Who established the Jehovah's Witnesses?
History of 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. 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.
Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
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.
Operation North
There were almost no Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union until its annexation of the Baltic States, Western Belarus, Western Ukraine, Bessarabia, and Northern Bukovina; most of them were located in the Moldavian SSR and Ukrainian SSR. Jehovah's Witnesses came into the conflict with the Soviet power, primarily because of their refusal to join the military. Their teachings were soon regarded as anti-Soviet. Members of religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, qualified as religious elements considered a potential danger for the communist regime. In November 1950, Viktor Abakumov reported an idea to Stalin about their deportation, and Stalin suggested to plan this for March–April 1951.
Book of Mormon witnesses
The Three Witnesses were Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer, whose joint testimony, in conjunction with a separate statement by Eight Witnesses, has been printed with nearly every edition of the Book of Mormon since its first publication in 1830. All three witnesses eventually broke with Smith and were excommunicated from the church. In 1838, Joseph Smith called Cowdery, Harris, and Whitmer "too mean to mention; and we had liked to have forgotten them." In 1839 Cowdery published a tract rejecting the Latter Day Saints and in 1840 become a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. In later years, all three testified to the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, and near the end of their lives rejoined one denomination or another of the Latter Day Saint movement. Harris and Cowdery rejoined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shortly before their deaths, and Whitmer founded the Church of Christ (Whitmerite).
Black Hebrew Israelites
The origins of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement are found in Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy, who both claimed that they had revelations in which they believed that God told them that African Americans are descendants of the Hebrews in the Christian Bible; Cherry established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations in 1886 and Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896. The Church of God and Saints of Christ, originating in Kansas, retained elements of a messianic connection to Jesus. During the following decades, many more Black Hebrew congregations were established, and some of them had no connection to Christianity. After World War I, for example, Wentworth Arthur Matthew, an immigrant from Saint Kitts, founded another Black Hebrew congregation in Harlem, claiming descent from the ancient Israelites. He called it the Commandment Keepers of the Living God. Similar groups selected elements of Judaism and adapted them within a structure similar to that of the Black church. He incorporated it in 1930 and moved the congregation to Brooklyn, where he later founded the Israelite Rabbinical Seminary, where Black Hebrew rabbis have been educated and ordained.
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Jehovah's Witnesses provide religious training programs for their members, focusing on improving skills for their ministry. These include literacy classes, Pioneer Service School, School for Kingdom Evangelizers and Gilead School. Some of these programs are by invitation only. Holden observed: "Despite the fact that Witnesses claim to "reason" from the scriptures, their theology is taught in a highly mechanistic fashion, and written publications encourage the members to learn almost by rote."
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Under Fidel Castro's communist regime, Jehovah's Witnesses were considered "social deviants", along with homosexuals, vagrants, and other groups, and were sent to forced labor concentration camps to be "reeducated". On July 1, 1974 the group was officially banned and their "churches" closed. Following the ban members who refused military service were imprisoned for sentences of three years and it was reported that members were also imprisoned because of their children's refusal to salute the flag.
Don Alden Adams
Adams, a Governing Body "helper", became president of the Watch Tower Society after Governing Body member Milton G. Henschel stepped down from the position in 2000. In that year, members of the Governing Body resigned from their executive positions of the corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses, although the periodical "Christianity Today" reported that the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses would continue its "oversight" role.
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the present world order, which they perceive as being under the control of Satan, will be ended by a direct intervention of Jehovah (God), who will use Jesus Christ to fully establish his heavenly government over earth, destroying existing human governments and non-Witnesses, and creating a cleansed society of true worshippers who can live forever. They see their mission as primarily evangelical (disseminating "good news"), to warn as many people as possible in the remaining time before Armageddon. All members of the denomination are expected to take an active part in preaching. Witnesses refer to all their beliefs collectively as "the Truth".
Silentlambs
Silentlambs is a United States-based non-profit organization, founded by William Bowen, that assists victims of child sexual abuse experienced within the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. Silentlambs' stated purpose is to help educate the public and Jehovah's Witnesses about child sexual abuse, and to assist abuse survivors who have been molested as children and silenced from speaking out or seeking proper assistance as directed by religious authority. The group states that it has received reports from more than 5000 Jehovah's Witnesses contending that the church mishandled cases of child sexual abuse.
Alfred Vogel
Alfred Vogel was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Dutch branch of the company (Biohorma) was (at the time) in the hands of Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses, especially the family of co-founder Bolle. Vogel propagated some doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses in his book "Der kleine Doktor" ("The Nature Doctor"). In older editions, for example, one can read that God prohibited blood transfusion, and that applying this medical treatment could lead to a change in character.
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's "only-begotten Son", and that his life began in heaven. He is described as God's first creation and the "exact representation of God", but is believed to be a separate entity and not part of a Trinity. Jesus is said to have been used by God in the creation of all other things. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the Archangel, Michael, "the Word" of John 1:1, and wisdom personified in Proverbs 8 refer to Jesus in his pre-human existence and that he resumed these identities after his ascension to heaven following his death and resurrection. They also identify him with the "rider of the white horse" at Revelation 6 and 19. His birth on earth was accomplished when he willingly allowed himself to be transferred, by God, from heaven to the womb of the virgin, Mary. While on earth, Jesus was executed as a sacrifice to atone for mankind's sins, becoming the "eternal father" to the human family.
Milton George Henschel
Henschel became president of the Watch Tower Society December 30, 1992 and remained in that position until 2000. Major organizational changes took place in 2000, as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses was separated from the Society's board of directors. As a result, members of the Governing Body stepped aside from their capacities in the Watch Tower Society, and Don A. Adams was appointed president. Henschel remained a member of the Governing Body until his death in 2003.
Frederick William Franz
Frederick William Franz (September 12, 1893 – December 22, 1992) served as President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, the legal entity used to direct the work of Jehovah's Witnesses. He had previously served as Vice President of the same corporation from 1945 until 1977 and as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses before replacing Nathan H. Knorr as president in June 1977.
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany
In July 1944, Himmler ordered Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the head of the RSHA, to begin sending Jehovah's Witnesses to the occupied east. Himmler viewed the Jehovah's Witnesses as frugal, hard-working, honest and fanatic in their pacifism, and that these traits were extremely desirable for the suppressed nations in the east.
Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of child sex abuse
In 2016 a UK judge upheld a ruling against the Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to protect a victim of child sexual abuse, and the supreme court rejected an attempt by the Watch Tower Society to block a Charity Commission inquiry into how the organisation's charity handles allegations of abuse. This was the culmination of two years of legal proceedings in five different courts and tribunals. The commission's attorney said "WTBTS has at every stage relentlessly challenged the legal basis and scope of the Charity Commission's inquiry".
