I always get the two mixed up and I know I could search it on google but I’d prefer to hear it from a Catholic perspective. So what’s the difference between mormons and jehovahs witnesses (other than jehovah’s witnesses love to come and witness to me at home on Saturday at 9am)?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was established when a young man named Joseph Smith professed to have visions and revelations which allowed him to “restore” the true church. He was the first “Prophet” and president of that church, widely called “Mormon” because Joseph’s first revelations centered around the unveiling of aadditional book of scripture called the Book of Mormon.
After Smith’s death, his own visions and revelations were collected into two additional books of Scripture. So, Mormons, or LDS, have 4 books of Scripture: the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.
Mormons are very mainstream, conservative, and American in their outlook. They are probably hard to distinguish from traditional Catholics or Evangelical Christians. They are easygoing and put a lot of stress on freeagency. So their missionaries probably aren’t going to be as pushy or obnoxious.
Mormon beliefs are a pretty good deal off from Catholicism: they use Christian sounding language, but their theology diverges from historic Christianity in many ways.
Jehovah’s Witnesses began after the peak of the Second Adventist movement in America, in the 1870’s. Charles Taze Russell began as a bible teacher, his followers initially calling themselves the International Bible Students Association. The organization may have had American roots, as others have said, but it quickly became popular in Europe as well as America.
Russell’s stock-in-trade was setting dates for the Second Comming. His first dates were seriously wrong. His third attempt to discern the date of Christ’s return coincided with the First World War. This is important because this war was so traumatic that it seemed as if the end of the world was near. This led to a huge growth in the Bible Students.
Unfortunately, Russell died before the war ended. His leadership was taken over by a fellow named Ratherford. Rutherford took what Russell had established and built on it. In the years before WWII, the Bible Students were stridently anti-Catholic, antiwar, and anti-patriotic. Basically, Rutherford created in his followers a bunker mentality and a persecution complex which made them rather insular and a bit oppositional to outsiders.
To a great extent, the Witnesses retain this somewhat paranoid culture to this day. They lack a lot of the warmth of the LDS, and take pride in being a “people-apart” from others.
Hope this helps
npatrol:
No. To set foot in the temple after it’s dedicated, you need a “temple recommend”, given after interview with the bishop and stake president. You don’t have to be married for all eternity.