>Are Jehovah Witness more righteous and discipline than any other religion?<
The Jehovah's Witnesses are not the people of God. Their doctrines are
against Bible teaching, and their organization is foreign to the word of
God. So, as for are being "righteous" in God's sight (that is, in harmony
with His revealed will and therefore saved by Him), the answer is "no."
I'm
sure there are many good, moral, decent, upright Jehovah's Witnesses. But
morality alone will not save a person from his sins (Rom. 3:10, 23; cf.
Cornelius in Acts 10:1-2, 22; 11:14). Remember, "there is a way that seems
right to a man, but its end is the wa of death" (Prov. 14:12).
> 3. How come Elders (Pastors) in the Jehovah Witness do not get a salary
> and other Rev/Pastor do? Is this a personal choice or is it
> biblical?
The Bible teaches that the laborer is worthy of his hire (Lk. 10:7) and that
the man who preaches the gospel has the God-given right to be support from
the gospel (1 Cor. 9:14). One may choose not to receive monetary support
for his preaching (cf. 1 Cor. 9:15), but it is permissible. Therefore,
anyone who forbids what the Lord has allowed is wrong. A preacher has the
right to receive financial support for his gospel work.
> 4. My husband was raised a Jehovah Witness and was booted out because
> they to me are very judgemental? He still feels as thou they are SO
> DISCIPLINED...and righteous. I find that offensive because I respect and
> admire my Pastor that has powerful leadership..
Every teaching and practice that is different from what the apostles of
Christ taught ought to be rejected (Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Jno. 9-11). Our faith
should never be put in any man, no matter how much we admire him, but in the
Lord and His revelation of truth, the New Testament (1 Cor. 4:6; 2 Tim.
3:16-17). If a teaching or practice cannot be found in the NT we ought to
lay it aside. (Gal. 1:10)
I hope this is of some help to you and your husband.
I have attached the following brief article which gives some information
about the Jehovah's Witnesses. If you would like to receive more, please
let me know.
Sincerely yours,
Joe Price
_________
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
by Bill Crews
"Jehovah's Witnesses," as they style themselves, have in the past been known as
"Millennial Dawnists," "International Bible Students," and, contrary
to their own wishes but in accord with the facts, "Russellites," after
their founder, C. T. Russell.
Charles Taze Russell was born February 16, 1852 and died October 31, 1916. He was
colorful, controversial, zealous, shrewd and unscrupulous. The Russell of Witness
literature today is afar cry from the Russell of history. Such facts as these are
engraved upon the pages of authentic history.
A. Charles Taze Russell founded a religious cult and used it as a money-making scheme.
B. The money that flowed in through the societies he organized was under the control of a holding company in which Russell held 99 per cent of the capital.
C. He fraudulently advertised and sold wheat at $1.00 a pound which he labeled "miracle wheat," but which was actually low in quality according to government tests.
D. He made a trip around the world in 1912 and sent back for newspaper publication glowing reports about speeches that were never delivered to audiences that never assembled.
E. While under oath he repeatedly perjured himself in more than one libel suit which he himself had initiated.
F. He was, according to his own admission, guilty of immorality. In court
he said: "I am like a jelly fish; I float around here
and there; I touch this one and that one, and if she responds, I take her to me, and if
not, I float to others." In spite of his character, hundreds of thousands of
zealous and sincere persons have intrusted their eternal destinies to the doctrines he
taught.
At the age of 19 Russell organized a Bible class which elected him their
"Pastor" when he was 24. In 1879 he founded the paper "Zion's Watch
Tower." In 1881 he organized "The Watch Tower Bible and Tract
Society" at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Russell authored six books under the
title "Studies in the Scripture"; the first was printed in 1886 and the last in
1904. A seventh volume was added in 1917, a year after Russell's death. In
1908 headquarters of the movement were set up in Brooklyn, N.Y. It was not until
1931 that the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" was adopted. "Pastor"
Russell was the first "President" of the religious organization he founded.
He was succeeded by "Judge" J. F. Rutherford, who did much to embellish
and strengthen the organization. In 1942 at Rutherford's death Nathan H. Knorr took
the helm.
"Russellism" is a mixture of Universalims, Unitarianism, Adventism and
Materialism." Charles Russell and his followers deny the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit are three beings composing the Godhead, that Jesus was divine (they make
him "A God" rather than "God" - John 1:1), that the body of Jesus was
raised from the tomb, that punishment is everlasting, that the
wicked will be raised, that the soul is immortal, that hell is an eternal reality, that
salvation is extended to all the lost and that Jesus died as an atonement for all mankind.
Russell taught that Christ and His apostles came to earth in October of 1874 and
have been here (invisible, of course) since. He taught that the consummation of the
ages and the rule of Christ would come and did come in 1914. According to Rutherford
in 1918 Jesus "came to the temple of Jehovah." They are again predicting,
as they have so many times in the past, the end of all human organizations, civil and
religious - this time in 1975. But if 1975 comes and goes with an obvious failure of
their prophecies, they will find some way to patch it up as they have in the past.
I close with the quotation of Russell's blasphemous statement concerning the Bible and his
own "Studies in the Scriptures":
"If the six volumes of 'Scripture Studies' are practically the Bible, topically
arranged with Bible proof tests given, we might not improperly name the volumes "The
Bible in an arranged form." That is to say, They are not more comments on the
Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself. Furthermore, not only do we find
that people cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also,
that if anyone lays the 'Scripture Studies' aside, even after he has used them, after he
has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years - if he lays them
aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he understood the Bible for ten
years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the
other hand, if he had merely read the 'Scripture Studies' with their references and had
not read a page of the Bible as such, he would have the light of the Scriptures."
From "The Watchtower," September 15, 1910, page 298.
Jehovah's Witnesses are a human organization with a human founder and human doctrines.
Taken from the booklet, "CHURCH ORIGINS"
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Joe R Price
joe@bibleanswer.com
Bible Answers
http://www.bibleanswer.com
Mt. Baker church of Christ
http://www.bibleanswer.com/mtbaker
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