Worldview and Other Religions
Islam
Judaism
Hinduism
Buddhism
Cults or New Religious Movements
Mormonism/ The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/LDS (not Jehovah's Witness) Joseph Smith
Jehovah s Witnesses/ Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
Jehovah s Witnesses Key Figure in History: Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) Followers: ( Publishers -those who faithfully go door to door with their message,2007) World 6,957,852 in 235 countries;, Attendance at the annual Memorial of Christ's death: 17,672,443; Total volunteer hours spent in public Bible educational work 1.4 billion; Average weekly home Bible courses taught: 6,561,426; Congregations (Kingdom Halls): 101,376; U.S.A.: Active members: 1,084,005; Baptisms: 37,743; Congregations: 12,588;. 1 Authority: New World Translation Bible and Watchtower Publications Salvation: Requirements for salvation, in addition to faith, include baptism by immersion, active association with the WBTS, righteous conduct, and absolute loyalty to Jehovah. There is no assurance of salvation, only hope for a resurrection. Those who fail to live up to the above requirements or who are disfellowshipped by the WBTS have no hope of salvation. Only 144,000 faithful elect Jehovah's Witnesses, known as the "Anointed Class" will go to heaven at death to rule with Jesus. Only those born since 33 C.E. (A.D.) can be part of that number (based on Rev. 14:1-3). Most Jehovah's Witnesses hope to be among the "other sheep" or "great crowd" who will not go to heaven, but, after Armageddon and the millennium, will live forever in Paradise on earth (based on John 10:16; Rev. 7:9). 1. From 4truth.net:http://www.4truth.net/fourtruthpbnew.aspx?pageid=8589952841
The Beliefs of JW Their view of God is limited. Jehovah s Witnesses insist that the only acceptable name for God is Jehovah, and they deny the Trinity. The New World Translation inserts the term Jehovah 6,974 times in the Old Testament, 237 times in the New. In contrast, in the King James Version, the name Jehovah appears only four times in the Old Testament and not at all in the New Testament. Christians counter that in addition to Jehovah, several names are used in the Bible to address God Lord, Elohim, and Adonai, for example. Although the Bible does not use the word Trinity, it clearly depicts God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1 Jesus deity is denied (see Fuel Packet page 3, #3) Holy Spirit s deity is denied (see Fuel Packet page 4, #4) 1. Fuel Packet: Jehovah s Witnesses from Fuel2: Owning Your Faith, Volume 8. 2008 LifeWay Press. pg. 3.
The Beliefs of JW JW Scripture: The New World Translation of the Bible, Reasoning from the Scriptures, Watchtower publications are only authoritative interpretations of Bible. THE NWT was put together by a group which did not have sufficient understanding of the biblical languages and changes were made to the text to suit JW beliefs. The New World Translation inserts the term Jehovah 6,974 times in the Old Testament, 237 times in the New. In contrast, in the King James Version, the name Jehovah appears only four times in the Old Testament and not at all in the New Testament. 1 See Fuel Packet page 2, top right paragraph 1. Fuel Packet: Jehovah s Witnesses from Fuel2: Owning Your Faith, Volume 8. 2008 LifeWay Press. pg. 3.
False JW Prophecy God provides two main tests for Israelites to determine whether a selfproclaimed prophet was legitimate. First, he must represent the true God of the Hebrews.(Deut 13:1-3). Second, they were to reject professing prophets who incorrectly foretold the future (Deut 18:20-22). They were also commanded not to add to or take away from the revelations God had given them (Deut 4:2; Prov 30:6) Russell became fascinated with the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Defying historical evidence and simple logic, he concluded that the architect for the pyramid was Melchizedek, the priest of Salem, and that its structure was a clue to God s chronology of human history from Adam to the millennium. Assigning one inch in the pyramid passages to represent one calendar year, Russell presumed to discover the exact date of Adam s creation and the year 1874 as the beginning of the period of trouble. Concluding that this year marked Christ s invisible return, Russell set dates for the battle of Armageddon and the millennial reign. Since that time the Watchtower Society has repeatedly prophesied and reset dates for these events, none of which were fulfilled. Recently, the Watchtower Society, after repeated failed prophecies about the battle of Armageddon, announced that the date is unknown. 1 1.Fuel Packet: Jehovah s Witnesses from Fuel2: Owning Your Faith, Volume 8. 2008 LifeWay Press. pg. 1
Application Beware of new ideas! When it comes to the gospel truth, the orthodox foundations of the faith, you should always be asking yourself, Does this agree with what the church has taught through the ages? Love the old. Read the Bible for yourself! Do not only rely on others to teach it to you. Be thoughtful and patient when you witness to Jehovah s Witnesses Son of God, God, etc. means something completely different to them than to us Allow for time to show the difference between the Watchtower Society and Christianity and realize that they do not know much about their religion beyond what they are taught, but they are ready with lots of answers and strategies to convert Christians