The answer to the question is, No. It is not Christian. Like all non-Christian cults, the Jehovahs Witness organization distorts the essential doctrines of Christianity. It denies the deity of Christ, His physical resurrection, and salvation by grace. This alone makes it non-Christian. To support its erring doctrines, the Watchtower organization (which is the author and teacher of all official Jehovahs Witness theology), has even altered the Bible to make it agree with its changing and non-Christian teachings. Typical with cults that use the Bible to support its position is a host of interpretive errors: •Taking verses out of their immediate context. •Refusing to read verses in the entire biblical context. •Inserting their theological presuppositions into the text. •Altering the Biblical text to suit their needs. •Latching onto one verse to interpret a host of others. •Changing the meanings of words. •Proclaiming some passages to be figurative when they contradict their doctrines. •Adding to the Word of God. Additionally, the Jehovahs Witness organization requires of its members regular weekly attendance at their Bible Study meetings where they are repeatedly indoctrinated with anti-Christian teachings. This is done by reading the Watchtower magazine, following along with what it says, reading the questions it asks, and reciting the answers it gives. In other words, the Watchtower Organization carefully trains its members to let the Organization do their thinking for them. For confirmation of this, please read Does the Watchtower organization control the JWs thinking? The Witnesses are told they will be persecuted when they go door-to-door teaching their doctrines. They are further told that this is simply the enemy fighting against Gods organization because they are in the truth. So, when someone disagrees with them, they are conditioned to reflect on what the Watchtower has told them. They then feel confirmed in being in Gods true organization on earth (like all cults claim). They are strongly encouraged to have friends and acquaintances that are only JWs, thereby keeping outside examination to a minimum. They are told to shun those who leave their group, for in this way there is no way to see why someone has left and no way to find out that they are in error from those who have found the truth in Christ. They are conditioned to shy away from any real biblically knowledgeable person. An example of this is frequently found on the Internet. I was once banned from a Jehovahs Witness chat room after I not only answered their objections to the Trinity and deity of Christ but challenged them in return. Subsequently, my name was passed around to all other Jehovahs Witness rooms where I was banned from them as well. This is a frequent occurrence on the Internet where the Jehovahs Witnesses are alive and well. It is obvious that critical examination of their doctrines is not encouraged by the Watchtower Organization. The Jehovahs Witnesses consider themselves to be Christians because they believe they are serving the true and living God. Like many cults, they think they are the only true church on earth. Yet, they deny the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the personhood of the Holy Spirit, Jesus physical resurrection, and salvation by grace through faith. The Jehovahs Witnesses are discouraged from looking into Jehovahs Witness history or old Watchtower literature which is replete with contradictions, altered doctrines, and false prophecies. Instead, they are indoctrinated repeatedly against basic Christian doctrines (Trinity, deity of Christ, etc.) and into the notion that they alone are the true servants of God and that all others are either in Christendom or simply unbelievers. Primarily, the Jehovahs Witness organization is a mind-control organization that uses its people to pass out literature and send in donations to the headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Thus the Bible is an organizational book and belongs to the Christian congregation as an organization and not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe that they can interpret the Bible.1 The Watchtower organization of the Jehovahs Witnesses is a non-Christian organization that uses its people to promulgate false doctrines, collects contributions for distribution of a multitudinous amount of literature, and expands its grip into the lives of its members and their families. It is a non-Christian cult. This article is also available in: Español 1. The Watchtower, Oct. 1, 1967, p. 587.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 16:09:15 +0000