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Jehovah's Witnesses
| Profile | History
| Organization | Practice
| Beliefs | Controversies
| Legal Issues |
| Glossary | Links
| Bibliography |
I. Group Profile
Name: Jehovah's Witnesses
Founder: Charles Taze Russell
Date of Birth: February 16, 1852
Birth Place: Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Year Founded: The history of Jehovah's Witnesses begins
in 1869, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, when Charles Taze Russell
began a Bible study which led to this separate movement. The name
"Jehovah's Witnesses" (based on Isaiah 43:10-12) was not adopted
until 1931.
Brief History: Although Charles
Taze Russell was born to Presbyterian parents, he joined a Congregational
Church at the age of fifteen. Soon, however, he became troubled
by certain doctrines such as predestination and eternal punishment.
At the age of seventeen he was a skeptic and disbelieved the Bible
(Hoekema, p.223-24).
"Brought up a Presbyterian, indoctrinated from the Catechism,
and being naturally of an inquiring mind, I fell a ready prey
to the logic of infidelity, as soon as I began to think for
myself. But that which at first threatened to be the utter shipwreck
of faith in God and the Bible was, under God's providence, over-ruled
for good, and merely wrecked my confidence in human creed and
systems of Bible misinterpretations." -Charles Taze Russell
(Watchtower magazine, 1916)
His wavering faith was re-established in 1870 after dropping
in on a Second Adventist Bible study conducted by Jonas Wendell.
Soon after this meeting, Russell organized his own Bible study
with a circle of friends who came to regard him as their pastor.
Although Russell believed that the Second Adventists were "called
of God" and he never renounced them (Russell still maintained
his association with the Adventists and credits some preachers
with teaching him much), a miscalculation concerning the Second-Coming
of Christ caused him to re-evaluate Adventist teachings (Hoekema
p. 224, Penton, p. 15).
In response, Russell, together with his organized Bible study
group, determined that Christ's return would be an invisible or
spiritual one. He later wrote a booklet entitled "The Object and
Manner of the Lord's Return" to describe his new ideas and views
on the issue. When he read similar ideas in N.H. Barbour's
The Herald of the Morning, Russell joined him in editing the
periodical. Both agreed that the Adventists had been mistaken
in awaiting Christ in the flesh. In 1877, Russell and Barbour
wrote and published Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World
(Hoekema, p.224-25; Penton, p.18-19).
"This book set forth their belief that Christ's second
presence began invisibly in the fall of 1874 and thereby commenced
a forty-year harvest period. Then, remarkably accurately, they
set forth the year 1914 as the end of the Gentile times..."
(found in Qualified to Be Ministers, published in 1955
by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
Charles Taze Russell disassociated himself with Barbour, however,
a couple of years later over disagreements of theology. He withdrew
from the Herald of the Morning magazine and began publishing
his own - Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence
- in 1879 (Penton, p.23). This periodical proved influential as
around thirty congregations were born in seven states after only
one year. In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was established
as an unincorporated body. Three years later, it was organized
as a corporation (Hoekema, p.225). Some consider the birth of
the corporation to be the beginning of the Jehovah's Witness movement,
which would set the date at December 13, 1884. The purpose of
the society as a corporation was as follows:
"the dissemination of Bible truths in various languages
by means of the publication of tracts, pamphlets, papers and
other religious documents, and by the use of all other lawful
means..." (found in Article II of the charter)
In 1886 Russell began writing what is now known as the Studies
in the Scriptures, a sacred text (Hoekema, p. 225; Penton,
p.27). Charles Taze Russell died in October of 1916, leaving Joseph
Franklin Rutherford with a solid foundation for the group we now
call the Jehovah's Witnesses. It was under Rutherford, in 1931,
that the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" was adopted. Russell did not
choose a successor, instead Rutherford was elected in spite of
opposition (Beckford, p.23). His general acceptance from the group
was rocky (many schisms arose), as Rutherford disassociated himself
from some of Russell's original ideas and practices (Ibid, p.46).
After Rutherford's death in 1942, the previous vice president,
Nathan Homer Knorr, rose to the position of president. One of
his major accomplishments includes the founding of the Watch Tower
Bible School of Gilead in the state of New York. This school is
dedicated to equipping missionaries through intense scriptural
study and learning evangelistic techniques (Ibid, p.49). Presently,
Frederick Franz, who was elected after Knorr's death in 1977,
is president of the group. Franz has enjoyed a rather conflict-free
tenure in office since his election (Kephart and Zellner, p.285).
