Jehovah’s Witnesses
Cassandra Poe
Hum 130
March 26, 2010
Sheila Farr

Introduction “The Jehovah’s Witnesses are one of the world’s fastest growing religious groups. They are well known for their distinctive beliefs, door to door proselytism, political neutrality, and legal battles for religious freedom. However, as Rodney Stark and Laurence R Ianaccone have recently noted, research on the Jehovah’s Witness is surprisingly scarce. This paper seeks to assist non-Witness scholars interested in studying witness teachings, activities, and institutions. The Watchtower, Awake, and annual yearbooks and many other Witness publications are primary sources readily available in Witness congregations throughout the United States and the world. Most congregations also maintain archives of past publications in their libraries. Any researcher can use these and many other sources to document Witness statements, statistics, trends and organizational developments”.Wah (Dec. 2001),

History of The Jehovah’s Witnesses The Jehovah’s Witnesses was begun by Charles Taze Russell in 1872. He was born on February 16, 1852, the son of Joseph L. and Anna Eliza Russell. He had difficulty in dealing with the doctrine of eternal hell fire and in his studies came to deny not only eternal punishment, but also the Trinity, and the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. When Russell was 18 years old he organized his first Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he started The Watchtower, what would later be known as The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the teaching organ of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The first edition of The Watchtower was only 6,000 copies, today there are over 100,000 books and 800,000 copies. In 1908 he moved the headquarters to Brooklyn, where it remains today. Russell's health had become increasingly poor in the last three years leading up to his death. During his final ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States he became increasingly ill with cystitis, but ignored advice to abandon the tour. He suffered severe chills during his last week, and at times had to be held in position in bed to prevent suffocation. He was forced to deliver some of his Bible discourses sitting in a chair, and on a few occasions his voice was so weak as to be barely audible. Russell, aged 64 died on October 31, 1916 while returning to Brooklyn by train. (wikipedia) The Watchtower Society makes a lot of rules, based on their interpretations of various scriptures, that all Jehovah’s Witnesses must follow. Members are taught that they must turn each other in for any rule violations. If they observe another Jehovah’s Witness breaking a rule and do not report him or her to the elders they are as guilty as the offending party. Anyone breaking any of the Watchtower Society Rules is called before 3 elders in a private meeting that is conducted like a trail. The elders become judge and jury deciding whose is repentant and who is not.
Members who are found to be unrepentant of violations of Watchtower rules by these elders, are disfellowshipped. Jehovah’s Witnesses the name conjures a variety of images and produces a wide range of reactions. Known worldwide for door to door proselytism, (Jehovah’s Witnesses have spent over 1.2 billion hrs annually in door to door proselytizing), refusal to participate in any political or military conflict or refusal to salute the flag, say the pledge of Allegiance , vote, run for office, or serve as officials of labor unions, Jehovah’s Witnesses are often greeted with a mixture of respect and hostility. One must only show allegiance to the Kingdom of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses feel that abortion is wrong. Homosexuality is a serious sin. Gender roles are defined: Men are the head of the household and women are loving caretakers who assist the husband in teaching the children. Divorce is permitted under certain circumstances, but Jehovah hates remarriage unless the divorce occurred as a result of adultery. There are over 6 million Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide, (Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2001:31) they spread the word about their religious beliefs and practice regularly. Although not every Witness can put in so many hours every Witness is expected to do what he/she can by way of mission work. There is no separate, ordained ministry as is found in Protestant churches. Their sect operates no hospitals, schools, colleges or welfare agencies. From their perspective it will all disappear in a few years anyway, so they don’t expend their energies in this area. Jehovah’s Witnesses live under a strict regimen. They may be “disfellowishipped” for a variety of reasons, such as attending a Catholic or Protestant church or receiving a blood transfusion, premarital, using alcohol excessively, using tobacco products, celebrating Christmas, lying, stealing, speaking to a disfellowshipped Witness, reading religious material not published by the governing body, to name a few. Disfellowishipping is the sect’s equivalent of excommunication, though somewhat harsher. A disfellowishipped Witness may attend Kingdom Hall, but he/she is not allowed to speak to anyone and no one may speak to him/her. The others are to act as though he/she no longer exists. This even applies to his/her family, who may only communicate with them as much as absolutely necessary. Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that Disfellowshipping is an act of love but in fact it is their most important control mechanism. It allows the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to control its members with guilt and fear. Disfellowshipping has a devastating effect because the individual’s entire religious, family and social life are rooted in the Society. Keeping in mind that Jehovah’s Witnesses who are disfellowishipped are no longer a part of the Watchtower Society and have therefore, lost all hope of salvation until they can prove themselves worthy of being accepted back into the Watchtower Organization by their works. Elders in the congregation are the ones who decides when an individual has earned the right to come back into the fold, and the Watchtower Society inform the elders that it would be very rare for one to earn their way back in less that a year. In order to earn their way back they must attend meeting regularly, sit in the back of the Kingdom Hall. They must do this with the knowledge that if Armageddon should come before they have earned their way back in they will be destroyed. It is sad to say Disfellowshipping has resulted in suicide. Those who leave on their own are treated just as a disfellowshipped one. Once you join The Jehovah’s Witness there is no easy way out. If a Jehovah’s Witness is guilty of breaking a minor rule such as associating with a worldly person (someone who is not a Jehovah’s Witness) that individual could be marked. Being marked means that other Jehovah’s Witnesses may only speak to them at the Kingdom Hall. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to associate with a marked individual in a social setting. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allow to celebrate Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, Thanksgiving, or any other holidays claiming they all have pagan roots.
They believe that only 144,000 people will go to heaven and that there are only Jehovah’s Witnesses have a convention once a year where they rent a large convention center and they meet for 2-4 days of talks about things that interest them and to pray. Some Jehovah’s Witness travel a long way to attend this meeting. Because of their strict beliefs that they are to only date and marry other Jehovah’s Witnesses a lot of the younger and single attend these conventions in hope of meeting and finding a spouse.

