Hi John Vogel, welcome aboard.
The JWs are not a denomination of Christianty. They are a non-Christian cult like Mormonism. They have invented numerous non-biblical dogmas to lead people away from the truth in the bible. They have gone so far as to change what the bible says so that it doesn't seem to contradict their teachings.
I'm sorry to inform you John but the JWs claims to have exposed the errors of "Christendom" are false. The JWs teach that Jesus was just an angel that came to earth as a man. The Mormons and a number of other cults teach this as well.
The bible teaches that Jesus IS NOT AN ANGEL. Jesus said that "I and my Father are One." Jesus being the True Son of God is Equal with God and in his very Nature is God. Yes, Jesus is Almighty God, the eternal Son of the Father. The JWs constantly confuse the trinity and just erroneously claim it to be a Pagan Doctrine. Well allow me to clear it up for you.
THE TRINITY IS NOT GOD. It is a biblical concept that explains the Unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is God. He has a Son from eternity. God begets God. A second God? The JWs say yes a second God. They are polytheists. Christians say no, not a second God. Jesus said he and his Father (God) are one. The JWs claim the bible says Jesus was created though. The bible does not say that at all. There is no account of a creation of the Son. The bible teaches that ALL things that came into existence were by the Son, several times.
The JWs also go to great lengths to convince people that the bible was only written for 144,000 Christians and that you must go to them to get salvation, not Jesus. Many times the JWs will claim that something you show them in the bible only applies to the 144,000.
The Founder of WTS CT Russel was raised Presbysterian. He left Christianity because he couldn't believe in Hell. He hooked up with some SECOND Adventists (not 7th Day) because they told him they don't believe in Hell. Their theology is similar to 7th Day. He later went to work for a Newsletter that taught Adventist theology. From their he took it over and the Watchtower was born.
You don't have to believe in "Hell" or eternal conciuos punishment for the wicked to be a Christian, but that is what is taught in the bible so if someone wants to say we aren't Christians for just making it up they ought to go take that up with God for putting it in the book. Hell is not a place of literal fire but it is a place, Jesus said it was a place that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
The bulk of Russel's preaching revolved around predicting when Armaggedon would come and uses occult methods of determining such.
The JW doctrines go directly against the bible. They have been changing their doctrines since they came into existence. They have had false prophecies go bad as recent as 2001. They predicted that armageddon would come in the 20th century.
They claim that you must be a member of the WTS to survive armageddon and that if you aren't you will never be resurrected or recieve salvation.
They also teach that you can pay for your own sins by dying and then be resurrected and recieve salvation even if you died in your sin. So there is really no urgency to become Christian other than dying at armaggedon if you are alive when it happens.
I'm not surprised that you agree with them on some things they talked about. The cults have been very successful at accusing "Christendom" of straying from the truth and perpetuating false ideas about the bible in pop culture.
Their errors go on and on. Their deciet and covering up the past does also.