firestar: Interesting Topic. So. . . which IS the ONLY TRUE RELIGION? I've noticed this question have been ignored. . .?

dwonder: Jehovah’s Witnesses

Definition: The worldwide Christian society of people who actively bear witness regarding Jehovah God and his purposes affecting mankind. They base their beliefs solely on the Bible.

What beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses set them apart as different from other religions?

(1) Bible: Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the entire Bible is the inspired Word of God, and instead of adhering to a creed based on human tradition, they hold to the Bible as the standard for all their beliefs.

(2) God: They worship Jehovah as the only true God and freely speak to others about him and his loving purposes toward mankind. Anyone who publicly witnesses about Jehovah is usually identified as belonging to the one group—“Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

(3) Jesus Christ: They believe, not that Jesus Christ is part of a Trinity, but that, as the Bible says, he is the Son of God, the first of God’s creations; that he had a prehuman existence and that his life was transferred from heaven to the womb of a virgin, Mary; that his perfect human life laid down in sacrifice makes possible salvation to eternal life for those who exercise faith; that Christ is actively ruling as King, with God-given authority over all the earth since 1914.

(4) God’s Kingdom: They believe that God’s Kingdom is the only hope for mankind; that it is a real government; that it will soon destroy the present wicked system of things, including all human governments, and that it will produce a new system in which righteousness will prevail.

(5) Heavenly life: They believe that 144,000 spirit-anointed Christians will share with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom, ruling as kings with him. They do not believe that heaven is the reward for everyone who is “good.”

(6) The earth: They believe that God’s original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled; that the earth will be completely populated by worshipers of Jehovah and that these will be able to enjoy eternal life in human perfection; that even the dead will be raised to an opportunity to share in these blessings.

(7) Death: They believe that the dead are conscious of absolutely nothing; that they are experiencing neither pain nor pleasure in some spirit realm; that they do not exist except in God’s memory, so hope for their future life lies in a resurrection from the dead.

( Last days: They believe that we are living now, since 1914, in the last days of this wicked system of things; that some who saw the events of 1914 will also see the complete destruction of the present wicked world; that lovers of righteousness will survive into a cleansed earth.

(9) Separate from the world: They earnestly endeavor to be no part of the world, as Jesus said would be true of his followers. They show genuine Christian love for their neighbors, but they do not share in the politics or the wars of any nation. They provide for the material needs of their families but shun the world’s avid pursuit of material things and personal fame and its excessive indulgence in pleasure.

(10) Apply Bible counsel: They believe that it is important to apply the counsel of God’s Word in everyday life now—at home, in school, in business, in their congregation. Regardless of a person’s past way of life, he may become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses if he abandons practices condemned by God’s Word and applies its godly counsel. But if anyone thereafter makes a practice of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drug abuse, drunkenness, lying, or stealing, he will be disfellowshipped from the organization.

(The above list briefly states some outstanding beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses but by no means all the points on which their beliefs are different from those of other groups

MyJoe:

I, on my part, will not be surprised if you don’t reply me, since JWs tend to wax eloquent when demolishing stuff like Trinity (which is not rooted in the Bible) but when some unrehearsed real issues are raised, they cop out, labelling the other person as an “opposer” cast in the mould of the Pharisees. Anyway, if you want PROOF of anything I say here, just ask and I will supply them in lorry loads.

Some will say the JWs are the ones always peddling “long laborious doctrinal disagreements”. How, for instance, do you explain someone insisting Jesus was killed on a tree rather than a cross? Such a minor thing!


Coming from a JW…



It is true Witnesses refuse to kill their neighbours in war, which is commendable. Many of them have also refused to betray their brothers. But, you see, it doesn’t end there. For one thing, fighting in war is not always a bad thing. In fact, it is sometimes the right thing to do. I, for instance, am totally against violence. But I do recognise, like the non-violent George Orwell also did, that the reason I sleep peacefully on my bed at night is because someone stands outside ready to do violence on my behalf. Do you know what would have happened if brave men and women had not offered up their lives to stop the Third Reich? Hitler would have taken over the world (God forbid!) and (1) all the Jews and Slavs in the world would have been exterminated (2) All the blacks in the world would have been sent to labour camps (3) All homosexuals, the mentally ill and other “impurities” would have been exterminated (4) All the JWs in the world would have been sent to labour camps.

But the above would mean nothing to you. You believe it was Jehovah who stopped the Third Reich so your preaching work can continue, not the people of the world led by the UK, the US and Russia. It appears you Witnesses live in a world of your own, following your perverse interpretation of “you are no part of the world.” Which is why a Witness almost invariably manifests a childlike refusal to deal appropriately with the complexities of the world around him. Pain, disease and misgovernance are of Satan’s world – no need to do anything since Armageddon, which is around the corner, will end it all. So everybody, forward march to Armageddon! A Witness will never speak out against injustice except when it is directly targeted at his preaching work. But you know the result of this, friend? Injustice within your Organisation is also not dealt with!

On the matter of love, it is not only Witnesses that show love. In fact, they are behind some religious groups I know in the matter of love. I will not go into details about that but if you want to explore that subject further, let me know.


This is another blunder you Witnesses make. Your assumption is based primarily on your door-to-door activity. Think: does the use of this specific preaching method prove that this is the only true Christian organization, while other groups who use other methods to reach people with their message are not Christians? Are they less effective than the Witnesses? And do you know there is no evidence that the first century Christians used this preaching method?

The hard facts available (ask me, and I will supply them) is that quite a number of Christian groups are growing in number, many of them even much faster than Jehovah's Witnesses. It is your Watchtower publications that are giving you the FALSE impression that other Christian denominations and sects are declining in numbers, that the "waters" of "Babylon the Great" is "drying up." (Rev. 16:12 and 17:15) Nothing could be falser.
It is true that the majority of the Christian denominations have been declining in the Western countries, but this also holds true in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses in that part of the world. However, due to developments in certain parts of the world, there has been a tremendous increase of Christians in the world as a whole since the century that ended a decade ago. Again, this applies to the JW as well.


Having devoted a good deal of my time to studying the religions, I am aware of several churches that sanction erring members. Some methods are bizarre, others are humane and reflect the kind of love Christ taught. Shunning, the method used by the Witnesses is the harshest I have come across. It lacks human face and it saddens me that human beings who claim to represent God conceived it. (I took some time to study the life and times of the particular WT President who invented it and wasn’t surprised at all.) And I will not let you put a gloss on it here, so I will attempt to present it the way it really works. For I heard of a man who committed suicide after he was disfellowshipped and made to face shunning for smoking. And many have spoken of being denied love by family members. Meanwhile, these policies are not applied consistently, but that is a different matter. I will have your readers know that it is not only those who involve themselves in fornication and co that face this treatment, as you will have them believe here. Questioning the teachings of the Watchtower Society, for instance, is a no-no that will see you being accused of apostatising and lead to shunning. Please permit me to ask you a question: when you go preaching from house to house, do you tell potential recruits, and newer ones in your midst, that once recruited they can’t leave the Organisation? Ok, let me modify that – actually they can leave. But do you tell them that that means that if their kids are Witnesses they will be shunned by such kids and denied their natural right to filial love? Do new recruits know that anyone who leaves the Organisation will be seen by Witnesses, including his former friends, as worse than the most despicable dog?


I think it does mean that they are false prophets.


Add And someone who says what God did not send him to say in the name of God. Jer 23:21 says: “I did not send the prophets, yet they themselves ran. I did not speak to them, yet they themselves prophesied.

This is the old masthead of Awake!:
"Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."
The Awake! masthead now reads:
"Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things."

Creator’s promise? 1914? Now, honestly, do you still think you are not false prophets?


