SECTION IX Chapter 1. Jehovah's Witnesses The earliest Christians (see Section II, Chapter 9) believed that Jesus would return during their lifetimes in a "Second Coming", where the earth would be destroyed and the faithful rewarded by life in heaven. After the Second Coming failed to materialize during the early centuries AD, belief in the IMMINENT return of Jesus waned for the next centuries. It was not until around 1000 AD--ie the first millennium after the birth of Jesus Christ--that a new surge of apocalyptic fervor swept across Western Europe. (See Section V, Chapters 6 and 7). Everyone, including the Catholic Church, believed that the World would be destroyed in the year 1000 AD. After the apocalypse and new age failed to materialize, the Catholic Church no longer formally supported a new date for the anticipated Second Coming. Instead, it was primarily heretics, and then Protestants who later placed great emphasis on interpreting the book of Revelations to prove that the Second Coming would occur during their current lifetimes. America, which was colonized by a large proportion of religious dissidents in Europe, provided fertile ground for new Christian sects that stressed the belief in an imminent End of the World. During the "Great Awakening" of the mid-18th century, and the "Great Revivals" along the American frontier during the first half of the 19th century, popular preachers (such as Increase Mather, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, James Davenport and James McCready) stirred up the people to new heights of religious fervor. It was during this revival period, as religious passions swept across America, that a significant number of new Christian sects were founded-- Including Mormonism, Spiritualists, Shakerism, and Millerism (from which originated Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses),. Obviously it is beyond the scope of this book, to describe the numerous Protestant sects that developed during this time. However, some of the larger and successful sects will be discussed to give a flavor of the variation in views that developed during this time. In the next chapters, we will look at the following sects: * Millerism--and its splinter groups into Advantism and Jehovah's Witnesses * Mormons * Christian Science * Quakers With the exception of Quakerism, these are all recent Christian denomination which were FOUNDED in America. Because these are all relatively "new" sects, as we shall historians have a wealth of material which can be used to examine the claims of the groups' founder (and in the case of the Mormons--their prophet Joseph Smith). Modern Millerism Millerism refers to the nineteenth century revivalist movement that was very popular in the United States. Its name came from the founder of the movement, William Miller (1782-1849). William Miller, had been upset by the violence and suffering that he had seen while serving in the War of 1812. According to Miller, his disillusionment had even led him to become an atheist for several years. He converted back to Christianity during a Baptist revivalist meeting. Based on his conversion experience, he became a preacher. Miller's core message centered around his belief that (based on calculations he had made from certain biblical passages)--the Day of Judgment was imminent! In 1836, William Miller published his predictions in a book, entitled EVIDENCE FROM SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHIRST, ABOUT THE YEAR 1843. A large economic recession and financial panic hit in the following year (1837), which probably helped set the stage for Miller's large success in making new converts during the next few years. It was not until 1843, that Miller announced the exact time of the Advent date for the Second Coming would be between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844! Afterwards, there was a great outburst of religious emotion! Especially as the time drew near--fanatical apocalyptic believers gathered on hilltops and climbed trees to watch for the coming of the Lord. Clothed in white "ascension robes", they solemnly sat, their eyes gazing eastwards towards the horizon in anticipation of the great event. A Millerite hymn from 1843, perhaps gives the best insight into the religious fantasies of this group--while they waited patiently on their mountain tops in anticipation of the cataclysmic event that would destroy the world around them: "We, while the stars from heaven shall fall, And mountains are on mountains hurled, Shall stand unmoved amidst them all, And smile to see a burning world. The Earth and all the works therein Dissolve, by raging flames destroyed; While we survey the awful scene, And mount above the fiery void. Months passed. Then, March 21, 1844 came and went-- with no sign of apocalypse. Many still waited, in case the fateful day might be off just a few more days. Finally, on May 24, a message was sent over the newly invented telegraph line from Samuel F. Morse in Baltimore to the U.S. Supreme Court room in Washington. The message read: "What God hath wrought." Another Failed Date--1844 Miller conceded that it appeared he had made a miscalculation. He quickly computed a new date: October 22, 1844. Some of Miller's flock doubted, but many continued to believe. Then, after the Second Coming failed to materialize in the winter of 1844, many of his followers began arguing among themselves--Strong disagreements emerged over such religious points as the state of dead souls before Judgment, whether Saturday instead of Sunday should be worshiped as the sabbath, whether the rite of baptism should be administered via sprinkling or immersion, and even over whether the practice