Why Opposition?: An Exploration of Hostility Towards Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced opposition since the Watch Tower Society's inception, and the history of opposition is traced here. Initially, grounds for disapproval were doctrinal, but spanned out to controversies about "miracle wheat" and founder-leader Charles Taze Russe...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2021]
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| In: |
The journal of CESNUR
Year: 2021, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, Pages: 16-38 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Russia
/ Korea
/ Jehovah's Witnesses
/ Animosity
/ Anti-cult movement
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AZ New religious movements KBK Europe (East) KBM Asia KDH Christian sects |
| Further subjects: | B
Religious Minorities in Russia
B Joseph Franklin Rutherford B Charles Taze Russell B Jehovah's Witnesses B Religious Minorities B Counter-Cult Movement B Religious Minorities in South Korea |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced opposition since the Watch Tower Society's inception, and the history of opposition is traced here. Initially, grounds for disapproval were doctrinal, but spanned out to controversies about "miracle wheat" and founder-leader Charles Taze Russell's marital breakdown. Under second leader Joseph Franklin Rutherford, controversy surrounded patriotism and military service. The Witnesses' refusal to celebrate popular festivals attracted subsequent disapprobation, as did allegations of failed prophecy. The Society's stance on blood, disfellowshipping, and shunning have given rise to further unpopularity, and its New World Translation of the Bible has attracted hostility from Christian counter-cult critics. Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced political opposition, and particular attention is given to Russia and South Korea. Most recently, accusations of sexual abuse have gained publicity, and official investigations in Australia and the Netherlands. Finally, the advent of the Internet has enabled critics to organize opposition online. The author does not evaluate these criticisms or examine the Society's rejoinders, but notes that Jehovah's Witnesses continue with faith maintenance, regarding opposition as fulfilment of biblical prophecy. |
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| ISSN: | 2532-2990 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of CESNUR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.26338/tjoc.2021.5.1.2 |