Jehovah's Witnesses is a nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist Christian denomination,See following:
stemming from the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. Russell co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881 to organize and print the movement's publications. A leadership dispute after Russell's death led several groups to break away, with Joseph Franklin Rutherford retaining control of the Watch Tower Society and its properties. Rutherford made organizational and doctrinal changes; in 1931 he adopted the name Jehovah's witnessesPrior to the April 1, 1975, issue of The Watchtower, "witnesses" was consistently uncapitalized in Watch Tower Society literature (with the exception of title-cased headings) when referring to the denomination. to distinguish the group from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with Russell's traditions. In , Jehovah's Witnesses reported worldwide membership of about s.
Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their evangelism, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and for refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider the use of God's name vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hell, which they consider unscriptural doctrines. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and the establishment of God's kingdom over earth is the only solution to all of humanity's problems. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity. They prefer to use their own Bible translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures..
Jehovah's Witnesses consider human society morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and most limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses.. The denomination is directed by a group known as the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, which establishes all doctrines.: "Doctrine has always emanated from the Society's elite in Brooklyn and has never emerged from discussion among, or suggestion from, rank-and-file Witnesses." Congregational disciplinary actions include formal expulsion and shunning, for what they consider serious offenses. Members who formally leave are considered to be "disassociated" and are also shunned. Some members who leave voluntarily successfully "fade" without being shunned. Former members may experience significant mental distress as a result of being shunned, and some seek reinstatement to maintain contact with their friends and family.
The group's position on conscientious objection to military service and refusal to salute state symbols—for example, national anthems and flags—has brought it into conflict with several governments. Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted, with their activities banned or restricted in some countries. Persistent legal challenges by Jehovah's Witnesses have influenced legislation related to civil rights in several countries. The organization has been criticized regarding biblical translation, doctrines, and alleged coercion of its members. The Watch Tower Society has made unfulfilled predictions about major biblical events, such as Jesus' Second Coming, the advent of God's kingdom, and Armageddon. Their policies for handling cases of child sexual abuse have been the subject of various formal inquiries.
Demographics
Jehovah's Witnesses have an active presence in most countries. In , Jehovah's Witnesses reported approximately publishers—the term they use for members actively involved in preaching—in about congregations. In the same year, they conducted Bible studies with individuals (including those conducted by Witness parents with their children). 4,091 members served as missionaries in 2021. In , Jehovah's Witnesses reported a worldwide annual increase of . people attended the annual memorial of Christ's death. The official published membership statistics, such as those above, include only those who submit reports for their personal ministry. As a result, only about half of those who self-identify as Jehovah's Witnesses in independent demographic studies are considered active by the faith itself. Research regarding the demographics of Jehovah's Witnesses is incredibly limited; sample sizes tend to be small and focused to a specific region. Cross-cultural studies are "virtually non-existent".
The 2008 US Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life survey found a low retention rate among members of the denomination: about 37% of people raised in the group continued to identify as Jehovah's Witnesses. The next lowest retention rates were for Buddhism at 50% and Catholicism at 68%. The study also found that 65% of adult American Jehovah's Witnesses are converts. In 2016, Jehovah's Witnesses had the lowest average household income among surveyed religious groups, with approximately half of Witness households in the United States earning less than $30,000 per year. As of 2016, Jehovah's Witnesses were considered to be the most racially diverse Christian denomination in the United States. A sociological comparative study by the Pew Research Center found that American Jehovah's Witnesses ranked highest in belief in God, importance of religion in one's life, frequency of religious attendance, frequency of prayers, frequency of Bible reading outside of religious services, belief that their prayers are answered, belief that their religion can only be interpreted one way, belief that theirs is the only one true faith leading to eternal life, opposition to abortion, and opposition to homosexuality. Jehovah's Witnesses also ranked lowest in interest in politics.
