This material is part of a Field Guide profile on the Jehovah's Witnesses.
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Roots in the Millerite Adventist movement of the mid-
Christians have speculated about the specific time for the Return of Christ throughout the period from the first century to the present. However, widespread popular interest in the topic has been only sporadic until about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Until that point, most speculation was based on general trends in world conditions that seemed to match the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, or specific contemporary incidents that seemed to line up with some prophetic passage in the Old Testament or the Book of Revelation. But the 1800s brought a new breed of popular prophecy speculator. They began using elaborate schemes of calculation of dates, based in particular on passages in Daniel and Revelation.
The first such prognosticator to receive a wide audience for his teachings was an American Baptist minister named William Miller. After a period of intense personal study, he first publicly announced in 1831 that he had determined that Christ could be expected to come to "catch up" ("rapture") His Church in 1843. Miller gathered supporters and followers … and the attention of the public press … as well as detractors and critics, for the next 12 years. He spoke widely throughout the eastern half of the US, and drew large crowds to his lectures.
At first those who accepted his speculations remained in their own previous denominational
church affiliations. But eventually many withdrew and formed study groups and fellowships
with others who accepted "Millerism." When the predicted time of the Rapture-
Tens of thousands of individuals had at one time been affiliated with this movement. When "The Great Disappointment" came, many became totally disillusioned regarding the expectation that Jesus was "coming soon." The majority went back to their previous religious affiliations … or abandoned organized religion entirely. But a minority refused to be dissuaded from their expectations, and came up with a variety of explanations for the failure of the speculations that allowed them to still retain hope that the expectations were correct, the timing just off a bit. These people were dispersed in a variety of small congregations and Bible study groups collectively referred to usually as "Adventist" fellowships.
Enter Charles Taze Russell and His Watchtower Ministry
These True Believers eventually formed into a variety of small denominations, some of which still have spiritual descendants to this day, including the Seventh Day Adventist church. In 1868 into this loose circle of Adventists came a 16 year old young man named Charles Taze Russell. Disillusioned with the teachings of the formal denominations of his childhood and youth (Presbyterian and Congregational), Russell found himself in agreement with a number of Adventist teachers and began several years of study with a number of Adventists. He was eventually viewed by some in his circle of fellowship as a "pastor" and teacher.
In spite of the 1844 debacle, by the early 1870s, a number of Adventists had begun speculating on a date again, this time 1874. Although most abandoned that notion when the date came and went with no noticeable event, one small group came up with an ingenious way around the problem. They declared that He had, indeed, "Come again," but that it wasn't a "Second Coming," but rather an invisible second "presence." One of the primary publications promoting this unique perspective was The Herald of the Morning, published by Adventist Nelson Barbour. In 1876, Charles Taze Russell joined forces with Barbour and became chief financial backer of the magazine, as well as assistant editor. Barbour and Russell declared that Christ's invisible presence of 1874 was to be followed by the literal rapture of the Saints to heaven in 1878.
When this date too passed, Barbour and Russell had a falling-
In 1881, Russell formed the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society as the official sponsor of his public ministry. Although it had a board of directors and such, the actual power in the organization was totally Russell's. This Society published the Watchtower magazine and Russell's other writings and books. And it eventually sponsored his public lectures around the world, and paid for his sermons to be published … as paid advertisements … in papers all over the world.
Russell continued to make date-
Russell's Death and the New Order under Joseph F. Rutherford
Russell died in 1916, leaving the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to look after the interests of the ministry he had begun. He envisioned before his death that there would not be one successor to his unique role, but rather that a board of twelve men, much like the Apostles of Jesus, would take mutual responsibility for governance. Vice President Joseph F. Rutherford (often styled "Judge" Rutherford, although he’d only been a “special judge” in Missouri for a short time, serving as a judge in a trial perhaps only once) had other ideas, though. And within months of Russell's death he began consolidating power unilaterally in his own hands through various "political" and legal maneuvers.
Rutherford then began reforming the organization according to his own vision for
it. He gradually replaced the locally-
But through his vigorous proselyting efforts, Rutherford was able to recoup those losses and build a continually growing organization in the decades to come. He shifted the emphasis in the daily life of the supporters of the Watchtower from "personal character development" and Bible study to an endless round of going door to door promoting Watchtower literature. By 1927, such door to door work was required of all members. At the time, many would take a portable phonograph along with them on their rounds, and play records of Rutherford's speeches to prospective members. Rather than any specific Biblical teachings, most of Rutherford's pamphlets and talks focused on bombastic, vicious attacks on government, "big business," the Roman Catholic Church specifically and "religionists" (clergy and leaders) of every denomination generally.
In 1931, he also changed the identity of the organization, declaring that those who
were true believers were really "witnesses for Jehovah". And thus he gave the group
the official label "Jehovah's Witnesses." During his reign in the organization, Witnesses
didn't just have the reputation of being door-
Rutherford's most famous publication was the 1920 written version of his dogmatic
lecture titled Millions Now Living Will Never Die. In it, he declared that the "ancient
worthies" such as David and Samuel and Gideon would be coming back to life in a physical
resurrection in 1925, to take their place as "rulers" to establish the earthly Kingdom.
