Many religious groups deemed as cults hold doctrinal views that go drastically beyond orthodox Christianity. JWs believe Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel and Mormons believe Jesus is “a” god, not God. Mormons also believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. When the person of Christ is demoted, it is no longer Christianity by definition. JWs as well as Mormons have rewritten the Bible to support these new dogmas. There are too many of their beliefs to go into in a comment, but the reasons they are called heretics by orthodox Christians is because they have created “a different gospel” (Galatians 1) with these distortions. I have never met a Christian who hated JWs, but I know most would not be able to congregate with them as they are not worshipping the same god.
I am a Christian with orthodox beliefs and I have been in mosques (not during worship) and have enjoyed meals and fellowship with Muslims. But my conscience and devotion to Jesus Christ would not allow me to worship with them and pretend that we are worshipping the same God. Of course, I do not hate them at all; I quite love them and their hospitality has been the best I have ever experienced. But we are not of the same faith. I believe it is the same with JWs.
I admire your spirit of openness and peace in visiting a Kingdom Hall.
I do believe there is some distinction between Muslims and JWs. For instance, Jews do not worship Jesus, and yet they do have the same God as Christians although they've rejected the son of God. There is a difference between worshiping a false God and having bad theology about the True God. I don't feel qualified enough to speak on whether Muslims do or do not worship the same Abrahamic God as we do, however I do know that JWs do not worship a false God -- they do have bad ideas about the Messiah, the son of God, and for this we should pray for them. But sound theology is for scholars -- not a prerequisite for saints. Our duty is to love God, follow his son, and love our neighbors -- JWs do all of this quite well. I disagree on how they think about the trinity, but I respect their attempts. It is sincere, and for that I do believe we will see many more JWs (and Mormons) at the feet of Jesus in heaven than might be suspected. Again, this just boils down to my belief that it's not sound theology, but a heart right with Jesus that saves a soul. Our brain can have it all wrong, but Jesus sees the heart nevertheless.
They have their own translation of the Bible and some of the verses don't read the same as the KJV. However, there are many translations of the Bible and arguments about which translation is a sincere translation and which is a "rewritten" Bible. I'm currently reading through the Jehovah's Witness version of the Bible and so far it's just a simpler rendition of scripture. I know there are a few verses that they've worded completely differently that people say point to JW trying to omit Jesus as God from scripture, and I've read those sections and can see how it might be perceived that way. However the translation is overall rather good and enjoyable to read, and doesn't feel much different than NIV, with maybe a little bit of a Hebraic/ Message vibe.
I have a very good friend, a young man in his 20s who left the JWs during COVID and found orthodox Christianity in the Anglican Communion. He would probably strongly correct you on many points.
I think you underplay the seriousness of the Trinitarian heresy in JW teaching. He told me that JWs teach that since God is one, there can be no second person (or third) in the Godhead - ie Unitarian. What’s worse than that is that JWs teach that Jesus is therefore the incarnation of the Archangel Michael. This is a wild assumption to make, far gone from any plain biblical reading, and far afield of many Protestant denominations. This is a far crazier idea than the universally (Catholic) accepted doctrine of the Holy Trinity. I hope you appreciate this point.
Also perhaps ‘cult’ is not a word you would appreciate, but ‘sect’ certainly is. For example, by the teaching of the JWs many of his family members are instructed not to talk to or have anything to do with my friend now because he left the fold for a ‘wrong’ church. Not all of them comply, but the emotional manipulation is quite strong.
Also the idea of a tiered heaven, with a certain group of elite to rule, is quite pernicious as your article alluded to by the feelings of the lady you interviewed.
Peace be with you, and beware.
P.S. As a side note I think their use of the Divine Name, (YHWH) and their seeming mispronunciation is imprudent. And ironic too, since they seem to be using a Latinised (Catholic!!!!! 😆) version of the name to interpret how to pronounce the Hebrew letters. Quite comical for a denomination that deplores Catholicism.
Of course there are many lovely JWs and may God be gracious to them, but the doctrine as taught by the Watchtower is bad. And bad doctrine warps the Gospel.
I'm by no means defending their doctrines or saying they don't have bad theology. But also most people who most hate them and think of them as a cult that I know are Protestant -- and Protestants have no authority by which to determine heresies unlike Orthodox Christians and Catholics. If anything, I can respect the JWs for their exemplary lifestyle (they do not fear death like many Protestants seem to do). I believe the stats though for JWs are 65% converts -- which means that very few people who are JWs were actually born JW, but chose to become JW in their adult years. I've heard that JW use fear and shame tactics to keep their members -- but I've heard this about EVERY denomination including Orthodoxy and Catholicism. If you sincerely believe your form of theology is the way, you will do all that is in your power to keep your loved ones on the "right" path.
Yes, I strongly disagree with how JWs think about theology, and think JWs would be better suited to Orthodoxy or Catholicism. I think this way about most Protestant groups. But I don't think JWs are any worse off for their bad theology. This might sound heretical to say, but I believe on judgement day God will look at our heart and at our actions, and pay less attention to our ideas about him. We're finite creatures, dumb and pitiful, unable to properly know the mysteries of Heaven. Without proper authority it's very easy to consume and believe heresies -- which is why it's extremely important to have an authoritative traditional church. But at least the JWs seemingly have a good heart, whereas many other flavors of Protestants might have "better" theology, but not very kind hearts.
Jehovah is actually found several times spelled as such in the KJV translation, which is where I think JWs get that version of YHWH from -- one such example is Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Nevertheless the point of my essay isn't to defend JWs bad theology as much as to tell all Christians to take a chill pill -- we have something to learn from JWs just as they do from us, and we're to love them into the fold. I hope that my essay might just be a sort of bridge between children of God, so that we might each experience deeper Charity and edification.
A model for how Christian groups (that have “issues” with other Christian religions) should treat each other … might be how Jesus treated Samaritans. They had 1) an altered “sacred scriptures,” they were 2) worshipping at the wrong place, but they were also 3) trying to worship the correct God correctly (though due to the altered scriptures they had, they were failing). And they too 4) were awaiting a Messiah.
Also, remember the 9 Jewish lepers who took their healing for granted, whereas the lone Samaritan leper showed appreciation.
