Jehovah Witness Origin! (The Origin History of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the origins and evolution of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religion founded by Charles T. Russell in the 1800s. It discusses Russell's doubts about traditional Christianity, his connection with William Miller's Adventist movement, and the development of unique doctrines. The video also highlights the organization's history of failed end-of-the-world predictions and its transformation from a simple Bible study into an organized religion by successors like Joseph Rutherford. It raises questions about the credibility of their teachings and the discrepancies with mainstream Christianity.
Takeaways
- 🕊️ The Jehovah's Witnesses originated in the 1800s, a period that saw the emergence of many new religious movements, each claiming to be the true Christian faith.
- 👤 It was founded by Charles Taze Russell, an 18-year-old who was initially skeptical of organized religion and had doubts about traditional Christian teachings.
- 📚 Russell's early work was a simple Bible study, but it evolved into a more structured religion under his successor, Joseph Rutherford.
- 🔮 Russell was influenced by William Miller, an Adventist who believed in the absence of hell and attempted to predict the end of the world.
- 📅 Russell also attempted to predict the end of the world multiple times, including the years 1874, 1914, and 1975, all of which were incorrect.
- 🏡 After failed predictions, many Jehovah's Witnesses left the religion, questioning its validity and leadership.
- 📖 The Jehovah's Witnesses produced their own Bible translation, the New World Translation, which has been criticized for its lack of scholarly input.
- 🔄 The doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses have changed significantly over time, often reflecting the beliefs of the current leadership rather than a consistent theological tradition.
- 🚫 The religion has faced controversies, including legal issues related to profiteering and internal scandals involving its leaders.
- 🌏 Key beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses differ significantly from mainstream Christianity, such as their views on the nature of Jesus and the afterlife.
Q & A
What was the historical context of the formation of Jehovah's Witnesses?
-Jehovah's Witnesses emerged in the 1800s, a period that saw the birth of numerous religious movements such as Mormonism and 7th-day Adventism, all claiming to restore true Christianity.
Who founded Jehovah's Witnesses and what was his background?
-Jehovah's Witnesses was founded by Charles Taze Russell, an 18-year-old boy who was originally a Presbyterian and had doubts about traditional Christian teachings, particularly about hell.
How did Charles Taze Russell's views on Christianity evolve?
-Russell initially abandoned Christianity after a debate with an agnostic but later connected with William Miller's Adventist movement, which influenced his beliefs and led him to start a Bible study group.
What was significant about William Miller's teachings that attracted Russell?
-William Miller's teachings, which denied the existence of hell and claimed the Bible supported this view, resonated with Russell and shaped his own beliefs.
What were some of the controversies surrounding Charles Taze Russell's personal life and teachings?
-Russell was involved in controversies such as his divorce, legal issues with selling 'Miracle Wheat', and multiple failed predictions about the end of the world.
How did Joseph Rutherford change the direction of Jehovah's Witnesses after Russell?
-Joseph Rutherford, Russell's successor, transformed the Bible study group into an organized religion with distinct doctrines and practices, including door-to-door evangelism.
What is the significance of the year 1914 in Jehovah's Witnesses' history?
-1914 was predicted by Russell as the year for the end of the world, a prediction that did not come true and led to many Jehovah's Witnesses questioning the organization's teachings.
Why did the Jehovah's Witnesses create their own Bible translation, and what was controversial about it?
-The New World Translation was created to align with their unique beliefs, but it was controversial because the translators had no formal training in biblical languages, leading to skepticism about its accuracy.
What were some of the other failed predictions made by Jehovah's Witnesses leaders?
-There were several failed predictions about the end of the world, including ones for the years 1874, 1918, 1925, and 1975, which led to a loss of credibility and members.
How have the core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses evolved over time?
-The core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have undergone significant changes, often reflecting the views of the current leadership, which has led to inconsistencies and contradictions within their theology.
What are some of the unique beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses that differ from mainstream Christianity?
-Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is not God but Michael the Archangel, only 144,000 people can go to heaven, and they reject blood transfusions, among other beliefs that diverge from mainstream Christianity.
Outlines
📜 Origins of Jehovah's Witnesses
The paragraph discusses the emergence of Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1800s alongside other new religious movements like Mormonism and 7th Day Adventism. It focuses on Charles Taze Russell, an 18-year-old who started a Bible study that later became the Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell was initially a Presbyterian with doubts about the Bible's authority and hell, leading him to abandon Christianity temporarily. He was influenced by William Miller's Adventist movement, which denied hell's existence. Despite Miller's failed end-of-the-world predictions, Russell continued his Bible study, eventually starting his own movement. Russell had no formal religious education but called himself a pastor, leading to controversies and scandals, including his wife's allegations of infidelity. He also predicted the end of the world for 1914, which did not happen, and his teachings have been largely revised by later leaders of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
🔮 Controversial History and Predictions
This paragraph delves into the controversies surrounding Charles Taze Russell, including his failed predictions about the end of the world, his divorce, and his involvement in selling 'Miracle Wheat,' which led to legal troubles. It also touches on his occult interests and the skepticism surrounding his methods for predicting the end of the world. The narrative then shifts to the changes in the Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrines under subsequent leaders like Joseph Rutherfoord and Nathan H. Knorr, who altered many of Russell's teachings. The paragraph also discusses the organization's evolution into an organized religion, contrary to Russell's initial vision, and the failed predictions of the end of the world by later leaders, including the significant one in 1925. It mentions the creation of the Jehovah's Witnesses' own Bible translation, the New World Translation, and the lack of scholarly credentials among its translators.
🌏 Theological Departures and Modern Challenges
The final paragraph addresses the significant theological differences between the Jehovah's Witnesses and mainstream Christianity. It highlights the group's unique beliefs, such as the denial of Christ's divinity, the limitation of heaven to 144,000 people, and the refusal of blood transfusions. The paragraph also discusses the organization's history of failed end-of-the-world predictions, including the notable one in 1975, which led to a mass exodus of members. It touches on internal doubts and the excommunication of high-ranking members, including the president's nephew, for questioning the organization's teachings. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to share the video to educate Jehovah's Witnesses about the history and teachings of their religion, emphasizing the importance of understanding its origins and the discrepancies with historic Christian beliefs.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Jehovah's Witnesses
💡Charles Taze Russell
💡William Miller
💡End of the World
💡False Prophet
💡Joseph Ruthford
💡New World Translation
💡Divinity of Christ
💡Heaven
💡Blood Transfusions
💡Watchtower
Highlights
Jehovah's Witnesses emerged in the 1800s alongside many other new religious movements claiming to be the restored true Christianity.
Charles Taz Russell, an 18-year-old boy, initiated the movement with a simple Bible study, opposing creeds and organized religion.
Russell was initially a Presbyterian with doubts about the authority of the Bible and the teaching of hell.
Influenced by William Miller, Russell abandoned Christianity temporarily before returning to it.
Russell's obsession with predicting the end of the world was influenced by Miller's failed predictions.
Despite lacking formal education, Russell called himself a pastor and began shepherding people.
Russell's personal life was marred by scandal, including divorce and accusations of infidelity.
Russell's predictions of the end of the world in 1874 and 1914 were proven false.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have a history of failed end-of-the-world predictions, causing many members to leave.
Joseph Ruthford succeeded Russell and transformed the Bible study into an organized religion with distinct teachings.
Ruthford introduced door-to-door evangelization and other methods of spreading the faith.
The New World Translation of the Bible by Jehovah's Witnesses was translated by four people with no scholarly credentials in biblical languages.
The 1975 prediction of the end of the world by the Jehovah's Witnesses was another failure, leading to a mass exodus from the organization.
High-ranking members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, including the president's nephew, were excommunicated for doubting the organization's teachings.
The core doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses differ significantly from mainstream Christianity, such as their belief about the nature of Jesus and the afterlife.
The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to share the information to help enlighten those within the Jehovah's Witnesses community.
