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Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada: Champions of freedom of speech and worship by M. James Penton. Penton, who is a professor emeritus of history at University of Lethbridge (a former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses), examines the history of legal activities that led to expansion of religious freedoms in Canada.
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the present world order, which they believe to be under the control of Satan, will be ended by a direct intervention of Jehovah (God), who will use Jesus to fully establish his heavenly government over earth, destroying existing human governments and non-Witnesses, [5] and creating a cleansed society of true ...
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus is God's only direct creation, that everything else was created through him by means of God's power, and that the initial unassisted act of creation uniquely identifies Jesus as God's "only-begotten Son". [159] As part of their nontrinitarian beliefs, they do not believe that Jesus is God the Son. [160]
The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914, a date they believe was prophesied in Scripture, and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze Russell to be his people in 1919.
They believe the kingdom was established in heaven in 1914, [4] and that Jehovah's Witnesses serve as the kingdom's representatives on earth. [5] Due to their belief in God's kingdom as the only legitimate form of governance, Jehovah's Witnesses do not participate in political activities, such as voting in elections. [6]
Some core beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have remained unchanged throughout the group's history. Certain doctrines, particularly relating to biblical chronology, were based on what Russell called a "venerable tradition" that he conceded was not directly confirmed by facts or scripture, but "based on faith".
Of those who attend the Memorial, a small minority worldwide partake of the unleavened bread and wine. This is because Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the majority of the faithful have an earthly hope. Only those who believe they have a heavenly hope, the "remnant" (those still living) of the 144,000 "anointed", partake of the bread and wine. [24]
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the entire Bible, including both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is inspired of God and important for the Christian faith.(2 Timothy 3:16,17) Witnesses generally use a translation of the Bible that they developed in the mid-twentieth century, known as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT).