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What are the reasons for most Christians not to accept Jehovah's Witnesses as Christians?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Most of the major churches of christendom define a christian as someone that accepts the teaching of the trinity; since neither the word nor the notion of a trinity is in the bible, Jehovah's Witnesses reject this teaching as non-biblical.
Jehovah's Witnesses accept Jesus as their Lord and King and recognise him as God's Son. They view him and the Chief agent by which mankind can have salvation, their ransomer and Leader. While they accept the biblical teaching that Jesus had a pre-human existence and is 'god-like' or of divine nature, they do not believe that he is Almigty God himself.
In obediance of this command at Matthew 28: 19, 20 they preach the good news and since 'christian' means follower of Christ attempt to follow his example in what they say and do.
For a detailed article on the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, see the link below.
AnswerSince to be a Christian is to be a 'Christ follower' then Jesus Christ is absolutely central to Christianity. As JW's reject the divinity of Jesus, along with their rejection of the trinity and many other central Christian doctrines they are not accepted by Christians as Christian.Despite many differences in doctrine among the various Christian churches a church which rejects the divinity of Jesus Christ could not be considered Christian. This is one item all Christians agree on. Even though this has been defined in numerous doctrinal statements through the centuries, its ultimate source is the Bible itself, which JW's explicitly alter to water down references to Jesus' divinity.
So, as a secondary, but nevertheless important point, Christians recognize the Bible to be inspired, although they define it in somewhat diverse ways. They do not believe to either deliberately tamper with the divine text or to inconsistently translate it or to mistranslate it is something that ought to be done. Further to this, they do not believe that the ways in which JW's interpret scripture to deny the divinity of Jesus are warranted.
Both the doctrine of the trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ are amply attested scripturally and so the JW's are not accepted as Christian, since they do not hold to Christian doctrine but their own.
AnswerMany of the Churches of Christendom define 'christian' not as "one that follows christ" but one that accepts the teaching of the trinity (that there is a three in one 'godhead' , Jesus being equal to his Father). Since neither the word trintiy nor the notion of a trinity is in the bible, Jehovah's Witnesses reject this teaching as unbiblical. This has lead some to erroneously conclude that Jehovah's Witnesses do not accept Jesus and are not christians. This could not be further from the truth. AnswerJehovah's Witnesses are not considered Christian simply because they do not hold to Christian doctrine. Since Christians are essentially 'Christ followers' a Christian cannot follow a God in which they do not believe.
The very command mentioned above contains the trinitarian formula 'in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.' Thus the JW's misquote and misapply one of the many verses which contradict their teaching. This same section (in v 18) also has Jesus saying 'all power is given unto me' yet only almighty God has 'all power' while a lesser being will have some power or mighty power indeed as even does Satan himself but never 'all power'. This identifies Jesus as almighty, not just 'a mighty god' as taught by JW's.
Jesus also taught 'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father' and 'I and the Father are one'. He used the 'I Am' of Exodus to refer to Himself, the same name the almighty and eternal God used of Himself, He also forgave sin and accepted worship, something which angels explicitly reject. All of these things point to Jesus divinity and the anti-biblical rejection of this teaching also destroys the atonement as almighty God did not become incarnated in human flesh to die for us but only a created being.
Thus it is not sufficient for Jehovah's Witnesses to assert they are Christians when they clearly do not believe what the Bible teaches and especially do not believe what the Bible witnesses about Jesus Christ, the very center of the Christian faith.
Additional InformationJW's can argue their point of teachings all day long. The truth is, a person isn't a Christian by believing the trinity doctrine. A Christian isn't someone who knows, or they know, the bible inside-out. Nor are they someone who does good deeds, or follows the biblical law to the letter (we're not Jewish). A Christian is someone who has a interactive personal relationship with the God.Follow the link below, 'Relationship with God'.
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∙ 12y ago
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Do jehovahs witnesses accept gift cards?
It would depend on the occasion. If you are giving as a wedding present, anniversary gift, baby shower gift, graduation, retirement - or just because you want to give a gift... these are acceptable. However, if they in celebration of a holiday that Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate - it would be inappropriate for you to give one.
