Overview

Originating from a small group of Bible students who met under Charles Taze Russell’s leadership and grew into an international Society, to which the second leader Joseph Franklin Rutherford and gave the name ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. Two World Wars shaped Watch Tower attitudes to civil government, armed conflict, and medical innovations such as blood transfusion, as well as to mainstream churches. The twenty-first century has seen some important changes in the Watch Tower organization, and coverage is given to changes in organizational structure, its use of the World Wide Web, and its major relocation from Brooklyn to Warwick. This updated second edition of Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on key concepts, themes, and people relating to Jehovah’s Witnesses. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Jehovah's Witnesses.

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9781538119518

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Reviews

"I recommend this work as book of reference to students and scholars and to anyone wanting to know more about Jehovah's Witnesses and their organization. No one is more qualified to write a dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses than Chryssides (Univ. of Birmingham and York St. John University, UK). He has written several books on the Jehovah's Witnesses and new religious movements, and his Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change (2016) is noteworthy as the most objective social science analysis to date of the denomination. Chryssides's expertise shines in this contribution to the ""Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements"" series. The volume opens with a long introduction that could serve as the foundation for readers who want to learn about the Jehovah's Witnesses. This section is followed by a chronology, the dictionary proper, and a bibliography. The bibliography will prove to be especially useful to novice learners, since the literature on and by Jehovah's Witnesses is so voluminous. Dictionary entries cover biographies, themes, and terms that are part of the Jehovah's Witnesses vocabulary. Each entry also includes see references. This second edition is 100 pages longer than the first (2008), and many of the entries are new or are revisions of entries in the previous edition. Even those who own the first edition should consider purchasing this one. This dictionary is a distinguished introduction to a denomination that is well known but little understood. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers."

No one is more qualified to write a dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses than Chryssides (Univ. of Birmingham and York St. John University, UK). He has written several books on the Jehovah's Witnesses and new religious movements, and his Jehovah's Witnesses: Continuity and Change (2016) is noteworthy as the most objective social science analysis to date of the denomination. Chryssides's expertise shines in this contribution to the Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements series. The volume opens with a long introduction that could serve as the foundation for readers who want to learn about the Jehovah's Witnesses. This section is followed by a chronology, the dictionary proper, and a bibliography. The bibliography will prove to be especially useful to novice learners, since the literature on and by Jehovah's Witnesses is so voluminous. Dictionary entries cover biographies, themes, and terms that are part of the Jehovah's Witnesses vocabulary. Each entry also includes see references. This second edition is 100 pages longer than the first (2008), and many of the entries are new or are revisions of entries in the previous edition. Even those who own the first edition should consider purchasing this one. This dictionary is a distinguished introduction to a denomination that is well known but little understood. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.--CHOICE

Author Information

George D. Chryssides is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, and York St John University. He has published extensively on new religious movements and he is the author of Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses (2008) and Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, Second Edition (2011). He is currently president of the International Society for the Study of New Religions and Co-Vice-Chair of Inform (Information Network on New Religious Movements), based at King’s College London.

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