Jehovah's Witnesses

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Jehovah's Witnesses Headquarters in Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.

Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) belong to a Christian religious group. They share their beliefs about God with other people. Some of their beliefs and practices are:

They use the Hebrew name of God ("Jehovah" in English)
They are neutral in politics and wars
They are active. They visit neighbors, and teach using their books and the Bible.

Jehovah's Witnesses preaching house to house in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Jehovah's Witnesses try to obey Jesus' command to teach and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).

Jehovah's Witnesses preaching in the street in Lviv, Ukraine.

1 Beliefs
2 Practices
3 Other websites
- 3.1 Official websites of Jehovah's Witnesses
- 3.2 Links critical of the group

[change] Beliefs

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in a God named Jehovah. They think Jehovah is the most powerful being that created the heavens and the Earth and all living things. They believe that Jehovah is God the Father, Jesus is God's son, and the Holy Spirit is God's power that he uses. They do not believe in the Trinity.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only a small number of people (144,000, called the "little flock" taken from Revelation chapters 7 and 14) will go to heaven to be kings and priests with Jesus Christ. They believe that after Armageddon (the final battle of Jehovah against his enemies), God will give the Earth to the rest of the people who did what God wanted (the "great crowd"). They believe that God will make the Earth a paradise for them, and also bring back to life those who died in the past into that paradise. They also think that only their religion is true, and only their believers will survive Armageddon. They believe that all other religions (Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, etc.) are false.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God made Adam and Eve, the first people, and put them in a paradise called Eden. They think that when Adam and Eve sinned, and God sent them away from Eden, and that people get sick and die because of that. They believe that the purpose of Jehovah sending his son Jesus Christ to die was to make a way for humans to get back the paradise that Adam and Eve lost and restore them to perfect health and life.

[change] Practices

Christian Meeting in Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses are known as door "knockers". They believe God wants them to do it, so they can live on a peaceful Earth forever. Jehovah's Witnesses want to teach people about Jehovah and his plans. They talk about the "signs of the times": when there are more natural disasters and wars, the time for God's last judgement, or Armageddon, is closer. Jehovah's Witnesses used to think they knew the date of Armageddon, but now they're not sure.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are a charity in some countries; their headquarters (main office) is in Brooklyn, New York. Members are not paid for their work; volunteers do everything.

Jehovah's Witnesses meet in churches called Kingdom Halls. These halls do not have altars, statues, or candles. They are built by volunteers, sometimes from far away. Some Kingdom Halls are in buildings that used to be houses, shops, or offices.