Jehovah’s Witnesses
Known for their door-to-door style of spreading the word of God (or Jehovah), Jehovah’s Witnesses base their beliefs heavily on both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. A millennialist denomination founded under Charles Taze Russell, it was derived from the Adventist movement that took place in the United States during the 19th Century. This somewhat controversial faith took a more literal approach to the Bible and the Adventist idea of the Second Coming of Christ.
Viewing society as corrupt with various sins, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in restoring the world to ancient Christian beliefs before the imminent apocalypse occurs; it is believed that those who do not achieve salvation when the end comes will be the first to die.
As nontrinitarians, they reject the idea of the “Holy Trinity,” that God is made up of three entities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Public opinion of the organization varies greatly based on aspects of the group such as false predictions, fear-mongering, and human rights violations.
Members who decide to leave the religion are typically shunned by former friends and family.
History
The origin of Jehovah’s Witnesses can be traced back to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1870s. Growing up in a Presbyterian household, Russell began questioning faith in his teenage years and left the Presbyterian faith. After being exposed to Advent teachings, he became a firm believer that the Bible was the “word of God.” Taking more literal translations of the text, he therefore claimed further that hell was not used for eternal torment, rejected the “Holy Trinity,” and dismissed the idea of immortality of the soul.
Basing his beliefs mainly from intense Biblical interpretations, Russell started to operate Bible classes and study groups in the early 1870s.
Over the course of his life he wrote and published numerous works relating to the Bible and how it could be used to predict God’s will and the end of days:
Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World, 1877 (co-authored with Nelson H. Barbour, a well-known Adventist preacher)
Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, 1879 (recurring monthly magazine that still is published today under the title The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom and its companion magazine Awake!)
The Time is at Hand, 1889 (dealt with convictions that Armageddon would occur no later than 1914)
Though it did not occur, it coincided with the start of World War I.
Russell believed that when Christ returned it would be as an invisible presence, and that his coming would symbolize the end of the current society and the establishment of God’s kingdom.
In 1884 Russell founded the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, which is currently located in Warwick, NY and acts as the main entity of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization.
In 1910 Russell coined the term International Bible Students Association to identify his Bible study groups all over the world.
After Russell’s death in 1916, Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over as president of the Watch Tower Society and despite opposition and schism, tightly organized the society and renamed its patrons “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” emphasizing the power of Jehovah (God).
Readings/Resources:
Cragun, Ryan T., and Ronald Lawson. "The Secular Transition: The Worldwide Growth of Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists." Sociology of Religion 71, no. 3 (2010): 349-73. www.jstor.org/stable/40961209.
Knox, Zoe. "Jehovah's Witnesses as Un-Americans? Scriptural Injunctions, Civil Liberties, and Patriotism." Journal of American Studies 47, no. 4 (2013): 1081-1108. www.jstor.org/stable/24485876.
Jehovah’s Witnesses Official Website: https://www.jw.org/en/
Cole, Brendan. Russia Intensifies Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses with 110 Armed Raids, Newsweek, July 15, 2020.
