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Are Jahovah Witness Christian?

Lyndon

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
Well it was a rather pointless comment, kind of like starting a thread entitled "Is the pope catholic??"
 
Lyndon

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
I would think a Christian is anyone that follows the teachings of Jesus, of course a lot of so called Christians, even and especially ones attending church are not following the teachings of Jesus, so I guess you could say they are not Christian, But Jehovah's witnesses are definitely a religion that believes in following the teachings of Jesus, even if some individual members do not.

I think the debate the OP was referring to is Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God, but rather the son of God as clearly stated in the scripture. Fortunately Christian does not mean anyone that believes Jesus is God, there are millions and millions of Christians that do not believe Jesus is God, not to mention 1.2 Billion Muslims who follow Jesus but don't believe he is God.
 
J

Jeremy Taylor

Active Member
Lyndon said:
I would think a Christian is anyone that follows the teachings of Jesus, of course a lot of so called Christians, even and especially ones attending church are not following the teachings of Jesus, so I guess you could say they are not Christian, But Jehovah's witnesses are definitely a religion that believes in following the teachings of Jesus, even if some individual members do not.

I think the debate the OP was referring to is Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God, but rather the son of God as clearly stated in the scripture. Fortunately Christian does not mean anyone that believes Jesus is God, there are millions and millions of Christians that do not believe Jesus is God, not to mention 1.2 Billion Muslims who follow Jesus but don't believe he is God.
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But the issue of Muslims does rather highlight the problem with defining Christians, because surely we wouldn't say Muslims are Christians?

Personally, I'd say Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians, though very much at odds with traditional Christianity. I would say Mormons are not, because of their very different theology and their extra Scriptures. I'd say they were more like Muslims in being a distinct religion.
 
Bob Dixon

Bob Dixon

>implying
Jeremy Taylor said:
Personally, I'd say Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians, though very much at odds with traditional Christianity. I would say Mormons are not, because of their very different theology and their extra Scriptures. I'd say they were more like Muslims in being a distinct religion.
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I see where you're going with this, but Mormons place Jesus in a central role within their religion, defining themselves largely through their allegiance to him. Sure, they have an unconventional view (to say the least), but that can't mean that they're not any kind of Christian at all, can it?
 
J

Jeremy Taylor

Active Member
Bob Dixon said:
I see where you're going with this, but Mormons place Jesus in a central role within their religion, defining themselves largely through their allegiance to him. Sure, they have an unconventional view (to say the least), but that can't mean that they're not any kind of Christian at all, can it?
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Perhaps, though they do have other Scriptures and a new prophet. They are more like Druze are to Muslims, than a regular Christian sect is to Christianity.
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
Anything falling within the concept of the Messiah having come could be called Christian but as an example of what Jesus was creating in the Kingdom of God, I would say that the JW's are not and the Mormon's may be but I don't know enough about them yet to say.
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
Jeremy Taylor said:
Perhaps, though they do have other Scriptures and a new prophet. They are more like Druze are to Muslims, than a regular Christian sect is to Christianity.
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I believe this was the whole idea in founding Mormonism to establish a church that was in total harmony with Jesus but I believe that has not been achieved and the Mormon church is more out of hamony with Jesus than many other Christian groups. The RCC for many years laid claim to orthodoxy but they were found to be lacking. I believe churches should endeavor to move more into harmony with Jesus but it seems today there is more of a falling away.
 
sojourner

sojourner

Annoyingly Progressive Since 2006
Do you live out love as the defining paradigm of your life? If so, you're following the way Jesus taught. Xy is really more a "way" than a religion.
 
McBell

McBell

Unbound
Pastek said:
Are they christians for you ? If no, why ?
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What do you mean by "Christians for you"?

If you mean whether I think they are Christians, I do not have any authority to declare who is and who is not a Christian.
However, in my opinion a Christian is any one whose beliefs include Jesus Christ and claims the label Christian..
 
Norrin-6-

Norrin-6-

Member
The way I look at it, it hardly matters the differences with mainstream Christianity. If it's close enough in most people's minds, the fact that certain groups may ostracize you is nullified by your continued insistence that you are a Christian.
 
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