Sacred or Revered Texts: The Bible (New World Translation)
and the Scripture Studies.
...(N)ot only do we find that people cannot see the divine
plan in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that
if anyone lays the Scripture Studies aside, even after
he has used them, after he has became familiar with them, after
he has read them for ten years - if he then lays them aside
and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has
understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that
within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if
he had merely read the Scripture Studies with their references
and had not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in
the light at the end of two years, because he would have the
light of Scriptures. -Charles Taze Russell (The Watchtower,
September 15, 1910)
Cult or Sect: Negative sentiments are typically implied
when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse.
Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious
tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism
and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use
of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes.
For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage
of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our
Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find
additional links to related issues.
Size of Group: The Yearbook of American & Canadian
Churches 1997 marks Jehovah's Witnesses membership at 5.1
million across 232 countries.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society also keeps reliable
records of their own membership numbers (Stark and Iannaccone,
p. 138-9). Their 1997 statistics
state that their peak membership count tallied in at 5,599,931.
It is important to note that Jehovah's Witnesses count only active
publishers in their statistics. Therefore, besides excluding those
who are not fervently committed to the group, counting only publishers
also usually excludes people under the age of 16. It is, therefore,
safe to say that their own statistics are rather conservative
(Ibid, p.140).
In addition to boasting a large number of committed members,
Jehovah's Witnesses also have an impressive growth rate of currently
over 5% per year (Ibid, p.133). Between 1990 and 1994, the total
percentage increase in the United States was 64%. This figure
pales in comparison to the rate Latin America boasts: 239% (Ibid,
p.140).
Jehovah's Witnesses are successful all over the world. They
can be found in 232 countries ranging from Albania to Zimbabwe.
Interestingly, only 19% of all Jehovah's Witnesses live in the
U.S. compared to 20% in Western Europe and 25% in Latin America.
In fact, 18 countries exceed U.S. membership rates, including
Canada, Mexico, Finland, and New Zealand, to name a few. (Ibid,
p. 140).
This globalization leads to a very racially mixed group. To take
the U.S. as an indicator, National Survey of Religions Identification
surveys of 1990 showed the following results:
Of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States:
44% White, Non-Hispanic
40% African-American
12% Hispanic-American
4% Asian-American (Ibid, p. 150)
II. Organization, Practices, and Beliefs
Organization
The headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses is located in Brooklyn,
New York and is called Bethel, meaning "House of God" (Kephart
and Zellner, p. 286). A governing body consisting of 18 men meet
there weekly to discuss many sorts of issues. There are also 5
committees - the Service Committee, Writing Committee, Publishing
Committee, Teaching Committee, and the Chairman's Committee -
which aid the governing body in decision making. Below the committees
are the district and circuit overseers who accompany Witnesses
to home meetings and visit congregations twice a year (Kephart
and Zellner, p.286). Congregations meet five times a week in what
they call Kingdom Halls. Elders, or overseers, lead the congregations
voluntarily. Members of Jehovah's Witnesses are considered to
be either Publishers or Pioneers (see Glossary below).
Across the globe, 100 branch offices participate in printing
and mailing literature for the Jehovah's Witnesses. This includes
Bibles, many different pamphlets, and two magazines which are
published semi-monthly entitled Watchtower and Awake!
(Kephart and Zellner, p.287).
Aside from the money earned from selling publications, the Watch
Tower and Bible Tract Society finances itself through self-imposed
tithes. Charles Russell explained it in 1914:
"We have no church organization in the ordinary sense of
the word, no bondage of any kind, no obligation to pay, either
to the parent society or anybody else, either ten percent or
any other sum...No solicitations for money in any way are authorized
by the society...Every amount therefore, that has come into
our hands, and been used, has been a voluntary donation from
a willing heart..." (from Kephart and Zellner, p.290).
Practices
The principal self-defining characteristics of Jehovah's Witnesses,
according to Beckford, are: learning the official doctrines, showing
willingness to proselytize actively, participating in all congregational
meetings, and being baptized into the Watch Tower faith (Beckford,
p.70).
The 5 meetings they should attend each week are as follows:
Other practices particular to Jehovah's Witnesses are the refusal
to: salute a nation's flag, serve in a nation's military, vote,
receive a blood transfusion, and the prohibition of smoking (Stark
and Iannaccone).
