Posts by jwfacts

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

stuckinarut2a day ago
The concept of heaven being the dwelling place of god?

The understanding of heaven varies. Bible students used to say it was in the Pleiades, now it is a spiritual dimension.

Steela day ago
Jesus was the manifestation of god in the flesh.
You are saved by grace not works.
All true christians are the body of christ ( the church). Its not an organizational or denomination thing.

JW's disagree with all of the above.

OrphanCrow - God is male

That is a good one. I wouldn't be surprised if a few sects would be trying to suggest otherwise, though the Bible does seem quite clear on this one.

ILoveTTATT22 days ago
How about fornication being wrong?

Fornication is fairly unanimously a sin. The definition of fornication varies though, such as whether it includes homosexuality, pornography, masturbation etc. Also the punishment varies, though i guess that would classify as a different doctrine, as Catholics would say it could be hell, JWs say non-existence and Anglicans say all go to heaven, as the wages sin pays is death.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

Vanderhoven7 -

All biblical Christians accept that Jesus Christ died and rose again to save/justify them; that by His death and resurrection, sinners have hope and an eternally bright future ahead.

Jesus death for mankind is a key part of Christianity, and it is hard to imagine that any Christian religion could deny that, when Romans 5 goes into detail that "Christ died for us." The details of the Ransom doctrine vary though.

For instance, Proclaimers page 131 stated, Barbour claimed to believe in the ransom, that Christ died for us. What he rejected was the idea of "substitution"-that Christ died instead of us, that by his death Christ paid the penalty for sin for Adam's offspring.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

subscribe to the doing of good and "love your neighbor as yourself".

This is another area that is common amongst religion groups of all kinds, but the interpretation of what is "good" and how to express love varies. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that other religions do not show love, because they don't devote themselves to preaching, and kill each other in war. JWs are criticised because they don't set up charities and hospitals. JWs say that shunning is loving, most people would have to disagree.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

LoveUniHateExams
How about the existence of God

The Searcher4 hours ago
I can't think of any Christian denominations who disagree that there is going to be a resurrection of the dead.

As far as I can tell, the concept of God and a resurrection is fundamental to all religion, not just Christianity. Promise of an afterlife is by far the most influential reason for people worshipping God, very few people would have any interest in devoting themselves to God if it was not for the promise that he will grant everlasting life.

However, Christian doctrine varies greatly over the nature of God and the resurrection.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

btlc2 hours ago
All christian religions recognize each other as christians by teaching that Jesus is God, and by accepting The Holy Trinity. That's the main filter which JW, mormons, etc. can not pass, so they are not consider as "christians" by others.

Part of my reason for raising the question was because I think it is ludicrous to say JWs are not Christians because they do not accept the Trinity. A Christian is someone that follows Christianity, religion that is based on the life and teachings of Christ. Yet there is no consensus on those teachings, due to the large variance in possible interpretations of the Bible. The Trinity is one of those teachings, which was developed over a lengthy time frame, piecing together the vaguest of passages, and is not accepted by a large portion of Christians, such as Pentecostals that accept Modalism, or other Christians that adhere to Binitarianism.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

They all believe you live and die

Not Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe that they will not die. Also, many believe in the coming rapture, where they are taken directly to heaven.

45

Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

by jwfacts in

i cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the bible that every christian sect teaches the same point.

are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all christian religions, including jehovah's witnesses?.

jwfacts

I cannot think of a single doctrine that is so clearly laid out in the Bible that every Christian sect teaches the same point. Are there any doctrine where there is total consensus amongst all Christian religions, including Jehovah's Witnesses?

65

Short stay

by midnight in

after much research and prayer i am returning to being a jehovah's witness i can find nothing that eliminates them from being god's directed people , in the end they will reach the end of there journey despite mistakes and errors just like the israelites entered the promised land , thanks for your input and all the best on your personal journey ☺.

midnight..

jwfacts

Interesting. I'd be interested in what you think proves they are Spirit Directed.

In my research, I could find nothing To support such a claim. A history of false predictions and changed doctrine shows they are just like most other religions, a group of men trying to work out how best to interpret the Bible.

117

2017 Yearbook released

by bohm in

jw
friends

i saw this on reddit:.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/5mlgsm/2017_yearbook_of_jehovahs_witnesses/.

overall the numbers are better than last year (1.8% growth compared to 1.5% last year -- as i predicted ;-) ) with an increase in all major figures including 1300 more congregations (i assume this is not physical kingdom halls?).

jwfacts

I have updated the articles at http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/memorial-partakers.php and http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php with the latest figures. After slimboyfat's comment on congregations, I have included a graph on congregation growth. This does move in line with publisher growth rates, though at a lower figure, as the average number of publishers per congregation has grown from 50 to 68 over the last 50 years.

I particularly like the following graph, as it shows what an incredibly small number of bible studies progress to baptism.

Whilst JWs feel it looks great how much hours of preaching continue to grow, baptisms have fallen from their peak 20 years ago, so this is becoming more and more ineffective.

16

How the Watchtower Could Grow In Numbers

by Sour Grapes in

if i were running the watchtower there are things that i would do to increase the numbers and increase donations.

since so many older witnesses are realizing that the false hope they had of not growing old and not having to die is fading away like a frost on a sunny autumn morning, the watchtower needs to shift gears.. as it has been stated on this forum, the emphasis needs to shift from not dying to the glorious hope of the resurrection, the gateway to paradise.

they need to deemphasize armageddon and emphasize "the way of life" that witnesses have.

jwfacts

shift from not dying to the glorious hope of the resurrection, the gateway to paradise.

I have made this point before. However, if they admit they will die, then rotting in a grave for who-knows-how-long is not a great hope, so they need to make paradise heavenly. When you die, you are raised to heaven in the blink of an eye. Basically, they need to teach what every other Christian religion teaches.