why is the jehovah witness group wrong in their beliefs?

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god_believer:
why is it that jehovah witnesses are wrong and why?
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They don’t believe that Jesus was the Divine Son of God.
They don’t believe that the Holy Spirit is God.
They believe that only 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses go to heaven.
They don’t believe that our souls are eternal.
They believe that all religions other than theirs are controlled by Satan.
They believe that Armegeddon will happen very soon and everyone who ISN’T a faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses will be destroyed.
They have made COUNTESS predictions throughout their brief history… not of which have come true. (See Duteronomy 18:20,21)
They believe that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon.
They believe their translation of the Bible is the most accurate.
They believe that God wants us to call Him Jehovah.
They believe that celebrating Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Birthdays, Valentines Day is evil.

They are wrong because all of their beliefs stem from the imagination of one man - Charles T. Russell - a self proclaimed “prophet of God.”
 
Just for starters:
They deny the Trinity
They wrote their own Bible (the new world translation) to support their beliefs
They deny Mary’s perpetual virginity
They deny that Christ rose in his human body
They deny heaven (for anyone other than 144,000 - everyone else stays on earth forever)
They deny Hell
They deny Purgatory
They deny Jesus’ divinity
They deny the Eucharist
And on and on and on…
For more info, go to Jeff’s site (he’s an exjw and a member here.
catholicxjw.com/fundamentaldoctrine.html
 
Also, they believe that Jesus is St. Michael the Archangel.
 
I read somewhere once that they believed Jesus was killed on a wooden pole, not a cross. Is this a true belief of theirs? What evidence do they have to support it if so? Or what argument do they use to support it?
 
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Gnosis:
I read somewhere once that they believed Jesus was killed on a wooden pole, not a cross. Is this a true belief of theirs? What evidence do they have to support it if so? Or what argument do they use to support it?
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As far as I know, it is a belief they hold. Absolutely no idea why they hold it, especially in light of the fact that the Romans crucified people but didn’t (as far as I know) nail them to vertical poles.
 
Kristina P.:
As far as I know, it is a belief they hold. Absolutely no idea why they hold it, especially in light of the fact that the Romans crucified people but didn’t (as far as I know) nail them to vertical poles.
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One of the agruments they use for never wearing crosses or having any crosses whatsoever in their Kingdom Halls is that if Jesus were killed today by a corrupt government it might be by electric chair and how freaky (in their opinion) would it be to hang a little electric chair around your neck or have a display of an electric chair in your church?

And it’s true, they don’t believe he was crucified on a cross, but rather a stake.
 
Someone told me recently that they have upped the number to be saved from 144,000 to 3 million. Presumably they now have more than 144,000 members and have a problem with that.
 
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steve99:
Someone told me recently that they have upped the number to be saved from 144,000 to 3 million. Presumably they now have more than 144,000 members and have a problem with that.
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They still believe that only 144,000 will go to heaven - those spots are already filled… but you are right, there are more Jehovah’s Witnesses than that and so they believe this “great crowd” will live forever in paradise on earth after the Battle of Armegeddon.
 
carol marie:
One of the agruments they use for never wearing crosses or having any crosses whatsoever in their Kingdom Halls is that if Jesus were killed today by a corrupt government it might be by electric chair and how freaky (in their opinion) would it be to hang a little electric chair around your neck or have a display of an electric chair in your church?

And it’s true, they don’t believe he was crucified on a cross, but rather a stake.
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The cross is a stumbling block for those who don’t believe. It was a shameful and “freaky” thing back in Jesus’ day, as much as an electric chair is today! I don’t imagine that anyone in the early Church was thinking, “Man, isn’t it great that our teaching that God Himself was crucified is such a comfortable and easy doctrine for people to accept? Won’t it make such a popular symbol?”
The argument you mention seems more like an argument for using the cross as a symbol. As the Bible says, God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
 
I think there’s tremendous value in using the cross as a symbol. Its taking what was previously a symbol of defeat, destruction and death and turning it into one of victory, love and life. There’s an irony about it that makes you think, just as there is an irony in the notion that through death death was defeated.
 
Jehovah’s witnesses say the cross was actually a pagan sex symbol. :eek:

I have some of their literature, which shows pictures of Christ on a “torture stake”, rather than a cross.
 
Interesting picture, Chris.
Notice the ONE NAIL, in the WRISTS, not the HANDS, in contradiction to the following passage:
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John 20:25** So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Also notice the sign above HIS HANDS, in contradiction to the following pasage:
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Matthew 27:37** And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”
 
At His Feet:
Interesting picture, Chris.
Notice the ONE NAIL, in the WRISTS, not the HANDS, in contradiction to the following passage:
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John 20:25** So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Also notice the sign above HIS HANDS, in contradiction to the following pasage:
**
Matthew 27:37** And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.”
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The new world translation says the same thing as well. It’s one of the many places it contradicts watchtower doctrine. 😃

Another place in that same chapter is where Jesus appears to them, making it clear that he is resurrected in the flesh - something the watchtower doesn’t believe. they say Christ was resurrected in a spirit form, rather than a physical one.
 
