Development of Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine

The doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses have developed since publication of The Watchtower magazine began in 1879. Early doctrines were based on interpretations of the Bible by Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society founder Charles Taze Russell, then added to, altered or discarded by his successors, Joseph Rutherford and Nathan Knorr. Since 1976, doctrinal changes have been made at closed meetings of the group's Governing Body, whose decisions are described as "God's progressive revelations". These teachings are disseminated through The Watchtower, and at conventions and congregation meetings. Most members of the denomination outside the Governing Body play no role in the development of doctrines and are expected to adhere to all those decided at the Warwick, NY headquarters. Jehovah's Witnesses are taught to welcome doctrinal changes, regarding such "adjustments" as "new light" or "new understanding" from God and proving that they are on the "path of the righteous".

Some core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have remained unchanged throughout the group's history. Certain doctrines, particularly relating to biblical chronology, were based on what Russell called a "venerable tradition" that he conceded was not directly confirmed by facts or scripture, but "based on faith". Watch Tower publications claim that doctrinal changes and refinements result from a process of progressive revelation, in which God gradually reveals his will and purpose. Watch Tower literature has suggested such enlightenment results from the application of reason and study, the guidance of holy spirit, and direction from Jesus Christ and angels. Rutherford spoke of spiritual "lightning flashes in the temple". The Society claims its doctrine of the "great crowd" and "other sheep" were "revealed" to "God's earthly servants" in 1935. Witness literature has also described sudden changes in doctrines as "flashes of light" given by God through his Holy Spirit. A 1930 publication claimed God used "invisible deputies" and "invisible angels" to pass his "messages" to The Watchtower. The Watchtower told Witnesses it was not necessary for them to understand how this took place. A 1973 policy change to disfellowship tobacco users was explained as a decision that "Jehovah has brought to the attention of his 'holy' people". Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established" (NWT) when explaining the need to change doctrines. The organization's earlier literature has included claims that its predictions about dates such as 1925 were "indisputable", "absolutely and unqualifiedly correct" and bearing "the stamp of approval of Almighty God",

Robert Crompton, author of a book on Watch Tower eschatology, has noted that it is difficult to trace the development of doctrines because explicit changes are often not identified in Jehovah's Witness literature, leaving readers to assume which details have been superseded. Edmond C. Gruss, a critic of the group, found that a 1943 Watch Tower Society publication that established a new creation chronology, changing the date of Adam's creation by 100 years, made no mention of the old time reckoning, which had previously been said to be "correct beyond a doubt".

From the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower in July 1879, Russell began publicising a number of doctrines, many of them drawn from Adventist teachings, including the atonement, resurrection, the soul, the invisible parousia (or return) of Christ and God's "plan of the ages". Russell taught that mankind was to be redeemed not from torment but from the death penalty that had been imposed on Adam and subsequently passed on to all his descendants. He wrote that Christ's "ransom for all" mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:5 would be applied to all humankind rather than just the righteously inclined. Christ's death provided the ransom payment to free humans from death. He believed an elect few would be resurrected to serve as a heavenly priesthood and all humans who had died would be resurrected to earth, which would be restored to Edenic perfection.

Biblical infallibility. Early copies of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence made reference to the Bible as God's "infallible Word". Christ's return to earth was invisible. Russell claimed the Greek word parousia (Matthew 24:37) referred to a period of time, rendered more accurately as "presence" than "coming". Evolution is a teaching contrary to the Bible and denies the need of redemption by Christ. God's Kingdom is an organized heavenly government over earth, ruled by Jesus and the anointed. God's name is Jehovah. Watch Tower Society founder Charles Taze Russell used the name "Jehovah" occasionally, but not consistently, when referring to God. Humans created as living souls. Individuals who go to heaven are resurrected with spirit bodies. Jesus Christ gave his human life as a ransom sacrifice; belief in Jesus necessary for salvation. Russell believed that God's design for mankind was a restitution or restoration to the perfection and glory lost in Eden. This depended on God providing a ransom for all mankind to release them from the inevitability of death. Christ became that ransom sacrifice. Paradise to be restored, humans to live forever. The dead are unconscious, awaiting resurrection. The timing of Christ's Second Coming, or "presence", can be calculated through Bible chronology.

1880: Clergy–laity distinction viewed as unscriptural. 1881: Faith alone is not enough for someone's becoming a joint heir with Christ in heaven, but also a life of "self sacrifice in the service of the truth" is required. 1881: Rejection of the Trinity doctrine. Russell claimed the Trinity doctrine had "not a word of Scripture" to support it. He explained: "We understand the Scriptures to teach that the holy Spirit is not a separate and distinct person, but that it is the divine mind or influence—the motive power of Divinity exercised everywhere and for any purpose, at His pleasure." In 1877 N. H. Barbour had criticized the anti Trinitarian view of the Christadelphians; an 1880 book by Zion's Watch Tower writer J. H. Paton emphasised that the Holy Spirit was a person and early Watch Tower issues referred to the Holy Spirit as "he" and part of the "Divine Three". 1882: No hellfire. According to Russell, most references to "hell" in the New Testament were more accurately translated as "tomb". 1887: The New Covenant, which Russell had claimed since 1880 would be inaugurated only after the last of the 144,000 anointed Christians had been taken to heaven, was said to be "now in force".

