Introduction
Secularization doubtlessly is worth mentioning among the trends that are observable in the modern world. Simply stated, religious thought is facing serious challenges from science, technology, and the materialistic worldview as the product of those; therefore, it may need substantial reconsidering to be adaptable to the changing conditions. Apparently, not all of the existing denominations will be able to survive the upcoming epoch since people’s values, needs, and preferences will transform inevitably and, with high probability, irreversibly. Jehovah’s Witnesses are on the list of religious communities that find themselves on the verge of extinction; the paper seeks to identify the reasons for that. The low growth and the decreasing retention rate of believers, as compared to other Christians, suggest that the strict rules that are not consistent with the current values and technological environment result in the decline of the worldview.
Analysis of the Worldview
The Jehovah’s Witnesses movement was founded in the 1870s, and during the second half of the nineteenth century, the main postulates of their teaching were developed and formalized. Therefore, their understanding of Christianity is quite young; the lack of experience, in addition, may be one of the reasons why the philosophy is in a crisis. Among the prevalent doctrines, in the period of its formation, was premillennialism, whose adepts were expecting the Second Advent before the beginning of the new thousand of years. Disputes on that apparently inspired some believers to study the Bible thoroughly and search for alternative interpretations, which eventually gave birth to a unique denomination.
As a result of private closed meetings the Witnesses organized for theological discussions, a new concept of God appeared, which differs from the established ideas in Christianity. Notwithstanding its relative newness, the worldview doubtlessly is at the top of the list of the most conservative religious paradigms. This may result from the adepts’ unwillingness to reframe the philosophy, adjusting it to the changing needs, values, and preferences of people. Instead, they stick to the views the creators of the religion, headed by Charlez Russell, expressed, and follow the rules those established. Since the Witnesses’ beliefs contradict the recognized basics of Christianity, most churches, including the Orthodox, the Greek Catholic, and several Protestant, do not accept them.
The main ideas of this religious branch acquired an official formulation in the 1930s. The document that involves them, “Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania…”, remains a strict model for the religious behavior of the Witnesses. The conviction that Armageddon will happen in a short period is one of the key postulates, which they doubtlessly inherited from the premillennialists. This, in fact, is only one example of how essential biblical texts are in this philosophy; nevertheless, its adepts may doubt the correctness of the commonly accepted doctrines. Thus, they reject the concept of an immortal soul since, according to them, any living creature, including human beings, can be regarded as a soul. In addition, they believe in resurrection, which will happen after Armageddon, when Jesus begins to rule the earth.
The apocalyptic imagery of the religious beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as the contradictions with official Christianity, led to numerous persecutions of this religious branch. As mentioned, many believers consider the denomination heretical; furthermore, some label it a cult, not willing to accept it as another variation of the canonic doctrines. Regarding secular governments, the adepts frequently have conflicts with those due to their refusal to do military service, which emerges from their belief in the intrinsic value of life. The Witnesses’ behavior in other spheres, meanwhile, may contradict that conviction; thus, they do not accept blood transfusion even in case it is vitally important. This is another reason for the deprecation and one of the most ethically and legally debatable rules, which deters many from participating in the community. The loyal members insist that their views originate directly from the Bible in its initial version, not distorted by incorrect translations or serving anybody’s personal interests.
One of the main differences between Jehovah’s Witnesses and official Christianity is the denial of the Holy Trinity and belief in the one God Jehovah. Notably, they deny the divinity of Christ, considering him simply Jehovah’s primary creation. It is not relevant for them, consequently, to participate in any holidays associated with Jesus, including Easter and Christmas. Another reason why they do not accept the orthodox celebration is their belief in its pagan origin; actually, people’s birthdays are neglected as well because of this. Neither do the Witnesses practice iconography since, according to them, the Bible teaches that the worship of images contradicts God’s will.
Critique of the Worldview
The above analysis illustrates the general disputableness of the doctrines Jehovah’s Witnesses follow and spread. The fact that they disagree strongly with the commonly accepted Christian teachings is not the only issue; if a certain religion comprises multiple denominations, those hardly ever cease to polemize. Poor adaptability to the ever more secular world is the main disadvantage of the philosophy under review; the following section provides detail.
The religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is rapidly losing followers and acquiring few new adherents due to extreme strictness, which is inconsistent with the moral values of the modern world. Among the latter are humanism and technical progress, the synthesis of which has enabled overcoming the diseases that had killed people inevitably before, including various forms of cancer, serious traumas, severe anemia, and others. Managing those conditions frequently requires blood transfusion; the Witnesses, meanwhile, oppose it, notwithstanding the high probability of a fatal outcome. As a result, many of those for whom faith is a source of hope leave the community because it proclaims the prevalence of the rules over their lives, depriving them of a chance. In addition to ruthlessness, the rules are quite outdated, considering that, as mentioned, the theoretical base of the worldview did not undergo any serious reframing for almost 150 years.
The culmination of the Witnesses’ activity, which demonstrated them as radical and potentially dangerous, however, occurred at the end of the 20th century. Being the successors of premillennialists, they were foreshadowing Armageddon, that is, the end of the world, in parallel with the Second Coming of Christ. That period in world history was quite difficult, marked by substantial political, economic, and, consequently, social perturbations. In such a context, the assumptions that God was planning to destroy the unrighteous, on which the Witnesses were insisting, apparently did not sound relevant. That was among the reasons why their religion became one of the few prosecuted worldviews in the twentieth century, the epoch of unprecedented moral freedom.
