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Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions

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Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society publications have made a series of predictions about Christ's Second Coming and the advent of God's Kingdom, each of which has gone unfulfilled. Almost all the predictions for 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918 and 1925 were later reinterpreted as a confirmation of the eschatological framework of the Bible Student movement and Jehovah's Witnesses, with many of the predicted events viewed as having taken place invisibly. Further expectations were held for the arrival of Armageddon in 1975, but resulted in a later apology to members from the society's leadership.
English researcher George D. Chryssides has argued that although there have been some "unrealized expectations", changes in Watch Tower chronology are attributable more to changed chronological schemes, rather than to failed predictions.[1] The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged errors, which it said helped "sift" the unfaithful from its ranks, but says adherents remained confident that "God's Word" had not failed.


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 1878: End of the harvest
3 1881: A revised end of the harvest
4 1914: The end of human rulership
5 1918: The new terminus
6 1925: Resurrection of the patriarchs
7 1975: The worldwide jubilee 7.1 Aftermath
8 Armageddon to come within 20th century
9 Response to prophetic failure
10 See also
11 References

Background[edit]
Since its formation in the 1870s, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society has claimed that God has chosen the organization from among the churches to fill a special role in the consummation of prophetic history. Charles Taze Russell, a prolific writer and founder of the Bible Student movement, viewed himself as a "mouthpiece" of God and later as the embodiment of the "faithful and wise servant" of the parable of Matthew 24:45-47.[2] The Watch Tower Society is now the legal and administrative arm of Jehovah's Witnesses. Its representatives assert that they have been given insight into the true meaning of the Bible and the unique ability to discern the signs of Christ's second coming.[3]



 Former Watch Tower Society president Charles Taze Russell.
The group's early ideology centered on the "Divine Plan of Salvation", a biblically derived outline of humanity's history and destiny, which was believed to be open to fuller understanding in the "last days". The creed incorporated Adam's fall and the entry of sin, evil and death into the world. God was believed to be permitting the world's affairs to run their ruinous course before he implemented his plan to free humanity from evil, suffering and death by means of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and the later establishment of God's kingdom on earth after his Second Coming.[4]
The kingdom would be inaugurated through two phases, one destructive, the other constructive. In the first phase, earthly institutions would be overturned in a tumultuous period known as the "Battle of Armageddon". For several decades the group believed the worldwide disintegration of the social order would take the form of a bloody struggle between the wealthy and laboring classes, resulting in terror and anarchy. This would be followed by an era of grand reconstruction, in which sickness, pain and death would be removed and righteousness would triumph. Prior to the establishment of the kingdom, a chosen "little flock" of 144,000 anointed Christians would undergo physical transformation from physical to spiritual form to achieve immortality.[4] Since 1925 the Society has taught that Armageddon will be a universal war waged by God, resulting in a slaughter of the unfaithful.[5] With that doctrinal change, the focus of the movement's chiliasm changed from awaiting its collective escape from earth to waiting for the impending destruction of the present world order in the Battle of Armageddon.[4]
To clarify its identity, the group, which came to form the Bible Student movement, formulated a body of historical doctrine, including a mythical self-history, which provided a comprehensive symbolic linkage with the past[6][7] but also fortified the movement's expectations for the future.[4]
1878: End of the harvest[edit]
In 1876 Russell adopted the belief promulgated by some Adventist preachers that Jesus' parousia, or presence, had begun in 1874 and that the gathering of the little flock preliminary to the grand climax was already in progress. Using a form of parallel dispensations that incorporated "types" and "antitypes"—historical situations that prefigured corresponding situations later in time[8]—he calculated the harvest would extend only to 1878, at which time the gathered saints would be translated into spirit form.[9][10] The year would also bring the beginning of the "exercise of power" of God's kingdom, with evidence that God's favor was returning to the Jews.[11]
The failure of Russell's prediction did not significantly alter the movement's short-term, date-focused orientation. In early 1881 Russell asserted that 1878 had, indeed, been a milestone year, marking the point at which "the nominal Christian churches were cast off from God's favor".[12]
1881: A revised end of the harvest[edit]
By 1881 Russell had found a biblical basis for extending the harvest to a new date, later that year.[4] He explained:

Coming to the spring of 1878 ... we naturally and not unreasonably expected some change of our condition, and all were more or less disappointed when nothing supernatural occurred. But our disappointment was brief, for we noticed that the Jewish church (and not the Gospel church) was the pattern of ours, and therefore we should not expect parallels to Pentecost or to anything which happened in the beginning of this church.[12]
Russell wrote that "the light upon our pathway still shines and is more and more glorious" and that since 1878 the light had glowed stronger. The timing of their translation to heaven seemed nearer, he wrote: "We know not the day or hour, but expect it during 1881, possibly near the autumn where the parallels show the favor to Zion complete and due to end, the door to the marriage to shut, and the high calling to be the bride of Christ, to cease."[12]
The second failure in 1881 precipitated a more serious crisis in the Bible Student ranks and for several years Russell's followers waited for the belated translation to occur.[4] Russell's chronological timetable had already identified 1914 as the ultimate end of the "time of trouble", and this preserved the commitment of followers who might have been discouraged by their failed expectations for 1881.[13] Yet many members found it inconceivable that their earthly departure might be delayed that long. Russell consoled members with the news that 1881 had still marked the time when "death became a blessing" in the sense that any saint who died would henceforth be instantaneously changed into a spirit being.[14] The revised view provided comfort for early believers who had held the view that the living faithful would never experience a physical death, and yet had seen other members in fact dying while they awaited their upward call. After 1881 physical death was defined as one of the ways in which some of the saints might undergo their translation.[4]
1914: The end of human rulership[edit]
Russell's Studies in the Scriptures series had explicitly identified October 1914 as the "full end of the times of the Gentiles" and consequently the "farthest limit" of human rulership.[15] It would bring the beginning of Christ's millennial reign[1] and all his followers expected the immediate "translation of the saints" to rule with the revealed Christ that year. Following the earth's tribulation and unrest, the Jews would return to God's favor, the "nominal Church" would have fallen, the final battle between Christ and Satan would have ended, the kingdoms of the world would be overthrown, and Christ would have gathered his saints into heaven, where they would reign with him, and when the millennium would begin.[1] The belief was unequivocal, based on his study of the Bible and the Great Pyramid, and satisfied only upon the establishment of an earthly paradise; Russell remarked that by altering the prophecy even one year would destroy the perfect symmetry of its biblical chronology.[16] In the second book of his Studies in the Scriptures series he described it as "an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished at the end of A.D. 1914".[17] The result, he wrote, was that "all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved",[17] along with the destruction of "what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom".[18] In an 1894 Watch Tower, responding to readers who questioned whether—because of recent political upheavals—the world could last until 1914, he wrote:

We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would, They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of the trouble.[19]
As 1914 approached, excitement mounted over the expected "change" of anointed Christians.[4] Early that year some Bible Students, convinced the end of the world had arrived, began distributing their material belongings, abandoning their jobs and eagerly anticipating the future.[20] In May 1914—five months from the expected end—Russell warned followers against succumbing to doubt:

There is absolutely no ground for Bible students to question that the consummation of this Gospel age is now even at the door, and that it will end as the Scriptures foretell in a great time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. We see the participants in this great crisis banding themselves together ... The great crisis, the great clash ... that will consume the ecclestiastical heavens and the social earth, is very near.[21]
But by September, Russell was preparing Watch Tower readers for the possibility that "Armageddon may begin next spring, yet it is purely speculation to attempt to say just when." Yet the evidence, he wrote, still pointed "to the year just before us—particularly the early months".[22]
When again nothing took place, predictions regressed to their earlier short-term orientation. The Watch Tower wrote: "It may be that many of the Lord's people were expecting more than they should have looked for to occur with the opening of the Jewish year 1915, which began with September 21. The human mind seems to have a natural tendency, and one with which we should have sympathy, to expect matters to culminate more rapidly, fulfillments to come more suddenly, than they ever do come ... Studying God's Word, we have measured the 2520 years, the Seven symbolic Times, from that year 606 B.C. and have found that it reached down to October, 1914, as nearly as we were able to reckon. We did not say positively that this would be the year. We merely left every one to look at the facts of history and reckon for himself."[23]
He took that opportunity to remind readers of some cautionary pronouncements he had made several years earlier. In 1912 he had left open the possibility that, if nothing happened in October 1914, it could still happen in October 1915. He also pointed out that the period of transition could run "a good many years".[16]
In a lengthy article of consolation, Russell wrote that it was a testing time for Christ's disciples and that some Bible Students had unreal expectations. He said it was also possible that God's Kingdom on earth would be established gradually.:[13][16]

We find that some have one idea and others another. Some think that just the next hour after midnight would see a great, grand change everywhere—evil blotted out in sixty minutes or in sixty seconds. But would it be a reasonable expectation that the Gentile kingdoms would be snuffed out inside of an hour or inside of a day? If God had said so, it would be different; we know that God has all power to do His will everywhere. But are we in any sense of the word to expect such a sudden transition—that going to bed on the night of September 20, we would find, on the morning of September 21, all the kingdoms of the world destroyed and the Kingdom of Christ set up, the saints in glory, etc. Such would be a lightning change! We do not think that any would have been justified in so thinking. If any had such expectation, it was unwarranted.[23]
Yet on October 2, 1914, he entered the staff dining room at the Watch Tower Society headquarters and declared that the Gentile times had ended and that "their kings have had their day."[1] It signaled that God had withdrawn his benevolent disposition towards the Christian nations.[23] The statement implied that the legitimacy of earthly governments had been downgraded in the eyes of God, which sociologist Joseph Zygmunt suggested may have contributed to the subsequent adoption of bolder tactics in condemning the global political system.[4]
Russell viewed the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which would soon descend into worldwide revolution[24] and in 1916, shortly before his death, he reaffirmed his conviction that the end was close and the harvest of saints was ongoing:

Some of us were quite strongly convinced that the Harvest would be ended by now, but our expectations must not be allowed to weigh anything as against the facts ... We see no reason for doubting, therefore, that the Times of the Gentiles ended in October 1914; and that a few more years will witness their utter collapse and the full establishment of God's Kingdom in the hands of Messiah.[25]
In posthumous editions of his Studies in the Scriptures, entire sections were rewritten to accommodate the failure of the anticipated events, with 1914 now identified as "the beginning of the end of Gentile times". The outbreak of World War I was taken to be its confirmation. Sociologist James Beckford claimed that Russell's "sometimes ingenious" ex post facto rationalizations of events in 1914 contributed to the survival of the Bible Student movement.[13] Under doctrinal changes introduced by his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, it was later decided that the Millennium would come within the generation of those who saw the events of 1914. The years of 1799 and 1874, until then significant dates in Russell's millennial chronology, were also abandoned.[16]
Yet Chrissides said there was no clear failure of the predictions surrounding 1914. "Although there was clear disappointment at the non-occurrence of certain empirically observable events, a number of the events to which Russell alludes are incapable of disconfirmation. One cannot verify the beginning of Christ's sovereign rule, the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the admission to heaven of those who have experienced the 'high calling'. Even events like the ending of the Gentile times do not have obvious empirical indicators."[1]
1918: The new terminus[edit]



 J.F. Rutherford
Russell's final revision of his predictions was to identify 1918 as the new terminus.[4][26] The shift was based on the reasoning that the period of the Jews' favor may have lasted until 73CE (the date of the Zealots' mass suicide at Masada), rather than 70 CE. For the modern-day parallel, the adjustment meant the conclusion of the 40-year "harvest period" was moved from 1914 to the northern spring of 1918.[1][27][28]
Rutherford claimed in 1917 that the testimony of Bible Students themselves confirmed that the harvest was not over: "Many have consecrated and given evidence of spirit-begetting since 1914, which is the best evidence that the harvest is not yet closed."[28] If the new date was reliable, he wrote, "and the evidence is very conclusive that it is true, then we have only a few months in which to labor before the great night settles down when no man can work."[28]
The Finished Mystery, written soon after Russell's death by two prominent Bible Students and published in 1917, made a series of bold statements about the expected demise of "false" Christianity. The spring of 1918, it said, would "bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that experienced in the Fall of 1914". God's day of vengeance, the book said, would "break like a furious morning storm in 1918", destroying "the churches wholesale and the church members by millions".[29]

At that time there is every reason to believe the fallen angels will invade the minds of many of the Nominal Church people, driving them to exceedingly unwise conduct and leading to their destruction at the hands of the enraged masses, who will later be dragged to the same fate ... In one short year, 1917-1918, the vast and complicated system of sectarianism reaches its zenith of power, only to be suddenly dashed into oblivion ... One large part of the adherents of ecclesiasticism will die from pestilence and famine.[29]
When 1918 also passed without any sign of fulfillment, the initial reaction was that the harvest had indeed finished and that the full complement of those destined for translation to heaven had been assembled. The further delay in the arrival of the millennium was interpreted in 1919 as a sign that the loyalty and powers of endurance of the "Kingdom class" were being tested, and that God was finding fault with some supposedly sanctified people.[27]
In a 1922 convention address, Rutherford retrospectively defined 1918 as the time when Christ "entered the temple for the purpose of judgment".[30] He later wrote that it was only after 1918, when the Lord came to the temple, that it could be understood that 1914 had also marked the time when the heavenly part of God's kingdom was established and when a "New Nation" was born.[31]
From that time the Bible Student group was able to view itself as more than just an agency for completing the ranks of the 144,000 who would rule with Christ. With the "New Nation" already born, members were given a clear twofold purpose: (1) to recruit and train a "Great Company" who would be carried through Armageddon to live in the earthly kingdom and (2) to expose the machinations of the devil in trying to obstruct the kingdom's earthly establishment.[4]
1925: Resurrection of the patriarchs[edit]
With Rutherford now the movement's chief theologian, another round of prophetic revision ensued, this time focusing on 1925.[4] In his 1920 booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Rutherford wrote that he expected the ancient patriarchs and prophets, "the faithful ones of old", to be resurrected to earthly life in 1925 as a prelude to a general physical resurrection of faithful followers of God destined for everlasting life on earth. He explained:

This is the Golden Age of which the prophets prophesied and of which the Psalmist sang; and it is the privilege of the student of the divine Word today, by the eye of faith, to see that we are standing at the very portals of that blessed time! Let us look up and lift up our heads. Deliverance is at the door![32]



 Newspaper advertisement for Rutherford's "Millions" lecture.
Rutherford's belief that the patriarchs' return would occur in 1925 was based on his calculations of the Jewish jubilee, counting forward 3500 years from 1575 BCE.[1][33] As the year advanced, he wrote of the urgency of witnessing in the "few remaining months",[34] though he also provided a caution that not all the expected events might occur.[35] When that prediction failed, the Watch Tower Society suspended the issuing of prophecies centered on a specific date.
Chryssides concluded: "This expectation was too specific and empirical for the date to be adjusted or the expected event spiritualised. At a convention the following year, Rutherford admitted his error, claiming that the 1925 date was 'merely an expressed opinion'."[1] Yet Rutherford did not abandon the prediction. In 1929 the Watch Tower Society bought a piece of land in San Diego, California, where a Spanish mansion was built and named Beth Sarim ("house of the Princes"). As late as 1932 Rutherford was still delivering talks about the nearness of the kingdom: he declared that the preaching work of the Witnesses was "coming to a conclusion", that Armageddon was "only a short time away" and that the end was "much less than the length of a generation".[36] In the late 1930s Rutherford affirmed his intention that Beth Sarim should accommodate at least some of the returning "princes", and that it should stand as a monument to the organization's firm expectation, although no new date was ever assigned to the expected event.[1] The building was sold in 1948 and the doctrine of the return of the prophets dropped in 1950.[37]
1975: The worldwide jubilee[edit]
In 1966 the Watch Tower Society issued the first of what became a sequence of statements on the importance of a new date—1975—that raised the possibility of that year heralding the beginning of Christ's millennial reign and, along with it, doom for unbelievers.[38]

According to this trustworthy Bible chronology six thousand years from man's creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975. So six thousand years of man's existence on earth will soon be up, yes, within this generation.
How appropriate it would be for Jehovah God to make of this coming seventh period of a thousand years a Sabbath period of rest and release, a great Jubilee sabbath for the proclaiming of liberty throughout the earth to all its inhabitants! ... It would be according to the loving purpose of Jehovah God for the reign of Jesus Christ, the "Lord of the Sabbath", to run parallel with the seventh millennium of man's existence.[39]
The hope was hinged on the Society's belief that Adam had been created in the northern autumn of 4026 BCE. The society suggested that the close of the first 6000 years of human history could correspond with the end of God's "rest day"—with the transition marked by the Battle of Armageddon. Yet as researcher Richard Singelenberg pointed out, the Society's literature at no point definitively stated that Armageddon would take place in 1975. In fact, as early as 1966 Frederick Franz, then vice-president of the society, was inserting a definite "uncertainty" clause:

Does it mean that God's rest day began in 4026? It could have. The ... book does not say it did not ... You can accept it or reject it ... Does it mean that Armageddon is going to be finished ... by 1975? It could! It could! All things are possible with God. Does it mean that Babylon the Great is going to go down by 1975? It could ... But we are not saying.[40]
Expectations for 1975 were also based on the belief that Christ had set up his kingdom in heaven in 1914 and that "this generation [those who were at least 15 years old in 1914, according to a 1968 Awake![41]] would by no means pass away" before the end came.[42] The 1967 book, Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, similarly stated, "We find that the time of our generation, our day, is the one that is identified in the Bible as the 'last days'. In fact, we are actually living in the final part of that time. This can be compared, not just to the last day of a week, but rather, to the last part of that day" [emphasis in original].[43]



 Convention badge from circuit assembly, circa 1970
In a 1969 book the Society expanded on its belief in a link between the seventh millennium of human existence and the kingdom's establishment. It said: "In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be 'Lord of the sabbath day,' his thousand-year reign would have to be the seventh in a series of thousand-year periods or millenniums. Thus it would be a sabbatical reign."[44] Raymond Franz, who became a member of the religion's Governing Body before defecting in 1980, claimed readers were left in no doubt about what was expected in 1975, claiming: "The presentation is no sense indefinite or ambiguous."[45]
The prophecy galvanized the movement and proselytism increased substantially. On the eve of the Millennium in 1974 the number of publishers (Witnesses who submitted their record of preaching) rose by 13.5 percent worldwide and many Witnesses were actively preparing for the dawn of the New Order.
Yet as 1975 drew closer the degree of uncertainty expressed in publications increased. The chances of Armageddon occurring that year were initially described as "feasible", "apparent" or "appropriate", but from the end of 1968 it became a mere "possibility". In 1966 the Society's chronological calculations were "trustworthy"; by 1968 they were considered "reasonably accurate (but admittedly not infallible)".[46] The basis of the gradual retraction was uncertainty over the elapsed time between the dates of Adam's creation and that of Eve.
In fact, says Singelenberg, from the end of 1968 Watch Tower Society publications never again explicitly focused on 1975 in a theological context. Though articles continued to remind readers that the "end of 6000 years of human history" was imminent, they increasingly highlighted non-Society sources that forecast a gloomy future with worldwide famine, ecological collapse and oxygen deficiency. The articles, says Singelenberg, were marked with emotional expressions of excitement, hope and urgency, with readers told: "What a time of turmoil is ahead of us! A climax in man's history is imminent!"[38]
Less cautious language, however, was being used in publications distributed only to members of the religion. In a 1968 issue of the monthly bulletin Kingdom Ministry, adherents were encouraged to increase their preaching activities because time was running out rapidly: "Less than a hundred months separate us from the end of 6000 years of man's history. What can you do in that time?"[47] Some Witnesses sold their possessions, postponed surgery or cashed in their insurance policies to prepare for Armageddon[16] and in May 1974 the Watch Tower Society told members: "Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end."[48]
The prophecy was also disseminated at talks at congregation meetings and assemblies. Speakers at some conventions highlighted the phrase, "Stay alive till '75" and urged the audience to maintain their meeting attendance or risk losing their lives at Armageddon.[49] The Dutch branch overseer urged the audience at a "Divine Purpose" district convention in 1974 to "pioneer" (take part in full-time preaching) as the end approached:

Many of us have suffered misery, sickness and death. You don't have to experience that any more. The new order is near ... Sell your house, sell everything you own and say, oh boy, how long can I carry on with my private means. That long? Get rid of things! Pioneer! Plan to shower people with magazines during these last few months of this dying system of things!"[50]
Yet The Watchtower??'?s public coverage of the same series of conventions was notable for its far more cautious tone. In its summary of the convention talks, the magazine reiterated the teaching that Bible chronology showed 6000 years of human existence would be completed in the mid-1970s, then pointed out: "These publications have never said that the world's end would come then. Nevertheless, there has been considerable individual speculation on the matter." What was certain, the magazine said, was that the end would come within the generation of those who saw the beginning of world tribulations in 1914. "So we can be confident that the end is near; we do not have the slightest doubt that God will bring it about ... we have to wait and see exactly when, in the meantime keeping busy in God's service."[51]
Franz says a 1968 Watchtower article implied that members should be careful about taking too literally Jesus' cautionary words about forecasting the last days. The magazine warned: "This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that 'concerning that day and hour nobody knows ... only the Father'. To the contrary: it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end."[52]
In a 1970 paper, Joseph F. Zygmunt commented on the likely outcome for Jehovah's Witnesses if this prediction, too, failed: "While return to this old strategy would seem to expose the sect once again to prophetic failure, the risks are balanced by the potent ideological reinforcement accruing from this forthright renewal of faith, which thirty-five years of diffuse watchful waiting seem to have made necessary." But he added: "The risks of another prophetic failure actually appear to be minimal. The new prophecy is being phrased in a manner that lends itself to 'confirmation' by the old device of claiming partial supernatural fulfillment."[4] Beckford, too, expected no significant organizational disturbance resulting from the absence of observable effects that year, suggesting in 1975 that Witnesses were being "skilfully prepared for prophetic disconfirmation" to reduce the dangers of disappointment. He noted an increasing frequency of Watch Tower Society warnings about the futility of making precise predictions about events expected for the jubilee year.[53]
Yet Singelenberg, a Dutch social anthropologist, found that amid the conflict of Watch Tower Society statements from the era about what might happen that year, its sense of urgency on a probable apocalyptic event, and later the possibility of a cataclysm, expectations of a significant event in 1975 had a "startling impact" on the proselytizing activities of Jehovah's Witnesses and membership growth. His analysis of Watch Tower Society data showed annual growth of "publishers", which had averaged 2.8 percent annually between 1961 and 1966, leapt to between 10.4 and 12.4 percent from 1967 to 1975, with the number of active Witnesses through the 1970s peaking at almost 28,000 in November 1975. The number of average annual baptisms more than doubled, from 750 to 1851, with the ratio of defections to recruitments plummeting. The percentage of "pioneers" (Witnesses devoting at least 60 hours a month in preaching work) more than tripled from 2.3 percent of members to almost 8 percent in 1974 and 1975. He also found major increases in the number of "back calls" (return visits to interested members of the public who purchased publications) and average hours spent in service by individuals in the same two years.[38]
Aftermath[edit]
The passing of 1975 without incident left the Watch Tower Society open to new claims of prophetic failure. Instead of maintaining the prophetic significance of that year, however, the religion's leaders embarked on a lengthy period of denial and purge, blaming rank and file membership for misreading the organization's interpretations.[16] The Watchtower initially explained that the reason for the failure of Armageddon's arrival was due to the time lapse between the creation of Adam and Eve. Although the Society had earlier argued that the gap was "weeks or months, not years", it now decided the time lapse could, after all, be years.[54] The following year the magazine repeated its explanation, but declared the Witnesses themselves were to blame for their eager expectations about 1975 because they had misread the Bible.[38] "It was not the word of God that failed or deceived [the individual Jehovah's Witness] and brought disappointment, but ... his own understanding was based on wrong premises."[55] In talks at conventions four years later, leading members of the Society finally acknowledged their error in the initial formulation of the prophecy, and in the March 15, 1980 Watchtower the Society said its claims about 1975 were regretted.[38] It assigned no different interpretation to the date and demanded that its members recognize that there never was an explicit prophecy.[16]
Singelenberg's analysis of Jehovah's Witness preaching activity in the Netherlands in the wake of the 1975 prophetic failure showed a drop in the religion's membership from mid-1976, a trend that was not reversed until 1980. It is thought that in the Netherlands about 5000 Witnesses either left the movement, were expelled, or became marginal and inactive members.[38] Singelenberg suggested many of those expelled and shunned in the late 1970s had rebelled against the religion's authority structure out of "post-prophecy frustration"; post-1975 defectors were described to him and American researcher A. J. Brose as "opportunists" who had joined the religion out of fear when the end seemed imminent, yet who lacked genuine commitment. One elder told Singelenberg: "It was good that Armageddon did not take place. It separated the wheat from the chaff."[38] Researcher Mathew N. Schmalz suggested the leadership drew attention from the disconfirmation by requiring an even greater loyalty from members, a demand enforced with the expulsion of almost 30,000 Witnesses in 1978 alone. The insistence on doctrinal orthodoxy reached the highest levels of the organization in 1980, with many in the writing committee disfellowshipped.[16]
In almost every country the annual growth rate of Jehovah's Witnesses fell markedly after the 1975 failure. In the US, the group's growth rate fell from 6 percent to 2 percent; in South Korea it plummeted from 28 percent to 7 percent and the downward trend continued through to 1978. Even among the majority who remained, morale declined: in 1977 and 1978 the average "publisher" spent 140 hours a year proselytizing, compared to 196.8 hours in 1974.[56]
In his ethnographic study of Jehovah's Witnesses, English sociologist Andrew Holden quoted the testimony of a Witness who had been in the movement from the early 1970s, but found it impossible to remain as an active member after the failure of the 1975 prediction. He said he, like many others, had been convinced the end would come in 1975:

I said it from the platform! We told everyone the end was near. When I became a Witness I gave up my insurance policies, I cancelled all my insurance endowments, I never bought a house because I knew I wouldn't need one, we didn't even want to put the kids' names down for school.[57]
Armageddon to come within 20th century[edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This section relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (October 2012)
Watch Tower Society literature of the 1970s and 1980s repeatedly claimed that the "end" had to be expected before the turn of the century. The 1971 book The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah – How? stated: "Shortly, within our twentieth century, the 'battle in the day of Jehovah' will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom."[58] A 1980 Watchtower article described the notion that "the wicked system of this world" would last "until the turn of the century" as "highly improbable in view of world trends and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy" (emphasis added).[59] A similar statement in a 1984 Watchtower article suggested that some members of the 1914 generation "could survive until the end of the century. But there are many indications that 'the end' is much closer than that!"[60] Until its October 22, 1995 issue, Awake! similarly included the statement, "this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."[61]
In 1989, the notion that the missionary efforts of the Witnesses would culminate before the turn of the century was first reaffirmed, then abandoned. As first published, a Watchtower article of January 1 stated: "The apostle Paul was spearheading the Christian missionary activity. He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century."[62] (Emphasis added.) Nine months later a more cautiously worded statement appeared in the Watchtower: "We have ample reasons to expect that this preaching will be completed in our time. Does that mean before the turn of a new month, a new year, a new decade, a new century? No human knows" (emphasis added).[63] In later bound volumes of the 1989 Watchtower magazines, the text of the January 1 article was amended to state that Christian missionary work "would be completed in our day" rather than "in our 20th century".
Response to prophetic failure[edit]
According to Joseph Zygmunt, the response to each of the prophetic failures by Watch Tower Society adherents followed a general pattern:
The initial reaction by both rank and file and the movement's leaders was usually a combination of disappointment and puzzlement.
Proselytism declined, but members maintained an attitude of watchful waiting for the predictions to materialize. The doctrinal bases for the prophecies were reexamined and conjectures offered as to why the expected events might have been "delayed".
A fuller realization of the quandary was achieved. The group asserted that the prophecies had, in fact, been partially fulfilled, or that some event of prophetic significance—usually supernatural and hence not open to disconfirmation—had actually transpired on the nominated dates. Belief was sustained that God's plan was continuing to unfold.
Unfulfilled portions of the failed prophecies were projected into the future by issuing re-dated predictions, in association with retrospective reinterpretation of earlier failures.
A selective interpretation of emerging historical events as confirmation of the signs of the approaching end. A pessimistic worldview sensitized the group to perceive almost every social disturbance and natural disaster as an indicator of the impending collapse of the earthly system.
Zygmunt concluded that the group's faith in its own belief system provided a basis for the claim of fulfillment, and the selective perception of global events furnished supportive empirical evidence. "In this sense and to this extent," he wrote, "the prophecies could not 'fail'." Unfulfilled prophecies were converted into partial successes and welcomed as divinely provided lessons revealing God's purposes more fully, yet it was accepted that each of those prophecies would eventually come to pass.[4]
Singelenberg, too, believed a subsequent reinterpretation of failed prophecies was a survival strategy of religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses. Citing Neil Wiser,[64] he commented: "Whatever the outcome, prophecies cannot and do not fail for the committed."[38]
The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged that some of its time calculations and expectations resulted in "serious disappointments", with consequent defections, expulsions and opposition, which it claimed was a process of "sifting" true believers. Yet of those who remained faithful it said: "They certainly did not err in believing that God would without fail do what he had promised ... They recognized that a mistake had been made but that in no respect had God's Word failed."[10] The errors and speculation were attributed to an eagerness to see "the end of this evil system".[65]
Holden concluded: "Simple as it seems, what sceptics regard as failure, the Governing Body regards as a test of faith." Holden said that given the scarcity of reference in Watch Tower Society literature to past predictive failures, it was highly unlikely that those who had joined the religion within the past two decades were even aware of the Society's record. He estimated that more than 60 percent of current Witnesses had joined the movement since 1975, "hence the Governing Body has no reason to discuss with them the failure of its earlier prophecies." Yet he added: "The suppression of the 1975 prophecy failure by those who were active at the time but who have nevertheless remained in membership suggests an unusual degree of complicity." He also concurred with researcher Bryan Wilson's judgment that:

For people whose lives have become dominated by one powerful expectation, and whose activities are dictated by what that belief requires, abandonment of faith because of disappointment about a date would usually be too traumatic an experience to contemplate.[66]
See also[edit]
Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions
Predictions and claims for the Second Coming of Christ
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Chryssides, George D. (2010). "How Prophecy Succeeds: The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Expectations". International Journal for the Study of New Religions 1 (1): 27–48. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v1i1.27. ISSN 2041-952X.
2.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71.
3.Jump up ^ ed. Stone, Jon R. (2000). Expecting Armageddon: Essential Readings in Failed Prophecy. New York, London: Routledge. pp. 13–15. ISBN 0-415-92331-X.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Zygmunt, Joseph F. (May 1970). "Prophetic Failure and Chiliastic Identity: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses". American Journal of Sociology 75 (6).
5.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. London: Constable. p. 47.
6.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1886). The Divine Plan of the Ages. Studies in the Scriptures 1. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
7.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Studies in the Scriptures 3. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
8.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. pp. 21, 31. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
9.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour & C.T. Russell, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, Rochester, NY, 1877, pg 36-48, 124.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. 1993. p. 632.
11.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 101, 218.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence", Zion's Watch Tower, February 1881.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
14.Jump up ^ "The Blessed Dying", Zion's Watch Tower, December 1881.
15.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 76, 77.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Schmalz, Mathew N. (October 1994). "When Festinger Fails: Prophecy and the Watchtower". Religion 24 (4): 293–308. doi:10.1006/reli.1994.1025.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 98, 99.
18.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Studies in the Scriptures 3. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. p. 153.
19.Jump up ^ "Can it be Delayed Until 1914?", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1894.
20.Jump up ^ Garbe, Detlef (2008). Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-299-20794-3.
21.Jump up ^ "Now Is Our Salvation Nearer", The Watch Tower, May 1, 1914.
22.Jump up ^ "The Present Crisis", The Watch Tower, September 1, 1914.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c "Making Ready for the Reign of Righteousness", Watch Tower, November 1914.
24.Jump up ^ "Pseudo-Apostles of the Pressnt Day", Pastor Russell's Sermons, International Bible Students Association, 1917, pg 676, "The present great war in Europe is the beginning of the Armageddon of the Scriptures. (Rev. 16:16-20.) It will eventuate in the complete overthrow of all the systems of error which have so long oppressed the people of God and deluded the world. All iniquity of every kind will go down. The glorious Kingdom of Messiah is about to be set up in the earth, for the deliverance of the world and the establishment of permanent righteousness. We believe the present war cannot last much longer until revolution shall break out. The nations are rapidly impoverishing themselves."
25.Jump up ^ "The Harvest is Not Ended", The Watch Tower, September 1, 1916.
26.Jump up ^ "The Harvest is Not Ended", Watch Tower, September 1, 1916.
27.^ Jump up to: a b Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 26. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
28.^ Jump up to: a b c "The Concluding Work of the Harvest", The Watch Tower, October 1, 1917, pg 6148-6149.
29.^ Jump up to: a b The Finished Mystery. Studies in the Scriptures 7. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association. 1917. pp. 81, 128, 285, 398, 485, 582.
30.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 101.
31.Jump up ^ "Birth of the Nation", The Watch Tower, March 1, 1926, pg 73.
32.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, International Bible Students Association, 1920, pg 105.
33.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, International Bible Students Association, 1920, pg 89,90.
34.Jump up ^ "For the Elect's Sake", The Watch Tower, May 1, 1925, pg. 137, "We are well along in 1925. Let everyone now who really loves the Lord put aside selfishness and, moved by the spirit of a loving devotion to the cause of righteousness, make the few remaining months the greatest witness yet given for the King and his kingdom."
35.Jump up ^ "Work for the Anointed", The Watch Tower, January 1, 1925, pg 3, "The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during the year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his own people."
36.Jump up ^ Herbert H. Stroup, The Jehovah's Witnesses, Columbia University Press, 1945, pg 55.
37.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. London: Constable. p. 48.
38.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Singelenberg, Richard (1989). "It Separated the Wheat From the Chaff: The 1975 Prophecy and its Impact Among Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses". Sociological Analysis 50 (Spring 1989): 23–40. doi:10.2307/3710916.
39.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1966, pgs 28,29.
40.Jump up ^ "Rejoicing over God's Sons of Liberty Spiritual Feast", The Watchtower, October 15, 1966, pg 631.
41.Jump up ^ "What Will the 1970s Bring?" Awake!, 8 October 1968.
42.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984), The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, p. 63, ISBN 0-8020-6545-7
43.Jump up ^ Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 1967, pg 161.
44.Jump up ^ The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1969, pg 25,26.
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
46.Jump up ^ Singelenberg compares quotes in The Watchtower (October 15, 1966, May 1, 1968 and August 15, 1968), Awake! (October 8, 1966, October 8, 1968) and Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God.
47.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, February 1968.
48.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, May 1974.
49.Jump up ^ Audio recording of address by district oversser Charles Sunutko at convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, spring, 1967.
50.Jump up ^ Tape recording of "Divine Purpose" district convention, Utrecht, Holland, August 1974, quoted by Singelenberg, 1989.
51.Jump up ^ "Growing in Appreciation for the Divine Purpose", The Watchtower, October 15, 1974, pg. 635.
52.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, pg. 500.
53.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 220. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
54.Jump up ^ "The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches—What Has Been Accomplished?", The Watchtower, October 1, 1975, pg. 579.
55.Jump up ^ "A Solid Basis for Confidence," The Watchtower, July 15, 1976, pg 441.
56.Jump up ^ Bader, Chris (March 1999). "When prophecy passes unnoticed: New perspectives on failed prophecy". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion) 38 (No.1): 122—123. JSTOR 1387588.
57.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 151–152. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
58.Jump up ^ The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah – How?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1971, p. 216.
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1980, p. 31.
60.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1984, p. 18-19.
61.Jump up ^ Zoe Knox (June 2011). "Writing Witness History: The Historiography of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania". Journal of Religious History 35 (2).
62.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 1, 1989, p. 12.
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 1, 1989, p. 31.
64.Jump up ^ Weiser, Neil (1974). "The Effects of Prophetic Disconfirmation of the Committed". Review of Religious Research (Fall 1974, No.1): 20.
65.Jump up ^ "A Time to Keep Awake”, The Watchtower, November 1, 1994, page 17.
66.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan R. (26 January 1978). "When Prophecy Failed". New Society: 183–4.
  


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Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions

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Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society publications have made a series of predictions about Christ's Second Coming and the advent of God's Kingdom, each of which has gone unfulfilled. Almost all the predictions for 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918 and 1925 were later reinterpreted as a confirmation of the eschatological framework of the Bible Student movement and Jehovah's Witnesses, with many of the predicted events viewed as having taken place invisibly. Further expectations were held for the arrival of Armageddon in 1975, but resulted in a later apology to members from the society's leadership.
English researcher George D. Chryssides has argued that although there have been some "unrealized expectations", changes in Watch Tower chronology are attributable more to changed chronological schemes, rather than to failed predictions.[1] The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged errors, which it said helped "sift" the unfaithful from its ranks, but says adherents remained confident that "God's Word" had not failed.


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 1878: End of the harvest
3 1881: A revised end of the harvest
4 1914: The end of human rulership
5 1918: The new terminus
6 1925: Resurrection of the patriarchs
7 1975: The worldwide jubilee 7.1 Aftermath
8 Armageddon to come within 20th century
9 Response to prophetic failure
10 See also
11 References

Background[edit]
Since its formation in the 1870s, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society has claimed that God has chosen the organization from among the churches to fill a special role in the consummation of prophetic history. Charles Taze Russell, a prolific writer and founder of the Bible Student movement, viewed himself as a "mouthpiece" of God and later as the embodiment of the "faithful and wise servant" of the parable of Matthew 24:45-47.[2] The Watch Tower Society is now the legal and administrative arm of Jehovah's Witnesses. Its representatives assert that they have been given insight into the true meaning of the Bible and the unique ability to discern the signs of Christ's second coming.[3]



 Former Watch Tower Society president Charles Taze Russell.
The group's early ideology centered on the "Divine Plan of Salvation", a biblically derived outline of humanity's history and destiny, which was believed to be open to fuller understanding in the "last days". The creed incorporated Adam's fall and the entry of sin, evil and death into the world. God was believed to be permitting the world's affairs to run their ruinous course before he implemented his plan to free humanity from evil, suffering and death by means of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and the later establishment of God's kingdom on earth after his Second Coming.[4]
The kingdom would be inaugurated through two phases, one destructive, the other constructive. In the first phase, earthly institutions would be overturned in a tumultuous period known as the "Battle of Armageddon". For several decades the group believed the worldwide disintegration of the social order would take the form of a bloody struggle between the wealthy and laboring classes, resulting in terror and anarchy. This would be followed by an era of grand reconstruction, in which sickness, pain and death would be removed and righteousness would triumph. Prior to the establishment of the kingdom, a chosen "little flock" of 144,000 anointed Christians would undergo physical transformation from physical to spiritual form to achieve immortality.[4] Since 1925 the Society has taught that Armageddon will be a universal war waged by God, resulting in a slaughter of the unfaithful.[5] With that doctrinal change, the focus of the movement's chiliasm changed from awaiting its collective escape from earth to waiting for the impending destruction of the present world order in the Battle of Armageddon.[4]
To clarify its identity, the group, which came to form the Bible Student movement, formulated a body of historical doctrine, including a mythical self-history, which provided a comprehensive symbolic linkage with the past[6][7] but also fortified the movement's expectations for the future.[4]
1878: End of the harvest[edit]
In 1876 Russell adopted the belief promulgated by some Adventist preachers that Jesus' parousia, or presence, had begun in 1874 and that the gathering of the little flock preliminary to the grand climax was already in progress. Using a form of parallel dispensations that incorporated "types" and "antitypes"—historical situations that prefigured corresponding situations later in time[8]—he calculated the harvest would extend only to 1878, at which time the gathered saints would be translated into spirit form.[9][10] The year would also bring the beginning of the "exercise of power" of God's kingdom, with evidence that God's favor was returning to the Jews.[11]
The failure of Russell's prediction did not significantly alter the movement's short-term, date-focused orientation. In early 1881 Russell asserted that 1878 had, indeed, been a milestone year, marking the point at which "the nominal Christian churches were cast off from God's favor".[12]
1881: A revised end of the harvest[edit]
By 1881 Russell had found a biblical basis for extending the harvest to a new date, later that year.[4] He explained:

Coming to the spring of 1878 ... we naturally and not unreasonably expected some change of our condition, and all were more or less disappointed when nothing supernatural occurred. But our disappointment was brief, for we noticed that the Jewish church (and not the Gospel church) was the pattern of ours, and therefore we should not expect parallels to Pentecost or to anything which happened in the beginning of this church.[12]
Russell wrote that "the light upon our pathway still shines and is more and more glorious" and that since 1878 the light had glowed stronger. The timing of their translation to heaven seemed nearer, he wrote: "We know not the day or hour, but expect it during 1881, possibly near the autumn where the parallels show the favor to Zion complete and due to end, the door to the marriage to shut, and the high calling to be the bride of Christ, to cease."[12]
The second failure in 1881 precipitated a more serious crisis in the Bible Student ranks and for several years Russell's followers waited for the belated translation to occur.[4] Russell's chronological timetable had already identified 1914 as the ultimate end of the "time of trouble", and this preserved the commitment of followers who might have been discouraged by their failed expectations for 1881.[13] Yet many members found it inconceivable that their earthly departure might be delayed that long. Russell consoled members with the news that 1881 had still marked the time when "death became a blessing" in the sense that any saint who died would henceforth be instantaneously changed into a spirit being.[14] The revised view provided comfort for early believers who had held the view that the living faithful would never experience a physical death, and yet had seen other members in fact dying while they awaited their upward call. After 1881 physical death was defined as one of the ways in which some of the saints might undergo their translation.[4]
1914: The end of human rulership[edit]
Russell's Studies in the Scriptures series had explicitly identified October 1914 as the "full end of the times of the Gentiles" and consequently the "farthest limit" of human rulership.[15] It would bring the beginning of Christ's millennial reign[1] and all his followers expected the immediate "translation of the saints" to rule with the revealed Christ that year. Following the earth's tribulation and unrest, the Jews would return to God's favor, the "nominal Church" would have fallen, the final battle between Christ and Satan would have ended, the kingdoms of the world would be overthrown, and Christ would have gathered his saints into heaven, where they would reign with him, and when the millennium would begin.[1] The belief was unequivocal, based on his study of the Bible and the Great Pyramid, and satisfied only upon the establishment of an earthly paradise; Russell remarked that by altering the prophecy even one year would destroy the perfect symmetry of its biblical chronology.[16] In the second book of his Studies in the Scriptures series he described it as "an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished at the end of A.D. 1914".[17] The result, he wrote, was that "all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved",[17] along with the destruction of "what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom".[18] In an 1894 Watch Tower, responding to readers who questioned whether—because of recent political upheavals—the world could last until 1914, he wrote:

We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would, They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of the trouble.[19]
As 1914 approached, excitement mounted over the expected "change" of anointed Christians.[4] Early that year some Bible Students, convinced the end of the world had arrived, began distributing their material belongings, abandoning their jobs and eagerly anticipating the future.[20] In May 1914—five months from the expected end—Russell warned followers against succumbing to doubt:

There is absolutely no ground for Bible students to question that the consummation of this Gospel age is now even at the door, and that it will end as the Scriptures foretell in a great time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. We see the participants in this great crisis banding themselves together ... The great crisis, the great clash ... that will consume the ecclestiastical heavens and the social earth, is very near.[21]
But by September, Russell was preparing Watch Tower readers for the possibility that "Armageddon may begin next spring, yet it is purely speculation to attempt to say just when." Yet the evidence, he wrote, still pointed "to the year just before us—particularly the early months".[22]
When again nothing took place, predictions regressed to their earlier short-term orientation. The Watch Tower wrote: "It may be that many of the Lord's people were expecting more than they should have looked for to occur with the opening of the Jewish year 1915, which began with September 21. The human mind seems to have a natural tendency, and one with which we should have sympathy, to expect matters to culminate more rapidly, fulfillments to come more suddenly, than they ever do come ... Studying God's Word, we have measured the 2520 years, the Seven symbolic Times, from that year 606 B.C. and have found that it reached down to October, 1914, as nearly as we were able to reckon. We did not say positively that this would be the year. We merely left every one to look at the facts of history and reckon for himself."[23]
He took that opportunity to remind readers of some cautionary pronouncements he had made several years earlier. In 1912 he had left open the possibility that, if nothing happened in October 1914, it could still happen in October 1915. He also pointed out that the period of transition could run "a good many years".[16]
In a lengthy article of consolation, Russell wrote that it was a testing time for Christ's disciples and that some Bible Students had unreal expectations. He said it was also possible that God's Kingdom on earth would be established gradually.:[13][16]

We find that some have one idea and others another. Some think that just the next hour after midnight would see a great, grand change everywhere—evil blotted out in sixty minutes or in sixty seconds. But would it be a reasonable expectation that the Gentile kingdoms would be snuffed out inside of an hour or inside of a day? If God had said so, it would be different; we know that God has all power to do His will everywhere. But are we in any sense of the word to expect such a sudden transition—that going to bed on the night of September 20, we would find, on the morning of September 21, all the kingdoms of the world destroyed and the Kingdom of Christ set up, the saints in glory, etc. Such would be a lightning change! We do not think that any would have been justified in so thinking. If any had such expectation, it was unwarranted.[23]
Yet on October 2, 1914, he entered the staff dining room at the Watch Tower Society headquarters and declared that the Gentile times had ended and that "their kings have had their day."[1] It signaled that God had withdrawn his benevolent disposition towards the Christian nations.[23] The statement implied that the legitimacy of earthly governments had been downgraded in the eyes of God, which sociologist Joseph Zygmunt suggested may have contributed to the subsequent adoption of bolder tactics in condemning the global political system.[4]
Russell viewed the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which would soon descend into worldwide revolution[24] and in 1916, shortly before his death, he reaffirmed his conviction that the end was close and the harvest of saints was ongoing:

Some of us were quite strongly convinced that the Harvest would be ended by now, but our expectations must not be allowed to weigh anything as against the facts ... We see no reason for doubting, therefore, that the Times of the Gentiles ended in October 1914; and that a few more years will witness their utter collapse and the full establishment of God's Kingdom in the hands of Messiah.[25]
In posthumous editions of his Studies in the Scriptures, entire sections were rewritten to accommodate the failure of the anticipated events, with 1914 now identified as "the beginning of the end of Gentile times". The outbreak of World War I was taken to be its confirmation. Sociologist James Beckford claimed that Russell's "sometimes ingenious" ex post facto rationalizations of events in 1914 contributed to the survival of the Bible Student movement.[13] Under doctrinal changes introduced by his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, it was later decided that the Millennium would come within the generation of those who saw the events of 1914. The years of 1799 and 1874, until then significant dates in Russell's millennial chronology, were also abandoned.[16]
Yet Chrissides said there was no clear failure of the predictions surrounding 1914. "Although there was clear disappointment at the non-occurrence of certain empirically observable events, a number of the events to which Russell alludes are incapable of disconfirmation. One cannot verify the beginning of Christ's sovereign rule, the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the admission to heaven of those who have experienced the 'high calling'. Even events like the ending of the Gentile times do not have obvious empirical indicators."[1]
1918: The new terminus[edit]



 J.F. Rutherford
Russell's final revision of his predictions was to identify 1918 as the new terminus.[4][26] The shift was based on the reasoning that the period of the Jews' favor may have lasted until 73CE (the date of the Zealots' mass suicide at Masada), rather than 70 CE. For the modern-day parallel, the adjustment meant the conclusion of the 40-year "harvest period" was moved from 1914 to the northern spring of 1918.[1][27][28]
Rutherford claimed in 1917 that the testimony of Bible Students themselves confirmed that the harvest was not over: "Many have consecrated and given evidence of spirit-begetting since 1914, which is the best evidence that the harvest is not yet closed."[28] If the new date was reliable, he wrote, "and the evidence is very conclusive that it is true, then we have only a few months in which to labor before the great night settles down when no man can work."[28]
The Finished Mystery, written soon after Russell's death by two prominent Bible Students and published in 1917, made a series of bold statements about the expected demise of "false" Christianity. The spring of 1918, it said, would "bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater even than that experienced in the Fall of 1914". God's day of vengeance, the book said, would "break like a furious morning storm in 1918", destroying "the churches wholesale and the church members by millions".[29]

At that time there is every reason to believe the fallen angels will invade the minds of many of the Nominal Church people, driving them to exceedingly unwise conduct and leading to their destruction at the hands of the enraged masses, who will later be dragged to the same fate ... In one short year, 1917-1918, the vast and complicated system of sectarianism reaches its zenith of power, only to be suddenly dashed into oblivion ... One large part of the adherents of ecclesiasticism will die from pestilence and famine.[29]
When 1918 also passed without any sign of fulfillment, the initial reaction was that the harvest had indeed finished and that the full complement of those destined for translation to heaven had been assembled. The further delay in the arrival of the millennium was interpreted in 1919 as a sign that the loyalty and powers of endurance of the "Kingdom class" were being tested, and that God was finding fault with some supposedly sanctified people.[27]
In a 1922 convention address, Rutherford retrospectively defined 1918 as the time when Christ "entered the temple for the purpose of judgment".[30] He later wrote that it was only after 1918, when the Lord came to the temple, that it could be understood that 1914 had also marked the time when the heavenly part of God's kingdom was established and when a "New Nation" was born.[31]
From that time the Bible Student group was able to view itself as more than just an agency for completing the ranks of the 144,000 who would rule with Christ. With the "New Nation" already born, members were given a clear twofold purpose: (1) to recruit and train a "Great Company" who would be carried through Armageddon to live in the earthly kingdom and (2) to expose the machinations of the devil in trying to obstruct the kingdom's earthly establishment.[4]
1925: Resurrection of the patriarchs[edit]
With Rutherford now the movement's chief theologian, another round of prophetic revision ensued, this time focusing on 1925.[4] In his 1920 booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Rutherford wrote that he expected the ancient patriarchs and prophets, "the faithful ones of old", to be resurrected to earthly life in 1925 as a prelude to a general physical resurrection of faithful followers of God destined for everlasting life on earth. He explained:

This is the Golden Age of which the prophets prophesied and of which the Psalmist sang; and it is the privilege of the student of the divine Word today, by the eye of faith, to see that we are standing at the very portals of that blessed time! Let us look up and lift up our heads. Deliverance is at the door![32]



 Newspaper advertisement for Rutherford's "Millions" lecture.
Rutherford's belief that the patriarchs' return would occur in 1925 was based on his calculations of the Jewish jubilee, counting forward 3500 years from 1575 BCE.[1][33] As the year advanced, he wrote of the urgency of witnessing in the "few remaining months",[34] though he also provided a caution that not all the expected events might occur.[35] When that prediction failed, the Watch Tower Society suspended the issuing of prophecies centered on a specific date.
Chryssides concluded: "This expectation was too specific and empirical for the date to be adjusted or the expected event spiritualised. At a convention the following year, Rutherford admitted his error, claiming that the 1925 date was 'merely an expressed opinion'."[1] Yet Rutherford did not abandon the prediction. In 1929 the Watch Tower Society bought a piece of land in San Diego, California, where a Spanish mansion was built and named Beth Sarim ("house of the Princes"). As late as 1932 Rutherford was still delivering talks about the nearness of the kingdom: he declared that the preaching work of the Witnesses was "coming to a conclusion", that Armageddon was "only a short time away" and that the end was "much less than the length of a generation".[36] In the late 1930s Rutherford affirmed his intention that Beth Sarim should accommodate at least some of the returning "princes", and that it should stand as a monument to the organization's firm expectation, although no new date was ever assigned to the expected event.[1] The building was sold in 1948 and the doctrine of the return of the prophets dropped in 1950.[37]
1975: The worldwide jubilee[edit]
In 1966 the Watch Tower Society issued the first of what became a sequence of statements on the importance of a new date—1975—that raised the possibility of that year heralding the beginning of Christ's millennial reign and, along with it, doom for unbelievers.[38]

According to this trustworthy Bible chronology six thousand years from man's creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975. So six thousand years of man's existence on earth will soon be up, yes, within this generation.
How appropriate it would be for Jehovah God to make of this coming seventh period of a thousand years a Sabbath period of rest and release, a great Jubilee sabbath for the proclaiming of liberty throughout the earth to all its inhabitants! ... It would be according to the loving purpose of Jehovah God for the reign of Jesus Christ, the "Lord of the Sabbath", to run parallel with the seventh millennium of man's existence.[39]
The hope was hinged on the Society's belief that Adam had been created in the northern autumn of 4026 BCE. The society suggested that the close of the first 6000 years of human history could correspond with the end of God's "rest day"—with the transition marked by the Battle of Armageddon. Yet as researcher Richard Singelenberg pointed out, the Society's literature at no point definitively stated that Armageddon would take place in 1975. In fact, as early as 1966 Frederick Franz, then vice-president of the society, was inserting a definite "uncertainty" clause:

