Who Founded the Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Charles Taze Russell led a Bible class near Pittsburgh, edited the journal that became The Watchtower, and taught the views that group was known for. Jehovah’s Witnesses say he was not the founder of a new religion, and that Jesus is their founder. The name Jehovah’s Witnesses was taken in 1931, under J. F. Rutherford.

Key points

• Their FAQ says the modern-day organization began at the end of the nineteenth century, among Bible students near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Russell took the lead and was the first editor of The Watchtower. The same paragraph says he was not the founder of a new religion, and that they view Jesus as the founder.
• Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom says Russell was born on February 16, 1852, in Allegheny, now part of Pittsburgh, and that in July 1879 he began publishing Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. The first issue had a printing of 6,000 copies.
• The same history says that in the September 1888 Watch Tower Russell wrote that they were satisfied with the name Christian.
• At a convention in Columbus, Ohio, July 24–30, 1931, J. F. Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, explained the name on Sunday, July 26. The resolution says they joyfully embrace the name Jehovah’s witnesses, citing Isaiah 43:10–12.
• Isaiah 43:10CloseYe 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.Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen source says, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD.” The resolution’s “Jehovah” is their reading of that verse. What Is God’s Name?

Charles Taze Russell

Who Was the Founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses? says a small group of Bible students near Pittsburgh began a systematic analysis of the Bible at the end of the nineteenth century, compared church doctrines with what they took the Bible to teach, and published what they learned in the journal now called The Watchtower—Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom.

The next paragraph names Russell and then refuses him the title of founder:

Among that group of sincere Bible students was a man named Charles Taze Russell. While Russell took the lead in the Bible education work at that time and was the first editor of The Watchtower, he was not the founder of a new religion. The goal of Russell and the other Bible Students, as the group was then known, was to promote the teachings of Jesus Christ and to follow the practices of the first-century Christian congregation. Since Jesus is the Founder of Christianity, we view him as the founder of our organization.

Who Was the Founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses?

That is their hedge. The history they publish still traces the work to Russell. Proclaimers says their present understanding and their activities can be traced back to the 1870s and the work of C. T. Russell and his associates. It says he was born in Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, on February 16, 1852, the second son of Joseph L. and Ann Eliza (Birney) Russell. It says that in July 1879 he began publishing Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence, that he was the editor and publisher, and that the first issue had a printing of 6,000 copies.

The chapter also says the group taught that the soul is not immortal, that the ransom of Christ matters, and that Christ’s return is invisible. Those teachings are still theirs. What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe? Was Jesus Raised Bodily?

What did they call themselves before 1931?

Proclaimers, in How We Came to Be Known as Jehovah’s Witnesses, says that when others asked their name, the brothers often answered, “We are Christians.” It quotes Russell in the Watch Tower of September 1888:

We do not separate ourselves from other Christians by taking any distinctive or peculiar name. We are satisfied with the name, Christian, by which the early saints were known.

How We Came to Be Known as Jehovah’s Witnesses

The same chapter says that starting in 1910 they used the name International Bible Students’ Association for their meetings, and that in 1914, to avoid confusion with a legal corporation of a similar name, local groups adopted the name Associated Bible Students. It says that after Russell’s death, some former associates refused to cooperate with the Watch Tower Society. It does not, on the sentences this page uses, print the year of his death.

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians? is what they mean by the name Christian now, and what the Nicene confession means by it.

The name change in 1931

The Proclaimers chapter says that in 1931 they embraced the name Jehovah’s Witnesses. The convention was in Columbus, Ohio, July 24–30, 1931. Large letters J W were on the program. On Sunday, July 26, J. F. Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, delivered the public discourse “The Kingdom, the Hope of the World” and explained the name.

The resolution says they have great love for Charles T. Russell for his work’s sake, and that they cannot consent to be called Russellites. It says the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the International Bible Students Association, and the Peoples Pulpit Association are names of corporations, not the name of the body. It declines the name Bible Students as their identification. Then it takes the new name. The chapter quotes the resolution in part:

therefore we joyfully embrace and take the name which the mouth of the Lord God has named, and we desire to be known as and called by the name, to wit, Jehovah’s witnesses.—Isa. 43:10-12.

Isaiah 43:10CloseYe 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.Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen source (King James Version) says, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen.” The verse says LORD. Their resolution says Jehovah’s witnesses. Does “Jehovah” Belong in the New Testament? and What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe? state their claim that worshippers must use that English name, and the King James places where JEHOVAH is actually printed.

The Proclaimers chapter also quotes Chandler W. Sterling calling the name Rutherford’s greatest stroke of genius, and A. H. Macmillan saying the Lord guided Rutherford to it. Those are the two opinions the book sets side by side. This page does not adopt either sentence as its own. The resolution and the date are the organization’s account.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from Christianity?

Russell’s 1888 sentence was that the name Christian was enough. The beliefs they published, that Jesus is not Almighty God and that the Kingdom began in 1914, are the difference. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians? What Is Armageddon?

What Bible do Jehovah’s Witnesses use?

The New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible) is the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible. Where it differs from the Greek and the King James, the articles on this shelf put both wordings on the page. How Reliable Is the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible)?

Do they celebrate birthdays, and what meeting do they keep?

They do not celebrate birthdays or Christmas. The observance they keep each year is the Memorial of Jesus’ death. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Birthdays and Christmas?

Do they believe in Jesus?

Yes, as Savior and Son of God, and not as Almighty God. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians?