![]() ![]() During the years when the Selective Service Draft was active, many Jehovah’s Witnesses went to prison rather than serve in the military. Although not pacifists, members of the group reject military service in civil military units. Witnesses also do not sanction the observance of birthdays. Witnesses separate themselves from other religious groups, particularly orthodox Christians, by meeting in “kingdom halls,” rather than in “churches,” and rejecting the celebration of Christmas as pagan. The blood transfusion taboo of Jehovahs Witnesses: origin, development and function of a controversial doctrine. ![]() ![]() Members also believe that the Holy Spirit, rather than being the third person of the Trinity, is the power of God at work.īelieving that the earth is ruled by Satan, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that many worldly establishments-including big business corporations, churches, and civil government-are not to be trusted. While teaching that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, they deny that Christ is both divine and human, declaring instead that he is the first creation adopted by God. Witnesses’ beliefs about the Trinity are similar to the ancient doctrine of Arius (a discipline known as Arianism). Russell and other leaders have predicted the end on a number of occasions. Adherents also believe that the number of people in heaven is limited to 144,000 and that the end of history is very near. Interpretations of the Bible, when needed, are supervised by the group’s top leaders. Witnesses teach that creeds are the works of men, and they proclaim that all faith and practice should be based only on the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses base their beliefs on the Bible, which they regard as the inspired, inerrant Word of God. In 1931 the name Jehovah’s Witnesses, suggested by Rutherford, was officially adopted. The name Jehovah’s Witnesses was adopted in 1931 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania hereafter cited as Watch Tower Society 1974: 149-51). Since their inception, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been known as Russellites, Millennial Dawnists, Rutherfordites (after Missouri federal circuit court judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the successor to Russell), and International Bible Students. WHO ARE JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES Their History, Beliefs and Practices. After hearing an Adventist preacher in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in 1869, Russell developed his own apocalyptic theology, and in 1884 he incorporated the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Russell was deeply influenced by the eschatology, or view of the world’s end, of the Adventist movement begun by William Miller and the Millerites. Jehovah’s Witnesses were organized in Pennsylvania by Charles Taze Russell in the 1880s. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division In 1931 Rutherford introduced the name Jehovahs Witnesses for the religion, partly to highlight what the religion believed was Gods holy name. ![]()
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