2. History of the Jehovah's Witnesses - Paul M Williams

Part 2 As one traces the history of the beginnings of Jehovah's Witnesses, two names are indispensable to the formation and development of this cult: Charles Taze Russell and his successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford.  In the 1830s, a Baptist minister from New York by the name of William Miller began sharing his new-found belief, that Jesus Christ was going to return around the year 1843.  This belief began to gain momentum across denominations, and by 1840 it had become a nationwide campaign. This was the birth of what became known as Adventism and it was from this influence that the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society would emerge. In this teaching, we examine the history of the Watch Tower cult from its beginnings until the present day. We review some of its teachings that have changed during this period and critique its peculiar version of the Bible, the New World Translation.  Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/2_History_of_Jehovahs_Witnesses.pdf