Does it mean that God's rest day began in 4026? It could have. The ... book does not say it did not ... You can accept it or reject it ... Does it mean that Armageddon is going to be finished ... by 1975? It could! It could! All things are possible with God. Does it mean that Babylon the Great is going to go down by 1975? It could ... But we are not saying.[40]
Expectations for 1975 were also based on the belief that Christ had set up his kingdom in heaven in 1914 and that "this generation [those who were at least 15 years old in 1914, according to a 1968 Awake![41]] would by no means pass away" before the end came.[42] The 1967 book, Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, similarly stated, "We find that the time of our generation, our day, is the one that is identified in the Bible as the 'last days'. In fact, we are actually living in the final part of that time. This can be compared, not just to the last day of a week, but rather, to the last part of that day" [emphasis in original].[43]



 Convention badge from circuit assembly, circa 1970
In a 1969 book the Society expanded on its belief in a link between the seventh millennium of human existence and the kingdom's establishment. It said: "In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be 'Lord of the sabbath day,' his thousand-year reign would have to be the seventh in a series of thousand-year periods or millenniums. Thus it would be a sabbatical reign."[44] Raymond Franz, who became a member of the religion's Governing Body before defecting in 1980, claimed readers were left in no doubt about what was expected in 1975, claiming: "The presentation is no sense indefinite or ambiguous."[45]
The prophecy galvanized the movement and proselytism increased substantially. On the eve of the Millennium in 1974 the number of publishers (Witnesses who submitted their record of preaching) rose by 13.5 percent worldwide and many Witnesses were actively preparing for the dawn of the New Order.
Yet as 1975 drew closer the degree of uncertainty expressed in publications increased. The chances of Armageddon occurring that year were initially described as "feasible", "apparent" or "appropriate", but from the end of 1968 it became a mere "possibility". In 1966 the Society's chronological calculations were "trustworthy"; by 1968 they were considered "reasonably accurate (but admittedly not infallible)".[46] The basis of the gradual retraction was uncertainty over the elapsed time between the dates of Adam's creation and that of Eve.
In fact, says Singelenberg, from the end of 1968 Watch Tower Society publications never again explicitly focused on 1975 in a theological context. Though articles continued to remind readers that the "end of 6000 years of human history" was imminent, they increasingly highlighted non-Society sources that forecast a gloomy future with worldwide famine, ecological collapse and oxygen deficiency. The articles, says Singelenberg, were marked with emotional expressions of excitement, hope and urgency, with readers told: "What a time of turmoil is ahead of us! A climax in man's history is imminent!"[38]
Less cautious language, however, was being used in publications distributed only to members of the religion. In a 1968 issue of the monthly bulletin Kingdom Ministry, adherents were encouraged to increase their preaching activities because time was running out rapidly: "Less than a hundred months separate us from the end of 6000 years of man's history. What can you do in that time?"[47] Some Witnesses sold their possessions, postponed surgery or cashed in their insurance policies to prepare for Armageddon[16] and in May 1974 the Watch Tower Society told members: "Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end."[48]
The prophecy was also disseminated at talks at congregation meetings and assemblies. Speakers at some conventions highlighted the phrase, "Stay alive till '75" and urged the audience to maintain their meeting attendance or risk losing their lives at Armageddon.[49] The Dutch branch overseer urged the audience at a "Divine Purpose" district convention in 1974 to "pioneer" (take part in full-time preaching) as the end approached:

Many of us have suffered misery, sickness and death. You don't have to experience that any more. The new order is near ... Sell your house, sell everything you own and say, oh boy, how long can I carry on with my private means. That long? Get rid of things! Pioneer! Plan to shower people with magazines during these last few months of this dying system of things!"[50]
Yet The Watchtower??'?s public coverage of the same series of conventions was notable for its far more cautious tone. In its summary of the convention talks, the magazine reiterated the teaching that Bible chronology showed 6000 years of human existence would be completed in the mid-1970s, then pointed out: "These publications have never said that the world's end would come then. Nevertheless, there has been considerable individual speculation on the matter." What was certain, the magazine said, was that the end would come within the generation of those who saw the beginning of world tribulations in 1914. "So we can be confident that the end is near; we do not have the slightest doubt that God will bring it about ... we have to wait and see exactly when, in the meantime keeping busy in God's service."[51]
Franz says a 1968 Watchtower article implied that members should be careful about taking too literally Jesus' cautionary words about forecasting the last days. The magazine warned: "This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that 'concerning that day and hour nobody knows ... only the Father'. To the contrary: it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end."[52]
In a 1970 paper, Joseph F. Zygmunt commented on the likely outcome for Jehovah's Witnesses if this prediction, too, failed: "While return to this old strategy would seem to expose the sect once again to prophetic failure, the risks are balanced by the potent ideological reinforcement accruing from this forthright renewal of faith, which thirty-five years of diffuse watchful waiting seem to have made necessary." But he added: "The risks of another prophetic failure actually appear to be minimal. The new prophecy is being phrased in a manner that lends itself to 'confirmation' by the old device of claiming partial supernatural fulfillment."[4] Beckford, too, expected no significant organizational disturbance resulting from the absence of observable effects that year, suggesting in 1975 that Witnesses were being "skilfully prepared for prophetic disconfirmation" to reduce the dangers of disappointment. He noted an increasing frequency of Watch Tower Society warnings about the futility of making precise predictions about events expected for the jubilee year.[53]
Yet Singelenberg, a Dutch social anthropologist, found that amid the conflict of Watch Tower Society statements from the era about what might happen that year, its sense of urgency on a probable apocalyptic event, and later the possibility of a cataclysm, expectations of a significant event in 1975 had a "startling impact" on the proselytizing activities of Jehovah's Witnesses and membership growth. His analysis of Watch Tower Society data showed annual growth of "publishers", which had averaged 2.8 percent annually between 1961 and 1966, leapt to between 10.4 and 12.4 percent from 1967 to 1975, with the number of active Witnesses through the 1970s peaking at almost 28,000 in November 1975. The number of average annual baptisms more than doubled, from 750 to 1851, with the ratio of defections to recruitments plummeting. The percentage of "pioneers" (Witnesses devoting at least 60 hours a month in preaching work) more than tripled from 2.3 percent of members to almost 8 percent in 1974 and 1975. He also found major increases in the number of "back calls" (return visits to interested members of the public who purchased publications) and average hours spent in service by individuals in the same two years.[38]
Aftermath[edit]
The passing of 1975 without incident left the Watch Tower Society open to new claims of prophetic failure. Instead of maintaining the prophetic significance of that year, however, the religion's leaders embarked on a lengthy period of denial and purge, blaming rank and file membership for misreading the organization's interpretations.[16] The Watchtower initially explained that the reason for the failure of Armageddon's arrival was due to the time lapse between the creation of Adam and Eve. Although the Society had earlier argued that the gap was "weeks or months, not years", it now decided the time lapse could, after all, be years.[54] The following year the magazine repeated its explanation, but declared the Witnesses themselves were to blame for their eager expectations about 1975 because they had misread the Bible.[38] "It was not the word of God that failed or deceived [the individual Jehovah's Witness] and brought disappointment, but ... his own understanding was based on wrong premises."[55] In talks at conventions four years later, leading members of the Society finally acknowledged their error in the initial formulation of the prophecy, and in the March 15, 1980 Watchtower the Society said its claims about 1975 were regretted.[38] It assigned no different interpretation to the date and demanded that its members recognize that there never was an explicit prophecy.[16]
Singelenberg's analysis of Jehovah's Witness preaching activity in the Netherlands in the wake of the 1975 prophetic failure showed a drop in the religion's membership from mid-1976, a trend that was not reversed until 1980. It is thought that in the Netherlands about 5000 Witnesses either left the movement, were expelled, or became marginal and inactive members.[38] Singelenberg suggested many of those expelled and shunned in the late 1970s had rebelled against the religion's authority structure out of "post-prophecy frustration"; post-1975 defectors were described to him and American researcher A. J. Brose as "opportunists" who had joined the religion out of fear when the end seemed imminent, yet who lacked genuine commitment. One elder told Singelenberg: "It was good that Armageddon did not take place. It separated the wheat from the chaff."[38] Researcher Mathew N. Schmalz suggested the leadership drew attention from the disconfirmation by requiring an even greater loyalty from members, a demand enforced with the expulsion of almost 30,000 Witnesses in 1978 alone. The insistence on doctrinal orthodoxy reached the highest levels of the organization in 1980, with many in the writing committee disfellowshipped.[16]
In almost every country the annual growth rate of Jehovah's Witnesses fell markedly after the 1975 failure. In the US, the group's growth rate fell from 6 percent to 2 percent; in South Korea it plummeted from 28 percent to 7 percent and the downward trend continued through to 1978. Even among the majority who remained, morale declined: in 1977 and 1978 the average "publisher" spent 140 hours a year proselytizing, compared to 196.8 hours in 1974.[56]
In his ethnographic study of Jehovah's Witnesses, English sociologist Andrew Holden quoted the testimony of a Witness who had been in the movement from the early 1970s, but found it impossible to remain as an active member after the failure of the 1975 prediction. He said he, like many others, had been convinced the end would come in 1975:

I said it from the platform! We told everyone the end was near. When I became a Witness I gave up my insurance policies, I cancelled all my insurance endowments, I never bought a house because I knew I wouldn't need one, we didn't even want to put the kids' names down for school.[57]
Armageddon to come within 20th century[edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This section relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (October 2012)
Watch Tower Society literature of the 1970s and 1980s repeatedly claimed that the "end" had to be expected before the turn of the century. The 1971 book The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah – How? stated: "Shortly, within our twentieth century, the 'battle in the day of Jehovah' will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom."[58] A 1980 Watchtower article described the notion that "the wicked system of this world" would last "until the turn of the century" as "highly improbable in view of world trends and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy" (emphasis added).[59] A similar statement in a 1984 Watchtower article suggested that some members of the 1914 generation "could survive until the end of the century. But there are many indications that 'the end' is much closer than that!"[60] Until its October 22, 1995 issue, Awake! similarly included the statement, "this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."[61]
In 1989, the notion that the missionary efforts of the Witnesses would culminate before the turn of the century was first reaffirmed, then abandoned. As first published, a Watchtower article of January 1 stated: "The apostle Paul was spearheading the Christian missionary activity. He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century."[62] (Emphasis added.) Nine months later a more cautiously worded statement appeared in the Watchtower: "We have ample reasons to expect that this preaching will be completed in our time. Does that mean before the turn of a new month, a new year, a new decade, a new century? No human knows" (emphasis added).[63] In later bound volumes of the 1989 Watchtower magazines, the text of the January 1 article was amended to state that Christian missionary work "would be completed in our day" rather than "in our 20th century".
Response to prophetic failure[edit]
According to Joseph Zygmunt, the response to each of the prophetic failures by Watch Tower Society adherents followed a general pattern:
The initial reaction by both rank and file and the movement's leaders was usually a combination of disappointment and puzzlement.
Proselytism declined, but members maintained an attitude of watchful waiting for the predictions to materialize. The doctrinal bases for the prophecies were reexamined and conjectures offered as to why the expected events might have been "delayed".
A fuller realization of the quandary was achieved. The group asserted that the prophecies had, in fact, been partially fulfilled, or that some event of prophetic significance—usually supernatural and hence not open to disconfirmation—had actually transpired on the nominated dates. Belief was sustained that God's plan was continuing to unfold.
Unfulfilled portions of the failed prophecies were projected into the future by issuing re-dated predictions, in association with retrospective reinterpretation of earlier failures.
A selective interpretation of emerging historical events as confirmation of the signs of the approaching end. A pessimistic worldview sensitized the group to perceive almost every social disturbance and natural disaster as an indicator of the impending collapse of the earthly system.
Zygmunt concluded that the group's faith in its own belief system provided a basis for the claim of fulfillment, and the selective perception of global events furnished supportive empirical evidence. "In this sense and to this extent," he wrote, "the prophecies could not 'fail'." Unfulfilled prophecies were converted into partial successes and welcomed as divinely provided lessons revealing God's purposes more fully, yet it was accepted that each of those prophecies would eventually come to pass.[4]
Singelenberg, too, believed a subsequent reinterpretation of failed prophecies was a survival strategy of religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses. Citing Neil Wiser,[64] he commented: "Whatever the outcome, prophecies cannot and do not fail for the committed."[38]
The Watch Tower Society has acknowledged that some of its time calculations and expectations resulted in "serious disappointments", with consequent defections, expulsions and opposition, which it claimed was a process of "sifting" true believers. Yet of those who remained faithful it said: "They certainly did not err in believing that God would without fail do what he had promised ... They recognized that a mistake had been made but that in no respect had God's Word failed."[10] The errors and speculation were attributed to an eagerness to see "the end of this evil system".[65]
Holden concluded: "Simple as it seems, what sceptics regard as failure, the Governing Body regards as a test of faith." Holden said that given the scarcity of reference in Watch Tower Society literature to past predictive failures, it was highly unlikely that those who had joined the religion within the past two decades were even aware of the Society's record. He estimated that more than 60 percent of current Witnesses had joined the movement since 1975, "hence the Governing Body has no reason to discuss with them the failure of its earlier prophecies." Yet he added: "The suppression of the 1975 prophecy failure by those who were active at the time but who have nevertheless remained in membership suggests an unusual degree of complicity." He also concurred with researcher Bryan Wilson's judgment that:

For people whose lives have become dominated by one powerful expectation, and whose activities are dictated by what that belief requires, abandonment of faith because of disappointment about a date would usually be too traumatic an experience to contemplate.[66]
See also[edit]
Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions
Predictions and claims for the Second Coming of Christ
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Chryssides, George D. (2010). "How Prophecy Succeeds: The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Expectations". International Journal for the Study of New Religions 1 (1): 27–48. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v1i1.27. ISSN 2041-952X.
2.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71.
3.Jump up ^ ed. Stone, Jon R. (2000). Expecting Armageddon: Essential Readings in Failed Prophecy. New York, London: Routledge. pp. 13–15. ISBN 0-415-92331-X.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Zygmunt, Joseph F. (May 1970). "Prophetic Failure and Chiliastic Identity: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses". American Journal of Sociology 75 (6).
5.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. London: Constable. p. 47.
6.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1886). The Divine Plan of the Ages. Studies in the Scriptures 1. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
7.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Studies in the Scriptures 3. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
8.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. pp. 21, 31. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
9.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour & C.T. Russell, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, Rochester, NY, 1877, pg 36-48, 124.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. 1993. p. 632.
11.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 101, 218.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence", Zion's Watch Tower, February 1881.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
14.Jump up ^ "The Blessed Dying", Zion's Watch Tower, December 1881.
15.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 76, 77.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Schmalz, Mathew N. (October 1994). "When Festinger Fails: Prophecy and the Watchtower". Religion 24 (4): 293–308. doi:10.1006/reli.1994.1025.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Russell, Charles Taze (1889). The Time is At Hand. Studies in the Scriptures 2. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. pp. 98, 99.
18.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles Taze (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Studies in the Scriptures 3. Allegheny, PA: Tower Publishing Co. p. 153.
19.Jump up ^ "Can it be Delayed Until 1914?", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1894.
20.Jump up ^ Garbe, Detlef (2008). Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-299-20794-3.
21.Jump up ^ "Now Is Our Salvation Nearer", The Watch Tower, May 1, 1914.
22.Jump up ^ "The Present Crisis", The Watch Tower, September 1, 1914.
23.^ Jump up to: a b c "Making Ready for the Reign of Righteousness", Watch Tower, November 1914.
24.Jump up ^ "Pseudo-Apostles of the Pressnt Day", Pastor Russell's Sermons, International Bible Students Association, 1917, pg 676, "The present great war in Europe is the beginning of the Armageddon of the Scriptures. (Rev. 16:16-20.) It will eventuate in the complete overthrow of all the systems of error which have so long oppressed the people of God and deluded the world. All iniquity of every kind will go down. The glorious Kingdom of Messiah is about to be set up in the earth, for the deliverance of the world and the establishment of permanent righteousness. We believe the present war cannot last much longer until revolution shall break out. The nations are rapidly impoverishing themselves."
25.Jump up ^ "The Harvest is Not Ended", The Watch Tower, September 1, 1916.
26.Jump up ^ "The Harvest is Not Ended", Watch Tower, September 1, 1916.
27.^ Jump up to: a b Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 26. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
28.^ Jump up to: a b c "The Concluding Work of the Harvest", The Watch Tower, October 1, 1917, pg 6148-6149.
29.^ Jump up to: a b The Finished Mystery. Studies in the Scriptures 7. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association. 1917. pp. 81, 128, 285, 398, 485, 582.
30.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 101.
31.Jump up ^ "Birth of the Nation", The Watch Tower, March 1, 1926, pg 73.
32.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, International Bible Students Association, 1920, pg 105.
33.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, International Bible Students Association, 1920, pg 89,90.
34.Jump up ^ "For the Elect's Sake", The Watch Tower, May 1, 1925, pg. 137, "We are well along in 1925. Let everyone now who really loves the Lord put aside selfishness and, moved by the spirit of a loving devotion to the cause of righteousness, make the few remaining months the greatest witness yet given for the King and his kingdom."
35.Jump up ^ "Work for the Anointed", The Watch Tower, January 1, 1925, pg 3, "The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during the year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his own people."
36.Jump up ^ Herbert H. Stroup, The Jehovah's Witnesses, Columbia University Press, 1945, pg 55.
37.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. London: Constable. p. 48.
38.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Singelenberg, Richard (1989). "It Separated the Wheat From the Chaff: The 1975 Prophecy and its Impact Among Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses". Sociological Analysis 50 (Spring 1989): 23–40. doi:10.2307/3710916.
39.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1966, pgs 28,29.
40.Jump up ^ "Rejoicing over God's Sons of Liberty Spiritual Feast", The Watchtower, October 15, 1966, pg 631.
41.Jump up ^ "What Will the 1970s Bring?" Awake!, 8 October 1968.
42.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984), The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, p. 63, ISBN 0-8020-6545-7
43.Jump up ^ Did Man Get Here By Evolution Or By Creation?, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, 1967, pg 161.
44.Jump up ^ The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1969, pg 25,26.
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2007). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. p. 244. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
46.Jump up ^ Singelenberg compares quotes in The Watchtower (October 15, 1966, May 1, 1968 and August 15, 1968), Awake! (October 8, 1966, October 8, 1968) and Life Everlasting—In Freedom of the Sons of God.
47.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, February 1968.
48.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, May 1974.
49.Jump up ^ Audio recording of address by district oversser Charles Sunutko at convention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, spring, 1967.
50.Jump up ^ Tape recording of "Divine Purpose" district convention, Utrecht, Holland, August 1974, quoted by Singelenberg, 1989.
51.Jump up ^ "Growing in Appreciation for the Divine Purpose", The Watchtower, October 15, 1974, pg. 635.
52.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, pg. 500.
53.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (1975). The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 220. ISBN 0-631-16310-7.
54.Jump up ^ "The End of 6,000 Years of Man-Rule Approaches—What Has Been Accomplished?", The Watchtower, October 1, 1975, pg. 579.
55.Jump up ^ "A Solid Basis for Confidence," The Watchtower, July 15, 1976, pg 441.
56.Jump up ^ Bader, Chris (March 1999). "When prophecy passes unnoticed: New perspectives on failed prophecy". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion) 38 (No.1): 122—123. JSTOR 1387588.
57.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 151–152. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
58.Jump up ^ The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah – How?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1971, p. 216.
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1980, p. 31.
60.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1984, p. 18-19.
61.Jump up ^ Zoe Knox (June 2011). "Writing Witness History: The Historiography of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania". Journal of Religious History 35 (2).
62.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 1, 1989, p. 12.
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 1, 1989, p. 31.
64.Jump up ^ Weiser, Neil (1974). "The Effects of Prophetic Disconfirmation of the Committed". Review of Religious Research (Fall 1974, No.1): 20.
65.Jump up ^ "A Time to Keep Awake”, The Watchtower, November 1, 1994, page 17.
66.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan R. (26 January 1978). "When Prophecy Failed". New Society: 183–4.
  


Categories: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses






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Jehovah's Witnesses and salvation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (January 2012)
Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Jehovah's Witnesses believe salvation is a free gift from God attained by being part of "God's organization" and putting faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. They do not believe in predestination or eternal security. They believe in different forms of resurrection for two groups of Christians. One group, the anointed, go to heaven while the other group, "the other sheep" or "the great crowd" will live forever on earth.


Contents  [hide]
1 Basis
2 The 'anointed'
3 The 'other sheep' and the 'great crowd'
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography

Basis[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that salvation is possible only through Christ’s ransom sacrifice[1] and that individuals cannot be saved until they repent of their sins and call on the name of Jehovah.[2] Salvation is described as a free gift from God, but is said to be unattainable without good works that are prompted by faith. The works prove faith is genuine.[3][4] Preaching is said to be one of the works necessary for salvation, both of themselves and those to whom they preach.[5] They believe that people can be "saved" by identifying God's organization and serving God as a part of it.[6]
The Witnesses reject the doctrine of universal salvation,[7] as well as that of predestination or fate. They believe that all intelligent creatures are endowed with free will. They regard salvation to be a result of a person's own decisions, not of fate.[8] They also reject the concept of "once saved, always saved" (or "eternal security"), instead believing that one must remain faithful until the end to be saved.[9]
Regarding whether non-Witnesses will be "saved", they believe that Jesus has the responsibility of judging such ones, and that no human can judge for themselves who will be saved. Based on their interpretation of Acts 24:15, they believe there will be a resurrection of righteous and unrighteous people. They believe that non-Witnesses alive now may attain salvation if they "begin to serve God".[10][11]
The 'anointed'[edit]
Based on their understanding of scriptures such as Revelation 14:1-4, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God. They, with Jesus, will also perform priestly duties that will bring faithful mankind to perfect health and 'everlasting life'.[12] They believe that most of those are already in heaven, and that the "remnant" at Revelation 12:17 (KJV) refers to those remaining alive on earth who will be immediately resurrected to heaven when they die. The Witnesses understand Jesus’ words at John 3:3—"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"—to apply to the 144,000 who are "born again" as "anointed" sons of God in heaven.[13] They teach that the New Testament, which they refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures, is primarily directed to the 144,000, and by extension, to those associated with them.[14] They believe that the terms "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16), "little flock" (Luke 12:32), "New Jerusalem," and "the bride, the Lamb's wife" (Revelation 21:2,9) in the New Testament also refer to the same group of "anointed" Christians.[15][16][17]
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that being 'anointed' involves a personal revelation by God's spirit which "gives positive assurance of adoption" to the individual alone.[18] Members who claim to be anointed are not given special treatment by other congregation members.[19] However, only those in the anointed class partake of the unleavened bread and wine at the yearly commemoration of Christ's death, or Memorial.
The 'other sheep' and the 'great crowd'[edit]
Watch Tower Society literature states that Jesus' use of the term "other sheep" at John 10:16 was intended to indicate that the majority of his followers were not part of the 144,000 and would have an earthly, rather than heavenly, hope.[20][21] In the resurrection, those who died faithful to God are included in the 'other sheep' and will receive the "resurrection of the righteous" ("just" KJV) mentioned in Acts 24:15.[22] Those who died without faithfully serving God will receive the "resurrection of the ... unrighteous" ("unjust" KJV). They will be given an opportunity to gain God's favor and join Jesus' 'other sheep' and live forever in an earthly paradise.[23][24] Individuals unfavorably judged by God are not resurrected, and are said to be in Gehenna, which they consider to be a metaphor for eternal destruction.[25] Those of the 'other sheep' who are alive today, some of whom survive through Armageddon without needing a resurrection, are referred to as the 'great crowd'.[26][27]
See also[edit]
##Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
##Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/1/00 p. 11 par. 6 Keep Your “Hope of Salvation” Bright!
2.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1989, p. 31 Call on Jehovah’s Name and Get Away Safe! “The Way of Salvation”
3.Jump up ^ "James Urges Clean and Active Worship,", The Watchtower 3/1/83 p. 13, "Faith that does not prompt us to do good works is not genuine and will not result in our salvation."
4.Jump up ^ "Meetings to Help Us Make Disciples", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1979, p. 2.
5.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2006 pp. 28-29 par. 12
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/15/83 p. 12 You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth—But How?
7.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/60 p. 229 Does the Bible Teach What You Believe?
8.Jump up ^ Awake! 5/07 p. 13 Is Your Life Predestined?
9.Jump up ^ You Can Endure to the End The Watchtower October 1, 1999, p. 17.
10.Jump up ^ "Do You Feel That You Are the Only People Who Will Be Saved?".
11.Jump up ^ "Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe That They Are the Only Ones Who Will Be Saved?". The Watchtower: 28. 1 November 2008.
12.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!. Watch Tower Society. p. 200.
13.Jump up ^ "Look to Jehovah for Comfort". The Watchtower: 10. November 1, 1996.
14.Jump up ^ Worldwide Security Under the "Prince of Peace". Watch Tower Society. p. 110.
15.Jump up ^ Survivors Out of All the Nations. Watch Tower Society. p. 65.
16.Jump up ^ Watchtower Publications Index 1930–1985, "CONGREGATION OF GOD (Also called 144,000; Anointed; Body of Christ; Bride of Christ; Chosen Ones; Elect; Holy Nation; Israel of God; Kingdom Class; Little Flock; New Creation; New Nation; Royal House; Royal Priesthood; Sanctuary Class; Sons of Levi; Spirit Begotten; Spiritual Israel; Spiritual Sons)"
17.Jump up ^ Chryssides, George D (2008). Historical Dictionary Of Jehovah's Witnesses. Scarecrow Press. pp. 3, 122,. ISBN 9780810860742.
18.Jump up ^ United In Worship Of The Only True God. Watch Tower Society. pp. 112–113.
19.Jump up ^ The Watchtower: 31. May 1, 2007. "They do not believe that they necessarily have more holy spirit than their companions of the other sheep have; nor do they expect special treatment or claim that their partaking of the emblems places them above the appointed elders in the congregation" Missing or empty |title= (help)
20.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/1/98 p. 20 par. 7 The Other Sheep and the New Covenant
21.Jump up ^ "Awake" 1/8/95 p. 27 Who Go to Heaven?
22.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/15/95 p. 11 par. 12 'There Will Be a Resurrection of the Righteous: “Men and women of old who exercised strong faith in Jehovah and his promises and remained faithful to the death were declared righteous by Jehovah on the basis of their faith, and they will without doubt share in the ‘resurrection of the righteous.’
23.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/15/06 p. 6 A Sure Guide to Happiness: “Acts 24:15 ... “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” So even “the unrighteous,” many individuals who did not know and serve Jehovah, will get a future opportunity to gain God’s favor.”
24.Jump up ^ You Can Believe in a Paradise Earth The Watchtower November 15, 2003, p. 4.
25.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 3/15/06 p. 6 The Only Remedy!: “Some committed sins for which there is no forgiveness. They are not in Hades (mankind’s common grave) but in Gehenna, a symbolic place of eternal destruction. (Matthew 23:33)
26.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/95 p. 31 Questions From Readers: “In summary, we might remember “other sheep” as the broader term, encompassing all of God’s servants having the hope of living forever on earth. It includes the more limited category of sheeplike ones today who are being gathered as a “great crowd” with the hope of living right through the impending great tribulation”.
27.Jump up ^ Ankerberg, John (2003). Fast Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses. Harvest House Publisher. pp. 51–53. ISBN 9780736910811.
Bibliography[edit]
##Chryssides, George D. Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2008. See "Salvation," p. 122.
##Penton, M. James. Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2nd ed., 1997. See Chapter 7, "Major Doctrines," pp. 184–210.
  


Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
Christian soteriology






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Jehovah's Witnesses and salvation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (January 2012)
Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Jehovah's Witnesses believe salvation is a free gift from God attained by being part of "God's organization" and putting faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. They do not believe in predestination or eternal security. They believe in different forms of resurrection for two groups of Christians. One group, the anointed, go to heaven while the other group, "the other sheep" or "the great crowd" will live forever on earth.


Contents  [hide]
1 Basis
2 The 'anointed'
3 The 'other sheep' and the 'great crowd'
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography

Basis[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that salvation is possible only through Christ’s ransom sacrifice[1] and that individuals cannot be saved until they repent of their sins and call on the name of Jehovah.[2] Salvation is described as a free gift from God, but is said to be unattainable without good works that are prompted by faith. The works prove faith is genuine.[3][4] Preaching is said to be one of the works necessary for salvation, both of themselves and those to whom they preach.[5] They believe that people can be "saved" by identifying God's organization and serving God as a part of it.[6]
The Witnesses reject the doctrine of universal salvation,[7] as well as that of predestination or fate. They believe that all intelligent creatures are endowed with free will. They regard salvation to be a result of a person's own decisions, not of fate.[8] They also reject the concept of "once saved, always saved" (or "eternal security"), instead believing that one must remain faithful until the end to be saved.[9]
Regarding whether non-Witnesses will be "saved", they believe that Jesus has the responsibility of judging such ones, and that no human can judge for themselves who will be saved. Based on their interpretation of Acts 24:15, they believe there will be a resurrection of righteous and unrighteous people. They believe that non-Witnesses alive now may attain salvation if they "begin to serve God".[10][11]
The 'anointed'[edit]
Based on their understanding of scriptures such as Revelation 14:1-4, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God. They, with Jesus, will also perform priestly duties that will bring faithful mankind to perfect health and 'everlasting life'.[12] They believe that most of those are already in heaven, and that the "remnant" at Revelation 12:17 (KJV) refers to those remaining alive on earth who will be immediately resurrected to heaven when they die. The Witnesses understand Jesus’ words at John 3:3—"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"—to apply to the 144,000 who are "born again" as "anointed" sons of God in heaven.[13] They teach that the New Testament, which they refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures, is primarily directed to the 144,000, and by extension, to those associated with them.[14] They believe that the terms "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16), "little flock" (Luke 12:32), "New Jerusalem," and "the bride, the Lamb's wife" (Revelation 21:2,9) in the New Testament also refer to the same group of "anointed" Christians.[15][16][17]
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that being 'anointed' involves a personal revelation by God's spirit which "gives positive assurance of adoption" to the individual alone.[18] Members who claim to be anointed are not given special treatment by other congregation members.[19] However, only those in the anointed class partake of the unleavened bread and wine at the yearly commemoration of Christ's death, or Memorial.
The 'other sheep' and the 'great crowd'[edit]
Watch Tower Society literature states that Jesus' use of the term "other sheep" at John 10:16 was intended to indicate that the majority of his followers were not part of the 144,000 and would have an earthly, rather than heavenly, hope.[20][21] In the resurrection, those who died faithful to God are included in the 'other sheep' and will receive the "resurrection of the righteous" ("just" KJV) mentioned in Acts 24:15.[22] Those who died without faithfully serving God will receive the "resurrection of the ... unrighteous" ("unjust" KJV). They will be given an opportunity to gain God's favor and join Jesus' 'other sheep' and live forever in an earthly paradise.[23][24] Individuals unfavorably judged by God are not resurrected, and are said to be in Gehenna, which they consider to be a metaphor for eternal destruction.[25] Those of the 'other sheep' who are alive today, some of whom survive through Armageddon without needing a resurrection, are referred to as the 'great crowd'.[26][27]
See also[edit]
##Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
##Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/1/00 p. 11 par. 6 Keep Your “Hope of Salvation” Bright!
2.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1989, p. 31 Call on Jehovah’s Name and Get Away Safe! “The Way of Salvation”
3.Jump up ^ "James Urges Clean and Active Worship,", The Watchtower 3/1/83 p. 13, "Faith that does not prompt us to do good works is not genuine and will not result in our salvation."
4.Jump up ^ "Meetings to Help Us Make Disciples", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1979, p. 2.
5.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2006 pp. 28-29 par. 12
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/15/83 p. 12 You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth—But How?
7.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/60 p. 229 Does the Bible Teach What You Believe?
8.Jump up ^ Awake! 5/07 p. 13 Is Your Life Predestined?
9.Jump up ^ You Can Endure to the End The Watchtower October 1, 1999, p. 17.
10.Jump up ^ "Do You Feel That You Are the Only People Who Will Be Saved?".
11.Jump up ^ "Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe That They Are the Only Ones Who Will Be Saved?". The Watchtower: 28. 1 November 2008.
12.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!. Watch Tower Society. p. 200.
13.Jump up ^ "Look to Jehovah for Comfort". The Watchtower: 10. November 1, 1996.
14.Jump up ^ Worldwide Security Under the "Prince of Peace". Watch Tower Society. p. 110.
15.Jump up ^ Survivors Out of All the Nations. Watch Tower Society. p. 65.
16.Jump up ^ Watchtower Publications Index 1930–1985, "CONGREGATION OF GOD (Also called 144,000; Anointed; Body of Christ; Bride of Christ; Chosen Ones; Elect; Holy Nation; Israel of God; Kingdom Class; Little Flock; New Creation; New Nation; Royal House; Royal Priesthood; Sanctuary Class; Sons of Levi; Spirit Begotten; Spiritual Israel; Spiritual Sons)"
17.Jump up ^ Chryssides, George D (2008). Historical Dictionary Of Jehovah's Witnesses. Scarecrow Press. pp. 3, 122,. ISBN 9780810860742.
18.Jump up ^ United In Worship Of The Only True God. Watch Tower Society. pp. 112–113.
19.Jump up ^ The Watchtower: 31. May 1, 2007. "They do not believe that they necessarily have more holy spirit than their companions of the other sheep have; nor do they expect special treatment or claim that their partaking of the emblems places them above the appointed elders in the congregation" Missing or empty |title= (help)
20.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/1/98 p. 20 par. 7 The Other Sheep and the New Covenant
21.Jump up ^ "Awake" 1/8/95 p. 27 Who Go to Heaven?
22.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 2/15/95 p. 11 par. 12 'There Will Be a Resurrection of the Righteous: “Men and women of old who exercised strong faith in Jehovah and his promises and remained faithful to the death were declared righteous by Jehovah on the basis of their faith, and they will without doubt share in the ‘resurrection of the righteous.’
23.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/15/06 p. 6 A Sure Guide to Happiness: “Acts 24:15 ... “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” So even “the unrighteous,” many individuals who did not know and serve Jehovah, will get a future opportunity to gain God’s favor.”
24.Jump up ^ You Can Believe in a Paradise Earth The Watchtower November 15, 2003, p. 4.
25.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 3/15/06 p. 6 The Only Remedy!: “Some committed sins for which there is no forgiveness. They are not in Hades (mankind’s common grave) but in Gehenna, a symbolic place of eternal destruction. (Matthew 23:33)
26.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/95 p. 31 Questions From Readers: “In summary, we might remember “other sheep” as the broader term, encompassing all of God’s servants having the hope of living forever on earth. It includes the more limited category of sheeplike ones today who are being gathered as a “great crowd” with the hope of living right through the impending great tribulation”.
27.Jump up ^ Ankerberg, John (2003). Fast Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses. Harvest House Publisher. pp. 51–53. ISBN 9780736910811.
Bibliography[edit]
##Chryssides, George D. Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2008. See "Salvation," p. 122.
##Penton, M. James. Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2nd ed., 1997. See Chapter 7, "Major Doctrines," pp. 184–210.
  


Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
Christian soteriology






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This page was last modified on 16 April 2015, at 15:19.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_and_salvation
















Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914 (a date they believe was prophesied in Scripture), and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze Russell to be his people in 1919. They also believe the destruction of those who reject their message[1] and thus willfully refuse to obey God[2][3] will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.
The religion's doctrines surrounding 1914 are the legacy of a series of emphatic claims regarding the years 1799,[4] 1874,[4] 1878,[5] 1914,[6] 1918[7] and 1925[8] made in the Watch Tower Society's publications between 1879 and 1924. Claims about the significance of those years, including the presence of Jesus Christ, the beginning of the "last days", the destruction of worldly governments and the earthly resurrection of Jewish patriarchs, were successively abandoned.[9] In 1922 the society's principal journal, Watch Tower, described its chronology as "no stronger than its weakest link", but also claimed the chronological relationships to be "of divine origin and divinely corroborated...in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct"[10] and "indisputable facts",[4] while repudiation of Russell's teachings was described as "equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord".[11]
The Watch Tower Society has stated that its early leaders promoted "incomplete, even inaccurate concepts".[12] The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible are not inspired or infallible.[13][14][15] Witness publications say that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who did not understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established" (NWT) to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during "the time of the end", as mentioned in Daniel 12:4. Jehovah's Witnesses state that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God's Kingdom and that they do not call their core beliefs into question.[16][17][18]


Contents  [hide]
1 Current beliefs 1.1 Presence of Jesus Christ
1.2 Sign of "last days"
1.3 Judgment of religion
2 History of eschatology 2.1 Early expectations (1871–1881)
2.2 Great Pyramid of Giza (1876–1928)
2.3 "The Time Is At Hand" (1881–1918)
2.4 "Millions Now Living Will Never Die!" (1918–1925)
2.5 "Armageddon Immediately Before Us" (1925–1966)
2.6 "Looking Forward to 1975" (1966–1975)
2.7 The "generation of 1914" (1976–present)
3 Controversy 3.1 Fall of Jerusalem
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography

Current beliefs[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach the imminent end of the current world society, or "system of things" by God's judgment, leading to deliverance for the saved. This judgment will begin with false religion, which they identify as the "harlot", Babylon the Great,[19][20] referred to in the Book of Revelation. They apply this designation to all other religions. They do not currently place their expectations on any specific date, but believe that various events will lead up to the end of this "system of things", culminating in Armageddon. Armageddon is understood to include the destruction of all earthly governments by God. After Armageddon, God will extend his heavenly kingdom to include earth.[21][22]
They believe that after Armageddon, based on scriptures such as John 5:28, 29, the dead will gradually be resurrected to a "day of judgment" lasting for a thousand years.[23] This judgment will be based on their actions after resurrection, not on past deeds.[24] At the end of the thousand years a final test will take place when Satan is brought back to mislead perfect mankind.[25] The end result will be a fully tested, glorified human race.[26]
Presence of Jesus Christ[edit]
See also: End time § Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus Christ returned invisibly and began to rule in heaven as king in October 1914. They state that the beginning of Christ's heavenly rule would seem worse initially for mankind because it starts with the casting out of Satan from heaven to the earth, which according to Revelation 12, would bring a brief period of "woe" to mankind.[27] This woe will be reversed when Christ comes to destroy Satan's earthly organization, throwing Satan into the abyss and extending[28] God's kingdom rule over the earth, over which Jesus reigns as God's appointed king. They believe the Greek word parousia (usually translated as "coming") is more accurately understood as an extended invisible "presence", perceived only by a series of "signs".[29]
Witnesses base their beliefs about the significance of 1914 on the Watch Tower Society's interpretation of biblical chronology,[30][31] which is hinged on their assertion that the Babylonian captivity and destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 607 BC.[32] From this, they conclude that Daniel chapter 4 prophesied a period of 2,520 years, from 607 BC until 1914.[33][34] They equate this period with the "Gentile Times" or "the appointed times of the nations," a phrase taken from Luke 21:24. They believe that when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, the line of kings descended from David was interrupted, and that God's throne was "trampled on" from then until Jesus began ruling in October 1914.[35] Secular historians date the event of Jerusalem's destruction to within a year of 587 BC. The Witnesses' alternative chronology produces a 20-year gap between the reigns of Neo-Babylonian Kings Amel-Marduk (rule ended 560 BC) and Nabonidus (rule began 555 BC) in addition to the intervening reigns of Neriglissar and Labashi-Marduk, despite the availability of contiguous cuneiform records.[36]
They teach that after the war of Armageddon, Jesus will rule over earth as king for 1000 years after which he will hand all authority back to Jehovah.[37][38]
Sign of "last days"[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that since October 1914, humanity has been living in a period of intense increased trouble known as "the last days", marked by war, disease, famine, earthquakes, and a progressive degeneration of morality.[39][40] They also believe their preaching is part of the sign, often alluding to the text of Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come." (MKJV)[41][42] They claim that various calamities in the modern world constitute proof of these beliefs, such as the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Spanish flu epidemic in May 1918, the onset of World War II in 1939, and more recently, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.[43][44][45]
Judgment of religion[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that in 1918, Christ judged all world religions claiming to be Christian,[46] and that after a period of eighteen months, among all groups and religions claiming to represent Christ,[47] only the "Bible Students" (from which Jehovah's Witnesses developed) met God's approval.[48] Watch Tower Society publications claim that the world's other religions have misrepresented God, and filled the world with hatred.[49] 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"[49][50][51]
During the final great tribulation, all other religions will be destroyed by "crazed" member governments of the United Nations, acting under the direction of Jehovah.[52][53] Witness publications identify the United Nations as the "beast" to whom the "ten kings" of Revelation 17:12,13 give their "power and authority."[54]
History of eschatology[edit]



Herald of the Morning published by Nelson H. Barbour and Charles Taze Russell in 1878
Watch Tower Society eschatological teachings are based on the earliest writings of Charles Taze Russell, but have undergone significant changes since then. Many of the changes reflect altered views on the significance of the dates 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925.
Early expectations (1871–1881)[edit]
The Second Adventists affiliated with Nelson H. Barbour expected a visible and dramatic return of Christ in 1873,[55] and later in 1874.[56] They agreed with other Adventist groups that the "time of the end" (also called the "last days") had started in 1799.[57] Soon after the 1874 disappointment, Barbour's group decided Christ had returned to the earth in 1874, but invisibly. Writing in his journal The Herald of the Morning in 1875, Barbour outlined his eschatological views and connected the years 1874, 1878, 1881, and 1914. The "harvest" was to run from 1874 to the spring of 1878, concluding with "the translation of the living saints into the air." 1881 would mark the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and the period from 1881 until 1914 would see the installation of God's kingdom on earth. Barbour wrote that in the 40 years from 1874 to 1914 "the 'time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation;' will be fulfilled. And in the mean time, the kingdom of God will be set up, 'break in pieces, and consume all these [Gentile] kingdoms,' 'and the stone become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth,' and usher in glory of the millennial age".[5]
Russell became associated with Barbour in 1876 and accepted Barbour's eschatological understanding.[58][59] In 1877, Barbour and Russell jointly issued the book Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, which reiterated Barbour's earlier teachings.[60] It proclaimed Christ's invisible return in 1874,[61] the resurrection of the saints in 1875,[62] and predicted the end of the "harvest" and a rapture of the saints to heaven for 1878[63] and the final end of "the day of wrath" in 1914.[64] 1874 was considered the end of 6000 years of human history and the beginning of judgment by Christ.[65]
The selection of 1878 as the year of the rapture of the saints was based on the application of parallel dispensations, which equated the 3½-year period of Christ's ministry with a similar "harvest" period following his parousia. When the rapture failed to occur, Russell admitted they "felt somewhat disappointed", but decided there would be an additional 3½-year period "making the harvest seven years long".[66] Successive issues of The Herald of the Morning identified the autumn of 1881 as the end of the "Harvest" and the likely time for the translation of the Church to heaven.[67][68][69] Russell split from Barbour over doctrinal differences and began publishing Zion's Watch Tower in July 1879.
Great Pyramid of Giza (1876–1928)[edit]



 The monument erected by the Watch Tower Society at C.T. Russell's grave in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania modeled after the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Influenced by the pyramidology theories of John Taylor and Charles Piazzi Smyth, Nelson Barbour and Charles Russell taught that the Great Pyramid of Giza contained prophetic measurements in "pyramid inches" that pointed to both 1874 and 1914. Russell viewed the Great Pyramid as "God's Stone Witness and Prophet".[70][71] Smyth reviewed Russell's manuscript on the Great Pyramid before publication and Russell credited him and Scottish writer Robert Menzies for the view "that the Great Pyramid is Jehovah's 'Witness', and that it was as important a witness to divine truth as to natural science."[72][73] Prophetic dates derived from the measurements inside the Great Pyramid were seen as complementary to biblical interpretations. Russell included the Great Pyramid as part of his film and color slide production The Photo-Drama of Creation in 1914, suggesting that the Great Pyramid was built by the Old Testament king-priest Melchizedek.[74] A special edition of the first volume of Studies in the Scriptures was also published, which was re-titled The Divine Plan of the Ages and the Corroborative Testimony of the Great Pyramid.[75] In accordance with Russell's wishes, a 7-foot (2.1 m) high replica of a pyramid was erected at his gravesite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its capstone "patterned after the capstone of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, symbolic of the Christ."[76][77][78]



 Early Watch Tower publications cited "the testimony of the Great Pyramid" for expectations for 1910 and 1914.
Russell's interpretations of the Great Pyramid were supported by the writings of John and Morton Edgar who were prominent members of his movement.[79][80][81] Russell had first stated that 1874 was derived from a measurement of 3416 pyramid inches,[82] but the measurement was revised in the 1910 edition to 3,457 inches (87.8 m) to point to 1915.[83] The Edgars claimed that the revision in measurement and change in date was a result of errors made by Smyth.[84] In the early 1920s, the significance of the pyramidological predictions for 1914 were re-interpreted to mean that "the old evil order began to pass away in 1914."[85][86] In 1924, an issue of Golden Age referred to the Great Pyramid as "the Scientific Bible" and added that measurements on the Grand Gallery inside the Great Pyramid confirmed the dates 1874, 1914 and 1925.[87] Similarly, the 1924 publication The Way to Paradise refers to the Great Pyramid as "the Bible in Stone" and concludes:

It is quite probable that Shem, son of Noah, a faithful servant of God, was in charge of its construction. In it have been discovered some of the deepest secrets of geometrical, geographical, astronomical, and mathematical science. The pyramid also outlines in its own peculiar way the same plan of God that we find in the Bible, and it dated beforehand some of the most notable events that have occurred in the history of mankind. It gives the date of the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, and the date of birth and death of Jesus. It gives the date of the French revolution as 1789, and the great World War as 1914, besides many more. It was built over five hundred years before Moses wrote any part of the Bible. It is so far in advance of the wisdom of that day that no man could have been the architect. Its harmony with the Bible teachings prove that God designed it.[88]
In 1928, the belief that the Great Pyramid contained a prophetic blueprint of biblical chronology was rejected, and the Pyramid was seen as built "under the direction of Satan the Devil."[89][90]
"The Time Is At Hand" (1881–1918)[edit]
Some of Barbour's eschatology was retained by Russell after they parted company. Basing his interpretations on a concept of parallel "dispensations", Russell taught that while Jesus was invisibly present on earth he was also made its king in 1878. He believed God had rejected the "nominal Church" (considered to be "Babylon the Great") in 1878.[91] Russell also taught that in 1878 Christ resurrected all the "dead in Christ" as spirit beings to be with him on earth awaiting a future glorification to heaven. (The remainder of the 144,000 who would die after 1878 would each be resurrected at the time of the their death.) Together with Christ on earth, these invisible resurrected spirit beings were said to be engaged in directing a harvest work (running from 1874–1914) to gather the remainder of those with the heavenly calling.[92] Russell later moderated his view about the significance of 1881, stating that the "door" for the gathering of the Bride of Christ "stands ajar."[93]



 In 1889, Charles Taze Russell published his interpretation of eschatology and chronology based on the idea of parallel "dispensations".
He wrote that the culmination of Armageddon would occur in 1914, preceded by the gathering of all the saints (both resurrected and living) to heaven. Based on measurements from the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, this "passing beyond the vail" or rapture was expected "before the close of A.D. 1910."[94][95] Russell enumerated seven expectations for 1914 in The Time is at Hand:
1.God's kingdom would take full control of earth "on the ruins of present institutions";
2.Christ would be present as earth's new ruler;
3.The last of the "royal priesthood, the body of Christ" would be glorified with Christ;
4.Jerusalem would no longer "be trodden down by the Gentiles";
5."Israel's blindness will begin to be turned away";
6.The great "time of trouble" would reach its culmination of worldwide anarchy;
7.God's Kingdom would "smite and crush the Gentile image—and fully consume the power of these kings".[96]
In 1911 Russell wrote that October 1914 would witness the "full end" of Babylon, or nominal Christianity, "utterly destroyed as a system".[97] At first, the hopes for 1914 were stretched to "near the end of A.D. 1915."[98] A few months before his death in October 1916, Russell wrote: "We believe that the dates have proven to be quite right. We believe that Gentile Times have ended. ... The Lord did not say that the Church would all be glorified by 1914. We merely inferred it, and, evidently, erred."[99] He interpreted the war in Europe to be the first of three phases of Armageddon[100] and the destruction of Christendom as represented in the European monarchies ruling by Divine Right[original research?] to take place in 1918.[7]
Following Russell's lead, the book The Finished Mystery[101] emphasized events for 1918. The destruction of the churches of Christendom and the deaths of "church members by the millions" was expected in 1918.[102][103] The Finished Mystery proposed the spring of 1918 for the glorification of the Church[104] and suggested that it may occur on the day of Passover in that year. First printings of The Finished Mystery predicted the end of the World War "some time about October 1, 1917," but this was changed in subsequent editions.[105][106] It also predicted the destruction of governments in 1920.[107]
"Millions Now Living Will Never Die!" (1918–1925)[edit]
The predictions for 1920 were discarded before that year arrived, in favor of a new chronology. In 1918-1919, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, second president of the Watch Tower Society, inaugurated a worldwide lecture series entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die!", later reproduced in booklet form.[108] It provided a re-interpretation of the significance of the year 1914 (now seen as the beginning of the "last days"). It also included new predictions for 1925 including the resurrection of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and other Old Testament personages (referred to as "princes").[109][110][111] Their return would mark the beginning of a new order, from which time millions of people alive at that time would be able to live forever.[8] Newspaper advertisements for the "Millions" lecture localized the claim, with a typical declaration in a Marion, Ohio newspaper reading: "It will be conclusively proved... that thousands now living in Marion and vicinity will never die."[112]
The book stated that 1925 would be among the dates "stamped with God's approval" and The Watch Tower described the evidence for the chronology surrounding 1925 as stronger than that for 1914,[113][114] but acknowledged disappointments surrounding earlier predictions and cautioned that "all that some expect to see in 1925 may not transpire that year", and that the expectations could be "a means of testing and sifting."[115] When 1925 also passed uneventfully, meeting attendance among the Bible Students dropped dramatically in some congregations[116] and attendance at the annual Memorial fell from 90,434 to 17,380 between 1925 and 1928.[117][118][119][120]
"Armageddon Immediately Before Us" (1925–1966)[edit]



Beth Sarim (House of the Princes), built in San Diego, California in 1929 in anticipation of resurrected Old Testament "princes", was used by Watch Tower Society president Judge Rutherford as a winter home.
From 1925 until 1933, the Watch Tower Society, under Rutherford's leadership, radically changed much of its chronologies after the failure of these eschatological expectations.[121][122] In March 1925, the Watch Tower declared that Christ had been enthroned as king in heaven in 1914, not 1878.[123] A 1927 Watch Tower transferred the timing of the resurrection of the "saints" from 1878 to 1918,[124] explaining that they would be raised as spirit creatures to heavenly life to be with Christ there.[125] The belief that Christ returned invisibly in 1874 was maintained until the early 1930s.[126] Christ's Second Advent was newly explained as a "turning of attention" to the earth, with Christ remaining in heaven—a departure from the earlier teaching of a literal return to earth.[127] The judgment of "Babylon the Great" was changed from 1878 to 1919 with the publication of the book Light in 1930.[128] By 1933, it was taught that Christ had returned invisibly in 1914 and the "last days" had also begun then.[129][130] The teaching that the "great tribulation" had begun in 1914 and was "cut short" in 1918—to be resumed at Armageddon—was discarded in 1969.[131]
In 1930, Rutherford took up residence in a "Spanish mansion"[132][133] in California which he called Beth Sarim, meaning, House of the Princes. It was held in trust for the ancient biblical "princes" who were expected to be resurrected immediately prior to Armageddon.[134][135] Rutherford spent the winter months at Beth Sarim and died there in January, 1942. The belief that Old Testament "princes" would be resurrected before Armageddon was abandoned in 1950.[136]
In the mid-1930s and early 1940s, Watch Tower Society publications placed emphasis on the imminence of Armageddon, said to be "months" away[137][138] and "immediately before us."[139] Publications also urged converts to remain single and childless because it was "immediately before Armageddon."[140][141] Young Witnesses were counseled in 1943: "It is better and wiser for those of the Lord's 'other sheep' who hope to survive Armageddon and be given the divine mandate to fill the earth with a righteous offspring to defer matters until after the tribulation and destruction of Armageddon is past."[142] This view was discarded in 1950.[143][144][145]
"Looking Forward to 1975" (1966–1975)[edit]



 Convention badge from circuit assembly, circa 1970
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Witnesses were instructed by means of articles in their literature[146][147][148] and at their assemblies that Armageddon and Christ's thousand-year millennial reign could begin by 1975. Strong statements for 1975 appeared, sometimes accompanied with cautionary remarks.[149] The booklet The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years, which was the text of the keynote address to major assemblies of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the world in 1969,[150] stated about that promised reign (which would begin at "God's fixed time"):

For Godfearing students of the Holy Bible containing both the ancient Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures, there is a more important millennium that compels their attention. That is the seventh millennium ... the seventh millennium of man's existence here on earth ... Does this fact have any bearing on the approach of the peace of a thousand years or of a millennium? Very apparently Yes! ... More recently earnest researchers of the Holy Bible have made a recheck of its chronology. According to their calculations the six millenniums of mankind's life on earth would end in the mid-seventies. Thus the seventh millennium from man's creation by Jehovah God would begin within less than ten years.
Apart from the global change that present-day world conditions indicate is fast getting near, the arrival of the seventh millennium of man's existence on earth suggests a gladsome change for war-stricken humankind ... In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be "Lord even of the sabbath day," his thousand-year reign would have to be the seventh in a series of thousand-year periods or millenniums. (Matthew 12:8, AV) Thus it would be a sabbatic reign ... Would not, then, the end of six millenniums of mankind's laborious enslavement under Satan the Devil be the fitting time for Jehovah God to usher in a Sabbath millennium for all his human creatures? Yes, indeed! And his King Jesus Christ will be Lord of that Sabbath.[151]
In 1968, a Watchtower article asked: "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?":

Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man's existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ. If these two periods run parallel with each other as to the calendar year, it will not be by mere chance or accident but will be according to Jehovah's loving and timely purposes.[152]
Young Witnesses were advised in 1969 to avoid careers requiring lengthy periods of schooling[153] and a 1974 issue of the Kingdom Ministry newsletter commended Witnesses who had sold their homes and property to engage in full-time preaching, adding: "Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end."[154]
In a lecture[155] in early 1975, then vice president Fred Franz selected sundown on September 5, 1975 as the end of 6000 years of human history, but cautioned that although the prophecies "could happen" by then, it looked improbable.[156][157][158][159] After 1975 passed without any sign of the expected paradise, The Watchtower described as "unwise" the actions of some Witnesses who had made radical changes in their lives, commenting: "It may be that some who have been serving God have planned their lives according to a mistaken view of just what was to happen on a certain date or in a certain year. They may have, for this reason, put off or neglected things that they otherwise would have cared for ... But it is not advisable for us to set our sights on a certain date, neglecting everyday things we would ordinarily care for as Christians, such as things that we and our families really need."[160] In 1979, in a lecture entitled "Choosing the Best Way of Life", the Watch Tower Society acknowledged responsibility for much of the disappointment around 1975.[161] The following year, a Watchtower article admitted that the leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses had erred in "setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth", and that the Life Everlasting book (1966) had led to "considerable expectation" for 1975, with subsequent statements "that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility." The article added, "It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated".[162]
Baptism statistics compared with the number of those reporting preaching for 1976-1980 showed that many became inactive during that period.[163]
The "generation of 1914" (1976–present)[edit]


History of Eschatological Doctrine

Last Days begin
Start of Christ's Presence
Christ made King
Resurrection of 144,000
Judgment of Religion
Separating Sheep & Goats
Great Tribulation
1879–1920 1799 1874 1878 during Millenium 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920
1920–1923 1925
1923–1925 during Christ's presence
1925–1927 1914 1878 1878 within generation of 1914
1927–1930 1918
1930–1933 1919
1933–1966 1914
1966–1975 1975?
1975–1995 within generation of 1914
1995–present during Great Tribulation imminent
After the passing of 1975, the Watch Tower Society continued to emphasize the teaching that God would execute his judgment on humankind before the generation of people who had witnessed the events of 1914 had all died.[164][165][166][167] This teaching was based on an interpretation of Matthew 24:34 ("Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur"), with the term "a generation" said to refer "beyond question" to a generation living in a given period.[168]
The term had been used with regard to the nearness of Armageddon from the 1940s, when the view was that "a generation" covered a period of about 30 to 40 years.[169] As the 40-year deadline passed without Armageddon occurring, the definition of "a generation" underwent a series of changes: in 1952 it was said for the first time to mean an entire lifetime, possibly 80 years or more;[169][170] in 1968 it was applied to those who had been at least 15 years old in 1914, who were considered to be "old enough to witness with understanding what took place when the 'last days' began" (italics theirs).[171] In 1980 the starting date for that "generation" was brought into the 20th century when the term was applied to those who had been born in 1904 and therefore aged 10 and able simply "to observe" when World War I had begun. The Watchtower commented: "The fact that their number is dwindling is one more indication that "the conclusion of the system of things" is moving fast toward its end."[169][172]
From 1982 to 1995, the inside cover of Awake! magazine included, in its mission statement, a reference to the "generation of 1914", alluding to "the Creator's promise ... of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away." In 1985, Witnesses were reminded: "The 1914 generation is well into the evening of its existence, thus allowing only little time for this prophecy yet to be fulfilled.".[173]
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz claimed members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses debated replacing the doctrine with a markedly different interpretation and that in 1980 Albert Schroeder, Karl Klein and Grant Suiter proposed moving the beginning of the "generation" to the year 1957, to coincide with the year Sputnik was launched. He said the proposal was rejected by the rest of the Governing Body.[174]
Despite its earlier description as being "beyond question", the "generation of 1914" teaching was discarded in 1995. Rather than a literal lifespan of 70 to 80 years, the definition of "generation" was changed to "contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics," without reference to any specific amount of time.[175][176][177] This class of people was described as "the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ's presence but fail to mend their ways".[178] Mention of 1914 was dropped from Awake! magazine's mission statement as of November 8, 1995.[169] The Watchtower insisted, however, that Armageddon was still imminent, asking: "Does our more precise viewpoint on 'this generation' mean that Armageddon is further away than we had thought? Not at all!"[179]
In 2008 the "generation" teaching was again altered, and the term was used to refer to the "anointed" believers, some of whom would still be alive on earth when the great tribulation begins.[180] This was a return to a belief previously held between 1927 [181] and 1950 when the teaching of the "generation of 1914" not passing away was adopted.[182]
In 2010, the teaching of the "generation" was modified again, to refer to a new generation of "anointed" whose lives "overlap" with "the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914."[183]

Controversy[edit]
Fall of Jerusalem[edit]
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses and Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)
Jehovah's Witnesses assert that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 607 BC and completely uninhabited for exactly seventy years. This date is critical to their selection of October 1914 for the arrival of Christ in kingly power—2520 years after October 607 BC.[184] Non-Witness scholars do not support 607 BC for the event; most scholars date the destruction of Jerusalem to within a year of 587 BC, twenty years later.[185] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that periods of seventy years mentioned in the books of Jeremiah and Daniel refer to the Babylonian exile of Jews. They also believe that the gathering of Jews in Jerusalem, shortly after their return from Babylon, officially ended the exile in Jewish month of Tishrei (Ezra 3:1). According to the Watch Tower Society, October 607 BC is derived by counting back seventy years from Tishrei of 537 BC, based on their belief that Cyrus' decree to release the Jews during his first regnal year "may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4–5, 537 B.C."[186][187] Non-Witness sources assign the return to either 538 BC or 537 BC.[188][189][190][191][192]
In The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ's Return, Carl O. Jonsson, a former Witness, presents eighteen lines of evidence to support the traditional view of neo-Babylonian chronology. He accuses the Watch Tower Society of deliberately misquoting sources in an effort to bolster their position.[193] The Watch Tower Society claims that biblical chronology is not always compatible with secular sources, and that the Bible is superior. It claims that secular historians make conclusions about 587 BC based on incorrect or inconsistent historical records, but accepts those sources that identify Cyrus' capture of Babylon in 539 BC, claiming it has no evidence of being inconsistent and hence can be used as a pivotal date.[186][194][195]
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.[196] Lester L. Grabbe, professor of theology 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."[197]
See also[edit]
##Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The House-to-House Ministry--Why Important Now?". The Watchtower: 5–6. July 15, 2008.
2.Jump up ^ You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 155.
3.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 6.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c The Watchtower, March 1, 1922, page 73, "The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the 'time of the end' began in 1799; that the Lord's second presence began in 1874."
5.^ Jump up to: a b "Our Faith" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 52. September 1875.
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1894, p. 1677: "We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble."
7.^ Jump up to: a b September 1, 1916 The Watchtower, pages 264-265
8.^ Jump up to: a b Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920, page 97, "Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925. Then, based upon the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die."
9.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
10.Jump up ^ "The Strong Cable of Chronology", Watch Tower, July 15, 1922, page 217, "The chronology of present truth is, to begin with, a string of dates... Thus far it is a chain, and no stronger than its weakest link. There exist, however, well established relationships among the dates of present-truth chronology. These internal connections of the dates impart a much greater strength than can be found in other [secular, archeological] chronologies. Some of them are of so remarkable a character as clearly to indicate that this chronology is not of man, but of God. Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct."
11.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1922, page 132, "To abandon or repudiate the Lord's chosen instrument means to abandon or repudiate the Lord himself, upon the principle that he who rejects the servant sent by the Master thereby rejects the Master. ... Brother Russell was the Lord's servant. Then to repudiate him and his work is equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord, upon the principle heretofore announced."
12.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (Watch Tower Society, 1993), chapter 10.
13.Jump up ^ Revelation – It's Grand Climax, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, page 9.
14.Jump up ^ "False Prophets". Reasoning From the Scriptures. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. p. 137.
15.Jump up ^ "To Whom Shall We Go but Jesus Christ?". Watchtower: 23. March 1, 1979. "the “faithful and discreet slave” has alerted all of God’s people to the sign of the times indicating the nearness of God’s Kingdom rule. In this regard, however, it must be observed that this “faithful and discreet slave” was never inspired, never perfect. Those writings by certain members of the “slave” class that came to form the Christian part of God’s Word were inspired and infallible [the bible], but that is not true of other writings since."
16.Jump up ^ Why have there been changes over the years in the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses?,"Jehovah's Witnesses", Reasoning From the Scriptures, ©1989, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, page 205
17.Jump up ^ "Allow No Place for the Devil!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1986, page 19
18.Jump up ^ "Keep in Step With Jehovah’s Organization", Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 18.
19.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand 1988, pages 235-236 pars. 2-3 "Judging the Infamous Harlot", © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
20.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pp. 205-206.
21.Jump up ^ The Watchtower: 530–531. September 1, 1959. Missing or empty |title= (help)
22.Jump up ^ "Armageddon—A Happy Beginning". The Watchtower: 4–6. December 1, 2005.
23.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2006, p 6.
24.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988,p. 788.
25.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 2005, p. 20.
26.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, August 15, 2006, p. 31
27.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 1, 1996, p6.
28.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1999, p. 62.
29.Jump up ^ "Jesus' Coming or Jesus' Presence—Which?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1996, p. 12.
30.Jump up ^ All Scripture is Inspired of God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, pp. 278-284
31.Jump up ^ "Why do Jehovah's Witnesses say that God's Kingdom was established in 1914?", Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 95-96.
32.Jump up ^ What Does the Bible Really Teach?, page 216, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society
33.Jump up ^ Gruss, Edmond C. (1972). The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co. pp. 20–58. ISBN 0-87552-306-4.
34.Jump up ^ "Let Your Kingdom Come", Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1981, pp. 186-189 Appendix to Chapter 14.
35.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, pp. 217-218.
36.Jump up ^ "Let Your Kingdom Come", Appendix, page 187: "Business tablets: Thousands of contemporary Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets have been found that record simple business transactions, stating the year of the Babylonian king when the transaction occurred. Tablets of this sort have been found for all the years of reign for the known Neo-Babylonian kings in the accepted chronology of the period.", Watchtower Bible & Tract Society
37.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, 15 January 2004, p. 16
38.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy!, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 2006, pp. 94,95.
39.Jump up ^ "Do You Recognize the Sign of Jesus' Presence?". The Watchtower (Watch Tower Society): 4. October 1, 2005.
40.Jump up ^ "The Visible Part of God’s Organization". The Watchtower: 24. May 1, 1981. "the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations,” had ended in October of 1914. (Luke 21:24) Since then the old world has been in its “time of the end” or in its “last days.”"
41.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 2000, p11.
42.Jump up ^ Awake!, October 22, 1993, p. 11.
43.Jump up ^ The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1981, pg 86.
44.Jump up ^ True Peace and Security- How Can You Find It?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1986, pp 81-84.
45.Jump up ^ "A Century of Violence", Awake!, May 8, 2002, p. 8.
46.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 56.
47.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pp. 259-260.
48.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 15, 2008, p. 24.
49.^ Jump up to: a b "Babylon the Great Indicted", The Watchtower, April 15, 1989, page 23.
50.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 220.
51.Jump up ^ "Babylon the Great—Fallen and Judged", The Watchtower, May 1, 1989, pages 3-7.
52.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, page 256 par. 17.
53.Jump up ^ "No Peace for the False Messengers!" The Watchtower, May 1, 1997, pp. 17-18 par. 17: "Shortly, 'crazed' members of the UN will be maneuvered by Jehovah to turn on false religion, as described at Revelation 17:16 ... This will mark the start of the great tribulation"
54.Jump up ^ "Deliverance at the Revelation of Jesus Christ", The Watchtower, May 1, 1993, p. 24.
55.Jump up ^ Evidences for the Coming of the Lord in 1873: or the Midnight Cry, N.H. Barbour (1871). Available online at: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/barbour%20midnight%20cry.htm
56.Jump up ^ The Midnight Cry and Herald of the Morning, March 1874. See Section under "Our Faith."
57.Jump up ^ Present Truth, Or Meat in Due Season by Jonas Wendell, pp. 34-35
58.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell (April 1880). "From and To The Wedding". Zion's Watch Tower: 2. "The writer, among many others now interested, was sound asleep, in profound ignorance of the cry, etc., until 1876, when being awakened he trimmed his lamp (for it is still very early in the morning.) It showed him clearly that the Bridegroom had come and that he is living "in the days of the Son of Man"."
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower reprints, "Harvest Gatherings and Siftings", July 15, 1906, page 3822.
60.Jump up ^ Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World by N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell (1877). Text available online at: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/3worlds.pdf Scan of book in PDF format
61.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, p. 175
62.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, pp. 104-108
63.Jump up ^ See pages 68, 89-93, 124, 125-126, 143 of Three Worlds.
64.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, p. 189: "the 'times of the Gentiles,' reach from B.C. 606 to A.D. 1914, or forty years beyond 1874. And the time of trouble, conquest of the nations, and events connected with the day of wrath, have only ample time, during the balance of this forty years, for their fulfillment."
65.Jump up ^ "The Second Hand in the Timepiece of God" (PDF). The Golden Age: 412–413. March 27, 1935.
66.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell (July 1878). "The Prospect" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 11–12.
67.Jump up ^ "Bible Theology" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 22. August 1878. "...showing that we are now in the last half of the 'harvest' of the gospel age; and that it will terminate in A.D. 1881."
68.Jump up ^ "Harmony of the Scriptures" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 52. October 1878. "Hence, the 'real rising again of Israel' can not begin until the autumn of 1881, at which date, the presumption is, that the gospel church will be taken away to meet the Lord."
69.Jump up ^ "Book of Revelation: Coming Time of Trouble" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 6. January 1879. "And from that time, or the autumn of 1881, the 91st Ps[alm]: 'He shall give his angels charge over thee,' etc., will begin to have its fulfillment. From that time onward, we believe no one of the company of the overcomers need die, even though they reach that point tottering, as it were on the verge of the grave."
70.Jump up ^ "Herald of the Morning". January 1876.
71.Jump up ^ C.T.Russell (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. pp. 309–376. ISBN 0-9728243-2-4.
72.Jump up ^ Russell (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. ISBN 0-9728243-2-4. (p. 320)
73.Jump up ^ Joseph Seiss' book A Miracle in Stone was also influential for Russell.
74.Jump up ^ Photo Drama of Creation, p. 25. Video of Russell discussing the Great Pyramid
75.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell (1913). The Divine Plan of the Ages and the Corroborative Testimony of the Great Pyramid (PDF). Watchtower. (Google Books Version)
76.Jump up ^ Program of the 1921 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: "The Pyramid monument erected at the grave of Brother Russell was sketched by Brother J.A. Bohnet and approved by Brother Russell several years ago. It was his desire that such a monument be erected on this lot and he set about to procure the materials before his death. After Brother Russell's death, Brother Rutherford, learning that Brother Russell had ordered the erection of this monument asked Brother Bohnet to proceed at once to get the material and let the contract for its construction and erection."
77.Jump up ^ 1919 Bible Student Convention Souvenir Booklet, pp. 6-7.
78.Jump up ^ [1]
79.Jump up ^ John Romer (2007). The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited. Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-521-87166-2.
80.Jump up ^ The Edgars' 2 volume work Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers was advertised and sold in the The Watchtower (August 1, 1910 Watch Tower Reprints, p. 4658; October 15, 1913 The Watchtower, page 306, Reprints p. 5336). Research by the Edgars on the Great Pyramid was published in the November 15, 1904 Watch Tower, Reprints, p. 3459, the June 15, 1905 Watch Tower, Reprints, p. 3574 and the June 1, 1910 The Watchtower, Reprints, p. 4621. John Edgar was named to be on the editorial committee for the Watch Tower magazine in the December 1, 1916 The Watchtower, (Reprints p. 5999), but had died before Russell. Research by Morton Edgar was published in the August 15, 1923 The Watchtower, pp. 253-254, the December 31, 1924 Golden Age, pp. 209-211 and on pp. 163, 355, 357 of the 1923 The Watchtower. Morton Edgar explained the spiritual meaning of the Great Pyramid in "God's Plan of Salvation in the Great Pyramid," a lecture which was published in the 1911 Bible Students Convention Report
81.Jump up ^ Morton Edgar, on page 151 of the 1924 edition of the second volume of Great Pyramid Passages, refers to Judge Rutherford's booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die as a "wonderful message of life."
82.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1904 edition—Millennial Dawn, vol 3) p.342
83.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (copyright 1891) (Studies In The Scriptures, vol. 3, 1910 edition) p.342
84.Jump up ^ Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers (1913), volume 2: "Professor C. Piazzi Smyth very properly says, `no two human measures ever agree exactly.'" (Ibid p.1) According to the Edgars, Professor Smyth (from whom Russell gained his information) had not personally measured this passage since it was blocked. It had been roughly measured in 1837 by Col Howard Vyse, but the Edgars personally measured "the length of this passage seven times" and ended up with seven different measurements, though within a few inches. (Ibid p.8 ) In answering a question about different measurements of the pyramid, The Watchtower stated "that Prof. Smyth's interest centered in the upper chambers of the Pyramid ... Much less care and precision [were] manifested in his dealings with all other parts". (The Watchtower November 1904 p. 326 "The Great Pyramid Measurements")
85.Jump up ^ Edgar (1924). Great Pyramid Passages Volume II (PDF). p. 72. "For many years students of the Word believed that the foretold destruction of "Babylon the Great" would begin in 1914- 1915 AD., the date marked by the upper terminal of the Grand Gallery. Nor have their expectations been disappointed; for although the "Great Time of Trouble" covers a longer period than was thought possible, this trouble which is to end Christendom is manifestly now in progress; and it began precisely at the date expected. Beginning with 1914 A.D. in the great World War in which most of the mightiest 'Christian' nations were actively engaged, Christendom, called in the Scriptures Babylon the Great, received a blow from which it can never recover. The old evil order began to pass away in 1914 A.D."
86.Jump up ^ Edgar (1924). The Great Pyramid: Its Symbolism, Science and Prophecy (PDF). p. 119.
87.Jump up ^ "Golden Age" (PDF). December 31, 1924. pp. 207, 222.
88.Jump up ^ The Way to Paradise, pp. 156-158
89.Jump up ^ The last favorable reference to the Great Pyramid in Watch Tower Society publications appears in The Watchtower, the April 15, 1928, p. 125
90.Jump up ^ Pyramidology was first rejected in the November 15, 1928 Watchtower, p 344: "It is more reasonable to conclude that the great pyramid of Gizeh, as well as the other pyramids thereabout, also the sphinx, were built by the rulers of Egypt and under the direction of Satan the Devil...The Devil, by the use of the descendants of Ham, set up Egypt, or the land of Ham, as the first great world power. Then Satan put his knowledge in dead stone, which may be called Satan's Bible, and not God's stone witness. In erecting the pyramid, of course, Satan would put in it some truth, because that is his method of practising fraud and deceit."
91.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, April 1883. Reprints pp. 474-5: "This spuing out, or casting off, of the nominal church as an organization in 1878, we then understood, and still proclaim, to be the date of the commencement of Babylon's fall..."
92.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1890), Volume 3 of Millennial Dawn, later retitled Studies in the Scriptures, p. 305-308.
93.Jump up ^ "Questions of Interest: The Gradual End of Gospel Favor" (PDF). Watch Tower: 190. June 15, 1911. "Our understanding is that the open or general 'call' of this age to kingdom honors ceased in October, 1881....we make a distinction between the end of the 'call' and the closing of the 'door'; and believe that the door into the kingdom class is not yet closed; that it stands ajar for a time..."
94.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come, p. 364: "this date, 1910, indicated by the pyramid ... we may accept as correct the testimony of the great pyramid, that the last members of the body or bride' of Christ will have been tested and accepted and will have passed beyond the vail before the close of A.D. 1910."
95.Jump up ^ The New Creation, p.579: "According to our expectations the stress of the great time of trouble will be on us soon, somewhere between 1910 and 1912—culminating with the end of the 'Times of the Gentiles,' October, 1914." (Later editions may read differently)
96.Jump up ^ The Time is at Hand, pages 76-78. Post 1914 editions read differently--1917 edition.
97.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 15, 1911, page 190.
98.Jump up ^ The Time is at Hand, 1915 ed., p. 99: "In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth, that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished near the end of A.D. 1915. Then the prayer of the church, ever since her Lord took his departure - 'Thy kingdom come' - will be answered; and under that wise and just administration, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Later editions have 1914 instead of 1915)
99.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". April 15, 1916. pp. 126–127.
100.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1916: "Our eyes of understanding should discern clearly the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty now in progress."
101.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery from Google Book Search. Published in 1917 by the Watch Tower Society. It was considered to be volume 7 of Studies in the Scriptures. PDF version of The Finished Mystery. Later editions read differently.
102.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917, Page 485: "Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of 'Christianity.'"
103.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917,Pages 398-9: "The people who are the strength of Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period beginning in 1918 A.D. A third part are 'burned with fire in the midst of the city.' Fire symbolizes destruction ... After 1918 the people supporting churchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents, by the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the Word of God among them."
104.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917, Page 64. Page 177
105.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery (1917 edition) (PDF). 1917. p. 367.
106.Jump up ^ W.F. Hudgings (member of the Board of Directors for the Watch Tower Society) (February 3, 1919). "Why I Accept the Seventh Volume". 1919 Souvenir IBSA Convention: 47. "There is no more reason why we should reject the Seventh Volume because of some statements there about the ending of the war in October, 1917, which did not come true, than there is that we should throw Volume Two away because we weren't all glorified in October, 1914"
107.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917 edition, p.258.258. (This date is changed in later editions.)
108.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". December 15, 1921. p. 379.
109.Jump up ^ M. James Penton (1985). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
110.Jump up ^ "New Date For Millennium: Russellites Now See It Coming on Earth in 1925" (PDF). New York Times. June 2, 1919.
111.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford (1920). Millions Now Living Will Never Die! (PDF). International Bible Students Association. pp. 89–90. ISBN 1-4116-2898-5. (Page 89 from Google Book Version)
112.Jump up ^ The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio, April 9, 1921. The Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport, Connecticut, December 4, 1920. Scans available at News Clippings from the "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" Campaign (1919-1925)
113.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1922, p. 262, "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914."
114.Jump up ^ The Watchtower May 15, 1922, p. 147, 150, "We have no doubt whatever in regard to the chronology relating to the dates of 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925 ... There can be no more question about 1925 than there was about 1914."
115.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1922, p. 150, "Noting the date marked so prominently, it is very easy for the finite mind to conclude that all the work to be done must center about it, and thus many are inclined to anticipate more than has been really foretold. Thus it was in 1844, in 1874, in 1878 as well as in 1914 and 1918. Looking back we can now easily see that those dates were clearly indicated in Scripture and doubtless intended by the Lord to encourage his people, as they did, as well as to be a means of testing and sifting when all that some expected did not come to pass. That all that some expect to see in 1925 may not transpire that year will not alter the date one whit more than in the other cases."
116.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. p. 633.
117.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337. Annual Memorial attendances were 17,961 (1919), 32,661 (1922), 42,000 (1923) 62,696 (1924), 90,434 (1925), 89,278 (1926) and 17,380 (1928). Statistics were also published each year in the Watchtower until 1926
118.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". August 15, 1996. p. 31. In 1935, Memorial attendance had increased again to 63,146.
119.Jump up ^ Timothy White (1967). A People For His Name. Vantage. pp. 238–239.
120.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
121.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
122.Jump up ^ Thomas Daniels. "Historical Idealism and Jehovah's Witnesses" (PDF). pp. 3–37.
123.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, pp. 138-9.
124.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1930, p. 78.: "In June, 1927, the Watch Tower published the proof from the Scriptures that those who thus died faithful were asleep in death until the coming of the Lord to his temple in 1918."
125.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, p. 333.
126.Jump up ^ The Harp of God (both the 1921 and 1927 editions) affirmed on page 231 that "the Lord's second presence dates from 1874." The March 1, 1922 Watch Tower and pages 65-66 of the book Prophecy (published in 1928) reiterated this position. However, by 1930 some vagueness can be seen. For example, the October 15, 1930 Watch Tower, page 308, says the "second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ dates from about A.D. 1875." The November 1, 1932 Watch Tower, page 325 is even less precise, stating that from "approximately 1875 forward" Christ was preparing the way.
127.Jump up ^ Tony Wills (2007). A People For His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. Lulu.com. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
128.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, p. 318-319.
129.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1933, p. 362.
130.Jump up ^ Golden Age, March 14, 1934, p. 380.
131.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1969, p. 521.
132.Jump up ^ Time magazine, March 31, 1930, p. 60. Scan of article.
133.Jump up ^ July 25, 1931 Messenger, pages 6,8.
134.Jump up ^ Golden Age, March 19, 1930 , pages 496-497
135.Jump up ^ http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/89a.htm San Diego Sun, March 1930 Interview with Rutherford about Beth Sarim
136.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, p. 252.
137.Jump up ^ Universal War Near, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1935: "Universal war is absolutely certain to come and that soon, and no power can stop it ... during the few remaining months until the breaking of that universal cataclysm."
138.Jump up ^ Watchtower 15 September 1941 p. 288.
139.Jump up ^ Watchtower, April 1942, p.139.
140.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1938, p. 323: "If in obedience to the divine command the Jonadabs or great multitude will marry and rear children after Armageddon, would it not be Scripturally proper for them to begin doing so immediately before Armageddon? and should the Jonadabs now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures."
141.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford (1938). Face The Facts. Watchtower. p. 46. "There are now on earth Jonadabs devoted to the Lord and who doubtless will prove faithful. Would it be Scripturally proper for them to now marry and to begin to rear children? No, is the answer, which is supported by the Scriptures."
142.Jump up ^ 1943 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, Daily Texts and Comments for November 7. The fictional sweethearts of Children, John and Eunice, defer marriage "until lasting peace comes to the earth" while hoping "that within a few years our marriage may be consummated." J.F. Rutherford (1941). Children. Watchtower. pp. 366–367. ISBN 0-7500-1058-4.
143.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". October 15, 1950. p. 382. "Since the carrying out of the command to 'be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth' waits until after Armageddon, does that mean that those who now marry and rear children are violating God's laws? No, for the Scriptures show that 'marriage is honourable in all'—Hebrews 13:4"
144.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1978). Visions of Glory. Simon & Schuster. pp. 74–77. ISBN 0-671-22530-8.
145.Jump up ^ M. James Penton (1985). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 265–266. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
146.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35.
147.Jump up ^ "Is it Later Than You Think?". Awake!: 13–16. 8 October 1968.
148.Jump up ^ "How Much Longer Will It Be?". Awake!: 17–20. 8 October 1966.
149.Jump up ^ Public Address by District Overseer Charles Sinutko in Spring 1967 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Mp3 of Lecture by Sinutko
150.Jump up ^ The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years: "Undisturbed peace with health, happiness and freedom from fear is on the divine program for humankind on earth. Reliable evidences indicate that it will begin within this generation! We do not want to keep this gladsome information to ourselves, and so in this booklet we pass it on to you."
151.Jump up ^ Penton. Apocalypse Delayed. p. 95. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
152.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". August 15, 1968. pp. 494–501.
153.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 22, 1969, p.15: "You also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things ... All the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years ... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone! This is why parents who base their lives on God's prophetic Word find it much more practical to direct their young ones into trades that do not require such long periods of additional schooling."
154.Jump up ^ http://www.jwfiles.com/scans/KM5-1974p3.htm "How Are You Using Your Life?", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 1974 p.3.
155.Jump up ^ Sound clip of lecture "What is the Significance of 1975?" by Governing Body Member Fred Franz. http://www.freeminds.org/media/fredfranz75an.html; MP3 of complete lecture
156.Jump up ^ Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz p. 249. Scan available at http://web.archive.org/web/20031209184316/http://users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/9.pdf
157.Jump up ^ Time magazine archive "Witnessing the End", July 18, 1969 Time Scan of article: "The Witnesses have what they believe is Scriptural proof that the end is coming. For one thing, their interpretation of Biblical chronology reveals that Adam and Eve were created in the autumn of 4026 B.C., or 5994 years ago. Linking 6000 years to the six days of God's creation, they believe it fitting that there be a sabbath-like rest thereafter, beginning in 1975—though Witnesses cautiously avoid a flat prediction linked to that year."
158.Jump up ^ The Arizona Republic August 24, 1969
159.Jump up ^ July 11, 1977 Time magazine
160.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1976, p.441
161.Jump up ^ 1980 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, p. 30
162.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1980, p.17.
163.Jump up ^ "Defectors Feel 'Witness' Wrath: Critics say Baptism Rise Gives False Picture of Growth" by John Dart, Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, p. B4
164.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1985, p.4.
165.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1984
166.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". December 1, 1968. p. 715. "A generation, according to Psalm 90:10, is from seventy to eighty years. The generation that witnessed the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 does not have many more years left."
167.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". December 15, 1967. p. 751. "The expression 'this generation' was used by Jesus to mark a very limited period of time, the life-span of members of a generation of people living during the time that certain epoch-making events occurred. According to Psalm 90:10, that life-span could be of seventy years or even of eighty years."
168.Jump up ^ "Vision of the 'Time of the End'". Watchtower: 404. July 1, 1951. "'Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' (Matt. 24:34, NW) The actual meaning of these words is, beyond question, that which takes a 'generation' in the ordinary sense, as at Mark 8:12 and Acts 13:36, or for those who are living at the given period ... This therefore means that from 1914 a generation shall not pass till all is fulfilled, and amidst a great time of trouble."
169.^ Jump up to: a b c d Franz, Raymond (2007). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. pp. 254–272. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
170.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". September 1, 1952. p. 542.
171.Jump up ^ "Awake!". October 8, 1968. pp. 13, 14.
172.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". October 15, 1980. p. 31.
173.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1985, p.7.
174.Jump up ^ Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz p. 262. Scan available at http://web.archive.org/web/20031210004130/users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/10.pdf accessed January 27, 2006.
175.Jump up ^ "Saved From a 'Wicked Generation'", The Watchtower (November 1) 1995, pp. 10-15.
176.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 101. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
177.Jump up ^ Joel P. Engardio (December 18, 1995). "Apocalypse Later". Newsweek.
178.Jump up ^ "A Time To Keep Awake", The Watchtower, November 1, 1995, p. 19 par. 12, and p. 20 par. 15.
179.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". November 1, 1995. p. 20.
180.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, pages 23-24: "As a class, these anointed ones make up the modern-day "generation" of contemporaries that will not pass away "until all these things occur."* This suggests that some who are Christ's anointed brothers will still be alive on earth when the foretold great tribulation begins."
181.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1927, p. 62, "Interesting Questions".
182.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1950, p. 419.
183.Jump up ^ "Holy spirit's role in the outworking of Jehovah's purposes". The Watchtower: 10. 15 April 2010.
184.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy! chap. 6 par. 25-29
185.Jump up ^ Edmond C. Gruss, Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1972, ISBN 0-87552-306-4 Page 42.
186.^ Jump up to: a b "When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part One" The Watchtower, October 1, 2011, page 26
187.Jump up ^ "Evidences of the Year’s Correctness". The Watchtower: 271–2. May 1, 1952. "It was in this first regnal year of Cyrus that he issued his decree to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Ezra 1:1) The decree may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4–5, 537 B.C. In either case this would have given sufficient time for the large party of 49,897 Jews to organize their expedition and to make their long four-month journey from Babylon to Jerusalem to get there by September 29–30, 537 B.C., the first of the seventh Jewish month, to build their altar to Jehovah as recorded at Ezra 3:1-3. Inasmuch as September 29–30, 537 B.C., officially ends the seventy years of desolation as recorded at 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21, so the beginning of the desolation of the land must have officially begun to be counted after September 21–22, 607 B.C., the first of the seventh Jewish month in 607 B.C., which is the beginning point for the counting of the 2,520 years."
188.Jump up ^ "Babylonian Exile." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
189.Jump up ^ Timeline of Judaism after the Babylonian Exile
190.Jump up ^ Keller, Werner (1983). The Bible As History. Bantam; 2 Revised edition. p. 352. ISBN 0-553-27943-2.
191.Jump up ^ Dictionary of the Bible: Biographical, Geographical, Historical and Doctrinal by Charles Randall Barnes, Page 247.
192.Jump up ^ Dyer, Charles (2003). Nelson’s Old Testament survey: Discovering essence, Background & Meaning about Every Old Testament book.
193.Jump up ^ The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ's Return by Carl O. Jonsson. ISBN 0-914675-06-0 Publisher: Commentary Press (July, 1998, Fourth edition 2004)
194.Jump up ^ "When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part Two" The Watchtower, November 1, 2011, page 22
195.Jump up ^ Insight from scriptures. Vol.2 page 458, "secular chronologers calculate the 16th day of Tashritu (Tishri) as falling on October 11, Julian calendar, and October 5, Gregorian calendar, in the year 539 B.C.E. Since this date is an accepted one, there being no evidence to the contrary, it is usable as a pivotal date in coordinating secular history with Bible history."
196.Jump up ^ 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 (2003) ISBN 82-994633-3-5
197.Jump up ^ Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28:5 [2004], p. 42-43
Bibliography[edit]
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses by M. James Penton, professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge and former Jehovah's Witness ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2
  


Categories: Apocalypticism
Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
Christian eschatology






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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses
















Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914 (a date they believe was prophesied in Scripture), and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze Russell to be his people in 1919. They also believe the destruction of those who reject their message[1] and thus willfully refuse to obey God[2][3] will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.
The religion's doctrines surrounding 1914 are the legacy of a series of emphatic claims regarding the years 1799,[4] 1874,[4] 1878,[5] 1914,[6] 1918[7] and 1925[8] made in the Watch Tower Society's publications between 1879 and 1924. Claims about the significance of those years, including the presence of Jesus Christ, the beginning of the "last days", the destruction of worldly governments and the earthly resurrection of Jewish patriarchs, were successively abandoned.[9] In 1922 the society's principal journal, Watch Tower, described its chronology as "no stronger than its weakest link", but also claimed the chronological relationships to be "of divine origin and divinely corroborated...in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct"[10] and "indisputable facts",[4] while repudiation of Russell's teachings was described as "equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord".[11]
The Watch Tower Society has stated that its early leaders promoted "incomplete, even inaccurate concepts".[12] The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible are not inspired or infallible.[13][14][15] Witness publications say that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who did not understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established" (NWT) to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during "the time of the end", as mentioned in Daniel 12:4. Jehovah's Witnesses state that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God's Kingdom and that they do not call their core beliefs into question.[16][17][18]


Contents  [hide]
1 Current beliefs 1.1 Presence of Jesus Christ
1.2 Sign of "last days"
1.3 Judgment of religion
2 History of eschatology 2.1 Early expectations (1871–1881)
2.2 Great Pyramid of Giza (1876–1928)
2.3 "The Time Is At Hand" (1881–1918)
2.4 "Millions Now Living Will Never Die!" (1918–1925)
2.5 "Armageddon Immediately Before Us" (1925–1966)
2.6 "Looking Forward to 1975" (1966–1975)
2.7 The "generation of 1914" (1976–present)
3 Controversy 3.1 Fall of Jerusalem
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography

Current beliefs[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach the imminent end of the current world society, or "system of things" by God's judgment, leading to deliverance for the saved. This judgment will begin with false religion, which they identify as the "harlot", Babylon the Great,[19][20] referred to in the Book of Revelation. They apply this designation to all other religions. They do not currently place their expectations on any specific date, but believe that various events will lead up to the end of this "system of things", culminating in Armageddon. Armageddon is understood to include the destruction of all earthly governments by God. After Armageddon, God will extend his heavenly kingdom to include earth.[21][22]
They believe that after Armageddon, based on scriptures such as John 5:28, 29, the dead will gradually be resurrected to a "day of judgment" lasting for a thousand years.[23] This judgment will be based on their actions after resurrection, not on past deeds.[24] At the end of the thousand years a final test will take place when Satan is brought back to mislead perfect mankind.[25] The end result will be a fully tested, glorified human race.[26]
Presence of Jesus Christ[edit]
See also: End time § Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus Christ returned invisibly and began to rule in heaven as king in October 1914. They state that the beginning of Christ's heavenly rule would seem worse initially for mankind because it starts with the casting out of Satan from heaven to the earth, which according to Revelation 12, would bring a brief period of "woe" to mankind.[27] This woe will be reversed when Christ comes to destroy Satan's earthly organization, throwing Satan into the abyss and extending[28] God's kingdom rule over the earth, over which Jesus reigns as God's appointed king. They believe the Greek word parousia (usually translated as "coming") is more accurately understood as an extended invisible "presence", perceived only by a series of "signs".[29]
Witnesses base their beliefs about the significance of 1914 on the Watch Tower Society's interpretation of biblical chronology,[30][31] which is hinged on their assertion that the Babylonian captivity and destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 607 BC.[32] From this, they conclude that Daniel chapter 4 prophesied a period of 2,520 years, from 607 BC until 1914.[33][34] They equate this period with the "Gentile Times" or "the appointed times of the nations," a phrase taken from Luke 21:24. They believe that when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, the line of kings descended from David was interrupted, and that God's throne was "trampled on" from then until Jesus began ruling in October 1914.[35] Secular historians date the event of Jerusalem's destruction to within a year of 587 BC. The Witnesses' alternative chronology produces a 20-year gap between the reigns of Neo-Babylonian Kings Amel-Marduk (rule ended 560 BC) and Nabonidus (rule began 555 BC) in addition to the intervening reigns of Neriglissar and Labashi-Marduk, despite the availability of contiguous cuneiform records.[36]
They teach that after the war of Armageddon, Jesus will rule over earth as king for 1000 years after which he will hand all authority back to Jehovah.[37][38]
Sign of "last days"[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that since October 1914, humanity has been living in a period of intense increased trouble known as "the last days", marked by war, disease, famine, earthquakes, and a progressive degeneration of morality.[39][40] They also believe their preaching is part of the sign, often alluding to the text of Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come." (MKJV)[41][42] They claim that various calamities in the modern world constitute proof of these beliefs, such as the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the Spanish flu epidemic in May 1918, the onset of World War II in 1939, and more recently, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.[43][44][45]
Judgment of religion[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that in 1918, Christ judged all world religions claiming to be Christian,[46] and that after a period of eighteen months, among all groups and religions claiming to represent Christ,[47] only the "Bible Students" (from which Jehovah's Witnesses developed) met God's approval.[48] Watch Tower Society publications claim that the world's other religions have misrepresented God, and filled the world with hatred.[49] 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"[49][50][51]
During the final great tribulation, all other religions will be destroyed by "crazed" member governments of the United Nations, acting under the direction of Jehovah.[52][53] Witness publications identify the United Nations as the "beast" to whom the "ten kings" of Revelation 17:12,13 give their "power and authority."[54]
History of eschatology[edit]



Herald of the Morning published by Nelson H. Barbour and Charles Taze Russell in 1878
Watch Tower Society eschatological teachings are based on the earliest writings of Charles Taze Russell, but have undergone significant changes since then. Many of the changes reflect altered views on the significance of the dates 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925.
Early expectations (1871–1881)[edit]
The Second Adventists affiliated with Nelson H. Barbour expected a visible and dramatic return of Christ in 1873,[55] and later in 1874.[56] They agreed with other Adventist groups that the "time of the end" (also called the "last days") had started in 1799.[57] Soon after the 1874 disappointment, Barbour's group decided Christ had returned to the earth in 1874, but invisibly. Writing in his journal The Herald of the Morning in 1875, Barbour outlined his eschatological views and connected the years 1874, 1878, 1881, and 1914. The "harvest" was to run from 1874 to the spring of 1878, concluding with "the translation of the living saints into the air." 1881 would mark the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and the period from 1881 until 1914 would see the installation of God's kingdom on earth. Barbour wrote that in the 40 years from 1874 to 1914 "the 'time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation;' will be fulfilled. And in the mean time, the kingdom of God will be set up, 'break in pieces, and consume all these [Gentile] kingdoms,' 'and the stone become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth,' and usher in glory of the millennial age".[5]
Russell became associated with Barbour in 1876 and accepted Barbour's eschatological understanding.[58][59] In 1877, Barbour and Russell jointly issued the book Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, which reiterated Barbour's earlier teachings.[60] It proclaimed Christ's invisible return in 1874,[61] the resurrection of the saints in 1875,[62] and predicted the end of the "harvest" and a rapture of the saints to heaven for 1878[63] and the final end of "the day of wrath" in 1914.[64] 1874 was considered the end of 6000 years of human history and the beginning of judgment by Christ.[65]
The selection of 1878 as the year of the rapture of the saints was based on the application of parallel dispensations, which equated the 3½-year period of Christ's ministry with a similar "harvest" period following his parousia. When the rapture failed to occur, Russell admitted they "felt somewhat disappointed", but decided there would be an additional 3½-year period "making the harvest seven years long".[66] Successive issues of The Herald of the Morning identified the autumn of 1881 as the end of the "Harvest" and the likely time for the translation of the Church to heaven.[67][68][69] Russell split from Barbour over doctrinal differences and began publishing Zion's Watch Tower in July 1879.
Great Pyramid of Giza (1876–1928)[edit]



 The monument erected by the Watch Tower Society at C.T. Russell's grave in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania modeled after the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Influenced by the pyramidology theories of John Taylor and Charles Piazzi Smyth, Nelson Barbour and Charles Russell taught that the Great Pyramid of Giza contained prophetic measurements in "pyramid inches" that pointed to both 1874 and 1914. Russell viewed the Great Pyramid as "God's Stone Witness and Prophet".[70][71] Smyth reviewed Russell's manuscript on the Great Pyramid before publication and Russell credited him and Scottish writer Robert Menzies for the view "that the Great Pyramid is Jehovah's 'Witness', and that it was as important a witness to divine truth as to natural science."[72][73] Prophetic dates derived from the measurements inside the Great Pyramid were seen as complementary to biblical interpretations. Russell included the Great Pyramid as part of his film and color slide production The Photo-Drama of Creation in 1914, suggesting that the Great Pyramid was built by the Old Testament king-priest Melchizedek.[74] A special edition of the first volume of Studies in the Scriptures was also published, which was re-titled The Divine Plan of the Ages and the Corroborative Testimony of the Great Pyramid.[75] In accordance with Russell's wishes, a 7-foot (2.1 m) high replica of a pyramid was erected at his gravesite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its capstone "patterned after the capstone of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, symbolic of the Christ."[76][77][78]



 Early Watch Tower publications cited "the testimony of the Great Pyramid" for expectations for 1910 and 1914.
Russell's interpretations of the Great Pyramid were supported by the writings of John and Morton Edgar who were prominent members of his movement.[79][80][81] Russell had first stated that 1874 was derived from a measurement of 3416 pyramid inches,[82] but the measurement was revised in the 1910 edition to 3,457 inches (87.8 m) to point to 1915.[83] The Edgars claimed that the revision in measurement and change in date was a result of errors made by Smyth.[84] In the early 1920s, the significance of the pyramidological predictions for 1914 were re-interpreted to mean that "the old evil order began to pass away in 1914."[85][86] In 1924, an issue of Golden Age referred to the Great Pyramid as "the Scientific Bible" and added that measurements on the Grand Gallery inside the Great Pyramid confirmed the dates 1874, 1914 and 1925.[87] Similarly, the 1924 publication The Way to Paradise refers to the Great Pyramid as "the Bible in Stone" and concludes:

It is quite probable that Shem, son of Noah, a faithful servant of God, was in charge of its construction. In it have been discovered some of the deepest secrets of geometrical, geographical, astronomical, and mathematical science. The pyramid also outlines in its own peculiar way the same plan of God that we find in the Bible, and it dated beforehand some of the most notable events that have occurred in the history of mankind. It gives the date of the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, and the date of birth and death of Jesus. It gives the date of the French revolution as 1789, and the great World War as 1914, besides many more. It was built over five hundred years before Moses wrote any part of the Bible. It is so far in advance of the wisdom of that day that no man could have been the architect. Its harmony with the Bible teachings prove that God designed it.[88]
In 1928, the belief that the Great Pyramid contained a prophetic blueprint of biblical chronology was rejected, and the Pyramid was seen as built "under the direction of Satan the Devil."[89][90]
"The Time Is At Hand" (1881–1918)[edit]
Some of Barbour's eschatology was retained by Russell after they parted company. Basing his interpretations on a concept of parallel "dispensations", Russell taught that while Jesus was invisibly present on earth he was also made its king in 1878. He believed God had rejected the "nominal Church" (considered to be "Babylon the Great") in 1878.[91] Russell also taught that in 1878 Christ resurrected all the "dead in Christ" as spirit beings to be with him on earth awaiting a future glorification to heaven. (The remainder of the 144,000 who would die after 1878 would each be resurrected at the time of the their death.) Together with Christ on earth, these invisible resurrected spirit beings were said to be engaged in directing a harvest work (running from 1874–1914) to gather the remainder of those with the heavenly calling.[92] Russell later moderated his view about the significance of 1881, stating that the "door" for the gathering of the Bride of Christ "stands ajar."[93]



 In 1889, Charles Taze Russell published his interpretation of eschatology and chronology based on the idea of parallel "dispensations".
He wrote that the culmination of Armageddon would occur in 1914, preceded by the gathering of all the saints (both resurrected and living) to heaven. Based on measurements from the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, this "passing beyond the vail" or rapture was expected "before the close of A.D. 1910."[94][95] Russell enumerated seven expectations for 1914 in The Time is at Hand:
1.God's kingdom would take full control of earth "on the ruins of present institutions";
2.Christ would be present as earth's new ruler;
3.The last of the "royal priesthood, the body of Christ" would be glorified with Christ;
4.Jerusalem would no longer "be trodden down by the Gentiles";
5."Israel's blindness will begin to be turned away";
6.The great "time of trouble" would reach its culmination of worldwide anarchy;
7.God's Kingdom would "smite and crush the Gentile image—and fully consume the power of these kings".[96]
In 1911 Russell wrote that October 1914 would witness the "full end" of Babylon, or nominal Christianity, "utterly destroyed as a system".[97] At first, the hopes for 1914 were stretched to "near the end of A.D. 1915."[98] A few months before his death in October 1916, Russell wrote: "We believe that the dates have proven to be quite right. We believe that Gentile Times have ended. ... The Lord did not say that the Church would all be glorified by 1914. We merely inferred it, and, evidently, erred."[99] He interpreted the war in Europe to be the first of three phases of Armageddon[100] and the destruction of Christendom as represented in the European monarchies ruling by Divine Right[original research?] to take place in 1918.[7]
Following Russell's lead, the book The Finished Mystery[101] emphasized events for 1918. The destruction of the churches of Christendom and the deaths of "church members by the millions" was expected in 1918.[102][103] The Finished Mystery proposed the spring of 1918 for the glorification of the Church[104] and suggested that it may occur on the day of Passover in that year. First printings of The Finished Mystery predicted the end of the World War "some time about October 1, 1917," but this was changed in subsequent editions.[105][106] It also predicted the destruction of governments in 1920.[107]
"Millions Now Living Will Never Die!" (1918–1925)[edit]
The predictions for 1920 were discarded before that year arrived, in favor of a new chronology. In 1918-1919, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, second president of the Watch Tower Society, inaugurated a worldwide lecture series entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die!", later reproduced in booklet form.[108] It provided a re-interpretation of the significance of the year 1914 (now seen as the beginning of the "last days"). It also included new predictions for 1925 including the resurrection of the biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and other Old Testament personages (referred to as "princes").[109][110][111] Their return would mark the beginning of a new order, from which time millions of people alive at that time would be able to live forever.[8] Newspaper advertisements for the "Millions" lecture localized the claim, with a typical declaration in a Marion, Ohio newspaper reading: "It will be conclusively proved... that thousands now living in Marion and vicinity will never die."[112]
The book stated that 1925 would be among the dates "stamped with God's approval" and The Watch Tower described the evidence for the chronology surrounding 1925 as stronger than that for 1914,[113][114] but acknowledged disappointments surrounding earlier predictions and cautioned that "all that some expect to see in 1925 may not transpire that year", and that the expectations could be "a means of testing and sifting."[115] When 1925 also passed uneventfully, meeting attendance among the Bible Students dropped dramatically in some congregations[116] and attendance at the annual Memorial fell from 90,434 to 17,380 between 1925 and 1928.[117][118][119][120]
"Armageddon Immediately Before Us" (1925–1966)[edit]



Beth Sarim (House of the Princes), built in San Diego, California in 1929 in anticipation of resurrected Old Testament "princes", was used by Watch Tower Society president Judge Rutherford as a winter home.
From 1925 until 1933, the Watch Tower Society, under Rutherford's leadership, radically changed much of its chronologies after the failure of these eschatological expectations.[121][122] In March 1925, the Watch Tower declared that Christ had been enthroned as king in heaven in 1914, not 1878.[123] A 1927 Watch Tower transferred the timing of the resurrection of the "saints" from 1878 to 1918,[124] explaining that they would be raised as spirit creatures to heavenly life to be with Christ there.[125] The belief that Christ returned invisibly in 1874 was maintained until the early 1930s.[126] Christ's Second Advent was newly explained as a "turning of attention" to the earth, with Christ remaining in heaven—a departure from the earlier teaching of a literal return to earth.[127] The judgment of "Babylon the Great" was changed from 1878 to 1919 with the publication of the book Light in 1930.[128] By 1933, it was taught that Christ had returned invisibly in 1914 and the "last days" had also begun then.[129][130] The teaching that the "great tribulation" had begun in 1914 and was "cut short" in 1918—to be resumed at Armageddon—was discarded in 1969.[131]
In 1930, Rutherford took up residence in a "Spanish mansion"[132][133] in California which he called Beth Sarim, meaning, House of the Princes. It was held in trust for the ancient biblical "princes" who were expected to be resurrected immediately prior to Armageddon.[134][135] Rutherford spent the winter months at Beth Sarim and died there in January, 1942. The belief that Old Testament "princes" would be resurrected before Armageddon was abandoned in 1950.[136]
In the mid-1930s and early 1940s, Watch Tower Society publications placed emphasis on the imminence of Armageddon, said to be "months" away[137][138] and "immediately before us."[139] Publications also urged converts to remain single and childless because it was "immediately before Armageddon."[140][141] Young Witnesses were counseled in 1943: "It is better and wiser for those of the Lord's 'other sheep' who hope to survive Armageddon and be given the divine mandate to fill the earth with a righteous offspring to defer matters until after the tribulation and destruction of Armageddon is past."[142] This view was discarded in 1950.[143][144][145]
"Looking Forward to 1975" (1966–1975)[edit]



 Convention badge from circuit assembly, circa 1970
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Witnesses were instructed by means of articles in their literature[146][147][148] and at their assemblies that Armageddon and Christ's thousand-year millennial reign could begin by 1975. Strong statements for 1975 appeared, sometimes accompanied with cautionary remarks.[149] The booklet The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years, which was the text of the keynote address to major assemblies of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the world in 1969,[150] stated about that promised reign (which would begin at "God's fixed time"):

For Godfearing students of the Holy Bible containing both the ancient Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures, there is a more important millennium that compels their attention. That is the seventh millennium ... the seventh millennium of man's existence here on earth ... Does this fact have any bearing on the approach of the peace of a thousand years or of a millennium? Very apparently Yes! ... More recently earnest researchers of the Holy Bible have made a recheck of its chronology. According to their calculations the six millenniums of mankind's life on earth would end in the mid-seventies. Thus the seventh millennium from man's creation by Jehovah God would begin within less than ten years.
Apart from the global change that present-day world conditions indicate is fast getting near, the arrival of the seventh millennium of man's existence on earth suggests a gladsome change for war-stricken humankind ... In order for the Lord Jesus Christ to be "Lord even of the sabbath day," his thousand-year reign would have to be the seventh in a series of thousand-year periods or millenniums. (Matthew 12:8, AV) Thus it would be a sabbatic reign ... Would not, then, the end of six millenniums of mankind's laborious enslavement under Satan the Devil be the fitting time for Jehovah God to usher in a Sabbath millennium for all his human creatures? Yes, indeed! And his King Jesus Christ will be Lord of that Sabbath.[151]
In 1968, a Watchtower article asked: "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?":

Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man's existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ. If these two periods run parallel with each other as to the calendar year, it will not be by mere chance or accident but will be according to Jehovah's loving and timely purposes.[152]
Young Witnesses were advised in 1969 to avoid careers requiring lengthy periods of schooling[153] and a 1974 issue of the Kingdom Ministry newsletter commended Witnesses who had sold their homes and property to engage in full-time preaching, adding: "Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world's end."[154]
In a lecture[155] in early 1975, then vice president Fred Franz selected sundown on September 5, 1975 as the end of 6000 years of human history, but cautioned that although the prophecies "could happen" by then, it looked improbable.[156][157][158][159] After 1975 passed without any sign of the expected paradise, The Watchtower described as "unwise" the actions of some Witnesses who had made radical changes in their lives, commenting: "It may be that some who have been serving God have planned their lives according to a mistaken view of just what was to happen on a certain date or in a certain year. They may have, for this reason, put off or neglected things that they otherwise would have cared for ... But it is not advisable for us to set our sights on a certain date, neglecting everyday things we would ordinarily care for as Christians, such as things that we and our families really need."[160] In 1979, in a lecture entitled "Choosing the Best Way of Life", the Watch Tower Society acknowledged responsibility for much of the disappointment around 1975.[161] The following year, a Watchtower article admitted that the leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses had erred in "setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth", and that the Life Everlasting book (1966) had led to "considerable expectation" for 1975, with subsequent statements "that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility." The article added, "It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated".[162]
Baptism statistics compared with the number of those reporting preaching for 1976-1980 showed that many became inactive during that period.[163]
The "generation of 1914" (1976–present)[edit]


History of Eschatological Doctrine

Last Days begin
Start of Christ's Presence
Christ made King
Resurrection of 144,000
Judgment of Religion
Separating Sheep & Goats
Great Tribulation
1879–1920 1799 1874 1878 during Millenium 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920
1920–1923 1925
1923–1925 during Christ's presence
1925–1927 1914 1878 1878 within generation of 1914
1927–1930 1918
1930–1933 1919
1933–1966 1914
1966–1975 1975?
1975–1995 within generation of 1914
1995–present during Great Tribulation imminent
After the passing of 1975, the Watch Tower Society continued to emphasize the teaching that God would execute his judgment on humankind before the generation of people who had witnessed the events of 1914 had all died.[164][165][166][167] This teaching was based on an interpretation of Matthew 24:34 ("Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur"), with the term "a generation" said to refer "beyond question" to a generation living in a given period.[168]
The term had been used with regard to the nearness of Armageddon from the 1940s, when the view was that "a generation" covered a period of about 30 to 40 years.[169] As the 40-year deadline passed without Armageddon occurring, the definition of "a generation" underwent a series of changes: in 1952 it was said for the first time to mean an entire lifetime, possibly 80 years or more;[169][170] in 1968 it was applied to those who had been at least 15 years old in 1914, who were considered to be "old enough to witness with understanding what took place when the 'last days' began" (italics theirs).[171] In 1980 the starting date for that "generation" was brought into the 20th century when the term was applied to those who had been born in 1904 and therefore aged 10 and able simply "to observe" when World War I had begun. The Watchtower commented: "The fact that their number is dwindling is one more indication that "the conclusion of the system of things" is moving fast toward its end."[169][172]
From 1982 to 1995, the inside cover of Awake! magazine included, in its mission statement, a reference to the "generation of 1914", alluding to "the Creator's promise ... of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away." In 1985, Witnesses were reminded: "The 1914 generation is well into the evening of its existence, thus allowing only little time for this prophecy yet to be fulfilled.".[173]
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz claimed members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses debated replacing the doctrine with a markedly different interpretation and that in 1980 Albert Schroeder, Karl Klein and Grant Suiter proposed moving the beginning of the "generation" to the year 1957, to coincide with the year Sputnik was launched. He said the proposal was rejected by the rest of the Governing Body.[174]
Despite its earlier description as being "beyond question", the "generation of 1914" teaching was discarded in 1995. Rather than a literal lifespan of 70 to 80 years, the definition of "generation" was changed to "contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics," without reference to any specific amount of time.[175][176][177] This class of people was described as "the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ's presence but fail to mend their ways".[178] Mention of 1914 was dropped from Awake! magazine's mission statement as of November 8, 1995.[169] The Watchtower insisted, however, that Armageddon was still imminent, asking: "Does our more precise viewpoint on 'this generation' mean that Armageddon is further away than we had thought? Not at all!"[179]
In 2008 the "generation" teaching was again altered, and the term was used to refer to the "anointed" believers, some of whom would still be alive on earth when the great tribulation begins.[180] This was a return to a belief previously held between 1927 [181] and 1950 when the teaching of the "generation of 1914" not passing away was adopted.[182]
In 2010, the teaching of the "generation" was modified again, to refer to a new generation of "anointed" whose lives "overlap" with "the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914."[183]

Controversy[edit]
Fall of Jerusalem[edit]
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses and Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)
Jehovah's Witnesses assert that Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 607 BC and completely uninhabited for exactly seventy years. This date is critical to their selection of October 1914 for the arrival of Christ in kingly power—2520 years after October 607 BC.[184] Non-Witness scholars do not support 607 BC for the event; most scholars date the destruction of Jerusalem to within a year of 587 BC, twenty years later.[185] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that periods of seventy years mentioned in the books of Jeremiah and Daniel refer to the Babylonian exile of Jews. They also believe that the gathering of Jews in Jerusalem, shortly after their return from Babylon, officially ended the exile in Jewish month of Tishrei (Ezra 3:1). According to the Watch Tower Society, October 607 BC is derived by counting back seventy years from Tishrei of 537 BC, based on their belief that Cyrus' decree to release the Jews during his first regnal year "may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4–5, 537 B.C."[186][187] Non-Witness sources assign the return to either 538 BC or 537 BC.[188][189][190][191][192]
In The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ's Return, Carl O. Jonsson, a former Witness, presents eighteen lines of evidence to support the traditional view of neo-Babylonian chronology. He accuses the Watch Tower Society of deliberately misquoting sources in an effort to bolster their position.[193] The Watch Tower Society claims that biblical chronology is not always compatible with secular sources, and that the Bible is superior. It claims that secular historians make conclusions about 587 BC based on incorrect or inconsistent historical records, but accepts those sources that identify Cyrus' capture of Babylon in 539 BC, claiming it has no evidence of being inconsistent and hence can be used as a pivotal date.[186][194][195]
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.[196] Lester L. Grabbe, professor of theology 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."[197]
See also[edit]
##Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "The House-to-House Ministry--Why Important Now?". The Watchtower: 5–6. July 15, 2008.
2.Jump up ^ You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 155.
3.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 6.
4.^ Jump up to: a b c The Watchtower, March 1, 1922, page 73, "The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the 'time of the end' began in 1799; that the Lord's second presence began in 1874."
5.^ Jump up to: a b "Our Faith" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 52. September 1875.
6.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1894, p. 1677: "We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble."
7.^ Jump up to: a b September 1, 1916 The Watchtower, pages 264-265
8.^ Jump up to: a b Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920, page 97, "Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925. Then, based upon the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die."
9.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
10.Jump up ^ "The Strong Cable of Chronology", Watch Tower, July 15, 1922, page 217, "The chronology of present truth is, to begin with, a string of dates... Thus far it is a chain, and no stronger than its weakest link. There exist, however, well established relationships among the dates of present-truth chronology. These internal connections of the dates impart a much greater strength than can be found in other [secular, archeological] chronologies. Some of them are of so remarkable a character as clearly to indicate that this chronology is not of man, but of God. Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct."
11.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1922, page 132, "To abandon or repudiate the Lord's chosen instrument means to abandon or repudiate the Lord himself, upon the principle that he who rejects the servant sent by the Master thereby rejects the Master. ... Brother Russell was the Lord's servant. Then to repudiate him and his work is equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord, upon the principle heretofore announced."
12.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (Watch Tower Society, 1993), chapter 10.
13.Jump up ^ Revelation – It's Grand Climax, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, page 9.
14.Jump up ^ "False Prophets". Reasoning From the Scriptures. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. p. 137.
15.Jump up ^ "To Whom Shall We Go but Jesus Christ?". Watchtower: 23. March 1, 1979. "the “faithful and discreet slave” has alerted all of God’s people to the sign of the times indicating the nearness of God’s Kingdom rule. In this regard, however, it must be observed that this “faithful and discreet slave” was never inspired, never perfect. Those writings by certain members of the “slave” class that came to form the Christian part of God’s Word were inspired and infallible [the bible], but that is not true of other writings since."
16.Jump up ^ Why have there been changes over the years in the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses?,"Jehovah's Witnesses", Reasoning From the Scriptures, ©1989, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, page 205
17.Jump up ^ "Allow No Place for the Devil!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1986, page 19
18.Jump up ^ "Keep in Step With Jehovah’s Organization", Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 18.
19.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand 1988, pages 235-236 pars. 2-3 "Judging the Infamous Harlot", © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
20.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pp. 205-206.
21.Jump up ^ The Watchtower: 530–531. September 1, 1959. Missing or empty |title= (help)
22.Jump up ^ "Armageddon—A Happy Beginning". The Watchtower: 4–6. December 1, 2005.
23.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 2006, p 6.
24.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988,p. 788.
25.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 2005, p. 20.
26.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, August 15, 2006, p. 31
27.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 1, 1996, p6.
28.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1999, p. 62.
29.Jump up ^ "Jesus' Coming or Jesus' Presence—Which?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1996, p. 12.
30.Jump up ^ All Scripture is Inspired of God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, pp. 278-284
31.Jump up ^ "Why do Jehovah's Witnesses say that God's Kingdom was established in 1914?", Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 95-96.
32.Jump up ^ What Does the Bible Really Teach?, page 216, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society
33.Jump up ^ Gruss, Edmond C. (1972). The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co. pp. 20–58. ISBN 0-87552-306-4.
34.Jump up ^ "Let Your Kingdom Come", Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1981, pp. 186-189 Appendix to Chapter 14.
35.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, pp. 217-218.
36.Jump up ^ "Let Your Kingdom Come", Appendix, page 187: "Business tablets: Thousands of contemporary Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablets have been found that record simple business transactions, stating the year of the Babylonian king when the transaction occurred. Tablets of this sort have been found for all the years of reign for the known Neo-Babylonian kings in the accepted chronology of the period.", Watchtower Bible & Tract Society
37.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, 15 January 2004, p. 16
38.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy!, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 2006, pp. 94,95.
39.Jump up ^ "Do You Recognize the Sign of Jesus' Presence?". The Watchtower (Watch Tower Society): 4. October 1, 2005.
40.Jump up ^ "The Visible Part of God’s Organization". The Watchtower: 24. May 1, 1981. "the Gentile Times, “the appointed times of the nations,” had ended in October of 1914. (Luke 21:24) Since then the old world has been in its “time of the end” or in its “last days.”"
41.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 2000, p11.
42.Jump up ^ Awake!, October 22, 1993, p. 11.
43.Jump up ^ The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1981, pg 86.
44.Jump up ^ True Peace and Security- How Can You Find It?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1986, pp 81-84.
45.Jump up ^ "A Century of Violence", Awake!, May 8, 2002, p. 8.
46.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 56.
47.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pp. 259-260.
48.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, January 15, 2008, p. 24.
49.^ Jump up to: a b "Babylon the Great Indicted", The Watchtower, April 15, 1989, page 23.
50.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 220.
51.Jump up ^ "Babylon the Great—Fallen and Judged", The Watchtower, May 1, 1989, pages 3-7.
52.Jump up ^ Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand!, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, page 256 par. 17.
53.Jump up ^ "No Peace for the False Messengers!" The Watchtower, May 1, 1997, pp. 17-18 par. 17: "Shortly, 'crazed' members of the UN will be maneuvered by Jehovah to turn on false religion, as described at Revelation 17:16 ... This will mark the start of the great tribulation"
54.Jump up ^ "Deliverance at the Revelation of Jesus Christ", The Watchtower, May 1, 1993, p. 24.
55.Jump up ^ Evidences for the Coming of the Lord in 1873: or the Midnight Cry, N.H. Barbour (1871). Available online at: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/barbour%20midnight%20cry.htm
56.Jump up ^ The Midnight Cry and Herald of the Morning, March 1874. See Section under "Our Faith."
57.Jump up ^ Present Truth, Or Meat in Due Season by Jonas Wendell, pp. 34-35
58.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell (April 1880). "From and To The Wedding". Zion's Watch Tower: 2. "The writer, among many others now interested, was sound asleep, in profound ignorance of the cry, etc., until 1876, when being awakened he trimmed his lamp (for it is still very early in the morning.) It showed him clearly that the Bridegroom had come and that he is living "in the days of the Son of Man"."
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower reprints, "Harvest Gatherings and Siftings", July 15, 1906, page 3822.
60.Jump up ^ Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World by N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell (1877). Text available online at: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/3worlds.pdf Scan of book in PDF format
61.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, p. 175
62.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, pp. 104-108
63.Jump up ^ See pages 68, 89-93, 124, 125-126, 143 of Three Worlds.
64.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, p. 189: "the 'times of the Gentiles,' reach from B.C. 606 to A.D. 1914, or forty years beyond 1874. And the time of trouble, conquest of the nations, and events connected with the day of wrath, have only ample time, during the balance of this forty years, for their fulfillment."
65.Jump up ^ "The Second Hand in the Timepiece of God" (PDF). The Golden Age: 412–413. March 27, 1935.
66.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell (July 1878). "The Prospect" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 11–12.
67.Jump up ^ "Bible Theology" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 22. August 1878. "...showing that we are now in the last half of the 'harvest' of the gospel age; and that it will terminate in A.D. 1881."
68.Jump up ^ "Harmony of the Scriptures" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 52. October 1878. "Hence, the 'real rising again of Israel' can not begin until the autumn of 1881, at which date, the presumption is, that the gospel church will be taken away to meet the Lord."
69.Jump up ^ "Book of Revelation: Coming Time of Trouble" (PDF). The Herald of the Morning: 6. January 1879. "And from that time, or the autumn of 1881, the 91st Ps[alm]: 'He shall give his angels charge over thee,' etc., will begin to have its fulfillment. From that time onward, we believe no one of the company of the overcomers need die, even though they reach that point tottering, as it were on the verge of the grave."
70.Jump up ^ "Herald of the Morning". January 1876.
71.Jump up ^ C.T.Russell (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. pp. 309–376. ISBN 0-9728243-2-4.
72.Jump up ^ Russell (1891). Thy Kingdom Come. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. ISBN 0-9728243-2-4. (p. 320)
73.Jump up ^ Joseph Seiss' book A Miracle in Stone was also influential for Russell.
74.Jump up ^ Photo Drama of Creation, p. 25. Video of Russell discussing the Great Pyramid
75.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell (1913). The Divine Plan of the Ages and the Corroborative Testimony of the Great Pyramid (PDF). Watchtower. (Google Books Version)
76.Jump up ^ Program of the 1921 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: "The Pyramid monument erected at the grave of Brother Russell was sketched by Brother J.A. Bohnet and approved by Brother Russell several years ago. It was his desire that such a monument be erected on this lot and he set about to procure the materials before his death. After Brother Russell's death, Brother Rutherford, learning that Brother Russell had ordered the erection of this monument asked Brother Bohnet to proceed at once to get the material and let the contract for its construction and erection."
77.Jump up ^ 1919 Bible Student Convention Souvenir Booklet, pp. 6-7.
78.Jump up ^ [1]
79.Jump up ^ John Romer (2007). The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited. Cambridge University Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-521-87166-2.
80.Jump up ^ The Edgars' 2 volume work Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers was advertised and sold in the The Watchtower (August 1, 1910 Watch Tower Reprints, p. 4658; October 15, 1913 The Watchtower, page 306, Reprints p. 5336). Research by the Edgars on the Great Pyramid was published in the November 15, 1904 Watch Tower, Reprints, p. 3459, the June 15, 1905 Watch Tower, Reprints, p. 3574 and the June 1, 1910 The Watchtower, Reprints, p. 4621. John Edgar was named to be on the editorial committee for the Watch Tower magazine in the December 1, 1916 The Watchtower, (Reprints p. 5999), but had died before Russell. Research by Morton Edgar was published in the August 15, 1923 The Watchtower, pp. 253-254, the December 31, 1924 Golden Age, pp. 209-211 and on pp. 163, 355, 357 of the 1923 The Watchtower. Morton Edgar explained the spiritual meaning of the Great Pyramid in "God's Plan of Salvation in the Great Pyramid," a lecture which was published in the 1911 Bible Students Convention Report
81.Jump up ^ Morton Edgar, on page 151 of the 1924 edition of the second volume of Great Pyramid Passages, refers to Judge Rutherford's booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die as a "wonderful message of life."
82.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1904 edition—Millennial Dawn, vol 3) p.342
83.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (copyright 1891) (Studies In The Scriptures, vol. 3, 1910 edition) p.342
84.Jump up ^ Great Pyramid Passages and Chambers (1913), volume 2: "Professor C. Piazzi Smyth very properly says, `no two human measures ever agree exactly.'" (Ibid p.1) According to the Edgars, Professor Smyth (from whom Russell gained his information) had not personally measured this passage since it was blocked. It had been roughly measured in 1837 by Col Howard Vyse, but the Edgars personally measured "the length of this passage seven times" and ended up with seven different measurements, though within a few inches. (Ibid p.8 ) In answering a question about different measurements of the pyramid, The Watchtower stated "that Prof. Smyth's interest centered in the upper chambers of the Pyramid ... Much less care and precision [were] manifested in his dealings with all other parts". (The Watchtower November 1904 p. 326 "The Great Pyramid Measurements")
85.Jump up ^ Edgar (1924). Great Pyramid Passages Volume II (PDF). p. 72. "For many years students of the Word believed that the foretold destruction of "Babylon the Great" would begin in 1914- 1915 AD., the date marked by the upper terminal of the Grand Gallery. Nor have their expectations been disappointed; for although the "Great Time of Trouble" covers a longer period than was thought possible, this trouble which is to end Christendom is manifestly now in progress; and it began precisely at the date expected. Beginning with 1914 A.D. in the great World War in which most of the mightiest 'Christian' nations were actively engaged, Christendom, called in the Scriptures Babylon the Great, received a blow from which it can never recover. The old evil order began to pass away in 1914 A.D."
86.Jump up ^ Edgar (1924). The Great Pyramid: Its Symbolism, Science and Prophecy (PDF). p. 119.
87.Jump up ^ "Golden Age" (PDF). December 31, 1924. pp. 207, 222.
88.Jump up ^ The Way to Paradise, pp. 156-158
89.Jump up ^ The last favorable reference to the Great Pyramid in Watch Tower Society publications appears in The Watchtower, the April 15, 1928, p. 125
90.Jump up ^ Pyramidology was first rejected in the November 15, 1928 Watchtower, p 344: "It is more reasonable to conclude that the great pyramid of Gizeh, as well as the other pyramids thereabout, also the sphinx, were built by the rulers of Egypt and under the direction of Satan the Devil...The Devil, by the use of the descendants of Ham, set up Egypt, or the land of Ham, as the first great world power. Then Satan put his knowledge in dead stone, which may be called Satan's Bible, and not God's stone witness. In erecting the pyramid, of course, Satan would put in it some truth, because that is his method of practising fraud and deceit."
91.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, April 1883. Reprints pp. 474-5: "This spuing out, or casting off, of the nominal church as an organization in 1878, we then understood, and still proclaim, to be the date of the commencement of Babylon's fall..."
92.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1890), Volume 3 of Millennial Dawn, later retitled Studies in the Scriptures, p. 305-308.
93.Jump up ^ "Questions of Interest: The Gradual End of Gospel Favor" (PDF). Watch Tower: 190. June 15, 1911. "Our understanding is that the open or general 'call' of this age to kingdom honors ceased in October, 1881....we make a distinction between the end of the 'call' and the closing of the 'door'; and believe that the door into the kingdom class is not yet closed; that it stands ajar for a time..."
94.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come, p. 364: "this date, 1910, indicated by the pyramid ... we may accept as correct the testimony of the great pyramid, that the last members of the body or bride' of Christ will have been tested and accepted and will have passed beyond the vail before the close of A.D. 1910."
95.Jump up ^ The New Creation, p.579: "According to our expectations the stress of the great time of trouble will be on us soon, somewhere between 1910 and 1912—culminating with the end of the 'Times of the Gentiles,' October, 1914." (Later editions may read differently)
96.Jump up ^ The Time is at Hand, pages 76-78. Post 1914 editions read differently--1917 edition.
97.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 15, 1911, page 190.
98.Jump up ^ The Time is at Hand, 1915 ed., p. 99: "In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth, that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished near the end of A.D. 1915. Then the prayer of the church, ever since her Lord took his departure - 'Thy kingdom come' - will be answered; and under that wise and just administration, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord" (Later editions have 1914 instead of 1915)
99.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". April 15, 1916. pp. 126–127.
100.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1916: "Our eyes of understanding should discern clearly the Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty now in progress."
101.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery from Google Book Search. Published in 1917 by the Watch Tower Society. It was considered to be volume 7 of Studies in the Scriptures. PDF version of The Finished Mystery. Later editions read differently.
102.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917, Page 485: "Also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of 'Christianity.'"
103.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917,Pages 398-9: "The people who are the strength of Christendom shall be cut off in the brief but terribly eventful period beginning in 1918 A.D. A third part are 'burned with fire in the midst of the city.' Fire symbolizes destruction ... After 1918 the people supporting churchianity will cease to be its supporters, be destroyed as adherents, by the spiritual pestilence of errors abroad, and by the famine of the Word of God among them."
104.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1917, Page 64. Page 177
105.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery (1917 edition) (PDF). 1917. p. 367.
106.Jump up ^ W.F. Hudgings (member of the Board of Directors for the Watch Tower Society) (February 3, 1919). "Why I Accept the Seventh Volume". 1919 Souvenir IBSA Convention: 47. "There is no more reason why we should reject the Seventh Volume because of some statements there about the ending of the war in October, 1917, which did not come true, than there is that we should throw Volume Two away because we weren't all glorified in October, 1914"
107.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917 edition, p.258.258. (This date is changed in later editions.)
108.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". December 15, 1921. p. 379.
109.Jump up ^ M. James Penton (1985). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
110.Jump up ^ "New Date For Millennium: Russellites Now See It Coming on Earth in 1925" (PDF). New York Times. June 2, 1919.
111.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford (1920). Millions Now Living Will Never Die! (PDF). International Bible Students Association. pp. 89–90. ISBN 1-4116-2898-5. (Page 89 from Google Book Version)
112.Jump up ^ The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio, April 9, 1921. The Bridgeport Telegram, Bridgeport, Connecticut, December 4, 1920. Scans available at News Clippings from the "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" Campaign (1919-1925)
113.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1922, p. 262, "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures than 1914."
114.Jump up ^ The Watchtower May 15, 1922, p. 147, 150, "We have no doubt whatever in regard to the chronology relating to the dates of 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925 ... There can be no more question about 1925 than there was about 1914."
115.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1922, p. 150, "Noting the date marked so prominently, it is very easy for the finite mind to conclude that all the work to be done must center about it, and thus many are inclined to anticipate more than has been really foretold. Thus it was in 1844, in 1874, in 1878 as well as in 1914 and 1918. Looking back we can now easily see that those dates were clearly indicated in Scripture and doubtless intended by the Lord to encourage his people, as they did, as well as to be a means of testing and sifting when all that some expected did not come to pass. That all that some expect to see in 1925 may not transpire that year will not alter the date one whit more than in the other cases."
116.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. p. 633.
117.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337. Annual Memorial attendances were 17,961 (1919), 32,661 (1922), 42,000 (1923) 62,696 (1924), 90,434 (1925), 89,278 (1926) and 17,380 (1928). Statistics were also published each year in the Watchtower until 1926
118.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". August 15, 1996. p. 31. In 1935, Memorial attendance had increased again to 63,146.
119.Jump up ^ Timothy White (1967). A People For His Name. Vantage. pp. 238–239.
120.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
121.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
122.Jump up ^ Thomas Daniels. "Historical Idealism and Jehovah's Witnesses" (PDF). pp. 3–37.
123.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, pp. 138-9.
124.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1930, p. 78.: "In June, 1927, the Watch Tower published the proof from the Scriptures that those who thus died faithful were asleep in death until the coming of the Lord to his temple in 1918."
125.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, p. 333.
126.Jump up ^ The Harp of God (both the 1921 and 1927 editions) affirmed on page 231 that "the Lord's second presence dates from 1874." The March 1, 1922 Watch Tower and pages 65-66 of the book Prophecy (published in 1928) reiterated this position. However, by 1930 some vagueness can be seen. For example, the October 15, 1930 Watch Tower, page 308, says the "second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ dates from about A.D. 1875." The November 1, 1932 Watch Tower, page 325 is even less precise, stating that from "approximately 1875 forward" Christ was preparing the way.
127.Jump up ^ Tony Wills (2007). A People For His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. Lulu.com. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
128.Jump up ^ Light, Book One, p. 318-319.
129.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1933, p. 362.
130.Jump up ^ Golden Age, March 14, 1934, p. 380.
131.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, September 1, 1969, p. 521.
132.Jump up ^ Time magazine, March 31, 1930, p. 60. Scan of article.
133.Jump up ^ July 25, 1931 Messenger, pages 6,8.
134.Jump up ^ Golden Age, March 19, 1930 , pages 496-497
135.Jump up ^ http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/89a.htm San Diego Sun, March 1930 Interview with Rutherford about Beth Sarim
136.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, p. 252.
137.Jump up ^ Universal War Near, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1935: "Universal war is absolutely certain to come and that soon, and no power can stop it ... during the few remaining months until the breaking of that universal cataclysm."
138.Jump up ^ Watchtower 15 September 1941 p. 288.
139.Jump up ^ Watchtower, April 1942, p.139.
140.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1938, p. 323: "If in obedience to the divine command the Jonadabs or great multitude will marry and rear children after Armageddon, would it not be Scripturally proper for them to begin doing so immediately before Armageddon? and should the Jonadabs now be encouraged to marry and rear children? No, is the answer, supported by the Scriptures."
141.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford (1938). Face The Facts. Watchtower. p. 46. "There are now on earth Jonadabs devoted to the Lord and who doubtless will prove faithful. Would it be Scripturally proper for them to now marry and to begin to rear children? No, is the answer, which is supported by the Scriptures."
142.Jump up ^ 1943 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, Daily Texts and Comments for November 7. The fictional sweethearts of Children, John and Eunice, defer marriage "until lasting peace comes to the earth" while hoping "that within a few years our marriage may be consummated." J.F. Rutherford (1941). Children. Watchtower. pp. 366–367. ISBN 0-7500-1058-4.
143.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". October 15, 1950. p. 382. "Since the carrying out of the command to 'be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth' waits until after Armageddon, does that mean that those who now marry and rear children are violating God's laws? No, for the Scriptures show that 'marriage is honourable in all'—Hebrews 13:4"
144.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1978). Visions of Glory. Simon & Schuster. pp. 74–77. ISBN 0-671-22530-8.
145.Jump up ^ M. James Penton (1985). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 265–266. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
146.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35.
147.Jump up ^ "Is it Later Than You Think?". Awake!: 13–16. 8 October 1968.
148.Jump up ^ "How Much Longer Will It Be?". Awake!: 17–20. 8 October 1966.
149.Jump up ^ Public Address by District Overseer Charles Sinutko in Spring 1967 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Mp3 of Lecture by Sinutko
150.Jump up ^ The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years: "Undisturbed peace with health, happiness and freedom from fear is on the divine program for humankind on earth. Reliable evidences indicate that it will begin within this generation! We do not want to keep this gladsome information to ourselves, and so in this booklet we pass it on to you."
151.Jump up ^ Penton. Apocalypse Delayed. p. 95. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
152.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". August 15, 1968. pp. 494–501.
153.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 22, 1969, p.15: "You also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things ... All the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years ... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone! This is why parents who base their lives on God's prophetic Word find it much more practical to direct their young ones into trades that do not require such long periods of additional schooling."
154.Jump up ^ http://www.jwfiles.com/scans/KM5-1974p3.htm "How Are You Using Your Life?", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 1974 p.3.
155.Jump up ^ Sound clip of lecture "What is the Significance of 1975?" by Governing Body Member Fred Franz. http://www.freeminds.org/media/fredfranz75an.html; MP3 of complete lecture
156.Jump up ^ Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz p. 249. Scan available at http://web.archive.org/web/20031209184316/http://users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/9.pdf
157.Jump up ^ Time magazine archive "Witnessing the End", July 18, 1969 Time Scan of article: "The Witnesses have what they believe is Scriptural proof that the end is coming. For one thing, their interpretation of Biblical chronology reveals that Adam and Eve were created in the autumn of 4026 B.C., or 5994 years ago. Linking 6000 years to the six days of God's creation, they believe it fitting that there be a sabbath-like rest thereafter, beginning in 1975—though Witnesses cautiously avoid a flat prediction linked to that year."
158.Jump up ^ The Arizona Republic August 24, 1969
159.Jump up ^ July 11, 1977 Time magazine
160.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1976, p.441
161.Jump up ^ 1980 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, p. 30
162.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1980, p.17.
163.Jump up ^ "Defectors Feel 'Witness' Wrath: Critics say Baptism Rise Gives False Picture of Growth" by John Dart, Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, p. B4
164.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1985, p.4.
165.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1984
166.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". December 1, 1968. p. 715. "A generation, according to Psalm 90:10, is from seventy to eighty years. The generation that witnessed the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 does not have many more years left."
167.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". December 15, 1967. p. 751. "The expression 'this generation' was used by Jesus to mark a very limited period of time, the life-span of members of a generation of people living during the time that certain epoch-making events occurred. According to Psalm 90:10, that life-span could be of seventy years or even of eighty years."
168.Jump up ^ "Vision of the 'Time of the End'". Watchtower: 404. July 1, 1951. "'Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' (Matt. 24:34, NW) The actual meaning of these words is, beyond question, that which takes a 'generation' in the ordinary sense, as at Mark 8:12 and Acts 13:36, or for those who are living at the given period ... This therefore means that from 1914 a generation shall not pass till all is fulfilled, and amidst a great time of trouble."
169.^ Jump up to: a b c d Franz, Raymond (2007). Crisis of Conscience. Commentary Press. pp. 254–272. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
170.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". September 1, 1952. p. 542.
171.Jump up ^ "Awake!". October 8, 1968. pp. 13, 14.
172.Jump up ^ "The Watchtower". October 15, 1980. p. 31.
173.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 1, 1985, p.7.
174.Jump up ^ Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz p. 262. Scan available at http://web.archive.org/web/20031210004130/users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/10.pdf accessed January 27, 2006.
175.Jump up ^ "Saved From a 'Wicked Generation'", The Watchtower (November 1) 1995, pp. 10-15.
176.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 101. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
177.Jump up ^ Joel P. Engardio (December 18, 1995). "Apocalypse Later". Newsweek.
178.Jump up ^ "A Time To Keep Awake", The Watchtower, November 1, 1995, p. 19 par. 12, and p. 20 par. 15.
179.Jump up ^ "Watchtower". November 1, 1995. p. 20.
180.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, pages 23-24: "As a class, these anointed ones make up the modern-day "generation" of contemporaries that will not pass away "until all these things occur."* This suggests that some who are Christ's anointed brothers will still be alive on earth when the foretold great tribulation begins."
181.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1927, p. 62, "Interesting Questions".
182.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 1950, p. 419.
183.Jump up ^ "Holy spirit's role in the outworking of Jehovah's purposes". The Watchtower: 10. 15 April 2010.
184.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy! chap. 6 par. 25-29
185.Jump up ^ Edmond C. Gruss, Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1972, ISBN 0-87552-306-4 Page 42.
186.^ Jump up to: a b "When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part One" The Watchtower, October 1, 2011, page 26
187.Jump up ^ "Evidences of the Year’s Correctness". The Watchtower: 271–2. May 1, 1952. "It was in this first regnal year of Cyrus that he issued his decree to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Ezra 1:1) The decree may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4–5, 537 B.C. In either case this would have given sufficient time for the large party of 49,897 Jews to organize their expedition and to make their long four-month journey from Babylon to Jerusalem to get there by September 29–30, 537 B.C., the first of the seventh Jewish month, to build their altar to Jehovah as recorded at Ezra 3:1-3. Inasmuch as September 29–30, 537 B.C., officially ends the seventy years of desolation as recorded at 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21, so the beginning of the desolation of the land must have officially begun to be counted after September 21–22, 607 B.C., the first of the seventh Jewish month in 607 B.C., which is the beginning point for the counting of the 2,520 years."
188.Jump up ^ "Babylonian Exile." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.
189.Jump up ^ Timeline of Judaism after the Babylonian Exile
190.Jump up ^ Keller, Werner (1983). The Bible As History. Bantam; 2 Revised edition. p. 352. ISBN 0-553-27943-2.
191.Jump up ^ Dictionary of the Bible: Biographical, Geographical, Historical and Doctrinal by Charles Randall Barnes, Page 247.
192.Jump up ^ Dyer, Charles (2003). Nelson’s Old Testament survey: Discovering essence, Background & Meaning about Every Old Testament book.
193.Jump up ^ The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ's Return by Carl O. Jonsson. ISBN 0-914675-06-0 Publisher: Commentary Press (July, 1998, Fourth edition 2004)
194.Jump up ^ "When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part Two" The Watchtower, November 1, 2011, page 22
195.Jump up ^ Insight from scriptures. Vol.2 page 458, "secular chronologers calculate the 16th day of Tashritu (Tishri) as falling on October 11, Julian calendar, and October 5, Gregorian calendar, in the year 539 B.C.E. Since this date is an accepted one, there being no evidence to the contrary, it is usable as a pivotal date in coordinating secular history with Bible history."
196.Jump up ^ 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 (2003) ISBN 82-994633-3-5
197.Jump up ^ Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28:5 [2004], p. 42-43
Bibliography[edit]
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses by M. James Penton, professor emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Lethbridge and former Jehovah's Witness ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2
  


Categories: Apocalypticism
Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses
Christian eschatology






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Jehovah's Witnesses practices

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
The practices of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the biblical interpretations of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement, and successive presidents of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph Franklin Rutherford and Nathan Homer Knorr. Since 1976 they have also been based on decisions made at closed meetings of the religion's Governing Body.[1][2] Instructions regarding activities and acceptable behavior are disseminated through The Watchtower magazine and other official publications, and at conventions and congregation meetings.
Jehovah's Witnesses endeavor to remain "separate from the world",[3] which is regarded as a place of moral contamination and under the control of Satan, refusing any political and military activity and limiting social contact with non-Witnesses.[4] Members practice a strict moral code, which forbids premarital and homosexual sex, adultery, smoking, drunkenness and drug abuse, and blood transfusions.[5] Discipline within congregations is maintained by a system of judicial committees, which have the power to expel members who breach organizational rules and demand their shunning by other Witnesses.[6] The threat of shunning also serves to deter other members from dissident behavior.[7][8]
Members are expected to participate regularly in evangelizing work and attend all congregation meetings, as well as regular large-scale conventions, which are highly structured and based on material from Watch Tower Society publications.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Worship 1.1 Weekend meeting
1.2 Midweek meeting
1.3 Memorial of Christ's death
1.4 Assemblies and conventions
2 Evangelism
3 Watch Tower Society literature
4 Conversion
5 Ministers and ordination
6 Discipline
7 Family life
8 Morality
9 Blood
10 Spiritual warfare
11 Separateness
12 Celebrations
13 Construction
14 Humanitarian efforts
15 Funding of activities
16 References
17 Bibliography
18 External links

Worship[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses


 Worship at a Kingdom Hall
Meetings for worship and study are held at Kingdom Halls, and are open to the public. Witnesses are assigned to a congregation in which "territory" they reside and are expected to attend weekly meetings as scheduled by the Watch Tower Society and congregation elders. The meetings are largely devoted to study of the Bible and Witness doctrines; traditions of mysticism, glossolalia, creed recitation or periods of silent meditation common in other Christian denominations are absent.[10] During meetings and in other formal circumstances, Witnesses refer to one another as "Brother" and "Sister".[11] Sociologist Andrew Holden claims meetings create an atmosphere of uniformity for Witnesses, intensify their sense of belonging to a religious community, and reinforce the plausibility of the organization's belief system.[10] He says they are also important in helping new converts adopt a different way of life.[10] According to The Watchtower, one role of the frequency and length of meetings is to protect Witnesses from becoming "involved in the affairs of the world."[12][13]
The form and content of the meetings is established by the religion's Brooklyn headquarters, generally involving a consideration of the same subject matter worldwide each week.[10] Two meetings each week are divided into five distinct sections, lasting a total of about four hours. Meetings are opened and closed with hymns and brief prayers delivered from the platform. Witnesses are urged to prepare for all meetings by studying Watch Tower literature from which the content is drawn and looking up the scriptures cited in the articles.[14] Kingdom Halls are typically functional in character, and contain no religious symbols.[10] Each year, Witnesses from several congregations, which form a "circuit", gather for one-day and two-day assemblies; several circuits meet once a year for a three-day "district convention", and several districts gather every few years for a four-day "international convention". These larger gatherings are usually held at rented stadiums or auditoriums. Their most important and solemn event is the celebration of the "Lord's Evening Meal", or "Memorial of Christ's Death".
Weekend meeting[edit]
The weekend meeting, usually held on Sunday, comprises a 30-minute public talk by a congregation elder or ministerial servant and a one-hour question-and-answer study of a Bible-based article from The Watchtower magazine,[10] with questions prepared by the Watch Tower Society and the answers provided in the magazine.[15] Members may use their own words to express the ideas in the printed material,[16] though personal ideas derived from independent study are discouraged.[10][17]
Midweek meeting[edit]
The midweek meeting, typically held in the evening, includes a question-and-answer "Congregation Bible Study" (30 minutes) based on a Watch Tower Society publication;[10][18] the "Theocratic Ministry School" (30 minutes), designed to train Witnesses in public speaking and proselytizing using talks and rehearsals of doorstop sermons;[19] and the "Service Meeting" (30 minutes), following an agenda set in the Society's monthly newsletter Our Kingdom Ministry to train Witnesses to participate in the public ministry.[20] Before 2009, the midweek meeting consisted of the Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting (each 45 minutes);[21] the Congregation Book Study (1 hour) was typically held on a separate evening, divided into smaller groups meeting in private homes.[22]
Memorial of Christ's death[edit]
See also: Eucharist
Jehovah's Witnesses commemorate Christ's death as a ransom or "propitiatory sacrifice" by observing the Lord's Evening Meal, or Memorial. They celebrate it once per year, noting that it was instituted on the Passover, an annual festival.[23] They observe it on Nisan 14 according to the ancient Jewish luni-solar calendar.[24] Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that this is the only celebration the Bible commands Christians to observe.[25]
Of those who attend the Memorial, a small minority worldwide partake of the unleavened bread and wine. This is because Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the majority of the faithful have an earthly hope. Only those who believe they have a heavenly hope, the "remnant" (those still living) of the 144,000 "anointed", partake of the bread and wine.[26] In 2011, the number of persons who partook worldwide was 11,824, whereas the number who attended was 19,374,737.[27]
The Memorial, held after sunset, includes a talk on the meaning of the celebration and the circulation among the audience of unadulterated red wine and unleavened bread. Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bread symbolizes Jesus Christ's body which he gave on behalf of mankind, and that the wine symbolizes his blood which redeems from sin. They do not believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation.[28][29] Because many congregations have no members who claim to be anointed, it is common for no one to partake of the bread and wine.
Assemblies and conventions[edit]



 A District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses
Each year, Jehovah's Witnesses hold two one day "Circuit Assemblies", held in each circuit worldwide. Each circuit comprises several congregations in a geographical area. These are held either in Assembly Halls owned by Jehovah's Witnesses, or in rented facilities, such as public auditoriums. Once a year, Jehovah's Witnesses gather at larger assemblies called "Regional Conventions" which are usually three days long (Friday to Sunday). These conventions consist primarily of Bible-based sermons, including demonstrations and experiences of their preaching work. They also often feature live, full-costume dramatic plays re-enacting biblical accounts—such as Moses and the Plagues of Egypt, and Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah—or contemporary settings based on biblical principles. Every few years, "International Conventions" are held in selected cities, with visiting delegates from other countries. The attendance of some of these International conventions numbers into the hundreds of thousands, with the largest-ever gathering held in New York in 1958 at Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds with a peak attendance exceeding 250,000.[citation needed]
Evangelism[edit]



 Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their preaching from house to house
Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are under obligation to God to "give witness" by participating in organized and spontaneous evangelizing and proselytizing work,[30][31] with baptism permitted only for those who demonstrate "regular and zealous" participation.[32] Baptism is regarded as an automatic ordination as a minister[33] and from that time Witnesses feel a moral obligation to serve as "publishers", disseminating Watch Tower doctrines as evangelists of "the Truth".[30] Watch Tower publications describe house-to-house visitations as the primary work of Jehovah's Witnesses[32] in obedience to a "divine command" to preach "the Kingdom good news in all the earth and (make) disciples of people of all the nations".[34] Children usually accompany their parents and participate in the public ministry.[35] In addition to taking part in organized door-to-door preaching, Witnesses are taught that they should seek opportunities to "witness informally" by starting conversations with people they meet during routine activities such as shopping or on public transport, and directing the conversation towards their beliefs.[36]
Members who commit themselves to evangelize for 840 hours per year (an average of 70 hours per month) are called regular pioneers.[37] Those who commit themselves to evangelize for 50 hours for one month are called auxiliary pioneers, which they may do for consecutive months.[38] Some Witnesses volunteer for missionary service, and may be invited to receive specialized training at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. These individuals dedicate, on average, more than 120 hours per month to their work.[39] Members who are not able to 'pioneer' are told they may maintain the "pioneer spirit", by spending as much time as they can in preaching and by supporting the efforts of pioneers.[40] Witnesses are frequently instructed through Watch Tower Society publications, and at meetings and conventions, to increase the quality and quantity of their preaching efforts.[41][42] Watch Tower Society publications suggest that endurance in public preaching is the means by which Witnesses attain salvation,[43][44] and that evangelizing frees them from blood-guilt regarding individuals who might die at Armageddon without having heard about God's kingdom.[45]
Specialized "territory" maps of residential and commercial areas are prepared within the boundaries of each congregation's territory and distributed to publishers who are responsible for preaching within that area. Witnesses are instructed to fill out monthly report slips on their preaching activity,[46] listing the hours spent, publications placed with householders, and the number of "return visits" made to households where interest had been shown formerly.[30] The reports are used to help measure the "spirituality" of individuals[30][47] and to establish the eligibility of men as congregation elders and ministerial servants.[48] A Witness who fails to report for a month is termed an "irregular publisher"; one who has not turned in a field service report for six months consecutively is termed an "inactive publisher".
Witnesses have, in the past, used a wide variety of methods to spread their faith, including information marches, where members wore sandwich boards and handed out leaflets, to sound cars (car-mounted phonographs), and syndicated newspaper columns and radio segments devoted to sermons. Between 1924 and 1957, the organization operated a radio station, WBBR, from New York.
Watch Tower Society literature[edit]
See also: Jehovah's Witnesses publications and List of Watch Tower Society publications
Jehovah's Witnesses make extensive use of Watch Tower Society literature, including books, magazines, booklets and handbills, to spread their beliefs and to use as textbooks at their religious meetings. The publications are produced in many languages, with a small selection available in 500 languages. Their primary journal, The Watchtower is published simultaneously in nearly two hundred languages[49] and, along with Awake!, available in audio and electronic formats. Issues of both publications are compiled annually into bound volumes, and are added yearly to the Watchtower Library CD-ROM, which contains many Witness publications from 1950 onward, and is officially available to baptized members only.[50] New books, brochures, and other items are released at their annual conventions. Additionally, a number of audio cassettes, videocassettes, and DVDs have been produced explaining the group's beliefs, practices, organization and history. Some of these also provide dramas based on biblical accounts. Since 1942 all Watch Tower literature has been published anonymously.[51]
Publications were sold to the public until the early 1990s, from which time they were offered free of charge, with a request for donations. The change in policy was first announced in the United States in February 1990, following the loss of a US Supreme Court court case by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries on the issue of sales tax exemption for religious groups.[52] The Watch Tower Society had joined the case as an Amicus curiae, or "friend of the court".[53] The court ruling would have resulted in the Watch Tower Society having to pay millions of dollars in sales tax if sales of their literature had continued.[54]
Witnesses are urged to prepare for congregation meetings by studying the assigned Watch Tower literature,[55] and are expected to read all magazines and books published by the Society.[56][57][58] One analysis noted that each year Witnesses are expected to read more than 3,000 pages of the Society's publications, according to its suggested program for personal study. In 1981 this would have included 1,536 pages from The Watchtower and Awake!, 48 pages from Our Kingdom Ministry, 384 pages of a book for the congregation book study, 384 pages from the Yearbook, 360 pages of the Theocratic Ministry School textbook and 258 pages of assembly releases in addition to scheduled weekly Bible reading.[59] Much of the literature is illustrated extensively, with sociologist Andrew Holden observing utopian, post-Armageddon images of happy Witnesses in bright sunshine and pristine environments, often playing with formerly wild animals such as lions and tigers, in contrast to dark-colored images of unfavorable activities such as murders, burglaries and promiscuity that highlight the moral dangers outside the organization.[60]
Conversion[edit]
Individuals seeking to be baptised as Jehovah's Witnesses are required to follow a systematic, catechistical Bible study course, usually in their home, for several months. They will be expected to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall and must also demonstrate a willingness to carry out the doorstep ministry.[61] Before baptism they will be questioned by elders to determine that they understand and accept the beliefs of the Witnesses,[62] and also that they accept Jesus' ransom sacrifice and repent of sins and have made a personal dedication to God.[63] Baptisms are normally performed in pools at assemblies and conventions. At these baptisms, candidates make "public declaration" of their prior dedication to God.[64] The speaker asks the candidates the following two questions.
1.“On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?”
2.“Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with God’s spirit-directed organization?”
After candidates agree to both questions, they line up to undergo water immersion, usually in quick succession, often with hundreds baptised at large conventions.
Sociologist James Beckford reported two significant distinguishing features of the conversion process when related by Jehovah's Witnesses. He said they typically spoke of their conversion experience as a steady progression of mental states in which Witnesses "'work for' their conversion by a methodical confrontation with intellectual obstacles and by a deliberate programme of self-reform. Conversion is not represented as something which happened to them; it is framed as something that they achieved." Beckford noted that those he interviewed regarded sudden, emotional upheavals in religious consciousness as suspect: "Experiences which smack of sudden or idiosyncratic illumination/revelation cannot be reconcilable with either the tenor of God's historical practice or the nature of his special covenant with the Watchtower Society."
He also found a striking contrast with other religions in the common attribution of responsibility for conversion to "a spiritual guide ... the person who acted as the intermediary with the Watchtower movement and who supervised the initial process of learning and reforming". Beckford cited an interview "representative of many" in which a convert recalled initially resisting the Watch Tower Society's teachings until he was "talked into making a serious study of the scriptures ... I had plenty of objections and was sure the Witnesses were wrong, but (the Witness leading the personal Bible study sessions) showed me how the facts of the Bible could not be faulted".[65]
Ministers and ordination[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses consider as "ministers" all adherents who have been approved to engage in formal evangelizing. Witnesses consider their baptisms to be ordinations; unbaptized publishers are considered "regular ministers" whereas baptized publishers are considered "ordained ministers".[66] Witnesses recognize that many government and administrative precedents for ministers are not intended to include all active adherents.[67] For example, only elders assert ecclesiastical privilege and confessional privilege.[68]
Only males may be appointed as elders and ministerial servants (their term for deacons), and only baptized males may officiate at weddings, funerals, and baptisms.[69] A female Witness minister may only lead congregational prayer and teaching in unusual circumstances, and must wear a head covering while doing so. Outside the congregation, a female minister also wears a head covering when she leads spiritual teaching in the presence of her husband, according to the Christian complementarian view. Female headcovering is not required for other forms of teaching, or when participating in congregation meetings being led by another.[70] Some courts and government agencies have recognized that full-time Jehovah's Witnesses appointees, such as "pioneers" and those in the faith's religious order, qualify for ministerial exemptions regardless of gender.[71]
Discipline[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline
Formal discipline is administered by congregation elders. In the event that an accusation of serious sin is made concerning a baptized member, if there is sufficient evidence, a tribunal or judicial committee is formed to determine guilt, administer help and possibly apply sanctions.
Disfellowshipping is the most severe form of discipline administered. Before taking this step, the judicial committee must determine that the individual has committed a "serious sin" and that there is no evidence of true repentance.[72] To judge that repentance is genuine, members of the judicial committee ask questions and review the actions of the accused member.[73] Baptized members who spread teachings contrary to the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses can be disfellowshipped for apostasy,[74][75][76] and a 1981 letter to overseers—reproduced in a book by former Governing Body member Raymond Franz—directed that a member who "persists in believing other doctrine", even without promoting such beliefs, may also be subject to disfellowshipping.[77] Once the decision to disfellowship has been made, a person has seven days to appeal, after which, if the person has not appealed, the disfellowshipping will be announced to the congregation; disfellowshipping does not take effect until the announcement is made to the congregation.[78] After a person is disfellowshipped, the person is shunned by all baptized members.[79] Exceptions to this would include cases where a member was forced to have commercial dealings with a member who is disfellowshipped, or if the disfellowshipped member is living with family members who are baptized. In these cases, the Witness are not permitted to speak about matters pertaining to the religion, except in the case of parents conducting a Bible study with a disfellowshipped minor.[80] The extent to which disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives living in the same household are included in family life is left to the discretion of the family.[81] Family members living outside the home who are disfellowshipped have minimal contact.[82][83]
Reproof involves sins that could lead to disfellowshipping. Ones considered "truly repentant" are reproved rather than disfellowshipped.[84] Reproof is given "before all onlookers", based on their interpretation of 1 Timothy 5:20. If the sin is private in nature, the reproof would involve just the individual(s) involved. If the sin is known generally by the entire congregation or the community, an announcement is made informing the congregation that the person has been reproved. Later, without disclosing names or private details, one of the elders gives a separate talk ensuring that the congregation understands the sin, its dangers, and how to avoid it.[85] Reproved individuals have some congregation privileges restricted, until the elders decide that the member has regained "spiritual strength."[86][87] Restrictions may include not sharing in meeting parts, not commenting at meeting parts, and not praying for a group. The duration of restrictions depends on the elders. One cannot "pioneer" or "auxiliary pioneer" for at least one year after reproof is given.[88]
Marking is practiced if a person's course of action is regarded as a violation of Bible principles, reflecting badly on the congregation, but is not a disfellowshipping offense.[89] The person is strongly counseled. If, after repeated counsel sessions, the person still pursues the disturbing course, he might be 'marked', which involves an announcement stating that the actions in question are wrong, without naming the individual involved. Congregation members limit social contact with that person. The purpose of this is to shame the person into correcting their actions.[90] "Marked" individuals are not shunned completely, but social contact is minimized.[91]
Family life[edit]
The family structure is patriarchal. The husband is considered the final authority of family decisions, as the head of his family. Marriages must be monogamous. Wives should be submissive to their husbands and husbands are to have deep respect and love for their wives.[92] Husbands are instructed to treat their wives as Jesus treated his followers. He should not hurt or mistreat his family in any way. The father should be hard-working in providing necessities to his family. He must also provide for them in a spiritual capacity. This includes religious instruction for the family, and taking the lead in preaching activities. Parental discipline for children should not be in a harsh, cruel way. Children are instructed to obey their parents.
Married couples are encouraged to speak with local elders if they are having problems. Married couples can separate in the case of physical abuse and neglect, or if one partner attempts to hinder the other from being a Jehovah's Witness.[93] Remarriage after divorce is permissible only on the grounds of adultery, based on their understanding of Jesus' words at Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9.
Morality[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses demand high standards of morality within their ranks.[94] Their view of sexual behavior reflects conservative Christian views. Abortion is considered murder.[95] Homosexuality, premarital sex, and extramarital sex are considered “serious sins”.[96] Smoking (including electronic cigarettes),[97] abuse of drugs, and drunkenness are prohibited, though alcohol is permitted in moderation.[98][99] Modesty in dress and grooming is frequently stressed. Entertainment promoting immoral, "demonic", or violent themes is considered inappropriate. Members are warned that personal grooming such as beards, long hair or earrings for men, or other styles of dress or grooming might "stumble" the consciences of others.[100]
Gambling by making money through the losses of others is viewed as a "form of greed", and is prohibited.[101] The trading of stocks, shares and bonds is viewed as acceptable.[102]
Blood[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses



 Jehovah's Witnesses officially reject transfusions of whole allogeneic blood and some of its fractionated components
Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that the Bible prohibits the consumption, storage and transfusion of blood, based on their understanding of scriptures such as Leviticus 17:10, 11: "I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood," and Acts 15:29: "abstain from ... blood." This standpoint is applied even in emergencies. The Watchtower introduced this view in 1945, and it has developed since then.[103] Accordingly, the organization has established Hospital Information Services (HIS), which provides education and facilitation of bloodless surgery. This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees, which support adherents facing surgery and provide information to the medical community on bloodless surgery techniques and alternatives to blood.[104]
Though accepted by most members, some within the Jehovah's Witness community do not endorse the doctrine.[105]
Dutch anthropologist Richard Singelenberg has suggested the Watch Tower Society's prohibition on blood transfusions—as well as its edict against fellowship with outsiders—are rooted in the religious desire to maintain a communal state of purity worthy of divine favor. He noted: "Rules of pollution and purity are instrumental in creating structural boundaries around group members. And the more distinctive when formulated into divine precepts, the clearer the dividing lines between the faithful and those excluded."[106]
Spiritual warfare[edit]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Witnesses are engaged in a "spiritual, theocratic warfare" against false teachings and wicked spirit forces they say try to impede them in their preaching work.[107] Based on their interpretation of Ephesians 6:10-20, they believe their "spiritual war" is fought with truth, righteousness, the "good news of peace", faith, the hope of salvation, God's word and prayer.[108][109] They have advocated the use of "theocratic war strategy" to protect the interests of God's cause, which would include hiding the truth from God's "enemies"[110][111] by being evasive or withholding truthful or incriminating information from those not entitled by law to know.[112][113][114] The Watchtower told Witnesses: "It is proper to cover over our arrangements for the work that God commands us to do. If the wolfish foes draw wrong conclusions from our maneuvers to outwit them, no harm has been done to them by the harmless sheep, innocent in their motives as doves."[115]
Separateness[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses are told they should remain "separate from the world" in harmony with Jesus' description of his followers at John 17:14-16. Watch Tower publications define the "world" as "the mass of mankind apart from Jehovah’s approved servants" and teach that it is ruled by Satan[116] and a place of danger[117] and moral contamination.[118] Witnesses manifest their world-renouncing beliefs in many ways. They avoid involvement in social controversies,[119] remain politically neutral, and do not seek public office. The Watch Tower Society has stated that voting in political elections is a personal conscience decision,[120] though a Witness who takes any action considered to be a "violation of Christian neutrality" may face religious sanctions.[121] They refuse participation in ecumenical and interfaith activities,[122][123] abstain from celebrating religious holidays, and reject many customs they claim have pagan origins. They do not work in industries associated with the military, nor serve in the armed services,[124] and refuse national military service, which in some countries may result in their arrest and imprisonment.[125] They do not salute or pledge allegiance to national flags or sing national anthems or other patriotic songs.[126]
Witnesses are urged to minimize their social contact with non-members, even if they possess "decent qualities",[127][128][129] because of perceived dangers of worldly association.[130][131] Sociologist Andrew Holden indicated they are highly selective in choosing with whom they spend leisure time, generally choosing the company of other Witnesses. Many Witnesses interviewed by Holden reported tensions and ostracism at work because of their religious beliefs.[132] He reported that many converts to the religion required some social adjustment as they gradually reduced contact with non-Witness friends.[133] Association with those outside the organization, commonly termed by Witnesses as "worldly" and "not in the Truth", is acceptable only when it is viewed as an opportunity to preach[134][135] and Witnesses are under considerable pressure from the Society to show outsiders they are people of high moral fiber. Holden claims that as a result, Witnesses working with "worldly" colleagues tend to closely adhere to Watch Tower teachings.[136]
Sociologist Ronald Lawson has suggested that it is the religion's intellectual and organizational isolation—coupled with the intense indoctrination of adherents, rigid internal discipline and considerable persecution—that has contributed to the consistency of its sense of urgency in its apocalyptic message.[137]
Celebrations[edit]
Weddings, anniversaries, and funerals are observed, though they avoid incorporating certain traditions they see to have pagan origins.[138][139] The Watchtower has stated that the use of wedding rings by Witnesses is acceptable, even though wedding rings may have first been used by pagans, based on its conclusion that there is no definite evidence wedding rings were used "as part of false religious practices" (emphasis from original).[140] Witnesses typically observe wedding anniversaries, with the Watch Tower Society noting that wedding anniversaries apparently do not stem from pagan origins.[141]
Other common celebrations and religious or national holidays such as birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas[142] are not celebrated because they believe that these continue to involve "false religious beliefs or activities."[143][144] Watch Tower Society publications rule out the celebration of Mother's Day because of a claimed link with pagan gods[145] and concerns that giving "special honor and worship" to mothers is a form of "creature worship" that could turn people away from God.[146] The Society also directs Witnesses to shun May Day, New Year's Day and Valentine's Day celebrations because of their pagan origins.[147]
Their opposition to birthdays is said to be based on how the Bible presents them. Watch Tower Society publications note that the only birthday celebrations explicitly mentioned in the Bible are those of an unnamed Pharaoh and Herod Antipas, and that both were associated with executions, and neither celebrant was a servant of God.[148] Though some religions interpret Job 1:4 to indicate birthday feasts of Job's sons, Jehovah's Witnesses interpret them as a circuit of feasts from one house to the next.[149] The Bible does not show Jesus or his apostles celebrating birthdays and The Watchtower claims the absence of any record of the date of the birth of Jesus or his apostles indicates that "God does not want us to celebrate any of these birthdays".[150]
Construction[edit]
International and regional building teams frequently undertake constructions of Kingdom Halls over the course of one or two weekends, termed "quick-builds". Larger construction projects, including building regional Assembly Halls and Bethel offices, factories, residences, warehouses, and farm facilities, are also performed almost entirely by volunteer members.[citation needed]
Humanitarian efforts[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses provide relief assistance in disaster-stricken areas for their members and others in the vicinity. Medicine and clothing were provided to both Hutu and Tutsi Witnesses during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.[151] Following Hurricane Katrina, they helped rebuild houses of Witnesses and others.[152] The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses uses "Regional Building Committees" to oversee relief efforts worldwide.[153]
Funding of activities[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses fund their activities, such as publishing, constructing and operating facilities, evangelism, and disaster relief via donations. There is no tithing or collection, but on exceptional occasions, members are reminded to donate to the organization; Witnesses typically provide an opportunity for members of the public to make donations as they encounter them in their preaching work. Donation boxes labeled for several purposes are located in Kingdom Halls and other meeting facilities. Generally there are contribution boxes for local operating expenses, a Kingdom Hall fund for helping Witnesses around the world to build Kingdom Halls, and a general fund for the "Worldwide Work", which includes the printing of literature, organization of conventions, supporting missionaries and disaster relief, and other operating expenses of the organization.[154][155]
The accounts (including donations) and the financial operation of the local congregation are reviewed monthly and posted on a congregation notice board. Donations are also accepted via mail, and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society can be named as a beneficiary to an estate, and also accepts donations in the form of life insurance policies, pension plans, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement accounts, stocks and bonds, real estate, annuities and trusts.[156]
References[edit]

Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (December 2011)
1.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, p. 106.
2.Jump up ^ Keep Yourselves in God’s Love, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2008, page 43, "The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses represents the slave class. ... elders today receive instructions and counsel from the Governing Body, either directly or through its representatives, such as traveling overseers."
3.Jump up ^ "Keep Clear of False Worship!". The Watchtower: 30. March 15, 2006. "[Jehovah's Witnesses] are “no part of the world.” (John 15:19) The term “world” here refers to human society alienated from God. (Ephesians 4:17-19; 1 John 5:19) We are separate from the world in that we shun attitudes, speech, and conduct that offend Jehovah. (1 John 2:15-17) Moreover, in harmony with the principle that “bad associations spoil useful habits,” we avoid intimacy with those who do not live by Christian standards. (1 Corinthians 15:33) To be no part of the world is to remain “without spot from the world.” (James 1:27) Hence, being separate from the world does not mean that we physically withdraw from all contact with other people."
4.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 7, 109–112.
5.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 26, 28.
6.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 90.
7.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, p. 163.
8.Jump up ^ "Make Wise Use of Your Christian Freedom", The Watchtower, June 1, 1992, page 18.
9.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 66–68.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Holden 2002, pp. 64–69.
11.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Botting, Gary (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
12.Jump up ^ "What Do You Do with Your Time?", The Watchtower, February 1, 1950, page 38, "By setting and meeting the goal never to miss any of the meetings that the Lord provides for His people, the Christian is protected against becoming involved in the affairs of this world. He doesn’t have time for it!"
13.Jump up ^ "Exert Yourselves Vigorously!", The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, page 206, "They do much private Bible study, attend five weekly congregation meetings and spend much time each month in preaching the good news of God’s kingdom and making disciples of people, besides providing support for themselves and their families. ... Being busy serves as a protection from many of the temptations and snares of the world, the flesh and the Devil."
14.Jump up ^ "Benefit Fully From the Service Meetings", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1989, page 7.
15.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 420.
16.Jump up ^ "Families, Praise God as Part of His Congregation". The Watchtower: 20. 1 July 1999.
17.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Botting, Gary (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 143. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
18.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses—Who Are They? What Do They Believe?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2000, page 15.
19.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, p. 51.
20.Jump up ^ "Are You Benefiting Yourself?", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2000, page 3.
21.Jump up ^ "New Congregation Meeting Schedule", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 2008, page 1
22.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2007, p. 8 How the Congregation Book Study Arrangement Helps Us
23.Jump up ^ Reasoning From The Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 265.
24.Jump up ^ Insight On The Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 392.
25.Jump up ^ "Jehovah is a God of Covenants", The Watchtower, February 1, 1998, page 8, "Jesus instituted the only annual religious observance commanded for Christians—the Memorial of his death."
26.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, p. 207, "Who should partake of these Memorial emblems? Logically, only those in the new covenant—that is, those who have the hope of going to heaven—should partake of the bread and the wine. God’s holy spirit convinces such ones that they have been selected to be heavenly kings."
27.Jump up ^ Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses 2012, p. 31
28.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, p. 207.
29.Jump up ^ "Discerning What We Are — At Memorial Time", The Watchtower, February 15, 1990, p. 16.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d Holden 2002, pp. 71–76.
31.Jump up ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, pages 864-5, "The fundamental obligation of each member of the sect is to give witness to Jehovah by announcing His approaching Kingdom. ... They regard the Bible as their only source of belief and rule of conduct ... To be a true Witness one must preach effectively in one way or another.”
32.^ Jump up to: a b Question Box, Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1990, page 8.
33.Jump up ^ "Paying Back Caesar’s Things to Caesar", The Watchtower, May 1, 1996, page 16.
34.Jump up ^ Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, page 4.
35.Jump up ^ "Help Your Children Progress in the Ministry". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. July 2005.
36.Jump up ^ "We Are Witnesses All the Time". Our Kingdom Ministry: 6. September 2011.
37.Jump up ^ "Can We Make April 2000 Our Best Month Ever?". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. March 2000. "If you are uncertain about your ability to meet the 70-hour requirement for regular pioneers, why not auxiliary pioneer in April and set 70 hours as your goal?"
38.Jump up ^ "Declare Abroad the Excellencies of Jehovah". Our Kingdom Ministry: 4. February 2007. "Meeting the auxiliary pioneer requirement of 50 hours may not be as difficult as you think."
39.Jump up ^ Determined to Follow God’s Way of Life The Watchtower January 15, 1999 p. 6
40.Jump up ^ "A Worthy Goal for the New Service Year". Our Kingdom Ministry: 5. August 2007. "Even if you feel that you are unable to auxiliary pioneer during this coming service year, you can still maintain the pioneer spirit. Continue to do all that you can in the ministry, confident that Jehovah is pleased with your whole-souled effort to give him your best. (Gal. 6:4) Be supportive, and encourage those who are able to auxiliary pioneer. Perhaps you can adjust your schedule to share in the ministry an additional day of the week with those who are pioneering."
41.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 259.
42.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 196–206.
43.Jump up ^ "Preaching in a Lawless World", The Watchtower, July 15, 1979, page 13, paragraph 4, "It is by our endurance in proclaiming “this good news of the kingdom” that we may attain to salvation"; cited in Penton 1997, p. 206.
44.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
45.Jump up ^ Keeping “Clean from the Blood of All Men”, The Watchtower, October 1, 1960, page 608.
46.Jump up ^ "Do You Contribute to an Accurate Report?", Our Kingdom Ministry, December 2002, page 8.
47.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 247.
48.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 201.
49.Jump up ^ JW-media.org
50.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 2007, p. 3
51.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 78.
52.Jump up ^ Swaggart Ministries v. California Board of Equalization case summary, US Supreme Court Media
53.Jump up ^ Watch Tower brief, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries vs California Board of Equalization, US Supreme Court, 1988.
54.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 320.
55.Jump up ^ Organized To Do Jehovah's Will, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 62.
56.Jump up ^ "Let Your Advancement Be Manifest", Watchtower, August 1, 1992, page 10.
57.Jump up ^ "Look to Jehovah for Insight", Watchtower, March 15, 1989, page 14.
58.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 88.
59.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 231
60.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 92–93
61.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 59.
62.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/89 p. 13 par. 18 What Prevents You From Getting Baptized?
64.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 5/15/03 p. 31 Questions From Readers
65.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (June 1978). "Accoounting for Conversion". British Journal of Sociology (London: London School of Economics and Political Science) 29 (June 1978): 251—256. JSTOR 589892.
66.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers", The Watchtower, November 1, 1951, page 671-672, "The authorities of the land generally call for some ceremony in connection with ordination for the ministry... The legal [opinion] is recognizing the two classifications made concerning ministers, namely, ordained ministers and regular unordained ministers. ...[A]n unbaptized one...may still point out to the court [or other authority] that he has not as yet undergone the ordination ceremony of water immersion, and for that reason may be classed by the law of the land as a regular minister rather than an ordained minister."
67.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1976, page 5-6,"Since at times a request is made by officials for some evidence of “ordination” on the part of those serving in such capacities, a “Certificate for Ordained Minister” has been prepared and will be supplied on request to those elders or ministerial servants needing it. It will show the date, not of their baptism, but when they were appointed to serve in such capacities... But what of those who are engaged in full-time service as pioneers or members of Bethel families? ...Such appointment, however, does not fit the meaning of “ordination” as that term is generally understood [by non-Witnesses requesting these certificates]. ...Since the Bible itself sets out only the two congregational positions of responsibility, that of elders and of ministerial servants, we limit our application of the term “ordained minister” [as used by non-Witness authorities] to those in this Scriptural arrangement.[emphasis added]"
68.Jump up ^ "Meeting the Challenge of Loyalty", The Watchtower, March 15, 1996, page 18
69.Jump up ^ "The General Priesthood Today", The Watchtower, March 1, 1963, page 143
70.Jump up ^ "Head Coverings—When and Why?", Keep Yourselves in God's Love, ©2008 Watch Tower, pages 43-44 and 209-212
71.Jump up ^ "Women—May They Be “Ministers”?", The Watchtower, March 15, 1981, page 19, "Several courts in the United States have recognized female Jehovah’s Witnesses, in carrying on the door-to-door evangelistic work, as ministers. For example, the Supreme Court of Vermont, in Vermont v. Greaves (1941), stated that Elva Greaves “is an ordained minister of a sect or class known and designated as ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’.”"
72.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/15/87 p. 13.
73.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/1/95 p. 30 par. 3
74.Jump up ^ Pay Attention To Yourself and All the Flock, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1991, page 94, "Apostasy is a standing away from, a falling away, defection, rebellion, abandonment; it involves teaching false doctrines, supporting or promoting false religion and its holidays or interfaith activities ... Persons who deliberately spread (stubbornly hold to and speak about) teachings contrary to Bible truth as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses are apostates."
75.Jump up ^ Reasoning From The Scriptures p. 34 Apostasy "Others claim to believe the Bible but reject Jehovah’s organization."
76.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/1/86 p. 31.
77.Jump up ^ To All Circuit and District Overseers, September 1, 1980, "Keep in mind that to be disfellowshipped, an apostate does not have to be a promoter of apostate views. ... if a baptized Christian abandons the teachings of Jehovah, as presented by the faithful and discreet slave, and persists in believing other doctrine despite Scriptural reproof, then he is apostatizing. ... [If] he continues to believe the apostate ideas and rejects what he has been provided through the 'slave class,' then appropriate judicial action should be taken. ... [If] something reasonably substantial comes to the attention of the elders along this line, it would be appropriate to make a kindly, discreet inquiry so as to protect the flock." Letter reproduced in Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz, 1983, chapter 11.
78.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock - pgs. 121-122
79.Jump up ^ The Watchtower April 15, 1988 Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit Pgs. 26-31.
80.Jump up ^ “Helping Minors to Worship God”, Awake! 11/15, 1988, p. 20.
81.Jump up ^ "Thus, it would be left to members of the family to decide on the extent to which the disfellowshipped family member would be included when eating or engaging in other household activities. And yet, they would not want to give brothers with whom they associate the impression that everything is the same as it was before the disfellowshipping occurred." Display Christian Loyalty When a Relative Is Disfellowshipped, p 4. Scan available at JWfiles.com accessed January 27, 2006.
82.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, p. 26., "It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum."
83.Jump up ^ "Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit", The Watchtower April 15, 1988, p. 26.
84.Jump up ^ “Questions From Readers”, The Watchtower, January 1, 1983 pp. 30-31.
85.Jump up ^ “Repentance Leading Back to God”, The Watchtower, September 1, 1981, p. 27 par. 30.
86.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1975, p. 4.
87.Jump up ^ "Reproofs Are the Way of Life", The Watchtower, November 15, 1977 p. 691.
88.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry March 1983, p. 3.
89.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1999, p. 30
90.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, April 15, 1985, p. 31.
91.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, April 15, 1984 p. 31.
92.Jump up ^ The Bible's Viewpoint What Does It Mean to Be the Head of the House?, Awake! 2004b, July 8, 2004, p. 26.
93.Jump up ^ The Secret of Family Happiness, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1996, pp. 160-161.
94.Jump up ^ "Are You Faithful in All Things?", The Watchtower, July 15, 2005, page 26-30.
95.Jump up ^ "Abortion", Reasoning from the Scriptures, page 25-26.
96.Jump up ^ "Young People Ask... What's Wrong With Premarital Sex?", Awake!, July 22, 2004, pages 12-14.
97.Jump up ^ "What Is God’s View of Smoking?", The Watchtower, June 1, 2014, page 4. The footnote reads: "Smoking here refers to inhaling tobacco smoke directly from cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or water pipes. However, the principles discussed apply equally to the use of chewing tobacco, snuff, electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine, and other products."
98.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993,p. 180.
99.Jump up ^ “You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy”, The Watchtower, February 15, 1976, p. 123 par. 16.
100.Jump up ^ “When Another’s Conscience Is Involved”, Awake! April 22, 1979, pp. 27-28
101.Jump up ^ "Does the Bible Condemn Gambling?", The Watchtower, March 1, 2011, pages 12-14.
102.Jump up ^ "Is It Wise to Invest in the Stock Market?", Awake!, October 8, 2000, pages 25-27.
103.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?. Watch Tower Society.
104.Jump up ^ Awake! (Watch Tower Society): 24–25. November 22, 1993. Missing or empty |title= (help)
105.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol 26, pages 375-380.
106.Jump up ^ Singelenberg, Richard (1990). "The blood transufion taboo of Jehovah's Witnesses: origin, development and function of a controversial doctrine". Social Science & Medicine 31 (No.4): 521—522. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(90)90048-W.
107.Jump up ^ "Flocking Together in Battle Line", The Watchtower, March 1, 1983, page 17.
108.Jump up ^ "Fight the fine Fight of faith", The Watchtower, February 15, 2004, page 26–27.
109.Jump up ^ "Waging the Right Warfare", The Watchtower, June 15, 1956, page 365.
110.Jump up ^ "Use theocratic war strategy", The Watchtower, May 1, 1957, page 285,286.
111.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watchtower, June 1, 1960, pages 351-352.
112.Jump up ^ "Christians live the truth", The Watchtower, October 1, 1954, page 597.
113.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pages 244-245.
114.Jump up ^ Examining the Scriptures Daily", May 18, 2011, "Does being truthful with others mean that we must disclose every detail to whoever asks us a question? Not necessarily ... Jehovah's people need to be on guard against apostates and other wicked men who use trickery or cunning for selfish purposes."
115.Jump up ^ "Cautious as Serpents Among Wolves", The Watchtower, February 1, 1956, page 86.
116.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, pages 435-436.
117.Jump up ^ "Live a Balanced, Simple Life", The Watchtower, July 15, 1989, page 11.
118.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 12.
119.Jump up ^ What Does God Require?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1996, page 13.
120.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, November 1, 1999, p. 28, "As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State.
121.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock, page 140.
122.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 188)
123.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, pages 269-270.
124.Jump up ^ Worship the Only True God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, p. 159.
125.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Press Release, October 4, 2007
126.Jump up ^ Education, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, pp. 20-23
127.Jump up ^ Weddle, David L. (April 2000). "A new "generation" of Jehovah's Witnesses: Revised interpretation, ritual and identity". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions (University of California Press) 3 (No.2): 363. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2000.3.2.350.
128.Jump up ^ "Train With Godly Devotion as Your Aim", Watchtower, August 15, 1985, page 19.
129.Jump up ^ "Have a Full Share in the Great Spiritual Harvest", The Watchtower, July 15, 2010, page 19, "Do you avoid unnecessary fellowship with schoolmates and fellow workers who do not share your beliefs? ... Your faithful compliance in such matters will bring excellent results."
130.Jump up ^ Survival Into a New Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1984, page 168.
131.Jump up ^ "Each One Will Carry His Own Load", The Watchtower, March 15, 2006, page 23.
132.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 109–112.
133.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 69.
134.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 409
135.Jump up ^ "Keep Clear of False Worship!", The Watchtower, March 15, 2006, page 30, "Should we hold ourselves completely aloof from those who do not share our faith? The answer is no. The second of the two greatest commandments states: 'You must love your neighbor as yourself.' We certainly display love for our neighbors when we share with them the good news of the Kingdom."
136.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 123.
137.Jump up ^ Ronald Lawson, "Sect-state relations: Accounting for the differing trajectories of Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses", Sociology of Religion, Winter 1995, "The urgency of the Witness's apocalyptic has changed very little over time. The intellectual isolation of the Witness leaders has allowed them to retain their traditional position, and it is they who continue to be the chief purveyors of the radical eschatology ....This commitment (to principle) was bolstered by their organizational isolation, intense indoctrination of adherents, rigid internal discipline, and considerable persecution."
138.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/69 p. 58 Christian Weddings Should Reflect Reasonableness "Of course, some customs are unscriptural and so they are objectionable to Christians. ... Other customs are plainly acts of false worship. So one planning a wedding does well to examine practices common in his area and analyze how people view them locally."
139.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 7/15/98 p. 24 A Christian View of Funeral Customs "Funeral customs do not always conflict with Bible principles. When they do, Christians are determined to act in harmony with the Scriptures."
140.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/72 p. 63 "It is thus seen that the precise origin of the wedding ring is uncertain. Even if it were a fact that pagans first used wedding rings, would that rule such out for Christians? Not necessarily."
141.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1971, p. 735.
142.Jump up ^ "Christmas Customs—Are They Christian", The Watchtower, December 15, 2000, page 3-7.
143.Jump up ^ Awake! 7/8/04 p. 30 "Christians refrain from any celebrations or customs that continue to involve false religious beliefs or activities that violate Bible principles. For example, the Bible definitely puts birthday celebrations in a bad light"
144.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1998, p. 30.
145.Jump up ^ “They Are No Part of the World”, Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 199, "Jehovah’s Witnesses have good times with their families and friends. But they do not participate in holidays and celebrations that are linked with pagan gods (as is true of such holidays as Easter, New Year’s Day, May Day, and Mother’s Day)."
146.Jump up ^ Vindication, J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1931, pages 158-159.
147.Jump up ^ "What Is the Bible’s View? Are They Harmless Observances?", Awake!, February 8, 1974, Page 27.
148.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1998. pp. 30-31.
149.Jump up ^ Job 1:4 reads "And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them." (King James version)
150.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1960, p. 704.
151.Jump up ^ "Christianity in Action: Amid Turmoil", The Watchtower, January 15, 1998.
152.Jump up ^ Awake!, June 2006, page 19, "Heeding the Warnings Made a Difference"
153.Jump up ^ Awake!, June 2006, p.19.
154.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, December 2003, p. 7
155.Jump up ^ “A New Program for Kingdom Hall Construction”, Our Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, September 1983, p. 4-5.
156.Jump up ^ "Ways in Which Some Choose to Give Contributions to the Worldwide Work", The Watchtower, November 1, 2006, page 20
Bibliography[edit]
Franz, Raymond (2002). Crisis of Conscience (4th ed.). Commentary Press. ISBN 0-914675-24-9.
Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom (2nd ed.). Commentary Press. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26610-6.
Penton, James M. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
External links[edit]
Official Website
  


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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_practices















Jehovah's Witnesses practices

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Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
 Discipline


Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
 Persecution

Supreme Court cases
 by country

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
The practices of Jehovah's Witnesses are based on the biblical interpretations of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Bible Student movement, and successive presidents of the Watch Tower Society, Joseph Franklin Rutherford and Nathan Homer Knorr. Since 1976 they have also been based on decisions made at closed meetings of the religion's Governing Body.[1][2] Instructions regarding activities and acceptable behavior are disseminated through The Watchtower magazine and other official publications, and at conventions and congregation meetings.
Jehovah's Witnesses endeavor to remain "separate from the world",[3] which is regarded as a place of moral contamination and under the control of Satan, refusing any political and military activity and limiting social contact with non-Witnesses.[4] Members practice a strict moral code, which forbids premarital and homosexual sex, adultery, smoking, drunkenness and drug abuse, and blood transfusions.[5] Discipline within congregations is maintained by a system of judicial committees, which have the power to expel members who breach organizational rules and demand their shunning by other Witnesses.[6] The threat of shunning also serves to deter other members from dissident behavior.[7][8]
Members are expected to participate regularly in evangelizing work and attend all congregation meetings, as well as regular large-scale conventions, which are highly structured and based on material from Watch Tower Society publications.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Worship 1.1 Weekend meeting
1.2 Midweek meeting
1.3 Memorial of Christ's death
1.4 Assemblies and conventions
2 Evangelism
3 Watch Tower Society literature
4 Conversion
5 Ministers and ordination
6 Discipline
7 Family life
8 Morality
9 Blood
10 Spiritual warfare
11 Separateness
12 Celebrations
13 Construction
14 Humanitarian efforts
15 Funding of activities
16 References
17 Bibliography
18 External links

Worship[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses


 Worship at a Kingdom Hall
Meetings for worship and study are held at Kingdom Halls, and are open to the public. Witnesses are assigned to a congregation in which "territory" they reside and are expected to attend weekly meetings as scheduled by the Watch Tower Society and congregation elders. The meetings are largely devoted to study of the Bible and Witness doctrines; traditions of mysticism, glossolalia, creed recitation or periods of silent meditation common in other Christian denominations are absent.[10] During meetings and in other formal circumstances, Witnesses refer to one another as "Brother" and "Sister".[11] Sociologist Andrew Holden claims meetings create an atmosphere of uniformity for Witnesses, intensify their sense of belonging to a religious community, and reinforce the plausibility of the organization's belief system.[10] He says they are also important in helping new converts adopt a different way of life.[10] According to The Watchtower, one role of the frequency and length of meetings is to protect Witnesses from becoming "involved in the affairs of the world."[12][13]
The form and content of the meetings is established by the religion's Brooklyn headquarters, generally involving a consideration of the same subject matter worldwide each week.[10] Two meetings each week are divided into five distinct sections, lasting a total of about four hours. Meetings are opened and closed with hymns and brief prayers delivered from the platform. Witnesses are urged to prepare for all meetings by studying Watch Tower literature from which the content is drawn and looking up the scriptures cited in the articles.[14] Kingdom Halls are typically functional in character, and contain no religious symbols.[10] Each year, Witnesses from several congregations, which form a "circuit", gather for one-day and two-day assemblies; several circuits meet once a year for a three-day "district convention", and several districts gather every few years for a four-day "international convention". These larger gatherings are usually held at rented stadiums or auditoriums. Their most important and solemn event is the celebration of the "Lord's Evening Meal", or "Memorial of Christ's Death".
Weekend meeting[edit]
The weekend meeting, usually held on Sunday, comprises a 30-minute public talk by a congregation elder or ministerial servant and a one-hour question-and-answer study of a Bible-based article from The Watchtower magazine,[10] with questions prepared by the Watch Tower Society and the answers provided in the magazine.[15] Members may use their own words to express the ideas in the printed material,[16] though personal ideas derived from independent study are discouraged.[10][17]
Midweek meeting[edit]
The midweek meeting, typically held in the evening, includes a question-and-answer "Congregation Bible Study" (30 minutes) based on a Watch Tower Society publication;[10][18] the "Theocratic Ministry School" (30 minutes), designed to train Witnesses in public speaking and proselytizing using talks and rehearsals of doorstop sermons;[19] and the "Service Meeting" (30 minutes), following an agenda set in the Society's monthly newsletter Our Kingdom Ministry to train Witnesses to participate in the public ministry.[20] Before 2009, the midweek meeting consisted of the Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting (each 45 minutes);[21] the Congregation Book Study (1 hour) was typically held on a separate evening, divided into smaller groups meeting in private homes.[22]
Memorial of Christ's death[edit]
See also: Eucharist
Jehovah's Witnesses commemorate Christ's death as a ransom or "propitiatory sacrifice" by observing the Lord's Evening Meal, or Memorial. They celebrate it once per year, noting that it was instituted on the Passover, an annual festival.[23] They observe it on Nisan 14 according to the ancient Jewish luni-solar calendar.[24] Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that this is the only celebration the Bible commands Christians to observe.[25]
Of those who attend the Memorial, a small minority worldwide partake of the unleavened bread and wine. This is because Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the majority of the faithful have an earthly hope. Only those who believe they have a heavenly hope, the "remnant" (those still living) of the 144,000 "anointed", partake of the bread and wine.[26] In 2011, the number of persons who partook worldwide was 11,824, whereas the number who attended was 19,374,737.[27]
The Memorial, held after sunset, includes a talk on the meaning of the celebration and the circulation among the audience of unadulterated red wine and unleavened bread. Jehovah's Witnesses believe the bread symbolizes Jesus Christ's body which he gave on behalf of mankind, and that the wine symbolizes his blood which redeems from sin. They do not believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation.[28][29] Because many congregations have no members who claim to be anointed, it is common for no one to partake of the bread and wine.
Assemblies and conventions[edit]



 A District Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses
Each year, Jehovah's Witnesses hold two one day "Circuit Assemblies", held in each circuit worldwide. Each circuit comprises several congregations in a geographical area. These are held either in Assembly Halls owned by Jehovah's Witnesses, or in rented facilities, such as public auditoriums. Once a year, Jehovah's Witnesses gather at larger assemblies called "Regional Conventions" which are usually three days long (Friday to Sunday). These conventions consist primarily of Bible-based sermons, including demonstrations and experiences of their preaching work. They also often feature live, full-costume dramatic plays re-enacting biblical accounts—such as Moses and the Plagues of Egypt, and Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah—or contemporary settings based on biblical principles. Every few years, "International Conventions" are held in selected cities, with visiting delegates from other countries. The attendance of some of these International conventions numbers into the hundreds of thousands, with the largest-ever gathering held in New York in 1958 at Yankee Stadium and Polo Grounds with a peak attendance exceeding 250,000.[citation needed]
Evangelism[edit]



 Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their preaching from house to house
Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are under obligation to God to "give witness" by participating in organized and spontaneous evangelizing and proselytizing work,[30][31] with baptism permitted only for those who demonstrate "regular and zealous" participation.[32] Baptism is regarded as an automatic ordination as a minister[33] and from that time Witnesses feel a moral obligation to serve as "publishers", disseminating Watch Tower doctrines as evangelists of "the Truth".[30] Watch Tower publications describe house-to-house visitations as the primary work of Jehovah's Witnesses[32] in obedience to a "divine command" to preach "the Kingdom good news in all the earth and (make) disciples of people of all the nations".[34] Children usually accompany their parents and participate in the public ministry.[35] In addition to taking part in organized door-to-door preaching, Witnesses are taught that they should seek opportunities to "witness informally" by starting conversations with people they meet during routine activities such as shopping or on public transport, and directing the conversation towards their beliefs.[36]
Members who commit themselves to evangelize for 840 hours per year (an average of 70 hours per month) are called regular pioneers.[37] Those who commit themselves to evangelize for 50 hours for one month are called auxiliary pioneers, which they may do for consecutive months.[38] Some Witnesses volunteer for missionary service, and may be invited to receive specialized training at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead. These individuals dedicate, on average, more than 120 hours per month to their work.[39] Members who are not able to 'pioneer' are told they may maintain the "pioneer spirit", by spending as much time as they can in preaching and by supporting the efforts of pioneers.[40] Witnesses are frequently instructed through Watch Tower Society publications, and at meetings and conventions, to increase the quality and quantity of their preaching efforts.[41][42] Watch Tower Society publications suggest that endurance in public preaching is the means by which Witnesses attain salvation,[43][44] and that evangelizing frees them from blood-guilt regarding individuals who might die at Armageddon without having heard about God's kingdom.[45]
Specialized "territory" maps of residential and commercial areas are prepared within the boundaries of each congregation's territory and distributed to publishers who are responsible for preaching within that area. Witnesses are instructed to fill out monthly report slips on their preaching activity,[46] listing the hours spent, publications placed with householders, and the number of "return visits" made to households where interest had been shown formerly.[30] The reports are used to help measure the "spirituality" of individuals[30][47] and to establish the eligibility of men as congregation elders and ministerial servants.[48] A Witness who fails to report for a month is termed an "irregular publisher"; one who has not turned in a field service report for six months consecutively is termed an "inactive publisher".
Witnesses have, in the past, used a wide variety of methods to spread their faith, including information marches, where members wore sandwich boards and handed out leaflets, to sound cars (car-mounted phonographs), and syndicated newspaper columns and radio segments devoted to sermons. Between 1924 and 1957, the organization operated a radio station, WBBR, from New York.
Watch Tower Society literature[edit]
See also: Jehovah's Witnesses publications and List of Watch Tower Society publications
Jehovah's Witnesses make extensive use of Watch Tower Society literature, including books, magazines, booklets and handbills, to spread their beliefs and to use as textbooks at their religious meetings. The publications are produced in many languages, with a small selection available in 500 languages. Their primary journal, The Watchtower is published simultaneously in nearly two hundred languages[49] and, along with Awake!, available in audio and electronic formats. Issues of both publications are compiled annually into bound volumes, and are added yearly to the Watchtower Library CD-ROM, which contains many Witness publications from 1950 onward, and is officially available to baptized members only.[50] New books, brochures, and other items are released at their annual conventions. Additionally, a number of audio cassettes, videocassettes, and DVDs have been produced explaining the group's beliefs, practices, organization and history. Some of these also provide dramas based on biblical accounts. Since 1942 all Watch Tower literature has been published anonymously.[51]
Publications were sold to the public until the early 1990s, from which time they were offered free of charge, with a request for donations. The change in policy was first announced in the United States in February 1990, following the loss of a US Supreme Court court case by Jimmy Swaggart Ministries on the issue of sales tax exemption for religious groups.[52] The Watch Tower Society had joined the case as an Amicus curiae, or "friend of the court".[53] The court ruling would have resulted in the Watch Tower Society having to pay millions of dollars in sales tax if sales of their literature had continued.[54]
Witnesses are urged to prepare for congregation meetings by studying the assigned Watch Tower literature,[55] and are expected to read all magazines and books published by the Society.[56][57][58] One analysis noted that each year Witnesses are expected to read more than 3,000 pages of the Society's publications, according to its suggested program for personal study. In 1981 this would have included 1,536 pages from The Watchtower and Awake!, 48 pages from Our Kingdom Ministry, 384 pages of a book for the congregation book study, 384 pages from the Yearbook, 360 pages of the Theocratic Ministry School textbook and 258 pages of assembly releases in addition to scheduled weekly Bible reading.[59] Much of the literature is illustrated extensively, with sociologist Andrew Holden observing utopian, post-Armageddon images of happy Witnesses in bright sunshine and pristine environments, often playing with formerly wild animals such as lions and tigers, in contrast to dark-colored images of unfavorable activities such as murders, burglaries and promiscuity that highlight the moral dangers outside the organization.[60]
Conversion[edit]
Individuals seeking to be baptised as Jehovah's Witnesses are required to follow a systematic, catechistical Bible study course, usually in their home, for several months. They will be expected to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall and must also demonstrate a willingness to carry out the doorstep ministry.[61] Before baptism they will be questioned by elders to determine that they understand and accept the beliefs of the Witnesses,[62] and also that they accept Jesus' ransom sacrifice and repent of sins and have made a personal dedication to God.[63] Baptisms are normally performed in pools at assemblies and conventions. At these baptisms, candidates make "public declaration" of their prior dedication to God.[64] The speaker asks the candidates the following two questions.
1.“On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?”
2.“Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in association with God’s spirit-directed organization?”
After candidates agree to both questions, they line up to undergo water immersion, usually in quick succession, often with hundreds baptised at large conventions.
Sociologist James Beckford reported two significant distinguishing features of the conversion process when related by Jehovah's Witnesses. He said they typically spoke of their conversion experience as a steady progression of mental states in which Witnesses "'work for' their conversion by a methodical confrontation with intellectual obstacles and by a deliberate programme of self-reform. Conversion is not represented as something which happened to them; it is framed as something that they achieved." Beckford noted that those he interviewed regarded sudden, emotional upheavals in religious consciousness as suspect: "Experiences which smack of sudden or idiosyncratic illumination/revelation cannot be reconcilable with either the tenor of God's historical practice or the nature of his special covenant with the Watchtower Society."
He also found a striking contrast with other religions in the common attribution of responsibility for conversion to "a spiritual guide ... the person who acted as the intermediary with the Watchtower movement and who supervised the initial process of learning and reforming". Beckford cited an interview "representative of many" in which a convert recalled initially resisting the Watch Tower Society's teachings until he was "talked into making a serious study of the scriptures ... I had plenty of objections and was sure the Witnesses were wrong, but (the Witness leading the personal Bible study sessions) showed me how the facts of the Bible could not be faulted".[65]
Ministers and ordination[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses consider as "ministers" all adherents who have been approved to engage in formal evangelizing. Witnesses consider their baptisms to be ordinations; unbaptized publishers are considered "regular ministers" whereas baptized publishers are considered "ordained ministers".[66] Witnesses recognize that many government and administrative precedents for ministers are not intended to include all active adherents.[67] For example, only elders assert ecclesiastical privilege and confessional privilege.[68]
Only males may be appointed as elders and ministerial servants (their term for deacons), and only baptized males may officiate at weddings, funerals, and baptisms.[69] A female Witness minister may only lead congregational prayer and teaching in unusual circumstances, and must wear a head covering while doing so. Outside the congregation, a female minister also wears a head covering when she leads spiritual teaching in the presence of her husband, according to the Christian complementarian view. Female headcovering is not required for other forms of teaching, or when participating in congregation meetings being led by another.[70] Some courts and government agencies have recognized that full-time Jehovah's Witnesses appointees, such as "pioneers" and those in the faith's religious order, qualify for ministerial exemptions regardless of gender.[71]
Discipline[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline
Formal discipline is administered by congregation elders. In the event that an accusation of serious sin is made concerning a baptized member, if there is sufficient evidence, a tribunal or judicial committee is formed to determine guilt, administer help and possibly apply sanctions.
Disfellowshipping is the most severe form of discipline administered. Before taking this step, the judicial committee must determine that the individual has committed a "serious sin" and that there is no evidence of true repentance.[72] To judge that repentance is genuine, members of the judicial committee ask questions and review the actions of the accused member.[73] Baptized members who spread teachings contrary to the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses can be disfellowshipped for apostasy,[74][75][76] and a 1981 letter to overseers—reproduced in a book by former Governing Body member Raymond Franz—directed that a member who "persists in believing other doctrine", even without promoting such beliefs, may also be subject to disfellowshipping.[77] Once the decision to disfellowship has been made, a person has seven days to appeal, after which, if the person has not appealed, the disfellowshipping will be announced to the congregation; disfellowshipping does not take effect until the announcement is made to the congregation.[78] After a person is disfellowshipped, the person is shunned by all baptized members.[79] Exceptions to this would include cases where a member was forced to have commercial dealings with a member who is disfellowshipped, or if the disfellowshipped member is living with family members who are baptized. In these cases, the Witness are not permitted to speak about matters pertaining to the religion, except in the case of parents conducting a Bible study with a disfellowshipped minor.[80] The extent to which disfellowshipped or disassociated relatives living in the same household are included in family life is left to the discretion of the family.[81] Family members living outside the home who are disfellowshipped have minimal contact.[82][83]
Reproof involves sins that could lead to disfellowshipping. Ones considered "truly repentant" are reproved rather than disfellowshipped.[84] Reproof is given "before all onlookers", based on their interpretation of 1 Timothy 5:20. If the sin is private in nature, the reproof would involve just the individual(s) involved. If the sin is known generally by the entire congregation or the community, an announcement is made informing the congregation that the person has been reproved. Later, without disclosing names or private details, one of the elders gives a separate talk ensuring that the congregation understands the sin, its dangers, and how to avoid it.[85] Reproved individuals have some congregation privileges restricted, until the elders decide that the member has regained "spiritual strength."[86][87] Restrictions may include not sharing in meeting parts, not commenting at meeting parts, and not praying for a group. The duration of restrictions depends on the elders. One cannot "pioneer" or "auxiliary pioneer" for at least one year after reproof is given.[88]
Marking is practiced if a person's course of action is regarded as a violation of Bible principles, reflecting badly on the congregation, but is not a disfellowshipping offense.[89] The person is strongly counseled. If, after repeated counsel sessions, the person still pursues the disturbing course, he might be 'marked', which involves an announcement stating that the actions in question are wrong, without naming the individual involved. Congregation members limit social contact with that person. The purpose of this is to shame the person into correcting their actions.[90] "Marked" individuals are not shunned completely, but social contact is minimized.[91]
Family life[edit]
The family structure is patriarchal. The husband is considered the final authority of family decisions, as the head of his family. Marriages must be monogamous. Wives should be submissive to their husbands and husbands are to have deep respect and love for their wives.[92] Husbands are instructed to treat their wives as Jesus treated his followers. He should not hurt or mistreat his family in any way. The father should be hard-working in providing necessities to his family. He must also provide for them in a spiritual capacity. This includes religious instruction for the family, and taking the lead in preaching activities. Parental discipline for children should not be in a harsh, cruel way. Children are instructed to obey their parents.
Married couples are encouraged to speak with local elders if they are having problems. Married couples can separate in the case of physical abuse and neglect, or if one partner attempts to hinder the other from being a Jehovah's Witness.[93] Remarriage after divorce is permissible only on the grounds of adultery, based on their understanding of Jesus' words at Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9.
Morality[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses demand high standards of morality within their ranks.[94] Their view of sexual behavior reflects conservative Christian views. Abortion is considered murder.[95] Homosexuality, premarital sex, and extramarital sex are considered “serious sins”.[96] Smoking (including electronic cigarettes),[97] abuse of drugs, and drunkenness are prohibited, though alcohol is permitted in moderation.[98][99] Modesty in dress and grooming is frequently stressed. Entertainment promoting immoral, "demonic", or violent themes is considered inappropriate. Members are warned that personal grooming such as beards, long hair or earrings for men, or other styles of dress or grooming might "stumble" the consciences of others.[100]
Gambling by making money through the losses of others is viewed as a "form of greed", and is prohibited.[101] The trading of stocks, shares and bonds is viewed as acceptable.[102]
Blood[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions
See also: Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses



 Jehovah's Witnesses officially reject transfusions of whole allogeneic blood and some of its fractionated components
Jehovah's Witnesses are taught that the Bible prohibits the consumption, storage and transfusion of blood, based on their understanding of scriptures such as Leviticus 17:10, 11: "I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood," and Acts 15:29: "abstain from ... blood." This standpoint is applied even in emergencies. The Watchtower introduced this view in 1945, and it has developed since then.[103] Accordingly, the organization has established Hospital Information Services (HIS), which provides education and facilitation of bloodless surgery. This service also maintains Hospital Liaison Committees, which support adherents facing surgery and provide information to the medical community on bloodless surgery techniques and alternatives to blood.[104]
Though accepted by most members, some within the Jehovah's Witness community do not endorse the doctrine.[105]
Dutch anthropologist Richard Singelenberg has suggested the Watch Tower Society's prohibition on blood transfusions—as well as its edict against fellowship with outsiders—are rooted in the religious desire to maintain a communal state of purity worthy of divine favor. He noted: "Rules of pollution and purity are instrumental in creating structural boundaries around group members. And the more distinctive when formulated into divine precepts, the clearer the dividing lines between the faithful and those excluded."[106]
Spiritual warfare[edit]
Watch Tower Society publications teach that Witnesses are engaged in a "spiritual, theocratic warfare" against false teachings and wicked spirit forces they say try to impede them in their preaching work.[107] Based on their interpretation of Ephesians 6:10-20, they believe their "spiritual war" is fought with truth, righteousness, the "good news of peace", faith, the hope of salvation, God's word and prayer.[108][109] They have advocated the use of "theocratic war strategy" to protect the interests of God's cause, which would include hiding the truth from God's "enemies"[110][111] by being evasive or withholding truthful or incriminating information from those not entitled by law to know.[112][113][114] The Watchtower told Witnesses: "It is proper to cover over our arrangements for the work that God commands us to do. If the wolfish foes draw wrong conclusions from our maneuvers to outwit them, no harm has been done to them by the harmless sheep, innocent in their motives as doves."[115]
Separateness[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses are told they should remain "separate from the world" in harmony with Jesus' description of his followers at John 17:14-16. Watch Tower publications define the "world" as "the mass of mankind apart from Jehovah’s approved servants" and teach that it is ruled by Satan[116] and a place of danger[117] and moral contamination.[118] Witnesses manifest their world-renouncing beliefs in many ways. They avoid involvement in social controversies,[119] remain politically neutral, and do not seek public office. The Watch Tower Society has stated that voting in political elections is a personal conscience decision,[120] though a Witness who takes any action considered to be a "violation of Christian neutrality" may face religious sanctions.[121] They refuse participation in ecumenical and interfaith activities,[122][123] abstain from celebrating religious holidays, and reject many customs they claim have pagan origins. They do not work in industries associated with the military, nor serve in the armed services,[124] and refuse national military service, which in some countries may result in their arrest and imprisonment.[125] They do not salute or pledge allegiance to national flags or sing national anthems or other patriotic songs.[126]
Witnesses are urged to minimize their social contact with non-members, even if they possess "decent qualities",[127][128][129] because of perceived dangers of worldly association.[130][131] Sociologist Andrew Holden indicated they are highly selective in choosing with whom they spend leisure time, generally choosing the company of other Witnesses. Many Witnesses interviewed by Holden reported tensions and ostracism at work because of their religious beliefs.[132] He reported that many converts to the religion required some social adjustment as they gradually reduced contact with non-Witness friends.[133] Association with those outside the organization, commonly termed by Witnesses as "worldly" and "not in the Truth", is acceptable only when it is viewed as an opportunity to preach[134][135] and Witnesses are under considerable pressure from the Society to show outsiders they are people of high moral fiber. Holden claims that as a result, Witnesses working with "worldly" colleagues tend to closely adhere to Watch Tower teachings.[136]
Sociologist Ronald Lawson has suggested that it is the religion's intellectual and organizational isolation—coupled with the intense indoctrination of adherents, rigid internal discipline and considerable persecution—that has contributed to the consistency of its sense of urgency in its apocalyptic message.[137]
Celebrations[edit]
Weddings, anniversaries, and funerals are observed, though they avoid incorporating certain traditions they see to have pagan origins.[138][139] The Watchtower has stated that the use of wedding rings by Witnesses is acceptable, even though wedding rings may have first been used by pagans, based on its conclusion that there is no definite evidence wedding rings were used "as part of false religious practices" (emphasis from original).[140] Witnesses typically observe wedding anniversaries, with the Watch Tower Society noting that wedding anniversaries apparently do not stem from pagan origins.[141]
Other common celebrations and religious or national holidays such as birthdays, Halloween, and Christmas[142] are not celebrated because they believe that these continue to involve "false religious beliefs or activities."[143][144] Watch Tower Society publications rule out the celebration of Mother's Day because of a claimed link with pagan gods[145] and concerns that giving "special honor and worship" to mothers is a form of "creature worship" that could turn people away from God.[146] The Society also directs Witnesses to shun May Day, New Year's Day and Valentine's Day celebrations because of their pagan origins.[147]
Their opposition to birthdays is said to be based on how the Bible presents them. Watch Tower Society publications note that the only birthday celebrations explicitly mentioned in the Bible are those of an unnamed Pharaoh and Herod Antipas, and that both were associated with executions, and neither celebrant was a servant of God.[148] Though some religions interpret Job 1:4 to indicate birthday feasts of Job's sons, Jehovah's Witnesses interpret them as a circuit of feasts from one house to the next.[149] The Bible does not show Jesus or his apostles celebrating birthdays and The Watchtower claims the absence of any record of the date of the birth of Jesus or his apostles indicates that "God does not want us to celebrate any of these birthdays".[150]
Construction[edit]
International and regional building teams frequently undertake constructions of Kingdom Halls over the course of one or two weekends, termed "quick-builds". Larger construction projects, including building regional Assembly Halls and Bethel offices, factories, residences, warehouses, and farm facilities, are also performed almost entirely by volunteer members.[citation needed]
Humanitarian efforts[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses provide relief assistance in disaster-stricken areas for their members and others in the vicinity. Medicine and clothing were provided to both Hutu and Tutsi Witnesses during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.[151] Following Hurricane Katrina, they helped rebuild houses of Witnesses and others.[152] The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses uses "Regional Building Committees" to oversee relief efforts worldwide.[153]
Funding of activities[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses fund their activities, such as publishing, constructing and operating facilities, evangelism, and disaster relief via donations. There is no tithing or collection, but on exceptional occasions, members are reminded to donate to the organization; Witnesses typically provide an opportunity for members of the public to make donations as they encounter them in their preaching work. Donation boxes labeled for several purposes are located in Kingdom Halls and other meeting facilities. Generally there are contribution boxes for local operating expenses, a Kingdom Hall fund for helping Witnesses around the world to build Kingdom Halls, and a general fund for the "Worldwide Work", which includes the printing of literature, organization of conventions, supporting missionaries and disaster relief, and other operating expenses of the organization.[154][155]
The accounts (including donations) and the financial operation of the local congregation are reviewed monthly and posted on a congregation notice board. Donations are also accepted via mail, and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society can be named as a beneficiary to an estate, and also accepts donations in the form of life insurance policies, pension plans, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement accounts, stocks and bonds, real estate, annuities and trusts.[156]
References[edit]

