Both Christianity — where they part company
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Progressive Christianity
Close relatives, which is exactly why the 8 axes they diverge on are the interesting part. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.43 (0 would be identical).
Strictly unitarian, strictly literal, and organisationally directed to an unusual degree. Rejects the immortal soul outright: the dead are unconscious and restored by resurrection, which is why C1 sits mid-scale rather than at the Christian maximum.
Keeps the practice, the story and the ethics while reading the metaphysics as metaphor. Scripture is human testimony rather than dictation, other paths are treated as genuinely valid, and the point of the whole thing is how you live now.
Where they agree
C1 Survival of the self
Both sit at between ends at death and continues in some form — a gap of 0.03.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.08.
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.08.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at leaning an individual choice — a gap of 0.08.
Where they part company
E1 Exclusivity
Jehovah’s Witnesses: one true path. Progressive Christianity: many valid paths. A gap of 0.88 on an axis running from “one true path” to “many valid paths”.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Jehovah’s Witnesses: literal and binding. Progressive Christianity: metaphorical, or no text at all. A gap of 0.82 on an axis running from “literal and binding” to “metaphorical, or no text at all”.
B3 Institutional authority
Jehovah’s Witnesses: clergy and tradition decide. Progressive Christianity: leaning individual conscience decides. A gap of 0.78 on an axis running from “clergy and tradition decide” to “individual conscience decides”.
B1 Source of truth
Jehovah’s Witnesses: revealed and fixed. Progressive Christianity: leaning reason and direct experience. A gap of 0.73 on an axis running from “revealed and fixed” to “reason and direct experience”.
C3 The human condition
Jehovah’s Witnesses: fallen and in need of rescue. Progressive Christianity: leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound. A gap of 0.65 on an axis running from “fallen and in need of rescue” to “ignorant but fundamentally sound”.
A4 Locus
Jehovah’s Witnesses: leaning wholly beyond the world. Progressive Christianity: leaning fully present within it. A gap of 0.62 on an axis running from “wholly beyond the world” to “fully present within it”.
D3 The body
Jehovah’s Witnesses: leaning to be disciplined. Progressive Christianity: leaning to be celebrated. A gap of 0.54 on an axis running from “to be disciplined” to “to be celebrated”.
A2 Personhood
Jehovah’s Witnesses: a personal being one can address. Progressive Christianity: between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address. A gap of 0.44 on an axis running from “impersonal principle or order” to “a personal being one can address”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Jehovah’s Witnesses | Progressive Christianity | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly exists | 0.38 |
| A2 Personhood | a personal being one can address | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | 0.44 |
| A3 Plurality | strictly one | strictly one | 0.08 |
| A4 Locus | leaning wholly beyond the world | leaning fully present within it | 0.62 |
| B1 Source of truth | revealed and fixed | leaning reason and direct experience | 0.73 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | literal and binding | metaphorical, or no text at all | 0.82 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | leaning individual conscience decides | 0.78 |
| C1 Survival of the self | between ends at death and continues in some form | between ends at death and continues in some form | 0.03 |
| C2 Shape of time | one life, then judgment | one life, then judgment | 0.08 |
| C3 The human condition | fallen and in need of rescue | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.65 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | leaning given as grace | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | 0.28 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | leaning essential and prescribed | between essential and prescribed and optional or absent | 0.24 |
| D3 The body | leaning to be disciplined | leaning to be celebrated | 0.54 |
| E1 Exclusivity | one true path | many valid paths | 0.88 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | an intentional act | between an intentional act and beginningless or natural | 0.36 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning an individual choice | leaning an individual choice | 0.08 |
| E4 Standing of nature | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred | leaning animate and itself sacred | 0.27 |
Positions for Jehovah’s Witnesses rest principally on Watch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation; for Progressive Christianity, on Borg, Spong and the Center for Progressive Christianity’s Eight Points. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.