What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe, essentially, that to gain salvation you must witness for Jehovah; you must go out on the streets and proclaim salvation in Jehovah. They are different from Christians in that they believe Jesus Christ is only one of many gods and that He is a created being. They translate John 1:1 as, "In the beginning was the word...and the word was a god." The Greek says, instead, "And the word was God" (John 1:1).

Because Jehovah's Witnesses give allegiance only to Jehovah, they do not pledge allegiance to the flag, they do not vote, they do not serve in armed forces, and they do not hold public office. They do not celebrate holidays or birthdays. Another unique teaching prohibits them from taking blood transfusions.

Jehovah's Witnesses originally taught that the world would end in 1914. It obviously did not. They also taught that there were only 144,000 people who were going to be saved by going to heaven. When Jehovah's Witnesses membership went past 144,000, they said they were the meek and were going to inherit the earth.

A major problem with the tenets of Jehovah's Witnesses is that there is never an assurance of salvation. In Christianity, a person can know that he is saved by trusting in Jesus. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that salvation comes through good works, so they must work continuously, without ever really knowing whether they will be saved. Many of their other doctrines are not biblical either.

Excerpt taken from Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions, Copyright 1984 by Pat Robertson.