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I am a none domination Christian. I believe in Christ as God, the Father and Holy Spirit. He is the central point of my faith and the reason for our salvation. But the question that lingers in my mind is what Jehovas Witness (JW) followers believe and why they believe what they do.
I've always been open minded. Like many, when I was younger I would try to discredit the things of God with history or science. I could go on with my personal philosophies as to why Christendom grew through out the world and influenced world powers like Rome, Spain and England. Never the less, I found a peace in the simple belief in Jesus Christ and I continue to grow to become a better man while on this earth.
Recently, a close family member joined JW and has ritually started to follow their teachings. I've know J.W. all my life and they are good decent people. The very reason for the start of their group was based on teaching errors made by "The Church" which were becoming more and more prevalent as the world became more enlightened and more educated in the area of just knowing how to read. This wasn't a new concept as Martin Luther and others had seen the errors in the teaching of the Cathoilc Church centuries before. You could even argue the start of Islam itself was a revolt against what they considered wrong teachings of the god of Abraham.
The little I know about J.W. is they don't believe in the Trinity concept, they don't celebrate holidays (especially Chistmas and New Years), Their belief of heaven is a bit different than most other Christian denominations and they don't celebrate birthdays. This last one, the birthdays really ticked me off recently as I've seen this family member get more and more involved in their beliefs. At a recent birthday celebration, this person and his wife quickly rushed into a bathroom while we were all singing happy birthday to another family member. This was a happy event and they acted as if an evil spirit had just entered the realm and they had to hide from it's presence while we sang happy birthday. The explanation I get is that this is based on the be-heading of John the Baptist on King Herods birthday.
So, I get it to a certain extent. They don't celebrate Christmas, new years or Easter because those dates are based on pagan holidays. The determination of what heaven and eternal life is and will be is up for debate. But to me, J.W witness have simply started to selectively take stories of the Bible and create their own doctrine, just as every other religion has always done and perhaps always will. Thought?
I am a none domination Christian. I believe in Christ as God, the Father and Holy Spirit. He is the central point of my faith and the reason for our salvation. But the question that lingers in my mind is what Jehovas Witness (JW) followers believe and why they believe what they do.
I've always been open minded. Like many, when I was younger I would try to discredit the things of God with history or science. I could go on with my personal philosophies as to why Christendom grew through out the world and influenced world powers like Rome, Spain and England. Never the less, I found a peace in the simple belief in Jesus Christ and I continue to grow to become a better man while on this earth.
Recently, a close family member joined JW and has ritually started to follow their teachings. I've know J.W. all my life and they are good decent people. The very reason for the start of their group was based on teaching errors made by "The Church" which were becoming more and more prevalent as the world became more enlightened and more educated in the area of just knowing how to read. This wasn't a new concept as Martin Luther and others had seen the errors in the teaching of the Cathoilc Church centuries before. You could even argue the start of Islam itself was a revolt against what they considered wrong teachings of the god of Abraham.
The little I know about J.W. is they don't believe in the Trinity concept, they don't celebrate holidays (especially Chistmas and New Years), Their belief of heaven is a bit different than most other Christian denominations and they don't celebrate birthdays. This last one, the birthdays really ticked me off recently as I've seen this family member get more and more involved in their beliefs. At a recent birthday celebration, this person and his wife quickly rushed into a bathroom while we were all singing happy birthday to another family member. This was a happy event and they acted as if an evil spirit had just entered the realm and they had to hide from it's presence while we sang happy birthday. The explanation I get is that this is based on the be-heading of John the Baptist on King Herods birthday.
So, I get it to a certain extent. They don't celebrate Christmas, new years or Easter because those dates are based on pagan holidays. The determination of what heaven and eternal life is and will be is up for debate. But to me, J.W witness have simply started to selectively take stories of the Bible and create their own doctrine, just as every other religion has always done and perhaps always will. Thought?
There's a former JW on here (where you at L8) who can answer your questions better than I. I would just say, RUN. Peace
Jehovah has a lot of issues. On top of being a psychopathic mass-murderer, he's a total buzzkill.
