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From Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe in Creationism? on jw.org:

No. Jehovah’s Witnesses do believe that God created everything. But we do not agree with creationism. Why not? Because a number of creationist ideas actually conflict with the Bible. Consider the following two examples:

  1. Length of the six days of creation...the word “day” in the Bible can refer to a considerable length of time...
  2. Age of the earth...Jehovah’s Witnesses have no objection to credible scientific research that indicates the earth may be billions of years old.

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in creation, we are not antiscience. We believe that true science and the Bible are compatible.

Any mention of evolution is absent (which IMO is a bit surprising, considering the FAQ being answered).

Similar to Earth's age, would Jehovah's Witnesses also have no objection to "credible scientific research that indicates" life, including humans, evolved from simpler forms?

Or do they have a different belief?

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  • I do not understand this question. What are you asking? Jul 23, 2014 at 8:29
  • @gideonmarx, I am asking if Jehovah's Witnesses believe biological evolution happened, did not happen, or hold no official belief. Jul 23, 2014 at 14:43
  • You are then going to have explain what you believe biological evolution to be as it is an incredibly wide subject with many theories and confusing terminology. A Jehovah's Witness can then compare your belief with theirs. Jul 23, 2014 at 18:50
  • @gideonmarx "life, including humans, evolved from simpler forms". Is that not specific enough? Jul 24, 2014 at 15:16
  • Now a Jehovah's Witness can answer your question. Jul 24, 2014 at 16:25

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I'll try to summarize some of the infos we can find in the JW.org site (wol.jw.org)

First, have a look at their Awake! 9/06 magazine, pages 9-10, the article titled "Did God Use Evolution to Create Life?"

As a summary, it says that the Bible’s account of the creation of the first man, Adam, is to be taken literally. It also says that Jesus (and his disciples) took it as a true story.

Also this other article from their 1/1 2008 Watchtower magazine, titled "Is evolution compatible with the Bible ?", should interest you.

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  • Yes, those references are very clearly against evolution. Aug 7, 2014 at 22:07
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From what you've quoted above, it seems that they believe in progressive creationism which is the believe that all things were created over a long period of time, however not through evolution. Theistic evolution is more along the lines of what you're saying, which is basically that God guided the evolution process.

Jehovah's Witness believe that God formed man, as the Bible states. Which is definitely more along the lines of progressive creationism.

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    Is this the official Jehovah's Witness position or your own? Jul 23, 2014 at 18:51
  • @gideonmarx Based on what was posted on the question, and the information on their website, it seems that this is their official position. I only gave it the proper terminology. Jul 23, 2014 at 20:15
  • "however not through evolution" What is the source for this? "Jehovah's Witness believe that God formed man, as the Bible states"? Jul 24, 2014 at 21:14
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Many here are a bit confused, so let's be plain about it: Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT believe in evolution of any form, simple as that.

They also plainly say NO to 'creationism' which teaches that God created the whole universe in six literal days, as it is not Biblical. In fact, the first two verses of Genesis state the circumstance that exist BEFORE those six days (even the earth existed before the first day). The first actually starts in verse 3 with the phrase "And God said" and that same phrase precedes every new day as creation unfolds. All six days are also declared with the same phrase that "God was it was good, an evening..." etc.

At the end of those six creative days, Genesis 2:4 says: "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven."

Interestingly, that day is in fact all the six days combined. Hence some translations with take the Hebrew word for "day" and use the word "time that God created...".

So "day" can also be equated to a period of "time" or even an "era" or epoch" - like, things were very different in my Great Grandfather's "day" when they did not have computers or the internet.

So here Genesis 2:4 is using "day" in a way that cannot be 24 hours. Also, Genesis uses the word "day" in Genesis 1:5 to signify "daylight hours" or 12 hours only.

So we now see THREE different usages in Genesis for the word "day".

BUT: Everybody forgets there were in fact seven days and not just six.

The "seventh day" was not a 24 hour rest that God had as if he was somehow tired. The rest simply meant that his creation activity came to a rest, or stop.

Why is that so significant?

Simply because the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 4 alerts us to the fact that this rest is ongoing and he actually says "that day remains" in verse 6 and that we can enter it too, but must put behind us our evil ways.

So clearly, if the seventh days is thousands of years old, hence so must the other six days be thousands of years each.

Seems that we are still in the "seventh day" right now - as wickedness has not come to an end. One day the "seventh day" will come to an end. Watch out as that means God's intervention will make it happen!

So the clarity of belief of Jehovah's Witnesses is stark. They absolutely believe in the Genesis Creation account in every respect.

Note that stark and clear position stands very separate to that of so-called creationism - and creationism is tantamount to wanting to squeeze God into a human timetable by insisting on six literal days.

Finally, no matter how long creation took place, does insisting on six literal days make creation any lesser or greater than it already is? Every atom, particle, photon or molecule will not have changed one iota. So please, can we put the nonsense of creationism behind us by saying "God created everything in his own time and that of nobody else's."

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    Welcome to Christianity.SE. For a quick overview, please take the Site Tour. Thanks for offering an answer here. Can you provide any links or references to JW materials that support and provide more information on what you have written here? If so, that would improve your answer. See: What makes a good supported answer? Meanwhile, I hope you'll browse some of the other questions and answers here. Jan 8, 2017 at 2:58
  • Your first sentence is relevant. Thank you. Do know know of any supporting resources corroborating it? Jan 8, 2017 at 4:44
  • Welcome to Christianity Stack Exchange! If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to take the tour and learn how this site is different from others. As it currently stands, your answer is opinion-based. Please provide sources (e.g., Watchtower publications) that substantiate your assertions.
    – user900
    Jan 8, 2017 at 5:29
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@pauldraper Genesis 1:1 states "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (NWT,KJV)In this statement I find there is no room for evolution but that every thing was created. In the statement "created the heavens" my understanding is this to be both the physical and the invisible heavens. Hope this helps. here is a link to the Insight on the Insight on the Scriptures book published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

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    @Zeph Hello there, this site is very much in need of more Jehovah's Witnesses to answer questions. If you would like some examples of how to write an answer for questions about JWs, feel free to read some of my answers on my profile. Your answer would be much better if you would edit it to include the link you've put in the comments, as well as a relevant quote from the article.
    – user32540
    Dec 18, 2017 at 3:05

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