Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses

Their numbers are relatively small. They constitute less than 1% of those who indicate some religious preference. They rank 24th on the list of the 25 largest denominations in the United States. Despite these low numbers, there is no denomination in this country or in the world, which spends more time proselytizing. They are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to the Public Affairs Office of Jehovah’s Witnesses, last year their members spent over one billion hours on public missionary work. Jehovah’s Witnesses are the fastest growing denomination in the United States, with a growth rate of 2.25 percent. Fifty years ago, they numbered fewer than 100,000, now they number over one million. The very reason for their existence is to make converts. If they have not been in your neighborhood, or “come a knocking” at your door, it is just a matter of time. If you invite them in, be prepared for a well-orchestrated and rehearsed plan designed to make the convert feel spiritually astute with answers that correspond to the principles, which coincide with their fundamental beliefs.

Since their founding in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell, the religious principles of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been diametrically in conflict with fundamental positions held by both the Protestant and Catholic churches. While they believe in the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible, they have a different translation – the New World Translation –, which is viewed by many traditional Bible scholars as a “frightful mistranslation”.

Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the doctrine of Trinity, the immortality of the soul, and the notion of Hell. They do not believe that Jesus is God, but they acknowledge that his sacrifice a...

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Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 2010 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. New York: 2010. Print.

Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York v. Village of Stratton. 536 U.S. 150

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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. 319 U.S. 624

White, Timothy, A People For His Name; The History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. New York: Vantage Press, 1967. Print