He wants his Witnesses to be as miserable and un-fun-loving as he is.
Stick with Jesus. Somehow, he didn't turn out to be as nasty as his old man. I think Joseph and Mary did a pretty decent job, considering the gene pool Jesus (supposedly) sprang from.
Jehovah has a lot of issues. On top of being a psychopathic mass-murderer, he's a total buzzkill.
He wants his Witnesses to be as miserable and un-fun-loving as he is.
Stick with Jesus. Somehow, he didn't turn out to be as nasty as his old man. I think Joseph and Mary did a pretty decent job, considering the gene pool Jesus (supposedly) sprang from.
In Luke 2:42 Jesus celebrated His twelfth birthday and He went up the Jerusalem after the custom of the feast ....So according the Jehovah Jesus son of God was wrong ? ................The in Luke 3:23 says ..`` And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age ``........... See Jesus had a thirtieth birthday as got water baptized at about thirty years old ..... So is Jesus disobeying Jehovah and having birthday and even remembering how old He is ................ I believe that these doctrines of JW are non biblical
Do not say anything bad about the the Watchtower Society to your family memeber. They are told that they are getting so close to the truth that Satan will try and pull them away. They will actually believe that Satan is using you. True story I was 5 or 6 when I was told Satan was using my dad(not a JW) If you are serious about helping them read Steve Hassan first. You can also check out Robert Lifton and Margaret Singer but that stuff is tougher to wade through (I think). You can also get a feel for it looking through the threads I posted.
To answer your question. They are told that Holidays are from Pagan sources and degrades pure worship. Winter solstice, trees, lights, Easter (fertility), even the Cross is considered a phallic symbol. Birthdays are a little different because is all they have to go on is the beheading of John the Baptist and the cake being of Pagan origin. Technically, if you don't have a cake they can't action against you except for following the rules.
I am an EXJW so I want to mention that I am not presenting myself as someone who agrees with them. Take it for what it is worth. I personally believe all the rules are to isolate the person from the rest of society. They create an Us vs Them mentality and until you hear about the good news you are a maybe(see circular reasoning). If you don't know they will try and share with you. rejecting what they say automatically makes you a them. I know that having to stand outside the classroom while the other kids ate cake or whatever happened in 70/80s made me feel different than my peers. Having to stay seated while other kids stood for the Pledge was humiliating too. I did it but i wasn't happy about it. The fact that I wasn't happy about it was shame producing. It's a win/win for them to break the child and build them into a loyal servant or when they grow up and leave many self destruct.
If you have any other questions you can check out the ExJw sub on Reddit. There are people that understand all this a lot better than me. I am a baby apostate.
In Luke 2:42 Jesus celebrated His twelfth birthday and He went up the Jerusalem after the custom of the feast ....So according the Jehovah Jesus son of God was wrong ? ................The in Luke 3:23 says ..`` And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age ``........... See Jesus had a thirtieth birthday as got water baptized at about thirty years old ..... So is Jesus disobeying Jehovah and having birthday and even remembering how old He is ................ I believe that these doctrines of JW are non biblical
They claim all their beliefs are biblical, and I believe they very well may be, but their doctrines appear to be from hand picked traditions from scripture in order to create their own doctrine. I understand they also have a slightly different translation which they use. One of the versus that is different that really got me was John 1:1. I have always know for it to read " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"................The version JW use reads "in the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was a god."
I try not to be judgmental of folks, but these are important translations of who Jesus Christ was and is.
Do not say anything bad about the the Watchtower Society to your family memeber. They are told that they are getting so close to the truth that Satan will try and pull them away. They will actually believe that Satan is using you. True story I was 5 or 6 when I was told Satan was using my dad(not a JW) If you are serious about helping them read Steve Hassan first. You can also check out Robert Lifton and Margaret Singer but that stuff is tougher to wade through (I think). You can also get a feel for it looking through the threads I posted.