History
Scholarly analysis of Jehovah's Witnesses is limited in academia, with most works focusing on legal challenges faced by the group. The denomination does not cooperate with scholars beyond limited communication from anonymous individuals. Consequently, academics often rely on literature written by former members such as James Penton and Raymond Franz to understand its inner workings. The denomination has been variously described as a church, sect, new religious movement, or cult. Usage of the various terms has been debated among sociologists. When the term sect is used by sociologists, it is within the framework of church-sect typology for their activities within a specific country. Sociologists from the 1940s to the 1960s frequently compared the group's structure with totalitarianism. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, sociologists determined that cult was a reductionist label when applied to Jehovah's Witnesses, noting that new members did not undergo "sudden transformations" and made a rational choice to join the group. Academics generally stopped using the term cult in the 1980s due to its pejorative association and its usage by the Christian countercult movement, with new religious movement largely replacing it. Scholars George Chryssides and Zoe Knox avoid using the term new religious movement because it also has negative connotations. Chryssides refers to the denomination as an "old new religion".
Background
In 1870, Charles Taze Russell and others formed a group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to study the Bible. During his ministry, Russell disputed many of mainstream Christianity's tenets, including immortality of the soul, hellfire, predestination, Christ's return, the Trinity, and the burning up of the world. In 1876, he met Nelson H. Barbour. Later that year they jointly produced the book Three Worlds, which combined restitutionist views with end time prophecy.
The book taught that God's dealings with humanity were divided dispensationally, with each period ending with a "harvest", and that Jesus inaugurated the "harvest of the Gospel age" by means of his invisible return in 1874. The book asserted that 1914 would mark the end of a 2,520-year period called "the Gentile Times", at which time world society would be replaced by the full establishment of God's kingdom on earth. Beginning in 1878, Russell and Barbour jointly edited a religious magazine, Herald of the Morning. In June 1879, the two split over doctrinal differences, and in July, Russell began publishing the magazine Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, saying its purpose was to demonstrate that the world was in "the last days" and that a new age of earthly and human restitution under Jesus' reign was imminent.
From 1879, Watch Tower supporters gathered as autonomous congregations to study the Bible topically. Thirty congregations were founded, and during 1879 and 1880, Russell visited each to provide the format he recommended for conducting meetings. In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was presided over by William Henry Conley, and in 1884, Russell incorporated the society as a nonprofit business to distribute tracts and Bibles. He also published a six book series entitled Studies in the Scriptures. By about 1900, Russell had organized thousands of part- and full-time colporteurs, and was appointing foreign missionaries and establishing branch offices. By the 1910s, Russell's organization maintained nearly a hundred "pilgrims", or traveling preachers. Russell engaged in significant global publishing efforts during his ministry, and by 1912, he was the most distributed Christian author in the United States. He also directed The Photo-Drama of Creation, an eight-hour audiovisual presentation featuring biblical accounts.
Russell moved the Watch Tower Society's headquarters to Brooklyn, New York City, in 1909, combining printing and corporate offices with a house of worship; volunteers were housed in a nearby residence he named Bethel. He identified the religious movement as "Bible Students", and more formally as the International Bible Students Association. By 1910, about 50,000 people worldwide were associated with the movement and congregations reelected him annually as their pastor. Russell died on October 31, 1916, at the age of 64 while returning from a ministerial speaking tour.
Joseph Rutherford
In January 1917, the Watch Tower Society's legal representative, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was elected as its next president. His election was disputed, and members of the Board of Directors accused him of acting in an autocratic and secretive manner. The divisions between his supporters and opponents triggered a major turnover of members over the next decade. Because of disappointment over the changes and unfulfilled predictions, tens of thousands of defections occurred during the first half of Rutherford's tenure, leading to the formation of several Bible Student organizations independent of the Watch Tower Society, the largest of which was the Dawn Bible Students Association. There are varying estimates of how many Bible Students left during Rutherford's tenure, with Alan Rogerson believing the total number to be unclear. By mid-1919, an estimated one in seven of Russell-era Bible Students had ceased their association with the Society. Between 1921 and 1931 three-quarters were estimated to have left.