Christianity · branch
Jehovah’s Witnesses
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.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescueFurther toward "fallen and in need of rescue" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E1 Exclusivityone true pathFurther toward "one true path" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixedFurther toward "revealed and fixed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and bindingFurther toward "literal and binding" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 1.00 | 0.02 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | a personal being one can addressWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.96 | 0.03 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | leaning wholly beyond the worldWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.20 | 0.08 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | revealed and fixedWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | literal and bindingWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.08 | 0.05 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | clergy and tradition decideWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.03 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | between ends at death and continues in some formWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.55 | 0.12 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | one life, then judgmentWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | fallen and in need of rescueWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.10 | 0.07 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | leaning given as graceWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.30 | 0.12 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | leaning essential and prescribedWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.28 | 0.12 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be disciplinedWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.18 | 0.10 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | one true pathWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | an intentional actWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.02 | 0.02 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning an individual choiceWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.72 | 0.10 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredWatch Tower doctrinal publications and the New World Translation | 0.45 | 0.12 |
Further reading
- Reasoning from the Scriptures, entries on “Soul” and “Resurrection” — The conditional-immortality position behind C1.
- Chryssides, Jehovah’s Witnesses: Continuity and Change — Scholarly treatment of doctrinal development, useful for dispersion values.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.