To answer your question. They are told that Holidays are from Pagan sources and degrades pure worship. Winter solstice, trees, lights, Easter (fertility), even the Cross is considered a phallic symbol. Birthdays are a little different because is all they have to go on is the beheading of John the Baptist and the cake being of Pagan origin. Technically, if you don't have a cake they can't action against you except for following the rules.
I am an EXJW so I want to mention that I am not presenting myself as someone who agrees with them. Take it for what it is worth. I personally believe all the rules are to isolate the person from the rest of society. They create an Us vs Them mentality and until you hear about the good news you are a maybe(see circular reasoning). If you don't know they will try and share with you. rejecting what they say automatically makes you a them. I know that having to stand outside the classroom while the other kids ate cake or whatever happened in 70/80s made me feel different than my peers. Having to stay seated while other kids stood for the Pledge was humiliating too. I did it but i wasn't happy about it. The fact that I wasn't happy about it was shame producing. It's a win/win for them to break the child and build them into a loyal servant or when they grow up and leave many self destruct.
If you have any other questions you can check out the ExJw sub on Reddit. There are people that understand all this a lot better than me. I am a baby apostate.
Thanks for that. I can see all this change in them already. In a way I was happy because I wanted them to find Christ. The family member I speak of is my brother. He's always been a good person but has made some dumb decisions and has a temper. Our mom would always talk to us about the things of God and I remember being a bit rebellious myself. But because of her persistency and that of others, In my own good time I became a believer and was spiritually baptized. I continue to struggle with the things of the world but I have a peace of knowing I am forgiven and I wanted to let others know that peace as well; especially my family. I did not want them to be in bondage to a religion, and the JW religion appears to have started the brain washing already.
I am a none domination Christian. I believe in Christ as God, the Father and Holy Spirit. He is the central point of my faith and the reason for our salvation. But the question that lingers in my mind is what Jehovas Witness (JW) followers believe and why they believe what they do.
I've always been open minded. Like many, when I was younger I would try to discredit the things of God with history or science. I could go on with my personal philosophies as to why Christendom grew through out the world and influenced world powers like Rome, Spain and England. Never the less, I found a peace in the simple belief in Jesus Christ and I continue to grow to become a better man while on this earth.
Recently, a close family member joined JW and has ritually started to follow their teachings. I've know J.W. all my life and they are good decent people. The very reason for the start of their group was based on teaching errors made by "The Church" which were becoming more and more prevalent as the world became more enlightened and more educated in the area of just knowing how to read. This wasn't a new concept as Martin Luther and others had seen the errors in the teaching of the Cathoilc Church centuries before. You could even argue the start of Islam itself was a revolt against what they considered wrong teachings of the god of Abraham.
The little I know about J.W. is they don't believe in the Trinity concept, they don't celebrate holidays (especially Chistmas and New Years), Their belief of heaven is a bit different than most other Christian denominations and they don't celebrate birthdays. This last one, the birthdays really ticked me off recently as I've seen this family member get more and more involved in their beliefs. At a recent birthday celebration, this person and his wife quickly rushed into a bathroom while we were all singing happy birthday to another family member. This was a happy event and they acted as if an evil spirit had just entered the realm and they had to hide from it's presence while we sang happy birthday. The explanation I get is that this is based on the be-heading of John the Baptist on King Herods birthday.
So, I get it to a certain extent. They don't celebrate Christmas, new years or Easter because those dates are based on pagan holidays. The determination of what heaven and eternal life is and will be is up for debate. But to me, J.W witness have simply started to selectively take stories of the Bible and create their own doctrine, just as every other religion has always done and perhaps always will. Thought?
All Birthday celebrations mentioned in the Bible are by pagans and a person or persons were killed. It is possible that even the death of Job's children was during a birthday celebration and he never attended and prayed for them due to the potential for badness. The Bible paints a very negative view of such and even says the day of a man's death is better than his birth. Even Jesus' birthday is not given. Seems God is trying to get us to think ... and avoid what He shows us is ... not something He favors or wants done by His people.
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