Beliefs, Origins and Pivotal Events That Define Jehovah Witnesses by several authors.

Click on the links for each section to find the original articles.

 Beliefs

Origins

Pivotal events

5 Beliefs That Set Jehovah’s Witnesses Apart From Other Christians

Thursday, 02 Apr 2015 12:05 PM

By Traci Schumacher

Established in 1879 by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania, Jehovah’s Witnesses bear many of the hallmarks of mainstream Christianity, while diverging from it in several key areas. The differences are significant enough that Jehovah’s Witness Christians and mainstream Christians may question each other’s legitimacy as Christians, according to Religion Facts.

Five key issues that distinguish Jehovah’s Witness Christians from other Christians are:

1. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, or God in three persons, according to the BBC. God, or Jehovah, is a singular being. Jesus is Jehovah’s created son, not eternal or divine, through whom Jehovah created everything else. The Holy Spirit is seen as not a person, but Jehovah’s force of action.

2. Jehovah’s Witness Christians believe in the Bible as God’s Word like other Christians, but they prefer their own New World Translation. The New World Translation “sometimes translates key passages, such as those about the nature of Jesus Christ, differently than other reputable English-language Bible translations,” according to Religion Facts.

3. In terms of salvation, Witnesses believe Jesus died on a stake instead of a cross to pay for the sins of humanity. However, salvation is not through faith alone, but must be earned by obedience and loyalty to God’s commands.

4. Regarding death and the afterlife, Jehovah’s Witness Christians do not believe in the existence of hell as a place of torment. Rather, they believe that human existence ends entirely at death, although people “can be remembered by God and eventually be resurrected,” according to the BBC. This follows along with the belief that Jesus’ resurrection was not a physical one, but was spiritual only.

5. Jehovah’s Witness Christians have distinct beliefs about the end times, as well. The BBC reports that Witnesses believe the end times began in 1914. This period will conclude with Judgment Day, the 1,000 year reign of Christ with the 144,000 “anointed” resurrected people who are chosen by God. Other people who prove their loyalty to Jehovah during the end times will live eternally on earth in the new paradise.

Those who “rebel against God will be permanently destroyed, as will Satan and the demons,” according to the JW.org.

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Christians both seek to live by the Bible and follow Jesus, there are some important distinctions that set them apart from one another in definitive ways.

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/jehovas-witness-christians-beliefs/2015/04/02/id/636044/

Jehovah’s Witness Origins: 6 Things That Led to Development of Christian Denomination

Friday, 06 Feb 2015 10:13 AM

By Jerry Shaw

In the beginning, the Jehovah’s Witness faith had a unique doctrine which included erroneous predictions. However, Christians of different backgrounds have since accepted its religious teachings with Jehovah’s Witnesses followers numbering in the millions worldwide.

Here are six issues that led to the founding of the Jehovah’s Witnesses:

1. Charles Taze Russell had been an agnostic during his teens, but a few years later he became interested in the Bible and its predictions of the end of times. Russell had dabbled in various businesses and in 1872 founded the International Bible Students’ Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

2. In 1879, Russell attracted a religious following through his magazines, Zion’s Watch Tower and the Herald of Christ’s Presence. He spoke of the non-existence of hell and dismissed the Christian belief of the Trinity, saying only Jehovah is God. The publications helped spread his beliefs and led to congregations formed in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.

3. In 1879, Russell also began the Watch Tower, which would become the teaching organization for future Jehovah’s Witnesses. The organization would change its name to the Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881. It became incorporated in 1884.

4. Among his teachings, Russell told believers Jesus would return in 1914. When that didn’t happen, he said Jesus actually did return but was invisible. His visible return was to come and it would end in Armageddon, the final conflict between God and Satan, an event that centers around the belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

5. After Russell died in 1916, Joseph R. Rutherford, who had been the legal adviser to the Watch Tower, succeeded as the organization’s leader. He spearheaded the door-to-door drive of the religion to spread the message by missionaries. He originally had them use portable phonographs with recordings from Rutherford. He also wrote pamphlets and had a radio program, predicting incorrectly that Biblical prophets Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would return to earth in 1925.

6. In 1931, Rutherford officially changed the name of the Christian faction to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. He took the name from Isaiah 43:10, which tells of the “utterance of Jehovah” or God, “You are my witnesses.”

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/Jehovahs-Witness-Christian-Denomination-Origins/2015/02/06/id/622910/

Jehovah’s Witness Evolution: 6 Key Events for Christian Denomination Since It Began

Friday, 06 Feb 2015 10:15 AM

By Jerry Shaw

Jehovah’s Witnesses have faced persecution and even death for their curious beliefs. The religion has undergone changes since the late 19th century when it was founded, and it has attracted millions of Christians from various denominations around the world.

These six events show some of the problems Jehovah’s Witnesses have endured along with their triumphs.

1. Joseph R. Rutherford succeeded Jehovah’s Witness founder Charles Taze Russell, who started the religion in 1879 and later died in 1916. Russell had predicted the return of Jesus in 1914. Rutherford, on the other hand, predicted that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would return to earth in 1925. He bought a mansion in San Diego, California to house them. He died in 1942.

2. Nathan Homer Knorr succeeded Rutherford. Instead of using Rutherford’s idea of using portable phonographs for door-to-door techniques to attract converts, he trained followers to use personal testimonials. These missionaries attended courses to learn the new techniques, which led to today’s practice which includes leaving pamphlets for those interested.

3. The unconventional beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses caused suspicion and even confrontation with traditional Christians. They often faced difficulties practicing their faith. From the late 1930s to the 1950s, Jehovah’s Witnesses won nearly 40 court cases in the U.S. that allowed them to practice their right to religious freedom. Most of the cases reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

4. The strong religious convictions of Jehovah’s Witnesses have allowed them to become conscientious objectors during wartime in the U.S. But they suffered persecution and death in Germany when they refused to serve Hitler in World War II. More than 13,000 Witnesses were sent to Nazi concentration camps and nearly 2,000 were executed.

5. The Witnesses’ “New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures” was published in 1961. Knorr had organized a committee to produce this version of the Bible so it would match the beliefs Witnesses had been advocating. For example, since Jehovah’s Witnesses denied God was part of a Christian Holy Trinity which included Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the new translation referred to “the Word was a god” in John 1:1 instead of “the Word was God,” as told in traditional Christian Bibles.

6. Literature from the Jehovah’s Witnesses had predicted for years the end of the world and Armageddon in 1975. Frederick Franz, who succeeded Knorr in 1977, had to reconsider prophetic calculations which included the end would be 6,000 years after Eve was created to join Adam. Franz explained that no one actually knew when Eve came along, so it could be a matter of years before Armageddon occurred.

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/Jehovahs-Witnesses-Christian-Denomination-Evolution/2015/02/06/id/622917/#ixzz3WLhgFAk7