Who Are Jehovah's Witnesses?

They are no strangers to controversy or conflict. They have demonstrated their willingness to choose death over life through the refusal of using blood products in the past. They commonly refuse to salute the flag of the United States or any other country or nationality. Who is this group, and why do they behave in this manner? They are known as Jehovah's Witnesses (The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). Isaiah 43:10-12 is the origin for their most common name given in 1931 by their leader, at that time, Joseph Franklin Rutherford: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he; before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, that I am God." The Fourth Edition of Webster's New World College Dictionary defines Jehovah's Witnesses as "a millenarian, actively proselytizing Christian sect founded by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916)." It was known as the Zion's Watch Tower and Tract Society and the Zion's Watch Tower in 1879. Later, the name became The Watch Tower Society in 1881 with Russell assuming its presidency in 1884. Some of his most memorable works are the greatly published Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence and Studies in the Scriptures (Volumes 1-6). Many believe the establishment of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence is also the day Jehovah's Witnesses was established, which occurred December 18, 1884. This organization had utilized several different names in the past: Millennial Dawn, People's Pulpit Association, The Brooklyn Tabernacle, and the International Bible Students Association. The Jehovah's Witnesses' founder was exposed to the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening was a strong religious movement of the Revolutionary War. William Miller's influence on this movement had a great impact on Charles Taze Russell, especially the belief regarding the Second Coming of Christ for the year 1843.