And in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus chose to show the Jewish priests (his own religion), etc as cold hearted and “holier than thou” vs the attitude of the kindhearted Samaritan (who knew Jews viewed him as dirt). 🤔
Something to think about. The Body of Christ might be larger than we think, or the lines might not be drawn along denominational/doctrinal lines.
I just finished reading Matthew 20:1-16 about the “all day” vineyard workers who had a grudge because they got the same pay as the last hour workers. I wonder if there’s a larger lesson there?
“There is no other name under Heaven by which a man may be saved."
"Who do you say I am?”
I am convinced there will be no column for denomination in the Book of Life. There will be for “Washed in the blood of the Lamb.”
We should contend for truth as Scripture and the Holy Spirt gives us light. We should do so with grace and humility knowing that we have nothing that has not been given to us and cannot be given to another.
(I’d have posted a screenshot, but your settings don’t allow images in comments.)
This charts the use of the names “Jehovah” and “Yahweh” in literature since the year 1600 (Jehovah’s Witnesses got started in the 1880s, so this chart is very interesting.)
Heresies are usually about the persons of the Trinity, or Jesus' human and God natures. There is an excellent podcast, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy with Fr Andrew Stephen Damick (Orthodox priest) who explains (charitably and with lots of research) what each "church" believes and where they are congruent with or differ from the seven ecumenical councils that defined Christianity.
I agree on what you're saying here, but in order to determine what constitutes heresy one must accept the authority that defines heresy -- only the Orthodox and Catholic churches have such an authority. Protestants don't. Raised as a protestant, I could never see the reason why some Protestants would declare other protestant denominations "heretical" when their sole basis for "truth" is the Bible. Traditional heresies as is most universally understood can't usually be understood via sola scriptura methods, but need to be corroborated through authoritative traditional sources. I'll be sure to check out that podcast!!
I grew up Protestant, and i think the "canons" would be a mishmosh of the Ecumenical Councils +/- Calvin's Institutes +/- their denomination's founder. It sounds chaotic, but most protestant pastors would say, for instance, that Arianism or Universalism are heresies. It helps that the same heresies pop up every few centuries, repackaged, but still refutable the same way.
Yeah a lot of Protestant churches reject Ecumenical Councils and Calvin's Institutes, and then only lightly hold onto the views of the denomination's founders too. But generally, Arianism and Universalism are deemed "heretical" though it's hard to prove why. None of the churches I ever attended had a canon, and advised against reading anything other than the Bible
Fascinating article. I feel like I have gained understanding and compassion for a group that is often misunderstood.
I do have a comment about your last paragraph- not all Jews reject the divinity of Christ. Messianic Jews are Jews who fully retain their Jewish identity, while believing in Christ as their Messiah.
I myself am a Christian who is half-Jewish and have grown up regularly attending an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, so I have a pretty good idea of what Jews actually believe vs. what Christians believe and there are far more similarities than differences :-)
Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and are saved through faith in the Jewish Messiah. Remove Christianity from her Jewish roots and you have literally nothing. This explains the affinity many Christians have for our Jewish brothers and sisters.
I also am now involved in the Messianic Jewish community and personally know many Jews who do believe in the divinity of Jesus, while retaining all aspects of their Jewish identity.
You’re so deeply thoughtful and compassionate in everything you write, and I just wanted to make sure you were aware of these distinctions.
I am aware of those distinctions! I was raised Messianic (I'm not ethnically a Jew though) and I agree our Jewish roots are extremely important as long as the Messiah is recognized. I actually will be writing on this topic very soon as it's very dear to me!! I appreciate your comment . . . the only reason I didn't include Messianic Jews is that many Christians who support Jews but despise JWs don't do so on the basis of the Messiah, and I've countless times seen churches allow Jews who hate Jesus speak up front but then spurn JWs because JWs have a wacky belief about Michael being Jesus being the son of God. I don't agree that Michael is the son of God, but at least the JWs believe Jesus is the savior.
Oh amazing. I didn’t realize that your background was in the Messianic community. I can’t wait to read what you have to say about this topic.
I do have a comment on the fact that some churches “allow Jews who hate Jesus” to speak, while not allowing groups like JWs.
I would argue, based on my father being an observant Jew and thus being raised deeply immersed in Judaism, that the Jesus some Jews “hate” is not Jesus at all, but rather a poor caricature of Jesus as has been portrayed by Christians throughout the centuries. We have stories in our family history, as do all ethnic Jews, of our relatives and ancestors being murdered in the name of Christ.
In fairly recent history, during the Holocaust my relatives, mostly women and children, were rounded up into their synagogue by members of the local church and burned alive.
This echoes events of the Christian Crusades, in which Jews were also burned alive in synagogues by Christians carrying crosses and carrying out these atrocious acts “in the name of Jesus”.
Christian persecution of Jews is well documented and every single ethnic Jew has been personally affected by it in their family history. Thus I am not surprised or offended when Jews have suspicious or hostile attitudes toward Jesus. How could they not?
The fact that Jews would be willing to speak at churches is something to celebrate in my opinion!
Yes, I’m aware of this history — although many of the “christians” who killed Jews, also killed Christians who defended Jews. Quite a lot of Catholics for instance (and other christians) were killed during WWII in gaschambers for simply being “jew lovers”.
And honestly I see no issue with a Jew (or anyone speaking in church). I just think it’s hypocritical to allow the one and not the other, if that makes sense.
Thank you for being so open to JWs. I’ve had interesting conversations with them when they come door knocking and try and be as hospitable as possible.
My Mum’s pro tip for helping them to see that you’re a “lost cause” is to say “Yes! I’d love to talk about the second person of the trinity with you! It’s so lovely to meet brave people willing to evangelise and can I pray over you?” If they twig your Catholic they get outta dodge quick smart! Don’t want the old “whore of Babylon” after you!