With respect, sir, the above is scurrilous nonsense! None of the virgins stood up and declared that the Master had come as your Organisation has done since it was founded. In fact, your Organisation was founded because the world was to end in 1914. Most of you don’t even know this. I borrowed your WT Library from a friend and installed it on my PC. I note that publications before 1950 are not there, so most of you are blissfully ignorant of a lot of things concerning Watchtower Jehovism. Even offensive articles after 1950 are removed from this “comprehensive” Library. If Watchtower were a state, it would be twice as closed as North Korea and ten times as secretive.


Are you seriously saying that nations did not rise against nations until 1914? I don’t think even you will dare say that. Is there a biblical basis for associating anything with this date, then, or do you just believe it because someone told you it is so?


Are you really separate from what you call “false religion”? Are you aware of your Organisation’s alliance with a prominent church ministry a few years ago? Do also know your Organisations’ alliance with political powers? Perhaps it is okay by you for the leadership of your religion to preach water and drink wine? (I am deliberately being vague because I doubt you are able to handle these matters. I know that for someone who is smart, hints are all required. On the other hand, if someone is not smart, anything you tell them, plain or vague, is useless. Whatever you choose to believe in is your business, but seeing your eloquence and how it might inveigle meek children of God who may have been misguided into believing that the truth about God is found in one single place and are honestly searching for it on this forum, I am typing to present some of the facts as they are. You are welcome to counter them. The Witnesses are good, very good. Which is not surprising considering all those practice and rehearsals at your meetings, where presentation, dialogue, logic, and refutation are drilled into the preacher (called "publisher" for use in the field. Put a trained anybody against a novice in any field, and the result of foreknown. That, and not any “truth”, is why your field workers often seem able to demolish any arguments put forth by people of other Christian denominations. I would hope you drop your JW goggles while reading what I am writing, but of course, that is too much to hope for whenever one is dealing with anyone high on the narcotic called religion.)


Can't say much on this now, except that being the best organised religious group on earth (which you are) does not remotely mean being the uniquely "true religion". Your "unity" comes at a great prize - if I lay them bare here, I am sure most reasonable people would want nothing to do with your kind of "unity" which is really uniformity. There is evidence that the chaos you see in Christendom today was there in the first century. Bickering is normal among humans.

MyJoe:
I borrowed your WT Library from a friend and installed it on my PC. I note that publications before 1950 are not there, so most of you are blissfully ignorant of a lot of things concerning Watchtower Jehovism. Even offensive articles after 1950 are removed from this “comprehensive” Library.

RWilliams: Not sure how to quote an excerpt from another blogger on this forum, help please?

true2god: I need a sincere and baptized JW to ansa this:

The following questions were asked b4 u got baptized:

(1) On the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, have you repented of your sins and dedicated yourself to Jehovah to do his will?

(2) Do you understand that your dedication and baptism identify you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses (not as a xtain as they were first and presently called) in a ssociation with God's spirit-directed organization (not HOLY SPIRIT but watchtower organization)?

My JW friends can u see how watchtower (your deceitful organization) has technically removed the Holy Spirit from the baptism/salvation arrangent and replaced it with God's spirit directed organization-A.K.A watchtower (instead of the Holy Spirit)?

And Jesus commanded them saying, ''Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit''.

I knew many lost JW will still go ahead and belive some of this false teaching coming from the Watchtower elders who are bent on twisting the Bible to deceive the gullible public. Please flee JEHOVAH WITNESS for ur sake. They r wolves who came in sheep clothing at ur door step (ignorant JW who neva really understang what going behind watchttower curtain)

Nestle: I don't have any thing again JWs, but i have a question. Why is it that JWs don't like praying b/4 preaching?

truthislight:

hahaha. Lol.

Trinity has finish this one.

true2god: Pls get busy and spend less time on nairaland. Enjoy ur week.

truthislight:

this were how you lied over the place in the past but when you were called to defend the bible today you turned ignorant and cant quote the bible.

Yes, people like me should leave NL so that people like you that thrive in ignorance will have a field day in darkness.

You should be ashamed of your self.
Rut.

trisha: I have come across so many religions but I think Jehovah's Witnesses stick to the bible. What do you guys think?

truthislight:


i can still recall a discussion with you were you said that "your friend a JW let you lay your hands on something you should not have layed your hands on"
when i said that it was a "CD wt library" you denied it, but see you here saying it yourself with your own words.

How true then can one take your utterances?

MyJoe:
Despite strong evocations to the contrary, I remain advised that the “truthislight” handle belongs to a human rather than a bot.

While only a bot would normally exhibit such spectacular want of ability to recall correctly, cogitate or parse, one must make some allowance for the religious fool splashing about the pool of lies in a wretched undertaking to discredit a Nairalander and defend his Jehovah.

And what utterance have I made here that requires your taking them as true rather than easy verification?

truthislight:

Hehehehe

what else can one expect from your like, other than such ^.

What you get out of a can is a function of the content of the can.

Though the truth is bitter to some.

Have a nice day.

MyJoe:
Very good you knew what to expect - at least, you claim to. Now go ahead and prove you weren't lying for Jehovah as always in your claim about the CD denial. That should be easy.

I almost joined that group, because I
had the erroneous belief that they
were the only adherent sticking to the
principles of Christianity. What
disuaded me from joining them is their
denial of the bodily resurrection of
Jesus Christ even when it is clearly
written that He Resurrected physically
in the Holy Bible. That is the core of
Christianity, the birth, death and
physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. I
would advise anybody to steer clear
from that group and rely solely on
your Holy Bible for guidance on living a
life, acceptable to God. Jesus Christ
had forewarned us that false prophets
will arise in the end times.

Bobbyaf: I hope that what I have to say regarding the topic won't be seen as offensive by any JWs on the board, or any who are preparing to be. I am simply saying whats on my mind as it relates to the studies I have done on the organization. I have some dear friends and family members who happen to be JWs.

The JWs have not been consistent with their doctrines. They have actually changed quite a few of what they once held as gospel truth. Thats not a good sign for any organization who claims to be Jehovah's true organization.

Almost all of their prophecies concerning the end of the world have failed. Truth cannot be altered. If its truth today, then its truth for tomorrow.

Today they hold that in 1914 Christ's kingdom presence , instead of His literal coming, has occured. Before 1914 it was another date concerning the same event.

Then there are these failed prophecies:

1918 "Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection." Millions Now Living Will Never Die, page 89.

When the date arrived and nothing happened this was said: "The year 1925 is here. With great expectation Christians have looked forward to this year. Many have confidently expected that all members of the body of Christ will be changed to heavenly glory during this year. This may be accomplished. It may not be. In his own due time God will accomplish his purposes concerning his people. Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year." The Watchtower, 1/1/25, page. 3.

Excuse after excuse about their failed prophecies. As a result hundreds of thoundands left the organization more confused than before.

A JW might say that the organization is still learning. If that is so, then how can they trust what they are taught now by the Watchtower? Will what they are being taught now change also?

A true prophet of God won't err in prophesying. Only a false prophet does. The Jehovah's Witness organization, that claims to be a prophet of God, is really a false prophet. Jesus warned us by saying, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear, (Matt. 24:24).

lafile: JW's are one of the most inconsistent religious organisations in existence. Apart from those highlighted by Bobbyaf in his first post, i would also like to highlight a few more.

The Watchtower Society currently rejects most of the teachings of their first two leaders - its founder Charles Taze Russell (who was president of the organization from 1879-1916), and "Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who succeeded Russell as president from 1916 - 1942. These were called Gods spirit directed prophets in their days, but everything they stood for have been rejected. How can such an organisation be Gods only true body on earth? , how can we be sure that in 25 more years, Jehovah's Witnesses won't also reject the current president, Milton G. Henschel (1992 - present), as they did Russell and Rutherford?

The Watchtower organization claims "apostolic succession" for all its leaders, though there is no one who they can claim "passed the torch of God's Spirit" to C. T. Russell when he founded the organization.

There are so many inconsistencies in the New World Translation of tyhe Bible. You find that words are translated differently when they point to the deity of Jesus Christ.

