Jehovah's Witnesses: Encyclopedia II - Jehovah's Witnesses - History

Jehovah's Witnesses - History

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that some time after the death of the last apostle, the Church gradually diverged, in a "Great Apostasy", from the original teachings of Jesus in several major points. Influenced by Restorationism, they believe their faith is a continually improving, imperfect restoration of First Century Christianity. An example in The Watchtower states: "It was the 1900-year-old 'faithful and discreet slave,' the old Christian congregation, that was entrusted with this precious Kingdom service ... obedient in its centuries-old commission to be witnesses in the earth ... the matured 'slave' as represented by a remnant now stood ready for new assignments of service."^[1] They teach that this new assignment occurred in 1919 in fulfillment of scripture. Jehovah's Witnesses feel that true understanding of the scriptures began to be reassembled by Charles Taze Russell and his associates when they formed a Bible study group in the 1870s in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and had until then been imperfectly represented since the Great Apostasy by a number of historical Christian groups.^[2]

Originally, the "Bible Students" as they were known in Russell's day, focused their evangelizing work on proclaiming that Christ's Second Presence had begun invisibly in 1874. As part of the dawning of the Millennium, Christ was believed to have been enthroned as King in 1878, and the destruction of religious organizations and governments was expected by the year 1914, to be followed by the establishment of a world-wide paradise.^[3] Though their interpretation of prophetic dates has changed through the years, eschatology has remained a major focus. Based on their current understanding of Bible chronology, Jehovah's Witnesses have retained the year 1914 but now believe it marked the year for Christ's Second Advent and the beginning of the "End Times." They believe that Armageddon is near, which drives the urgency in their preaching work.

Born into a Presbyterian family, Russell had nearly lost his faith until it was rekindled by contact with some Second Adventists (one of the spiritual heirs of the Millerites). Adventist ministers Jonas Wendell, George Storrs and George Stetson were early influences. In 1876 Russell met Nelson H. Barbour and subsequently adopted Barbour's understanding of biblical chronology. Russell provided financial backing for Barbour and became co-editor of Barbour's magazine Herald of the Morning. Breaking with Barbour in 1879 over the concept of substitutionary atonement, Russell soon began publishing his own magazine Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. Known as "Pastor Russell", he formed a legal entity which developed into the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in 1881, and in 1884 it was incorporated with Russell as president. Over several years, many millions of copies of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence were distributed in several languages to proclaim Christ's presence and the dawn of his Millennium. In addition, his six-volume work, originally entitled Millennial Dawn but later changed to Studies in the Scriptures, established the fundamental doctrines derived from their Bible study. (As a consequence, the Bible Students were sometimes called "Millennial Dawnists".) In 1914 Russell founded the International Bible Students Association in Great Britain.

Russell died in 1916, and in the following year, the movement was divided by schisms due to significant doctrinal changes. Those who rejected the changes in organization and doctrine became known as the Associated Bible Students, referring to themselves as simply "Bible Students" to this day. In 1918, a Bible Student convention was held independently of the Watchtower Society. At the second convention, a few months later, the Pastoral Bible Institute was founded and began publishing The Herald of Christ?s Kingdom. The magazine continues to be published today. By 1928, memorial attendance dropped nearly 75% from 1922, from changes put in place by Pastor Russell´s successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, and failed predictions around 1925.^[4]

In 1931, while Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford (often referred to as "Judge Rutherford"), was president of the Watch Tower Society, those who maintained their association with the Society adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses", based on Isaiah 43:10 (NWT) which reads, in part: "'You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah..."

Under Rutherford, Jehovah's Witnesses experienced rapid growth. Rutherford was known for bold rhetoric. In his preaching, he coined the phrase "Religion is a snare and a racket," heavily denouncing the Catholic Church and Christendom generally, modern Judaism and national governments. Under his leadership, the Society developed a legal staff (which is utilized to this day), and battled successfully in US and Canadian courts to establish their rights to preach their religion. These legal battles resulted in significant improvements in freedom of speech and religion in the laws of both countries. (See, e.g., Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.)

Nathan Homer Knorr became president of the Watch Tower Society after Rutherford's death in 1942. Known as an efficient administrator, Knorr emphasized ministerial training in the local congregations and also founded the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead for training missionaries. Knorr's Vice-President Frederick William Franz became the chief theologian for the Witnesses and was credited as being the principal translator of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Witness membership rose from 115,000 to over 2 million under Knorr's leadership.

The leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses was reorganized in 1975 and the power of the presidency passed on to the Governing Body. 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. However, doctrinal and organizational decisions since 1975 have been made by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.^[5]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki