas and Easter are not approved by God because they are rooted in pagan customs and rites. They also do not celebrate birthdays because they believe such celebrations displease God.
Other;articles in this series:
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The World Doesn’t End
In 1966 the Witnesses advanced the date of 1975 as marked in Bible chronology and many extrapolated this as meaning that the end of the current system of things would probably come in 1975.
When it didn’t, the movement suffered a setback and membership declined for three years, but growth was soon resumed.
Shortly after this the religious views of those at the top levels of the movement were investigated, and a few senior members left.
Which Countries Are Jehovahs Witnesses Banned From
Activities of Jehovahs Witnesses have previously been banned in the Soviet Union and in Spain, partly due to their refusal to perform military service. Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries, for example in Singapore, China, Vietnam, Russia and many Muslim-majority countries.
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Is The Jehovah Witness Bible The Same As The Catholic Bible
Bibles commonly used by Catholics do not include the name of God which is Yahweh/Jehovah, while Jehovahs Witnesses official Bible which is the New Translation of the Holy Scriptures emphasizes the need to recognize Gods name. Catholics and Jehovahs Witnesses both base their teachings on the Bible. 2.
Excerpts From An Email Exchange I Had With A Jehovah’s Witnessover A Period Of Severalmonths
Watchtower Society interchange: Recently a member of the Jehovah’sWitnesses initiated an exchange of email messages about beliefs and doctrines. Here arequestions he asked and responses I gave. These pages can be considered a blog of ourconversations.
One of the sad things about our email conversation is that my Jehovah’sWitness friend rarely asked me a follow-up question. He would ask me a question and I wouldanswer. Without responding to what I wrote either to ask for clarification or rebut what I wrote,he would then ask a question on a different topic. Thus, we had very few real “conversations” inwhich we discussed anything in-depth.
“As usual, Paul entered there and . . . discussed the Scriptures with them.” –Acts 17:2
— Howard Culbertson
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Difference Between Jehovahs Witnesses And Christians
Categorized under Miscellaneous,Religion | Difference Between Jehovahs witnesses and Christians
Jehovahs witnesses vs Christians
Christianity, by definition, is a belief system that reflects the teachings of Jesus Christ which technically qualify Jehovahs witnesses as Christians since they do follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, Jehovahs witnesses believe in their different version of Christ which brought a lot scrutiny among Christ-centered religions.
Jehovahs witnesses asserts that they are Christians however, mainstream Christians consider Jehovahs witnesses as heretics for the latter believes that Jesus Christ and God is not one and the same, a very stark contrast from Christianitys view of a Trinitarian God three separate beings as one God.
For Jehovahs witnesses, there is only one God, and thats Jehovah; whereas Christians believe in the Holy Trinity of Gods presence God as the father, as the son , and God as the Holy Spirit. The view of Christians about this Trinitarian God is condemned by Jehovahs witnesses. For Jehovahs Witnesses, the Trinity is a satanic dogma of apostate Christianity that prevents people from knowing the true God, Jehovah.
Summary:
When Were The Jehovah’s Witnesses Founded
Jehovah‘s Witnesses got their start in 1870 when a man named Charles Taze Russell started leading Bible studies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Jehovah’s Witnesses movement came out of the Bible Student movement, which was also founded by Taze. When Taze began disputing some of the traditional views within Christianity, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were born.
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In The Cult Kingdom: Mormonism Eddyism And Russellism
- Publisher: International Federation Publishing Co.
- Publication Date: 1918
Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
American evangelist John Elward Brown takes a strong stance against movements in the United States, such as Mormonism, Eddyism, and Russellism. Brown states, If a man is helping to promulgate a religious theory that is all out of harmony with the fundamentals of Gods holy Word, then we do him the greatest possible injury by assisting him, even in silence, in his destructive work. In this volume, Brown addresses the dangers he sees in such movements to orthodox Christianity.
John Elward Brown was the founder of John Brown University. He became a prominent evangelist after being converted to evangelical Christianity at a Salvation Army revival meeting in 1897. He dedicated much of his life to education, founding the Southwestern Collegiate Institute in 1919. He pioneered evangelization in radio broadcasting, buying a radio station in Missouri in 1928 and eventually founding one of the oldest continually operated radio stations in the United States: KUOA. He was also the president of the International Federation of Christian Workers, and wrote several books.
