INTRODUCTION
HISTORY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL
was born on February 16, 1852. In 1870 he started a Bible study class whose members eventually make him pastor. In 1879, he founded the magazine, "Zion’s Watchtower." In 1886, he published the first of six books originally titled, "The Millennial Dawn" and later retitled "Studies In The Scriptures." He died in 1916.JOSEPH RUTHERFORD
, the Society’s Legal Counselor, took over becoming the second president. It was under his leadership that the name was changed to "Jehovah’s Witnesses." He was also responsible for implementing "Theocratic" control of the organization. He died in 1942.NATHAN KNORR
seceded Rutherford, and in 1961 under his leadership, the Society published their own bible called "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures." He died in 1977.FREDERICK FRANZ
became the next president, he was also on the committee that published their bible.*There are presently about 4.5 million Jehovah’s Witnesses spending more than one billion man-hours each year spreading their doctrine around the world (The Watchtower, 1 January 93, pg. 16). In 1940, there were 58,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the U.S., and now that number is approaching 1 million. In 1940 there were 95,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, in 1993 this number was over 4.2 million. (The Watchtower, 1 January 1993, pg. 6).** They are growing at an alarming rate and this is one important reason Christians need to be equipped to answer them when they knock at your door.
Jehovah’s Witnesses spend an enormous amount of time in study and preparation for their door to door ministry. They are well versed in the scriptures and most Christians have great difficulty answering even novice Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hopefully this material will provide you with some solid offense when talking to a Witness. Please remember that all the materials and information in the world are of no use at all without first praying and asking GOD to use the materials to remove the veil of deceit from their hearts and minds by the power of the Holy Spirit.
* Handbook of Today’s Religions by Josh McDowell & Don Stewart, Here’s Life Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 1576 San Bernadino, CA 92402, June 1992. Pg. 44.
** Reasoning From The Scriptures With The Jehovah’s Witnesses, by Ron Rhodes, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97402, 1993. Pg. 9-10.
Next Page
INSIGHTS