Yehowists
Yehowists (also Yehowist-Ilyinites, Ilyinists, Ilyintsy, Jehovists, Sect of the Right-hand Brotherhood, The Message of Zion, ) is a Russian Spiritual Christian millenarian religious movement founded by retired army officer and religious thinker Nikolai Ilyin in the 1840s.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
After its formal establishment in 1971, the Governing Body met regularly but, according to Raymond Franz, only briefly; Franz claims meetings were sometimes as short as seven minutes, to make decisions about branch appointments and conduct that should be considered disfellowshipping offenses. Franz claims that in 1971 and again in 1975, the Governing Body debated the extent of the authority it should be given. The Governing Body voted in December 1975 to establish six operating committees to oversee the various administrative requirements of the organization's worldwide activities that formerly had been under the direction of the president; furthermore, each branch overseer was to be replaced by a branch committee of at least three members. The change, which took effect on January 1, 1976, was described in the Watch Tower Society's 1993 history book, "Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom", as "one of the most significant organizational readjustments in the modern-day history of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses are perhaps best known for their efforts to spread their beliefs, most notably by visiting people from house to house, distributing literature published by the Watch Tower Society in 700 languages. The objective is to start a regular "Bible study" with any person who is not already a member, with the intention that the student be baptized as a member of the group; Witnesses are advised to consider discontinuing Bible studies with students who show no interest in becoming members. Witnesses are taught they are under a biblical command to engage in public preaching. They are instructed to devote as much time as possible to their ministry and are required to submit an individual monthly "Field Service Report". Baptized members who fail to report a month of preaching are termed "irregular" and may be counseled by elders; those who do not submit reports for six consecutive months are termed "inactive".
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses are organized hierarchically, in what the leadership calls a "theocratic organization", reflecting their belief that it is God's "visible organization" on earth. The organization is led by the Governing Body—an all-male group that varies in size, but since January 2018 has comprised eight members, all of whom profess to be of the "anointed" class with a hope of heavenly life—based in the Watch Tower Society's Warwick headquarters. There is no election for membership; new members are selected by the existing body. Until late 2012, the Governing Body described itself as the representative and "spokesman" for God's "faithful and discreet slave class" (then approximately 10,000 self-professed "anointed" Jehovah's Witnesses). At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was defined as referring to the Governing Body only. The Governing Body directs several committees that are responsible for administrative functions, including publishing, assembly programs and evangelizing activities. It appoints all branch committee members and traveling overseers, after they have been recommended by local branches, with traveling overseers supervising circuits of congregations within their jurisdictions. Traveling overseers appoint local elders and ministerial servants, and while branch offices may appoint regional committees for matters such as Kingdom Hall construction or disaster relief. The leadership and supporting staff lives in properties owned by the organization worldwide referred to as "Bethel" where they operate as a religious community and administrative unit. Their living expenses and those of other full-time volunteers are covered by the organization along with a basic monthly stipend.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's only direct creation, that everything else was created through Christ by means of God's power, and that the initial unassisted act of creation uniquely identifies Jesus as God's "only-begotten Son". Jesus served as a redeemer and a ransom sacrifice to pay for the sins of humanity. They believe Jesus died on a single upright post rather than the traditional cross. Biblical references to the Archangel Michael, Abaddon (Apollyon), and the Word are interpreted as names for Jesus in various roles. Jesus is considered to be the only intercessor and high priest between God and humanity, and appointed by God as the king and judge of his kingdom. His role as a mediator (referred to in 1 Timothy 2:5) is applied to the 'anointed' class, though the 'other sheep' are said to also benefit from the arrangement.
Jehovah's Witnesses
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".
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Under Rutherford, Jehovah's Witnesses grew from about 44,000 in 1928 to about 115,000 at the time of his death on January 8, 1942.
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God uses an organization both in heaven and on earth, and that Jehovah's Witnesses, under the direction of their Governing Body, are the only visible channel by which God communicates with humanity. The organization is said to be theocratic, "ruled from the divine Top down, and not from the rank and file up". Witnesses teach that people must choose between God’s organization and Satan’s. Watch Tower publications teach that the Bible is an "organizational book" that does not belong to individuals and that the Bible cannot be properly understood without guidance by "Jehovah's visible organization".
Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of child sex abuse
In some cases, members of Jehovah's Witnesses have been prevented or deterred from reporting child molestation to civil authorities. Particularly since around 2000, the Jehovah's Witnesses organization has been accused of covering up cases of child molestation committed by its members. In February 2001, "Christianity Today" printed an article reporting allegations that Jehovah's Witnesses' policies made reporting sexual abuse difficult for members, and did not conform to typical treatment of such cases. The article also included a response by representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Australian Royal Commission heard that an elder discouraged an abuse victim from going to the police by saying, "Do you really want to drag Jehovah's name through the mud?" In Ireland in 2016, two Jehovah's Witness elders were removed from their positions as punishment for reporting a child molester to the police after the London Branch legal department told them not to.
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
In the last decade, the Governing Body has reiterated its overall oversight role but has delegated other Witnesses, typically branch committee members, to serve as corporate executives and directors of Watch Tower and other incorporated entities.
Jehovah's Witnesses operate 90 branch offices worldwide, under the oversight of "headquarters representatives" who visit each of their assigned branches every few years, auditing operations, counseling branch committee members, department heads and missionaries, and reporting back to the Governing Body. Each branch office is referred to as Bethel. The United States branch office, spread across three New York State locations with a staff of more than 5000, also serves as the international headquarters.
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
During Knorr's presidency, membership of Jehovah's Witnesses grew from 108,000 to more than two million.
Minos Kokkinakis
Minos Kokkinakis (25 February 1909 , Sitia, Crete – 28 January 1999 Sitia) was a Greek member of Jehovah's Witnesses. He is most notable for his repeated clashes with Greece's ban on proselytism.
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada
During World War I Jehovah's Witnesses were targeted because of their anti-war attitudes and refusal to take part in military service. Rather than being banned directly, Jehovah's Witnesses had to deal with censorship of their literature during the war and the court’s refusal to recognize them as a legitimate denomination, thus rendering unable to claim the status of conscientious objectors.
Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
Rolf Furuli, a Jehovah's Witness and a lecturer in Semitic languages, presents a study of 607 BC in support of the Witnesses' conclusions in "Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Persian Chronology Compared with the Chronology of the Bible, Volume 1: Persian Chronology and the Length of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews". Lester L. Grabbe, professor of Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism at the University of Hull, said of Furuli's study: "Once again we have an amateur who wants to rewrite scholarship. ... F. shows little evidence of having put his theories to the test with specialists in Mesopotamian astronomy and Persian history."