JW is nothing more than an organisation with flaws using skewed notions to cover its flaws.

lafile: JW's are one of the most inconsistent religious organisations in existence. Apart from those highlighted by Bobbyaf in his first post, i would also like to highlight a few more.

The Watchtower Society currently rejects most of the teachings of their first two leaders - its founder Charles Taze Russell (who was president of the organization from 1879-1916), and "Judge" Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who succeeded Russell as president from 1916 - 1942. These were called Gods spirit directed prophets in their days, but everything they stood for have been rejected. How can such an organisation be Gods only true body on earth? , how can we be sure that in 25 more years, Jehovah's Witnesses won't also reject the current president, Milton G. Henschel (1992 - present), as they did Russell and Rutherford?

The Watchtower organization claims "apostolic succession" for all its leaders, though there is no one who they can claim "passed the torch of God's Spirit" to C. T. Russell when he founded the organization.

There are so many inconsistencies in the New World Translation of tyhe Bible. You find that words are translated differently when they point to the deity of Jesus Christ.

JW is nothing more than an organisation with flaws using skewed notions to cover its flaws.

Bobbyaf: @ vchlady
You learnt nothing because you were not ready to start learning. Anyone can learn in any organization if you desire truth badly enough, and that includes being in the JW's organization. Thats like a student blaming his school for not fascilitating his learning. Learning should n't depend on extrinsic factors mostly, but intrinsic ones.

I know a lot of JWs who left the organization because they were prepared to study for themselves, and were not so dependent on what their organization taught. The denomination cannot search on your behalf. You must do that for yourself.

Good to know that, but Jehovah has directed all eyes to His Son Jesus Christ. If you're not doing that then you'd have failed to recognise the essence of the plan of salvation. Jesus is the bridge between the Father and you. Listen to what Jesus said:

John 14:8-, Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?

Just like you the disciples were bent on learning more about the Father, but Jesus had to clarify that getting to know Him was the way to know the Father.

[b]Were you made aware at your organization that the word Jehovah is not an accurate translation form the Hebrew? All the vowels in the word, that is e, o, and a were placed there by jewish writers who departed from the original manuscript. You of all persons should have known that the original expression resembled YHWH.

Originally Hebrew didn't have any vowels, and was written right to left, although some of the consonants carry with them the indication of associated vowel sounds. For instance, the "Y" is associated with the sound of a "long e",  as in "team".  The H is associated with the sound of a "short a" as "ah!"  The Vav is associated with the vowel "u" and produces the sound in the word "cool." Thus, the name of the Creator sounds something like "ee-ah oo' ah", with the accent on the second of the three syllables, as is the pronunciation convention in Hebrew.

Hence the closer pronunciation, or sounding for the name is Yahweh, and not Jehovah which is a man-made concoction.[quote]

Oga, you are correct that we do not have the correct pronunciation, but even the Yahweh is man made and concocted as you said above.

Even Jesus and Joshua is concocted. But why we use those names is that this is the way we pronounce it in english NOT hebrew. I can give other eg of names which may have been pronounced differently in hebrew.

You of all people do not know that we christian are not pronouncing hebrew name as the ancient hebrew do, rather we pronounce it colloquially?

So if you call Jesus or Messiah, you think you are pronouncing it as hebrews do? No, rather that is how it is in english.

If you want to pronounce in hebrew then stop pronouncing Yeshua as Jesus cos it is wrong.

[quote]You say that Jehovah wants us to call and use His name, so how come Jesus called Him Father? How come Jesus taught His disciples to address His Father as Father also? How come Jesus referred to Him as God, and not Jehovah? On the cross Jesus cried out "Eloi, Eloi" which means God.

Can you find any evidence in the New Testament that any of the disciples referred to the Father as Jehovah seeing that the word Jehovah incorrectly came from the Tetragammon YHWH? Kindly go back to the NT manuscript and see if any reference was ever made to Jehovah. The only word that scholars are familiar with is Κυριος, a greek word which means Lord, and often it was associated with Jesus.

