Redirected from Jehovahs Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses are a Christian denomination founded in the 1870s by Charles Taze Russell as a small bible study group, known as the International Bible Students. Jehovah's Witnesses consider their religion to be a restoration of original first-century Christianity.
The members are known for their racially diverse, close-knit brotherhood, door-to-door evangelizing, and non-participation in government, including politics and military service. They generally exhibit a high degree of commitment to their religion, attending meetings three times a week in their local Kingdom Hall or in private homes. Larger gatherings are held, usually three times a year, in assembly halls or public facilities, such as sports stadiums.
Most non-Unitarian Christian groups do not consider the Witnesses to be Christian, because of their stand on the Trinity doctrine.
Drawing much of their early membership and some of their theology from the Millerite movement, the Jehovah's Witnesses adopted their current name in 1931 under the direction of Charles Taze Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Rutherford led them from a presbyterian structure toward an episcopal structure. Not fully episcopal, still imbued with the spirit of congregationalism, their method of organization remains unique among Christian sects.
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Decisions regarding matters concerning Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide are made by the group's Governing Body, located in Brooklyn, New York. Until the 1970s, this group was identical with the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Currently, the responsibility for serving as directors of the various corporations the group uses have been delegated to others, and the Governing Body has a rotating chairmanship.
The organization has Branch Offices in 110 countries throughout the world to supervise the Witnesses activities in the local territory. In each branch, a committee of three to seven persons serve as a Branch Committee, representing the governing body.
In the United States, many Supreme Court cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses have shaped First Amendment law. Significant cases affirmed rights such as these:
By 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court had reviewed 71 cases involving Jehovah's Witnesses, two thirds of which were decided in their favor. Most recently, in 2002, Watchtower disputed an ordinance in Stratton, Ohio that required a permit in order to preach from door to door. The Supreme Court decided in favor of Watchtower.
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