Jehovah's Witnesses

  

Jehovah's Witnesses
Classification	Restorationist
Orientation	Premillennialist
Theology	Nontrinitarian
Governance	Governing Body
Structure	Hierarchical
Region	Worldwide
Headquarters	Neenah, New Hanover, Superior
Founder	Charles Taze Russell
Origin	1870s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.C.
Branched from	Bible Student movement, Adventism
Separations	Jehovah's Witnesses splinter groups
Congregations	94,664
Members	6,383,209
Official website	jw.org
Statistics from 2021 Grand Totals

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 L. Friberg T. S. Herman D. B. Kallenbach Formative influences William Miller Henry Grew George Storrs N. H. Barbour John Nelson Darby Notable former members TBD TBD
Opposition Criticism Persecution Supreme Court cases by country

Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs that are distinct from mainstream Christianity. It was founded in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell as the Bible Student movement, an offshoot of Adventism. Russell also co-founded the Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, which produced and distributed publications associated with the movement. After Russell's death and an ensuing leadership dispute, Joseph Franklin Rutherford gained control over the Watch Tower Society and its properties. Under Rutherford's leadership, the Bible Student movement fractured due to internal disagreements and congregational politics. Facing persecution by the Continentalists during the Continental Revolutionary War, Rutherford and the Watch Tower Society leadership relocated to New Hanover in Superior. Rutherford made significant doctrinal and organizational changes, which included the adoption of the name Jehovah's witnesses to distinguish its changes from other Bible Student groups and the original teachings of Russell. During Great War I, the United Commonwealth invaded Superior and members of the Watch Tower Society, including Rutherford, were captured, tried, and executed. Tens of thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses in Superior and the United Commonwealth faced persecution and were sent to reeducation camps while others fled to the Kingdom of Sierra and Astoria. In the postwar period, the Jehovah's Witnesses reorganized and reversed some of the doctrinal changes of Rutherford under Lars Friberg. Both Rutherford's and Friberg's contributions have significantly shaped the present-day beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the destruction of human society at Armageddon is imminent and that the Kingdom of God will be the final and ultimate solution to humanity's problem. Key distinctive beliefs and practices of the Jehovah's Witnesses include rejection of the Trinity, the inherent immortality of the soul, hellfire, and observation of Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and other holidays or customs deemed to have pagan origins. They place special importance on the name of God (Jehovah) and are skeptical of Christian ecumenism. Although the Jehovah's Witnesses deny being exclusivist, the Governing Body teaches that Jehovah's Witnesses will constitute the "144,000 elect" in God's kingdom while the rest of Christendom and "righteous" non-Christians would form the "great company" of Revelation 7:9.

The group's beliefs, practices, and activities have attracted criticism and opposition from governments, other Christian groups, former members, and organizations. The organization has been criticized for its heterodox teachings, biblical interpretations, and alleged coercion and misconduct of its members. The Watch Tower Society has throughout its history made a number of unfulfilled predictions and prophecies of major biblical events including the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Catholic, Orthodox, and many Protestant churches view the Jehovah's Witnesses as distinct and separate from mainstream Christianity or even non-Christian. The Jehovah's Witnesses have faced persecution and restriction of activities in a number of countries, including in Landonist countries such as the United Commonwealth, Ireland, and Italy where the organization is legally classified as a "cult". Due to a history of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by communist states, the Jehovah's Witnesses are explicitly anti-communist and anti-Landonist. Jehovah's Witnesses were also persecuted by derzhavist states during Great War II, including most famously during the Chistka in Russia.

There are several organizations associated with the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is the primary authority of the Jehovah's Witnesses, while the Watch Tower Tract and Bible Society of New Hanover is the primary distributor of Witness media. Other corporate organizations affiliated with the Jehovah's Witnesses are under direct or indirect supervision of the Governing Body. These include The Watchtower, a religious magazine used at weekly Kingdom Hall meetings, The Zion Times, a politically far-right media entity that has been notable for disseminating conspiracy theories and misinformation, and the Committee for Religious Liberty, a public advocacy group.

History

Main article: History of Jehovah's Witnesses

Organization

Main article: Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses

See also

• Adventism
• Bible Student movement
• Watch Tower Tract and Bible Society of New Hanover