I am glad you raised this issue. Its funny how you are quick to teach that Jesus is a lesser God, and that the Father is the true God. In John 1 the JWs teach that Jesus is a God, or a lesser God than the Father. That would mean that there are 2 Gods. One is greater than the other according to JWs. The very text you quoted contradicts your beliefs.

The very quote you supplied in Isaiah 44:6 does not suport your teaching. Yet in the book of Hebrews the Father calls His Son God. Let us read it:

Hebrews 1:6 says, "Let all the angels of God worship Him.” The Him in the verse is God's Son. Why would the Father allow another to be worshipped if He alone is due worship?

let us view Revelation 1 and see how John describes Jesus:

Revelation 1,
9 I, John, both[e] your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,”[f] and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Notice how Jesus was similarly described as Isaiah described God in chapter 44 as being the "first and the last"?

John continues identifying whose voice he heard behind him, 12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man,

This is what Jesus said: 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me,  “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last

I also want you to notice how your own words have betrayed you. You say that whenever we see the word Lord as its seen now in the sentence, being written in lower case it means the Son right? This is what you said earlier: Well Jehovah wants us to know his so anywhere in your Bible where LORD is in capital letters Jehovah's name is suppose to be there and when you see lower case letters Jesus name is suppose to be there.

How then do you explain Revelation 1:8 which says:  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The "ord" in the word Lord has been written in lower case, and is a direct reference to Jesus being Almighty.

Its very clear to me that you need to search the scriptures for yourself outside of the pressure to conform to an organization. I can speak for myself that even though I belong to an organization called the SDA church, I am allowed to differ in opinion until there is clarification. I am not sure that any JW can afford to challenge the set doctrines.

Bobbyaf: @ ricadelide
They have their own version of the bible that has been translated in such a manner so as to hide the truth about the deity of Christ. Its one of the most inconsistent versions I have ever read. Its no wonder they are a confused over the issues. let me give you an example:

Heb. 1:8. "God is your throne forever" (a nonsensical statement) is put intead of "your throne, O God, is forever," because this statement refers to Christ.

Look at Genesis 2:1-2 and notice how complex the sentence construction is. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all their army came to their completion. 2 And by the seventh day God came to the completion of his work that he had made, and he proceeded to rest on the seventh day from all his work that he had made.

Notice the phrase in bold. God "proceeded to rest" [size=16pt]The hebrew specifically states that "God rested"[/size] but becasue the JWs do not believe that a day in creation is a literal one, they used the expression proceeded to rest to indicate the long time it took God to commence resting. When one proceeds to do something that one has not yet begun to do the action as yet. If I proceed to cleam my desk it doesn't say if and when I would have started cleaning. The phrase only indicates that I have the intention to do the act, or I may have begun to move towards my desk. Hence there can be no closure to the activiy itself, until the past tense is used, and not the past continuous.

But when you visit their bible and look at the book of Hebrews and its account of the creation you will notice the contradiction. In Hebrews 1:4 this is what is quoted, 4 For in one place he has said of the seventh day as follows: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”

Notice the use of the past tense as it relates to God having rested?

I rest my case.

Horus: Jehovah Witness’ Fake Christ
, the Jehovah’s Witness’ had a leader that was also considered “a Christ.” That leader being Charles Tazzil Russell who founded the sect in 1870. When he was dissatisfied with Christianity as it was, he organized his first bible study class. Six years later, in 1876, he elected himself  “pastor.” In 1879 he sold his interest in a clothing firm and began printing “The Watchtower” semi-monthly. By 1884, his “Zion’s Watchtower and Bible Society,” was incorporated in Pennsylvania and in 1908, he moved his headquarters from Pittsburgh, PA to Brooklyn, NY. Russell claimed to be the seventh angel mentioned in the book or Revelation. He said that the other six were men. He predicted the end of the world several times! 1874, 1876, 1914, 1916, and 1918, each time stating that word came to him from the creator whom he called Jehovah.