WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY (JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES)

Jehovah's Witness' Church Organization

• Publishers and Pioneers. These are members of both genders and all ages who actively go from door to door, attempting to convert the public. The average active member "witnesses" more than 200 hours a year. Those who are dedicated public canvassers are given the title Pioneer; the others are Publishers.
• Congregations (called Kingdom Halls). Appointed members, called Overseers or Elders are each given a specific role. For example, the Presiding Overseer leads the elder meetings. The Service Overseer handles ministry issues within the congregation. Ministerial Servants handle administrative duties and assist the Elders.
• Circuits are groups of about 20 congregations, served by a Circuit Overseer. The "CO" periodically visits each congregation twice annually for a one week period. Circuits also organize two day conventions for their congregations, which are held twice a year.
• Districts are made up from many circuits; there are 22 districts in the United States. The District Overseer (DO) runs the district conventions which are held once a year. He also attends the circuit conventions.
• A number of districts form a Branch
• A number of branches for a Zone
• Headquarters is in Brooklyn NY.

Jehovah's Witness' Beliefs

Exceptions are:

• They do not believe in the Trinity. Instead, they follow a strict monotheism, in which:
  • Jehovah is the Supreme Being,
  • Jesus is the son of God, a created being. Christ is believed to have originally existed in a pre-human state as the Archangel Michael. He later took human form as a man like any other person, except that he was sinless at birth and remained so through life. After the crucifixion, Christ died and was resurrected as an invisible, non-material, glorious spirit creature.
  • The Holy Ghost is not a separate entity, but is simply the method by which God interacts with the world.
• The Heavenly Kingdom took effect in 1914 with the invisible enthronement of Christ as King. It is currently occupied by a little flock or Anointed Class of about 135,400 people. All were selected after Christ's ascension into heaven at Pentecost (33 CE) and during subsequent centuries. The selection of the full complement of 144,000 was completed in 1935. Some 8,600 are still living on earth. They will spend eternity with God and Christ as spirit creatures. The latter number increases slightly from time to time as anointed but unfaithful members are replaced.
• They reject the traditional symbol of Christianity, the cross, as being of pagan origin. They translate the Greek word from the Christian Scriptures "stauros" as "torture stake", and believe that Jesus was crucified on a single upright wooden stake with no cross beam.
• Christ's Second Coming was not a physical return to earth. It was an invisible event in 1914 in which Satan and Christ engaged in a heavenly battle. Afterwards, Christ began to the rule the Heavenly Kingdom as King of Kings. Satan was expelled to Earth. World War I was a visible sign of Satan's earthly and the beginning of the woes that would accompany the "last days of this system of things."
• In the very near future, the battle of Armageddon will start. Jesus, under Jehovah's divine rage, will execute vengeance upon the rest of Christendom and followers of other religions. The WTS refers to other religions as Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion (Revelation 17). After much suffering and many upheavals, the world will be purified, and God's Kingdom, a theocracy, will be established on earth for 1000 years. This is known as the millennium or the New System of things. The "other sheep" (those who survive Armageddon, will live in peace in the newly created utopia. They will be joined by the worthy dead who have been resurrected. They regard the WTS to be the only true religion. They teach that during the battle, many people (particularly those who are not Jehovah's Witnesses) will be destroyed for all eternity.
• People who die before Armageddon actually cease to exist. They expire and their body deteriorates. However, God retains in His mind the personality, memories and a description of the body for all of those who are later to be resurrected. At that time, God will create a new body similar to their former shell, but without the imperfections. A new spirit will be breathed into it, and the brain will be "reloaded" with the old personality and memories.
• They totally deny the existence of the traditional Christian view of Hell. Satan is regarded as having created the concept of Hellfire in order to turn people against God. They believe that hell is the "common grave of mankind" where all people go when they die. They are not conscious there. Unbelievers simply cease to exist at death. After the 1000 years of God's Kingdom, Satan, his demon forces and all those rebellious ones who turn against God will be destroyed.
• Salvation requires that one must accept doctrines as formulated and taught by the Governing Body, be baptized as a Jehovah's Witness and follow the program of works as laid out by the Governing Body. (Evangelical Christians deny the necessity of "works" which is implicit in the third requirement).
• They refuse to accept blood transfusions and do not allow them to be given to their children. This is based upon three passages in the Bible which prohibit the consuming of blood:
  • Genesis 9:4
    

    "But flesh (meat) with...blood...ye shall not eat"

  • Leviticus 17:12-14

    "...No soul of you shall eat blood...
    whosoever eateth it shall be cut off"

  • Acts 15:29
    

    "That ye abstain...from blood..."

  Child Protective Services often intrude on parents' rights and take into care sick WTS children whose health or life is threatened by the lack of a blood transfusion. An adult Jehovah's Witness who willingly accepts a blood transfusion is committing a sin and might forfeit his or her eternal life. Many non WTS sources state that the church teaches otherwise: that all who have had a transfusion (even if given against their will or at an age or situation when they cannot give informed consent) will lose eternal life. This is in error.

Jehovah's Witnesses' Practices

• They recognize only one day of celebration: the Memorial of Christ's Death at Passover. Although they estimate that Jesus was born on October 2, this date is not celebrated. Members who are found celebrating "worldly" or "Pagan" holidays, like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Canada Day, Halloween, etc) may be disfellowshipped (excommunicated).
• They do not have a Sabbath; they regard all days as holy. There are five meetings each week:
  • Public Talk usually each Sunday, when an Elder (or rarely a Ministerial Servant) will deliver a talk about a specific topic
  • Watchtower Study usually follows the public talk; it is a lesson based on a study article in the current Watchtower
  • Theocratic Ministry School usually occurs on a weekday evening. Speakers practice giving talks and witnessing
  • Service Meeting usually follows the Theocratic Ministry School. This includes training for various ministry activities. At times, elders will address specific items and concerns for the congregation
  • Book Study held sometime during the week where a portion of a Watchtower publication is studied in depth.
• There is a great deal of misinformation about WTS' limitations on access to the Bible. In reality, members are free to use Bible translations, commentaries, dictionaries etc which are produced by non-Watchtower publishers. They are encouraged to read the Bible. Each Witness is given a goal of reading of the entire Bible in one year. They encourage Bible study through using of WTS publications as guides.
• They only observe two sacraments:
  • Baptism: this is done by full immersion after the member has been converted to the faith.
  • Lord's Supper: this is done once a year at the Memorial of Christ's death. Only the approximately 8600 Jehovah's Witnesses who are part of the 144,000 Anointed Class actually partake in the meal; the general membership (formerly called the Jonadab Class and now called the Great Crowd) are present and observe.
• They regard the world as being under the control of Satan. For this reason they do not run for public office, salute the flag, join the Armed Forces or vote in elections.
• They are absolutely non-racist. However (like many religious groups) they are sexist; positions of significant power and authority are reserved for men only.
• Motivated by a desire for self-preservation, they are dedicated to the principle of religious freedom and have pursued over three dozen cases of religious discrimination and persecution to the United States Supreme Court
• A variety of methods of enforcing membership discipline are used (e.g. being publicly rebuked at a meeting or being excluded from participation in meetings). Members who are found guilty of serious violations of WTS teachings and practices, and who refuse to repent are disfellowshipped . Fellow members are then required to shun him/her completely, having no contact. (If the disfellowshiped person is a family member, then they are treated normally within the family, except that they are made to understand that their actions are disapproved of; also there is no discussion about church matters). This can have a devastating effect on a person whose entire religious, family and social life are grounded in the Society. It has occasionally resulted in suicide.

Opposition to the Jehovah's Witnesses

Some examples of the opposition are:

• In 1913, Russell was criticized for selling miracle wheat seed at an inflated price. When he and the seed was ridiculed in a local paper, he sued the newspaper and lost. Government witnesses testified that the wheat was of an inferior grade. He never profited personally from the sales; the proceeds only amounted to $1800. Contrary to the statements of WTS detractors, there is no evidence that Russel intended fraud. He apparently believed that the wheat was more miraculous than it really was.
• Rev. J.J. Ross of Hamilton ON wrote a pamphlet denouncing Russell's morals and qualifications for the ministry. He misquoted court transcripts. For example he stated that Russel claimed to know Greek; in reality, Russel only claimed to know the Greek alphabet.
• Their translation of the Bible has been criticized severely for changing the meanings of many key passages by insertion of words, such as other and a in places in a way that reverses the meaning of the verses. Some have claimed that the WTS's Translation Committee was almost devoid of credentials; all but one apparently were untrained in Biblical Greek and Hebrew.
• They have predicted that the start of Armageddon would occur in 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941 and 1975. None of the prophecies have come true. They interpreted Psalms 90:10 as defining the length of a generation to be 80 years. Since 1914 plus 80 equals 1994, they predicted Armageddon would occur around that year. 1975 looked likely as it was computed as the 6000th anniversary of the creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden in 4026 BCE. When it did not occur at the expected time, a new calculation was been offered to avoid embarrassment and to quell defections. It is now to be 6000 years after the creation of Eve, for which no date can be determined.

  Until recently, they taught that Armageddon will start soon, before the last of generation of Jehovah's Witnesses born around the time of Christ's enthronement in 1914 die off. This concept of the generation of 1914 has recently been abandoned, as described in the 1995-NOV-1 issue of Watchtower. This change effectively removes precise dates from the WTS prophetic predictions.