Jehovah Witnesses Point of View About the Dead

If you live in a country that allows Christian Religious practices then surely, you might have already been visited by one of the "Jehova Witnesses". They are actually a large (world-wide) Christian Religious group that emerge in sharing Bible Studies to anyone who are interested.

Jehova Witnessess religious group was first founded by Charles Taze Russell in the late 1870s who had also organized, "Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society". The organization was later handed under the leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford who made a lot of changes into the doctrines.

Where are the Dead According to the Jehova Witnesses' Belief?

The book entitled "What Does the Bible Really Teach?" owned and published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society had covered a topic about life-after-death in Chapter Six of the book. The question "Where Are the Dead?" has been discussed.

Why Do We Die?


According to the JWs (Jehova Witnesses), we die because of the "Sin" that has been imparted to us by Adam and Eve. They were the first two human beings created by God to walk on the surface of the Paradise-Earth. Unfortunately, they committed their Sin by neglecting their creator's advice.

God had told Adam and Eve not to eat from the "tree of the knowledge of good and bad". This was just one single forbidden tree among all the other countless number of trees around them that they were allowed to eat their fruits. Yet, they still ate the fruit from the forbidden tree which made them as the humans who had committed the very first Sin from God.

Before Adam and Eve had committed their Sin, they were actually blessed with an eternal or everlasting life which means that they don't die. However, as a punishment for their disobedience, God gave them death in a sense that death will come as they age or get older in time. This punishment of death was passed down to their children and from their children into the next generations onwards.

Death will be No More


In Revelation 21:4 of the Bible, you can read a prophecy about death which clearly stated that "death will be no more". Here's the complete verse from the Bible:

Revelation 21:4] "He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared."

Jehova Witnesses' Disagreement to other Religious Belief about Death


Not all Christian Religious groups have the same perspective view about death. JWs claims that the following outcomes of life-after-death are considered as false teachings:

1. The Heaven and Hell

When a certain person died who did a lot of good things in his life (which include serving God) on Earth, he or she will enter the "Heaven" (or Paradise). But for those who committed sins, they will be sent into the underworld called "Hell" to receive their eternal punishment.

2. Purgatory

If people are to be judge according to their good and bad deeds, how about those people who fall somewhere in-between? According to some religions, these people will be sent into a place called "Purgatory". At this place, they will be given the chance to correct themselves.

3. Reincarnation

Reincarnation has been covered in the past previous topic. Anyway, this is actually a spiritual belief that when a certain individual dies, he will be resurrected back to life but on a different physical form (human, animal or any other living creature on Earth).

4. Some Part of Us Survives Death

Common to all religions is that, when a person dies some part of his or her self survives.

Is there Really Life-After-Death?


JWs strongly believe that once a certain person died, he or she cease to exists. His or her senses will be lost where there is no part of him or her that will remain conscious after death. In short, "Death is the opposite of Life".

Further proof can be read on the Bible verses, Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 and Psalms 146: 4;

Ecclesiastes 9:5] "Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten."

Ecclesiastes 9:10] "Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead - and that is where you are going."

Psalms 146: 4] "When they die, they return to the dust; on that day all their plans come to an end."

Cemetery of the dead

Moreover, Jehova Witnesses believes that when the time of God's "Judgement" will come (which they also refer as the "Armageddon"), the world will be cleansed out from wickedness then after that, all righteous individuals are to be resurrected back to life.

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