Jehovah's Witnesses

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See Jehovah's Witnesses in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sect or religion that is an off-shoot of Christianity with a basically conservative fundamentalist interpretation of their own translation Bible. They differ doctrinally from most Christians, for example they do not agree with the doctrine of the Trinity or deity of Jesus.

The group traces its roots to the International Bible Students, an organization founded by Charles Taze Russell in 1879. Russell was initially inspired by his exposure to Seventh-Day Adventism and the teachings of William Miller. A schism within the organization happened when Russell died in 1916 and the organization adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" under the leadership of the second Watchtower Society president J. F. "Judge" Rutherford in 1931 in order to distinguish themselves from the Bible Students and Russellites (groups that continue to exist at the time of this writing in 2005).

Jehovah's Witnesses proclaim the literal historical truth of their translation of the Bible, including the Genesis Creation, Garden of Eden, Tower of Babel and Flood accounts. They believe that the earth is very old but that humanity is only 6,000 years old or so. Witnesses reject evolution and instead accept Day-age creationism, a form of Old Earth Creationism, opting for an interpretation of Genesis creative days as eras rather than 24-hour periods. They have two main publications for defending creationism, the book "Life--How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or By Creation?" and the newer "Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?", both published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The newer "Creator" book takes some steps towards the adoption of some Intelligent Design ideas, quoting from such writers as Michael Behe and William A. Dembski but still refers back to the earlier "Life" book as an authoritative source on Witness creationism.