Jehovah's Witnesses and Heaven

[LennyFL]

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that people do not go to Heaven but cease to exist with only 144,000 people going to heaven. All the rest remain asleep until the Resurrection where "all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:28,29 The of course Jesus will “Judge the living and the dead” My question is at this time how could those resurrected be judged if they were already judged when they went to heaven or hell? Is it a second judgment? How could people come out of the tombs if they are already in heaven or hell? All those in Hell, will they come out and be judged again just to be thrown back into hell and those in heaven will they be judged again just to go back to Heaven?

Also what does the bible mean when it says in Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ? Jehovah’s Witnesses take on this is that since John the Baptist died before Jesus death he will not go to heaven but be on a paradise earth.

These questions have been bothering me right now the most because i have studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses for three years and have come to believe very strongly with the Watchtower’s teachings. Recently I have finally answered the calling to the Catholic Church that i have bottled up all this time. I now believe strongly in the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church I just would like answers to these questions so I can better my faith in the Holy Church. Your answers would be much appreciated.

Thank you and God Bless.

 

[chimo]

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that people do not go to Heaven but cease to exist with only 144,000 people going to heaven. All the rest remain asleep until the Resurrection where "all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:28,29 The of course Jesus will “Judge the living and the dead” My question is at this time how could those resurrected be judged if they were already judged when they went to heaven or hell? Is it a second judgment? How could people come out of the tombs if they are already in heaven or hell? All those in Hell, will they come out and be judged again just to be thrown back into hell and those in heaven will they be judged again just to go back to Heaven?

Also what does the bible mean when it says in Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ? Jehovah’s Witnesses take on this is that since John the Baptist died before Jesus death he will not go to heaven but be on a paradise earth.

These questions have been bothering me right now the most because i have studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses for three years and have come to believe very strongly with the Watchtower’s teachings. Recently I have finally answered the calling to the Catholic Church that i have bottled up all this time. I now believe strongly in the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church I just would like answers to these questions so I can better my faith in the Holy Church. Your answers would be much appreciated.

Thank you and God Bless.

You must understand that when Jesus comes in His Second Coming there will be people still living on earth. These people will be instantaneous resurrected. These people have not died. Certainly these people will be judged. The ones who have already died need not to be judged. They were judged at their death. But they need to wait for the Resurrection to receive back their bodies in the Glorified state.

The question on John the Baptist refers to his greatness as the last of the Old Testament Prophets. He is greater because he lived his time before the inauguration of the Church. But those who lived out their lives after the birth of the Church are living under a new covenant with a much higher value than what John went through. The new covenant is certainly better than what the old covenant had given. John is certainly in Heaven. He is the Forerunner of Jesus Christ and enjoys a place in Heaven alongside with his Lord and Cousin.

 

[Kc906]

Also what does the bible mean when it says in Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ? Jehovah’s Witnesses take on this is that since John the Baptist died before Jesus death he will not go to heaven but be on a paradise earth.

These questions have been bothering me right now the most because i have studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses for three years and have come to believe very strongly with the Watchtower’s teachings. Recently I have finally answered the calling to the Catholic Church that i have bottled up all this time. I now believe strongly in the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church I just would like answers to these questions so I can better my faith in the Holy Church. Your answers would be much appreciated.

Thank you and God Bless.

I would advise that we look up Matthew 8:11, 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew clearly states that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be in the kingdom of heaven, and many from across the globe will join them. The kingdom was at hand when Jesus walked the earth and began his ministry. John did not quite live long enough to see the fulfillment of the Christ and his new convenant instituted. Christ’s sacrifice opened up the gates of Heaven, and John will be there with the other Old Testament prophets as promised by God.

Now Watchtower theology states that anyone who lived before Christ, and most thereafter (aside from the 144K) will be resurrected on the Earth. Revelation 7:9 begs to differ with this, and coincidently it is right after John writes about the 144,000 Male Jewish Virgins from the tribes of Israel who are sealed by God.

*9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, **standing before the throne *and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God

A great multitude that “no one could number” was before the throne with the Angels, Elders, and the 4 living creatures. This throne could only be in one place, in Heaven.

Peace my brother!

 

[Robyn_p]

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that people do not go to Heaven but cease to exist with only 144,000 people going to heaven. All the rest remain asleep until the Resurrection where "all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:28,29 The of course Jesus will “Judge the living and the dead” My question is at this time how could those resurrected be judged if they were already judged when they went to heaven or hell?

Hi Lenny! I’m glad you’re considering Catholicism, hopefully we can help clear a few things up. In Catholicism, we believe there are two judgments, one at the end of every individuals life, as we see in Hebrews 9:27, and one at the end of time.

LennyFL:

Is it a second judgment? How could people come out of the tombs if they are already in heaven or hell? All those in Hell, will they come out and be judged again just to be thrown back into hell and those in heaven will they be judged again just to go back to Heaven?

The last judgment will be the time when we are reunited with our bodies. So the damned will receive a resurrection also, but now their body will be in Hell with them, instead of just their souls. Same with the saved. Basically the last judgment, as far as I understand it, will be a judgment of the whole world. We’ll be able to see all the works the human race ever did, and how it all worked out for the good. I’m totally failing at explaining this sorry. But no, if someone went to hell, they can’t go to heaven later. I think the Last judgments more for our benefit, so we can see WHY a particular person went to hell or heaven. It also judges those who are still alive at the end of time. Hope that made sense.