Vi Theological And Philosophical Considerations
More than enough has been said, it will probably be agreed, to prove that the Jehovahs Witnesses, though they profess to teach nothing but what is in the Bible, are actually in the most direct conflict with Scripture on the subject of the Person of Christ. It may be added also that theologically and philosophically, as well as scripturally, their Unitarian leaching cannot stand scrutiny. The Unitarian professes to agree with the statement that God is love. But these words, God is love, have no real meaning unless God is at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God were a single person, then before the universe was made, he was not love. For, if love be of the essence of God, he must always love, and, being eternal, he must have possessed an eternal object of love. Furthermore, perfect love is possible only between equals. Just as a man cannot satisfy or realize his powers of love by loving the lower animals, so God cannot satisfy or realize his love by loving man or any creature. Being infinite, he must have eternally possessed an infinite object of his love, some alter ego, or, to use the language of traditional Christian theology, a consubstantial, co-eternal, and co-equal Son.
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The New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures The Jehovahs Witnesses Bible
All scripture is inspired of God. These words of 2 Timothy 3:16 identify God, whose name is Jehovah, as the Author and Inspirer of the Holy Scriptures. How satisfyingly delightful the inspired Scriptures are! What an amazing fund of true knowledge they provide! They are indeed the very knowledge of God that has been sought after and treasured by lovers of righteousness in all ages-Proverbs 2:5. .
The above statement comes from a textbook written by anonymous authors of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society , the official corporation of the Jehovahs Witnesses. Most evangelical Christians would read it and find little or nothing to dispute about it. Indeed, Christians historically have affirmed the full inspiration and authority of the 66 books comprising the Protestant Bible.
The WBTS concurs:
The sacred Scriptures, as a collection from Genesis to Revelation, form one complete Book, one complete library, all inspired by the one supreme AuthorThe sixty-six Bible books, all together, form the one library of the Holy Scriptures .
Evangelical Christians furthermore affirm the Bible as the authority for believers in all matters of faith and practice. Once again, the WBTS assumes the same authority for the Bible, in principle: The Scriptures are Gods incomparable gift to mankind, a storehouse of spiritual treasures whose depth of wisdom is unfathomable, and whose power for enlightening and stimulating to righteousness exceeds that of all other books ever written .
New World Translation Verse Deleted
At a casual reading, the NWT appears to be a good Bible translation. But a careful analysis will reveal that unlike most major translations of the Bible, the NWT has deleted all the verses where there are manuscript differences. Please visit How Accurate Is the Bible? for an explanation of manuscript differences. In sharp contrast, other major translations such as the New American Standard Bible , the New International Version and the New King James Version , the New Century Version , the New Living Translation or the Contemporary English Version did not delete those verses. Instead, they kept them and alerted the reader that they were in question. Since these passages are in question, the NWT should have not deleted them. As a result, the NWT deleted forty-even different verses from the New Testament. Here are just some of the examples: Matthew 17:21; 18:11; 23:14; Mark 7:16; 9:44, 46; 11:26; 15:28; Luke 17:36; 23:17; John 5:4; 7:53- 8:11; Acts 15:34; 28:29; and Romans 16:24.
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Who Wrote The Jehovah Witness Bible And When
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t have their own bible. They prefer touse a translation from the Hebrew-aramic and greek scriptures thatwas originally writted by famous bible figures such as Moses, Paul,John and Joshua.
So in reality, The Bible that Jehovah’s witnesses use is thesame as the ones that was written long ago, just translated inEnglish.
But then there are different versions of the bible. Newinternational Version does not have more complicated translationand some scripture is left out. King James Version has also removeda few things to fit the Catholic’s needs.
Jehovah’s Witnesses DO NOT use a version. They use atranslation. A translation is different, it is from one language tothe next and no change. A version is a slight deviation from theoriginal concept.
Like playing a game. Pac-man version two, its not pac-man theoriginal, its another game entirely, so too is the versions of thebible.
