Which group is actually closer to traditional Christianity: Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses? Both have major differences from mainstream Christian beliefs, but I’m trying to understand how they compare. What key doctrines should I look at to figure out which one aligns more with historic Christianity?
Let's pray for both
“Which drink is healthier? Coke, or Pepsi?”
nah
"which drink is healthier? hydrochloric acid or arsenic acid"
To be fair, HCl is produced in our stomachs, whereas AsO(OH)3 just kills you. But I agree with your point, that neither Mormonism nor Jehovah's Witness (-ism? I don't know if there is an "-ism" term for this) are the Way; only Christ is the Way.
but i still wouldn't drink it
I equate this to Mormonism vs JW though, as Mormonism is bad but not as bad as JW (which are a lot more cult-like)
then you have the battery acid that is scientology
I agree with you 100%, I was just being pedantic
"which is better to eat? Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239?
Yummy yummy, supercritical mass in my tummy
Exactly, they are equally bad.
Right, and the point of comparison is diet coke
Neither are close to Christianity. They have completely different doctrines and theology.
mormon by a long shot. mormons are way outta left field and following false prophet, their god has a heavely wife, he used to be a man, infinite gods before and after him, we can become gods, Jesus is helels brother, etc. jw from what i understand just dont believe Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is an active force vs personal being. prob some other doctrinal things i cant remember.
Yea I can see this
Wait, do you think they are closer to Christianity than JW because of this? Did you read the question correctly?
I think he meant the opposite. I also tend to agree; Mormonism has an entire ordeal besides the common Christian faith. So-called JWs are at least limited to the Bible, albeit their own mistranslated version of it. As far as I know, at least.
It's like asking which psychotic delusions are least delusional. I guess the Mormons seem better able to tolerate reality and pushback?
But lets not forget these are demonic influenced deceptions, not mere delusions.
What's the difference?
oooh kid you not God reminded me of this one time in the streets of my downtown city area. Literally a JW I felt a demonic forceful pressure on her as I talked of Jesus and more to them. Crazy how aggressive and almost made her spirit felt. Pray for them.
Interesting! Do you mind sharing?
As a JW… yes… completely 🤣🥲
Which makes them compliment a good bit of Christianity.
Jehovah Witnesses deny the Holy Trinity and focus worship on God the father above Christ as to them Christ is the embodiment of the archangel Micheal. They believe he is the savior and was the first created being. They believe that salvation is works based that there is no salvation without strict faithfulness. They believe the bible is a complete work but they are not fundamentalists and believe some of it is strictly symbolic or metaphorical in nature.
Mormons believe that Jesus is divine but that his divinity is derivative of Gods and so they view him as a second God with his own personage. They believe the bible but that it wasn't complete until Josef Smith magically found some golden tablets and completed it. Mormons are polytheistic in the sense that they believe in many gods aside from God and that they themselves can ascend into Godhood. Mormons belief salvation is a gift of grace and that they must exalt God through works.
They both have picked and chosen what they want to believe based on the ideas of men and so some of their doctrines aligns with Christianity in some areas but in others, not at all. A lot of Mormons and JWs are decent people who live decent lives and Christ has been gracious with them as he is with us on their short comings. However, their religions are heretical cults much like the Nicolaitans and Gnositics.
I pray they are forgiven for these false beliefs and mercifully brought back to the truth of Christ.
"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
idk how mormons can read this verse and still believe in joseph smith. but they wanna do mental gymnastics to prove the bible mentions heavenly mother. or ignore isaiah saying only one God and then believe in multiple gods.
Neither one, they are both disasters
Neither of them are Christian, they are false gospels and we should pray for them.
Neither - just ask them to explain their understanding of the gospel. Stay alert, they are well trained!
Both have a different gospel and a different Jesus. They're on par with Islam IMO.
imagine believing in the prophets in islam but choosing to follow muhommad who comes hundreds of years after Christ to say the opposite of what the true prophets of the Bible say.
and ignoring historical fact Jesus was crucified and follow a man who claims to not know what will happen to himself or his believers. 46:9 in quran.
islam disproves itself by saying to follow scripture of jews and christians then contradicting it lol
I actually found muhammad in scripture. It's lost in translation and nobody cares for my explanation, but he is the colt of wild-donkey man (in the KJV it's wild-ass man, which in today's vernacular is hilarious).
the only mention of him to my knowledge is the false prophet verse. wdym wild donkey man
and islam on par with mormonism not jw tho i think
I love the jw layperson, but their elders are the trouble. They've diddled with the scripture and also make Messiah to be a created being, so for me that counts.
Like I said its buried and lost in translation, but there's only 2 instances of the phrase "pêrê-adam" (wild-donkey man) in scripture, one prophesying about Ishmael, and one referencing a particular offspring of Ishmael. The latter verse in particular makes no sense in an english translation, but it does in interlinear.
in terms of theology neither are christian but closest is JW. in terms of how members are treated mormon seems closer to Christianity
They are both far enough away that they need saving. Any religion that does not teach that salvation is by Jesus and that he is the son of God and that he died for us to pay for our sins and that if you truly believe this you will be saved is a false religion no matter how close they may appear on the outside. Mormons have basically the same rituals as Freemason's and JW... That's a whole different topic.
Calling Mormons Christians is like calling Muslims Jews. It's not a sect, it's just straight up a different religion.
Neither align with historic Christianity.
Neither align to Christianity.
Have a read about the foundation of Mormonism and Jehovah's witness. Both are 18th cults formed during the 18th century. Both claimed to have further divine revelation from God, and formed their JW bible and their Mormon bible from portions of the original bible (that has its sources all the way back to the 1st century and much older) + combine it with their 18th century prophet preached.
They are both equally as bad as Islam (yet another cult). Which is again a religion that took portions of the Hebrew bible + combined with their 6th century prophet's preaching.
I don’t even think the goal should be “closer to Christianity,” but “most like Christ.” A lot of versions of Christianity are devoid of repentance and deliverance which are far from who Christ is.
Depend how u define repentance
Jesus defined repentance as “go and sin no more.” That’s the standard.
Does it matter? This isn't horse shoes, or hand grenades. Close doesn't count.
Honestly neither.
Neither. Both reject the trinity and Christ's true nature.
Mormons will say Christ is a God, JW's will say Christ is a great prophet.
Both are wrong and both views will lead to eternal separation from God, 'closer' is irrelevant.
Not exactly.
Jws are very simple minded. For them Son of God means he cant be God. Their very poor reasoning is: However can the Son of Richard be Richard. Doesnt make sense. They just dont get it.
They do believe he's divine though so he's more than a prophet to them. Hes an angel.
Still bad. They have no clue how much deeper the sacrifice of Jesus is. To them they just dont believe It was enough. They just think it paid for the original sin but not for all sins past present and future. You have to work towards salvation. In short they think their works can save them.
Theres too many things wrong with their beleif to even fit in a book.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16, 1984 NIV)
Individuals are either in God's house or they're not. Anyone, regardless of where they get their teaching, whoever believes in the Jesus of the Bible and yields to His rightful Lordship is saved.
“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30, 1984 NIV)
... for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, ... (Exodus 20:5b, 1984 NIV)
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’” (Matthew 4:10, 1984 NIV)
WOW!!! This is a beautiful perspective and makes so much sense. Thank you for sharing!
Close only counts in horseshoes
And handgrenades.
And nuclear weapons
Neither.
Neither
Neither. Is like saying which fire is hotter? The fire on a stove, or the fire on a candle?
Like asking "Which counterfeit is closest to a real...?"
None
Which one is closer to being a sandwich? Soup or soda?
Mormons are generally less culty so I’d say them. They can at least entertain conversations
Neither. Close isn't good ENOUGH. Mormons aren't Christian, they are a cult. Jehovah's Witnesses, .......I believe I heard, no official substantiation, that they don't believe that Jesus is LORD or something like that. I might be wrong on that.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult, too. High control with lots of indoctrination. They believe Jesus is Michael the Archangel and his sacrifice only covers “original sin”. They won’t let their members get blood transfusions; many of them have died due to this stance. They believe the cross is a pagan symbol, holidays and birthdays are pagan, and any baptized member who deviates from their teaching or principles is subject to a tribunal led by three elders who determine repentance and have the power to excommunicate the member— cutting them off from all contact with other JW friends and family. It’s really awful!
