by Gordy 57 Replies latest jw friends
Jeffro,
For Christians it is a big problem that jw's consider Christ an angel or Michael the Archangel (whatever the present truth is today). It is a problem when they lure folks in who think it is a Christian religion when it clearly is not. Why don't jw's just be honest at the door and at dc's, ass-emblies and so forth?
For Christians it is a big problem that jw's consider Christ an angel or Michael the Archangel (whatever the present truth is today). It is a problem when they lure folks in who think it is a Christian religion when it clearly is not. Why don't jw's just be honest at the door and at dc's, ass-emblies and so forth?
To be honest, I'm really quite bored of this tiresome debate of whether JWs are Christians. Just because they're a different 'brand' of Christianity with some distinct doctrines, they still fall within the definition of Christian, regardless of what people of other denominations believe. The exclusive ad hominem use of the word 'Christian' in such arguments is pathetic. It is like when people say "all experts agree". It is meaningless, because it dishonestly assumes that a subset represent the entire group. True, their teachings are disprovable from the bible; and so are the beliefs of various other Christian groups.
They're a Christian religion. Deal with it.
To put it another way, imagine that Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Schweppes decided that some generic brand of cola isn't really cola because it happens to be less similar than the big corporation colas are to each other. It would be invalid, because it is not the position of those groups to determine what falls within the defintion of cola even if the generic cola is an inferior product.
Additionally, it is a slippery slope argument, because such arbitrary redefinition of what a 'Christian' 'must' believe (superfluous to the actual definition of Christian) can be just as easily done by any particular branch of Christianity to declare that some other branch of Christianity isn't really Christian either.
So if a Muslim believes Jesus was a real person and a great prophet of God does that make him a Christian too? he believes in Jesus and even agrees with some of His teachings.
The jw's are not Christian, deal with it.
carla:
So if a Muslim believes Jesus was a real person and a great prophet of God does that make him a Christian too? he believes in Jesus and even agrees with some of His teachings.
The jw's are not Christian, deal with it.
That response was neither surprising nor insightful. No, Muslims are not Christians. They do not believe that Jesus was the Christ. Do try to construct a logical argument.
Where are the assemblies for Phoenix, AZ this summer? Anyone have a schedule to copy & paste?
Another pile of watchliar bullshit.
"Are JWs Christian" is an argument that is best not used when trying to prove the JWs are not the one true religion.
The definition of being "Christian" is different things to different people.
In the simplest of terms, JWs are Christian in that they believe in Jesus as God's son, they accept him as their savior and pray through him to God. Ask a JW if he's a Christian and he will reply that he is.
But at the same time, if you dig deep enough into their own theology, there is evidence to imply that the non-anointed members are not Christians. Jesus is mediator only for the 144,000. Only the 144,000 make up the true Christian congregation. The non-anoined are often times called "companions" to the true Christians.
They contradict themselves so much on the issue that either side of the arguement can present enough printed material from the WTS to prove their side of the argument. I think the Society does this on purpose. They want outsiders to think of the religion as "Christian" and they confuse the average member into thinking that all members are Christian which helps bolster the idea that the entire religion is Christian, but when broken down to the nth degree, one has to question if the JW doctrine really allows for the non-anointed to be Christians as defined in their own literature...not what the majority of outsiders consider Christian.
This is an interesting illustration:
To put it another way, imagine that Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Schweppes decided that some generic brand of cola isn't really cola because it happens to be less similar than the big corporation colas are to each other. It would be invalid, because it is not the position of those groups to determine what falls within the defintion of cola even if the generic cola is an inferior product.
Where I come from most people call any soda a "coke". If they order in a diner, they'll say "gimme a coke", meaning whatever soda is available. In that sense, all sodas are "coke"...but not all sodas are "Coca-cola" or "Coke". Similarly, in the general sense of the word, as most people consider it, JWs are Christian. But in their own doctrine, there is a question as to if the non-anointed are Christian or not. So you could say that all JWs are "coke", they're just not all "Coca-cola".
Actually, if you want to get technical, the Watchtower does teach that they are THE "Christ". They call themselves "THE annointed" and the word "annointed" literally means the same as the Greek word "christ."
(Doesn't the New Testament say that "many false christs would come in the last days..."?)
Obviously if you're a false christ you cannot be a follower of the One Christ Jesus and thus, not a Christian, right? All Christians believe Jesus was/is/always will be THE ONE AND ONLY CHRIST.
And NO -- I'm not some fundie getting all bent out of shape! Just stating the facts whether I believe in them or not.
undercover:
Where I come from most people call any soda a "coke". If they order in a diner, they'll say "gimme a coke", meaning whatever soda is available. In that sense, all sodas are "coke"...but not all sodas are "Coca-cola" or "Coke". Similarly, in the general sense of the word, as most people consider it, JWs are Christian. But in their own doctrine, there is a question as to if the non-anointed are Christian or not. So you could say that all JWs are "coke", they're just not all "Coca-cola".
Well, that's just trademark misusage. (Like Esky, Velcro, Liquid Paper, Xerox, Hoover, and many other trademarks that have fallen into generic usage.) JWs do not regard the non-anointed as non-Christian, because they still regard Jesus as the Messiah, and follow his teachings (according to their interpretation). I need a coke.
