To become a Jehovah's Witness do you or don't you have to become baptized?

[Guest Nicole]

I wish I could get an answer to this question - it's either yes or no. To become a Jehovah's Witness do you or don't you have to become baptized? I've brought this up before, my neighbor calls herself A Witness even though she hasn't been baptized.

Submitted by: Lorraine Chloe 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

It depends on whether you want to become a member of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society or not .... since 1985, the oath of dedication has NOT been to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ... but has been to the Father, the Son, and " ... God's spirit anointed organization". (paraphrased ... it has varied greatly...).

The requirement from the Bible is that you must be baptized to symbolize PUBLICLY your dedication to God , but as a letter from Judge Rutherford to someone who wrote into him about that stated ( and I have a copy here, somewhere...),  ANYBODY can baptize you into Christianity, which MAKES you one of Jehovah's Witnesses in a functional way, just as it made Jesus a Jehovah's Witness in a functional way, and all the early Christians, Christians  in a functional way. 

I was baptized in 1964, so I have no oath of allegiance to the WTB&TS, and was not baptized into the Corporation that only in the past year has been forced to admit they are not inspired by God, or infallible, and are slowly prepping us in the meetings for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT next year or so which everyone can see coming, like a glacier.

So, to directly answer your question ... yes you do have to dedicate your life to God, and PUBLICLY be baptized to have the approval of God and his Christ ...   BUT...

(see cartoon below...)

[JW Insider]

@Nicole You can be counted as a Witness if you are a publisher, even an unbaptized publisher. Others might say they are Witnesses even if they only agree with Witnesses, and plan [someday] to become one. Some might have some reservations about baptism for their own reasons, perhaps good reasons, perhaps not good.

There was a time when a person was not asked to get rebaptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses if they felt that their previous baptism by members of another religion was still a valid dedication to do Jehovah's will. A person would have to be very old to have come into the organization under those particular circumstances.

I can also think of one person who told me they believed that if a Witness was spirit-anointed, they no longer needed water baptism, because the spirit supersedes the water. (I don't see their evidence for this.)

[JW Insider]

6 hours ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

prepping us in the meetings for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT next year or so which everyone can see coming

I hate to be left out when "everyone" else can see it coming. What "big announcement"?