What's the difference between Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses?

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Christianad2 said:
That is great. Abuse? I am just trying to make sure I follow the scriptures in Exodus 3:15 YHWH (Yahweh), where we are Instructed to use this name forever. Do you feel this is very important?
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Maybe start a “Use of YHWH exclusively” thread?
 
KathleenGee said:
Hi ChristianAD…

My mother opened her home to Jehovah Witnesses and their booklets. I would come into town and visit her, and likewise go through the booklets.

Every single booklet had an article with pictures of Catholics doing things and totally misrepresenting their actions. I went to the Catholic hospital here with a client and sat in an area to wait. Right next to me was another Watchtower magazine dissing Catholics.

One time our parish asked the JW’s across the street if we could borrow some space from their parking lot to assist parishioners and they flatly refused.

I was asked to join a Protestant prayer group on the psalms and when I said I was a Roman Catholic, the former Jehovah Witness looked at me with such contempt…and some other non-denominationals pulled back from me, and the leader told them it was a Catholic priest who led her to the Holy Spirit movement…but the group was then disbanded.

How I come to Christ in the Catholic Church fills me so much of Him that I do not need to be more or better Christian by dissing other religions. Our Church does not put out a magazine or ever mention anything about Jehovah Witnesses. You go to Mass and you never hear a priest put down anybody or Jehovah Witnesses.

How do you consolidate your practices with Christianity and spreading Christ? It seems your religions position is that you are the Christians, finally arriving 1800 years later, and coming out of America, so far from the Holy Land…with a great big gap of years and oceans. It would be a supernatural event, but alas, only the Jehovah Witnesses themselves and other Stone Campbell movement Restorationists of anti Catholic 1800 America do such.

I think somebody is steering you the wrong way and your positions are all reactionary based on false assumptions and lack of scriptural history…obtained by cherry picking.

I pray for you and many others caught up in these movements that are so totally in
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I could understand what you have went through, I am not here to speak about an organization I am here to speak about Bible truths and beliefs. I have had bad experiences with multiple religions including JW’s. I am pretty sure you can find a flaw in any organization with imperfect humans. The truth is in the scriptures…People that don’t have a good understanding of the scriptures usually contend that a person is cherry picking when scriptures are tied together or the person’s knowledge is extensive. People with more knowledge discuss the various topics that show the continuity of the bible. I suggest you continue reading, studying, and praying, and time will reveal if the Spirit of God is operative in your life.
 
Christianad2 said:
I suggest you continue reading, studying, and praying, and time will reveal if the Spirit of God is operative in your life.
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I had a Mormon say the same thing to me a few days ago.

The thing is, I see both of you as following the tradition of Mormonism, and I suppose it must be a tradition of JWs too. Fire up your own religion and call it God’s Truth. No one in 2000 years of Christianity has ever studied, prayed, or been led by the Holy Spirit except you! No one understand scripture as well as you!

How awesome is that?!?

:rolleyes:
 
Christianad2 said:
If that is how you feel I apologize, I personally Love God, and anything that oozes his kingdom, if someone quoted scripture he is a brother to me and I welcome him to my conversation. People are different, we respect the Word of God differently.

Either way I apologize if the scriptures of GOD have troubled you.
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:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

No, scriptures do not trouble me.

By the way, I didn’t ask if you would welcome someone quoting the Bible. I asked if that is what you do.

So I ask again, Do you walk up to people talking to each other and just start quoting the Bible?

The point is, we are having a conversation about the differences between Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses. YOU are having a side conversation about Bible quotes. You have in effect interrupted our conversation.
 
I am particularly interested in the American nature if both LDS and JWs. After all, both these religions were born here, and while they draw on Christianity and Judaism, I think they also have a wild character that comes from America. I couldn’t see, say, the Czechs, coming up with either, for instance.
 
JHow said:
I am particularly interested in the American nature if both LDS and JWs. After all, both these religions were born here, and while they draw on Christianity and Judaism, I think they also have a wild character that comes from America. I couldn’t see, say, the Czechs, coming up with either, for instance.
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Absolutely. They both originated in the Second Great Awakening in the burnt over district in New York in the early 1800s.

From Wiki:

*Western New York still had a frontier quality during the early canal boom, making professional and established clergy scarce, lending the piety of the area many of the self-taught qualities that proved susceptible to folk religion. Besides producing many mainline Protestant converts, especially in nonconformist sects, the area spawned a number of innovative religious movements, all founded by laypeople during the early 19th century. These include:

The Latter Day Saint movement (whose largest branch is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Joseph Smith, Jr. lived in the area and stated he was led by the angel Moroni to his source for the Book of Mormon, the golden plates, near Palmyra, New York.

The Millerites. William Miller was a farmer who lived in Low Hampton, New York, who preached that the literal Second Coming would occur “October 22, 1844.” Millerism became extremely popular in western New York State, and some views remain active in church organizations affilitiated with Adventism.

The Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York conducted the first table-rapping séances in the area, leading to the American movement of Spiritualism (centered in the retreat at Lily Dale and in the Plymouth Spiritualist Church in Rochester, NY) that taught communion with the dead.

The Shakers were very active in the area, with their first communal farm establishing in central New York.

