A Witness to the Witnesses
6.4 million believers dedicated their lives to worshipping Jehovah, but how do they challenge the Christian faith? Jehovah Witnesses, an apocalyptic Christian denomination, believes many distinct and different things that break away from mainstream Christianity. As one observes the Jehovah Witness’s beliefs, one notices four distinct objections to the Christian faith involving the Trinity, the recreation of heaven and earth, and the Omniscient powers of God with logic and good scriptural evidence.
On February 16, 1852, a baby boy named Charles Taze Russell came into the world, influencing the futures of millions. As he developed into an independent young man and turned eighteen years old, he organized a bible study in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1872, Russell founded The International Bible Students Association and spent a lot of time delving into the scriptures. Through his studies, he came to the conclusion that hellfire doesn’t exist, God distinguishes himself not as a Trinity, and the second coming of Christ would happen in 1914. Russell hoped to expand his doctrines by co-publishing a magazine called “The Herald of the Morning.” As “The Herald of the Morning” evolved, Russell later changed the name to the “Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.” With only 6,000 copies produced a month, the release of the “Watchtower” magazine grew slowly but surely. Today the Watchtower publishes 800,000 copies of its magazine a day for more than six million practicing Jehovah Witnesses. For the final change in 1931, Joseph Franklin Rutherford established the name as “the Jehovah Witnesses.” As the Jehovah witnesses expanded they have developed a different form of service to fit their needs.
As the Jehovah ...
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Garrett’s concise treatment of an array of relevant questions is reflected in chapter titles like “Faith and Belief”, “The Bible and Theology”, “Sacramental Faith”, “Spiritual Practice”, “The Kingdom of God”, “The End of Things”, and “Friends or Rivals: Living in a Multifaith World”. Each chapter is a vivid explanation on how our life should be based on love, nothing else but the love of Christ, it contrasts the modern day depiction of God bein...
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Through this short presentation, we will try to identify the true nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And, as there is limitation on time we will not go too deep in details but we will try to learn them better so that we may be ready to face them next time.
Welcome to Gospel Spreading Church. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2011, from Gospel Spreading Church: www.http://gospelspreadingchurch.com/
The foundation of a Christian worldview is the belief in a personal God, creator and ruler of the universe. The Christian worldview views the world through God’s word, providing the framework for humanity to live by giving meaning and purpose to life. It defines who Jesus is, human nature, and how salvation is achieved. In essence it is the basis of which Christians behave, interact, interpret life and comprehend reality. A Christian worldview imparts confidence, answers to life’s problems, and hope for the future. In this paper I will discuss the essentials of a Christian worldview and an analysis of the influences, benefits, and difficulties sustaining the Christian faith.
Zwingli, Ulrich, Samuel Macauley Jackson, and Clarence Nevin Heller. Commentary on true and false religion. Durham, N.C.: Labyrinth, 1929.Read 9p
The Latin Cross displayed in nearly most if not all Protestant Churches throughout the world tells the story that Jesus is no longer on the cross but has risen. Jesus conquering death is the proclamation of our faith. The death and resurrection tells only some of the story. In the book Resurrection: The power of God for Christians and Jews, gives any reader the deeper meaning of what the kingdom of God means to us today, what it meant to Christians in antiquity and what it meant to the Jews primarily during the Second Temple period. Many of the things I was taught or learned throughout my Christian life have been challenged, as I will sprinkle some of them in this book review. As challenging as it was, this also provided me answers to questions
The resurrection of Jesus is a topic in Christian Apologetic that confirms the faith of a believer. Groothuis submits, “Of all the world’s religions Christianity alone purports to be based on the resurrection of its divine founder. No other religion or worldview makes such an audacious and consequential claim. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus himself predicts his own betrayal, death and resurrection.”1 The Bible reveals the importance of the resurrection in Corinthians 15:14-17, “And if Christ wasn’t raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. If the dead won’t be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not. So if the dead won’t be raised to life, Christ wasn’t raised to life. Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins.”
Ryrie, Charles C. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Chicago: Moody, 1996, 1991. Print.
“Where Are the Dead? What Happens When You Die? | Bible Teach.” JW.ORG, Accessed 5 Sept. 2017. www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/where-are-the-dead/
...hal. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Called to Love: Christian Witness Can Be the Best Response to Atheist Polemics." America 198 (2008): 23. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Since their founding in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell, the religious principles of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been diametrically in conflict with fundamental positions held by both the Protestant and Catholic churches. While they believe in the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible, they have a different translation – the New World Translation –, which is viewed by many traditional Bible scholars as a “frightful mistranslation”.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Kohn, Risa Levitt, and Rebecca Moore. A Portable God: The Origin of Judaism and Christianity. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.
No matter what religious beliefs or lack there of one holds, history is separated by the birth and events that surround one man; and that man is Jesus of Nazareth. If there is one controversial event that surrounds this historical figure, it is his resurrection that is argued the most. In most scholarly circles, it is accepted that Jesus of Nazareth was born around the first century, while living gathered a religious following, and was crucified by the Romans. It is his resurrection, though that separates secular and believing biblical experts. This paper will discuss the historical validity of the resurrection of Jesus by looking at biblical validity, the evidence surrounding the resurrection, and expert opinions from both sides as whether or not in today’s age it is reasonable to be believed in.