I guess you can imagine my hesitation about entering this conversation, as one of Jehovahs Witnesses myself. ..Have been for most of my adult life. And I gotta say, it blows me away how much mis-information and mis-conceptions there are about what we believe!
I don't really think this is the best 'platform' for having the conversation, but I'm certainly willing to talk about it with anyone wanting to know more about us, and what we believe. But in a nutshell, here are some things that we believe..
God created Adam & Eve to live forever in a perfect paradise with perfect health, right here on Earth. They sinned (disobediently ate from the tree, showing that they were not willing to live within the limits of their freedom), lost their perfection, grew old and died. As their descendants, we inherited sin. We simply cannot live up to Gods requirements.
God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, to Earth as a perfect man to offer him up as a sacrifice for our sins (which we inherited from Adam & Eve) and Jesus willingly did so. Those were the two greatest acts of love ever performed since the history of man!
As a result of the sacrifice, we all have not only the means to approach God (with Jesus as our mediator), but the forgiveness of sin.
God made man in his image, but also gave all of us free will. We can all use our lives however we choose! He allows us to use our free will to worship him or not!
The Bible is the most widely published book in the history of the world. It has been the target of enemies of God wanting to destroy it. But it has survived down to this day, simply because it is the word of God and he wants it preserved.
As Jehovahs Witnesses, we believe strongly that it is important to treat the Bible, Gods word, as the ultimate authority. And even though it was written centuries ago by scores of men living in different time periods, the Bible is always accurate, with no contradictions. And when scrutinized by scientists, who may be non-believers, the Bible is in perfect harmony with modern science (even though the Bible is not a science book).
We don't have our "own Bible". We do, though, have the publishing rights to the "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures". It has had PLENTY of scrutiny by people from all walks of life. But the bottom line is this: it has been proven by Bible scholars and linguists to be the most accurate translation of the Holy Bible, and its written in our modern language! And we don't have a problem with anyone else using the Bible of their choice. The Truth of Gods word can still be found, even if you're more comfortable using the King James Version, for example, with its olde English "thee's and thy's", and other somewhat unfamiliar terminology.
Gods purpose for man has not changed since Adam and Eve. He intended for man to live forever on Earth with perfect health! That's still Gods purpose! Jesus is ruling in Heaven, waiting for the command from God to unleash his power against this wicked system of things and destroy all those destroying the Earth! This is what's referred to in the Bible as Armageddon. And contrary to what some may think, this is a selective war; it's not the "end of the world" or the end of mankind! God will simply wipe out anyone that does not want to be ruled by God! The "meek will inherit the Earth" and live forever on it, just as was his original purpose for mankind!
Here is a very short video (about 3 minutes) that will likely get you to thinking about things:
It's entitled "Why study the Bible?" This is from our official website, jw.org, you may be very surprised at what you hear!
Why Study the Bible? Find Answers to Life’s Big Questions | Videos
And just to alleviate any concerns, I'm not particularly offended by anything that anyone has said in the previous comments! Like I said, there has been lots of misconceptions about what we believe. So if you want to know what or how we believe, ask one of us! Feel free to PM me as well if you like.
Or visit our official website, jw.org
Mark
