The Jehovah Witnesses
The Jehovah Witnesses are a religious sect founded in the 1870’s by Charles Taze Russell. Utilizing a doctrine consisting of his own Biblical interpretations combined with the teachings of Seventh-Day Adventism and Christadelphianism, Russell developed a teaching that has influenced millions. By using an aggressive door-to-door ministry, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have grown from a small Bible study to a cult which consisted of over five million members world wide in 1996. With these types of numbers, it only seems natural that Christians need to understand this organization and learn how to reach out to these lost people. The history of the Jehovah Witnesses can be divided into five distinct periods. Each period is influenced by the five different Presidents which have been in power over the past 130 years. The first President was Charles Taze Russell who was the leader of the Jehovah’s Witnesses from 1872-1916. It was Russell who was the original founder of the Watchtower Society or as it is known today, the Jehovah Witnesses. Russell claimed that a divine interpreter was needed to correctly interpret the Bible and he was to be that man. It is of note that the teachings of Russell have since been abandoned by the Jehovah Witnesses. The second man to serve as President was “Judge” Joseph F. Rutherford. He was the Jehovah’s Witnesses leader from 1917 to 1942. Rutherford instituted an era of change and denied many of the teachings of Russell by claiming a “progressive revelation” which allowed him to shed “new light” on old ideas. Nathan H. Knorr served as President from 1942 until 1977 and was the man who introduced the New World Translation to his followers. This translation of the scriptures was produced in order to support specific interpretations of the Bible. It was during Knorr’s service that the Jehovah’s Witnesses grew from 105,000 to 2.2 million. The fourth President of the Jehovah Witnesses was Frederick W. Franz who served from 1977 to 1992. This era in the history of the Jehovah’s Witnesses could be labeled as the period of crisis. During this era thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses began to examine the shady history of the organization. The end result was that many members left or were disfellowshipped. From 1992 to the present, Milton G. Henschel has taken over the leadership role for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Henschel is known as a team orientated leader and is in the process of trying to unite an organization that has suffered many setbacks. These setbacks are mainly the result of predictions by the past Presidents as to the date of the “end of the world”. While history had shown that these failed predictions have hurt the organization, the Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to grow under the guidance of Henschel. There are three basic beliefs or assumptions which make up the world wide view of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. First, divine guidance comes only through the Watchtower Society. Secondly, Jehovah’s Witnesses alone have the truth and they alone are the people of God. Finally, Jehovah’s Witnesses are told that Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christians are false and controlled by Satan. From a Christian standpoint, it is easy to see the differences between Christianity and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the doctrine of the Trinity and feel that Jesus was not Deity but was instead the first creation of God, the Archangel Michael. The Jehovah’s Witnesses also believe that there are three groups of people that will be saved through their good works. The first group is the 144,000 who are a special group who are elected by God. The second group are all the remaining Jehovah’s Witnesses who did not qualify for special spiritual privileges. The final group are all non-Jehovah’s Witnesses who have lived moral lives. Christians all over the world need to be ready for an encounter with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Their goal should not be to get into an argument with them but to instead show the true Christ to them through Christian love. It is important to know how and where the New World Translation has been mistranslated (ex: John 1:1). It is also important to know information about the false prophecies of the end of the world, which have risen from this organization (most recently 1975). Most importantly, it is a necessity to understand that the only way that a Jehovah’s Witnesses will find the true Jehovah, is through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jehovah’s Witnesses need Christ as much as anyone else. Christians need to take I Peter 3:15 seriously. “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” Understanding the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their doctrine will go a long way in loving them to the true Christ. Return to Cults from Jehovah Witnesses |