Christianity in Russia
"Zion's Watch Tower" (now called "The Watchtower", the primary journal of the Watch Tower Society) had subscribers in Russia as early as 1887. In 1935, the Watch Tower Society unsuccessfully attempted to establish a branch office in the Soviet Union to support members already there. By 1939, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses were residing in the Baltic states when the Soviet Union absorbed those formerly independent countries. In the 1940s, the Soviet government forcibly dispersed thousands of Witnesses, in a program named Operation North, later described by Dr. N. S. Gordienko, a professor at Herzen University as having "just the opposite of what was expected; they wanted to weaken the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the USSR, but in fact they only strengthened it". In the 1950s and 1960s, Jehovah's Witnesses were tracked, infiltrated, harassed, and persecuted by the Soviet government. By 1971, there were more than 4,500 Witnesses in the Soviet Union. When the denomination was formally recognized in March 1991, the organization reported 15,987 members in Russia. Beginning in 1993, Witness missionaries from Germany were assigned to Russia to support the local members. By 2014, Jehovah's Witnesses reported over 170,000 members in Russia.
Free Exercise Clause
During the twentieth century, many major cases involving the Free Exercise Clause were related to Jehovah's Witnesses. Many communities directed laws against the Witnesses and their preaching work. From 1938 to 1955, the organization was involved in over forty cases before the Supreme Court, winning a majority of them. The first important victory came in 1938, when in "Lovell v. City of Griffin", the Supreme Court held that cities could not require permits for the distribution of pamphlets. In 1939, the Supreme Court decided "Schneider v. Town of Irvington", in which it struck down anti-littering laws that were enforced only against Jehovah's Witnesses who were handing out pamphlets. In 1940, the Court considered "Cantwell v. Connecticut"; the plaintiff, a Jehovah's Witness, was charged with soliciting donations without a certificate from the Public Welfare Council. The Council was to grant the certificate only if the organization requesting it was a charity or sponsored a religious cause. The Supreme Court ruled that any law granting a public body the function of determining if a cause is religious or not violates the First Amendment.
Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses
"Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania" is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses, often referred to as "The Society". It holds the copyrights of most literature published by Jehovah's Witnesses. The society was founded in 1881 with William Henry Conley, a Pittsburgh businessman, as the first president and Charles Taze Russell as secretary-treasurer. The society was incorporated as "Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society" in Pennsylvania on December 15, 1884, with Russell as president. The corporation was officially renamed "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society" in 1896; similar names had been in unofficial use since at least 1892.
"Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc." is a corporation used by Jehovah's Witnesses which is responsible for administrative matters, such as real estate, especially within the United States. This corporation is typically cited as the publisher of Jehovah's Witnesses publications, though other publishers are sometimes cited. The corporation's stated purposes are: “Charitable, benevolent, scientific, historical, literary and religious purposes; the moral and mental improvement of men and women, the dissemination of Bible truths in various languages by means of the publication of tracts, pamphlets, papers and other religious documents, and for religious missionary work.” In 2001 "Newsday" listed the Watch Tower Society as one of New York's forty richest corporations, with revenues exceeding $950 million.
Jehovah's Witnesses
The offices of elder and ministerial servant were restored to Witness congregations in 1972, with appointments made from headquarters (and later, also by branch committees). It was announced that, starting in September 2014, appointments would be made by traveling overseers. In a major organizational overhaul in 1976, the power of the Watch Tower Society president was diminished, with authority for doctrinal and organizational decisions passed to the Governing Body. Since Knorr's death in 1977, the position of president has been occupied by Frederick Franz (1977–1992) and Milton Henschel (1992–2000), both members of the Governing Body, and since 2000 by others who are not Governing Body members. In 1995, Jehovah's Witnesses abandoned the idea that Armageddon must occur during the lives of the generation that was alive in 1914 and in 2010 changed their teaching on the "generation".
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that in 1918, Christ judged all world religions claiming to be Christian, and that after a period of eighteen months, among all groups and religions claiming to represent Christ, only the "Bible Students" (from which Jehovah's Witnesses developed) met God's approval. Watch Tower Society publications claim that the world's other religions have misrepresented God, and filled the world with hatred. They identify "Babylon The Great" and the "mother of the harlots" referred to in Revelation 17:3-6 as the "world empire of false religion"
Catechumen
Jehovah's Witnesses require a catechumenate of adherents prior to baptism by means of a study program led by a baptized minister, using a Watch Tower Society textbook that teaches basic Witness doctrines. Students initially progress to become an "unbaptized publisher" of the faith, preaching while continuing further biblical instruction—akin to a catechumen, although the term is not specifically used. After demonstrating sufficient comprehension and application of Jehovah's Witnesses' interpretations of the Bible, the student qualifies to be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
The following people are members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses (year appointed in parentheses):
Albert Muwalo
Muwalo and Gwede were closely associated with the implementation of repressive policies against political critics and even those seeking political neutrality, like Jehovah's Witnesses. After the removal of these two, the government's attitude appeared to have softened, at least for a time. Muwalo was linked to the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, that started in late 1963 before the pre-independence election, when Witnesses were beaten for failing to buy MCP cards, because their religious beliefs did not allow membership of political parties. In 1967, at the conference of the MCP, of which Muwalo was Administrative Secretary, it was agreed that Jehovah's Witnesses should be declared an "unlawful society", and it was soon declared to be such, leading to attacks in which at least five Witnesses were killed and many fled the country. The anti-Witness campaign resumed in 1972, with further killings and beating. Over 50,000 Witnesses fled to Zambia or Mozambique, although in 1973, the Zambian authorities, and in 1975 the government of newly independent Mozambique, forcibly repatriated the majority of these refugees. A fifth wave of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses began in September 1975, mainly organised by local MCP members, but authorised at the party's highest level. This involved over 5,000 arrests, with many Witnesses being sentenced to three years in prison for membership of an illegal organisation, many beatings and destruction of Witnesses' property, and at least two more killings. After Muwalo's arrest, this wave of persecution ended, and many of those imprisoned or in detention were released. Although it is clear that the initial impetus for banning the Witnesses in 1967 came from Banda, Muwalo was responsible for organising much of the subsequent anti-Witness action.
Raymond Franz
Raymond Victor Franz (May 8, 1922 – June 2, 2010) was a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from October 20, 1971 until his removal on May 22, 1980, and served at the organization's world headquarters for fifteen years, from 1965 until 1980. Franz stated the request for his resignation and his subsequent disfellowshipping resulted from allegations of apostasy. Following his removal, Franz wrote two books that related his personal experiences with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and his views on Jehovah's Witnesses teachings.
Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
In 1993, mathematician Gordon Ritchie requested baptism by Jehovah's Witnesses and almost immediately began advocating disagreements with their teachings. He claims he was expelled for apostasy in March 1996. Ritchie contends that Jehovah's Witnesses constituted true religion until 2004, but that his own group of "Lord's Witnesses" is now the sole form of true worship. The group claims several hundred adherents, and argues that their mathematical analysis of the Bible contains divine revelations that Jehovah's Witnesses have ignored.
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
During 1931 and 1932, more than 2000 legal actions were instigated against Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany and members of the group were dismissed from employment. Persecution intensified following Adolf Hitler's appointment as chancellor in 1933 and continued until 1945. A "Declaration of Facts" was issued at a Jehovah's Witness convention in Berlin on June 25, 1933, asserting the group's political neutrality and calling for an end to government opposition. More than 2.1 million copies of the statement were distributed throughout Germany, but its distribution prompted a new wave of persecution against German Witnesses, whose refusal to give the Hitler salute, join Nazi organizations or perform military service demonstrated their opposition to the totalitarian ideology of National Socialism.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Sociologist Bryan R. Wilson, in his consideration of five religious groups including Jehovah's Witnesses, noted that each of the denominations:
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe their denomination is a restoration of first-century Christianity. Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses are established by the Governing Body, which assumes responsibility for interpreting and applying scripture. The Governing Body does not issue any single, comprehensive "statement of faith", but prefers to express its doctrinal position in a variety of ways through publications published by the Watch Tower Society. Their publications teach that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive revelation, in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose, and that such enlightenment or "new light" results from the application of reason and study, the guidance of the holy spirit, and direction from Jesus Christ and angels. The Society also teaches that members of the Governing Body are helped by the holy spirit to discern "deep truths", which are then considered by the entire Governing Body before it makes doctrinal decisions. The group's leadership, while disclaiming divine inspiration and infallibility, is said to provide "divine guidance" through its teachings described as "based on God's Word thus ... not from men, but from Jehovah."
Chan Hiang Leng Colin v Public Prosecutor
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination whose members refuse to engage in any political or national practices, such as saluting the flag or performing national service. This was deemed prejudicial to the public welfare and good order of Singapore, and on 14 January 1972 the Government issued two orders to deal with the perceived threat to public order. First, Gazette Notification No. 123 of 1972 ("Order 123") was issued by the Minister for Culture pursuant to section 3 of the Undesirable Publications Act ("UPA") to ban works published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society ("WTBTS"), the primary corporation used by Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Nathan Knorr was appointed as third president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1942. Knorr commissioned a new translation of the Bible, the "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures", the full version of which was released in 1961. He organized large international assemblies, instituted new training programs for members, and expanded missionary activity and branch offices throughout the world. Knorr's presidency was also marked by an increasing use of explicit instructions guiding Witnesses in their lifestyle and conduct, and a greater use of congregational judicial procedures to enforce a strict moral code.
Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
In 1948, the Romanian government imposed a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses that lasted until 1989. Many Witnesses were arrested and sent to prison or labor camps, and members of the denomination had limited communication with other Witnesses and studied largely from older books and magazines. In 1962, "The Watchtower" altered its doctrine on the meaning of the phrase "superior authorities" at Romans 13:1, identifying them as human governmental authorities rather than God and Jesus Christ as formerly thought. Many Witnesses in Romania rejected the change, and some suspected it was a communist fabrication intended to make them subservient to the state. After the Romanian ban was lifted, members and representatives of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses were able to meet thousands of long-separated Romanian Witnesses, but some Romanians still rejected certain changes and preferred their autonomy, forming "The True Faith Jehovah's Witnesses Association" in 1992.
Jehovah's Witnesses publications
Some publications are typically distributed only to members, but may be supplied to other interested individuals on request or made available in public libraries. These include the biblical encyclopedia "Insight on the Scriptures" and Jehovah's Witnesses' official history book "Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom". Many of these publications are also available from their website in the "Watchtower Online Library".
Bible Student movement
Between 1918 and 1929, several factions formed their own independent fellowships, including the Stand Fast Movement, the Pastoral Bible Institute, the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement founded by PSL Johnson, and the Dawn Bible Students Association. These groups range from conservative, claiming to be Russell's true followers, to more liberal, claiming that Russell's role is not as important as once believed. Rutherford's faction of the movement retained control of the Watch Tower Society and adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" in July 1931. By the end of the 20th century, Jehovah's Witnesses claimed a membership of 6 million, while other independent Bible Student groups were estimated to total less than 75,000.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses have been accused of having policies and culture that help to conceal cases of sexual abuse within the organization. The group has been criticized for its "two witness rule" for church discipline, based on its application of scriptures at Deuteronomy 19:15 and Matthew 18:15–17, which requires sexual abuse to be substantiated by secondary evidence if the accused person denies any wrongdoing. In cases where corroboration is lacking, the Watch Tower Society's instruction is that "the elders will leave the matter in Jehovah's hands". A former member of the headquarters staff, Barbara Anderson, says the policy effectively requires that there be another witness to an act of molestation, "which is an impossibility". Anderson says the policies "protect pedophiles rather than protect the children." Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that they have a strong policy to protect children, adding that the best way to protect children is by educating parents; they also state that they do not sponsor activities that separate children from parents.
Jehovah's Witnesses and the United Nations
In February 1992, Jehovah's Witnesses' New York corporation, the Watchtower Society, was granted association as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN/DPI). The Watchtower Society requested termination of the association in October 2001, and the DPI disassociated the NGO on 9 October after the matter was reported in "The Guardian". A UN/DPI letter dated March 4, 2004 states, "the principle purpose of association of a NGO with the UN/DPI is the redissemination of information in order to increase public understanding of the principles, activities and achievements of the United Nations and its Agencies." The letter explained that "[b]y accepting association with DPI, the organization agreed to meet criteria for association, including support and respect of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and commitment and means to conduct effective information programmes with its constituents and to a broader audience about UN activities." The official site further notes that association with the UN/DPI "does not constitute their incorporation into the United Nations system, nor does it entitle associated organizations or their staff to any kind of privileges, immunities or special status."
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Knorr's vice-president, Frederick William Franz, became the leading theologian for the group and the pace of doctrinal change slowed. Blood transfusions were prohibited for Witnesses from 1945 and in 1961 the eating of blood in meat was also proscribed, "The Watchtower" instructing Witnesses to check with their butcher whether the animals and fowl he sold had been properly drained of their blood. Birthday celebrations were described as "objectionable" in 1951 because of their pagan origins and other explicit rules regarding acceptable conduct among members were introduced, with a greater emphasis placed on disfellowshipping as a disciplinary measure.