of estimating the time of Armageddon should be continued. William Miller died in 1949, greatly saddened that the End of the World had been delayed during his natural lifetime. Although not a great scholar in his own right, Miller's beliefs were carried on by his followers, to form the basis of several adventist sects--including the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Jehovah Witnesses. Seventh-Day Adventists After Miller died, some members remained loyal to their leader's vision and evolved into the various denominations, such as the Advent Christian, the Church of God (Adventist), the Life and Advent Union, and the Primitive Advent Church. Some Millerites followed Ellen Gould White (1827-1915) to form the Seventh Day Adventists. Ellen White believed that the promised for Advent had been delayed because of the failure of Christians to obey the biblical injunction to worship on the seventh day (ie Saturday) as the sabbath.-- Thus was born a new sect, the SEVENTH Day Adventists. Seventh Day Adventists also believe that death is but a temporary sleep, and that during the Second Coming (ie, second Advent of Christ) that the good and just will be resurrected back to life. Their religious strictures also includes abstinence from tobacco, alcoholic drinks, and the eating of pork. Their belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ can be seen in their warning to members "Get right with God, for the end of the world can come at any moment." Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses claim that they have no earthly founder and no spiritual leader--although most religious scholars insist that this movement was founded by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), a Pennsylvania businessman. First a Presbyterian, who had later converted to Congregationalism, Russell was reported shaken up during a discussion with an atheist whom he was trying to convert to Christ. So powerful were the atheist's arguments that Russell came close to losing his own faith. Shocked that he had come so close to apostasy, Russell began a renewed study of the Scriptures, during which time he was encouraged and helped by other Adventists. Adventist literature, along with its claims to "prove" the validity of the Bible, gave Russell what he believed to be an iron-clad case against the most intransigent disbeliever. (It is not known if he ever met up with the atheist again). Russell became a pastor, teaching like the Adventists that upon death the soul descends into a state of unconsciousness--from which it would be awakened at Judgment Day to find either eternal life, or permanent death. Russell declared that God had shown him Miller's errors in calculating the Judgment Day, and had given him powers to discover the mysteries of the imminent apocalyptic kingdom. Russell's secret to calculating the date of the Second Coming came from his studies of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Previously, a University of Edinburgh professor named Charles Piazzi Smyth had written a popular book entitled, OUR INHERITANCE IN THE GREAT PYRAMID (1864, revised 1890). In it, and further sequels, Smyth claimed that measurements of the Great Pyramid (where an inch counted as a year) presented the entire outline of history from Creation to Armageddon. Counting Creation starting at 4004 BC, measurement along a sloping passage (called the Grand Gallery) marked the birth of Christ. Other measurements marked Christ's atonement, death and resurrection. Continuing along this path, one discovered that the building halted at a point, calculating between 1882 and 1911. To Smyth, this 29 year period represented the Great Tribulation which would proceed the Second Coming. Russell was greatly impressed by Smyth's researches, and used it as the basis for his Armageddon predictions in the third volume of his STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES. "Refinements" in the measurements on the Great Pyramid had slightly changed the dates: Russell claimed that the Second Coming of Christ had secretly begun in 1874. During the next "forty" years of Harvest, the true members of the Church would be called together under Russell's personal leadership. Jesus would lead the angelic armies to defeat the army of Satan. The dead would rise and be given a second chance to "accept Christ". A righteous remnant would be left to rule the earth under "Christ, the King of the great Theocracy." A final remnant of evil would be purged a thousand years later. The Jehovah's Witnesses spread overseas and became known as the "International Bible Students Association." The WATCH TOWER became the official magazine for the group. Rutherford told his believers that the current members of the Church would simply never die. This was the meaning of the Witness' famous slogan, "Millions now living shall never die". When World War I broke out, upon the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand, Russellites saw these events as "proof" that the End was indeed drawing near. Nation rose against nation, just as the Scriptures had predicted this would be a sign that "Armageddon" drew near. The ranks of the International Bible Students Association became flooded with new members, as other Christian theologians pondered whether the Russellites had indeed been granted divine knowledge regarding the End. As World War I carried out past 1914, the Russellites began to predict that perhaps their calculations were a little off--maybe a year or even two years-- the exact date really didn't matter though because the time was soon. In the meantime. the world appeared to be self-destructing, with no signs of divine intervention in sight. Then in 1916, Pastor Russell died while on a missionary tour. His followers, for the most part, remained faithful to him--even though his prophecy remained unfulfilled. A new theory was given for the delay.