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 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (December 2011)
1.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, p. 106.
2.Jump up ^ Keep Yourselves in God’s Love, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2008, page 43, "The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses represents the slave class. ... elders today receive instructions and counsel from the Governing Body, either directly or through its representatives, such as traveling overseers."
3.Jump up ^ "Keep Clear of False Worship!". The Watchtower: 30. March 15, 2006. "[Jehovah's Witnesses] are “no part of the world.” (John 15:19) The term “world” here refers to human society alienated from God. (Ephesians 4:17-19; 1 John 5:19) We are separate from the world in that we shun attitudes, speech, and conduct that offend Jehovah. (1 John 2:15-17) Moreover, in harmony with the principle that “bad associations spoil useful habits,” we avoid intimacy with those who do not live by Christian standards. (1 Corinthians 15:33) To be no part of the world is to remain “without spot from the world.” (James 1:27) Hence, being separate from the world does not mean that we physically withdraw from all contact with other people."
4.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 7, 109–112.
5.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 26, 28.
6.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 90.
7.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, p. 163.
8.Jump up ^ "Make Wise Use of Your Christian Freedom", The Watchtower, June 1, 1992, page 18.
9.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 66–68.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Holden 2002, pp. 64–69.
11.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Botting, Gary (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
12.Jump up ^ "What Do You Do with Your Time?", The Watchtower, February 1, 1950, page 38, "By setting and meeting the goal never to miss any of the meetings that the Lord provides for His people, the Christian is protected against becoming involved in the affairs of this world. He doesn’t have time for it!"
13.Jump up ^ "Exert Yourselves Vigorously!", The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, page 206, "They do much private Bible study, attend five weekly congregation meetings and spend much time each month in preaching the good news of God’s kingdom and making disciples of people, besides providing support for themselves and their families. ... Being busy serves as a protection from many of the temptations and snares of the world, the flesh and the Devil."
14.Jump up ^ "Benefit Fully From the Service Meetings", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1989, page 7.
15.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 420.
16.Jump up ^ "Families, Praise God as Part of His Congregation". The Watchtower: 20. 1 July 1999.
17.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Botting, Gary (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 143. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
18.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses—Who Are They? What Do They Believe?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2000, page 15.
19.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, p. 51.
20.Jump up ^ "Are You Benefiting Yourself?", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2000, page 3.
21.Jump up ^ "New Congregation Meeting Schedule", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 2008, page 1
22.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2007, p. 8 How the Congregation Book Study Arrangement Helps Us
23.Jump up ^ Reasoning From The Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, p. 265.
24.Jump up ^ Insight On The Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, p. 392.
25.Jump up ^ "Jehovah is a God of Covenants", The Watchtower, February 1, 1998, page 8, "Jesus instituted the only annual religious observance commanded for Christians—the Memorial of his death."
26.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, p. 207, "Who should partake of these Memorial emblems? Logically, only those in the new covenant—that is, those who have the hope of going to heaven—should partake of the bread and the wine. God’s holy spirit convinces such ones that they have been selected to be heavenly kings."
27.Jump up ^ Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses 2012, p. 31
28.Jump up ^ What Does The Bible Really Teach?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, p. 207.
29.Jump up ^ "Discerning What We Are — At Memorial Time", The Watchtower, February 15, 1990, p. 16.
30.^ Jump up to: a b c d Holden 2002, pp. 71–76.
31.Jump up ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, pages 864-5, "The fundamental obligation of each member of the sect is to give witness to Jehovah by announcing His approaching Kingdom. ... They regard the Bible as their only source of belief and rule of conduct ... To be a true Witness one must preach effectively in one way or another.”
32.^ Jump up to: a b Question Box, Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1990, page 8.
33.Jump up ^ "Paying Back Caesar’s Things to Caesar", The Watchtower, May 1, 1996, page 16.
34.Jump up ^ Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, page 4.
35.Jump up ^ "Help Your Children Progress in the Ministry". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. July 2005.
36.Jump up ^ "We Are Witnesses All the Time". Our Kingdom Ministry: 6. September 2011.
37.Jump up ^ "Can We Make April 2000 Our Best Month Ever?". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. March 2000. "If you are uncertain about your ability to meet the 70-hour requirement for regular pioneers, why not auxiliary pioneer in April and set 70 hours as your goal?"
38.Jump up ^ "Declare Abroad the Excellencies of Jehovah". Our Kingdom Ministry: 4. February 2007. "Meeting the auxiliary pioneer requirement of 50 hours may not be as difficult as you think."
39.Jump up ^ Determined to Follow God’s Way of Life The Watchtower January 15, 1999 p. 6
40.Jump up ^ "A Worthy Goal for the New Service Year". Our Kingdom Ministry: 5. August 2007. "Even if you feel that you are unable to auxiliary pioneer during this coming service year, you can still maintain the pioneer spirit. Continue to do all that you can in the ministry, confident that Jehovah is pleased with your whole-souled effort to give him your best. (Gal. 6:4) Be supportive, and encourage those who are able to auxiliary pioneer. Perhaps you can adjust your schedule to share in the ministry an additional day of the week with those who are pioneering."
41.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 259.
42.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 196–206.
43.Jump up ^ "Preaching in a Lawless World", The Watchtower, July 15, 1979, page 13, paragraph 4, "It is by our endurance in proclaiming “this good news of the kingdom” that we may attain to salvation"; cited in Penton 1997, p. 206.
44.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 107. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7.
45.Jump up ^ Keeping “Clean from the Blood of All Men”, The Watchtower, October 1, 1960, page 608.
46.Jump up ^ "Do You Contribute to an Accurate Report?", Our Kingdom Ministry, December 2002, page 8.
47.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 247.
48.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 201.
49.Jump up ^ JW-media.org
50.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, September 2007, p. 3
51.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 78.
52.Jump up ^ Swaggart Ministries v. California Board of Equalization case summary, US Supreme Court Media
53.Jump up ^ Watch Tower brief, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries vs California Board of Equalization, US Supreme Court, 1988.
54.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 320.
55.Jump up ^ Organized To Do Jehovah's Will, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2005, page 62.
56.Jump up ^ "Let Your Advancement Be Manifest", Watchtower, August 1, 1992, page 10.
57.Jump up ^ "Look to Jehovah for Insight", Watchtower, March 15, 1989, page 14.
58.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 88.
59.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 231
60.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 92–93
61.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 59.
62.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/89 p. 13 par. 18 What Prevents You From Getting Baptized?
64.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 5/15/03 p. 31 Questions From Readers
65.Jump up ^ Beckford, James A. (June 1978). "Accoounting for Conversion". British Journal of Sociology (London: London School of Economics and Political Science) 29 (June 1978): 251—256. JSTOR 589892.
66.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers", The Watchtower, November 1, 1951, page 671-672, "The authorities of the land generally call for some ceremony in connection with ordination for the ministry... The legal [opinion] is recognizing the two classifications made concerning ministers, namely, ordained ministers and regular unordained ministers. ...[A]n unbaptized one...may still point out to the court [or other authority] that he has not as yet undergone the ordination ceremony of water immersion, and for that reason may be classed by the law of the land as a regular minister rather than an ordained minister."
67.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1976, page 5-6,"Since at times a request is made by officials for some evidence of “ordination” on the part of those serving in such capacities, a “Certificate for Ordained Minister” has been prepared and will be supplied on request to those elders or ministerial servants needing it. It will show the date, not of their baptism, but when they were appointed to serve in such capacities... But what of those who are engaged in full-time service as pioneers or members of Bethel families? ...Such appointment, however, does not fit the meaning of “ordination” as that term is generally understood [by non-Witnesses requesting these certificates]. ...Since the Bible itself sets out only the two congregational positions of responsibility, that of elders and of ministerial servants, we limit our application of the term “ordained minister” [as used by non-Witness authorities] to those in this Scriptural arrangement.[emphasis added]"
68.Jump up ^ "Meeting the Challenge of Loyalty", The Watchtower, March 15, 1996, page 18
69.Jump up ^ "The General Priesthood Today", The Watchtower, March 1, 1963, page 143
70.Jump up ^ "Head Coverings—When and Why?", Keep Yourselves in God's Love, ©2008 Watch Tower, pages 43-44 and 209-212
71.Jump up ^ "Women—May They Be “Ministers”?", The Watchtower, March 15, 1981, page 19, "Several courts in the United States have recognized female Jehovah’s Witnesses, in carrying on the door-to-door evangelistic work, as ministers. For example, the Supreme Court of Vermont, in Vermont v. Greaves (1941), stated that Elva Greaves “is an ordained minister of a sect or class known and designated as ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’.”"
72.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/15/87 p. 13.
73.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/1/95 p. 30 par. 3
74.Jump up ^ Pay Attention To Yourself and All the Flock, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1991, page 94, "Apostasy is a standing away from, a falling away, defection, rebellion, abandonment; it involves teaching false doctrines, supporting or promoting false religion and its holidays or interfaith activities ... Persons who deliberately spread (stubbornly hold to and speak about) teachings contrary to Bible truth as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses are apostates."
75.Jump up ^ Reasoning From The Scriptures p. 34 Apostasy "Others claim to believe the Bible but reject Jehovah’s organization."
76.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/1/86 p. 31.
77.Jump up ^ To All Circuit and District Overseers, September 1, 1980, "Keep in mind that to be disfellowshipped, an apostate does not have to be a promoter of apostate views. ... if a baptized Christian abandons the teachings of Jehovah, as presented by the faithful and discreet slave, and persists in believing other doctrine despite Scriptural reproof, then he is apostatizing. ... [If] he continues to believe the apostate ideas and rejects what he has been provided through the 'slave class,' then appropriate judicial action should be taken. ... [If] something reasonably substantial comes to the attention of the elders along this line, it would be appropriate to make a kindly, discreet inquiry so as to protect the flock." Letter reproduced in Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz, 1983, chapter 11.
78.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock - pgs. 121-122
79.Jump up ^ The Watchtower April 15, 1988 Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit Pgs. 26-31.
80.Jump up ^ “Helping Minors to Worship God”, Awake! 11/15, 1988, p. 20.
81.Jump up ^ "Thus, it would be left to members of the family to decide on the extent to which the disfellowshipped family member would be included when eating or engaging in other household activities. And yet, they would not want to give brothers with whom they associate the impression that everything is the same as it was before the disfellowshipping occurred." Display Christian Loyalty When a Relative Is Disfellowshipped, p 4. Scan available at JWfiles.com accessed January 27, 2006.
82.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, p. 26., "It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum."
83.Jump up ^ "Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit", The Watchtower April 15, 1988, p. 26.
84.Jump up ^ “Questions From Readers”, The Watchtower, January 1, 1983 pp. 30-31.
85.Jump up ^ “Repentance Leading Back to God”, The Watchtower, September 1, 1981, p. 27 par. 30.
86.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1975, p. 4.
87.Jump up ^ "Reproofs Are the Way of Life", The Watchtower, November 15, 1977 p. 691.
88.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry March 1983, p. 3.
89.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 15, 1999, p. 30
90.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, April 15, 1985, p. 31.
91.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, April 15, 1984 p. 31.
92.Jump up ^ The Bible's Viewpoint What Does It Mean to Be the Head of the House?, Awake! 2004b, July 8, 2004, p. 26.
93.Jump up ^ The Secret of Family Happiness, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1996, pp. 160-161.
94.Jump up ^ "Are You Faithful in All Things?", The Watchtower, July 15, 2005, page 26-30.
95.Jump up ^ "Abortion", Reasoning from the Scriptures, page 25-26.
96.Jump up ^ "Young People Ask... What's Wrong With Premarital Sex?", Awake!, July 22, 2004, pages 12-14.
97.Jump up ^ "What Is God’s View of Smoking?", The Watchtower, June 1, 2014, page 4. The footnote reads: "Smoking here refers to inhaling tobacco smoke directly from cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or water pipes. However, the principles discussed apply equally to the use of chewing tobacco, snuff, electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine, and other products."
98.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993,p. 180.
99.Jump up ^ “You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy”, The Watchtower, February 15, 1976, p. 123 par. 16.
100.Jump up ^ “When Another’s Conscience Is Involved”, Awake! April 22, 1979, pp. 27-28
101.Jump up ^ "Does the Bible Condemn Gambling?", The Watchtower, March 1, 2011, pages 12-14.
102.Jump up ^ "Is It Wise to Invest in the Stock Market?", Awake!, October 8, 2000, pages 25-27.
103.Jump up ^ How Can Blood Save Your Life?. Watch Tower Society.
104.Jump up ^ Awake! (Watch Tower Society): 24–25. November 22, 1993. Missing or empty |title= (help)
105.Jump up ^ Lee Elder, The Associated Jehovah's Witnesses for Reform on Blood, "Why some Jehovah's Witnesses accept blood and conscientiously reject official Watchtower Society blood policy", Journal of Medical Ethics, 2000, Vol 26, pages 375-380.
106.Jump up ^ Singelenberg, Richard (1990). "The blood transufion taboo of Jehovah's Witnesses: origin, development and function of a controversial doctrine". Social Science & Medicine 31 (No.4): 521—522. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(90)90048-W.
107.Jump up ^ "Flocking Together in Battle Line", The Watchtower, March 1, 1983, page 17.
108.Jump up ^ "Fight the fine Fight of faith", The Watchtower, February 15, 2004, page 26–27.
109.Jump up ^ "Waging the Right Warfare", The Watchtower, June 15, 1956, page 365.
110.Jump up ^ "Use theocratic war strategy", The Watchtower, May 1, 1957, page 285,286.
111.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watchtower, June 1, 1960, pages 351-352.
112.Jump up ^ "Christians live the truth", The Watchtower, October 1, 1954, page 597.
113.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1988, pages 244-245.
114.Jump up ^ Examining the Scriptures Daily", May 18, 2011, "Does being truthful with others mean that we must disclose every detail to whoever asks us a question? Not necessarily ... Jehovah's people need to be on guard against apostates and other wicked men who use trickery or cunning for selfish purposes."
115.Jump up ^ "Cautious as Serpents Among Wolves", The Watchtower, February 1, 1956, page 86.
116.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, pages 435-436.
117.Jump up ^ "Live a Balanced, Simple Life", The Watchtower, July 15, 1989, page 11.
118.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 12.
119.Jump up ^ What Does God Require?, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1996, page 13.
120.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, November 1, 1999, p. 28, "As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State.
121.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock, page 140.
122.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 188)
123.Jump up ^ Reasoning From the Scriptures, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1989, pages 269-270.
124.Jump up ^ Worship the Only True God, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, p. 159.
125.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Press Release, October 4, 2007
126.Jump up ^ Education, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, pp. 20-23
127.Jump up ^ Weddle, David L. (April 2000). "A new "generation" of Jehovah's Witnesses: Revised interpretation, ritual and identity". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions (University of California Press) 3 (No.2): 363. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2000.3.2.350.
128.Jump up ^ "Train With Godly Devotion as Your Aim", Watchtower, August 15, 1985, page 19.
129.Jump up ^ "Have a Full Share in the Great Spiritual Harvest", The Watchtower, July 15, 2010, page 19, "Do you avoid unnecessary fellowship with schoolmates and fellow workers who do not share your beliefs? ... Your faithful compliance in such matters will bring excellent results."
130.Jump up ^ Survival Into a New Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1984, page 168.
131.Jump up ^ "Each One Will Carry His Own Load", The Watchtower, March 15, 2006, page 23.
132.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 109–112.
133.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 69.
134.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 409
135.Jump up ^ "Keep Clear of False Worship!", The Watchtower, March 15, 2006, page 30, "Should we hold ourselves completely aloof from those who do not share our faith? The answer is no. The second of the two greatest commandments states: 'You must love your neighbor as yourself.' We certainly display love for our neighbors when we share with them the good news of the Kingdom."
136.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 123.
137.Jump up ^ Ronald Lawson, "Sect-state relations: Accounting for the differing trajectories of Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses", Sociology of Religion, Winter 1995, "The urgency of the Witness's apocalyptic has changed very little over time. The intellectual isolation of the Witness leaders has allowed them to retain their traditional position, and it is they who continue to be the chief purveyors of the radical eschatology ....This commitment (to principle) was bolstered by their organizational isolation, intense indoctrination of adherents, rigid internal discipline, and considerable persecution."
138.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/69 p. 58 Christian Weddings Should Reflect Reasonableness "Of course, some customs are unscriptural and so they are objectionable to Christians. ... Other customs are plainly acts of false worship. So one planning a wedding does well to examine practices common in his area and analyze how people view them locally."
139.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 7/15/98 p. 24 A Christian View of Funeral Customs "Funeral customs do not always conflict with Bible principles. When they do, Christians are determined to act in harmony with the Scriptures."
140.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 1/15/72 p. 63 "It is thus seen that the precise origin of the wedding ring is uncertain. Even if it were a fact that pagans first used wedding rings, would that rule such out for Christians? Not necessarily."
141.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1971, p. 735.
142.Jump up ^ "Christmas Customs—Are They Christian", The Watchtower, December 15, 2000, page 3-7.
143.Jump up ^ Awake! 7/8/04 p. 30 "Christians refrain from any celebrations or customs that continue to involve false religious beliefs or activities that violate Bible principles. For example, the Bible definitely puts birthday celebrations in a bad light"
144.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1998, p. 30.
145.Jump up ^ “They Are No Part of the World”, Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, page 199, "Jehovah’s Witnesses have good times with their families and friends. But they do not participate in holidays and celebrations that are linked with pagan gods (as is true of such holidays as Easter, New Year’s Day, May Day, and Mother’s Day)."
146.Jump up ^ Vindication, J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1931, pages 158-159.
147.Jump up ^ "What Is the Bible’s View? Are They Harmless Observances?", Awake!, February 8, 1974, Page 27.
148.Jump up ^ Questions From Readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1998. pp. 30-31.
149.Jump up ^ Job 1:4 reads "And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them." (King James version)
150.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1960, p. 704.
151.Jump up ^ "Christianity in Action: Amid Turmoil", The Watchtower, January 15, 1998.
152.Jump up ^ Awake!, June 2006, page 19, "Heeding the Warnings Made a Difference"
153.Jump up ^ Awake!, June 2006, p.19.
154.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, December 2003, p. 7
155.Jump up ^ “A New Program for Kingdom Hall Construction”, Our Kingdom Ministry, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, September 1983, p. 4-5.
156.Jump up ^ "Ways in Which Some Choose to Give Contributions to the Worldwide Work", The Watchtower, November 1, 2006, page 20
Bibliography[edit]
Franz, Raymond (2002). Crisis of Conscience (4th ed.). Commentary Press. ISBN 0-914675-24-9.
Franz, Raymond (2007). In Search of Christian Freedom (2nd ed.). Commentary Press. ISBN 0-914675-17-6.
Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26610-6.
Penton, James M. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
External links[edit]
Official Website
  


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Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline

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 This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (December 2011)
Part of a series on
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Jehovah's Witnesses employ various levels of congregational discipline as formal controls administered by congregation elders. Guilt and repentance are determined by a tribunal of elders, and hearings concerning what they term "serious sin" are performed by formal judicial committees. A variety of controls can be enforced, from restriction of duties performed in the congregation to excommunication, known as disfellowshipping, and shunning by the congregation. Members who are disfellowshipped have an opportunity to regain membership. The practice of disfellowshipping has been criticized by many non-members and ex-members.


Contents  [hide]
1 Correction
2 Discipline involving non-judicial situations 2.1 Local needs
2.2 Shepherding calls
2.3 Withheld recommendations or assignments
2.4 Loss of "special privileges"
2.5 Limited "privileges of service"
2.6 Marking
3 Discipline involving "serious sin" 3.1 List of "serious sins"
3.2 Procedures
3.3 Judicial committee
3.4 Reproof
3.5 Shunning 3.5.1 Reinstatement
3.5.2 Legality

4 Unbaptized publishers
5 Critical view
6 References

Correction[edit]
Non-judicial situations involve actions that are considered sinful or simply regrettable but are not considered to be of sufficient gravity to necessitate a judicial committee, and cannot result in disfellowshipping from the congregation; specific action by congregation elders is not administered in such situations, but counsel (or correction) may be provided by a mature Witness in addition to self-discipline and family discipline.[1] Elders may also give recommendations or warnings to members in non-judicial situations.
If an active baptized Witness is considered to have committed a "serious sin" for which the sinner must demonstrate formal repentance, correction (or, "discipline") is administered by the congregation’s body of elders. Such situations usually involve a "judicial committee" of three or more elders.[2]
Discipline involving non-judicial situations[edit]
At the elders' discretion, "non-judicial" situations may involve discipline of one or more of several types, presented here in escalating seriousness.
Local needs[edit]
At conventions and assemblies, and about once each month at a local Service Meeting, a short talk regarding "local needs" is presented.[3] An elder addresses matters that are relevant to the local congregation, with instructions outlining the course of action considered appropriate. No specific individuals are identified during the talk, but the talk may relate to a matter for which a member has recently been "reproved". At times, some temporary policy may be announced that might be seen as disciplinary; for example, it may be that an additional attendant is assigned outside a Kingdom Hall to discourage children from running on the sidewalk.[4]
Shepherding calls[edit]
Personal "shepherding visits" are intended to encourage members of the congregation, though may also include counsel and correction, then or on a subsequent visit.[5][6] Two elders (or an elder and a ministerial servant) may schedule and perform a particular shepherding visit on their own or at the direction of the body of elders.[7]
Withheld recommendations or assignments[edit]
The body of elders may withhold its recommendation for a member to serve in a new position of responsibility, though still permitting existing responsibilities.[8]
For example, a ministerial servant who consistently seems insufficiently prepared for his meeting parts may have such assignments withheld for a time, even though he may continue serving as a ministerial servant or in some other "special privilege of service".[9]
Loss of "special privileges"[edit]
Elders, ministerial servants, pioneers, or other appointed Witnesses can lose their "special privileges of service".[10][11] For example, an elder may be removed or choose to step aside voluntarily from his position if members of his household are not in "good standing".[12] After resignation or removal from an appointed position, an announcement is made during the congregation's Service Meeting indicating that the person is "no longer serving", without elaboration.[13]
Limited "privileges of service"[edit]
An active Jehovah's Witness may have their congregational "privileges of service" limited even without having committed a serious sin. For example, the body of elders may feel that a member wronged others by some investment scheme which was not necessarily fraudulent.[14] While Witnesses sometimes refer to field ministry, after-meeting cleanup, and other responsibilities as "privileges", the term "privileges of service" often implies a specific range of assignments assisting elders and ministerial servants with meeting demonstrations and other responsibilities.[15] Such limitations are usually temporary.[16]
Marking[edit]
Members who persist in a course considered scripturally wrong after repeated counsel by elders,[17] but who are not guilty of something for which they could be disfellowshipped,[17] can be "marked", based on Jehovah's Witnesses' interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 3:14. Though not shunned, "marked" individuals are looked upon as bad association and social interaction outside of formal worship settings is generally curtailed. This action is intended to "shame" the person into following a particular course of action.[17] "Marking" is indicated by means of a talk given at the Service Meeting outlining the shameful course, but without explicitly naming any particular individual. Members who know whose actions are being discussed may then consider the individual "marked".
Discipline involving "serious sin"[edit]
List of "serious sins"[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses consider many actions to be "serious sins", for which baptized Witnesses are subject to a judicial committee hearing. Such actions include: abortion,[18] adultery, apostasy,[19] bestiality, blood transfusions,[20] "brazen conduct" or "loose conduct",[21][22] drug abuse,[23] drunkenness, extortion,[24] fornication, fraud,[25] gambling,[24] greed,[24] homosexual activity, idolatry, incest, interfaith activity,[26] lying,[27] manslaughter, murder, "perverted sex relations",[28] polygamy,[29] pornography,[30] reviling, sexual abuse,[31] slander,[25] spiritism, theft, and use of tobacco.[23][32][33]
If a baptized Witness teaches contrary to Witness doctrines, it is considered apostasy and grounds for disfellowshipping. A 1981 letter to overseers—reproduced in a book by former Governing Body member Raymond Franz—directed that a member who "persists in believing other doctrine", even without promoting such beliefs, may also be subject to disfellowshipping.[34] Elders usually try to reason with the individual before such action is taken.[35] If a person believes that a teaching should be adjusted or changed, he is encouraged "to be patient and wait on Jehovah for change".[36]The Watchtower states that "apostates are “mentally diseased,” and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings. (1 Timothy 6:3, 4 [NWT]).";[37][38] some have stated that this applies to all individuals who leave the organization.[39][40]
Procedures[edit]
Evidence for actions that can result in congregational discipline is obtained by voluntary confession to the elders or by witnesses of the violation. A minimum of two witnesses is required to establish guilt, based on their understanding of Deuteronomy 17:6 and Matthew 18:16, unless the person confesses voluntarily.[41] Members are instructed to report serious sins committed by others members.[42] Failure to report a serious sin of another member is viewed as sharing in the sins of others, a sin before God.[43] Witnesses are instructed that pledges of confidentiality may be broken to report what they believe to be transgressions.[44]
A congregation's body of elders considers confessions or credible allegations of serious sin, and decides whether a judicial committee will be formed to address the matter.[45] A judicial committee, usually consisting of three elders, investigates the details of the alleged sin further. The committee arranges a formal judicial hearing to determine the circumstances of the sin, whether the accused is repentant, and whether disciplinary actions will be taken.[46][47][48]
In certain situations, a body of elders may handle a situation involving "serious sin" by a baptized Witness without a judicial committee:
##Minor or newly baptized - A minor or newly baptized Witness might commit one or two acts of "serious sin" involving tobacco or overdrinking;[49][50] repercussions as for 'non-judicial' situations may still be imposed.
##Repentance - The body of elders may believe the sinner's repentance has been established and accepted. For example, if a member committed a "serious sin" several years ago, had formally repented in prayer, and the sin did not involve scheming.[51] Witnesses are strongly discouraged from waiting years to resolve such matters;[52] even if years have passed since the serious sin, it is typical for a judicial committee to be formed, and there may still be repercussions as for ‘non-judicial’ situations.
##Judicial abeyance - Elders may become aware of a "serious sin" committed by a baptized Witness who has been inactive for some time and is not perceived as a Jehovah’s Witness. If the alleged sinner is not associating with active Witnesses, the elders may indefinitely postpone a judicial committee and formal hearing unless and until the individual renews their association with the congregation.[53]
Judicial committee[edit]
A person accused of a serious sin is informed of the allegations and invited to attend a judicial committee meeting. The individual is permitted to bring witnesses who can speak in their defense; observers are not allowed,[54] and the hearing is held privately even if the accused individual requests that it be heard openly so all may witness the evidence.[55][56] Recording devices are not permitted at the hearing.[54] If the accused repeatedly fails to attend an arranged hearing, the committee will proceed but will not make a decision until evidence and testimony by witnesses are considered.[54]
The committee takes the role of prosecutor, judge and jury when handling its cases.[57] After the hearing is opened with a prayer, the accused is invited to make a personal statement. If there is no admission of guilt, the individual is informed of the source of the charges and witnesses are presented one at a time to give evidence. Witnesses do not remain present for the entire hearing. Once all the evidence is presented, the accused and all witnesses are dismissed and the committee reviews the evidence and the attitude of the accused.[54]
The committee may determine that there was no "serious sin", or that mitigating circumstances absolve the accused individual. The committee may then proceed with discipline such as is described for 'non-judicial' situations.[58] Alternatively, the committee may decide that a serious sin was committed, in which case, the committee gives verbal admonitions and gauges the individual's attitude and repentance. The committee then decides whether discipline will involve formal reproof or disfellowshipping.
Reproof[edit]
Reproof involves actions for which a person could be disfellowshipped, and is said to be an effort to 'reach the heart' and convince a person of the need to hate the sanctioned actions[59][60] and repent.[61] Reproof is considered sufficient if the individual is deemed repentant.[62][63] Reproof is given before all who are aware of the transgression. If the conduct is known only to the individual and the judicial committee, reproof is given privately. If the sin is known by a small number, they would be invited by the elders, and reproof would be given before the sinner and those with knowledge of the sin. If the action is known generally by the entire congregation or the wider community, an announcement is made that the person "has been reproved".[64] A related local needs talk may be given, separately to the announcement, without naming anyone.[65]
In all cases of reproof, restrictions are imposed,[66] typically prohibiting the individual from sharing in meeting parts, commenting during meetings, and giving group prayers. A reproved Witness cannot enroll as a pioneer or auxiliary pioneer for at least one year after reproof is given.[67][68]
Shunning[edit]
All members are expected to abide by the beliefs and moral standards of Jehovah's Witnesses.[69] Serious violations of these requirements can result in disfellowshipping (similar to excommunication) and subsequent shunning if not deemed repentant.[70][71] When a judicial committee decides that a baptized Witness has committed a serious sin and is unrepentant, the person is disfellowshipped. A person can appeal if they believe that a serious error in judgment has been made. Requests for appeal must be made in writing and within seven days of the decision of the judicial committee. Their shunning policy is based on their interpretation of scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 5:11-13; Matthew 18:15-17; and 2 John 9-11.[72][73] Witness literature states that avoiding interaction with disfellowshipped former adherents helps to:[74]
##avoid reproach on God's name and organization by indicating that violations of the Bible's standards in their ranks are not tolerated;
##keep the congregation free of possible corrosive influences;[75] and
##convince the disfellowshipped individual to re-evaluate their course of action, repent and rejoin the religion.[76]
Shunning is also practiced when a member formally resigns membership or is deemed to indicate by their actions—such as accepting a blood transfusion[77] or association with another religion[78] or military organization[79]—that they do not wish to be known as a Witness. Such individuals are said to have disassociated,[80][81] and are described by the Watch Tower Society as "lawless" in a spiritual sense.[82]
When a person is disfellowshipped or is deemed to have disassociated, an announcement is made at the next Service Meeting that the named individual "is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses". Congregation members are not informed whether a person is being shunned due to "disfellowshipping" or "disassociation", nor on what grounds. Shunning starts immediately after the announcement is made.[83][84]
Failure to adhere to the directions on shunning is itself considered a serious offense. Members who continue to speak to or associate with a disfellowshipped or disassociated person are said to be sharing in their "wicked works"[85] and may themselves be disfellowshipped.[86] Exceptions are made in some cases such as business relations and immediate family household situations.[71] If a disfellowshipped person is living in the same home with other baptized family members, religious matters are not discussed, with the exception of minors, for whose training parents are still responsible.[87][88] Disfellowshipped family members outside the home are shunned.[89] Disfellowshipped individuals can continue attending meetings held at the Kingdom Hall, though they are shunned by the congregation.[90]
Reinstatement[edit]
Disfellowshipped individuals may be reinstated into the congregation if they are considered repentant of their previous actions and attitude. When a disassociated or disfellowshipped individual requests reinstatement, a judicial committee, (the committee originally involved, if available) seeks to determine whether the person has repented.[91] Such individuals must demonstrate that they no longer practice the conduct for which they were expelled from the congregation, as well as submission to the religion's regulations.[92][93][94] Individuals disfellowshipped for actions no longer considered serious sins, such as organ transplants, are not automatically reinstated. Attending meetings while being shunned is a requirement for eventual reinstatement.[95][90] Once a decision is made to reinstate, a brief announcement is made to the congregation that the individual is once again one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Elders are instructed to make an attempt each year to remind disfellowshipped individuals of the steps they can take to qualify for reinstatement.[71][96] No specific period of time is prescribed before this can happen, however the Watch Tower Society suggests a period of "perhaps many months, a year, or longer."[97] In 1974, the Watch Tower Society stated that about one third of those disfellowshipped eventually return to the group, based on figures gathered from 1963 to 1973.[98][needs update]
Legality[edit]
In June 1987, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the Witnesses' right to shun those who fail to live by the group's standards and doctrines, upholding the ruling of a lower court, finding that "shunning is a practice engaged in by Jehovah's Witnesses pursuant to their interpretation of canonical text, and we are not free to reinterpret that text … The defendants are entitled to the free exercise of their religious beliefs … The members of the Church [she] decided to abandon have concluded that they no longer want to associate with her. We hold that they are free to make that choice."[99][100]
Unbaptized publishers[edit]
An unbaptized individual who has previously been approved to share in Jehovah's Witnesses' formal ministry or participate in their Theocratic Ministry School, but who subsequently behaves in a manner considered inappropriate may lose privileges, such as commenting at meetings, receiving assignments, or even accompanying the congregation in the public ministry.[101]
If an unbaptized individual is deemed unrepentant of actions for which baptized members might be disfellowshipped, an announcement would be made that the person "is no longer a publisher of the good news."[102] Such individuals were previously shunned, but formal restrictions are no longer imposed on unbaptized individuals, though association is generally curtailed. The elders might privately warn individuals in the congregation if the unbaptized person is considered to pose "an unusual threat".[103]
Critical view[edit]
The only way to officially leave Jehovah's Witnesses is to disassociate or be disfellowshipped, and both entail the same set of prohibitions and penalties, with no provision for continued normal association. Sociologist Andrew Holden has claimed that fear of family break-up or loss causes people who might otherwise freely leave the religion to remain members.[104] Jehovah's Witnesses state that disfellowshipping is a scripturally documented method to protect the congregation from the influence of those who practice serious wrongdoing.[105] Critics contend that the judicial process itself, due to its private and nearly autonomous nature, directly contradicts the precedent found in the Bible and the organization's own teachings and can be used in an arbitrary manner if there is consensus among just a few to abuse their authority.[106]
According to Raymond Franz, a letter dated September 1, 1980, from the Watch Tower Society to all circuit and district overseers advised that a member who "merely disagrees in thought with any of the Watch Tower Society's teachings is committing apostasy and is liable for disfellowshipping."[107] The letter states that one does not have to "promote" different doctrines to be an apostate, adding that elders need to "discern between one who is a trouble-making apostate and a Christian who becomes weak in the faith and has doubts."[107] Watch Tower Society publications indicate that some type of action is required for a member to be disfellowshipped, rather than a 'disagreement in thought'.[108]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Speak What "Is Good for Building Up"", "Keep Yourselves in God’s Love", page 142-143
2.Jump up ^ "Maintaining the Peace and Cleanness of the Congregation", Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, page 151
3.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, Service meeting schedule, 1992-2009
4.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1972, page 4
5.Jump up ^ "Do You Accept Jehovah’s Help?", The Watchtower, December 15, 2004, page 21
6.Jump up ^ "Charisma—Praise to Man or Glory to God?", The Watchtower, February 15, 1998, page 27
7.Jump up ^ "How Christian Shepherds Serve You", The Watchtower, March 15, 1996, page 27
8.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, June 2005, page 3
9.Jump up ^ "Guidelines for School Overseers", Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education, ©2001 Watch Tower, page 284, subheading "Making Assignments"
10.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses use the term "special privileges of service" for positions requiring formal appointment or approval, such as elder, ministerial servant, pioneer, Bethel (branch) service, and schools such as Gilead and Ministerial Training School; "Make Room for It", Our Kingdom Ministry, April 2003, page 1
11.Jump up ^ Draw Close To Jehovah chap. 26 pp. 268-269 par. 22
12.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 10/15/96 p. 21 par. 7 Father and Elder—Fulfilling Both Roles
13.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, February 1991, page 7
14.Jump up ^ "Let Discernment Safeguard You", The Watchtower, March 15, 1997, page 19
15.Jump up ^ "Let Your Advancement Be Manifest", Theocratic Ministry School Guidebook, page 191
16.Jump up ^ "Are You Reaching Out?", The Watchtower, September 1, 1990, page 23
17.^ Jump up to: a b c The Watchtower 4/15/85 p. 31 Questions From Readers
18.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower: 12. 15 April 2009. "Understanding that timeless truth has helped millions of Christians to repudiate the practice of abortion, seeing it as a serious sin against God."
19.Jump up ^ "Apostasy" includes publicly challenging the religion's teachings
20.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. pp. 182–184. "Consistent with that understanding of matters, beginning in 1961 any who ignored the divine requirement, accepted blood transfusions, and manifested an unrepentant attitude were disfellowshipped from the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses."
21.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, pages 60, "Rather than relating to bad conduct of a somewhat petty or minor nature, "brazen conduct" describes acts that reflect an attitude that betrays disrespect, disregard, or even contempt for divine standards, laws, and authority."
22.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers: What does the expression 'loose conduct' as found at Galatians 5:19 mean?". (September 15, 1973). The Watchtower, p. 574, "It is not limited to acts of sexual immorality. And, rather than relating to bad conduct of a somewhat petty or minor nature, it apparently describes acts that reflect a brazen attitude, one that betrays disrespect, disregard or even contempt for standards, laws and authority. The ‘looseness' of the conduct, therefore, is not due principally to weakness but results from an attitude of disrespect, insolence or shamelessness."
23.^ Jump up to: a b "You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy". The Watchtower: 123. 15 February 1976. "Jehovah has brought to the attention of his “holy” people the need to disfellowship those dedicated, baptized Christians who refuse to break and give up the drug and tobacco habits."
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Shepherd the Flock of God, page 69
25.^ Jump up to: a b Shepherd the Flock of God, p. 67-68
26.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, page 65
27.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2009, p. 18, "Speak Truth With Your Neighbor".
28.Jump up ^ "Honor Godly Marriage!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1983, p. 31
29.Jump up ^ "Adjust the Bible to Polygamy?". The Watchtower: 10. 1 July 1985. "polygamy is not to be condoned for any Christian regardless of nationality or circumstance. ... This leaves no room for polygamy among true Christians."
30.Jump up ^ Watchtower 7/15/06 p. 31 Questions From Readers; "But not all viewing of pornography calls for a hearing before a judicial committee. … However, suppose a Christian has secretly viewed abhorrent, sexually degrading pornography for years and has done everything possible to conceal this sin. Such pornography might feature gang rape, bondage, sadistic torture, the brutalizing of women, or even child pornography. When others become aware of his conduct, he is deeply ashamed. He has not been brazen, but the elders may determine that he has ‘given himself over’ to this filthy habit and has practiced ‘uncleanness with greediness,’ that is, gross uncleanness. A judicial committee would be formed because gross uncleanness is involved. The wrongdoer would be disfellowshipped if he did not display godly repentance"
31.Jump up ^ "Prevention in the Home". Awake!: 10. 8 October 1993. "Similarly the Christian congregation today enforces strong laws against all forms of sexual abuse. Anyone who sexually abuses a child risks being disfellowshipped, put out of the congregation."
32.Jump up ^ "Personally Benefiting from the Bible’s Laws and Principles". The Watchtower: 404–405. 1 July 1970. "In the Christian congregation there are definite laws against adultery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, murder, stealing and other things, any of which, when committed by a Christian, would bring reproach from the world against the congregation. These things the Bible has put under the authority of the congregation, that is, it is required to take some action."
33.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures 1. p. 788. "Some of the offenses that could merit disfellowshipping from the Christian congregation are fornication, adultery, homosexuality, greed, extortion, thievery, lying, drunkenness, reviling, spiritism, murder, idolatry, apostasy, and the causing of divisions in the congregation."
34.Jump up ^ To All Circuit and District Overseers, September 1, 1980, "Keep in mind that to be disfellowshipped, an apostate does not have to be a promoter of apostate views. ... if a baptized Christian abandons the teachings of Jehovah, as presented by the faithful and discreet slave, and persists in believing other doctrine despite Scriptural reproof, then he is apostatizing. ... [If] he continues to believe the apostate ideas and rejects what he has been provided through the 'slave class,' then appropriate judicial action should be taken. ... [If] something reasonably substantial comes to the attention of the elders along this line, it would be appropriate to make a kindly, discreet inquiry so as to protect the flock." Letter reproduced in Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz, 1983, chapter 11.
35.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/1/98 p. 19 par. 17 "Put Up a Hard Fight for the Faith"!
36.Jump up ^ "Show a Waiting Attitude!" The Watchtower September 1, 2000 page 11. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
37.Jump up ^ "Will You Heed Jehovah's Clear Warnings?", The Watchtower, July 15, 2011, pages 15 and
38.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
39.Jump up ^ Taylor, Jerome (27 September 2011). "War of words breaks out among Jehovah's Witnesses". The Independent.
40.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses church likens defectors to 'contagious, deadly disease'", Sunday Herald Sun, page 39, October 2, 2011.
41.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock, p. 111
42.Jump up ^ August 15, 1997 Watchtower, p. 27
43.Jump up ^ Insight in the Scriptures, Volume 2, p. 969.
44.Jump up ^ "A Time to Speak--When?" Watchtower, September 1, 1987, pp. 12-15
45.Jump up ^ "New Arrangements for Congregation Organization", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1977, pages 5-6
46.Jump up ^ ""Gifts in Men" to Care for Jehovah’s Sheep", The Watchtower, June 1, 1999, page 14
47.Jump up ^ "Elders, Judge With Righteousness", The Watchtower, July 1, 1992, page 16
48.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshipping—A Loving Provision?", The Watchtower, July 15, 1995, page 25
49.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Sheep Need Tender Care", The Watchtower, January 15, 1996, page 18
50.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, July 15, 2006, pages 30-31"
51.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 1972, page 8
52.Jump up ^ "Make Wise Use of Your Christian Freedom", June 1, 1992, page 19
53.Jump up ^ ""A Time to Speak"—When?", The Watchtower, September 1, 1987, page 14
54.^ Jump up to: a b c d Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1991, page 110-120.
55.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007, page 321.
56.Jump up ^ It is unclear whether accused individuals have always had the option to call witnesses. The judicial committee hearing accusations that resulted in the disfellowshipping of Canadian Witness James Penton in February 1981 refused Penton's request to have a lawyer present and to call witnesses. See James A. Beverley, Crisis of Allegiance (Welch Publishing, 1986, page 71).
57.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 89.
58.Jump up ^ "New Arrangements for Congregation Organization", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1977, page 6
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 12/1/76 p. 723 par. 15 How Wise Reprovers Aid Erring Ones
60.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/1/81 p. 23 par. 9 Repentance Leading Back to God
61.Jump up ^ "Imitate Jehovah—Exercise Justice and Righteousness", The Watchtower, August 1, 1998, page 17
62.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/15/87 p. 13 par. 13
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/1/81 p. 26 par. 23 Repentance Leading Back to God
64.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 12/1/76 p. 733 par. 14 Giving Reproof "Before All Onlookers"
65.Jump up ^ '"Maintaining the Peace and Cleanness of the Congregation", Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, ©2005 Watch Tower, page 151, "Elders will use reasonableness and discernment in determining whether a particular situation is sufficiently serious and disturbing to require a warning talk. This talk will not name the disorderly one. However, those who are aware of the situation described in the talk will take heed"
66.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will 2005, p. 152.
67.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry March 1983, p. 3.
68.Jump up ^ "Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline", The Watchtower, November 15, 2006, page 30, "During the time that an individual who has been judicially reproved is healing spiritually, ...it would be beneficial for the repentant one to listen rather than comment at meetings. The elders may arrange for someone to have a Bible study with him to strengthen him where he is weak so that he may again become “healthy in faith.” (Titus 2:2) All of this is done in love and is not intended to punish the wrongdoer."
69.Jump up ^ How Baptism Can Save Us The Watchtower Jan 15, 1989, p. 17.
70.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, page 22, "Thus "disfellowshiping" is what Jehovah’s Witnesses appropriately call the expelling and subsequent shunning of such an unrepentant wrongdoer. [emphasis added]"
71.^ Jump up to: a b c "Beliefs—Frequently Asked Questions", Authorized Site of the Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses, As Retrieved 2009-08-28, "Do you shun former members? ... If, however, someone unrepentantly practices serious sins, such as drunkenness, stealing or adultery, he will be disfellowshipped and such an individual is avoided by former fellow-worshipers. ... The marriage relationship and normal family affections and dealings can continue. ... Disfellowshipped individuals may continue to attend religious services and, if they wish, they may receive spiritual counsel from the elders with a view to their being restored. They are always welcome to return to the faith [emphasis retained from source]"
72.Jump up ^ "Keep Yourselves in God's Love", page 35.
73.Jump up ^ "You May Gain Your Brother", The Watchtower, October 15, 1999, page 22.
74.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/06 p. 27 par. 6 Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline
75.Jump up ^ Jealous for the Pure Worship of Jehovah, The Watchtower September 15, 1995, p. 11.
76.Jump up ^ The Bible's Viewpoint - Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Arrangement Awake! September 8, 1996, p. 26-27.
77.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses drop transfusion ban". "transfusions have been relegated to 'non-disfellowshipping events' ... If a member has a transfusion, they will, by their actions disassociate themselves from the religion."
78.Jump up ^ Watchtower 10/15/86 p. 31 Questions From Readers | "… the person no longer wants to have anything to do with Jehovah’s people and is determined to remain in a false religion? They would then simply announce to the congregation that such one has disassociated himself and thus is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
79.Jump up ^ Watchtower 1/15/82 p. 31 Questions From Readers | "The second situation involves a person who renounces his standing in the congregation by joining a secular organization whose purpose is contrary to counsel such as that found at Isaiah 2:4, … neither will they learn war anymore."
80.Jump up ^ Questions from readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1986, page 31.
81.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, page 23.
82.Jump up ^ "Do You Hate Lawlessness?", The Watchtower, February 15, 2011, page 31, "Do we share Jesus’ view of those who have become set in their lawless course? We need to give thought to these questions: ‘Would I choose to associate regularly with someone who has been disfellowshipped or who has disassociated himself from the Christian congregation? What if that one is a close relative who no longer lives at home?’ Such a situation can be a real test of our loyalty to God."
83.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock. 1991. pp. 121–122.
84.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, p. 104.
85.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock, Unit 5(a) p. 103. The section cites 2 John 11 ("For he that says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works.")
86.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984), The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, p. 91, ISBN 0-8020-6545-7
87.Jump up ^ "How to Treat a Disfellowshipped Person", "Keep Yourselves in God’s Love", ©2008 Watch Tower, page 207-208, "We do not have spiritual or social fellowship with disfellowshipped ones. ...In some instances, the disfellowshipped family member may still be living in the same home as part of the immediate household. Since his being disfellowshipped does not sever the family ties, normal day-to-day family activities and dealings may continue. Yet, by his course, the individual has chosen to break the spiritual bond between him and his believing family. So loyal family members can no longer have spiritual fellowship with him. [emphasis added]"
88.Jump up ^ "How Can You Help a 'Prodigal' Child?". Watchtower: 16–17. October 1, 2001.
89.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It". Watchtower: 26. September 15, 1981. "It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum"
90.^ Jump up to: a b "Safeguard Your Heart". Awake!: 28. 8 July 1970. "And if he seeks reinstatement, he must show his sincerity by attending congregation meetings with no one speaking to him, all the while giving evidence of repentance."
91.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/91 p. 21 par. 6
92.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/1/98 p. 16 par. 16 Imitate Jehovah—Exercise Justice and Righteousness
93.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 5/1/98 p. 15 par. 10 " True repentance comes from the heart, from the depths of our being"
94.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/06 p. 27 par. 9 Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline
95.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/15/92 p. 31 A Step on the Way Back
96.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/15/82 p. 31 A Step on the Way Back
97.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God. Watch Tower Society. p. 119.
98.Jump up ^ Divine Mercy Points the Way Back for Erring Ones The Watchtower Aug 1, 1974, p. 466 par. 24.
99.Jump up ^ "Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit", The Watchtower April 15, 1988, pages 26-30.
100.Jump up ^ "Religion: The Right To Shun", Time magazine, June 29, 1987, Online, "The Constitution's guarantee of "free exercise," said the appeals panel, applies even to unpopular groups and practices"
101.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 18 par. 14 Helping Others to Worship God
102.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 19 par. 17 Helping Others to Worship God
103.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 19 par. 19 Helping Others to Worship God
104.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 150, 156–157. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
105.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom chap. 15 p. 232 "Development of the Organization Structure"
106.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search Of Christian Freedom, pp.374–390. Franz claims the Watch Tower organization ignores the "clear principle of openness in the conduct of judicial proceedings" and cites the Watch Tower Society publication, Insight on the Scriptures, Vol 1, p. 518, which states that "publicity that would be afforded any trial at the gate would tend to influence the judges toward care and justice in the trial proceedings and in their decisions".
107.^ Jump up to: a b Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience. 4th ed. Atlanta: Commentary Press, 2004. pp. 341-2. ISBN 0-914675-24-9.
108.Jump up ^ The Watchtower March 15, 1986 p.15 paragraph 17 "Do Not Be Quickly Shaken From Your Reason"; The Watchtower October 15, 1986 p. 31 Questions From Readers; The Watchtower October 1, 1989 p. 19 paragraph 14 Maintain Your Faith and Spiritual Health; Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock p. 94-95; The Watchtower May 1, 2000 p.12 par. 19 Firmly Uphold Godly Teaching; The Watchtower September 1, 2000 p. 13 par. 10 Show a Waiting Attitude!; The Watchtower April 1, 1986 pp. 30-31 Questions From Readers.
  


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Jehovah's Witnesses and congregational discipline

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 This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (December 2011)
Part of a series on
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Jehovah's Witnesses employ various levels of congregational discipline as formal controls administered by congregation elders. Guilt and repentance are determined by a tribunal of elders, and hearings concerning what they term "serious sin" are performed by formal judicial committees. A variety of controls can be enforced, from restriction of duties performed in the congregation to excommunication, known as disfellowshipping, and shunning by the congregation. Members who are disfellowshipped have an opportunity to regain membership. The practice of disfellowshipping has been criticized by many non-members and ex-members.


