Pls inform me about Jehovah Witness

[bgirldeb]

The belief is that there will be 144,000 who will be rulers over the people here on the new earth..The new earth will be composed of Christians..Your bosses child would not be eliminated from that occasion,nor would any other innocent child..She just wouldn't be among the 144,000 ruling the new earth

Right-
JW's believe that 144,000 will be going to Heaven and the rest will live on a paradise earth, which was God's original purpose. So, in our beliefs the child would be resurrected to the earth. Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in an immortal soul. The child would be in God's memory until resurrected.

That poor boss! I hope it was explained correctly

My mom lost a baby that was 2 hours old and was told countless times (by non-JW's) that she died because God wanted another angel in heaven. IMO, that is a selfish god that I wouldn't want to believe in.

 

[JennyMominRI]

As you can see in my previous post---family was JW. I have been a pentecostal christian for 20+ years after leaving JW as an early teenager. They believe that when one dies they are "asleep" in the "grave". They define hell as "the grave"---not a place of burning torment. At the end of time, or Armageddon (sp?) 144,000 of the most righteous believers will ascend to heaven to live with God. The dead believers of "the truth" will be resurrected and live with the remaining believers on a "paradise earth". Anyone who is not a believer of "the truth" will either die or remain dead in "the grave". So if someone you love has died and you believe as JW's do, they are "asleep" in the "grave" and know nothing of heaven.

Well since the Hebrew word that gets translated to Hell in most christian bibles actually means ,simply,grave,I'd agree with that portion of your post.
There is no fiery place of eternal torment in Judaism either

 

[goofygirl]

"The belief is that there will be 144,000 who will be rulers over the people here on the new earth..."

How did they figure that number: 144,000?

 

[JennyMominRI]

"The belief is that there will be 144,000 who will be rulers over the people here on the new earth..."

How did they figure that number: 144,000?

The number is used int he book for Revelation

 

[goofygirl]

As you can see in my previous post---family was JW. I have been a pentecostal christian for 20+ years after leaving JW as an early teenager. They believe that when one dies they are "asleep" in the "grave". They define hell as "the grave"---not a place of burning torment. At the end of time, or Armageddon (sp?) 144,000 of the most righteous believers will ascend to heaven to live with God. The dead believers of "the truth" will be resurrected and live with the remaining believers on a "paradise earth". Anyone who is not a believer of "the truth" will either die or remain dead in "the grave". So if someone you love has died and you believe as JW's do, they are "asleep" in the "grave" and know nothing of heaven.

what is "pentecostal" exactly? I never really knew what that meant.

 

[bgirldeb]

This is a link to a listing of many of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses (from the *only* official site that I mentioned earlier) along with the scriptural reasons that you can click on and view in the New World Translation, or look up in whatever translation you prefer.
http://www.watchtower.org/library/jt/article_03.htm

Goofygirl, you can find the answer there to your question about where the 144,000 figure comes from.

 

[JoBird]

This is a link to a listing of many of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses (from the *only* official site that I mentioned earlier) along with the scriptural reasons that you can click on and view in the New World Translation, or look up in whatever translation you prefer.
http://www.watchtower.org/library/jt/article_03.htm

Goofygirl, you can find the answer there to your question about where the 144,000 figure comes from.

Thanks for this link. I was just looking at it and comparing it to my Life application translation of the Bible. I am curious, though, if JW's believe that there is no hell, other than the grave, what is the "lake of fire" that Rev.20:13 talks about? Is that something different than the grave? Thanks!

 

[sarbruis]

Revelation 20:15
And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Philippians 4:3
And I ask you, my true teammate, [ Greek true yokefellow, or loyal Syzygus.] to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Revelation 17:8
The beast you saw was alive but isn't now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life from before the world began, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.

-What do JWs believe that the "Book of Life" is? Do they believe this is the 144,000?

-And if so, how is it that Clement and the co-workers are in the Book of Life before the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses? (Because surely Paul was speaking the truth).

 

[bgirldeb]

Thanks for this link. I was just looking at it and comparing it to my Life application translation of the Bible. I am curious, though, if JW's believe that there is no hell, other than the grave, what is the "lake of fire" that Rev.20:13 talks about? Is that something different than the grave? Thanks!

You're welcome Good question!
The "lake of fire" is different from the grave because it is symbolic of complete destruction. It is symbolic because vs. 14 says that death will be hurled into the lake as well. This is in contrast with hades/sheol which are just the common grave because those there have the prospect of being resurrected.

-What do JWs believe that the "Book of Life" is? Do they believe this is the 144,000?

-And if so, how is it that Clement and the co-workers are in the Book of Life before the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses? (Because surely Paul was speaking the truth).

JW's believe that the "Book of Life" is God's book of rememberance and includes the 144,000 that go to heaven as well as those who will live the earth. It was written from "the founding of the world" and goes as far back as Abel.
The teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses are bible based. The name "Jehovah's Witnesses" was agreed upon in 1931, from Isaiah 43:10, but our teachings are from the Bible.

 

[Chicago Girl]

I have 2 JW's in my office, one kicked up a big stink because the office party was called a holiday party. So, the ED called all of the employees into the conference room and inform us our party is now officially called a staff appreciation gathering.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well since the Hebrew word that gets translated to Hell in most christian bibles actually means ,simply,grave,I'd agree with that portion of your post.
There is no fiery place of eternal torment in Judaism either

So does that mean there is no Satan?