Transcripts
in this video we're going to be talking
about the interesting history of the
Jehovah's Witnesses one of the many many
hundreds probably even thousands of
religions that came about in the
1800s around the time of Mormonism 7th
day adventism and many other religions
that came about all claiming to be from
God all claiming to be restored true
Christianity the only true Christian
faith each of them has very interesting
and different beliefs than the other but
they all claim to be the True Church of
Jesus in this case we're going to be
talking about the Jehovah's Witnesses
that was started by an 18-year-old boy
named Charles Taz Russell who was
against Creeds and against religion and
against organized religion and we're
going to see that he started just a
simple Bible study but it was his
successor Joseph Ruthford that would
take that little bible study and turn it
into an organized religion with many
different beliefs dooro evangelization
and more so let's get started Charles
Taz Russell was actually a confused
Christian he was a presbyterian by birth
his parents preached hell a lot and he
didn't like the teaching of hell and he
really wasn't sure about the authority
of the Bible and he had a lot of doubts
and insecurities about the faith and one
of his biggest Hang-Ups was on hell and
he tried to prove his own faith once and
he got into a debate with an agnostic
and instead of converting the agnostic
he himself got converted and ended up
abandoning Christianity all together he
had grown up going to a Congregational
Church and still had many doubts but
after this discussion he left the faith
for a long time and really wasn't sure
what to believe he kind of lost faith in
systems and religions in the Bible and
many different aspects of religion like
that but even though he was skeptical he
continued to search which is noble and
he came across a man named William
Miller who started the Adventist
movement and he liked what William
Miller had to say despite the rest of
Christianity teaching that there was a
hell William Miller thought that there
is no hell and the Bible says there's no
hell and so he held on to William
Miller's teachings and had a great
connection with him started studying
under him learning from him and over a
period of time he was shaped by William
Miller but after a certain amount of
time William Miller tried to predict the
end of the world he failed and his whole
sect broke apart into different sects
one of them being the Jehovah's
Witnesses one of them would become the
seventh day Adventists two of the
religions that share very similar
beliefs interestingly William Miller
predicted that in 18 73 to 1874 Jesus
would come back invisibly and this would
start Charles Tod Russell's obsession
with trying to predict the end of the
world and trying to predict the second
coming of Christ it was at this time
that he started a small Bible study and
they started to try to study the Bible
and get some things out of it and even
though he did not have a high school
diploma he never finished high school
never finished College didn't have any
higher education degrees never studied
any biblical language he began to call
himself a pastor and he started to
Shepherd people in his churches and I
don't know why he called himself a
pastor but he did and nobody credible
actually would consider him a pastor
because he had no education or training
outside of what he taught himself and
this would lead to a whole host of
problems after the year 1900 his wife
ended up leaving him and ended up suing
him and bringing all of these women into
court saying that he was cheating with
other parishioners and all these women
were brought in to testify and somehow
he survived the shocking embarrassment
of all of that the scandal of all of
that and he started to try just like
William Miller and the Adventist to
predict the end of the world he said
that Christ would come in 1874 but of
course Christ didn't come in 1874 so he
said Christ came invisibly yes invisibly
in 1974 but the true end of the world
would be in 1914 and all Jehovah's
Witnesses were waiting for the end of
the world and if you were a good
Jehovah's Witnesses you were waiting for
1914 and then after 19 14 you were still
waiting because the world didn't
actually end but he said that the
Protestants and the Catholics the mother
Harlot Church were going to join
together the Protestants and the
Catholics were going to become one
church and they were going to fight
against Jesus and Jesus was going to
destroy them all but of course I'm a
Catholic I know many Protestants we're
all still here and none of that came to
pass and we have a whole video on the
false predictions of the end of the
world by the Jehovah's Witnesses which
you can check out here or at the end we
will link it below and uh you can see
that the biggest thing the biggest
problem with the Jehovah's Witnesses is
there are many failures to predict the
end of the world 1874
1975 1925 1918 1914 and many other times
as well and the Bible says in
Deuteronomy chapter 18 that if you
predict something to happen in the name
of the Lord and it doesn't come to pass
