Do You Know the Origins of the Watchtower Doctrines?

anne marie

The following was not written by Anne Marie, though she has done some editing on this valuable essay which was submitted by an ex member of the Watchtower Organization.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THE ORIGINS OF THE WATCHTOWER DOCTRINES

Who were the Millerites & the Adventists?

William Miller was a former Baptist and mathematician who believed that he could figure out the date for Armageddon and Christ’s coming with his numerical Bible calculations. He first figured out that “the end’ was coming in 1843, and convinced many of his growing number of followers that his calculations were correct, and they prepared for Armageddon. When Armageddon didn’t come, and Christ didn’t arrive, Miller thought he had just made a mistake, and so he recalculated the coming to 1844. Jesus still didn’t come, and neither did Armageddon. This event came to be referred to as, “The Great Disappointment of 1844.” This made William Miller a false prophet. So what happened to his many followers??

The Millerites broke apart, but got back together again, and after Miller’s death, started to calculate new dates. The years 1798, 1843, 1844, 1874, and 1878 all became pivotal “dates” in this particular “theology.” And every one of them would prove to be wrong.

Splinter groups resulted from these early Adventist groups, such as the 7th Day Adventists, (Ellen White), The Worldwide Church of God, (Herbert Armstrong), Christadelphians, and The International Bible Students, who were later to become known as Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1931. As all of these aforementioned groups took their initial teachings from the Adventist groups, it is crucial in understanding the foundations and the history of each these religions as they are today.

Charles Taze Russell began publishing the Watchtower in 1879, but he was not the first president. William Conley, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman was actually the first president, (since he put in more money than Russell had), according Russell’s own wife’s words which were found when the original red notebook that Russell’s wife used to record the minutes of the heads of the early Watchtower under was discovered. Conley was one of the original Bible Students, (as the Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known as), but left the Watchtower around 1882. Russell then became president after Conley’s departure.

When Russell died, J. F. Rutherford took over and remade the organization into “Joes Organization,” basically getting rid of most of Russell’s teaching and making up his own. The rest is pretty much history. Anyone who disagreed with Rutherford was excommunicated as an “evil slave.” The organization splintered, and groups such as “Dawn Bible Students” still exist today, and continue to teach Russell’s original doctrines.

My point to all this is that if the Watchtower organization started off with their foundation in false teachings, it is safe to assume that ALL their doctrine is based on false teaching, and we should not trust them. My next point is WHY do they continually warn their followers to not investigate the Watchtower’s history and its teachings, and expect their members to just believe that ALL OTHER CHURCHES are not to be trusted, just because they say so?

Hint: It keeps Jehovah’s Witnesses in BONDAGE to their organization!

If the Watchtower Organization has taught false doctrine and proclaimed prophecies that have since proven false, should we also believe that their doctrines on holidays might also be wrong? Could it be that they have “fudged” on the real truth in order to keep their followers in bondage?

You might want to do a further investigation into Christian doctrines. For example, why do most other churches believe in the Trinity? The Watchtower tells us that it’s because it’s “pagan.” Should we believe that? Where is their evidence? What is the real meaning of “Trinity”? Did you know that “trinity” is only a contraction of the words “tri-unity”?

I do believe in the tri-UNITY of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Does that make Christians who believe in the trinity pagan?

The Watchtower tells their people, “So where else can you go?”

The problem with this question is that it is a deliberate misstatement of what the gospel really says. At John 6:68 Peter is actually saying, “to whom shall we go?”  To whom was he speaking to, here?  He was speaking to Jesus. Read it for yourself. Should we actually go to Jesus?

Here is an article that I encourage you to read:

http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/other/where-else-can-we-go.html

The Watchtower has taught their adherents that salvation is a matter of finding the right group that believes all the same things, and walks in locked step with each other. But is that what the Bible really teaches? Is this what Jesus really died to give us?

One cannot attain salvation by finding the right “group” or religion. Salvation is found only in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:24 ).

Sincerely,
A Concerned Christian

Where Else Can We Go? | Other

www.freeminds.org

Where Else Can We Go?

Anne Marie

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Author: Anne Marie