Do Jehovah Witnesses believe that only a certain number of people go to heaven? I'm not a Jehovah but would like to know this
They believe that there is a group of 144.000 people who reign in heaven with Christ (whom they believe to be the same as Michael the archangel). They also believe that all of the other Jehovah's Witnesses will live on earth forever after the resurrection takes place. I guess there are some additional details that would be relevant, but this is basically the view that they hold.
yes, you can see a doctor, but they don't believe in blood transfusions. the 144,000 people represent 12,000 people from the 12 tribes who will reign in heaven with Jesus and the Father.
I think they were also against vaccinations at some point in the past (though I'm not completely sure of this). The funny thing is that they take the number literally but the description of these people as being from the tribes of Israel figuratively. Another interesting detail is that they only have Lord's supper once a year, and only people who supposedly belong to that 144.000 are allowed to participate, while others will pass the bread and the wine to the next person. Given how almost all of those 144.000 are dead by now, it must be kind of a weird experience.
I once asked if they are even against using one's own blood in transfusion if one happens to have it stored for that purpose. And they were strictly against that as well.
Its amazing this religion still plugs along. They believed that the generation that was alive in 1914 would see Armageddon, the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, and the renewal of the earth. Now that almost everyone who was alive in 1914 is dead, I'm wondering why people stick around. Then again, they had previously published 1975 to be the year of "The End", and people stuck around when that date came and went.
~ They at least review the bible and are aware changes are necessary.....pity they expect Armageddon than the triumph of good over evil, having something positive to work towards for everyone.
what they expect is Armageddon, and everyone but them will die. they will inherit the earth in perfect bodies and live forever.
It is the most chilling part of their teachings. They are entirely pacifist, and remain neutral on all government conflicts. Their teachings are not all that far off from straight up christian teachings. They are just more fundamentalist and try to take every word of the bible as literal as possible. I'd say they have as many "normal" members of society amongst their ranks as has Scientology. What makes them a cult is exactly what you describe above. They refer to all non Jehovah's Witnesses as "Worldly people", who they believe will die at Armageddon. The encourage a complete lack of association with "Worldly people", unless you are "Witnessing" to them(Proselytizing/Recruiting). Failure to comply with their very strict set of "bible based" rules can result in disfellowshiping, or what the Catholics call excommunication. Members are the church are not even supposed to talk to a person who has been disfellowshiped unless absolutely necessary. This includes family members. One can be disfellowshiped for any number of offenses including adultry, fornication, drunkenness, and cheating on your taxes. They have one of the most active and skilled recruitment organizations on the planet, with missionaries in almost every country on the planet knocking on doors. Door to door sales of the religion is compulsory for every member in good standing, with 10 hours a month generally considered to be the "good standing threshold". They have their own sales and marketing study segments which are taught as part of the 5 hours a week every witness attends church. Interestingly, their strict policy of excommunication looses them almost as many members as they recruit every year, or they would be much larger than they already are.
There are several definitions of a cult. From a sociological perspective, the distinguishing features of a cult may be things like authoritarian leaders and great amount of control over the lives of the members of their religious movement, as well as a tendency to brainwash them. Some of this is true with regard to the JWs. But I see the theological meaning of the word cult as far more significant. Theologically speaking, the central doctrines that make the JWs a cult are their denials of the Trinity and the deity of Christ. There are other important issues as well, but they're not equally central.
~ From the above, appears someone isn't quite right about JW.... ~ The Edenist (return to the Garden of Eden) interpretation is that Armageddon - the triumph of evil has a corollary, Amageddon - triumph of good and there is a chance of either occurring in the end. The end will be distinguished by the death of the last person of either evil or good leaving all those remaining of the same tenure that will bring God back to earth for the day of judgment of those remaining alive to either be readmitted into the Garden of Eden or destroyed. ~ The story of Noah is our grounds for this prophecies where Noah was to have been the last good person remaining but rather than wait for his death and bringing the end God returned beforehand and destroyed all the others as what was to be the occurrence anyway and gave mankind a 2nd chance. ~ So if Armageddon were to occur the JW would already have sacrificed their lives for the good and the triumphant antagonist would meet their fats by the judgment of God and all would end - anotherwords the JW should fight for all that is Good and triumph over evil or failure may indeed be perminate death.