Witness (organization)
Witness was founded in 1992 by Peter Gabriel, along with the help of Human Rights First (then known as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) and its founding executive director Michael Posner.
Japanese new religions
GHQ invited many Christian missionaries from the United States to Japan, through Douglas MacArthur's famous call for 1,000 missionaries. Missionaries arrived not only from traditional churches, but also from some modern denominations, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries were so successful that they have become the second largest Christian denomination in Japan, with over 210,000 members (the largest is Catholicism with about 500,000 members). In Japan, Jehovah's Witnesses tend to be considered a Christianity-based Shinshūkyō, not only because they were founded in the 19th century (as were other major Shinshūkyō), but also because of their missionary practices, which involve door-to-door visiting and frequent meetings.
Jehovah's Witnesses and governments
Many United States Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses have shaped First Amendment law. Significant cases affirmed rights such as these: 
By 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court had reviewed 71 cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses as an organization, two-thirds of which were decided in their favor. In 2002, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society disputed an ordinance in Stratton, Ohio that required a permit in order to preach from door to door. The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Witnesses.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Political and religious animosity against Jehovah's Witnesses has at times led to mob action and government oppression in various countries.
Their stance regarding political neutrality and their refusal to serve in the military has led to imprisonment of members who refused conscription during World War II and at other times where national service has been compulsory. Their religious activities are currently banned or restricted in some countries, including China, Vietnam and some Islamic states.Authors including William Whalen, Shawn Francis Peters and former Witnesses Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Alan Rogerson and William Schnell have claimed the arrests and mob violence in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s were the consequence of what appeared to be a deliberate course of provocation of authorities and other religious groups by Jehovah's Witnesses. Whalen, Harrison and Schnell have suggested Rutherford invited and cultivated opposition for publicity purposes in a bid to attract dispossessed members of society, and to convince members that persecution from the outside world was evidence of the truth of their struggle to serve God. Watch Tower Society literature of the period directed that Witnesses should "never seek a controversy" nor resist arrest, but also advised members not to co-operate with police officers or courts that ordered them to stop preaching, and to prefer jail rather than pay fines.
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
From 1944, Watch Tower publications had made occasional references to a "governing body", identifying it with the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. In October 1971, four additional men joined the seven members of the Society's board of directors on what became known as a separate, expanded Governing Body. The Governing Body was then for the first time formally defined, indicating that it provided Jehovah's Witnesses with direction, guidance and regulation, although all doctrinal and publishing decisions continued to be made by, or were subject to, the approval of the Society's president. Organizational changes at the highest levels of the Watchtower Society in 1976 significantly increased the powers and authority of the Governing Body and reduced those of the Watch Tower Society president.
Demographics of Jehovah's Witnesses
Congregations are generally organized geographically, and members are directed to attend the Kingdom Hall to which their neighborhood has been assigned, resulting in an ethnic mix generally representative of local population, though congregations based on language and ethnicity have also been formed. In the United States, 37% of adults who self-identify as Jehovah's Witnesses are African Americans. This is the highest proportion among the 22 largest religious identifications in the United States.
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany
Jehovah's Witnesses were an outgrowth of the International Bible Students, who began missionary work in Europe in the 1890s. A German branch office of the Watch Tower Society opened in Elberfeld in 1902. By 1933, almost 20,000 Witnesses were counted as active door-to-door preachers, and their annual Memorial service was attracting almost 25,000 people. In Dresden, there were more Bible Students than in New York, where the Watch Tower Society was headquartered.
Jehovah's Witnesses
In January 1917, the Watch Tower Society's legal representative, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was elected as its next president. His election was disputed, and members of the Board of Directors accused him of acting in an autocratic and secretive manner. The divisions between his supporters and opponents triggered a major turnover of members over the next decade. In June 1917, he released "The Finished Mystery" as a seventh volume of Russell's "Studies in the Scriptures" series. The book, published as the posthumous work of Russell, was a compilation of his commentaries on the Bible books of Ezekiel and Revelation, plus numerous additions by Bible Students Clayton Woodworth and George Fisher. It strongly criticized Catholic and Protestant clergy and Christian involvement in the Great War. As a result, Watch Tower Society directors were jailed for sedition under the "Espionage Act" in 1918 and members were subjected to mob violence; the directors were released in March 1919 and charges against them were dropped in 1920.
Jehovah's Witnesses by country
Jehovah's Witnesses have a presence in most countries in the world. These are the most recent statistics by continent, based on active members, or "publishers" as reported by the Watch Tower Society of Pennsylvania. The Watch Tower Society reports its active presence in various dependencies and states as separate 'lands', as noted.
Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania
In the aftermath of the August 1944 King Michael Coup, the Witnesses reverted to their 1933 status, and were given enhanced protections when they registered as a "legal entity" in July 1945. In 1945–46, the Witnesses were permitted to openly publish their literature in Romanian; however, in 1948, their operations were again banned when the new Romanian Communist regime excluded them from its list of official religious communities; another account places the ban in 1949, by governmental decree. In August of that year, the Bucharest office was closed, its subsidiary buildings and equipment seized. The group presented forthright critiques of ecclesiastical, social and political institutions, as well as apocalyptic pronouncements that were considered subversive by the Communist regime. Even more than their radical millenarianism, their opposition to military service and what officials understood as the Witnesses' attitude to the Romanian state were also considered unacceptable. Stories claiming that Jehovah's Witnesses were prepared to become personally involved in overcoming the powers of darkness and to bring to a consummation the climactic eschatological moment were circulated, increasing pressure on the group. Its close ties to the United States also proved problematic, with members accused of espionage on behalf of the Cold War superpower. At the time of the ban, the group had some 15,000 members. A number of leaders, as well as ordinary faithful, were imprisoned on charges including public instigation, distribution of banned material and conspiracy against the social order, as well as draft evasion. Among those arrested were the leadership; Albu, Magyarosi and Petre Ranca were convicted of spying on behalf of an "Anglo-American network".
Jehovah's Witnesses
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.
Jehovah's Witnesses
For 2018, Jehovah's Witnesses reported approximately 8.58 million "publishers"—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in about 120,000 congregations. For the same year, they reported over 2 billion hours spent in preaching activity, and conducted Bible studies with more than 10 million individuals (including those conducted by Witness parents with their children). Jehovah's Witnesses estimate their worldwide annual growth since 2016 to be 1.4%.
Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
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.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
In 1943 "The Watchtower" described the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society as the "legal governing body" of anointed Jehovah's Witnesses. A year later, in an article opposing the democratic election of congregation elders, the magazine said the appointment of such ones was the duty of "a visible governing body under Jehovah God and his Christ." For several years, the role and specific identity of the governing body remained otherwise undefined. A 1955 organizational handbook stated that "the visible governing body has been closely identified with the board of directors of this corporation." Referring to events related to their 1957 convention, a 1959 publication said "the spiritual governing body of Jehovah’s witnesses watched the developments [then] the president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society [acted]." The 1970 "Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses" noted that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania was the organization used to plan the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses and provide them with "spiritual food", then declared: "So really the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses is the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania."
On October 1, 1971, Watch Tower Society vice-president Frederick Franz addressed the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania corporation in Buckingham, Pennsylvania, stating that the legal corporation of the Watch Tower Society was an "agency" or "temporary instrument" used by the Governing Body on behalf of the "faithful and discreet slave". Three weeks later, on October 20, four additional men joined the seven members of the Society's board of directors on what became known as a separate, expanded Governing Body. The board of directors had until then met only sporadically, usually to discuss the purchase of property or new equipment, leaving decisions about Watch Tower Society literature to the president and vice-president, Nathan Knorr and Fred Franz. "The Watchtower" of December 15, 1971 was the first to unambiguously capitalize the term "Governing Body of Jehovah's witnesses" as the defined group leading the denomination, with a series of articles explaining its role and its relationship with the Watch Tower Society.
Silentlambs
Silentlambs was founded in 2001 by William H. Bowen, a second generation Jehovah's Witness. Bowen served as an elder for approximately 15 years, and worked in the printing factory at the headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses from 1977 until 1979. According to Bowen, he was removed as an elder in July 1992 for refusing to back down on a matter involving the appointment of a child molester. He was reappointed as an elder in 1994, but resigned the position in December 2000 over concerns about new allegations of child abuse and continued disagreement with Jehovah's Witnesses' policies for reporting child sex abuse. According to Bowen, he was disfellowshipped in 2002 for actions considered to constitute "causing divisions" and tantamount to "apostasy". Bowen claims to be an expert in comparative religions including Jehovah's Witnesses, the Catholic Church and Mormonism regarding child sex abuse policies, and provides services as a consultant for attorneys who file civil cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. He has stated that he is not an expert regarding investigations of sex abuse allegations, nor an expert regarding the historical standards of care and detection of child abuse. Bowen has self-published two books, and states that he is an expert in child custody and taxation policies of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is the ruling council of Jehovah's Witnesses based in the group's Warwick, New York headquarters. The body formulates doctrines, oversees the production of written material for publications and conventions, and administers the group's worldwide operations. Official publications refer to members of the Governing Body as followers of Christ rather than religious leaders.
History of religion in the United States
Jehovah's Witnesses comprise a fast-growing denomination that has kept itself separate from other Christian denominations. It began in 1872 with Charles Taze Russell, but experienced a major schism in 1917 as Joseph Franklin Rutherford began his presidency. Rutherford gave new direction to the movement and renamed the movement "Jehovah's witnesses" in 1931. The period from 1925 to 1933 saw many significant changes in doctrine. Attendance at their yearly Memorial dropped from a high of 90,434 in 1925 to 63,146 in 1935. Since 1950 growth has been very rapid.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Satan and his demons were cast down to earth from heaven after October 1, 1914, at which point the end times began. They believe that Satan is the ruler of the current world order, that human society is influenced and misled by Satan and his demons, and that they are a cause of human suffering. They also believe that human governments are controlled by Satan, but that he does not directly control each human ruler.
Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses
Since the formation of the International Bible Students Association, many other corporations sanctioned by the Governing Body have been used throughout the world to further the interests of Jehovah's Witnesses by supporting the activities of their respective branch offices in different countries, for example:
Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
From 1931, when the name "Jehovah's witnesses" was adopted, Watch Tower Society publications maintained the view of Society founder Charles Taze Russell that the reference to abstaining from the eating of blood in the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:19–29 was a "suggestion" to be given to Gentile converts. Watch Tower publications during the presidency of Joseph Franklin Rutherford commended the commercial and emergency uses of blood. A 1925 issue of "The Golden Age" commended a man for donating blood 45 times without payment. In 1927, "The Watchtower" noted, without elaboration, that in Genesis 9, God decreed that Noah and his offspring "must not eat the blood, because the life is in the blood". In 1940 "Consolation" magazine reported on a woman who accidentally shot herself with a revolver in her heart and survived a major surgical procedure during which an attending physician donated a quart of his own blood for transfusion.
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses are organized hierarchically, and are led by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in Warwick, New York. The Governing Body, along with other "helpers", are organized into six committees responsible for various administrative functions within the global Witness community, including publication, assembly programs and evangelizing activity.
Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
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.'"
Jehovah's Witnesses practices
Jehovah's Witnesses base their practices on the biblical interpretations of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), founder ( 1881) of the Bible Student movement, and of successive presidents of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph Franklin Rutherford (in office 1917–1942) and Nathan Homer Knorr (in office 1942–1977). Since 1976 practices have also been based on decisions made at closed meetings of the group's Governing Body. The group disseminates instructions regarding activities and acceptable behavior through "The Watchtower" magazine and through other official publications, and at conventions and congregation meetings.
Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses
The oldest and most prominent of their corporation names, "Watch Tower Society", has also been used synonymously with the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, even in their own literature. Particularly since 2000, Jehovah's Witnesses have maintained a distinction between their corporations and their religious organization. The primary corporations are operated by Governing Body "helpers" who implement its decisions.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
Until 2000, the directors and officers of the Watch Tower Society were members of the Governing Body. Since then, members of the ecclesiastical Governing Body have not served as directors of any of the various corporations used by Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Governing Body has delegated such administrative responsibilities to other members of the group.
Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses
The IBSA was founded in 1914 as a corporation of the Bible Students by Charles Taze Russell in London, England, and was the first legal corporation representing Russell's ministry in Europe. The Watch Tower Society stated in 1917 that the IBSA, along with its Pennsylvania and New York based corporations "were organized for identical purposes and they harmoniously work together." Other similarly named corporations operate in various countries to promote the interests of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Testimony of the Evangelists
The Testimony of the Evangelists, Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice is an 1846 Christian apologetic work by Simon Greenleaf, a principal founder of the Harvard Law School.
Forced settlements in the Soviet Union
A number of religious groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses (свидетели иеговы), True Orthodox Church (истинно-православные христиане), Inochentism (иннокентьевцы) and True and Free Seventh-day Adventists (адвентисты-реформисты) were persecuted by the Soviet Union. In particular, members of these groups refused to join the Young Pioneers, the Komsomol, or to serve in the Soviet Army. Usually members of these groups and especially influential members were subject to criminal law and treated on a case-by-case basis. However, on 3 March 1951, the USSR Council of Ministers issued a decree, "On Expulsion of Active Participants of the anti-Soviet Illegal Sect of Jehovists and their Family Members" (Постановление Совета Министров СССР о выселении активных участников антисоветской нелегальной секты иеговистов и членов их семей №1290-467 от 3 марта 1951 года). According to this decree, about 9,400 Jehovah's Witnesses, including about 4,000 children , were resettled from the Baltic States, Moldavia, and western parts of Byelorussia and Ukraine to Siberia in 1951, an event known as "Operation North".
