Origins and Evolution of the Religious Community
Around 1870 an American businessman raised as a Presbyterian, Charles Taze Russell,1Russell was born on 16-02-1852 as the son of a Scottish-Irish Presbyterian born in Pennsylvania (See Garbe 1999a, p. 43). brought together a small Bible study group, calling themselves Earnest Bible Students. At the end of the 70s of the same century the magazine Zion’s Watch Tower first appeared, declaring it to be the central organ of the new religious movement. In 1881 the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society was founded. At the start of the 20th century its headquarters were established in the borough of Brooklyn, New York. From the early 1890s Russell endeavoured to spread his teachings to the European continent. To unite all believers, the International Bible Students Association, also known as the International Association of Earnest Bible Students, was founded in London in 1914.2See Yonan 1999, p. 11; Garbe 1999a, p. 44.
Russell had predicted that a visible establishment of the kingdom of God on earth would take place in the year 1914. To the Bible Students, the start of World War I was a fulfilment of this prophecy. But the ‘thousand-year kingdom’ did not come into effect. This was a problem for the religious community, and they had to contemplate the consequences of this unfulfilled prophecy. Russell reinterpreted the delayed kingdom of God as the end to the right of rulership by all earthly governments.3See Garbe 1999a, p. 46 and 50. During World War I, the question arose as to whether a Christian could perform military service, which led to much discussion within the movement of the Bible Students. The Watchtower Society had advised the members of the International Bible Students Association to make use of the right of conscientious objection on religious grounds wherever possible. Russell stressed that, on principle, a Christian must not kill. Though they did not openly call upon their fellow believers to refuse to perform military service, recruited Bible Students would try to serve as non-combatants, for example, in health care troops.
Therefore, around 1916 still several hundred Bible Students were in combat in the field for the German Empire. Because of the heated discussions as to whether a Bible Student should take a ‘neutral’ stance, more and more of them refused military service. This stance caused governments and church bodies to take notice of the activities of the Bible Students’ movement at the end of World War I.4See Garbe 1999a, p. 46 ff.
From 1916 onwards, the American Judge Rutherford led the International Association of Earnest Bible Students. The relatively slow growth of the religious community changed at the beginning of the economic crisis at the end of the 20s.
Women especially were ‘converted’. The mission of the Bible Students held a great attraction for those in socially weaker circles and for the elderly.5See Zipfel 1965, p. 178 f. Many people in 1931/32 saw the film ‘The Photo Drama of Creation’ and became Bible Students, convinced of their religious teachings.6See Zipfel 1965, p. 179, footnote 10.
In 1931 the religious community took the name ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. They viewed themselves as witnesses in the Biblical tradition, in particular that of the New Testament, and still do to this day.7See Yonan 1999, p. 11 and Zipfel 1965, p. 176 A scripture in the Gospel of John explains the name of the religious community: ‘To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth’ (Joh. 18:37; 21st Century King James Version), indicating that the preaching work would take a more prominent place in their activities.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active in Germany since 1896. They came to be recognised under the name of Internationale Bibelforscher Vereinigung and reached a total of 25,000 followers in 1933.
The religious community was also established in Austria at the beginning of the 20th century, stimulated by visits of the leaders Russell and Rutherford. The activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses as an association dates back to 1911. In 1923, the Watchtower Society opened their office in Austria’s capital.8See Malle 2001, p. 16 f. and Graffard/Tristan 1998, p. 22. Ten years later this office was registered as a branch office of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The politics of the Ständestaat9Federal State of Austria (1934-1938) forced the organisation of the Bible Students to dissolve the association in 1935. From then on Jehovah’s Witnesses continued activities for their faith underground. In 1938 there were 550 members who actively contributed to the expansion of the faith.10www.lettertothestars.at
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