How do Jehovah's Witnesses defend the claim that they are Christian?

Answer 1

Answer

Jehovah's Witnesses follow the same Old and New Testament as Christians, though they do so with important deviations from mainstream Christian thought.

One significant doctrinal difference echoes schisms in the early councils convened by Constantine in Nicea and elsewhere. This is around whether Jesus of Nazareth was a created, though divine, being or the eternal Son of God. The early mainstream church decided Jesus was truly God and evicted the supporters of Arius from the church.

The Catholic Church to this day chants the lesson from those debates. The Nicene creed relates that Jesus was " begotten, not made, " to remind its followers of the decision of the councils.

Jehovah's Witnesses take the opposite point of view and claim that Jesus was the archangel Michael, a lesser being to God.

Are they Christians?

Mainstream Christians claim the right to define the true faith, and Jehovah's Witnesses are classified by most as heretics, thus not Christian.

The Jehovah's Witnesses follow Christian teachings, and even take a similar approach to the mainstream church by claiming that theirs is the only true faith and all others are wrong.

View of a Jehovah's WitnessIn Presbyterian Life of January 20, 1951 Elton Trueblood suggested that in their ministry, Jehovah's Witnesses follow the pattern of the early Christians. AnswerChristian means "Follower of Christ"... since JW's profess to believe in Christ and follow Christ's commandment found at Matthew 28:19,20 and Matthew 24:14 then the answer would be YES. Do you believe they are right?? Perhaps not but that doesn't mean they are not Christian it just means you don't agree with them.

Answer 2

Christian Definition (noun) - A person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings.

By that definition, Jehovah's Witnesses are lumped into Christianity in Demographics.

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus was the son of God, that he was a divine spirit being that came to Earth, gave up his human life as a sacrifice, was thus resurrected, is ruling in heaven as King of God's Kingdom. These are all things most Christian religions teach.

They also believe that it is essential to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and to exercise faith in that ransom sacrifice in order to gain salvation.

The main area that they differ from mainstream Christianity is in the teaching of the trinity, as they do not believe the Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all the same person. This difference of view among Christians is not new though. It was the central discussion for the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, when this idea of the nature of the son of God, being the same entity as the Father, thus co-equal and co-eternal, became an official creed of the church.