I suspect that the "cult" label that has been applied is, in some respects, due to their social practices rather than their religious beliefs. What distinguishes a cult is whether and how members are granted agency, and if conformity is enforced in coercive ways. In the case of the JW's, of course, they differentiate themselves from mainstream society, which rubs mainstream-members the wrong way (the horror of not celebrating holidays and birthdays!). I don't have an opinion about their doctrines or belief, but alone those don't make a cult, they might make a (sub)culture. Another sticky issue is that, from what I understand, individual members are required to pay out of pocket for all the literature they distribute. I'm not sure if there are quotas involved, but what I recall hearing is that they're essentially "voluntold" to pay. Add that to strong social pressures that involve shaming or other emotional-tactics (not saying they do, but you might investigate ex-JW narratives to clarify) and you might be skirting the cult designation.
That's very interesting! Most ex members I know left as children, so they wouldn't know if they had to fill and pay quotas for material to hand out. I do know we were given things when we went to the church we visited (I took a Bible because I wanted to read their translation lol!!). But I think that was out of a common shelf, maybe paid for by the pastor or the congregation. I do think you're right though ... ppl who think others are cults usually do so because they are different, and if someone is different in a way that you're not used to then they're a cult to you (perhaps). I think their belief on blood transfusions makes a lot of people angry, and how they knock on doors. However I've always loved the door knocking and feel most Christians should employ that tactic. Also because of their ethos on ministering, they don't fear death and pick up hitchhikers at a high rate alongside Mormons, which I have a lot of respect for.
My wife had many discussions with a JW woman, and their main disagreement was that the JW claimed Jesus was not the son of God. Although the friendship continued for many months, we never agreed.
Thank you for your loving kindness towards the JWs. That stance is a good one, and we could all do with broadening our sometimes narrow parochial understandings of Christianity. All of us could benefit and be enriched in our faith and spirituality by appreciating the depth, breadth and height of the Christian traditions without necessarily abandoning our specific doctrinal distinctions.
I would encourage you to attend many varieties of Christian Churches and denominations to see how the Light of Christ has gone out into the world in many varied contexts and cultures.
However, there must always be boundaries to this ecumenism, which will be specific to our own Church or denomination. As mentioned previously in the comments, Islam is a good example of a strong boundary line for all Christians, as that religion clearly denies the divinity of Christ and warps, changes and retroactively reinterprets much of Holy Scripture to suit their own ends. Whilst it is good to be compassionate to Muslims, engaging with Islamic theology outside of a Christian apologetic will be largely unprofitable. Engaging with JW doctrine may be similar as they similarly deny the divinity of Christ and reinterpret or reject many universally accepted Christian beliefs.
But a loving stance and a godly truth-seeking is never a bad thing.
Thank you! I have actually been church hopping and writing about various churches and denominations for about five years now ... I started out as a "non-denominational" Protestant/ Messianic. When I started "church-hopping" i wasn't looking for a new church, but to make the point that all churches are basically the same lol. I didn't even know what High Church vs Low church meant. My first High church was an Episcopalian church. And then I discovered Orthodoxy, which blew my mind! I've since been to many flavors of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, various other high churches, and of course many, many protestant churches.
I think some people label them "cult" because of the door knocking. I would not label them as a cult any more than I would label the 2 dominant political parties. I could probably make a better argument against the latter.
I think it’s very cool that you are willing to go and meet people on their own ground and ask questions and listen to answers.
My family has a history with the JWs (my parents left when I was very young) and it did a lot of personal, relational and inter generational damage. I am comfortable calling JWs a cult based on how my family was treated, but of course that doesn’t mean every JW is a bad person. Still, I will never go anywhere near them (they will also keep pestering you once they perceive you as at all receptive, kind of like a bad date). My earliest memories of the “Kingdom Hall” are also of boredom and ugliness, and according to your account, the ugliness at least is unchanged (as a grown up you are no doubt more able to engage yourself in what is going on than I was as a 3 year old).
My immediate family’s experiences were over 40 years ago of course. Perhaps there has been some mellowing out.
I know quite a few ex-JWs. I'd say a large percentage of them say something along the lines of what you've just said; a few seem to to have ambivalent feelings though. However, I've noticed this to be a common theme among ex-members who leave any group or denomination. Usually people who leave their church do so for legit reasons, and often as not those reasons say something about their specific church and only a little about the denomination at large -- I'm thinking of ex-Amish, ex-Catholics, ex-baptists, etc when I say this. Not to justify any negative experiences one has in their church, but I think that has something to do with it. Although generally speaking, JW statistically don't keep their young and tend to mostly be adults who converted -- something both good and bad, but very interesting in that fact I think.
That is interesting that it’s mostly adult converts. One of my parents’ frustrations was that there was very little support or understanding of young families. They actually tried to do something for kids (puppet shows based on Bible stories) and it was shut down.
Oh, that’s so sad they’d shut it down. What a fun idea! Sometimes communities in general just aren’t open to fresh life or change, which really stinks if you want to grow!
This was an absolute joy to read, thank you for sharing this with us! I never quite had a solid picture of what the JW’s were, and this helped clear up a lot of their beliefs. I’ve also been raised in a church that doesn’t believe in the Trinity, and I agree: if it was true, it would be one of the most important aspects of Christianity, and there would be much more written about it. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for your sharing your experience in a charitable light. Years ago for work, I accompanied a client to the funeral of his friend who was JW. I remember the service was very somber and simple and we were both treated with respect. I think that's something that's surely lacking amongst Christians.
JWs are fun to talk to, always chatted with them during breaks in uni, and there is significantly less hate for them, unless you consider calling a sect a cult hate, than for LDS or evangelical thought - though I say this from having lived in LDS-prominent areas where they graciously put up with a lot of very uninformed skeptics and even apostates.
I agree that seminary level theology is unnecessary for a fair number of saints, but if theology leads you to love the wrong god, then it does not matter how pure or simple one's faith is, in fact, that probably worsens things. If you are commanded to make disciples, in the 21st century that will require using your mind. JW go about that honestly, but so do a lot of Christians - and they typically end up with reservations regarding more fringe beliefs. For that reason, refusal to reinvent the wheel is not a fault of Protestant theology; assuming that because scholars use Catholic forebearers without agreeing on the hierarchy means they have no reason to place certain beliefs outside of orthodoxy just further divides people. Most denominations would admit to closer relation with Catholicism than with LDS or JW, let alone Judaism or Islam. Which is worth noting, since in the US, LDS teaching and hierarchy are more suited to the people and land, their member behaviour is exemplary, and their cosmology is amenable to pretty much anyone regardless of whether or not they convert. Based solely on behaviour and worship practice, no one should care what they believe about the divine. That said, it was not until the Millennial generation that they made a point to ditch distinctions from Christians, and anyone from that age cohort or older can remember.
Fascinating article, and I enjoyed hearing your experience with the church service and the fellowship. (I’ve always wanted to experience that, so I enjoyed it vicariously.) I’ve had experience with JW‘s coming to my door and evangelizing me in the past. My experience: they are usually not well-educated, come from troubled backgrounds, and tend to repeat Watchtower litany and answers to issues on the Trinity, the New World Translation, salvation, the name, Jehovah, etc.
What I didn’t see in your article was an explanation of their understanding of salvation. My sense is they have kind of a works-based salvation and then of course they do have these hierarchies in the Kingdom. Most would say they are not eligible to be in the 144,000.
You also didn’t mention their end times prophecies, the Watchtower put out I think a pamphlet entitled 1914 and subsequent years trying to predict the end of the world.
You also lopped together JW‘s, the Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists. In my opinion, these groups are not orthodox – meaning, they hold unorthodox or heterodox opinions about Christ-centered doctrine. The Mormons are clearly not Christian and should not be thought of as a Christian denomination, though they used Christian language here and there. And the Seventh-day Adventists and JW‘s, while more aligned with the Protestant orthodox doctrine, deviate in subtle but severe ways. I don’t, therefore, think they are in the family. Now, you could say at this point some similar things about some of the liberal mainline denominations. The difference, though, is historically these groups hold to the orthodoxy. It’s just their current practice that deviates. That’s not true with the JW‘s and the seventh days- they started their theology off aberrantly, ab initio.
Yes, so my church-hopping articles are mostly focused on seeing what people are like in their environment. I'm not actually looking to prove them incorrect or righteous per se, but to "humanize" them in the sense that I want to show how they're not all that different. I did ask about some of those things you mentioned though... They believe Jehovah saves, and that salvation is secured through the sacrifice of Jesus. They don't believe in the Trinity as most Christians do, but they do identify as Christians -- Christ followers. I'm currently reading through the NWT Bible and don't have enough thoughts yet to expound on it, except that I'm enjoying it. I don't care about any church's end time prophecies -- all churches have a mix of them. Most JW who I talked to told me that it was preferable to not be among the 144,000 -- it was a knowledge you had though directly from Jehovah, and meant you'd rule over earth in heaven. Most JW say they don't want to be a ruler in heaven though, but to live an earthly life as peasants/ children of Jehovah.
I didn't loop in those three denominations as "comparable" in the sense of their theology, but just in the sense that they often get called cults for various reasons. I disagree with some of their theology, agree with some of it. I don't think bad theology sends someone to hell though -- that's a work-based belief. The only thing that saves is Jesus, and when Jesus saves he looks at the heart of a man, not at his beliefs.
Furthermore, while JW may be very wrong about a lot of things, it's easy for Protestants (who I mostly write for) to get on a slippery slope when they start to talk about "orthodoxy" and heresies. Protestant churches have not consistent authority for basing what is or isn't a heresy and what is Orthodox, especially when it concerns the Trinity. Protestants who claim to be sola scriptura can't agree with the Bible alone on crucial biblical doctrines. It is forgivable in my estimate that some Protestants in their attempt to be purely Sola Scriptura will try to ditch any doctrines that dont' seem to be detailed in the Bible. People say the JW remove any instance of the holy spirit/ Trinity from the Bible -- but the truth is, without tradition authority, a Protestant can't prove the Holy Spirit/ Trinity with ANY Bible. And JW don't require that you just read NWT. I know a few who read KJV and it's not forbidden.
Basically every Protestant group has schismed from another church, becoming less "Orthodox". Lutherans and Anglicans from Catholics, ditching only a few dogmas, and then on down the line to SDA, JW, and Mormons, and even modern mega churches. It's hard to find Orthodoxy in most churches, and hard to argue for it -- because by whose authority does anyone determine what is Orthodox now? Without the Catholic church it has become impossible.
My understanding was that JW don’t believe in the Trinity. Which makes them a huge outlier in Christian denominations, and definitionally means they are worshiping a different God than Trinitarians.
I’ve met some very nice JW. But their beliefs are distinctly different in many ways.
As far as cults, I don’t know about the JW, but because Mormons are so helpful and supportive as a community when you are a member, and that support disappears when you leave, it can be very hard for people to leave.
I've gotten mixed messages from JW, and even from their website, on what they think about the Trinity. Of course they reject the label as it's not a "scriptural" label. I do think that everyone can probably agree that their theology on the Trinity is bad. Although it's a hard thing to discuss -- because while Catholics, Orthodox, and to some extent, Lutherans and Anglicans have an authoritative source on how to determine the trinity and declare it a belief necessary to salvation, Protestant churches don't have that. In order to be purely sola scriptura it's nearly impossible to have strong feelings about the Trinity, and yet many Protestants try to, or simply avoid it since it is technically a "Catholic" doctrine.
And yes it's hard to leave any tight knit community be it Jewish, Amish, Mormon, or JW. I myself am not really sure what constitutes as a "cult", but either there it's an imaginary concept or far more people are a part of cults than we'd like to imagine.
I wish there was a word for the milder problem that wasn’t the same word (cult) for a group that imprisons its members through extreme psychological pressure or even force.
yeah, I feel like "misleading theology" is a better turn of phrase. Because at the end of the day they aren't really imprisoned either, just very misled. they are sincere and seemed very content and have a vibrant social life that many churches lack ... perhaps the devil is involved, though it might just be the pride of man to think he can discern and interpret scripture better than traditional authority can.
Many religious groups deemed as cults hold doctrinal views that go drastically beyond orthodox Christianity. JWs believe Jesus Christ is Michael the archangel and Mormons believe Jesus is “a” god, not God. Mormons also believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers. When the person of Christ is demoted, it is no longer Christianity by definition. JWs as well as Mormons have rewritten the Bible to support these new dogmas. There are too many of their beliefs to go into in a comment, but the reasons they are called heretics by orthodox Christians is because they have created “a different gospel” (Galatians 1) with these distortions. I have never met a Christian who hated JWs, but I know most would not be able to congregate with them as they are not worshipping the same god.
I am a Christian with orthodox beliefs and I have been in mosques (not during worship) and have enjoyed meals and fellowship with Muslims. But my conscience and devotion to Jesus Christ would not allow me to worship with them and pretend that we are worshipping the same God. Of course, I do not hate them at all; I quite love them and their hospitality has been the best I have ever experienced. But we are not of the same faith. I believe it is the same with JWs.
I admire your spirit of openness and peace in visiting a Kingdom Hall.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.” (Mt 5)
I do believe there is some distinction between Muslims and JWs. For instance, Jews do not worship Jesus, and yet they do have the same God as Christians although they've rejected the son of God. There is a difference between worshiping a false God and having bad theology about the True God. I don't feel qualified enough to speak on whether Muslims do or do not worship the same Abrahamic God as we do, however I do know that JWs do not worship a false God -- they do have bad ideas about the Messiah, the son of God, and for this we should pray for them. But sound theology is for scholars -- not a prerequisite for saints. Our duty is to love God, follow his son, and love our neighbors -- JWs do all of this quite well. I disagree on how they think about the trinity, but I respect their attempts. It is sincere, and for that I do believe we will see many more JWs (and Mormons) at the feet of Jesus in heaven than might be suspected. Again, this just boils down to my belief that it's not sound theology, but a heart right with Jesus that saves a soul. Our brain can have it all wrong, but Jesus sees the heart nevertheless.
Curious as to what you mean rewritten the Bible 🧐 in a literal sense? Do you have any examples?
They have their own translation of the Bible and some of the verses don't read the same as the KJV. However, there are many translations of the Bible and arguments about which translation is a sincere translation and which is a "rewritten" Bible. I'm currently reading through the Jehovah's Witness version of the Bible and so far it's just a simpler rendition of scripture. I know there are a few verses that they've worded completely differently that people say point to JW trying to omit Jesus as God from scripture, and I've read those sections and can see how it might be perceived that way. However the translation is overall rather good and enjoyable to read, and doesn't feel much different than NIV, with maybe a little bit of a Hebraic/ Message vibe.
Yup that’s what I’ve come to understand as well
Yes, they literally rewrote it. This may be useful to learn from:
https://www.gotquestions.org/New-World-Translation.html
I have a very good friend, a young man in his 20s who left the JWs during COVID and found orthodox Christianity in the Anglican Communion. He would probably strongly correct you on many points.
I think you underplay the seriousness of the Trinitarian heresy in JW teaching. He told me that JWs teach that since God is one, there can be no second person (or third) in the Godhead - ie Unitarian. What’s worse than that is that JWs teach that Jesus is therefore the incarnation of the Archangel Michael. This is a wild assumption to make, far gone from any plain biblical reading, and far afield of many Protestant denominations. This is a far crazier idea than the universally (Catholic) accepted doctrine of the Holy Trinity. I hope you appreciate this point.
Also perhaps ‘cult’ is not a word you would appreciate, but ‘sect’ certainly is. For example, by the teaching of the JWs many of his family members are instructed not to talk to or have anything to do with my friend now because he left the fold for a ‘wrong’ church. Not all of them comply, but the emotional manipulation is quite strong.
Also the idea of a tiered heaven, with a certain group of elite to rule, is quite pernicious as your article alluded to by the feelings of the lady you interviewed.
Peace be with you, and beware.
P.S. As a side note I think their use of the Divine Name, (YHWH) and their seeming mispronunciation is imprudent. And ironic too, since they seem to be using a Latinised (Catholic!!!!! 😆) version of the name to interpret how to pronounce the Hebrew letters. Quite comical for a denomination that deplores Catholicism.
Of course there are many lovely JWs and may God be gracious to them, but the doctrine as taught by the Watchtower is bad. And bad doctrine warps the Gospel.
I'm by no means defending their doctrines or saying they don't have bad theology. But also most people who most hate them and think of them as a cult that I know are Protestant -- and Protestants have no authority by which to determine heresies unlike Orthodox Christians and Catholics. If anything, I can respect the JWs for their exemplary lifestyle (they do not fear death like many Protestants seem to do). I believe the stats though for JWs are 65% converts -- which means that very few people who are JWs were actually born JW, but chose to become JW in their adult years. I've heard that JW use fear and shame tactics to keep their members -- but I've heard this about EVERY denomination including Orthodoxy and Catholicism. If you sincerely believe your form of theology is the way, you will do all that is in your power to keep your loved ones on the "right" path.
Yes, I strongly disagree with how JWs think about theology, and think JWs would be better suited to Orthodoxy or Catholicism. I think this way about most Protestant groups. But I don't think JWs are any worse off for their bad theology. This might sound heretical to say, but I believe on judgement day God will look at our heart and at our actions, and pay less attention to our ideas about him. We're finite creatures, dumb and pitiful, unable to properly know the mysteries of Heaven. Without proper authority it's very easy to consume and believe heresies -- which is why it's extremely important to have an authoritative traditional church. But at least the JWs seemingly have a good heart, whereas many other flavors of Protestants might have "better" theology, but not very kind hearts.
Jehovah is actually found several times spelled as such in the KJV translation, which is where I think JWs get that version of YHWH from -- one such example is Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Nevertheless the point of my essay isn't to defend JWs bad theology as much as to tell all Christians to take a chill pill -- we have something to learn from JWs just as they do from us, and we're to love them into the fold. I hope that my essay might just be a sort of bridge between children of God, so that we might each experience deeper Charity and edification.
A model for how Christian groups (that have “issues” with other Christian religions) should treat each other … might be how Jesus treated Samaritans. They had 1) an altered “sacred scriptures,” they were 2) worshipping at the wrong place, but they were also 3) trying to worship the correct God correctly (though due to the altered scriptures they had, they were failing). And they too 4) were awaiting a Messiah.
Also, remember the 9 Jewish lepers who took their healing for granted, whereas the lone Samaritan leper showed appreciation.
