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History of Jehovah's Witnesses

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 A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Bible Students
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 had its origins in the Bible Student movement, which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian Restorationist minister Charles Taze Russell. Bible Student missionaries were sent to England in 1881 and the first overseas branch was opened in London in 1900. The group took on the name International Bible Students Association and by 1914 it was also active in Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries.[1] The movement split into several rival organizations after Russell's death in 1916, with one—led by Russell's successor, Joseph "Judge" Rutherford—retaining control of both his magazine, The Watch Tower, and his legal and publishing corporation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
Under Rutherford's direction, the International Bible Students Association introduced significant doctrinal changes. The group lost most of its original members between 1916 and 1928 but regrew rapidly from the mid-1930s[2] with the introduction of new preaching methods.[3] In 1931, the name Jehovah's witnesses was adopted,[4] further cutting ties with Russell's earlier followers.[5] Substantial organizational changes continued as congregations and teaching programs worldwide came under centralized control. Further refinements of its doctrines led to the prohibition of blood transfusions by members, abandonment of the cross in worship, rejection of Christmas and birthday celebrations and the view of the biblical Armageddon as a global war by God that will destroy the wicked and restore peace on earth.[6] In 1945 the Watch Tower Society, which Russell had founded as a publishing house, amended its charter to state that its purposes included preaching about God's Kingdom, acting as a servant and governing agency of Jehovah's Witnesses and sending out missionaries and teachers for the public worship of God and Jesus Christ.
The religion was banned in Canada in World War I, and in Germany, the Soviet Union, Canada and Australia during World War II; members suffered widespread persecution and mob violence in some of those countries and in the United States. The religion initiated dozens of high-profile legal actions in the United States and Canada between 1938 and 1955 to establish the right of members to sell literature from door to door, abstain from flag salute ceremonies and gain legal recognition as wartime conscientious objectors. Members of the religion suffered persecution in some African countries in the 1960s and 1970s; since 2004 the religion has suffered a series of official bans in Russia.[7]


Contents  [hide]
1 1869–1916 1.1 Adventist influences
1.2 Watch Tower Society
1.3 Congregations
1.4 Preaching
1.5 Organizational expansion
1.6 Doctrinal development
2 1917–1942 2.1 Organizational developments
2.2 Doctrinal changes
2.3 Persecution and opposition
3 1942–1975 3.1 Predictions for 1975
4 1976–present
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading 7.1 Books by members
7.2 Books by non-members
8 External links

1869–1916[edit]
Adventist influences[edit]
About 1869[8] Russell attended a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of a group he called "Second Adventists" and heard Advent Christian[9] preacher Jonas Wendell expound his views on Bible prophecy.[10][11][12] Wendell, influenced by the teachings of William Miller, rejected traditional Christian beliefs of the "immortal soul" and a literal hell[13] and interpreted scriptures in the books of Daniel and Revelation to predict that Christ would return in 1873.[14] Russell became convinced that God would reveal his purpose in the last days of the "Gospel age" and formed an independent Bible study group in Pittsburgh. He rejected Adventist teachings that the purpose of Christ's return was to destroy the earth[12] and instead formed the view that Christ had died to pay a "ransom price" to atone for sinful humans, intending to restore humans to Edenic perfection with the prospect of living forever.[12] Like Wendell, he rejected the concept of "hellfire" and the immortal soul.[15] In the mid-1870s, he published 50,000 copies of a pamphlet, The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return[16] explaining his views and his belief that Christ would return invisibly before the battle of Armageddon. He later acknowledged the influence of Adventist ministers George Storrs (who had earlier predicted Christ's return in 1844)[11] and George Stetson in the formation of his doctrines;[12] author James Penton claims he also strongly reflected the teachings of Philadelphia Lutheran pastor Joseph Seiss.[11]
In January 1876 Russell read an issue of Herald of the Morning, a periodical edited by Adventist preacher Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, but which had almost ceased publication because of dwindling subscriptions.[12] Barbour, like other Adventists, had earlier applied the biblical time prophecies of Miller and Wendell to calculate that Christ would return in 1874 to bring a "bonfire";[17] when this failed to eventuate he and co-writer J.H. Paton had concluded that though their calculations of the timing of Christ's return were correct, they had erred about its manner. They subsequently decided that Christ's return, or parousia, was invisible, and that Christ had therefore been present since 1874.[12][18][19] Russell "rejoiced" to find that others had reached the same conclusion on the parousia and decided their application of Adventist time prophecies — which he said he had "so long despised" — merited further examination. He met Barbour, accepted his detailed and complex arguments on prophetic chronology[20] and provided him with funds to write a book that combined their views.[12]

Timeline—1870–1916
1877 Russell and Barbour publish Three Worlds
1879 Russell begins publishing Watch Tower
1881 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is founded
1909 First schism
Letters of protest
1914 Photo-Drama of Creation released
1916 Russell dies
The book, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World,[21] was published in early 1877.[22] It articulated ideas that remained the teachings of Russell's associates for the next 40 years, many of which are still embraced by Jehovah's Witnesses: it identified a 2520-year-long era called "the Gentile Times", which would end in 1914, and broke from Adventist teachings by advancing Russell's concept of "restitution" — that all humankind since Adam would be resurrected to the earth and given the opportunity for eternal perfect human life. Russell claimed it was the first book to combine biblical end-time prophecies with the concept of restitution. It discussed the concept of parallel dispensations, which held that there were prophetic parallels between the Jewish and Gospel ages, and suggested the "new creation" would begin 6000 years after Adam's creation, a point in time he believed had been reached in 1872.[23] It also revealed the authors' belief that Christ had left heaven in 1874 to return to earth[24] and their expectation that God's "harvest" of the "saints" would end in early 1878, when they would all be taken to heaven.[11][17][25] Russell, Barbour and Paton began traveling to hold public meetings to discuss their beliefs. For Russell, it was not enough: "Noticing how quickly people seemed to forget what they had heard, it soon became evident that while the meetings were useful in awakening interest, a monthly journal was needed to hold that interest and develop it."[12] He provided Barbour with additional funds to resurrect The Herald of the Morning. Russell severed his relationship with the magazine in July, 1879 after Barbour publicly disputed the concept of the ransom.[12][26] He began publishing his own monthly magazine, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence[27][28] (now known as The Watchtower), which he sent to all the subscribers of the Herald, disputing Barbour's teaching.[11][17]
Watch Tower Society[edit]
In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed as an unincorporated administrative agency for the purpose of disseminating tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises and Bibles, with "Pastor" Russell, as he was by then called, as secretary and W.H. Conley as president.[28] Three years later, on December 15, 1884, Russell became the president of the society when it was legally incorporated in Pennsylvania.[29] He said the corporation was "not a 'religious society' in the ordinary meaning of this term,"[30] explaining: "This is a business association merely ... a business convenience in disseminating the truth."[31] Russell began to write a stream of articles, books, pamphlets and sermons, which by his death totaled 50,000 printed pages, with almost 20 million copies of his books printed and distributed around the world.[11] In 1886, he wrote The Divine Plan of the Ages, a 424-page book that was the first of what became a six-volume series called "Millennial Dawn," later renamed "Studies in the Scriptures,"[32] which established his fundamental doctrines. (As a consequence, the Bible Students were sometimes called "Millennial Dawnists".)
Congregations[edit]



Russell's tombstone in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The first study groups or congregations were established in 1879, and within a year more than 30 of them were meeting for six-hour study sessions under Russell's direction, to examine the Bible and his writings.[11] The groups were autonomous ecclesia, an organizational structure Russell regarded as a return to "primitive simplicity".[33] In an 1882 Watch Tower article he said his nationwide community of study groups was "strictly unsectarian and consequently recognize no sectarian name ... we have no creed (fence) to bind us together or to keep others out of our company. The Bible is our only standard, and its teachings our only creed." He added: "We are in fellowship with all Christians in whom we can recognize the Spirit of Christ."[34] Two years later he said the only appropriate names for his group would be "Church of Christ", "Church of God" or "Christians". He concluded: "By whatsoever names men may call us, it matters not to us; we acknowledge none other name than 'the only name given under heaven and among men' — Jesus Christ. We call ourselves simply Christians."[35] In 1895, discussing the best form of meeting to study his writings, Russell warned: "Beware of organization. It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others' consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours."[36]
Elders and deacons were elected by congregations and Russell tolerated a great latitude of belief among members. He discouraged formal disciplinary procedures by congregation elders, claiming this was beyond their authority,[37] instead recommending that an individual who continued in a wrong course be judged by the entire ecclesia, or congregation, which could ultimately "withdraw from him its fellowship".[38] Disfellowshipping did not mean the wrongdoer was shunned in all social circumstances or by all Bible Students.[39]
In 1894 Russell introduced the role of "pilgrim" workers, men chosen for their maturity, meekness and Bible knowledge, who would visit congregations for up to three days when requested, giving talks. The pilgrims, who initially served part-time but later became full-time workers, also delivered talks at conventions.[40]
From 1895, he recommended that congregations study his "Studies in the Scriptures" paragraph-by-paragraph to learn the "truth" he had discovered, and in 1905 he recommended replacing verse-by-verse Bible studies with what he called "Berean Studies" of topics he chose.[11]
Preaching[edit]
Russell advertised for 1000 preachers in 1881,[41] and encouraged all who were members of "the body of Christ" to go forth as "colporteurs" or evangelizers and preach to their neighbors in order to gather the remainder of the "little flock" of saints before they were called to heaven.[11] Colporteurs (renamed "pioneers" in the 1930s) left householders with a copy of Russell's 130-page booklet Food For Thinking Christians and a sample copy of Zion's Watch Tower and returned days later to retrieve the book or accept a payment for it. The workers received a commission on the sale, but Russell warned them to concentrate less on the money than on the task of spreading the truth.[42]
When a Pittsburgh newspaper's publication of the full text of Russell's 1903 debates with Methodist minister Dr E. L. Eaton resulted in a huge demand for copies, several newspapers began printing weekly sermons by Russell. By 1907 21 million copies of his sermons were being printed a year in 11 U.S. newspapers. Russell entered a contract with a newspaper syndicate to give his sermons wider coverage and by December 1909 they were appearing in 400 papers to a weekly readership of 2.5 million. By 1910 his sermons were supplied to more than 1000 newspapers, some of which billed him as "the people's favorite preacher", and a peak of 2024 papers in the U.S., Canada, Britain, South Africa and Australia was reached in 1913.[43] The publicity, including press coverage of annual overseas tours between 1908 and 1913, gave Russell a measure of international celebrity, prompting letters of concern by Bible Students over his supposed ostentatiousness, which in turn led Russell to defend his mode of transport and accommodation.[43][44]
In 1914 Russell released an eight-hour-long film, The Photo-Drama of Creation, that attempted to portray chronologically the history of the world from creation to the millennial reign of Christ.[45] The film, accompanied by a gramophone soundtrack, was screened for free in two four-hour sittings around the world, attracting more than 1.2 million patrons in Britain in 1914 alone. The cost of the production and screenings was so high it created financial difficulties for the society, but by Russell's death it was reported that the film had been seen by more than nine million people.[46]
Organizational expansion[edit]
Two missionaries were sent to England in 1881[11] and overseas branches were opened in London (1900),[47] Germany (1903) and Australia and Switzerland (1904).[48] The Watch Tower Society's headquarters were transferred to Brooklyn, New York in 1908.[49] In 1910 Russell introduced the name International Bible Students Association as a means of identifying his worldwide community of Bible study groups. The name was also used when advertising and conducting conventions of Russell's followers.[50]
The first foreign-language edition of Zion's Watch Tower was published in 1883 when Russell produced a sample copy in Swedish and in 1885 the magazine was also translated into German for German-speaking Pennsylvanians.[51]
Doctrinal development[edit]
By 1904, Russell's doctrinal development was almost complete. His sixth and final part of "Studies in the Scriptures", The New Creation, established that Revelation 7 spoke of two heavenly classes of Christians — 144,000 who would serve as a royal priesthood with Christ and a Great Company who would be brought to perfection on a lesser plane, similar to that of angels, serving the 144,000.[52] He believed that 1878 marked the "fall of Babylon", when God officially judged that Christendom had proven unfaithful.[53][54] He believed the "time of the end" in Daniel 12 ran from 1799 to 1914, that Christ had returned to earth in 1874, began his reign in 1878 and that from that date the anointed had been resurrected to heaven at their death. He initially taught that Armageddon had begun in 1874, which would culminate in worldwide anarchy and the overthrow of all political rulership in 1914 at the conclusion of the "times of the Gentiles", but by 1897 began to teach that Armageddon would instead begin in 1914.[55][56] The earthly part of God's kingdom would be administered from Jerusalem in a re-established nation of Israel and under the control of the resurrected ancient Jewish prophets. All of mankind would over time be resurrected to earth in reverse order of death, Adam and Eve being the last, and be given the instruction and guidance necessary to prove themselves obedient to God in order to attain eternal life. Early in the resurrection, "ancient worthies" including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be raised to occupy positions of overseers and representatives of the invisible heavenly government ruling from Jerusalem.[57] The Millennial Age, which he believed had begun in 1874, would run to 2874 or 2914 AD, when a test of earth's inhabitants would decide their ultimate destinies, to life or everlasting death.[58][59][60]
In 1905 Paul S. L. Johnson, one of the traveling "Pilgrim" speakers and a former Lutheran minister, pointed out to Russell that his doctrines on the New Covenant had undergone a complete reversal: until 1880 he had taught that the New Covenant would be inaugurated only after the last of the 144,000 anointed Christians had been taken to heaven,[61] but since 1881 he had written that it was already in force.[62][63] Russell reconsidered the question and in January 1907 wrote several Watch Tower articles reaffirming his 1880 position—that "the new covenant belongs exclusively to the coming age"[64]—adding that the church had no mediator, but that Christ was the "advocate". He also taught that Christians making up the 144,000 would join Christ as a "joint heir" and assistant mediator during the millennium.[65]
On October 24, 1909 former Watch Tower Society secretary-treasurer E.C. Henninges, who was by then the Australian branch manager based in Melbourne, wrote Russell an open letter of protest trying to persuade him to abandon the teaching, and calling on Bible Students to examine its legitimacy. When Russell refused, Henninges and most of the Melbourne congregation left Russell's movement to form the New Covenant Fellowship. Hundreds of the estimated 10,000 U.S. Bible Students also left, including pilgrim M. L. McPhail, a member of the Chicago Bible Students, and A. E. Williamson of Brooklyn, forming the New Covenant Believers.[63][66]
Russell died on October 31, 1916, in Pampa, Texas during a cross-country preaching trip. For the next 10 years, the Watch Tower Society continued to teach the view that he had fulfilled the roles of the "Laodicean Messenger" of Revelation 3:14–22[67] and the "Faithful and Wise Servant" of Matthew 24:45.[68]
1917–1942[edit]
Timeline—1916–1942
1917 Rutherford elected president of Watch Tower
1917 Second schism
Control of the headquarters
1919 Publication of Golden Age begins
1920 Rutherford publishes Millions Now Living Never Die, setting 1925 as date for return of Old Testament "Princes"
1929 Rutherford builds Beth Sarim to hold resurrected Bible personages
1931 Third schism
The name changes to Jehovah's witnesses
1942 Rutherford dies
Organizational developments[edit]
At the corporation's annual general meeting on January 6, 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the Society's legal counsel, was elected as Russell's successor, with new by-laws passed to strengthen the president's authority.[69] Within months, four of the Society's seven directors claimed he was acting without consulting the board and described him as "dogmatic, authoritarian and secretive".[70][71][72][73] A directors' meeting in June proposed returning control of the Society to the board,[74] but at a stormy five-hour meeting on July 17, 1917, Rutherford announced he had appointed four new directors to replace the four who had opposed him, claiming they had no legal status on the board because of conflict with Pennsylvania law.[75][76] At the same meeting Rutherford surprised the headquarters staff and most of the directors[77] by announcing the release of the book The Finished Mystery,[78] dealing with the prophecies of the books of Revelation and Ezekiel and based on Russell's writings.[79] The book, written by Bible Students Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher,[80][81] was described as the "posthumous work of Russell" and the seventh volume of Studies in the Scriptures. It was an immediate best-seller and was translated into six languages.[82]
Rutherford and the ousted directors published a number of newsletters through 1917 and 1918 attacking each other and some congregations split into opposing groups of those loyal either to the president or those he had expelled.[83][84] Rutherford staged a purge within the Brooklyn headquarters to force out those not wholeheartedly on his side and required those who remained to sign an oath of allegiance to him.[85] He was re-elected as president in 1918 with a big majority, but by mid-1919 about one in seven Bible Students had left,[86] forming such groups as The Stand Fast Bible Students Association, Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, Dawn Bible Students Association, Pastoral Bible Institute, Elijah Voice Movement and Eagle Society.[87] Subscriptions to The Watch Tower also fell from 45,000 to fewer than 3000 between 1914 and 1918.[88]



Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869–1942)
Rutherford introduced a vast advertising campaign to expose the "unrighteousness" of religions and their alliances with "beastly" governments, expanding on claims in The Finished Mystery that patriotism was akin to murder.[89][90] The campaign provoked anger among the clergy and governments in North America and Europe, where Bible Students began to be arrested, mobbed and tarred and feathered.[70][91] On February 12, 1918 The Finished Mystery was banned by the Canadian government for what a Winnipeg newspaper described as "seditious and antiwar statements".[92] On February 24 in Los Angeles Rutherford gave the first of his talk series "Millions Now Living May Never Die" (the title of the talk was changed five weeks later to "Millions Now Living Will Never Die")[93][94] in which he attacked the clergy, describing them as "the most reprehensible men on earth for the great war that is now afflicting mankind".[92] Three days later the Army Intelligence Bureau seized the Society's Los Angeles offices and on March 4 the US government ordered the removal of seven pages of The Finished Mystery if distribution was to continue.[95] In early May 1918 US Attorney General Thomas Watt Gregory condemned the book as dangerous propaganda[96] and days later warrants were issued for the arrest of Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower directors and officers on charges of sedition under the Espionage Act amid claims they were conspiring to cause disloyalty and encouraging the refusal of military duty. On June 21 seven of them, including Rutherford, were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. They were released on bail in March 1919 after an appeals court ruled they had been wrongly convicted and in May 1920 the government announced all charges had been dropped.[97]



 Watch Tower Board of Directors jailed in 1918 for violation of the Espionage Act
On his release from prison, Rutherford began a major reorganization of Bible Student activities. The Watch Tower Society set up its own printing establishment[98] and in 1919 Rutherford founded the magazine The Golden Age (now Awake!), which the Bible Students began distributing publicly[99] in response to an increasing emphasis by the Brooklyn headquarters on door-to-door preaching.[100] Brooklyn appointed a "director" in each congregation in 1919, and a year later directed all congregation members who participated in the preaching work to report weekly on their witnessing activity.[101] As the Bible Students' preaching work expanded, Rutherford moved to take greater control over their message in a bid to unify the message and become the spokesman for the organization.[102]
Major annual conventions were organized from 1922 and 1928, which were as much publicity events as spiritual gatherings.[103] At an eight-day assembly at Cedar Point, Ohio in 1922 he launched a series of international conventions under the theme "Advertise the King and Kingdom", attracting crowds of up to 20,000,[104] who were urged to "herald the message far and wide". "Behold the King!" Rutherford told conventioners. "You are his publicity agents."[105] He stressed that the prime purpose of all Bible Students was to preach publicly in fulfillment of Matthew 24:14, especially in the form of door-to-door evangelism with the Society's publications, rather than prayer, meditation or Bible study.[106][107] The traditional Bible Student prayer and testimony meetings were divided into two parts with one becoming a "service meeting", devoted to promoting public preaching.[108] In 1924 he expanded his means of spreading the Watch Tower message with the start of 15-minute radio broadcasts, initially from WBBR, based on Staten Island, and eventually via a network of as many as 480 radio stations.[109][110] A 1931 talk was broadcast throughout North America, Australia and France, but the virulence of his attacks on the clergy was strong enough to result in both the NBC and BBC radio networks banning him from the airwaves.[111] Later still, in the late 1930s, he advocated the use of "sound cars" and portable phonographs with which talks by Rutherford were played to passersby and householders.[112]
The new preaching methods brought an influx of members through the early 1920s, but attendance at the Bible Students' yearly Memorial fell sharply again, dropping from 90,434 in 1925[113] to 17,380 in 1928.[114][115][116][117] Rutherford dismissed their defection as the Lord "shaking out" the unfaithful.[118] Author Tony Wills, who analyzed attendance and "field worker" statistics, suggests it was the "more dedicated" Bible Students who quit through the 1920s, to be replaced by newcomers in larger numbers,[119] creating what author Robert Crompton described as one of the most significant of the movement's breaks with its early history.[5]
At a convention at Columbus, Ohio on July 26, 1931, Rutherford made a psychological break with the large number of disaffected Bible Students[120] by proposing the adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses, based on the scripture at Isaiah 43:10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord". The Watch Tower said the new, distinctive name was designed to exalt God's name and end public confusion caused by the proliferation of groups carrying the name "Bible Students". It explained: "It will be a name that could not be used by another, and such as none other will want to use."[121][122]
In 1932, he eliminated the system of congregations electing bodies of elders, claiming the office of elder was unscriptural;[123] in 1938, he replaced the earlier system of congregational self-government with a "theocratic" or "God-ruled" organizational system in which the Brooklyn headquarters would make all appointments in congregations worldwide.[101][124] Consolation magazine explained: "The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager."[125] Rutherford, who had shown an earlier interest in politics, applied terms to the organization that were more common in politics and business: "organization" replaced "congregation" when referring to the worldwide community of believers, while "companies" denoted individual congregations. He pushed for more "field service" and "campaigns" of kingdom "advertising" in "territories", with "publishers" working under the direction of a field service "captain".[98]
Under Rutherford, Jehovah's Witnesses grew from about 44,000 in 1928 to about 115,000 at the time of his death on January 8, 1942.
Doctrinal changes[edit]



 J.F. Rutherford at Beth Sarim
Rutherford's term as president was marked by a succession of changes to doctrines, with many of Russell's teachings altered or abandoned and many new teachings introduced. The Finished Mystery declared that God would destroy churches "wholesale" and church members by the millions in 1918,[126] and that all earthly governments would be destroyed in 1920, resulting in anarchy.[127] Expectations remained strong that the change of the "saints" and completion of the "body of Christ" in heaven was imminent. A Watch Tower report on the 1918 Brooklyn convention said there was good reason to believe the gathering "might be the last in this vicinity, before the great convention beyond the veil".[128] Disregarding Russell's rejection of 1925 as a year of importance,[129] Rutherford announced in 1920 that Christ's thousand-year reign would begin in that year, bringing the restoration of an earthly paradise and the resurrection to earth of the ancient Jewish prophets referred to as "the ancient worthies"[130] (such as Abraham and Isaac).[131][132] Jerusalem would become the world capital, and the "princes" would communicate with all humankind by radio.[133] The pronouncements prompted many Bible Students to give up their businesses and jobs and sell their homes, while Bible Student farmers in Canada and the US refused to seed their spring crops in 1925 and mocked members of their religion who did.[134] Rutherford had a luxury villa, Beth Sarim, built in San Diego, California, in 1930 to house the biblical "princes" who were expected to be resurrected before Armageddon.[135][136] Watch Tower publications made no admission of error over the predictions for 1925, but Rutherford gave apologies at IBSA conventions.[134][137]

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
Armageddon was redefined in 1925 as a battle between God and Satan, resulting in the overthrow of human governments and false religion[138] and a 1926 Watchtower article introduced a new emphasis on the importance of the name "Jehovah".[139] From 1926 publications began discrediting earlier teachings on the importance of Christian "character development" or personal "sanctification"[106][140][141] and a year later they discarded the teaching that Russell had been the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45–47.[106][142] By then the Watch Tower Society had rejected the belief that Russell alone had been the sole channel of scriptural enlightenment.[143] In 1927 the Society disposed of remaining copies of Russell's Studies in the Scriptures and The Finished Mystery and ceased printing the books.[5] A year later Russell's teaching that the natural Jews would be restored to Palestine and hold a prominent place in the earthly part of God's kingdom was dropped.[144][145] Christmas celebrations ceased in 1928 after a radio broadcast and Golden Age articles on their pagan origins.[146]
In 1929 Rutherford announced that the vindication of God's name—which would ultimately occur when millions of unbelievers were destroyed at Armageddon—was the primary doctrine of Christianity and more important that God's display of goodness or grace towards humans.[147][148][149][150] By 1933, the timing of Christ's parousia and the start of the "last days" had been moved from 1874 to 1914[151] with the principles of parallel dispensations retained to place Christ's enthronement 3½ years later in 1918.[152] In 1935 a new interpretation of the "great company" of Revelation 7 placed them on earth as survivors of Armageddon rather than in heaven[153] and from that point converts to the movement were generally identified as those who, if worthy, would qualify for life on a paradise earth.[154] The same year, Witnesses were told they should refuse to salute the flag, stand for the national anthem, or accept alternative service provided for those who had conscientous objection to military service. Reference to the cross and crucifixion in Watch Tower publications ceased in 1936 when it was asserted that Christ had actually died on a tree.[146] By 1939 Watch Tower publications explained that only those who were part of God's "organization" would be spared at Armageddon.[155]
Persecution and opposition[edit]
Main article: Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
From 1927 Bible Students were urged to extend their door-to-door preaching to include Sundays. The move quickly attracted opposition from the clergy and the following year Bible Students began to be arrested in the U.S. for breaching local by-laws on Sabbath observance.[156] Rutherford challenged the laws in courts, ultimately fighting hundreds of cases in New Jersey alone as he insisted the preachers were not selling literature, but distributing it for a contribution to Society funds.[157]
In 1935, Witnesses were told they should refuse to salute national flags, stand for national anthems, or accept alternative service provided for those who had conscientious objection to military service. In late 1936 U.S. schools began expelling Witness children who refused to salute the flag. When the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of schools to expel non-conforming children in June 1940, many states began passing laws requiring compulsory flag salute and similarly expelling children. The Supreme Court decision prompted a wave of violence against U.S. Witnesses, mostly in small towns and rural areas, where they were beaten, castrated, tarred and feathered and in some cases killed. More than 2500 cases were reported from 1940 to 1944 and hundreds of Witnesses were arrested and charged with crimes including sedition. The Witnesses responded with campaigns of mass witnessing, descending on hostile towns in their hundreds, and organizing "information marches", some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long, in which members wore sandwich boards and held placards and banners.[158][159][160]
In Germany, preaching activity was banned and the Watch Tower Society headquarters seized and closed. Thousands of Witnesses were arrested on peddling charges from 1922; in 1933, following the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, government restrictions were tightened, prompting the public distribution of more than two million copies of a Declaration of Facts in which the Witnesses protested at their treatment and requested the right to preach. It had little effect: Witnesses were fired from their jobs and about 2000 were imprisoned in concentration camps.[161][162] Jehovah's Witnesses were the first Christian denomination to be banned and the most extensively persecuted Christian group during the Nazi era.[163]
Witnesses in Japan were imprisoned and tortured,[164] while members in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain were also imprisoned as conscientious objectors. The Witnesses were banned in Germany in 1936, Canada in July 1940[165] and Australia in January 1941.[166][167] Under Rutherford's leadership, a legal staff was developed to establish their right to preach and their right to refrain from nationalistic ceremonies. Between 1938 and 1955 the Watch Tower Society won 36 out of 45 religion-related court cases.[168] These legal battles resulted in significant expansions in freedom of speech and religion in both countries.[169]
Writers including American essayist Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, William Whalen, Alan Rogerson and William Schnell have claimed the religion was complicit in its own victimisation, often goading authorities with cartoons and books that ridiculed and denigrated church and state and provocative mass assemblies in which the Witnesses flooded towns with preachers. They claim a deliberate course of martyrdom served to attract society’s dispossessed and oppressed members and also provided apparent validation of the "truth" of the Watchtower cause as evidenced by the level of opposition from the outside world as they struggled to serve God.[170][171][172][173]
1942–1975[edit]



 New York headquarters of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
Timeline—1942–1975
1942 Knorr elected president of Watch Tower Society
1950 New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures started (completed 1961)
1966 The year 1975 suggested as possible date for Armageddon
Rutherford was succeeded by Nathan Homer Knorr. Knorr's tenure as president was notable for the transfer from individual to corporate leadership. None of the Society's publications after 1942 acknowledged authorship, and were instead attributed to an anonymous Writing Committee.[174] From about 1944, the term "governing body" began to be used with a measure of frequency, with the term initially applied to the Watch Tower Society's seven-man Board of Directors.[175] Knorr began a campaign of real estate acquisition in Brooklyn to expand the organisation's world headquarters, expanded printing production throughout the world, and organized a series of international assemblies that dwarfed those of Rutherford in the 1920s. In 1958, more than 253,000 Witnesses gathered at two New York venues, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds, for an eight-day convention where more than 7000 were baptized.[176] Other large conventions were held in the US, Canada and Germany.
He instituted major training programs, including the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead to train missionaries, and the Theocratic Ministry School to give instruction in preaching and public speaking at the congregational level. He commissioned a new translation of the Bible, which was released progressively from 1950, before being published as the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in 1961. Also produced were a Greek-English New Testament interlinear (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures) and a Bible encyclopedia (Aid to Bible Understanding). The offices of elder and ministerial servant (deacon) were restored to Witness congregations in 1972, with appointments being made from headquarters.[177]
Knorr's vice-president, Frederick William Franz, became the leading theologian for the religion[178] and the pace of doctrinal change slowed. Blood transfusions were prohibited for Witnesses from 1945 and in 1961 the eating of blood in meat was also proscribed, The Watchtower instructing Witnesses to check with their butcher whether the animals and fowl he sold had been properly drained of their blood.[179][180] Birthday celebrations were described as "objectionable" in 1951 because of their pagan origins[181] and other explicit rules regarding acceptable conduct among members were introduced, with a greater emphasis placed on disfellowshipping as a disciplinary measure.[182]
Adult male Witnesses in the US, Britain, and some European countries were jailed for refusal of military service in the post-war years, with particularly harsh treatment meted out in Spain, Greece, East Germany and Romania. Wide-scale persecution of Witnesses in several African nations was launched between 1967 and 1975, with as many as 21,000 fleeing Malawi to refugee camps in Zambia after a series of murders and beatings in 1972, and 7000 Mozambiquean members of the religion were arrested in 1975 to be sent to communist re-education camps.[183]
During Knorr's presidency, membership of Jehovah's Witnesses grew from 108,000 to more than two million.[178]
Predictions for 1975[edit]
From 1966, Witness publications heightened anticipation of Christ's thousand-year millennial reign beginning in late 1975.[184][185][186][187] Repeating the 1925 cycle of excitement, anticipation and then disappointment, Witness publications and convention talks intensified focus on 1975 as the "appropriate" time for God to act,[188] with statements that "the immediate future is certain to be filled with climactic events ... within a few years at most the final parts of the Bible prophecy relative to these 'last days' will undergo fulfillment".[189] The September 15, 1971 issue of The Watchtower warned that "all worldly careers are soon to come to an end", and advised youths that they should not "get interested in ‘higher education’ for a future that will never eventuate."[190] A chart in a 1971 Awake! indicated the "thrilling hope" of a "grand Sabbath of rest and relief" in the mid-1970s at the close of 6000 years of human history.[191] Some Witnesses sold businesses and homes, gave up jobs, deferred medical procedures and set aside plans to start a family in anticipation of Armageddon's arrival.[192][193] The May 1974 issue of the Watch Tower Society's newsletter, Our Kingdom Ministry, commended Witnesses who had sold homes and property to devote themselves to preaching in the "short time" remaining.[194]
Watch Tower literature did not state dogmatically that 1975 would definitely mark the end,[195] and the buildup was tempered with cautions that there was no certainty that Armageddon would arrive in 1975, but magazines warned that "time is running out rapidly"[196] and that "only a few years, at most" remained before Armageddon.[197] Circuit assemblies in 1970 held a public talk entitled "Who will conquer the world in the 1970s?"[198] and in a speech in Australia in 1975 the society's vice-president Frederick Franz went so far as to name a precise date—September 5, 1975—as the "end of the present wicked system".[199] Witnesses were also urged that they should not be "toying with the words of Jesus that 'concerning that day and hour nobody knows' ... to the contrary, one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end."[200] The number of baptisms soared from about 59,000 in 1966, to more than 297,000 in 1974, but membership declined after expectations for the year failed.[192][201] In 1976 The Watchtower advised those who had been "disappointed" by the failure of the predictions for 1975 to adjust their viewpoint because their understanding had been "based on wrong premises",[202] but four years later, after several proposals by Governing Body members to apologize to Witnesses were voted down,[203] the Watch Tower Society admitted its responsibility in building up hope regarding 1975.[204]
1976–present[edit]