Beliefs
Although Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs come from the Protestant
and Adventist tradition, they do hold many beliefs that set themselves
apart. The following are some key beliefs that make them different:
Jehovah God: Their God is the God of the Old Testament
- all-powerful, all-knowing, and everlasting. They refer to
Him as Jehovah - a true, personal, and exclusive name that all
should use.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Jehovah's Witnesses
do not believe in the Trinity. As mentioned above, God
is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator. The relationship between
him and Jesus is like that of father and son: Jesus is
the first creation of God. He is fully human. The Holy Spirit
is an active force which intervenes for God on earth. All the
above mentioned are separate entities.
Satan, the Devil: Satan is seen as an enemy of God.
He is misleading and afflicts pain and sorrow. Through spiritism,
nationalism, and temptation, Satan leads people astray. The
way to resist the devil is by learning about Jehovah.
Man: Jehovah's Witnesses accept the Genesis account
of the fall of man. Man is blemished with sin because of the
disobedience Adam and Eve showed towards God. Every man is born
with sin (save for Jesus, who was born to a virgin). They also
believe that man's soul is mortal - i.e. that when a person
dies, his spirit (or soul) dies as well. In addition, some will
experience eternal life when they are resurrected, in the flesh
and soul, simultaneously.
Salvation: In contrast to some Christian traditions
that believe salvation is achieved by accepting Christ as Lord
("once saved, always saved"), Jehovah's Witnesses believe it
is possible to fall from grace. "The Bible sets forth conditions
that must be met if we are to be saved from the effects of inherited
sin" (Watchtower, 09/15/89). Accepting Jesus as Lord
is essential, but failure to exercise fidelity to God's requirements
can result in the loss of the gift of salvation. "[B]elievers...will
be saved to eternal life only if they continue to adhere to
all of God's requirements...Those losing faith in Jesus also
lose everlasting life." (Watchtower, 09/15/89. Thanks
to James Long, Webmaster of Jehovah's
Witnesses United for assistance in correcting an earlier
statement regarding salvation).
Heaven: Heaven is where Jesus Christ and the other
"True Christians" will live. There they will rule over the kingdom
which will be on earth. Seats are limited: only 144,000 will
gain access to heaven.
Hell: Hell is non-existent for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
There is not a fiery-torment, claims Russell, because it runs
contradictory to God's loving nature. Those who don't qualify
for heaven or the kingdom that will be established on earth
will simply dissappear, as if they had never existed.
The Great Crowd: These are the subjects of the kingdom
ruled by Jesus and the 144,000. They will live forever on the
new earth if they have chosen to obey God.
Kingdom of God: This unique government rules over the
earth from heaven. Jehovah fulfilled His promise to Jesus that
he would rule in 1914. When Jesus became king, Satan and his
evil angels were kicked out of heaven and sent to inhabit the
earth. This is how the Jehovah's Witnesses explain the wars,
crime increases, and other "bad" things which are happening
in our world today. All these things indicate that Jesus has
established his reign and that we are in the last days. Within
a certain time frame, some faithful followers, 144,000 to be
exact, will join Jesus and assist him in his reign. After Jesus
judges his people (some receiving everlasting life others non-existence),
Jehovah will rule again.
Holidays: Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or any other holidays (save one).
They believe these celebrations grew out of ancient false religions.
Also, because early Christians did not celebrate these occasions,
they believe they should not either. The one day they do celebrate,
however, is the Memorial of Christ's Death during Passover.
(Beckford, p. 4-6, 113; Botting, p. 5-32, 187-194; Kephart and
Zellner, p.291-98; Stark and Iannaccone, p.135-6; Watchtower:
Official Web Site of Jehovah's Witnesses; Religious Tolerance
Page)
III. Issues and Controversies
Jehovah's Witnesses are the most fervently attacked new religious
group today. They are heavily criticized on the Internet. Counter-cultists,
have taken the lead on this attack. In addition, many former
group members have published books or created web sites that
share a negative perspective on the Jehovah's Witnesses. Because
this group does have such a large following, it is not surprising
that they would be heavily attacked. Studies show that the larger
and more controversial the group, the greater the tension between
them and society. Also, the more people who belong to a group,
the more people there will be who may denounce the faith and
become active apostates - apostates who crowd the web proclaiming
the evils of the group to which they once adhered to. In this
sense, it seems natural that the Jehovah's Witnesses would be
so heavily criticized. At the same time, however, the intensity
of attack is still alarming. Main issues which cause criticism
include failed prophecies, blood transfusions, and nationalism.
Failed Prophecies
- Jehovah's Witnesses have calculated many dates which were
meant to invite extraordinary events. Five times the start of
Armageddon has been predicted by Jehovah's Witnesses; their
predictions were proven wrong each of those times. They still
hold fast to the date of 1914 in which Jesus Christ returned
invisibly to earth, but admit erring in their calculations (1914,
1918, 1920, 1925, and 1941) for Armageddon. (Kephart and Zellner,
p. 291, Religious Tolerance Page).
Effects of Failed Prophecies from a Sociological Perspective.
Blood - Their stance on refusing blood transfusions
comes from an interpretation of Bible verses found in Genesis,
Leviticus, and Acts. For example, Leviticus 17:10 (the New World
Translation) reads:
"God told Noah that every living creature should be meat
unto him; but that he must not eat the blood, because the
life is in the blood."
Jehovah's Witnesses consider blood transfusions to be "eating
blood." Because of this interpretation, many people have chosen
to die rather than recieve one. Also, criticism has risen against
parents who refuse transfusions for their children.Nationalism
- Jehovah's Witnesses believe that "they owed allegiance to
no person, flags, or nation; they owed allegiance only to Jehovah,"
therefore, they do not vote, salute the flag, or participate
in military duty. Men have been jailed for refusing to be drafted.
Children have been expelled for not pledging allegiance to the
flag.
IV. Legal Matters
Jehovah's Witnesses have had more cases go to the Supreme
Court than any other group, making them lead challengers of
the interpretation of the
First Amendment religion clause. Between the years of 1938
and 1955, forty-five U.S.
Supreme Court cases were held involving the group. Interestingly
enough, the Jehovah's Witnesses won thirty-six of those.
Two particular issues that have generated much criticism are
blood transfusions and pledging allegiance to something other
than Jehovah. As noted above, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to
do both. Courts have dealt with both of these issues, among
others.
Two examples are:
In 1940, the
Minersville School District v. Gobitis case upheld the school's
decision to expel two elementary school students because they
didn't salute the flag. The basis of the decision lay in the
desire to create national unity.
In 1943, however, this decision was reversed in the
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette case.
The court ruled that forcing students to salute the flag was
a violation of their rights.
Others include:
Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
Jones v. Opelika I (1942)
Jones v. Opelika II (1943)
Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943)
Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)
Prince v. Massachusetts (1944)
Information
involving Jehovah's Witnesses and child custody cases
Bergman lists five cases under the heading of Blood Transfusions
(p.173):
People v. Labrenz (Illinois, 1952)
A case in which the Superior Court of Illinois ruled that
the parents of seven-day old Cheryl Labrenz could not jeopardize
their child's life because of their religious beliefs.
"Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. It
does not follow, however, that they are free in identical
circumstances to make martyrs of their children before they
have reached an age of full and legal discretion, when they
can make that choice for themselves. Laws, while they cannot
interfere with religious belief and opinion, may be constitutionally
appropriate for interferring with religious practices."
(Cumberland in Caring and Curing, p.475).
Powell v. Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (Sup. Ct. 1965)
United States v. George (1965)
Jehovah's Witnesses v. Kings County Hospital (1967)
John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital v. Heston (1972)
V. Did You Know......
...Jehovah's Witnesses are disproportionately female - 55%
of them are women (Stark and Iannaccone, p.149).
...Jehovah's Witnesses are not legally allowed to practice
their beliefs in most of the Islamic world (Ibid, p.136).
...Jehovah's Witnesses are considerably successful in retaining
their kids within their belief system (Ibid, p.153).
...Jehovah's Witnesses are less likely to attend college (Ibid,
p. 148).
...Jehovah's Witnesses are as likely to have been divorced
as any American (Ibid, p. 150).
VI. Glossary
Armageddon - the holy war between Christ and his forces
and Satan and his forces. This is an imminent war in which the
world will be destroyed.
Goat - someone opposed to Jehovah's Witnesses.
Last Days - the time between 1914 and Armageddon.
Millennium - a 1,000 year period, beginning after Armageddon,
when Christ will rule over the earth. During this time, the
dead will be resurrected, humankind will attain perfection,
and paradise will be restored.
1914 - the year of Jesus Christ's invisible return
(his Second Coming).
Pioneer - a full-time, voluntary minister who is required
to complete 90 hours of missionary work per month. They also
serve as a lay clergy.
Publisher - a part-time missionary who has certain
requirements to fulfill. These include: spending a certain number
of hours distributing literature door-to-door (there are no
formal quotas anymore; on average: 17 hrs/month), attending
several meetings and services per week, and keeping complete
records of missionary activities.
Sheep - Jehovah's Witnesses and possible converts.