you are a false prophet that's why as
we're going to see in a few minutes once
1975 came hundreds of thousands of
Jehovah's Witnesses would leave the
church forever as if getting divorced
wasn't enough and predicting the end of
the world several times to happen and
failing wasn't enough he also got
charged with profiteering because he was
selling Miracle wheat and he was selling
this wheat to his parishioners and
saying it was miraculous wheat it grew
faster and more healthy than all other
wheat and he actually was charged for
that one wonders if there was some sort
of a con artist in this man but for the
outside looking in there are many things
about Charles T Russell even his
pyramidology and his occultism and the
way he tried to predict the end of the
world are very sketchy and very shady
and he ended up making a studies in
scripture which was a seven volume work
a commentary on the Bible and he himself
said that you cannot understand the holy
scriptures if you don't read his
commentary studies in scriptures anyone
who tries to study the Bible on their
own will always be left in the dark he
said a lot of interesting things and I
suppose that's why the Jehovah's
Witnesses have basically all but written
him off if you look at the Watchtower
website he only has a few paragraphs I
mean their founder only has a few
paragraphs and maybe that's because his
successor Joseph Ruthford also known as
the judge judge Rutherford he basically
changed almost everything all the
theology teaching and doctrine that
Russell had given he changed most of it
and his successor Nathan noore changed
most of his teachings Theology and
Doctrine so over the many decades that
did Jehovah's Witnesses existed their
Theology and Doctrine just kept changing
and changing and changing based on well
who the next president was I mean if
Russell was the person as Jehovah's
Witnesses state that kind of restored
God's true church if you know the truth
was lost and we needed to get back to
Biblical teaching and Russell was the
one to do that and Russell was the man
chosen by God well why are we changing
Russell's teachings and is rufer doing
anything to change that does he claim to
know more than Pastor Russell Pastor
Russell and does nor know more than
rufer and so on and so on I mean what if
it's the true church and God is truly
speaking through the Jehovah's Witnesses
which is supposed to be the secret slave
of God the the basically the mouthpiece
of God then why does truth change so
much the same thing happens in the
Mormon Church constantly changing
doctrines are changing teachings are
changing but if God I mean to me it
seems like God's changing his mind if
God says something it shouldn't change
not if it's a Doctrine not if it's like
a core theological teaching from God it
won't change but it was Joseph
Rutherford the second President of the
Jehovah's Witnesses who was the man who
took a simple Bible study and
transformed it into an organized
religion with teaching he was the one
who started the door-to-door
evangelization ministry he's the one who
started cars driving down the streets
with record players on top announcing
the good news and many other things that
Pastor Russell would have been shocked
and appalled with because he took a
simple Bible study and turned it into an
organized religion something that
Russell was against and even Jehovah's
Witnesses today claim to be against
except that's exactly what they've
become an organized religion Joseph
Rutherford himself even tried to
continue predicting the end of the world
after Russell he predicted the end of
the world to happen several times as
well and it didn't happen especially in
1925 that was The Big Year and many
distinct predictions of the end of the
world took place and they're all over
their watchtowers awake in different
magazines and books but 1925 came 1925
went and we're still here and so in 1925
Ruthford said that he made a house and
it was called betham House of princes
and you can see I mean it's in
California but he said all the Old
Testament prophets were going to come
and live in this house and this was a
testimony to the world that well the end
of the world was near but of course it
didn't happen the house is still there
and he himself predicted the world to
end falsely also in 1961 the Jehovah's
Witnesses made their own Bible
translation called The New World
Translation and people wanted them to
reveal who translated the Bible but they
refused and I guess it's because they
had four people who had no credentials
whatsoever in translating the Bible it
came out later that four people
translated the Bible but none of them
had any scholarly work none of them had
any training in biblical languages in
fact the only person Frederick France
one of the four people the is the only
one who actually studied Greek and he
only took two years of Greek and the
Greek that he studied wasn't even coin
Greek it wasn't biblical Greek the Greek
that the Bible was written in so
literally all four people who translated
the Jehovah's Witness Bible had zero
training in biblical languages as
opposed to say The New American Bible
