German (Dvortsov), hier. The True History of the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses 

Over the course of several years, the author of this work had to repeatedly meet with members of the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses. Discussions with them showed that most of them are completely ignorant of the history of their own organization. And this is not surprising. Historical Publications of the Main Journal of the Society — "The Watchtower", only deafly mentions important events of the past, or they are not talked about at all.

When historical arguments were used in the discussions, The reaction of my interlocutors ranged from naïve. negation ("This is not could be!") to a specific form of consent ("This fact, unfortunately, took place, but was not important"). But, in any case, my opponents have the opportunity to think, even if not immediately, about the truth of the chosen their paths.

At present, Jehovah's Witnesses are actively engaged in propaganda work among the population, presenting themselves as true followers of Christ. Not every layman, unfortunately, can properly refute them Approval. But it turned out that knowledge of at least a minimal amount of historical material about the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses will give you the opportunity to resist the propaganda of the members of this organization. Of course, this does not replace the need knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

This book aims to trace major milestones in the history of the Witnesses Jehovah along the line of its correspondence with the words spoken by God Himself: "If the prophet He shall speak in the name of the Lord, but the word shall not come to pass, nor shall it be fulfilled, nor shall it be the Lord. He spoke this word, but the prophet spoke this in his boldness, — do not be afraid him" (Deuteronomy 18:22). In other words, we will try to determine by this criterion, whether we should "fear" and therefore obey Jehovah's Witnesses, and whether their word is the word of God.

In this work, I have consciously refused to examine the beliefs of the Witnesses Jehovah, since they will be discussed in detail in the book "Refutation Teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses," which is currently being written. When quoting, references are given at the end of the quotation. The first digit indicates the serial number of the publication according to the list of references, the second is page of the specified publication. Direct links to journals are provided Jehovah's Witnesses—"The Watchtower Announces Jehovah's Kingdom" and "Awake!" (hereinafter referred to as "SB" and "Pr."). I heartily thank all the brothers and sisters in Christ, who took part in the discussion and publication of this book.

Introduction

Any modern religious organization that has nothing to do with the to the Church of Christ, reacts very painfully to the question of historical connection with apostolic times (1st century A.D.) and strives in some way to fill the vacuum between the first century and the real date of the formation of society. Jehovah's Witnesses are no exception. In the preface to the posthumous publication of the sermons of the first president of the Society, C. T. Russell, it was said: "His (i.e., C. T. Russell, — G. D.) commentaries on the Bible are much more extensive, than the combined writings of St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe and Martin Luther, the six Preachers of the Church who preceded him." (Russel Ch. T. Pastor Russel Sermons. WTB&TS. Brooklin 1917. — R. 2. Cit. to 15, 19). Jehovah's Witnesses today try to do without Name indications. In the book "The Millennial Kingdom of God Has Drawn," they were are forced to admit: "We do not have accurate historical data on how he lived and the class of the "faithful and discreet slave" has been active for centuries after the death of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Obviously, one generation of the class of "slave" passed on food to its next generation" (Quoted from the SB 15.05.1995.—P. 16). Under the class of the "faithful and discreet slave" there are meaning "all anointed Christians taken together, at whatever time they lived on earth" (SB 15.05.1995.—p. 16), "Jehovah's special people", around whom Ordinary Jehovah's Witnesses from the "great crowd" gather (SB 1.12.1992. — P. 17). By "food" is understood a certain teaching that corresponds to their ideas. But the trouble with Jehovah's Witnesses here is that they can't prove anything that this "food" corresponded to their modern "taste", nor that so that entire generations pass it on from one to another. History of the Society Jehovah's Witnesses begins in the 19th century.

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