The group now known as the {article371|Jehovah's Witnesses} was founded in 1879 by Charles Taze Russell, a Pennsylvania businessman. Russell's {article1374|Adventist} background and study of the Bible led him to conclude, among other things, that the {article5462|second coming of Christ} would occur in 1914, that {article1252|Hellfire} did not exist, and God was {article5491|not a Trinity}.
| 1852 | Birth of Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. |
| 1867 | Russell joins a Congregational Church at the age of 15 (his parents were Presbyterians). |
| 1869 | Russell becomes an agnostic. |
| 1870 | Russell regains his faith and becomes very interested in the Bible after attending a Second Adventist Bible study. |
| 1872 | Charles Taze Russell founds the International Bible Students Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. |
| 1874 | Year designated by Charles Taze Russell as the year of Christ's invisible return (with the visible return to occur in 1914). |
| 1877 | Russell co-writes and publishes Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World. |
| 1879 | Russell begins publishing the Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence magazine. |
| 1881 | Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society established as an unincorporated body (incorporated in 1884). |
| 1886 | Russell begins writing Studies in the Scriptures, which came to be considered second only to the Bible in importance. |
| 1908 | Russell moves headquarters from Pittsburgh to New York. |
| 1914 | Year designated by Russell for Christ's visible second coming. |
| 1916 | Russell dies and is succeeded by "Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869-1942). Rutherford was not chosen by Russell and is elected amid some controversy. |
| 1925 | Year predicted by Rutherford as the year Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets would return to earth. |
| 1931 | Judge Rutherford adopts the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" for the group, based on Isaiah 43:10. |
| 1942 | Rutherford dies and is succeeded by Nathan Homer Knorr (1905-77). |
| 1975 | Year predicted for Armageddon, based on calculation of Adam's creation (determined to be 4026 BC) plus 6,000 years. But Watchtowers leading up to that year warn that no one can predict "the day or hour" with certainty. |
| 1977 | Death of Knorr, who was succeeded by Frederick Franz. Franz explained the uneventful 1975 by noting that perhaps Eve was created several months or years after Adam, and Armageddon would occur 6000 years from that date. |
| 1993 | Milton Henschel succeeded Franz. |
References
- "Jehovah's Witness," Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions (1999).
- "History of the Jehovah's Witnesses," Catholic Answers.
- Julia Neubauer, "Jehovah's Witnesses," Religious Movements Homepage, University of Virginia (2001).
- B.J. Kotwell, "WTS Falsifies Its History," Watchtower Information Services.