Timeline—1976–2015
1976 Governing Body takes control
1980 Purge of senior Brooklyn headquarters staff
1995 Teaching that generation of 1914 will see Armageddon is abandoned
2008 Definition of generation changed to 'remnant of anointed'
2010 Definition of generation changed to 'living anointed whose lives overlap 1914 anointed'
The leadership structure of Jehovah's Witnesses was reorganized from January 1, 1976, with the power of the presidency passed to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and the establishment of six committees to oversee tasks such as writing, teaching, publishing and evangelizing work.[205] At this time, Watch Tower Society publications began using the capitalized name, Jehovah's Witnesses. Subsequent presidents of the Watch Tower Society after Knorr's death in 1977 have been Frederick William Franz, Milton George Henschel and Don A. Adams.
A purge of senior Brooklyn headquarters staff was carried out in April and May 1980 after it was discovered some at the highest ranks of the hierarchy dissented with core Watch Tower Society doctrines, particularly surrounding the significance of 1914, and wished to propose adjustments as "new understandings" to continue the century-long tradition of changes in doctrines.[206][207] Unease at the chronology doctrines had in fact surfaced within the Governing Body earlier that year. In February, three Governing Body members – aware that those who had been alive in 1914 were rapidly dwindling in number despite the teaching that their generation would be alive to see Armageddon—had proposed a radical change in Watch Tower doctrines to require that the "generation" that would see the arrival of Armageddon had been alive only since 1957, the year of the launch of the Russian space satellite Sputnik. The proposal, which would have extended the deadline for Armageddon by 43 years, failed to gain a majority vote.[208][209] Internal dissatisfaction with official doctrines continued to grow, however, leading to a series of secret investigations and judicial hearings. Among those expelled from the Witnesses was former Governing Body member Raymond Franz. Many of those expelled were labelled by Governing Body members as "spiritual fornicators", "mentally diseased" and "insane".[206] The purge resulted in a number of schisms in the religion in Canada, Britain, and northern Europe, and prompted the formation of loose groups of disaffected former Witnesses. The Watch Tower Society responded to the crisis with a new, hardened attitude towards the treatment of defectors and expelled Witnesses.[206][207][210][211]
In 1995, changes regarding their understanding of Jesus' comments regarding "this generation" (from Matthew 24:34) were published.[212] Throughout the previous four decades, Jehovah's Witnesses had taught that the generation that saw the events of 1914 would not die out before Armageddon came.[213] The understanding of the "generation" was again adjusted in 2008, to refer to the remnant of the anointed.[214] In 2010, the definition of the generation was changed again, wherein the lives of anointed individuals living in 1914 overlap with a second group alive in the present day. Jehovah's Witnesses continue to teach that Armageddon is imminent.[215]
See also[edit]
Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society presidency dispute (1917)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 32, 33.
2.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 191, 192. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
3.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 5. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
4.Jump up ^ "Walking in the Path of Increasing Light". The Watchtower: 26–29. 15 February 2006. "the resolution stated: “... we desire to be known as and called by the name, to wit, Jehovah’s witnesses.”"
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 101. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
6.Jump up ^ Draw Close to Jehovah, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, page 157.
7.Jump up ^ "Russia Supreme Court bans Jehovah's Witness congregation", Jurist Legal News and Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, December 10, 2009.
8.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879, page 1, states the date of Russell's encounter with Wendell as "about 1869". Rogerson (p.6), Crompton (p.30) and The Watchtower (January 1, 1955) claim it was in 1870, Wills (p.4) states it was 1868; Penton and Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (p. 43) say it was 1869. Russell's later recounting of his story in Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, leaves the actual date unclear.
9.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, p. 43. According to Alan Rogerson, Russell used the collective term "Second Adventists" to refer to a number of sects prophesying the imminent Second Advent of Jesus.
10.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 30. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j 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.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "A sketch of the development of present truth", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906.
13.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
14.Jump up ^ 1873 reprint of The Present Truth or Meat in Due Season, Jonas Wendell, 1870, with additional essay.
15.Jump up ^ *Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 5, 6. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
16.Jump up ^ The pamphlet was published in 1873, according to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, while James Penton argues that it was as late as 1877.
17.^ Jump up to: a b c Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879, page 1.
18.Jump up ^ http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/barbour%20midnight%20cry.htm N.H. Barbour, Evidences for the Coming of the Lord in 1873: or the Midnight Cry, 1871.
19.Jump up ^ The Midnight Cry and Herald of the Morning, March 1874. See Section under "Our Faith."
20.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
21.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell. Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World, 1877. Accessed March 15, 2006.
22.Jump up ^ Though the book bore the names of both men as authors, Russell (Watch Tower, July 15, 1906) noted it was "mostly written by Mr Barbour". James Penton (Apocalypse Delayed) points out that in early issues of the Watch Tower, Russell repeatedly referred to Barbour as its author.
23.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour & C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1977, page 67.
24.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, page 104.
25.Jump up ^ N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, pp. 124, 143
26.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
27.Jump up ^ Issues of the Watch Tower from 1879-1916 are available at http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/index.asp or by article at: http://www.agsconsulting.com/htdbv5/links.htm. The text was taken from the seven-volume Reprints printed in 1919 and compared with the original issues up to December 15, 1916 to remove transcription errors and add articles that had been excluded.
28.^ Jump up to: a b "Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses", Watchtower, January 15, 1955, page 14.
29.Jump up ^ Holden, A. (2002) Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. (p.18)
30.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, October 1894, page 330.
31.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell, "A Conspiracy Exposed", Zion's Watch Tower Extra edition, April 25, 1894, page 55–60.
32.Jump up ^ Yearbook 1975, Watch Tower Society, 1975.
33.Jump up ^ "The Ekklesia", Zion's Watch Tower, October 1881.
34.Jump up ^ "Questions and answers", Zion's Watch Tower, April 1882.
35.Jump up ^ "Our name", Zion's Watch Tower, February 1884.
36.Jump up ^ "Concerning profitable meetings", Zion's Watch Tower, September 15, 1895.
37.Jump up ^ What Pastor Russell Said, Leslie W. Jones, 1917, pg 346, as cited by Penton, 1997, pg 31, "The Lord's word does not authorize any court of Elders, or anyone else, to become busybodies. This would be going back to the practices of the Dark Ages during the Inquisition and we would be showing the same spirit as did the inquisitors."
38.Jump up ^ Russell directed that an unrepentant person be judged by the entire ecclesia, rather than the elders. He directed that the ecclesia not make the wrongdoer's faults public. See The New Creation Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1904, pages 289–290
39.Jump up ^ Apocalypse Delayed, James Penton, page 31.
40.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
41.Jump up ^ "Wanted: 1000 Preachers", Zion's Watch Tower, April 1881.
42.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 12, 14. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
43.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
44.Jump up ^ "The Newspaper Syndicate's Idea, The Watch Tower, January 15, 1912.
45.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Society, p. 422
46.Jump up ^ "Biography", The Watch Tower, December 15, 1916.
47.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 32.
48.Jump up ^ "The First One a Hundred Years Ago", Awake, December 22, 2000.
49.Jump up ^ "Organized Testimony to the New World", Watchtower, July 15, 1950, page 215.
50.Jump up ^ Watchtower, April 1910.
51.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
52.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The New Creation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1904, pages 120–121, 127–129.
53.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1890), Volume 3 of Studies in the Scriptures, pp. 305–308.
54.Jump up ^ "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..."—"The Consummation of Our Hope" in Zion's Watch Tower, April 1883. Reprints pp. 474–5.
55.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Time of the End, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, page 101.
56.Jump up ^ "Things to Come—And The Present European Situation" in The Watch Tower, January 15, 1892, Reprints, p. 1355
57.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
58.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 38, 50. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
59.Jump up ^ "The Day of the Lord", Zion's Watch Tower, October–November 1882, reprints page 410.
60.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. pp. 38, 39. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
61.Jump up ^ "The Three Great Covenants", Zion's Watch Tower, March 1880.
62.Jump up ^ "The New Covenant vs the Law Covenant", Zion's Watch Tower, September 1887.
63.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 63–68. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
64.Jump up ^ "The Mediator of the New Covernant", Zion's Watch Tower, January 1, 1907, pages 9, 10.
65.Jump up ^ "The Word Mediator Used Differently,", Watch Tower, January 1909.
66.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 42
67.Jump up ^ See chart "The Seven Messengers to the Church" from The Finished Mystery (1917), page 66.
68.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, page 5
69.Jump up ^ Apocalypse Delayed, M.J. Penton, p. 51. Rutherford, as chief legal counsel for the Watch Tower Society, had written the new by-laws. (See Harvest Siftings II, written by J.F. Rutherford.)
70.^ Jump up to: a b M James Penton, "Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses", University of Toronto Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8020-7973-3
71.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2002, chapter 3.
72.Jump up ^ Rutherford published his version of the dispute in Harvest Siftings
73.Jump up ^ Harvest Siftings II
74.Jump up ^ See Rutherford's Harvest Siftings under subheading "Seeds Begin to Bring Forth."
75.Jump up ^ Rutherford, J.F. (August 1, 1917). "Harvest Siftings" (PDF). Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
76.Jump up ^ See Faith on the March, p. 80. The ousted directors disagreed: "...if the directors were not legally elected, neither were the Society's three officers: Rutherford, Pierson, and Van Amburgh. In order to have been chosen officers in January 1917, they would have had to have been legally elected directors. Yet, they had not been, and hence, by Rutherford's own logic, did not hold office legally."--Apocalypse Delayed, M. James Penton, p. 52
77.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 70.
78.Jump up ^ PDF version of The Finished Mystery
79.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
80.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 84. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
81.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 61.
82.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 40. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
83.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, pg 68.
84.Jump up ^ Watch Tower publications since 1917 have vilified those who opposed Rutherford and make no attempt to convey their version of events. In its account of the events of 1917, the 1993 Proclaimers of God's Kingdom book refers to the opposing camps as "those loyal to the Society and those who were easy prey to the smooth talk of the opposers" (pg. 68). The 1975 Yearbook (pg. 87) dismisses the four ousted directors as "rebellious individuals who claimed to be board members" (pg. 92) and men who "ambitiously sought to gain administrative control of the Society". The 1959 history book Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose also incorrectly claims the legal advice given to the ousted directors confirmed that given to Rutherford. Their own journal, Light After Darkness, makes it plain their legal advice disagreed with Rutherford's.
85.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 37. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
86.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1975). 1975 Yearbook. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. pp. 93–94.
87.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Constable, London. p. 39. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
88.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 95. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
89.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
90.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 41. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
91.Jump up ^ "Distress of Nations: Cause, Warning, Remedy" (PDF). The Golden Age: 712–718. September 29, 1920.
92.^ Jump up to: a b *Macmillan, A.H. (1957). Faith on the March. Prentice-Hall. p. 85.
93.Jump up ^ The initial delivery was entitled "The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die". See:
 "Noteworthy Events in the Modern-day History of Jehovah’s Witnesses", Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom", 1993 Watch Tower, page 719, "1918 The discourse “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die” is first delivered, on February 24, in Los Angeles, California. On March 31, in Boston, Massachusetts, the talk is entitled “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die” [emphasis added]
94.Jump up ^ Los Angeles Morning Tribune, February 25, 1918, as recorded in Faith on the March by A. H. Macmillan, 1957, page 86
95.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
96.Jump up ^ Macmillan, A.H. (1957). Faith on the March. Prentice-Hall. p. 89.
97.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 44. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
98.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007. Chapter 6.
99.Jump up ^ Edited by C.J. Woodworth, The Golden Age was intended as a general news magazine to proclaim the incoming "golden age."
100.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pp. 259–260
101.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007. Chapter 4.
102.Jump up ^ A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 152, "Rutherford wanted to unify the preaching work and, instead of having each individual give his own opinion ... gradually Rutherford himself began to be the main spokesman for the organization.".
103.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 59.
104.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 54. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
105.Jump up ^ *Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1975). 1975 Yearbook. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. p. 131.
106.^ Jump up to: a b c M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed — The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 60.
107.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 51. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
108.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 63.
109.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 55. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
110.Jump up ^ "How Great a Witness?", The Watchtower, January 1, 1968, page 14.
111.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 149–151. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
112.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 57. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
113.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337.
114.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
115.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 61.
116.Jump up ^ When Pastor Russell Died (PDF). Dawn Bible Students Association. 1946. pp. 6–16. 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.
117.Jump up ^ Penton, M.J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
118.Jump up ^ 1931 Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, pg 57.
119.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 142, 146, 157–159. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
120.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, page 62.
121.Jump up ^ "A New Name", The Watch Tower, October 1, 1931, page 296–297.
122.Jump up ^ "Riches of the Full Assurance of Our Understanding", The Watchtower, October 15, 1950, page 387.
123.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, page 64.
124.Jump up ^ "Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Restoration of Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, June 1, 1955, "The final change-over to a theocratic organization of Jehovah’s witnesses occurred in 1938 ... Similarly today the power of appointment of all servants in congregations rightfully rests with the governing body of the 'faithful and discreet slave' class, which is under the direct supervision of Christ Jesus at the temple. These powers do not rest democratically with the congregations."
125.Jump up ^ Consolation, 4 September 1940, pg 25, as cited by Penton, pg. 61.
126.Jump up ^ "The Finished Mystery 1917, p. 485, "In the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by the 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.'" (Later editions read differently)
127.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917 edition, p. 258, "And the mountains were not found. Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920. And the mountains were not found. Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy." (This date was changed in later editions.)
128.Jump up ^ "Brooklyn convention and memorial", The Watch Tower, April 1, 1918, page 6233, Reprints.
129.Jump up ^ Watch Tower April 15, 1916 pg 126, "We cannot help it that many of our dear friends continue to tell what The Watch Tower believes, and to misrepresent its teachings ... we are not looking forward to 1925, nor to any other date. As expressly stated in The Watch Tower, we are simply going on, our last date or appointment having been passed more than a year ago... The last place to which he [Elijah] was sent was Jordan, which, we believe, corresponds to October, 1914. ... We have no different time in mind from the Scriptures on the subject and do not expect to have any."
130.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, chap. 10 p. 138
131.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 96. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
132.Jump up ^ Edmond C. Gross, Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculation. What Does the Record Show?, Xulon Press, 2001, ISBN 1-931232-30-X, chapter 24.
133.Jump up ^ The Way to Paradise, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1924, pg 225, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 230.
134.^ Jump up to: a b M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 58.
135.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 235.
136.Jump up ^ See March 31, 1930 Time magazine, p. 60.
137.Jump up ^ Vindication, Vol. 1, by J.F. Rutherford, (1931), p.338–339, "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1914, 1918, and 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time. Later the faithful learned that these dates were definitely fixed in the Scriptures; and they also learned to quit fixing dates for the future and predicting what would come to pass on a certain date, but to rely (and they do rely) upon the Word of God as to the events that must come to pass."
138.Jump up ^ "Work for the Anointed", The Watch Tower, January 1, 1925, pages 4,5. "The Remnant", The Watch Tower, July 15, 1925, pages 215–216.
139.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. 1993. p. 124.
140.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
141.Jump up ^ "Character or Covenant—Which?", The Watchtower, May 1, 1926, "The expression 'character development' and like expressions repeatedly made from the pulpit and platform, have resulted in much confusion. Christians have been led to believe that they must develop, while in the flesh on earth, a character that is perfect before they can have an entrance into heaven ... the above excerpts or quotations ... are here cited in order that the issue may be clearly drawn. If any of us have relied upon such expressions and have been misled thereby, then it becomes our duty to get them out of our minds that we might see more clearly God's provisions and rejoice. Many have thought ... that this personal development of a character must be brought to perfection before they can enter into eternal life. This wrong conception of the matter has led many to believe that they can reach perfection in the flesh. Questions: (1) What has been the belief of many Christians concerning "character development'? To what absurdities and fatal consequences have some been misled thereby?"
142.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 1, 1927, pg 7.
143.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, pages 91, 95.
144.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Favored People, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, as cited by Wills, 2007, pg 129.
145.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 46. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
146.^ Jump up to: a b Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1975, page 147.
147.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 181, 182. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
148.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 69.
149.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Prophecy, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1929, pg 319, 328–333
150.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Vindication, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1931, pg 9–14, 65–68, 135.
151.Jump up ^ Rutherford, Joseph Franklin (1921). The Harp of God. pp. 231–236. affirms that "the Lord's second presence dates from 1874." "Watchtower". Watchtower. March 1, 1922. p. 71. and Prophecy. 1930. pp. 65–66. reiterated this position. The eschatological changes during this period are documented in Thomas Daniels. Historical Idealism and Jehovah's Witnesses (PDF). pp. 3–37. Retrieved 2006-02-01.
152.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 49. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
153.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 140.
154.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watchtower. 1993. pp. 84–85.
155.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Salvation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1939, pages 25-28, 59, 337.
156.Jump up ^ A. H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1959, page 152.
157.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 56. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
158.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
159.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
160.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed — The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. pp. 71, 129.
161.Jump up ^ "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". Retrieved February 22, 2005.
162.Jump up ^ Hans Hesse (2001). Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses During the Nazi Regime. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-86108-750-2.
163.Jump up ^ Garbe, Detlef (2008). Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 102. ISBN 0-299-20794-3.
164.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 59, 62–63. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
165.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 65. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
166.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
167.Jump up ^ American Civil Liberties Union (1941). The Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses (PDF). pp. 1–24. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1978). Visions of Glory. pp. 185, 281. Jayne Persian (December 2005). "The Banning of Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia in 1941" (PDF). Adelaide Company of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc. v. The Commonwealth of Australia
168.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 89.
169.Jump up ^ See, e.g., Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.
170.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Visions of Glory, 1978, chapter 6.
171.Jump up ^ Whalen, William J. (1962). Armageddon Around the Corner: A Report on Jehovah's Witnesses. New York: John Day Company. p. 190.
172.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 59, 61. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
173.Jump up ^ Schnell, William (1971). 30 Years a Watchtower Slave. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8010-6384-1.
174.Jump up ^ Heather and Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, 1984, page 41.
175.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 74.
176.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 86.
177.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, p. 106
178.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 72.
179.Jump up ^ Whalen, William J. (1962). Armageddon Around the Corner: A Report on Jehovah's Witnesses. New York: John Day Company. p. 198.
180.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watchtower, November 1, 1961, pages 669–670.
181.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers," The Watchtower,, October 1, 1951, page 607.
182.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007, chapter 8.
183.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, pages 145-146.
184.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35. as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, chapter 9.
185.Jump up ^ Sniecinski, Roman M.; Chen, Edward P.; Levy, Jerrold H.; Szlam, Fania; Tanaka, Kenichi A. (October 8, 1966). "How Much Longer Will It Be?". Awake! 104 (4): 17–20. doi:10.1213/01.ane.0000250913.45299.f3. PMID 17377078.
186.Jump up ^ See 1975: 'THE APPROPRIATE TIME FOR GOD TO ACT'. Page 14 of the October 8, 1968 Awake! demonstrates the disclaimer that was made at the time: "Does this mean that the above evidence positively points to 1975 as the complete end of this system of things? Since the Bible does not specifically state this, no man can say...If the 1970s should see intervention by Jehovah God to bring an end to a corrupt world drifting toward ultimate disintegration, that should surely not surprise us."
187.Jump up ^ See "Witnessing the End" in the July 18, 1969 Time magazine. Scan available online at: http://www.dannyhaszard.com/time1975.jpg accessed February 14, 2006
188.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35..
189.Jump up ^ Watchtower, May 1, 1968, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, chapter 9.
190.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, 15 September 1971, page 563
191.Jump up ^ "Time of Rest and Refreshment at Hand", Awake!", October 8, 1971, page 27.
192.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz. "1975—The Appropriate Time for God to Act". Crisis of Conscience (PDF). pp. 237–253. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
193.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 151–4. ISBN 0-415-26610-6.
194.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, May 1974, page 3, "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."
195.Jump up ^ Penton, M. J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 95.
196.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 1, 1968, pages 272,273.
197.Jump up ^ Awake!, October 8, 1968, page 13.
198.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, July 1970
199.Jump up ^ George D. Chryssides, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses, Scarecrow Press, 2008, pg lx.
200.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, page 501.
201.Jump up ^ This drop in membership has been variously analyzed. Richard Singelenberg ("The '1975'-prophecy and its impact among Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses") in Sociological Analysis 50(1)1989, pp 23–40 notes a nine per cent drop in total publishers (door-to-door preachers) and a 38 per cent drop in pioneers (full-time preachers) in the Netherlands. Stark and Iannoccone have analyzed the impact on US Witnesses. "The Journal of Contemporary Religion" (PDF). 1997. pp. 142–143. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-12-05. |chapter= ignored (help) The January 30, 1982 Los Angeles Times ("Defectors Feel 'Witness' Wrath: Critics say Baptism Rise Gives False Picture of Growth" by John Dart, p. B4) cited statistics showing a net increase of publishers worldwide from 1971–1981 of 737,241, while baptisms totaled 1.71 million for the same period.
202.Jump up ^ "A Solid Basis for Confidence", Watchtower, July 15, 1976, page 441.
203.Jump up ^ According to Raymond Franz, proposals were put to the Governing Body in 1976, 1977 and 1979 to acknowledge the error, but Milton Henschel and others recommended they ignore the matter and hope Witnesses would eventually forget about it. Crisis of Conscience, page 250.
204.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1980, p.17 "With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, ... considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. ... there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated. ... persons having to do with the publication of the information ... contributed to the buildup of hopes centered on that date."
205.Jump up ^ 1977 Yearbook, Watch Tower Society, as cited b M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 220.
206.^ Jump up to: a b c M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1977, pages 117–123.
207.^ Jump up to: a b Heather and Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, 1984, pages 158–165.
208.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997. Page 218.
209.Jump up ^ Copy of proposal as presented to Governing Body reproduced in Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, 1997, page 262.
210.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, chapters 11–12.
211.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Defectors Feel Witnsses' Wrath", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, Part II, page 4, "The Sept. 15 Watchtower magazine told members that anyone who has written a letter of resignation should be shunned as if he had been 'disfellowshipped', or expelled ... 'This is a hardening, a tightening, of our policy,' confirmed William Van De Wall, a headquarters spokesman for the Watchtower Society. Denying any great membership losses, Van De Wall said the new directive was to counteract 'disgruntled' ex-members."
212.Jump up ^ See ”1914 and ‘This Generation’”, pp. 254–272 in Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz. Available online at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060208160353/http://users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/10.pdf accessed February 12, 2006
213.Jump up ^ "He shows the beginning of this time and how the troubles increase, and mentions some of the sorrows to fall on the world, during the time of trouble. The length of time is indicated by him when he said, '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. So it was on 'this generation' that the accumulated judgments were to fall. (Matt. 23:36) This therefore means that from 1914 a generation shall not pass till all is fulfilled, and amidst a great time of trouble. Vision of the 'Time of the End', The Watchtower, July 1951, p. 404
214.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, page 24 paragraph 15: "As a group, those anointed comprise the present "generation" of contemporaries who won't pass away "until all the things come to pass."
215.Jump up ^ "A Time To Keep Awake", The Watchtower (November 1, 1995), p. 19 par. 12, and p. 20 par. 15.
Further reading[edit]
Three official histories of Jehovah's Witnesses have been published by the Watch Tower Society. The first two are out of print. The most recent one is available in many public libraries and on the Watchtower Library CD-ROM.
Qualified To Be Ministers, pages 297–345 (1955)
Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose (1959)
Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993)
Books by members[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses: The New World Society by Marley Cole. This book received a positive review in the August 15, 1955 Watchtower: "Much of the material was gathered by personal interviews with witnesses, some of them being officials of the Society. Frequently in the news is something about the religion of President Eisenhower's parents. This book gives the facts often overlooked or concealed, with documentary proof that they were Jehovah's witnesses for many years." Cole was an active Witness and wrote the book in collaboration with Witness leaders. It was also distributed by the Watch Tower Society. 229 pages. Publisher: The Vantage Press, 1955.
Faith on the March by A. H. Macmillan. Macmillan provides a first-person account of the early history of Jehovah's Witnesses from his meeting of Charles Taze Russell in 1900 to the time of the writing of the book (1957). He served with three of the Presidents of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: Russell, Rutherford, and Knorr (who wrote the book's introduction). Publisher: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 57-8528 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1957)
A People for His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation by Tony Wills, (2006) 2nd edition. (The first edition was published under the pseudonym Timothy White.) The author, a lifelong Witness, presents an in-depth look at the Bible Student/Jehovah's Witness movement. He explores its doctrinal growth and shifts and notes schisms from the main body. 300 pages. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
Armed with the Constitution: Jehovah's Witnesses in Alabama and the U.S Supreme Court, 1939-1946 by Merlin Newton. Newton researches the contributions of two Jehovah's Witnesses—a black man and a white woman—in expanding the meaning of the First Amendment in 1940s Alabama. She examines two key U.S. Supreme Court decisions, as well as court records, memoirs, letters, and interviews of Jehovah's Witnesses. Publisher: University Alabama Press; Religion and American Culture Series, Reprint edition (June 28, 2002). Paperback: 240 pages. ISBN 0-8173-1228-5
O'er the Ramparts They Watched by Victor Blackwell.
Books by non-members[edit]
Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses by Alan Rogerson. Constable. 1969
Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of freedom of speech and worship by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge (a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses), examines the history of legal activities that led to expansion of religious freedoms in Canada. Referenced in the January 1, 1977 Watchtower, page 11 and the 1979 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 94. Publisher: Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7705-1340-9 (Canada, 1976)
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge, examines the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their doctrines. Read selections from: Google Book Search Publisher: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3 (Canada, 1998)
External links[edit]
Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor-Russell.com
  


Categories: History of Christianity by denomination
Jehovah's Witnesses




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









History of Jehovah's Witnesses

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 A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Bible Students
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 had its origins in the Bible Student movement, which developed in the United States in the 1870s among followers of Christian Restorationist minister Charles Taze Russell. Bible Student missionaries were sent to England in 1881 and the first overseas branch was opened in London in 1900. The group took on the name International Bible Students Association and by 1914 it was also active in Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries.[1] The movement split into several rival organizations after Russell's death in 1916, with one—led by Russell's successor, Joseph "Judge" Rutherford—retaining control of both his magazine, The Watch Tower, and his legal and publishing corporation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
Under Rutherford's direction, the International Bible Students Association introduced significant doctrinal changes. The group lost most of its original members between 1916 and 1928 but regrew rapidly from the mid-1930s[2] with the introduction of new preaching methods.[3] In 1931, the name Jehovah's witnesses was adopted,[4] further cutting ties with Russell's earlier followers.[5] Substantial organizational changes continued as congregations and teaching programs worldwide came under centralized control. Further refinements of its doctrines led to the prohibition of blood transfusions by members, abandonment of the cross in worship, rejection of Christmas and birthday celebrations and the view of the biblical Armageddon as a global war by God that will destroy the wicked and restore peace on earth.[6] In 1945 the Watch Tower Society, which Russell had founded as a publishing house, amended its charter to state that its purposes included preaching about God's Kingdom, acting as a servant and governing agency of Jehovah's Witnesses and sending out missionaries and teachers for the public worship of God and Jesus Christ.
The religion was banned in Canada in World War I, and in Germany, the Soviet Union, Canada and Australia during World War II; members suffered widespread persecution and mob violence in some of those countries and in the United States. The religion initiated dozens of high-profile legal actions in the United States and Canada between 1938 and 1955 to establish the right of members to sell literature from door to door, abstain from flag salute ceremonies and gain legal recognition as wartime conscientious objectors. Members of the religion suffered persecution in some African countries in the 1960s and 1970s; since 2004 the religion has suffered a series of official bans in Russia.[7]


Contents  [hide]
1 1869–1916 1.1 Adventist influences
1.2 Watch Tower Society
1.3 Congregations
1.4 Preaching
1.5 Organizational expansion
1.6 Doctrinal development
2 1917–1942 2.1 Organizational developments
2.2 Doctrinal changes
2.3 Persecution and opposition
3 1942–1975 3.1 Predictions for 1975
4 1976–present
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading 7.1 Books by members
7.2 Books by non-members
8 External links

1869–1916[edit]
Adventist influences[edit]
About 1869[8] Russell attended a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of a group he called "Second Adventists" and heard Advent Christian[9] preacher Jonas Wendell expound his views on Bible prophecy.[10][11][12] Wendell, influenced by the teachings of William Miller, rejected traditional Christian beliefs of the "immortal soul" and a literal hell[13] and interpreted scriptures in the books of Daniel and Revelation to predict that Christ would return in 1873.[14] Russell became convinced that God would reveal his purpose in the last days of the "Gospel age" and formed an independent Bible study group in Pittsburgh. He rejected Adventist teachings that the purpose of Christ's return was to destroy the earth[12] and instead formed the view that Christ had died to pay a "ransom price" to atone for sinful humans, intending to restore humans to Edenic perfection with the prospect of living forever.[12] Like Wendell, he rejected the concept of "hellfire" and the immortal soul.[15] In the mid-1870s, he published 50,000 copies of a pamphlet, The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return[16] explaining his views and his belief that Christ would return invisibly before the battle of Armageddon. He later acknowledged the influence of Adventist ministers George Storrs (who had earlier predicted Christ's return in 1844)[11] and George Stetson in the formation of his doctrines;[12] author James Penton claims he also strongly reflected the teachings of Philadelphia Lutheran pastor Joseph Seiss.[11]
In January 1876 Russell read an issue of Herald of the Morning, a periodical edited by Adventist preacher Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, but which had almost ceased publication because of dwindling subscriptions.[12] Barbour, like other Adventists, had earlier applied the biblical time prophecies of Miller and Wendell to calculate that Christ would return in 1874 to bring a "bonfire";[17] when this failed to eventuate he and co-writer J.H. Paton had concluded that though their calculations of the timing of Christ's return were correct, they had erred about its manner. They subsequently decided that Christ's return, or parousia, was invisible, and that Christ had therefore been present since 1874.[12][18][19] Russell "rejoiced" to find that others had reached the same conclusion on the parousia and decided their application of Adventist time prophecies — which he said he had "so long despised" — merited further examination. He met Barbour, accepted his detailed and complex arguments on prophetic chronology[20] and provided him with funds to write a book that combined their views.[12]

Timeline—1870–1916
1877 Russell and Barbour publish Three Worlds
1879 Russell begins publishing Watch Tower
1881 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is founded
1909 First schism
Letters of protest
1914 Photo-Drama of Creation released
1916 Russell dies
The book, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World,[21] was published in early 1877.[22] It articulated ideas that remained the teachings of Russell's associates for the next 40 years, many of which are still embraced by Jehovah's Witnesses: it identified a 2520-year-long era called "the Gentile Times", which would end in 1914, and broke from Adventist teachings by advancing Russell's concept of "restitution" — that all humankind since Adam would be resurrected to the earth and given the opportunity for eternal perfect human life. Russell claimed it was the first book to combine biblical end-time prophecies with the concept of restitution. It discussed the concept of parallel dispensations, which held that there were prophetic parallels between the Jewish and Gospel ages, and suggested the "new creation" would begin 6000 years after Adam's creation, a point in time he believed had been reached in 1872.[23] It also revealed the authors' belief that Christ had left heaven in 1874 to return to earth[24] and their expectation that God's "harvest" of the "saints" would end in early 1878, when they would all be taken to heaven.[11][17][25] Russell, Barbour and Paton began traveling to hold public meetings to discuss their beliefs. For Russell, it was not enough: "Noticing how quickly people seemed to forget what they had heard, it soon became evident that while the meetings were useful in awakening interest, a monthly journal was needed to hold that interest and develop it."[12] He provided Barbour with additional funds to resurrect The Herald of the Morning. Russell severed his relationship with the magazine in July, 1879 after Barbour publicly disputed the concept of the ransom.[12][26] He began publishing his own monthly magazine, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence[27][28] (now known as The Watchtower), which he sent to all the subscribers of the Herald, disputing Barbour's teaching.[11][17]
Watch Tower Society[edit]
In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was formed as an unincorporated administrative agency for the purpose of disseminating tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises and Bibles, with "Pastor" Russell, as he was by then called, as secretary and W.H. Conley as president.[28] Three years later, on December 15, 1884, Russell became the president of the society when it was legally incorporated in Pennsylvania.[29] He said the corporation was "not a 'religious society' in the ordinary meaning of this term,"[30] explaining: "This is a business association merely ... a business convenience in disseminating the truth."[31] Russell began to write a stream of articles, books, pamphlets and sermons, which by his death totaled 50,000 printed pages, with almost 20 million copies of his books printed and distributed around the world.[11] In 1886, he wrote The Divine Plan of the Ages, a 424-page book that was the first of what became a six-volume series called "Millennial Dawn," later renamed "Studies in the Scriptures,"[32] which established his fundamental doctrines. (As a consequence, the Bible Students were sometimes called "Millennial Dawnists".)
Congregations[edit]



Russell's tombstone in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The first study groups or congregations were established in 1879, and within a year more than 30 of them were meeting for six-hour study sessions under Russell's direction, to examine the Bible and his writings.[11] The groups were autonomous ecclesia, an organizational structure Russell regarded as a return to "primitive simplicity".[33] In an 1882 Watch Tower article he said his nationwide community of study groups was "strictly unsectarian and consequently recognize no sectarian name ... we have no creed (fence) to bind us together or to keep others out of our company. The Bible is our only standard, and its teachings our only creed." He added: "We are in fellowship with all Christians in whom we can recognize the Spirit of Christ."[34] Two years later he said the only appropriate names for his group would be "Church of Christ", "Church of God" or "Christians". He concluded: "By whatsoever names men may call us, it matters not to us; we acknowledge none other name than 'the only name given under heaven and among men' — Jesus Christ. We call ourselves simply Christians."[35] In 1895, discussing the best form of meeting to study his writings, Russell warned: "Beware of organization. It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others' consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours."[36]
Elders and deacons were elected by congregations and Russell tolerated a great latitude of belief among members. He discouraged formal disciplinary procedures by congregation elders, claiming this was beyond their authority,[37] instead recommending that an individual who continued in a wrong course be judged by the entire ecclesia, or congregation, which could ultimately "withdraw from him its fellowship".[38] Disfellowshipping did not mean the wrongdoer was shunned in all social circumstances or by all Bible Students.[39]
In 1894 Russell introduced the role of "pilgrim" workers, men chosen for their maturity, meekness and Bible knowledge, who would visit congregations for up to three days when requested, giving talks. The pilgrims, who initially served part-time but later became full-time workers, also delivered talks at conventions.[40]
From 1895, he recommended that congregations study his "Studies in the Scriptures" paragraph-by-paragraph to learn the "truth" he had discovered, and in 1905 he recommended replacing verse-by-verse Bible studies with what he called "Berean Studies" of topics he chose.[11]
Preaching[edit]
Russell advertised for 1000 preachers in 1881,[41] and encouraged all who were members of "the body of Christ" to go forth as "colporteurs" or evangelizers and preach to their neighbors in order to gather the remainder of the "little flock" of saints before they were called to heaven.[11] Colporteurs (renamed "pioneers" in the 1930s) left householders with a copy of Russell's 130-page booklet Food For Thinking Christians and a sample copy of Zion's Watch Tower and returned days later to retrieve the book or accept a payment for it. The workers received a commission on the sale, but Russell warned them to concentrate less on the money than on the task of spreading the truth.[42]
When a Pittsburgh newspaper's publication of the full text of Russell's 1903 debates with Methodist minister Dr E. L. Eaton resulted in a huge demand for copies, several newspapers began printing weekly sermons by Russell. By 1907 21 million copies of his sermons were being printed a year in 11 U.S. newspapers. Russell entered a contract with a newspaper syndicate to give his sermons wider coverage and by December 1909 they were appearing in 400 papers to a weekly readership of 2.5 million. By 1910 his sermons were supplied to more than 1000 newspapers, some of which billed him as "the people's favorite preacher", and a peak of 2024 papers in the U.S., Canada, Britain, South Africa and Australia was reached in 1913.[43] The publicity, including press coverage of annual overseas tours between 1908 and 1913, gave Russell a measure of international celebrity, prompting letters of concern by Bible Students over his supposed ostentatiousness, which in turn led Russell to defend his mode of transport and accommodation.[43][44]
In 1914 Russell released an eight-hour-long film, The Photo-Drama of Creation, that attempted to portray chronologically the history of the world from creation to the millennial reign of Christ.[45] The film, accompanied by a gramophone soundtrack, was screened for free in two four-hour sittings around the world, attracting more than 1.2 million patrons in Britain in 1914 alone. The cost of the production and screenings was so high it created financial difficulties for the society, but by Russell's death it was reported that the film had been seen by more than nine million people.[46]
Organizational expansion[edit]
Two missionaries were sent to England in 1881[11] and overseas branches were opened in London (1900),[47] Germany (1903) and Australia and Switzerland (1904).[48] The Watch Tower Society's headquarters were transferred to Brooklyn, New York in 1908.[49] In 1910 Russell introduced the name International Bible Students Association as a means of identifying his worldwide community of Bible study groups. The name was also used when advertising and conducting conventions of Russell's followers.[50]
The first foreign-language edition of Zion's Watch Tower was published in 1883 when Russell produced a sample copy in Swedish and in 1885 the magazine was also translated into German for German-speaking Pennsylvanians.[51]
Doctrinal development[edit]
By 1904, Russell's doctrinal development was almost complete. His sixth and final part of "Studies in the Scriptures", The New Creation, established that Revelation 7 spoke of two heavenly classes of Christians — 144,000 who would serve as a royal priesthood with Christ and a Great Company who would be brought to perfection on a lesser plane, similar to that of angels, serving the 144,000.[52] He believed that 1878 marked the "fall of Babylon", when God officially judged that Christendom had proven unfaithful.[53][54] He believed the "time of the end" in Daniel 12 ran from 1799 to 1914, that Christ had returned to earth in 1874, began his reign in 1878 and that from that date the anointed had been resurrected to heaven at their death. He initially taught that Armageddon had begun in 1874, which would culminate in worldwide anarchy and the overthrow of all political rulership in 1914 at the conclusion of the "times of the Gentiles", but by 1897 began to teach that Armageddon would instead begin in 1914.[55][56] The earthly part of God's kingdom would be administered from Jerusalem in a re-established nation of Israel and under the control of the resurrected ancient Jewish prophets. All of mankind would over time be resurrected to earth in reverse order of death, Adam and Eve being the last, and be given the instruction and guidance necessary to prove themselves obedient to God in order to attain eternal life. Early in the resurrection, "ancient worthies" including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be raised to occupy positions of overseers and representatives of the invisible heavenly government ruling from Jerusalem.[57] The Millennial Age, which he believed had begun in 1874, would run to 2874 or 2914 AD, when a test of earth's inhabitants would decide their ultimate destinies, to life or everlasting death.[58][59][60]
In 1905 Paul S. L. Johnson, one of the traveling "Pilgrim" speakers and a former Lutheran minister, pointed out to Russell that his doctrines on the New Covenant had undergone a complete reversal: until 1880 he had taught that the New Covenant would be inaugurated only after the last of the 144,000 anointed Christians had been taken to heaven,[61] but since 1881 he had written that it was already in force.[62][63] Russell reconsidered the question and in January 1907 wrote several Watch Tower articles reaffirming his 1880 position—that "the new covenant belongs exclusively to the coming age"[64]—adding that the church had no mediator, but that Christ was the "advocate". He also taught that Christians making up the 144,000 would join Christ as a "joint heir" and assistant mediator during the millennium.[65]
On October 24, 1909 former Watch Tower Society secretary-treasurer E.C. Henninges, who was by then the Australian branch manager based in Melbourne, wrote Russell an open letter of protest trying to persuade him to abandon the teaching, and calling on Bible Students to examine its legitimacy. When Russell refused, Henninges and most of the Melbourne congregation left Russell's movement to form the New Covenant Fellowship. Hundreds of the estimated 10,000 U.S. Bible Students also left, including pilgrim M. L. McPhail, a member of the Chicago Bible Students, and A. E. Williamson of Brooklyn, forming the New Covenant Believers.[63][66]
Russell died on October 31, 1916, in Pampa, Texas during a cross-country preaching trip. For the next 10 years, the Watch Tower Society continued to teach the view that he had fulfilled the roles of the "Laodicean Messenger" of Revelation 3:14–22[67] and the "Faithful and Wise Servant" of Matthew 24:45.[68]
1917–1942[edit]
Timeline—1916–1942
1917 Rutherford elected president of Watch Tower
1917 Second schism
Control of the headquarters
1919 Publication of Golden Age begins
1920 Rutherford publishes Millions Now Living Never Die, setting 1925 as date for return of Old Testament "Princes"
1929 Rutherford builds Beth Sarim to hold resurrected Bible personages
1931 Third schism
The name changes to Jehovah's witnesses
1942 Rutherford dies
Organizational developments[edit]
At the corporation's annual general meeting on January 6, 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the Society's legal counsel, was elected as Russell's successor, with new by-laws passed to strengthen the president's authority.[69] Within months, four of the Society's seven directors claimed he was acting without consulting the board and described him as "dogmatic, authoritarian and secretive".[70][71][72][73] A directors' meeting in June proposed returning control of the Society to the board,[74] but at a stormy five-hour meeting on July 17, 1917, Rutherford announced he had appointed four new directors to replace the four who had opposed him, claiming they had no legal status on the board because of conflict with Pennsylvania law.[75][76] At the same meeting Rutherford surprised the headquarters staff and most of the directors[77] by announcing the release of the book The Finished Mystery,[78] dealing with the prophecies of the books of Revelation and Ezekiel and based on Russell's writings.[79] The book, written by Bible Students Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher,[80][81] was described as the "posthumous work of Russell" and the seventh volume of Studies in the Scriptures. It was an immediate best-seller and was translated into six languages.[82]
Rutherford and the ousted directors published a number of newsletters through 1917 and 1918 attacking each other and some congregations split into opposing groups of those loyal either to the president or those he had expelled.[83][84] Rutherford staged a purge within the Brooklyn headquarters to force out those not wholeheartedly on his side and required those who remained to sign an oath of allegiance to him.[85] He was re-elected as president in 1918 with a big majority, but by mid-1919 about one in seven Bible Students had left,[86] forming such groups as The Stand Fast Bible Students Association, Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, Dawn Bible Students Association, Pastoral Bible Institute, Elijah Voice Movement and Eagle Society.[87] Subscriptions to The Watch Tower also fell from 45,000 to fewer than 3000 between 1914 and 1918.[88]



Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869–1942)
Rutherford introduced a vast advertising campaign to expose the "unrighteousness" of religions and their alliances with "beastly" governments, expanding on claims in The Finished Mystery that patriotism was akin to murder.[89][90] The campaign provoked anger among the clergy and governments in North America and Europe, where Bible Students began to be arrested, mobbed and tarred and feathered.[70][91] On February 12, 1918 The Finished Mystery was banned by the Canadian government for what a Winnipeg newspaper described as "seditious and antiwar statements".[92] On February 24 in Los Angeles Rutherford gave the first of his talk series "Millions Now Living May Never Die" (the title of the talk was changed five weeks later to "Millions Now Living Will Never Die")[93][94] in which he attacked the clergy, describing them as "the most reprehensible men on earth for the great war that is now afflicting mankind".[92] Three days later the Army Intelligence Bureau seized the Society's Los Angeles offices and on March 4 the US government ordered the removal of seven pages of The Finished Mystery if distribution was to continue.[95] In early May 1918 US Attorney General Thomas Watt Gregory condemned the book as dangerous propaganda[96] and days later warrants were issued for the arrest of Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower directors and officers on charges of sedition under the Espionage Act amid claims they were conspiring to cause disloyalty and encouraging the refusal of military duty. On June 21 seven of them, including Rutherford, were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. They were released on bail in March 1919 after an appeals court ruled they had been wrongly convicted and in May 1920 the government announced all charges had been dropped.[97]



 Watch Tower Board of Directors jailed in 1918 for violation of the Espionage Act
On his release from prison, Rutherford began a major reorganization of Bible Student activities. The Watch Tower Society set up its own printing establishment[98] and in 1919 Rutherford founded the magazine The Golden Age (now Awake!), which the Bible Students began distributing publicly[99] in response to an increasing emphasis by the Brooklyn headquarters on door-to-door preaching.[100] Brooklyn appointed a "director" in each congregation in 1919, and a year later directed all congregation members who participated in the preaching work to report weekly on their witnessing activity.[101] As the Bible Students' preaching work expanded, Rutherford moved to take greater control over their message in a bid to unify the message and become the spokesman for the organization.[102]
Major annual conventions were organized from 1922 and 1928, which were as much publicity events as spiritual gatherings.[103] At an eight-day assembly at Cedar Point, Ohio in 1922 he launched a series of international conventions under the theme "Advertise the King and Kingdom", attracting crowds of up to 20,000,[104] who were urged to "herald the message far and wide". "Behold the King!" Rutherford told conventioners. "You are his publicity agents."[105] He stressed that the prime purpose of all Bible Students was to preach publicly in fulfillment of Matthew 24:14, especially in the form of door-to-door evangelism with the Society's publications, rather than prayer, meditation or Bible study.[106][107] The traditional Bible Student prayer and testimony meetings were divided into two parts with one becoming a "service meeting", devoted to promoting public preaching.[108] In 1924 he expanded his means of spreading the Watch Tower message with the start of 15-minute radio broadcasts, initially from WBBR, based on Staten Island, and eventually via a network of as many as 480 radio stations.[109][110] A 1931 talk was broadcast throughout North America, Australia and France, but the virulence of his attacks on the clergy was strong enough to result in both the NBC and BBC radio networks banning him from the airwaves.[111] Later still, in the late 1930s, he advocated the use of "sound cars" and portable phonographs with which talks by Rutherford were played to passersby and householders.[112]
The new preaching methods brought an influx of members through the early 1920s, but attendance at the Bible Students' yearly Memorial fell sharply again, dropping from 90,434 in 1925[113] to 17,380 in 1928.[114][115][116][117] Rutherford dismissed their defection as the Lord "shaking out" the unfaithful.[118] Author Tony Wills, who analyzed attendance and "field worker" statistics, suggests it was the "more dedicated" Bible Students who quit through the 1920s, to be replaced by newcomers in larger numbers,[119] creating what author Robert Crompton described as one of the most significant of the movement's breaks with its early history.[5]
At a convention at Columbus, Ohio on July 26, 1931, Rutherford made a psychological break with the large number of disaffected Bible Students[120] by proposing the adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses, based on the scripture at Isaiah 43:10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord". The Watch Tower said the new, distinctive name was designed to exalt God's name and end public confusion caused by the proliferation of groups carrying the name "Bible Students". It explained: "It will be a name that could not be used by another, and such as none other will want to use."[121][122]
In 1932, he eliminated the system of congregations electing bodies of elders, claiming the office of elder was unscriptural;[123] in 1938, he replaced the earlier system of congregational self-government with a "theocratic" or "God-ruled" organizational system in which the Brooklyn headquarters would make all appointments in congregations worldwide.[101][124] Consolation magazine explained: "The Theocracy is at present administered by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of which Judge Rutherford is the president and general manager."[125] Rutherford, who had shown an earlier interest in politics, applied terms to the organization that were more common in politics and business: "organization" replaced "congregation" when referring to the worldwide community of believers, while "companies" denoted individual congregations. He pushed for more "field service" and "campaigns" of kingdom "advertising" in "territories", with "publishers" working under the direction of a field service "captain".[98]
Under Rutherford, Jehovah's Witnesses grew from about 44,000 in 1928 to about 115,000 at the time of his death on January 8, 1942.
Doctrinal changes[edit]



 J.F. Rutherford at Beth Sarim
Rutherford's term as president was marked by a succession of changes to doctrines, with many of Russell's teachings altered or abandoned and many new teachings introduced. The Finished Mystery declared that God would destroy churches "wholesale" and church members by the millions in 1918,[126] and that all earthly governments would be destroyed in 1920, resulting in anarchy.[127] Expectations remained strong that the change of the "saints" and completion of the "body of Christ" in heaven was imminent. A Watch Tower report on the 1918 Brooklyn convention said there was good reason to believe the gathering "might be the last in this vicinity, before the great convention beyond the veil".[128] Disregarding Russell's rejection of 1925 as a year of importance,[129] Rutherford announced in 1920 that Christ's thousand-year reign would begin in that year, bringing the restoration of an earthly paradise and the resurrection to earth of the ancient Jewish prophets referred to as "the ancient worthies"[130] (such as Abraham and Isaac).[131][132] Jerusalem would become the world capital, and the "princes" would communicate with all humankind by radio.[133] The pronouncements prompted many Bible Students to give up their businesses and jobs and sell their homes, while Bible Student farmers in Canada and the US refused to seed their spring crops in 1925 and mocked members of their religion who did.[134] Rutherford had a luxury villa, Beth Sarim, built in San Diego, California, in 1930 to house the biblical "princes" who were expected to be resurrected before Armageddon.[135][136] Watch Tower publications made no admission of error over the predictions for 1925, but Rutherford gave apologies at IBSA conventions.[134][137]

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
Armageddon was redefined in 1925 as a battle between God and Satan, resulting in the overthrow of human governments and false religion[138] and a 1926 Watchtower article introduced a new emphasis on the importance of the name "Jehovah".[139] From 1926 publications began discrediting earlier teachings on the importance of Christian "character development" or personal "sanctification"[106][140][141] and a year later they discarded the teaching that Russell had been the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45–47.[106][142] By then the Watch Tower Society had rejected the belief that Russell alone had been the sole channel of scriptural enlightenment.[143] In 1927 the Society disposed of remaining copies of Russell's Studies in the Scriptures and The Finished Mystery and ceased printing the books.[5] A year later Russell's teaching that the natural Jews would be restored to Palestine and hold a prominent place in the earthly part of God's kingdom was dropped.[144][145] Christmas celebrations ceased in 1928 after a radio broadcast and Golden Age articles on their pagan origins.[146]
In 1929 Rutherford announced that the vindication of God's name—which would ultimately occur when millions of unbelievers were destroyed at Armageddon—was the primary doctrine of Christianity and more important that God's display of goodness or grace towards humans.[147][148][149][150] By 1933, the timing of Christ's parousia and the start of the "last days" had been moved from 1874 to 1914[151] with the principles of parallel dispensations retained to place Christ's enthronement 3½ years later in 1918.[152] In 1935 a new interpretation of the "great company" of Revelation 7 placed them on earth as survivors of Armageddon rather than in heaven[153] and from that point converts to the movement were generally identified as those who, if worthy, would qualify for life on a paradise earth.[154] The same year, Witnesses were told they should refuse to salute the flag, stand for the national anthem, or accept alternative service provided for those who had conscientous objection to military service. Reference to the cross and crucifixion in Watch Tower publications ceased in 1936 when it was asserted that Christ had actually died on a tree.[146] By 1939 Watch Tower publications explained that only those who were part of God's "organization" would be spared at Armageddon.[155]
Persecution and opposition[edit]
Main article: Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
From 1927 Bible Students were urged to extend their door-to-door preaching to include Sundays. The move quickly attracted opposition from the clergy and the following year Bible Students began to be arrested in the U.S. for breaching local by-laws on Sabbath observance.[156] Rutherford challenged the laws in courts, ultimately fighting hundreds of cases in New Jersey alone as he insisted the preachers were not selling literature, but distributing it for a contribution to Society funds.[157]
In 1935, Witnesses were told they should refuse to salute national flags, stand for national anthems, or accept alternative service provided for those who had conscientious objection to military service. In late 1936 U.S. schools began expelling Witness children who refused to salute the flag. When the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of schools to expel non-conforming children in June 1940, many states began passing laws requiring compulsory flag salute and similarly expelling children. The Supreme Court decision prompted a wave of violence against U.S. Witnesses, mostly in small towns and rural areas, where they were beaten, castrated, tarred and feathered and in some cases killed. More than 2500 cases were reported from 1940 to 1944 and hundreds of Witnesses were arrested and charged with crimes including sedition. The Witnesses responded with campaigns of mass witnessing, descending on hostile towns in their hundreds, and organizing "information marches", some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long, in which members wore sandwich boards and held placards and banners.[158][159][160]
In Germany, preaching activity was banned and the Watch Tower Society headquarters seized and closed. Thousands of Witnesses were arrested on peddling charges from 1922; in 1933, following the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, government restrictions were tightened, prompting the public distribution of more than two million copies of a Declaration of Facts in which the Witnesses protested at their treatment and requested the right to preach. It had little effect: Witnesses were fired from their jobs and about 2000 were imprisoned in concentration camps.[161][162] Jehovah's Witnesses were the first Christian denomination to be banned and the most extensively persecuted Christian group during the Nazi era.[163]
Witnesses in Japan were imprisoned and tortured,[164] while members in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain were also imprisoned as conscientious objectors. The Witnesses were banned in Germany in 1936, Canada in July 1940[165] and Australia in January 1941.[166][167] Under Rutherford's leadership, a legal staff was developed to establish their right to preach and their right to refrain from nationalistic ceremonies. Between 1938 and 1955 the Watch Tower Society won 36 out of 45 religion-related court cases.[168] These legal battles resulted in significant expansions in freedom of speech and religion in both countries.[169]
Writers including American essayist Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, William Whalen, Alan Rogerson and William Schnell have claimed the religion was complicit in its own victimisation, often goading authorities with cartoons and books that ridiculed and denigrated church and state and provocative mass assemblies in which the Witnesses flooded towns with preachers. They claim a deliberate course of martyrdom served to attract society’s dispossessed and oppressed members and also provided apparent validation of the "truth" of the Watchtower cause as evidenced by the level of opposition from the outside world as they struggled to serve God.[170][171][172][173]
1942–1975[edit]



 New York headquarters of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society
Timeline—1942–1975
1942 Knorr elected president of Watch Tower Society
1950 New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures started (completed 1961)
1966 The year 1975 suggested as possible date for Armageddon
Rutherford was succeeded by Nathan Homer Knorr. Knorr's tenure as president was notable for the transfer from individual to corporate leadership. None of the Society's publications after 1942 acknowledged authorship, and were instead attributed to an anonymous Writing Committee.[174] From about 1944, the term "governing body" began to be used with a measure of frequency, with the term initially applied to the Watch Tower Society's seven-man Board of Directors.[175] Knorr began a campaign of real estate acquisition in Brooklyn to expand the organisation's world headquarters, expanded printing production throughout the world, and organized a series of international assemblies that dwarfed those of Rutherford in the 1920s. In 1958, more than 253,000 Witnesses gathered at two New York venues, Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds, for an eight-day convention where more than 7000 were baptized.[176] Other large conventions were held in the US, Canada and Germany.
He instituted major training programs, including the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead to train missionaries, and the Theocratic Ministry School to give instruction in preaching and public speaking at the congregational level. He commissioned a new translation of the Bible, which was released progressively from 1950, before being published as the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in 1961. Also produced were a Greek-English New Testament interlinear (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures) and a Bible encyclopedia (Aid to Bible Understanding). The offices of elder and ministerial servant (deacon) were restored to Witness congregations in 1972, with appointments being made from headquarters.[177]
Knorr's vice-president, Frederick William Franz, became the leading theologian for the religion[178] and the pace of doctrinal change slowed. Blood transfusions were prohibited for Witnesses from 1945 and in 1961 the eating of blood in meat was also proscribed, The Watchtower instructing Witnesses to check with their butcher whether the animals and fowl he sold had been properly drained of their blood.[179][180] Birthday celebrations were described as "objectionable" in 1951 because of their pagan origins[181] and other explicit rules regarding acceptable conduct among members were introduced, with a greater emphasis placed on disfellowshipping as a disciplinary measure.[182]
Adult male Witnesses in the US, Britain, and some European countries were jailed for refusal of military service in the post-war years, with particularly harsh treatment meted out in Spain, Greece, East Germany and Romania. Wide-scale persecution of Witnesses in several African nations was launched between 1967 and 1975, with as many as 21,000 fleeing Malawi to refugee camps in Zambia after a series of murders and beatings in 1972, and 7000 Mozambiquean members of the religion were arrested in 1975 to be sent to communist re-education camps.[183]
During Knorr's presidency, membership of Jehovah's Witnesses grew from 108,000 to more than two million.[178]
Predictions for 1975[edit]
From 1966, Witness publications heightened anticipation of Christ's thousand-year millennial reign beginning in late 1975.[184][185][186][187] Repeating the 1925 cycle of excitement, anticipation and then disappointment, Witness publications and convention talks intensified focus on 1975 as the "appropriate" time for God to act,[188] with statements that "the immediate future is certain to be filled with climactic events ... within a few years at most the final parts of the Bible prophecy relative to these 'last days' will undergo fulfillment".[189] The September 15, 1971 issue of The Watchtower warned that "all worldly careers are soon to come to an end", and advised youths that they should not "get interested in ‘higher education’ for a future that will never eventuate."[190] A chart in a 1971 Awake! indicated the "thrilling hope" of a "grand Sabbath of rest and relief" in the mid-1970s at the close of 6000 years of human history.[191] Some Witnesses sold businesses and homes, gave up jobs, deferred medical procedures and set aside plans to start a family in anticipation of Armageddon's arrival.[192][193] The May 1974 issue of the Watch Tower Society's newsletter, Our Kingdom Ministry, commended Witnesses who had sold homes and property to devote themselves to preaching in the "short time" remaining.[194]
Watch Tower literature did not state dogmatically that 1975 would definitely mark the end,[195] and the buildup was tempered with cautions that there was no certainty that Armageddon would arrive in 1975, but magazines warned that "time is running out rapidly"[196] and that "only a few years, at most" remained before Armageddon.[197] Circuit assemblies in 1970 held a public talk entitled "Who will conquer the world in the 1970s?"[198] and in a speech in Australia in 1975 the society's vice-president Frederick Franz went so far as to name a precise date—September 5, 1975—as the "end of the present wicked system".[199] Witnesses were also urged that they should not be "toying with the words of Jesus that 'concerning that day and hour nobody knows' ... to the contrary, one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end."[200] The number of baptisms soared from about 59,000 in 1966, to more than 297,000 in 1974, but membership declined after expectations for the year failed.[192][201] In 1976 The Watchtower advised those who had been "disappointed" by the failure of the predictions for 1975 to adjust their viewpoint because their understanding had been "based on wrong premises",[202] but four years later, after several proposals by Governing Body members to apologize to Witnesses were voted down,[203] the Watch Tower Society admitted its responsibility in building up hope regarding 1975.[204]
1976–present[edit]

Timeline—1976–2015
1976 Governing Body takes control
1980 Purge of senior Brooklyn headquarters staff
1995 Teaching that generation of 1914 will see Armageddon is abandoned
2008 Definition of generation changed to 'remnant of anointed'
2010 Definition of generation changed to 'living anointed whose lives overlap 1914 anointed'
The leadership structure of Jehovah's Witnesses was reorganized from January 1, 1976, with the power of the presidency passed to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and the establishment of six committees to oversee tasks such as writing, teaching, publishing and evangelizing work.[205] At this time, Watch Tower Society publications began using the capitalized name, Jehovah's Witnesses. Subsequent presidents of the Watch Tower Society after Knorr's death in 1977 have been Frederick William Franz, Milton George Henschel and Don A. Adams.
A purge of senior Brooklyn headquarters staff was carried out in April and May 1980 after it was discovered some at the highest ranks of the hierarchy dissented with core Watch Tower Society doctrines, particularly surrounding the significance of 1914, and wished to propose adjustments as "new understandings" to continue the century-long tradition of changes in doctrines.[206][207] Unease at the chronology doctrines had in fact surfaced within the Governing Body earlier that year. In February, three Governing Body members – aware that those who had been alive in 1914 were rapidly dwindling in number despite the teaching that their generation would be alive to see Armageddon—had proposed a radical change in Watch Tower doctrines to require that the "generation" that would see the arrival of Armageddon had been alive only since 1957, the year of the launch of the Russian space satellite Sputnik. The proposal, which would have extended the deadline for Armageddon by 43 years, failed to gain a majority vote.[208][209] Internal dissatisfaction with official doctrines continued to grow, however, leading to a series of secret investigations and judicial hearings. Among those expelled from the Witnesses was former Governing Body member Raymond Franz. Many of those expelled were labelled by Governing Body members as "spiritual fornicators", "mentally diseased" and "insane".[206] The purge resulted in a number of schisms in the religion in Canada, Britain, and northern Europe, and prompted the formation of loose groups of disaffected former Witnesses. The Watch Tower Society responded to the crisis with a new, hardened attitude towards the treatment of defectors and expelled Witnesses.[206][207][210][211]
In 1995, changes regarding their understanding of Jesus' comments regarding "this generation" (from Matthew 24:34) were published.[212] Throughout the previous four decades, Jehovah's Witnesses had taught that the generation that saw the events of 1914 would not die out before Armageddon came.[213] The understanding of the "generation" was again adjusted in 2008, to refer to the remnant of the anointed.[214] In 2010, the definition of the generation was changed again, wherein the lives of anointed individuals living in 1914 overlap with a second group alive in the present day. Jehovah's Witnesses continue to teach that Armageddon is imminent.[215]
See also[edit]
Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Watch Tower Society presidency dispute (1917)
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 32, 33.
2.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 191, 192. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
3.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 5. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
4.Jump up ^ "Walking in the Path of Increasing Light". The Watchtower: 26–29. 15 February 2006. "the resolution stated: “... we desire to be known as and called by the name, to wit, Jehovah’s witnesses.”"
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 101. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
6.Jump up ^ Draw Close to Jehovah, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 2002, page 157.
7.Jump up ^ "Russia Supreme Court bans Jehovah's Witness congregation", Jurist Legal News and Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, December 10, 2009.
8.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879, page 1, states the date of Russell's encounter with Wendell as "about 1869". Rogerson (p.6), Crompton (p.30) and The Watchtower (January 1, 1955) claim it was in 1870, Wills (p.4) states it was 1868; Penton and Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (p. 43) say it was 1869. Russell's later recounting of his story in Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, leaves the actual date unclear.
9.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, p. 43. According to Alan Rogerson, Russell used the collective term "Second Adventists" to refer to a number of sects prophesying the imminent Second Advent of Jesus.
10.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 30. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j 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.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "A sketch of the development of present truth", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906.
13.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
14.Jump up ^ 1873 reprint of The Present Truth or Meat in Due Season, Jonas Wendell, 1870, with additional essay.
15.Jump up ^ *Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 5, 6. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
16.Jump up ^ The pamphlet was published in 1873, according to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, while James Penton argues that it was as late as 1877.
17.^ Jump up to: a b c Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879, page 1.
18.Jump up ^ http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/history/barbour%20midnight%20cry.htm N.H. Barbour, Evidences for the Coming of the Lord in 1873: or the Midnight Cry, 1871.
19.Jump up ^ The Midnight Cry and Herald of the Morning, March 1874. See Section under "Our Faith."
20.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
21.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell. Three Worlds and The Harvest of This World, 1877. Accessed March 15, 2006.
22.Jump up ^ Though the book bore the names of both men as authors, Russell (Watch Tower, July 15, 1906) noted it was "mostly written by Mr Barbour". James Penton (Apocalypse Delayed) points out that in early issues of the Watch Tower, Russell repeatedly referred to Barbour as its author.
23.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour & C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1977, page 67.
24.Jump up ^ N.H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, page 104.
25.Jump up ^ N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, pp. 124, 143
26.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
27.Jump up ^ Issues of the Watch Tower from 1879-1916 are available at http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/Reprints/index.asp or by article at: http://www.agsconsulting.com/htdbv5/links.htm. The text was taken from the seven-volume Reprints printed in 1919 and compared with the original issues up to December 15, 1916 to remove transcription errors and add articles that had been excluded.
28.^ Jump up to: a b "Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses", Watchtower, January 15, 1955, page 14.
29.Jump up ^ Holden, A. (2002) Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. (p.18)
30.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, October 1894, page 330.
31.Jump up ^ C.T. Russell, "A Conspiracy Exposed", Zion's Watch Tower Extra edition, April 25, 1894, page 55–60.
32.Jump up ^ Yearbook 1975, Watch Tower Society, 1975.
33.Jump up ^ "The Ekklesia", Zion's Watch Tower, October 1881.
34.Jump up ^ "Questions and answers", Zion's Watch Tower, April 1882.
35.Jump up ^ "Our name", Zion's Watch Tower, February 1884.
36.Jump up ^ "Concerning profitable meetings", Zion's Watch Tower, September 15, 1895.
37.Jump up ^ What Pastor Russell Said, Leslie W. Jones, 1917, pg 346, as cited by Penton, 1997, pg 31, "The Lord's word does not authorize any court of Elders, or anyone else, to become busybodies. This would be going back to the practices of the Dark Ages during the Inquisition and we would be showing the same spirit as did the inquisitors."
38.Jump up ^ Russell directed that an unrepentant person be judged by the entire ecclesia, rather than the elders. He directed that the ecclesia not make the wrongdoer's faults public. See The New Creation Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1904, pages 289–290
39.Jump up ^ Apocalypse Delayed, James Penton, page 31.
40.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
41.Jump up ^ "Wanted: 1000 Preachers", Zion's Watch Tower, April 1881.
42.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 12, 14. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
43.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
44.Jump up ^ "The Newspaper Syndicate's Idea, The Watch Tower, January 15, 1912.
45.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Society, p. 422
46.Jump up ^ "Biography", The Watch Tower, December 15, 1916.
47.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 32.
48.Jump up ^ "The First One a Hundred Years Ago", Awake, December 22, 2000.
49.Jump up ^ "Organized Testimony to the New World", Watchtower, July 15, 1950, page 215.
50.Jump up ^ Watchtower, April 1910.
51.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
52.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The New Creation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1904, pages 120–121, 127–129.
53.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come (1890), Volume 3 of Studies in the Scriptures, pp. 305–308.
54.Jump up ^ "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..."—"The Consummation of Our Hope" in Zion's Watch Tower, April 1883. Reprints pp. 474–5.
55.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Time of the End, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, page 101.
56.Jump up ^ "Things to Come—And The Present European Situation" in The Watch Tower, January 15, 1892, Reprints, p. 1355
57.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
58.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 38, 50. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
59.Jump up ^ "The Day of the Lord", Zion's Watch Tower, October–November 1882, reprints page 410.
60.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. pp. 38, 39. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
61.Jump up ^ "The Three Great Covenants", Zion's Watch Tower, March 1880.
62.Jump up ^ "The New Covenant vs the Law Covenant", Zion's Watch Tower, September 1887.
63.^ Jump up to: a b Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 63–68. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
64.Jump up ^ "The Mediator of the New Covernant", Zion's Watch Tower, January 1, 1907, pages 9, 10.
65.Jump up ^ "The Word Mediator Used Differently,", Watch Tower, January 1909.
66.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 42
67.Jump up ^ See chart "The Seven Messengers to the Church" from The Finished Mystery (1917), page 66.
68.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, page 5
69.Jump up ^ Apocalypse Delayed, M.J. Penton, p. 51. Rutherford, as chief legal counsel for the Watch Tower Society, had written the new by-laws. (See Harvest Siftings II, written by J.F. Rutherford.)
70.^ Jump up to: a b M James Penton, "Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses", University of Toronto Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8020-7973-3
71.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2002, chapter 3.
72.Jump up ^ Rutherford published his version of the dispute in Harvest Siftings
73.Jump up ^ Harvest Siftings II
74.Jump up ^ See Rutherford's Harvest Siftings under subheading "Seeds Begin to Bring Forth."
75.Jump up ^ Rutherford, J.F. (August 1, 1917). "Harvest Siftings" (PDF). Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
76.Jump up ^ See Faith on the March, p. 80. The ousted directors disagreed: "...if the directors were not legally elected, neither were the Society's three officers: Rutherford, Pierson, and Van Amburgh. In order to have been chosen officers in January 1917, they would have had to have been legally elected directors. Yet, they had not been, and hence, by Rutherford's own logic, did not hold office legally."--Apocalypse Delayed, M. James Penton, p. 52
77.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 70.
78.Jump up ^ PDF version of The Finished Mystery
79.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
80.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 84. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
81.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 61.
82.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 40. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
83.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, pg 68.
84.Jump up ^ Watch Tower publications since 1917 have vilified those who opposed Rutherford and make no attempt to convey their version of events. In its account of the events of 1917, the 1993 Proclaimers of God's Kingdom book refers to the opposing camps as "those loyal to the Society and those who were easy prey to the smooth talk of the opposers" (pg. 68). The 1975 Yearbook (pg. 87) dismisses the four ousted directors as "rebellious individuals who claimed to be board members" (pg. 92) and men who "ambitiously sought to gain administrative control of the Society". The 1959 history book Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose also incorrectly claims the legal advice given to the ousted directors confirmed that given to Rutherford. Their own journal, Light After Darkness, makes it plain their legal advice disagreed with Rutherford's.
85.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 37. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
86.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1975). 1975 Yearbook. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. pp. 93–94.
87.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Constable, London. p. 39. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
88.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 95. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
89.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
90.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 41. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
91.Jump up ^ "Distress of Nations: Cause, Warning, Remedy" (PDF). The Golden Age: 712–718. September 29, 1920.
92.^ Jump up to: a b *Macmillan, A.H. (1957). Faith on the March. Prentice-Hall. p. 85.
93.Jump up ^ The initial delivery was entitled "The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die". See:
 "Noteworthy Events in the Modern-day History of Jehovah’s Witnesses", Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom", 1993 Watch Tower, page 719, "1918 The discourse “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living May Never Die” is first delivered, on February 24, in Los Angeles, California. On March 31, in Boston, Massachusetts, the talk is entitled “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die” [emphasis added]
94.Jump up ^ Los Angeles Morning Tribune, February 25, 1918, as recorded in Faith on the March by A. H. Macmillan, 1957, page 86
95.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
96.Jump up ^ Macmillan, A.H. (1957). Faith on the March. Prentice-Hall. p. 89.
97.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 44. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
98.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007. Chapter 6.
99.Jump up ^ Edited by C.J. Woodworth, The Golden Age was intended as a general news magazine to proclaim the incoming "golden age."
100.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pp. 259–260
101.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007. Chapter 4.
102.Jump up ^ A.H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1957, page 152, "Rutherford wanted to unify the preaching work and, instead of having each individual give his own opinion ... gradually Rutherford himself began to be the main spokesman for the organization.".
103.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 59.
104.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 54. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
105.Jump up ^ *Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1975). 1975 Yearbook. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. p. 131.
106.^ Jump up to: a b c M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed — The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 60.
107.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 51. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
108.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 63.
109.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 55. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
110.Jump up ^ "How Great a Witness?", The Watchtower, January 1, 1968, page 14.
111.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 149–151. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
112.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 57. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
113.Jump up ^ Your Will Be Done on Earth. Watchtower. 1958. p. 337.
114.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Watchtower. 1959. p. 313.
115.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 61.
116.Jump up ^ When Pastor Russell Died (PDF). Dawn Bible Students Association. 1946. pp. 6–16. 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.
117.Jump up ^ Penton, M.J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed. University of Toronto Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8020-7973-2.
118.Jump up ^ 1931 Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, pg 57.
119.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 142, 146, 157–159. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
120.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, page 62.
121.Jump up ^ "A New Name", The Watch Tower, October 1, 1931, page 296–297.
122.Jump up ^ "Riches of the Full Assurance of Our Understanding", The Watchtower, October 15, 1950, page 387.
123.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, page 64.
124.Jump up ^ "Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Restoration of Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, June 1, 1955, "The final change-over to a theocratic organization of Jehovah’s witnesses occurred in 1938 ... Similarly today the power of appointment of all servants in congregations rightfully rests with the governing body of the 'faithful and discreet slave' class, which is under the direct supervision of Christ Jesus at the temple. These powers do not rest democratically with the congregations."
125.Jump up ^ Consolation, 4 September 1940, pg 25, as cited by Penton, pg. 61.
126.Jump up ^ "The Finished Mystery 1917, p. 485, "In the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by the 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.'" (Later editions read differently)
127.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917 edition, p. 258, "And the mountains were not found. Even the republics will disappear in the fall of 1920. And the mountains were not found. Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy." (This date was changed in later editions.)
128.Jump up ^ "Brooklyn convention and memorial", The Watch Tower, April 1, 1918, page 6233, Reprints.
129.Jump up ^ Watch Tower April 15, 1916 pg 126, "We cannot help it that many of our dear friends continue to tell what The Watch Tower believes, and to misrepresent its teachings ... we are not looking forward to 1925, nor to any other date. As expressly stated in The Watch Tower, we are simply going on, our last date or appointment having been passed more than a year ago... The last place to which he [Elijah] was sent was Jordan, which, we believe, corresponds to October, 1914. ... We have no different time in mind from the Scriptures on the subject and do not expect to have any."
130.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, chap. 10 p. 138
131.Jump up ^ Crompton, Robert (1996). Counting the Days to Armageddon. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. p. 96. ISBN 0-227-67939-3.
132.Jump up ^ Edmond C. Gross, Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculation. What Does the Record Show?, Xulon Press, 2001, ISBN 1-931232-30-X, chapter 24.
133.Jump up ^ The Way to Paradise, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1924, pg 225, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 230.
134.^ Jump up to: a b M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 58.
135.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 235.
136.Jump up ^ See March 31, 1930 Time magazine, p. 60.
137.Jump up ^ Vindication, Vol. 1, by J.F. Rutherford, (1931), p.338–339, "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth concerning the years 1914, 1918, and 1925, which disappointment lasted for a time. Later the faithful learned that these dates were definitely fixed in the Scriptures; and they also learned to quit fixing dates for the future and predicting what would come to pass on a certain date, but to rely (and they do rely) upon the Word of God as to the events that must come to pass."
138.Jump up ^ "Work for the Anointed", The Watch Tower, January 1, 1925, pages 4,5. "The Remnant", The Watch Tower, July 15, 1925, pages 215–216.
139.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. 1993. p. 124.
140.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
141.Jump up ^ "Character or Covenant—Which?", The Watchtower, May 1, 1926, "The expression 'character development' and like expressions repeatedly made from the pulpit and platform, have resulted in much confusion. Christians have been led to believe that they must develop, while in the flesh on earth, a character that is perfect before they can have an entrance into heaven ... the above excerpts or quotations ... are here cited in order that the issue may be clearly drawn. If any of us have relied upon such expressions and have been misled thereby, then it becomes our duty to get them out of our minds that we might see more clearly God's provisions and rejoice. Many have thought ... that this personal development of a character must be brought to perfection before they can enter into eternal life. This wrong conception of the matter has led many to believe that they can reach perfection in the flesh. Questions: (1) What has been the belief of many Christians concerning "character development'? To what absurdities and fatal consequences have some been misled thereby?"
142.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 1, 1927, pg 7.
143.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, pages 91, 95.
144.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Favored People, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, as cited by Wills, 2007, pg 129.
145.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 46. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
146.^ Jump up to: a b Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1975, page 147.
147.Jump up ^ Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 181, 182. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
148.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed—The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 69.
149.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Prophecy, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1929, pg 319, 328–333
150.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Vindication, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1931, pg 9–14, 65–68, 135.
151.Jump up ^ Rutherford, Joseph Franklin (1921). The Harp of God. pp. 231–236. affirms that "the Lord's second presence dates from 1874." "Watchtower". Watchtower. March 1, 1922. p. 71. and Prophecy. 1930. pp. 65–66. reiterated this position. The eschatological changes during this period are documented in Thomas Daniels. Historical Idealism and Jehovah's Witnesses (PDF). pp. 3–37. Retrieved 2006-02-01.
152.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 49. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
153.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 140.
154.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watchtower. 1993. pp. 84–85.
155.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Salvation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1939, pages 25-28, 59, 337.
156.Jump up ^ A. H. Macmillan, Faith on the March, 1959, page 152.
157.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. p. 56. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
158.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
159.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
160.Jump up ^ M. James Penton. Apocalypse Delayed — The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses. pp. 71, 129.
161.Jump up ^ "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". Retrieved February 22, 2005.
162.Jump up ^ Hans Hesse (2001). Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses During the Nazi Regime. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-86108-750-2.
163.Jump up ^ Garbe, Detlef (2008). Between Resistance and Martyrdom: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Third Reich. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 102. ISBN 0-299-20794-3.
164.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 59, 62–63. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
165.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 65. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
166.Jump up ^ Kaplan, William (1989). State and Salvation: The Jehovah's Witnesses and their Fight for Civil Rights. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-8020-5842-6.
167.Jump up ^ American Civil Liberties Union (1941). The Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses (PDF). pp. 1–24. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1978). Visions of Glory. pp. 185, 281. Jayne Persian (December 2005). "The Banning of Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia in 1941" (PDF). Adelaide Company of Jehovah's Witnesses, Inc. v. The Commonwealth of Australia
168.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 89.
169.Jump up ^ See, e.g., Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.
170.Jump up ^ Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Visions of Glory, 1978, chapter 6.
171.Jump up ^ Whalen, William J. (1962). Armageddon Around the Corner: A Report on Jehovah's Witnesses. New York: John Day Company. p. 190.
172.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969). Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses. Constable & Co, London. pp. 59, 61. ISBN 0-0945-5940-6.
173.Jump up ^ Schnell, William (1971). 30 Years a Watchtower Slave. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8010-6384-1.
174.Jump up ^ Heather and Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, 1984, page 41.
175.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 74.
176.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, page 86.
177.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, p. 106
178.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 72.
179.Jump up ^ Whalen, William J. (1962). Armageddon Around the Corner: A Report on Jehovah's Witnesses. New York: John Day Company. p. 198.
180.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watchtower, November 1, 1961, pages 669–670.
181.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers," The Watchtower,, October 1, 1951, page 607.
182.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom, Commentary Press, 2007, chapter 8.
183.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997, pages 145-146.
184.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35. as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, chapter 9.
185.Jump up ^ Sniecinski, Roman M.; Chen, Edward P.; Levy, Jerrold H.; Szlam, Fania; Tanaka, Kenichi A. (October 8, 1966). "How Much Longer Will It Be?". Awake! 104 (4): 17–20. doi:10.1213/01.ane.0000250913.45299.f3. PMID 17377078.
186.Jump up ^ See 1975: 'THE APPROPRIATE TIME FOR GOD TO ACT'. Page 14 of the October 8, 1968 Awake! demonstrates the disclaimer that was made at the time: "Does this mean that the above evidence positively points to 1975 as the complete end of this system of things? Since the Bible does not specifically state this, no man can say...If the 1970s should see intervention by Jehovah God to bring an end to a corrupt world drifting toward ultimate disintegration, that should surely not surprise us."
187.Jump up ^ See "Witnessing the End" in the July 18, 1969 Time magazine. Scan available online at: http://www.dannyhaszard.com/time1975.jpg accessed February 14, 2006
188.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (PDF). Watch Tower Society. 1966. pp. 29–35..
189.Jump up ^ Watchtower, May 1, 1968, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, chapter 9.
190.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, 15 September 1971, page 563
191.Jump up ^ "Time of Rest and Refreshment at Hand", Awake!", October 8, 1971, page 27.
192.^ Jump up to: a b Raymond Franz. "1975—The Appropriate Time for God to Act". Crisis of Conscience (PDF). pp. 237–253. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
193.Jump up ^ Holden, Andrew (2002). Jehovah's Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. Routledge. pp. 151–4. ISBN 0-415-26610-6.
194.Jump up ^ Kingdom Ministry, May 1974, page 3, "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."
195.Jump up ^ Penton, M. J. (1997). Apocalypse Delayed (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 95.
196.Jump up ^ Awake!, May 1, 1968, pages 272,273.
197.Jump up ^ Awake!, October 8, 1968, page 13.
198.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, July 1970
199.Jump up ^ George D. Chryssides, Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses, Scarecrow Press, 2008, pg lx.
200.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, page 501.
201.Jump up ^ This drop in membership has been variously analyzed. Richard Singelenberg ("The '1975'-prophecy and its impact among Dutch Jehovah's Witnesses") in Sociological Analysis 50(1)1989, pp 23–40 notes a nine per cent drop in total publishers (door-to-door preachers) and a 38 per cent drop in pioneers (full-time preachers) in the Netherlands. Stark and Iannoccone have analyzed the impact on US Witnesses. "The Journal of Contemporary Religion" (PDF). 1997. pp. 142–143. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-12-05. |chapter= ignored (help) The January 30, 1982 Los Angeles Times ("Defectors Feel 'Witness' Wrath: Critics say Baptism Rise Gives False Picture of Growth" by John Dart, p. B4) cited statistics showing a net increase of publishers worldwide from 1971–1981 of 737,241, while baptisms totaled 1.71 million for the same period.
202.Jump up ^ "A Solid Basis for Confidence", Watchtower, July 15, 1976, page 441.
203.Jump up ^ According to Raymond Franz, proposals were put to the Governing Body in 1976, 1977 and 1979 to acknowledge the error, but Milton Henschel and others recommended they ignore the matter and hope Witnesses would eventually forget about it. Crisis of Conscience, page 250.
204.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 15, 1980, p.17 "With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, ... considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. ... there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated. ... persons having to do with the publication of the information ... contributed to the buildup of hopes centered on that date."
205.Jump up ^ 1977 Yearbook, Watch Tower Society, as cited b M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 220.
206.^ Jump up to: a b c M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1977, pages 117–123.
207.^ Jump up to: a b Heather and Gary Botting, The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, 1984, pages 158–165.
208.Jump up ^ M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, 1997. Page 218.
209.Jump up ^ Copy of proposal as presented to Governing Body reproduced in Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, 1997, page 262.
210.Jump up ^ Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, chapters 11–12.
211.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Defectors Feel Witnsses' Wrath", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, Part II, page 4, "The Sept. 15 Watchtower magazine told members that anyone who has written a letter of resignation should be shunned as if he had been 'disfellowshipped', or expelled ... 'This is a hardening, a tightening, of our policy,' confirmed William Van De Wall, a headquarters spokesman for the Watchtower Society. Denying any great membership losses, Van De Wall said the new directive was to counteract 'disgruntled' ex-members."
212.Jump up ^ See ”1914 and ‘This Generation’”, pp. 254–272 in Crisis of Conscience by Raymond Franz. Available online at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060208160353/http://users.volja.net/izobcenec4/coc/10.pdf accessed February 12, 2006
213.Jump up ^ "He shows the beginning of this time and how the troubles increase, and mentions some of the sorrows to fall on the world, during the time of trouble. The length of time is indicated by him when he said, '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. So it was on 'this generation' that the accumulated judgments were to fall. (Matt. 23:36) This therefore means that from 1914 a generation shall not pass till all is fulfilled, and amidst a great time of trouble. Vision of the 'Time of the End', The Watchtower, July 1951, p. 404
214.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, page 24 paragraph 15: "As a group, those anointed comprise the present "generation" of contemporaries who won't pass away "until all the things come to pass."
215.Jump up ^ "A Time To Keep Awake", The Watchtower (November 1, 1995), p. 19 par. 12, and p. 20 par. 15.
Further reading[edit]
Three official histories of Jehovah's Witnesses have been published by the Watch Tower Society. The first two are out of print. The most recent one is available in many public libraries and on the Watchtower Library CD-ROM.
Qualified To Be Ministers, pages 297–345 (1955)
Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose (1959)
Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993)
Books by members[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses: The New World Society by Marley Cole. This book received a positive review in the August 15, 1955 Watchtower: "Much of the material was gathered by personal interviews with witnesses, some of them being officials of the Society. Frequently in the news is something about the religion of President Eisenhower's parents. This book gives the facts often overlooked or concealed, with documentary proof that they were Jehovah's witnesses for many years." Cole was an active Witness and wrote the book in collaboration with Witness leaders. It was also distributed by the Watch Tower Society. 229 pages. Publisher: The Vantage Press, 1955.
Faith on the March by A. H. Macmillan. Macmillan provides a first-person account of the early history of Jehovah's Witnesses from his meeting of Charles Taze Russell in 1900 to the time of the writing of the book (1957). He served with three of the Presidents of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society: Russell, Rutherford, and Knorr (who wrote the book's introduction). Publisher: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 57-8528 (Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1957)
A People for His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation by Tony Wills, (2006) 2nd edition. (The first edition was published under the pseudonym Timothy White.) The author, a lifelong Witness, presents an in-depth look at the Bible Student/Jehovah's Witness movement. He explores its doctrinal growth and shifts and notes schisms from the main body. 300 pages. ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4.
Armed with the Constitution: Jehovah's Witnesses in Alabama and the U.S Supreme Court, 1939-1946 by Merlin Newton. Newton researches the contributions of two Jehovah's Witnesses—a black man and a white woman—in expanding the meaning of the First Amendment in 1940s Alabama. She examines two key U.S. Supreme Court decisions, as well as court records, memoirs, letters, and interviews of Jehovah's Witnesses. Publisher: University Alabama Press; Religion and American Culture Series, Reprint edition (June 28, 2002). Paperback: 240 pages. ISBN 0-8173-1228-5
O'er the Ramparts They Watched by Victor Blackwell.
Books by non-members[edit]
Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses by Alan Rogerson. Constable. 1969
Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of freedom of speech and worship by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge (a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses), examines the history of legal activities that led to expansion of religious freedoms in Canada. Referenced in the January 1, 1977 Watchtower, page 11 and the 1979 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 94. Publisher: Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7705-1340-9 (Canada, 1976)
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge, examines the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their doctrines. Read selections from: Google Book Search Publisher: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7973-3 (Canada, 1998)
External links[edit]
Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor-Russell.com
  


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Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine

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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 doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses have developed since publication of The Watchtower magazine began in 1879. Early doctrines were based on interpretations of the Bible by Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society founder Charles Taze Russell, then added to, altered or discarded by his successors, Joseph Rutherford and Nathan Knorr. Since 1976, doctrinal changes have been made at closed meetings of the religion's Governing Body,[1] whose decisions are described as "God's progressive revelations"[2] to the faithful and discreet slave.[3][4] These teachings are disseminated through The Watchtower, and at conventions and congregation meetings. Most members of the religion outside the Governing Body play no role in the development of doctrines[5] and are expected to adhere to all those decided at the Brooklyn headquarters.[6][7][8] Jehovah's Witnesses are taught to welcome changes to their religion's doctrine, regarding such "adjustments" as "new light" or "new understanding" from God and proving that they are on the "path of the righteous".[9][10]


Contents  [hide]
1 Method of doctrinal development
2 Watch Tower Society founding doctrines 2.1 Millennialist teachings
3 Timeline of doctrinal changes 3.1 Doctrines unchanged since 1879
3.2 1880–1889
3.3 1890–1899
3.4 1900–1909
3.5 1910–1919
3.6 1920–1929
3.7 1930–1939
3.8 1940–1949
3.9 1950–1959
3.10 1960–1969
3.11 1970–1979
3.12 1980–1989
3.13 1990-1999
3.14 2000–2009
3.15 2010–2019
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography

Method of doctrinal development[edit]
Some core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have remained unchanged throughout the religion's history. Certain doctrines, particularly relating to biblical chronology, were based on what Russell called a "venerable tradition" that he conceded was not directly confirmed by facts or scripture, but "based on faith".[11][12] Watch Tower publications claim that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive revelation, in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose.[13][14][15][16] Watch Tower literature has suggested such enlightenment results from the application of reason and study,[17] the guidance of holy spirit, and direction from Jesus Christ and angels.[18] Rutherford spoke of spiritual "lightning flashes in the temple",[19] the Society claims its doctrine of the "great crowd" and "other sheep" were "revealed" to "God’s earthly servants" in 1935,[20][21] and Witness literature has also described sudden changes in doctrines as "flashes of light" given by God through his holy spirit.[22] A 1930 publication claimed God used "invisible deputies" and "invisible angels" to pass his "messages" to The Watchtower,[23][24] although The Watchtower told Witnesses it was not necessary for them to understand how this took place.[25] A 1973 policy change to disfellowship tobacco users was explained as a decision that "Jehovah has brought to the attention of his 'holy' people".[26]
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) when explaining the need to change doctrines.[27] The organization's earlier literature has included claims that its predictions about dates such as 1925 were "indisputable",[28] "absolutely and unqualifiedly correct"[29] and bearing "the stamp of approval of Almighty God",[29] but the Governing Body which was established later says its teachings are neither infallibile nor divinely inspired.[30][31][32]
Robert Crompton, author of a book on Watch Tower eschatology, has noted that it is difficult to trace the development of doctrines because explicit changes are often not identified in Jehovah's Witness literature, leaving readers to assume which details have been superseded.[33] Edmund C. Gruss, a critic of the religion, found that a 1943 Watch Tower Society publication that established a new creation chronology, changing the date of Adam's creation by 100 years, made no mention of the old time reckoning, which had previously been said to be "correct beyond a doubt".[34]
Watch Tower Society founding doctrines[edit]
From the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower in July 1879, Russell began publicising a number of doctrines, many of them drawn from Adventist teachings, including the atonement, resurrection, the soul, the invisible parousia (or return) of Christ[35] and God's "plan of the ages".[36] Russell taught that mankind was to be redeemed not from torment but from the death penalty that had been imposed on Adam and subsequently passed on to all his descendants. He wrote that Christ's "ransom for all" mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:5 would be applied to all humankind rather than just the righteously inclined.[37][38] Christ's death provided the ransom payment to free humans from death.[39] He believed an elect few would be resurrected to serve as a heavenly priesthood and all humans who had died would be resurrected to earth, which would be restored to Edenic perfection.[40]
Millennialist teachings[edit]
The dominant and central theme of Russell's teachings concerned the timing, nature and purpose of Christ's second coming.[41] His beliefs on the timing of Christ's Advent and God's overarching plan for humans had gained their first exposure in Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, a book he paid Millerite Adventist Nelson H. Barbour to write in 1877.[42] Russell and Barbour parted company in 1879 and from 1886 Russell began writing his own books that further developed his Millennialist beliefs.
Russell's doctrines on the Millennium followed a tradition of interpretation of Scripture that had begun in the 1st century, when Jewish rabbis sought to identify the due time for the appearance of the Messiah by interpreting the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years of Daniel 9:24-27. Their approach to prophetic interpretation was based on the Day-year principle, drawn from Ezekiel 4 and Numbers 14, in which one day in prophecy represents one year in fulfillment.[43] Such teachings were revived and popularised in the early 19th century by American Adventist preacher William Miller.
Russell also incorporated Miller's teaching of types and antitypes, in which an actual historical situation (the type) prefigures a corresponding situation (the antitype),[44] as well as a modified version of John Nelson Darby's teachings on dispensationalism. Russell modified Darby's teachings to create his own doctrine of parallel dispensations, in which the timing of certain events in the Jewish age are a prophetic indication of corresponding events at the close of the Gospel age.[45] He believed the internal harmony of his "plan of the ages" proved its validity beyond reasonable doubt, noting that a change of just one year would destroy the parallelisms,[46] and found further confirmation in internal measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which he viewed as a divinely built supporting witness to the Bible.[47][48]
The main points of his doctrines on Bible chronology were:
Seventy weeks of years: Russell believed the Adventist interpretation of the prophecy of the 70 weeks "until Messiah the Prince" at Daniel 9:24-27 could be used to demonstrate the validity of the year-for-a-day rule. He took 454 BCE as the date of Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and by converting 69 weeks of seven days (483 days) to 483 years arrived at 29 CE as the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Christ's crucifixion took place at the midpoint of the 70th week; the covenant with the Jewish nation remained in force another "week" (seven years) from the beginning of his ministry and its end was signified by the conversion of Cornelius in 36, when the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles.[49]
Times of the Gentiles: Using the year-for-a-day rule, Russell adopted and adjusted the teachings of Miller and Englishman John Aquila Brown, who both taught that the chastisement of the Israelites "seven times" for their sins (at Leviticus 26) indicated a period of 2520 years—seven prophetic years of 360 days each. In Russell's chronology system the period began with the deposing of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, an event that marked the end of the typical Kingdom of God and beginning of the consequent lease of earthly dominion to Gentile governments, as foretold in Ezekiel 21:25-27. Russell calculated that Zedekiah's removal occurred in 606 BCE, and therefore claimed the "times of the Gentiles" ran from that date until 1914, when the kingdom would be re-established on earth under Jewish leadership. The end of the Gentile times would be marked by a return of the Jews to Palestine. Russell believed the period was also one of degradation for mankind in general, which he believed was prefigured by the account in Daniel 4 of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great tree being cut down and restrained from growth for seven years.[50][51]
The time of the end: Miller had formulated doctrines drawn from Daniel 12:4,9 on the "time of the end", when the meaning of certain prophecies would be finally revealed. Russell made a slight amendment to the teaching, explaining that it began in 1799[52] when French general Berthier entered Rome, abolished papal government and established the Republic of Italy.[53] The "time of the end" would last 115 years to 1914.[54] The 1799 date, in turn, had been established by linking the 1260 days of Revelation 11:3 with time periods mentioned in Daniel 2, 7, and 12. Using the year-day principle, the period indicated 1260 years from 539 (when Justinian I recognised the pope as universal bishop) to 1799.[55][56]
Great Jubilee: Russell adopted and amended Miller's teaching of a secondary indicator of the due date for the Millennium. The ancient Jewish law provided for a series of sabbaths, each culminating in the Jubilee year in the 50th year, when slaves were released and leased property returned to its rightful owners.[57] Like Miller, Russell believed the arrangement foreshadowed the release of humans from the debt of sin and bondage through the intervention of Christ.[58] He taught that the Millennium was the antitypical Great Jubilee (the 50th 50-year jubilee) and marked the beginning of the second presence of Christ. Using his calculations of the date of the last jubilee before the Jewish exile, he added 2500 years (50 x 50) and calculated it had begun at the end of 1874.[59]
The greath sabbath: Russell embraced Miller's view that because "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years",[60] the seventh thousand-year period after creation would be a 1000-year-long sabbath "day". But whereas Miller had believed 1843 was 6000 years after creation,[61] Russell believed Adam was created in 4129 BC[62] and calculated 1872 as the end of 6000 years. He thought it reasonable that Adam and Eve had lived two years in Eden before sinning, and thus calculated the 6000 years ran from the time sin entered the world to October 1874, when Christ had returned and the times of restitution began.[63]
Parallel dispensations: Russell expanded Darby's doctrine of dispensationalism, explaining that events that befell the Jewish nation were prophetic counterparts of events during the Gospel age, with the timing of those events also having prophetic significance. He argued that the Jews had enjoyed 1845 years of favor from the death of Jacob to 33 CE[64] (the Jewish Age) and they would have to endure the same length of time in God's disfavor—thus from 33 to 1878 (the Gospel Age).[65] The Jews' fall from favour was gradual, spanning 37 years from 33 to 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed, and that period corresponded to a gradual restoration of God's favour to them between 1878 and 1914.[66] But although the Jewish nation's fall began in 33, God's favor towards individual Jews continued another 3½ years from Pentecost, during which time the gospel call was limited to Jews. That typified a 3½-year opportunity from 1878 until 1881 when the "high calling" or invitation to become joint heirs with Christ closed. The 3½-year period between Christ's anointing as Messiah and his riding into Jerusalem on an ass, being acclaimed as king and cleansing the temple of money-changers typified the period between his parousia (1874) and his assuming kingly power and rejection of "nominal church systems" (1878).[67] The 40-year "harvest" of the Jewish Age from 29–69 typified a 40-year harvest of the Gospel Age from 1874 to 1914.[68] The Jews expectation of the Messiah's arrival at the time of Jesus' birth, 30 years before his anointing,[69] was correlated with the Great Disappointment, the failure of Miller's prediction of the second coming of Christ in 1844, 30 years before the date indicated by Russell's system.[70]
Timeline of doctrinal changes[edit]
Doctrines unchanged since 1879[edit]
Biblical infallibility. Early copies of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence made reference to the Bible as God's "infallible Word".[71]
God's name is Jehovah. Watch Tower Society founder Charles Taze Russell used the name "Jehovah" occasionally, but not consistently, when referring to God.[72]
Jesus Christ gave his human life as a ransom sacrifice; belief in Jesus necessary for salvation. Russell believed that God's design for mankind was a restitution or restoration to the perfection and glory lost in Eden. This depended on God providing a ransom for all mankind to release them from the inevitability of death. Christ became that ransom sacrifice.[73][74]
The timing of Christ's Second Coming, or "presence", can be calculated through Bible chronology. Russell believed the timing of Christ's advent could be calculated by calculating the close of six "thousand-year days" (6000 years) of human history, at which point God's Kingdom would be established.[62][75][76][77][78]
Christ's return to earth was invisible. Russell claimed the Greek word parousia (Matthew 24:37) referred to a period of time, rendered more accurately as "presence" than "coming"[79]
Paradise earth to be restored, humans to live forever.[80][81][82]
Evolution is a teaching contrary to the Bible and denies the need of redemption by Christ.[83][84]
Humans created as living souls.[85]
The dead are unconscious, awaiting resurrection.[86]
Anointed individuals are resurrected to heaven with spirit bodies.[87]
God's Kingdom is an organized heavenly government over earth, ruled by Jesus and the anointed.[88]
1880–1889[edit]
1880: Clergy-laity distinction viewed as unscriptural.[89]
1881: Rejection of the Trinity doctrine.[90][91][92] Russell claimed the Trinity doctrine had "not a word of Scripture" to support it. He explained: "We understand the Scriptures to teach that the holy Spirit is not a separate and distinct person, but that it is the divine mind or influence—the motive power of Divinity exercised everywhere and for any purpose, at His pleasure."[93][94][95] In 1877 Russell and co-author N. H. Barbour had criticized the anti-Trinitarian view of the Christadelphians;[96] an 1880 book by Zion's Watch Tower writer J. H. Paton emphasised that the Holy Spirit was a person[97] and early Watch Tower issues referred to the Holy Spirit as "he"[98][99][100] and part of the "Divine Three".[101]
1881: Faith alone is not enough for someone's becoming a joint-heir with Christ in heaven, but also a life of "self-sacrifice in the service of the truth" is required.[102]
1882: No hellfire. According to Russell, most references to "hell" in the New Testament were more accurately translated as "grave".[103][104]
1887: The New Covenant, which Russell had claimed since 1880 would be inaugurated only after the last of the 144,000 anointed Christians had been taken to heaven,[105] was said to be "now in force".[106][107]
1890–1899[edit]
1890: The "Time of the End" of Daniel 12:4 is identified as beginning in October 1799—when Napoleon invaded Egypt and ended the power of the papacy—and closing in 1914, at which point violent worldwide revolution would mark the end of the old world order and the beginning of a new one.[108]
1891: Biblical rapture is not a sudden event. The anointed are changed into spirit form, throughout the whole period of Christ's presence, at the time of each one's physical death.[109][110]
1897: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36 defined as "people living contemporaneously."[111]
1900–1909[edit]
1904: Worldwide descent into anarchy and disintegration of human rule, previously predicted to occur in October 1914,[112][113] changed to "after October 1914".[114]
1904: 144,000 "elect" to go to heaven. Russell believed God had chosen a "fixed and limited ... number who should constitute the New Creation of God". God had not foreordained individuals, but those who met his "moral qualities and heart measurements" would be chosen to go to heaven.[115][116]
1904: "Great Company" of Revelation 7:9, 14 identified as a secondary spiritual class who have "insufficient zeal for the Lord, the Truth and the brethren" who are granted heavenly life, but on a lower spiritual plane.[117] In heaven they serve as servants rather than kings and priests.[118][119]
1907: The inauguration of the New Covenant described as belonging "exclusively to the coming age."[120] Russell began to teach that the "church" (144,000 anointed Christians) had no mediator, but itself joined Christ as a joint messiah and mediator during the millennium.[107][121]
1910–1919[edit]
1914: Length of each creative 'day' of Genesis defined as precisely 7000 years.[122]
1914: Russell "by no means confident" 1914 would bring the upheaval he had predicted.[123]
1916: Timing of Armageddon, previously claimed to have begun in 1874 and to culminate in 1914,[124][125] changed to have begun in 1914.[126][127]
1919: Preaching work displaces "character development" as the "chief concern" of Bible Students. Russell had taught that Christians should embark on the gradual process of "sanctification" and personality improvement to fight sinful inclinations[128][129] In 1919 The Watch Tower declared that the primary concern for Bible Students was to labor with God to find members of the elect class.[130]
1919: The seven angels, or "messengers", of Revelation chapters 1 and 2 are identified "for the first time in the history of the church" as St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles Taze Russell.[131]
1920–1929[edit]
1920: Jesus Christ's crowning as king of God's kingdom, previously 1878,[132] changed to 1914.[133]
1920: The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom "in all the world for a witness unto all nations", (Matthew 24:14), previously claimed to have already been completed,[134] identified as a work for modern-day anointed Christians.[135]
1922: Establishment of God's kingdom over earth, previously expected to result in the destruction of human governments and a "new rule of righteousness" by the end of 1914[136] changed to an invisible event in heaven in 1914.[137][138]
1923: "Sheep class", mentioned at Matthew 25:31-46 defined as those who do good to "elect" class and are rewarded by surviving Armageddon and gaining life under Christ's thousand-year reign.[139][140][141] Russell had previously applied the parable to the work of dividing the people in the Millennial Age.[142]
1923: Limitations placed on extent of Christ's ransom and resurrection hope. Russell had taught that Christ had provided a ransom for all; a 1923 Watch Tower article asserted that clergymen would not be resurrected and benefit from the ransom;[143] later articles claimed that benefits of the ransom would also be denied to Adam and Eve; those who died in the Noachian flood; those who died at Sodom and Gomorrah; both the falls of Jerusalem and those who will die at Armageddon.[144]
1925: Armageddon identified as a battle between God and Satan, resulting in the overthrow of human governments and false religion. Armageddon had previously been understood to mean a "melee between contending forces of mankind", resulting in social revolution and political anarchy.[145][146][147][148][149][150]
1925: Michael, the dragon and the man-child in Revelation chapter 12, previously defined as the Pope, the Roman Empire and the papacy, redefined as Jesus, Satan and the New Nation (or Kingdom), respectively.[151][152]
1926: Use of name Jehovah, previously used sparingly at assemblies and in public preaching, given new emphasis. Announced in January 1, 1926 issue of The Watchtower.[153]
1926: "Satan's organization" defined as the rulers of politics, commerce and religion and all their followers.[154]
1927: "First resurrection" of "sleeping saints", previously 1878,[155] changed to 1918.[156][157]
1927: "Faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45-47, previously defined as Russell since 1897,[158][159][160][161] changed to a "class" comprising all remaining "anointed" Christians.[162]
1927: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36, previously defined as "people living contemporaneously"[111] changed to a remnant of the "anointed" on earth during Armageddon.[163]
1928: Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, previously regarded as a testimony to the Bible and its chronology,[48][164] declared to have no prophetic significance and built under the direction of Satan.[165]
1928: Celebration of Christmas, previously embraced as a "tribute of respect" to Christ,[166][167] discontinued because of its "pagan origin".[168]
1929: Honoring of God's name described as "the outstanding issue facing all intelligent creation".[169]
1929: "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 to whom Christians had to show subjection and obedience, previously defined as governmental authorities, redefined as God and Christ only.[170][171] Secular state then regarded as demonic and almost without redeeming features.[172]
1929: The "time of the end" of Daniel 12:4, previously defined as a 115-year period from 1799 to 1914,[173][174][175] redefined as a period of unspecified length starting in 1914.[176]
1930–1939[edit]
1931: Adoption of the name "Jehovah's witnesses".[177]
1932: Assertion that God's Holy Spirit ceased operating on his people when "[Jesus] the Lord came to his temple, in 1918",[178][179] at which point Jesus 'took charge of feeding the flock'.[180]
1932: The "Jews" who will be restored to their homeland, previously defined as literal Jews,[181] redefined as the Christian congregation.[172][182][183]
1932: Identification of "Jonadabs", a "sheep" class of people who take a stand for righteousness and who are to be preserved by God through Armageddon to gain everlasting life on earth. The term was drawn from the account at 2 Kings 10.[184] In 1920 Rutherford had written that it was "unreasonable" to think God was developing any class other than the little flock (the 144,000 to attain heavenly kingship) and the "great company" (second spiritual class also with a heavenly hope). In 1934 the Watchtower explained that the "Jonadabs" survive Armageddon by living in the figurative "City of refuge", represented by remaining affiliated with the Watch Tower Society.[185]
1932: Watch Tower Society adherents with an earthly hope should join the worldwide preaching work.[186] In 1927 The Watchtower had directed that only anointed Christians were "entitled" to take part in the ministry.[187]
1933: Christ's parousia – his second coming or invisible "presence" – previously established as 1874 and reaffirmed as late as 1929,[188] changed to 1914.[189]
1934: Vindication of God's name becomes central doctrine.[190] Rutherford noted that God had provided Jesus Christ's sacrifice as the redemption price for sinful humankind, but wrote that this was "secondary to the vindication of Jehovah's name".[191]
1934: The 1917 teaching that Russell was exercising strong influence from heaven on the "harvesting" of anointed Christians[192] described as "foolish".[193]
1935: "Great crowd" of Revelation 7 defined as the "sheep" of Matthew 25, resulting in a redirection of proselytizing efforts from gathering the "elect" (remnant of the 144,000 with a heavenly destiny) to gathering an indeterminate number of people who could survive Armageddon and receive everlasting life on earth. Previously, the "great crowd" was believed to have a heavenly hope.[139][194]
1935: Tobacco use "unclean" and prohibited for Bethel (branch office) staff and traveling overseers.[195]
1935: Vaccines, described since 1921 as "devilish" and "an outrage",[196][197] condemned as a violation of God's law.[198]
1936: Device on which Jesus was killed, previously defined as a wooden cross, redefined as a "tree".[199] An image of the cross appeared on the front page of The Watch Tower until October 1931.[200]
1937: Jehovah's Witnesses with an earthly hope could be described as "Christian".[201] In 1930 the Watchtower had asserted that the term "Christian" could be applied only to anointed followers of Christ.[202]
1938: God's mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" said to apply only after the start of the millennium. The Watchtower said the mandate had never been carried out under righteous conditions, and so had failed to be fulfilled according to God's will. Rutherford urged Witnesses to delay marriage and the bearing of children until after Armageddon.[203]
1939: Witnesses required to demonstrate complete neutrality in worldly affairs.[204]
1940–1949[edit]
1942: Tobacco prohibition applied to all appointed positions, such as congregation overseers and servants.[205]
1943: Destruction of Jerusalem moved from 606 BCE to 607 BCE, when the Watch Tower Society realised there was no year zero between 1 BCE and 1 CE, in order to maintain calculations regarding 1914; return of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem moved from 536 BCE to 537 BCE to maintain 70 years after 607 BCE.[206][207]
1943: Adam's creation, previously 4129 BCE[208] or 4128 BCE,[209] moved forward 100 years to 4028 BCE. The shift in dates also moved the termination point of 6,000 years of human history from October 1872[210] to 1972.[211][212]
1944: Responsibility for administering discipline, including disfellowshipping, of dissident members passed from entire congregation to congregational judicial committees.[213][214] Russell had recommended in a 1904 publication that a congregation "committee" investigate a congregant's serious "error or sin", but the entire congregation voted whether "to withdraw from him its fellowship".[215]
1944: Adam's creation, previously 4028 BCE, changed to 4026 BCE.[216]
1945: Blood transfusions forbidden.[217][218] Russell had viewed the prohibition on eating blood in Acts 15:19-29 as a "suggestion" to gentile Christians in order to "guard against stumbling themselves or becoming stumbling blocks to others"[219] and ensure peace within the early church.[220]
1950–1959[edit]
1951: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36, previously defined as a remnant of the "anointed" on earth during Armageddon[163] changed to "a 'generation' in the ordinary sense" who were alive in 1914.[221]
1951: Celebration of birthdays considered "objectionable" because celebrations are "steeped in false worship" and exalt humans.[222]
1952: Vaccines, previously condemned, considered acceptable.[223][224]
1953: Adam's creation, previously 4026 BCE, changed to 4025 BCE. End of God's 6,000-year "rest day" ending in northern hemisphere autumn 1976.[225]
1954: Worship of Jesus, previously considered appropriate and necessary,[226][227][228] deemed inappropriate, with the New World Translation translating proskyne′ō as "do obeisance to" rather than "worship" (King James Version).[229]
1955: Operation of Holy Spirit, asserted in 1932 to have ceased in 1918, stated as having been still operative after 1918.[230]
1960–1969[edit]
1961: Acceptance of blood transfusion deemed a disfellowshipping offence.[231] Acceptance of human organ transplant stipulated a personal matter to be decided without criticism.[232]
1962: "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 redefined as earthly governments, reverting the 1929 change[233] to Russell's 1886 teaching.[234] A year earlier, Russell's view was considered to have made the Watch Tower Bible Students unclean in God's eyes.[170][235]
1963: Adam's creation changed back to 4026 BCE.[236] End of 6,000 years of human history due in northern hemisphere autumn 1975.[237]
1967: Human organ transplants equated with cannibalism,[238] "a practice abhorrent to all civilized people", and said to be a procedure not permitted by God.[239] The Watchtower article announcing the view is interpreted by commentators as a prohibition.[9][240] In a 1972 article, Jehovah's Witnesses are described as having taken a "stand" against organ transplants, saving them from the consequences of such operations, on the basis of the description of the procedure as "a form of cannibalism".[241]
1968: Interval between Adam's creation and the close of the sixth creative "day", previously "quite some time",[212][216][242][243] changed to "a comparatively short period of time" that "may involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years." The change led to expectations that Christ's 1,000 year reign could begin in 1975.[244]
1970–1979[edit]
1973: Tobacco use banned. Tobacco users not to be accepted for baptism and baptized Witnesses to be disfellowshipped if they continue to smoke after "a reasonable period of time, such as six months".[245]
1980–1989[edit]
1980: Acceptance of human organ transplants stipulated as a matter of personal choice not warranting congregational discipline. View of transplants as cannibalism now said to be held only by "some Christians".[246] The Watchtower article is regarded by commentators as a reversal of Society's 1967 position that the procedure is not permitted by God.[9][240]
1981: Members who formally resign membership of the religion (disassociate) are to be shunned in the same manner as disfellowshipped Witnesses.[247]
1983: Martial arts and carrying "firearms for protection against humans" disqualify a Witness from "special privileges in the congregation", such as appointment as elder.[248]
1988: Length of creative 'days' in Genesis, previously defined as exactly 7,000 years each,[249] changed to "at least thousands of years in length" [emphasis added][250]
1990-1999[edit]
1990: Interval between Adam's creation and the close of the sixth creative "day" changed to "some time", employing a 1963 reference rather than the 1968 change.[251]
1992: The "modern-day Nethinim", previously defined as synonymous with the "other sheep",[252] redefined as a subset of the "other sheep" who serve in positions of authority within the organization as "helpers" to the Governing Body.[253]
1995: "This generation" at Matthew 23:36, previously defined as a typical human lifespan since Jesus' parousia in 1914,[221] redefined as a class of people displaying certain characteristics for an indefinite period of time.[254][255][256][257][258]
1995: Fulfillment of Jesus' parable of the separating of sheep and goats, previously considered to have been ongoing since 1914, changed to after the start of the 'Great Tribulation'.[259][260]
1995: The expression "vindication of Jehovah’s name" declared unnecessary, with emphasis on "vindicating his sovereignty" and "sanctifying his name" as being more accurate.[261] The former expression had not appeared in any publication since 1991.[262]
2000–2009[edit]
2007: Selection of the 144,000 "anointed", previously considered to have ended in 1935,[263] changed to an indefinite period.[264]
2008: "This generation" redefined as "anointed" believers, who will "not pass away" before the great tribulation begins.[265] This was a return to the belief held in 1927.[163]
2010–2019[edit]
2010: "This generation" redefined to include "other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation", whose lives "overlap" with "the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914".[266]
2012: "Faithful and discreet slave", previously defined as synonymous with the "anointed" and represented by the Governing Body,[267] redefined to refer to the Governing Body only. The "domestics", previously defined as each member of the "anointed" individually, redefined as including all members of the "anointed" and the "great crowd". The "evil slave" of Matthew 24:48, previously defined as former "anointed" members who reject Jesus, redefined as a hypothetical warning to the "faithful slave".[268][269]
2014: "Gog of Magog", previously identified as Satan, redefined as an unspecified "coalition of nations".[270]
Criticism[edit]
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz and Sociology lecturer Andrew Holden have pointed out that doctrines—including those relating to sexual behaviour in marriage and the "superior authorities" of Romans 13:4—have sometimes been altered, only to revert to those held decades earlier.[271] Holden, author of a major ethnographic study on the religion, commented: "It could be that many Witnesses have not yet been in the organisation long enough to realise that 'new lights' have a habit of growing dimmer, while old ones are switched back on!"[272] In his study of the Witnesses and their history, Tony Wills has suggested that when third president Nathan H. Knorr altered major doctrines established by his predecessor, J. F. Rutherford, he was returning the Witnesses to many of Russell's teachings. He asked: "How can the Society harmonize this circular development with the claimed progressive development?"[273]
In testimony at a 1954 court case in Scotland, senior Watch Tower Society figures admitted that although doctrines were subject to change if they were later regarded as erroneous, all Witnesses were required to accept current teachings or risk expulsion. Under cross-examination, Fred Franz, then vice president of the Watch Tower Society, conceded a Witness could be disfellowshipped and shunned for "causing trouble" over a belief they held that was contrary to Society teaching but subsequently embraced by the religion.[274] Society lawyer Hayden G. Covington told the court that although the Society had for decades published a "false prophecy ... a false statement" about the date of Christ's Second Coming, members of the religion had been required to accept it and any who had rejected it would have been expelled. He explained: "You must understand we must have unity, we cannot have disunity with a lot of people going every way."[274]
See also[edit]
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Faithful and discreet slave
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, p. 106
2.Jump up ^ "Jehovah, the God of Progressive Revelation", Watchtower, June 15, 1964, page 365,"The abundance of spiritual food and the amazing details of Jehovah’s purposes that have been revealed to Jehovah’s anointed witnesses are clear evidence that they are the ones mentioned by Jesus when he foretold a 'faithful and discreet slave' class that would be used to dispense God’s progressive revelations in these last days ... How thankful we should be for the provision God has made of this slave class, the modern spiritual remnant, as they faithfully dispense the revealed truths of Jehovah! ... Jehovah’s faithful witnesses have been progressively brought to an understanding of Jehovah’s purposes, which are clearer now than ever before in history."
3.Jump up ^ "Seek God's guidance in all things", The Watchtower, April 15, 2008, page 11.
4.Jump up ^ "How the Governing Body Is Organized", The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 29.
5.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 152–164
6.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 22, 10, 158, 163
7.Jump up ^ "The Godly Qualities of Love and Hate". The Watchtower, 15 July 1974, "Christians have implicit trust in their heavenly Father; they do not question what he tells them through his written Word and organization."
8.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Theocratic Organization Today", The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, page 79, "Are we assigned as individuals to bring forth the food for the spiritual table? No? Then let us not try to take over the slave’s duties. We should eat and digest and assimilate what is set before us, without shying away from parts of the food because it may not suit the fancy of our mental taste. The truths we are to publish are the ones provided through the discreet-slave organization, not some personal opinions contrary to what the slave has provided as timely food. Jehovah and Christ direct and correct the slave as needed, not we as individuals. If we do not see a point at first we should keep trying to grasp it, rather than opposing and rejecting it and presumptuously taking the position that we are more likely to be right than the discreet slave. We should meekly go along with the Lord’s theocratic organization and wait for further clarification ... Theocratic ones will appreciate the Lord’s visible organization and not be so foolish as to pit against Jehovah’s channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and personal feelings."
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Osamu Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 1", Journal of Medical Ethics, August 1998, Vol 24, Issue 4, page 223-230.
10.Jump up ^ "The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter", The Watchtower, December 1, 1981, pages 26-31.
11.Jump up ^ The Time is At Hand, By C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1891, page B39, "And though the Bible contains no direct statement that the seventh thousand will be the epoch of Christ's reign, the great Sabbath Day of restitution to the world, yet the venerable tradition is not without a reasonable foundation.".
12.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, October 1, 1907, R4067: page 294, "Can we feel absolutely sure that the Chronology set forth in the DAWN-STUDIES is correct? ...we have never claimed our calculations to be infallibly correct; we have never claimed that they were knowledge, nor based upon indisputable evidence, facts, knowledge; our claim has always been that they are based on faith. We have set forth the evidences as plainly as possible and stated the conclusions of faith we draw from them, and have invited others to accept as much or as little of them as their hearts and heads could endorse. ...Possibly some who have read the DAWNS have presented our conclusions more strongly than we; but if so that is their own responsibility."
13.Jump up ^ "Impart God’s Progressive Revelation to Mankind", The Watchtower, March 1, 1965, p. 158-159
14.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 165–171
15.Jump up ^ "Flashes of Light—Great and Small", The Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 15.
16.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society 1993, p. 709
17.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 165
18.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Preparation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1933, page 64, 67, "Enlightenment proceeds from Jehovah by and through Christ Jesus and is given to the faithful anointed on earth at the temple, and brings great peace and consolation to them. Again Zechariah talked with the angel of the Lord, which shows that the remnant are instructed by the angels of the Lord. The remnant do not hear audible sounds, because such is not necessary. Jehovah has provided his own good way to convey thoughts to the minds of his anointed ones ... Those of the remnant, being honest and true, must say, We do not know; and the Lord enlightens them, sending his angels for that very purpose."
19.Jump up ^ Watchtower 1933, pages 53, 62, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 165.
20.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom in the Sons of God Watchtower Society, 1966, page 149, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 165.
21.Jump up ^ "The Things Revealed Belong to Us", The Watchtower, May 15, 1986, pages 10-15, "In 1925 God’s earthly servants became possessors of an accurate understanding... In 1932 their understanding was deepened still further. Jehovah revealed that the prophecies related ...to spiritual Israel, the Christian congregation. (Romans 2:28, 29) Then, in 1935 a corrected understanding of John’s vision of the “great crowd” in Revelation chapter 7 opened the eyes of anointed ones to the huge gathering work that still lay ahead of them.".
22.Jump up ^ "Flashes of Light - Great and Small", Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 17, 18.
23.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 64
24.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 106
25.Jump up ^ Watchtower, December 1, 1933, page 364, "Without doubt these angels are delegated by the Lord to convey his instructions to the members of his organization on earth. Just how this is done is not necessary for us to understand."
26.Jump up ^ "You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy", Watchtower, February 15, 1976, page 123
27.Jump up ^ "Keep in Step With Jehovah’s Organization", Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 18.
28.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1922, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 228.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Watch Tower, July 15, 1922, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 226.
30.Jump up ^ "To Whom Shall We Go but Jesus Christ?", The Watchtower, March 1, 1979, pages 23-24.
31.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, October 15, 1954, page 638.
32.Jump up ^ "Name and Purpose of The Watchtower", The Watchtower, August 15, 1950, page 263.
33.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 115
34.Jump up ^ Edmund C. Gruss, The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1972, page 64. Gruss based his comments on The Truth Shall Make You Free, 1943, pages 141-52.
35.Jump up ^ "The Sign of His Presence", Zion's Watch Tower, May 1880.
36.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 26
37.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 5
38.Jump up ^ "If Death Ends All", Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879.
39.Jump up ^ "Why Did Christ Die?", Zion's Watch Tower, November 1879.
40.Jump up ^ "The Royal Priesthood", "If Death Ends All", Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879.
41.Jump up ^ Rogerson 1969, p. 17
42.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 9
43.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 17
44.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 21
45.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 43–48,144
46.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 243–244
47.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 47
48.^ Jump up to: a b Russell 1891, pp. 313–376
49.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 36–37
50.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 74–102
51.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 37–39
52.Jump up ^ Miller's chronology pinpointed the start in 1798, according to Crompton (pg 23).
53.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 21
54.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, pp. 23–60
55.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 23
56.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 69
57.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 25
58.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 177
59.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 39–41
60.Jump up ^ 2 Peter 3:8.
61.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 25
62.^ Jump up to: a b Russell 1889, p. 53
63.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 127,128
64.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 213
65.Jump up ^ Russell's belief in a "repetition" or doubling of iniquity was drawn from Jeremiah 16:18. See The Time Is At Hand, pg 218.
66.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 221
67.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 235
68.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 105, 150, 222, 234
69.Jump up ^ Luke 3:15.
70.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 47
71.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, January 1, 1908, page 2.
72.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 492
73.Jump up ^ Russell 1886, pp. 149–172
74.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3821 (reprint).
75.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969), Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Constable & Co, London, pp. 17–23, ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0
76.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, pp. 67–77
77.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 20
78.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 38, 39
79.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, August 1879, Reprints 20, page 3.
80.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return, 1877.
81.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, July 1, 1879, p. 7 (reprint).
82.Jump up ^ "Speak the Pure Language and Live Forever!", The Watchtower, May 1, 1991, page 17, "In 1879...a small Bible-study group led by Charles Taze Russell was meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. They had become certain that Jesus’ second coming...would restore Paradise on earth, with eternal life for obedient humans."
83.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles (1 March 1906). Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence "Views From the Watch Tower". Allegheny, PA: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. pp. 68–69 (p.3731–3732 reprint). "Then came the suggestion that all the larger forms of being were mere evolutions from lower to higher. With this thought the learned of this world have been wrestling for the past fifty years, shaking the foundations of faith in the Bible for millions. For if the Bible be true this theory is false as respects man's origin. Instead of further evolution being our salvation the Bible points us to our fall, to the redemption accomplished for the world by the Son of God, and to the coming deliverance of the groaning creation from sin and its death penalty. Only those who trust the Bible record are safe from the blighting influence of this evolution error."
84.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Divine Plan of the Ages, 1886, study IX, page 172, "These things are clearly taught in the Scriptures, from beginning to end, and are in direct opposition to the Evolution theory; or, rather, such "babblings of science, falsely so called," are in violent and irreconcilable conflict with the Word of God."
85.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, pp. 6, 42
86.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 42
87.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 165
88.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 48,49
89.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1880, Watch Tower Reprints page 64 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 2
90.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, April 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 207 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 7, "And why did they thus keep the people in ignorance? Because they feared that if people knew this, the only text which gives even a shadow of support to the doctrine of the TRINITY, to be an interpolation to support a papal error, they might renounce the error".
91.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 278 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 132, "As to the motives and errors which may have led to these unwarranted interpolations of the [Bible] text, we may be able to offer a suggestion, viz., the last mentioned (1 John 5:7,8) was probably intended to give authority and sanction to the doctrine of the "Trinity."
92.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 290 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 4, ""He gave his only begotten Son." This phraseology brings us into conflict with an old Babylonian theory, viz.: Trinitarianism. If that doctrine is true, how could there be any Son to give? A begotten Son, too? Impossible. If these three are one, did God send himself? And how could Jesus say: "My Father is greater than I." John 14:28. [emphasis retained from original]"
93.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1882, Reprints 370, page 3.
94.Jump up ^ Penton, M. J. (1997), Apocalypse Delayed (2nd ed.), University of Toronto Press, p. 343, note 64, "Barbour and Paton were trinitarians ... although Henry Grew and George Stetson, two others who had influenced him, were non–trinitarians, Russell did not take a stand on the matter, at least publicly, until after his split with Paton."
95.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 120.
96.Jump up ^ N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, page 57, "I am beginning to think Age-to-come people, and many others among pre-millennialists, do not believe in anything of a spiritual nature, or have the most remote comprehension of things of that order; either that the saint is raised 'a spiritual body,' or in the existence of spiritual beings, or even of the Holy Spirit itself. I know one class of age-to-come believers, the Christadelphians, do not. The Holy Spirit, say they, is but a principle, or element of power, and not an intelligence. It is nothing more nor less than 'electricity;' is taught in one of their books, now before me. What wonder they discern only a fleshly future."
97.Jump up ^ J. H. Paton, Day Dawn, A.D. Jones, 1880, page 225, 229, "The work of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important elements in the plan of revelation and salvation. He is always spoken of by the Saviour as a Person, and is called the " Spirit of truth." We will follow the Saviour's example in this, though we do not propose to deal with the philosophy of that fact. He being the Spirit of truth, it is His mission to make known the truth."
98.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 1880, page 8, "But the Spirit cannot resign his work until it is complete."
99.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, August 1880, page 4, "Then let the Spirit use his sword upon others as he may see fit to humble them, strip them of pride, and bring them to the rock that is higher than they."
100.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, November 1880, page 8, "The Spirit is still our leader and instructor. He is now telling us of Him who comes by way of unseen presence that He is here present."
101.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, March 1881, page 5, "The number three is surprisingly prominent, as the subject opens before us ... We would first call attention to the Divine Three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – often mentioned in the Bible."
102.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3825 (reprint).
103.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, May 1882, Reprints 356, page 8.
104.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, September 1882, Reprints 392, page 4.
105.Jump up ^ "The Three Great Covenants", Zion's Watch Tower, March 1880.
106.Jump up ^ "The New Covenant vs the Law Covenant", Zion's Watch Tower, September 1887.
107.^ Jump up to: a b Wills 2006, pp. 63–68
108.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, pp. 38,47–59
109.Jump up ^ Rusell 1891, pp. 239–242
110.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3823 (reprint).
111.^ Jump up to: a b Studies in the Scriptures 4. pp. 602–603.
112.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 78
113.Jump up ^ "The Outlook - War & Prosperity", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, September 15, 1901 (R2876 page 292)
114.Jump up ^ "Universal Anarchy", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1, 1904 (R3389 page 197)
115.Jump up ^ The New Creation, (Volume VI of Studies in the Scriptures), 1904, page 179: “We have every reason to believe that the definite, fixed number of the elect [chosen anointed ones] is that several times stated in Revelation (7:4; 14:1); namely, 144,000 ‘redeemed from amongst men."
116.Jump up ^ "The Great Company", Zion's Watch Tower, October 15, 1904.
117.Jump up ^ The New Creation, (Volume VI of Studies in the Scriptures), 1904, page 168-170.
118.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, pp. 57, 58
119.Jump up ^ "The Rank of the Ancient Worthies", "The Great Company", Zion's Watch Tower, October 15, 1904.
120.Jump up ^ "Our Advocate, the World's Mediator," Zion's Watch Tower, January 1, 1907.
121.Jump up ^ "The Word Mediator Used Differently,", Watch Tower, January 1909.
122.Jump up ^ Scenario of the Photo-Drama of Creation, ©1914 International Bible Students Association, page 3
123.Jump up ^ "Views from the Watch Tower", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 1, 1914 (R5373: page 3)
124.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 101
125.Jump up ^ "Overcome With Wine", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 15, 1892 (R1357: page 27)
126.Jump up ^ "What Smiting of the Waters May Mean", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, February 1, 1916 (R5845: page 38)
127.Jump up ^ "The Burning of the Tares", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, September 1, 1916 (R5951: page 265)
128.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 1, 1913, pgs 291-295.
129.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, April 1, 1916, pages 98-99.
130.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, December 15, 1919, pg 375.
131.Jump up ^ "The Table of the Great King,", The Watchtower, April 1, 1919, as cited by James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, pg 181.
132.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 233
133.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, July 1, 1920, page 196.
134.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Battle of Armageddon, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 568.
135.Jump up ^ "Gospel of the Kingdom", The Watchtower, July 1, 1920, pages 199-200.
136.Jump up ^ "View from the Tower", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 15, 1892 (R1354: page 19)
137.Jump up ^ New Heavens and a New Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1953, page 225.
138.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1922, pages 332-337.
139.^ Jump up to: a b Penton 1997, p. 72
140.Jump up ^ "The Keys of the Kingdom and the Great Crowd", Watchtower, October 1, 1971, page 14.
141.Jump up ^ "The Parable of the sheep and goats", The Watchtower, October 15, 1923, pages 307-314.
142.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 113
143.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 15, 1923.
144.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, pp. 141, 142
145.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1, 1925.
146.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 134
147.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 223
148.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 251
149.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, August 1, 1892, page 238.
150.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917, pages 256-258. See comment on Rev. 16:16-20.
151.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1925, page 69.
152.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, The Battle of Armageddon, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, page 541.
153.Jump up ^ "Restoration of True Religion", Watchtower, March 1, 1954, page 150.
154.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Deliverance, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1926, pages 268,269.
155.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 306
156.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, June 1, 1927.
157.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 226
158.Jump up ^ The Battle of Armageddon (Part IV, "Studies in the Scriptures") by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 613.
159.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 15, 1906, page 215.
160.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, pp. 78–79
161.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 63.
162.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1, 1927 and February, pages 7, 51-7, as cited by Penton, Apocalypse Delayed.
163.^ Jump up to: a b c "Interesting Questions". The Watchtower: 62. February 15, 1927.
164.Jump up ^ Watchtower, June 15, 1922, page 187, as reproduced by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 225, 226.
165.Jump up ^ Watchtower, 1928, pages 339-45, 355-62, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 170.
166.Jump up ^ "The Prince of Peace", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, December 1, 1904, page 364.
167.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, December 24, 1919, page 215: "Christmas is regarded by many people as the date of the birth of the babe Jesus in a manger at Bethlehem. Whether the date is correct or not is of small importance, but the event was and is of the greatest importance."
168.Jump up ^ 1975 Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, page 146
169.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 152.
170.^ Jump up to: a b Franz 2007, p. 484
171.Jump up ^ "The Higher Powers", Watch Tower, June 1929, pages 163-169, 179-185.
172.^ Jump up to: a b Penton 1997, p. 65
173.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 23
174.Jump up ^ Creation by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1927, chapter 12, page 314.
175.Jump up ^ Joseph Rutherford (1928). The Harp of God (Revised ed.). p. 233.
176.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1929, pages 355-357, as cited by Edmond C. Gruss, The Four Presidents of the Watch Tower Society, page 117 and Tony Wills, A People For His name, page 48.
177.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 62
178.Jump up ^ Preservation by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, page 103-194.
179.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1, 1932, page 294.
180.Jump up ^ Preparation, ©1933 by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower, page 196
181.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1925, page 57, "We know the work of restitution must come to the Jews first, and through them to the rest of the world. As the Scriptures state that Jerusalem is to be the capital of the world and that the ancient worthies are to be princes in all the earth, we are warranted in expecting that the kingdom work will begin at Jerusalem."
182.Jump up ^ Vindication, Book 2, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, pages 258, 269, 295.
183.Jump up ^ Vindication, Book 3, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, page 333.
184.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 165.
185.Jump up ^ Watchtower, August 15, 1934, as cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name, pg 192-193.
186.Jump up ^ Vindication, J. F. Rutherford, Book III, pages 83. 84.
187.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 15, 1927, pg 26, 27, "He who is called to be a minister of God must be a new creature, begotten of God's holy spirit; none other can have a share. In this ministry only those who are new creatures in Jesus Christ are entitled to share." As cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name,(2007), pg 194.
188.Jump up ^ Prophecy by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1929, chapter 4, page 65.
189.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1933, page 362: "In the year 1914 that due time of waiting came to an end. Christ Jesus received the authority of the kingdom and was sent forth by Jehovah to rule amidst his enemies. The year 1914, therefore, marks the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory."
190.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 69
191.Jump up ^ Jehovah, J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1934.
192.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1917, page 6161.
193.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Jehovah, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1934, page 191.
194.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 140.
195.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1935
196.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, October 12, 1921, Page 17, "Vaccination never prevented anything and never will, and is the most barbarous practice ... We are in the last days; and the devil is slowly losing his hold, making a strenuous effort meanwhile to do all the damage he can, and to his credit can such evils be placed ... Use your rights as American citizens to forever abolish the devilish practice of vaccinations."
197.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, January 5, 1929, Page 502, "Thinking people would rather have smallpox than vaccination, because the latter sows seeds of syphilis, cancers, eczema, erysipelas, scrofula, consumption, even leprosy and many other loathsome affections. Hence the practice of vaccinations is a crime, an outrage, and a delusion."
198.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, April 2, 1935, Page 465, "As vaccination is a direct injection of animal matter in the blood stream, vaccination is a direct violation of the law of Jehovah God."
199.Jump up ^ Riches, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1936, page 27.
200.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 150
201.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1937, page 336, as cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name, pg 195.
202.Jump up ^ Watchtower, March 1, 1930, page 71, "Since "Christ' means the anointed of God, it is manifestly true that no one can properly be termed a Christian who is not in Christ and who has not received the anointing."
203.Jump up ^ A People for His Name, Tony Wills, pgs 186-187, citing Watchtower October 15, 1938, pg 307, Watchtower, November 1, 1938, page 323, Watchtower, November 15, 1938, page 346.
204.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1939, as cited by Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 193.
205.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1942, pages 205-206
206.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers". The Watchtower: 94. February 1, 1955. "Jehovah's witnesses from 1877 up to and including the publishing of "The Truth Shall Make You Free" of 1943 considered 536 B.C. as the year for the return of the Jews to Palestine"
207.Jump up ^ "Determining the Year by Fact and Bible". The Watchtower: 271–2. May 1, 1952. "Concerning the first error, Russell and others considered 1 B.C. to A.D. 1 as being two years whereas in fact this is only one year because, as has been said above, there is no "zero" year in the B.C.-A.D. system for counting years."
208.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 54
209.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, May 15, 1896, R1980 page 112.
210.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, by N. H. Barbour and C. T. Russell, 1877, pages 67, 186, as cited by Edmund Gruss, The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, 1972, pages 62-63.
211.Jump up ^ The Truth Shall Make You Free, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1943, chapter 11, page 151.
212.^ Jump up to: a b Gruss, Edmond C. (1972), The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, pp. 68–69, ISBN 0-87552-306-4
213.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 89
214.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1944.
215.Jump up ^ The New Creation, Watch Tower, 1904, pages 289-290, "The administration of discipline is not the function of the elders only, but of the entire [congregation]. ... If the reproved one fails to clear himself, and continues in the error or sin, then two or three brethren without previous prejudice should be asked to hear the matter and advise the disputants. (Elders they may or may not be, but their eldership would add no force or authority in the case except as their judgment might be the riper and their influence the more potent.) If this committee decide unanimously with either party, the other should acquiesce and the matter be wholly at an end--correction, or restitution, so far as possible, being promptly made. If either of the original disputants still persists in the wrong course, the [accuser, a committee member] or, preferably, all of these together, may then (but not sooner) exercise their privilege of bringing the matter before the [congregation]. Thus it is evident that the Elders were in no sense to be judges of the members—hearing and judgment were left to the [congregation]. The two preliminary steps (above mentioned) having been taken, the facts being certified to the elders, it would be their duty to call a general meeting of the [congregation], as a court--to hear the case in all of its particulars, and in the name and reverence of its Head to render a decision. ... if the transgressor refuse to hear (obey) the decision of the entire [congregation], ... the [congregation] is to withdraw from him its fellowship and any and all signs or manifestations of brotherhood. [emphasis retained from original]
216.^ Jump up to: a b "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, 1 February 1955: 94–95
217.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 153
218.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1. 1945.
219.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, November 15, 1892 p. 351.
220.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, April 15, 1909 pp. 116-117, "These prohibitions had never come to the Gentiles, because they had never been under the Law Covenant; but so deeply rooted were the Jewish ideas on this subject that it was necessary to the peace of the Church that the Gentiles should observe this matter also ... these items thus superadded to the Law of Love should be observed by all spiritual Israelites as representing the Divine will.”
221.^ Jump up to: a b "Vision of the "Time of the End"". The Watchtower: 404. July 1, 1951.
222.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. October 1, 1951.
223.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. December 15, 1952.
224.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. September 15, 1958. "Q: Are we to consider the injection of serums such as diphtheria toxin antitoxin and blood fractions such as gamma globulin into the blood stream, for the purpose of building up resistance to disease by means of antibodies, the same as the drinking of blood or the taking of blood or blood plasma by means of transfusion? A: No, it does not seem necessary that we put the two in the same category, although we have done so in times past."
225.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, 1 February 1955: 95
226.Jump up ^ "Interesting Queries", Watch Tower, July 15, 1898, page 216.
227.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1939, page 339: "Jehovah God commands all to worship Christ Jesus because Christ Jesus is the express image of his Father, Jehovah"
228.Jump up ^ Watchtower, October 15, 1945, page 313: "Since Jehovah God now reigns as King by means of his capital organization Zion, then whosoever would worship Him must also worship and bow down to Jehovah's Chief One in that capital organization, namely, Christ Jesus."
229.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", Watchtower, January 1, 1954, page 30.
230.Jump up ^ "Modern Restoration of True Worship (1919-1932)", The Watchtower, May 15, 1955, page 296, "Jesus—then to expand on a global scale—so now in the spring of 1919 there was an outpouring of Jehovah’s holy spirit organizationally upon the Christian remnant."
231.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 15, 1961, page 63.
232.Jump up ^ Watchtower, August 1, 1961, page 480.
233.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1962.
234.Jump up ^ The Divine Plan of the Ages, by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1886, page 266: "They taught the Church to obey the laws, and to respect those in authority because of their office, even if they were not personally worthy of esteem; to pay their appointed taxes, and, except where they conflicted with God's laws (Acts 4: 19; 5: 29), to offer no resistance to any established law. (Rom. 13: 1 - 7)"
235.Jump up ^ "The Congregation in the Time of the End", Watchtower, March 1, 1961, page 146.
236.Jump up ^ All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1963, page 286.
237.Jump up ^ "The Removal of Mankind's Chief Disturber", The Watchtower, 15 July 1967: 446–447
238.Jump up ^ Awake, June 8, 1968, Page 21 “Christian witnesses of Jehovah,... consider all transplants between humans as cannibalism.”
239.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1967, pages 702-704
240.^ Jump up to: a b Penton, M. J. Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, pp. 165–171, "In 1967 the society suddenly decided that what had been permissible no longer was. Organ transplants suddenly became a form of human cannibalism ... Yet after many faithful Jehovah's Witnesses had suffered for their faith by giving up transplants which in some cases could have made their lives more pleasant and comfortable and by saving them from early death in others, the society again reversed itself."
241.Jump up ^ "Keep Abstaining from Blood", Awake!, July 8, 1972, page 28, "The stand of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah—that such transplants are in effect a form of cannibalism—proved a safeguard. How so? In that it spared them much frustration, grief and anxiety, which were experienced not only by the patients and their relatives but even by many of the assisting medical personnel."
242.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, February 1, 1955, page 95, "However, from our present chronology (which is admitted imperfect) at best the fall of the year 1976 would be the end of 6,000 years of human history for mankind... Obviously, whatever amount of Adam’s 930 years was lived before the beginning of that seventh-day rest of Jehovah, that unknown amount would have to be added to the 1976 date."
243.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, pages 127-128. "long enough [for Adam] to realize his lack of a companion" and an additional "two years would not be an improbable estimate" to have passed between Adam's creation and Edenic expulsion (beginning the seventh creative day).
244.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, page 499-500
245.Jump up ^ Watchtower, June 1, 1973, page 340.
246.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", Watchtower, March 15, 1980, page 31.
247.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Defectors Feel Witnsses' Wrath", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, Part II, page 4, "The Sept. 15 Watchtower magazine told members that anyone who has written a letter of resignation should be shunned as if he had been 'disfellowshipped', or expelled ... 'This is a hardening, a tightening, of our policy,' confirmed William Van De Wall, a headquarters spokesman for the Watchtower Society. Denying any great membership losses, Van De Wall said the new directive was to counteract 'disgruntled' ex-members."
248.Jump up ^ “Seek Peace and Pursue It”, The Watchtower, July 15, 1983, page 25
249.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watctower, January 1, 1987, page 30, "A study of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and of our location in the stream of time strongly indicate that each of the creative days is 7,000 years long. It is understood that Christ’s reign of a thousand years will bring to a close God’s 7,000-year ‘rest day,’ the last ‘day’ of the creative week. Based on this reasoning, the entire creative week would be 49,000 years long."
250.Jump up ^ "Creation", Insight, volume 1, 1988 Watch Tower, page 545, "Since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length ... Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself."
251.Jump up ^ All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, page 286.
252.Jump up ^ Man's Salvation Out of World Distress at Hand!, pages 167–168 (1975)
253.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, April 15, 1992, pages 12–17
254.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1995, page 20.
255.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 28: "The recent information in The Watchtower about "this generation" did not change our understanding of what occurred in 1914. But it did give us a clearer grasp of Jesus' use of the term "generation," helping us to see that his usage was no basis for calculating-counting from 1914 – how close to the end we are."
256.Jump up ^ Joel P. Engardio (December 18, 1995), "Apocalypse Later", Newsweek
257.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 317
258.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Jehovah's Witnesses Abandon Key Tenet", Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1995.
259.Jump up ^ Watchtower, February 1, 1995.
260.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 316
261.Jump up ^ "Part 2—Flashes of Light—Great and Small", The Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 25
262.Jump up ^ "Chapter 24: Why Jesus Came to Earth", The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, ©1991, "Jesus came to earth particularly to preach about God’s Kingdom, which will vindicate his Father’s name"
263.Jump up ^ Watchtower, February 15, 1995, p.19.
264.Jump up ^ Watchtower, May 1, 2007, pages 30-31: "It appears that we can not set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends."
265.Jump up ^ "Watchtower", February 15, 2008, pages 23-24: "On the other hand, Christ's faithful anointed brothers, the modern-day John class, have recognized this sign as if it were a flash of lightning and have understood its true meaning. 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."
266.Jump up ^ "Holy spirit's role in the outworking of Jehovah's purposes", The Watchtower, 15 April 2010: 10
267.Jump up ^ "Your Leader Is One, the Christ". The Watchtower: 23. September 15, 2010.
268.Jump up ^ "Annual Meeting Report".
269.Jump up ^ ""Who Really Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?"". The Watchtower: 20–25. July 15, 2013.
270.Jump up ^ 2014 Annual Meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses
271.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 480–488
272.Jump up ^ Holden, p. 32
273.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 253
274.^ Jump up to: a b Transcript, Lord Strachan vs. Douglas Walsh, 1954, page 119.
Bibliography[edit]
Barbour, N. H. (1877), Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World (PDF), N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell
Crompton, Robert (1996), Counting the Days to Armageddon, Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, ISBN 0-227-67939-3
Franz, Raymond (2002), Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, Fourth edition, ISBN 0-914675-23-0
Franz, Raymond (2007), In Search of Christian Freedom, 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, M. James (1997), Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.), University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-7973-3
Rogerson, Alan (1969), Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Constable & Co, London, ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0
Russell, C. T. (1886), The Divine Plan of the Ages, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Russell, C. T. (1889), The Time Is At Hand, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Russell, C. T. (1891), Thy Kingdom Come, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Rutherford, J. F. (1930), Light, Book 1, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1993), Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Wills, Tony (2006), A People For His Name, Lulu Enterprises, ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4
  


Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses


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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_doctrine










Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine

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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 doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses have developed since publication of The Watchtower magazine began in 1879. Early doctrines were based on interpretations of the Bible by Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society founder Charles Taze Russell, then added to, altered or discarded by his successors, Joseph Rutherford and Nathan Knorr. Since 1976, doctrinal changes have been made at closed meetings of the religion's Governing Body,[1] whose decisions are described as "God's progressive revelations"[2] to the faithful and discreet slave.[3][4] These teachings are disseminated through The Watchtower, and at conventions and congregation meetings. Most members of the religion outside the Governing Body play no role in the development of doctrines[5] and are expected to adhere to all those decided at the Brooklyn headquarters.[6][7][8] Jehovah's Witnesses are taught to welcome changes to their religion's doctrine, regarding such "adjustments" as "new light" or "new understanding" from God and proving that they are on the "path of the righteous".[9][10]


Contents  [hide]
1 Method of doctrinal development
2 Watch Tower Society founding doctrines 2.1 Millennialist teachings
3 Timeline of doctrinal changes 3.1 Doctrines unchanged since 1879
3.2 1880–1889
3.3 1890–1899
3.4 1900–1909
3.5 1910–1919
3.6 1920–1929
3.7 1930–1939
3.8 1940–1949
3.9 1950–1959
3.10 1960–1969
3.11 1970–1979
3.12 1980–1989
3.13 1990-1999
3.14 2000–2009
3.15 2010–2019
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography

Method of doctrinal development[edit]
Some core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have remained unchanged throughout the religion's history. Certain doctrines, particularly relating to biblical chronology, were based on what Russell called a "venerable tradition" that he conceded was not directly confirmed by facts or scripture, but "based on faith".[11][12] Watch Tower publications claim that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive revelation, in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose.[13][14][15][16] Watch Tower literature has suggested such enlightenment results from the application of reason and study,[17] the guidance of holy spirit, and direction from Jesus Christ and angels.[18] Rutherford spoke of spiritual "lightning flashes in the temple",[19] the Society claims its doctrine of the "great crowd" and "other sheep" were "revealed" to "God’s earthly servants" in 1935,[20][21] and Witness literature has also described sudden changes in doctrines as "flashes of light" given by God through his holy spirit.[22] A 1930 publication claimed God used "invisible deputies" and "invisible angels" to pass his "messages" to The Watchtower,[23][24] although The Watchtower told Witnesses it was not necessary for them to understand how this took place.[25] A 1973 policy change to disfellowship tobacco users was explained as a decision that "Jehovah has brought to the attention of his 'holy' people".[26]
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) when explaining the need to change doctrines.[27] The organization's earlier literature has included claims that its predictions about dates such as 1925 were "indisputable",[28] "absolutely and unqualifiedly correct"[29] and bearing "the stamp of approval of Almighty God",[29] but the Governing Body which was established later says its teachings are neither infallibile nor divinely inspired.[30][31][32]
Robert Crompton, author of a book on Watch Tower eschatology, has noted that it is difficult to trace the development of doctrines because explicit changes are often not identified in Jehovah's Witness literature, leaving readers to assume which details have been superseded.[33] Edmund C. Gruss, a critic of the religion, found that a 1943 Watch Tower Society publication that established a new creation chronology, changing the date of Adam's creation by 100 years, made no mention of the old time reckoning, which had previously been said to be "correct beyond a doubt".[34]
Watch Tower Society founding doctrines[edit]
From the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower in July 1879, Russell began publicising a number of doctrines, many of them drawn from Adventist teachings, including the atonement, resurrection, the soul, the invisible parousia (or return) of Christ[35] and God's "plan of the ages".[36] Russell taught that mankind was to be redeemed not from torment but from the death penalty that had been imposed on Adam and subsequently passed on to all his descendants. He wrote that Christ's "ransom for all" mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:5 would be applied to all humankind rather than just the righteously inclined.[37][38] Christ's death provided the ransom payment to free humans from death.[39] He believed an elect few would be resurrected to serve as a heavenly priesthood and all humans who had died would be resurrected to earth, which would be restored to Edenic perfection.[40]
Millennialist teachings[edit]
The dominant and central theme of Russell's teachings concerned the timing, nature and purpose of Christ's second coming.[41] His beliefs on the timing of Christ's Advent and God's overarching plan for humans had gained their first exposure in Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, a book he paid Millerite Adventist Nelson H. Barbour to write in 1877.[42] Russell and Barbour parted company in 1879 and from 1886 Russell began writing his own books that further developed his Millennialist beliefs.
Russell's doctrines on the Millennium followed a tradition of interpretation of Scripture that had begun in the 1st century, when Jewish rabbis sought to identify the due time for the appearance of the Messiah by interpreting the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years of Daniel 9:24-27. Their approach to prophetic interpretation was based on the Day-year principle, drawn from Ezekiel 4 and Numbers 14, in which one day in prophecy represents one year in fulfillment.[43] Such teachings were revived and popularised in the early 19th century by American Adventist preacher William Miller.
Russell also incorporated Miller's teaching of types and antitypes, in which an actual historical situation (the type) prefigures a corresponding situation (the antitype),[44] as well as a modified version of John Nelson Darby's teachings on dispensationalism. Russell modified Darby's teachings to create his own doctrine of parallel dispensations, in which the timing of certain events in the Jewish age are a prophetic indication of corresponding events at the close of the Gospel age.[45] He believed the internal harmony of his "plan of the ages" proved its validity beyond reasonable doubt, noting that a change of just one year would destroy the parallelisms,[46] and found further confirmation in internal measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which he viewed as a divinely built supporting witness to the Bible.[47][48]
The main points of his doctrines on Bible chronology were:
Seventy weeks of years: Russell believed the Adventist interpretation of the prophecy of the 70 weeks "until Messiah the Prince" at Daniel 9:24-27 could be used to demonstrate the validity of the year-for-a-day rule. He took 454 BCE as the date of Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem, and by converting 69 weeks of seven days (483 days) to 483 years arrived at 29 CE as the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Christ's crucifixion took place at the midpoint of the 70th week; the covenant with the Jewish nation remained in force another "week" (seven years) from the beginning of his ministry and its end was signified by the conversion of Cornelius in 36, when the Gospel was taken to the Gentiles.[49]
Times of the Gentiles: Using the year-for-a-day rule, Russell adopted and adjusted the teachings of Miller and Englishman John Aquila Brown, who both taught that the chastisement of the Israelites "seven times" for their sins (at Leviticus 26) indicated a period of 2520 years—seven prophetic years of 360 days each. In Russell's chronology system the period began with the deposing of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, an event that marked the end of the typical Kingdom of God and beginning of the consequent lease of earthly dominion to Gentile governments, as foretold in Ezekiel 21:25-27. Russell calculated that Zedekiah's removal occurred in 606 BCE, and therefore claimed the "times of the Gentiles" ran from that date until 1914, when the kingdom would be re-established on earth under Jewish leadership. The end of the Gentile times would be marked by a return of the Jews to Palestine. Russell believed the period was also one of degradation for mankind in general, which he believed was prefigured by the account in Daniel 4 of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great tree being cut down and restrained from growth for seven years.[50][51]
The time of the end: Miller had formulated doctrines drawn from Daniel 12:4,9 on the "time of the end", when the meaning of certain prophecies would be finally revealed. Russell made a slight amendment to the teaching, explaining that it began in 1799[52] when French general Berthier entered Rome, abolished papal government and established the Republic of Italy.[53] The "time of the end" would last 115 years to 1914.[54] The 1799 date, in turn, had been established by linking the 1260 days of Revelation 11:3 with time periods mentioned in Daniel 2, 7, and 12. Using the year-day principle, the period indicated 1260 years from 539 (when Justinian I recognised the pope as universal bishop) to 1799.[55][56]
Great Jubilee: Russell adopted and amended Miller's teaching of a secondary indicator of the due date for the Millennium. The ancient Jewish law provided for a series of sabbaths, each culminating in the Jubilee year in the 50th year, when slaves were released and leased property returned to its rightful owners.[57] Like Miller, Russell believed the arrangement foreshadowed the release of humans from the debt of sin and bondage through the intervention of Christ.[58] He taught that the Millennium was the antitypical Great Jubilee (the 50th 50-year jubilee) and marked the beginning of the second presence of Christ. Using his calculations of the date of the last jubilee before the Jewish exile, he added 2500 years (50 x 50) and calculated it had begun at the end of 1874.[59]
The greath sabbath: Russell embraced Miller's view that because "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years",[60] the seventh thousand-year period after creation would be a 1000-year-long sabbath "day". But whereas Miller had believed 1843 was 6000 years after creation,[61] Russell believed Adam was created in 4129 BC[62] and calculated 1872 as the end of 6000 years. He thought it reasonable that Adam and Eve had lived two years in Eden before sinning, and thus calculated the 6000 years ran from the time sin entered the world to October 1874, when Christ had returned and the times of restitution began.[63]
Parallel dispensations: Russell expanded Darby's doctrine of dispensationalism, explaining that events that befell the Jewish nation were prophetic counterparts of events during the Gospel age, with the timing of those events also having prophetic significance. He argued that the Jews had enjoyed 1845 years of favor from the death of Jacob to 33 CE[64] (the Jewish Age) and they would have to endure the same length of time in God's disfavor—thus from 33 to 1878 (the Gospel Age).[65] The Jews' fall from favour was gradual, spanning 37 years from 33 to 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed, and that period corresponded to a gradual restoration of God's favour to them between 1878 and 1914.[66] But although the Jewish nation's fall began in 33, God's favor towards individual Jews continued another 3½ years from Pentecost, during which time the gospel call was limited to Jews. That typified a 3½-year opportunity from 1878 until 1881 when the "high calling" or invitation to become joint heirs with Christ closed. The 3½-year period between Christ's anointing as Messiah and his riding into Jerusalem on an ass, being acclaimed as king and cleansing the temple of money-changers typified the period between his parousia (1874) and his assuming kingly power and rejection of "nominal church systems" (1878).[67] The 40-year "harvest" of the Jewish Age from 29–69 typified a 40-year harvest of the Gospel Age from 1874 to 1914.[68] The Jews expectation of the Messiah's arrival at the time of Jesus' birth, 30 years before his anointing,[69] was correlated with the Great Disappointment, the failure of Miller's prediction of the second coming of Christ in 1844, 30 years before the date indicated by Russell's system.[70]
Timeline of doctrinal changes[edit]
Doctrines unchanged since 1879[edit]
Biblical infallibility. Early copies of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence made reference to the Bible as God's "infallible Word".[71]
God's name is Jehovah. Watch Tower Society founder Charles Taze Russell used the name "Jehovah" occasionally, but not consistently, when referring to God.[72]
Jesus Christ gave his human life as a ransom sacrifice; belief in Jesus necessary for salvation. Russell believed that God's design for mankind was a restitution or restoration to the perfection and glory lost in Eden. This depended on God providing a ransom for all mankind to release them from the inevitability of death. Christ became that ransom sacrifice.[73][74]
The timing of Christ's Second Coming, or "presence", can be calculated through Bible chronology. Russell believed the timing of Christ's advent could be calculated by calculating the close of six "thousand-year days" (6000 years) of human history, at which point God's Kingdom would be established.[62][75][76][77][78]
Christ's return to earth was invisible. Russell claimed the Greek word parousia (Matthew 24:37) referred to a period of time, rendered more accurately as "presence" than "coming"[79]
Paradise earth to be restored, humans to live forever.[80][81][82]
Evolution is a teaching contrary to the Bible and denies the need of redemption by Christ.[83][84]
Humans created as living souls.[85]
The dead are unconscious, awaiting resurrection.[86]
Anointed individuals are resurrected to heaven with spirit bodies.[87]
God's Kingdom is an organized heavenly government over earth, ruled by Jesus and the anointed.[88]
1880–1889[edit]
1880: Clergy-laity distinction viewed as unscriptural.[89]
1881: Rejection of the Trinity doctrine.[90][91][92] Russell claimed the Trinity doctrine had "not a word of Scripture" to support it. He explained: "We understand the Scriptures to teach that the holy Spirit is not a separate and distinct person, but that it is the divine mind or influence—the motive power of Divinity exercised everywhere and for any purpose, at His pleasure."[93][94][95] In 1877 Russell and co-author N. H. Barbour had criticized the anti-Trinitarian view of the Christadelphians;[96] an 1880 book by Zion's Watch Tower writer J. H. Paton emphasised that the Holy Spirit was a person[97] and early Watch Tower issues referred to the Holy Spirit as "he"[98][99][100] and part of the "Divine Three".[101]
1881: Faith alone is not enough for someone's becoming a joint-heir with Christ in heaven, but also a life of "self-sacrifice in the service of the truth" is required.[102]
1882: No hellfire. According to Russell, most references to "hell" in the New Testament were more accurately translated as "grave".[103][104]
1887: The New Covenant, which Russell had claimed since 1880 would be inaugurated only after the last of the 144,000 anointed Christians had been taken to heaven,[105] was said to be "now in force".[106][107]
1890–1899[edit]
1890: The "Time of the End" of Daniel 12:4 is identified as beginning in October 1799—when Napoleon invaded Egypt and ended the power of the papacy—and closing in 1914, at which point violent worldwide revolution would mark the end of the old world order and the beginning of a new one.[108]
1891: Biblical rapture is not a sudden event. The anointed are changed into spirit form, throughout the whole period of Christ's presence, at the time of each one's physical death.[109][110]
1897: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36 defined as "people living contemporaneously."[111]
1900–1909[edit]
1904: Worldwide descent into anarchy and disintegration of human rule, previously predicted to occur in October 1914,[112][113] changed to "after October 1914".[114]
1904: 144,000 "elect" to go to heaven. Russell believed God had chosen a "fixed and limited ... number who should constitute the New Creation of God". God had not foreordained individuals, but those who met his "moral qualities and heart measurements" would be chosen to go to heaven.[115][116]
1904: "Great Company" of Revelation 7:9, 14 identified as a secondary spiritual class who have "insufficient zeal for the Lord, the Truth and the brethren" who are granted heavenly life, but on a lower spiritual plane.[117] In heaven they serve as servants rather than kings and priests.[118][119]
1907: The inauguration of the New Covenant described as belonging "exclusively to the coming age."[120] Russell began to teach that the "church" (144,000 anointed Christians) had no mediator, but itself joined Christ as a joint messiah and mediator during the millennium.[107][121]
1910–1919[edit]
1914: Length of each creative 'day' of Genesis defined as precisely 7000 years.[122]
1914: Russell "by no means confident" 1914 would bring the upheaval he had predicted.[123]
1916: Timing of Armageddon, previously claimed to have begun in 1874 and to culminate in 1914,[124][125] changed to have begun in 1914.[126][127]
1919: Preaching work displaces "character development" as the "chief concern" of Bible Students. Russell had taught that Christians should embark on the gradual process of "sanctification" and personality improvement to fight sinful inclinations[128][129] In 1919 The Watch Tower declared that the primary concern for Bible Students was to labor with God to find members of the elect class.[130]
1919: The seven angels, or "messengers", of Revelation chapters 1 and 2 are identified "for the first time in the history of the church" as St Paul, St John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles Taze Russell.[131]
1920–1929[edit]
1920: Jesus Christ's crowning as king of God's kingdom, previously 1878,[132] changed to 1914.[133]
1920: The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom "in all the world for a witness unto all nations", (Matthew 24:14), previously claimed to have already been completed,[134] identified as a work for modern-day anointed Christians.[135]
1922: Establishment of God's kingdom over earth, previously expected to result in the destruction of human governments and a "new rule of righteousness" by the end of 1914[136] changed to an invisible event in heaven in 1914.[137][138]
1923: "Sheep class", mentioned at Matthew 25:31-46 defined as those who do good to "elect" class and are rewarded by surviving Armageddon and gaining life under Christ's thousand-year reign.[139][140][141] Russell had previously applied the parable to the work of dividing the people in the Millennial Age.[142]
1923: Limitations placed on extent of Christ's ransom and resurrection hope. Russell had taught that Christ had provided a ransom for all; a 1923 Watch Tower article asserted that clergymen would not be resurrected and benefit from the ransom;[143] later articles claimed that benefits of the ransom would also be denied to Adam and Eve; those who died in the Noachian flood; those who died at Sodom and Gomorrah; both the falls of Jerusalem and those who will die at Armageddon.[144]
1925: Armageddon identified as a battle between God and Satan, resulting in the overthrow of human governments and false religion. Armageddon had previously been understood to mean a "melee between contending forces of mankind", resulting in social revolution and political anarchy.[145][146][147][148][149][150]
1925: Michael, the dragon and the man-child in Revelation chapter 12, previously defined as the Pope, the Roman Empire and the papacy, redefined as Jesus, Satan and the New Nation (or Kingdom), respectively.[151][152]
1926: Use of name Jehovah, previously used sparingly at assemblies and in public preaching, given new emphasis. Announced in January 1, 1926 issue of The Watchtower.[153]
1926: "Satan's organization" defined as the rulers of politics, commerce and religion and all their followers.[154]
1927: "First resurrection" of "sleeping saints", previously 1878,[155] changed to 1918.[156][157]
1927: "Faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45-47, previously defined as Russell since 1897,[158][159][160][161] changed to a "class" comprising all remaining "anointed" Christians.[162]
1927: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36, previously defined as "people living contemporaneously"[111] changed to a remnant of the "anointed" on earth during Armageddon.[163]
1928: Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, previously regarded as a testimony to the Bible and its chronology,[48][164] declared to have no prophetic significance and built under the direction of Satan.[165]
1928: Celebration of Christmas, previously embraced as a "tribute of respect" to Christ,[166][167] discontinued because of its "pagan origin".[168]
1929: Honoring of God's name described as "the outstanding issue facing all intelligent creation".[169]
1929: "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 to whom Christians had to show subjection and obedience, previously defined as governmental authorities, redefined as God and Christ only.[170][171] Secular state then regarded as demonic and almost without redeeming features.[172]
1929: The "time of the end" of Daniel 12:4, previously defined as a 115-year period from 1799 to 1914,[173][174][175] redefined as a period of unspecified length starting in 1914.[176]
1930–1939[edit]
1931: Adoption of the name "Jehovah's witnesses".[177]
1932: Assertion that God's Holy Spirit ceased operating on his people when "[Jesus] the Lord came to his temple, in 1918",[178][179] at which point Jesus 'took charge of feeding the flock'.[180]
1932: The "Jews" who will be restored to their homeland, previously defined as literal Jews,[181] redefined as the Christian congregation.[172][182][183]
1932: Identification of "Jonadabs", a "sheep" class of people who take a stand for righteousness and who are to be preserved by God through Armageddon to gain everlasting life on earth. The term was drawn from the account at 2 Kings 10.[184] In 1920 Rutherford had written that it was "unreasonable" to think God was developing any class other than the little flock (the 144,000 to attain heavenly kingship) and the "great company" (second spiritual class also with a heavenly hope). In 1934 the Watchtower explained that the "Jonadabs" survive Armageddon by living in the figurative "City of refuge", represented by remaining affiliated with the Watch Tower Society.[185]
1932: Watch Tower Society adherents with an earthly hope should join the worldwide preaching work.[186] In 1927 The Watchtower had directed that only anointed Christians were "entitled" to take part in the ministry.[187]
1933: Christ's parousia – his second coming or invisible "presence" – previously established as 1874 and reaffirmed as late as 1929,[188] changed to 1914.[189]
1934: Vindication of God's name becomes central doctrine.[190] Rutherford noted that God had provided Jesus Christ's sacrifice as the redemption price for sinful humankind, but wrote that this was "secondary to the vindication of Jehovah's name".[191]
1934: The 1917 teaching that Russell was exercising strong influence from heaven on the "harvesting" of anointed Christians[192] described as "foolish".[193]
1935: "Great crowd" of Revelation 7 defined as the "sheep" of Matthew 25, resulting in a redirection of proselytizing efforts from gathering the "elect" (remnant of the 144,000 with a heavenly destiny) to gathering an indeterminate number of people who could survive Armageddon and receive everlasting life on earth. Previously, the "great crowd" was believed to have a heavenly hope.[139][194]
1935: Tobacco use "unclean" and prohibited for Bethel (branch office) staff and traveling overseers.[195]
1935: Vaccines, described since 1921 as "devilish" and "an outrage",[196][197] condemned as a violation of God's law.[198]
1936: Device on which Jesus was killed, previously defined as a wooden cross, redefined as a "tree".[199] An image of the cross appeared on the front page of The Watch Tower until October 1931.[200]
1937: Jehovah's Witnesses with an earthly hope could be described as "Christian".[201] In 1930 the Watchtower had asserted that the term "Christian" could be applied only to anointed followers of Christ.[202]
1938: God's mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" said to apply only after the start of the millennium. The Watchtower said the mandate had never been carried out under righteous conditions, and so had failed to be fulfilled according to God's will. Rutherford urged Witnesses to delay marriage and the bearing of children until after Armageddon.[203]
1939: Witnesses required to demonstrate complete neutrality in worldly affairs.[204]
1940–1949[edit]
1942: Tobacco prohibition applied to all appointed positions, such as congregation overseers and servants.[205]
1943: Destruction of Jerusalem moved from 606 BCE to 607 BCE, when the Watch Tower Society realised there was no year zero between 1 BCE and 1 CE, in order to maintain calculations regarding 1914; return of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem moved from 536 BCE to 537 BCE to maintain 70 years after 607 BCE.[206][207]
1943: Adam's creation, previously 4129 BCE[208] or 4128 BCE,[209] moved forward 100 years to 4028 BCE. The shift in dates also moved the termination point of 6,000 years of human history from October 1872[210] to 1972.[211][212]
1944: Responsibility for administering discipline, including disfellowshipping, of dissident members passed from entire congregation to congregational judicial committees.[213][214] Russell had recommended in a 1904 publication that a congregation "committee" investigate a congregant's serious "error or sin", but the entire congregation voted whether "to withdraw from him its fellowship".[215]
1944: Adam's creation, previously 4028 BCE, changed to 4026 BCE.[216]
1945: Blood transfusions forbidden.[217][218] Russell had viewed the prohibition on eating blood in Acts 15:19-29 as a "suggestion" to gentile Christians in order to "guard against stumbling themselves or becoming stumbling blocks to others"[219] and ensure peace within the early church.[220]
1950–1959[edit]
1951: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36, previously defined as a remnant of the "anointed" on earth during Armageddon[163] changed to "a 'generation' in the ordinary sense" who were alive in 1914.[221]
1951: Celebration of birthdays considered "objectionable" because celebrations are "steeped in false worship" and exalt humans.[222]
1952: Vaccines, previously condemned, considered acceptable.[223][224]
1953: Adam's creation, previously 4026 BCE, changed to 4025 BCE. End of God's 6,000-year "rest day" ending in northern hemisphere autumn 1976.[225]
1954: Worship of Jesus, previously considered appropriate and necessary,[226][227][228] deemed inappropriate, with the New World Translation translating proskyne′ō as "do obeisance to" rather than "worship" (King James Version).[229]
1955: Operation of Holy Spirit, asserted in 1932 to have ceased in 1918, stated as having been still operative after 1918.[230]
1960–1969[edit]
1961: Acceptance of blood transfusion deemed a disfellowshipping offence.[231] Acceptance of human organ transplant stipulated a personal matter to be decided without criticism.[232]
1962: "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 redefined as earthly governments, reverting the 1929 change[233] to Russell's 1886 teaching.[234] A year earlier, Russell's view was considered to have made the Watch Tower Bible Students unclean in God's eyes.[170][235]
1963: Adam's creation changed back to 4026 BCE.[236] End of 6,000 years of human history due in northern hemisphere autumn 1975.[237]
1967: Human organ transplants equated with cannibalism,[238] "a practice abhorrent to all civilized people", and said to be a procedure not permitted by God.[239] The Watchtower article announcing the view is interpreted by commentators as a prohibition.[9][240] In a 1972 article, Jehovah's Witnesses are described as having taken a "stand" against organ transplants, saving them from the consequences of such operations, on the basis of the description of the procedure as "a form of cannibalism".[241]
1968: Interval between Adam's creation and the close of the sixth creative "day", previously "quite some time",[212][216][242][243] changed to "a comparatively short period of time" that "may involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years." The change led to expectations that Christ's 1,000 year reign could begin in 1975.[244]
1970–1979[edit]
1973: Tobacco use banned. Tobacco users not to be accepted for baptism and baptized Witnesses to be disfellowshipped if they continue to smoke after "a reasonable period of time, such as six months".[245]
1980–1989[edit]
1980: Acceptance of human organ transplants stipulated as a matter of personal choice not warranting congregational discipline. View of transplants as cannibalism now said to be held only by "some Christians".[246] The Watchtower article is regarded by commentators as a reversal of Society's 1967 position that the procedure is not permitted by God.[9][240]
1981: Members who formally resign membership of the religion (disassociate) are to be shunned in the same manner as disfellowshipped Witnesses.[247]
1983: Martial arts and carrying "firearms for protection against humans" disqualify a Witness from "special privileges in the congregation", such as appointment as elder.[248]
1988: Length of creative 'days' in Genesis, previously defined as exactly 7,000 years each,[249] changed to "at least thousands of years in length" [emphasis added][250]
1990-1999[edit]
1990: Interval between Adam's creation and the close of the sixth creative "day" changed to "some time", employing a 1963 reference rather than the 1968 change.[251]
1992: The "modern-day Nethinim", previously defined as synonymous with the "other sheep",[252] redefined as a subset of the "other sheep" who serve in positions of authority within the organization as "helpers" to the Governing Body.[253]
1995: "This generation" at Matthew 23:36, previously defined as a typical human lifespan since Jesus' parousia in 1914,[221] redefined as a class of people displaying certain characteristics for an indefinite period of time.[254][255][256][257][258]
1995: Fulfillment of Jesus' parable of the separating of sheep and goats, previously considered to have been ongoing since 1914, changed to after the start of the 'Great Tribulation'.[259][260]
1995: The expression "vindication of Jehovah’s name" declared unnecessary, with emphasis on "vindicating his sovereignty" and "sanctifying his name" as being more accurate.[261] The former expression had not appeared in any publication since 1991.[262]
2000–2009[edit]
2007: Selection of the 144,000 "anointed", previously considered to have ended in 1935,[263] changed to an indefinite period.[264]
2008: "This generation" redefined as "anointed" believers, who will "not pass away" before the great tribulation begins.[265] This was a return to the belief held in 1927.[163]
2010–2019[edit]
2010: "This generation" redefined to include "other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation", whose lives "overlap" with "the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914".[266]
2012: "Faithful and discreet slave", previously defined as synonymous with the "anointed" and represented by the Governing Body,[267] redefined to refer to the Governing Body only. The "domestics", previously defined as each member of the "anointed" individually, redefined as including all members of the "anointed" and the "great crowd". The "evil slave" of Matthew 24:48, previously defined as former "anointed" members who reject Jesus, redefined as a hypothetical warning to the "faithful slave".[268][269]
2014: "Gog of Magog", previously identified as Satan, redefined as an unspecified "coalition of nations".[270]
Criticism[edit]
Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz and Sociology lecturer Andrew Holden have pointed out that doctrines—including those relating to sexual behaviour in marriage and the "superior authorities" of Romans 13:4—have sometimes been altered, only to revert to those held decades earlier.[271] Holden, author of a major ethnographic study on the religion, commented: "It could be that many Witnesses have not yet been in the organisation long enough to realise that 'new lights' have a habit of growing dimmer, while old ones are switched back on!"[272] In his study of the Witnesses and their history, Tony Wills has suggested that when third president Nathan H. Knorr altered major doctrines established by his predecessor, J. F. Rutherford, he was returning the Witnesses to many of Russell's teachings. He asked: "How can the Society harmonize this circular development with the claimed progressive development?"[273]
In testimony at a 1954 court case in Scotland, senior Watch Tower Society figures admitted that although doctrines were subject to change if they were later regarded as erroneous, all Witnesses were required to accept current teachings or risk expulsion. Under cross-examination, Fred Franz, then vice president of the Watch Tower Society, conceded a Witness could be disfellowshipped and shunned for "causing trouble" over a belief they held that was contrary to Society teaching but subsequently embraced by the religion.[274] Society lawyer Hayden G. Covington told the court that although the Society had for decades published a "false prophecy ... a false statement" about the date of Christ's Second Coming, members of the religion had been required to accept it and any who had rejected it would have been expelled. He explained: "You must understand we must have unity, we cannot have disunity with a lot of people going every way."[274]
See also[edit]
Eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses
Faithful and discreet slave
Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses
History of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs
Watch Tower Society unfulfilled predictions
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, p. 106
2.Jump up ^ "Jehovah, the God of Progressive Revelation", Watchtower, June 15, 1964, page 365,"The abundance of spiritual food and the amazing details of Jehovah’s purposes that have been revealed to Jehovah’s anointed witnesses are clear evidence that they are the ones mentioned by Jesus when he foretold a 'faithful and discreet slave' class that would be used to dispense God’s progressive revelations in these last days ... How thankful we should be for the provision God has made of this slave class, the modern spiritual remnant, as they faithfully dispense the revealed truths of Jehovah! ... Jehovah’s faithful witnesses have been progressively brought to an understanding of Jehovah’s purposes, which are clearer now than ever before in history."
3.Jump up ^ "Seek God's guidance in all things", The Watchtower, April 15, 2008, page 11.
4.Jump up ^ "How the Governing Body Is Organized", The Watchtower, May 15, 2008, page 29.
5.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 152–164
6.Jump up ^ Holden 2002, pp. 22, 10, 158, 163
7.Jump up ^ "The Godly Qualities of Love and Hate". The Watchtower, 15 July 1974, "Christians have implicit trust in their heavenly Father; they do not question what he tells them through his written Word and organization."
8.Jump up ^ "Jehovah’s Theocratic Organization Today", The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, page 79, "Are we assigned as individuals to bring forth the food for the spiritual table? No? Then let us not try to take over the slave’s duties. We should eat and digest and assimilate what is set before us, without shying away from parts of the food because it may not suit the fancy of our mental taste. The truths we are to publish are the ones provided through the discreet-slave organization, not some personal opinions contrary to what the slave has provided as timely food. Jehovah and Christ direct and correct the slave as needed, not we as individuals. If we do not see a point at first we should keep trying to grasp it, rather than opposing and rejecting it and presumptuously taking the position that we are more likely to be right than the discreet slave. We should meekly go along with the Lord’s theocratic organization and wait for further clarification ... Theocratic ones will appreciate the Lord’s visible organization and not be so foolish as to pit against Jehovah’s channel their own human reasoning and sentiment and personal feelings."
9.^ Jump up to: a b c Osamu Muramoto, "Bioethics of the refusal of blood by Jehovah's Witnesses, part 1", Journal of Medical Ethics, August 1998, Vol 24, Issue 4, page 223-230.
10.Jump up ^ "The Path of the Righteous Does Keep Getting Brighter", The Watchtower, December 1, 1981, pages 26-31.
11.Jump up ^ The Time is At Hand, By C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1891, page B39, "And though the Bible contains no direct statement that the seventh thousand will be the epoch of Christ's reign, the great Sabbath Day of restitution to the world, yet the venerable tradition is not without a reasonable foundation.".
12.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, October 1, 1907, R4067: page 294, "Can we feel absolutely sure that the Chronology set forth in the DAWN-STUDIES is correct? ...we have never claimed our calculations to be infallibly correct; we have never claimed that they were knowledge, nor based upon indisputable evidence, facts, knowledge; our claim has always been that they are based on faith. We have set forth the evidences as plainly as possible and stated the conclusions of faith we draw from them, and have invited others to accept as much or as little of them as their hearts and heads could endorse. ...Possibly some who have read the DAWNS have presented our conclusions more strongly than we; but if so that is their own responsibility."
13.Jump up ^ "Impart God’s Progressive Revelation to Mankind", The Watchtower, March 1, 1965, p. 158-159
14.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, pp. 165–171
15.Jump up ^ "Flashes of Light—Great and Small", The Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 15.
16.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society 1993, p. 709
17.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 165
18.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, Preparation, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1933, page 64, 67, "Enlightenment proceeds from Jehovah by and through Christ Jesus and is given to the faithful anointed on earth at the temple, and brings great peace and consolation to them. Again Zechariah talked with the angel of the Lord, which shows that the remnant are instructed by the angels of the Lord. The remnant do not hear audible sounds, because such is not necessary. Jehovah has provided his own good way to convey thoughts to the minds of his anointed ones ... Those of the remnant, being honest and true, must say, We do not know; and the Lord enlightens them, sending his angels for that very purpose."
19.Jump up ^ Watchtower 1933, pages 53, 62, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 165.
20.Jump up ^ Life Everlasting in Freedom in the Sons of God Watchtower Society, 1966, page 149, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 165.
21.Jump up ^ "The Things Revealed Belong to Us", The Watchtower, May 15, 1986, pages 10-15, "In 1925 God’s earthly servants became possessors of an accurate understanding... In 1932 their understanding was deepened still further. Jehovah revealed that the prophecies related ...to spiritual Israel, the Christian congregation. (Romans 2:28, 29) Then, in 1935 a corrected understanding of John’s vision of the “great crowd” in Revelation chapter 7 opened the eyes of anointed ones to the huge gathering work that still lay ahead of them.".
22.Jump up ^ "Flashes of Light - Great and Small", Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 17, 18.
23.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 64
24.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 106
25.Jump up ^ Watchtower, December 1, 1933, page 364, "Without doubt these angels are delegated by the Lord to convey his instructions to the members of his organization on earth. Just how this is done is not necessary for us to understand."
26.Jump up ^ "You Must Be Holy Because Jehovah Is Holy", Watchtower, February 15, 1976, page 123
27.Jump up ^ "Keep in Step With Jehovah’s Organization", Watchtower, January 15, 2001, page 18.
28.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1922, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 228.
29.^ Jump up to: a b Watch Tower, July 15, 1922, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 226.
30.Jump up ^ "To Whom Shall We Go but Jesus Christ?", The Watchtower, March 1, 1979, pages 23-24.
31.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, October 15, 1954, page 638.
32.Jump up ^ "Name and Purpose of The Watchtower", The Watchtower, August 15, 1950, page 263.
33.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 115
34.Jump up ^ Edmund C. Gruss, The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, 1972, page 64. Gruss based his comments on The Truth Shall Make You Free, 1943, pages 141-52.
35.Jump up ^ "The Sign of His Presence", Zion's Watch Tower, May 1880.
36.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 26
37.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 5
38.Jump up ^ "If Death Ends All", Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879.
39.Jump up ^ "Why Did Christ Die?", Zion's Watch Tower, November 1879.
40.Jump up ^ "The Royal Priesthood", "If Death Ends All", Zion's Watch Tower, July 1879.
41.Jump up ^ Rogerson 1969, p. 17
42.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 9
43.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 17
44.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 21
45.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 43–48,144
46.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 243–244
47.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 47
48.^ Jump up to: a b Russell 1891, pp. 313–376
49.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 36–37
50.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 74–102
51.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 37–39
52.Jump up ^ Miller's chronology pinpointed the start in 1798, according to Crompton (pg 23).
53.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 21
54.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, pp. 23–60
55.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 23
56.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 69
57.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 25
58.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 177
59.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, pp. 39–41
60.Jump up ^ 2 Peter 3:8.
61.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 25
62.^ Jump up to: a b Russell 1889, p. 53
63.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 127,128
64.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 213
65.Jump up ^ Russell's belief in a "repetition" or doubling of iniquity was drawn from Jeremiah 16:18. See The Time Is At Hand, pg 218.
66.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 221
67.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 235
68.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 105, 150, 222, 234
69.Jump up ^ Luke 3:15.
70.Jump up ^ Crompton 1996, p. 47
71.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, January 1, 1908, page 2.
72.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 492
73.Jump up ^ Russell 1886, pp. 149–172
74.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3821 (reprint).
75.Jump up ^ Rogerson, Alan (1969), Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Constable & Co, London, pp. 17–23, ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0
76.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, pp. 67–77
77.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 20
78.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, pp. 38, 39
79.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, August 1879, Reprints 20, page 3.
80.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return, 1877.
81.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, July 1, 1879, p. 7 (reprint).
82.Jump up ^ "Speak the Pure Language and Live Forever!", The Watchtower, May 1, 1991, page 17, "In 1879...a small Bible-study group led by Charles Taze Russell was meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. They had become certain that Jesus’ second coming...would restore Paradise on earth, with eternal life for obedient humans."
83.Jump up ^ Russell, Charles (1 March 1906). Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence "Views From the Watch Tower". Allegheny, PA: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. pp. 68–69 (p.3731–3732 reprint). "Then came the suggestion that all the larger forms of being were mere evolutions from lower to higher. With this thought the learned of this world have been wrestling for the past fifty years, shaking the foundations of faith in the Bible for millions. For if the Bible be true this theory is false as respects man's origin. Instead of further evolution being our salvation the Bible points us to our fall, to the redemption accomplished for the world by the Son of God, and to the coming deliverance of the groaning creation from sin and its death penalty. Only those who trust the Bible record are safe from the blighting influence of this evolution error."
84.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Divine Plan of the Ages, 1886, study IX, page 172, "These things are clearly taught in the Scriptures, from beginning to end, and are in direct opposition to the Evolution theory; or, rather, such "babblings of science, falsely so called," are in violent and irreconcilable conflict with the Word of God."
85.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, pp. 6, 42
86.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 42
87.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 165
88.Jump up ^ Barbour 1877, p. 48,49
89.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1880, Watch Tower Reprints page 64 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 2
90.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, April 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 207 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 7, "And why did they thus keep the people in ignorance? Because they feared that if people knew this, the only text which gives even a shadow of support to the doctrine of the TRINITY, to be an interpolation to support a papal error, they might renounce the error".
91.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, September 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 278 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 132, "As to the motives and errors which may have led to these unwarranted interpolations of the [Bible] text, we may be able to offer a suggestion, viz., the last mentioned (1 John 5:7,8) was probably intended to give authority and sanction to the doctrine of the "Trinity."
92.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1881, Watch Tower Reprints page 290 As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 4, ""He gave his only begotten Son." This phraseology brings us into conflict with an old Babylonian theory, viz.: Trinitarianism. If that doctrine is true, how could there be any Son to give? A begotten Son, too? Impossible. If these three are one, did God send himself? And how could Jesus say: "My Father is greater than I." John 14:28. [emphasis retained from original]"
93.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1882, Reprints 370, page 3.
94.Jump up ^ Penton, M. J. (1997), Apocalypse Delayed (2nd ed.), University of Toronto Press, p. 343, note 64, "Barbour and Paton were trinitarians ... although Henry Grew and George Stetson, two others who had influenced him, were non–trinitarians, Russell did not take a stand on the matter, at least publicly, until after his split with Paton."
95.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 120.
96.Jump up ^ N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell, Three Worlds, 1877, page 57, "I am beginning to think Age-to-come people, and many others among pre-millennialists, do not believe in anything of a spiritual nature, or have the most remote comprehension of things of that order; either that the saint is raised 'a spiritual body,' or in the existence of spiritual beings, or even of the Holy Spirit itself. I know one class of age-to-come believers, the Christadelphians, do not. The Holy Spirit, say they, is but a principle, or element of power, and not an intelligence. It is nothing more nor less than 'electricity;' is taught in one of their books, now before me. What wonder they discern only a fleshly future."
97.Jump up ^ J. H. Paton, Day Dawn, A.D. Jones, 1880, page 225, 229, "The work of the Holy Spirit is one of the most important elements in the plan of revelation and salvation. He is always spoken of by the Saviour as a Person, and is called the " Spirit of truth." We will follow the Saviour's example in this, though we do not propose to deal with the philosophy of that fact. He being the Spirit of truth, it is His mission to make known the truth."
98.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, July 1880, page 8, "But the Spirit cannot resign his work until it is complete."
99.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, August 1880, page 4, "Then let the Spirit use his sword upon others as he may see fit to humble them, strip them of pride, and bring them to the rock that is higher than they."
100.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, November 1880, page 8, "The Spirit is still our leader and instructor. He is now telling us of Him who comes by way of unseen presence that He is here present."
101.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, March 1881, page 5, "The number three is surprisingly prominent, as the subject opens before us ... We would first call attention to the Divine Three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – often mentioned in the Bible."
102.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3825 (reprint).
103.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, May 1882, Reprints 356, page 8.
104.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, September 1882, Reprints 392, page 4.
105.Jump up ^ "The Three Great Covenants", Zion's Watch Tower, March 1880.
106.Jump up ^ "The New Covenant vs the Law Covenant", Zion's Watch Tower, September 1887.
107.^ Jump up to: a b Wills 2006, pp. 63–68
108.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, pp. 38,47–59
109.Jump up ^ Rusell 1891, pp. 239–242
110.Jump up ^ Charles Taze Russell, "Haverst Gatherings and Siftings", Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, p. 3823 (reprint).
111.^ Jump up to: a b Studies in the Scriptures 4. pp. 602–603.
112.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 78
113.Jump up ^ "The Outlook - War & Prosperity", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, September 15, 1901 (R2876 page 292)
114.Jump up ^ "Universal Anarchy", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, July 1, 1904 (R3389 page 197)
115.Jump up ^ The New Creation, (Volume VI of Studies in the Scriptures), 1904, page 179: “We have every reason to believe that the definite, fixed number of the elect [chosen anointed ones] is that several times stated in Revelation (7:4; 14:1); namely, 144,000 ‘redeemed from amongst men."
116.Jump up ^ "The Great Company", Zion's Watch Tower, October 15, 1904.
117.Jump up ^ The New Creation, (Volume VI of Studies in the Scriptures), 1904, page 168-170.
118.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, pp. 57, 58
119.Jump up ^ "The Rank of the Ancient Worthies", "The Great Company", Zion's Watch Tower, October 15, 1904.
120.Jump up ^ "Our Advocate, the World's Mediator," Zion's Watch Tower, January 1, 1907.
121.Jump up ^ "The Word Mediator Used Differently,", Watch Tower, January 1909.
122.Jump up ^ Scenario of the Photo-Drama of Creation, ©1914 International Bible Students Association, page 3
123.Jump up ^ "Views from the Watch Tower", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 1, 1914 (R5373: page 3)
124.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 101
125.Jump up ^ "Overcome With Wine", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 15, 1892 (R1357: page 27)
126.Jump up ^ "What Smiting of the Waters May Mean", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, February 1, 1916 (R5845: page 38)
127.Jump up ^ "The Burning of the Tares", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, September 1, 1916 (R5951: page 265)
128.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, October 1, 1913, pgs 291-295.
129.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, April 1, 1916, pages 98-99.
130.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, December 15, 1919, pg 375.
131.Jump up ^ "The Table of the Great King,", The Watchtower, April 1, 1919, as cited by James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, pg 181.
132.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 233
133.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, July 1, 1920, page 196.
134.Jump up ^ C. T. Russell, The Battle of Armageddon, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 568.
135.Jump up ^ "Gospel of the Kingdom", The Watchtower, July 1, 1920, pages 199-200.
136.Jump up ^ "View from the Tower", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, January 15, 1892 (R1354: page 19)
137.Jump up ^ New Heavens and a New Earth, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1953, page 225.
138.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1922, pages 332-337.
139.^ Jump up to: a b Penton 1997, p. 72
140.Jump up ^ "The Keys of the Kingdom and the Great Crowd", Watchtower, October 1, 1971, page 14.
141.Jump up ^ "The Parable of the sheep and goats", The Watchtower, October 15, 1923, pages 307-314.
142.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 113
143.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 15, 1923.
144.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, pp. 141, 142
145.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1, 1925.
146.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 134
147.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 223
148.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 251
149.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower, August 1, 1892, page 238.
150.Jump up ^ The Finished Mystery, 1917, pages 256-258. See comment on Rev. 16:16-20.
151.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1925, page 69.
152.Jump up ^ J. F. Rutherford, The Battle of Armageddon, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, page 541.
153.Jump up ^ "Restoration of True Religion", Watchtower, March 1, 1954, page 150.
154.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Deliverance, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 1926, pages 268,269.
155.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 306
156.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, June 1, 1927.
157.Jump up ^ Rutherford 1930, p. 226
158.Jump up ^ The Battle of Armageddon (Part IV, "Studies in the Scriptures") by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1897, page 613.
159.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, July 15, 1906, page 215.
160.Jump up ^ Franz 2002, pp. 78–79
161.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, March 1, 1923, pages 68 and 71, as cited by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, 2007, page 63.
162.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, January 1, 1927 and February, pages 7, 51-7, as cited by Penton, Apocalypse Delayed.
163.^ Jump up to: a b c "Interesting Questions". The Watchtower: 62. February 15, 1927.
164.Jump up ^ Watchtower, June 15, 1922, page 187, as reproduced by Raymond Franz, Crisis of Conscience, page 225, 226.
165.Jump up ^ Watchtower, 1928, pages 339-45, 355-62, as cited by M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, page 170.
166.Jump up ^ "The Prince of Peace", Zion's Watch Tower & Herald of Christ's Presence, December 1, 1904, page 364.
167.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, December 24, 1919, page 215: "Christmas is regarded by many people as the date of the birth of the babe Jesus in a manger at Bethlehem. Whether the date is correct or not is of small importance, but the event was and is of the greatest importance."
168.Jump up ^ 1975 Yearbook, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, page 146
169.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 152.
170.^ Jump up to: a b Franz 2007, p. 484
171.Jump up ^ "The Higher Powers", Watch Tower, June 1929, pages 163-169, 179-185.
172.^ Jump up to: a b Penton 1997, p. 65
173.Jump up ^ Russell 1891, p. 23
174.Jump up ^ Creation by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1927, chapter 12, page 314.
175.Jump up ^ Joseph Rutherford (1928). The Harp of God (Revised ed.). p. 233.
176.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1929, pages 355-357, as cited by Edmond C. Gruss, The Four Presidents of the Watch Tower Society, page 117 and Tony Wills, A People For His name, page 48.
177.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 62
178.Jump up ^ Preservation by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, page 103-194.
179.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, October 1, 1932, page 294.
180.Jump up ^ Preparation, ©1933 by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower, page 196
181.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, February 15, 1925, page 57, "We know the work of restitution must come to the Jews first, and through them to the rest of the world. As the Scriptures state that Jerusalem is to be the capital of the world and that the ancient worthies are to be princes in all the earth, we are warranted in expecting that the kingdom work will begin at Jerusalem."
182.Jump up ^ Vindication, Book 2, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, pages 258, 269, 295.
183.Jump up ^ Vindication, Book 3, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1932, page 333.
184.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 165.
185.Jump up ^ Watchtower, August 15, 1934, as cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name, pg 192-193.
186.Jump up ^ Vindication, J. F. Rutherford, Book III, pages 83. 84.
187.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 15, 1927, pg 26, 27, "He who is called to be a minister of God must be a new creature, begotten of God's holy spirit; none other can have a share. In this ministry only those who are new creatures in Jesus Christ are entitled to share." As cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name,(2007), pg 194.
188.Jump up ^ Prophecy by J. F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1929, chapter 4, page 65.
189.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, December 1, 1933, page 362: "In the year 1914 that due time of waiting came to an end. Christ Jesus received the authority of the kingdom and was sent forth by Jehovah to rule amidst his enemies. The year 1914, therefore, marks the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory."
190.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 69
191.Jump up ^ Jehovah, J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1934.
192.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1917, page 6161.
193.Jump up ^ J.F. Rutherford, Jehovah, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1934, page 191.
194.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1959, page 140.
195.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, March 1, 1935
196.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, October 12, 1921, Page 17, "Vaccination never prevented anything and never will, and is the most barbarous practice ... We are in the last days; and the devil is slowly losing his hold, making a strenuous effort meanwhile to do all the damage he can, and to his credit can such evils be placed ... Use your rights as American citizens to forever abolish the devilish practice of vaccinations."
197.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, January 5, 1929, Page 502, "Thinking people would rather have smallpox than vaccination, because the latter sows seeds of syphilis, cancers, eczema, erysipelas, scrofula, consumption, even leprosy and many other loathsome affections. Hence the practice of vaccinations is a crime, an outrage, and a delusion."
198.Jump up ^ The Golden Age, April 2, 1935, Page 465, "As vaccination is a direct injection of animal matter in the blood stream, vaccination is a direct violation of the law of Jehovah God."
199.Jump up ^ Riches, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1936, page 27.
200.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, p. 150
201.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1937, page 336, as cited by Tony Wills, A People For His Name, pg 195.
202.Jump up ^ Watchtower, March 1, 1930, page 71, "Since "Christ' means the anointed of God, it is manifestly true that no one can properly be termed a Christian who is not in Christ and who has not received the anointing."
203.Jump up ^ A People for His Name, Tony Wills, pgs 186-187, citing Watchtower October 15, 1938, pg 307, Watchtower, November 1, 1938, page 323, Watchtower, November 15, 1938, page 346.
204.Jump up ^ Watch Tower, November 1, 1939, as cited by Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1993, page 193.
205.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1942, pages 205-206
206.Jump up ^ "Questions from Readers". The Watchtower: 94. February 1, 1955. "Jehovah's witnesses from 1877 up to and including the publishing of "The Truth Shall Make You Free" of 1943 considered 536 B.C. as the year for the return of the Jews to Palestine"
207.Jump up ^ "Determining the Year by Fact and Bible". The Watchtower: 271–2. May 1, 1952. "Concerning the first error, Russell and others considered 1 B.C. to A.D. 1 as being two years whereas in fact this is only one year because, as has been said above, there is no "zero" year in the B.C.-A.D. system for counting years."
208.Jump up ^ Russell 1889, p. 54
209.Jump up ^ Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, May 15, 1896, R1980 page 112.
210.Jump up ^ Three Worlds, by N. H. Barbour and C. T. Russell, 1877, pages 67, 186, as cited by Edmund Gruss, The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, 1972, pages 62-63.
211.Jump up ^ The Truth Shall Make You Free, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1943, chapter 11, page 151.
212.^ Jump up to: a b Gruss, Edmond C. (1972), The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co, pp. 68–69, ISBN 0-87552-306-4
213.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 89
214.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, May 15, 1944.
215.Jump up ^ The New Creation, Watch Tower, 1904, pages 289-290, "The administration of discipline is not the function of the elders only, but of the entire [congregation]. ... If the reproved one fails to clear himself, and continues in the error or sin, then two or three brethren without previous prejudice should be asked to hear the matter and advise the disputants. (Elders they may or may not be, but their eldership would add no force or authority in the case except as their judgment might be the riper and their influence the more potent.) If this committee decide unanimously with either party, the other should acquiesce and the matter be wholly at an end--correction, or restitution, so far as possible, being promptly made. If either of the original disputants still persists in the wrong course, the [accuser, a committee member] or, preferably, all of these together, may then (but not sooner) exercise their privilege of bringing the matter before the [congregation]. Thus it is evident that the Elders were in no sense to be judges of the members—hearing and judgment were left to the [congregation]. The two preliminary steps (above mentioned) having been taken, the facts being certified to the elders, it would be their duty to call a general meeting of the [congregation], as a court--to hear the case in all of its particulars, and in the name and reverence of its Head to render a decision. ... if the transgressor refuse to hear (obey) the decision of the entire [congregation], ... the [congregation] is to withdraw from him its fellowship and any and all signs or manifestations of brotherhood. [emphasis retained from original]
216.^ Jump up to: a b "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, 1 February 1955: 94–95
217.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 153
218.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, July 1. 1945.
219.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, November 15, 1892 p. 351.
220.Jump up ^ The Watch Tower, April 15, 1909 pp. 116-117, "These prohibitions had never come to the Gentiles, because they had never been under the Law Covenant; but so deeply rooted were the Jewish ideas on this subject that it was necessary to the peace of the Church that the Gentiles should observe this matter also ... these items thus superadded to the Law of Love should be observed by all spiritual Israelites as representing the Divine will.”
221.^ Jump up to: a b "Vision of the "Time of the End"". The Watchtower: 404. July 1, 1951.
222.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. October 1, 1951.
223.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. December 15, 1952.
224.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers". The Watchtower. September 15, 1958. "Q: Are we to consider the injection of serums such as diphtheria toxin antitoxin and blood fractions such as gamma globulin into the blood stream, for the purpose of building up resistance to disease by means of antibodies, the same as the drinking of blood or the taking of blood or blood plasma by means of transfusion? A: No, it does not seem necessary that we put the two in the same category, although we have done so in times past."
225.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, 1 February 1955: 95
226.Jump up ^ "Interesting Queries", Watch Tower, July 15, 1898, page 216.
227.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1939, page 339: "Jehovah God commands all to worship Christ Jesus because Christ Jesus is the express image of his Father, Jehovah"
228.Jump up ^ Watchtower, October 15, 1945, page 313: "Since Jehovah God now reigns as King by means of his capital organization Zion, then whosoever would worship Him must also worship and bow down to Jehovah's Chief One in that capital organization, namely, Christ Jesus."
229.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", Watchtower, January 1, 1954, page 30.
230.Jump up ^ "Modern Restoration of True Worship (1919-1932)", The Watchtower, May 15, 1955, page 296, "Jesus—then to expand on a global scale—so now in the spring of 1919 there was an outpouring of Jehovah’s holy spirit organizationally upon the Christian remnant."
231.Jump up ^ Watchtower, January 15, 1961, page 63.
232.Jump up ^ Watchtower, August 1, 1961, page 480.
233.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1962.
234.Jump up ^ The Divine Plan of the Ages, by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1886, page 266: "They taught the Church to obey the laws, and to respect those in authority because of their office, even if they were not personally worthy of esteem; to pay their appointed taxes, and, except where they conflicted with God's laws (Acts 4: 19; 5: 29), to offer no resistance to any established law. (Rom. 13: 1 - 7)"
235.Jump up ^ "The Congregation in the Time of the End", Watchtower, March 1, 1961, page 146.
236.Jump up ^ All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1963, page 286.
237.Jump up ^ "The Removal of Mankind's Chief Disturber", The Watchtower, 15 July 1967: 446–447
238.Jump up ^ Awake, June 8, 1968, Page 21 “Christian witnesses of Jehovah,... consider all transplants between humans as cannibalism.”
239.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 15, 1967, pages 702-704
240.^ Jump up to: a b Penton, M. J. Penton, Apocalypse Delayed, University of Toronto Press, pp. 165–171, "In 1967 the society suddenly decided that what had been permissible no longer was. Organ transplants suddenly became a form of human cannibalism ... Yet after many faithful Jehovah's Witnesses had suffered for their faith by giving up transplants which in some cases could have made their lives more pleasant and comfortable and by saving them from early death in others, the society again reversed itself."
241.Jump up ^ "Keep Abstaining from Blood", Awake!, July 8, 1972, page 28, "The stand of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah—that such transplants are in effect a form of cannibalism—proved a safeguard. How so? In that it spared them much frustration, grief and anxiety, which were experienced not only by the patients and their relatives but even by many of the assisting medical personnel."
242.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", The Watchtower, February 1, 1955, page 95, "However, from our present chronology (which is admitted imperfect) at best the fall of the year 1976 would be the end of 6,000 years of human history for mankind... Obviously, whatever amount of Adam’s 930 years was lived before the beginning of that seventh-day rest of Jehovah, that unknown amount would have to be added to the 1976 date."
243.Jump up ^ Thy Kingdom Come by C. T. Russell, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1889, pages 127-128. "long enough [for Adam] to realize his lack of a companion" and an additional "two years would not be an improbable estimate" to have passed between Adam's creation and Edenic expulsion (beginning the seventh creative day).
244.Jump up ^ "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?", The Watchtower, August 15, 1968, page 499-500
245.Jump up ^ Watchtower, June 1, 1973, page 340.
246.Jump up ^ "Questions From Readers", Watchtower, March 15, 1980, page 31.
247.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Defectors Feel Witnsses' Wrath", Los Angeles Times, January 30, 1982, Part II, page 4, "The Sept. 15 Watchtower magazine told members that anyone who has written a letter of resignation should be shunned as if he had been 'disfellowshipped', or expelled ... 'This is a hardening, a tightening, of our policy,' confirmed William Van De Wall, a headquarters spokesman for the Watchtower Society. Denying any great membership losses, Van De Wall said the new directive was to counteract 'disgruntled' ex-members."
248.Jump up ^ “Seek Peace and Pursue It”, The Watchtower, July 15, 1983, page 25
249.Jump up ^ "Questions from readers", The Watctower, January 1, 1987, page 30, "A study of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and of our location in the stream of time strongly indicate that each of the creative days is 7,000 years long. It is understood that Christ’s reign of a thousand years will bring to a close God’s 7,000-year ‘rest day,’ the last ‘day’ of the creative week. Based on this reasoning, the entire creative week would be 49,000 years long."
250.Jump up ^ "Creation", Insight, volume 1, 1988 Watch Tower, page 545, "Since the seventh day has been continuing for thousands of years, it may reasonably be concluded that each of the six creative periods, or days, was at least thousands of years in length ... Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself."
251.Jump up ^ All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1990, page 286.
252.Jump up ^ Man's Salvation Out of World Distress at Hand!, pages 167–168 (1975)
253.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, April 15, 1992, pages 12–17
254.Jump up ^ Watchtower, November 1, 1995, page 20.
255.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 28: "The recent information in The Watchtower about "this generation" did not change our understanding of what occurred in 1914. But it did give us a clearer grasp of Jesus' use of the term "generation," helping us to see that his usage was no basis for calculating-counting from 1914 – how close to the end we are."
256.Jump up ^ Joel P. Engardio (December 18, 1995), "Apocalypse Later", Newsweek
257.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 317
258.Jump up ^ John Dart, "Jehovah's Witnesses Abandon Key Tenet", Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1995.
259.Jump up ^ Watchtower, February 1, 1995.
260.Jump up ^ Penton 1997, p. 316
261.Jump up ^ "Part 2—Flashes of Light—Great and Small", The Watchtower, May 15, 1995, page 25
262.Jump up ^ "Chapter 24: Why Jesus Came to Earth", The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, ©1991, "Jesus came to earth particularly to preach about God’s Kingdom, which will vindicate his Father’s name"
263.Jump up ^ Watchtower, February 15, 1995, p.19.
264.Jump up ^ Watchtower, May 1, 2007, pages 30-31: "It appears that we can not set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends."
265.Jump up ^ "Watchtower", February 15, 2008, pages 23-24: "On the other hand, Christ's faithful anointed brothers, the modern-day John class, have recognized this sign as if it were a flash of lightning and have understood its true meaning. 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."
266.Jump up ^ "Holy spirit's role in the outworking of Jehovah's purposes", The Watchtower, 15 April 2010: 10
267.Jump up ^ "Your Leader Is One, the Christ". The Watchtower: 23. September 15, 2010.
268.Jump up ^ "Annual Meeting Report".
269.Jump up ^ ""Who Really Is the Faithful and Discreet Slave?"". The Watchtower: 20–25. July 15, 2013.
270.Jump up ^ 2014 Annual Meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses
271.Jump up ^ Franz 2007, pp. 480–488
272.Jump up ^ Holden, p. 32
273.Jump up ^ Wills 2006, p. 253
274.^ Jump up to: a b Transcript, Lord Strachan vs. Douglas Walsh, 1954, page 119.
Bibliography[edit]
Barbour, N. H. (1877), Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World (PDF), N. H. Barbour, C. T. Russell
Crompton, Robert (1996), Counting the Days to Armageddon, Cambridge: James Clarke & Co, ISBN 0-227-67939-3
Franz, Raymond (2002), Crisis of Conscience, Commentary Press, Fourth edition, ISBN 0-914675-23-0
Franz, Raymond (2007), In Search of Christian Freedom, 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, M. James (1997), Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (2nd ed.), University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-7973-3
Rogerson, Alan (1969), Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Constable & Co, London, ISBN 978-0-09-455940-0
Russell, C. T. (1886), The Divine Plan of the Ages, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Russell, C. T. (1889), The Time Is At Hand, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Russell, C. T. (1891), Thy Kingdom Come, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Rutherford, J. F. (1930), Light, Book 1, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (1993), Jehovah's Witnesses, Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society
Wills, Tony (2006), A People For His Name, Lulu Enterprises, ISBN 978-1-4303-0100-4
  


Categories: Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses


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Kingdom Hall

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This article is about the place of worship. For the Van Morrison song, see Wavelength (album).

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A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii.[1] Rutherford's reasoning was that these buildings would be used for preaching the "good news of the Kingdom."[2] Jehovah's Witnesses use Kingdom Halls for the majority of their worship and Bible instruction. Witnesses prefer the term "Kingdom Hall" over "church", noting that the term often translated "church" in the Bible refers to the congregation of people rather than a structure.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Location and presentation
2 Uses 2.1 Meetings for worship 2.1.1 Schools
2.2 Weddings
2.3 Funerals
2.4 Disaster relief
3 Construction 3.1 Regional Building Committee
3.2 Funding
4 Maintenance
5 Gallery
6 References
7 External links

Location and presentation[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall in Biddulph, United Kingdom
Kingdom Halls are typically modest, functional structures with practicality in mind.[4] As Witnesses do not use religious symbols, such are not displayed on or in Kingdom Halls. An annual yeartext, or "theme scripture", which is the same for all congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, is prominently displayed in each Kingdom Hall.[5] This text can be displayed in several languages if the Hall is used by foreign language congregations.[6] A Kingdom Hall typically has a library, contribution boxes,[7] and a literature counter, where publications are displayed, stored and dispensed.[8]
Some Kingdom Halls have multiple auditoriums to allow more than one congregation to simultaneously conduct meetings. Where there is more than one auditorium, each auditorium or the entire structure may both be referred to as "a Kingdom Hall". Larger Assembly Halls or Convention Centers of Jehovah's Witnesses, or any rented arena or stadium used for larger gatherings of Jehovah's Witnesses are also regarded 'as a large Kingdom Hall'; undignified behavior is considered inappropriate during their religious events, even if the facility is an entertainment venue.[9]

Uses[edit]



 Worship at a Kingdom Hall in Portugal
Meetings for worship[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses practices § Worship
Congregations typically meet in their Kingdom Halls two days each week for meetings for worship.[10] Meetings usually open and close with song and prayer. Meetings held in the Kingdom Hall include Bible readings, public talks on matters such as the Bible, family life, Christian qualities and prophecy, as well as discussion of specially prepared study articles in The Watchtower magazine and other publications of Jehovah's Witnesses.[11][12][13][14] Witnesses also meet in Kingdom Halls for preparation and prayer before engaging in their door-to-door ministry.
Schools[edit]



 Worship at a Kingdom Hall in Tilburg, Netherlands
Among its meetings for worship, each congregation conducts a weekly Theocratic Ministry School with a common global curriculum[15] (exceptions are made for the availability of study materials). Kingdom Halls may also be used for any of several occasionally scheduled schools, such as sign- or foreign-language classes.[16] Kingdom Halls may also be used for schools especially developed for particular ranks, such as the Pioneer Service School for full-time preachers, and the Kingdom Ministry School for elders and ministerial servants.[17]
In areas where the literacy rate is low, congregations may also arrange to use Kingdom Halls to conduct literacy or reading classes, which non-Witnesses may also attend.[18]
See also: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses § Students
Weddings[edit]
Kingdom Halls may be used for wedding ceremonies of Witness-baptized couples. A couple sends a request in writing to the congregation's "service committee", which assesses whether the couple is "in good standing, living in harmony with Bible principles and Jehovah’s righteous standards" and that they also approve of the members of the couple's wedding party (that is, groomsmen and bridesmaids).[19]
Jehovah's Witnesses attach no special significance to a Kingdom Hall wedding over a secular service, and Witness couples may choose to be married elsewhere for personal or practical reasons. Kingdom Halls are not used for wedding receptions or other social events.[20][21]
Funerals[edit]
Funeral services may be held in a Kingdom Hall if the body of elders considers that "the deceased had a clean reputation and was a member of the congregation or the minor child of a member".[22] The family of the deceased may ask any respected male member of the congregation to conduct the service, which involves a simple Bible-based discourse.[23] Depending on family preference and local custom, a Kingdom Hall funeral may or may not have the casketed deceased present.[22][24]
Disaster relief[edit]
Disaster relief efforts of Jehovah's Witnesses are typically channeled through permanent local Disaster Relief Committees[25] under the various branch offices, and are staged at Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls as close as practical to the disaster area. Major disaster relief efforts include:
War: During the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, a Kingdom Hall property in Goma (then Zaire, now Democratic Republic of the Congo) housed 1600 Witness and non-Witness refugees. In July 1994, relief workers set up a 60-bed relief hospital at the Kingdom Hall, as well as a water treatment system.[26]
Earthquake: Following the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, six Kingdom Halls in Kobe, Japan were used as relief centers and supply depots.[27][28][29]
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, an Assembly Hall and three Kingdom Halls in Haiti were staffed and equipped as temporary clinics and medical centers.[30][31]Storm: In the ten months following Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, seven Kingdom Halls were used as relief centers to dispatch volunteer crews and to store tools and materials while they organized 11,700 volunteers to repair or rebuild 723 homes.[32]
For over two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Kingdom Halls were used as relief centers, warehouses, and fuel depots. Nearly 17,000 Witness volunteers repaired more than 5,600 homes and 90 Kingdom Halls during their extended relief effort in the United States' Gulf Coast region.[33]Volcano: On January 18, 2002, the day after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, six Kingdom Halls in the vicinity received three tons of basic necessities and housed 1800 refugees. One week later, these relief centers were providing daily rations to 5000 people.[34]
Construction[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall under construction in Bishopsworth, Bristol, UK
The construction crews of Kingdom Halls and larger Assembly Halls consist of volunteering Jehovah's Witnesses,[35][36] sometimes from other countries, who have been pre-approved for work on construction sites.
In many countries, a number of standard designs of construction are used that can be built in just a few days.[37][38] The act of constructing a Kingdom Hall in this manner is called a quick-build, although typically the preparation work involving the structural foundation and surrounding surface may take several weeks prior to the scheduled build. For various reasons, not all Kingdom Halls are constructed as quick-builds or using the standard designs. There is however, a noticeably dominant architectural style of the Kingdom Hall which is often used based on standardized design concepts and models, depending on needs.
A Kingdom Hall or Assembly Hall may be created by renovating an existing structure, such as a theater or non-Witness house of worship.[39][40] In areas of repeated or reputed vandalism, particularly in cities, some Kingdom Hall are built without windows to reduce the risk of property damage.[41]
In 2015, it was announced to elders in the United States that new Kingdom Halls worldwide would all be based on one of three similar design plans, depending on the required size.[citation needed]
Regional Building Committee[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses' branch offices appoint local Regional Building Committees (RBC) to oversee the construction and maintenance of their places of worship. The objective of such committees, which usually consist of five to seven persons, often with experience in the construction trades, is to coordinate the efforts of those involved so as to provide attractive and functional facilities that are financially viable.[42]
RBCs cooperate with local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses seeking to build or renovate a place of worship, under the direction of the local branch office. Committees help in assessing the suitability of a possible construction site, purchasing the land and materials and coordinating the efforts of volunteers from the wider area.[42] Members of a Regional Building Committee work voluntarily and receive no remuneration for their work.[43]
On Saturday, January 31, 2015, in a special meeting with all elders in the United States via live video feed, it was announced that Regional Building Committees will be replaced by Local Design Construction groups, an arrangement similar to the Regional Building Committee, but with a more defined organizational structure.[citation needed]
Funding[edit]
In 1983, an arrangement was instituted whereby Kingdom Halls were financed by loans from the Watch Tower Society. In addition to contribution boxes for local congregation expenses and "the worldwide work", each congregation had a contribution box specifically for voluntary donations toward Kingdom Hall construction.[44][45] These donations were pooled by the Watch Tower Society into the Society Kingdom Hall Fund, which was used for financing the construction of Kingdom Halls worldwide, particularly in developing nations.[46][47] When a congregation received local approval to build a new Kingdom Hall, the congregation could apply for a loan from the Society Kingdom Hall Fund.[48] The congregation repaid the loan to the Watch Tower Society, in addition to its continued contributions to the Kingdom Hall Fund. Interest was charged on the loans until September 2008.[49][50][51]
The way Kingdom Halls are funded was significantly modified in 2014. The provision of Kingdom Hall loans from the Society was ceased, as was the separate Society Kingdom Hall Fund. Instead, all congregations contribute an ongoing pre-determined amount to the branch office each month, in addition to donations for other purposes, into a single World Wide Work fund, and new Kingdom Halls are financed by the branch office. The stated purpose was so that areas without the resources for a new hall may be supplemented by funding from more affluent areas.[citation needed]
Maintenance[edit]
Routine maintenance of Kingdom Halls is performed by the members of the congregations that use them, typically according to a scheduled checklist.[52] The "Kingdom Hall operating committee" oversees maintenance of the building; at least one elder or ministerial servant from each congregation is selected to be part of the operating committee.[53] Kingdom Hall maintenance costs are covered by donations to a local fund.[54]
Gallery[edit]
Kingdom Halls at various locations




Hamburg, Germany




Kerala, India




Napier, New Zealand




Toronto, Canada




Vårgårda, Sweden




Târgovişte, Romania




West Sussex, United Kingdom




Omagh, United Kingdom




Harbutowice, Poland




South Bristol, UK

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom chap. 20 p. 319, 721
2.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom chap. 20 p. 319 Building Together on a Global Scale
3.Jump up ^ "Should We Go to Christian Meetings?", Awake!, March 8, 2001, page 12
4.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will p.120-123 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2005)
5.Jump up ^ Texas Monthly magazine, July 1980, page 136,138, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, "A Witness house of worship is called a Kingdom Hall. ...Appropriate to the movement's rejection of pomp and display, the [particular Hall visited by the writer], shared with two other congregations, resembled the meeting room of a budget motel, complete with rows of stackable chairs. The lone feature that marked it as a room devoted to religion was a sign, affixed to a plain wooden canopy over the speaker's stand, that bore the entreaty, "And now, Jehovah . . . grant your slaves to keep speaking your word with all boldness." The congregation of approximately 75 included admirably equal portions of blacks, whites, and Mexican Americans, a not uncommon manifestation of ethnic ecumenicity in Witness circles."
6.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, December 1976, page 4, "It is recommended that the yeartext be displayed in the Kingdom Hall in countries where this can be done without difficulties resulting. ...Often it is best to display the yeartext at the front or side of the hall so it can be seen easily."
7.Jump up ^ “To the House of Jehovah Let Us Go”, Our Kingdom Ministry, April 1993, page 4
8.Jump up ^ "Bible-based Society of Kingdom Witnesses", The Watchtower, October 15, 1962, page 631
9.Jump up ^ "Maintain Fine Conduct That Glorifies God", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2000, page 6
10.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah’s Will, ©2005 Watch Tower, page 138
11.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions in America: An Introduction by Jacob Neusner, ©2003, Westminster John Knox Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 197
12.Jump up ^ Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry, ©1983,1989 Watch Tower, page 131
13.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions by Wendy Doniger (editor), ©2006, in association with Merriam-Webster, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 563
14.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions: An Introduction for Students by Jeaneane D. Fowler, ©1997, Sussex Academic Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 122
15.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements by Richard Allen Landes, Berkshire Reference Works (Firm), ©2000, Routledge, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 203, "One can visit a "Kingdom Hall" (a technical term for the building at which Witness meetings are held) in Australia, Japan, Zambia, or North Carolina with the realistic expectation that congregational meetings will exhibit a high degree of uniformity in content and procedure."
16.Jump up ^ "Highlights of the Past Year", 2007 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pages 6, 15-18
17.Jump up ^ "Imitate the Greatest Missionary", The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, page 18
18.Jump up ^ 1986 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 226.
19.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2008, page 3
20.Jump up ^ "Marriage Ceremony and Requirements", The Watchtower, September 15, 1956, page 571
21.Jump up ^ How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook by Stuart M. Matlins, Arthur J. Magida (editors), ©2004, Skylight Paths Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 128-129, "Marriage Ceremony Jehovah's Witnesses view marriage as a sacred vow made before God. ...The marriage ceremony, which may last about 30 minutes, is a ceremony in itself. ...Appropriate Attire Men" A jacket and tie. No head covering is required. Women: A dress or a skirt and blouse. Dress "modestly" and "sensibly". Hems need not reach below the knees nor must clothing cover the arms. Open-toed shoes and modest jewelry are permissible. No head covering is required. There are no rules regarding colors of clothing. ...After the Ceremony Is there usually a reception after the ceremony? Yes. It may be held in homes or a catering hall. It is never held in the Kingdom Hall where the wedding took place."
22.^ Jump up to: a b "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1997, page 7
23.Jump up ^ "Is Your Course of Life Death-Oriented?", The Watchtower, June 1, 1978, page 7
24.Jump up ^ How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook by Stuart M. Matlins, Arthur J. Magida (editors), ©2004, Skylight Paths Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 129, "Funerals and Mourning Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the dead are "conscious of nothing at all" and are asleep in the grave awaiting resurrection to life. ...The funeral service, which is a ceremony in itself, may last about 15 to 30 minutes. ...Where will the ceremony take place? Either at a Kingdom Hall or in a funeral home. ...Will there be an open casket? Possibly. This depends on the preference of the immediate family."
25.Jump up ^ "Volunteers continue Katrina disaster relief work" by David J. Bush, Salisbury Post, September 1, 2007, page F0
26.Jump up ^ "Caring for Victims of Rwanda’s Tragedy", Awake!, December 22, 1994, page 15
27.Jump up ^ "Volunteers at Work", Awake!, July 22, 2001, page 8
28.Jump up ^ "Love Toward Those ‘Related in the Faith’", The Watchtower, June 15, 1999, page 8
29.Jump up ^ "Japan", 1998 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 143
30.Jump up ^ "Witnesses’ relief efforts in Haiti continue", Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site, January 28, 2010, As Retrieved 2010-02-22
31.Jump up ^ "A Doctor Heads Home to Haiti" by Lionel J. Malebranche, MD, Annals of Internal Medicine, February 18, 2010
32.Jump up ^ "Love in Action—A Marathon Relief Effort", Awake!, November 22, 2002, page 22
33.Jump up ^ "A Love More Powerful Than a Hurricane!", Awake!, August 2008, page 16
34.Jump up ^ "How We Escaped a Terrifying Lava Flow!", Awake!, November 8, 2002, pages 24-25
35.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", The Encyclopedia of Louisville by John E. Kleber, ©2000, University Press of Kentucky, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 444, "Jehovah's Witnesses are well known in the Greater Louisville area, having been a part of "Kentucky sod" since the late 1800s. ...From 1947 to 1970 ten more Kingdom Halls were constructed in Louisville, all by volunteer labor."
36.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions 101: An Overview for Teens by Margaret O. Hyde, Emily G. Hyde, ©2008, Twenty-First Century Books, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 91-92
37.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Religion in the contemporary world: a sociological introduction by Alan E. Aldridge, ©2000, Polity Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 116-117, "Witnesses are extremely well organized. ...One particular way in which the [Watch Tower] society mobilizes its members is to build their places for worship and assembly, the Kingdom Halls. A 'rapid-building crew' of Witness volunteers can erect a functional but well-built Kingdom Hall in a weekend."
38.Jump up ^ Holbrook by Holbrook Historical Society, ©2004, Arcadia Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 63, "The Kingdom Hall. Shown here is the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on North Franklin Street. This hall was built by the membership in one weekend."
39.Jump up ^ New York: The Movie Lover's Guide : The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York by Richard Alleman, ©2005, Broadway, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 416, "Albemarle Theater, 973 Flatbush Avenue. Just like the old Stanley Theater in Jersey City, Brooklyn's 2,700-seat Albemarle movie palace later served as a Kingdom Hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses."
40.Jump up ^ From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship by David W. Dunlap, ©2004, Columbia University Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 117, "The remarkable Kingdom Hall at 609 West 161st Street was formerly the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, by George and Edward Blum and Ludwig Hanauer, completed in 1925."
41.Jump up ^ "How Kingdom Halls Are Built", Awake!, August 22, 1972, page 23
42.^ Jump up to: a b Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Society. pp. 325–328.
43.Jump up ^ "Kingdom Hall Construction in the United States". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. August 1997.
44.Jump up ^ "How Is It All Financed?", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pages 344-345
45.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1991, page 3
46.Jump up ^ "True Worship Is Expanding in Eastern Europe". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3–4. September 1999.
47.Jump up ^ "International Kingdom Hall Building in Some European Lands", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2003, page 3
48.Jump up ^ "A New Program for Kingdom Hall Construction". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. September 1983.
49.Jump up ^ Letter to all Congregations, June 4, 2008
50.Jump up ^ "Continued Expansion Increases Need for Kingdom Halls". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. December 1993.
51.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry: 4. April 1985. "These loans are repaid to the Society Kingdom Hall Fund with interest at the rate of 6 percent." Missing or empty |title= (help)
52.Jump up ^ For example, Our Kingdom Ministry, March 2003, included a "Safety Checklist" on page 4, and a checklist for "Care of Building and Property" on page 5.
53.Jump up ^ "Let Us Keep Our Place of Worship in Good Repair", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2003, page 3-4
54.Jump up ^ "The Giver of “Every Good Gift”", The Watchtower, December 1, 1993, page 29
External links[edit]
Official Kingdom Hall finder
Jehovah's Witnesses' Official Website : What is a Kingdom Hall?
  


Categories: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses








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Kingdom Hall

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This article is about the place of worship. For the Van Morrison song, see Wavelength (album).

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A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii.[1] Rutherford's reasoning was that these buildings would be used for preaching the "good news of the Kingdom."[2] Jehovah's Witnesses use Kingdom Halls for the majority of their worship and Bible instruction. Witnesses prefer the term "Kingdom Hall" over "church", noting that the term often translated "church" in the Bible refers to the congregation of people rather than a structure.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Location and presentation
2 Uses 2.1 Meetings for worship 2.1.1 Schools
2.2 Weddings
2.3 Funerals
2.4 Disaster relief
3 Construction 3.1 Regional Building Committee
3.2 Funding
4 Maintenance
5 Gallery
6 References
7 External links

Location and presentation[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall in Biddulph, United Kingdom
Kingdom Halls are typically modest, functional structures with practicality in mind.[4] As Witnesses do not use religious symbols, such are not displayed on or in Kingdom Halls. An annual yeartext, or "theme scripture", which is the same for all congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, is prominently displayed in each Kingdom Hall.[5] This text can be displayed in several languages if the Hall is used by foreign language congregations.[6] A Kingdom Hall typically has a library, contribution boxes,[7] and a literature counter, where publications are displayed, stored and dispensed.[8]
Some Kingdom Halls have multiple auditoriums to allow more than one congregation to simultaneously conduct meetings. Where there is more than one auditorium, each auditorium or the entire structure may both be referred to as "a Kingdom Hall". Larger Assembly Halls or Convention Centers of Jehovah's Witnesses, or any rented arena or stadium used for larger gatherings of Jehovah's Witnesses are also regarded 'as a large Kingdom Hall'; undignified behavior is considered inappropriate during their religious events, even if the facility is an entertainment venue.[9]

Uses[edit]



 Worship at a Kingdom Hall in Portugal
Meetings for worship[edit]
Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses practices § Worship
Congregations typically meet in their Kingdom Halls two days each week for meetings for worship.[10] Meetings usually open and close with song and prayer. Meetings held in the Kingdom Hall include Bible readings, public talks on matters such as the Bible, family life, Christian qualities and prophecy, as well as discussion of specially prepared study articles in The Watchtower magazine and other publications of Jehovah's Witnesses.[11][12][13][14] Witnesses also meet in Kingdom Halls for preparation and prayer before engaging in their door-to-door ministry.
Schools[edit]



 Worship at a Kingdom Hall in Tilburg, Netherlands
Among its meetings for worship, each congregation conducts a weekly Theocratic Ministry School with a common global curriculum[15] (exceptions are made for the availability of study materials). Kingdom Halls may also be used for any of several occasionally scheduled schools, such as sign- or foreign-language classes.[16] Kingdom Halls may also be used for schools especially developed for particular ranks, such as the Pioneer Service School for full-time preachers, and the Kingdom Ministry School for elders and ministerial servants.[17]
In areas where the literacy rate is low, congregations may also arrange to use Kingdom Halls to conduct literacy or reading classes, which non-Witnesses may also attend.[18]
See also: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses § Students
Weddings[edit]
Kingdom Halls may be used for wedding ceremonies of Witness-baptized couples. A couple sends a request in writing to the congregation's "service committee", which assesses whether the couple is "in good standing, living in harmony with Bible principles and Jehovah’s righteous standards" and that they also approve of the members of the couple's wedding party (that is, groomsmen and bridesmaids).[19]
Jehovah's Witnesses attach no special significance to a Kingdom Hall wedding over a secular service, and Witness couples may choose to be married elsewhere for personal or practical reasons. Kingdom Halls are not used for wedding receptions or other social events.[20][21]
Funerals[edit]
Funeral services may be held in a Kingdom Hall if the body of elders considers that "the deceased had a clean reputation and was a member of the congregation or the minor child of a member".[22] The family of the deceased may ask any respected male member of the congregation to conduct the service, which involves a simple Bible-based discourse.[23] Depending on family preference and local custom, a Kingdom Hall funeral may or may not have the casketed deceased present.[22][24]
Disaster relief[edit]
Disaster relief efforts of Jehovah's Witnesses are typically channeled through permanent local Disaster Relief Committees[25] under the various branch offices, and are staged at Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls as close as practical to the disaster area. Major disaster relief efforts include:
War: During the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, a Kingdom Hall property in Goma (then Zaire, now Democratic Republic of the Congo) housed 1600 Witness and non-Witness refugees. In July 1994, relief workers set up a 60-bed relief hospital at the Kingdom Hall, as well as a water treatment system.[26]
Earthquake: Following the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, six Kingdom Halls in Kobe, Japan were used as relief centers and supply depots.[27][28][29]
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, an Assembly Hall and three Kingdom Halls in Haiti were staffed and equipped as temporary clinics and medical centers.[30][31]Storm: In the ten months following Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, seven Kingdom Halls were used as relief centers to dispatch volunteer crews and to store tools and materials while they organized 11,700 volunteers to repair or rebuild 723 homes.[32]
For over two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Kingdom Halls were used as relief centers, warehouses, and fuel depots. Nearly 17,000 Witness volunteers repaired more than 5,600 homes and 90 Kingdom Halls during their extended relief effort in the United States' Gulf Coast region.[33]Volcano: On January 18, 2002, the day after the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, six Kingdom Halls in the vicinity received three tons of basic necessities and housed 1800 refugees. One week later, these relief centers were providing daily rations to 5000 people.[34]
Construction[edit]



 A Kingdom Hall under construction in Bishopsworth, Bristol, UK
The construction crews of Kingdom Halls and larger Assembly Halls consist of volunteering Jehovah's Witnesses,[35][36] sometimes from other countries, who have been pre-approved for work on construction sites.
In many countries, a number of standard designs of construction are used that can be built in just a few days.[37][38] The act of constructing a Kingdom Hall in this manner is called a quick-build, although typically the preparation work involving the structural foundation and surrounding surface may take several weeks prior to the scheduled build. For various reasons, not all Kingdom Halls are constructed as quick-builds or using the standard designs. There is however, a noticeably dominant architectural style of the Kingdom Hall which is often used based on standardized design concepts and models, depending on needs.
A Kingdom Hall or Assembly Hall may be created by renovating an existing structure, such as a theater or non-Witness house of worship.[39][40] In areas of repeated or reputed vandalism, particularly in cities, some Kingdom Hall are built without windows to reduce the risk of property damage.[41]
In 2015, it was announced to elders in the United States that new Kingdom Halls worldwide would all be based on one of three similar design plans, depending on the required size.[citation needed]
Regional Building Committee[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses' branch offices appoint local Regional Building Committees (RBC) to oversee the construction and maintenance of their places of worship. The objective of such committees, which usually consist of five to seven persons, often with experience in the construction trades, is to coordinate the efforts of those involved so as to provide attractive and functional facilities that are financially viable.[42]
RBCs cooperate with local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses seeking to build or renovate a place of worship, under the direction of the local branch office. Committees help in assessing the suitability of a possible construction site, purchasing the land and materials and coordinating the efforts of volunteers from the wider area.[42] Members of a Regional Building Committee work voluntarily and receive no remuneration for their work.[43]
On Saturday, January 31, 2015, in a special meeting with all elders in the United States via live video feed, it was announced that Regional Building Committees will be replaced by Local Design Construction groups, an arrangement similar to the Regional Building Committee, but with a more defined organizational structure.[citation needed]
Funding[edit]
In 1983, an arrangement was instituted whereby Kingdom Halls were financed by loans from the Watch Tower Society. In addition to contribution boxes for local congregation expenses and "the worldwide work", each congregation had a contribution box specifically for voluntary donations toward Kingdom Hall construction.[44][45] These donations were pooled by the Watch Tower Society into the Society Kingdom Hall Fund, which was used for financing the construction of Kingdom Halls worldwide, particularly in developing nations.[46][47] When a congregation received local approval to build a new Kingdom Hall, the congregation could apply for a loan from the Society Kingdom Hall Fund.[48] The congregation repaid the loan to the Watch Tower Society, in addition to its continued contributions to the Kingdom Hall Fund. Interest was charged on the loans until September 2008.[49][50][51]
The way Kingdom Halls are funded was significantly modified in 2014. The provision of Kingdom Hall loans from the Society was ceased, as was the separate Society Kingdom Hall Fund. Instead, all congregations contribute an ongoing pre-determined amount to the branch office each month, in addition to donations for other purposes, into a single World Wide Work fund, and new Kingdom Halls are financed by the branch office. The stated purpose was so that areas without the resources for a new hall may be supplemented by funding from more affluent areas.[citation needed]
Maintenance[edit]
Routine maintenance of Kingdom Halls is performed by the members of the congregations that use them, typically according to a scheduled checklist.[52] The "Kingdom Hall operating committee" oversees maintenance of the building; at least one elder or ministerial servant from each congregation is selected to be part of the operating committee.[53] Kingdom Hall maintenance costs are covered by donations to a local fund.[54]
Gallery[edit]
Kingdom Halls at various locations




Hamburg, Germany




Kerala, India




Napier, New Zealand




Toronto, Canada




Vårgårda, Sweden




Târgovişte, Romania




West Sussex, United Kingdom




Omagh, United Kingdom




Harbutowice, Poland




South Bristol, UK

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom chap. 20 p. 319, 721
2.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom chap. 20 p. 319 Building Together on a Global Scale
3.Jump up ^ "Should We Go to Christian Meetings?", Awake!, March 8, 2001, page 12
4.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah's Will p.120-123 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 2005)
5.Jump up ^ Texas Monthly magazine, July 1980, page 136,138, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, "A Witness house of worship is called a Kingdom Hall. ...Appropriate to the movement's rejection of pomp and display, the [particular Hall visited by the writer], shared with two other congregations, resembled the meeting room of a budget motel, complete with rows of stackable chairs. The lone feature that marked it as a room devoted to religion was a sign, affixed to a plain wooden canopy over the speaker's stand, that bore the entreaty, "And now, Jehovah . . . grant your slaves to keep speaking your word with all boldness." The congregation of approximately 75 included admirably equal portions of blacks, whites, and Mexican Americans, a not uncommon manifestation of ethnic ecumenicity in Witness circles."
6.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, December 1976, page 4, "It is recommended that the yeartext be displayed in the Kingdom Hall in countries where this can be done without difficulties resulting. ...Often it is best to display the yeartext at the front or side of the hall so it can be seen easily."
7.Jump up ^ “To the House of Jehovah Let Us Go”, Our Kingdom Ministry, April 1993, page 4
8.Jump up ^ "Bible-based Society of Kingdom Witnesses", The Watchtower, October 15, 1962, page 631
9.Jump up ^ "Maintain Fine Conduct That Glorifies God", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2000, page 6
10.Jump up ^ Organized to Do Jehovah’s Will, ©2005 Watch Tower, page 138
11.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions in America: An Introduction by Jacob Neusner, ©2003, Westminster John Knox Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 197
12.Jump up ^ Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry, ©1983,1989 Watch Tower, page 131
13.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions by Wendy Doniger (editor), ©2006, in association with Merriam-Webster, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 563
14.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions: An Introduction for Students by Jeaneane D. Fowler, ©1997, Sussex Academic Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 122
15.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements by Richard Allen Landes, Berkshire Reference Works (Firm), ©2000, Routledge, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 203, "One can visit a "Kingdom Hall" (a technical term for the building at which Witness meetings are held) in Australia, Japan, Zambia, or North Carolina with the realistic expectation that congregational meetings will exhibit a high degree of uniformity in content and procedure."
16.Jump up ^ "Highlights of the Past Year", 2007 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pages 6, 15-18
17.Jump up ^ "Imitate the Greatest Missionary", The Watchtower, February 15, 2008, page 18
18.Jump up ^ 1986 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses. p. 226.
19.Jump up ^ "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, November 2008, page 3
20.Jump up ^ "Marriage Ceremony and Requirements", The Watchtower, September 15, 1956, page 571
21.Jump up ^ How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook by Stuart M. Matlins, Arthur J. Magida (editors), ©2004, Skylight Paths Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 128-129, "Marriage Ceremony Jehovah's Witnesses view marriage as a sacred vow made before God. ...The marriage ceremony, which may last about 30 minutes, is a ceremony in itself. ...Appropriate Attire Men" A jacket and tie. No head covering is required. Women: A dress or a skirt and blouse. Dress "modestly" and "sensibly". Hems need not reach below the knees nor must clothing cover the arms. Open-toed shoes and modest jewelry are permissible. No head covering is required. There are no rules regarding colors of clothing. ...After the Ceremony Is there usually a reception after the ceremony? Yes. It may be held in homes or a catering hall. It is never held in the Kingdom Hall where the wedding took place."
22.^ Jump up to: a b "Question Box", Our Kingdom Ministry, March 1997, page 7
23.Jump up ^ "Is Your Course of Life Death-Oriented?", The Watchtower, June 1, 1978, page 7
24.Jump up ^ How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook by Stuart M. Matlins, Arthur J. Magida (editors), ©2004, Skylight Paths Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 129, "Funerals and Mourning Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the dead are "conscious of nothing at all" and are asleep in the grave awaiting resurrection to life. ...The funeral service, which is a ceremony in itself, may last about 15 to 30 minutes. ...Where will the ceremony take place? Either at a Kingdom Hall or in a funeral home. ...Will there be an open casket? Possibly. This depends on the preference of the immediate family."
25.Jump up ^ "Volunteers continue Katrina disaster relief work" by David J. Bush, Salisbury Post, September 1, 2007, page F0
26.Jump up ^ "Caring for Victims of Rwanda’s Tragedy", Awake!, December 22, 1994, page 15
27.Jump up ^ "Volunteers at Work", Awake!, July 22, 2001, page 8
28.Jump up ^ "Love Toward Those ‘Related in the Faith’", The Watchtower, June 15, 1999, page 8
29.Jump up ^ "Japan", 1998 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 143
30.Jump up ^ "Witnesses’ relief efforts in Haiti continue", Jehovah's Witnesses Official Media Web Site, January 28, 2010, As Retrieved 2010-02-22
31.Jump up ^ "A Doctor Heads Home to Haiti" by Lionel J. Malebranche, MD, Annals of Internal Medicine, February 18, 2010
32.Jump up ^ "Love in Action—A Marathon Relief Effort", Awake!, November 22, 2002, page 22
33.Jump up ^ "A Love More Powerful Than a Hurricane!", Awake!, August 2008, page 16
34.Jump up ^ "How We Escaped a Terrifying Lava Flow!", Awake!, November 8, 2002, pages 24-25
35.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", The Encyclopedia of Louisville by John E. Kleber, ©2000, University Press of Kentucky, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 444, "Jehovah's Witnesses are well known in the Greater Louisville area, having been a part of "Kentucky sod" since the late 1800s. ...From 1947 to 1970 ten more Kingdom Halls were constructed in Louisville, all by volunteer labor."
36.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", World Religions 101: An Overview for Teens by Margaret O. Hyde, Emily G. Hyde, ©2008, Twenty-First Century Books, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 91-92
37.Jump up ^ "Jehovah's Witnesses", Religion in the contemporary world: a sociological introduction by Alan E. Aldridge, ©2000, Polity Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 116-117, "Witnesses are extremely well organized. ...One particular way in which the [Watch Tower] society mobilizes its members is to build their places for worship and assembly, the Kingdom Halls. A 'rapid-building crew' of Witness volunteers can erect a functional but well-built Kingdom Hall in a weekend."
38.Jump up ^ Holbrook by Holbrook Historical Society, ©2004, Arcadia Publishing, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 63, "The Kingdom Hall. Shown here is the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on North Franklin Street. This hall was built by the membership in one weekend."
39.Jump up ^ New York: The Movie Lover's Guide : The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York by Richard Alleman, ©2005, Broadway, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 416, "Albemarle Theater, 973 Flatbush Avenue. Just like the old Stanley Theater in Jersey City, Brooklyn's 2,700-seat Albemarle movie palace later served as a Kingdom Hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses."
40.Jump up ^ From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship by David W. Dunlap, ©2004, Columbia University Press, As Retrieved 2009-08-18, page 117, "The remarkable Kingdom Hall at 609 West 161st Street was formerly the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights, by George and Edward Blum and Ludwig Hanauer, completed in 1925."
41.Jump up ^ "How Kingdom Halls Are Built", Awake!, August 22, 1972, page 23
42.^ Jump up to: a b Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom. Watch Tower Society. pp. 325–328.
43.Jump up ^ "Kingdom Hall Construction in the United States". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. August 1997.
44.Jump up ^ "How Is It All Financed?", Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pages 344-345
45.Jump up ^ "Announcements", Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1991, page 3
46.Jump up ^ "True Worship Is Expanding in Eastern Europe". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3–4. September 1999.
47.Jump up ^ "International Kingdom Hall Building in Some European Lands", Our Kingdom Ministry, May 2003, page 3
48.Jump up ^ "A New Program for Kingdom Hall Construction". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. September 1983.
49.Jump up ^ Letter to all Congregations, June 4, 2008
50.Jump up ^ "Continued Expansion Increases Need for Kingdom Halls". Our Kingdom Ministry: 3. December 1993.
51.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry: 4. April 1985. "These loans are repaid to the Society Kingdom Hall Fund with interest at the rate of 6 percent." Missing or empty |title= (help)
52.Jump up ^ For example, Our Kingdom Ministry, March 2003, included a "Safety Checklist" on page 4, and a checklist for "Care of Building and Property" on page 5.
53.Jump up ^ "Let Us Keep Our Place of Worship in Good Repair", Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2003, page 3-4
54.Jump up ^ "The Giver of “Every Good Gift”", The Watchtower, December 1, 1993, page 29
External links[edit]
Official Kingdom Hall finder
Jehovah's Witnesses' Official Website : What is a Kingdom Hall?
  


Categories: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
Beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses








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Watchtower Bible School of Gilead

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. (April 2014)
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
   
Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is the formal name of the missionary school of Jehovah's Witnesses, typically referred to simply as Gilead or Gilead School.[1][2] Gilead is the flagship school at the Watchtower Educational Center at Patterson, New York, USA.[3][4][5]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Curriculum and goals
3 Gilead School extensions 3.1 Languages other than English
3.2 Bible School for Single Brothers
3.3 Bible School for Christian Couples
4 References

History[edit]
Based on their interpretation of Revelation 17:8, Witnesses anticipated a period of peace after World War II, and saw an opportunity to expand their global preaching efforts.[6] In 1942, at the height of the war, Nathan H. Knorr, then president of the Watchtower Society, proposed the establishment of Watchtower Bible School of Gilead.[7] The first class began on February 1, 1943. No tuition was to be charged.[8] Five months later, graduating students began to move out to their assignments in nine Latin-American countries, including Cuba. As early as 1956, graduates were serving "in about a hundred different lands".[9]
Originally founded as a temporary program,[10] Gilead School has held classes at several of the facilities operated by the Watchtower Society:
Kingdom Farm in South Lansing, New York[11] from 1943 to 1960
Watch Tower Society headquarters in Brooklyn, New York from 1961 to 1988[12]
Watchtower Farms in Wallkill, New York from 1988 to 1995;[13] and
Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, New York since 1995.
Gilead has trained 136 classes since 1943, its 136th class graduated March 8, 2014.[14] In 2008, Gilead School surpassed 8000 alumni.[15][16][17] Some Gilead graduates have remained in foreign missionary assignments for decades, others eventually served as traveling overseers, translators, or branch staff; some may be appointed as "special pioneers" if they serve in their home country.[18][19] Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Gilead was intended to train "missionaries and leaders";[20] two current members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses are Gilead graduates,[21][22] as were four deceased members.[23][24][25][26]
The graduation of each semi-annual Gilead class is a significant event, which may be attended by much of the United States branch staff as well as invited guests from dozens of countries; audiences typically surpass 6000,[27][28][29] with the graduation of the 136st class on March 8, 2014 totaling 11,548 attended the program, either in person at the educational center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Patterson, New York, or via video tie-in at locations in Canada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the United States.[14]
Curriculum and goals[edit]
Theology lecturer George D. Chryssides writes that the initial Gilead syllabus was "described as the Advanced Course in Theocratic Ministry"; within months the program led to "similar training" in congregations as the Theocratic Ministry School.[30] Female Witnesses could enroll in Gilead school and present talks since its inception in 1943, but could not enroll in congregation schools until 1959.[31][32]
The school is held twice each year and lasts about five months.[33] Students are selected by invitation, and are usually married couples in their thirties who have been involved in missionary work in their home countries for a number of years.[34] After graduation, they are assigned mainly to Africa, South America, Asia and islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Gilead School's main textbook is the Bible. Lectures and student presentations focus on a verse-by-verse study of each of book of the Bible, alternating between the Old and New Testaments, which they refer to as the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. The curriculum is based on the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watchtower Society, although other reference material, including other Bible translations are used.[35][36] Students are prepared for missionary work in foreign lands. They learn how to cope with changes in culture and language as well as techniques for conducting meetings and Bible classes. Some students receive additional practical training for translation and literature production.[37]
Rather than the provision of material needs such as hospitals, refugee centers, and orphanages, their missionary work focuses on preaching, with emphasis on their belief that the only permanent solution to mankind's problems is God's Kingdom.[38]
Gilead School extensions[edit]
Languages other than English[edit]
The entire curriculum at Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is presented in English.[39] Beginning in 1980, occasional extensions to Gilead were established in Germany (called "Gilead Extension School") and in Mexico (called "Gilead Cultural School of Mexico"[40]) to provide training to student missionaries speaking German and Spanish.[41] Occasional extensions to Gilead have also been taught in India.[42][43]
Bible School for Single Brothers[edit]
The Bible School for Single Brothers, originally known as the Ministerial Training School and established in 1987, is considered an extension of the Gilead School.[44][45][46] It comprises an 8½ week Bible-based educational program for single elders and ministerial servants (their term for deacons). The curriculum includes detailed Bible study, public speaking skills, teaching, preaching and organizational arrangements.[47]
The course is held in various languages[48][49] and in many countries,[48][50] and the course duration is shorter than that of Gilead. Since its establishment until 2004, 999 classes of the Ministerial Training School were held, training 22,000 students.[51]
Graduates of the school are generally assigned to their home congregations for a time, but are often offered the opportunity to serve in a more needy congregation or area, as and when the need arises. Usually this is in their home country but can sometimes be abroad. They are sometimes used in the capacity of circuit overseers, assigned to help groups of congregations.[52]
Bible School for Christian Couples[edit]
A new Bible School for Christian Couples was announced in 2010, similar in duration and adapted from the curriculum of the Bible School for Single Brothers, but for husband and wife pairs to attend together. The school's purpose is to "give couples further training so that they can be more useful to Jehovah’s organization". At the announcement of this new school, it was also announced that wives would also be invited to the now-renamed School for Traveling Overseers and Their Wives and School for Branch Committee Members and Their Wives.[53]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Happy Climax to 80 Years of Gathering". The Watchtower: 22. 15 April 1986.
2.Jump up ^ Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (1999 edition), page 563
3.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, December 1990, page 10
4.Jump up ^ 1993 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 25
5.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1999, pages 8-9
6.Jump up ^ "Postwar Enlargement of the Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, July 15, 1950, page 219; "Despite wartime difficulties a New World Theocratic convention was held that following summer in Cleveland, Ohio, September 18-20 [1942] ... Brother Knorr gave the address “Peace—Can It Last?” ... this public address showed a peace period would follow World War II ... In the mind of Brother Knorr the idea of a missionary-training school formed. ... The Watch Tower board of directors was enthusiastically in favor of it, and thus what was first called the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead was arranged for."
7.Jump up ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 20, ©2000 Grolier Incorporated, page 13, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "[Knorr] established congregational Theocratic Ministry schools and the society's missionary college, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
8.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” 1993, chap. 23 p. 522; “Missionaries Push Worldwide Expansion” © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
9.Jump up ^ Interpretation, Volume 10, ©1956 Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 329
10.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2001, page 26
11.Jump up ^ Religion in the Twentieth Century by Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm, ©1948, Philosophical Library, page 387, As Retrieved 2009-08-24
12.Jump up ^ "A New Home for the Gilead Missionary School". The Watchtower: 21. 1 June 1989.
13.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1995, page 24
14.^ Jump up to: a b The Graduation of the 136th Class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead
15.Jump up ^ "Missionaries Encouraged to Be Like Jeremiah", The Watchtower, [he Graduation of the 136th Class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead February 15, 2009, page 22]
16.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, August 15, 2008, page 30
17.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 2001, page 23
18.Jump up ^ 2001 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 217
19.Jump up ^ 2005 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 160
20.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636742/Watch-Tower-Bible-School-of-Gilead
21.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Go Forth as Zealous Harvest Workers!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 25, "Gerrit Lösch, a member of the Governing Body and a graduate of the 41st class of Gilead."
22.Jump up ^ "Motivated to Serve", The Watchtower, December 15, 2000, page 27, "David Splane, a former missionary and a graduate of the 42nd class of Gilead who is now serving as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses."
23.Jump up ^ "Graduating Students of the Word of God", The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 30, "Lloyd Barry, also of the Governing Body, was a graduate of the 11th class of Gilead and served as a missionary in Japan for over 25 years."
24.Jump up ^ "New Members of the Governing Body", The Watchtower, November 15, 1977, page 680, "The new members of the Governing Body [include] Martin Poetzinger of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Martin Poetzinger entered the Kingdom service in 1926 and entered pioneer service in 1930. He is a graduate of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
25.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Urged to Cultivate Good Communication Skills", The Watchtower, June 1, 1990, page 26, "C. W. Barber, also a member of the Governing Body and himself a graduate of Gilead's 26th class, briefly discussed."
26.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Go Forth as Zealous Harvest Workers!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 25, "Theodore Jaracz, a member of the Governing Body and a graduate of the seventh class of Gilead..."
27.Jump up ^ "Gilead's 84th Class—Living Up To Expectations!", The Watchtower, June 1, 1988, page 22
28.Jump up ^ "Missionaries Are Compared to Locusts", The Watchtower, August 15, 2008, page 30, "EVERY six months, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead holds a graduation program to which the entire United States Bethel family is invited. On March 8, 2008, guests from more than 30 countries joined the Bethel family ... 6,411 in attendance"
29.Jump up ^ "They Made the Hearts of Their Parents Rejoice", The Watchtower, January 1, 2006, page 13, "On Saturday, September 10, 2005, an international group of 6,859 people attended the graduation of the 119th class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
30.Jump up ^ "Introduction", Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses by George D. Chryssides, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, Page lvii
31.Jump up ^ “Jehovah Is My Strength”, The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 18, "At that time [1951], sisters were not yet enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School in the local congregations, but at Gilead we sisters received assignments to give student talks and reports."
32.Jump up ^ "Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses", The Watchtower, February 15, 1959, page 120, "[1958 conventions announced that] from the beginning of 1959, sisters in the congregations were to be privileged to enroll in the weekly Theocratic Ministry School."
33.Jump up ^ Sect, cult, and church in Alberta by William Edward Mann, ©1955, University of Toronto Press, page 109, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Watch Tower Bible Society of Gilead [sic] in the eastern United States, which gave a five-month training course to leaders selected by the central organization from branches in all parts of the world."
34.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” – 1993, chap. 23 p. 523
35.Jump up ^ "Be Joyful With the Kingdom Hope!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2001, page 26, "The main textbook is the Bible. And then we have Bible study aids to help us understand the Bible. Those are available to all. There is no secret information dispensed at Gilead."
36.Jump up ^ 1970 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 71, "Of course, an intensive study of the Bible constitutes the major part of Gilead School's curriculum. Students must read the entire Bible, starting when they receive their letter of invitation to the school. ... Bible courses, which consist of a verse-by-verse study of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, also two other subjects designed to cover the Bible from the doctrinal standpoint and, finally, the practical application of the Bible's principles of everyday living in Jehovah's organization and the Christian ministry."
37.Jump up ^ Andover Newton Quarterly, Volume 3, ©1962 Andover Newton Theological School, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 16, "[Students] work for half a day at the factory and attend the Gilead School for half a day. The work at the factory is on-the-job training, intended to fit them to operate printing establishments in their own countries."
38.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” – 1993, chap. 23 p. 523
39.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1982, page 31
40.Jump up ^ 1982 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 22
41.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, page 8
42.Jump up ^ 1992 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 255
43.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pages 544-545
44.Jump up ^ Awake!, September 8, 1993, page 18
45.Jump up ^ 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 16
46.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2011, page 32
47.Jump up ^ "A School Whose Graduates Benefit People Worldwide". (2006-Nov-15). The Watchtower, p. 10
48.^ Jump up to: a b The Watchtower, November 15, 2006, page 10
49.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1999, page 1
50.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 300
51.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2004, page 3
52.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p. 20 "Traveling Overseers—Fellow Workers in the Truth " © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 1993
53.Jump up ^ "A History-Making Meeting", The Watchtower, August 15, 2011, page 21, "Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body...next revealed that the Ministerial Training School would henceforth be known as the Bible School for Single Brothers. It would soon be complemented by the Bible School for Christian Couples. This school would give couples further training so that they can be more useful to Jehovah’s organization. Brother Lett also announced that the School for Traveling Overseers and Their Wives and the School for Branch Committee Members and Their Wives would be expanded to two classes each year at Patterson, with provisions for those who have previously attended to attend a second time."
Coordinates: 41.4960°N 73.5750°W
  


Categories: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses






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









Watchtower Bible School of Gilead

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. (April 2014)
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
   
Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is the formal name of the missionary school of Jehovah's Witnesses, typically referred to simply as Gilead or Gilead School.[1][2] Gilead is the flagship school at the Watchtower Educational Center at Patterson, New York, USA.[3][4][5]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Curriculum and goals
3 Gilead School extensions 3.1 Languages other than English
3.2 Bible School for Single Brothers
3.3 Bible School for Christian Couples
4 References

History[edit]
Based on their interpretation of Revelation 17:8, Witnesses anticipated a period of peace after World War II, and saw an opportunity to expand their global preaching efforts.[6] In 1942, at the height of the war, Nathan H. Knorr, then president of the Watchtower Society, proposed the establishment of Watchtower Bible School of Gilead.[7] The first class began on February 1, 1943. No tuition was to be charged.[8] Five months later, graduating students began to move out to their assignments in nine Latin-American countries, including Cuba. As early as 1956, graduates were serving "in about a hundred different lands".[9]
Originally founded as a temporary program,[10] Gilead School has held classes at several of the facilities operated by the Watchtower Society:
Kingdom Farm in South Lansing, New York[11] from 1943 to 1960
Watch Tower Society headquarters in Brooklyn, New York from 1961 to 1988[12]
Watchtower Farms in Wallkill, New York from 1988 to 1995;[13] and
Watchtower Educational Center in Patterson, New York since 1995.
Gilead has trained 136 classes since 1943, its 136th class graduated March 8, 2014.[14] In 2008, Gilead School surpassed 8000 alumni.[15][16][17] Some Gilead graduates have remained in foreign missionary assignments for decades, others eventually served as traveling overseers, translators, or branch staff; some may be appointed as "special pioneers" if they serve in their home country.[18][19] Encyclopædia Britannica notes that Gilead was intended to train "missionaries and leaders";[20] two current members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses are Gilead graduates,[21][22] as were four deceased members.[23][24][25][26]
The graduation of each semi-annual Gilead class is a significant event, which may be attended by much of the United States branch staff as well as invited guests from dozens of countries; audiences typically surpass 6000,[27][28][29] with the graduation of the 136st class on March 8, 2014 totaling 11,548 attended the program, either in person at the educational center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Patterson, New York, or via video tie-in at locations in Canada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the United States.[14]
Curriculum and goals[edit]
Theology lecturer George D. Chryssides writes that the initial Gilead syllabus was "described as the Advanced Course in Theocratic Ministry"; within months the program led to "similar training" in congregations as the Theocratic Ministry School.[30] Female Witnesses could enroll in Gilead school and present talks since its inception in 1943, but could not enroll in congregation schools until 1959.[31][32]
The school is held twice each year and lasts about five months.[33] Students are selected by invitation, and are usually married couples in their thirties who have been involved in missionary work in their home countries for a number of years.[34] After graduation, they are assigned mainly to Africa, South America, Asia and islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Gilead School's main textbook is the Bible. Lectures and student presentations focus on a verse-by-verse study of each of book of the Bible, alternating between the Old and New Testaments, which they refer to as the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. The curriculum is based on the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures published by the Watchtower Society, although other reference material, including other Bible translations are used.[35][36] Students are prepared for missionary work in foreign lands. They learn how to cope with changes in culture and language as well as techniques for conducting meetings and Bible classes. Some students receive additional practical training for translation and literature production.[37]
Rather than the provision of material needs such as hospitals, refugee centers, and orphanages, their missionary work focuses on preaching, with emphasis on their belief that the only permanent solution to mankind's problems is God's Kingdom.[38]
Gilead School extensions[edit]
Languages other than English[edit]
The entire curriculum at Watchtower Bible School of Gilead is presented in English.[39] Beginning in 1980, occasional extensions to Gilead were established in Germany (called "Gilead Extension School") and in Mexico (called "Gilead Cultural School of Mexico"[40]) to provide training to student missionaries speaking German and Spanish.[41] Occasional extensions to Gilead have also been taught in India.[42][43]
Bible School for Single Brothers[edit]
The Bible School for Single Brothers, originally known as the Ministerial Training School and established in 1987, is considered an extension of the Gilead School.[44][45][46] It comprises an 8½ week Bible-based educational program for single elders and ministerial servants (their term for deacons). The curriculum includes detailed Bible study, public speaking skills, teaching, preaching and organizational arrangements.[47]
The course is held in various languages[48][49] and in many countries,[48][50] and the course duration is shorter than that of Gilead. Since its establishment until 2004, 999 classes of the Ministerial Training School were held, training 22,000 students.[51]
Graduates of the school are generally assigned to their home congregations for a time, but are often offered the opportunity to serve in a more needy congregation or area, as and when the need arises. Usually this is in their home country but can sometimes be abroad. They are sometimes used in the capacity of circuit overseers, assigned to help groups of congregations.[52]
Bible School for Christian Couples[edit]
A new Bible School for Christian Couples was announced in 2010, similar in duration and adapted from the curriculum of the Bible School for Single Brothers, but for husband and wife pairs to attend together. The school's purpose is to "give couples further training so that they can be more useful to Jehovah’s organization". At the announcement of this new school, it was also announced that wives would also be invited to the now-renamed School for Traveling Overseers and Their Wives and School for Branch Committee Members and Their Wives.[53]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Happy Climax to 80 Years of Gathering". The Watchtower: 22. 15 April 1986.
2.Jump up ^ Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (1999 edition), page 563
3.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, December 1990, page 10
4.Jump up ^ 1993 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 25
5.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 15, 1999, pages 8-9
6.Jump up ^ "Postwar Enlargement of the Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, July 15, 1950, page 219; "Despite wartime difficulties a New World Theocratic convention was held that following summer in Cleveland, Ohio, September 18-20 [1942] ... Brother Knorr gave the address “Peace—Can It Last?” ... this public address showed a peace period would follow World War II ... In the mind of Brother Knorr the idea of a missionary-training school formed. ... The Watch Tower board of directors was enthusiastically in favor of it, and thus what was first called the Watchtower Bible College of Gilead was arranged for."
7.Jump up ^ The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 20, ©2000 Grolier Incorporated, page 13, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "[Knorr] established congregational Theocratic Ministry schools and the society's missionary college, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
8.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” 1993, chap. 23 p. 522; “Missionaries Push Worldwide Expansion” © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
9.Jump up ^ Interpretation, Volume 10, ©1956 Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 329
10.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2001, page 26
11.Jump up ^ Religion in the Twentieth Century by Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm, ©1948, Philosophical Library, page 387, As Retrieved 2009-08-24
12.Jump up ^ "A New Home for the Gilead Missionary School". The Watchtower: 21. 1 June 1989.
13.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, December 1, 1995, page 24
14.^ Jump up to: a b The Graduation of the 136th Class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead
15.Jump up ^ "Missionaries Encouraged to Be Like Jeremiah", The Watchtower, [he Graduation of the 136th Class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead February 15, 2009, page 22]
16.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, August 15, 2008, page 30
17.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, November 1, 2001, page 23
18.Jump up ^ 2001 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 217
19.Jump up ^ 2005 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 160
20.Jump up ^ Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead. (2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/636742/Watch-Tower-Bible-School-of-Gilead
21.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Go Forth as Zealous Harvest Workers!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 25, "Gerrit Lösch, a member of the Governing Body and a graduate of the 41st class of Gilead."
22.Jump up ^ "Motivated to Serve", The Watchtower, December 15, 2000, page 27, "David Splane, a former missionary and a graduate of the 42nd class of Gilead who is now serving as a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses."
23.Jump up ^ "Graduating Students of the Word of God", The Watchtower, June 1, 1997, page 30, "Lloyd Barry, also of the Governing Body, was a graduate of the 11th class of Gilead and served as a missionary in Japan for over 25 years."
24.Jump up ^ "New Members of the Governing Body", The Watchtower, November 15, 1977, page 680, "The new members of the Governing Body [include] Martin Poetzinger of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Martin Poetzinger entered the Kingdom service in 1926 and entered pioneer service in 1930. He is a graduate of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
25.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Urged to Cultivate Good Communication Skills", The Watchtower, June 1, 1990, page 26, "C. W. Barber, also a member of the Governing Body and himself a graduate of Gilead's 26th class, briefly discussed."
26.Jump up ^ "Gilead Graduates Go Forth as Zealous Harvest Workers!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2004, page 25, "Theodore Jaracz, a member of the Governing Body and a graduate of the seventh class of Gilead..."
27.Jump up ^ "Gilead's 84th Class—Living Up To Expectations!", The Watchtower, June 1, 1988, page 22
28.Jump up ^ "Missionaries Are Compared to Locusts", The Watchtower, August 15, 2008, page 30, "EVERY six months, the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead holds a graduation program to which the entire United States Bethel family is invited. On March 8, 2008, guests from more than 30 countries joined the Bethel family ... 6,411 in attendance"
29.Jump up ^ "They Made the Hearts of Their Parents Rejoice", The Watchtower, January 1, 2006, page 13, "On Saturday, September 10, 2005, an international group of 6,859 people attended the graduation of the 119th class of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead."
30.Jump up ^ "Introduction", Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses by George D. Chryssides, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008, Page lvii
31.Jump up ^ “Jehovah Is My Strength”, The Watchtower, October 15, 2008, page 18, "At that time [1951], sisters were not yet enrolled in the Theocratic Ministry School in the local congregations, but at Gilead we sisters received assignments to give student talks and reports."
32.Jump up ^ "Divine Will International Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses", The Watchtower, February 15, 1959, page 120, "[1958 conventions announced that] from the beginning of 1959, sisters in the congregations were to be privileged to enroll in the weekly Theocratic Ministry School."
33.Jump up ^ Sect, cult, and church in Alberta by William Edward Mann, ©1955, University of Toronto Press, page 109, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, "Watch Tower Bible Society of Gilead [sic] in the eastern United States, which gave a five-month training course to leaders selected by the central organization from branches in all parts of the world."
34.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” – 1993, chap. 23 p. 523
35.Jump up ^ "Be Joyful With the Kingdom Hope!", The Watchtower, June 15, 2001, page 26, "The main textbook is the Bible. And then we have Bible study aids to help us understand the Bible. Those are available to all. There is no secret information dispensed at Gilead."
36.Jump up ^ 1970 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, ©Watch Tower, page 71, "Of course, an intensive study of the Bible constitutes the major part of Gilead School's curriculum. Students must read the entire Bible, starting when they receive their letter of invitation to the school. ... Bible courses, which consist of a verse-by-verse study of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, also two other subjects designed to cover the Bible from the doctrinal standpoint and, finally, the practical application of the Bible's principles of everyday living in Jehovah's organization and the Christian ministry."
37.Jump up ^ Andover Newton Quarterly, Volume 3, ©1962 Andover Newton Theological School, As Retrieved 2009-08-24, page 16, "[Students] work for half a day at the factory and attend the Gilead School for half a day. The work at the factory is on-the-job training, intended to fit them to operate printing establishments in their own countries."
38.Jump up ^ “Jehovah's Witnesses – Proclaimers of God's Kingdom” – 1993, chap. 23 p. 523
39.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1982, page 31
40.Jump up ^ 1982 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 22
41.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 1982, page 8
42.Jump up ^ 1992 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 255
43.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pages 544-545
44.Jump up ^ Awake!, September 8, 1993, page 18
45.Jump up ^ 1996 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 16
46.Jump up ^ The Watchtower, June 15, 2011, page 32
47.Jump up ^ "A School Whose Graduates Benefit People Worldwide". (2006-Nov-15). The Watchtower, p. 10
48.^ Jump up to: a b The Watchtower, November 15, 2006, page 10
49.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, June 1999, page 1
50.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, page 300
51.Jump up ^ Our Kingdom Ministry, August 2004, page 3
52.Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p. 20 "Traveling Overseers—Fellow Workers in the Truth " © Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 1993
53.Jump up ^ "A History-Making Meeting", The Watchtower, August 15, 2011, page 21, "Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body...next revealed that the Ministerial Training School would henceforth be known as the Bible School for Single Brothers. It would soon be complemented by the Bible School for Christian Couples. This school would give couples further training so that they can be more useful to Jehovah’s organization. Brother Lett also announced that the School for Traveling Overseers and Their Wives and the School for Branch Committee Members and Their Wives would be expanded to two classes each year at Patterson, with provisions for those who have previously attended to attend a second time."
Coordinates: 41.4960°N 73.5750°W
  


Categories: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses






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