You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Much is said about what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. Here you will find a basic summary of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses about God and Jesus. You are welcome to look at the links below to do more research on this idea, but this should give a good basic summary of the basic teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe first in God, the Father, as the Almighty, the Creator of all things. The Bible refers to him as YHWH, or JHVH, Yahweh, or Jehovah. The true pronunciation of that name is not known. In the same way that the truth pronunciation of the name of Jesus is not clearly known, most likely, Yohoshua. In English, we say Jesus, in Spanish Hesus, each language pronounces proper names a little differently. Because ancient Hebrew omitted vowels, it is difficult to know the exact pronunciation. The most common English form for God’s name is Jehovah, which is what Jehovah’s Witnesses use.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity. They believe in God, the Father, and they believe also in the Son and the Holy Spirit, but do not believe that the three are one, but that they are seperate. God being greater than Jesus. John 14:28. The Holy Spirit is considered to be the “active force” of God, and not the third person in a Trinity.

Jesus is considered to be God’s only-begotten Son, rather than God in the flesh. Mary was the mother of Jesus on earth, and Jesus was miraculously conceived in the womb of Mary. December 25th is not Jesus birthdate, but rather it is a day which has been borrowed from pagan festivals, a festival to the sungod. Jehovah’s Witnesses, then, do not share in the Christmas celebration, but rather, celebrate the only celebration that is marked by the Bible and Jesus Christ, which is the Memorial of the death of Jesus, or what is commonly referred to as The Last Supper. Luke 22:19-21.

Jesus provided the ransom, dieing for mankind’s sins, giving up his life as a sacrifice, in order that all those believing in him might be saved, or gain forgiveness from sins. John 3:16,36. Not only is belief important, but one needs to put into practice what he believes as well. However, it is the blood and death of Jesus that saves, and not our own works. The Bible says on the one hand, “faith without works is dead,” but on the other hand, no matter how many works one might perform, those works, while they do give evidence of faith, in themselves, they do not bring salvation, it is faith in Jesus and his sacrifice that brings salvation.

For more information visit Jehovah’s Witnesses official website and the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The links are from official sources of information from Jehovah’s Witnesses. This article is not an official Jehovah’s Witnesses.

While there is some discussion among scholars as to how Jesus actually was executed, it is thought to be by some that Jesus actually was executed on an stake rather than on a two-beamed cross. The Roman method of execution at that time was by impaling the criminal on an upright stake.

The original language words used in the Bible for the cross, are stavros, and xlyon. Stavros means “upright pale or stake,” and xlyon means, tree. Therefore in accurate translations of the Bible, where the King James Version, and others, read that Jesus was crucified, some more careful Bible translations read that Jesus was “impaled”. Similarly, where some translations read that Jesus Christ was killed on a cross, others read perhaps more accuately, according to the original Greek meanings of the noun, that Jesus died upon a “tree” or upon a “stake”.

One reference on this subject asserts, “A tradition of the Church which our fathers have inherited, was the adoption of the words “cross” and “crucify”. These words are nowhere to be found in the Greek of the New Testament. These words are mistranslations, a “later rendering”, of the Greek words stauros and stauroo.” Origin of Cross The cross had been a symbol of paganism for centuries before Christ and it was Constantine, a pagan ruler, who first melded the symbol of the cross with Christianity. Eventually, like many customs, the cross became a fixed part of Christianity and also a symbol, viewed by many, as of idolatry.

from the early part of the 20th century, The Two Babylons, provides evidence that the origin of the cross stems from the worship of the Egyptian God Tammuz, represented by a “T”, the cross later being assimilated by and its ecclesiastical system.

These are two other references on the origin of the cross: Dr. Bullinger, in the Companion Bible indicates, “crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian Sun-god … It should be stated that Constantine was a Sun-god worshipper … The evidence is thus complete, that the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle.” p.162 The Encyclopaedia Britannica, states concerning the cross, “In the Egyption churches the cross was a pagan symbol of life borrowed by the Christians and interpreted in the pagan manner.” Jacob Grimm, in his Deutsche Mythologie, says that the Teutonic (Germanic) tribes had their idol Thor, symbolised by a hammer, while the Roman Christians had their crux (cross). It was thus somewhat easier for the Teutons to accept the Roman Cross.” 11th edition, vol. 14, p. 273. Both quotes are from Albatross.org

See also: Jehovah’s Witnesses headlines (official site of Jehovah’s Witnesses, not associated with this article) . http://www.albatrus.org/english/religions/pagan/was_jesus_crucified_on_cross.htm

While most are aware that Jews were persecuted and experienced the horrors and death at concentration camps of Hitler and his Nazis, not all are familiar with the fact that there were significant other groups who were also hounded and thrown at large into the camps. In visiting Dachau, the vivid mental image of Gypsy’s standing at-attention with his face straight ahead in the daily line up, is indelibly inscribed in the recesses of my mind.

Standing in that very spot, some sixty years later is something that one cannot forget, and visiting the concentration camps at least once during one’s lifetime should be a goal of everyone. This is especially true in view of the fact that history, in some respects, has repeated itself in countries such as Cambodia, with Duch (pronounced doik), one of the notorious camp commandants during the 1970s, and his trial just abated, waiting for sentencing. And of course, other places on the earth since the 1930s and 40s where specific ethic or social groups have been targeted.

This is a comment from the Midwest Center for Holocaust Studies this thought, “While in Auschwitz I, we were able to tour the museum that is housed in the barracks. I was reminded of the horrors that were experienced by not only Jews, but homosexuals, Poles, Jehovah’s Witnesses and prisoners of war. Walking through buildings that house various artifacts, recovered after liberation, I learned just how personal the events of the Holocaust are and how they impact us each differently, depending on our personal experiences. Having a five-year-old daughter, I found it extremely hard to view the suitcases, dolls, spoons, and shoes from children.” Midwest Center for Holocaust Studies, Education Educator’s Forum.

In many public schools in New Jersey, attention is given to the Holocaust by grade school teachers on a regular basis. In today’s children’s culture, that is, a culture of silly and trivial movies for children, a sobering remembrance of what violence really means can be of value to children, and help them to appreciate the sanctity and gift of life.

In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses had been persecuted, not for who they were in terms of nationality, but because they refused be a part of Hitler’s party, salute the national flag, or be any part of the Nazi effort. Jehovah’s Witnesses could leave the camps, only needing to sign a paper to renounce their faith, but very few did so, rather, they lived or died in the camps, but at the same time, didn’t hate their persecutors, but instead to pray for them, as Jesus encouraged his followers, or witnessed to them, and their fellow non-Witness captives, about the wonderful hope of God’s kingdom. Hope can sustain us through the most onerous trials.

This was written by John Scott, who is also one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. US Holocaut Museum pages on Jehovah’s Witnesses: Holocaust Teacher Resource Center, and at Jehovah’s Witnesses