I know because I was one for 30 years before I realized it was a cult and left. I haven’t heard from my JW family members in 7 years and all my old friends shun me. Praise Jesus I heard the gospel and was saved. I now have a new family in Christ and friends who love me.
Define cult?
Webster's has a good definition.
Lol. Care to explain how it's a cult or no?
I will not get into a moot discussion with you, because you know full well what a cult is. Joseph Smith, or whatever his name was, created a diabolical cult, that is NOT of God, and worships (a) man, to boot. Period. Jehovah's Witnesses aren't too far behind. Case closed.
Lol I'm asking because I'm not sure how you define it, and the word gets thrown around often with different opinions on the definition. You should check out the book "Kingdom of the Cults"... Or any search engine. And if you dig deep enough (1-2 minutes) you'll find that there are equally and more prevailing "cult" practices that exist within Christianity. Far more crimes and unethical practices attached to it too, obviously partly on account of the sheer number of followers. Still the question of who's more "cultish" or dangerous of the 3 I'll let you answer. Hopefully logically.
Jehovah’s Witness are closer. But they are both very far off and are lost.
I'm curious....Why?... what is your reasoning for the question?
Why is this sub obsessed with Mormons and JWs
Because Christians want to see the spiritually dead saved.
Mormonism Pros:
soft view of Jesus as divine
JW Pros:
Monotheism
JWs are not monotheists.
They believe Jesus is a little god (Forgive me Lord) and that the the Father is the big God. 2 different Gods. But if you ask them they will say there's only one God. Why ? Because they don't really believe what John 1:1 says. They only think Jesus is Divine, like other divine creatures. They only put up with John 1:1 because they can't find a way to delete it without causing drama, otherwise they would. They already changed the verse, if they could delete it, they would.
By "little god" do they mean that Jesus is the ultimate self-sufficient being? I suppose I have no issue with lesser deities existing from a monotheistic perspective. Monotheism does not require that there be a singular divine being.
They believe Jesus is an angel. Michael to be exact. The first creation of God. That's why they Changed John 1:1 to In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.
They had to change about 50 verses to fit this doctrine and deny his Diety.
For them Jesus did not pay for ALL your sins, does not deserve worship and is not the Mediator between God and Men.
What they need is Prayer, cause nothing will wake them up not even the truth.
Only God can wake them up.
So, with that in mind, how are they not monotheists?
They believe in multiple gods ? If you ask them they will say they are monotheists but in practice they believe Jehovah and Jesus are different Gods. They understand Jesus to be an angel, a divine god (little g) lile the other angels.
So they do believe in many many many gods (little g) and One true God Jehovah the Father.
Again, if a person believes in a singular supreme being, they are a monotheist.
Oh ok. That's for the clarification.
Of the two, the Joehvah's witnesses, as they at least are still monotheists
Both are terrible, 19th century cults, and both believe that Jesus is Satan’s sibling.
Neither, both preach a false Christ and a false gospel of works based salvation.
They both suck
I just know I stay away from groups that can’t give yes or no answers when you ask them about their religion
Both give me a headache.
Why do they have to align with mainstream Christianity to be considered Christian? Excuse my ignorance but isn't a belief and faith in Jesus Christ sufficient to call yourself Christian.
What do you mean with belief and faith in Jesus Christ? Even atheists believe that Jesus has existed.
Which beliefs about Jesus are essential in order to call yourself a Christian?
Basically that he is the Son of God, died for our sins, was resurrected and showed us the way to salvation.
Neither
Neither of them
They the gospel that's for sure. The teaching of Jesus is completely false .
Really? This? Girls, girls you are all just awful. Both are a part of the restoration cult group. What is it with this thread??