jwfacts

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Posts by jwfacts

• 
  26

  Amazing new graph - publisher increase compared to country population increase rates

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  world population growth rate is 1.13%, whilst jehovah's witness average publishers grew by 1.8%.

  watchtower growth is outpacing population growth, though at a dismal rate considering the 2 billion hours of preaching required for an increase of just 115,194. this is an aggregate number, and most growth is from developing nations in africa and south america.

  what i was really interested in finding is how watchtower growth compares to the population growth in different countries.

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  jwfacts

  Once natural population growth is factored in, it highlights even more distinctly how ineffective preaching is.

  For instance, there has been discussion on the forum around why there is growth in some European countries, such as Germany. However, Germany only grew by 274 more than the population growth rate, after 29,326,324 hours of preaching, which means 107,157 hours of preaching were required per additional publisher.

  A more meaningful figure may be the birth rate, which is currently 8.5 per 1000 people. The number of German JW babies would be about 1,393, whilst baptisms are 3,224. The difference of 1,831 needs to come from the territory, so the 29,326,324 preaching is 16,000 hours preaching per baptism from the field.

  Please note, the figures are rough estimates. For instance, the birth rates really need to be from around 15 years ago, as that is the current batch of children being baptised. Also, the hours of studying with the children should be subtracted from the total hours of preaching when calculating the above figure. It is also possible that the JW birth rate differs from the general population.
• 
  26

  Amazing new graph - publisher increase compared to country population increase rates

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  world population growth rate is 1.13%, whilst jehovah's witness average publishers grew by 1.8%.

  watchtower growth is outpacing population growth, though at a dismal rate considering the 2 billion hours of preaching required for an increase of just 115,194. this is an aggregate number, and most growth is from developing nations in africa and south america.

  what i was really interested in finding is how watchtower growth compares to the population growth in different countries.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jwfacts

  The second graph seems to have disappeared, so here it is again.

  
  
• 
  26

  Amazing new graph - publisher increase compared to country population increase rates

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  world population growth rate is 1.13%, whilst jehovah's witness average publishers grew by 1.8%.

  watchtower growth is outpacing population growth, though at a dismal rate considering the 2 billion hours of preaching required for an increase of just 115,194. this is an aggregate number, and most growth is from developing nations in africa and south america.

  what i was really interested in finding is how watchtower growth compares to the population growth in different countries.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jwfacts

  Data used for Graphs - click link for the spreadsheet with the population percentages and other data in the graphs.
• 
  26

  Amazing new graph - publisher increase compared to country population increase rates

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  world population growth rate is 1.13%, whilst jehovah's witness average publishers grew by 1.8%.

  watchtower growth is outpacing population growth, though at a dismal rate considering the 2 billion hours of preaching required for an increase of just 115,194. this is an aggregate number, and most growth is from developing nations in africa and south america.

  what i was really interested in finding is how watchtower growth compares to the population growth in different countries.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  jwfacts

  World population growth rate is 1.13%, whilst Jehovah's Witness average publishers grew by 1.8%. Watchtower growth is outpacing population growth, though at a dismal rate considering the 2 billion hours of preaching required for an increase of just 115,194. This is an aggregate number, and most growth is from developing nations in Africa and South America.

  What I was really interested in finding is how Watchtower growth compares to the population growth in different countries. It is very revealing, as out of the 205 countries identified, 107 grew at a lower rate than the population growth, and only 98 outpaced the population. This is an astounding figure, as in more than half the world, the preaching work is unable to back fill the children that are leaving.

  In the following graph, the green countries are where Jehovah's Witnesses are growing faster than the population average.

  
  

  I then produced another graph to highlight countries where there were 100 more publishers than if the religion increased at the population average. This was to because there are a number of countries with just a handful of publishers more than the natural growth of that country, such as Greenland.

  
  

  The remarkable result was that Mexico disappeared. Although Mexico appears to be one of Watchtower's big growth countries, with 1.38% increase and 11,312 new publishers, Mexico's population is growing at 1.37% and so the growth is less than 100 publishers more than could come just from child birth.

  You may notice that I have coloured the banned countries in red, despite there being a claimed 12% growth. This is because the growth is insignificant compared to the population, and skews the results if included. The increase across 31 countries was only 4,369 out of a population base of over 3 billion (3,072,066,923).
• 
  45

  Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

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  jwfacts

  Laika - Actually it is not at all uncommon to claim God is genderless and referred to as male for cultural purposes or whatever
  

  It is interesting that anthropomorphic statements about God are male. If God is gender-less, then it should be that both male and female could be assigned, particularly as creator female, would be more appropriate.
• 
  45

  Are there any doctrines which all Christian religions follow.

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

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  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  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.