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The history of Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower
Below are the books on the history of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower that I own. As I re-read these again, I hope to tie similar events from each book together in the post.
1) The entire 1974 Yearbook is devoted to Nazi Germany.
2) The entire 1975 Yearbook is devoted to the United States.
3) Divine Purpose, mainly focuses on the United States, but includes history from other areas when context needs it. It has a lot of forgotten gems in it.
4) Faith on the March, this is my favorite, I felt as if Mac and I got to know each other. It's main focus in the United States history, but includes other Nations where context needs it. This book is full of forgotten gems of history.
5) New World Society by Cole. This is another favorite of mine. Cole wrote this with the non-Witness in mind, therefore many things of our history are explained. It is full of forgotten gems of history.
6) Triumphant Kingdon, by Cole. His second book and one I have never finished. I will.
7) Proclaimers, first time I went through this was when homeschooling the boys, we used it for history. Since I have read it a few times. It is not chronological but by context, which makes it difficult to read and easy to get mixed up in time. Nevertheless, it is an excellent history book.
8) Watchtower of Allegheny. This was recommended to me by a Brother at Warwick, it turned out to be one of the best. The history focuses on Russell and you will learn a lot about him and his family. You will learn why there is a Watchtower on the cover of The Watchtower. But the thing I enjoyed the most, I learned that Russell was a very emotional, kind, loving man. You also learn why from this book. In the blog page you will see it to the right, click the image and you can purchase it. For those who feel that a Brother that writes a history book should not profit from it, remember Jesus said the word of God, not a history book of the Organization. This book had the most forgotten history gems of any book I have read.
9) The Third Door. This book was also recommended to me by a Brother. The author Ted had a most interesting life in the Truth. Serving at Bethel to a CO. Ted includes a lot of personal real accounts of his life in the Truth. I was surprised to read how many of the people I know.
10) Jehovah's Witnesses and the Nazi's. Not written by any Brother, but by historians. The book is hard hitting and very graphic, this book has all the original first-person accounts from our Brothers and Sisters that appear in Life Stories. The Watchtower edits them, so if you read this be ready for some difficult reading. On one Amazon review a Sister was upset because the experience of a Brother that did cave to the Nazi's after several beatings. The authors mention several Friends that caved in and there is no follow-up. So some well-meaning Friends have left negative feedback on Amazon believing that is not true, some feel that every Witness kept integrity in Nazi Germany. We have a great example in the Bible, Peter. Peter caved in, yet we do get the follow-up on him. This book was not written to make Witnesses in Nazi Germany look bad, it is part of the Jehovah's Witnesses history project and a great deal of the accounts in this book are in the archives.
11) Eusebius, you remember he was the Brother that....no he was a man who lived in the late 200-early 300CE. He wrote a detailed history of the early congregation and apostles and what happened after 100CE. I suggest Paul Maier's writing because of his easy read. However some things to keep in mind. Eusebius wrote this just after 325CE, before the formation of the Catholic Church. But most of the words tied to the Catholic Church were very much in use. For example, the word catholic mean "Universal" so when he refers to the early congregation he says catholic (lower case c - should be) meaning the One or Universal church. He also will refer to the vatican way. In the days of Eusebius this was a path through a swamp called the vatican, yep the actual Vatican is built on top of a swamp, fitting. But there was a path made through it of rocks and other material, that path was called the vatican way. There are many similar usages, so keep that in mind. It helps to remember the Catholic Church was formed after Eusebius completed his writings. He also uses the term Bishop, we call it a COBE or Coordinator of the Body of Elders. I also suggest skipping the for 5 books or chapters. They are a summary of the Nicene 325 meeting, Nature of Christ stuff.
12) Josephus the Essential Writings again Paul Maier's version. Paul leaves out the "History of the Jews" but to be honest it is a paraphrased version of the Hebrew Scriptures by Josephus. Paul includes mostly the important stuff to readers of the Bible. He does include the war of 66-70CE.
13) Not pictured. 1 & 2 Maccabees fills in the gap from Malichai to Matthew.
If you wonder if it is safe to read these as a JW, consider almost all of these are required reading in many of the schools. Eusebius and Josephus is and in fact they are now in our Study Bible. If you do not believe that a Brother should charge for his work, then skip those. But they are worth the few dollars asked.
After you read all these, you can play Bible trivia, but be careful, the one you ask to play may have read these as well.
1) The entire 1974 Yearbook is devoted to Nazi Germany.
2) The entire 1975 Yearbook is devoted to the United States.
3) Divine Purpose, mainly focuses on the United States, but includes history from other areas when context needs it. It has a lot of forgotten gems in it.
4) Faith on the March, this is my favorite, I felt as if Mac and I got to know each other. It's main focus in the United States history, but includes other Nations where context needs it. This book is full of forgotten gems of history.
5) New World Society by Cole. This is another favorite of mine. Cole wrote this with the non-Witness in mind, therefore many things of our history are explained. It is full of forgotten gems of history.
