Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, groups that consider themselves Christians but are labeled by many as cults, differ vastly from the born-again population when it comes to core Christian doctrines, according to a new survey released Monday.
The only belief that Witnesses share in the same degree with born-again Christians is that their religious faith is very important in their life, reported The Barna Group. Nine out of 10 people from both groups held this view.
But beyond this commonality, the two groups parted ways and differed on all the other criteria for being born-again. Only seven percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses meet the requirements, according to the survey.
Born-again Christians are defined by Barna as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.
Most Witnesses say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life, but only one out of every 10 of those adults base their hope of salvation on a confession of sins and acceptance of Christ as their savior. But Witnesses are also significantly more likely than born-again adults to reject the idea of salvation earned through good works.
Additionally, 61 percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses, compared to 42 percent of born-agains, strongly believe that Satan exists. They are also more likely than born-again adults to argue that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth (77 percent versus 63 percent).
In comparison, Mormons have more similar views with born-again Christians. One-third of Mormons meet the born-again criteria, but some evangelical leaders argue that Mormons’ refusal to trust wholly on God’s grace and forgiveness through Christ as the only means to salvation disqualifies them from being born-again. A majority of Mormons believes that a good person can earn their way into heaven.
More than nine out of 10 Mormons have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that they describe as being important in their life; nine out of 10 say their religious faith is very important in their life; two-thirds affirm the sinless life of Christ on earth; and more than half believe that Satan exists.
"All three of these groups claim to be Christian, uphold the importance of faith and spirituality, are active in their churches, generally believe in the same God, and accept the holiness of Jesus Christ," George Barna, director of the survey, commented. "Beyond that, there are huge differences related to central doctrines such as the means to eternal salvation or the reliability and authority of the Bible.”
In other findings, 74 percent of Jehovah’s Witnesses and 64 percent of Mormons say they have a personal responsibility to share their faith with others have a strong conviction that witnessing with others is a personal responsibility while 54 percent of all born-agains share that same conviction. Also, 88 percent of Witnesses believe that the Bible is completely accurate in all of its teachings compared to 71 percent of born-agains. Relatively few Mormons believe that the Bible is totally accurate (32 percent).
In terms of faith practices, Jehovah’s Witnesses are twice as likely to gather in small groups during the week (75 percent) and significantly more likely to read the Bible during the week (83 percent) than born-again Christians. At the same time, they are also more than twice as likely to be unchurched at the moment (28 percent).
Mormons are more likely than born-again Christians to attend church services in a given week (73 percent) and to volunteer at their church.
The report is based on telephone interviews from a nationwide random sample of adults. Interviews with 323 Mormons and 186 Jehovah’s Witnesses were isolated for analysis.
Comments
The Jesus Christ of Mormonism
http://www.mrm.org/topics/jesus-christ
Mormons are not Creedal Christians. However, they do believe in the Jesus Christ of the New Testament:
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion. This article http://mormonsarechristian.blogspot.com/ helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity's comprehension of baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) adheres more closely to First Century Christianity and the New Testament than any other denomination. For example, Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”
One Baptist blogger stated “99 percent of the members of his Baptist church believe in the Mormon (and Early Christian) view of the Trinity. It is the preachers who insist on the Nicene Creed definition.” It seems to me the reason the pastors denigrate the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is to protect their flock (and their livelihood).
Further reading; http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/
How can they claim to be born again and think Jesus sinned. Thats an oxymoron.
Jehovah's Witnesses are often silent when asked to prove their CORE doctrine:
That JESUS HAS ALREADY HAD HIS SECOND COMING IN 1914 and is ONLY working through their organization.
1914 (from Adventist William Miller) is to a JW what Mary and/or the Trinity is to Catholics or what Joseph Smith and the golden plates are to Mormons.
1914 is the Watchtower's #1 foundation dogma and it is false.
Watchtower dissident site http:/ / www.freeminds. org
13,000 leave the Watchtower organization every month,find out why
Jesus own name means "YHWH Saves" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus), so if YHWH is the one saving, how often do you hear or even show respect for his name? You say "Hallelujah" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halleluiah) but is his name even in your Bible? Check for yourself, (Ps 83:18 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah). Do you really think that Jesus would be happy with those who refuse to even recognize his father by his name?
Hurrah! for the cults again I say Hurrah! for may they provoke the church to jealousy! They believe their corruption so much they are willing to share it with those who they believe are lost. While the evangelical wants to hide down low and not be embarrased about his strange beliefs because he might have to obey the one true God and share the "foolishness" of the gospel. Churianity its time to wake up and ask yourself how do I share the gospel and if you aren't doing it then who is? What is the gospel anyway? Do you really know how to explain it? try visiting livingwaters in a search engine if you would like to learn
DUH!!!
Didn't Joseph Smith die in a gun fight?? Yup, he did. He also tried to create martial law among his own people. Joseph Smith was no martyr since he took a gun to defend himself. A real martyr by definition dies for their faith without trying to kill the other person.
Joseph Smith was a Profit alright. He and their church is all about Profit, but he is not a Prophet.
Now that we have the Rosetta Stone, we can also show that his writings from these so-called plates are false.
I would not even call Joseph Smith's work on the Bible a "translation." It was nothing but submitting the sacred Scriptures to his occultism.
As for the New World Translation (Jehovah's Witnesses), that is one of the most corrupt "translations" out there. It was proven in court that Charles Taze Russell did not know even the LETTERS of the Greelk ALPHABET, let alone the Greek language!
Neither the Mormon nor JW founders had any business "translating" the Bible. I would not want to be where they are now.
They may be cults, and they may be wrong, but based on the statistics and answers to the questions, we Christians are pathetic! It seems that both are doing better with a corrupt translation of the Bible than most Christians are with 100s of versions of true translations. They may even believe some crazy things, but at least they are acting on what they believe more than we are.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons need an Infinite Savior
http://polemos.net/The%20Infinite%20Savior.html
Religion is inescapable, everyone has one.
If you want to know the real truth about mormons, check out mormoncult.org. It is a real eye opener for those ignorant of the mormons.
Beware, it is not THAT you believe in Jesus, it is WHAT you believe about Him!
JW's believe that Jesus is NOT God, He is NOT part of the Trinity. He is NOT equal to God. He is "a god" and a created being. They believe he was Michael the Archangel before coming to earth and that as Michael, his "life force" was transferred by holy spirit to Mary. They believe that Jesus is the mediator only for the "anointed remnant" and not for all men. The also believe that His ransom paid for Adam's sin alone and that gives people an opportunity to earn their salvation by believing in God and doing good works.
That is just the tip, the list goes on and one. Their beliefs can change, because their prophecies don't come true and also based on what people will believe and accept.
They have their own corrupted Bible translation called the New World Translation.
Do some studies.
Tetemais,how much grace and how much works for our salvation, 50 / 50, 25 / 75, 99 / 1 ?Jesus never asked for our help. One of the number of things Jesus nevered asked us for. Besides your Jesus cannot save us as he was created and not eternal God.
JWs and Mormons are both slaves to works religions.What can I do to get my elders approval
and get into heaven or the new earth in opposition to Christian salvation by grace alone, what Jesus has done for me.It is true to say that they have to work hard." Come to me all you that are heavy ladened and I will give you rest."The JW Bible "The new World Translation"is written
to keep one out of heaven if the Devil has his way as well as the Mormon Bible.