How does a Jehovahs Witness accept muder of one of their loved ones?
They don't. The death of a loved one is always a painful experience, Jehovah's Witnesses, like anyone are totally devestated when a loved on is murdered. Unfortunately they recognise violent crimes as a part of life so they look to God for comfort.
Should you give a card to a Jehovah's witness for the birth of their child?
Yes you can give a witnesses a card; whether the witnesses will chose to accept it will depend on several factors. Since Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays (or other celebrations they deem as 'pagan') if this has previously been explained the witness may or may not choose to accept the card if it is for one of these occassions. He or she may accept the card in the spirit it was given, explaining the above or may chose not to accept the card. If the card is for another occassion that the witnesses finds unobjectionable they will likely accept it with thanks.
Do Jehovah's Witnesses accept resuscitation efforts in a hospital setting?
Yes.
Why were the Christians in Jerusalem hesitant to accept Paul?
Because before his epiphany he was known to them as a persecutor of Christians
Are jehovas witnesses christian?
Jehovah's Witnesses indeed claim that they are Christians. Jehovah's Witnesses are "followers of Christ", implying that even if they don't claim to be Christians (which they/we do), they would be anyway. Jehovah's Witnesses indeed claim to be Christian. They accept Jesus as the son of God, being of divine nature. They believe he had a prehuman existence and came to earth to die for mankind's sins. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that there can be no salvation without accepting Jesus sacrifice and honour Jesus as their King and Leader. Since to be a 'christian' means to follow Jesus' example and obey him, they preach the bible in imitation of their leader Jesus, and try to be like him in word and deed. So, yes, Jehovah's Witnesses feel they have the right to be called Christian. Any 'confusion' that has arisen in this regard may be from the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus to be God's Son and not Almighty God himself. They reject the teaching of the trinity as unscriptural. == ==
How can Jehovah's Witnesses allow and accept Unscriptural Divorce while condemning it Is this not Hypocrisy?
I think that's 2 questions not one question. (You forgot the 'period' after the word 'it'.)Truth be told - - We (Jehovah's Witnesses) do NOT allow nor accept 'unscriptural divorce'. We only allow and accept 'scriptural divorce'.
Do Jehovahs witnesses have chemothrapy?
Of course. We seek medical attention. There's no Bible directive against medical help. The only exceptions are: a) using blood as a medical tool. We even accept transfusions, just not of blood. b) abortion. As far as chemotherapy; or any other medical proceedure (ie: which particular surgery proceedure to pursue) - - individuals may have their own personal preferance, or personal objection to some form of medical treatment - - but that would be completely personal, for whatever reasons or lack of reasons they might have; perhaps after consulting with a doctor or a number of specialists. (We have a number in our congregation who've had chemotherapy.)
Should Christians accept the Bible as a word of God?
yes
Why did the Christians accept the sacraments?
The Sacraments are a Gift to us from Christ.
Who will Christians tolerate more Homosexuals Atheist Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses?
Mormons are one sect of Christians. They are tolerated quite a lot by some Christians and not at all by others.Atheists are just people. Most of them are tolerated well by Christians, and vice versa. There's always the odd one or two that can't accept a difference ("militant atheists", "militant Christians"), but they are hardly representative of the group.Homosexuals are defined as evil in the Bible (Old Testament), but many Christians have gotten over this, helped by Jesus' message of ignoring the silly rules and basing your faith on love, not on dogma (some also forget this part, but as above, the minority are not the true representatives).Jehovah's Witnesses are also Christians, and the same applies to them as to Mormons.Based on the above, it is entirely up to a specific Christian as to which will be tolerated more or less than the other groups.
Do jehovahs witnesses accept retirement gifts?
Yes indeed. We can't think of any Bible principle that might be violated. (My dad worked in a Winery; when he retired he got a watch, and a consignment of cases of wine; and every year till his death, he received an allotment of wine. JW's love wine.)
