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Revision as of 16:32, 23 June 2002 by Robert Merkel (talk | contribs) (copyedit, needs review)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian sect. The group was founded in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell and adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" in 1931. Their world headquarters is located in Brooklyn, New York. They use the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. as their legal representative. Several smaller groups have split from the Witnesses, calling themselves "Bible Students", which is what the Witnesses were called before 1931.
They call their gathering places "Kingdom Halls" instead of churches. Their most distinctive beliefs are a historical premillenialism (see Eschatology), connected with a controversial interpretation of the year 1914 marking the return of Christ to the earth; and an Arian christology. Their faith is based around two key axioms: the first is that a Creator exists and is characterized by love, justice, wisdom, and power. Their second axiom is that the Bible is a communication, the only communication, from the Creator to all humans.
They are known for their racially diverse, close-knit social community. They are also known for door-to-door proselytizing.
They use a translation of the Bible that they comissioned in the early twentieth century, known as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Many other Christian groups claim they mistranslate parts of the Bible to support their own beliefs; a particularly disputed point is their translation of John 1:1, where they refer to the Word as "a god", rather than the translation "God" preferred by many English-language versions of the Bible..
The Jehovah's Witnesses have frequently been involved in legal controversy. They have refused to salute flags, to pledge allegiance to states, to serve in military organizations, to have abortions, and most controversially in recent years, to receive blood transfusions. All of these acts are disallowed by their faith. The issue of vaccination, and all other medical issues not covered by their beliefs, are left for individual members to decide for themselves. However, refusing needed medical treatment is frowned upon where the treatment doesn't involve partaking of blood.
Many Jehovah's Witnesses were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
As of the year 2000, Jehovah's Witnesses claimed a world-wide membership of more than six million individuals.