And in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus chose to show the Jewish priests (his own religion), etc as cold hearted and “holier than thou” vs the attitude of the kindhearted Samaritan (who knew Jews viewed him as dirt). 🤔
Something to think about. The Body of Christ might be larger than we think, or the lines might not be drawn along denominational/doctrinal lines.
I just finished reading Matthew 20:1-16 about the “all day” vineyard workers who had a grudge because they got the same pay as the last hour workers. I wonder if there’s a larger lesson there?
A statement and a question:
“There is no other name under Heaven by which a man may be saved."
"Who do you say I am?”
I am convinced there will be no column for denomination in the Book of Life. There will be for “Washed in the blood of the Lamb.”
We should contend for truth as Scripture and the Holy Spirt gives us light. We should do so with grace and humility knowing that we have nothing that has not been given to us and cannot be given to another.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Jehovah%2C+Yahweh&year_start=1600&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false
(I’d have posted a screenshot, but your settings don’t allow images in comments.)
This charts the use of the names “Jehovah” and “Yahweh” in literature since the year 1600 (Jehovah’s Witnesses got started in the 1880s, so this chart is very interesting.)
Thanks for sharing!
Indeed.
Heresies are usually about the persons of the Trinity, or Jesus' human and God natures. There is an excellent podcast, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy with Fr Andrew Stephen Damick (Orthodox priest) who explains (charitably and with lots of research) what each "church" believes and where they are congruent with or differ from the seven ecumenical councils that defined Christianity.
I agree on what you're saying here, but in order to determine what constitutes heresy one must accept the authority that defines heresy -- only the Orthodox and Catholic churches have such an authority. Protestants don't. Raised as a protestant, I could never see the reason why some Protestants would declare other protestant denominations "heretical" when their sole basis for "truth" is the Bible. Traditional heresies as is most universally understood can't usually be understood via sola scriptura methods, but need to be corroborated through authoritative traditional sources. I'll be sure to check out that podcast!!
I grew up Protestant, and i think the "canons" would be a mishmosh of the Ecumenical Councils +/- Calvin's Institutes +/- their denomination's founder. It sounds chaotic, but most protestant pastors would say, for instance, that Arianism or Universalism are heresies. It helps that the same heresies pop up every few centuries, repackaged, but still refutable the same way.
Yeah a lot of Protestant churches reject Ecumenical Councils and Calvin's Institutes, and then only lightly hold onto the views of the denomination's founders too. But generally, Arianism and Universalism are deemed "heretical" though it's hard to prove why. None of the churches I ever attended had a canon, and advised against reading anything other than the Bible
Fascinating article. I feel like I have gained understanding and compassion for a group that is often misunderstood.
I do have a comment about your last paragraph- not all Jews reject the divinity of Christ. Messianic Jews are Jews who fully retain their Jewish identity, while believing in Christ as their Messiah.
I myself am a Christian who is half-Jewish and have grown up regularly attending an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, so I have a pretty good idea of what Jews actually believe vs. what Christians believe and there are far more similarities than differences :-)
Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and are saved through faith in the Jewish Messiah. Remove Christianity from her Jewish roots and you have literally nothing. This explains the affinity many Christians have for our Jewish brothers and sisters.
I also am now involved in the Messianic Jewish community and personally know many Jews who do believe in the divinity of Jesus, while retaining all aspects of their Jewish identity.
You’re so deeply thoughtful and compassionate in everything you write, and I just wanted to make sure you were aware of these distinctions.
I am aware of those distinctions! I was raised Messianic (I'm not ethnically a Jew though) and I agree our Jewish roots are extremely important as long as the Messiah is recognized. I actually will be writing on this topic very soon as it's very dear to me!! I appreciate your comment . . . the only reason I didn't include Messianic Jews is that many Christians who support Jews but despise JWs don't do so on the basis of the Messiah, and I've countless times seen churches allow Jews who hate Jesus speak up front but then spurn JWs because JWs have a wacky belief about Michael being Jesus being the son of God. I don't agree that Michael is the son of God, but at least the JWs believe Jesus is the savior.
Oh amazing. I didn’t realize that your background was in the Messianic community. I can’t wait to read what you have to say about this topic.
I do have a comment on the fact that some churches “allow Jews who hate Jesus” to speak, while not allowing groups like JWs.
I would argue, based on my father being an observant Jew and thus being raised deeply immersed in Judaism, that the Jesus some Jews “hate” is not Jesus at all, but rather a poor caricature of Jesus as has been portrayed by Christians throughout the centuries. We have stories in our family history, as do all ethnic Jews, of our relatives and ancestors being murdered in the name of Christ.
In fairly recent history, during the Holocaust my relatives, mostly women and children, were rounded up into their synagogue by members of the local church and burned alive.
This echoes events of the Christian Crusades, in which Jews were also burned alive in synagogues by Christians carrying crosses and carrying out these atrocious acts “in the name of Jesus”.
Christian persecution of Jews is well documented and every single ethnic Jew has been personally affected by it in their family history. Thus I am not surprised or offended when Jews have suspicious or hostile attitudes toward Jesus. How could they not?
The fact that Jews would be willing to speak at churches is something to celebrate in my opinion!
Yes, I’m aware of this history — although many of the “christians” who killed Jews, also killed Christians who defended Jews. Quite a lot of Catholics for instance (and other christians) were killed during WWII in gaschambers for simply being “jew lovers”.
And honestly I see no issue with a Jew (or anyone speaking in church). I just think it’s hypocritical to allow the one and not the other, if that makes sense.
Thank you for being so open to JWs. I’ve had interesting conversations with them when they come door knocking and try and be as hospitable as possible.
My Mum’s pro tip for helping them to see that you’re a “lost cause” is to say “Yes! I’d love to talk about the second person of the trinity with you! It’s so lovely to meet brave people willing to evangelise and can I pray over you?” If they twig your Catholic they get outta dodge quick smart! Don’t want the old “whore of Babylon” after you!