6) Triumphant Kingdon, by Cole. His second book and one I have never finished. I will.
7) Proclaimers, first time I went through this was when homeschooling the boys, we used it for history. Since I have read it a few times. It is not chronological but by context, which makes it difficult to read and easy to get mixed up in time. Nevertheless, it is an excellent history book.
8) Watchtower of Allegheny. This was recommended to me by a Brother at Warwick, it turned out to be one of the best. The history focuses on Russell and you will learn a lot about him and his family. You will learn why there is a Watchtower on the cover of The Watchtower. But the thing I enjoyed the most, I learned that Russell was a very emotional, kind, loving man. You also learn why from this book. In the blog page you will see it to the right, click the image and you can purchase it. For those who feel that a Brother that writes a history book should not profit from it, remember Jesus said the word of God, not a history book of the Organization. This book had the most forgotten history gems of any book I have read.
9) The Third Door. This book was also recommended to me by a Brother. The author Ted had a most interesting life in the Truth. Serving at Bethel to a CO. Ted includes a lot of personal real accounts of his life in the Truth. I was surprised to read how many of the people I know.
10) Jehovah's Witnesses and the Nazi's. Not written by any Brother, but by historians. The book is hard hitting and very graphic, this book has all the original first-person accounts from our Brothers and Sisters that appear in Life Stories. The Watchtower edits them, so if you read this be ready for some difficult reading. On one Amazon review a Sister was upset because the experience of a Brother that did cave to the Nazi's after several beatings. The authors mention several Friends that caved in and there is no follow-up. So some well-meaning Friends have left negative feedback on Amazon believing that is not true, some feel that every Witness kept integrity in Nazi Germany. We have a great example in the Bible, Peter. Peter caved in, yet we do get the follow-up on him. This book was not written to make Witnesses in Nazi Germany look bad, it is part of the Jehovah's Witnesses history project and a great deal of the accounts in this book are in the archives.
11) Eusebius, you remember he was the Brother that....no he was a man who lived in the late 200-early 300CE. He wrote a detailed history of the early congregation and apostles and what happened after 100CE. I suggest Paul Maier's writing because of his easy read. However some things to keep in mind. Eusebius wrote this just after 325CE, before the formation of the Catholic Church. But most of the words tied to the Catholic Church were very much in use. For example, the word catholic mean "Universal" so when he refers to the early congregation he says catholic (lower case c - should be) meaning the One or Universal church. He also will refer to the vatican way. In the days of Eusebius this was a path through a swamp called the vatican, yep the actual Vatican is built on top of a swamp, fitting. But there was a path made through it of rocks and other material, that path was called the vatican way. There are many similar usages, so keep that in mind. It helps to remember the Catholic Church was formed after Eusebius completed his writings. He also uses the term Bishop, we call it a COBE or Coordinator of the Body of Elders. I also suggest skipping the for 5 books or chapters. They are a summary of the Nicene 325 meeting, Nature of Christ stuff.
12) Josephus the Essential Writings again Paul Maier's version. Paul leaves out the "History of the Jews" but to be honest it is a paraphrased version of the Hebrew Scriptures by Josephus. Paul includes mostly the important stuff to readers of the Bible. He does include the war of 66-70CE.
13) Not pictured. 1 & 2 Maccabees fills in the gap from Malichai to Matthew.
If you wonder if it is safe to read these as a JW, consider almost all of these are required reading in many of the schools. Eusebius and Josephus is and in fact they are now in our Study Bible. If you do not believe that a Brother should charge for his work, then skip those. But they are worth the few dollars asked.
After you read all these, you can play Bible trivia, but be careful, the one you ask to play may have read these as well.
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A Look back into history - with a view to the future
To be honest, this site has been built and deleted many times over. Not because I enjoy building and tearing down, but more so due to cost. The cost of owning a domain and hosting has been going up year after year. Finding a good stable priced site is no longer possible. In the beginning I was using Weebly when it launched, I was charged I think $50 a year with the promise it will remain forever since I was one of the original testers. That changed. But I am back with Weebly, but a free account, so you will see their adverts and the company that bought them Square.
I'll arrange this new build a bit different. I'll keep up with the blog as before, but I'll make a separate page for the most read stories. This landing page will mostly stay the same, so bookmark the >Blog.<
I'll arrange this new build a bit different. I'll keep up with the blog as before, but I'll make a separate page for the most read stories. This landing page will mostly stay the same, so bookmark the >Blog.<
the blog
On the site navigation you see BLOG, this is the area where fun facts and hard to find gems of the history of IBSA and Jehovah's Witnesses will be posted. But you may want to bookmark your favorite entries. I am re-reading every one of our history books and as I do, I will edit and update each post, my goal is to bring all the pieces in each history book together in one place. I do not mean a complete history, only the lesser-known facts and hard to find gems. If you enjoy the history of the Organization as much as I do I think you will enjoy this site.
There is always truth and there always will be truth
Copyright 2024 - Please Do Not repost
