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.
Further changes in its doctrines led to the prohibition of blood transfusions by members, abandonment of the cross in worship, rejection of Christmas and birthday celebrations, and the view of the biblical Armageddon as a global war by God that will destroy the wicked and restore peace on earth.
[8] About 1869[9] 17-year-old Russell attended a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of a group he called "Second Adventists" and heard Advent Christian[10] preacher Jonas Wendell expound his views on Bible prophecy.
[11][12][13] Wendell, influenced by the teachings of William Miller, rejected traditional Christian beliefs of the "immortal soul" and a literal hell[14] and interpreted scriptures in the books of Daniel and Revelation to predict that Christ would return in 1873.
[18] In January 1876, Russell read an issue of Herald of the Morning, a periodical edited by Adventist preacher Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, but which had almost ceased publication because of dwindling subscriptions.
[13] Barbour, like other Adventists, had earlier applied the biblical time prophecies of Miller and Wendell to calculate that Christ would return in 1874 to bring a "bonfire";[19] when this failed to eventuate he and co-writer J.H.
[18] In 1886, he wrote The Divine Plan of the Ages, a 424-page book that was the first of what became a six-volume series called "Millennial Dawn," later renamed "Studies in the Scriptures,"[34] which established his fundamental doctrines.
[35] 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.
[41] In 1894, Russell introduced the role of "pilgrim" workers, men chosen for their maturity, meekness, and Bible knowledge, who would visit congregations for up to three days when requested, giving talks.
[18] Russell advertised for 1,000 preachers in 1881,[43] and encouraged all who were members of "the body of Christ" to go forth as "colporteurs" or evangelizers and preach to their neighbors in order to gather the remainder of the "little flock" of saints before they were called to heaven.
[52] The first foreign-language edition of Zion's Watch Tower was published in 1883 when Russell produced a sample copy in Swedish and in 1885 the magazine was also translated into German for German-speaking Pennsylvanians.
Early in the resurrection, "ancient worthies" including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be raised to occupy positions of overseers and representatives of the invisible heavenly government ruling from Jerusalem.
[64][65] Russell reconsidered the question and in January 1907 wrote several Watch Tower articles reaffirming his 1880 position—that "the new covenant belongs exclusively to the coming age"[66]—adding that the church had no mediator, but that Christ was the "advocate".
Henninges, who was by then the Australian branch manager based in Melbourne, wrote Russell an open letter of protest trying to persuade him to abandon the teaching, and calling on Bible Students to examine its legitimacy.
For the next 10 years, the Watch Tower Society continued to teach the view that he had fulfilled the roles of the "Laodicean Messenger" of Revelation 3:14–22[69] and the "Faithful and Wise Servant" of Matthew 24:45.
[70] At the corporation's annual general meeting on January 6, 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the Society's legal counsel, was elected as Russell's successor, with new by-laws passed to strengthen the president's authority.
[81] The book, written by Bible Students Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher,[82][83] was described as the "posthumous work of Russell" and the seventh volume of Studies in the Scriptures.
[90] Rutherford introduced a vast advertising campaign to expose the "unrighteousness" of religions and their alliances with "beastly" governments, expanding on claims in The Finished Mystery that patriotism was akin to murder.
[94] Three days later the Army Intelligence Bureau seized the Society's Los Angeles offices and on March 4 the US government ordered the removal of seven pages of The Finished Mystery if distribution was to continue.
[97] In early May 1918 US Attorney General Thomas Watt Gregory condemned the book as dangerous propaganda[98] and days later warrants were issued for the arrest of Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower directors and officers on charges of sedition under the Espionage Act amid claims they were conspiring to cause disloyalty and encouraging the refusal of military duty.
[105] At an eight-day assembly at Cedar Point, Ohio in 1922 he launched a series of international conventions under the theme "Advertise the King and Kingdom", attracting crowds of up to 20,000,[106] who were urged to "herald the message far and wide".
[111][112] A 1931 talk was broadcast throughout North America, Australia, and France, but the virulence of his attacks on the clergy was strong enough to result in both the NBC and BBC radio networks banning him from the airwaves.
[103][126] Consolation magazine explained: "The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager.
[158] Rutherford challenged the laws in courts, ultimately fighting hundreds of cases in New Jersey alone as he insisted the preachers were not selling literature, but distributing it for a contribution to Society funds.
In 1933, following the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, government restrictions were tightened, prompting the public distribution of more than two million copies of a Declaration of Facts in which the Witnesses protested at their treatment and requested the right to preach.
[181][182] Birthday celebrations were described as "objectionable" in 1951 because of their pagan origins,[183] and other explicit rules regarding acceptable conduct among members were introduced, with a greater emphasis placed on disfellowshipping as a disciplinary measure.
[184] Adult male Witnesses in the US, Britain, and some European countries were jailed for refusal of military service in the post-war years, with particularly harsh treatment meted out in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, East Germany, and Romania.
[186][187][188][189] Repeating the 1925 cycle of excitement, anticipation, and then disappointment, Witness publications and convention talks intensified focus on 1975 as the "appropriate" time for God to act,[190] with statements that "the immediate future is certain to be filled with climactic events ... within a few years at most the final parts of the Bible prophecy relative to these 'last days' will undergo fulfillment".
[194][195] The May 1974 issue of the Watch Tower Society's newsletter, Our Kingdom Ministry, commended Witnesses who had sold homes and property to devote themselves to preaching in the "short time" remaining.
[204] In 1980, after several proposals by Governing Body members to apologize to Witnesses were voted down,[205] the Watch Tower Society admitted its responsibility in building up hope regarding 1975.
