Jehovah’s Witnesses
Another millennialist church that succeeded the Millerites was founded in 1881 by the lay preacher Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916). Officially called Zion’s Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, it is more commonly known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Russell’s study of the Bible led him to conclude that the Second Coming would occur in 1874, when Christ would return to prepare for the kingdom of God. This event was to be followed by the battle of Armageddon and the end of the world in 1914, after which Christ would begin his millennial reign over the earth. Russell published a more detailed account of his thought in a work titled Studies in Scripture, and in 1879 he began the publication of a magazine called The Watchtower. Russell’s followers were at first referred to as Bible Students and Watchtower People, but once Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942) had succeeded Russell as the head of the Watchtower organization, members of that community were officially known as Jehovah’s Witnesses.Under Rutherford’s leadership, centralized control both of the Watchtower organization and of its teachings increased. At the same time, its membership grew, and today there are approximately 4 million Witnesses in 200 countries. As the most “world-renouncing” of the Adventist churches of the modern era, the Witnesses continued to predict the end of history and the imminent rule of Christ and his saints. More recently, Witnesses have become wary of fixing dates for the apocalypse and are generally content to proclaim that Christ’s return to earth will come sooner than later.
Jehovah’s Witnesses take their name from the King James Bible, which (erroneously) vocalized the biblical Hebrew name for God. Although they understand Jesus Christ as God’s “Son,” they reject the doctrine of the Trinity and insist that the Son is simply the first of God’s creations. As for the Holy Spirit, that is understood as “God’s active force” within persons of true Christian faith.
Witnesses continue to believe that a “great tribulation” is imminent and that, after destroying the present world system, the elect (whose “core” number is fixed at 144,000) will experience full salvation. These elect individuals, who alone have immortal souls, will ultimately be taken up into heaven. All others may be saved through obedience to God and faith in the efficacy of Christ’s sacrificial death, but their reward will be eternal life on earth, which will be restored to its original, paradisiacal condition. As for the wicked, they will perish in the cataclysmic end-time battle (that is, Armageddon), but only after they have been given fair warning of their fate. The familiar practice of going door to door, which brings teams of Witnesses into thousands of neighborhoods every year, is premised on the belief that they have a responsibility to warn their fellow human beings that the world—which they believe to be under the present dominion of Satan—will soon come to an end. Witnesses also refuse military service and will not salute the flag or hold government offices, believing these practices to be a compromise with worldly evil. Their refusal to accept blood transfusions, based on their interpretation of biblical precepts forbidding the consumption of blood (Genesis 9:4), has often placed the Witnesses in opposition to contemporary medical practice and public policy. Finally, since they regard other churches as having fallen into gross error, they have little contact with other Christian denominations and do not join in celebrating holidays such as Christmas and Easter.