to many parts of the world in only fifty years. The followers of Jehovah witnesses worship on Saturdays, which they claim is the seventh day of the week. They also do not have churches, but kingdom halls. The Jehova’s movement has its roots from Charles. T. Russel and Ellen G. White. This paper discusses the Jehova Witnesses in relation to their history and practices.

Charles Taze Russell started Jehovah Witnesses in 1852. Russell had, at the age of seventeen tried to convert an atheist to Christianity, but he, instead, got converted. He, thus ended up into agnosticism (Neusner, 2003). Adventism was introduced by William Miller, who predicted that the world would come to an end in the year 1843, and 1844, failing in both attempts. He lost hope, and the movement was picked up by Ellen. G. White, who later formed the Seventh-day Adventists.

Russell picked up again with Jehovah witnesses when Adventism seemed to diminish. He became the pastor and built the Watchtower Bible Society (Bowman, 1995). It serves as the teaching organ of the Jehovah Witnesses and has its headquarters at Brooklyn. Russell made a blunder again when he claimed that Jesus would come back to the earth in 1914, but he failed.

The practice of Jehovah witness appears strange. (Reed, 1987). Some of the members of the Jehovah’s are employed full time as publishers. Their main duty is to spread the word through evangelism. The Jehovah’s are strict on their program. They invest , they meet once and on weekdays twice (Neusner, 2003)

In sum, Jehovah witnesses started in the early years of 1800s. The advocates predicted the second coming of Jesus many times without success. However, they changed tactics and progressed the movement. Currently, Jehovah witnesses have spread in almost all parts of the world. They have some strange practices and beliefs, as failing to participate in secular wars, or politics, and do not allow blood transfusion.

References

Bowman, R. M. (1995). Jehovah’s Witnesses. Michigan: Zondervan.

Reed, D. A. (1987). Jehovah’s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse. Charlotte, NC: Baker Books.

Neusner, J. (2003). World Religions in America: An Introduction. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.