Page 10 - Cults and Marginal Groups - Textbook w videos short

Study Section 2: What they believe

2.1 Connect.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe a lot of “strange” doctrines. When they talk with you, they will
emphasize the coming of Armageddon and the end of the earth. They bring a lot of colorful
literature and share it with you. They seem to be really nice people who know the Bible and
who are super dedicated to serve the Lord. But do you really understand what they believe? In
today’s lesson, we will look further into their belief system.

2.2 Objectives:

1. The student should be able to explain how the “Kingdom Hall” was and is organized to be
powerful witnesses.

2. The student should be able to state the major beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses about their
source of authority, the trinity, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, sin, and other major topics.

3. The student should be able to explain share some common misconceptions about those in the cult as
well as factual truth.

2.3 Tidbits About the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses, also known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (with
headquarters in Brooklyn, New York), was officially founded in 1884 as the Zion's Watch Tower
and Tract Society (originally the Zion's Watch Tower in 1879), officially adopting the name of
Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931, by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916). In
1870, Russell was exposed to the teachings of William Miller, one of
the founders of the Second Adventist Movement and acquired an
interest in end time prophecies. Russell originally denied the doctrine of Hell
and would go on to reject nearly every other Christian doctrine, as well as add
many physically and spiritually dangerous doctrines of his own making. Many of
these unique and bizarre teachings were to be found in his six-volume series
titled, Studies in the Scriptures.

For the year 2012, the Watchtower Society claims a worldwide membership of over 7.53 million
(1,162,683 in U.S.) in more than 91,000 congregations in 235 countries speaking 340 languages and
takes in approximately 300,000 new members each year (268,777 in 2012). Over 8.7 million were also
reported as studying the Bible in their homes with Jehovah's Witnesses.
According to Jehovah’s Witness statistics, yearly proselytizing is
accomplished via 4.8 million home Bible studies and 1.2 billion hours of
witnessing. The Jehovah’s Witnesses field over 500,000 full and part-time
missionaries. Instruction and training are provided for all Jehovah’s
Witnesses at five meetings a week, held primarily in "Kingdom Halls."
Every week, an average of 45 new Jehovah’s Witness congregations are

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