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses did not have a significant presence in the Soviet Union prior to 1939 when the Soviet Union forcibly incorporated eastern Poland, Moldavia, and Lithuania, each of which had a Jehovah's Witness movement. Although never large in number (estimated by the KGB to be 20,000 in 1968), the Jehovah's Witnesses became one of the most persecuted religious groups in the Soviet Union during the post-World War II era. Members were arrested or deported; some were put in Soviet concentration camps. Witnesses in Moldavian SSR were deported to Tomsk Oblast; members from other regions of the Soviet Union were deported to Irkutsk Oblast. KGB officials, who were tasked with dissolving the Jehovah's Witness movement, were disturbed to discover that the Witnesses continued to practice their faith even within the labor camps.
Joseph Franklin Rutherford
Joseph Franklin Rutherford (November 8, 1869 – January 8, 1942), also known as Judge Rutherford, was the second president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. He played a primary role in the organization and doctrinal development of Jehovah's Witnesses, which emerged from the Bible Student movement established by Charles Taze Russell.
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
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. At this time, Watch Tower Society publications began using the capitalized name, "Jehovah's "W"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.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
Prior to 1971, various Watch Tower Society directors were informally identified as members of the "governing body". Jehovah's Witnesses publications began capitalizing "Governing Body" as a proper noun in 1971; "The Watchtower" that year announced "The present Governing Body comprises eleven anointed witnesses of Jehovah." These eleven members are indicated in italics in the list below. Years active are shown in parentheses. All members served until their deaths unless specified.
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada
In 1940, one year following Canada's entry into World War II, the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination was banned under the War Measures Act. This ban continued until 1943. During this period, some of their children were expelled from school; other children were placed in foster homes; members were jailed; men who refused to enter the army were sent to work camps. In 1940, twenty-nine Witnesses were convicted and sentenced to terms averaging one year.
Freedom of religion in Moldova
In 1997, the authorities in Transnistria announced that they would annul the registration of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Jehovah's Witnesses in Transnistria were originally registered in 1991, and the church was reregistered by the "Ministry of Justice" in 1994 and 1997. However, in 1997 the "President's Commissioner for Religions and Cults" sent official letters to public authorities falsely claiming that the activity of the Jehovah's Witnesses was banned and that their registration was annulled. Using the "President's Commissioner's" deceptive letter, authorities have repeatedly harassed the Jehovah's Witnesses, including halting the distribution of religious literature and refusing to approve a property request to build a house of worship. In 2001, the Jehovah's Witnesses lodged an official complaint with the "President" of Transnistria, and in 2002, they lodged a complaint with the Magistrate in Tiraspol against illegal actions taken by the "President's Commissioner for Religions and Cults." In July 2002, the "President's Commissioner for Religions and Cults" sent a letter to various government departments with instructions to consider the Jehovah's Witnesses as illegal until the case brought against them had been finalized. The Jehovah's Witnesses have lodged an official complaint and a counter lawsuit against the "President's Commissioner for Religions and Cults." Following several hearings, the Court has decided to suspend the trial until the liquidation case has been finalized.In December 2003, the Jehovah's Witnesses were informed that the two trials would be combined into one trial that would be heard by a panel of three judges. The case was being heard at the close of the period covered by this report.
Gary Botting
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
Worldwide membership of Jehovah's Witnesses reached 113,624 in 5,323 congregations by the time of Rutherford's death in January 1942.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Rutherford centralized organizational control of the Watch Tower Society. In 1919, he instituted the appointment of a director in each congregation, and a year later all members were instructed to report their weekly preaching activity to the Brooklyn headquarters. At an international convention held at Cedar Point, Ohio, in September 1922, a new emphasis was made on house-to-house preaching. Significant changes in doctrine and administration were regularly introduced during Rutherford's twenty-five years as president, including the 1920 announcement that the Hebrew patriarchs (such as Abraham and Isaac) would be resurrected in 1925, marking the beginning of Christ's thousand-year earthly Kingdom. Because of disappointment over the changes and , tens of thousands of defections occurred during the first half of Rutherford's tenure, leading to the formation of several Bible Student organizations independent of the Watch Tower Society, most of which still exist. By mid-1919, as many as one in seven of Russell-era Bible Students had ceased their association with the Society, and as many as three-quarters by the end of the 1920s.
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
Since its incorporation in 1884, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has been directed by a president and board of directors. Until January 1976, the president exercised complete control of doctrines, publications and activities of the Watch Tower Society and the religious denominations with which it was connected—the Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses. When the Society's second president, J. F. Rutherford, encountered opposition from directors in 1917, he dismissed them. In 1925 he overruled the Watch Tower Society's editorial committee when it opposed publication of an article about disputed doctrines regarding the year 1914. In 1931, the editorial committee was dissolved.
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
The first study groups or congregations were established in 1879, and within a year more than 30 of them were meeting for six-hour study sessions under Russell's direction, to examine the Bible and his writings. The groups were autonomous "ecclesia", an organizational structure Russell regarded as a return to "primitive simplicity". In an 1882 "Watch Tower" article he said his nationwide community of study groups was "strictly unsectarian and consequently recognize no sectarian name ... we have no creed (fence) to bind us together or to keep others out of our company. The Bible is our only standard, and its teachings our only creed." He added: "We are in fellowship with all Christians in whom we can recognize the Spirit of Christ." Two years later he said the only appropriate names for his group would be "Church of Christ", "Church of God" or "Christians". He concluded: "By whatsoever names men may call us, it matters not to us; we acknowledge none other name than 'the only name given under heaven and among men' — Jesus Christ. We call ourselves simply Christians." In 1895, discussing the best form of meeting to study his writings, Russell warned: "Beware of organization. It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others' consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours."
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States
Political and religious animosity against the Witnesses has occasionally led to mob action and government oppression. According to former United States Solicitor General, Archibald Cox, Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States were "the principal victims of religious persecution ... in the twentieth century," and added that, "they began to attract attention and provoke repression in the 1930s, when their proselytizing and numbers rapidly increased."