-- It was believed that the End of the World had indeed been INITIATED in 1914--although mankind was largely unaware of it. Jesus Christ was busy in the supernatural world of his Kingdom, subduing the forces of Satan, and evicting the hosts of demons from their invisible realms once and for all! The increase in violence and crime was thus explained.--Demons which had once resided in a nether spiritual realm, had been driven to earth to escape the battle going on with the hosts of angels under Christ. Their presence on earth among the children of men was stirring up political unrest, crime, and even war. Following Pastor Russell's death, J.F. Rutherford, a judge from Missouri rose up through the ranks and became the new leader of the group. Russell discarded Pyramidology after its failure to predict the Second Coming in 1914. Writing in the November 15 and December 1, 1928 issues of THE WATCH TOWER and HERALD, Russell claimed the pyramid theory was now an ingenious argument inspired by Satan for misleading the faithful. Jesus had never mentioned the Great Pyramid. Therefore, studying it would be a waste of time. (Although Russell believed the date was still "near", no definite dates were set.) Revelation was still studied for clues to the End. From this source, it was discovered that only 144,000 people would be invited by christ to live with him in the highest heaven. Others would merely reign on "an earth remade among men reborn." It was Rutherford who came up with a new name for the movement: Jehovah's Witnesses. The title had a spiritual--even prophetic--ring to it. For it would spiritually connect each member to biblical heroes who had also served as "witnesses" before God--such as Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. Rutherford built a powerful organization, headquartered in Brooklyn which consisted of a Bible College, dormitories, refectories, and a print shop. In terms of doctrine, Jehovah Witnesses deny the existence of the Trinity-- insisting that God is one--not three in one. The Holy Ghost is not a separate entity-- but the invisible "power of Jehovah" on earth. Jesus, is God's representative on earth, and will return during the Second Coming to establish God's kingdom on earth. God is often presented as a judge and avenger as portrayed in the Old Testament--as opposed to the loving Father in the New Testament. (Frank S. Mead, HANBOOK OF DENOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951, p 101) Jehovah Witnesses refuse to salute the flag or serve in the military-- because they serve God ONLY. However, as Witnesses tell their flock, they remain pacifists only in regards to mankind's wars on earth. When Armageddon arrives, they are fully prepared to fight on the side of the Lord in the battle with Satan! The Witnesses believe in the IMMINENT return of Christ on earth. Thus, every member was urged to become missionaries for Christ.--Every household in America was targeted to be visited by a Jehovah's Witness missionary-- who carries with them literature and even a portable phonograph whereby they could play the message of Judge Rutherford. Every Witness was trained to begin their proselytizing with the lines "Goodday, I am a minister and if you will let me come in for a moment I will teach you truth. We are living in the latter days. I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses." The Witnesses were warned that they must endure slammed doors and denunciations, just as Christ was persecuted for righteousness sake. Rutherford's dedicated missionaries received no compensation for their time in proselytizing America. Their reward would come during Judgment Day, at which time they would stand up as faithful soldier's of God, announcing to Jehovah that "we have been obedient to the heavenly vision." Occasionally, a person answering the knock at the door would be a searching soul who would be open to the message of the Witnesses. It was estimated that roughly one out of every one hundred calls would result in a convert. Thus the more door bells that were rung, the more converts that would be brought into the movement. New converts, in turn, would be encouraged to go out and witness to even more households, promising them that the End would come before the current generation passed away, or in Judge Rutherford's words: "Millions Now Living Will Never Die"! Judge Rutherford however was not destined to be among the "millions" who would see the Second Coming--and died in 1942. He left behind him a powerful religious organization that would have a lasting influence even to this very day. Today, Jehovah's Witnesses abide by a strict obedience to biblical laws (as interpreted by Judge Rutherford). In the meantime their presses are churning out Witness literature to pass out to new potential converts. Each year, there is an annual conference to rededicate members towards another year of missionary work, at the doorsteps of America and the world. While science and technology are increasing being looked upon to address the ecological problems on earth, Jehovah Witnesses have another agenda that they are more worried about. Witnesses ask, "Is man competent and even worthy to inhabit the world that God gave him?" "Or is the earth merely a temporary home to man, to be replaced by a new earth after Judgment Day?" Jehovah's Witnesses gaze dreamingly towards the vision of the World's End, as described in II Peter 3:10: "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." ***