Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

RELIGION LIBRARY

Jehovah's Witnesses

Toggle navigation

Beginnings

American evangelist William Miller predicted that Christ would return in 1844. When that second coming failed to materialize, many believers drifted away in the "Great Disappointment." Others kept Adventist aspirations alive through new interpretations of doctrine.

Influences

The movement of Jehovah's Witnesses emerged in part because of key doctrinal disagreements with similar Adventist groups, all of which were deeply influenced by the pre-millennialism of the mid-19th century.

Founders

Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) established the Witnesses circa 1870 in Pennsylvania, and the second president, Joseph F. Rutherford (1869-1942), gave the group much of its present administrative structure.

Sacred Texts

The Watch Tower Society publishes its own translation of original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek biblical texts. It is known as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, or NWT.

Historical Perspectives

Scholarship on the Jehovah's Witnesses has at times depicted the movement as marginal or cult-like, with scholars at times aggressively attempting to "correct" the "errors" of the Witnesses. Several important studies have avoided such biases.

Overview History Back to religion Library

editors picks View All Columns

Evangelical

Before You Unplug or Sign Out for Good

Guest Contributor

Evangelical

What Is the Purpose of Spiritual Gifts, and How Do You Discover Yours?

New Visions

5 Ways to Hear What God is Telling You

Muslim

How Awake Are We? When Waking Up is Falling Asleep

Daniel Thomas Dyer

Latter-day Saint

"The Church supports the use of vaccinations"

Evangelical

Luther and the Beauty of Christ

Guest Contributor

The Soul of Gospel Music Explored in New Netflix Series "Voices of Fire"

Seven Ways to Think About Christian Mysticism

Evangelical

Cancelling Alice Walker?

Evangelical

Does God Have His Own Logic?

Muslim

Imam Ali’s letter to the Governor- Everlasting Example of Good...

Progressive Christian

Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos