Jehovahs Witness

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Jehovahs Witness
Kaitlin Kelly Valerie Rorer Soc333/Rel333 Albright
College November 20, 2007
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Quick Facts

• Founder Charles Taze Russell
• Nationality of the founder American
• Date and Location founded Movement began in
  1869 name was adopted in 1931. Founded in
  Allegheny, Pennsylvania
• Number of members approx. 6.7 million

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Charles Taze Russell

• Born on February 16, 1852 in Allegheny
  Pennsylvania.
• Parents Joseph Russell and Ann Eliza Birneys
• One of two children that survived into adulthood
• Worked at his fathers store
• producing business contracts for consumers.
• At age 12
• Charles grew tired of the Presbyterian Church
• joined the Congregational Church
• Questioned philosophies
• Bible, Creeds, individuals life choices

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Russell cont.

• Influence of Jonas Wendell
• Studying chronological evidence of the Bible
• Christs return to Earth 1873/1874
• 1870-1875 first Bible study group
• Studied the Bible to determine if the doctrines
  were true
• Believed that being a Christian meant to lay
  down their earthly life in sacrifice and service
  to God (Documenting his life and ministry 2005)
• 1876 Philadelphia
• Herald of the Morning published Nelson Barbour
• Published information on Bible study
• Russell created the Zions Watch Tower and
  Herald of Christs Presence after a split from
  Wendell

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• 1879 Russell married Maria Frances Ackely
• Celibate partnership created for preaching Gods
  word
• The couple divorced in 1897
• Maria Russell died in 1938 of Hodgkins disease
• 1881 Russell founded the Zion Watch Tower Tract
  Society
• Publicize papers, doctrines, and the Bibles
  beliefs and words of God
• Published Food for Thinking Christians,
  Tabernacle and its Teachings and Tabernacle
  Shadows of the Better Sacrifices
• Published The Divine Plan of the Ages
• First of seven books that outlined the entire
  Bible
• Pastor Charles Russell died on October 13, 1916
• Due to complications related to diverticulitis

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History of Jehovahs Witness

• Began in 1869 when Charles Russell founded a
  Bible study group
• 1884 the group was officially chartered and named
  the Zions Watch Tower Tract Society
• 1917 Joseph Rutherford was elected President
• Power struggle ended in him dismissing board
  members
• 1922 door-to-door preaching became important
  tool for teaching Gods word
• 1931 group adopted the name Jehovahs Witness
• By 1942 membership had grown to 115,000 people
• 1942 Nathan Knorr became the next president
• Founded the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead
  and the Theocratic Ministry School
• Membership rose to over 2 million
• 1976 leadership of the Society was controlled by
  the Governing Body of Jehovahs Witness.
• 1994 Governing Body of Jehovahs Witness only
  consists of 11 surviving members
• These members are predicted to live to see the
  end of the age

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Predictions

• Important dates
• 1874 Christ comes to Earth to set up his kingdom
• Date passed with no visitation from Christ
• Group determined that Christ did come, but was
  not visible
• 1914 Christ comes to judge the earth and
  annihilate the wicked (Campbell 2001).
• 1925 New momentous events
• Never took place group lost three quarters of
  members

• Prediction of Christ's coming extended for
  another 30-40 years
• 1945 Christ did not show
• Prediction extended for another 80 years
• 1975 Represented the end of six thousand years
  since God created Adam and Eve
• Nothing happened
• Group explained that the creation of Adam and Eve
  was never documented so the date was speculation
• Jehovahs Witness are still waiting for Armageddon

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Ultimate Concern

• The belief that human works are the means by
  which salvation is attained. They claim to speak
  Gods word and represent God on this earth.

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Doctrines

• Sola scriptura their beliefs are based entirely
  on their interpretation of the Bible
• - focus on The New World Translation
• -Scriptures are inspired by God
• -accept story of Genesis and concept of original
  sin
• -criticized that Witnesses make up their own
  beliefs and then use Bible passages as evidence
  to support their beliefs

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• 2. Arius denies the existence of the Trinity
• -God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are 3 separate
  people
• -God is their creator whom they call Jehovah
• -Jesus is the Son of God who, in his
  pre-existence being, was known as Michael the
  Archangel
• -Do not believe in the cross as a symbol

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• 3. Salvation
• -Persons soul is mortal so when that person
  dies their spirit dies too
• -some people will experience eternal life after
  death
• -Salvation is achieved by accepting Christ as
  Lord and remain loyal in serving him as such
• -If salvation is achieved, the person will go to
  Heaven with Jesus Christ
• -Heaven is for true Christians and only
  144,000 can be seated in Heaven with Jesus
• -??? The rest of the 6.7 million
• -Witnesses goal to reach heaven so they can
  escape all the evils on Earth (these evils are
  rooted in Satan, who was once ruler of Heaven but
  was sent down here to inhabit Earth)this is how
  they explain wars and controversies

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• 4. Eschatology last days
• -Jesus has been ruling as king since 1914
  (according to the Bible)
• -the destruction of the world will take place
  after the battle of Armageddon (war between good
  and evil)
• -Jesus will come to annihilate the wicked
• -After the battle, a new peaceful Kingdom will
  arise and everyone will obey and bow down to
  Jehovah
• -prediction keeps being extended as the end of
  the world has not come

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The Watchtower

• Magazine published by Wacthtower Tract Bible and
  Tract Society since 1879
• Co-founded with Barbour and Russell
• Tract claims that it is the only source of
  information channeling between God and humanity
• Published in over 61 languages worldwide
• Purpose is to exalt Jehovah as Sovereign Lord of
  the universe. It keeps watch on world events as
  these fulfill Bible Prophecy. It comforts all
  people with the good news that Gods kingdrom
  will soon destroy those who oppress their
  fellowmen and that it will turn the Earth into a
  paradise. It encourages faith in Gods
  now-reigning King, Jesus Christ (Wah 2001).

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Awake!

• Another publication by the Tracts
• Its purpose is to enlighten the entire family.
  It shows how to cope with todays problems. It
  reports the news, tells about people in many
  lands, and examines religion and science. But it
  does more. It probes beneath the surface and
  points to the real meaning behind current events,
  yet it always stays politically neutral and does
  not exalt one race above another. Most
  importantly, this magazine builds confidence in
  the Creators promise of peaceful and secure new
  world that is about to replace the present,
  wicked, lawless system of things (Wah 2001).

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Other Beliefs

• Witnesses do not believe in celebrating holidays
  (includes Easter, Christmas , anniversaries, and
  birthdays)
• Since Early Christians did not have these to
  celebrate, Witnesses choose not to either
• The only day they celebrate is the memorial of
  Christs death during Passover
• Against blood transfusions
• Blood is the life so blood transfusions would be
  considered eating blood
• Reject Cross as a symbol
• Politically neutral
• Were not allowed to fight in wars or show any
  signs of patriotism
• Felt that there was no need to show their country
  allegiance

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More Beliefs

• Known for the door-to-door preaching
• Encouraged to spend as much time preaching as
  possible
• Also must attend a specified number of hours per
  week in the following activities
• Theocratic ministry school
• Service Meetings
• Bible Study groups
• Public Talk (speech given by elder)

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Analysis

• Membership has been steadily increasing over the
  past decade
• Secularization is evident in that new members are
  always trying to be recruited
• Concerned with expansion into more countries
  (despite the fact that they are represented in
  over 56 countries worldwide)
• Due to their strong beliefs, they are persistent
  in trying to convince others to see their
  perspectives
• The Bibles loose interpretation encompasses a
  variety of perspectives under one belief system.
  This could account for why their numbers are
  still growing.

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Analysis (cont.)

• Jehovahs Witness fits under the New Paradigm of
  NRMs because it has met the needs of those who
  arent satisfied with other religions
• Could also fit the Mutlidimensional Model under
  the first step (involving commitment) and second
  step (investment of time and effort)

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Influences by other Religions

• Jehovahs Witness is based off of Christianity
• However, they have different interpretations of
  the Bible
• Also hold different beliefs about certain aspects
  of the religion