Contents  [hide]
1 Correction
2 Discipline involving non-judicial situations 2.1 Local needs
2.2 Shepherding calls
2.3 Withheld recommendations or assignments
2.4 Loss of "special privileges"
2.5 Limited "privileges of service"
2.6 Marking
3 Discipline involving "serious sin" 3.1 List of "serious sins"
3.2 Procedures
3.3 Judicial committee
3.4 Reproof
3.5 Shunning 3.5.1 Reinstatement
3.5.2 Legality

4 Unbaptized publishers
5 Critical view
6 References

Correction[edit]
Non-judicial situations involve actions that are considered sinful or simply regrettable but are not considered to be of sufficient gravity to necessitate a judicial committee, and cannot result in disfellowshipping from the congregation; specific action by congregation elders is not administered in such situations, but counsel (or correction) may be provided by a mature Witness in addition to self-discipline and family discipline.[1] Elders may also give recommendations or warnings to members in non-judicial situations.
If an active baptized Witness is considered to have committed a "serious sin" for which the sinner must demonstrate formal repentance, correction (or, "discipline") is administered by the congregation’s body of elders. Such situations usually involve a "judicial committee" of three or more elders.[2]
Discipline involving non-judicial situations[edit]
At the elders' discretion, "non-judicial" situations may involve discipline of one or more of several types, presented here in escalating seriousness.
Local needs[edit]
At conventions and assemblies, and about once each month at a local Service Meeting, a short talk regarding "local needs" is presented.[3] An elder addresses matters that are relevant to the local congregation, with instructions outlining the course of action considered appropriate. No specific individuals are identified during the talk, but the talk may relate to a matter for which a member has recently been "reproved". At times, some temporary policy may be announced that might be seen as disciplinary; for example, it may be that an additional attendant is assigned outside a Kingdom Hall to discourage children from running on the sidewalk.[4]
Shepherding calls[edit]
Personal "shepherding visits" are intended to encourage members of the congregation, though may also include counsel and correction, then or on a subsequent visit.[5][6] Two elders (or an elder and a ministerial servant) may schedule and perform a particular shepherding visit on their own or at the direction of the body of elders.[7]
Withheld recommendations or assignments[edit]
The body of elders may withhold its recommendation for a member to serve in a new position of responsibility, though still permitting existing responsibilities.[8]
For example, a ministerial servant who consistently seems insufficiently prepared for his meeting parts may have such assignments withheld for a time, even though he may continue serving as a ministerial servant or in some other "special privilege of service".[9]
Loss of "special privileges"[edit]
Elders, ministerial servants, pioneers, or other appointed Witnesses can lose their "special privileges of service".[10][11] For example, an elder may be removed or choose to step aside voluntarily from his position if members of his household are not in "good standing".[12] After resignation or removal from an appointed position, an announcement is made during the congregation's Service Meeting indicating that the person is "no longer serving", without elaboration.[13]
Limited "privileges of service"[edit]
An active Jehovah's Witness may have their congregational "privileges of service" limited even without having committed a serious sin. For example, the body of elders may feel that a member wronged others by some investment scheme which was not necessarily fraudulent.[14] While Witnesses sometimes refer to field ministry, after-meeting cleanup, and other responsibilities as "privileges", the term "privileges of service" often implies a specific range of assignments assisting elders and ministerial servants with meeting demonstrations and other responsibilities.[15] Such limitations are usually temporary.[16]
Marking[edit]
Members who persist in a course considered scripturally wrong after repeated counsel by elders,[17] but who are not guilty of something for which they could be disfellowshipped,[17] can be "marked", based on Jehovah's Witnesses' interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 3:14. Though not shunned, "marked" individuals are looked upon as bad association and social interaction outside of formal worship settings is generally curtailed. This action is intended to "shame" the person into following a particular course of action.[17] "Marking" is indicated by means of a talk given at the Service Meeting outlining the shameful course, but without explicitly naming any particular individual. Members who know whose actions are being discussed may then consider the individual "marked".
Discipline involving "serious sin"[edit]
List of "serious sins"[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses consider many actions to be "serious sins", for which baptized Witnesses are subject to a judicial committee hearing. Such actions include: abortion,[18] adultery, apostasy,[19] bestiality, blood transfusions,[20] "brazen conduct" or "loose conduct",[21][22] drug abuse,[23] drunkenness, extortion,[24] fornication, fraud,[25] gambling,[24] greed,[24] homosexual activity, idolatry, incest, interfaith activity,[26] lying,[27] manslaughter, murder, "perverted sex relations",[28] polygamy,[29] pornography,[30] reviling, sexual abuse,[31] slander,[25] spiritism, theft, and use of tobacco.[23][32][33]
If a baptized Witness teaches contrary to Witness doctrines, it is considered apostasy and grounds for disfellowshipping. A 1981 letter to overseers—reproduced in a book by former Governing Body member Raymond Franz—directed that a member who "persists in believing other doctrine", even without promoting such beliefs, may also be subject to disfellowshipping.[34] Elders usually try to reason with the individual before such action is taken.[35] If a person believes that a teaching should be adjusted or changed, he is encouraged "to be patient and wait on Jehovah for change".[36]The Watchtower states that "apostates are “mentally diseased,” and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings. (1 Timothy 6:3, 4 [NWT]).";[37][38] some have stated that this applies to all individuals who leave the organization.[39][40]
Procedures[edit]
Evidence for actions that can result in congregational discipline is obtained by voluntary confession to the elders or by witnesses of the violation. A minimum of two witnesses is required to establish guilt, based on their understanding of Deuteronomy 17:6 and Matthew 18:16, unless the person confesses voluntarily.[41] Members are instructed to report serious sins committed by others members.[42] Failure to report a serious sin of another member is viewed as sharing in the sins of others, a sin before God.[43] Witnesses are instructed that pledges of confidentiality may be broken to report what they believe to be transgressions.[44]
A congregation's body of elders considers confessions or credible allegations of serious sin, and decides whether a judicial committee will be formed to address the matter.[45] A judicial committee, usually consisting of three elders, investigates the details of the alleged sin further. The committee arranges a formal judicial hearing to determine the circumstances of the sin, whether the accused is repentant, and whether disciplinary actions will be taken.[46][47][48]
In certain situations, a body of elders may handle a situation involving "serious sin" by a baptized Witness without a judicial committee:
##Minor or newly baptized - A minor or newly baptized Witness might commit one or two acts of "serious sin" involving tobacco or overdrinking;[49][50] repercussions as for 'non-judicial' situations may still be imposed.
##Repentance - The body of elders may believe the sinner's repentance has been established and accepted. For example, if a member committed a "serious sin" several years ago, had formally repented in prayer, and the sin did not involve scheming.[51] Witnesses are strongly discouraged from waiting years to resolve such matters;[52] even if years have passed since the serious sin, it is typical for a judicial committee to be formed, and there may still be repercussions as for ‘non-judicial’ situations.
##Judicial abeyance - Elders may become aware of a "serious sin" committed by a baptized Witness who has been inactive for some time and is not perceived as a Jehovah’s Witness. If the alleged sinner is not associating with active Witnesses, the elders may indefinitely postpone a judicial committee and formal hearing unless and until the individual renews their association with the congregation.[53]
Judicial committee[edit]
A person accused of a serious sin is informed of the allegations and invited to attend a judicial committee meeting. The individual is permitted to bring witnesses who can speak in their defense; observers are not allowed,[54] and the hearing is held privately even if the accused individual requests that it be heard openly so all may witness the evidence.[55][56] Recording devices are not permitted at the hearing.[54] If the accused repeatedly fails to attend an arranged hearing, the committee will proceed but will not make a decision until evidence and testimony by witnesses are considered.[54]
The committee takes the role of prosecutor, judge and jury when handling its cases.[57] After the hearing is opened with a prayer, the accused is invited to make a personal statement. If there is no admission of guilt, the individual is informed of the source of the charges and witnesses are presented one at a time to give evidence. Witnesses do not remain present for the entire hearing. Once all the evidence is presented, the accused and all witnesses are dismissed and the committee reviews the evidence and the attitude of the accused.[54]
The committee may determine that there was no "serious sin", or that mitigating circumstances absolve the accused individual. The committee may then proceed with discipline such as is described for 'non-judicial' situations.[58] Alternatively, the committee may decide that a serious sin was committed, in which case, the committee gives verbal admonitions and gauges the individual's attitude and repentance. The committee then decides whether discipline will involve formal reproof or disfellowshipping.
Reproof[edit]
Reproof involves actions for which a person could be disfellowshipped, and is said to be an effort to 'reach the heart' and convince a person of the need to hate the sanctioned actions[59][60] and repent.[61] Reproof is considered sufficient if the individual is deemed repentant.[62][63] Reproof is given before all who are aware of the transgression. If the conduct is known only to the individual and the judicial committee, reproof is given privately. If the sin is known by a small number, they would be invited by the elders, and reproof would be given before the sinner and those with knowledge of the sin. If the action is known generally by the entire congregation or the wider community, an announcement is made that the person "has been reproved".[64] A related local needs talk may be given, separately to the announcement, without naming anyone.[65]
In all cases of reproof, restrictions are imposed,[66] typically prohibiting the individual from sharing in meeting parts, commenting during meetings, and giving group prayers. A reproved Witness cannot enroll as a pioneer or auxiliary pioneer for at least one year after reproof is given.[67][68]
Shunning[edit]
All members are expected to abide by the beliefs and moral standards of Jehovah's Witnesses.[69] Serious violations of these requirements can result in disfellowshipping (similar to excommunication) and subsequent shunning if not deemed repentant.[70][71] When a judicial committee decides that a baptized Witness has committed a serious sin and is unrepentant, the person is disfellowshipped. A person can appeal if they believe that a serious error in judgment has been made. Requests for appeal must be made in writing and within seven days of the decision of the judicial committee. Their shunning policy is based on their interpretation of scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 5:11-13; Matthew 18:15-17; and 2 John 9-11.[72][73] Witness literature states that avoiding interaction with disfellowshipped former adherents helps to:[74]
##avoid reproach on God's name and organization by indicating that violations of the Bible's standards in their ranks are not tolerated;
##keep the congregation free of possible corrosive influences;[75] and
##convince the disfellowshipped individual to re-evaluate their course of action, repent and rejoin the religion.[76]
Shunning is also practiced when a member formally resigns membership or is deemed to indicate by their actions—such as accepting a blood transfusion[77] or association with another religion[78] or military organization[79]—that they do not wish to be known as a Witness. Such individuals are said to have disassociated,[80][81] and are described by the Watch Tower Society as "lawless" in a spiritual sense.[82]
When a person is disfellowshipped or is deemed to have disassociated, an announcement is made at the next Service Meeting that the named individual "is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses". Congregation members are not informed whether a person is being shunned due to "disfellowshipping" or "disassociation", nor on what grounds. Shunning starts immediately after the announcement is made.[83][84]
Failure to adhere to the directions on shunning is itself considered a serious offense. Members who continue to speak to or associate with a disfellowshipped or disassociated person are said to be sharing in their "wicked works"[85] and may themselves be disfellowshipped.[86] Exceptions are made in some cases such as business relations and immediate family household situations.[71] If a disfellowshipped person is living in the same home with other baptized family members, religious matters are not discussed, with the exception of minors, for whose training parents are still responsible.[87][88] Disfellowshipped family members outside the home are shunned.[89] Disfellowshipped individuals can continue attending meetings held at the Kingdom Hall, though they are shunned by the congregation.[90]
Reinstatement[edit]
Disfellowshipped individuals may be reinstated into the congregation if they are considered repentant of their previous actions and attitude. When a disassociated or disfellowshipped individual requests reinstatement, a judicial committee, (the committee originally involved, if available) seeks to determine whether the person has repented.[91] Such individuals must demonstrate that they no longer practice the conduct for which they were expelled from the congregation, as well as submission to the religion's regulations.[92][93][94] Individuals disfellowshipped for actions no longer considered serious sins, such as organ transplants, are not automatically reinstated. Attending meetings while being shunned is a requirement for eventual reinstatement.[95][90] Once a decision is made to reinstate, a brief announcement is made to the congregation that the individual is once again one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Elders are instructed to make an attempt each year to remind disfellowshipped individuals of the steps they can take to qualify for reinstatement.[71][96] No specific period of time is prescribed before this can happen, however the Watch Tower Society suggests a period of "perhaps many months, a year, or longer."[97] In 1974, the Watch Tower Society stated that about one third of those disfellowshipped eventually return to the group, based on figures gathered from 1963 to 1973.[98][needs update]
Legality[edit]
In June 1987, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld the Witnesses' right to shun those who fail to live by the group's standards and doctrines, upholding the ruling of a lower court, finding that "shunning is a practice engaged in by Jehovah's Witnesses pursuant to their interpretation of canonical text, and we are not free to reinterpret that text … The defendants are entitled to the free exercise of their religious beliefs … The members of the Church [she] decided to abandon have concluded that they no longer want to associate with her. We hold that they are free to make that choice."[99][100]
Unbaptized publishers[edit]
An unbaptized individual who has previously been approved to share in Jehovah's Witnesses' formal ministry or participate in their Theocratic Ministry School, but who subsequently behaves in a manner considered inappropriate may lose privileges, such as commenting at meetings, receiving assignments, or even accompanying the congregation in the public ministry.[101]
If an unbaptized individual is deemed unrepentant of actions for which baptized members might be disfellowshipped, an announcement would be made that the person "is no longer a publisher of the good news."[102] Such individuals were previously shunned, but formal restrictions are no longer imposed on unbaptized individuals, though association is generally curtailed. The elders might privately warn individuals in the congregation if the unbaptized person is considered to pose "an unusual threat".[103]
Critical view[edit]
The only way to officially leave Jehovah's Witnesses is to disassociate or be disfellowshipped, and both entail the same set of prohibitions and penalties, with no provision for continued normal association. Sociologist Andrew Holden has claimed that fear of family break-up or loss causes people who might otherwise freely leave the religion to remain members.[104] Jehovah's Witnesses state that disfellowshipping is a scripturally documented method to protect the congregation from the influence of those who practice serious wrongdoing.[105] Critics contend that the judicial process itself, due to its private and nearly autonomous nature, directly contradicts the precedent found in the Bible and the organization's own teachings and can be used in an arbitrary manner if there is consensus among just a few to abuse their authority.[106]
According to Raymond Franz, a letter dated September 1, 1980, from the Watch Tower Society to all circuit and district overseers advised that a member who "merely disagrees in thought with any of the Watch Tower Society's teachings is committing apostasy and is liable for disfellowshipping."[107] The letter states that one does not have to "promote" different doctrines to be an apostate, adding that elders need to "discern between one who is a trouble-making apostate and a Christian who becomes weak in the faith and has doubts."[107] Watch Tower Society publications indicate that some type of action is required for a member to be disfellowshipped, rather than a 'disagreement in thought'.[108]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Speak What "Is Good for Building Up"", "Keep Yourselves in God’s Love", page 142-143
2.Jump up ^ "Maintaining the Peace and Cleanness of the Congregation", Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, page 151
3.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, Service meeting schedule, 1992-2009
4.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1972, page 4
5.Jump up ^ "Do You Accept Jehovah’s Help?", The Watchtower, December 15, 2004, page 21
6.Jump up ^ "Charisma—Praise to Man or Glory to God?", The Watchtower, February 15, 1998, page 27
7.Jump up ^ "How Christian Shepherds Serve You", The Watchtower, March 15, 1996, page 27
8.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, June 2005, page 3
9.Jump up ^ "Guidelines for School Overseers", Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education, ©2001 Watch Tower, page 284, subheading "Making Assignments"
10.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses use the term "special privileges of service" for positions requiring formal appointment or approval, such as elder, ministerial servant, pioneer, Bethel (branch) service, and schools such as Gilead and Ministerial Training School; "Make Room for It", Our Kingdom Ministry, April 2003, page 1
11.Jump up ^ Draw Close To Jehovah chap. 26 pp. 268-269 par. 22
12.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 10/15/96 p. 21 par. 7 Father and Elder—Fulfilling Both Roles
13.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, February 1991, page 7
14.Jump up ^ "Let Discernment Safeguard You", The Watchtower, March 15, 1997, page 19
15.Jump up ^ "Let Your Advancement Be Manifest", Theocratic Ministry School Guidebook, page 191
16.Jump up ^ "Are You Reaching Out?", The Watchtower, September 1, 1990, page 23
17.^ Jump up to: a b c The Watchtower 4/15/85 p. 31 Questions From Readers
18.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower: 12. 15 April 2009. "Understanding that timeless truth has helped millions of Christians to repudiate the practice of abortion, seeing it as a serious sin against God."
19.Jump up ^ "Apostasy" includes publicly challenging the religion's teachings
20.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. pp. 182–184. "Consistent with that understanding of matters, beginning in 1961 any who ignored the divine requirement, accepted blood transfusions, and manifested an unrepentant attitude were disfellowshipped from the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses."
21.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, pages 60, "Rather than relating to bad conduct of a somewhat petty or minor nature, "brazen conduct" describes acts that reflect an attitude that betrays disrespect, disregard, or even contempt for divine standards, laws, and authority."
22.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers: What does the expression 'loose conduct' as found at Galatians 5:19 mean?". (September 15, 1973). The Watchtower, p. 574, "It is not limited to acts of sexual immorality. And, rather than relating to bad conduct of a somewhat petty or minor nature, it apparently describes acts that reflect a brazen attitude, one that betrays disrespect, disregard or even contempt for standards, laws and authority. The ‘looseness' of the conduct, therefore, is not due principally to weakness but results from an attitude of disrespect, insolence or shamelessness."
23.^ Jump up to: a b "You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy". The Watchtower: 123. 15 February 1976. "Jehovah has brought to the attention of his “holy” people the need to disfellowship those dedicated, baptized Christians who refuse to break and give up the drug and tobacco habits."
24.^ Jump up to: a b c Shepherd the Flock of God, page 69
25.^ Jump up to: a b Shepherd the Flock of God, p. 67-68
26.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, page 65
27.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2009, p. 18, "Speak Truth With Your Neighbor".
28.Jump up ^ "Honor Godly Marriage!", The Watchtower, March 15, 1983, p. 31
29.Jump up ^ "Adjust the Bible to Polygamy?". The Watchtower: 10. 1 July 1985. "polygamy is not to be condoned for any Christian regardless of nationality or circumstance. ... This leaves no room for polygamy among true Christians."
30.Jump up ^ Watchtower 7/15/06 p. 31 Questions From Readers; "But not all viewing of pornography calls for a hearing before a judicial committee. … However, suppose a Christian has secretly viewed abhorrent, sexually degrading pornography for years and has done everything possible to conceal this sin. Such pornography might feature gang rape, bondage, sadistic torture, the brutalizing of women, or even child pornography. When others become aware of his conduct, he is deeply ashamed. He has not been brazen, but the elders may determine that he has ‘given himself over’ to this filthy habit and has practiced ‘uncleanness with greediness,’ that is, gross uncleanness. A judicial committee would be formed because gross uncleanness is involved. The wrongdoer would be disfellowshipped if he did not display godly repentance"
31.Jump up ^ "Prevention in the Home". Awake!: 10. 8 October 1993. "Similarly the Christian congregation today enforces strong laws against all forms of sexual abuse. Anyone who sexually abuses a child risks being disfellowshipped, put out of the congregation."
32.Jump up ^ "Personally Benefiting from the Bible’s Laws and Principles". The Watchtower: 404–405. 1 July 1970. "In the Christian congregation there are definite laws against adultery, incest, homosexuality, bestiality, murder, stealing and other things, any of which, when committed by a Christian, would bring reproach from the world against the congregation. These things the Bible has put under the authority of the congregation, that is, it is required to take some action."
33.Jump up ^ Insight on the Scriptures 1. p. 788. "Some of the offenses that could merit disfellowshipping from the Christian congregation are fornication, adultery, homosexuality, greed, extortion, thievery, lying, drunkenness, reviling, spiritism, murder, idolatry, apostasy, and the causing of divisions in the congregation."
34.Jump up ^ To All Circuit and District Overseers, September 1, 1980, "Keep in mind that to be disfellowshipped, an apostate does not have to be a promoter of apostate views. ... if a baptized Christian abandons the teachings of Jehovah, as presented by the faithful and discreet slave, and persists in believing other doctrine despite Scriptural reproof, then he is apostatizing. ... [If] he continues to believe the apostate ideas and rejects what he has been provided through the 'slave class,' then appropriate judicial action should be taken. ... [If] something reasonably substantial comes to the attention of the elders along this line, it would be appropriate to make a kindly, discreet inquiry so as to protect the flock." Letter reproduced in Crisis of Conscience, Raymond Franz, 1983, chapter 11.
35.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 6/1/98 p. 19 par. 17 "Put Up a Hard Fight for the Faith"!
36.Jump up ^ "Show a Waiting Attitude!" The Watchtower September 1, 2000 page 11. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
37.Jump up ^ "Will You Heed Jehovah's Clear Warnings?", The Watchtower, July 15, 2011, pages 15 and
38.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
39.Jump up ^ Taylor, Jerome (27 September 2011). "War of words breaks out among Jehovah's Witnesses". The Independent.
40.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses church likens defectors to 'contagious, deadly disease'", Sunday Herald Sun, page 39, October 2, 2011.
41.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock, p. 111
42.Jump up ^ August 15, 1997 Watchtower, p. 27
43.Jump up ^ Insight in the Scriptures, Volume 2, p. 969.
44.Jump up ^ "A Time to Speak--When?" Watchtower, September 1, 1987, pp. 12-15
45.Jump up ^ "New Arrangements for Congregation Organization", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1977, pages 5-6
46.Jump up ^ ""Gifts in Men" to Care for Jehovah’s Sheep", The Watchtower, June 1, 1999, page 14
47.Jump up ^ "Elders, Judge With Righteousness", The Watchtower, July 1, 1992, page 16
48.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshipping—A Loving Provision?", The Watchtower, July 15, 1995, page 25
49.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Sheep Need Tender Care", The Watchtower, January 15, 1996, page 18
50.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, July 15, 2006, pages 30-31"
51.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, October 1972, page 8
52.Jump up ^ "Make Wise Use of Your Christian Freedom", June 1, 1992, page 19
53.Jump up ^ ""A Time to Speak"—When?", The Watchtower, September 1, 1987, page 14
54.^ Jump up to: a b c d Pay Attention to Yourselves and All the Flock, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1991, page 110-120.
55.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007, page 321.
56.Jump up ^ It is unclear whether accused individuals have always had the option to call witnesses. The judicial committee hearing accusations that resulted in the disfellowshipping of Canadian Witness James Penton in February 1981 refused Penton's request to have a lawyer present and to call witnesses. See James A. Beverley, Crisis of Allegiance (Welch Publishing, 1986, page 71).
57.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 89.
58.Jump up ^ "New Arrangements for Congregation Organization", Our Kingdom Ministry, September 1977, page 6
59.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 12/1/76 p. 723 par. 15 How Wise Reprovers Aid Erring Ones
60.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/1/81 p. 23 par. 9 Repentance Leading Back to God
61.Jump up ^ "Imitate Jehovah—Exercise Justice and Righteousness", The Watchtower, August 1, 1998, page 17
62.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/15/87 p. 13 par. 13
63.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 9/1/81 p. 26 par. 23 Repentance Leading Back to God
64.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 12/1/76 p. 733 par. 14 Giving Reproof "Before All Onlookers"
65.Jump up ^ '"Maintaining the Peace and Cleanness of the Congregation", Organized to Do Jehovah's Will, ©2005 Watch Tower, page 151, "Elders will use reasonableness and discernment in determining whether a particular situation is sufficiently serious and disturbing to require a warning talk. This talk will not name the disorderly one. However, those who are aware of the situation described in the talk will take heed"
66.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will 2005, p. 152.
67.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry March 1983, p. 3.
68.Jump up ^ "Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline", The Watchtower, November 15, 2006, page 30, "During the time that an individual who has been judicially reproved is healing spiritually, ...it would be beneficial for the repentant one to listen rather than comment at meetings. The elders may arrange for someone to have a Bible study with him to strengthen him where he is weak so that he may again become “healthy in faith.” (Titus 2:2) All of this is done in love and is not intended to punish the wrongdoer."
69.Jump up ^ How Baptism Can Save Us The Watchtower Jan 15, 1989, p. 17.
70.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, page 22, "Thus "disfellowshiping" is what Jehovah’s Witnesses appropriately call the expelling and subsequent shunning of such an unrepentant wrongdoer. [emphasis added]"
71.^ Jump up to: a b c "Beliefs—Frequently Asked Questions", Authorized Site of the Office of Public Information of Jehovah's Witnesses, As Retrieved 2009-08-28, "Do you shun former members? ... If, however, someone unrepentantly practices serious sins, such as drunkenness, stealing or adultery, he will be disfellowshipped and such an individual is avoided by former fellow-worshipers. ... The marriage relationship and normal family affections and dealings can continue. ... Disfellowshipped individuals may continue to attend religious services and, if they wish, they may receive spiritual counsel from the elders with a view to their being restored. They are always welcome to return to the faith [emphasis retained from source]"
72.Jump up ^ "Keep Yourselves in God's Love", page 35.
73.Jump up ^ "You May Gain Your Brother", The Watchtower, October 15, 1999, page 22.
74.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/06 p. 27 par. 6 Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline
75.Jump up ^ Jealous for the Pure Worship of Jehovah, The Watchtower September 15, 1995, p. 11.
76.Jump up ^ The Bible's Viewpoint - Why Disfellowshipping Is a Loving Arrangement Awake! September 8, 1996, p. 26-27.
77.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses drop transfusion ban". "transfusions have been relegated to 'non-disfellowshipping events' ... If a member has a transfusion, they will, by their actions disassociate themselves from the religion."
78.Jump up ^ Watchtower 10/15/86 p. 31 Questions From Readers | "… the person no longer wants to have anything to do with Jehovah’s people and is determined to remain in a false religion? They would then simply announce to the congregation that such one has disassociated himself and thus is no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
79.Jump up ^ Watchtower 1/15/82 p. 31 Questions From Readers | "The second situation involves a person who renounces his standing in the congregation by joining a secular organization whose purpose is contrary to counsel such as that found at Isaiah 2:4, … neither will they learn war anymore."
80.Jump up ^ Questions from readers, The Watchtower, October 15, 1986, page 31.
81.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It", The Watchtower, September 15, 1981, page 23.
82.Jump up ^ "Do You Hate Lawlessness?", The Watchtower, February 15, 2011, page 31, "Do we share Jesus’ view of those who have become set in their lawless course? We need to give thought to these questions: ‘Would I choose to associate regularly with someone who has been disfellowshipped or who has disassociated himself from the Christian congregation? What if that one is a close relative who no longer lives at home?’ Such a situation can be a real test of our loyalty to God."
83.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock. 1991. pp. 121–122.
84.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God, p. 104.
85.Jump up ^ Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock, Unit 5(a) p. 103. The section cites 2 John 11 ("For he that says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works.")
86.Jump up ^ Botting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984), The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, p. 91, ISBN 0-8020-6545-7
87.Jump up ^ "How to Treat a Disfellowshipped Person", "Keep Yourselves in God’s Love", ©2008 Watch Tower, page 207-208, "We do not have spiritual or social fellowship with disfellowshipped ones. ...In some instances, the disfellowshipped family member may still be living in the same home as part of the immediate household. Since his being disfellowshipped does not sever the family ties, normal day-to-day family activities and dealings may continue. Yet, by his course, the individual has chosen to break the spiritual bond between him and his believing family. So loyal family members can no longer have spiritual fellowship with him. [emphasis added]"
88.Jump up ^ "How Can You Help a 'Prodigal' Child?". Watchtower: 16–17. October 1, 2001.
89.Jump up ^ "Disfellowshiping—How to View It". Watchtower: 26. September 15, 1981. "It might be possible to have almost no contact at all with the relative. Even if there were some family matters requiring contact, this certainly would be kept to a minimum"
90.^ Jump up to: a b "Safeguard Your Heart". Awake!: 28. 8 July 1970. "And if he seeks reinstatement, he must show his sincerity by attending congregation meetings with no one speaking to him, all the while giving evidence of repentance."
91.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 4/15/91 p. 21 par. 6
92.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/1/98 p. 16 par. 16 Imitate Jehovah—Exercise Justice and Righteousness
93.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 5/1/98 p. 15 par. 10 " True repentance comes from the heart, from the depths of our being"
94.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/06 p. 27 par. 9 Always Accept Jehovah’s Discipline
95.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/15/92 p. 31 A Step on the Way Back
96.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 8/15/82 p. 31 A Step on the Way Back
97.Jump up ^ Shepherd the Flock of God. Watch Tower Society. p. 119.
98.Jump up ^ Divine Mercy Points the Way Back for Erring Ones The Watchtower Aug 1, 1974, p. 466 par. 24.
99.Jump up ^ "Discipline That Can Yield Peaceable Fruit", The Watchtower April 15, 1988, pages 26-30.
100.Jump up ^ "Religion: The Right To Shun", Time magazine, June 29, 1987, Online, "The Constitution's guarantee of "free exercise," said the appeals panel, applies even to unpopular groups and practices"
101.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 18 par. 14 Helping Others to Worship God
102.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 19 par. 17 Helping Others to Worship God
103.Jump up ^ The Watchtower 11/15/88 p. 19 par. 19 Helping Others to Worship God
104.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 150, 156–157. ISBN 0-415-26609-2.
105.Jump up ^ Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom chap. 15 p. 232 "Development of the Organization Structure"
106.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search Of Christian Freedom, pp.374–390. Franz claims the Watch Tower organization ignores the "clear principle of openness in the conduct of judicial proceedings" and cites the Watch Tower Society publication, Insight on the Scriptures, Vol 1, p. 518, which states that "publicity that would be afforded any trial at the gate would tend to influence the judges toward care and justice in the trial proceedings and in their decisions".
107.^ Jump up to: a b Franz, Raymond. Crisis of Conscience. 4th ed. Atlanta: Commentary Press, 2004. pp. 341-2. ISBN 0-914675-24-9.
108.Jump up ^ The Watchtower March 15, 1986 p.15 paragraph 17 "Do Not Be Quickly Shaken From Your Reason"; The Watchtower October 15, 1986 p. 31 Questions From Readers; The Watchtower October 1, 1989 p. 19 paragraph 14 Maintain Your Faith and Spiritual Health; Pay Attention to Yourselves and all the Flock p. 94-95; The Watchtower May 1, 2000 p.12 par. 19 Firmly Uphold Godly Teaching; The Watchtower September 1, 2000 p. 13 par. 10 Show a Waiting Attitude!; The Watchtower April 1, 1986 pp. 30-31 Questions From Readers.
  


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Disengagement from religion
Punishments in religion










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Charles Taze Russell

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Charles Taze Russell
Charles Taze Russell sharp.jpg
Russell in 1911.

Born
February 16, 1852
Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died
October 31, 1916 (aged 64)
Pampa, Texas, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Maria Frances Ackley
Parent(s)
Joseph Lytel Russell
 Ann Eliza Birney



 A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Bible Students
Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American prominent early 20th century Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement,[1][2] from which Jehovah's Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups emerged after his death.
Beginning in July 1879 he began publishing a monthly religious journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. The journal is now published by Jehovah's Witnesses on a semi-monthly basis under the name, The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom. In 1881 he co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society and in 1884 the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president. Russell wrote many articles, books, tracts, pamphlets and sermons, totaling approximately 50,000 printed pages. From 1886 to 1904, he published a six-volume Bible study series originally entitled Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures, nearly 20 million copies of which were printed and distributed around the world in several languages during his lifetime.[3] (A seventh volume was commissioned by his successor as society president, Joseph Rutherford, and published in 1917.) The Watch Tower Society ceased publication of Russell's writings in 1927,[4] though his books are still published by several independent groups.
Russell was a charismatic figure, but claimed no special revelation or vision for his teachings and no special authority on his own behalf.[5] He stated that he did not seek to found a new denomination, but instead intended merely to gather together those who were seeking the truth of God's Word "during this harvest time".[6][7][8] He wrote that the "clear unfolding of truth" within his teachings was due to "the simple fact that God's due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out."[9] He viewed himself—and all other Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit—as "God's mouthpiece" and an ambassador of Christ.[9] Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45,[10] and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made "ruler of all the Lord's goods".[10]
After Russell's death, a crisis arose surrounding Rutherford's leadership of the society, culminating in a movement-wide schism. As many as three-quarters of the approximately 50,000[11] Bible Students who had been associating in 1917 had left by 1931, resulting in the formation of several groups that retained variations on the name Bible Students. Those who maintained fellowship with the Watch Tower Society adopted the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931, while those who severed ties with the Society formed their own groups including the Pastoral Bible Institute in 1918, the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement in 1919, and the Dawn Bible Students Association in 1929.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 Marriage
3 Ministry 3.1 Beginnings
3.2 Split with Barbour
3.3 Watch Tower Society
3.4 Publications 3.4.1 Studies in the Scriptures
3.4.2 Photo Drama of Creation

4 Theology and teachings
5 Death
6 Legacy
7 Controversies 7.1 Leadership style
7.2 Allegation of immoral conduct
7.3 'Miracle Wheat'
7.4 Qualifications
7.5 Use of Masonic symbolism
8 References
9 External links

Early life[edit]

Part of a series on
Bible Students
Communities
Free Bible Students
Laymen's Home Missionary Movement
Publishing houses
Dawn Bible Students Association
Pastoral Bible Institute
Publications
The Dawn·The New Creation
Frank and Ernest (broadcast)
Studies in the Scriptures
The Photo-Drama of Creation

Biographies
Charles Taze Russell
Jonas Wendell · William Henry Conley
Nelson H. Barbour · Paul S. L. Johnson
A. H. Macmillan · J. F. Rutherford
Conrad C. Binkele
Beliefs
Jehovah · Nontrinitarianism · Atonement
Dispensationalism · Sheol and Hades
Resurrection · Annihilationism
This box: view ·
 talk ·
 edit
 

Charles Taze Russell was born to Scotch-Irish parents,[12] immigrant Joseph Lytel Russell /'l?t?l/ (d. December 17, 1897) and Ann Eliza Birney (d. January 25, 1861), on February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US. Russell was the second of five children, and was one of only two to survive into adulthood. His mother died when he was 9 years old.[13]
The Russells lived in Philadelphia, as well as Allegheny, before moving to Pittsburgh, where they became members of the Presbyterian Church. In his early teens, Charles' father made him partner of his Pittsburgh haberdashery store. By age twelve, Russell was writing business contracts for customers and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores.[14] At age thirteen, Russell left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church. In his youth he was known to chalk Bible verses on fence boards and city sidewalks to draw attention to the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful in an attempt to convert unbelievers.[15]
At age sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as contradictions in creeds, along with medieval traditions) led Russell to question his faith. He then investigated various other religions, but concluded that they did not provide the answers he was seeking.[16] In 1870, at age eighteen, he attended a presentation by Adventist minister Jonas Wendell. During his presentation Wendell outlined his belief that 1873 or 1874 would be the date for Christ's second coming. He later stated that although he did not entirely agree with the arguments presented by Wendell the presentation itself was sufficient to inspire within him a renewed zeal and re-establish his belief that the Bible is the word of God.[17]
Marriage[edit]
On March 13, 1879, Russell married Maria Frances Ackley (/m?'ra?.?/; 1850–1938) after a few months' acquaintance.[18] The couple separated in 1897. Russell blamed the marriage breakup on disagreements over Maria Russell's insistence for a greater editorial role in Zion's Watch Tower magazine,[19] though a later court judgment noted that he had labelled the marriage "a mistake" three years before the dispute over her editorial ambitions had arisen.[20] Maria Russell filed a suit for legal separation in the Court of Common Pleas at Pittsburgh in June 1903 and three years later filed for divorce under the claim of mental cruelty.[21] She was granted a divorce from bed and board, with alimony, in 1908.[22] Maria Russell died at the age of 88 in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 12, 1938 from complications related to Hodgkin's disease.[23]
Ministry[edit]
Beginnings[edit]
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Formative influences

William Miller ·
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George Storrs ·
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Notable former members

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About 1870, Russell and his father established a group with a number of acquaintances to undertake an analytical study of the Bible and the origins of Christian doctrine, creed, and tradition. The group, strongly influenced by the writings of Millerite Adventist ministers George Storrs and George Stetson, themselves frequent attendees, came to the conclusion that many of the primary doctrines of the established churches, including the trinity, hellfire and inherent immortality of the soul, were not substantiated by the scriptures.[24][25][26][27]
Around January 1876 Russell received a copy of Nelson Barbour's Herald of the Morning in the mail. Russell telegraphed Barbour to set up a meeting. The first response was a visit by Barbour and John Henry Paton in Allegheny in March 1876 at Russell's expense to hear their arguments, and compare the conclusions that each side had made in their studies. Russell sponsored a speech by Barbour in St. George's Hall, Philadelphia in August 1876 and attended other lectures by Barbour.
Among the teachings Barbour introduced to Russell was the view that Christians who had died would be raised in April 1878.[28] Russell, who had previously rejected prophetic chronology, was moved to devote his life to what he was convinced were now the last two years before the invisible, spiritual return of Christ. He sold his five clothing stores for approximately $300,000 (current value $6,644,000). With Russell's encouragement and financial backing, Barbour wrote an outline of their views in Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, published in 1877. A text Russell had previously written, entitled The Object and Manner of our Lord's Return, was published concurrently through the offices of the Herald of the Morning.[29] Russell was eager to lead a Christian revival and called two separate meetings of Christian leaders in Pittsburgh. Russell's ideas, particularly stressing the imminence of the rapture and the second advent of Christ, were rejected both times.[30][31]
Split with Barbour[edit]
See also: Nelson H. Barbour
When 1878 arrived, failure of the expected rapture of the saints brought great disappointment for Barbour and Russell, and their associates and readers. According to one of Russell's associates, A.H. Macmillan:

While talking with Russell about the events of 1878, I told him that Pittsburgh papers had reported he was on the Sixth Street bridge dressed in a white robe on the night of the Memorial of Christ's death, expecting to be taken to heaven together with many others. I asked him, "Is that correct?" Russell laughed heartily and said: "I was in bed that night between 10:30 and 11:00 P.M. However, some of the more radical ones might have been there, but I was not. Neither did I expect to be taken to heaven at that time, for I felt there was much work to be done preaching the Kingdom message to the peoples of the earth before the church would be taken away.
—A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 27
Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation, Russell re-examined the doctrine to see if he could determine whether it had biblical origins or was simply Christian tradition. He concluded that it was Christian tradition and so he began teaching, through the pages of the Herald, what he believed to have discovered on the subject. Barbour, embarrassed by the failure of their expectations, rejected Russell's explanation and a debate ensued in successive issues of the journal from early 1878 to mid-1879. In a matter of months, Barbour's embarrassment led to a recanting of some of the views he and Russell had previously shared, including any reliance upon prophetic chronology. Their disagreements turned into a debate over Christ's ransom, resulting in a split between the two. Russell removed his financial support and started his own journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, with the first issue published in July 1879. Barbour formed The Church of the Strangers that same year, continuing to publish Herald of the Morning.[32][33][34]
Watch Tower Society[edit]
In 1881, he founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, with William Henry Conley as president and Russell as secretary-treasurer, for the purpose of disseminating tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises and Bibles. All materials were printed and bound by Russell's privately owned Tower Publishing Company for an agreed price,[35] then distributed by "colporteurs" (persons who travel to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.). The Society was incorporated in 1884, with Russell as president, and in 1886 its name was changed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
In 1908, Russell transferred the headquarters of the Watch Tower Society to its current location in Brooklyn, New York.
Publications[edit]
With the formation of the Watch Tower Society, Russell's ministry intensified. His Bible study group had grown to hundreds of local members, with followers throughout New England, the Virginias, Ohio, and elsewhere, who annually re-elected him "Pastor", and commonly referred to him as "Pastor Russell". Congregations that eventually formed in other nations also followed this tradition.[36][37]
In 1881, he published his first prominent work entitled Food for Thinking Christians. The 162-page "pamphlet" was published using donated funds amounting to approximately $40,000 (current value $977,517).[38] It had a circulation of nearly 1.5 million copies over a period of four months distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain by various channels.[39][40] During the same year he published Tabernacle and its Teachings which was quickly expanded and reissued as Tabernacle Shadows of the "Better Sacrifices" outlining his interpretation of the various animal sacrifices and Tabernacle ceremonies instituted by Moses. Russell claimed that the distribution of these works and other tracts by the Watch Tower Society during 1881 exceeded by eight times that of the American Tract Society for the year 1880.[41]
In 1903, newspapers began publishing his written sermons. These newspaper sermons were syndicated worldwide in as many as 4,000 newspapers, eventually reaching an estimated readership of some 15 million in the United States and Canada.[36]
In 1910 the secular journal Overland Monthly calculated that by 1909 Russell's writings had become the most distributed privately produced English-language works in the United States, and that the entire corpus of his works were the third most circulated on earth, after the Bible and the Chinese Almanac.[42] In 1912 The Continent, a Presbyterian journal, stated that in North America his writings had achieved a greater circulation "than the combined circulation of the writings of all the priests and preachers in North America."[43]
Russell, however, had many critics and was often labeled a heretic.[44]
Studies in the Scriptures[edit]
Russell devoted nearly a tenth of his fortune, along with contributed funds, in publishing and distributing Food for Thinking Christians in 1881. In the same year followed The Tabernacle and its Teachings and Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. In 1886, after reportedly not making back most of the money spent publishing these three titles, he began publication of what was intended to be a seven-volume series. The volumes were collectively called Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures to clarify that they were not novels. Russell published six volumes in the series:[citation needed]
The Plan of the Ages – later renamed The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886)
The Time is at Hand (1889)
Thy Kingdom Come (1891)
The Day of Vengeance – later renamed The Battle of Armageddon (1897)
The At-one-ment Between God and Men (1899)
The New Creation (1904)
The delayed publication of the seventh volume became a source of great anticipation and mystery among Bible Students. Following Russell's death in 1916, a seventh volume entitled The Finished Mystery was published in 1917, which was advertised as his "posthumous work". This seventh volume was a detailed interpretation of the Book of Revelation, but also included interpretations of Ezekiel and the Song of Solomon. Immediate controversy surrounded both its publication and content, and it soon became known that much of the contents were written and compiled by two of Russell's associates, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, and edited by Joseph Rutherford, by then the new president of the Watch Tower Society.[45]
Photo Drama of Creation[edit]
Main article: The Photo-Drama of Creation
Russell directed the production of a worldwide roadshow presentation entitled The Photo-Drama of Creation, an innovative eight-hour religious film in four parts, incorporating sound, moving film, and color slides. It was the first major screenplay to synchronize sound with moving film. Production began as early as 1912, and the Drama was introduced in 1914 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.[46][47] A book by the same name was also published. The project's expenses put the organization under some financial pressures; the full cost was estimated at about US$300,000 (current value $7,060,000).[48][49][50]
Theology and teachings[edit]
Following his analytical examination of the Bible, Russell and other Bible Students came to believe that Christian creeds and traditions were harmful errors, believing they had restored Christianity to the purity held in the first century. Such views and conclusions were viewed as heresy by many Church leaders and scholars in his day. Russell agreed with other Protestants on the primacy of the Bible, and justification by faith alone, but thought that errors had been introduced in interpretation. Russell agreed with many 19th century Protestants, including Millerites, in the concept of a Great Apostasy that began in the first century AD. He also agreed with many other contemporary Protestants in belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ, and Armageddon. Some of the areas in which his Scriptural interpretations differed from those of Catholics, and many Protestants, include the following:



 The Chart of the AgesHell. He maintained that there was a heavenly resurrection of 144,000 righteous, as well as a "great multitude", but believed that the remainder of mankind slept in death, awaiting an earthly resurrection, rather than experiencing torment in a literal Hell.
The Trinity. Russell believed in the divinity of Christ, but differed from orthodoxy by teaching Jesus had received that divinity as a gift from the Father, after dying on the cross. He also taught that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the manifestation of God's power.
Christ's Second Coming. Russell believed that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from the heavens since that date. He predicted that a period known as the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. He interpreted the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which he viewed to be both a gradual deterioration of civilized society, and a climactic multi-national attack on a restored Israel accompanied by worldwide anarchy.
Pyramidology. Following views first taught by Christian writers such as John Taylor, Charles Piazzi Smyth and Joseph Seiss, he believed the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Hebrews (associated to the Hyksos) under God’s direction, but to be understood only in our day. He adopted and used Seiss's phrase referring to it as "the Bible in stone". He believed that certain biblical texts, including Isaiah 19:19–20 and others, prophesied a future understanding of the Great Pyramid and adopted the view that the various ascending and descending passages represented the fall of man, the provision of the Mosaic Law, the death of Christ, the exultation of the saints in heaven, etc. Calculations were made using the pattern of an inch per year. Dates such as 1874, 1914, and 1948 were purported to have been found through the study of this monument.[51]
Christian Zionism. Expanding upon an idea suggested by Nelson Barbour, Russell taught as early as 1879 that God's favor had been restored to Jews as the result of a prophetic "double" which had ended in 1878 (favor from Jacob to Jesus, then disfavor from Jesus until 1878). In 1910, he conducted a meeting at the New York Hippodrome Theatre, with thousands of Jews attending. Jews and Christians alike were shocked by his teaching that Jews should not convert to Christianity. Russell believed that the land of Palestine belonged exclusively to the Jewish race, that God was now calling them back to their land, and that they would be the center of earthly leadership under God's Kingdom. Early in Russell's ministry, he speculated that the Jews would possibly flock to Palestine and form their own nation by the year 1910. Shortly before his death, he utilized the Jewish press to stress that 1914 prophetically marked the time when Gentile nations no longer had earthly authority with the result that all Jews were, from that time onward, permitted and guided by God to gather to Palestine and boldly reclaim the land for themselves.
Climate change. In writings as early as 1883 (and through to the end of his life) Russell repeatedly expressed the view that the world's climate would gradually but significantly change as a prelude to the re-establishment of Eden-like conditions. These changes, he said, would include the gradual melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps, and the general warming of the earth.[52]
Spiritualism and the occult. The Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology notes that Russell's supporters, along with other Christian churches have "shown a marked aversion to Spiritualism and other occult phenomena. Very early in the group’s history Russell attacked Spiritualism (which he called Spiritism)".[53]
Death[edit]


40°30'35.27?N 80°0'56.65?W



 Pyramid memorial at Russell's gravesite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


 Russell's tombstone in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Russell's health had become increasingly poor in the last three years leading up to his death. During his final ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States he became increasingly ill with cystitis,[54] but ignored advice to abandon the tour. He suffered severe chills during his last week, and at times had to be held in position in bed to prevent suffocation. He was forced to deliver some of his Bible discourses sitting in a chair, and on a few occasions his voice was so weak as to be barely audible.[55] Russell died on October 31, 1916 at age 64 near Pampa, Texas, while returning to Brooklyn by train.[54][56][57][58][59][60] An associate of Russell's stated that at age 64 his body was more worn out than that of his father who died at age 89.[61] He was buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh. The gravesite (vide coordinates above) is marked by a headstone, nearby stands a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1921.[62][63]
Legacy[edit]
See also: Watch Tower Society presidency dispute (1917)
For more details on this topic, see Watch Tower Society Reorganization.
In January 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford was elected president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, despite disputes over the election process. Further disputes arose over interpretation of sections of Russell's will dealing with the future contents of Zion's Watch Tower magazine, as well as who, if anyone, had authority to print new literature. By the end of the 1920s, nearly three quarters of the Bible Student congregations had rejected[64][65] Rutherford's on-going changes in organizational structure, doctrinal interpretations, and congregational practices,[66][67][68] some of which began to appear in material printed by the Watch Tower Society as early as 1917. Many Bible Students were disaffected by Rutherford's rejection of Russell's views regarding his role in the restoration of the "truth"[69] and support of the Great Pyramid as having been built under God's direction.[70][71]
Those remaining supportive of Rutherford adopted the new name "Jehovah's witnesses" in 1931, and changed the keyword of their magazine from "Watch Tower" to "The Watchtower". Many of the most prominent Bible Students who had ceased association with the changing Watch Tower Society attempted a regathering of disaffected Bible Students in October 1929 by holding the First Annual Bible Students Reunion Convention in the old Pittsburgh "Bible House" long used by Russell.[72] These conventions were held yearly, but the process of regathering took nearly twenty years.[73]
Controversies[edit]
Leadership style[edit]
As early as 1892, Russell's views and management style were strongly criticized by certain individuals associated with his ministry. In 1893 a paper was written and circulated to Bible Students in Pittsburgh by associates Otto van Zech, Elmer Bryan, J.B. Adamson, S.G. Rogers, Paul Koetitz, and others. It accused Russell of being a dictatorial leader, a shrewd businessman who appeared eager to collect funds from the selling of the Millennial Dawn books, that he had cheated one of them out of financial gains, and that he issued thousands of Millennial Dawn books under a female pseudonym. A booklet entitled A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings was written by Russell and issued as an extra to the April 1894 Zion's Watch Tower magazine in order to preempt attempts to have their views circulated to a wider audience of Bible Students. Russell printed copies of letters he had received from these former associates in order to show that their claims were false, and that those involved 'were guided by Satan in an attempt to subvert his work' as a "minister of the gospel".[74][75]
Allegation of immoral conduct[edit]
In 1897 Russell's wife, Maria, left him after a disagreement over the management of Zion's Watch Tower magazine. She believed that, as his wife, she should have equal control over its administration and equal privilege in writing articles, preaching, and traveling abroad as his representative.[76] In 1903 she filed for legal separation on the grounds of mental cruelty, because of what she considered to be forced celibacy and frequent cold, indifferent treatment. The separation was granted in 1906, with Russell charged to pay alimony.
During the trial Mrs. Russell's attorney alleged that in 1894 Mr. Russell had engaged in "improper intimacy" with Rose Ball, by then a 25-year-old woman whom the Russells had previously cared for as a foster daughter after claiming to be an orphan. Mrs. Russell alleged that Ball had told her Mr. Russell claimed to be an amorous "jellyfish floating around" to different women until someone responded to his advances. Mr. Russell denied the accusations and stated that he had never used such terminology to describe himself.[77] When the judge asked Mrs. Russell if she was accusing her husband of adultery, she replied, "No".[78]
The Washington Post[79] and the Mission Friend of Chicago reprinted the "jellyfish" story while also accusing Russell of immoral conduct. Russell sued the papers for libel; the jury decided in his favor, awarding him one dollar. Following an appeal, Russell received a cash settlement of $15,000 (current value $394,000) plus court costs, and an agreement that the two papers publish his weekly syndicated sermons as well as a retraction defending his character.[80][81][82]
Rose Ball Henninges died November 22, 1950 at the age of 81 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, having for several years been an author for The People's Paper and remained associated with the Bible Students in Australia until her death.[83][84]
'Miracle Wheat'[edit]
On March 22, 1911, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published articles accusing Russell of gaining profit from a strain of wheat named "Miracle Wheat" by its alleged discoverer, K.B. Stoner of Fincastle, Virginia, which Russell sold for $60 per bushel, far above the average cost of wheat at the time. Throughout 1912 and 1913, the Eagle continued to report on Russell's alleged fraud. Russell sued the Eagle for libel, but lost. A government expert investigated the "Miracle Wheat" and said it "was low in the Government tests". Prior to entering the court, the Eagle declared that "at the trial it will show that "Pastor" Russell's religious cult is nothing more than a money-making scheme."[85] Russell defended himself publicly, and in writing, claiming that the wheat was donated to the Watch Tower Society, and although sold for $1 per pound, Mr. Stoner routinely sold it for a $1.25 per pound. Russell claimed to have no financial connection to the wheat, and that no one claimed a refund despite such an offer for up to a year later for any who were dissatisfied with their purchase.[86] In 1975, the Watch Tower Society stated that gross receipts from the "Miracle Wheat" fundraiser totaled "about $1800" (current value $46,000), of which "Russell himself did not get a penny". It also said that "the Society itself made no claim for the wheat on its own knowledge and the money received went as a donation into Christian missionary work."[87]
Qualifications[edit]
In June 1912 Rev. J. J. Ross (1871–1935), Pastor of the James Street Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario, published and widely distributed a four-page leaflet entitled, Some facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame), alleging that Russell was involved in questionable business practices, had defrauded his estranged wife, and denounced his qualifications, legitimacy and moral example as a Pastor.[88] Russell in turn sued Ross for defamatory libel on December 2, 1912.[89] After several delays the case came before Police Court Magistrate G. F. Jelfs on March 17, 1913. During cross-examination Russell stated that he had attended public school for only seven years having left when he was about fourteen years of age after which he received instruction through private tutors.[90] He responded that he was versed in Latin terms "to an extent" but did not know Hebrew or Greek, that he had never been ordained by any bishop or minister, and had never attended a theological seminary or any schools of higher learning.[91][92] The Hamilton and Toronto Ontario newspapers reported the claims made by Ross and provided a brief outline of the court proceedings, but made no reference to misconduct on the part of Russell, and criticized Ross for having fled Ontario when summoned and not being present during any of the court proceedings.[93][94] On April 1, 1913 the High Court of Ontario returned a verdict of "No Bill" ruling that Russell was not entitled to damages because the libel was not likely to result in any violence within Canada.[95][96] Following the libel case Ross published an expanded edition of 48-pages entitled Some Facts and More Facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame). In this work Ross claimed that during the proceedings on March 17, 1913 Russell had repeatedly lied under oath by affirming that he was ordained but then denying the same when cross-examined, by affirming that he knew the Greek language, but when shown by Counselor Staunton an extract from the New Testament in Greek by Westcott & Hort he was unable to recognize it, and that he had not been divorced from his wife, but retracted the statement under cross-examination.[97] In response to Ross's accusations, Russell stated through various printed and public sources that he had never claimed knowledge of the Greek language, merely the alphabet[98] and that early Christians were also criticized by the religious authorities for being unlearned and ignorant.[99] He believed that his ordination was "of God" according to the biblical pattern, not requiring any denominational approval or theological training indicating that his annual election as "Pastor" by over 500 congregations worldwide constituted him as properly ordained.[100][101] Russell contended that Ross and others were attacking him because they were unable to answer his theological arguments preferring instead to resort to slander and character assassination.[102]
Use of Masonic symbolism[edit]


