I am a Jwit,and a lot of ppl hav a lot of misconceptions abt us,4 exampl som ppl tink we dnt bliv in christ,we dnt pray,etc.som tink we're antisocial ppl who r totally against havin fun.i find d idea quite laughabl rily.so here's ur chance 2 air ur opinions abt us,wat u like & wat u dnt lik abt us & mayb i'l b able 2 clear up som misconceptions.

Don't agree with all their doctrines. Naturally! Bewildering mass of doctrines in every church and it's impossible to agree with them all.But I like JWs for their practical Christianity. Yup.

@poster
I really don't know much about Jehovah witnesses apart from the fact that i know people think your doctines are not sound. Maybe you should start by telling us your doctrines and what makes Jehovah witness different from other churches.

@ poster:

Nothing. Just like them and every other nonsensical religious sect/denomination I pay all no mind.

MADAM KOKO You mean you haven't been banned i would have thought with all the venom you were spitting last week on the "preaching in the bus thread" seun or mukina would have banned you by now, i wonder why? Anyway i would just drop my two cents to you, you didn't have to go to the extent you went last week( Insulting Jesus) just to annoy those you were arguing with. You should remember that nairaland is a public forum and by such comments you are offending hundreds of other nairaland christians who would have read that thread and were not in argument with you. I really think as humans we should learn to respect and tolerate other people's view and commumunicate in a civil manner

Wel kunle,i can c u're 1 of d few who r genuinely interestd in hw we tink & wat we preach b4 tagging us a nonsensical sect.for starters,i nd 2 knw weda u bliv in d bible.if u bliv in d bible as d word of God,den u hav 1 tin in common wit us.evrytin we bliv in has a scriptural background.here are som of our bliefs-we dnt bliv in d trinity,we dnt bliv in hellfire,we dnt celebrate christmas,we bliv honesty is rily d best policy & we try 2 implement it in our lives,fornication(i.e premarital sex & all it entails)and adultery are nt tolerated,if 1 is found guilty of such u wil b disfellowshipped(similar 2 excommunication),we bliv in God's kingdom as d only hope 4 mankind & we r one of d few religions dat go out every week 2 preach.
Anybody dat objects wit d above is free 2 say so,just pls state ur facts in a concise & logical manner.rememba everytin must b backd up by d bible.
I wnt 2 implore all who read dis thread 2 pls,pls keep an open mind.
P.s-madamkoko,Jehovah's witnesses r abt 7million worldwide.plus,we havnt broken away 4rm any larger body.dat hardly classifies as a sect,dnt u tink?

@post

Can you explain to me the whole "blood transfusion" part of being an JW? Because since im becoming a doctor in the future. . . i want to get the full assessment over the whole thing.

I wont say they dont like fun. I had a few JW friends when I was at Uni and I dated a JW girl, whom I thought I loved at the time (laughable).

@poster
All due respect to you and what you believe I would address a few of the issues you have with other christians
1. A sect by definition is a religious group that breaks away from a larger denomination. The founder of your church Charles Taze Russell was a presbyterian but later joined a Congregational church before he started a bible study and the whole thing started you can wikipedia your history and you will see that it is not the smooth transition you would have thought it was like every other man made religion it was dogged by many other conflicts and break aways, keep in mind that it all started due to russell's fear of hell.
2. Still trying to keep it simple I have all but surmised your whole practices into this. Jehova's witness dont draw the line well between
What is right
What is wrong
What is important
What is necessary
The crux of all what you believe bothers on the above, an example is you have a problem with christmas saying it is not biblical and if it was IMPORTANT then christ would have asked us to celebrate the question I ask is does that make it WRONG? i could go on and on but I want you to digest these few and then come up with any issues where you do not agree with the christians and I would show how it fits into what I just said.
3. There are also scattered cases of using isolated verses of the bible and forgetting to tailor some part of your lives according to the one christians follow, Jesus Christ, I will ask you a quick question from your post where you referred to disfellowshiping a member because of "fornication" does that come across as what jesus would do?
Peter Denied Jesus, I mean Denied what can be worse than that, I cannot remember jesus reacting that way. I don't know the conditions under which they are accepted back I used to have a classmate in secondary school who had that fate after impregnating a girl so you might want to answer that too but I think going as far as that is very unchristianlike because the aim of the coming was for the sinners.
4. This discussion could be very interesting as I have learnt a lot over the years from them and vice versa, their study gave birth to my release from the shackles of organised religion and I do believe you have a lot of practices that are not wrong so please I want civil conversation I am not out for warfare or insults and do not make any personal attacks.
5. The ball is in your court.

