Jehovah's Witnesses are distinct in teaching that Jehovah alone is Almighty God and that Jesus is his created Son, and in rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity.
Jehovah's Witnesses grew out of the Bible Student movement begun by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s, and they adopted their present name in 1931 under Joseph Franklin Rutherford. They are known for door to door preaching, for meeting in Kingdom Halls, and for refusing military service, blood transfusions, and participation in politics. Their work is directed by a Governing Body, and their own New World Translation of the Bible was published in full in 1961.
Sources
Primary
- Charles Taze Russell, The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886), the first volume of the Studies in the Scriptures series
Secondary
- M. James Penton, Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses (1985)