That it was actually Christ’s body that was raised, and not “done away with”, as JWs claim:
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John 2:19-21** Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?"But he spoke of the temple of his body.(RSV)

** John 2:19-21** In answer Jesus said to them: “Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Therefore the Jews said: “This temple was built in forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was talking about the temple of his body.(NWT)
 
carol marie:
One of the agruments they use for never wearing crosses or having any crosses whatsoever in their Kingdom Halls is that if Jesus were killed today by a corrupt government it might be by electric chair and how freaky (in their opinion) would it be to hang a little electric chair around your neck or have a display of an electric chair in your church
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Probably no freakier than to have a cross, which is more gruesome than an electric chair.

And the Church will begin all its prayers the “Sign of the Electric Chair” 😃 Just sit on the air for a second or two then shudder. 😃

We preach Christ crucified. His death means life for us, so we cherish the instrument with which it came about.
 
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Gnosis:
I read somewhere once that they believed Jesus was killed on a wooden pole, not a cross. Is this a true belief of theirs? What evidence do they have to support it if so? Or what argument do they use to support it?
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Because they are selective in their interpretation of the Greek of the Bible and because they feel they are eliminating a pagan vestige introduced into Christianity. Incidentally, there is no particular reason that Christ could NOT have been crucified upon a pole; it is simply historically unlikely that this was the shape of the instrument he was nailed to. There are various artistic representations of the Crucifixion which use forms other than the '+"-shaped cross. The one I have seen personally resembled a capital “T”. Please keep in mind this was ONE artist’s representation of the Crucifixion, and represents a minority opinion. I am told there are even some historical artworks which show Christ on a simple pole.

So far as the Greek issue goes: ‘stauros’, the word used in several places in the Greek originals to the NT CAN mean simply an upright pole. Since the Romans call their method of execution ‘crucifixos’ (my Latin may be imprecise), meaning by way of a cross-shaped form, it is relatively easy to determine the likely actual shape of the cross used. Not to mention that we have ample description of the whole procedure from several extrabiblical sources, and even the remains of at least one person likely to have suffered death by crucifixion. C.T. Russell and Judge Rutherford simply engaged in speculation based upon the much more limited evidence at their disposal. Later proponents of the Watchtower doctrine have been stuck defending the idea. Most of the evidence suggests the “+” as the likeliest form of the cross.

So far as the ‘pagan’ roots of the tau-shaped cross: there is scarcely a geometic form or much of anything else for that matter which has not been associated with some pagan deity or practice. Are the Witnesses suggesting that Christ was crucified on a Totem pole? On an obelisk-shaped form, in honor of the Egyptian deities? Upon a phallic symbol, glorifying sexual wantoness? You see that moving Christ from a tau-shaped cross to a pole does not escape the problem of pagan associations. The fact is that crucifixions originally were done directly onto trees; when the Romans decided to mass-produce the procedure, they adopted simplified forms which best replicated the effect they were seeking.
 
They were founded by C.T. Russell(1852-1916). He came to reject the doctrine of eternal punishment, to believe that the second coming of Christ had taken place in 1874 and to expect the end of the world in 1914. If you want to study more in depth the wrong teachings of this cult not to mention their ignorance regarding church history and the teachings of the Early Church Fathers have a look at www.catholicapologetics.net
 
The WT Society’s argumentation on the cross depends on:
  1. A line of reasoning that takes into account a limited amount of evidence. In the case of the cross it depends on a concentration on the etymology of the Greek word “stauros”. They are right to say that, from an etymological viewpoint only, it means “stake”. But an etymological-only consideration of words can be deceiving; consider for example the number of valid meanings that the simple English words “cast” or “draw” can have. What needs to be taken into account is the actual historically-current usage of the word, which the article I link to below delves into. Also consider common usage - today we use the word “telephone pole”, but telephone poles frequently have cross-pieces. The use of the word “pole” does not rule out that it may have a cross piece.
  2. Ignoring early Christian extra-Biblical writing on the subject. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, The Epistle of Barnabas, and Tertullian all evidence in their writngs that the early Christians understood the “stauros” to be a cross. Not to mention Jerome who translated the Greek “stauros” into the Latin “crux”.
  3. Selective quoting of isolated modern era reference works. They depend heavily on passages from WE Vine’s “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” and an appendix item in EW Bullinger’s “Companion Bible”, but ignore the other mass of scholarly work that testifies that it was a cross.
  4. Additionally, they will say that there is “no Biblical evidence” that “stauros” was cross-shaped. The passages that I quoted above from John 20:25 and Matthew 27:37, however, would favor a cross.
One of the most thorough refutations of the WT Society’s position on the cross that I’ve ever read was posted on a JW discussion forum by an amateur researcher, here:
jehovahs-witness.com/10/92381/1.ashx
IMO, the piece written by this anonymous woman deserves to be printed in booklet form, or at least have it’s own web page, for the benefit of people who are struggling with this issue.
 
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