God. Jehovah's Witnesses believe God is the Creator and Supreme Being. Witnesses reject the Trinity doctrine, which they consider unscriptural. They view God as the Father, an invisible spirit "person" separate from the Son, Jesus Christ.
Witnesses hold a number of traditional Christian views but also many that are unique to them. They affirm that God—Jehovah—is the most high. Jesus Christ is God's agent, through whom sinful humans can be reconciled to God. The Holy Spirit is the name of God's active force in the world.
Religious beliefs and practices
Jehovah's Witnesses identify as Christians, but their beliefs are different from other Christians in some ways. For instance, they teach that Jesus is the son of God but is not part of a Trinity.
What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe? Witnesses believe in one God, not the Trinity. Like most Christians, they believe that Jesus Christ died for humankind's sins, however they do not believe that he was physically resurrected after his crucifixion. They believe that he was only spiritually resurrected.
Wives should be submissive to their husbands and husbands are to have deep respect and love for their wives, and are instructed to listen to them on all matters. Husbands are instructed to treat their wives as Jesus treated his followers. He should not hurt or mistreat his family in any way.
Jehovah's Witnesses reject foods containing blood but have no other special dietary requirements. Some Jehovah's Witnesses may be vegetarian and others may abstain from alcohol, but this is a personal choice. Jehovah's Witnesses do not smoke or use other tobacco products.
The 'anointed'
Based on their understanding of scriptures such as Revelation 14:1-4, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God.
Jehovah's Witnesses consider many actions to be "serious sins", for which baptized Witnesses are subject to a judicial committee hearing. Such actions include: abortion. adultery. anal or oral sex.
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah's witnesses do not celebrate national or religious holidays or birthdays. The only day they do memorialize is Jesus Christ's death around the time of Easter and Passover.
Beliefs & Teachings about Death
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that when a person dies, their existence completely stops. This is because the Bible makes it clear that human beings do not have an immortal soul that survives when the body dies. Witnesses believe that Hell (as traditionally portrayed) does not exist.
Rapper The Notorious B.I.G., aka Christopher Wallace, was raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith by his mother Voletta Wallace, who is still active in the religion today. Actress and television host Sherri Shepherd was raised as a Jehovah's Witness but no longer practices the faith.
A Jehovah's Witness funeral service usually takes place either at the funeral home or in Kingdom Hall, their place of worship. The Congregation Elder will conduct the service, which will include Bible readings and prayers. It may or may not be an open-casket service.
They limit contact with non-Jehovah's Witnesses
Followers are discouraged from having close relationships with those who are not part of the faith. People who are “worldly” are seen as bad influences or “bad associations.”
Jehovah's Witnesses scorn these memorial events because they imply that something in a person survives death, which is a patently false notion according to the religion. However, it is acceptable for family and friends to visit the grave of the deceased in years to come, so long as the visit is made for their own sake.
The service will feature readings from the Bible relevant to death and resurrection, acting as a reminder for the attendees of some of the tenets of their belief system. The funeral prayers for the dead are also drawn directly from the Bible, and will be recognisable to all the Witnesses in attendance.
Witnesses view the Old and New Testaments as "God's inspired message to humans." But they don't take every word literally. Instead they believe that parts of the Bible are written in "figurative or symbolic language."
Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses regularly refuse transfusions for themselves and their children because they believe the procedure creates a risk of losing eternal salvation.
How much do Jehovah's Witnesses employees earn on average in the United States? Jehovah's Witnesses pays an average salary of $427,772 and salaries range from a low of $376,759 to a high of $486,741.
“To us, going door to door is an expression of our God's impartiality,” he said. “We go to everyone and let them choose whether they want to hear us or not.”
The majority of elders are family men and maintain secular employment to support their families. Jehovah's Witnesses do not have a salaried clergy nor any employees.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians from Pentecost of 33 AD until the present day will be resurrected to heaven as immortal spirit beings to spend eternity with God and Christ. They believe that these people are "anointed" by God to become part of the spiritual "Israel of God".
Background: Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia
There are almost 69,000 Jehovah's Witnesses (in approximately 760 congregations) throughout Australia.
Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays, Christmas, or Easter. Members of the church "believe that such celebrations displease God" and are rooted in pagan traditions.
The Witnesses have nothing against weddings or funerals, but they do have strict religious beliefs that impel them to avoid certain activities and celebrations which, they believe, violate moral principles found in the Bible.