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society - the official
legal corporation of Jehovah's Witnesses. With it's headquarters
in New York, the society prepares different publications, including
The Watchtower, Awake! and The New World Translation
of the Holy Scriptures. It's main task is "symbol management,
or more specifically symbol manipulation, which includes reiterating
and reaffirming for the community the continued veracity of
specific symbols, and the quiet shelving of others considered
to be outdated" (Botting, p.94).
Jehovah's Witnesses have a redistributable book entitled Glossary of American English
Hacker Theocratese, which is dedicated to the language
that Jehovah's Witnesses use in their daily lives within the United
States of America.
(Botting, p.187-194)
VII. Links to Jehovah's Witnesses Web Sites
Search the Internet for information on Jehovah's Witnesses and
you will come up with over twelve thousand sites. Indeed, the
amount of information is overwhelming. Here are just a few sites
to get you started.
Jehovah's Witnesses: Watchtower
Society Official Web Site
Official web site of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
- the legal organization used by Jehovah's Witnesses. This site
can be accessed in 16 different languages and contains a significant
amount of information revolving around the history, beliefs,
publications, and controversial topics of the group. This is
the authoritative source on who the Jehovah's Witnesses are
and what they are about.
http://www.watchtower.org/
Jehovah's Witnesses United
This is a very valuable page for many reasons, including gaining
an understanding about the distinctive theological beliefs of
Jehovah's Witnesses. When the World Wide Web exploded in the
mid-1990s, the leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses discouraged
members from creating pages. This didn't keep members from doing
so. This is an information packed page and a good example of
why the leadership should not have discouraged the development
of pages by members. http://jehovah.to/
Jehovah's Witnesses
The is the authorized site of the Public Affairs Office of Jehovah's
Witnesses. It provides media information. http://www.jw-media.org/
About.com
on Jehovah's Witnesses
About.com is a vast commercial site with information on thousands
of topics. This Jehovah's Witnesses page offers significant
resources that are not available on most other sites including
links to the text of Supreme Court cases involving JWs. http://witnesses.about.com/culture/witnesses/
Witnesses.net: Jehovah's Witnesses
On Line
This page is a large niche site geared to Jehovah's Witnesses.
They carry a world-wide daily news summary of JWs as well as
headline stories of secular news. There are many types of discussion
forums. http://witnesses.net/
Watchtower Observer
This page is self-described as the "Official Ex-Jehovah's Witness
Page." Maintained by Kent Steinhaughs, a former Jehovah's Witness
from Norway, it uses Jehovah's Witness literature to invalidate
the legitimacy of the group's beliefs. Information on medical
issues, doctrine, history, and Jehovah's Witnesses and the Third
Reich can be accessed from this site. In addition, hundreds
of links are found on this site, including some in foreign languages.
http://watchtower.observer.org
Religious
Tolerance Page
Officially, this page is entitled "Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance".The religious tolerance page neither promotes a specific
viewpoint nor attacks religious beliefs. Information on many
religious groups is given, but this link will get you straight
to the section allotted to Jehovah's Witnesses. They provide
information on Jehovah's Witnesses' history, beliefs, texts,
practices, organization, and opposition. In addition, links
to other web-sites are given.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witness.htm
Watchman Fellowship,
Inc.
Watchman Fellowship, Inc. provides a site dedicated to presenting
Christian responses to cults, sects, and new religious movements.
The organization also publishes a journal entitled The Watchman
Expositor, which is available on-line and contains articles
concerning non-traditional religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses. Rick Branch offers
a profile of Jehovah's Witnesses about their beliefs, history,
publications, and so forth. He also adds Biblical references
meant to discredit much of Jehovah's Witnesses theology. It
is also has links telling you what hard-copy resources, in their
opinion, are valuable to get your hands on.
http://www.watchman.org/jwpro.htm
"Facts About the
Jehovah's Witnesses"
This is a page of the Institute for Religious Research, a major
counter-cult organization. The content of this page is devoted
to refuting the theological teachings of Jehovah's Witness.
It also challenges the integrity of the leadership.
http://www.irr.org/jwfacten.html
All Along the Watchtower
A counter cult site full of links to articles, books, JW home
pages, and more. Topics include Blood, Watch Tower and Hitler,
Prophetic Dates, and Frequently Asked Questions, to name a few.