1890: The "Time of the End" of Daniel 12:4 is identified as beginning in October 1799—when Napoleon invaded Egypt and ended the power of the papacy—and closing in 1914, at which point violent worldwide revolution would mark the end of the old world order and the beginning of a new one. 1891: Biblical rapture is not a sudden event. The anointed are changed into spirit form, throughout the whole period of Christ's presence, at the time of each one's physical death. 1891: God's throne is located in the Pleiades star cluster. 1897: "This generation" of Matthew 23:36 defined as "people living contemporaneously."

1904: 144,000 "elect" to go to heaven. Russell believed God had chosen a "fixed and limited number who should constitute the New Creation of God". God had not foreordained individuals, but those who met his "moral qualities and heart measurements" would be chosen to go to heaven. 1904: "Great Company" of Revelation 7:9, 14 identified as a secondary spiritual class who have "insufficient zeal for the Lord, the Truth and the brethren" who are granted heavenly life, but on a lower spiritual plane. In heaven they serve as servants rather than kings and priests. 1904: Worldwide descent into anarchy and disintegration of human rule, previously predicted to occur in October 1914, changed to "after October 1914". 1907: The inauguration of the New Covenant described as belonging "exclusively to the coming age." Russell began to teach that the "church" (144,000 anointed Christians) had no mediator, but itself joined Christ as a joint messiah and mediator during the millennium.

1914: Length of each creative 'day' of Genesis defined as precisely 7000 years. 1914: Russell "by no means confident" 1914 would bring the upheaval he had predicted. 1916: Timing of Armageddon, previously claimed to have begun in 1874 and to culminate in 1914, changed to have begun in 1914. 1917: The seven angels, or "messengers", of Revelation chapters 1 and 2 are identified as St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther and Charles Taze Russell. 1919: Preaching work displaces "character development" as the "chief concern" of Bible Students. Russell had taught that Christians should embark on the gradual process of "sanctification" and personality improvement to fight sinful inclinations. In 1919 The Watch Tower declared that the primary concern for Bible Students was to labor with God to find members of the elect class.

1930: Christ's parousia—his second coming or invisible "presence"—previously established as 1874 and reaffirmed as late as 1929, changed to 1914. 1931: Adoption of the name "Jehovah's witnesses". 1932: Assertion that God's Holy Spirit ceased operating on his people when "[Jesus] the Lord came to his temple, in 1918", at which point Jesus 'took charge of feeding the flock'. 1932: Device on which Jesus was killed, previously shown as a wooden cross, depicted as a stake. An image of the cross appeared on the front page of The Watch Tower until October 1931. 1932: Gog and Magog, previously defined as ethnic Jews and European 'false' Christians, redefined as "one of the princes in Satan's organization" (that is, a demon). 1932: Identification of "Jonadabs", a "sheep" class of people who take a stand for righteousness and who are to be preserved by God through Armageddon to gain everlasting life on earth. The term was drawn from the account at 2 Kings 10. In 1920 Rutherford had written that it was "unreasonable" to think God was developing any class other than the little flock (the 144,000 to attain heavenly kingship) and the "great company" (second spiritual class also with a heavenly hope). In 1934 the Watchtower explained that the "Jonadabs" survive Armageddon by living in the figurative "City of refuge", represented by remaining affiliated with the Watch Tower Society. 1932: The "Jews" to be restored to their homeland, previously defined as literal Jews, redefined as the Christian congregation. 1932: Watch Tower Society adherents with an earthly hope should join the worldwide preaching work. In 1927 The Watchtower had directed that only anointed Christians were "entitled" to take part in the ministry. 1934: The 1917 teaching that Russell was exercising strong influence from heaven on the "harvesting" of anointed Christians described as "foolish". 1934: Vindication of God's name becomes central doctrine. Rutherford noted that God had provided Jesus Christ's sacrifice as the redemption price for sinful humankind, but wrote that this was "secondary to the vindication of Jehovah's name". 1935: "Great crowd" of Revelation 7 defined as the "sheep" of Matthew 25, resulting in a redirection of proselytizing efforts from gathering the "elect" (remnant of the 144,000 with a heavenly destiny) to gathering an indeterminate number of people who could survive Armageddon and receive everlasting life on earth. Previously, the "great crowd" was believed to have a heavenly hope. 1935: Tobacco use "unclean" and prohibited for Bethel (branch office) staff and traveling overseers. 1935: Vaccines, described since 1921 as "devilish" and "an outrage", condemned as a violation of God's law. 1937: Jehovah's Witnesses with an earthly hope could be described as "Christian". In 1930 the Watchtower had asserted that the term "Christian" could be applied only to anointed followers of Christ. 1938: God's mandate to "be fruitful and multiply" said to apply only after the start of the millennium. The Watchtower said the mandate had never been carried out under righteous conditions, and so had failed to be fulfilled according to God's will. Rutherford urged Witnesses to delay marriage and the bearing of children until after Armageddon. 1939: Witnesses required to demonstrate complete neutrality in worldly affairs.

