By Dr Olav Albuquerque
Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses? They are different from mainstream Christianity…
JEHOVAH’S Witnesses (JW) shun violence to such an extent that a believer will not conscientiously take up weapons or take up combat roles in the Army, Navy or Air Force because the right to self-defense includes the right to use violence. No believer will consciously run for public office, according to the JW national spokesman, Joshua David, based in Bangalore who spoke to the writer four days after the end of their three-day convention in Margao.
David spoke to this writer cautiously over the telephone on November 23, 2023 four days after their three-day convention ended in Margao titled “Exercise Patience” — an event which was held after a three-year gap because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 6,000 conventions were held worldwide as part of the 2023 “Exercise Patience!” convention series, according to the JW local spokesman, Jarod Fernandes.
In India alone 74 conventions were held in more than 40 cities in 17 languages, including Konkani. The speakers at Margao spoke fluent Konkani while dwelling on the virtues of patience. Neatly side-stepping questions about JW believers’ joining the armed forces, David replied: “It is left to their individual conscience.” He cut short the interview by saying he had another meeting to attend. But the JWs do not celebrate Christmas, Easter, national holidays or even birthdays which they believe have pagan origins. Nor do they permit blood transfusions.
Bolstered by the outbreak of World War-I, the founder of the JWs, Charles Tate Russell predicted the end of the world in 1914 and 1915 and finally settled for 1918 but died on October 31, 1916 which culminated in an eviction of all his so-called predictions. One preacher explained that Jehovah lives outside the earth which rotates and revolves around the sun in 24 hours and 365 days respectively.
Hence, Jehovah is not subject to earthly time which may explain why their founder, Charles Russell’s predictions were his convictions alone which never materialized. As a mitigating factor, the very epitome of rationality, Isaac Newton, who was also an alchemist and theologian, predicted circa 1704 that the world would end in 2060. He wrote 4,500 pages over 50 years trying to decode the secrets of the Bible. Probably, he too will be proved wrong.
Unlike mainstream Christianity, JWs reject belief in a trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but believe that Jehovah is the one true God and Jesus Christ existed as the Archangel Michael before being born of the Virgin Mary. After Jesus Christ was crucified, He was resurrected in spirit form which may be seen as heretical by Christians.
Domnic Martin, accused of detonating a bomb which killed three persons and injured 50 others, at Kalamaserry in Kerala on October 29, claims to be a former Jehovah’s Witness for 17 years which has been strongly rebutted by their national spokesman. Martin alleges the JWs theology is seditious which is false for the simple reason all JWs shun violence. On the other hand, Martin used explosives to kill those whom he did not agree with.
The doctrine of the JWs seem peculiar and quaint to mainstream Christians. More so, when they take the utterances of Jesus Christ literally to spread the good news of eternal life to the world. They visit door-to-door, distributing their literature and Bibles. Baptized JWs who question their theology are “shunned” which is a euphemism for being ostracized by their co-religionists which is psychologically traumatic.
Be that as it may, in a pluralistic society, the JWs are unique and different from mainstream Christianity. But as long as they do not force others to convert, their theology is certainly not seditious which is what the US Supreme Court has held as far back as 1951.