It is maintained by Jan Haugland who lives in Norway and is
studying Religion at the University of Bergen.
http://home.sol.no/~jansh/wteng/jwindex.html
Watchers of the Watch Tower World
Free Minds, Inc. (a non-profit, educational organization) maintains
this web site. The founder of Free Minds, Inc., Randall Watters,
was a Jehovah's Witness for eight years before leaving the group
and becoming a Christian. He served as a pastor for some time,
but now focuses on exit counseling and educating people about
cults. He outlines characteristics of cult recruitment, programming,
and retention and then lays out some general topics, such as
doctrine and history, and provides links to specific articles
concerning those ideas. Watters has written most, if not all,
of these articles. He also offers many links to similar types
of sites.
http://www.freeminds.org/index.htm
Rick Ross on Jehovah's Witnesses
Rick Ross, "Cult Expert and Intervention Specialist", is owner
of this page. Ross plays an active role in "deprogramming" individuals
involved in, what he would call, destructive and unsafe cults
or groups. His web-page includes many articles from different
publications from around the world. These articles, dealing
with numerous groups and issues, make up the majority of the
page. Some of these article are written by Ross, but most are
not. Ross is not shy in sharing his credentials and accomplishments
- i.e. what television programs he has been on and which publications
have quoted him. Other information is given about him, in the
form of a biography and newspaper articles, as well. His Frequently
Asked Questions section covers the definition of a cult, which
will lead you into his pages on over 100 groups.
http://www.rickross.com/groups/witness.htm
VIII. Bibliography
-
Alley, Robert S., editor. 1988
The Supreme Court on Church and State. New York: Oxford
University Press.
- Amundsen and Numbers, editors. 1986.
-
Caring and Curing: Health and Medicine in the Religious
Traditions. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., p.468-485.
- Beckford, James. 1975.
-
The Trumpet of Prophecy. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- Bergman, Jerry. 1984.
-
Jehovah's Witnesses and Kindred Groups: a Historical Compendium
and Bibliography. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
- Botting, Heather and Gary. 1984.
-
The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses. Buffalo:
University of Toronto Press.
- Cole, Marley. 1955.
-
Jehovah's Witnesses. New York: Vintage Press.
- Crompton, Robert. 1996.
-
Counting the Days to Armageddon: the Jehovah's Witnesses
and the Second Presence of Christ. Cambridge: James Clarke
and Co.
- Curry, Melvin D. 1992.
-
Jehovah's Witnesses: The Millenarian World of the Watch
Tower. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.
- Harrison, Barbara Grizzuti. 1978.
-
Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah's
Witnesses. New York: Simon and Schuster.
- Horowitz, David. 1986.
-
Pastor Charles Taze Russell: An Early American Christian
Zionist. Philosophical Library Inc.
- Melton, J. Gordon. 1993.
-
Encyclopedia of American Religions. 4 ed., Washington
D.C.: Gale Research, Inc. p.581-582.
- Penton, M. James. 1997.
-
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses.
2nd ed. Buffalo: University of Toronto Press.
- Rogerson, Alan. 1969.
-
Millions Now Living Will Never Die: A Study of Jehovah's
Witnesses. London: Constable.
- Smith, Chuck. 2001.
-
"The Persecution of West Virginia Jehovah's Witnesses and
the Expansion of Legal Protection for Religious Liberty."
Jouornal of Church and State. 43:3 (Summer). pp. 539-577.
- Stark, Rodney and Iannaccone, Laurence. 1997.
-
Why the Jehovah's Witnesses Grow so Rapidly: A Theoretical
Application. Journal of Contemporary Religion: Vol.12,
No. 2: pp. 133-156.
- Zellner, William and Kephart, William. 1994.
-
Extraordinary Groups: Jehovah's Witnesses. New York;
St. Martin's Press.
-
Wah, Carolyn R. 2001
"Jehovah's Witnesses and the Responsibility of Religious
Freedom: The European Experience." Jouornal of Church and
State. 43:3 (Summer). pp. 578-601.
Counter-Cult References
-
- Hoekema, Anthony. 1963.
The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co.
- Martin, Walter R. 1982.
-
Kingdoms of the Cults. Minneapolis: Bethany House.
- McDowell, Josh. 1993.
-
A Ready Defense. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
- Tucker, Ruth A. 1989.
-
"Jehovah's Witnesses: A Religion of Protest." in Another
Gospel. Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books. 117-148.
- Schnell, W.J. 1956.
-
Thirty Years a Watch Tower Slave. Grand Rapids: Bake
Book House.
Created by Julia Neubauer
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
Spring Term, 1998
Last modified: 10/13/01
Taken from http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/home.html
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