which had 40 different translators all
of them each and every one of them had
doctorates in the biblical languages so
we can see how sketchy the New World
Translation is which is why nobody uses
it and Scholars don't take it seriously
it's basically just a paraphrase of what
the Bible already says but they change
countless passages to fit their
preconceived theology especially
changing passages on the Divinity of
Christ and it was in 19 1975 right after
this that they predicted the end of the
world to come and Jehovah's Witnesses
were selling their homes and they didn't
come the world did not end again and
again and again they predicted the world
to end and it didn't end hundreds of
thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses would
leave the Watchtower forever and never
return and even many people in their
governing body which is their hierarchy
they were doubting the Watchtower as
well they were saying that we don't
think this is true because look at all
the problems your chronology is all
wrong and and even the the president his
nephew was excommunicated they call it
disfellowshipped from the organization
for doubting after the end of the world
and he came and wrote a huge book
exposing the whole organization their
false teachings their false doctrines
and so on but many high up high ranking
Jehovah's Witnesses were kicked out and
or left uh on their own initiative and
we're going to be interviewing somebody
and former witness on this channel very
soon and he was in the higher echelons
of the watch to as well and he was in
the history Department in the research
department and he was responsible for
researching the doctrines of the
Jehovah's Witnesses so they could put it
in their writings their books their
magazines and such and he said the more
he researched and the more he studied
the more he realized that the Jehovah's
Witness doctrines can't be substantiated
it's just not true it's not historical
and no Christian believes that and so he
ended up leaving along with many many
other people in the Jehovah's Witness
religion Frederick France uh would come
in and become the president of the
Jehovah's Witnesses and he was the first
one to graduate college I mean the
Jehovah's Witnesses have a long history
from the late 1800s until present day
but so many things have changed it's
gone through so many Evolutions so many
of their core teachings and doctrines
have changed but many of the doctrines
uh the core doctrines are not even
Christian they don't match up with the
rest of Christianity they don't match up
with the earliest Christians and as
we're going to see in our following
video to this we're going to look at the
beliefs and teachings of the Jehovah's
Witnesses we're going to see that they
don't even believe in basic theology
that most Christians believe like they
say that Jesus is not God most
Christians say Jesus is God they say
that Jesus is Michael the Archangel we
say that we can't wait to go to heaven
when we die they say only 144,000 people
can go to heaven and everyone else has
to come down to a perfect Paradise on
Earth they don't accept blood
transfusions because they believe
drinking blood is evil so we're to be
discussing these in the next video on
the beliefs and teachings of the
Jehovah's Witnesses but this was a very
short history on the Jehovah's Witnesses
Pastor Russell who founded the church
and ended up getting divorced predicting
the end of the world several times and
failing selling Miracle wheat and being
charged for it I mean many other crazy
things that have happened in the history
of the Jehovah's Witnesses that most
Witnesses don't even know about and they
continually try to make Converse today
and bring people into their sect that
was only founded not by Jesus but found
founded in the late 1800s Jesus's church
was started 2,000 years ago and you can
trace its history back to, Years thank
you so much for watching this short
history of the Jehovah's Witnesses if
you have any questions on this please
feel free to put it in our comments
section below if you are a former
witness or if you are Jehovah's Witness
and you have any comments on this feel
free to put it in the comment section
below if you like this video please kiss
that like button give it a kiss and
share it please so that people can know
the truth soul many Jehovah's Witnesses
are misled are LED astray and they're
not allowed to read books from other
religions they're not allowed to do
actual research except what the people
upstairs tell them so many of them are
confused many of them just don't know
and they've never been told what the
history of their religion is and why
their beliefs don't match up with the
Bible or historic Christianity so if you
could help share this video get it out
there maybe you know Jehovah's Witness
send it to them they probably won't
watch it but send it to them anyways
they evangelize you go ahead and
evangelize them you have permission from
us and uh if you like this video please
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watching tune in for the next part and
God bless
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