Some info for you on Jehovah Witnesses (PART 2)
Nevertheless, the Jehovah’s Witnesses consider Jesus as the greatest Witness of all, inferior to no one except Jehovah Himself. Before existing as a human being, Jesus was a spiritual creature called the Logos, or Word, or even Michael the Archangel. He died as a man and was raised as an immortal Spirit-Son. His passion and death were the price He paid to regain for mankind the right to live eternally on earth. Indeed, the great multitude of true Witnesses hope in an earthly Paradise (These teachings echo the heresies which the early Church condemned beginning at the council of Nicea in 325).
They believe that the Bible is the only source of belief and rule of conduct. However, their Bible aids seem to have more strength. They are only allowed to use their own translation of the Bible and other official publications. Unfortunately, many purposeful mistranslations exist in their version to support their tenets. For example, in the New Testament, “Lord” is translated except where it refers directly to Christ. In the Last Supper account, they translate, “Take, eat. This is My body.” To “Take, eat. This means My body.” To affirm that Jesus was created, they add the word other to Colossians 1:16, “By means of Him, everything was created…,”; “By means of Him, all other things were created in the heaven and upon the earth… All other things have been created through him and for him. Also, He is before all other things and by means of Him all other things were made to exist.”
The Jehovah’s Witnesses also deny the immortality of the soul, the existence of hell, and the seven sacraments. (Although they have ritual of baptism, they regard it as merely the exterior symbol of their dedication to the service of Jehovah.) They observe no feast—including Christmas—except the Memorial of the Last Supper, which they hold once a year after sundown on the 14th day of Nisan (a former method of computing the date of Easter and Passover) and during which only those who consider themselves as being among the celestial 144,000 may partake of the “emblems”—the bread and wine. They refuse blood transfusions. They also refuse to salute the flag, seeing this as an act of idolatry. They also condemn smoking.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are also preoccupied with Armageddon—the final clash between the forces of good and evil. Here God will destroy the old system of creation and establish Jehovah’s Kingdom. A group of 144,000 spiritual sons of God will rise to heaven, rule with Christ, and share their happiness with the others. However, the wicked will undergo complete destruction. Russell said that this Armageddon could not happen later than 1914. (He had given specific dates and times on three earlier occasions, but was wrong). From 1920, Rutherford proclaimed that “millions now living will never die”; he also expected the “princes of old”—Abraham, Isaac, and the others—to come back to life by 1925 as rulers over the New World.
