Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Protestants, Fundamentalists, or a sect?
State your reasoning why
Responses (7)
Jehovah's Witnesses themselves say they are not Protestants and would say that they are the only true religion (most religions imply that they are the only true religion and that all other religions are not completely true).
If you look at the definition of the word sect (and ignore the negative connotations), then Jehovah's Witnesses can be defined as a sect. As for fundamentalism, where is the boundary between traditional religion and fundamentalist viewpoints based around the same religion? Of that, I am not sure.
I think you have to be extremely careful with that Wikipedia definition because it makes very many religions appear as sects with reference to the coming of monotheism. I'd hopefully be more tactful than many Wikipedia contributors have been. I'm not religious myself but I do feel very strongly that it's wrong to be so critical of people's beliefs.
Btw, maybe this could help:
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses an American Sect?
http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/not-a-sect/
JWs are not Protestants since Protestants doesn't believe of Jehovah's name although they believe that Jesus the Son is different with God, his father.
Also, it is very obvious that JWs are not sect because from the very beginning (I think its more or less during 90's), they are using Jehovah's name which cannot be considered as sect because there is no other religion that uses Jehovah. Some religions that can be consiered as sect are Baptist, Born Again, CFC, JIL, etc. since they are originated from Roman Catholic. The reason why having sects is because some of their followers find some doctrines unexplained or misleading.
Personally, I am not familiar with Fundamen....
Btw, maybe this could help:
Are Jehovah’s Witnesses an American Sect?
http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/not-a-sect/
They are a high control cultish group that uses deception to recruit and mind control tactics to control and trap indoctrinated members.
Disagreeing with the Watchtower's everchanging interpretations is viewed as rebellion against God.
Any member who leaves the group is shunned to the extreme..for life. ..even by family members.
Charles Russel (the first Jehovah's Witness) was a member of the "Congregational church"(Protestant). His first followers were part of the "Adventist" church (Protestant). If you go to a Kingdom Hall (JW church) it's ALLOT like a typical Protestant church service. Most JWs don't know this because they are not allowed to visit other churches. They also don't learn their own history.
Jehovah's Witnesses are not a offshoot of any other religion. They are Jevovah's Witnesses. The name explains who and what they are. The belong to their god whose name is Jehovah. The are his witnesses in that what they teach and how they live the witness or attest to the his way or ruling is right or the best. The name itself is a scriptural name. They are not a cult or separated from society. Although they are no part of the world in that they do not get involved in the worlds politics and things like that, they live in the world and strive to respect the authorities in place, by obeying the laws paying taxes and things like these.
They are a Christian sect with cultish attributes. They will 'disfellowship' (shun) anyone who questions the doctrines, leadership or breaks the rules. They are non-Trinitarians and followers of the philosophy of Arius of Alexandria who said Christ was fully human and not GOD. Christ being A God (Son of Man and Son of GOD). They reject all Christian iconography like the cross, christmas, easter and only keep the passover as the evening meal of Christ. I was born into the sect and spent the first 20 years with them though I never joined or baptized into the cult...
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger religious group. Although in past it was mostly used to ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sect