In the beginning, the Jehovah's Witness faith had a unique doctrine which included erroneous predictions. However, Christians of different backgrounds have since accepted its religious teachings with Jehovah's Witnesses followers numbering in the millions worldwide.
Here are six issues that led to the founding of the Jehovah’s Witnesses:
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1. Charles Taze Russell had been an agnostic during his teens, but a few years later he became interested in the Bible and its predictions of the end of times. Russell had dabbled in various businesses and in 1872 founded the International Bible Students' Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
2. In 1879, Russell attracted a religious following through his magazines, Zion's Watch Tower and the Herald of Christ's Presence. He spoke of the non-existence of hell and dismissed the Christian belief of the Trinity, saying only Jehovah is God. The publications helped spread his beliefs and led to congregations formed in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
3. In 1879, Russell also began the Watch Tower, which would become the teaching organization for future Jehovah's Witnesses. The organization would change its name to the
Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881. It became incorporated in 1884.
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4. Among his teachings, Russell told believers Jesus would return in 1914. When that didn't happen, he said Jesus actually did return but was invisible. His visible return was to come and it would end in Armageddon, the final conflict between God and Satan, an event that centers around the belief of Jehovah's Witnesses.
5. After Russell died in 1916, Joseph R. Rutherford, who had been the legal adviser to the Watch Tower, succeeded as the organization's leader. He spearheaded the door-to-door drive of the religion to spread the message by missionaries. He originally had them use portable phonographs with recordings from Rutherford. He also wrote pamphlets and had a radio program, predicting incorrectly that Biblical prophets Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would return to earth in 1925.
6. In 1931, Rutherford officially changed the name of the Christian faction to the Jehovah's Witnesses. He took the name from Isaiah 43:10, which tells of the "utterance of Jehovah" or God, "You are my witnesses."
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