Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious movement known worldwide for their house to house evangelizing and millenarian teachings, can be traced back to 1872 when a 20 year old Charles Taze Russell started a small Bible study group in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Then known simply as Bible Students, the organization today has grown to include some 7.1 million active members of over 100,000 congregations worldwide.
Although the Witnesses may seem remarkably different from other Christian Protestant traditions, there is little about their theology and practice that is truly unique. What sets them apart from other religious movements are their distinct doctrinal combinations that they share with not only Protestantism, but also Catholicism. For instance, like Lutherans they follow of concept of sola scriptura (scripture alone); they believe that they are continuing the tradition of the 1st century Church much like early Puritans; they stress separating themselves from the rest of the world like Anabaptist sects; they have a Unitarian view of God, and an Arian view of Jesus; with the Catholic Church they share an almost identical organizational hierarchy as well as the belief that they alone bear the “Truth”; they share the Arminian view of salvation with many liberal denominations; they have a very strong missionary outreach like Methodists. But the religious tradition that Jehovah’s Witnesses have the most in common with would probably be Adventism. Perhaps no other Christian sect has been so insistent on prophesying the end of the world with specific dates than have Jehovah’s Witnesses, at least not since the Millerites and the Adventists of the 19th century. Not coincidently, Russell had direct ties with these movements early on. But to truly understand the doctrines and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses today, it is crucial to have a basic history of their founder and chief theologian, Charles Taze Russell.
Early Life
Charles Taze Russell was born to Joseph Lytel Russell and Ann Eliza Birney on Monday, February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Charles, the second of five children, was one of only two to survive into adulthood. Their mother died on January 25, 1861 at the age of 29. The patriarch, Joseph, died December 17, 1897, at the age of 84.
The Russells had lived in Philadelphia, as well as Allegheny. Once established in Pittsburgh, the Russells became respected members of the Presbyterian Church. In his early teens, Charles’ father made him partner of his Pittsburgh haberdashery store. By age twelve, he was writing business contracts for customers, and given charge of some of his father’s other clothing stores. At age thirteen, he left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church due to a preference in their organizational style. In his earlier youth, Russell would chalk Bible verses on the downtown sidewalks to draw attention to the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful. When sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as perceived contradictions in creeds, and medieval traditions) led him to question his faith. He then began to investigate other views and philosophies, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, but abandoning them in short order. In 1870, at age eighteen, he cautiously attended a presentation by the famous Adventist preacher, Jonas Wendell. Wendell focused on what Russell considered to be rational, logical matters relating to Biblical prophecy and chronology, drawing attention to the future date of 1874 as the supposed date for Christ’s return. The presentation left him with, he later related, a renewed zeal that not only was the Bible the word of God, but that all Christians had a responsibility to preach the gospel. Continue reading
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You mention above that the JW’s share the “Armenian” view of salvation. Uhhhh, that should be Arminian. Armenia is a country.
Woops, a little typo there. Thanks for the correction.
Good read; lot’s of historical detail. Having outgrown a J.W. upbringing, this my musings as to the eclectic mix of beliefs and propagated by the Watchtower Society. Good luck getting them to fess up to chronology of Armageddon false alarms.
Russell has a beard.Today wearing a beard is frowned on among the JW’s.
True. But, I’m not exactly sure what your point is.
Russell cribbed much of his theology from a then popular religion called the Millerites, who used to stand on oppose sides of the isle and argue “Great Taste!” “Less Filling!” “Great Taste!” “Less Filling!”
While most cults venerate their founders, Jehovah’s Witnesses virtually ignore theirs. Most JWs are completely ignorant of their own history. They’ve never heard of Miracle Wheat. They’re unaware that Rutherford bought a mansion to house the bible prophets who were supposed to be resurrected in 1925. (When they didn’t show up he graciously continued living there himself.) They’re unaware of how many times their organization set dates for Armageddon. Mention any of these facts to Witnesses who show up on your doorstep and you’ll be rewarded with a “dog on the freeway” expression.
What I meant was that the JW religion of today is far removed from what Russell founded even when it came to trivial stuff like beards let alone other teachings.
I don’t understand why not one member of the congress ever did some serious research concerning the governing body of the JWs. If you read all their cheating:
>false prophesies (1799, 1874, 1914, 1915, 1918,1925, 1941, 1975…) with thereby joined the advise to sell their houses, no children, stop working and pioneering, no higher education
> sympathizing for the political views of Hitler an their anti-Semitism
> involvement for ten years in the UNO: their worst enemy
> Malawi versus Mexico
> manipulating and falsify scientific medical proofs concerning germs and surgical treatment from p.ex; appendicitis
> hiding pedophilia
> prohibition from vaccinations
> prohibition from transplantations,
>murdering blood policy and their falsifying from medical issues concerning the migration from primary blood fractions from fetus to mother and vice versa
> falsifying and misleading teachings concerning the dangers of blood transfusions
> prohibition to give blood and the permission of secondary blood fractions
>the endless list of “deaths” ; the unacceptable killing of premature, baby’s, children, adults
>prohibition of independent thinking
>disfellowship and shunning
>…..
Accusation: GENOCIDE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MURDER
The solution: “International Court of Justice”
Proof: thousands of evidences in their literature and thousands of “witnesses” fighting against their acts of inhumanity
So should the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints, be considered an Abrahamic religion of its own rather than a Christian sect?