Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia

Jehovah's Witnesses - Who are They?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES sincerely desire that you become better acquainted with them. You may have met them as neighbors, fellow employees, or schoolmates. Perhaps you have been greeted by them on the street while they were talking with people about the Bible. Or you may have enjoyed their personal visit at your home.

Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians. They have been preaching and teaching the good news of the Bible in Russia for more than a century. They live and have their places of meeting from the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island in the Far East to Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, and from Murmansk in the north to Vladikavkaz in the beautiful Caucasus Mountains. Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia are a part of a worldwide brotherhood, an international Christian religious organization recognized presently in more than 230 lands and island groups.

They face the same economic, physical, and emotional problems as everyone else. In all their activities, they seek guidance from God's Word, the Holy Bible, with the help of his holy spirit, and they try to be exemplary in Christian conduct not just with fellow Witnesses but with friends, neighbors, and relatives as well. Being imperfect, they do not always succeed 100 percent. But it is the desire of their hearts to do good to all people and to extend a helping hand whenever possible.

As a religious group, they do not hold radical views or promote practices that clash with what is accepted as normal social behavior, which is far different from cults or sects. Some people may have spread false rumors that the Witnesses hold ritualistic meetings cloaked in secrecy. In reality, their meetings are open and friendly, and the general public is invited to attend. Unannounced guests at Kingdom Halls are heartily received and are warmly welcomed. In fact, in the spring of 1995, more than 13,000,000 people were in attendance worldwide for the celebration of the Memorial of Christ's death.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not live in communes. They do not isolate themselves from relatives, neighbors, and friends. It is their Christian duty to love their families and care for them. Since they are average citizens, they live and work among people of all races and religions. For example, when disasters strike, they are quick and willing to respond with relief supplies and other humanitarian assistance because of their strong love of neighbor and conscientious sense of duty to help fellow humans.

As part of their extensive worldwide Bible educational program, Jehovah's Witnesses regularly conduct some 5,000,000 Bible studies that supply personal teaching in private homes. Bibles and Bible literature are distributed free of charge. This includes their journals, The Watchtower, with an average printing each issue of more than 18,000,000 copies in 125 languages, and Awake!, with about 15,000,000 copies printed of each issue in 78 languages. A recent ruling by the European Commission of Human Rights declared that Jehovah's Witnesses should enjoy freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and that they have the right to speak about their faith and teach it to others.

The Witnesses firmly believe that the Bible truly is the Word of God, and they feel as did the apostle Paul when he wrote: "That is why we also thank God incessantly, because when you received God's word, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers." (1 Thessalonians 2:13) When it comes to teachings offered as Bible truth, they encourage people to follow the course of some of the inhabitants of Beroea in ancient Macedonia who heard the apostle Paul preach. The historical account relates that "they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so." - Acts 17: 11.

If a grown child or any other person in a Witness family does not want to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, he is not pressed to change. In many families not all share the same beliefs or ideology. For Jehovah's Witnesses this is no reason to break family bonds. True, Jehovah's Witnesses greatly desire that their relatives understand the Bible. However, they recognize each individual's right to choose his own religion and his own way of life. They are ready to show love to one another and to carry out their family responsibilities regardless of the religious conviction of other family members.

Happy family

The application of Biblical principles leads to strong families among Jehovah's Witnesses. A recent scientific survey taken among more than 150,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany shows that only 4.9 percent of them are divorced or are living separately from their partners. This is in contrast to a general divorce rate of from 30 to 50 percent in many lands.

Freedom of Personality

All humans have a God-given freedom of choice, and one basic Biblical principle is free will. "Let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver," states the Bible at 2 Corinthians 9: 7. Based on this principle, Jehovah's Witnesses make sure that each new one who wants to get baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses does it as a result of being moved by his own heartfelt desire and personal choice to serve his God and Creator. If someone no longer wants to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, the very same principle applies. He became one of Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily, and he can leave Jehovah's Witnesses any time without any restraint. Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses includes adhering to Bible principles and Bible standards. Therefore, if someone chooses not to follow Bible principles and in this way proves that he no longer wants to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses, he is free to take that course.

Their Name - Jehovah's Witnesses

Their name, Jehovah's Witnesses, is descriptive. It is based on the statement at chapter 43, verse 10, of the Bible book of Isaiah, which says: " 'You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'even my servant whom I have chosen.' " Since all of Jehovah's Witnesses have dedicated their lives to God, they bear witness concerning his name, his Godship, and his purposes.

By a careful reading of the Bible, you will find that Jehovah is the personal name of the almighty God, who is the Creator of the universe. In the Book of Psalms, published in St. Petersburg by the Russian Biblical Society in 1822, Psalm 83, verse 19, states: "And let them know that You Whose name is Jehovah, the Only high one over all the earth."

In the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible translated into Russian in the first half of the 19th century by Orthodox priest Archbishop Macarius, the name Jehovah appears several thousand times, and the name is also used in the Synodal Bible.

The personal name of Almighty God appears in a number of old as well as modern translations of the Holy Scriptures, such as the Macarius and Synodal versions. Shown are: Genesis 2:5 and Exodus 34:5.

"God," "Lord," and "Creator" - like "president," "king," and "general" - are titles and may be applied to several different persons. Titles are neither personal nor distinctive. However, the name Jehovah identifies the true God as being a real Person and different from false gods.

Hence, the more than 5,000,000 of Jehovah's Witnesses in over 230 lands are today telling the good news of God's heavenly Kingdom by his Son, Christ Jesus, and they are using God's name regularly in their worship. Consequently, they properly refer to themselves as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Though many scholars may prefer the pronunciation 'Jahve,' Jehovah's Witnesses continue to use the form 'Jehovah,' since people have been familiar with it for centuries. The German scholar and professor Gustav Friedrich Oehler supported this viewpoint in his work Theology of the Old Testament, page 143, which says: "From this point onward I use the word Jehovah, because, as a matter of fact, this name has now become more naturalized in our vocabulary, and cannot be supplanted."

God's name has been in use throughout history, even down to this day. It is noteworthy that God's name, written in the Hebrew letters of the Bible (Tetragrammaton), has been a part of the decoration of many religious buildings, indicating that it is not a new term but, rather, a well-established name that goes back to the time of the writing of the Bible itself.

Personal name of God written in Hebrew letters appears in church architecture, as here in the Bourges Cathedral of France.