Review of The Jehovah’s Witness Site The Kingdom Hall that I went to was called the Pembroke Kingdom Hall located in Detroit, MI 48219. The meeting was opened with a song and prayer, there are no choirs, the meeting lasted about an hour. Everybody seem to be warm and friendly. There was not an altar with a cross or bible, just a podium for the speaker. something that I am use to seeing at a church. Everybody usually wear dress up clothes, the leader did not wear a robe, something that I am use to seeing at church, I was told that everybody is equal they are all brothers in Christ. This was a very different experience for me.

Interview with a Jehovah’s Witness I was told that there are no traditions, “everything is based on the word of God and they have a house to house ministry”, Acts 20:20, and Acts 5:42 explains that you should go house to house to tell others about
Jehovah. (L Gilbert) (The New World Translation).“It has made me very aware of my accountability, not to any man, but to Jehovah the God of the Bible,(LG) Psalms 83:18 Jehovah is the only one you have to be accountable to. A better father, husband, more honest, a loyal husband, all of this is due to my awareness of my accountability to Jehovah”,(LG) Hebrew 4:13 says that God sees everything. “There are no challenges, only to not be influenced by the world around us”,(LG) 1 John 5:19 & John 17:16, not being a part of the world. “The religion has been around for several thousand years. Concerning modern day history Charles Taze Russell reorganized Gods servants who had been scattered as Jesus foretold they would for centuries”, Matthew 13. In 1931 they took on the divine order of Jehovah’s Witness. “ I have been a member of this religion since 1979, 30 years”. I ask how he decided to become a Jehovah’s Witness and he replied “ He didn’t decide he was drawn to it by Gods spirit to be a Jehovah’s Witness, John 6:44 & Acts 13:48. “ No human leader” is to be looked up to but all are to be respected”. Matt 23: 8-12 (LG). “When a person is disfellowshipped they no longer are in good standing with the Jehovah’s Witness and they can attend meetings but no one can fellowship with them. They have to repent and vow to never do whatever it is that they have done”. Proverbs 28:13. “ I would not change anything, I would have joined The Witnesses much sooner than I did”. The leaders in the church do not have titles, we are all brothers. Everybody is equal, Christ is the head of the congregation. I Thanked Mr. Gilbert the time that he gave me to conduct this interview.

Comparison of Jehovah’s Witnesses to Christianity

Teachings |Jehovah’s Witnesses |Historical Christianity | |Nature of Jehovah |The Supreme Being, indivisible. |One person of the Trinity. | |Nature of Jesus |Son of God; a spirit, separate from Jehovah. |One person of the Trinity. | |Nature of the Holy Spirit |A force used by God to interact with the world. |One person of the Trinity. | |Method of Jesus’ execution |On a torture stake, with no cross-beam. |On a cross: a vertical stake with a cross-beam. | |Christ’s Second Coming |Invisible, not physical. It happened in 1914. |Visible and Physical. Will happen in the future. | |Hell |A false concept created by Satan to turn people away from belief in Jehovah. |A place or state of being involving eternal torture in the presence of Jesus. (Rev. 14:10) | |Salvation |Achieved by accepting Witness beliefs, being baptized, and following certain activities specified by the group. |For Catholics: via church sacraments. For many conservative Protestants, by repentance and trusting Jesus as Lord & Savior. For others by leading a good life. | |

Although both the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christians share the commonality of believing God and his teachings through the bible, there are many fundamental doctrinal differences between the two religions. These doctrinal differences may be what separates their popularity among the vast majority of religious believers within the world. Christianity's much more passive belief attracts a very diverse audience because it does not require the life changing habits that the Jehovah's Witnesses demand within their worship. Despite their difference however, both Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses believe in spreading the Word of God to others through the teachings of the bible. Their commitment to sharing the Word of God is considered by all to be an invaluable service to the spiritual community. Ultimately both of these religions use the word of God to bring people closer and to develop a greater understanding of religion, therefore they serve similar purposes in helping to spread the word of God. While their teachings have seen a severe backlash from many different governments and societies because of their neutrality during political conflicts, Jehovah's Witnesses are responsible for bringing religious tolerance to many different countries around the world. The Watchtower in available in over 230 countries. Many of Jehovah's Witnesses humble and conservative demeanors attract naysayer and negative attention on their unwillingness to cohesively transition into communities and societies; however they are admired for the spirituality and their devotion to their religion. In today's world religious tolerance has allowed Jehovah's Witnesses to coexist within almost all countries in the world.

Conclusion

References
Wah, C. R. (Dec. 2001). JSTOR. Religious Research Association, Inc.. Retrieved from http://www.jsstor.org