But lets say pac-man was in Spanish only. Then it would beTranslated into English. Same game, different language. So too isthe “New world Translation of the Holy Scriptures” Which is thetranslation Jehovah’s Witnesses used.
When was the first copy? I did a little research. A old 1984Translation was considered the most accurate of the time. What isthe difference between this and the King James. Modern English. Nowone uses ‘Thou’,’art’ and ‘thine’ any more. Even spell check doesnot recognize the words. New World translation uses ‘You’, ‘are’and ‘I’. It is easy to read.
I Who Are The Jehovahs Witnesses
The sect known today as the Jehovahs Witnesses originated about 1872 when Charles Taze Russell of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and a group of like-minded followers began studying the Bible from a special point of view. In 1884 the group secured a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and adopted the name Zions Watch Tower Tract Society.
Because of the energetic tours of preaching and lecturing which Russell undertook, within several years earnest groups of his Bible Students were organized in many states, and headquarters were established at Brooklyn, New York. His ideas were given still wider circulation through his books. Chief among these were seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures, also called Millennial Dawn, the first volume of which, entitled The Divine Plan of the Ages , laid down certain guiding principles and motifs of Biblical interpretation. It is said that fifteen million copies of this series have been distributed.
During the latter part of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the present century, the scope of the sect took on an international aspect, when branch offices for the distribution of tracts and books were opened in various cities of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
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What Happened To Armageddon
Knorr was succeeded as head of the Jehovahs Witnesses by Frederick Franz. He had been the Witnesses leading theologian. For some years the sects magazines had been predicting that Armageddon would occur in 1975. When it didnt, Franz had to find an explanation.
Witnesses believe that Adam was created in 4026 B.C. and that human beings have been allotted 6000 years of existence until Armageddon and the beginning of the millennium. This figure is based on a creative week in which each of six days is equal to 1,000 years, with the Sabbath or seventh day being the beginning of the millennium. Simple arithmetic gives 1975 as the year Armageddon would arrive. Franz explained that Armageddon would actually come 6000 years after Eves creation. But when 1975 came and went, the Witnesses had to adjust their chronology to cover up a failed prediction. They accomplished this by maintaining that no one knew exactly how long after Adams creation Eve came on the scene. Franz said that it was monthseven years. Hence he was able to stretch the 1975 date to some indeterminate time in the future.
What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe About Medical Help
Jehovah‘s Witnesses hold the controversial view of rejecting blood transfusions, even in life or death situations. Recently, Russia banned Jehovah’s Witnesses and this issue was one of the reasons stated for their doing so. “Some treatments conflict with Bible principles, though, and we reject these. For example, we dont accept blood transfusions because the Bible forbids taking in blood to sustain the body. Likewise, the Bible prohibits health treatments or procedures that include occult practices.Galatians 5:19-21,” explains JW.org.
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Supreme Court Reverses Course On Flag Salute
In 1942 Justices Hugo L. Black, William O. Douglas, and Francis W. Murphy from the Gobitis majority announced a change of heart in Jones v. City of Opelika. Aided by the presence of two new justices, they overturned Gobitis in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette by a 6-3 vote.
Justice Robert H. Jacksons majority opinion extended beyond the religious scruples of the Witnesses to hold that no one for whatever reason could be compelled to salute the flag: If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or;force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.
Handling Of Sexual Abuse Cases
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been accused of having policies and culture that help to conceal cases of sexual abuse within the organization. The group has been criticized for its “two witness rule” for church discipline, based on its application of scriptures at Deuteronomy 19:15 and Matthew 18:1517, which requires sexual abuse to be substantiated by secondary evidence if the accused person denies any wrongdoing. In cases where corroboration is lacking, the Watch Tower Society’s instruction is that “the elders will leave the matter in Jehovah’s hands”. A former member of the headquarters staff, Barbara Anderson, says the policy effectively requires that there be another witness to an act of molestation, “which is an impossibility”. Anderson says the policies “protect pedophiles rather than protect the children.” Jehovah’s Witnesses maintain that they have a strong policy to protect children, adding that the best way to protect children is by educating parents; they also state that they do not sponsor activities that separate children from parents.
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