 

[bgirldeb]

So does that mean there is no Satan?

No, not at all. We believe Satan is the ruler of this world.
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2002/10/15/article_02.htm
This is a good article that shows what Jehovah's Witnesses believe about Hellfire- it also contains info about the Lake of Fire :
http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2002/7/15/article_02.htm

I have 2 JW's in my office, one kicked up a big stink because the office party was called a holiday party. So, the ED called all of the employees into the conference room and inform us our party is now officially called a staff appreciation gathering.

That is pretty ridiculous of them to do that, IMO. Maybe they are new JW's?
Do you know firsthand that they kicked up a big stink, or maybe they just said they wouldn't be going and the boss got nervous.

 

[JoBird]

Good Morning!
Okay, I did a little further research last night and found a few things that are different in our religions. (If what I found was right.)
Jw's do not believe in the Trinity (God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). The website I was on said that JW's believe the Holy Spirit was actually made up from Satan.
Also, JW's believe that Jesus is actually Michael, the Archangel, and when He died, He did not have a bodily resurrection, only a spiritual one. Does this mean his body is still in a grave somewhere?
Those are the only differences I've found so far, but I will keep looking. Any comments on those beliefs are appreciated.

 

[bgirldeb]

Good Morning!
Okay, I did a little further research last night and found a few things that are different in our religions. (If what I found was right.)
Jw's do not believe in the Trinity (God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). The website I was on said that JW's believe the Holy Spirit was actually made up from Satan.
Also, JW's believe that Jesus is actually Michael, the Archangel, and when He died, He did not have a bodily resurrection, only a spiritual one. Does this mean his body is still in a grave somewhere?
Those are the only differences I've found so far, but I will keep looking. Any comments on those beliefs are appreciated.

Hello!
It is true that Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity.
We believe that Jehovah God is the father, Jesus is his son who came to the earth in human form.
The Holy Spirit is God's active force.( not from Satan- not sure where that came from?- really any site aside from Watchtower.org may contain wrong info)
Yes, we believe that Michael, the Archangel is Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
And yes, Jesus was resurrected in spirit form, but I will have to get back to you about what happened to his body after I do a little more research. Can't remember the exact details.

I'm sure another difference you will see is regarding God's Kingdom.

 

[numbersman]

Good Morning!
Okay, I did a little further research last night and found a few things that are different in our religions. (If what I found was right.)
Jw's do not believe in the Trinity (God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). The website I was on said that JW's believe the Holy Spirit was actually made up from Satan.
Also, JW's believe that Jesus is actually Michael, the Archangel, and when He died, He did not have a bodily resurrection, only a spiritual one. Does this mean his body is still in a grave somewhere?
Those are the only differences I've found so far, but I will keep looking. Any comments on those beliefs are appreciated.

Those are the ONLY differences you've found so far? Even if those were the ONLY differences, and they're not, they're enough to make JW's nothing like Christianity, b/c Christianity doesn't hold to those core beliefs.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Well, if Michael, the archangel, was Jesus, then Jesus was never truly human. Sort of a bummer for us little folks down here...

 

[numbersman]

Bgirldeb, I see an inconsistency, but perhaps you can explain it to me?

1 Thess. 4:16 says this "the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." You say this is the JW justification for why Jesus is Michael the Archangel, assumably b/c it says that "the Lord" (Jesus) will come "with the voice of the archangel...". However, this verse also says he will come with the "trumpet call of God", but you don't believe Jesus is God, do you, since you don't believe in the Trinity? How is one portion of the verse used one way to justify something, but the other portion of the verse ISN'T used to justify something else, when clearly they're both symbolic?

 

[JoBird]

The bit about Satan begining the Trinity was a quote from the second President of Jehovah's Witnesses, a man by the name of Joseph F Rutherford.
It was in his book, "Let God be True" 2nd edition, pp.101-102.
As far as Jesus being higher than the angels, and not one himself, my translation of Hebrews 1 is different than your translation, but says plainly that He is far grater than an Angel. It's interesting the different ways everyone perceives the text.

 

[numbersman]

The bit about Satan begining the Trinity was a quote from the second President of Jehovah's Witnesses, a man by the name of Joseph F Rutherford.
It was in his book, "Let God be True" 2nd edition, pp.101-102.
As far as Jesus being higher than the angels, and not one himself, my translation of Hebrews 1 is different than your translation, but says plainly that He is far grater than an Angel. It's interesting the different ways everyone perceives the text.

The New World Translation does NOT always hold to the original text, as do all mainstream Bibles (KJV, NIV, NAS, RSV, etc...). It has been "changed", as necessary, to say what the JWs want it to say. That's a big reason why their "version" of the Bible differs from most other versions.

 

[sarbruis]

Also, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 states that the Lord himself WILL COME down, when Paul wrote this text like 70 years AFTER Jesus had come to earth, so as I perceive the text, this is mention of Jesus' SECOND coming (which obviously has not yet come to pass).

Are there any other texts that the JWs use to say Jesus is Michael? Or could you post the New World translation of 1 Thes. 4:16 so we can see if it was translated differently in the NW version?

Thanks. This is a very interesting thread, mostly because previous to this thread, I'd never really remembered to check out what the JWs believe, and now I know, which is good.