Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: Who established the Jehovah's Witnesses?
Jehovah's Witnesses originated as a branch of the Bible Student movement, which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian Restorationist minister Charles Taze Russell. Bible Student missionaries were sent to England in 1881 and the first overseas branch was opened in London in 1900. The group took on the name International Bible Students Association and by 1914 it was also active in Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries.[1] The movement split into several rival organizations after Russell's death in 1916, with one—led by Russell's successor, Joseph "Judge" Rutherford—retaining control of both his magazine, The Watch Tower, and his legal and publishing corporation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by their Governing Body, which Witnesses are taught Jesus uses as a channel for God's progressive revelations and to direct Christians on biblical matters. Until late 2012, the Governing Body described itself as the representative and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class" (a limited number of "anointed" Jehovah's Witnesses). The Governing Body seeks neither advice nor approval from any "anointed" Witnesses other than high-ranking members at the Brooklyn headquarters. At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was defined as referring to the Governing Body only.
Sociologist Rodney Stark states that Jehovah's Witness leaders are "not always very democratic" and that members "are expected to conform to rather strict standards," but adds that "enforcement tends to be very informal, sustained by the close bonds of friendship within the group", and that Jehovah's Witnesses see themselves as "part of the power structure rather than subject to it." Sociologist Andrew Holden states that most members who join millenarian movements such as Jehovah's Witnesses have made an informed choice. However, he also states that defectors "are seldom allowed a dignified exit", and describes the administration as autocratic.
In 1966, Botting's grandmother visited Canada and once again encouraged him to expand his religious horizons to include "the old religion". This time, she focused her attention on Botting's fiancé, Heather Harden, nominally also a Jehovah's Witness, who was receptive to the idea of establishing a Wiccan coven in Canada. In 1969-70, Gary and Heather Botting established Coven Celeste in Peterborough, Ontario, having by that time become "inactive" Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah's Witnesses' official statistics only count as members those who submit reports for preaching activity, usually resulting in lower membership numbers than those found by external surveys. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses report approximately 1.2 million active publishers in the United States, whereas the Pew Research Center reported that Jehovah's Witnesses make up 0.8% of the US population (approximately 2.5 million). Their official statistics indicate membership according to various territories—which they refer to as "lands"—many of which are not independent countries.
On December 8, 2009 the Supreme Court of Russia upheld the ruling of the lower courts which pronounced 34 pieces of Jehovah's Witness literature extremist, including their magazine "The Watchtower", in the Russian language. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that this ruling affirms a misapplication of a federal law on anti-extremism. The ruling upheld the confiscation of property of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog, and may set a precedent for similar cases in other areas of Russia, as well as placing literature of Jehovah's Witnesses on a list of literature unacceptable throughout Russia. The chairman of the presiding committee of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Vasily Kalin, said: "I am very concerned that this decision will open a new era of opposition against Jehovah's Witnesses, whose right to meet in peace, to access religious literature and to share the Christian hope contained in the Gospels, is more and more limited." On December 1, 2015 a Rostov Regional Court convicted 16 Jehovah's Witnesses of practising extremism in Taganrog, with five given -year suspended sentences and the remainder issued fines they were not required to pay.
The official published membership statistics, such as those mentioned above, include only those who submit reports for their personal ministry; official statistics do not include "inactive" and "disfellowshipped" individuals or others who might attend their meetings. As a result, only about half of those who self-identified as Jehovah's Witnesses in independent demographic studies are considered "active" by the faith itself. The 2008 US Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey found a low retention rate among members of the denomination: about 37% of people raised in the group continued to identify themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses; the next lowest retention rates were for Buddhism at 50% and Catholicism at 68%. The study also found that 65% of adult Jehovah's Witnesses in the US are converts.
Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses by Alan Rogerson. Constable. 1969 Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of freedom of speech and worship by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge (a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses), examines the history of legal activities that led to expansion of religious freedoms in Canada. Referenced in the January 1, 1977 Watchtower, page 11 and the 1979 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 94. Publisher: Macmillan of Canada. ISBN0-7705-1340-9 (Canada, 1976) Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge, examines the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their doctrines. Read selections from: Publisher: University of Toronto Press. ISBN0-8020-7973-3 (Canada, 1998)
The leadership structure of Jehovah's Witnesses was reorganized from January 1, 1976, with the power of the presidency passed to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and the establishment of six committees to oversee tasks such as writing, teaching, publishing and evangelizing work.[206] At this time, Watch Tower Society publications began using the capitalized name, Jehovah's W<i data-parsoid='{"dsr":[85212,85224,2,2]}'>itnesses. Subsequent presidents of the Watch Tower Society after Knorr's death in 1977 have been Frederick William Franz, Milton George Henschel and Don A. Adams.
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the United Nations is the "image of the wild beast" referred to in and the fulfillment of the "disgusting thing that causes desolation" from . Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God will use the United Nations to destroy "false religion", wherein all institutionalized religions except Jehovah's Witnesses will be destroyed. They further believe that after all other religions are destroyed, "a coalition of nations" will then turn against Jehovah's Witnesses to destroy them, but Jehovah will intervene and destroy all political elements. They believe this act of divine intervention will be Armageddon, the final part of the Great Tribulation.
In 2007, Jehovah's Witness apologist and author Greg G. Stafford, author of "Jehovah's Witnesses Defended" (Elihu Books), formally disassociated from the group, while insisting on describing himself and his followers as "Jehovah's Witnesses". Stafford has published information about Jehovah's Witnesses, defending many of their distinctive, central beliefs, such as nontrinitarianism. In 2007, Stafford introduced the term "Christian Witnesses of Jah" to describe individuals who believe many of the same things as Jehovah's Witnesses, but who may not embrace the organization or all of its theological teachings.
Watch Tower Society publications have claimed that God has used Jehovah's Witnesses (and formerly, the International Bible Students) to declare his will and has provided advance knowledge about Armageddon and the establishment of God's kingdom. Some publications also claimed that God has used Jehovah's Witnesses and the International Bible Students as a modern-day prophet. George D. Chryssides stated, "while prediction may be part of a biblical prophet's role, the root meaning of prophecy is that of proclaiming God's word." He went on to say that, "Jehovah's Witnesses ... are the recipients of prophecy, who regard themselves as invested with the interpretation of biblical writings." With these interpretations, Jehovah's Witnesses' publications have made various predictions about world events they believe were prophesied in the Bible. Failed predictions have led to the alteration or abandonment of some doctrines. Some failed predictions had been presented as "beyond doubt" or "approved by God".
In 1992, American religious scholar J. Gordon Melton placed the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination in a list of "established cults". However, he and others have since been more reluctant to use the term "cult" for various groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, because the term is considered too controversial. Ex-cult watchdog John Bowen Brown II and "Knocking" producer Joel P. Engardio also reject the assertion that Jehovah's Witnesses is a cult. The two-volume encyclopedia "Contemporary American Religion" stated, "Various critics and ex-members in recent years have wrongly labeled Jehovah's Witnesses a 'cult.'"
"Apply Yourself to Reading and Writing" (1998)
"Mission to Africa" (1997), French & English
"Lasting Peace and Happiness—How to Find Them" (1996), for Buddhists
""All Scripture"—Authentic and Beneficial" (1995), Polish
"How to Read and Write" (1995), Nigeria
"Jehovah's Witnesses in Austria" (1995), German
"Jehovah's Witnesses in Bulgaria" (1995), Bulgarian
"Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" (2005 in Russian, revised 2008 also in English)
"Lasting Peace and Happiness—How to Find Them" (1995, revised 2009), Chinese, for Buddhists
"Your Neighbors, Jehovah's Witnesses—Who Are They?" (1995, revised 1996), German
"Apply Yourself to Reading and Writing" (1994), Arabic
"Jehovah's Witnesses in Greece" (1993), English and Greek
"Jehovah's Witnesses in Hungary" (1993, revised 1996), Hungarian
"Jehovah's Witnesses in the Czech Republic" (1993), Czech
"Our Problems—Who Will Help Us Solve Them?" (1990), for Hindus
"Centennial of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania" (1984)
"Apply Yourself to Reading and Writing" (1983, revised 1988), French
"Blood Transfusion—Why Not for Jehovah's Witnesses?" (1977)
"Jehovah's Witnesses" (1966)
"Kingdom Ministry School Course—Outline of Program and Notes" (1966)
"Manual of Theocratic News Service Information" (1956)
"Order of Trial" (1939)
"Christianity Is Not Free in Lagrange, Georgia" (1937)
"Christianity Is Not Free in the United States of America" (1936)
"Information by the Peoples Pulpit Association, To the Honorable Federal Communications Commission, Broadcasting Division" (1934)
"In Rebuttal—To the Honorable Federal Communications Commission, Broadcast Division" (1934)
"The Watchtower Radio Stations, WORD & WBBR" (1925)
"The Golden Age ABC" (1920)
"The Messenger of Laodicea" (1919)
"Harvest Siftings" (1917, two parts)
"Our Temple" (1914)
After World War II, the Church came under attack by the Jehovah's Witnesses who challenged its doctrines. They were determined to seek Catholic converts. In response, the Duplessis regime mounted a campaign of persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses and communists. The result was a legal struggle between the Duplessis regime and lawyers such as Frank Scott and Pierre Trudeau who argued in defence of the rights of minorities.
Scholars estimate that during the Nazi regime, about half of all Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were incarcerated in prison or concentration camps, where they were exposed to "sadism marked by an unending chain of physical and mental tortures, the likes of which no language in the world can express." At the time, they were represented by several geographical Bible Students Associations, each of which considered itself affiliated with the Watch Tower Society despite little contact with their US headquarters in Brooklyn. When contact was re-established, a minority of German Jehovah's Witnesses either preferred their autonomy or disagreed with the doctrinal changes that had occurred in the meantime. Some disassociated themselves from the Watch Tower Society and some individual members established contact with non-Jehovah's Witness Bible Student groups.
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.58 million adherents involved in evangelism and an annual Memorial attendance of over 20 million. Jehovah's Witnesses are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders in Warwick, New York, which establishes all doctrines based on its interpretations of the Bible. They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God's kingdom over the earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humanity.
Individuals who attend meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses but are not involved in preaching are occasionally referred to in Watch Tower Society publications as "associates" or as being "associated with the congregation". Attendance figures for Witness events include "Jehovah's Witnesses and associates"; such statistics may be cited for comparison of Witness numbers with membership figures of other denominations, but only those sharing in their ministry are counted by Jehovah's Witnesses when reporting their official statistics.
"Unbaptized publishers" are persons who are not yet baptized, but who have requested and been granted approval to join in the congregation's formal ministry. They must demonstrate a basic knowledge of Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrines to the elders, state their desire to be a Jehovah's Witness, and conform to the organization's moral standards. To qualify as an unbaptized publisher, an individual must already be "an active associate of Jehovah's Witnesses", regularly attending congregation meetings.
The clash between Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church became an issue of the competing ideas of freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. Jehovah's Witnesses went to court to establish the right to distribute their literature on the streets of Quebec. They also became political dissenters because during the Duplessis era, a challenge to the Church was tantamount to challenging the government. Any limitation of the Church's authority would mean limiting Duplessis's authority.
Many in the Government expressed suspicion of the Jehovah's Witnesses, viewing it as an extremist group. Internal police training documents continue to list the Jehovah's Witnesses, along with the IMU and HT, as security threats. Local officials and representatives of the religious establishment continued to express apprehension about the group's missionary activities. On November 30 and December 1, 2006, state television broadcast a documentary entitled "Hypocrisy" that linked Jehovah's Witnesses with the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo.
Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body. The denomination does not tolerate dissent over doctrines and practices; members who openly disagree with the group's teachings are expelled and shunned. Witness publications strongly discourage followers from questioning doctrine and counsel received from the Governing Body, reasoning that it is to be trusted as part of "God's organization". It also warns members to "avoid independent thinking", claiming such thinking "was introduced by Satan the Devil" and would "cause division". Those who openly disagree with official teachings are condemned as "apostates" who are "mentally diseased".
Jehovah's Witnesses: The New World Society by Marley Cole. This book received a positive review in the August 15, 1955 Watchtower: "Much of the material was gathered by personal interviews with witnesses, some of them being officials of the Society. Frequently in the news is something about the religion of President Eisenhower's parents. This book gives the facts often overlooked or concealed, with documentary proof that they were Jehovah's witnesses for many years." Cole was an active Witness and wrote the book in collaboration with Witness leaders. It was also distributed by the Watch Tower Society. 229 pages. Publisher: The Vantage Press, 1955. by A. H. Macmillan. Macmillan provides a first-person account of the early history of Jehovah's Witnesses from his meeting of Charles Taze Russell in 1900 to the time of the writing of the book (1957). He served with three of the Presidents of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: Russell, Rutherford, and Knorr (who wrote the book's introduction). Publisher: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 57-8528 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1957) A People for His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation by Tony Wills, (2006) 2nd edition. (The first edition was published under the pseudonym Timothy White.) The author, a lifelong Witness, presents an in-depth look at the Bible Student/Jehovah's Witness movement. He explores its doctrinal growth and shifts and notes schisms from the main body. 300 pages. ISBN978-1-4303-0100-4. Armed with the Constitution: Jehovah's Witnesses in Alabama and the U.S Supreme Court, 1939-1946 by Merlin Newton. Newton researches the contributions of two Jehovah's Witnesses—a black man and a white woman—in expanding the meaning of the First Amendment in 1940s Alabama. She examines two key U.S. Supreme Court decisions, as well as court records, memoirs, letters, and interviews of Jehovah's Witnesses. Publisher: University Alabama Press; Religion and American Culture Series, Reprint edition (June 28, 2002). Paperback: 240 pages. ISBN0-8173-1228-5 O'er the Ramparts They Watched by Victor Blackwell.
In July 1940 the government of Canada banned the Jehovah's Witnesses. Overnight it became illegal to be a member of this sect. The law, passed under the War Measures Act, was vigorously enforced. Beatings, mob action, police persecution, and state prosecution confronted the Jehovah's Witnesses as they ignored the ban and continued to go about their work spreading the word of God... The struggle was bitter indeed. Jehovah's Witness children who refused to sing the national anthem and salute the flag during patriotic exercises in public schools were often expelled from class, and in a few cases, removed from their parents' care and placed in foster homes and juvenile detention centres. Men of military service age who refused to fight spent the war trying to get out of alternative service camps established across Canada for conscientious objectors. Jehovah's Witness spent a good deal of time in the courts during the war years; they challenged government policies with which they disagreed, and were arrested in the hundreds and charged with being members of an illegal group.
Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body, and the denomination does not tolerate dissent over doctrines and practices. Members who openly disagree with the movement's teachings are expelled and shunned. Witness publications strongly discourage followers from questioning doctrine and counsel received from the Governing Body, reasoning that it is to be trusted as part of "God's organization". They also warn members to "avoid independent thinking", claiming such thinking "was introduced by Satan the Devil" and would "cause division". Those who openly disagree with official teachings are condemned as "apostates" who are "mentally diseased".
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz has accused the movement's Governing Body of resenting, deprecating and seeking to silence alternative viewpoints within the organization and demanding organizational conformity that overrides personal conscience. He claimed the Watch Tower Society confirmed its position when, in a 1954 court case in Scotland, Watch Tower Society legal counsel Hayden C. Covington said of Jehovah's Witnesses: "We must have unity ... unity at all costs". He also stated that Witnesses are subject to a disciplinary system that encourages informants.