LennyFL:

Also what does the bible mean when it says in Matthew 11:11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ? Jehovah’s Witnesses take on this is that since John the Baptist died before Jesus death he will not go to heaven but be on a paradise earth.

I’m not sure how they can get that from the text It says nothing about the resurrection or John not going to heaven. John hadn’t even died at that point yet! That comes in chapter fourteen. What Jesus was talking about was the Old covenant and the New covenant. John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Covenant prophets, but the least in the New covenant will be greater than him, because the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the old.

These questions have been bothering me right now the most because i have studied with Jehovah’s Witnesses for three years and have come to believe very strongly with the Watchtower’s teachings. Recently I have finally answered the calling to the Catholic Church that i have bottled up all this time. I now believe strongly in the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church I just would like answers to these questions so I can better my faith in the Holy Church. Your answers would be much appreciated.

Thank you and God Bless.

Hope these helped a little! One more thing I’d like to add is that the Bible does not support the idea of soul sleep. For one, St. Paul in Phil 1:23 says he would rather die in order to be with Christ, which is far better than being here, but remaining alive is more necessary for preaching the gospel. If he was just going to cease existing until the end of time, I find it hard to see how St. Paul would say that is better. We also see in Revelation 6, the souls of the martyrs asking God to avenge their blood. Clearly they are awake enough to ask that! We also see in heaven,

a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people’s and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!”(Rev 7:9-10)

These are in Heaven, praising and worshipping God, and there’s so many they can’t be counted!!! Not only 144,000.

God bless! And always feel free to ask more questions!

 

[mab23]

You have come to the right place!

I recommend this book, and it goes into teachings of the JW’s and shows all sorts of Catholic Truths, and common misconceptions and explains them and you can get here on www.catholic.com

http://shop.catholic.com/media/cata...e95/e/s/essential-catholic-survival-guide.jpg

shop.catholic.com/the-essential-catholic-survival-guide.html

 

[Nita]

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that people do not go to Heaven but cease to exist with only 144,000 people going to heaven. All the rest remain asleep until the Resurrection where "all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:28,29 The of course Jesus will “Judge the living and the dead” My question is at this time how could those resurrected be judged if they were already judged when they went to heaven or hell? Is it a second judgment?

Yes, there will be a second judgement at the end of world, after the dead bodies of everyone have been resurrected and reunited with their souls. The judgement that takes place after this resurrection is referred to as the “last judgement” or the "final judgement’. Prior to this last judgement, **only our souls **are in heaven, hell or purgatory.

In Catholic teaching, the first judgement we will experience takes place at the time of our death; it is referred to as the “particular judgement”. Whereas our particular judgement is private, the last judgement will be public - everyone will be present. Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 25:32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,…25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

How could people come out of the tombs if they are already in heaven or hell?

As I mentioned at the start – prior to the final resurrection, only our souls will be in heaven or hell. Our bodies will still be dead and buried in our tombs. At the end of the world, God by His almighty power, will raise our **bodies **from their tombs and reunite them to our souls.

I’m not familiar with JW theology. Do they believe man is composed of both a physical body and a spiritual (immaterial) soul? Catholics do, and that comes into play when we speak of a particular (private/personal) judgement immediately after death and another general (public) judgement after our bodies are resurrected and reunited with our souls. At death, our soul leaves our body. The soul is the principle of life for the body. When it leaves, our body dies.

All those in Hell, will they come out and be judged again just to be thrown back into hell

Yes. But this time their body as well as their soul.

and those in heaven will they be judged again just to go back to Heaven?

Yes. Again, their body as well as their soul. Acts 24:15 “having a hope in God which these themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.”

It would probably help to read the Catechism section regarding
“The Particular Judgement” (paragraphs 1021 & 1022 vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2L.HTM ) and
“The Last Judgement” (paragraphs 1038-1041 vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2P.HTM ). The footnotes will reference pertinent Scripture passages.

 

[LennyFL]

Thank you! These answers helped me a lot. I find it easier to except the teachings of the Catholic Church because it tends to take the whole Bible into account and not just few key scriptures to explain the rest of the Bible. I actually didn’t think i would find the answers to the questions i just asked but I am glad to know that the Church really does have the answers. This just reaffirmed my faith that the Church is drawing me. I am surprised to find out that John the Baptist was not dead when that scripture is quoted. I guess it was one of those things you have to read in context to figure out the true meaning.

Again Thank you and God Bless

 

[bzkoss236]

No one seems to have posted this yet.

[BIBLEDRB]1 Timothy 2:1-4[/BIBLEDRB]

God wills all to be saved.

 

[Phyllo]

Thank you! These answers helped me a lot. I find it easier to except the teachings of the Catholic Church because it tends to take the whole Bible into account and not just few key scriptures to explain the rest of the Bible. I actually didn’t think i would find the answers to the questions i just asked but I am glad to know that the Church really does have the answers. This just reaffirmed my faith that the Church is drawing me. I am surprised to find out that John the Baptist was not dead when that scripture is quoted. I guess it was one of those things you have to read in context to figure out the true meaning.

Again Thank you and God Bless

Hi,

If you don’t have one already get yourself a Catholic Bible and put aside the NWT. I would recommend either the RSV-CE or the Douay Rheims:thumbsup: