Ecumenical with the Truth?
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Dialogue
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i1.5Keywords:
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Watch Tower, ecumenism, interfaith, global ethicAbstract
The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ stance towards ecumenical and interfaith dialogue is an uncompromising one, regarding all manifestations of religion outside the Society as ‘false religion’ and part of Babylon the Great. The article discusses the history of Watch Tower Society’s stance towards Roman Catholicism, and to the formation of the Evangelical Alliance in 1846. Under Rutherford’s leadership a new understanding of Christian apostasy and other faiths emerged, based on the Protestant writer Alexander Hislop’s The Two Babylons. The second part of the article turns to the present-day dialogue movement, arguing that the key Christian ecumenical themes of baptism, eucharist and ministry, are of no concern to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Interfaith dialogue involves harmful associations, and ecumenical and interfaith worship run counter to the Witnesses’ ways of worshipping God. Finally, attention is given to Hans Küng’s global ethic, which the Watch Tower Society contrasts with its own ‘global solution’ to the world’s problems.
References
Beckford, James. 1972 The Trumpet of Prophecy: A Sociological Study of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Oxford: Blackwell.
Burton, E. 1909 “The Evangelical Alliance.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved January 12, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05641a.htm
Chryssides, George D. 2008 Historical Dictionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Lanham ML: Scarecrow Press.
----- 2009a “Finishing the Mystery: the Watch Tower and ‘the 1917 schism’.” In Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide, edited by James R. Lewis and Sarah L. Lewis, 109–128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511581038.006
----- 2009b “Remembering the future? A case study of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Memorial.” Diskus 10. Accessible online at http://www.basr.ac.uk/diskus/diskus10/chryssides.htm Accessed 9 April 2012.
Crompton, R. 1996 Counting the Days to Armageddon: The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Second Presence of Christ. London: Lutterworth.
Fisher, George H. and Clayton J. Woodworth, eds. 1917 The Finished Mystery. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
Flew, A. 1966 God and Philosophy. London: Hutchinson.
Henderson, Jennifer J. 2010 Defending the Good News: The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Plan to Expand the First Amendment. Spokane, WA: Marquette Books.
Hesse, Hans, ed. 2001 Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Nazi Regime 1933–1945. Bremen, Germany: Edition Temmen.
Hislop, Alexander. 1858/1998 The Two Babylons: Romanism and Its Origins. Edinburgh: B. McCall Barbour, rev. ed. (Originally published as The Two Babylons: Papal Worship Revealed to be the Worship of Nimrod and his Wife. Edinburgh: W. Whyte, 1858.)
Holden, Andrew. 2002 Jehovah’s Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203458778
King, Christine E. 1982 The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity. New York: Edwin Mellen.
Knox, Zoe. 2011 “The Watch Tower Society at the End of the Cold War: Interpretation of the End-Times, Superpower Conflict, and the Changing Geo-Political Order.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 79(4): 1018–1049. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfr038
Küng, Hans and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds. 1993 A Global Ethic: The Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. London: SCM.
Lewis, James R. and Sarah M. Lewis. 2009 Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511581038
Los Angeles Express. 1915 Russell-Troy Debate at Trinity Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, April 21–24, 1915. Accessible online at URL: http://www.archive.org/stream/RutherfordTroyDebate/1915_Rutherford_Troy_Debate_djvu.txt Accessed 12 January 2012.
Luther, Martin. 1520 De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae—“On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church.” Accessible online at URL: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/luther/first_prin.v.iii.html Accessed 12 January 2012.
Penton, M. James. 1985 Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
----- 2004 Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics under Persecution. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Russell, C. T. 1879 “The Antichrist.” Zion’s Watch Tower 1(6): 54–56. 1882 The Tabernacle and its Teachings, with Notes on the Cleansing of the Sanctuary. Supplement to Zion’s Watch Tower, February. Pittsburgh, PA: Zion’s Watch Tower.
----- 1915 “Advantages and Disadvantages of Debates.” The Watch Tower, 1 May: 5685.
----- 1890 Thy Kingdom Come. Allegheny, PA: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
Rutherford, J. F. 1920 Millions Now Living Will Never Die! Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
----- 1928 Reconciliation. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
----- 1938 Face the Facts. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
Schroeder, Albert D. 1988 “My Life in Jehovah’s Spirit-Directed Organization.” The Watchtower 1 March: 10–17.
Stark, R. and L. R. Iannaccone. 1997 “Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses grow so rapidly: A theoretical application.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 12(2): 133–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537909708580796
Stevenson, W. C. 1967 The Inside Story of Jehovah’s Witnesses. New York: Hart.
Voas, David. 2008 “The Trumpet Sounds Retreat: Learning from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In The Centrality of Religion in Social Life: Essays in Honour of James A. Beckford, edited by Eileen Barker, 117–130. Farnham: Ashgate.
Wah, Carolyn R. 2001 “An Introduction to Research and Analysis of Jehovah’s Witnesses: A View from the Watchtower.” Review of Religious Research 43(2): 161–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3512060
Watch Tower. 1880 “Dialogue.’ Zion’s Watch Tower 1: 7, January: 63–65.
----- 1882 “The Beast and His Image.” Zion’s Watch Tower 3: 7–8, January and February: 318–323.
----- 1893 “Exaltation via Humility.” Zion’s Watch Tower 14: 1, January: 1486–1497.
----- 1951 What Has Religion Done for Mankind? Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1958 “Why the Divine Will International Assembly Resolved.” 1 November: 644–656.
----- 1959 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1965/1990 All Scripture. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1971 “‘The Nations Shall Know that I am Jehovah’ — How?’” Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1973 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
----- 1974 “Human Plans Failing” (booklet). Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
----- 1985 Reasoning from the Scriptures. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1988a Revelation: Its Grand Climax At Hand! New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1988b “Archaeology.” Insight 1: 147–150.
----- 1988c “Systems of Things.” Insight 2: 1054–1057.
----- 1989 “Do Not Yoke Yourselves with Unbelievers.” The Watchtower 1 November: 18–19.
----- 1990 Mankind’s Search for God. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1993 Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1998 “The Other Sheep and the New Covenant.” The Watchtower 1 February: 18–23.
----- 1999 Rights Without Responsibilities? Awake! 8 January: 13.
----- 2000 “What Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe.” Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 2001 “Safeguard Your Conscience.” The Watchtower 1 November: 4.
----- 2002 “A Globalization That Will Benefit You.” Awake! 22 May: 11–13.
----- 2003 “Changed Values—Do You Feel the Loss?” Awake! 8 June: 7–9.
----- 2009 “Jehovah’s Word Is Alive: Highlights From the Book of Revelation—II.” Watchtower 15 February: 3–5.
----- 2010a “How Do Jehovah’s Witnesses View Interfaith?” The Watch Tower 1 June: 27.
----- 2010b “Prayer 2: To Whom?” The Watch Tower 1 October: 4–5.
World Council of Churches. 1982 “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry.” Faith and Order Paper no.111. Geneva: World Council of Churches.
----- 2010 “Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies.” URL: http://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/interreligious-dialogue-and-cooperation/interreligious-trust-and-respect/guidelines-on-dialogue-with-people-of-living-faiths-and-ideologies.html Accessed 10 January 2012.
Burton, E. 1909 “The Evangelical Alliance.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved January 12, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05641a.htm
Chryssides, George D. 2008 Historical Dictionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Lanham ML: Scarecrow Press.
----- 2009a “Finishing the Mystery: the Watch Tower and ‘the 1917 schism’.” In Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide, edited by James R. Lewis and Sarah L. Lewis, 109–128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511581038.006
----- 2009b “Remembering the future? A case study of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Memorial.” Diskus 10. Accessible online at http://www.basr.ac.uk/diskus/diskus10/chryssides.htm Accessed 9 April 2012.
Crompton, R. 1996 Counting the Days to Armageddon: The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Second Presence of Christ. London: Lutterworth.
Fisher, George H. and Clayton J. Woodworth, eds. 1917 The Finished Mystery. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
Flew, A. 1966 God and Philosophy. London: Hutchinson.
Henderson, Jennifer J. 2010 Defending the Good News: The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Plan to Expand the First Amendment. Spokane, WA: Marquette Books.
Hesse, Hans, ed. 2001 Persecution and Resistance of Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Nazi Regime 1933–1945. Bremen, Germany: Edition Temmen.
Hislop, Alexander. 1858/1998 The Two Babylons: Romanism and Its Origins. Edinburgh: B. McCall Barbour, rev. ed. (Originally published as The Two Babylons: Papal Worship Revealed to be the Worship of Nimrod and his Wife. Edinburgh: W. Whyte, 1858.)
Holden, Andrew. 2002 Jehovah’s Witnesses: Portrait of a Contemporary Religious Movement. London: Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203458778
King, Christine E. 1982 The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity. New York: Edwin Mellen.
Knox, Zoe. 2011 “The Watch Tower Society at the End of the Cold War: Interpretation of the End-Times, Superpower Conflict, and the Changing Geo-Political Order.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 79(4): 1018–1049. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfr038
Küng, Hans and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds. 1993 A Global Ethic: The Declaration of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. London: SCM.
Lewis, James R. and Sarah M. Lewis. 2009 Sacred Schisms: How Religions Divide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511581038
Los Angeles Express. 1915 Russell-Troy Debate at Trinity Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, April 21–24, 1915. Accessible online at URL: http://www.archive.org/stream/RutherfordTroyDebate/1915_Rutherford_Troy_Debate_djvu.txt Accessed 12 January 2012.
Luther, Martin. 1520 De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae—“On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church.” Accessible online at URL: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/luther/first_prin.v.iii.html Accessed 12 January 2012.
Penton, M. James. 1985 Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
----- 2004 Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Third Reich: Sectarian Politics under Persecution. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Russell, C. T. 1879 “The Antichrist.” Zion’s Watch Tower 1(6): 54–56. 1882 The Tabernacle and its Teachings, with Notes on the Cleansing of the Sanctuary. Supplement to Zion’s Watch Tower, February. Pittsburgh, PA: Zion’s Watch Tower.
----- 1915 “Advantages and Disadvantages of Debates.” The Watch Tower, 1 May: 5685.
----- 1890 Thy Kingdom Come. Allegheny, PA: Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
Rutherford, J. F. 1920 Millions Now Living Will Never Die! Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
----- 1928 Reconciliation. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
----- 1938 Face the Facts. Brooklyn, NY: International Bible Students Association.
Schroeder, Albert D. 1988 “My Life in Jehovah’s Spirit-Directed Organization.” The Watchtower 1 March: 10–17.
Stark, R. and L. R. Iannaccone. 1997 “Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses grow so rapidly: A theoretical application.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 12(2): 133–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537909708580796
Stevenson, W. C. 1967 The Inside Story of Jehovah’s Witnesses. New York: Hart.
Voas, David. 2008 “The Trumpet Sounds Retreat: Learning from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In The Centrality of Religion in Social Life: Essays in Honour of James A. Beckford, edited by Eileen Barker, 117–130. Farnham: Ashgate.
Wah, Carolyn R. 2001 “An Introduction to Research and Analysis of Jehovah’s Witnesses: A View from the Watchtower.” Review of Religious Research 43(2): 161–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3512060
Watch Tower. 1880 “Dialogue.’ Zion’s Watch Tower 1: 7, January: 63–65.
----- 1882 “The Beast and His Image.” Zion’s Watch Tower 3: 7–8, January and February: 318–323.
----- 1893 “Exaltation via Humility.” Zion’s Watch Tower 14: 1, January: 1486–1497.
----- 1951 What Has Religion Done for Mankind? Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1958 “Why the Divine Will International Assembly Resolved.” 1 November: 644–656.
----- 1959 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1965/1990 All Scripture. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1971 “‘The Nations Shall Know that I am Jehovah’ — How?’” Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1973 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
----- 1974 “Human Plans Failing” (booklet). Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
----- 1985 Reasoning from the Scriptures. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1988a Revelation: Its Grand Climax At Hand! New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1988b “Archaeology.” Insight 1: 147–150.
----- 1988c “Systems of Things.” Insight 2: 1054–1057.
----- 1989 “Do Not Yoke Yourselves with Unbelievers.” The Watchtower 1 November: 18–19.
----- 1990 Mankind’s Search for God. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1993 Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom. Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 1998 “The Other Sheep and the New Covenant.” The Watchtower 1 February: 18–23.
----- 1999 Rights Without Responsibilities? Awake! 8 January: 13.
----- 2000 “What Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe.” Brooklyn, NY: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc. and International Bible Students Association.
----- 2001 “Safeguard Your Conscience.” The Watchtower 1 November: 4.
----- 2002 “A Globalization That Will Benefit You.” Awake! 22 May: 11–13.
----- 2003 “Changed Values—Do You Feel the Loss?” Awake! 8 June: 7–9.
----- 2009 “Jehovah’s Word Is Alive: Highlights From the Book of Revelation—II.” Watchtower 15 February: 3–5.
----- 2010a “How Do Jehovah’s Witnesses View Interfaith?” The Watch Tower 1 June: 27.
----- 2010b “Prayer 2: To Whom?” The Watch Tower 1 October: 4–5.
World Council of Churches. 1982 “Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry.” Faith and Order Paper no.111. Geneva: World Council of Churches.
----- 2010 “Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies.” URL: http://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/interreligious-dialogue-and-cooperation/interreligious-trust-and-respect/guidelines-on-dialogue-with-people-of-living-faiths-and-ideologies.html Accessed 10 January 2012.
Published
2012-08-03
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Chryssides, G. (2012). Ecumenical with the Truth? Jehovah’s Witnesses and Dialogue. International Journal for the Study of New Religions, 3(1), 5-26. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v3i1.5