Another aspect is that the ideas of Jehovah’s Witnesses, being strict and requiring depersonalization as well as obedience, often stand in opposition to state institutions. In fact, the above freedom, whose integral part is the liberty of conscience, became one of the major stumbling points. The vast majority of democratic states include it in their constitutions; the Witnesses, meanwhile, violate the latter by offending and humiliating even other Christians, which is classifies as the incitement of religious hatred. In addition, the only legitimate power, according to the given worldview, is that of God, for which reason the followers may accuse politics as well as voters of betrayal and disobedience.
The denial of military service doubtlessly is another point to make this religion the object of criticism and even persecution. In a secular environment, civil duties are a priority and, therefore, have to be combinable with religious convictions; this encourages most of the existing philosophies to develop in certain ways, growing more flexible and progressive. The beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, meanwhile, are dramatically rigid and prevent them from performing appropriately as citizens.
To summarize, the philosophy under the review faces heavy criticism both from the other denominations of Christianity and from non-religious population. The reasons for discontent include not only its contradiction to the recognized doctrines but also excessive strictness, outdatedness, hate speech, and poor compatibility with civil life. Even the former members are leaving the community because of those disadvantages, which allows assuming that it is hardly able to survive the ever-increasing secularization of the world.
Defense of Christianity against the Worldview
By contrast with the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, orthodox Christianity doubtlessly has withstood the tests of time and will continue to be popular. The main reason for this is that the latter can provide believers with hope as well as room for self-actualization, while the former, as mentioned, rests on obedience and suppressing individuality. In general, the traditional Christian views are associated with humanism and development substantially closer in comparison with the opposing philosophy.
The primary point to mention is the apocalyptic nature of the Witnesses’ paradigm, which cannot serve to motivate and comfort by definition. Furthermore, the idea of Armageddon apparently plays an essential role in their lifestyle, which they organize completely around the possible ways to deserve a resurrection after the end of the world. This is one of the key channels the leaders use to communicate their beliefs to the adepts; in fact, the former instruct the latter to obey the rules to survive.
Official Christianity, on the contrary, regards God as the highest, absolute, and unlimited mercy, which every believer is able to contact. Furthermore, according to Christians, even those who do not consider His existence real can observe it in miracles, the occasions that contradict the known laws of nature. It is worth noting that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not share this opinion, insisting that only the most loyal adepts of their worldview, who never violate the rules, can be connected to God.
The concept of miracles is actually worth considering as a bright illustration of how the classic denominations of Christianity seek to find the balance between the material and the supernatural. Specifically, while not doubting the recognized scientific discoveries, the believers assume that the nature humans can observe is not the only dimension of the Universe and the existence of the other evidence that of God. The ability to perceive and explore the supernatural hypothetically is peculiar to everybody; whether a particular person does that or not depends on his or her will. Meanwhile, as guessable from the above, the Witnesses, with their unnecessarily literal interpretation of the Bible, are too radical to reach an equilibrium of such a kind.
Another reason why orthodox Christianity is substantially more appealing in comparison with the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses is its respect towards personality. The Witnesses, as mentioned, postulate depersonalization through complete obedience and, furthermore, do not accept the concept of an immortal soul, supposing that all material and non-material components of an individual die simultaneously. In the traditional understanding, meanwhile, personality is one of the major values; Christians see people as spiritual beings created after the image and likeness of God, any of which, therefore, can unite with Him eventually. Among the keys to that is free will, which the believers appreciate strongly both in themselves and in others since it, according to them, is the manifestation of the divine nature in humans.
All of the above makes it quite apparent that Christianity, in its commonly accepted interpretations, postulates equality, which aspect has acquired special importance in the modern humanism-based society. The above conviction that God may speak to everyone, regardless of his or her religious belonging or any other identity, through miracles, is not the only example, although one of the brightest. It is also noteworthy that Christian God, being an embodiment of absolute love, treats all of His children, who humans are, with equivalent care. Specifically, He provides everybody, including sinners, with a chance to recognize and correct their mistakes
and turn to Him, without categorizing and separating people. The leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses, on the contrary, consider themselves the chosen, elite, which view not only favors discrimination and humiliation but also manifests the sin of false pride.
Finally, Christianity is quite adaptable to the ever-growing speed as well as variety of life since it does not neglect any sphere of it the way the Witnesses do. Thus, as mentioned, the latter refuse to participate in politics, join the military, and accept certain medical interventions; the most dedicated may avoid higher education and anything else that prevents an individual from serving Jehovah. Considering the above excessive rigidness of the worldview, it is hardly able to integrate successfully into the modern future-oriented world, where the role of knowledge, science, and progress continues to become leading. Christianity, meanwhile, insists on constant improvement to reach perfection in every area; this is the shortest way to God and matches the values of the current epoch.
Conclusion
To summarize, it doubtlessly is reasonable to state that the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses is experiencing a dramatic downturn, primarily, due to prescribing outstandingly strict and outdated rules to its members. The principles have remained practically unchanged since the late nineteenth century, when the methodology appeared; this apparently complicates attracting modern people, whose values are substantially different from those of the founders. Furthermore, the existing adepts become disappointed with the philosophy, mainly because of its apocalyptic focus that kills rather than awakens hope in people. In addition, a range of the convictions is poorly combinable with the ideas of humanism and technical progress, which underlie the worldview of the modern progressive population.
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