Arrrogant
Condascending
and everything else that Angakuk said.
I have a shop full of them, this is not an uneducated observance.
I think they're doggoned nuisances to my peace and privacy.
Though I will admit that despite what I feel is a really impolite intrusion on my life, the ones I have answered the door to have otherwise shown good manners and have even been occasionally kind and helpful.
I think they can be overzelous (sp?) I don't know anyone personally but I admire thier belife in thier faith. Even if I don't like being woken up at six on a satureday
Here's a list of their beliefs. Here are some of the ones I have a problem with:
-God's name is Jehovah. Sure, that's one name, but there are dozens of names for Him throughout the Bible. Why just that one.
-Christ is God's Son and is inferior to Him. OK, He is God's Son but Jesus is not inferior.
-Christ was first of God's creations. Jesus was not created- He always was, and in fact, there are references to Jesus actually doing the creating. If you want, I can look them up. John something...
-Christ died on a stake, not a cross. That is just the JW's getting picky about translations, IMO.
-Christ's human life was paid as a ransom for obedient humans. No human is entirely obedient. He died for the sinners. That was the whole point- if humans were obedient, He wouldn't have needed to come.
-Kingdom will bring ideal living conditions to earth. Not entirely sure what they mean by this but they obviously are ignoring Revelation.
-Earth will never be destroyed or depopulated. Again, this is contradicted in Revelation.
-Only a little flock of 144,000 go to heaven and rule with Christ. Riiiight. There are that many spared from the trials according to Revelation, that's not the number of souls that will go to heaven. Actually, the numbering in the Bible, especially the last book, is very symbolic and can't always be taken literally.
-The 144,000 are born again as spiritual sons of God. Like I said above, they're taking the number thing too literally.
-A Christian ought to have no part in interfaith movements. A Christian should keep separate from world. "In the world but not of it" is the way the Bible puts it, but it would be contrary to Jesus' example to separate ourselves from unbelievers. Instead of appearing to the rest of the world as wierdo outsiders with a superiority complex, Christians need to be right in the trenches with non-believers and teaching by example and humility. It's not about lecturing and arguing. Maybe that tactic is needed for some but not for most.
-Taking blood into body through mouth or veins violates God's laws. Yes, the laws written in the Old Testament. However, Jesus said that He was providing a new covenant and so the dietary restrictions were nullified. As long as these practice do not cause you or others to waver in the Christian faith, they are acceptable.
-Sabbath observance was given only to Israel and ended with Mosaic Law. It is one of the 10 commandments, and those commandments were broken down to 2 by Jesus while He was teaching: Love God and love your neighbor. The Sabbath is a way to honor God and really it's in our best interest to take the Sabbath anyhow. Anyone who takes a day of rest each week be it a believer or not will agree that one day of doing nothing each week is incredibly renewing.
-A clergy class and special titles are improper. But the Bible also talks about the gifts of the spirit and if leadership and preaching are a persons' gifts then it is improper to ignore those gifts.
This is my perspective on JW's as a Christian. I do not like a lot of their theology and their methods of preaching. It annoys me when they don't know when to quit. The above is my summary of how their faith conflicts with mine. Just because something on their list was left off mine does not necessarily mean I agree with it implicitly but these are the biggest ones.
If needed, I can supply Scriptural references to my POV. However, I don't want to turn this into a debate on the truth or falsity of Christianity or the Bible as a whole; there are other threads for that (and there's a reason I don't try to post thereDebate's not my thing). A lot of this is just my opinion in response to a question.