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Beliefs

Like many reforming churches, the Witnesses base their lives and beliefs on the example of the early Christian Church and the words of the Bible.

The Bible

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Bible was inspired by God and is historically accurate.

They see the Bible as the main way in which God communicates his will to human beings, and they interpret it literally (except for passages that are obviously meant to be symbolic or poetic).

Witnesses test any religious idea or teaching against the Bible - if an idea or teaching doesn't agree with the Bible then they regard it as wrong.

The Witnesses have their own translation of the Bible - the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They refer to the 'New Testament' as the Christian Greek Scriptures, and they call the 'Old Testament' the Hebrew Scriptures.

While they don't regard them as scripture, Witnesses greatly respect the various doctrinal articles published in The Watchtower. Charles Taze Russell's books Studies in Scriptures are respected but are no longer circulated or relied upon.

God

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that:

• God the Father (whose name is Jehovah) is "the only true God".
• Jesus Christ is his firstborn son, is inferior to God, and was created by God.
• The Holy Spirit is not a person; it is God's active force.

The Jehovah's Witness beliefs about God are outlined in detail below.

God (the Father):

• God is a single being whose personal name is Jehovah
  • they also accept the name Yahweh and other transliterations
• Jehovah is alone, and above all other beings
• Jehovah created everything that exists
• Jehovah has a son called Jesus Christ
  • Jesus is not God
  • Jesus is not equal to God
  • Jesus was God's first creation
  • Jehovah then created everything else through Jesus Christ
• Jehovah's outstanding qualities are love, justice, wisdom, and power.

Jesus Christ:

• Jesus Christ is a mighty being, but he is not God
  • Jesus Christ is a lesser and separate spirit being
  • Jesus Christ is not equal to God in power or eternity (i.e. age)
  • Jesus Christ never thought of himself as God or equal to God
• Jesus Christ is the son of God
• Jesus Christ was created by Jehovah as his first creation
  • So Jesus had a beginning and thus cannot not be eternal
• Jesus Christ is inferior to Jehovah, but superior to the angels
• Jesus Christ rules as part of God's heavenly kingdom
• Jesus Christ is the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament
• Jesus Christ came to earth from heaven
  • When Jesus was on earth he was a perfect human being, but he was not divine in any way
• Jesus Christ gave his human life as a sacrifice to make human salvation possible
• Witnesses believe that Jesus did not die on a cross but on a single pole or stake
• Witnesses believe that Jesus had a spirit resurrection, not a bodily one
• Jesus Christ has been appointed by God to judge each human being and decide on their fate
• Jesus Christ will be used by God to resurrect the dead

The Holy Spirit:

• The holy spirit is Jehovah's active force that he uses to accomplish his will
• The holy spirit is not a person
• The holy spirit is not part of a Trinity

The Trinity:

• The traditional Christian idea that God is a 'Trinity' of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is false and based on pagan ideas
• The doctrine of the Trinity is inconsistent with the Bible
• The doctrine of the Trinity contradicts what the prophets, Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians believed and taught

The cross

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus did not die on a cross but on single stake.

This belief is based on the Greek words used in the Bible for the cross, which literally translate as 'stake' and 'tree'.

Modern Witnesses regard the Cross as a pagan symbol and do not use it, although it was accepted by the movement until 1931.

Death, Heaven and Hell

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. There is no place where sinners are tormented after death - since their existence is over, nothing can be done to them or for them. Witnesses also argue that it would be completely against God's nature to torture humans for eternity.

However, death is not the end of everything: each person can be remembered by God and eventually be resurrected.

Witnesses say that this is clearly stated by Jesus:

End times

Much of Witness belief concentrates on the 'End Times', and Witnesses have pointed to a number of past dates as Biblically significant, though they have not stated in terms when the end of the world, or 'conclusion of the system of things,' is expected.

Witnesses believe that the end times started in 1914, but they realise that most human beings were unaware of this.

They believe that when 'the End' finally comes only 144,000 human beings will go to Heaven and rule the Earth from there with Christ - these are known as the anointed.

The anointed

Becoming an anointed person is not something that is done by voting or selection. Instead, the anointed one knows directly from God that he or she has been chosen.

Only those who feel themselves to be anointed partake of the bread and wine at the annual Memorial of Christ's death.

The majority of Jehovah's Witnesses are not anointed and will not spend eternity in heaven. They will spend eternity in paradise on Earth.

In fact not only Jehovah's Witnesses but billions of others will have everlasting life on earth and thus fulfil God's original plan for humanity when he put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Find out more

• Trinity
• End Times and millennialism