I seem 2 hav made a few mistakes in my last post.i shld nt hav said fornicators wld b disfellowshiped,wat i meant was an unrepentant fornicator.if som1 shws remorse 4 d sins he has commited,den we'l do the christlike tin & 4giv-aftaall Jesus said we shld 4giv as many as 77 times.dat dosnt mean we shld b counting d times a person sins,bt dat as long as d person is truly repentant,we shld 4giv.bt,if d person is unrepentant,we shld do as 1cor 5:13 says.p.s-i'm nt taking dat verse out of context;if u read d whole of chap 5 u'l c dat was wat paul was talking abt. And i suppose,by definition,we r a sect.sori 4 d mixup.

Onyinye,sori,i 4got abt u.nw abt d whole blood issue,pls rd acts chap 15:28.in d context,dere was a dispute btw d 1st century christians abt weda circumcision was necesary 4 salvation.2 cut d long stry shrt,rd verses 20 & 28.dose verses clearly state dat we shld abstain 4rm blood,& frm strangld meat.som might say dat means we shld nt eat blood(som ppl do that y'know). Lemme giv u an illustration. S'pose u,wen u bcome a doc,tel ur patient nt 2 drink alcohol because he has a prob wit his hrt(or sumn lik dat). Wat if dis patient says,o.k,i'l nt drink alcohol,bt pours it on a piece of bread and eats it or infuses it in2 himself intravenuously,u cnt say he hasnt consumed alcohol,evn if he dint pour it dwn his throat.it's d same wit blood transfusions.abstinence means abstinence

@Poster
good thread! more explanation on ur beliefs is needed.
next time, more biblical backups to support ur belief too is required. but u do not make known whether u are pastor or elder or evangelist or , in ur JW and whether u r male or female.

clear urself.

I'm a female,& i'm a baptized publisher. FYI-there r no pastors in the JW org.perhaps i shld explain our organizational setttings-1st d world HQ in brooklyn,den d branch office in various countries-d 1 in 9ja is located in igieduma,benin city.
Den in d local congregations-d presiding overseer is in d lead position,i.e he coordinates d oda elders,d service commitee,which comprises of the service overseer,d secretary & d theocratic ministry overseer,and den d body of elders.

Oh,& by the way,bein in a positn of oversight does nt grant u any special privileges.4 exampl,u dnt seat in special seats or get preference or anytin lik dat.diff ppl giv public talks.wen its a groups turn 2 clean(we take turns 2 clean)every1,elders & publishers,grown men & little kids join in.dere r no divisions.if u hav any mor questions abt our organisational set-up,feel free 2 ask.but if u wnt a mor scriptural topic,here's one:the trinity.all who bliv in it(catholics & d like)shld pls come forth wit dia arguments,& i'l try 2 refute dem as best as i can.i ask again,pls b sure dat u completely bliv in d bible & its authority as d word of God. I'm waiting. . . .

@poster
Thank you for clearing that point but let me ask you something when jesus said 77 multiplied by 7 times what point did he say we should not count or if you say its a figure of speech how exactly can you say it is "RIGHT" to stop forgiving I leave that for you to answer.
Now to the next issue which is blood transfusion, have you taken the time to read the history if not then go again and come back to explain to me how the apostles could have wrapped their mind around the concept. I believe you were referring to acts 15:29
Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
And you are talking about "abstain" now I would take you back to the greek word which is ἀπέχομαι meaning
1) to hold one's self off, refrain, abstain
Do well to reconcile refrain and blood transfusion.
Let me also point out to you that there were certain practices that the jews had from their tradition circumcision being one of them so how can you tell which was a jewish practice and that which is binding on you after jesus fulfilled the law.
I just heard a favourite priest of mine has been murdered, ironically he wrote the first book about jehova's witnesses I read.

@ KunleOshob   learn to tell both sides of the story. You also forget to mention the constant bashing of muslims/and non religious folks in this section.

Chris,if u had read my post very wel u wld see dat i said Jesus did nt mean we shld start counting a person sins.wat i meant by dat reference was dat it doesnt matter hw many times a person sins,as long as he is truly repentant,he shld b 4givn.d trick is knwing wen d persn is truly repentant.we cannot read hearts,only God can and he helps us mak d right decisions in cases lik dis by givin us his holy spirit.as 4 d abstinence,it doesnt matter weda it was an ancient jewish custom or nt,it was made by d 1st century christians under d influence of d holy spirit,& if Jehovah tot it necesary 2 include it in his word,i wil obey it.in d issue of blood transfusions,we r nt unreasonable,4 example it is a matter of personal decision 2 accept blood fractions or medications dat contain them,such as certain drugs dat fight viruses & diseases,or dat help blood clot.
P.s-lemme b honest wit u,i dnt hav much info wit me presently,bt i wil do ma research & get back 2 u as soon as posible.wat abt d trinity doctrine?

Don Ese pl.s rit n fl ts rly nyng 2 rd wn your wrds r l.yk d.s. u c?

I'm sorry A_K_O,i'm using a phone so uring abbreviations kinda comes naturally.

Ok I understand.

Its a personal decision but it is not wrong to do so as long as it is not in violation of the ultimate commandment which is love God and your neighbour as yourself .I agree the trinity is a concept that was inherited from the catholics by the protestants I will fill you in later.

Sure chris,i'l b waiting.by the way,can anyone explain 2 me the doctrine of trinity.

whats up Chrisbenogor, you come up as a very interesting, astute and open minded individual who is extensively knowlegeble about religion(christainity and its various sects) Pls i will like you to read this book and tell me how feel about it( You might have come across it though) if you have'nt i highly recommend it because its an excellant read.


http://www.biblicalnonsense.com/chapter5.html

whats up Chrisbenogor, you come up as a very interesting, astute and open minded individual who is extensively knowlegeble about religion(christainity and its various sects) Pls i will like you to read this book and tell me how feel about it( You might have come across it though) if you have'nt i highly recommend it because its an excellant read.


http://www.biblicalnonsense.com/chapter5.html

The trinity is a "christian" doctrine,stating that God exists as 3 persons,each said 2 b eternal,each said 2 b almighty,none greater or lesser than another,each said 2 be God,& yet altogether being but one God,agreed?

This belief is a mark of oriental & eastern orthodoxy,roman catholicism & all the mainstream traditions arising 4rm d protestant reformation,such as anglicanism,lutheranism & presbyterianism. Neither the word trinity nor a statement of trinitarian dogma is found in the bible. The new catholic encyclopedia states: "the formulation 'one God in 3 persons' was not solidly established,certainly not fully assimilated into christian life & its profession of faith,prior to the end of the 4th century. Among the apostolic fathers,there had bn nothing even remotely approaching such a mentality or perspective."-(1956, Vol. XXVII, p 294L

madamkoko:

@ KunleOshob learn to tell both sides of the story. You also forget to mention the constant bashing of muslims/and non religious folks in this section.

Well my dear you could have restricted your abuses and vexations to the people that provoked you on that thread. bringing Jesus in to it would offend the feelings of a lot of other christians who were not a party to the insults. Also it is not all chrsitians that indulge in bashing people of other beliefs. It is not the christian spirit that pushes these people to insult others (That stands against the preaching of Jesus), the insults come from ordinary human beings trying to defend what they believe in even though they are not required to do so.

@don_ese125
welli have read so of the doctrine being preached by JW as posted by you, in as much as you have some points i would still remain neutral to my perception of JW. I know for a fact that all churches (including the JW) have strayed from the original concept of the church founded by the apsotles. The JW might be making a concious effort to move in hat direction, but i think you guys are being a bit rigid going by the doctrines you posted. We all know that christmas is not biblical, but that does not mean it is wrong to celebrate it. I also know for a fact most of the practises in today's churches are not biblical (or manipulation of biblical facts). For instance not every body agrees that fornication includes pre-marital sex. i have personally searched the scriptures for the hebrew and greek definitions of fornication and the definition does not include pre-marital sex. yet we are made to think so because of poor translation to english from the original text. Mind you, i am not trying to encourage pre-marital sex, i just used it as an illustration since you mentioned it. To me i believe we as christians should just strive to keep the commandments which Jesus describes as the greatest commandments which also cover all other commandments and that is to love God and to love our fellow men in all it's ramifications.

What do i think about jehovah witnesses?

I found them to be for the most part a honest hardworking group of people

who follow the Bible to the best of their ability.What they teach can be defended

by using the Bible.They try to live to those Bible standards even when others seem to be

relaxing their standards.I love them;they are genuinely loving people.

BTW one my closest friend is a JW.

@ poster

what is it with Jwit not hvin blood transfusion?

They are cool, consistent and persistent but are really weird.
I like their die hard attitude in preaching it is commendable.
Anyway whatever they believe in is up to them, the light has been shown by Jesus so its up to them to follow or not.