Freedom of religion in the United States
In the United States of America and several other countries, the legal struggles of the Jehovah's Witnesses have yielded some of the most important judicial decisions regarding freedom of religion, press and speech. In the United States, many Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses are now landmark decisions of First Amendment law. Of the 72 cases involving the Jehovah's Witnesses that have been brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court has ruled in favor of them 47 times. Even the cases that the Jehovah's Witnesses lost helped the U.S. to more clearly define the limits of First Amendment rights. Former Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone jokingly suggested "The Jehovah's Witnesses ought to have an endowment in view of the aid which they give in solving the legal problems of civil liberties." "Like it or not," observed American author and editor Irving Dilliard, "Jehovah's Witnesses have done more to help preserve our freedoms than any other religious group."
Jehovah's Witnesses Association of Romania
Following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania received legal status as a religious association on April 9, 1990. That year, their first congresses took place at Brașov and then Bucharest, resulting in the baptism of 1500 new members; they claimed 35,000 adherents by 1996. Since its legalization, opposition has come from the Orthodox Church, which considers the group to be a heretical sect that employs "aggressive proselytism". In July 1996, the Orthodox Church influenced the authorities to cancel a planned international convention of Jehovah's Witnesses that had been scheduled to take place in Bucharest in July 1996. In 1997, at a time when they were encountering difficulty obtaining authorization for new buildings and cemeteries, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs rejected a request for the Witnesses' recognition as a religious denomination. In 2000, fourteen young members were involved in cases before the military authorities, having refused both obligatory army service and two years of community service in exchange for a year of conscription duty. They received suspended prison sentences, drawing condemnation from Amnesty International, but these were subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court of Justice. Pursuant to a ruling by the same court in 2000, the Culture Ministry granted the group official recognition in 2003, making it the first denomination to be recognised since the aftermath of the Revolution. As of 2012, there were an estimated 300 Kingdom Halls serving some 500 congregations; the group claimed 100,000 members that year, of whom 20,000 were living abroad. The census held the prior year, the country's first to record Witnesses, found 49,820 adherents or 0.26% of the population for whom data were available. The highest numbers were found in the counties of Mureș (6981), Maramureș (5960), Cluj (5783), Satu Mare (3841) and Brașov (2455), all in Transylvania.
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Witnesses in Japan were imprisoned and tortured, while members in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain were also imprisoned as conscientious objectors. The Witnesses were banned in Germany in 1936, Canada in July 1940 and Australia in January 1941. Under Rutherford's leadership, a legal staff was developed to establish their right to preach and their right to refrain from nationalistic ceremonies. Between 1938 and 1955 the Watch Tower Society won 36 out of 45 religion-related court cases. These legal battles resulted in significant expansions in freedom of speech and religion in both countries.
Bible Student movement
Bible Students who submitted to Rutherford's leadership of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society became known as "Jehovah's witnesses" in 1931. The Watch Tower Society remains the denomination's primary administrative body, and their beliefs and organizational structure have diverged considerably from Russell's. Their literature states that "Bible Students" is the former name for their group, and does not acknowledge the continued existence of other Bible Student groups. In 1955, the Watch Tower Society claimed that those who separated from the movement during Rutherford's presidency constituted the "evil slave" of Matthew 24:48-51. (The Society altered its view in 2013, calling the "evil slave" a hypothetical warning to the 'faithful slave'.) Jehovah's Witnesses report worldwide membership of over 8 million.
Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses
Authors Anthony A. Hoekema, Ron Rhodes and Alan W. Gomes claim Jehovah's Witnesses is a religious cult. Hoekema bases his judgment on a range of what he describes as general characteristics of a cult, including the tendency to elevate peripheral teachings (such as door-to-door preaching) to great prominence, extra-scriptural source of authority (Hoekema highlights Watch Tower teachings that the Bible may be understood only as it is interpreted by the Governing Body), a view of the group as the exclusive community of the saved (Watch Tower publications teach that Witnesses alone are God's people and only they will survive Armageddon) and the group's central role in eschatology (Hoekema says Witness publications claim the group was called into existence by God to fill in a gap in the truth neglected by existing churches, marking the climax of sacred history).
Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine
The main points of his doctrines on Bible chronology were:Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz and Sociology lecturer Andrew Holden have pointed out that doctrines—including those relating to sexual behaviour in marriage and the "superior authorities" of Romans 13:4—have sometimes been altered, only to revert to those held decades earlier. Holden, author of a major ethnographic study on Jehovah's Witnesses, commented: "It could be that many Witnesses have not yet been in the organisation long enough to realise that 'new lights' have a habit of growing dimmer, while old ones are switched back on!" In his study of the Witnesses and their history, Tony Wills has suggested that when third president Nathan H. Knorr altered major doctrines established by his predecessor, J. F. Rutherford, he was returning the Witnesses to many of Russell's teachings. He asked: "How can the Society harmonize this circular development with the claimed progressive development?"
Freedom of religion in the United States
During the World War II era, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses in several landmark cases that helped pave the way for the modern civil rights movement. In all, Jehovah's Witnesses brought 23 separate First Amendment actions before the U.S. Supreme Court between 1938 and 1946.
Freedom of religion in Austria
Although the Ministry of Education granted Jehovah's Witnesses the status of a confessional community in 1998, they were denied recognition as a religious society in 1997 under the 1874 law. A complaint filed by the Jehovah's Witnesses with the ECHR in 1998, arguing that the group had not yet been granted full status as a religious entity in the country under the law despite a two-decade struggle, remained pending at the end of the period covered by this report. This was one of three applications that the Religious Community of Jehovah's Witnesses filed against the Government at the ECHR. Three other applications were filed by individuals and dealt with the denial of exemption for the ministers of Jehovah's Witnesses from both military and alternative service. On February 1, 2005, the ECHR ruled that two of the cases dealing with military exemption were admissible as possible violations of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding freedom of religion and discrimination. On November 16, 2006, the Jehovah's Witnesses filed an application with the ECHR regarding aspects of the Law on Confessional Communities which does not allow for religious societies to receive tax concessions. The application was filed with the ECHR after the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court dismissed the case. These cases were pending before the courts. In 2009 the Jehovah's Witnesses became a recognized religious society.
Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
A number of splinter groups have separated from Jehovah's Witnesses since 1931 after members broke affiliation with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Earlier group defections from the Watch Tower Society, most of them between 1917 and 1931, had resulted in a number of religious movements forming under the umbrella term of the Bible Student movement.
Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses by country
In the United States, numerous cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses are now landmark decisions of First Amendment law. In all, Jehovah's Witnesses brought 23 separate First Amendment actions before the U.S. Supreme Court between 1938 and 1946. Supreme Court Justice Harlan Fiske Stone once quipped, "I think the Jehovah's Witnesses ought to have an endowment in view of the aid which they give in solving the legal problems of civil liberties."