 This section may contain improper references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources, where they are used inappropriately. (May 2009)
Several decades after his death, it was alleged that Russell had links with Freemasonry.[103] Some have claimed that various symbols Russell employed in his published literature are Masonic in nature, and that such associations implied he engaged in occult activity. In later editions of the Studies in the Scriptures series a winged solar disk was stamped on the front cover, a symbol that is also associated with Freemasonry.[citation needed] However, Russell's use of the winged solar-disk originated from his understanding of Malachi 4:2, which denotes a sun with wings, as a symbol that Christ's millennial Kingdom had begun to emerge.[104] Some critics also claim that the pyramid near Russell's gravesite is Masonic,[63][105][106][107] because of its shape and its use of the Cross and Crown symbol, although this remains disputed.[108][109] Despite these claims, the Grand Lodge officially stated that Russell was not a Freemason,[110][111] and the symbols used are not exclusive to Masonry but pre-date the fraternity.[citation needed]
In June 1913, during his transcontinental speaking tour, Russell gave a discourse in a Masonic hall in San Francisco, where he stated: "Although I have never been a Mason ... Something I do seems to be the same as Masons do, I don't know what it is; but they often give me all kinds of grips and I give them back, then I tell them I don't know anything about it except just a few grips that have come to me naturally."[112] Throughout his ministry he stated that he believed Christian identity is incompatible with Freemasonry,[113] and that Freemasonry, Knights of Pythias, Theosophy, and other such groups are "grievous evils" and "unclean".[114][115] A Freemasonry website states: "Russell was not a Freemason. Neither the symbols found in the Watchtower nor the cross and crown symbol are exclusively Masonic."[116]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica – Russell, Charles Taze". Britannica.com. 1916-10-31. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
2.Jump up ^ Parkinson, James The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975
3.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. pp. 13–46. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
4.Jump up ^ WTB&TS, "God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached" (1973) page 347
5.Jump up ^ moreorless. "George D. Chryssides, "Unrecognized charisma? A study of four charismatic leaders". Center of Studies on New Religions. Retrieved on 23 July 2008". Cesnur.org. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
6.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, Sept. 15, 1895, pg 216: "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."
7.Jump up ^ Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 4 The Battle of Armageddon, 1897, pp 157–159
8.Jump up ^ Daschke, Dereck and W. Michael Ashcraft, eds. New Religious Movements. New York: New York UP, 2005. Print.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 229.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71.
11.Jump up ^ The New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1910, vol 7, pg 374. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
12.Jump up ^ "Part 1—Early Voices (1870–1878)". The Watchtower: 7. 1 January 1955. "Both parents were Presbyterians of Scottish-Irish lineage."
13.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, p. 17
14.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, 1993, p. 42
15.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly February 1917 pg 129: "Up to the age of fifteen ... his favorite teacher was Spurgeon, because, as he said, "he peppered it hot," his claim being that if one believed a thing he should tell it with all his might. So at the age of fifteen he used to go about the city of Pittsburg on Saturday evenings with a piece of chalk writing on the fence boards and telling the people not to fail to attend church on Sunday, so that they might escape the terrible hell in which he so firmly believed."
16.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, p. A–1
17.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 p. 170: "Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and the Prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before, and I shall ever thank the Lord for the leading; for although Adventism helped me to no single truth, it did help me greatly in the unlearning of errors, and thus prepared me for the Truth."
18.Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Gazette, March 14, 1879
19.Jump up ^ Penton, M.J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 35–40. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
20.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Visions of Glory - A History and Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses, Simon & Schuster, 1978, chapter 2.
21.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of Freedom of Speech and Worship by M. James Penton, Macmillan of Canada, 1976, page 313, "Mrs. Russell obtained her "divorce", or separation, on grounds of mental cruelty"
22.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, p. 642
23.Jump up ^ St. Petersburg Times, March 14, 1938. "Woman Religious Writer, Resident 16 Years, Passes". The Evening Independent. March 14, 1938.
24.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
25.Jump up ^ Alan Rogerson (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Constable. p. 6.
26.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
27.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 pp. 170–175
28.Jump up ^ Herald of the Morning, July 1878 p.5
29.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 230
30.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pp A–2
31.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, pp. 18–19
32.Jump up ^ Message to Herald of the Morning subscribers, Zion's Watch Tower, July 1, 1879, Supplement
33.Jump up ^ Rochester Union and Advertiser, October 5, 1895, p. 12
34.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 p. 171
35.Jump up ^ 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 42
36.^ Jump up to: a b Biography of Pastor Russell, Divine Plan of the Ages, 1918, p. 6
37.Jump up ^ Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915
38.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly, January 1917 p. 128
39.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1916 p. 357
40.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881 p. 5
41.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881 p. 5: "As we were reaching Christians in the cities with the pamphlets, we sent the papers only with weekly and monthly journals, and hope thus to have reached many Christians in country districts. We sent out in this way over 400,000 copies. Thus you see that from an apparently small beginning, the tract work has spread to the immense proportions of 1,200,000 copies, or about 200,000,000 pages in four months, or about eight times as much (in number) as were distributed by the American Tract Society in the last year."
42.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly, January 1910 p. 130: "As a writer, Mr. Russell's books have enjoyed a larger circulation than any English work... Of his work entitled "Studies in the Scriptures," the average output is two thousand three hundred copies for each working day. We regret the records of 1909 are not yet complete, but in 1908 seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-four volumes were sold. Since publication, three million five hundred and thirty-four thousand volumes have been circulated. Last year, in addition to these there were three hundred and eight million pages of his tracts circulated. In all literature the Bible is about the only book that has had a larger circulation... In the literature of the world, the order would probably be as follows: The Bible, the Chinese Almanac, the "Studies in the Scriptures," "Don Quixote," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and Hubbard's "Message to Garcia.""
43.Jump up ^ The Continent, McCormick Publishing Company, vol. 43, no. 40, October 3, 1912 p. 1354
44.Jump up ^ Millennial Dawnism: The Annihilation of Jesus Christ by I.M. Haldeman, 1913; "Pastor" Russell's Position and Credentials by J.H. Burridge; Some Facts about the self-styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell by J.J. Ross, 1912
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2004). Crisis of Conscience. Atlanta, Georgia: Commentary Press. pp. 61–62, 206–211. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
46.Jump up ^ IMDB article "Photo-Drama of Creation (1914), Retrieved 2009-04-15
47.Jump up ^ "Timeline of Influential Milestones...1910s", American Movie Classics, retrieved 2009-04-15[dead link]
48.Jump up ^ "Society Uses Many Means to Expand Preaching", Centennial of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 1884–1984, page 24, "The Photo-Drama presented the explanation of Bible truth from the time of creation, the fall into sin, the promises of God to redeem man and His dealings through history until the millennial restitution. It is believed to have been viewed by more than 9,000,000 people throughout North America and Europe, as well as many others in places around the world. It took two years and $300,000 to complete the project, many of the scenes being hand colored. Yet admission was free and no collections were taken."
49.Jump up ^ "United States of America", 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 59
50.Jump up ^ The Warning Work (1909–1914)", The Watchtower, March 1, 1955, page 143
51.Jump up ^ "The Corroborative Testimony of God's stone witness and prophet, the Great Pyramid in Egypt". Pastor-russell.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
52.Jump up ^ 'Zion's Watch Tower' in the following issues: September 1883 page 8; September 1886 page 1; August 1896 page 189; May 1903 page 131; January 1913 page 11
53.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Gale Group, 2001, Vol. 1, p. 829.
54.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
55.Jump up ^ "''Zion's Watch Tower'', December 1916, pages R6601: 360-R6006:366". Mostholyfaith.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
56.Jump up ^ Some early sources cited his death as November 1st.
57.Jump up ^ St. Paul Enterprise, November 14, 1916 p. 3 column 3, "The fact is he did not die of heart trouble, but of an inflammation of the bladder, and while writing you on Brother Bohnet’s desk I could not fail to see on the burial permit that the cause of death was given as ‘Cystitis’."
58.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0.
59.Jump up ^ "The Jehovah's Witnesses", Extraordinary groups by W. W. Zellner, William M. Kephart, ©2000, page 338, "On October 31, 1916, the stormy life of Charles Russell came to an end. While on a nationwide lecture tour, he died unexpectedly of heart failure in a Pullman car near Pampa, Texas." Online
60.Jump up ^ New York Times, November 1, 1916, as cited by A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 62, "October 31: Charles Taze Russell, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and known all over the country as "Pastor Russell," died from heart disease at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon on an Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe train, en route from Los Angeles to New York."
61.Jump up ^ St. Paul Enterprise November 14, 1916, pg 1 col 2: "Is it any wonder he died a score of years ahead of his natural time? His father looked younger at 84 than did the son at 64."
62.Jump up ^ Pictures from Russell's Gravesite[dead link]
63.^ Jump up to: a b Pyramid. Retrieved 2009-5-4.
64.Jump up ^ Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave, William J. Schnell, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1956, as cited by Alan Rogerson, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1969, page 52. Rogerson notes that it is not clear exactly how many Bible Students left. Joseph Rutherford wrote in 1934 that "of the great multitude that left the world to follow Jesus Christ only a few are now in God's organization".
65.Jump up ^ Chicago Daily Tribune October 30, 1949 pg 18: "Pastor Russell died In 1916. In the 33 years since, the methods of this sect have deviated completely from those of Pastor Russell and his manner of teaching."
66.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337.
67.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
68.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 61. Attendance at the annual Memorial (statistics were published each year in the Watch Tower) shows the growth in the period before 1925. 1919: 17,961, 1922: 32,661, 1923: 42,000, 1924: 62,696, 1925: 90,434. 1926 marked the first decrease: 89,278. There are no published statistics from 1929–1934. In 1935, Memorial attendance was 63,146. "Watchtower". August 15, 1996. p. 31.
69.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, February 1927
70.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1928
71.Jump up ^ Great Pyramid Passages, by John and Morton Edgar, Forward, 1928 edition
72.Jump up ^ Bible Student's Radio Echo, February 1929 p. 8
73.Jump up ^ When Pastor Russell Died, pp. 26-30
74.Jump up ^ A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings, April 25, 1894
75.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pp P–1 to P–4
76.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pg 17
77.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower July 15, 1906 pg 221: "The next day the husband [Mr. Russell] took the witness stand and swore that he had never used the language (and never had heard of it before) ... and that only an idiotic person would make such an uncomplimentary remark about himself."
78.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pp 18-20
79.Jump up ^ The Washington Post May 4, 1906 pg 6, "The Rev. Jellyfish Russell"
80.Jump up ^ J. Parkinson The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pg 45
81.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pg 20
82.Jump up ^ Russell v Washington Post Company Opinion of the Court, May 5, 1908: "We think the defense of privilege is not applicable to the article published by the defendant. The article is unquestionably libelous ... It is not confined to comment and criticism on his acts as a public man or his public life, but, so far as this record discloses, falsely asserts that he has committed certain acts of an immoral nature in his private life."
83.Jump up ^ Deaths in the District of Melbourne, in Victoria. Registered by Arthur Fegan. Certificate #13463
84.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of C.T. Russell, 3rd edition, Notes
85.Jump up ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "Miracle Wheat Scandal," January 22, 1913, 2; "Testimony on Wheat," January 23, 1913, 3; "Financial Statements Proving Russell's Absolute Control," by Secretary-Treasurer Van Amberg, January 25, 1913, 16; "Government Experts Testify on 'Miracle Wheat' and Ascertain Its Ordinariness," January 27, 1913, 3; "Prosecution and Defense Closing Arguments," January 28, 1913, 2; "Russell Loses Libel Suit,” January 29, 1913, 16 (available on microfilm)
86.Jump up ^ A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pp. 29–30
87.Jump up ^ "United States of America", 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 71
88.Jump up ^ Some facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame), 1912, pp. 1-3: "By thousands he is believed to be a religious fakir of the worst type... Years ago he gave himself the title of "Pastor" ... By "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" he stands charged with ... having his name sensationally connected with those of numerous other women ... with publishing himself as giving addresses to great crowds in important places where he has not spoken at all ... with being illegally connected with lead, asphalt and turpentine companies, with selling or causing to be sold "Miracle Wheat" at $60 a bushel, with influencing the sick and dying to make their wills in his favor ... He is an eccentric individual and judging from his advertisements of himself, many do not think him normal, and some are persuaded that he is self-deceived."
89.Jump up ^ RG 22-329-0-6742 Record of Indictment: The King v. John Jacob Ross - Defamatory Libel, In the Supreme Court of Ontario, High Court Division and in the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery in and for the County of Wentworth, pp. 1,5
90.Jump up ^ The King v. John Jacob Ross, cross-examination by King's Counselor George Lynch-Staunton, March 17, 1913, section II, p. 6
91.Jump up ^ The King v. John Jacob Ross, cross-examination by King's Counselor George Lynch-Staunton, March 17, 1913, section II, p. 4
92.Jump up ^ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/apl/jw/jehwit34.txt
93.Jump up ^ The Hamilton Spectator, Dec. 9, 1912; also Feb. 7, and March 17,18,22 1913
94.Jump up ^ The Toronto Globe, March 18, 1913
95.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 286: "The lower Court found him [Ross] guilty of libel. But when the case went to the second Judge he called up an English precedent, in which it was held that criminal libel would only operate in a case where the jury felt sure that there was danger of rioting or violence. As there was no danger that myself or friends would resort to rioting, the case was thrown out."
96.Jump up ^ A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, p. 31
97.Jump up ^ Some Facts and More Facts about the Self-Styled 'Pastor' Charles T. Russell, pp. 18-23
98.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 286: "As respects my education in Greek and Hebrew: Not only do I not claim very special knowledge of either language, but I claim that not one minister in a thousand is either a Hebrew or a Greek scholar."
99.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 287
100.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, December 1, 1915 p. 358–360
101.Jump up ^ "Preaching Publicly and From House to House", Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, 1993, WTB&TS, page 560
102.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 287: "What is the secret of the opposition and slander that is being raised up against me and against all who, like me, are Bible students? It is malice, hatred, envy, strife, on the part of those who are still hugging the nonsense of the Dark Ages and neglecting true Bible study. They see that their influence is waning. But they have not yet awakened to the true situation. They think that I am responsible for their smaller congregations and small collections. But not so. The real difficulty for them is that the people are becoming more intelligent and can no longer be driven with the crack of a merely man-made whip of fear."
103.Jump up ^ Springmeier, Fritz. The Watchtower & The Masons: A preliminary investigation. Portland, Or.: the author, 1990.[unreliable source?].
104.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, Dec 1, 1911 pp. 443–444
105.Jump up ^ Masonic. Retrieved 2009-5-4.
106.Jump up ^ Russell and The Great Pyramid. Retrieved 2009-5-6.
107.Jump up ^ 3pyramidology Retrieved 2009-5-4.
108.Jump up ^ Sec. 3, Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions. The cross and crown symbol does not appear on his gravestone in the Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — it appears on a memorial erected some years later." Retrieved 2009-5-29.
109.Jump up ^ Masonic Emblem and Logo Collection. Retrieved 2009-5-29.
110.Jump up ^ Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon "Was Charles Taze Russell a freemason?" Retrieved 2013-2-17.
111.Jump up ^ 'Charles Taze Russell' Biography published by Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Retrieved 2013-2-17.
112.Jump up ^ Sermon title: "The Temple of God", Convention Report Sermons pages 359–365, "But now I am talking about this great order of masonry of which Jesus is the Grand Master. This Order is to be entered in a peculiar way. There are certain conditions, the low gate, the narrow way, the difficult path. Although I have never been a Mason, I have heard that in Masonry they have something which very closely illustrates all of this." 6MB download
113.Jump up ^ "Was Pastor Russell a Freemason?". Pastor-russell.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
114.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1895, p. 143
115.Jump up ^ The New Creation, pages 580–581
116.Jump up ^ "Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions", from the web-site of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Retrieved on January 21, 2008.
External links[edit]
 Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Author:Charles Taze Russell

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Taze Russell.
JW.org Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor-Russell.com Pastor Russell website
Faith on the March, A. H. Macmillan, (1957)
Biography of Charles Taze Russell from Zion's Watch Tower obituary issue, December 1, 1916
International Bible Students Souvenir Convention Report for 1916, "Pastor Russell Passes Through the Gates of Glory", Chicago, 1917
Laodicean Messenger (1923) Chicago: The Bible Students Book Store; Memoirs of the Life of Charles Taze Russell.
Message to Herald of the Morning subscribers 1879 Pittsburgh, Pa; Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1, 1879, Supplement
The Messenger of Laodicea, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1919
Pyramid at Russell's Grave
North Side: People: Charles Taze Russell – information page at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s website.
CT Russell Database – Database of Russell's writings
Russell's Last Will & Testament
Studies in the Scriptures Online
Studies in the Scriptures from Biblestudents.com
St. Paul Enterprise Nov 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1916 articles "Regarding the Death and Burial of, and Memorial Services for, Pastor Russell"
Chapter II. Organizational Beginnings: (1873–1912) Charles Taze Russell from Barbara G. Harrison's Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah’s Witnesses, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1978. See also chapters IV and VI.
Works of Charles Taze Russell and their effect upon Religion in America 1974 Bob Chastain, Master's Thesis
Preceded by
William Henry Conley President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
 December 15, 1884–October 31, 1916 Succeeded by
Joseph F. Rutherford


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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_Russell















Charles Taze Russell

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Charles Taze Russell
Charles Taze Russell sharp.jpg
Russell in 1911.

Born
February 16, 1852
Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died
October 31, 1916 (aged 64)
Pampa, Texas, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Maria Frances Ackley
Parent(s)
Joseph Lytel Russell
 Ann Eliza Birney



 A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Bible Students
Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American prominent early 20th century Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement,[1][2] from which Jehovah's Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups emerged after his death.
Beginning in July 1879 he began publishing a monthly religious journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence. The journal is now published by Jehovah's Witnesses on a semi-monthly basis under the name, The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom. In 1881 he co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society and in 1884 the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president. Russell wrote many articles, books, tracts, pamphlets and sermons, totaling approximately 50,000 printed pages. From 1886 to 1904, he published a six-volume Bible study series originally entitled Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures, nearly 20 million copies of which were printed and distributed around the world in several languages during his lifetime.[3] (A seventh volume was commissioned by his successor as society president, Joseph Rutherford, and published in 1917.) The Watch Tower Society ceased publication of Russell's writings in 1927,[4] though his books are still published by several independent groups.
Russell was a charismatic figure, but claimed no special revelation or vision for his teachings and no special authority on his own behalf.[5] He stated that he did not seek to found a new denomination, but instead intended merely to gather together those who were seeking the truth of God's Word "during this harvest time".[6][7][8] He wrote that the "clear unfolding of truth" within his teachings was due to "the simple fact that God's due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out."[9] He viewed himself—and all other Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit—as "God's mouthpiece" and an ambassador of Christ.[9] Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45,[10] and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made "ruler of all the Lord's goods".[10]
After Russell's death, a crisis arose surrounding Rutherford's leadership of the society, culminating in a movement-wide schism. As many as three-quarters of the approximately 50,000[11] Bible Students who had been associating in 1917 had left by 1931, resulting in the formation of several groups that retained variations on the name Bible Students. Those who maintained fellowship with the Watch Tower Society adopted the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931, while those who severed ties with the Society formed their own groups including the Pastoral Bible Institute in 1918, the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement in 1919, and the Dawn Bible Students Association in 1929.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 Marriage
3 Ministry 3.1 Beginnings
3.2 Split with Barbour
3.3 Watch Tower Society
3.4 Publications 3.4.1 Studies in the Scriptures
3.4.2 Photo Drama of Creation

4 Theology and teachings
5 Death
6 Legacy
7 Controversies 7.1 Leadership style
7.2 Allegation of immoral conduct
7.3 'Miracle Wheat'
7.4 Qualifications
7.5 Use of Masonic symbolism
8 References
9 External links

Early life[edit]

Part of a series on
Bible Students
Communities
Free Bible Students
Laymen's Home Missionary Movement
Publishing houses
Dawn Bible Students Association
Pastoral Bible Institute
Publications
The Dawn·The New Creation
Frank and Ernest (broadcast)
Studies in the Scriptures
The Photo-Drama of Creation

Biographies
Charles Taze Russell
Jonas Wendell · William Henry Conley
Nelson H. Barbour · Paul S. L. Johnson
A. H. Macmillan · J. F. Rutherford
Conrad C. Binkele
Beliefs
Jehovah · Nontrinitarianism · Atonement
Dispensationalism · Sheol and Hades
Resurrection · Annihilationism
This box: view ·
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Charles Taze Russell was born to Scotch-Irish parents,[12] immigrant Joseph Lytel Russell /'l?t?l/ (d. December 17, 1897) and Ann Eliza Birney (d. January 25, 1861), on February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US. Russell was the second of five children, and was one of only two to survive into adulthood. His mother died when he was 9 years old.[13]
The Russells lived in Philadelphia, as well as Allegheny, before moving to Pittsburgh, where they became members of the Presbyterian Church. In his early teens, Charles' father made him partner of his Pittsburgh haberdashery store. By age twelve, Russell was writing business contracts for customers and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores.[14] At age thirteen, Russell left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church. In his youth he was known to chalk Bible verses on fence boards and city sidewalks to draw attention to the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful in an attempt to convert unbelievers.[15]
At age sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as contradictions in creeds, along with medieval traditions) led Russell to question his faith. He then investigated various other religions, but concluded that they did not provide the answers he was seeking.[16] In 1870, at age eighteen, he attended a presentation by Adventist minister Jonas Wendell. During his presentation Wendell outlined his belief that 1873 or 1874 would be the date for Christ's second coming. He later stated that although he did not entirely agree with the arguments presented by Wendell the presentation itself was sufficient to inspire within him a renewed zeal and re-establish his belief that the Bible is the word of God.[17]
Marriage[edit]
On March 13, 1879, Russell married Maria Frances Ackley (/m?'ra?.?/; 1850–1938) after a few months' acquaintance.[18] The couple separated in 1897. Russell blamed the marriage breakup on disagreements over Maria Russell's insistence for a greater editorial role in Zion's Watch Tower magazine,[19] though a later court judgment noted that he had labelled the marriage "a mistake" three years before the dispute over her editorial ambitions had arisen.[20] Maria Russell filed a suit for legal separation in the Court of Common Pleas at Pittsburgh in June 1903 and three years later filed for divorce under the claim of mental cruelty.[21] She was granted a divorce from bed and board, with alimony, in 1908.[22] Maria Russell died at the age of 88 in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 12, 1938 from complications related to Hodgkin's disease.[23]
Ministry[edit]
Beginnings[edit]
Part of a series on
Jehovah's Witnesses

Overview

Organizational structure
Governing Body
Watch Tower Bible
 and Tract Society
Corporations

History
Bible Student movement
Leadership dispute
Splinter groups
Doctrinal development
Unfulfilled predictions

Demographics
By country


Beliefs ·
 Practices
 
Salvation ·
 Eschatology

The 144,000
Faithful and discreet slave
Hymns ·
 God's name

Blood ·
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Literature

The Watchtower ·
 Awake!

New World Translation
List of publications
Bibliography

Teaching programs

Kingdom Hall ·
 Gilead School


People

Watch Tower presidents

W. H. Conley ·
 C. T. Russell

J. F. Rutherford ·
 N. H. Knorr

F. W. Franz ·
 M. G. Henschel

D. A. Adams

Formative influences

William Miller ·
 Henry Grew

George Storrs ·
 N. H. Barbour

John Nelson Darby


Notable former members

Raymond Franz ·
 Olin Moyle


Opposition

Criticism ·
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About 1870, Russell and his father established a group with a number of acquaintances to undertake an analytical study of the Bible and the origins of Christian doctrine, creed, and tradition. The group, strongly influenced by the writings of Millerite Adventist ministers George Storrs and George Stetson, themselves frequent attendees, came to the conclusion that many of the primary doctrines of the established churches, including the trinity, hellfire and inherent immortality of the soul, were not substantiated by the scriptures.[24][25][26][27]
Around January 1876 Russell received a copy of Nelson Barbour's Herald of the Morning in the mail. Russell telegraphed Barbour to set up a meeting. The first response was a visit by Barbour and John Henry Paton in Allegheny in March 1876 at Russell's expense to hear their arguments, and compare the conclusions that each side had made in their studies. Russell sponsored a speech by Barbour in St. George's Hall, Philadelphia in August 1876 and attended other lectures by Barbour.
Among the teachings Barbour introduced to Russell was the view that Christians who had died would be raised in April 1878.[28] Russell, who had previously rejected prophetic chronology, was moved to devote his life to what he was convinced were now the last two years before the invisible, spiritual return of Christ. He sold his five clothing stores for approximately $300,000 (current value $6,644,000). With Russell's encouragement and financial backing, Barbour wrote an outline of their views in Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, published in 1877. A text Russell had previously written, entitled The Object and Manner of our Lord's Return, was published concurrently through the offices of the Herald of the Morning.[29] Russell was eager to lead a Christian revival and called two separate meetings of Christian leaders in Pittsburgh. Russell's ideas, particularly stressing the imminence of the rapture and the second advent of Christ, were rejected both times.[30][31]
Split with Barbour[edit]
See also: Nelson H. Barbour
When 1878 arrived, failure of the expected rapture of the saints brought great disappointment for Barbour and Russell, and their associates and readers. According to one of Russell's associates, A.H. Macmillan:

While talking with Russell about the events of 1878, I told him that Pittsburgh papers had reported he was on the Sixth Street bridge dressed in a white robe on the night of the Memorial of Christ's death, expecting to be taken to heaven together with many others. I asked him, "Is that correct?" Russell laughed heartily and said: "I was in bed that night between 10:30 and 11:00 P.M. However, some of the more radical ones might have been there, but I was not. Neither did I expect to be taken to heaven at that time, for I felt there was much work to be done preaching the Kingdom message to the peoples of the earth before the church would be taken away.
—A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 27
Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation, Russell re-examined the doctrine to see if he could determine whether it had biblical origins or was simply Christian tradition. He concluded that it was Christian tradition and so he began teaching, through the pages of the Herald, what he believed to have discovered on the subject. Barbour, embarrassed by the failure of their expectations, rejected Russell's explanation and a debate ensued in successive issues of the journal from early 1878 to mid-1879. In a matter of months, Barbour's embarrassment led to a recanting of some of the views he and Russell had previously shared, including any reliance upon prophetic chronology. Their disagreements turned into a debate over Christ's ransom, resulting in a split between the two. Russell removed his financial support and started his own journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, with the first issue published in July 1879. Barbour formed The Church of the Strangers that same year, continuing to publish Herald of the Morning.[32][33][34]
Watch Tower Society[edit]
In 1881, he founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, with William Henry Conley as president and Russell as secretary-treasurer, for the purpose of disseminating tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises and Bibles. All materials were printed and bound by Russell's privately owned Tower Publishing Company for an agreed price,[35] then distributed by "colporteurs" (persons who travel to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.). The Society was incorporated in 1884, with Russell as president, and in 1886 its name was changed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
In 1908, Russell transferred the headquarters of the Watch Tower Society to its current location in Brooklyn, New York.
Publications[edit]
With the formation of the Watch Tower Society, Russell's ministry intensified. His Bible study group had grown to hundreds of local members, with followers throughout New England, the Virginias, Ohio, and elsewhere, who annually re-elected him "Pastor", and commonly referred to him as "Pastor Russell". Congregations that eventually formed in other nations also followed this tradition.[36][37]
In 1881, he published his first prominent work entitled Food for Thinking Christians. The 162-page "pamphlet" was published using donated funds amounting to approximately $40,000 (current value $977,517).[38] It had a circulation of nearly 1.5 million copies over a period of four months distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Great Britain by various channels.[39][40] During the same year he published Tabernacle and its Teachings which was quickly expanded and reissued as Tabernacle Shadows of the "Better Sacrifices" outlining his interpretation of the various animal sacrifices and Tabernacle ceremonies instituted by Moses. Russell claimed that the distribution of these works and other tracts by the Watch Tower Society during 1881 exceeded by eight times that of the American Tract Society for the year 1880.[41]
In 1903, newspapers began publishing his written sermons. These newspaper sermons were syndicated worldwide in as many as 4,000 newspapers, eventually reaching an estimated readership of some 15 million in the United States and Canada.[36]
In 1910 the secular journal Overland Monthly calculated that by 1909 Russell's writings had become the most distributed privately produced English-language works in the United States, and that the entire corpus of his works were the third most circulated on earth, after the Bible and the Chinese Almanac.[42] In 1912 The Continent, a Presbyterian journal, stated that in North America his writings had achieved a greater circulation "than the combined circulation of the writings of all the priests and preachers in North America."[43]
Russell, however, had many critics and was often labeled a heretic.[44]
Studies in the Scriptures[edit]
Russell devoted nearly a tenth of his fortune, along with contributed funds, in publishing and distributing Food for Thinking Christians in 1881. In the same year followed The Tabernacle and its Teachings and Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. In 1886, after reportedly not making back most of the money spent publishing these three titles, he began publication of what was intended to be a seven-volume series. The volumes were collectively called Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures to clarify that they were not novels. Russell published six volumes in the series:[citation needed]
The Plan of the Ages – later renamed The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886)
The Time is at Hand (1889)
Thy Kingdom Come (1891)
The Day of Vengeance – later renamed The Battle of Armageddon (1897)
The At-one-ment Between God and Men (1899)
The New Creation (1904)
The delayed publication of the seventh volume became a source of great anticipation and mystery among Bible Students. Following Russell's death in 1916, a seventh volume entitled The Finished Mystery was published in 1917, which was advertised as his "posthumous work". This seventh volume was a detailed interpretation of the Book of Revelation, but also included interpretations of Ezekiel and the Song of Solomon. Immediate controversy surrounded both its publication and content, and it soon became known that much of the contents were written and compiled by two of Russell's associates, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, and edited by Joseph Rutherford, by then the new president of the Watch Tower Society.[45]
Photo Drama of Creation[edit]
Main article: The Photo-Drama of Creation
Russell directed the production of a worldwide roadshow presentation entitled The Photo-Drama of Creation, an innovative eight-hour religious film in four parts, incorporating sound, moving film, and color slides. It was the first major screenplay to synchronize sound with moving film. Production began as early as 1912, and the Drama was introduced in 1914 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.[46][47] A book by the same name was also published. The project's expenses put the organization under some financial pressures; the full cost was estimated at about US$300,000 (current value $7,060,000).[48][49][50]
Theology and teachings[edit]
Following his analytical examination of the Bible, Russell and other Bible Students came to believe that Christian creeds and traditions were harmful errors, believing they had restored Christianity to the purity held in the first century. Such views and conclusions were viewed as heresy by many Church leaders and scholars in his day. Russell agreed with other Protestants on the primacy of the Bible, and justification by faith alone, but thought that errors had been introduced in interpretation. Russell agreed with many 19th century Protestants, including Millerites, in the concept of a Great Apostasy that began in the first century AD. He also agreed with many other contemporary Protestants in belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ, and Armageddon. Some of the areas in which his Scriptural interpretations differed from those of Catholics, and many Protestants, include the following:



 The Chart of the AgesHell. He maintained that there was a heavenly resurrection of 144,000 righteous, as well as a "great multitude", but believed that the remainder of mankind slept in death, awaiting an earthly resurrection, rather than experiencing torment in a literal Hell.
The Trinity. Russell believed in the divinity of Christ, but differed from orthodoxy by teaching Jesus had received that divinity as a gift from the Father, after dying on the cross. He also taught that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the manifestation of God's power.
Christ's Second Coming. Russell believed that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from the heavens since that date. He predicted that a period known as the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. He interpreted the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which he viewed to be both a gradual deterioration of civilized society, and a climactic multi-national attack on a restored Israel accompanied by worldwide anarchy.
Pyramidology. Following views first taught by Christian writers such as John Taylor, Charles Piazzi Smyth and Joseph Seiss, he believed the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Hebrews (associated to the Hyksos) under God’s direction, but to be understood only in our day. He adopted and used Seiss's phrase referring to it as "the Bible in stone". He believed that certain biblical texts, including Isaiah 19:19–20 and others, prophesied a future understanding of the Great Pyramid and adopted the view that the various ascending and descending passages represented the fall of man, the provision of the Mosaic Law, the death of Christ, the exultation of the saints in heaven, etc. Calculations were made using the pattern of an inch per year. Dates such as 1874, 1914, and 1948 were purported to have been found through the study of this monument.[51]
Christian Zionism. Expanding upon an idea suggested by Nelson Barbour, Russell taught as early as 1879 that God's favor had been restored to Jews as the result of a prophetic "double" which had ended in 1878 (favor from Jacob to Jesus, then disfavor from Jesus until 1878). In 1910, he conducted a meeting at the New York Hippodrome Theatre, with thousands of Jews attending. Jews and Christians alike were shocked by his teaching that Jews should not convert to Christianity. Russell believed that the land of Palestine belonged exclusively to the Jewish race, that God was now calling them back to their land, and that they would be the center of earthly leadership under God's Kingdom. Early in Russell's ministry, he speculated that the Jews would possibly flock to Palestine and form their own nation by the year 1910. Shortly before his death, he utilized the Jewish press to stress that 1914 prophetically marked the time when Gentile nations no longer had earthly authority with the result that all Jews were, from that time onward, permitted and guided by God to gather to Palestine and boldly reclaim the land for themselves.
Climate change. In writings as early as 1883 (and through to the end of his life) Russell repeatedly expressed the view that the world's climate would gradually but significantly change as a prelude to the re-establishment of Eden-like conditions. These changes, he said, would include the gradual melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps, and the general warming of the earth.[52]
Spiritualism and the occult. The Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology notes that Russell's supporters, along with other Christian churches have "shown a marked aversion to Spiritualism and other occult phenomena. Very early in the group’s history Russell attacked Spiritualism (which he called Spiritism)".[53]
Death[edit]


40°30'35.27?N 80°0'56.65?W



 Pyramid memorial at Russell's gravesite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


 Russell's tombstone in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Russell's health had become increasingly poor in the last three years leading up to his death. During his final ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States he became increasingly ill with cystitis,[54] but ignored advice to abandon the tour. He suffered severe chills during his last week, and at times had to be held in position in bed to prevent suffocation. He was forced to deliver some of his Bible discourses sitting in a chair, and on a few occasions his voice was so weak as to be barely audible.[55] Russell died on October 31, 1916 at age 64 near Pampa, Texas, while returning to Brooklyn by train.[54][56][57][58][59][60] An associate of Russell's stated that at age 64 his body was more worn out than that of his father who died at age 89.[61] He was buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh. The gravesite (vide coordinates above) is marked by a headstone, nearby stands a 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1921.[62][63]
Legacy[edit]
See also: Watch Tower Society presidency dispute (1917)
For more details on this topic, see Watch Tower Society Reorganization.
In January 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford was elected president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, despite disputes over the election process. Further disputes arose over interpretation of sections of Russell's will dealing with the future contents of Zion's Watch Tower magazine, as well as who, if anyone, had authority to print new literature. By the end of the 1920s, nearly three quarters of the Bible Student congregations had rejected[64][65] Rutherford's on-going changes in organizational structure, doctrinal interpretations, and congregational practices,[66][67][68] some of which began to appear in material printed by the Watch Tower Society as early as 1917. Many Bible Students were disaffected by Rutherford's rejection of Russell's views regarding his role in the restoration of the "truth"[69] and support of the Great Pyramid as having been built under God's direction.[70][71]
Those remaining supportive of Rutherford adopted the new name "Jehovah's witnesses" in 1931, and changed the keyword of their magazine from "Watch Tower" to "The Watchtower". Many of the most prominent Bible Students who had ceased association with the changing Watch Tower Society attempted a regathering of disaffected Bible Students in October 1929 by holding the First Annual Bible Students Reunion Convention in the old Pittsburgh "Bible House" long used by Russell.[72] These conventions were held yearly, but the process of regathering took nearly twenty years.[73]
Controversies[edit]
Leadership style[edit]
As early as 1892, Russell's views and management style were strongly criticized by certain individuals associated with his ministry. In 1893 a paper was written and circulated to Bible Students in Pittsburgh by associates Otto van Zech, Elmer Bryan, J.B. Adamson, S.G. Rogers, Paul Koetitz, and others. It accused Russell of being a dictatorial leader, a shrewd businessman who appeared eager to collect funds from the selling of the Millennial Dawn books, that he had cheated one of them out of financial gains, and that he issued thousands of Millennial Dawn books under a female pseudonym. A booklet entitled A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings was written by Russell and issued as an extra to the April 1894 Zion's Watch Tower magazine in order to preempt attempts to have their views circulated to a wider audience of Bible Students. Russell printed copies of letters he had received from these former associates in order to show that their claims were false, and that those involved 'were guided by Satan in an attempt to subvert his work' as a "minister of the gospel".[74][75]
Allegation of immoral conduct[edit]
In 1897 Russell's wife, Maria, left him after a disagreement over the management of Zion's Watch Tower magazine. She believed that, as his wife, she should have equal control over its administration and equal privilege in writing articles, preaching, and traveling abroad as his representative.[76] In 1903 she filed for legal separation on the grounds of mental cruelty, because of what she considered to be forced celibacy and frequent cold, indifferent treatment. The separation was granted in 1906, with Russell charged to pay alimony.
During the trial Mrs. Russell's attorney alleged that in 1894 Mr. Russell had engaged in "improper intimacy" with Rose Ball, by then a 25-year-old woman whom the Russells had previously cared for as a foster daughter after claiming to be an orphan. Mrs. Russell alleged that Ball had told her Mr. Russell claimed to be an amorous "jellyfish floating around" to different women until someone responded to his advances. Mr. Russell denied the accusations and stated that he had never used such terminology to describe himself.[77] When the judge asked Mrs. Russell if she was accusing her husband of adultery, she replied, "No".[78]
The Washington Post[79] and the Mission Friend of Chicago reprinted the "jellyfish" story while also accusing Russell of immoral conduct. Russell sued the papers for libel; the jury decided in his favor, awarding him one dollar. Following an appeal, Russell received a cash settlement of $15,000 (current value $394,000) plus court costs, and an agreement that the two papers publish his weekly syndicated sermons as well as a retraction defending his character.[80][81][82]
Rose Ball Henninges died November 22, 1950 at the age of 81 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, having for several years been an author for The People's Paper and remained associated with the Bible Students in Australia until her death.[83][84]
'Miracle Wheat'[edit]
On March 22, 1911, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published articles accusing Russell of gaining profit from a strain of wheat named "Miracle Wheat" by its alleged discoverer, K.B. Stoner of Fincastle, Virginia, which Russell sold for $60 per bushel, far above the average cost of wheat at the time. Throughout 1912 and 1913, the Eagle continued to report on Russell's alleged fraud. Russell sued the Eagle for libel, but lost. A government expert investigated the "Miracle Wheat" and said it "was low in the Government tests". Prior to entering the court, the Eagle declared that "at the trial it will show that "Pastor" Russell's religious cult is nothing more than a money-making scheme."[85] Russell defended himself publicly, and in writing, claiming that the wheat was donated to the Watch Tower Society, and although sold for $1 per pound, Mr. Stoner routinely sold it for a $1.25 per pound. Russell claimed to have no financial connection to the wheat, and that no one claimed a refund despite such an offer for up to a year later for any who were dissatisfied with their purchase.[86] In 1975, the Watch Tower Society stated that gross receipts from the "Miracle Wheat" fundraiser totaled "about $1800" (current value $46,000), of which "Russell himself did not get a penny". It also said that "the Society itself made no claim for the wheat on its own knowledge and the money received went as a donation into Christian missionary work."[87]
Qualifications[edit]
In June 1912 Rev. J. J. Ross (1871–1935), Pastor of the James Street Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario, published and widely distributed a four-page leaflet entitled, Some facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame), alleging that Russell was involved in questionable business practices, had defrauded his estranged wife, and denounced his qualifications, legitimacy and moral example as a Pastor.[88] Russell in turn sued Ross for defamatory libel on December 2, 1912.[89] After several delays the case came before Police Court Magistrate G. F. Jelfs on March 17, 1913. During cross-examination Russell stated that he had attended public school for only seven years having left when he was about fourteen years of age after which he received instruction through private tutors.[90] He responded that he was versed in Latin terms "to an extent" but did not know Hebrew or Greek, that he had never been ordained by any bishop or minister, and had never attended a theological seminary or any schools of higher learning.[91][92] The Hamilton and Toronto Ontario newspapers reported the claims made by Ross and provided a brief outline of the court proceedings, but made no reference to misconduct on the part of Russell, and criticized Ross for having fled Ontario when summoned and not being present during any of the court proceedings.[93][94] On April 1, 1913 the High Court of Ontario returned a verdict of "No Bill" ruling that Russell was not entitled to damages because the libel was not likely to result in any violence within Canada.[95][96] Following the libel case Ross published an expanded edition of 48-pages entitled Some Facts and More Facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame). In this work Ross claimed that during the proceedings on March 17, 1913 Russell had repeatedly lied under oath by affirming that he was ordained but then denying the same when cross-examined, by affirming that he knew the Greek language, but when shown by Counselor Staunton an extract from the New Testament in Greek by Westcott & Hort he was unable to recognize it, and that he had not been divorced from his wife, but retracted the statement under cross-examination.[97] In response to Ross's accusations, Russell stated through various printed and public sources that he had never claimed knowledge of the Greek language, merely the alphabet[98] and that early Christians were also criticized by the religious authorities for being unlearned and ignorant.[99] He believed that his ordination was "of God" according to the biblical pattern, not requiring any denominational approval or theological training indicating that his annual election as "Pastor" by over 500 congregations worldwide constituted him as properly ordained.[100][101] Russell contended that Ross and others were attacking him because they were unable to answer his theological arguments preferring instead to resort to slander and character assassination.[102]
Use of Masonic symbolism[edit]


 This section may contain improper references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources, where they are used inappropriately. (May 2009)
Several decades after his death, it was alleged that Russell had links with Freemasonry.[103] Some have claimed that various symbols Russell employed in his published literature are Masonic in nature, and that such associations implied he engaged in occult activity. In later editions of the Studies in the Scriptures series a winged solar disk was stamped on the front cover, a symbol that is also associated with Freemasonry.[citation needed] However, Russell's use of the winged solar-disk originated from his understanding of Malachi 4:2, which denotes a sun with wings, as a symbol that Christ's millennial Kingdom had begun to emerge.[104] Some critics also claim that the pyramid near Russell's gravesite is Masonic,[63][105][106][107] because of its shape and its use of the Cross and Crown symbol, although this remains disputed.[108][109] Despite these claims, the Grand Lodge officially stated that Russell was not a Freemason,[110][111] and the symbols used are not exclusive to Masonry but pre-date the fraternity.[citation needed]
In June 1913, during his transcontinental speaking tour, Russell gave a discourse in a Masonic hall in San Francisco, where he stated: "Although I have never been a Mason ... Something I do seems to be the same as Masons do, I don't know what it is; but they often give me all kinds of grips and I give them back, then I tell them I don't know anything about it except just a few grips that have come to me naturally."[112] Throughout his ministry he stated that he believed Christian identity is incompatible with Freemasonry,[113] and that Freemasonry, Knights of Pythias, Theosophy, and other such groups are "grievous evils" and "unclean".[114][115] A Freemasonry website states: "Russell was not a Freemason. Neither the symbols found in the Watchtower nor the cross and crown symbol are exclusively Masonic."[116]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica – Russell, Charles Taze". Britannica.com. 1916-10-31. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
2.Jump up ^ Parkinson, James The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975
3.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. pp. 13–46. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
4.Jump up ^ WTB&TS, "God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached" (1973) page 347
5.Jump up ^ moreorless. "George D. Chryssides, "Unrecognized charisma? A study of four charismatic leaders". Center of Studies on New Religions. Retrieved on 23 July 2008". Cesnur.org. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
6.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, Sept. 15, 1895, pg 216: "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."
7.Jump up ^ Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 4 The Battle of Armageddon, 1897, pp 157–159
8.Jump up ^ Daschke, Dereck and W. Michael Ashcraft, eds. New Religious Movements. New York: New York UP, 2005. Print.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 229.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71.
11.Jump up ^ The New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1910, vol 7, pg 374. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
12.Jump up ^ "Part 1—Early Voices (1870–1878)". The Watchtower: 7. 1 January 1955. "Both parents were Presbyterians of Scottish-Irish lineage."
13.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, p. 17
14.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, 1993, p. 42
15.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly February 1917 pg 129: "Up to the age of fifteen ... his favorite teacher was Spurgeon, because, as he said, "he peppered it hot," his claim being that if one believed a thing he should tell it with all his might. So at the age of fifteen he used to go about the city of Pittsburg on Saturday evenings with a piece of chalk writing on the fence boards and telling the people not to fail to attend church on Sunday, so that they might escape the terrible hell in which he so firmly believed."
16.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, p. A–1
17.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 p. 170: "Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and the Prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before, and I shall ever thank the Lord for the leading; for although Adventism helped me to no single truth, it did help me greatly in the unlearning of errors, and thus prepared me for the Truth."
18.Jump up ^ Pittsburgh Gazette, March 14, 1879
19.Jump up ^ Penton, M.J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. pp. 35–40. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
20.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Visions of Glory - A History and Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses, Simon & Schuster, 1978, chapter 2.
21.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of Freedom of Speech and Worship by M. James Penton, Macmillan of Canada, 1976, page 313, "Mrs. Russell obtained her "divorce", or separation, on grounds of mental cruelty"
22.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, p. 642
23.Jump up ^ St. Petersburg Times, March 14, 1938. "Woman Religious Writer, Resident 16 Years, Passes". The Evening Independent. March 14, 1938.
24.Jump up ^ Penton, M. James (1997). Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3.
25.Jump up ^ Alan Rogerson (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Constable. p. 6.
26.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
27.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 pp. 170–175
28.Jump up ^ Herald of the Morning, July 1878 p.5
29.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 230
30.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pp A–2
31.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, pp. 18–19
32.Jump up ^ Message to Herald of the Morning subscribers, Zion's Watch Tower, July 1, 1879, Supplement
33.Jump up ^ Rochester Union and Advertiser, October 5, 1895, p. 12
34.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1, 1916 p. 171
35.Jump up ^ 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 42
36.^ Jump up to: a b Biography of Pastor Russell, Divine Plan of the Ages, 1918, p. 6
37.Jump up ^ Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915
38.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly, January 1917 p. 128
39.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1916 p. 357
40.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881 p. 5
41.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881 p. 5: "As we were reaching Christians in the cities with the pamphlets, we sent the papers only with weekly and monthly journals, and hope thus to have reached many Christians in country districts. We sent out in this way over 400,000 copies. Thus you see that from an apparently small beginning, the tract work has spread to the immense proportions of 1,200,000 copies, or about 200,000,000 pages in four months, or about eight times as much (in number) as were distributed by the American Tract Society in the last year."
42.Jump up ^ Overland Monthly, January 1910 p. 130: "As a writer, Mr. Russell's books have enjoyed a larger circulation than any English work... Of his work entitled "Studies in the Scriptures," the average output is two thousand three hundred copies for each working day. We regret the records of 1909 are not yet complete, but in 1908 seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-four volumes were sold. Since publication, three million five hundred and thirty-four thousand volumes have been circulated. Last year, in addition to these there were three hundred and eight million pages of his tracts circulated. In all literature the Bible is about the only book that has had a larger circulation... In the literature of the world, the order would probably be as follows: The Bible, the Chinese Almanac, the "Studies in the Scriptures," "Don Quixote," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and Hubbard's "Message to Garcia.""
43.Jump up ^ The Continent, McCormick Publishing Company, vol. 43, no. 40, October 3, 1912 p. 1354
44.Jump up ^ Millennial Dawnism: The Annihilation of Jesus Christ by I.M. Haldeman, 1913; "Pastor" Russell's Position and Credentials by J.H. Burridge; Some Facts about the self-styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell by J.J. Ross, 1912
45.Jump up ^ Franz, Raymond (2004). Crisis of Conscience. Atlanta, Georgia: Commentary Press. pp. 61–62, 206–211. ISBN 0-914675-23-0.
46.Jump up ^ IMDB article "Photo-Drama of Creation (1914), Retrieved 2009-04-15
47.Jump up ^ "Timeline of Influential Milestones...1910s", American Movie Classics, retrieved 2009-04-15[dead link]
48.Jump up ^ "Society Uses Many Means to Expand Preaching", Centennial of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 1884–1984, page 24, "The Photo-Drama presented the explanation of Bible truth from the time of creation, the fall into sin, the promises of God to redeem man and His dealings through history until the millennial restitution. It is believed to have been viewed by more than 9,000,000 people throughout North America and Europe, as well as many others in places around the world. It took two years and $300,000 to complete the project, many of the scenes being hand colored. Yet admission was free and no collections were taken."
49.Jump up ^ "United States of America", 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 59
50.Jump up ^ The Warning Work (1909–1914)", The Watchtower, March 1, 1955, page 143
51.Jump up ^ "The Corroborative Testimony of God's stone witness and prophet, the Great Pyramid in Egypt". Pastor-russell.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
52.Jump up ^ 'Zion's Watch Tower' in the following issues: September 1883 page 8; September 1886 page 1; August 1896 page 189; May 1903 page 131; January 1913 page 11
53.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, Gale Group, 2001, Vol. 1, p. 829.
54.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
55.Jump up ^ "''Zion's Watch Tower'', December 1916, pages R6601: 360-R6006:366". Mostholyfaith.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
56.Jump up ^ Some early sources cited his death as November 1st.
57.Jump up ^ St. Paul Enterprise, November 14, 1916 p. 3 column 3, "The fact is he did not die of heart trouble, but of an inflammation of the bladder, and while writing you on Brother Bohnet’s desk I could not fail to see on the burial permit that the cause of death was given as ‘Cystitis’."
58.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0.
59.Jump up ^ "The Jehovah's Witnesses", Extraordinary groups by W. W. Zellner, William M. Kephart, ©2000, page 338, "On October 31, 1916, the stormy life of Charles Russell came to an end. While on a nationwide lecture tour, he died unexpectedly of heart failure in a Pullman car near Pampa, Texas." Online
60.Jump up ^ New York Times, November 1, 1916, as cited by A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 62, "October 31: Charles Taze Russell, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and known all over the country as "Pastor Russell," died from heart disease at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon on an Atchison, Topeka Santa Fe train, en route from Los Angeles to New York."
61.Jump up ^ St. Paul Enterprise November 14, 1916, pg 1 col 2: "Is it any wonder he died a score of years ahead of his natural time? His father looked younger at 84 than did the son at 64."
62.Jump up ^ Pictures from Russell's Gravesite[dead link]
63.^ Jump up to: a b Pyramid. Retrieved 2009-5-4.
64.Jump up ^ Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave, William J. Schnell, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1956, as cited by Alan Rogerson, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1969, page 52. Rogerson notes that it is not clear exactly how many Bible Students left. Joseph Rutherford wrote in 1934 that "of the great multitude that left the world to follow Jesus Christ only a few are now in God's organization".
65.Jump up ^ Chicago Daily Tribune October 30, 1949 pg 18: "Pastor Russell died In 1916. In the 33 years since, the methods of this sect have deviated completely from those of Pastor Russell and his manner of teaching."
66.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337.
67.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
68.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 61. Attendance at the annual Memorial (statistics were published each year in the Watch Tower) shows the growth in the period before 1925. 1919: 17,961, 1922: 32,661, 1923: 42,000, 1924: 62,696, 1925: 90,434. 1926 marked the first decrease: 89,278. There are no published statistics from 1929–1934. In 1935, Memorial attendance was 63,146. "Watchtower". August 15, 1996. p. 31.
69.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, February 1927
70.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1928
71.Jump up ^ Great Pyramid Passages, by John and Morton Edgar, Forward, 1928 edition
72.Jump up ^ Bible Student's Radio Echo, February 1929 p. 8
73.Jump up ^ When Pastor Russell Died, pp. 26-30
74.Jump up ^ A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings, April 25, 1894
75.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pp P–1 to P–4
76.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pg 17
77.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower July 15, 1906 pg 221: "The next day the husband [Mr. Russell] took the witness stand and swore that he had never used the language (and never had heard of it before) ... and that only an idiotic person would make such an uncomplimentary remark about himself."
78.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pp 18-20
79.Jump up ^ The Washington Post May 4, 1906 pg 6, "The Rev. Jellyfish Russell"
80.Jump up ^ J. Parkinson The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell, 1975, pg 45
81.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pg 20
82.Jump up ^ Russell v Washington Post Company Opinion of the Court, May 5, 1908: "We think the defense of privilege is not applicable to the article published by the defendant. The article is unquestionably libelous ... It is not confined to comment and criticism on his acts as a public man or his public life, but, so far as this record discloses, falsely asserts that he has committed certain acts of an immoral nature in his private life."
83.Jump up ^ Deaths in the District of Melbourne, in Victoria. Registered by Arthur Fegan. Certificate #13463
84.Jump up ^ The Bible Student Movement in the Days of C.T. Russell, 3rd edition, Notes
85.Jump up ^ The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "Miracle Wheat Scandal," January 22, 1913, 2; "Testimony on Wheat," January 23, 1913, 3; "Financial Statements Proving Russell's Absolute Control," by Secretary-Treasurer Van Amberg, January 25, 1913, 16; "Government Experts Testify on 'Miracle Wheat' and Ascertain Its Ordinariness," January 27, 1913, 3; "Prosecution and Defense Closing Arguments," January 28, 1913, 2; "Russell Loses Libel Suit,” January 29, 1913, 16 (available on microfilm)
86.Jump up ^ A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, pp. 29–30
87.Jump up ^ "United States of America", 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 71
88.Jump up ^ Some facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame), 1912, pp. 1-3: "By thousands he is believed to be a religious fakir of the worst type... Years ago he gave himself the title of "Pastor" ... By "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" he stands charged with ... having his name sensationally connected with those of numerous other women ... with publishing himself as giving addresses to great crowds in important places where he has not spoken at all ... with being illegally connected with lead, asphalt and turpentine companies, with selling or causing to be sold "Miracle Wheat" at $60 a bushel, with influencing the sick and dying to make their wills in his favor ... He is an eccentric individual and judging from his advertisements of himself, many do not think him normal, and some are persuaded that he is self-deceived."
89.Jump up ^ RG 22-329-0-6742 Record of Indictment: The King v. John Jacob Ross - Defamatory Libel, In the Supreme Court of Ontario, High Court Division and in the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery in and for the County of Wentworth, pp. 1,5
90.Jump up ^ The King v. John Jacob Ross, cross-examination by King's Counselor George Lynch-Staunton, March 17, 1913, section II, p. 6
91.Jump up ^ The King v. John Jacob Ross, cross-examination by King's Counselor George Lynch-Staunton, March 17, 1913, section II, p. 4
92.Jump up ^ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/apl/jw/jehwit34.txt
93.Jump up ^ The Hamilton Spectator, Dec. 9, 1912; also Feb. 7, and March 17,18,22 1913
94.Jump up ^ The Toronto Globe, March 18, 1913
95.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 286: "The lower Court found him [Ross] guilty of libel. But when the case went to the second Judge he called up an English precedent, in which it was held that criminal libel would only operate in a case where the jury felt sure that there was danger of rioting or violence. As there was no danger that myself or friends would resort to rioting, the case was thrown out."
96.Jump up ^ A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, p. 31
97.Jump up ^ Some Facts and More Facts about the Self-Styled 'Pastor' Charles T. Russell, pp. 18-23
98.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 286: "As respects my education in Greek and Hebrew: Not only do I not claim very special knowledge of either language, but I claim that not one minister in a thousand is either a Hebrew or a Greek scholar."
99.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 287
100.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, December 1, 1915 p. 358–360
101.Jump up ^ "Preaching Publicly and From House to House", Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, 1993, WTB&TS, page 560
102.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 15, 1914, p. 287: "What is the secret of the opposition and slander that is being raised up against me and against all who, like me, are Bible students? It is malice, hatred, envy, strife, on the part of those who are still hugging the nonsense of the Dark Ages and neglecting true Bible study. They see that their influence is waning. But they have not yet awakened to the true situation. They think that I am responsible for their smaller congregations and small collections. But not so. The real difficulty for them is that the people are becoming more intelligent and can no longer be driven with the crack of a merely man-made whip of fear."
103.Jump up ^ Springmeier, Fritz. The Watchtower & The Masons: A preliminary investigation. Portland, Or.: the author, 1990.[unreliable source?].
104.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, Dec 1, 1911 pp. 443–444
105.Jump up ^ Masonic. Retrieved 2009-5-4.
106.Jump up ^ Russell and The Great Pyramid. Retrieved 2009-5-6.
107.Jump up ^ 3pyramidology Retrieved 2009-5-4.
108.Jump up ^ Sec. 3, Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions. The cross and crown symbol does not appear on his gravestone in the Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — it appears on a memorial erected some years later." Retrieved 2009-5-29.
109.Jump up ^ Masonic Emblem and Logo Collection. Retrieved 2009-5-29.
110.Jump up ^ Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon "Was Charles Taze Russell a freemason?" Retrieved 2013-2-17.
111.Jump up ^ 'Charles Taze Russell' Biography published by Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Retrieved 2013-2-17.
112.Jump up ^ Sermon title: "The Temple of God", Convention Report Sermons pages 359–365, "But now I am talking about this great order of masonry of which Jesus is the Grand Master. This Order is to be entered in a peculiar way. There are certain conditions, the low gate, the narrow way, the difficult path. Although I have never been a Mason, I have heard that in Masonry they have something which very closely illustrates all of this." 6MB download
113.Jump up ^ "Was Pastor Russell a Freemason?". Pastor-russell.com. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
114.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, June 1895, p. 143
115.Jump up ^ The New Creation, pages 580–581
116.Jump up ^ "Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions", from the web-site of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Retrieved on January 21, 2008.
External links[edit]
 Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Author:Charles Taze Russell

 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Taze Russell.
JW.org Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor-Russell.com Pastor Russell website
Faith on the March, A. H. Macmillan, (1957)
Biography of Charles Taze Russell from Zion's Watch Tower obituary issue, December 1, 1916
International Bible Students Souvenir Convention Report for 1916, "Pastor Russell Passes Through the Gates of Glory", Chicago, 1917
Laodicean Messenger (1923) Chicago: The Bible Students Book Store; Memoirs of the Life of Charles Taze Russell.
Message to Herald of the Morning subscribers 1879 Pittsburgh, Pa; Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1, 1879, Supplement
The Messenger of Laodicea, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1919
Pyramid at Russell's Grave
North Side: People: Charles Taze Russell – information page at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s website.
CT Russell Database – Database of Russell's writings
Russell's Last Will & Testament
Studies in the Scriptures Online
Studies in the Scriptures from Biblestudents.com
St. Paul Enterprise Nov 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1916 articles "Regarding the Death and Burial of, and Memorial Services for, Pastor Russell"
Chapter II. Organizational Beginnings: (1873–1912) Charles Taze Russell from Barbara G. Harrison's Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah’s Witnesses, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1978. See also chapters IV and VI.
Works of Charles Taze Russell and their effect upon Religion in America 1974 Bob Chastain, Master's Thesis
Preceded by
William Henry Conley President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
 December 15, 1884–October 31, 1916 Succeeded by
Joseph F. Rutherford


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