Jehovah's Witnesses: A Study on Intentional Community Essay

The Watchtowers may also represent and house other beings assosiated with the Directions and Elements for example Angels or other ethereal beings like Deomons, Fairies and Deities.

The book first shows the misconceptions that today’s Christians have placed on these two concepts by placing them into two different classifications. After dispelling these arguments the authors present the biblical relationship between these two concepts. The authors spend the majority of the book expounding the idea of what they call “the Great Commission Worshiper.” (5)

A lot of people are unfamiliar with Jehovah’s Witnesses (J.W.) population and their religious believes. As stated in the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, J.W., Christian sect, founded in 1872 in Pittsburgh, Pa., by the American clergyman Charles Taze Russell, with congregations throughout the world. The legal governing body of J. W. is the Watch Tower Bible (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2014). After researching the values and beliefs of J.W. and comparing them to Christianity, Professor Watson found quite a few differences (Walston, R., 2004). One of the major differentiating characteristics of J. W. is their refusal to accept blood transfusions because it is considered to be a sin. Members of this sect refuse blood mainly based on the Book of Acts that says to abstain from blood. They see blood as

A man by the name, Victor Houteff was “defellowshipped from a Los Angeles Seventh- day Adventists church” (CRI) in 1929 and 1930. Due to his unforeseen spiritual movement, Waco Texas in 1993 experienced a 51 day biblical event like never before seen or experienced since the first coming of Christ. The Branch Davidians along with the infamous David Koresh came to be because of Houteff “sharing his “Divergent Views” with other church members” (CRI). It was five years after he was ostracized from the church that Houteff along with twelve others who believed that the Holy Ghost proclaimed him to be the Lamb of God, went to Mt. Carmel Texas. Their purpose was to have a location in which “144,000” could gather in order to fulfill requirements

For many people Christianity is the religion of choice and a way of life. Jehovah?s Witnesses are one subgroup of the Christian faith. The JW religion was founded in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell. They comprise 1.2 million of the U.S. population (Campbell, Y., Machan M., & Fisher, M., 2016). They present a unique challenge to the medical community because of their stance on blood transfusions. Part I will provide a

The association further believes there is only one true interpretation of Scripture, although there may be several applications. The true meaning lies in the text and is that which the divinely-guided author willed to convey. It is recoverable through careful application of a literal (grammatical, historical, contextual) method of interpretation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in the community of Christ. The Holy Spirit illumines the text, enabling the reader to embrace the significance of what God has communicated, and to see the glory of Christ in the Word of God. To sum this up, they believe they are right about

It was also at this time that Howell began calling himself David Koresh. From the beginning the group was an apocalyptic faith. This meant that they believed themselves to be living in a time when Christian prophesies of final divine judgment was coming. They believed that history would begin to spiral. History would repeat itself but it would also advance at the same time until the end. Koresh used the Book of Revelation as his evidence of the spiral.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have achieved a service to the democratic system by struggling to keep their civil rights. In their fight they have accomplished plenty to secure those rights for every minority group in America.

One function of a Jehovah Witness is emotional comfort. Religion brings and provides a meaning to life. Religion lets people know that they all have a purpose in life in any form, happiness and suffering. Most religions assure that others will care for them no matter what. One dysfunction of being a Jehovah Witness is witnessing. Many

Connie R. Green, Emily Katherine Green Scott, and Sandra Brenneman Oldendorf scripted Religious Diversity and Children's Literature: Strategies and Resources and said “All of these groups shared common ideas such as the belief that communion is symbolic and not the literal blood and body of Jesus.” Believing salvation is the highest importance; I have chosen to research it further. I want to recognize how different or similar the plan of salvation is for the three distinct denominations. Denominations start to differentiate and separate in their spiritual philosophies, and they are remarkably contrast about the permanence of salvation. Every sect teaches their creed with absolute certainty, without acknowledging how faithfully or not it follows the

Living in community will expose selfishness, ambition, jealousy, dissension and impurity in ourselves, allowing us to experience loss, despair, and stress. Even so, all of this is important to our spiritual formation because we mature as Christians,

The religious convictions of Jehovah's Witnesses are in various methods comparable to those typical Christians (George 2008). For example, Witnesses rely on the power of the Bible, adore only one God, and believe in Jesus' death and resurrection for salvation. A few added beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses vary from typical Christianity, particularly their rebuff of the canon of the Trinity and the veracity of Hell (Franz 2007). Jehovah's Witnesses also have stronger apocalyptic anticipations than most Christians - since the origin of the group, Witnesses have been anticipating the coming of Armageddon and the end period.

The Seventh-day Adventists are one of the many different branches of Christianity. The Adventists came about during the 19th century and began with the “Millerite Movement” (“Seventh-Day Adventists”, 2013). The movement was started by an American Baptist preacher by the name of William Miller, who believed that the Second Coming - the return of Christ to Earth - would occur between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844 (“Seventh-Day Adventism”, 2004). This prediction was largely based off Daniel 8:14 in the Bible (See slide 4). Since he and his followers believed in this imminent advent, or return, they were called “Adventists” (“Seventh-Day Adventism”).

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a people known widely throughout the world. They are well-dressed people who come knocking at your door on different occasions offering religious literature for sale or trying to introduce their beliefs through carefully prepared conversation. People young, old, rich, poor, well educated and non-educated have embraced them. Their enthusiasm as proclaimers of God’s Kingdom has impressed even their harshest critics. Their love toward one another makes some non-witnesses hope and pray that more people would act in that manner. Yet, some may still wonder, who really are the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What is their history, their practices and their beliefs? Why are they the most attacked new religious

Over the years, many models have been developed and implemented to endeavor to make disciples. Some of the models have been effective and others have not. Among some of the most biblical and efficient models are the ones that involve small groups. Within the small groups models, they can be broken down into further detail, such as pastoral involvement, the church’s goal, missions mindedness, etc. In this paper, I will explain my philosophy of small groups in a church and the importance of the relational group in authentic disciple making. I will also explain how missional groups can help the body of Christ move out into the community. Finally, I will summarize my status in regards to living in community with other believers and being missional with that community.