I suspect that the "cult" label that has been applied is, in some respects, due to their social practices rather than their religious beliefs. What distinguishes a cult is whether and how members are granted agency, and if conformity is enforced in coercive ways. In the case of the JW's, of course, they differentiate themselves from mainstream society, which rubs mainstream-members the wrong way (the horror of not celebrating holidays and birthdays!). I don't have an opinion about their doctrines or belief, but alone those don't make a cult, they might make a (sub)culture. Another sticky issue is that, from what I understand, individual members are required to pay out of pocket for all the literature they distribute. I'm not sure if there are quotas involved, but what I recall hearing is that they're essentially "voluntold" to pay. Add that to strong social pressures that involve shaming or other emotional-tactics (not saying they do, but you might investigate ex-JW narratives to clarify) and you might be skirting the cult designation.
That's very interesting! Most ex members I know left as children, so they wouldn't know if they had to fill and pay quotas for material to hand out. I do know we were given things when we went to the church we visited (I took a Bible because I wanted to read their translation lol!!). But I think that was out of a common shelf, maybe paid for by the pastor or the congregation. I do think you're right though ... ppl who think others are cults usually do so because they are different, and if someone is different in a way that you're not used to then they're a cult to you (perhaps). I think their belief on blood transfusions makes a lot of people angry, and how they knock on doors. However I've always loved the door knocking and feel most Christians should employ that tactic. Also because of their ethos on ministering, they don't fear death and pick up hitchhikers at a high rate alongside Mormons, which I have a lot of respect for.
My wife had many discussions with a JW woman, and their main disagreement was that the JW claimed Jesus was not the son of God. Although the friendship continued for many months, we never agreed.
Thank you for your loving kindness towards the JWs. That stance is a good one, and we could all do with broadening our sometimes narrow parochial understandings of Christianity. All of us could benefit and be enriched in our faith and spirituality by appreciating the depth, breadth and height of the Christian traditions without necessarily abandoning our specific doctrinal distinctions.
I would encourage you to attend many varieties of Christian Churches and denominations to see how the Light of Christ has gone out into the world in many varied contexts and cultures.
However, there must always be boundaries to this ecumenism, which will be specific to our own Church or denomination. As mentioned previously in the comments, Islam is a good example of a strong boundary line for all Christians, as that religion clearly denies the divinity of Christ and warps, changes and retroactively reinterprets much of Holy Scripture to suit their own ends. Whilst it is good to be compassionate to Muslims, engaging with Islamic theology outside of a Christian apologetic will be largely unprofitable. Engaging with JW doctrine may be similar as they similarly deny the divinity of Christ and reinterpret or reject many universally accepted Christian beliefs.
But a loving stance and a godly truth-seeking is never a bad thing.
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Thank you! I have actually been church hopping and writing about various churches and denominations for about five years now ... I started out as a "non-denominational" Protestant/ Messianic. When I started "church-hopping" i wasn't looking for a new church, but to make the point that all churches are basically the same lol. I didn't even know what High Church vs Low church meant. My first High church was an Episcopalian church. And then I discovered Orthodoxy, which blew my mind! I've since been to many flavors of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, various other high churches, and of course many, many protestant churches.
How wonderful. Amen.
I loved that ! Thankyou for those educational insights.
No matter the Denomination or group I always thank people for their work.
I was at the state fair today and some guys were handing out flyers. I always take one and read it and thank them for doing the lords work.
I think some people label them "cult" because of the door knocking. I would not label them as a cult any more than I would label the 2 dominant political parties. I could probably make a better argument against the latter.
- Sandy
I think it’s very cool that you are willing to go and meet people on their own ground and ask questions and listen to answers.
My family has a history with the JWs (my parents left when I was very young) and it did a lot of personal, relational and inter generational damage. I am comfortable calling JWs a cult based on how my family was treated, but of course that doesn’t mean every JW is a bad person. Still, I will never go anywhere near them (they will also keep pestering you once they perceive you as at all receptive, kind of like a bad date). My earliest memories of the “Kingdom Hall” are also of boredom and ugliness, and according to your account, the ugliness at least is unchanged (as a grown up you are no doubt more able to engage yourself in what is going on than I was as a 3 year old).
My immediate family’s experiences were over 40 years ago of course. Perhaps there has been some mellowing out.
I know quite a few ex-JWs. I'd say a large percentage of them say something along the lines of what you've just said; a few seem to to have ambivalent feelings though. However, I've noticed this to be a common theme among ex-members who leave any group or denomination. Usually people who leave their church do so for legit reasons, and often as not those reasons say something about their specific church and only a little about the denomination at large -- I'm thinking of ex-Amish, ex-Catholics, ex-baptists, etc when I say this. Not to justify any negative experiences one has in their church, but I think that has something to do with it. Although generally speaking, JW statistically don't keep their young and tend to mostly be adults who converted -- something both good and bad, but very interesting in that fact I think.
That is interesting that it’s mostly adult converts. One of my parents’ frustrations was that there was very little support or understanding of young families. They actually tried to do something for kids (puppet shows based on Bible stories) and it was shut down.
Oh, that’s so sad they’d shut it down. What a fun idea! Sometimes communities in general just aren’t open to fresh life or change, which really stinks if you want to grow!
This was an absolute joy to read, thank you for sharing this with us! I never quite had a solid picture of what the JW’s were, and this helped clear up a lot of their beliefs. I’ve also been raised in a church that doesn’t believe in the Trinity, and I agree: if it was true, it would be one of the most important aspects of Christianity, and there would be much more written about it. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for your sharing your experience in a charitable light. Years ago for work, I accompanied a client to the funeral of his friend who was JW. I remember the service was very somber and simple and we were both treated with respect. I think that's something that's surely lacking amongst Christians.
JWs are fun to talk to, always chatted with them during breaks in uni, and there is significantly less hate for them, unless you consider calling a sect a cult hate, than for LDS or evangelical thought - though I say this from having lived in LDS-prominent areas where they graciously put up with a lot of very uninformed skeptics and even apostates.
I agree that seminary level theology is unnecessary for a fair number of saints, but if theology leads you to love the wrong god, then it does not matter how pure or simple one's faith is, in fact, that probably worsens things. If you are commanded to make disciples, in the 21st century that will require using your mind. JW go about that honestly, but so do a lot of Christians - and they typically end up with reservations regarding more fringe beliefs. For that reason, refusal to reinvent the wheel is not a fault of Protestant theology; assuming that because scholars use Catholic forebearers without agreeing on the hierarchy means they have no reason to place certain beliefs outside of orthodoxy just further divides people. Most denominations would admit to closer relation with Catholicism than with LDS or JW, let alone Judaism or Islam. Which is worth noting, since in the US, LDS teaching and hierarchy are more suited to the people and land, their member behaviour is exemplary, and their cosmology is amenable to pretty much anyone regardless of whether or not they convert. Based solely on behaviour and worship practice, no one should care what they believe about the divine. That said, it was not until the Millennial generation that they made a point to ditch distinctions from Christians, and anyone from that age cohort or older can remember.
Fascinating article, and I enjoyed hearing your experience with the church service and the fellowship. (I’ve always wanted to experience that, so I enjoyed it vicariously.) I’ve had experience with JW‘s coming to my door and evangelizing me in the past. My experience: they are usually not well-educated, come from troubled backgrounds, and tend to repeat Watchtower litany and answers to issues on the Trinity, the New World Translation, salvation, the name, Jehovah, etc.
What I didn’t see in your article was an explanation of their understanding of salvation. My sense is they have kind of a works-based salvation and then of course they do have these hierarchies in the Kingdom. Most would say they are not eligible to be in the 144,000.
You also didn’t mention their end times prophecies, the Watchtower put out I think a pamphlet entitled 1914 and subsequent years trying to predict the end of the world.
You also lopped together JW‘s, the Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists. In my opinion, these groups are not orthodox – meaning, they hold unorthodox or heterodox opinions about Christ-centered doctrine. The Mormons are clearly not Christian and should not be thought of as a Christian denomination, though they used Christian language here and there. And the Seventh-day Adventists and JW‘s, while more aligned with the Protestant orthodox doctrine, deviate in subtle but severe ways. I don’t, therefore, think they are in the family. Now, you could say at this point some similar things about some of the liberal mainline denominations. The difference, though, is historically these groups hold to the orthodoxy. It’s just their current practice that deviates. That’s not true with the JW‘s and the seventh days- they started their theology off aberrantly, ab initio.
Thanks again for your article!
Yes, so my church-hopping articles are mostly focused on seeing what people are like in their environment. I'm not actually looking to prove them incorrect or righteous per se, but to "humanize" them in the sense that I want to show how they're not all that different. I did ask about some of those things you mentioned though... They believe Jehovah saves, and that salvation is secured through the sacrifice of Jesus. They don't believe in the Trinity as most Christians do, but they do identify as Christians -- Christ followers. I'm currently reading through the NWT Bible and don't have enough thoughts yet to expound on it, except that I'm enjoying it. I don't care about any church's end time prophecies -- all churches have a mix of them. Most JW who I talked to told me that it was preferable to not be among the 144,000 -- it was a knowledge you had though directly from Jehovah, and meant you'd rule over earth in heaven. Most JW say they don't want to be a ruler in heaven though, but to live an earthly life as peasants/ children of Jehovah.
I didn't loop in those three denominations as "comparable" in the sense of their theology, but just in the sense that they often get called cults for various reasons. I disagree with some of their theology, agree with some of it. I don't think bad theology sends someone to hell though -- that's a work-based belief. The only thing that saves is Jesus, and when Jesus saves he looks at the heart of a man, not at his beliefs.
Furthermore, while JW may be very wrong about a lot of things, it's easy for Protestants (who I mostly write for) to get on a slippery slope when they start to talk about "orthodoxy" and heresies. Protestant churches have not consistent authority for basing what is or isn't a heresy and what is Orthodox, especially when it concerns the Trinity. Protestants who claim to be sola scriptura can't agree with the Bible alone on crucial biblical doctrines. It is forgivable in my estimate that some Protestants in their attempt to be purely Sola Scriptura will try to ditch any doctrines that dont' seem to be detailed in the Bible. People say the JW remove any instance of the holy spirit/ Trinity from the Bible -- but the truth is, without tradition authority, a Protestant can't prove the Holy Spirit/ Trinity with ANY Bible. And JW don't require that you just read NWT. I know a few who read KJV and it's not forbidden.
Basically every Protestant group has schismed from another church, becoming less "Orthodox". Lutherans and Anglicans from Catholics, ditching only a few dogmas, and then on down the line to SDA, JW, and Mormons, and even modern mega churches. It's hard to find Orthodoxy in most churches, and hard to argue for it -- because by whose authority does anyone determine what is Orthodox now? Without the Catholic church it has become impossible.
My understanding was that JW don’t believe in the Trinity. Which makes them a huge outlier in Christian denominations, and definitionally means they are worshiping a different God than Trinitarians.
I’ve met some very nice JW. But their beliefs are distinctly different in many ways.
As far as cults, I don’t know about the JW, but because Mormons are so helpful and supportive as a community when you are a member, and that support disappears when you leave, it can be very hard for people to leave.
I've gotten mixed messages from JW, and even from their website, on what they think about the Trinity. Of course they reject the label as it's not a "scriptural" label. I do think that everyone can probably agree that their theology on the Trinity is bad. Although it's a hard thing to discuss -- because while Catholics, Orthodox, and to some extent, Lutherans and Anglicans have an authoritative source on how to determine the trinity and declare it a belief necessary to salvation, Protestant churches don't have that. In order to be purely sola scriptura it's nearly impossible to have strong feelings about the Trinity, and yet many Protestants try to, or simply avoid it since it is technically a "Catholic" doctrine.
And yes it's hard to leave any tight knit community be it Jewish, Amish, Mormon, or JW. I myself am not really sure what constitutes as a "cult", but either there it's an imaginary concept or far more people are a part of cults than we'd like to imagine.
I wish there was a word for the milder problem that wasn’t the same word (cult) for a group that imprisons its members through extreme psychological pressure or even force.
yeah, I feel like "misleading theology" is a better turn of phrase. Because at the end of the day they aren't really imprisoned either, just very misled. they are sincere and seemed very content and have a vibrant social life that many churches lack ... perhaps the devil is involved, though it might just be the pride of man to think he can discern and interpret scripture better than traditional authority can.