Expert: Brenton Hepburn - 3/2/2006

Question
Andrew apeares to have been a JW at one time and now he is saying that they are a false christian cult not to be trusted.

How do you as a JW respond to that?

John

Answer
Hello John,

Your questions are what concern a lot of people about any religious organization, and are very valid in deed.
Yes Andrew apparently was once a JW and for some reason he has left. Like anyone that choice has to be personal.
I had a look at Andrews post and will respond to some of the things he said.

Are JW's a true Christian group?

What is truth? Truth never changes but mans perception of it does. Once it was truth that the earth was flat now we know it is not. As our knowledge builds our perception of things change. To know if a particular religion is true or not we have to gain accurate knowledge of what it teaches. Unfortunately most of what is written about JW's is not accurate, even from ex members.  Yes I personally think that JW's are the only ones teaching and doing what the Bible sets out for Christians.  Then again so does every other Christian group, and most Christen groups will teach that the others are wrong.  I have had neighbors both belonging to different "born again" groups who will tell me the other is incorrect. Catholics believes that they are the correct way, Baptists will disagree etc.  So the question really is a personal one to answer after gaining accurate knowledge of a group.

Being a JW is not an easy way of life as we take the commands and principles of the Bible very very seriously. But first lets just look at Jesus briefly.

Jesus was a Jew and the Jews were always under the idea that they were Gods chosen people. And that was true up until the death of Jesus In Matthew 23:27-29 Jesus tells the Jews that God has abandoned them and Jesus instituted a new arrangement and that was with his followers. Now in the time of Jesus he was viewed as a cult leader. Why here are the Jews Gods chosen ones and this man comes along undermining nearly all that the Jews believed and says that the way to God is through him.

The way for salvation now is through Jesus, so if we as individuals want to be followers of Jesus should we not follower what he said, stay way from things he stayed away from, worship the God he worshiped? All religions say that they do that so we must examine for ourselves what the requirements are and who is following them
Jesus said that his followers would be hated by those that do not follow him that is Jews as well as every one else.

Ask yourself this question, which Christian religious group is hated by the other Christian groups for the preaching work that they do?  How many religious groups actually are doing the same work Jesus told his disciples to do?

Are JW's a cult. No, they do not fit the definition of a cult. They have no earthly leader, they follow no man except Jesus. Many opposes of JW's will say that they follow the Watchtower Society as if it was their way to salvation. This is absolutely not true. For a discussion of this, see me web page http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/hepburn JW's believe that no man can give us salvation except for ourselves. We have to work at our own salvation by developing a relationship with Jesus and his Father and exercising faith in the ransom sacrifice. No man or organisation can do that for us.

Why do I stay a JW?

Because despite the mistakes that are made (even the apostles and ones that God used in the past made major mistakes) JW's are the only ones on earth as a group that are truly neutral to all politics, strive to keep false religious doctrines out of their teachings (and eliminate false ideas when they have been discerned), doing the work that Jesus instituted the preaching of the good news of Gods Kingdom. The only way to know what JW's teach is to ask them. Check it out with the Bible.

Are they offering a hope too good to be true? Well evidently some people think so. Again the only way to know is to tern to the Bible and see what it says to see if what they say is from them or from the Bible. Of course if one does not believe the Bible than what any "Christian religion" says will seem as too good to be true. Most Christian religions say the good go to heaven to live forever. Wow that's a promise that sounds to good to be true. JW's and a few minor religions teach that our destiny is to live forever on the earth under a ruler ship by God not man. That also sounds like a promise to good to be true. What does the Bible say? Well that's another subject that is worth looking into on its own to see both sides of the argument, and then one can make an informed desition.


Do they use mind control techniques?

That realy depends on what one means by mind controll. We use no more that Jesus or the apostles uesed.  The apostles and Jesus used persuation to reach the hearts and minds of those that listened to them as well as what some might term as regulations to keep the congreations "clean". that is another full topic thou. (see for examples from the Authorised Version Matthew 27:20, Luke 16:31,Acts 13:43, Romans 4:21, Hebrews 11:13,Hebrews 10:33-36 )         

May I suggest if you have not already done so, look down the list of questions that are on this site and read some of them.  A good one to compare is the answer that Andrew and I gave to Gordon about  JW's thinking for themselves.


Please feel free to ask for any clarification or any other question

Brenton