And you can know that JW's are cultists for several reasons...
- [1]They accept it as evidence for their faith when people ignore them.
[2]Witnessing time is recorded on time sheets and is used as confirmation of their faith. It's a way of proving that they are good JWs. If you don't have enough time under your belt your treated as a 2nd or 3rd class JW.
[3]They have their own bible. (This point alone is sufficient to establish them as a cult.)
[4]They deny the diety of Jesus Christ. (This point alone is sufficient to establish them as a cult.)
[5]The religion was created in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell who simply made up doctrines that he liked to replace several that the church (the real church) taught.
[6]JW's have made several prophecies that did not come to pass. (e.g. "Judge Rutherford" published "The Harp of God" with the claim emblazoned on the cover, that "millions now living will never die".) (This point alone is sufficient to establish them as a cult.)
[7]JW's are not allow to think for themselves. (e.g. If you offer to read JW literature in exchange for them reading the gospel of John (the real one), they won't do it. They'll refuse to do it because they must "be careful of false teachers and apostates".)
[8]If a JW every tries to leave the faith, they'll lose their family, friends, careers and anything else the JW "church" can take from them. It is very similar to the "disconnection" procedure employed by Scientology cult.
Etc, etc, etc. (Portions of that list come from a website that I cannot find the link for anymore. It's not my intention to plagiarize someone else's work.)
Lol all the above reasons shows your ignorance in regards to JW's. Below I'll reposnd to each point you made above:
1. We do not accept it as evidence that we have the truth when people ignore us. Some people listen, some don't. If some people did not listen to the wisest man on earth then some will no doubt not listen to us. The bible mentions that people in the last days will be as in Noah's day (Matt 24:38,39), living life until the end came.
2. We do record the number of hours of preaching each member does but it is not to prove who a good JW is, no one in the congregation is a good or bad witnesses for doing a few or a lot hours. There is no such thing as a 2nd or 3rd class JW, this is pure fabrication. I for example haven't handing in a report/record over the last 3-4 months, nothing has changed in regards to my standing in my church, nobody views or treats me any better or any worse, there isn't even a way for member to know other members monthly hours let alone treat them differently because of how many hours they've done. Pure fabrication on your part.
3.The WT society did translate a bible, how is this prove that JW's are a cult?
4. On the contrary we accept the deity of Christ, we simply reject he is part of a trinity or the one God, Jesus however is rightly a God he simply is not the "one God", only the Father is the "one God" (1 Cor 8:6).
5. How does a group of people coming together and stating they understand the bible properly make one a cult? The doctrine that JW's have can be traced back to the 1CE and the early church fathers, none of it was invented by C.T.Russell, tell me a single doctrine that we still have today from Russell that hasn't previously been taught throughout the centuries, their isn't one.
6. Tell me a single prophecy JW's have made, again their isn't one. Do not mistake a prediction up with a prophecy. JW's have seemed to make predictions of prophecies found in the bible, but one could hardly call a prediction about a already established prophecy and prophecy itself. If there is a prophecy in the bible stating the end is soon, and I say I predict this prophecy will come true next year this is a predication about the prophecy. For one to make a prophecy they would have to come up with their own prophecy itself, JW's have never done this. If they have done this show me here.
7. JW's have never been told we should only ever read the NWT, even in the JW app which you can download yourself we have the KJV, ASV and the Byington bible along with the NWT. Nowhere are we told not to think for themselves, we go out and speak to people of different faith and different opinions every single day, why would they not allow us to read other literature if they are fine with us speaking to people who have the opinion of other literature and can simply bring it up themselves,. There is no difference for example with reading an article about the trinity and speaking to someone about the trinity,
8.JW's are instructed to "keeping company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner not even eating with such a man" this is instructed from the bible and not JW's, are you trying to say the bible is wrong in this regards?
So again, how are JW's a cult again, you fabricated point above certainly don't prove they are.
NWL said:
A literal fiery Hell does not exist, my friend, you have been lied to. I am not shackled into my faith by the threat of Hell as you. As you have already seen me show when you die you are no more aware of anything then you are when you asleep.
Clete said:
No, so say the bible. Where in the bible do we find God telling mankind the price or wages for sinning is eternity in a fiery Hell, he never does. Instead the bible states
"the wages for sin is death" (Romans 6:23), NOT 'the wages for sin is eternity in Hell". If the wages for sin is death, then upon a sinful man dying his wages have been paid, as the verse says, if God were to futher punish him in Hell he would be going beyond what he stated making God a liar.
The bible states regarding man
"his spirit goes out, he returns to the ground; On that very day his thought perish" (Psa 146:4), the bible does not state "his spirit goes out, he returns to the ground; On that very day his thoughts do not perish but suffer in hell in eternity".
The bible links to burning people as a thing God has never even thought of,
"They have built the high places of topeth...in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, something that I had not commanded and that had not never even come into my heart" (Jer 7:31)
These are the Bibles words Clete, not JW's, you fail to acknowledge this.
NWL said:
I will not debate doctrine with you.
Stop fooling yourself, you mean you can't debate with me, you already proved this when you ran away with the very first question I asked you.
NWL said:
You've made a claim "God died", yet the bible states
"Are you not from everlasting, O Jehovah? O my God, my Holy One, you do not die" (Habakkuk 1:12), are you claiming the bible writer and God's word here is incorrect?
Clete said:
So the bible writer was correct in saying God doesn't die? but you say God did die. You both can't be correct, so which is it, did God die or didn't he?
NWL said:
Because you do not understand what the bible teaches. Immutability is a Calvinist doctrine (Augustinian actually) and is not biblical as literally thousands of threads on this very website has established tens, if not hundreds of thousands of times. I most certainly will not debate it with a cultist who doesn't even believe the actual bible is scripture in the first place.
You mean you can't again.
You worship a god that does not exist.
And I would say the same about you, the only difference is I'm able to prove my God from the bible, you are not.