Maybe you can explain this to me. There are many Christian sects that do not believe in the Trinity, or the deity of Christ that would not be considered cults by most. How would variance in christian beliefs make one religion a cult vs. another? There are many branches of Christianity that worship Mary as "the mother of god". Many others do not. Does that make one a cult, and the others not?
I was in Utah on a paragliding trip and one night we went to a party at another pilots house. Needless to say we were to drunk to drive so we spent the night. Next morning we were in the kitchen having an awesome breakfast his wife made when the doorbell rang. He had a camera set up at the door and noticed it was a coupleof Jehovah Witnesses so he stripped and answered the door naked, it was pricelss watching them run away.....sory, wait they were mormons....is there a difference?
Haha. Yeah there is a difference. I believe Mormons only knock on doors when they are on their mission(Missionaries). JWs will knock on your door for as long as they remain JWs. Mormons take a chunk out of all their constituents pay checks, JWs do not. In addition to the bible, Mormons believe in "Latter day saints", per the book of Mormon. They are the only religion I know of that does so. Mormons usually wear name tags (badges) when they knock on your door. Witnesses do not. I also believe the Mormons do not excommunicate their members, while JWs do regularly.
This might give you a feel for how they believe. In this JW Awake publication it says 1914 marked the beginning of the last days, and explains the generation that lived in 1914 will see the end of the world. 1975 Predictions in Awake Magazine by Jehovah's Witnesses It's an interesting read...
The theological meaning of "cult" would be something like a group that identifies itself as the true representation of Christianity while denying some of its most essential doctrines. This obviously raises the question as to what doctrines are essential. All major groups within Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christianity would agree that the Trinity and the Deity of Christ are essential. One can also argue on the basis of the first centuries of church history and the creeds (such as Nicene and Athanasian) that it was precisely the deity of Christ (and as a logical corollary, the explication of the doctrine of Trinity) that was seen as the major dividing line between true vs. heretical doctrine. I don't know which groups you have in mind that would deny these but wouldn't be considered a cult in the theological sense. Oneness Pentecostals are considered cult or borderline cult by many, and with regard to 7th day Adventists, it's my understanding that they've gone through a great deal of change from what they once were (they were leaning towards denying the Trinity at some point, I think - though someone may correct me if I'm wrong), and consequently, the mainstream of protestantism is now more welcoming of them. But still there are some who argue that they have cultic tendencies - though perhaps more by the sociological definition. (I have no opinion on this myself, since I haven't studied their beliefs enough.) Even Catholics don't officially quite admit to worshipping Mary (though that may occur in some contexts). The title "the mother of God" as such doesn't necessarily imply anything like worship if understood in some rather minimal sense (if Jesus is God and Mary was the mother of Jesus in his human nature, then it seems quite unobjectionable to call Mary the mother of God in that sense - though it will obviously have a great potential for confusion and misunderstanding). The Catholic church has (despite all of its questionable additional doctrines) maintained a strong doctrinal continuity with those essential doctrines of early Christian orthodoxy as expressed in the creeds, and in any case, it is the largest group within Christianity, so that makes it harder to call it a cult.
The old JWs who have dementia are the worst annoyance because they knock on peoples' doors but don't remember why. And in addition to the Book of Mormon, they have Doctrines & Covenants as well as The Pearl of Great Price. They are at least in principle open to the idea of still adding new material to their holy scriptures. It's probably less common with Mormons, but it's my understanding that it can happen.
I've never heard that they believed Jesus Christ to be the same as the Archangel. Do you have a link to that information?