The Oneida Society was a large utopian group that established a successful community in central New York that subsequently disbanded. It was known for its unique interpretation of group marriage which had mates chosen by committee and offspring of the community raised in common.
Very original and American indeed!!😃
 
When I was Protestant there was a popular apologetic work called “Kingdom if the Cults” by a guy named Walter Martin. It had discussions of Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, etc. The title of the book always stuck with me because what it meant, to a large degree, was that America was the Kingdom of the Cults.

Martin didn’t include JWs as a cult, but did describe their departures from orthodoxy.
 
JHow said:
When I was Protestant there was a popular apologetic work called “Kingdom if the Cults” by a guy named Walter Martin. It had discussions of Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, etc. The title of the book always stuck with me because what it meant, to a large degree, was that America was the Kingdom of the Cults.

Martin didn’t include JWs as a cult, but did describe their departures from orthodoxy.
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I read something similar called “The Four Major Cults”
JW’s and Mormonism were the fist two and then SDA and Church of Science.
Wow that was a long time ago, thanks for the memories.👍

God bless

jesus g
 
Christianad2 said:
I could understand what you have went through, I am not here to speak about an organization I am here to speak about Bible truths and beliefs. I have had bad experiences with multiple religions including JW’s. I am pretty sure you can find a flaw in any organization with imperfect humans. The truth is in the scriptures…People that don’t have a good understanding of the scriptures usually contend that a person is cherry picking when scriptures are tied together or the person’s knowledge is extensive. People with more knowledge discuss the various topics that show the continuity of the bible. I suggest you continue reading, studying, and praying, and time will reveal if the Spirit of God is operative in your life.
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That was incredibly condescending and rude. Perhaps if we could see Jesus in your life, you might be treated differently
 
To the OP: Here’s a big difference between the two:

Mormons aren’t as alienated and are much more open in society than JWs. Jehovah’s Witnesses are against blood transfusions, which can cause some scandal when that’s the only thing that will keep them alive.
 
Thanks, ChristianAD…and as you mentioned, you saw some off-base behaviors in your religion.

Point is that you are literally hooked into an organization that has no proof verifying it is the true Christian religion. And why I said 1800 years, is that this true Christianity came out of America in the mid-1800’s.

There is a big big big big big big big gap here.

And our universal Christian Catholic faith has been using ‘the records of the Apostles’ and their teachings and how they set us up in how to believe in Christ, how to worship HIm, what Scriptural books to use, and in which translation by 100 AD.

So what I am trying to infer to you is that your organization that pulled you into this orientation, making up things like the Catholic Church was created by Emperor Constantine — who was a pagan up to a few days before his death…Catholicism not Christian, does not know Scripture or use Scripture, etc. etc. etc…this organization you are in is not operating with a full deck.

They use disinformation and like any human being, the more often you hear the spin, the more inclined you believe it. We see this all the time with Christians that have severed all their roots with the Mother Church or those coming out of America in the 1800’s that really have a sense of entitlement to heaven and all virtues.

So I really encourage you to stay with us, don’t step out of line and be open to the Holy Spirit…following your Christian conscience to seek the truth…Jesus Christ alone is Truth…in what Christ has established and the truth about we Catholics, our faith and its history.

The Church was already set up with its four pillars – the books of Scripture and the writings of the apostles and other disciples, the form of worship in the liturgy, the episcopacy – bishop with prebyters…one head from the Jewish model of governing, and the Creed.

Do you know what the Creed is?
 
Christianad2 said:
Will do, would you like to join?
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I will follow that thread, I find this very interesting… I have not been posting but following the debate.

I think many others would weigh in on another thread but have not because they did not want to steer away from the OP
 
brian614 said:
I will follow that thread, I find this very interesting… I have not been posting but following the debate.

I think many others would weigh in on another thread but have not because they did not want to steer away from the OP
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Probably be a bit quieter now that Mr. Puffy has poofed.
 
JHow said:
To the OP, I think we can draw some big-picture similarities between these very different groups (LDS and JW)
  1. False understanding of Christ and his divinity
  2. Use and promotion bad “translations” of scripture, along with according scripture-like status to works authored by cult/sect leaders
  3. An anti-orthodox approach to church history wherein orthodox Christianity has apostatized early in, accompanied by the resulting anti-catholic sentiment
  4. A legacy of prophecies that fail to come true
  5. Lastly a particularly American approach to religion which marries piety to outlandish belief; a land where anything is possible, but loose morals are frowned upon (or used to be).
Other than that, I don’t see much in common with LDS and JWs.

What else?
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The way that their members go door to door and speak with you about their church and beliefs is very similar.

At least it has been in my experience.
 
Aaron_Creagh said:
The way that their members go door to door and speak with you about their church and beliefs is very similar.

At least it has been in my experience.
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Good point. I guess it depends on your neighborhood, because I have been un-bothered for many years. However, I did have a crazy dog that intimidated unfamiliar people. Once she got up on the car door before the lady distributing Watchtower tracts could get out the door. I came and grabbed the dog’s collar but she didn’t want to come out and talk after that.
 
JHow said:
Good point. I guess it depends on your neighborhood, because I have been un-bothered for many years. However, I did have a crazy dog that intimidated unfamiliar people. Once she got up on the car door before the lady distributing Watchtower tracts could get out the door. I came and grabbed the dog’s collar but she didn’t want to come out and talk after that.
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I know very little about JW’s beliefs…

What is the Watchtower? Sounds like something out of “Lord of the Rings”
 
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