JEHOVAH'S WITNESS

an adherent of a millennialist sect that began in the United States in the 19th century and has since spread over much of the world; the group is an outgrowth of the International Bible Students Association founded in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell (q.v.). The name Jehovah's Witnesses was adopted in 1931 by Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Judge Rutherford; 18691942), who sought to reaffirm Jehovah (see Yahweh) as the true God and to identify those who witness in this name as God's specially accredited followers. Rutherford equipped members with portable phonographs to play his sermonettes on the front porches and in the living rooms of prospective converts. Under his leadership, the democratic polity devised by Russell was replaced by a theocratic system directed from the society's headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y. Rutherford's policies were continued under his successor, Nathan Homer Knorr (190577), who established the Watch Tower Bible School of Gilead (South Lansing, N.Y.) to train missionaries and leaders, decreed that all the society's books and articles be published anonymously, and set up adult education programs to train Witnesses to deliver their own apologetical talks. Under Knorr's direction a group of Witnesses produced a new translation of the Bible. Knorr was succeeded by Frederick W. Franz. The Witnesses have little or no association with other denominations and maintain a complete separation from all secular governments. They regard world powers and political parties as the unwitting allies of Satan. For this reason they refuse to salute the flag of any nation or to perform military services and almost never vote in public elections. Their suspicion of Satan's wiles also extends to religious denominations, and for many years they disavowed the use of such terms as minister, church, or congregation in their organizational structure. This attitude has changed, but they are still exclusive and insulated from the ecumenical movement of the 20th century. Their avowed goal is the establishment of God's Kingdom, the Theocracy, which they believe will emerge following Armageddon, their basis for this assumption being the apocalyptic books of the Bible, especially Daniel and the Book of Revelation. They regard these books as God's timetable for world affairs and as the only authentic insight into the destiny of man. According to apocalyptic calculation, Pastor Russell established 1874 as the year of Christ's invisible return and designated 1914 as the year of Christ's Second Coming and the end of the times of the gentiles. Date setting and prophecy among the Witnesses have given way, however, to a more contemporary analysis of modern life based on world events and what they regard as signs of the times. Theologically they hold that Jesus Christ is God's agent in establishing the Theocracy and that through the Christ sinful man may be reconciled to Jehovah God. The concept of a literal hell is rejected, as is the inevitability of eternal life. Death in certain instances can mean total extinction. Witnesses faced active persecution in Germany and other Axis countries during World War II as well as in several Allied countries where their work was banned. In the postcolonial era, they have encountered hostility in a number of new African nations whose nationalism conflicts with the Watch Tower idea of theocracy. The Witnesses meet in churches called Kingdom Halls, baptize by immersion, insist upon a high moral code in personal conduct, disapprove of divorce except on grounds of adultery, oppose blood transfusions on a scriptural basis, and have won many cases in the U.S. courts establishing their right to speak and to witness in accordance with their belief. Most members of a local congregation, or company, are kingdom publishers, who are expected to spend five hours a week at meetings in Kingdom Hall and spend as much time as circumstances permit in doorstep preaching. Pioneer publishers hold part-time secular jobs and try to devote 100 hours a month to religious service. Special pioneers are full-time, salaried employees of the society who should spend at least 150 hours a month in this work. Each Kingdom Hall has an assigned territory and each Witness a particular neighbourhood to canvass. The sect takes great pains to keep records of the number of visits, back calls, Bible classes, and books and magazines distributed. Publishing activities include books, tracts, recordings, and periodicals, chief among which are a semimonthly magazine, the Watchtower, and its companion publication, Awake!, which during the early 1980s reached a circulation of more than 10,000,000 in some 80 languages. Of the three corporations that direct the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses, the most powerful is the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania founded by Russell in 1884. The other two corporations are the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., of New York and the International Bible Students Association. Additional reading