1925 came and went with no such fellows in evidence, but as usual the suggested dates
just kept shifting into the future. In 1930 Rutherford had a lovely ten-
Rutherford's Death and the Birth of the Modern JW Movement
Rutherford died in 1942 without seeing any of his predictions come to pass. His successor as top leader in the organization, Nathan Knorr, did not have Rutherford's organizational skills nor personal charisma. And thus he chose to cooperate with the other leaders in developing a new approach to the central authority of the Watchtower Society … they promoted it as the "Mother of Jehovah's Organization." Whereas both Russell and Rutherford had specifically promoted their own writings, the new writings coming out from the organization's Headquarters began to be written by committees or by anonymous authors. Loyalty was shifted in the minds of the average Jehovah's Witness from the man at the top to the impersonal organization itself.
At the same time, the methods of proselyting changed. Instead of using Rutherford's speeches on recording, Knorr encouraged that training programs be set up to instruct individual witnesses how to effectively communicate in their own words with householders they approached.
Unfortunately, the newer methods didn't include abandoning speculative prophecy. One of Knorr's associates at the Brooklyn Headquarters of the Watchtower Society, Fred Franz, was given the responsibility of restoring the faith of the average JW in the significance of the group's original prophetic chronologies. Even though none of the "visible" predictions had ever come to pass, it was still necessary to maintain that something happened in 1914, and that it was directly connected to the eventual establishment of the Paradise on Earth. JW theology insisted that only 144,000 people would be resurrected to a "spiritual life" with Christ in heaven, ruling "over" the earth, but not being on it. All other faithful believers would receive "eternal physical" bodies and spend a physical eternity on a physical earth.
When Russell first taught about the 144,000, it is obvious he expected that number to include all those who were True Believers at the climactic date of 1914. But when the group of JWs grew far beyond that number in later decades, it was necessary to invent a new explanation. Those 144,000 would have "the heavenly hope," the rest were to be the "Great Crowd" prophesied in the book of Revelation.
Another chronological problem was how to determine when "the Last Generation" would end. JW doctrine insisted that the 1914 date was at the very least the commencement of that final generation on earth under the rule of Man. At first they could just note that the Generation would end before the last of the adults of that time had died. As time went on, it was before the last person had died who was old enough in 1914 to "understand world events." Eventually, it was before the last person had died who was even born in 1914.
While working out explanations for all these problems, Franz eventually came up with his own new revelation … Armageddon would likely occur in the year 1975. And thus the organization was launched on a new era of expectation and preparation. By the 1960s, Watchtower publications were feeding the frenzy with speculative articles and comments pointing to 1975. As the fateful date approached, there was a surge of new proselytes to the group, a surge in evangelizing activities, and a surge of dedication and zeal to "the cause" which included even some leaving jobs and selling homes in order to devote themselves full time to the last evangelistic "push" before "the End."
For a description of the results of the failure of the 1975 predictions, see the section of this Field Guide on When Prophecy Fails.
When Knorr first took office, the WBTS itself, its president, and its seven-
Death of Nathan Knorr and the Presidency of Fred Franz
Nathan Knorr died in 1977, and his position as President of the Governing Body and head of the WBTS fell to Fred Franz. Franz found himself with many problems of his own making … there was considerable discontent both at the WBTS HQ in Brooklyn, and among Witness leaders and members around the world as a result of the failure of Franz's 1975 predictions.
At the HQ, small private Bible study groups sprang up where questions regarding the
"traditional" understandings of the Witnesses regarding chronology, as well as other
debatable matters, were discussed. Ultimately, hundreds of thousands of JWs defected
from the organization during the period from 1975-
They instituted a crack-
Raymond Franz subsequently wrote a book, published in 1983, which carefully documented this whole ignominious period in JW history. Titled Crisis of Conscience: The struggle between loyalty to God and loyalty to one's religion, it has become a classic both inside and outside JW circles for its clear portrayal of the politics of control in authoritarian religious organizations.
Franz later followed this up with another, much longer, book titled In Search of
Christian Freedom. It chronicled much more of the whole history of the JWs from Russell's
time on. And it provided insight into many of the social and psychological elements
that limit freedom in groups like the JWs. As the book jacket to this volume notes,
"This work will move readers-
Death of Fred Franz and the Recent History of the Jehovah's Witnesses
Fred Franz died in 1992. His position as President was taken by Milton G. Henschel. Henschel was then presiding over a Governing Body whose average member was over 80 years old. Obviously, the aging leadership of the Watchtower Society will be all dying off in the very near future. It remains to be seen both what direction the newer, younger leadership that is coming will take in matters of doctrine and organization, and what methods they will use to retain control. But there is little reason to think that they will make any drastic changes to policies and practices.
For ongoing coverage of recent JW history, see the website of the Watchers of the Watchtower World:
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is © 2001-
Careful effort has been made to give credit as clearly as possible to any specific material quoted or ideas extensively adapted from any one resource. Corrections and clarifications regarding citations for any source material are welcome, and will be promptly added to any sections which are found to be inadequately documented as to source.
A Brief History of
Jehovah's Witnesses
