User talk:RyanEmsley

Hi Ryan! Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the text has been restored, as you can see from the. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you.

I would also like to point out a reply I gave to another user who was concerned about how the Jehovah's Witnesses do not follow classical Christian doctrine. I have quoted it here below, as I believe it may apply to your circumstance as well:

Hey Council-722, thanks for your edits on Christianity in Japan. Unfortunately I had to revert it because it's not really the place to say what is Christian and what is not. Wikipedia has to stay WP:NPOV. Furthermore, Wikipedia classes them as restorationist / Christian, a classification which may touch a theological nerve but actually relates more to how they identify themselves and less to whether or not they meet the standard of a Trinitarian denomination honoring Christ as fully God.

I wanted to suggest an alternate avenue for your efforts. You seem to be interested in how their beliefs differ with Trinitarianism, immortality of the soul, Christ as fully God, and other orthodox beliefs of Christianity. The article on Christianity in Japan isn't really the appropriate place for that area of research, so may I direct you to these two articles?


 * Jehovah's Witnesses
 * Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses

I noticed that neither of them really talk about these issues, which is strange because actually, being non-Trinitarian is one of the most prominent criticisms they get. No one will disagree that they do not believe in the Trinity as commonly defined. Unfortunately, I do not have time to research this issue, but if you're really interested in this issue and ready to constructively edit on Wikipedia, may I suggest that you research this issue yourself?

I am not talking about making unsourced WP:POV statements like "They're not Christian because they're not Trinitarian." If you pull that stunt I would gladly be the first to revert you (sorry). That's a cop-out and it's POV to boot. No, I mean real research - are you willing to do the work it takes to source objective statements such as "Jehovah's Witnesses have stated that they do not believe in the Trinity "? Or how about the criticism article? "Jehovah's Witnesses has been criticised by Christian theologians such as NAME HERE for not meeting the standards of orthodox Christian doctrine in areas such as belief in the Trinity, [1] [2] Jesus' divinity [3] [4], etc." Of course you have to be careful to avoid giving WP:UNDUE weight, but in their current form, the articles don't seem to give any weight at all to the issue of orthodoxy, so they could use some due weight. If you have sources that address these issues and you're willing to work hard and avoid using Wikipedia as a forum for theological debate, you may find this to be a more productive way to contribute to Wikipedia. As the Bible says in Colossians 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Are you willing? Just an idea. Joren (talk) 11:55, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

I don't know if you're concerned about Trinitarian thought or not, but I thought it might be good to direct you to the article that actually makes the claim that they are Christian, so you can ask questions/do research/get concerns resolved there. I would also note that Christianity in America includes them as well; they classify them as Restorationist but nonetheless include them, as they are relevant to a discussion on Christianity even though they are not in communion with the rest of Christianity. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. Joren (talk) 22:25, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Jehovah's Witnesses Redux
You may be interested in some edits that have been made recently to this section here: Christianity in Japan

If you have feedback or concerns, feel free to voice them on the talk page, here: Talk:Christianity in Japan

Joren (talk) 11:00, 23 January 2010 (UTC)