Some of the issues he discusses are known to the general public, such as the sect's opposition to military service and blood transfusions. His book is divided into three parts, each presenting the Witnesses' story in a different context: historical, doctrinal, and sociological. As a long-time member of the sect, now expelled, Penton offers a comprehensive overview of a remarkable religious movement. They distribute a billion pieces of literature annually, and continue to anticipate the end of the world.Īpocalypticism is the key issue in this detailed history, but there are others. Ever since that time, Jehovah's Witnesses have been predicting that the world will end 'shortly.' Their numbers have grown to many millions in over two hundred countries. The first prophecy was not fulfilled, but the outbreak of World War I lent some credibility to the second. Russell, their founder, advised his followers that members of Christ's church would be raptured in 1878, and by 1914 Christ would destroy the nations and establish his kingdom on earth. Since 1876, Jehovah's Witnesses Have Believed that they are living in the last days of the present world. This second edition features an afterword by the author and an expanded bibliography. James Penton offers a comprehensive overview of a remarkable religious movement, from the Witnesses' inauspicious creation by a Pennsylvania preacher in the 1870s to its position as a religious sect with millions of followers world-wide.
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