Comparison between Jehovah's Witness and the Baptist Church in South Florida - Essay Example

? 20th April Jehovah Witness Introduction Currently, Jehovah Witness members in south Florida number in their thousands and the number of churches are in their hundreds, whereby these members of this religious grouping congregate in buildings in large housings to which they call the Kingdom Hall. The churches in south Florida draw their teachings and beliefs from their founder Charles Taze Russell who was an Adventist, and who founded the church in1852 (Melton, 473). Founded in the year 1874, the teachings and beliefs on the church Adventist theological teachings were adopted into the Watchtowers teachings (Garraty and Carnes, 92), and has two magazine publications the WATCHTOWER and the AWAKE! (King, 443). The bible used by the Jehovah witness is known as the- new world translation, this bible version is different from other bibles in two different verses, John 1:1; 8:58 and Hebrews 1:8, though there are other different passages that have been adopted to support Jehovah Witnesses doctrines. Jehovah witness is a Christian sect with distinctive religious practices and rituals that appear to be dissimilar to other Christian churches and organizations; therefore, this paper therefore explores the practices of this Christian sect in comparison to the Baptist church in south Florida. This is a very controversial and aggressive religious group in south Florida, which bans pursuit of higher education amongst their members, and instead encourages evangelistic activities. In addition, the group only allows marriages amongst fellow members of the group and practices door to door campaign of their teachings and amongst the members, and it is only the younger members of the group who do a lot of this work. Jehovah witness is also known as the Watchtower Society has the following theological beliefs, practices and rituals such as they ban their members from celebrating any holidays and birthdays. Their members are banned from taking part in flag salutes, engaging in civil duties, participating in politics or engaging in war like activities. Furthermore, members are not allowed to transfuse blood, allowed to make minimal contact with people, who are non members of Jehovah Witness, even if it is their family and friends and also avoid contact with former members of the sect. Members of the Society are also not allowed to pursue higher education or limited pursuit of higher education; they outlaw critical thinking and arguments. Literature materials which are written by members are banned if such pieces of materials are deemed as being critical of the society or if the materials paint the society in a bad light. Non members of the Jehovah Witness religious group are banned from attending churches sermons and prayers, in addition, the members are not allowed to undertake religious broadcasting, instead they have to perform house to house proselytizing (Gruss 296). Comparison between Jehovah witness and the Baptist church in south Florida Jehovah witness in south Florida inserted the name Jehovah to replace the word God, and that Jehovah alone is the Father. Conversely, in other mainstream churches such the Baptist they draw their beliefs form the Roman Catholic of the Holy Trinity- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Secondly, the Watchtower believes that Jesus is the created Archangel whereas the Baptist believes that Jesus is not a creation, He is the most high- the Almost God. In the scriptures of the Baptist bible, this is proclaimed in Revelation 1:7-8, 17, 18, 2:8, 22:12-13, 20 Isaiah 9:6; 44:24, 48:12 John 1:3 Hebrews7:3 and John 1:3. Jehovah Witness believes that it is Jehovah who raised Jesus from death in a form that is angelic and without the human body. Baptist’s on the other hand believe that on the third day after his death, he resurrected from the dead in a physical human form, shown in the books of Luke 24:39 Acts 17:31, John 2:18-22 and Philippians 2:5-11. Jehovah Witness believe that the Holy Spirit is a servant of God and the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force on the other hand the Holy Spirit is God and he is a person in the book of Corinthians this is expounded in chapter 2: 10-11 and also in chapter 3:16-17 in addition the book of Romans and Acts (Rhodes 454). Jehovah witness only allows select members of the group in the church to engage in scripture interpretation while the members of the Baptist church are freely allowed to interpret the scriptures of the bible. Jehovah Witness fundamentally believes that salvation is begotten through belief in Jehovah, Jesus and the commitments of the members of the Watchtowers Society. While members of the Baptist believe that it is only through only Jesus that they are able to get salvation this are explored in these books in the bible, John and Acts. There are special members amongst the world population of Jehovah Witness members who number about 144000 and that Jesus does not become mediator for the whole human population but only for this select numbers (Martin 177). The Baptist on the other hand believe that Jesus is the mediator for all humanity who place their belief on him, the book of Timothy expounds this point. While both believe that there is the existence of Heaven, the fundamental difference is that amongst the Jehovah Witness it is believed that only the 144000 people will be allowed to experience it, on the other hand only born-again Christians will enjoy eternal life in Heaven. They have predicted the end of world and the survivors will reconstruct the world to make it what they call “Paradise” and that Jesus will rule for 1000 year. The bible used by the Baptist believers’ claim that after Jesus will have ruled for 1000 years, God will then totally destroy the world and universe and in place of the old order a new universe will be created (Rhodes 110). Jehovah witnesses believe that those people who existed in the Old Testament and those people who are not part of the 144000 select groups will be on earth forever. While Baptists believe that all human beings who are believers will live on Earth and Heaven and that they shall be able to move from Earth to Heaven just as Jesus did after he resurrected. Another fundamental difference that exists between the Jehovah Witness and the Baptist is that amongst the latter the soul of man does not survive at death and that while the former the soul of man continues to exist after death and into eternity. Jehovah Witness believes that Hell’s existence is not meant to agonize, but it is a representation of the universal grave. The other Christian churches believe that Hell is the eternal place where all sinners are eternally punished expounded in the books of Revelations, Corinthians, and Philippians (Ankerberg and Burroughs, 107). Jehovah witness shun the cross symbol and declare the symbol as Pagan while other main stream churches including the Baptists believe that the cross is an important spiritual symbol in a Christian’s life. Some of the Jehovah Witnesses teaching is that they apostles demised in 100 years after the Christ then what followed was a great imitation of Christians from the Roman Catholic Church. The founder of the sect is often described as the last Apostle and his followers all who subscribe closely to the genuine teachings of Christ and Jesus apostles. The Jehovah witness is also known to be a very secret society, and has a confidentiality policy in which any judicial cases such as those that involve molestation and sexual abuse are kept under wrap (Propp, 443). The commonality between the Baptists and the Jehovah Witness is that they all belong to the Christian faith and profess a common belief in on God. Conclusions The Jehovah witnesses just like other religious communities and groupings in the State of Florida and in the entire country enjoy the freedom as envisaged in the constitution. Their rituals practices and beliefs are tolerated as long as they are in tandem with the requirements of the constitution and other laws of the land. In south Florida the majority of church attendants come from the Hispanic community especially from Cuba. Finally while the Baptist communities just like any other community in the religion conduct elaborate funeral and memorial service for their deceased member, the Jehovah Witness conduct funeral and memorial services that are deemed to be moderate in length and conservative in nature. Works cited Ankerberg, John, and Dillon Burroughs. What's the Big Deal About Other Religions?:Answering the Questions About Their Beliefs and Practices. Eugene, Or: Harvest House Publishers, 2008. Print. Garraty, John A. American National Biography: Vol. 19. New York, NY [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1999. Print. Gruss, Edmond C. Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculation : What Does the Record Show?Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2001. Print. King, Robert. Jehovah Himself Has Become King. S.l.: Authorhouse, 2010. Print. Martin, Walter. The Kingdom of the Cults. Minneapolis, Minn: Bethany House Publishers, 1985. Print. Melton, J G. Encyclopedia of Protestantism. New York: Facts On File, 2005. Print. Rhodes, Ron. Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Eugene, Or: Harvest House, 1993. Print. Rhodes, Ron. The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah's Witness. Eugene, Or: Harvest House Publishers, 2001. Print. Propp, Steven H. Another Jesus, a Different Spirit, a Different Gospel: A Novel About Christian Sects. S.l.: Iuniverse Inc, 2011. Print. Read More