1942: Tobacco prohibition applied to all appointed positions, such as congregation overseers and servants. 1943: Adam's creation, previously 4129 BCE moved forward 100 years to 4028 BCE. The shift in dates also moved the termination point of 6,000 years of human history from October 1872 to 1972. 1943: The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society mentioned as the "legal governing body" associated with God's people. 1944: The Watch Tower Society identified as the "governing body" as a theological arrangement similar to the apostles in the first century CE. 1944: Adam's creation, previously 4028 BCE, changed to 4026 BCE. 1944: Responsibility for administering discipline, including disfellowshipping, of dissident members passed from entire congregation to congregational judicial committees. Russell had recommended in a 1904 publication that a congregation "committee" investigate a congregant's serious "error or sin", but the entire congregation voted whether "to withdraw from him its fellowship". 1945: Blood transfusions forbidden. Russell had viewed the prohibition on eating blood in Acts 15:19–29 as a 'suggestion' to gentile Christians in order to "guard against stumbling themselves or becoming stumbling blocks to others" and ensure peace within the early church.

1961: Acceptance of blood transfusion deemed a disfellowshipping offence. Acceptance of human organ transplant stipulated a personal matter to be decided without criticism. 1962: "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 redefined as earthly governments, reverting the 1929 change to Russell's 1886 teaching. A year earlier, Russell's view was considered to have made the Watch Tower Bible Students unclean in God's eyes. 1963: Adam's creation changed back to 4026 BCE. End of 6,000 years of human history due in northern hemisphere autumn 1975. 1967: Human organ transplants equated with cannibalism, "a practice abhorrent to all civilized people", and said to be a procedure not permitted by God. The Watchtower article announcing the view is interpreted by commentators as a prohibition. In a 1972 article, Jehovah's Witnesses are described as having taken a "stand" against organ transplants, saving them from the consequences of such operations, on the basis of the description of the procedure as "a form of cannibalism". 1968: Interval between Adam's creation and the close of the sixth creative "day", previously "quite some time", changed to "a comparatively short period of time" that "may involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years." The change led to expectations that Christ's 1,000 year reign could begin in 1975.

1970: The "governing body", previously identified as the Watch Tower Society as a legal entity and described as "closely associated with the directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania", redefined as synonymous with the board of directors. 1971: Establishment of the "Governing Body of Jehovah's witnesses" on October 1, 1971, now distinct from the Watch Tower Society.

2020: Identification of various historical events from the 2nd to early 19th centuries as relating to the 'kings of the north and south' abandoned. The 'king of the north' of Daniel 11:25–26, previously identified as Aurelian, redefined as the German Empire. The 'king of the south' for the same verses, previously identified as Zenobia, redefined as "Britain".

Former Governing Body member Raymond Franz and Sociology lecturer Andrew Holden have pointed out that doctrines—including those relating to sexual behaviour in marriage and the "superior authorities" of Romans 13:4—have sometimes been altered, only to revert to those held decades earlier. Holden, author of an ethnographic study on Jehovah's Witnesses, commented: "It could be that many Witnesses have not yet been in the organisation long enough to realise that 'new lights' have a habit of growing dimmer, while old ones are switched back on!" In his study of the Witnesses and their history, Tony Wills has suggested that when third president Nathan H. Knorr altered major doctrines established by his predecessor, J. F. Rutherford, he was returning the Witnesses to many of Russell's teachings. He asked: "How can the Society harmonize this circular development with the claimed progressive development?" In testimony at a 1954 court case in Scotland, senior Watch Tower Society figures admitted that although doctrines were subject to change if they were later regarded as erroneous, all Witnesses were required to accept current teachings or risk expulsion. Under cross examination, Fred Franz, then vice president of the Watch Tower Society, conceded a Witness could be disfellowshipped and shunned for "causing trouble" over a belief they held that was contrary to Society teaching but subsequently embraced by the group. Society lawyer Hayden G. Covington told the court that although the Society had for decades published a "false prophecy a false statement" about the date of Christ's Second Coming, members had been required to accept it and any who had rejected it would have been expelled. He explained: "You must understand we must have unity, we cannot have disunity with a lot of people going every way."