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 great 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, the deity of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. When Russell was 18, he organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he sought to popularize his aberrant ideas on doctrine. He co-published The Herald of the Morning magazine with its founder, N. H. Barbour; and by 1884 Russell controlled the publication and renamed it The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom and founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society (now known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society). The first edition of The Watchtower magazine was only 6,000 copies each month. Today the Witnesses' publishing complex in Brooklyn, New York, churns out 100,000 books and 800,000 copies of its two magazines – daily! by Matt Slick 12/05/08 [1]
Russell taught his followers the non-existence of hell and the annihilation of unsaved people (a doctrine he picked up from the Adventists), the non-existence of the Trinity (he said only the Father, Jehovah, is God), the identification of Jesus with Michael the Archangel, the reduction of the Holy Spirit from a person to a force, the mortality (not immortality) of the soul, and the return of Jesus in 1914.[2]
Flawed Character
Rev. J. J. Ross published a pamphlet that exposed Russell's false claims and doctrines... Russell unsuccessfully tried to stop circulation of this damaging information by suing Rev. Ross for defamatory libel. However, Russell not only lost the suit, but in the process perjured himself in court...[3]
In 1913, Russell unsuccessfully sued The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for libel when that paper exposed his fraudulent attempts to sell ordinary wheat at the exorbitant price of $60 a bushel, claiming it was "Miracle Wheat."[4]
Failed Prophecies
Despite these setbacks, Russell continued to attract people with his fantastic prophetic interpretations and dramatic warnings that Armageddon would strike in 1914. When 1914 came and went, he changed the date to 1915.
Russell died in 1916, leaving his followers doubting and disillusioned by his predictive failures. Joseph Franklin Rutherford then took control of the organization.[5][6]
Prophecy For Profit
The sect further grew by selling Rutherford's books and Watchtower pamphlets door to door while he lived in a mansion during the depression (the mansion was built for the prophetic return of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob).
Six years after Rutherford's death in 1942, the Old Testament saints still had not arrived, so the Society quietly sold (the mansion) "Beth Sarim," thus closing an embarrassing chapter in their predictive history.[7]
Tampering With The Bible
Under the leadership of Nathan H. Knorr (1905-1977) the WT Society put away date setting for a time and switched to a different strategy. Since many of their teachings are easily refuted by key verses in the King James Bible, Knorr set out to publish a different Bible for Jehovah's Witnesses to use. The WT Society Bible, called the New World Translation (NWT), blatantly alters many verses that show the errors of Watchtower teaching.[7][8]
WHAT MAKES JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES POPULAR TODAY
They offer many opportunities such as learning a foreign language and traveling to a different country along with communication skills as part of their door to door witness. They are encouraged to read their version of the bible and members share what they have learned. It is no wonder, along with the art of encouraging new members, many feel a sense of empowerment when joining the Jehovah's Witnesses. Initially, it may be difficult to even tell you are in a Kingdom Hall not a church. Gradually you are forbidden new acquaintances outside the sect, birthday celebrations, blood transfusions and and other practices many claim to be abusive[9]. Above all, they offer no means for true salvation!
References:
1) https://carm.org/jehovahs-witnesses-history Jehovah's Witnesses' History paragraph 1
2) https://www.catholic.com/tract/history-of-the-jehovahs-witnesses History of the Jehovah's Witnesses paragraph 6
3) http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/History/history.htm Facts and Brief History of Jehovah's Witnesses
paragraph 6
4) http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/History/history.htm Facts and Brief History of Jehovah's Witnesses
paragraph 7
5) http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/History/history.htm Facts and Brief History of Jehovah's Witnesses
paragraph 8
6) Video 1914 PRPHECY THAT NEVER CAME
7) http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/History/history.htm Facts and Brief History of Jehovah's Witnesses paragraph 10
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9) Ex Jehovah's Witness: Melissa's Testimony